Face Down ✓ | Patrick Stump

Epilogue

Last dedication of Face Down goes to Blu_Icing. A big shout out to every single reader, as you have helped this story get where it is now! As a side note, as of now, this story is entered in the wattys! I'm so sad to see this story end, yet I'm so proud of it! Thank you all for reading this!

*Five Years Later*

May 27, 2019

The day after my 24th birthday.

7 years since my father was diagnosed with cancer.

6 years and 364 days since my mother began her addiction to alcohol.

5 years and 154 days since my father passed.

5 years and 119 since my mother became abusive.

5 years since I ran off to Chicago

4 years and 364 days since I met Patrick.

The happiest day of my life.

I wish I could say that my life was perfect, that all of my problems had magically vanished over the past 5 years. But I couldn't. But at least I could say that they had faded away, into almost nothing.

I never saw my mother, nor Elisa after the incident at the hospital. The police put a warrant out for their arrests, yet they never found them. The last lead they had was over four years ago when they had supposedly gotten on a flight to Germany. Mr. Sparkson, however, was arrested a few days after the incident in the hospital, for mistreating his employees and working with Elisa, and eventually, my mother as well.

For the year after the incident, I lived in constant fear. I was paranoid that I was going to encounter one of them again. Every face in the crowd, every name in the air had belonged to either Elisa or my mother. But through it all, Patrick was there for me, every step of the way. I had also feared that he would leave me, as being with me put his own life in danger. But he never left my side. Emma had once said, "a person who truly loves you will never let you go, no matter what the situation is." Patrick truly loves me, and I truly love him.

What helped me get over my paranoia was the fact that I had begun to travel. Obsessionz, the band with Aaron, Connor, Emma, and I, had racked up quite the audience on YouTube. Pete had noticed this, and even got letters from the fans telling him about us. Eventually, he signed us to his record label, DCD2. Shortly after signing us, we had found out that we would be opening for Paramore on tour. We were completely ecstatic. Currently, we were opening on tour for Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco, as the two bands loved to tour together, and the first show was tonight, in Chicago. We had already performed, and Panic! was just wrapping up their portion.

"Thank you, Chicago, you guys have been an amazing audience tonight!" Brendon screamed into the microphone. "We have just one last song for you-" The crowd immediately screamed, and from backstage, I could catch a glimpse of the crowd, and a few girls in the front row were sobbing. I don't blame them. "This is I Write Sins, not Tragedies!"

Just as they started the song, a pair of arms snaked around my waist, causing me to jump and let out a small squeal. "Patrick!" I whined. "Stop doing that!"

He just kissed me on my cheek. "Mhm, you know you love it." He mumbled into my shoulder.

I noticed his lack of talking, and how he buried his face into my shoulder. I started walking away from the stage, taking his hand. We walked into one of the dressing rooms, so he could actually hear me. His eyes darted around rapidly, and he wouldn't make eye contact. I rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I asked. He just nodded.

"Yeah, just...uh, nervous." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor, biting his lips.