What Twisted Webs We Weave

I Couldn't Bring Myself To Call

(Pete's POV)

I can't believe I let Tyler convince me to come into this fucking Starbucks with him. I should have just stayed in the car. It wasn't safe for me to be walking around the area with Patrick in the store next door. What if I bumped into him in the parking lot? What the hell would I say? What would I do? I wasn't ready to risk it. Damn, this was a stupid move.

Tyler was practically bouncing up and down beside me. Happy he wasn't going to have to drink that hotel coffee today. I almost didn't want to let him get the coffee. He'd been jittery all morning. Caffeine was not going to help with that.

There was a bit of a line when we walked through the door. But it was moving surprisingly fast. I kept glancing over my shoulder into the parking lot. Waiting to see if Ryan, Brendon and Patrick were leaving yet. I knew once they drove off, all my anxiousness would evaporate.

"Calm down, would you." Tyler nudged me with his elbow. "We're almost at the front of the line."

I turned to face the front again. There was only one person in front of us now. A short guy with a green hoodie on. I listened to him stutter and stammer his order. Barely getting any actual words out. His voice was almost too low to hear. He sounded a little drunk to be honest. I could feel myself becoming more annoyed by the second. It was coffee for fuck's sake! It wasn't that complicated.

"Oh come on!" I snapped. "We don't have all day."

"Pete, don't be rude." Tyler glanced at me in embarrassment.

"Pete?" The man spun around to face us.

My heart dropped as soon as I saw his face. It was like I could literally feel the acids in my stomach eating at it. I was frozen in place. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and run away but I couldn't move. My feet were glued to the floorboards. My brain was working overtime trying to decide how to react. Panic, it finally decided. Opening my mouth, I tried to speak to him. But no words would come out. Not a single sound.

Patrick didn't look as star stuck as I felt. He looked surprised, sure, but that was it. His eyes were widened slightly. His lips parted.

"I'm so sorry about my friend." Tyler was apologizing from beside me. "He's having a rough morning-"

"Pete. Hey." Patrick completely ignored him.

Well so much for him being happy to see me. "P-Patrick-" And that was all my brain was going to let me respond with right now.

"Patrick?" Tyler looked between the two of us. "As in Patrick Stump?"

"Do I know you?" He finally looked at Tyler.

"I thought you were in the grocery store getting coffee."

"What?" He drew back. "How would you know-"

"Ryan told us."

"Shut up, Tyler." I mumbled.

"Ryan told you?" He raised his eyebrows. Turning an accusatory look at me. "You spoke to Ryan?"

"We bumped into him at the grocery store. He said you were in the coffee aisle with Brandon or something."

"So Ryan told you I was in the grocery store and you came over here instead of looking for me?"

"Patrick, it's not like that."

"So you can speak to Ryan but you can't speak to me? I haven't seen you in months! I thought you were dead for months. And you didn't even want to speak to me?" He laughed harshly at himself. "You know, I actually thought you came back in town to try and work things out."

"He did!" Tyler spoke before I had the chance. "But he wasn't ready yet."

"Shut up, Tyler!"

"Who the hell is this guy?"

"I'm Tyler. Pete's friend."

"Oh you're Pete's friend?"

"Yeah." He grinned. Sticking his open hand towards Patrick. "Nice to meet you."

"Shut up, Tyler."

"Is this a fucking joke?" Patrick growled at me. Tyler lowered his hand.

"No, I'm sorry. He doesn't know any better. He's from Canada so he's a little overly friendly."

"Canada? Does that mean you were in Canada? With him?!"

"Well yeah." Tyler said it as if that should have been obvious. "But not in the way you're thinking. We aren't intimate-"

"Tyler, seriously shut the hell up!"

"Language, Pete."

"Yes, please shut up, Tyler." Patrick exhaled in annoyance. I almost laughed.

"Excuse me?" The worker behind the counter interrupted us. "Are any of you going to order or what?"

"I'm sorry." Patrick turned away from me. "I'm not really thirsty anymore." He stormed away from the counter.

"Patrick." I rushed after him. Happy my legs were able to follow the commands of my brain now that the initial shock of it all was over.

"Um, I'd like a salted caramel mocha frappuccino with-"

I stalked back towards the counter. Grabbing Tyler's arm and yanking him out of the door with me. Patrick was pacing back and forth in front of a car. His car, I'm assuming.

"Go wait in the car for me." I instructed Tyler.

"Really? If I was just going to be waiting, I could have ordered my gosh darn drink!"

"Tyler, please! Not now."

"Fine. But you owe me a coffee."

I didn't bother responding to him. Instead I walked over to where Patrick was. I could hear him mumbling something to himself as he paced. He was probably preparing himself for the argument we were going to inevitably have right now.

"Listen, Patrick." I approached him with my hands up in surrender. "I know you're pissed beyond measure. And you probably don't want to hear a single thing I have to say. But I'm going to explain anyway." I took a deep breath. "I was in Canada getting medical treatment from Tyler. He's kind of a doctor. Almost. And I never did anything sexual with him. I mean, you saw for yourself how he is. Aside from his medical brilliance, he's practically a twelve year old. He came out here with me to clear your name. But then when I saw you in the courtroom, my plans changed. One look into your bloodshot baby blues and I knew I couldn't leave you again. I wanted to come see you, really I did. But I didn't know what to say to you. I didn't know if you'd even want me to say anything to you." He wasn't pacing anymore. He was standing completely still just listening. I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. "Holy shit, Patrick, will you say something?"

He shook his head slowly. Every bit of hope I had saved up slowly began to melt away. That was it. I'd fucked up too badly. I put him through too much and now he didn't even want to speak to me. That was fair. I could respect his decision.

"Okay." I was biting my lip hard enough to cause bleeding. Trying to keep the emotion from my voice. "I understand. I'm happy I got to see you again. Even if you do look terrible." That earned me a small smile. "Bye, Patrick."

"P-Pete." The familiar stutter of my name damn near made me cry.

"Yeah?"

"Could you just like, maybe kiss me or something?"

"You aren't mad?"

"I'm beyond that."

"But you still want me to kiss you?"

"More than I want to breathe."

"Because you love me?" It was a bold move on my part. But I was desperate.

"More than anybody has ever loved anyone else." There was no hesitation or doubt behind those words.

I ran the few feet between us. Grabbing his face between my hands and slamming my lips over his. Patrick sighed into the kiss. I could feel his body relax onto mine. His arms circled around my waist. Pulling me so close that I could feel his heartbeat against my own.