Merry Christmas, I Could Care Less - A Geetrick AU

Nine: One Way Or Another

"Patrick! You and Pete leaving so soon?" Joe stood by the door.

"We've got some stuff we have to deal with," Patrick huffed. "Joe, we don't have much time. We need to go now."

"What?" Joe was flustered. "Go where? What's the stuff you have to deal with?"

"Remember what I told you about earlier?" Patrick growled. "That. I'm fixing my mistake."

"Good timing," Pete rolled his eyes, brushing past Andy and Joe quickly. "Don't talk to me."

"Pete!" Patrick called, but Pete wouldn't listen. "Why won't he listen to me?"

"Because you lied to him?" Joe suggested.

"Because you told him the love of his life didn't care about him?" Andy interjected.

"Maybe because you were mean to Gerard?" Frank interjected.

"Yeah, what'd you do to make him run off like that?" Ray asked.

"Wait, why are you—" Patrick hadn't expected anyone to answer him.

"Shut up," Joe demanded. "What happened with you and Jared?"

"Gerard," Patrick corrected.

"Whatever." Joe folded his arms. "What did you do to him? What sort of stupid, rude thing did you say this time?"

"Woah, what's going on with y—"

"Patrick, you sort of dug yourself into a big hole here," Andy commented. "You need to stop messing your own life up and start explaining yourself. Maybe we can help you, but you have to let us."

Patrick gulped nervously. His friends had never talked to him like that. The awful reality was quite sobering.

"I-it's not like that..." Patrick paused, breaking eye contact with the rest of them. "I..."

Silence.

"Patrick," Joe spat, bluntly. "Did you really lie about Gerard and Mikey to protect Pete's feelings?"

"Are you doing all of this to protect Pete or are you scared to admit something about yourself?" Andy tossed in.

More quiet. The entire party had stopped just to watch the confrontation go down. Patrick felt eyes on him as he stood in his place, waiting for someone, anyone, to speak up. He knew, however, that he needed to be the one to break the silence. He gulped nervously.

"I... I messed up really bad," Patrick admitted, showing a braver side of himself nobody had seen before. He knew everyone was listening, but he didn't care.

"I've never been one to believe in connections," he announced to the group, though others were leaning in to listen. "I... I've never thought the idea of falling in love was for me. I thought I'd always be alone in this world. I never thought... I'd be in a place where I looked at a stranger and felt an instant connection. I never thought I was the type to be thought of as interesting enough to be seen as more than a friend... or even a stranger. I never thought I'd be someone who could be analyzed like a book and taught new things about myself by someone I'd known for only a few days. I never thought I'd look into someone's eyes and realize..."