SCPS. Secure. Contain. Patrick Stump

Chapter 7

We arrived at our destination. Patrick had become mildly attached to playing solitaire on his phone whilst on the plane. I honestly didn't think we'd arrive so late and I don't think the Agency did either. We were the only ones within the airport once we'd landed; the place was deserted. "Have you called a ride?" Spencer asked Brendon, poking at his sleeve. "No, I thought you did before left!" Spencer shook his head, "How was I supposed to know what time we'd arrive?" "Pfft, you check the itinerary." Brendon pulled the papers from his back pocket, crumpling them to their normal state of straight sheets. It was raining and it was night and we didn't have a ride. "Normally flights are never on time," I said, hoping for no Brendon backlash. I got none, "Yeah, well we just had to be on-time today didn't we." I crossed my arms over my chest. That hadn't been such a terrible flight. Maybe it was because I'd slept the whole way. Or because I'd slept on Patrick's shoulder the whole way. I was realizing his figure a lot more than I ever had before. I can't believe how thin he was; so thin, I was jealous of his figure. His shoulder was sharp, jutting out but soft to lay against, oddly. "Hey," Patrick waved a coffee in front of my face, "You okay?" I nodded. I had begun to stare past Brendon and Spencer arguing, staring at the carpeted floor beyond them. "Well, good news is there is a taxi out there. Bad news is its only one and can probably only fit three of us, including our luggage." Brendon and Spencer broke from their argument and paid attention to Patrick's news. "What should we do?" I asked. "Brendon and Spencer are going ahead. And you're going with them," he sipped his coffee. It's like he expected that to be okay. I didn't mind being in the car alone with Brendon and Spencer. I'd done it before. But this was a chance to have some alone time with Patrick. So, I began to argue with him. "No, I'm going to wait with you," I spat. Not literally, but I could have from being so mad at that suggestion. "Philli, it's better that you go on ahead and get the briefing, then inform our group later," Patrick knew what I was hinting at, "You know I'm terrible at remembering things." I sneered, realizing what he was hinting at. "I'm not going anywhere," I set my cup down next to me, splashing it over the side, burning my hand. "Patrick's right," Spencer said, handing me a napkin. "Right about what exactly?" Brendon said, my look already communicating his question. "That Philli should go with us. That or one of us stays, and Patrick goes instead." I shook my head realizing this was going nowhere, but Spencer grabbed my wrist before I could turn. "Where are you going?" I didn't like this action, it seemed too dominating and too close to the demeaning actions I'd faced from a villainous exboyfriend a year ago. "To the restroom, yeesh," I was raising my voice, a bit upset from Patrick's actions of telling me what to do and Spencer's idea of stopping me. "Hurry back," Brendon called out, then laughed afterward. Patrick remained quiet, probably staring at his coffee, checking his phone, or biting his lip to hold back a snarky remark for Brendon's response.