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

Chapter 20: "Give it a few days before you talk again."

July 20, 2018
Detroit, Michigan

"Rough night?" Luke chuckled as he turned around to look at me. "Why are you wearing those sunglasses?"

"Because I couldn't sleep at all," I groaned as I picked up the inventory clipboard. "Patty and I broke up."

He leaned against the table, taking a drink of his water.

"I know," he said as he threw it in the trash. "Ronnie told me. Why?"

"I don't really want to talk about it right now," I said as I set the clipboard down. "I'm sorry."

He nodded, bending down to pick up his mess from his breakfast.

"I understand," he said as he put a hand on my shoulder. "But now that you're here, I'm gonna go take a nap," he laughed, walking off. "See ya!"

I waved, forgetting I had gotten breakfast too before I sat down to eat it. While I was eating, Ben came up to the tent.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, sitting down across from me. "I wanted to ask last night, but I already knew the answer."

I pushed my sunglasses up on top of my head, looking at him.

"I'm as good as I can be," I said quietly, rubbing my tired eyes. "I'm assuming you already know Patty's side of the story."

He nodded, bringing a leg up and resting it over his other one as he folded his hands.

"Yes," he spoke. He was always so calm. "But you're my friend, too, so I'd like to hear your side before I can form an opinion."

Leave it to Ben to try and be fair to everyone. It was his best trait.

"I don't even know where to begin with that," I laughed as I paused to take another bite of my breakfast sandwich. "Josh is always going to find a way to wedge his way into my life no matter what, so I guess I just never blocked him. I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

He nodded, flexing his fingers.

"I can't say that I get where you're coming from because I've never been in that situation, and neither has Patty," he explained. "But I do see that frustration of he's just going to find another way, so why bother. But I also see Patty's concerns of it being your ex."

"I get that," I said quietly. "But he didn't even let me have a chance to explain myself. He just assumed that I still love him."

"Do you?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. "I'm just trying to get this whole picture."

Frowning, I shook my head.

"Of course I don't," I said quietly. "I stopped loving him when we were together, actually. And then you guys came here for Warped, and all these feelings I had for Patty came back ... and then last night when he brought up how great Dottie was, it made me rethink this past month or so."

He licked his lips, leaning back in the chair.

"I'm sure you both said a lot of things out of anger that you didn't mean last night," he said as he took his sunglasses off. "But I know that being crammed in a small bus all summer doesn't help. Normal couples usually spend some time away from each other every day. Here, you don't get that luxury."

"Britt started to talk about that last night, but we said we weren't gonna talk about it anymore and just watch a movie," I said as I ripped off half of my hashbrown, taking a bite. "So what do we do, Ben? How do we fix it?"

He stayed silent for a minute, trying to figure out what to say.

"Well," he paused. "I would first tell Josh that you're happy now with Patty. You said he's on house arrest anyway, and that he's scared of jail, so if he really wants to stay out, he'll leave you alone," he said as he looked at me.