FicWad

I felt his arms tighten their grip on me as he explained, "Every single day, I thought about what I said to you. Now, I have to make it clear to you when I say that I didn‘t mean any of it. How it came out was so much worse than I was thinking…I-I didn‘t think it was possible for me to sink beneath the levels of the worst kind of man. But I did. And I couldn‘t be more sorry."
He then swirled me around so that I was face to face to him. My legs quivered beneath me and I realized that there was no Andy to ruin this moment. Patrick really meant it. I could see it in his eyes how much he wished he could just go back in time and change the way things turned out. His lips were so close to mine as I recalled memories of forcing my lips onto his not long ago. Then, our lips touched gently as I wrapped my arms around his neck instinctively. But something occurred to me just then.
I pulled away slightly, leaving Patrick confused with his lips still puckered from befuddlement. I giggled before making my thought be known.
"Maybe, I‘m being too forgiving and giving you too much free play," I suggested while backing away. He shot me a "You've got to be kidding me," look before laughing and admitting shyly, "Oh come on! It was just a happy birthday, "I haven't seen you in three years" kiss to bring back some of the good memories!"
His face was so priceless as he said that, making me burst into a fit of uncontrollable giddy laughter. Stupid hormones.
Nervously, I licked my lips and found that his taste still lingered in my mouth. I shyly stared at the floor. I guess he noticed an awkward silence too because he randomly asked, "So, how much longer do you have to be in school until summer vacation?"
"On Friday, why do you ask?" I asked slightly curious of what he had in mind. He smiled and said, "I was hoping we could possibly consider you as the very first photographer for our first Warped Tour this summer."
"Oh my god! Are you serious? Warped tour? Oh wow!" I exclaimed dumbfounded as the adrenaline inside kicked in and led me screaming over to Patrick, jumping on him, and hugging him tightly.
He was rather startled by my reaction and to our surprise Pete and Jaden walking in on that exact moment.
Jaden then exclaimed, "Wow! What's going on?"
Then Pete glanced down at her questionably and asked, "What?"
She then mumbled in disbelief, "I don't think I've ever seen her this happy before. Like ever."
"Man, you should have saw them two years ago," he smirked as he sat down on my bed.
Patrick then released me onto the floor, his face lit up as he responded, "I'm glad you're excited about it. I don't think I'd want to go unless you were there too. It's a big step up from where we're used to and I'd get so nervous..."
I made a face and said, "Why would me being there make a difference?"
He looked immediately towards the ground and said, "I don't know why but I find it really easy to sing when you're around. I guess all those times you sung at me just did the trick."
"Aww, that makes me feel special."
"You are," he said with a gesturing smile as he stared me in the eyes, bringing back that romantic aura that we had so long ago.
Unfortunately, the aura was shattered by an evil two-headed monster called Andy and Pete.
"Pattycakes, I thought I told you not to mess around with my sister!" Andy squealed and pointed at me. Patrick looked amused and started to laugh a little. God, he had the best laugh I've ever heard.

I stepped away as Pete and Andy both held Patrick down as Pete gave him a noogie and scolded, "Gosh Trick, I thought I told you not to make up with her right away! You’re such a damn romantic sometimes!"

As I watched the boys give him a hard time, I shook my head and began to ask myself if this was really happening...
Did I really just kiss Patrick? It's just been forever since I saw any of them and they've all changed so much…I’m just blown away.
But Patrick stood out individually. Oh wow. I'm astonished with how much his physical features haven changed. His hair was quite longs and his eyes were more of a greenish blue. He was thinner and a lot more built than I remembered. He's grown up so much...it's a shame I couldn't have witnessed the growth myself...

"Hey," Jaden said softly as she walked over and stood beside me, “you look like you’re deep in thought. What are you thinking about?”

I shrugged and answered, “I was just wondering if this is all a really good dream and tomorrow morning I’m going to wake up and realize this didn’t happen. Because I’d be really pissed if that was the case.”

"I wanted to talk to you about Patrick," she said seriously as she leaned against the desk beside me. I mumbled, "What about him?"
"I'm a little bit confused because this morning you told me you hate him and then all of this happens. And from I can tell, you seem really happy," she spilled out in one breath. Smiling guiltily, I asked, "Do you want to know the whole story?"
"Yes, everything."

