25. A storm knocks down a tree in front of Gabe's house.

"Dad, can I borrow the DeLorean for today?" I asked as I picked at the pancakes that Mom had made for us. Finally, Friday had come, and I couldn't wait to go out with Patrick, racing through the city, windows down, with my boyfriend by my side. I had put on a brand new outfit, and I had spent forever styling my hair, all to impress Patrick. All I needed now was the car.

"Why do you need the car?" Dad asked.

"I'm going into the city with a friend," I explained. My parents knew that I was bisexual, and they were usually pretty supportive, but I didn't want to tell them that Patrick was more than just a friend if I didn't have to.

"I thought you said yesterday that Gabe and Brendon were both busy today," Mom said.

"They are," I said. "I'm going with Patrick."

"Who's Patrick?" Mom asked.

"Isn't that the boy that you're obsessed with?" Hillary said.

"Shut up, Hillary," I said.

"You're going on a date with him, aren't you?" Hillary said. "That explains why you're so dressed up."

Mom and Dad exchanged a look, and after an awkward silence, Dad said, "Pete, you can have the car, but please be careful."

"I will," I assured them. I shoveled pancakes into my mouth - all I wanted was to see Patrick as quickly as possible. "Is there a storm coming by any chance?"

Dad gave me a confused look, followed by another awkward silence. "The weatherman didn't say anything about a storm," he said.

"I just heard something about a big storm coming from a friend," I said, which was technically true. It had been sunny all week, but I couldn't be too careful. There wasn't much that Gabe or I could do about the weather, so as long as there weren't any big storms coming, Gabe would be okay.

"Your friend must have been mistaken," Dad said.

I finished off my breakfast and then said, "I'm leaving. I'll see you all later."

I ran out to the garage, got into the DeLorean, and drove to Patrick's house. When I knocked on the door, Patrick opened it and stepped outside, dressed in an adorable outfit with his fedora perched on his head. He adjusted his glasses and smiled when he saw me. "It's so good to see you, Pete," he said as we walked to the car.

"It's good to see you too," I said.

I climbed into the passenger seat of the DeLorean, and when Patrick sat down next to me, I told him that he could play anything that he liked. Patrick looked through my collection, but he soon declared, "These are all way too depressing." He turned on the radio instead, and even though half of the songs that came on were synthesized garbage, we screamed along to every single one of them.

As we approached the city, Patrick stared out the window. "What are you looking at?" I asked him.

"You know when you're in middle school, and you say that you 'love' something, and some budding smartass says, 'If you love it so much, why don't you marry it?'" Patrick said.

"I probably was that budding smartass," I said. "Where are you going with this anyways?"

"I'd so marry Chicago," Patrick said. He went back to staring out the window, in awe of the skyscrapers that we were about to drive past.

"So you're going to cheat on me with a city?" I said.

"This city is my city, and I love it," Patrick said.

I was starting to think that my boyfriend had gone insane. "Where are we going first?" I asked him.

"Let's go to the Art Institute," Patrick suggested.

I had been there only a month earlier, but I was fine with going again, especially if that was what Patrick wanted. "Sounds good," I said. We drove to the Art Institute, found a place to park, and went inside.

We spent a few hours wandering through the museum, and it was completely different from the time that I had gone to the Art Institute with Gabe and Brendon. Patrick didn't goof around or crack any jokes - he carefully admired each piece of art, and then moved on to the next one. Sometimes, when we were in some obscure exhibit with nobody else around, he would reach over and hold my hand, and there would be a kick drum beating in my chest again. I loved Gabe and Brendon, but going to the Art Institute with them could never compare to how I felt when I was with Patrick.

Just before we left the museum, we walked through the Impressionist exhibit, and Patrick showed me a painting called Paris Street; Rainy Day. "This one is one of my favorites," he told me.

"I like it too," I said, admiring the artist's smooth brushstrokes. I didn't know much about art, but I could see why Patrick liked this one. "It kind of makes me wish that I was in Paris."

"Chicago's better than Paris," Patrick said.

"Chicago is so two years ago," I said. "Besides, don't you want to see the world?"

"Only if I can do it with you," Patrick said.

