Prologue
It was just another hot, sweltering day on the blink tour. Patrick had arrived in the bus early that morning with the rest of the band. It was a normal day. Normal rehearsal, normal pre-show routines, normal screwing around and almost breaking several expensive things. Life felt complete, although Patrick was glad that summer and this tour were almost over.
After several different bands all afternoon, Fall Out Boy took the stage outdoors. It wasn't dark out yet, so he had a panoramic view of the entire venue. He had to do a double-take when he saw how many people were there. The show was sold out, not only because it had been many years since blink-182 had been out on tour, but also that this show was part of a larger festival called River Riot, in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
After several songs that seemed to blur together in his mind, Patrick was relieved when Pete took the mic for a while. He was so exhausted that all he could remember was Pete was saying something about how easy it was to make the girls scream and he blamed it on his tight pants. Patrick chuckled in his head and started listening.
"These pants are so fucking tight, my crotch is asphyxiated," Pete began. "I think it needs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation." The crowd laughed. Pete just fixed his eyes on Patrick.
The split-seconds that followed were a spiral of emotions. Is he looking at me? Does he like me? Does he want me? All Patrick could manage to spit out in a timely manner was an overly sarcastic, "Why are you looking at me?"
Pete's world came crashing down.