FicWad

Sleep was not coming easy that night. Her mind was not even close to switching off. He slept like a dream, his lips closed, arms floppy and his skin the softest of warm too. He was wrapped around her torso like one of the lost boys, she smiled when he stirred and her fingers gently smoothed his soft hair.

Staring across the hotel room with this young man asleep in her arms, she cross-examined her actions. Did she do the right thing? Why had Patrick restored her faith that relationships could work? Had she amended the personality flaws that had rudely cut short previous tales of romance?

Her head bowed slightly and she kissed his head.

"I think I love you...." She whispered and softly kissed his head again.

Then slumber came and took her away.


~~~


The snow was heavy, it was the thick species, fluffy and tough enough to settle. As the breath escaped her lips it frosted and stiffly made it's presence known in the thick skies that evening.

Rich handed her a coffee and she sipped it softly. She felt cozy in her huge puffy jacket with fur trimmed hood, it was the perfect buy 2 days ago. They'd finished the storing that evening but weren't staying in the city that evening, they were hitting the roads.


Pete watched Patrick zip up his jacket and pull his scarf around him.

"I just wanna get some magazines from that store - shall I get you anything?" He asked politely.

"A good ride...." Joe muttered.

"Unlikely." Andy replied wittily. Joe flipped him off.

"A copy of Vanity Fair!" Pete smiled. Patrick stared at him blankly.

"I'm a dude, I'm not buying you vanity fair - can't you make do with some porn or something?" He asked.
"Sure!" Pete said shrugging.

As he left, Andy and Joe stared at Pete's smirk.

"He's been acting weird." Pete said, Andy and Joe looked at each other.

"He's been alright!" Andy protested.

"No..." Pete said, looking at the door he'd just left out of, he stood up and watched his friend trudge in the thickening snow.

"No, he's occupied...he's been....chirpy!" Pete said, his breath steaming up the tour bus window.

"He's up to something..." Pete said as he saw Patrick looking back at the bus, then around him, almost nervously.


As Pete followed the marks Patrick had left to the store, he felt a twinge of guilt for following him. He stopped as he heard Patrick's distinctive voice and saw him walking around the corner with a bag, full of magazines. Pete slid into the dark shadow of the building.

"I kinda don't wanna think about Pete and his porn..." he could hear the female voice laughing.

"Hey, we better split here..." Patrick said softly. Pete edged out slightly and saw those familiar blond locks.

Olivia took his hand and gently held it.

"I hate doing this - but it's best we lay low until after the tour....I really love my job!" Olivia said with a smile.

"Come here Sugar!" He smiled and she leaned in and they shared a wonderful kiss. Pete's eyes opened wide and his heart skipped a beat at seeing it.

"You always kiss me like you mean it!" She whispered.

"I do!" He smiled and pecked her lips again, he nudged her cheek to the side and kissed the soft sweet smelling skin on her neck. She lifted her shoulders as she tingled in the sensations.

"You better stop there Patrick Stump!" She smiled.

"Listen, I want you to come to Chicago after we've finished the tour." He said with a hand still around the back of her neck, fondling her curls in his fingers.

"I.." She started.

"Not right away, but y'know....soon." he explained. She smiled and stroked his face gently.

"I want to show you off to my family and friends!" He grinned proudly. She giggled gently. She nodded slowly.

"Ok...Ok I'll come, I should probably spend a week or two with Mom and Dad but after, I'll fly out." She said with a smile.

He smiled triumphantly and squeezed her middle hard as he hoisted her up slightly and flung her round, her protesting squeal omitting joy rather than resistance.

"One more kiss!" She said breathlessly and they passionately exchanged their affection. The end of the kiss being held by both of them as they pressed their lips hard against each others. She smiled and pecked his lips quickly and successively and then his cheek, his forehead and his nose.

"I'll see you soon!" she whispered, he reluctantly held her hand as she moved away, she allowed herself to be yanked back again and he kissed her once more.

She hurried off and turned to see him standing still with the white plastic bag still in his hands. She giggled and rushed to her tour bus before the others questioned her bizarre acts of disappearance.

As Patrick got back on the bus, he immediately noticed Pete wasn't there. He dumped his bag down on the chair.

"Where'd Pete go?" He asked impassively.

"He wanted his Vanity Fair!" Joe said, like Patrick was stupid.

"He did? Wow." Patrick said, sensing his nerves tighten at the thought he'd been seen. Not that it mattered a huge amount to him if it was Pete. Only a moment later and that son of a winters night came back with a white plastic bag too. Pete clocked Patrick's eyes involuntarily and they looked at each other.

"You couldn't just settle for the porn?" He asked, Pete laughed and stuffed another piece of candy in his mouth.

"I really wanted the latest Vanity Affair - I mean Fair." He said, Patrick snapped a look at him and Pete smirked.

"Really?" Patrick asked.

"Really!"

Patrick pulled out the magazine from his own plastic bag and Pete stared, he'd bought him it.

"Dude, you bought Vanity Fair!" Pete laughed at him. Patrick threw the thick magazine at him.

As the journey began, Pete spent the first 20 minutes ignorantly torturing Patrick as he read his magazine. Patrick watched this city slip out of his eye shot and could see the thick snow lacing the landscape like a film of ash.

"She looks good on you." Pete said. Patrick turned his head slowly and looked at him blankly.

"O...She looks good on you." Pete repeated. Patrick looked back out the window, busted.

"I admire you Dude, I wouldn't be able to stop smiling if I'd found the romance you have.....I could see it your eyes." He added, Patrick swallowed hard.

"No-one knows about us." He said quietly.

"I do." He said smartly.

"I've known for ages but seeing you only confirmed my heightened suspicions!" He laughed.

Patrick looked at Pete again and studied his romance-deprived friend's eyes.

"You talk s* you know that?"

"Yes, I know that." He replied with a "Duh?" look on his face.

A long silence ensued and Patrick thought about her deeply. The mother-like way she cared for him. The way they made love. They things they talked about. Her beauty. His luck.

"Dirty will be gutted - he was half hoping for a piece of her...." Pete smirked.

"Oh that is just gross." Patrick said, wincing his face up. They both laughed. Patrick was never one to give anything away. And he wasn't about to give it all away to Pete just because he'd busted them both. She was worth keeping secret. Even if just for a little while longer.

