Pete's POV

I drove Andy, Joe, and an unconscious Patrick to the Stump household. The hospital let us roll him out in a wheel chair, so it was easy to get him in and out of the house without carrying him.

I was a little afraid to what will happen when he wakes up. He was insane at the hospital, his grief took over and triggered the mental feel. It hurt my heart to see him like this. His tired, puppy eyes, his lips not quite bent into a frown, he's even started to let on a little weight. At least he's eating...

Andy and I had a Call of Duty tournament while Joe was sprawled out on the couch opposite to Patrick, scrolling through twitter feed. He'd occasionally sit up and say something funny or react to something we did, but he was happy with his social media.

In the middle of one of our games, Patrick started to wake up. He groaned a bit and ran a hand along his forehead, like he was going to wipe a headache away. I looked at him over my shoulder and paused our game.

Slowly, I came and sat next to him on his giant leather couch, "Hey sleeping beauty."

He smirked a little and propped himself up against a cushion, "What happened?"

"You were a badass back in the hospital, so they injected you with something to calm you down," I explained in an attempt to be cool.

His face sunk, his cheeks cherry red, "Right..."

Joe chuckled and looked up from his phone, "Never thought I'd see that side of you dude."

"Neither did I," he replied and sat up, leaning against the back of the couch, "I'm sorry guys. I don't know what got into me."

"It's alright," Andy entered, "The guys that injected you understood. It's hard to take these things lightly. It's hard on all of us."

He nodded, "Thanks for bringing me, but you don't have to stay here. I'm okay."

I pushed at his arm, "You trying to shove us out the window? We haven't even finished our game yet!"

Andy tossed me a controller and we kept playing. My smile faded as I thought. I wasn't here because I wanted to finish the game or even because I want to take care of Patrick. I'm really worried that he's going to do something that he'll regret.

Seeing him back there reminded me of when we were filming the Youngblood Chronicles. Patrick was the possessed demon thing with a hooked hand and blood stained skin and all of that. He played the act too well, and he wasn't acting this morning. I can't let him go through what I did.

I exploded right then and there and blood splattered all over the screen. Andy stamped a foot down and laughed at me. I laughed it off myself and put the controller in Patrick's lap.

"What kind of food do you have in this house?" I got up and went into his kitchen.

"I don't have pizza," he told me right away. I played a frown for him and he chuckled.

Opening his fridge was horrifying. He had next to nothing stored in here. No bread, no lunch meat, no pop or anything, "Dude! When's the last time you went grocery shopping?" I called out into his living room.

"I didn't go or do the shopping," Patrick said back.

I winced a little, didn't mean to do that. Of course, I'd be someone to bring that up, especially when he doesn't need to hear it. I grabbed four water bottles and set them on the table for each of us. Watching the tv, I tapped a beat on my bottle.

"What was that beat you were tapping on the car ride the other day?" Patrick asked, taking a few seconds to pry his eyes from the screen.

I tapped it again and he nodded, "Yeah, that one. I like that one."

That's weird, I'm not usually one to come up with musical stuff. That's Patrick's job. Occasionally, he'll write something really great and I'll push him into putting it on an album, but I never write music.

He hummed and played around with his voice as I continued to tap the beat. Music made him fall out of his misery. It had some sort of effect on him.

My phone started ringing from my pocket and I pulled it out, "It's Dan," our manager.

Joe and Andy groaned, but Patrick was too engrossed in the game to care.

"Yo, you're on speaker bro," I told him and set the phone down.

"Hey guys, it's been a while."

"Yeah it has," Andy said and leaned to the right with his controller, then jerked left.

"Where have you been?" Dan asked.

"Everywhere," Joe answered.

"Long story," I added.

"Well, would you like to tell the long story in an interview?" he asked.

Patrick muttered something under his breath and glanced at the phone. He didn't seem to happy about the idea. Patrick never really liked photo shoots or interviews. He's more of a studio and recording kind of guy. He's a man of his music, gotta hand it to him.

"It's only for a little bit, we'll put it up on YouTube for the fans and you're set. You won't have to tell your long story again," Dan explained.

"Alright," I told him and shrugged to Patrick.

"Great, see you tomorrow then," he said quickly and hung up.

