Drive (Brendon Urie/P!ATD FanFic ft. Green Day)

Chapter 14

The long, sleek, black car provided to me pulled up to the address I was told to visit. Not too far from the heart of the city, the quaint house didn't match Dallon's personality, nor did it match Harley's. The Victorian styled home looked like every other one in the neighborhood, but I had a hard time imagining that what went on inside was similar to what went on inside the homes of their neighbors.

I let out a shaky breath, trying to prepare myself for what was to come. I knew the girl I was supposed to lure back into the trap she had escaped from was home, because one of the windows in the front of the house was illuminated - unlike the rest - and there was a silhouette standing in the center of it, undressing herself. And I recognized that silhouette, even if I was hammered the night and morning I saw it.

"You just gonna sit there all day, or what?" The driver blurted out, snapping me out of the daze I had fallen into staring at Harley. It was the first thing he said to me the entire ride, having disregarded all of my several, awkward attempts at small talk earlier, on the way here.

I nodded my head and brought the sunglasses that were perched atop my head down to my nose, the black shades hiding my eyes. "Thanks for the ride," I muttered, opening the car door to get out, "Wish me luck."

"Just don't lose yourself, Urie," He advised me, glancing back over his shoulder with a foreboding expression plastered on his face, "I've seen plenty of guys like you come and go under Billie's wing. You all think this job will be easy, a quick way to get what you want. And on top of that, you think that you can get away with whatever you want so long as Billie doesn't find out, but he always finds out, Urie. Don't fall under the spell."

I scrambled to get out of the vehicle, afraid his words of wisdom would crumble all the confidence I had tried to build on the drive there. I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but I had to do it. I had to change my life around; I had to bring purpose back to it, and this was my best shot at doing that. Failing wasn't an option. I needed this, and I needed this bad, regardless of how I felt.

The car zoomed off the second I closed the door behind me, disappearing down the street that was oddly silent. It was quite early in the day, though, so I assumed either everyone was still asleep or they had gone to their Sunday morning mass at the church the driver and I passed by on the way here. Knowing that didn't ease my nerves any, though.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and proceeded up the walkway that led to the red door. I adjusted my jacket and reached out, hitting my fist against the door three times. I took a nervous step back and straightened my posture, glancing up at the window Harley was previously standing in and seeing that she was no longer there, despite the light inside the room still burning bright.

Footsteps coming from within the home grew louder as she trotted down the stairs to the entrance of her home, undoing the locks and pulling the door in to see me. I had hoped that she wouldn't recognize me, at least not immediately, but with the wide-eyed look that appeared on her face and the gasp that slipped past her lips, I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Brendon?" Harley whispered, not even giving me the chance to explain myself or what I was doing there before grabbing me by the shirt and yanking me inside. She slammed the door behind me and stood in front of it, her arms and legs extended outward as if she was preventing something from coming in after me. "What are you doing here?" She inquired, her chest starting to rise up and down more noticeably than before. Yet again, I didn't have the opportunity to answer her because she spewed out another round of questions. "How do you know where I live? And why are you dressed like that? Shouldn't you be at home, or at the bar drinking your day away?"

I removed the sunglasses from my face and heaved a sigh, trying to mentally and physically prepare myself for the lie I was about to tell.

Rule #1: Don't let her know that you're with us, under any circumstances

Rule #2: But do and say whatever it takes - so long as it doesn't blow your cover - to get in  

"I'm here to protect you from your husband," I told her with the most amount of sincerity I could muster. 

I never was a very good liar. I couldn't even lie to my teachers when I was youngerabout not doing my homework. I'd try to pull the "my dog at it" stunt and the second those words would try to come out of my mouth, they'd get pulled back in and the truth would emerge instead. There was just something about me that wouldn't allow me to lie, which is why I tilted my head down in avoidance of eye contact and continued in a hushed voice, "I-I just, I couldn't let you go knowing that I might never see you again. I know we only met once, but...I couldn't stop thinking about you after you left."

Silence permeated the air as I anticipated her response. It was only broken by the floorboards creaking underneath her feet - the nightgown she'd thrown over her underwear and bra swaying parallel to her movements - as she approached me and smacked me across the face. My sunglasses fell out of my hands as they were drawn to my cheek, a stinging sensation quickly growing in it. "Are you insane?" She yelled at me, the same question she asked me when I first learned about her situation, "I told you I didn't want to drag you into this!"

"And I know that," I replied calmly, daring to turn back towards her and meeting her worried-filled eyes with mine, "But that's not up for you to decide. I want to help you, Harley. I know you haven't really ever had help before, but it's nice. Trust me. Knowing someone's there to have your back, it takes a load off. So please, let me help you."

"No," She instantly objected, shaking her head and folding her arms over her chest, "No. I'm not going to let you do this to yourself. You don't-"

"Why don't you stop speaking for me, okay?" I snapped, cutting her short and silencing her almost as quickly as she shot down my offer for assistance. The redness in my cheeks evolved from pain to embarrassment as I went on to say, "Like I told you the first time, I don't really have anything going for me right now, and you just seemed so scared that night-"

"Do you not think I can handle this?" Harley asked defensively.

"No, I don't," I told her, matching her stance, "Harley, you're one person. You may be strong, but one person can't go up against an entire group on their own and win. That only happens on the TV, and in movies and books. This is real life, and you can't do this on your own, as much as you'd like to think you can."

For a moment she just stood there, staring at me blankly. Her eyes flickered across my face, as if the answer she was looking for was written across my skin, or in my eyes, or on my lips. But the answer wasn't in my possession, it was in hers. 

It thankfully didn't take her long to realize that, and when she did, she dropped her arms to her sides and let out a deep sigh. "Fine," was all she said before brushing past me - bumping my shoulder with hers - and retreating back upstairs. When she was out of sight, she screamed, "First thing you can do is lock the door!" 

The corner of my lip perked up into a sad smirk as I stepped forward and began to barricade the door with the ten different types of locks attached to it.

You're the only one she doesn't know personally. You can get to her like no one here can. 

You can make her trust you, believe you're the only one she has.

The way this mission turns out depends on you and you alone. 

We'll take care of her once you bring her here, but until then, it's all you.