Chapter 16- Keep Holding On
Cara was laying on her couch, flipping through the channels, nothing catching her attention. Ever since Patrick left, she found nothing interested her. Cara regretted letting Patrick leave like that. She felt so selfish and careless. All she could do all day was imagine what he must be going through. Feeling her nerves get to her, Cara reached into her purse and took out a bottle of pills. She read the label; it had the name of someone she didn't know. She opened it and shook out three Xanax pills that she had stolen from the hospital she worked at. As the pills slid down her throat, Cara laid back down on the couch; wishing that Patrick would call.
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The Stump family had taken to having a grandson very quickly. The next day after arriving at his parent's house, he called up Pete and Leila, and they all went out to supply Micah with everything a little boy needed. Little Micah was extremely excited to be getting new things. The only things he's ever gotten were hand-me down girl pants and oversized shirts. They took him to a clothing store called "Wear Me Out" in downtown Chicago. After they were finished there, Micah had ten new pairs of pants and shirts along with shoes to match. It was Pete's turn. Pete did what he did best, took him to a toy store.
"Pick out what you want, anything you want," Pete said, placing a hand on Micah's shoulder.
Micah just looked up in wonder at Pete, and took off, looking at all the toys in front of him.
After a long day of shopping, Pete and Leila left Patrick with his son and parents. Patrick was slowing getting the hang of this father business. This child was slowly growing a bigger place in his heart. The more he looked into those blue eyes, the more he loved him. And he knew that his parents were falling in love with him. He knew that the moment he saw the look on his mother's face. Patrick could literally see his father's discomfort melt away when Micah wrapped those small arms around his waist.
Patrick parked the car, and as Mr. and Mrs. Stump got all of Micah's new things out and put inside, Patrick pulled a sleeping Micah from the backseat, who was clutching a stuffed Spider-Man. Patrick carried the boy up stairs to his old room and gently laid him down. He sat on the edge of the bed, watching his son sleep. As happy as he was know, he greatly missed Cara. He kissed Micah lightly on the forehead and walked out into the hall. He took out his phone and scrolled down to Cara's name; sighing, waiting for her to pick up.
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Cara ran downstairs when she heard Patrick's ringtone coming from her phone. It seemed to take forever to the living room. Just as Cara reached her phone, it stopped ringing. She let out a growl of frustration. She picked up the phone, throwing it across the room; hitting the wall and the back flying off in one direction and the battery in another. Cara could feel the tears of frustration building up. She reached in her purse and grabbed the Xanax bottle. As Cara swallowed down five pills, she put her head in her hands. There was a knock at the door. Cara walked to the door, opening it to find Casie standing there.
"Well, hey. I thought you had become a recluse or something," Casie said, walking into the living room.
"I have nothing to get out and do without Patrick here," Cara said, flopping on the couch again. "I really think that I blew it. I know I can handle the fact that he has a kid, but I was being selfish and stupid."
Casie just looked at her with sympathy. She didn't know what to say. All she could do was hope for the best. Cara soon fell asleep and Casie decided to straighten up the apartment a little bit. As Casie was moving Cara's purse to the chair, a bottle of pills fell to the ground. Casie picked it up to put it back when she noticed the name wasn't Cara's and it was half gone; even though it was only dated one week ago. Casie looked at the sleeping Cara. How many of these has she taken, and for how long? She needed to get her some help.
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Patrick was washing the dishes in the kitchen with the morning sun shining on him when his phone rang. Drying off his hands in the dish towel and answered his phone.
"Hello?" Patrick asked to his phone.
"Hey, Patrick. It's me, Casie," he heard a girls voice say.
"Oh, hey Casie," he said. "What's up?"
"I have something you might need to know about Cara," Casie said, in a very serious voice that scared Patrick. He talked on the phone with Casie for another twenty minutes before deciding that he needed to return to Alabama to help Cara. Not only him, but Leila should come too. Patrick went looking for Leila and found her and Pete making the beds in his room. He told them he was going to visit Cara, but didn't give the real reason of leaving.
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Pete closed the door to his room after following Leila in. They had just got back from taking little Micah shopping. The look on the little boy's face just made his heart swell. And the way Leila ran all over the place, looking at toys with Micah just made him laugh. He was very thankful that their problems had worked themselves out. Even though he knew he shouldn't, he was growing very dependant on her. Just then, he noticed Leila was staring at him, with a wicked smile on her face. He just smirked.
