Patrick’s eyebrows raised at the explanation and then he rolled his eyes, a smirk on his lips, before pressing them, feeling a little bit displeased "He should have told me! I mean, us! We could have prepared something nice to welcome you again” he objected while shaking his head, quite disappointed of his ginger friend’s action. He really meant what he said. The Chicago boy could have thrown a really nice and well organised welcome party if he had known. He had a guilty pleasure for making things special, and when the perfect occasion rang the bell, Andy didn’t tell him. He was somehow frustrated, but what’s done is done. Trick furrowed his eyebrows, snapping out of his thoughts "Eight and a half" the words escaped from his mouth so quickly he didn’t have the time to process them in his brain. "I’m quite good with dates and numbers, you know…" he added, cursing himself for making up a pathetic lie. He remembered starting to count the days when she left, always hopeful that she’d come back. And that made him feel lame, but he was young and in love, hopelessly in love. Pete’s words crossed his mind “If it was ever meant to be, she’ll come back. Maybe not now, but she will.” He flickered, staring at her while he drew his attention back to her "That sounds exciting" a soft laugh was let out "Did you study something or what have you done there?" and when he heard her, he smiled lightly, shaking his head. "Don’t worry, Dev… It’s okay. What’s past, is past. And as I said before, I am truly happy to see you again" his smile grew slightly wider, laughing one more time. "Well, fame is… weird." he shoved his hands in his pocket “I mean, I am still not used to all the recognition and sometimes it feels quite unreal, but I’ve been good. The guys and I took a few years off, did our thing: I released a single album, but it wasn’t the same without them, so last year we came back together, and here we are…” he had to cut himself off because he had started to ramble, and he hated that. The words that came out of her mouth took him by surprise, even though he might had been expecting that answer, but still, he blinked a few times and when he felt her hugging him, she wrapped her arms around waist, slightly hesitant, closing his eyes. "Please, don’t ever leave like that again" he pleaded in a whisper, not caring if it was out of place.
I couldn't help but burst into laughter at Pat's reply, covering my mouth with my hand, trying to muffle the sound and calm myself down at the same time. "Hey, chill", I said, a few moments later, after I managed to keep my giggles at bay. "I don't need a welcome party, sweetheart, I've been here for the past four years", I responded, laughing again. God, I had really missed him. I was sure he would have totally thrown a party for me, if he knew I was coming by. That's something I had always liked about him, how kind and big his heart was. When he mentioned how long it had been since I left, I turned my look to his eyes, and for a second, I managed to see a glimpse of the pain I had caused him. And that, that hurt me too, knowing that I had hurt one of the few people that had truly cared about me, and that I cared about too. And when he said that silly lie, I just pretended I believed it, because it was definitely easier to do that than to face the truth. So I just absentmindedly nodded, quickly looking to anywhere but his face, and those big blue eyes that I always felt that could see right through me. "Are you really asking that to me, Pat?", I asked, rethorically. "Well, no. I didn't study. I just lived there for a while with my brother, then got some shitty job and earned enough money to get an apartment for myself... Nothing much happened, if I have to be honest. I guessed I just missed it there, and my brother, and some of my friends who still lived there", I explained to the blonde, trying to keep it as short as possible. I smiled at his words, and then smiled even more when I saw him smile wider. Every moment I spent with him, I found more and more things I had missed about him, which made me feel guilty, nostalgic, and happy, altogether. "Yeah, I know", I replied, shrugging slightly. "I've seen you on tv, a few times. Doing interviews with the guys, or saw little fragments of your shows, or just heard something about you breaking up...", I added after a few seconds, waving my hand off. I definitely didn't think I'd react so impulsively for having him right here, right in front of me after so many years, but his reaction took me by surprise as well, even though it was kind of pleasant, knowing that he missed me that much too. I felt my body get still and stiffen for a moment when I heard his words, but then squeezed him even tighter into my embrace. "I promise I won't, Trick. I'm here to stay", I whispered back to him, feeling tears in my eyes, but holding them back. I didn't know if I'd be able to keep my promise, because it would mean a lot of thing would change, for me, and for him, but somehow, I really wanted to keep it. I didn't want to walk away from his life again, because being with him was one of the best things that ever happened to me, whether I was willing to admit it or not.
