***COMPLETED*** Around the World and Back [A Patty Walters Story]

Chapter 13: "I'm here to apologize."

A/N: I had to switch this one up and put it in Patty's pov! ;) enjoyyyy! <3

July 5, 2018
Bonner Springs, Kansas

*** Patty's POV ***

Seeing Avery cry broke my heart, and I wanted nothing more than to hold her, but I was angry. When I saw Derek kiss her head, my heart shattered. Avery has my whole heart, and she's had it for years.

I made it back over to the tent where Ben was sitting, eating out of a container from the catering department and talking to Luke.

"Hey," I said as I sat down in the empty lawn chair, rubbing my eyes through my sunglasses. "That looks absolutely disgusting," I laughed.

Ben shrugged, laughing as he put another forkful in his mouth.

"It's not bad," he said as he wiped his mouth. "Where's Avery?"

"On the bus," I said as I leaned back in the chair. "We got into a fight. Our first fight, actually."

He looked up at me from his phone after setting his container down.

"You two? Getting into a fight?" He questioned. "Over what?"

"She went to go see State Champs' set earlier," I explained. "Which is fine, I don't care, but Derek was like all over her after they were done. He even hugged her and kissed her fucking head."

"What did she do?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. "I'm sure she pushed him away. All she talks about is how much she loves you."

Ben always tried to see both sides of the story before forming an opinion, and it's one of the reasons why I always went to him for advice on things.

"She said she pushed him away and told him she had a boyfriend," I said as I put my sunglasses on top of my head. "But it's just the thought of seeing someone else that's not me touching her like that."

He nodded, leaning back as he took a sip of his water bottle.

"And what did you say to her when you got back on the bus?" He asked. "Did you get her side of the story?"

I bit down on my lip.

"Not really," I admitted. "I kind of went a little overboard. I basically accused her of cheating on me and being too friendly with him," I said as I rubbed the back of my neck. "She kept trying to tell me, but I wouldn't listen... I was so angry."

"That's where you went wrong, Patty," he said as he looked at me. "Fights begin because both sides of the story haven't been told. You should've let her get her side of the story out before blowing up on her, but I know that our emotions get the best of us sometimes."

I sat there for a second, trying to think of what to say.

"So what should I do, Ben?" I asked, biting my lip. "I alluded to breaking up, but I don't want to do that. How do I fix it?"

"Well," he paused, taking another drink of water. "It seems like you only saw him hugging her and didn't see her shoving him away," he calmly explained. "Let her tell her side of the story, and then explain that your emotions got the best of you. Don't break up because of one fight. You have to learn to work through things if you really love her as much as you say you do."

I finished talking to Ben and decided to get up to go talk to Avery. I was hoping she wasn't too mad at me, but I wouldn't blame her if she was.

"Avery?" I called gently as I stepped on the bus, shutting the door behind me. "Where are you?"

I wandered into the back lounge and saw her laying under her huge fuzzy purple blanket, playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on her Switch.

"What?" She asked, not looking up from her game. "Are you here to accuse me of cheating again, or are you here to dump me?"

That hurt. But again, I couldn't blame her.

"No," I said as I sat down next to her, careful not to touch her, at least right away. I didn't want to piss her off even more. "I'm here to apologize. For what I said earlier."

She paused her game, letting it rest on her stomach as she sat up slightly, looking at me.

"Apologize for almost breaking up with me?" She asked, running a hand through her hair. "Because an I'm sorry isn't going to fix that."

"You're right," I said as I moved closer to her. "But I let my emotions get the best of me instead of letting you explain what happened. You were there, I wasn't. You know what happened."

She played with a corner of her blanket before looking at me again.

"He hugged me after his set," she said calmly. "But he'd been putting his hand on my shoulder and all that stuff before, and I didn't like it. But I'm not one to cause scenes so I always shrugged him off ... then he just kissed my head, and it caught me so off guard. I shoved him backwards and knocked his hat off," she said, biting her lip to hide her smile.

I laughed softly, shaking my head as I stood up, walking over and pulling her blanket back. I laid down next to her before putting the blanket back over our bodies.

"I'm angry that he did those things to you," I said as I wrapped an arm around her. "But it is funny that you knocked his har off. I'm sorry for getting so angry with you. I don't want to break up. I think that would literally kill me."

She frowned, looking up at me and placing a soft peck on my lips.

"I don't want to think about that," she whispered as she nuzzled her nose into my neck. "But I love you, and we have to communicate better if we want this to really work, Patty."

I nodded, my fingers tickling her back lightly. She wrapped her legs around one of mine and snuggled up next to me after setting her Switch on the floor.

"We'll work on it," I said softly. "Don't you want to play your Switch anymore?"

She shook her head, resting it on my chest.

"No, you're tickling my back again, so I might fall asleep in the next few minutes," she laughed as she rubbed her eyes. "The sun makes me so sleepy," she yawned.

I smirked, continuing my actions as my other hand rested on her hip.

"Sleep," I whispered in her ear. "We'll talk later on."

She mumbled something that I couldn't understand, and I laughed softly knowing she was out like a light. I'm glad we made up. I don't know what I would've done if I lost her.