Chapter One: Fall To Pieces

"Fuck!"

Katie Warren was taken back by the tone of Patrick Martin's voice roaring from the kitchen and into the living room. She had heard him lose his temper before, but for some reason, this time it sounded like he had completely lost it. Glancing over at her boyfriend and Patrick's best friend, Joshua Harter, she frowned.

"What's up with him now?"

"Hard telling," Josh scoffed as he refused to take his eyes off the glow of the TV in front of them.

Katie shrugged unknowingly and leaned back into Josh, wrapping her arms around his waist. It was times like this that she loved having Josh as a boyfriend. He had everything she was looking for in a man: Caring, compassionate, loving, sincere, positive, and oozing with a dry sense of humor. She was extremely lucky to have met him after an Impact taping nine months ago, considering the fact that many of the wrestlers did not converse with the fans afterward. But Josh was the exception. The second she lay eyes on him, she knew he was something special. And the moment he asked for her number would live in her memory as the beginning of a long lasting relationship with him.

Patrick, treading heavily into the living room with a disgruntled and stunned look plastered on his face, woke Katie out of her thoughts.

"She broke up with me!"

"What?" Josh finally looked away from the screen and stared up at his friend.

"You heard me! Stephanie broke up with me!"

"Dude! What for?"

"Well, she said that after two years together, I wasn't making time or effort to take our relationship to the next level."

"What level is that?" Josh chuckled. "Marriage?"

"Yeah. And you know how I feel about that. I'm not ready for that step yet. She knew that. But she's been pestering me about marrying her for the past three months."

"Then maybe it's best that you two break up," Katie interjected. "It's obvious that she's only thinking about what she wants and is refusing to hear your wants and needs."

"Yeah, I guess so," Patrick walked back into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. "But she was the love of my life. She meant the world to me. Two years of my life I spent with her."

Patrick walked back into the room and sat on the edge of the coffee table, facing Katie and Josh. Popping open the top, he took a quick swig.

"I thought things were going great between us. I thought she was happy the way we were. But I guess not."

Katie bit her lower lip as she watched Patrick sigh deeply and run his hand through his thick, black locks. It hurt her to see her friend this distressed. He was obviously taking the news harder than she and Josh thought he would.

"Dude, you're better off without her," Josh waved Patrick's now ex-girlfriend off. "There are plenty of other women who would kill to be with you."

"Yeah, but none of them will ever come close to being the woman Stephanie was," Patrick despondently spoke, pinching the bridge of his nose. Feeling tears begin to well up in his eyes, he got up.

"I'm going to my room."

Patrick quickly retreated, leaving Katie and Josh alone with their thoughts. Katie shook her head in disbelief and glanced at her boyfriend.

"Can you believe that? How the hell could she have done that to him? She meant the world to him. He treated her like a fucking princess, and this is how she repays him?"

"Some women are like that," Josh shook his head. "They want what they want, when they want it. And they try to pressure us to do things we don't want to do. And when us men don't take note, they bail on us."

"Do I do that to you?" Katie raised an eyebrow. "You know. Pressure you to do things you don't want to?"

"No," Josh shook his head and smiled. "You don't. And I love you for that. You accept me for who I am and don't try to change the things you don't like in me."

He planted a kiss on Katie's cheek before returning his eyes back to the TV. Katie returned the favor before getting off the couch and addressing Josh.

"I'm going to check on Pat."

Katie walked away and up the stairs to Patrick's room. Granted, she and Patrick had their ups and downs as friends. They had a mutual love-hate friendship. But regardless of that fact, Katie couldn't help but feel for him whenever something awful happened to him. She knew deep down in her heart that Patrick didn't deserve what Stephanie did to him. He was the most thoughtful and considerate boyfriend you could find. And that was certainly shocking to know, considering that as Alex Shelley, TNA superstar, he didn't have the best demeanor.

Katie softly knocked on the door and stepped inside. She found Patrick sitting up against the left side of the bed, listening to the radio with a picture of Stephanie in his hands.

"I just came up to see if you're okay."

She slowly made her way over to Patrick and sat down next to him. Patrick spoke, his voice quivering.

"I don't know how I'm going to live without her. She was my everything. She was the reason I got up in the morning and went to bed at night. She was the best thing that happened to me in a long time."

Katie watched as tears fell from Patrick's face and onto the picture he held.

"I'm sorry, Patrick. I wish there was something I could do to ease your pain."

Patrick sat in silence for several seconds, unable to speak. He stared at the picture before him before throwing it at the wall and sending the glass frame into a million pieces. His pain suddenly turned to anger.

"I swear, I'm never dating another woman ever again! Especially after what that bitch did to me! She wants to dump me because I won't marry her and marry a man she fell in love with while she was with me?"

"She cheated on you?" Katie was taken back. "You didn't mention that."

"Yeah, I didn't want to think about it. That's why I didn't say anything. But I can't help it that I want to go find the asshole who stole her away from me and kick his motherfucking ass!"

