The Storm Comes Before The Rainbow

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TW: Blood

The gunshot.

It's an echo in the barn.

Patrick screams with every sob, his throat burns. The pain isn't nearly as worse as the one in his heart. He feels like something is killing him from the inside out. His heart pounds irregularly and his lungs cry out for more oxygen. His brain rushes through everything. It's torn apart between wanting to run from Luke or crawl over and hold Pete. Patrick feels to weak to even move, every shake is a strain. Memories of their first kiss, their first time, their first date, it all replays in his head like a movie. He knows Pete's gone, that these are all lost hopes and old memories. He wants to stop thinking about it; Pete's death, Luke's power, his death. He's stuck on a rollercoaster, upside down in a loop. Patrick wants to die, he starts to scream at Luke to kill him already. Luke was right, Pete was his heart. Pete's also his lungs, his air, his brain, his world.

And now it's all gone.

Ryan and Brendon rush in, stopped quickly by officers. They are pulled out of the barn quickly but manage to see to bloody sight in front of them. Ryan squeezes his eyes shut and Brendon leads them both out of the barn.

Patrick hears several footsteps around him. He continues to sob, eyes closed and head bowed so low it's nearly on the ground.

"Hey, hey sir? I'm Officer McCoy, I'm here to help you." A gentle voice spills into his ears.

"P-Pete." Patrick chokes out, feeling the handcuffs unlock. He brings his hands to his face and attempts to rid the tears from his cheeks.

~~~

Pete's shaking as he opens his eyes. He wipes his eyes and looks to his right. A woman dressed in a uniform is holding a gun up, a light smoke coming from the barrel. He slowly turns to look behind him.

Luke.

His eyes are wide open, gun loosely in his hand. There's a bleeding wound directly on his chest. Blood stains his shirt and seeps around him, dangerously close to Pete.

Pete whimpers and scoots away.

Pete's not dead.

Luke is.

The cops-the good ones-they saved him.

"Hey sir, I'm Officer Smith, are you alright?"

Pete blinks tears from his eyes and nods quickly. Shaken up but mostly alright.

"We've called you an ambulance, let's head outside, okay?" Officer Smith helps Pete up.

Pete scans the barn, there's a small puddle directly across from where he was kneeling.

Patrick.

"Patrick." He turns quickly to Officer Smith.

"McCoy has him, he's okay."

"I-I want to see hi-him." Pete stutters.

"McCoy!?" Officer Smith yells loudly.

Pete scans the outside. Several cop cars are flashing red and blue.

Red.
Blue.
Red.
Blue.
Red.
Blue.

It's so constant and bright that the colors almost change his world to purple.

"Pete!" A familiar voice yells.

He turns to his head to see Brendon and Ryan. They're both visibly crying. He wants to walk over to them but nobody will let him.

"My friends." Pete whispers.

"We have to get you to the hospital first."

"I want Patrick." Pete's voice is barley audible.