The Problem with Patrick || Fall Out Boy

remind me what side you should be on

The excitement of the cast removal didn't last long, in fact it was completely gone by the time that they got to the label offices, both Pete and Patrick were remarkably nervous about the meeting to come. Patrick was mostly stressed about holding his own in the conversation, he was so scared about trailing off or forgetting something and just making himself out to be a fool without Pete there to catch him. Pete was nervous about letting Patrick sit this meeting on his own, and also about if Bob was gonna take advantage of his current state.

"I-I've changed my mind. I don't wanna meet." Patrick stammered when Pete parked the car outside the building.

Pete sighed softly, and turned the car off, giving them a moment of silence. "It's gonna be fine 'Trick, I'm gonna be there, I'm just gonna be at the back, okay? IF something goes really, really bad, then I'm there. Don't worry about it, okay?"

Patrick bit his lip. "What if he tries to talk about stuff that I don't remember?"

"Then just tell him." Pete rubbed Patrick's shoulder comfortingly. "He knows about all the memory stuff, okay? He won't mind. Just like I don't."

"Okay..." Patrick mumbled, clearly still unconvinced.

"Hey, look, this shouldn't last very long, and then we'll go do the groceries and maybe get some ice cream or something." Pete tried to convince. "Please?"

Patrick sighed, and nodded glumly. "Promise you'll come in if everything goes wrong?"

"I promise." Pete told him.

The two headed inside, Patrick keeping his head down and Pete greeting all the reception staff and other artists with a warm smile. When they were finally called through to Bob's office, Pete realised that this was not what he thought it was.

"Hey, Patrick." Andy smiled, while Joe waved. "How are you going?"

"Um... good..." Patrick responded awkwardly, sitting down in the empty chair next to the desk. Joe and Andy were sitting on the same side of the desk, with Bob and several other men in suits sitting opposite. There was a spare chair next to Patrick, obviously meant for Pete.

"Isn't this just a meeting for Patrick and you?" Pete asked Bob, his words laced with confusion and a little anger. Every time he tried to organise small, low-pressure meetings so Patrick could understand them, someone else always had to make it big and confusing and very one-sided.

"It was, but we did need to do a group meeting, and everything that I needed to say to Patrick I could say to all of you, so it just made more sense." Bob smiled in reply. "Would either of you like a glass of water?"

"No." Pete responded plainly, taking a seat next to his friend. It looked like his plans of letting Patrick speak for himself weren't happening. Patrick already looked overwhelmed and discussions hadn't even started yet.

"Hey, your cast's off!" Joe smiled, trying to change the subject. "That's awesome!"

"U-Um..." Patrick stammered nervously. "Yeah..."

"Let's get started." One of the men in suits told the band. Bob nodded and shuffled through some papers on the table, before handing a sheet of paper to each of the four men sitting in front of him. It was a list of dates, of their upcoming tour of course, with several crossed out and changed.

"Upon discussion with many venues and the board of directors..." Bob told Pete nervously. "We've made a few changes to our plans in order to accommodate your requests, so that you'll tour."

"What requests? My demand was that we don't tour at all!" Pete defended, folding his arms. "Patrick needs more time."

"And that's why we have Brendon." Bob explained. "Have a look at the dates. There's no more than two in a row. In fact, we've worked it out so there's never more than one night in a row in the bus. The dates have been adjusted to just make it a bit easier on you guys."

"But the tour is longer." Pete told him.

"Yes, that is an effect of making the shows further apart."

"I'm not letting Patrick tour for a full 4 months." Pete just shook his head. "No way. There is no way in hell that he's gonna be away from his doctors for that long."

"His cast has already come off. That was the biggest concern." Andy entered the discussion. "If there's any appointments that need to be done, we can find a doctor on the way. The internet means that medical records can be sent to anywhere in the country. It's not as big as a problem as it used to be."

"Not the doctors who know him and have worked on his case for the past few months!" Pete was getting angry. He was too busy yelling at Bob to notice Andy and Joe bringing out a stuffed bear, and promising it to Patrick if he agreed to come on tour.

"I think we should go." Patrick suddenly blurted out.

"What?" Pete asked, glancing at his best friend. "'Trick, we've talked about this, we know it's not a good idea."

"I-I, Andy's right, about the doctors..." He trailed off as he noticed everyone staring, and tried to gather his thoughts to continue. "A-And I don't have the cast, and i-it would be fun to play the guitar a-and, and I really like hotels, a-and yeah."

Bob smiled at Pete, and Pete scowled back at him, before addressing Patrick's thoughts. "Remember when you blanked out the other day? What would happen if that happened in the middle of a show, or when you were far away from home and I couldn't help you?"

"But wouldn't you be there?" Patrick asked, puzzled. "Home is you, Pete. Wherever you are is home."

"Awww." Joe giggled.

It was a very cute thing to say, and Pete's heart did swell up with pride, but he didn't show it. "Patrick, please be quiet."

"Why should he have to be quiet?" Andy asked. "All you've done since he's woken up is wrap him in bubble wrap and not let him have a say in anything! He's perfectly able to speak for himself and make his own decisions!"

"I-I-" Patrick immediately paled.

"He's got a serious traumatic brain injury!" Pete yelled. "The guy was in a fucking coma for three weeks and all of you just wanna carry on as if everything's fine, and it is clearly not fine! Patrick, tell me, what was the name of the high school you went to, huh? What's the name of our band's first ever record? What's your home address? What type of car do you drive?"

Patrick knew none of those things, and he knew that Pete knew that he knew none of those things. It wasn't a good feeling, and he tried to blink away the tears that welled in his eyes. Maybe he wasn't ready to tour. He was just too dumb, he didn't have a good enough memory.

"Oh, shit..." Pete muttered, realising what he'd just done. "Patrick, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry buddy, I didn't mean to do that, oh shit..."

Andy gently rubbed Patrick's shoulder, and shook his head at Pete, who could only concentrate on how guilty he felt.

"Pete, we can't make you two tour." Bob explained with a long sigh. "But there's something to be said for the 30,000 people who bought tickets to your shows. That's a lot of people who really wanna see you play live."

"Thirty THOUSAND?" Patrick asked, looking up. "That's like... a lot of people."

"Uh huh." Bob nodded. "They've wanted to see you guys play for a long time, we had to suspend the tour a couple of times, and we can't postpone it again with cancelling on them."

"I don't, I don't wanna let anyone down!" Patrick turned around on his chair, ignoring his feelings of inadequacy. "We have to go. I'm going!"

Pete probably wouldn't have agreed, if that wasn't such a Patrick Stump thing to say. That was something that was such a big part of his personality, wanting to make sure that everyone was happy. All he wanted in life was to bring joy to others, and Pete wasn't going to stand in the way of that.

"Fuck." He muttered. "I guess we're going on tour."