Hold Me Down (Peterick) ➳ Book 3

Five

The calmness brought by a new baby lasted a week. No one had any plans, and when they tried to make any they fought until one of the babies, sometimes both, would cry.

"I think we should just stay here," Gabe suggested. "Nothing's after us now, so why leave unless we have to?"

"It's only a matter of time though," Dallon muttered. "Someone has to know where we are by now. They're waiting for us to get comfortable."

"Sounds like something Ryan would do," Brendon agreed.

Patrick listened as the room filled with the sound of everyone's opinion. The pros and cons of staying swam around the room, being used to persuade people in one direction or the other.

"What do you think, Patrick?"

He looked up from Astoria to see everyone watching him.

"I don't. . . . I don't know. Like everyone's saying there's good and bad to both choices." He shrugged, skilfully avoiding a straightforward answer.

"What do you want?" Brendon snapped.

Safety for Astoria, he thought. Safety for everyone. The chance to have a family. The chance to be happy. The feeling of finally being okay and not having to worry about where he'd be living or what he'd be eating. But that wasn't the answer Brendon was looking for.

Finally he looked Brendon in the eye and said. "I don't know."

Handing Astoria to Andy, he stood up and left the room. Carefully he climbed a set of rickety steps to the roof where he took a seat at the edge.

"What do you want?"

The question echoed in his head as he stared at the rising sun. What did he want? Since the beginning of the end, Patrick had never been sure about anything. It had been easy for everyone else, side with your morals, what you thought was right, but what was right? Was it giving up humanity for the greater good? Was it fighting until the last breath? Was it dying as yourself? Was it self preservation? Patrick didn't know. Did anyone know?

He stood up carefully and took a final look at the sky. The last of the stars vanished from sight, a new day starting.

Step by step he headed inside and didn't look back.

*

Like every morning Josh woke up to Tyler's gentle kisses. They usually began on his lips, slowly trailing up and down his jaw before descending lower. Sometimes they'd stop at the base of his neck where a nice bruise would be. Sometimes they'd end near his belly button. Either way the feeling he got was always the same: disgust.

It didn't take Josh long to figure out why his memory kept going blank, especially after his first revelation of knowing who The Hurricane really was and then wasting the next few days trying to remember. Again.

He knew Tyler was slipping something into his drinks when he had spurts of his memories back. The concoctions sometimes got stronger and lasted longer, but after Josh was sure that's what was happening he kept his mouth shut about all the things he remembered.

Tyler assumed the serum worked. At least that's what Josh figured. He still had his memories in tact, and to make sure he did he ran through everything that he'd learned.

"Hmm. What're you thinking about?" Tyler whispered in his ear.

Josh smiled, pulling Tyler on top of him. "Nothing. Except how much I love you."

And while his feelings for Tyler were a mixture of chaos in his mind, he still had some strong affection toward him. So he said it was love, and that was that.

Tyler kissed him full on the mouth unable to hide the blush. "Love you too."

They cuddled in bed until the alarm went off, causing Tyler to groan.

Josh laughed at Tyler's attitude, but pulled him out of bed and towards the bathroom.

"Go shower. I'll make breakfast," he said as he stepped out of the room.

Tyler's hand latched onto Josh's wrist as he laughed. "You can't cook to save your life."

"So?" Josh asked.

"C'mon."

*

The decision Patrick was making would've been seen as difficult in the eyes of most people, but oddly enough, Patrick had not regret or doubt in his mind that this wasn't the best thing he could do.

Once he returned from the roof, he spent the rest of the day holding Astoria and being as close to everyone as he possibly could. In his mind everything was mapped out, he just hoped the people he was relying on were still there.

Taylor took the open seat next to him and let Astoria hold her finger.

"She's beautiful, you know."

"She looks like Pete."

Taylor nodded. "She does. Joy looked more like her father too."

"Would you do something for me?" Patrick asked suddenly.

Taylor nodded without hesitation. "Anything."

Patrick looked around and explained everything to Taylor in a hushed whisper, cutting off abruptly when someone stepped into the room.

She agreed immediately, something Patrick was thankful for. It would be one less thing for him to worry about in the long run.

That night Patrick was the last one to sleep. With Taylor and Astoria sleeping peacefully he got up from bed and silently said his goodbyes to each person in the house. Maybe they'd forgive him. Maybe they'd understand.

A note he'd written was placed on the nightstand, a place where someone would easily find it. After all he and Taylor had agreed to make it look like she never knew.

He pressed a final kiss to Astoria's forehead and slipped out of the apartment quietly. A dozen or so flights of stairs later Patrick was relying on memory to guide him.

More stairs, more doors. This time the people sitting around knew he was there.

"Who are you?" the tall one in a red jacket asked.

"Patrick Wentz."

The curly haired one who remind Patrick of Joe lowered his weapon a fraction of an inch. "What do you want?" he asked.

Patrick took a deep breath.

"I want you to take me to Pete."