Patrick reached into his pocket and took out a cigarette and a lighter. He lit up the cancer stick and began puffing away.

"You know what? You guys are right. To hell with that whore and her fucking douchebag! I hope to God Karma kicks her in the ass!"

Tears once again began to fall, but Patrick wiped them away before Katie could see them. She didn't know what to say. Even if she did say something, it wouldn't help ease Patrick's hurt. The only thing she could do was wrap her arms around him and kiss him on the cheek.

"You know that if there's anything you need, Josh and I are here for you, right?"

"Yeah. I know."

Katie got up and left Patrick to himself. She walked back downstairs and into the living room, where Josh was still sitting watching his MMA fight. He wrapped his arm around her as she sat down next to him.

"You missed it, babe."

"Missed what?"

"Shogun just knocked out Silva with 3:27 left to go in the third round."

"Nice," Katie nodded, uninterested in the least bit about the fight. She was more concerned about Patrick's emotional state. "Look, Josh, I'm worried about Patrick."

"What do you mean?" Josh turned his attention to her. "He'll be alright."

"No. He's really upset. There's no doubt that Stephanie was his world. He adored her. Now that she's gone, I don't know how he'll begin to pick up the pieces and move on."

"Patrick's a strong guy, Katie. And I don't mean just physically. There have been several girls who have broken up with him, and he got along just fine afterward."

"Yeah, but Stephanie was cheating on him," Katie came clean. "And she's getting married to the guy because he wants to get married and Patrick doesn't."

"Are you serious?" Josh's jaw dropped.

"Yeah. He's really upset, Josh. We're really going to have to be there for him, at least until he feels like he can move on."

"I guess so."

Josh got up and turned off the television.

"Well, I'm hitting the sack early. You coming along?"

Josh held out his hand, and Katie took it. He led her upstairs to his room, but not before he stopped by Patrick's room to check in on him.

"Hey, bro. I'm heading to bed. I'll see you in the a.m.."

"Night, man," Patrick muttered, sitting in the same position as he was before.

Josh closed the door and continued down the hallway, still holding on to Katie's hand.

"You're right," Josh shook his head sadly. "He's really despondent. We're really going to have to help him out."

"Just like I said," Katie responded as they reached their bedroom. "He's really hurt. It's going to be hard for him to get back into the swing of things."

"Yeah, well, as long as we're here for him, he'll be fine," Josh replied as he stripped down to his boxer briefs and crawled into bed. "But for now, how about you and I engage in some sweet love?"

"Josh, I can't believe you are thinking of that when there's a man across the hallway who just had his heart broken," Katie shook her head as she climbed into bed next to him.

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me we're not having sex just because of Pat?"

"My mind's not into it right now, Josh. My mind is with Pat. Sorry, baby."

Katie pecked Josh lightly on the lips before turning over and shutting off the lamp.

"Night, baby. Love you."

"Love you too, Katie."

Josh remained sitting against the headboard in the dark, staring directly into space. Granted, Patrick's heart was broken. But there was nothing he or Katie could do to change that. He knew that she was just being a good friend to Pat, but why was she making such a deal about it? He would be back to his normal self before they knew it. Shrugging his shoulders, Josh lay down and positioned himself behind Katie. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her lightly on the shoulder.

Katie tried to go to sleep, but her mind continuously went back to Patrick. She knew that Josh was a bit perturbed with her being worried about Pat's emotional state. But Josh knew that she was just being a good friend. Katie couldn't help but be worried about people when they got their heart broken. Compassion and comfort were part of her personality. She didn't like to see anyone suffer, no matter what she thought of him or her.

She waited until Josh fell asleep before getting out of bed and checking in on Patrick one last time. Her heart broke into a million pieces as her eyes beheld the sight before her.

Patrick was lying on the floor, his back facing her. He was quietly sobbing, mumbling to himself as he cried. Katie couldn't make out what he was saying, but it sounded like he was telling himself to get over Stephanie. Tears sprung in Katie's eyes. She couldn't allow Patrick to do this to himself.

Without knocking, Katie walked in and sat down next to Patrick. She gathered him in her arms and softly rocked him as he sobbed.

"Why did she have to break my heart? What did I do wrong?" Patrick incoherently spoke.

"It's not your fault, Patrick. It's hers. She wouldn't know Prince Charming even if he fell into her lap. You don't deserve what she did to you. God knows you loved her unconditionally. I know what it's like to love somebody so much only to be cheated on in the end. It's not easy. But eventually, your heart will heal and you'll move on."

Patrick sat up and wiped away his tears. For the first time that night, he smiled, although the smile was minuscule and cheerless. He hugged Katie tightly and whispered to her.

"Thanks, Katie."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be alright," Patrick nodded, "once I go to bed."

He helped Katie up and hugged her once more before he said goodnight. Leaving the room and shutting the door softly behind her, she stood silent outside his room, pondering whether Patrick was just lying to her to make her feel better, or whether he really was going to be okay after all.