Today's Heartache (Peterick)

Part 17: Find Faith When You're Close to the Edge

Patrick's POV:

I'd come to the simple conclusion that we experience life through our five senses. To truly experience life, you have to open all your windows to the soul. Smell some flowers, pick up a sport, try new food, go to a museum or concert, witness the world in its pace. For me, it was about love, unconditional, selfless love, to be able to do something for another soul, to add meaning in some way, be it big or small. To be alive is to feel pain, to grow from situations with each breath and sight, and step that I was to take.

Life is more than just the stress we put on ourselves, more than the jobs that we do, the time we waste, the bills that we pay. To be alive is more than to motion through our days, to be alive is to take in moments, to appreciate the simplicity we seem to take for granted, to feel and be present in our emotions. I'd thought so hard about it, looked deep within myself through the day and a half of traveling. Pete understood when I didn't speak or interact much with him. I was thinking and weighing out the thoughts in my head.

The medication had been out of my body for more than twenty four hours, and I didn't feel an urge to take it. I wasn't cured, but I wasn't going to accept what fate had dealt me. I wanted to love every rock and leaf and do better even if it killed me. I was going to make it, to be endlessly kind and love everyone I saw. I'd fight for happy, for even a glimpse of it.

We had arrived at his mother's house in the day, exhausted from the drive and events of the previous hours. A plump, dark woman with grey hair spilling from her bun greeted us at the door. The clear resemblance between Pete and her was bizarre. She was delighted to see her son, pinching his cheeks and choking him with a tight hug. He just laughed and kissed her cheek once she'd let him go.

"You brought friends?" she asked, admiring me and the kitten in my arms.
"This is Patrick, and that's our cat, Luna."
"Well, aren't you two just adorable? I wish you would have told me you were bringing guests. I would've cleaned up. The house is a mess."

"Don't worry about it, Ma. We don't mind."

"No. No. I need to do some sweeping. Come inside. Please. Have a seat anywhere you'd like," she replied.
We entered into her home, and I settled on a love seat near the fireplace. Pete joined me after getting us both some water whilst his mom grabbed a broom from a closet in the hallway.

She set it against the wall and sat in front of us in a recliner, folding her hands in her lap.
"So...how exactly did you meet my Pete here?" she questioned.
"From work," I said very vaguely.
"How nice. Are you guys just stopping by then?"

"No. We were wondering if we could stay a while, Mama."
Her face lit up with excitement, and she grinned, clasping her hands together and making the copper bracelets on her wrists jingle.
"I'd absolutely love it if you did. Oh how wonderful! We need to celebrate. The cleaning can wait. I'm going to cook a pot roast. I just went shopping yesterday too. My gosh. We can have potatoes and carrots and all these delicious vegetables. You boys make yourselves at home. I'll call you both when it's ready."

"Mama, you don't have to do that."
"Don't argue with me, Peter. I want to do it," she said, jumping up to her feet.

"Let me at least help you."
"Nope. I won't allow it. Go unpack and rest. You both must be so tired after driving here from California."

Her voice disappeared with her into the kitchen. Pete shook his head while chuckling and led me upstairs to a bedroom. I noticed something peculiar about it as I set Luna loose. The posters on the walls contained musicians and soccer players and other designs that'd be present in an adolescent's bedroom. There were trophies and medals on a shelf and certificates on an entire wall.