Here I Am Again || a Patty Walters Fic

•9

"Hey love," I smiled.

"Hey," Patty mumbled, waking up the same time I did.

"How'd you sleep," I laughed.

"I slept okay, just thinking a lot."

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I just thought a lot about what I said last night," he answered.

"What about it?" I asked nervously.

"I think it was too soon. I'm sorry babe, I shouldn't have said it," he frowned.

"Oh, it's fine," I shrugged. "Take your time I guess."

"Okay, thanks Brandy," he smiled.

I got up out of the bunk and got a bowl of cereal.

"Hey, Brandy," Foley smiled. "We're on at 5:00 today, you gonna be good?"

"Yeah, I just need practice," I laughed.

I finished up my cereal and made a coffee before I decided to go for a walk.

To: Patty💖
i'm gonna go for a little walk. i'll see you in a bit :)

I left the bus and walked by the tents. I stopped when I saw Geoff and Otto at the Waterparks tent.

"Hey guys!" I exclaimed, walking up to their tent.

"Hey, long time no see!" Geoff smiled.

"Hey there!" Otto chimes in.

"What are y'all up to?" I asked.

"Oh the usual, putting up merch while Awsten sleeps," Geoff groaned.

"Sounds fun," I chuckled. "Could I hang with you guys for a bit?"

"Of course," Geoff answered. "What happened this time?"

"Oh, not much. He said he loves me, then took it back. I guess I just need to forget about it for a bit," I shrugged.

"I'm sorry, Brandy. You're welcome here anytime!"

"You guys are the best."

•

"Brandy!" I heard from behind me, quickly feeling muscular arms being wrapped around me. "We've missed you!" Awsten laughed.

"I've missed y'all too, I'm hanging out with you for a bit!"

"Yay!" he smiled. "Wait, what happened?"

"I really must look sad, huh? Well, basically he said he loves me then took it back. It's whatever."

"We love you, Brandy," Awsten giggled.

I rolled my eyes and laughed at him before he went to the tent to finish putting up merch.

"Who wants lunch?" Geoff asked as they finished up.

•

After hanging out with Parx at a deli outside of the venue and playing Nintendo Switch in their bus, I said goodbye and went back to the bus.

"Hey," Ben smiled as I walked in. "You ready to play tonight?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go practice some more so I don't screw everything up," I replied.

I made my way to the back and grabbed a spare electric guitar to practice the new song.

"Making some beautiful music, I see," Patty laughed, entering the lounge and closing the door behind him.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"Can we talk?" He asked.

"Sure." I sat down the guitar as he sat next to me.

"No you can't," Ben said, opening the door. "We're on in ten."

We both frowned and got up, following Ben and the others to the stage. I was hoping to talk, as our issue was still weighing on my mind a lot. I figured I would be okay if I made it through the show without being too focused on it.

•

"Thanks for coming everyone! We're As It Is and that was our new song, 'The Fire, The Dark'," Patty said, finishing up the first song.

"Good job," Ben smiled, as I had succeeded at playing the song this time around.

"This one's called No Way Out," Patty said to the crowd.

Ben started the first riff before Patty joined in.

"Inside as the rain came pouring down," he started singing.

I got lost in the words he was singing and forgot to play along with Ben. That song always meant a lot to me and after our fight the lyrics were hitting me.

I noticed Ben giving me a weird look as I quickly snapped out of it and tried to pick up where they were in the song. However, I couldn't follow along until we reached the chorus.

"I shut my eyes but my world's still burning," Patty sang as he looked over at me, noticing I had caught up.

I responded with a small smile.

•

After the show finished, we all went back to the bus, and Patty and I went to the lounge.

"So, anyway. Brandy, you're really great and,"

"No." I cut him off. "Skip that bullshit, why did you take back your words, why didn't you answer my texts, why are you acting weird? That's what I wanna hear."

"I... I just don't know what I'm doing," he sighed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Brandy, you know what I'm talking about."

"No I don't," I responded. "Tell me the truth."

"Well, I just don't know what this is or why I'm doing this. You're really great but what are we?"

"A couple, at least I thought," I said, getting really worried.

"It's just... it feels wrong, Brandy."

"Can you stop? Tell me what you're trying to say," I sniffled as I started to cry.

"I just... don't know how to feel. We met through a meet and greet and now all of a sudden we're moving really fast as a couple and you're in the band."

"Yeah, and?"

"It's just, you've been falling behind during performances. And I just don't know about us as a couple."

"Why?" I cried.

"I'm just dating a fan," he sighed.

I started bawling as I got up and stormed to my bunk, not looking back.

"Wait!" He called out.

"No! Don't talk to me, I'm done," I sobbed as I climbed into the bunk and threw the curtain shut. I didn't even have the energy to continue crying, as I put my headphones in and fell asleep.