sorry for the big time skips. it is now Christmas of 2015, and fall out boy are getting bigger.

we welcome back some other grads in this chapter. brendon urie will make a performance, literally. gerard comes back.

all in all, this is a sad chapter, if I do say so myself.

but peterick action is nearing, as you can see from the ending of this.

just be patient.

Patrick is nervous. That is the simplest way to put it. They have a huge show in less than a week for the Christmas Ball at West Chicago High. Gerard isn't coming home for Christmas because of finals. Or at least that's his new excuse.

Patrick hasn't seen Gerard since he left six months ago. They used to talk every day, but now they only talk once a week. Pete isn't as happy as he thought he would be.

He thought he would be thrilled tho see Gerard and Patrick's relationship crash and burn like he knew it would. It has, though. Crashed and burned, I mean. There's nothing but self pity on both sides.

But Pete isn't happy. Not at all. He, honestly, feels bad for Patrick.

Nonetheless, everyone is excited and nervous. This is their biggest gig yet. They've played in small bars that they weren't even old enough to get in. Name any small event, and they've probably played it. But nothing this big.

They are all very nervous, but Patrick is most definitely the worst out of the four.

They practise every chance they get and have written at least ten songs to preform. Patrick is actually working on his own. He doesn't have a title yet, but the lyrics are exactly what he's feeling for Gerard at the moment.

It'll be a sight to see and a song to hear if he ever decides to preform it.

--

THE CONCERT DAY

"We'd like to welcome our opening act for the night to the stage! Everyone please put your hands together for Panic! At the Disco," Kellin announced to the whole crowd or students at the ball.

Brendon Urie walks onto stage with the rest of his band. If he can come back from Florida for Christmas, why can't Gerard come back from Maine?

"Hello, West Chicago High! My name is Brendon Urie, and this is called 'Miss Jackson'!" Then they launch into a really good song that's catchy as hell.

Patrick and Pete smile at the band on stage. Brendon looks like he's having a ball. Patrick likes Brendon a lot more since he graduated. He's not a dick. He even apologised.

And then they go into a semi-slow song called 'New Perspective'. That's probably going to be Patrick's new favourite song.

"Patrick, may I have this dance?" Pete asks him. Patrick nods and lets Pete pull him into the middle of the room. They away along to the music, along with the couples around them.

"Stop there, and let me correct it. I wanna live life from a new perspective. You come along because I love your face," Brendon sings. Pete mouths the lyrics along as they dance.

Pete whispers an, "I love you," after he and Patrick pull away. Patrick does not hear it. Pete doesn't know whether to be happy or disappointed.

Panic! sings three more songs (including Lying Is the Most Fun, I Write Sins Not Tragedies, and The Ballad of Mona Lisa) before Fall Out Boy makes their way backstage.

"This is our last song. It goes out to a very special guy. You know who you are," Brendon says. And then he looks to his left at the bassist, Dallon. Dallon just smirks. "Cross my heart and hope to die. Burn my lungs and curse my eyes,"

And then the song is over, and Kellin is back on the stage. "Woohoo! That was some damn good music right there! Now, here's the band you've all been waiting for. Please welcome Fall Out Boy to the stage,"

Patrick, Pete, Joe, and Andy take their respectable spots on the stage. Patrick adjusts his ear piece before saying, "Who's ready to get this holiday started?" The whole crowd screams in response. "This is called 'A Little Less Sixteen Candles,'"

Their whole set goes through way too fast. Patrick doesn't notice Gerard sneak in with a white rose in his hand.

"Thank you for that, guys. Now I have a song I want to preform," Pete's eyes go wide at Patrick. The rest of them out their instruments down and sit on the edge of the stage, watching Patrick grab an acoustic and a stool. "We all have that one person that we don't want to see this holiday, right? You know, the one pissed you off, and you never want to speak to them again? Well, this is a song about that person. This is 'Yule Shoot Your Eye Out,'"

He starts strumming the guitar as Gerard and the rest of the crowd watch. He's beautiful. There's nothing more captivating at the exact moment.

Patrick sings a very hateful song about not wanting a person to come home for Christmas. If you know Patrick well, it's obviously about Gerard.

"Don't come home for Christmas. You're the last thing I wanna see, underneath the tree," He continues strumming, shutting his eyes. "Merry Christmas, I could care less,"

The song doesn't get any less hateful, and by the look on Gerard's face, he knows it's about him. Patrick has still not seen him.

By the last time he sings the chorus, the whole crowd is singing alone. Everyone except for Pete, Gerard, Joe, and Andy.

Gerard sets the rose on an empty table once the song ends and walks back out of the gym doors, unseen by everyone except for Pete, Andy, and Joe.

Pete finds Patrick backstage on the floor, his head in his hands. When Pete sits down beside him and puts a hand on his knee, Patrick says, "He was here. He was here, and I preformed that hateful song that I wrote for him. In front of him,"

"It's okay, Patrick," Pete tells him. They sit there in silence, other than Patrick sniffling every few seconds.

"He broke up with me," Patrick says eventually, staring off into space. "By text, Pete. I hurt him that bad,"

Pete doesn't have the heart to tell him that Gerard was probably going to end it tonight anyways. They weren't working out on either side. Gerard cheated on Patrick with Frank multiple times, and although Patrick remained faithful, he always knew something wasn't right.

"His loss, then. Come on, Patrick. There's only a few songs left. Let me help you forget about him," Pete says. He stands up and offers Patrick a hand. The crying boy looks up and takes it.

Pete has never seen anything more beautiful than Patrick Stump in that very moment.

They dance the rest of the night away, and Patrick tries to forget all about Gerard Way and the heartbreak and heartache they caused each other.

It helps that he has someone that cares for him very much in front of him the whole night.

Pete is the best friend he could ever ask for.