"Wait tomorrow?!" I tried to jump in before he hung up, but was too late, "F***."

"We can't do it tomorrow," Joe said, nodding his head towards Patrick. I sighed and looked over at him.

"I could convince him to let you stay back?" I suggested.

He put down the controller and picked up his water, "No, I'm fine. I can handle a short interview."

"Okay." That was easy. Although, he didn't seem too sure. I don't want him to have to fake it for us.

We started getting hungry and Andy and Joe left to go pick up a pizza for us. It was just me and the little guy now. I went upstairs, found a fedora, and snuck down by him, placing it not so neatly on his head.

He smiled, "Oh, thanks," and fixed it.

I sat on the edge of the couch opposite to him, looking down at my hands and then up to him, "Patrick, can I talk to you about something serious?"

He turned the tv off and turned to me, "Never thought I'd see the day where Pete was serious."

I laughed a little and repositioned myself, "But really, it's gonna be hard for you the next few days. The second day without someone is always the worst."

He nodded understandingly and folded his legs under him.

"Do you still love Elisa?" I asked him curiously.

He thought about it and looked down, "I don't even know what I did wrong. I can make up as many reasons as I want, but I don't know the real reason. Of course, I still feel something for her, it's just not as strong anymore, now that she's gone."

"I know how that is," I told him, "Ashlee was the same way. So, I was young and made mistakes, but in the end, I still loved her. It really helps for someone to be there to pick up the pieces."

He nodded, "Meagan."

"Leah," I corrected for him and he swallowed back. I decided that maybe now's not the time to bring her up, "Would you ever go back to Elisa?"

He shrugged and cupped his cheek in his palm, "She left me, I wouldn't expect her to come back and beg me to stay. I don't think I'd go back now. It depends."

He's on the fence, that's not good. You can't live like that. This is what I'm afraid of. Maybe I do need Leah to come to my rescue.

I sighed, "It depends on Leah..."

He nodded, "Yeah," his voice faltered.

"What did she say, the night before she fell asleep? What made her tick?" I asked curiously, maybe it would help him to talk about it.

"She was upset and told me she felt her moods change and she was sorry. Then, I don't know, it just took a huge turn and the next thing I knew she was yelling at me to get out of her life and that we were done," he told me.

"Ouch," I bit my lip, "That's a stinger."

He nodded again, "Yeah."

"But you don't believe that she meant it, do you?"

He sighed and looked away, "I don't know Pete, she seemed pretty serious. What if she was actually telling the truth? I guess she just didn't want the same thing I did."

I looked him in the eye, "Patrick, it wasn't her saying that. It was the coma talking. It's kind of like- you don't blame a drunk person for the things they do when they're drunk. I can see it in your eyes, you love her - I know you do - but you're hurting behind them. I'm sorry, I really am, but you can't shut everyone else out. Don't close the door on me; not Andy, or Joe, or anyone. You need to understand that. You're questioning if she likes you back, and Patrick, she does. She really really does. You don't even know the half of it. She's madly in love with you. I mean, she's holding back her obsession for Fall Out Boy band for you. You, me, Andy, and Joe. Yeah, we've all had our times with her, but yours, yours was special. Trust me, when she wakes up, real soon, she'll tell you. Watch her."

I caught a smile out of him, "Thanks, man."

"No problem," I got up and hugged him.

Not too long, we were all stuffing our faces with food. Well, not all of us. Patrick didn't seem hungry at all. A sad piece of cheesy pizza cried on his plate. I nearly stole it and I shove it down my throat, but I want to see him eat something.

Even Andy was shoveling down slices. He bought a veggie pizza and was completely scarfing it down.

Patrick caught my stare and looked down at his plate for a while before picking it up and eating it. I was satisfied enough to continue my love for food.

After eating, I thought we should probably leave the guy alone, so I volunteered to drive the boys back home. They hopped into my car. I grabbed my keys from the counter and looked back at Patrick.

"I'm coming," he said, walking out to the driveway with me in his socks.

I hugged him and patted his back, "You be careful. Call me if you need something."

He smiled, probably fake, but it was something, "Thanks, but I think I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Speed-dial!" I pointed to my phone and ducked under the door. I backed out, watching his smile slowly fade as we left his house.

I reluctantly drove the car away.