So I explained to her every tiny detail about the romantic summer I spent with Patrick and the guys, and how it turned out to be a big misunderstanding between Patrick and I at the end. Thus, here we are now.
"I'm so happy for you!" she oozed as I sighed, remembering that they were all here with me too. I don't know why but inside I felt a bunch of gratitude but at the same time, I felt slightly unsure.
"Hey, we can't forget her present!" Joe remembered and whipped out a box from under the bed. He then handed it to me and I stared at it thoroughly as everyone waited for me to open it. I pulled the top of the box off and saw a brand new professional Sony cybershot camera sitting all by itself in the box.

Smiling extremely wide, I squealed, "Wow, I really needed one! Thank you guys so much!"
Andy smiled and snickered, "Yeah, do you know how many hours I slaved trying to figure out how to assemble the tripod?"
My mouth fell open as I reached out to pull Andy into a hug, "Aww, that's so sweet of you to take the time to do something you haven't the slightest clue about!"
Cringing, he retorted, "Ewww, you don’t have to get all mushy about it. It wasn't THAT hard to put together. Jeez."

With that, he pulled away nervously and stared at the wall. Awww, I embarrassed him! I giggled to myself as I turned around and thanked everyone for the awesome present.

Pete then looked at Patrick with a serious face and asked, "So, did you tell her?"

"Tell me what?" I asked suspiciously as Patrick whipped his head around panicked. Pete bit his lip while giving one of his infamous guilty expressions.

"Tell you that...we're throwing you a party tonight!" Patrick managed to say after a few seconds.

"Oh," I murmured somewhat disappointedly.

"Well, I've got a few days before Friday...so I guess you guys should find someplace to stay," I continued ignoring the awkward silence. They all looked at each other and then Andy explained, "Well, we were hoping you'd let us stay here."
"What? Where would you guys sleep? There's not enough room in here for two girls and four guys!" I argued.
"I thought your dorm would be bigger than this," he mentioned after realizing how small it was.
I groaned and said, "Well, how about we find you guys a hotel?"
"And then we can party!" yelled Pete. I smiled and said, "Today I turned twenty-one...which means I can legally buy booze!"
We all raised our fists in the air and cheered, except Jaden who stood awkwardly and said, "But I'm straight edge..."
"Well, good for you, kid!" Pete said and slapped her on the back. She winced, being so small and brittle, and said, "I'm not a kid. I'm twenty years old."
"Oh. You're pretty cute for a young one," he said not looking at her, but at the ceiling.
She made a face and said, "Well how old are you?"
"Twenty-four."
"That's not much older than me!" she complained.
He just smiled and shook his head. "Well, you should come party with us anyway. You don't have to drink anything if you don't want to," Patrick said to Jaden. The politeness in his voice made my cheek start to twitch into a smile.


Later that night
So, the five of us all went and bought a bunch of alcohol after finding a hotel for them before throwing a little, and I mean TINY, party in my dorm. There were 10 people in all and most of them were couples that cramped themselves in the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Patrick and Pete were laughing it up on the couch. I stood on the other side of the room, wishing that I knew what they were talking about. Patrick looked so happy as he was chatting up a storm that sent people crowding around him.
I decided that I would ignore the scene and get another drink. I’d already three beers and a shot of whisky but surely another one couldn’t hurt...

But then Patrick's calm voice came from behind me, and all traces of stubbornness simply retreated.
"There's something I've wanted to tell you," he said. I nodded and said, "Okay. Tell me."
He hesitated and gestured that we should take this into the hallway. I followed him out there and he stared at the floor nervously. He then looked up, leaving me breathless with those large bluish eyes of his staring at me so confidently.
"Nathalie, I really did like you...I still do. That never changed. I know it seemed like I was ashamed by you... I figured, just a summer fling, right? I thought it'd just be done and gone. But that wasn't how I felt at all," he paused after a while to see how I was reacting before continuing, "You see, from the day you left, my life just seemed more frustrating. Every time I tried to write a song, all I could put in words was how much I missed your presence and how I just wanted you around so I could feel at ease again. I didn’t it was possible for a guy like me to feel this way after only a month of being together but…you did it to me. You make me smile more than anyone else can. I guess where I'm going with this is that...I love you."
I stared blankly, my mouth speechless and in awestruck, oh and because I was drunk beyond comprehension.
He sighed and then nervously chuckled, "Now I just wish I would've stated this speech when you were sober..."
"I love you too," I said abruptly, not rethinking the situation to the fullest.
He smiled and covered his face with his hair and said, "Silly girl. You don't have any idea what you're saying."
Then he put his arm around me and walked me into my dorm as everybody was walking out and helped me into my bed and tucked me in, leaving my hopeless drunken corpse confused and smiling idiotically. He leaned down and kissed my forehead and whispered, "Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."