~~~


Olivia turned another page in her withering book, the spine was weakening and it was becoming harder for her to hold with one hand. She took a break from reading in the dim light and pushed her hands against the window, the snow was so heavy. It made her nervous, she couldn't relax, she didn't feel safe.

No sooner had this raced through her thoughts for the hundredth time when she was thrown from he place on the sofa, she hit her head hard on the table and it knocked her out.

Coming around, the searing pain was traveling down the right side of her head. She touched her head gently, the noises of people groaning and shouting were slowly coming to her ears, she knew it was blood on her fingers. As she focused her eyes, she realized she was sitting on the window of the bus.

"Huh?..." She moaned as the disorientation set in. The bus was on it's side. She knew that much.

"Olivia!!" She heard her name being yelled. She tried to get up and clambered over the trashed part of the bus. The woosh of the door caught her attention, it was above her head and she stared out into the dark nights.

Richard peered in and stared at his colleague, her head gash looked bad.

"I'll pull you out!" He shouted and she reached up, he dragged her out and she allowed him to take the weight of her incapable legs. Her head spun and she frowned as the sound of horns rang in her ears.

"You're OK!" He said gently and covered her head. The fresh air seemed to stimulate her slightly and she was putting together the shattered pieces of the last few moments.

She went to look behind but Rich stopped her.

"Don't look behind you, just head towards the embankment!" he ordered.

"Why?" She whined weakly. She went to look but he pushed her hard and this annoyed her, she yanked off him and turned to look behind her.

The sound that came from her lips was awful. Her eyes surveyed the destroyed tour bus of the boys and she cried out. Her legs moved impulsively towards the deviated structure of the bus and only his name came from her lips.

She was now running and she moved around the other side, she could hear the people here. Seeing Pete she rushed over to him and he hugged her tight.

"Where's Patrick??" She cried, she tried to move from his grip but he held her tight.

"Pete - where is he??" She cried. Pete was crying and she moved hard against him now.

"You don't wanna see him!" He said shaking his head, gripping her tighter, restraining her.

"Where is he??" She cried again. Her eyes caught the image just over Pete's shoulder.

Patrick's limp body being hauled from the wreck by two men, they gently put him on the ground and checked his pulse. Already knowing the answer.

"No." She blurted out.

"No!!" She growled and used all her strength to break Pete's lock on her.

Falling on her knees next to him she already knew he was dead by the life that was gone from his skin. She pulled him up into her arms and held him, the grief that was racking her body was so harsh she couldn't speak, cry or move. She just held his body in her arms as tight as she could. Shaking her head, she felt Pete's presence behind her.

He'd been traumatized by the last words of his friend.

Suddenly she cried out the words of injustice and they pierced the air.

"WHY????"

Her head thrown back she let out the sobs of a broken hearted woman and they shook her body hard.

"NO!!!" She cried hard.

"No!! No!! No!!" She sobbed and kissed his face over and over.

"You're not supposed to do this!" She cried.


Then change it.

She heard the voice say.