We stood in front of the painting for a few minutes, enjoying the moment, but we soon decided to leave the Art Institute. "Where should we go next?" I asked as we approached the DeLorean.

"How about the Sears Tower?" Patrick suggested.

I drove to the Sears Tower, and after I parked the DeLorean, we took the elevator up to the observation deck. However, Patrick found that it was difficult to see anything. "It is kind of cloudy," I admitted.

"The tall guy in front of me is a bigger problem," Patrick said. "I wish that I wasn't so short. It's just irritating." I lifted Patrick up so that he could see, and he didn't even have to look back to know that it was me. "Thanks Pete," he said.

Eventually, the tall guy left, and Patrick and I were able to be alone together. We held each other as we watched the Lake Michigan waves roll by, the skyline in our veins. I could have stayed up there forever, but Patrick suggested that we go down to Navy Pier before it got too late. I, of course, couldn't say no to him, so we went back down the elevator and drove to Navy Pier.

After we parked, I decided to wander around and do a little shopping. I poked my head into a few stores, and Patrick reluctantly followed me. "Come on, Pete," Patrick whined. "I want to go on the Ferris Wheel."

"Just give me a minute," I said as I entered a particularly intriguing shop.

Most of the clothes for sale were in my favorite color, and I soon spotted something that I wanted to buy. I picked up the studded leather belt and as I tried it on, I asked Patrick what he thought. "You always look beautiful, Pete," he said.

"Thanks," I said. I bought the belt, and we walked around Navy Pier for a while. We did end up going on the Ferris Wheel, and I got to cuddle with my beautiful boyfriend at the top, but it was getting kind of cloudy. I briefly worried that a storm might be coming, and that it might knock down a tree in front of Gabe's house, just like in his vision. However, I pushed that thought out of my head. I couldn't think about Gabe or his visions right now. Today was about Patrick and I.

"I've always wanted to take the Architecture Tour," Patrick said as we walked past a spot where we could buy tickets.

"Let's do it," I said. I took out my wallet and paid for our tickets, and soon, we were aboard a boat on the Chicago River. Our tour guide was telling us all about the skyscrapers that we were passing by, but with an amazing guy like Patrick next to me, it was hard to focus on anything other than him. I knew that I would never forget the way that the wind rustled through his hair or the way that his eyes sparkled when he looked at me. In another situation, I might have wished that I had my camera to capture the moment, but when I was with Patrick, I just wanted to live in the present. There was a light on in Chicago, and its name was Patrick Stump.

"I'm going to miss you so much after we go away to college," Patrick said to me as the clouds in the sky loomed over us.

"I'll miss you too," I said. "I'm not even sure that going to DePaul was the right decision."

"Why do you say that?" Patrick said.

"My dad is the one who wants me to go to college and become a lawyer like him," I said. "It's not what I want." I had never said any of this out loud before - I had admitted that I didn't want to go to college to Mikey in one of my letters to him, but I had never told anyone else.

"What do you want then?" Patrick asked.

"I want to move to London and become Robert Smith," I said.

It seemed ridiculous when I said it out loud, and Patrick giggled when he heard it, but it was the truth. "London's a nice city, but it's not Chicago," he told me.

"You're obsessed with Chicago," I said.

"It's the city I grew up in," Patrick said.

"I grew up here too, but I'm not nearly as obsessed as you are," I said.

Patrick shrugged and then said, "I'm not sure that I want to go to college either. I don't know what I want, but going to Northwestern and then getting some job that my parents would approve of and making tons of money isn't part of it. I want something more out of life."

"You should be a singer," I suggested.

"I'm better at playing the drums," Patrick said.

"But you have a soul voice!" I argued.

"I'm glad you like my voice, Pete, but I can't be a singer," Patrick said. "I guess it's okay though. I still have time to figure out what I should do with my life. I just want to do something that makes other people happy."

"You make me happy, Trick," I said.

Patrick blushed and said, "You make me happy too, Pete." He snuggled next to me, and I wondered just what I had done to deserve someone as incredible as Patrick. Along with velvet lips and the eyes to pull me in, he was smart, creative, and most of all, kinder than anyone I had ever met - how could someone so perfect exist? Even if he didn't know where he was going, I desperately hoped that he had room for one more troubled soul.

