Chapter 12

Patton's POV

I sighed as I was hung up on. I put my phone away, and sat down as Fanny came in. She didn't seem too pleased with herself, and I saw tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"You alright?" I asked. She nodded, and tried to hide her tears. She hung her head, and a few droplets landed on her hand.

"She didn't even try to listen to me." She said, slightly sobbing. "She just believes what she wants."

I moved to sit beside her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. I knew whatever went on must've been back for her to break like this. I pulled her in, and just held her as she sobbed in my shoulder.

"Maybe we just let her cool down a little." I suggested. "She hung up on me before. Just give her time."

She nodded, and pulled away. "But she is right. We spend a lot of time together. And I do pull you away for problems and stuff like that."

"So? That's what work is about." I explained. "You need me to help, I come. You and I and she all know you can't handle in on your own."

"No, I can handle it by myself." She stated after. "And if I needed help, I could just call Hoagie.

Maybe you should just take some time off and away from here."

I looked at her in a funny way. "Are you for real? Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Of course I can." She stood up, and offered a hand to help me up. I took it gratefully, and then looked at her for a few seconds. "So, what do you think we do now?"

"Well, the cadets are going home for a bit, and everyone else is going to Lime Rickey's, so you wanna come?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I dunno…"

"Look, it's a group thing, so you wont feel guilty. And it'll take your mind off things." She said, walking out the door. "It's your decision, but you need to make it quick."

I watched her leave for a moment, and then I chased after her.

"I'll come, but I need my pants back!"

There were six of us sitting at the table, two girls and four guys. We'd been chugging the pop back for a while, and it was starting to take effect on most of them. I was still fine, so I was finding everyone else quite amusing to watch.

"Ya know, you're a really nice one." One of the guys said to the techie. She folded her arms and leant away from him.

Fanny seemed a little tipsy, but she could still function properly.

"Oi! Keep your hands to yourself." She said with a slight slur. "She's too old for you."

I chuckled, and my phone went off. I looked at the caller id, and took it right away.

"Rachel, hi."

"Hey, I was calling to say I'm sorry for today. I shouldn't have said…" She cut off for a second. "Where are you anyway?"

"At Lime Rickey's with the team." I replied. I could tell she was trying to hear who was actually yelling. "Sorry, that was just Numbuh 458-T."

"Hey, who's that?" Fanny said, leaning on me. "Is that Rachel?"

"Yeah." I replied uncomfortably. "Fanny, get off me, I need to talk to her."

"Get off? What the hell is going on there?" Her voice seemed very demanding and hurt. "What are you playing at Drilovsky?"

"I'm not playing at anything!" I replied angrily. "She's just a little drunk, ok?"

"Oh, so that's how you're gonna do it huh?"

"Do what?" I was getting really irritated now. "Look, I'm not going to argue over a phone. I'm gonna take Fanny home, and then I'll call you later, alright?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow. We can talk then."

She hung up the phone before I could reply. I shoved the phone back in my pocket angrily, and turned to Fanny. "Come on, I'm taking you home."

"Why do you want to leave so early?" She asked.

"I'm not discussing it here." I replied sternly. I helped her up, and nodded fair well to the others.

Great, now I was in big trouble.