"What are you staring at?" he asked her.
"I have an idea," she rushed. Pete laughed at her flustered face.
"And that would be?"
"Um… I…" Leila seemed to loose her nerve looking at Pete smiling at her. Why was this so hard for her to ask? Pete just watched her, her face turning a paten Weasley red.
"Maybe we could… you know… push the beds together," Leila mumbled, her eyes focused on a spot right over Pete's shoulder, blushing a deeper blood red.
Pete's eyes opened in shock. No one ever asked to push his beds together in his room before; especially because his parents were underneath this room. Pete thought about it for a moment, and stood up. He walked over to the beside table the stood in between the two beds. He picked it and carried it to the other side of the room. Leila watched him the whole time; she watched as he walked over the other side of one of the beds. He stopped and looked up at Leila.
"Well… are you going to help?" he said, smirking at her. Leila's mouth dropped open a little bit and quickly closing it, knowing how stupid she must look. She walked to the other side of the bed she was sitting on and waited for Pete to say something.
"Okay, push when I tell you, and we'll meet in the middle, but go slow, not to make too much noise," Pete said, afraid his parent's would hear the scuffs of the beds. "Push."
Leila went slow and watched Pete the whole time, trying not to make any noise. They meet in the middle, leaving an awkward silence in the room. Leila looked around for her pajamas and announced that she would be right back. Pete decided to change there, assuming that she would take longer than him. Leila opened the door right as Pete was slipping his shirt on; she caught a glimpse of his stomach before the shirt floated down, resting at the elastic of his pants. Her heart jumped into her throat as he turned around. She tried to act as normal as possible. She walked about the newly formed double bed and flopped down. Pete plugged up his iPod to the player and pressed put it on shuffle and let it play. The first song that came on was Let's Get It On, by Marvin Gaye. Pete stopped in his tracks, a pink blush rising up his cheeks. He quickly skipped to the next song. He walked to bed and lay next to Leila. There was so much more room, Pete noticed, with the beds pushed together. He made a mental note to do this even when he was here by himself. They were just laying there, in the ever growing awkward silence. Pete reached over and took Leila's hand in his own. Leila moved her herself closer to snuggle under his arm.
Slowly, the awkward silence turned into a pleasant comfort. Leila had her head on Pete's chest, listening to his heart beat. Her hand was tracing the letters on his shirt and Pete ran a hand through her hair. With his other hand, he tilted her chin up to meet his. Caramel eyes looking into green ones. Leila's heart was pounding, as it always does when he looks at her that way. Her eyes fluttered closed when his lips meet hers and her stomach gave a flip. Pete brushed his knuckles across her cheek and Leila ran her hand to his waist, getting closer to him; Alicia Keys' "No One" playing in the background.
Pete rolled over, propping himself up in his elbows, laying Leila into her pillow; they kissed each other with more passion than before. Both of Leila's hands were on Pete's back, pulling him closer to her. Pete softly bit down on her lower lip, nibbling on it. Leila let out a soft sigh, her hands finding the bottom of his shirt, pulling it up.
It was then that her mind snapped back to reality. They were going way to fast. She gently pushed Pete up a little, breaking his kiss.
"Pete," she breathed, trying to catch her breathe, "I think… we're going to fast… This isn't the right time."
Pete looked down at her, surveying her. He knew she was right. Sighing heavily, he rolled over; but as he rolled over, the beds slid apart and he fell through the crack. Leila sat up like she was electrocuted, and looked down at Pete's head; it was all she could see. She couldn't but burst out in laughter at the stunned look on his face. She tried to help him up, but when she almost had him unstuck, she would start giggling again, and he would fall right back in his wedge.
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Patrick hurried up the steps to Cara's front door. At first he knocked on it gently. When no answer came, he knocked harder. He knew she was home; her car was parked in the drive-way. Again, no answer. It was when he started banging on the door, it creaked open. Patrick stepped slowly inside, looking around for Cara. The living room and kitchen wielded no Cara. Patrick took the stairs two at a time. Not knowing which room was Cara's, but upon seeing an ornate "C" nailed on one door, he knew that had to be hers. He hurried to the door, and turned the knob. His eyes immediately fell on an unconscious Cara on the bed. Patrick rushed to her side, noticing the empty bottle of someone else's pills in her limp hand. Patrick called 911 and tried to wake her up. He could feel hot tears forming in his eyes. What did she do?
-note from the author-
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter with be called "Technicolor".