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"Pete, think about this. You can't just go rushing off to Australia!" Patrick said, exasperatedly. He was exhausted, after his huge fight with Addison he had received a call from Pete telling him he was about to leave for Australia, and he'd left a very angry wife at home to race over the Pete's house for the second time that day.
"Of course I can. I'm going to get Petey back, you'll see." Pete said, defiantly.
"I know you miss him, but don't you think storming into Rachel's house will harm your chances of getting him back?"
"I don't care! I haven't seen my son for months!" Pete shot back.
"I know." Patrick said, sympathetically. "I really think you should stop and think about this, buddy, you know? Get a good night's sleep and you'll have a clear head in the morning."
"What's the point? That's another morning to wake up without my son. Another morning to let lawyers make excuses and for Rachel to ignore my calls. Well fuck that!"
Patrick didn't know what to do but sit on the end of Pete's bed, watching him run around his bedroom and throw clothes into a suitcase at Patrick's feet.
"Pete, please don't go." Patrick said, with a small sigh. "You're just angry."
"Fucking A-right I'm angry!" Pete said in a raised voice. "Listen Patrick, I was beside you when Christina was trying to take your kids away from you. I sat with you every day and you can't get behind my decision to take ONE lousy flight over there?"
"It's a different situation," Patrick replied, calmly.
"No, it's not!" Pete exploded. He was so angry he wanted to hit Patrick, shake him into seeing sense. Why could no one see why he was so broken? Even Patrick, who had been torn in half in the past, couldn't understand why he was so angry and so hurt!
"It's not different. I might never see my son again! MY SON, PATRICK!" Pete spat. "I can't BREATHE without him. You remember how you felt at the thought of never seeing Danni or Josh again when you were in court... well I'm LIVING THAT NIGHTMARE!"
Patrick watched as Pete vented, feeling useless. How could he possibly make Pete see that his plan was going to make everything worse?
"For the past few months I've watched the woman I love fall out of love with me. To watch her start to hate me and for what? For NOTHING! All I can see is that look on her face, Patrick... the night she left she looked at me like I was crap. Like she had been forced to stay with me. And I've listened to her beat me down, talk to me like I'm a piece of shit, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let her raise my son to think that I never gave a damn about him."
Pete paused to catch his breath and Patrick knew that he wasn't finished yet. He shifted while Pete composed himself.
"I never thought that someone I loved so much could turn out to hate me," Pete said, quietly, as though he were only saying it to himself. "I never want to see that look on her face again. But I can't let her take him away from me, Patrick. I just can't."
Hot, angry tears pricked at Pete's eyes as he looked at Patrick, who nodded empathetically.
"I'm not going down without a fight. Just like you." Pete said, after a long silence. Patrick took a deep breath and stood up. He walked over to Pete and watched him, carefully.
"I'll support you whatever you do, but I seriously think you should sit down and think about this."
"Screw this. No one got anywhere by sitting down and thinking." Pete said, grabbing the suitcase and storming out of the room.


Patrick sat for a second wondering whether to follow him, and hauled himself up with another sigh. He knew when Pete was in one of his moods there was no point in trying to talk him out of it. He was going to end up in Australia and realize his mistake.
"I'll call you when I'm there." Pete said once they were at the front door.
"I'll drive you." Patrick replied, reaching for his keys. Pete held up his hand and shook his head.
"I'll be fine. Thanks."
"Pete..." Patrick started, grabbing one last chance to make him change his mind. Pete closed his eyes and shook his head again. It broke Patrick's heart to watch his best friend hurt so openly and so deeply. He bit back his words and nodded.
"Okay. Safe flight man."



And he could only watch as Pete threw his suitcase into his car and drove away, the tail lights becoming more and more distant with each second. When the car was out of sight, Patrick shook his own head and made his way to his own car with a heavy heart.
Patrick spent the ride home bracing himself for the inevitable bust up that was going to occur the second he walked in the house. For the second time that night his wife was going to look at him like she hated him, accuse him of putting his family second. He wasn't sure if his heart could take much more tonight, the day's events had left him wanting to crawl into bed and sleep until every issue was resolved.


He opened the door and stepped inside to be greeted by silence. He waited, then looked at his watch. It was past midnight. He was in a hell of a lot of trouble, it seemed.
Making his way upstairs, he pushed his bedroom door open quietly and saw Addison's sleeping figure in the bed.

"Addison?" He whispered. "Baby?"
There was no answer, so he tip-toed into the bathroom and got ready for bed. When he slid into his side he knew Addison was awake. Call it intuition, but he just knew. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
"I love you."
There was a moment of silence, during which Patrick thought she was going to keep pretending to be asleep and the row would be twice as bad in the morning. Until Addison whispered back to him.
"I'm sorry I was such a bitch earlier."
Patrick breathed in her scent and wrapped himself closer towards her. He closed his eyes when he felt her warm body against his skin.
"You weren't. I should have been more aware of how you've been feeling lately. And I will be. But I can't abandon Pete right now Addy. He needs me. He's just left for Australia."
"What?" Addison asked, shocked. She sat upright and snapped on her bedside light. Patrick winced and rubbed his eyes in the bright light.
"Yeah. I tried to stop him but he was set on it."
"Oh God," Addison said, shaking her head. "I didn't realize it was that bad."
"That's because you were only seeing red this evening." Patrick said, nudging her with a small smile. Addison smiled and looked at him, her eyes running over his face. Suddenly she burst into tears and Patrick sat up straight, bewildered.
"Honey, I was kidding."
"I know. But I was so cruel to you tonight. I know Pete's your family and I asked you to give that up. I shouldn't have been so..." She sobbed, and Patrick shook his head and laughed quietly. He pulled her close to her and kissed her head again.
"Shh. We all say things we don't mean when we're pissed. We make it through. We always do. Pete will be fine. No one fucks with Pete Wentz."