FicWad

Deafening silence hung heavy in the damp, early fall air as Pete slammed the door of the bus shut behind him; if it weren't for the black, heavy, plastic, protective boot around his leg, he would have stomped as loudly as he could up the metal stairs, making his presence known well in advance as he ascended the bus that Patrick and Andy has been sharing since their summertime run on the road. So for now, in his current condition, he had to settle for obnoxiously slamming the metal door shut behind him, making Patrick aware that someone was coming for him, because Pete was more than well aware that Patrick was alone, likely drowning himself in music while he wallows in his sorrow. Opening his mouth to call out Patrick's name, or something along the lines of a "honey I'm home" sort of attention getter in the most obnoxious, horrific, high-pitched squeal as possible, but almost immediately, without so much as a squeak, he shut it quicker than it had opened once he noticed a shiny, silver, sliver of technology in his line of vision, nearly tripping over it as he hobbled through the front lounge. Patrick's laptop, and subsequently his coordinating headphones were discarded carelessly, and what could also be pinned as violently, on the floor.

Stepping lightly, or as lightly as he could in that contraption the doctors had confined him in, Pete meandered past the long forgotten technical device and shuffled back through the bunks, through the deafening silence that was ringing so loudly in his ears. The door at the end of the long narrow hallway was shut but Pete decided there would be no subtle way around the situation, so he bust through in the most obnoxious manner possible only to find Patrick seated on the edge of his bead with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hand. His signature hat was discarded just as carelessly on the floor at his feet and his cell phone sat silently on the bed next to him. Pete took note of how sketchily Patrick's most prized possessions had been dismissed and also how Patrick didn't even seem to flinch as he came storming into the room.

Frowning harder than he would have liked, Pete couldn't hold the "shake it off" attitude he had hoped to use when approaching this moment. "No answer?"

To be completely honest to himself, Patrick and all of those involved, Pete expected Patrick to spend the entire day on the telephone, apologizing with every fiber of his being for being a careless douche bag, begging for any ounce of forgiveness and praying that he hadn't completely destroyed what was left of his relationship. In reality, maybe what Patrick had done, his lackadaisical attitude towards the importance of his significant other, wasn't as bad as it seemed, but Patrick had promised endlessly that they could make it work no matter what, but now, he was having more than just a little trouble holding up his end of the promise.

It was disheartening to see Patrick's phone sitting silently on the bed, and to see Patrick like this, because inside his mind, Pete was praying, hoping and begging that Patrick hadn't screwed up royally, but praying that maybe this time, finally, Patrick would learn his lesson. With his forehead still planted firmly in the very likely, clammy palm of his hand, Patrick shook his head lightly, his eyes still like stone, fixated lifelessly on the floor beneath his feet.

"The pain medicine knocked her out cold; when I call, Gabe answers and he's obviously not pro-me right about now."

"To be honest" Pete shrugged as he leaned uneasily against the door frame of Patrick's unorganized compact living area, "not many people are pro-you right about now." Patrick deserved every ounce of guilt and pain that he was feeling at the moment, Pete was well aware of that, but as his best friend, was Pete suppose to step forward and offer advice, maybe a few encouraging words, or was he suppose to let it ride? After all, when it all goes to hell, best friends means I pull the trigger and best friends sometimes, means that you get what you deserve.

"Carden said it was horrible to watch Bill drop the mic and stop the song the moment she fell to the ground. Cutting the show 4 songs short was a bold move, but the fear in Bill's eyes when the EMT's took her out was a sure fire sign he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't go with her."

Patrick's breath had visibly caught in his throat at that moment, the moment that Pete verbally jabbed his already festering emotional wound. When his best friend offered no response, Pete shook his head in disappointment, "Granted I take some of the guilt, I was knocked out in a dead sleep and didn't answer either, but you didn't even have your phone on. What the hell man? You're in so deep that I can't even help you dig this one out; what the fuck was so important?"

Patrick sighed heavily, likely to keep the tears that were in noticeable in his voice from falling, "My phone was in my pocket, on vibrate. I was working late into the night, you know how the headphones block out the sound so I didn't hear it going off across the room. I had 23 missed called before the battery died."

"You were working" Pete scoffed, the words crashing off his tongue and over his lips like a thick venom.

