How To Save Rock And Roll

Chapter 25 - Pete Wentz

Earlier that night...

"What the fuck? Are they still in there?" A voice coming from outside the room sounded, muffled by the door. A few seconds passed and the door swung in, revealing a short man with black hair. "What happened here?" He exclaimed, walking closer to Brendon's unconscious body. He knelt next to him and grabbed his shoulder firmly, shaking him violently. Since it wasn't enough to wake up the man, he slapped him in the face a few times. Brendon started to stir awake, coughing a few times with his eyes still closed. As soon as he opened them, an expression of pure terror appeared on his face as he saw who was kneeling in front of him - Pete Wentz.
"What happened here?" He repeated.
"I-I can explain," Brendon stammered as he scooted away from him.
Pete glared at him. "Explain what? That you let them go? That you were too weak to keep those little fuckers here?"
Brendon shamefully stood up without saying a word. Pete looked around the room and noticed the blood on one of the chairs and the ground. "Did you hurt them?"
"Only Joe," Brendon replied. Pete bit his bottom lip, thinking. After a few seconds of silence, Brendon spoke up, "I told him about the baby."
"You what?" Pete screamed, meeting Brendon's gaze, "Why?"
"I was just trying to scare them." He muttered back.
Pete shook his head in disappointment. "Did you really think they were going to join us after saying that?" The taller of the two men remained silent. Pete brought his hand to his forehead and heaved a sigh. "I think you need another dose."
"No no, please. I messed up, I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I promise!" Brendon begged as he walked closer to Pete and grabbed his arm.
Pete shrugged Brendon's hand off of his body. "You're too weak."
Brendon's eyebrows knitted together in a hurt expression and tilted his head down as he and Pete left the room.
"And you," Pete said, pointing his finger at the face of the guard standing next to the door, "Didn't you hear them?"
The guard stayed silent and Pete punched him on the top of his helmet before walking away.

****

"Who was that?" Isaac - who stayed to keep you company the rest of the night and day - asked as you got off of the phone.
"Patrick," You answered, putting your phone in your pants' pocket.
"But..." He started when you cut him short.
"Yeah, I know. They managed to escape," You said as you left the living room to go in the hallway, "He told me to go to the Blue Birds. The Syndicate is coming for us."
Isaac nodded his head and followed you out of the apartment.

After about twenty minutes of walking into the city, you arrived in the area of where the headquarter of the Blue Birds was located.

A black van silently drove behind the two of you, without alarming you or Isaac. The door on the side of the vehicle slowly slid open and a guard got out. The man dressed in black made his way behind Isaac, who was walking just a few feet behind you. The guard put his hand over Isaac's mouth and grabbed his torso firmly. Isaac managed to get the hand of the guard off his face. "Y/N, RUN!" He screamed.
You turned around to see your friend struggling in the arms of that guard who was leading him in the van. Another man jumped out of the van, and you immediately know that he was there for you. You started running toward the Blue Birds' headquarter, without success. The man ran after you and captured you in his arms firmly, bringing you inside the van with Isaac and driving away.

*****

The receptionist at the hotel Patrick and Joe were staying at was sitting on a stool behind the counter, scrolling through social media on his phone as he came across a news' post about two men. He stopped his scrolling and looked at the pictures added to the article. His eyes widened as he recognized the men he just allowed in the hotel just a few minutes ago.

He quickly exited the app and dialed the police's number as fast as he could. Someone picked up on the other line and he didn't even wait a second before telling them that the two "wanted" men were in the hotel at that exact moment.

****

"What are we gonna do now?" Joe asked his friend who stood in awe in front of the television. He waited a few seconds, but the singer gave him no reply. "Patrick!" He almost shouted, bringing his friend out of his second state.
"We..." He started and looked down at the ground, rubbing his temple with his fingers, "We're gonna get that fixed," He finished his sentence, pointing at Joe's leg, "And then we're gonna leave...I guess."
"You can't go to the pharmacy anymore," Joe stated. He and Patrick both looked at each other then down at the stapler sitting on the bed. Joe closed his eyes and sighed as Patrick shot off a quick apology. "I'm sorry, Joe." The singer picked up the stapler and sat next to his friend on the bed. He brought the stapler closer to the wound, placing his hand over the wound to close it as much as he could and putting the stapler over it. "You ready?"
Joe kept his eyes closed and shook his head. "Just go."
Patrick squeezed the handle, sending a staple in Joe's thigh that - like he thought it would - fixed itself in his skin to keep the two part together. Joe winced in pain, gritting his teeth.
"I'm really sorry," Patrick muttered as he kept doing the same thing until the wound was closed.
Joe opened his eyes and looked at his leg. "There's no way these things are gonna stay like that."
"That's just to keep your wound from getting an infection. We'll take better care of it later." Patrick said, wrapping some tissues around his friend's thigh. Just as he finished bandaging Joe's leg, the sound of someone banging on their door echoed in the room.