Chapter 20

226 20 1

by rac06h10ael

by rac06h10ael

It all began when she said, "I need to tell you something. It's kind of important." Ten words that set everything off.

For two years, Patrick and Gwen had been seeing each other. It started with a lie, an act she put on to draw her prey in. Of course, it wasn't much at first. Sure, the immediate connection was there, the caring singer feeling the need to show this abused girl that life was greener on the other side, but the true affair didn't start until they unexpectedly crossed paths again.

From there, a world of secrecy and deception unfolded as the two planned diligently to meet up, to have their one night stands that - if the circumstances allowed - would turn into two night stands, maybe even three. And it went on for two whole years.

The singer and the other band's bassist's wife didn't plan for it to go on as long as it did, or become as serious as it did. Thanks to Patrick - who had unadmittedly been desperate and lonely since his girlfriend had left him - the idea of having a future together came up one night, and Gwen played along, helping create the picture the singer had in his mind.

The two of them would disappear together, vanish into thin air, not tell a soul where they were going or when they would be back, if ever. They'd find a nice place somewhere where no one knew who they were. They'd start their lives over, together. Gwen would no longer be living in fear of her husband's fingers digging into her bare skin and leaving a mark that would last for weeks. She wouldn't have to be scared about her or her son's safety, because he would come with them, and together - under Patrick's care - would know what it feels like to actually be loved.

At one point, Gwen did want to tell Patrick the truth, that she wasn't scared of her husband, and that she didn't really want to abandon the person she'd devoted almost all of her life too, but she just didn't have the heart in her.

Out of all the people she'd played for fools, Patrick was the one she couldn't let go of. The one she couldn't help but think about when her and her husband were intimate. The one she actually fell for, considered leaving her family behind for.

But she couldn't. Her history with Zack was what made her her. Without Zack, she was no one. She had no identity, no purpose. She was just an ordinary girl, a no name. But with Zack? People knew her face, some even knew her name. She was his wife, the girl he'd been with since high school, the mother of his child; the love of his life. Above all, however, she was the reason Zack keeps living day to day, aside from the band.

What people didn't know about was the emotional torture she put him through, simply because she was "curious". They didn't know about all the times she cheated on him, all the times he sat on the tour bus, tears silently running down his cheeks as he thought about what Gwen was doing when he wasn't there. He wanted to trust her, he really did, but he couldn't bring himself to. He knew what went on when he was gone, how she found other people to pass the time with, discarding them like used tissues when Zack was due to come home again.

If she were to leave him to be with one of them - let alone that person be Patrick Stump, someone whose name and face were easily recognized - that image she'd built for herself would be ruined. The hidden pain the couple had would be revealed and neither of them would be seen the same way ever again.

Not only would Zack and Gwen's reputation be tarnished, but Patrick's would be too. He'd go from the adorable, shy, couldn't-do-anything-wrong lead singer of Fall Out Boy to the man who tore apart the couple some fans called "goals" - a homewrecker, per se.

But Patrick never wanted to hurt anyone. All he wanted was to make someone feel loved, something he hadn't felt himself. He wasn't selfish, and he wasn't arrogant. He was just helplessly in love, clinging onto an idea that - for once - the love he gave was appreciated, maybe even returned.

When he first met Gwen, he told her, "You have to let me help you."

She answered no, she couldn't.

And he wouldn't.