Face Down ✓ | Patrick Stump

Chapter Twenty Three

Dedication to TheAwkwardPhangirl for being someone I owe a dedication too for a long time! They've been one of my earlier readers, thank you for helping this story grow!

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I'm sorry.

For what? Why would he be sorry?

A knock at the door made me snap my head up from the texts. Pete ran off with my phone and opened the door to reveal Patrick.

But this wasn't the Patrick that I knew. He had tear stained cheeks, was missing his fedora, and his hair was sticking every which way. His face was covered with lipstick marks and his arms were covered in some sort of marks. Were those rope burns?

"I'm sorry." He breathed, as his entire body shook with every breath he took. I practically sprinted to him and wrapped in the biggest hug I've ever given everyone. I felt that if I let go, that I would lose him. Forever.

"Shhh. It's okay." I tried to comfort him.

"No it's not-" He began but his cries overpowered his words. His knees grew weak and he collapsed even further into my arms, as his sobs overtook his body. Pete gave me a look that said 'I'll leave you two alone', as he shut the front door and went down the hall. I carried Patrick over to the couch and allowed him to sit down next to me, his face never leaving his hands. His body rattled with every sob, every cry, every breath.

"Patrick," I whispered, trying to get him to look up as I rubbed small circles on his back. I lightly kissed his cheek and hugged him, but he flinched away.

"I don't deserve you." He cried and finally looked up. My heart broke as I saw the state he was in.

"Pa-"

"No." He cut me off. "I'm awful. I'm disgusting. You deserve so much better than me. Everyone does."

I pressed my hands to my temples. "What the hell are you talking about?" And then he told me what had happened not even an hour earlier.

"I'm sorry. I cheated on you. I'll just go now-"

I grabbed his arm and he winced. I let go, remembering the rope burns on his arms. "Patrick, you didn't cheat on me. You were held at gunpoint and tied down, as she tried to seduce you against your will. You did absolutely nothing wrong. It's my fault that my stupid former boss was in on any of this, If I just went to a different subway station I wouldn't have met you or have applied for that job and then he wouldn't know you and then you wouldn't have to deal with my problems about my mother. You took me in thinking you were helping me and you got thrown into this whole mess and you're potentially in danger because of me and I'm sorry."

"No, it's my fault. Pete told me about the texts you just got, they're from Elisa. And-"

"Will the two of you just shut the hell up with your low self-esteem?" Pete barged into the room. "None of this was either of your faults, stop blaming yourself! You're obviously freaked out from everything that happened, you just need a break. And I'm sorry Skye, but you have to go to Aaron's. He got you guys a last minute gig."

I turned to Patrick. "I'll be back as soon as possible. Text me if anything comes up."

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"You guys have been such a great audience tonight!" Aaron said into the microphone. Unlike our last gig, this one wasn't at a bar. It was at some family get together just outside of the city. It was around ten and we were finishing up, and the crowd had actually given us a little bit of attention, opposed to the drunken crowd we played to the other night.