"Yeah I know" Patrick sighed heavily, running his hands down the length of his face in frustration before laying back on his bed, his hands still hiding his facial features, "we all know how much she loves that line."

Scratching the stubble that had recently begun to take home on his cheeks and chin, Pete contemplated where to go from here; Patrick was his best friend, he should help with the problem, but what if it wasn't worth saving them again? What if he was just hurting them more by always pushing them back together?

Vibrating feverishly in the pocket of his hoodie, Pete's Blackberry was alerting him to a text message from a one and only GABANTI. Leaving Patrick's nearly lifeless form for a moment, his eyes scanned the words that were now revealed on the illuminated screen. With a loud, sarcastic-like laugh, his fingers tapped feverishly against the keys, replying with a "fuck, this is ridiculous" before he stuffed the phone back into his pocket.

Standing up straight and regaining the majority of his balance on his right foot before scoffing loudly again, Pete opened his mouth to inform Patrick of highly important, yet slightly ridiculous news.

"Luckily for you, the pain killers have fucked with her reasoning, she's awake and all she wants to do is talk to you."

Something within this news had finally sparked in his mind and pulled Patrick back to reality as he sat up quickly and fumbled for his cell phone, his eyes locking with Pete before he dialed those fateful numbers his fingers could never forget. Pete frowned heavily, shaking his head in disappointment but inside, breathing a sigh of relief all at once.

"But for what it's worth, I still think you're a raging jackass."

And with that, Pete was off, hobbling away in search of Joe, his dog or anything a little less aggravating to devour all of his attention. It was times like these he would kill to have Dirty back around …

Deafening silence lingered around Ana now, on the opposite side of the country, filling her ears immediately after she had hung up the phone and began feverishly drying the tears from her eyes. One of two options was probably true at the moment; everyone on the bus had just quietly listened in on the reconciliation of her nearly failing relationship and an awkward silence was now surrounding everyone, or there was simply no one left on the Cobra bus. Using her thumb to twirl the ring on her left hand around her finger, she took several deep, relieving breaths before wiping away the last of the tears and pulling herself together.

As Ana was shuffling back to the bunks and rummaging through the one she had recently begun calling home, the door of the bus swung open and a before her body had the time to react, she was tackled into the bunk before her.

"Holy Jambalaya Bella, that's much worse than I imagined it would be." Peering over her thick rimmed glasses and down at Ana, who was now pinned beneath her in the bunk, Janelle intently studied the bruise and stitches on Ana's cheek and tried her very best to suppress the overwhelming urge to poke it.

"Thanks a lot best friend, its so nice to see you too."

Janelle frowned hard before squeezing her battered better half in a solid, loving embrace as Gabe shuffled his way back to the bunks, frowning upon realizing he missed the hugging party.

"So …" Janelle inquired lightly, as she climbed off of Ana and straightened out her clothing, fixing her hair casually, "how are you?"

Ana shrugged her shoulders lightly, knowing exactly what Janelle wanted to know, but was afraid to ask. "I'm over it. I'm high off of painkillers, so I let him grovel and apologize, beg for mercy and now we're over it. We're not okay, but we're fine for now, you know. It's like walking on glass, one gentle step at a time. I just have to learn to stay backstage at shows from now on."

Janelle laughed at Ana's light hearted attempt at a joke as she laced her fingers with the man standing next to her, Gabe immediately closing his hand over hers. Ana eyed up the couple before her, a smirk growing wildly on her lips as her eyes shifted around the small hallway of bunks.

"So … here's the deal." Ana smirked awkwardly, snagging the ALL ACCESS pass from Gabe's hoodie pocket and shoving it, along with her cell phone, into her jeans. "I'm going to go and find the Beckett, while I'm gone you two better kiss and make this shit official because there is no way I'm watching you two goggle over each other and play this 'are we, aren't we' game forever."

Janelle immediately dropped Gabe's hand and began studying the intricacies of her shoes but Gabe took the initiative, readjusting the hood adorning his head before reaching down for Janelle's left hand and intertwining his fingers with hers once again as Ana shuffled off the bus humming a Fall Out Boy song obnoxiously to herself, slamming the door shut happily behind her.