As our boat approached the dock, rain began to fall. "That's weird," Patrick said. "The weatherman said that it would be sunny all day."

"The weatherman's usually wrong," I told him. "It's not raining that hard though - it's only a light drizzle." Just as I said that, it started to pour. Our tour guide quickly finished talking so that we could all get out of the boat, but it didn't make much of a difference. Everyone on the tour was already drenched. Patrick took my hand, and the two of us ran off the boat and across the city streets. "Where are we going?" I asked Patrick, but he didn't answer.

Patrick led me into a seemingly-abandoned alley, where I presumed that nobody would see us. It was still pouring, but neither of us cared. My emotions took over as I leaned closer to Patrick, but he was the one who closed the distance between us, kissing me gently. It was a moment that I had been waiting for ever since we met, and it was everything that I had imagined it to be and more. We deepened the kiss, and I savored the sweet taste of his lips, the rhythm of the rain keeping time.

I broke the kiss, leaving us both breathless and at a loss for words. What was I supposed to say after such a perfect moment? My heart was pounding as drops of rain hit the sidewalk, soaking into my boots. Patrick looked into my eyes, and it was clear that he couldn't quite believe the magic that had happened either. "That was incredible," he whispered.

"Let's do it again," I said. I kissed him again, deeply and passionately, and Patrick kissed me back. We were perfectly in sync, and I knew when electricity flowed through my veins and the taste of rainwater and Chicago hit my lips that there was no greater feeling than this.

The storm didn't stop. If anything, the thunder got even louder, and when Patrick spotted lightning in the distance, he broke our kiss and said, "We should probably leave."

I didn't want to go, but I agreed that it probably wasn't a great idea to stay outside, no matter how much I wanted to keep kissing Patrick in the rain. I took his hand, and we ran to the car. Once both of us were safely inside the DeLorean, I started driving home.

Driving home wasn't easy - the rain made it nearly impossible to see anything, even with the windshield wipers on. However, that just gave me more time to chat with Patrick. I didn't want our date to end, although I knew that we would have to say goodbye once I arrived at his house. Once we arrived in Shermer, I circled around town several times, just so I could spend more time with my boyfriend. When I did finally get to his house, Patrick kissed me one more time and then said, "We should do this again sometime, Pete."

"We should," I said. "I had a great time." It was an understatement - words could never express how I felt about my date with Patrick.

Patrick smiled and then said, "So long and goodnight" as he climbed out of the DeLorean. He waved to me as he ran into his house, and I drove home, suddenly lonely. Now that Patrick was gone, I didn't know what to do. I reminded myself that I would see him again soon - I could even visit him after my shift on Sunday if I wanted to. It wasn't like this was the last time I would see him. Instead, it was the beginning of something truly magical.

When I entered the house, the phone was ringing. I picked it up as I watched the storm rage outside. "Hello?" I said.

"Pete!" Gabe shouted. "The tree in front of my house knocked down because of the storm!"

"That's unfortunate," I said. It wasn't like there was anything that either of us could have done about that.

"I have the worst luck ever," Gabe complained. "It's not fair that stuff like this keeps happening to me."

"I'm sorry, Gabe," I said. "We'll stop the next vision." I desperately wanted to tell Gabe about my date with Patrick, but that just seemed cruel. I would be rubbing it in his face that my life was going wonderfully, and he was dying.

"You don't get it," Gabe said. "There are only fourteen visions left before I die."

"That's still kind of a lot," I said.

"It's still terrifying," Gabe said. "We have to stop this."

"We'll stop it," I said. "I promise."

"Are you going to Brendon's play?" Gabe asked. "Opening night is tomorrow."

"I already have my tickets," I said. I didn't particularly like musical theater, but if Brendon was in a play, I had to support him. That's what friends were for.

"Great," Gabe said. "I'll see you then." He hung up, leaving me alone to dream of Patrick. The whole date was like something out of my dreams. If I had any doubt in my mind that Patrick was right for me, it was gone now. I was certain that he was the perfect boyfriend for me, and I would never stop marveling at the fact that he thought of me in the same way I thought of him. Being with him never failed to make me happy, and as I lay on the couch, I hoped that we would have many more days like the one that we spent together in Chicago.