Folie

Act II, Scene 8

TW: Anxiety attack, mentions of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, bipolar disorder, and attempted suicide

"'Trick, stop pacing. You're going to make a dent in the floor," Pete said as his best friend continued to fidget around the room.

"I can't help it. I'm super anxious about Brendon getting here. I just feel like he's going to be an asshole to me. How'd you convince him to come here, away?"

"Well, it wasn't easy, but-"

A knock on the door interrupted Pete. Patrick looked at him expectantly, and with a groan, Pete walked over to the door to answer it.

"Hey, Pete!" Brendon yelped as Pete opened the door.

"Hey, Brendon! Come on in."

Though beaming at first, his face quickly darkened as he walked in and saw Patrick.

"Hey, Brendon," Patrick said hesitantly.

"Hey," he muttered.

"Let's go outside on the balcony, huh?" Pete suggested.

They made their way outside, the weather surprisingly warm for the first night in March. As Patrick and Brendon took a seat on opposite sides of the porch, Pete excused himself to go inside for a few minutes, leaving the two alone. A few minutes of icy silence dragged on, before Patrick finally spoke.

"So, how've you been?" Patrick asked, each syllable betraying his nervousness.

"Yeah, like you don't know," Brendon spat.

"Well, I- no, I don't. We haven't really talked much."

"Hard to talk when your mouth's always on Dallon's dick."

Brendon's words slapped Patrick silent, but only for a moment. Then, indignation took over.

"Okay, Brendon, what the fuck is your problem with me?" Patrick demanded, with much more confidence.

"Oh, you know exactly what my problem is. It's not enough that you have Joe, you have to whore yourself out to Dallon too just to prove to me that you're so much more better than me, and that he likes you and not me and I should just get the fuck over it."

"Brendon, first of all, Joe and I aren't in any way together, and second, what happened with Dallon was an accident. Granted, we should have been more careful, but even if we meant to do it, it's like not like I was betraying you. It's not the best situation for friends-"

At this point, Pete walked onto the balcony silently, but the two continued as if nothing happened.

"It's not the best? Are you fucking kidding me? Some friend you are, Patrick, making me feel like shit and taking the only boy I've liked in a long time and then stealing him right from me," Brendon began to shout as flames of rage overtook his heart.

With equal amounts of fury, not to mention the emotional wounds paining him right now, Patrick shot back.

"You're the one who hasn't been acting like a friend for months now, Brendon. Months. You've been treating me like shit even before this crap with Dallon, getting on my case about this musical and making me feel like I wasn't doing enough, and that I wasn't doing it fast enough. Pete and I have been breaking our backs for you trying to get this three-act musical done for you, and in response, you complain I'm not good enough, and then you call me names and yell at me in rehearsal, just because of what Dallon and I did," Patrick began to cry as he spoke.