The Man Next Door

Chapter 18: Bitter Cold

"A text would've been nice..." he says in a deep tone, his face partially tinted into an orange-gold due to the amount of light lingering through the cracks of the door.

Vera didn't mind the darkness of the room, all that Vera necessarily thought about was how the emitting light outlined the gentle shape of his jaw and cutting nose in the most gorgeous way possible. "I've already told you," she says as she felt her cheeks heat up, her voice sounding full and direct as the room they were talking in was patched with coats and piled chairs, "I don't want Sebastian to suspect anything."

"Does he go through your phone?"

"No of course not," Vera huffs quietly, visible condensation coming out of her parted mouth, "It's because we're sharing a phone, for now... you know we've had hospital bills to pay off and with Sebastian out of work still technically recovering its, it's hard."

"You could've told me that too, you know, that night... where I thought we actually might be on the same page with everything that was... happening," Patrick nods, swallowing deeply as his wide, dark pupils focused on her own.

"But we are on the same page," at this time she walks up to him and takes the puzzled mans clenched, cold hand into her own, "in fact all I could really think about during our time in this stuffy closet was how beautiful you look in this lighting like I'm just realizing how gorgeous you are."

Patrick takes in a deep breath and finally reveals a clean white smile, helplessly chuckling, and looking away as Vera childishly smiles and gawks at him, "You can't be serious right now, are you drunk?"

And with that overly dramatic sentence escaping his mouth, she swiftly walks up to him and crashes her lips against his, their mouth parting open steadily and slowly, allowing Vera to slip out two simple words, "try me."

"Hey hey hey, cut it out," he finally built up the energy to say, "I have dinner to get to."

"Okay. I mean yeah sure, go back to Claire."

"You're married for pete's sake! How are you upset?" Vera shrugs him off, opening her mouth to snap back at him but starts to stutter out an incomprehensible sentence instead, "What you don't understand is that I want you, not Claire...you." Patrick continues, "and if you actually feel the same way, you'd have ended this little problem by now." he points, his fingers unknowingly twisting the jeweled ring already.

-

After what felt like an eternity of bumping music, food, and booze, the wedding ceremony was finally coming to it's conclusion, leaving the main man and his best friend anything but sober.

"You sure you don't want to end it off with a skrewball?"

"That doesn't even taste like whiskey," he mumbles, leaning up against the bar with his collar unproportioned, "and no Sawyer, I'm okay. I've had enough thanks."

"You've hardly had as much as me."

"Yeah well, what can I say," Patrick smirks, slowly beginning to walk off as he felt nothing but exhausted, "not really my thing, in fact, I think it sucks-"

Patrick felt his body jolt back out of nowhere, instantly turning his head from where he was looking to where he was walking, finding a dark haired man who was approximately his height, definitely shorter, standing before him. He scrunches his eyes as he takes a step back.

"What's up, Patrick," Sebastian smiles clownishly, patting the slim man on the shoulder, "look I'm sorry about, the last time we saw each other, it was stupid, all of it was."

"I thought it was quite necessary, actually," he says in response, his eyes still scrunched.

"Well, I didn't think you'd know Sawyer," Sebastian says, ignoring his response and pointing his arm out in the direction where Sawyer was seated, "We used to play music together, I play the Cello."

"Oh, you know Sawyer, so that's why you and Vera swung by," Patrick vaguely laughs before wobbling around him, "that's great, now will you excuse me."

"I'm guessing you'll be needing a ride?" Vera says, appearing to be right behind Sebastian. The second Patrick laid his lost eyes on her his tired face instantly lit up, sharing a genuine smile with her, unlike the one he was sharing with Sebastian a moment ago.

"Hey," he says in a delicate tone as he walked up closer to her, he reached out for her hand but was immediately oh-so-rudely interrupted by Sebastian.

"Sure, I can drive since I haven't had much," Sebastian chimes, "We'll take you." Patrick rolled his eyes before looking in Sebastian's direction, bitterness is all he could interpret from his cold, snake-like glare, it always gave him the shivers.

"Here's your coat, it's pretty cold at this hour," Vera swallows as they step out the door, an unsettling fire building up from her neck to her cheeks as Patrick took his coat out of her hand, his fingers accidentally trickling over her skin as he grasps for it, taking much longer than usual.

"Got it?"

"Yea," Patrick smiles, the frostiness that was filling the air eventually slapping him in the face, making his smile fall into a frown, "no snow?"

"No snow."

"That's so shitty."

Patrick stuffed his clammy hands into his pockets and watched as Sebastian dashed ahead, and Vera only being a few steps before him. With the car hidden in the depths of the packed parking lot and Sebastian almost out of sight he picks up the pace, finally landing beside Vera, "better keep me stable," he says, looping an arm around hers.

"Patrick!!" Vera hisses in a whisper, a smile creeping at the corners of her delicate lips as she purposely starts to lean up against him, taking advantage of the natural warmth his body was giving off.

"You're cold and I can't walk properly, it's the most perfect opportunity." They both laugh, keeping each other as close as physically possible.