Chapter 18- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Patrick walked Cara to her doorstep, hand in hand. She got to leave the hospital and was extremely glad to be going home. She was also glad that Patrick was back in her life; his leaving was the reason for her problems in the first place. She knew it would take a while to get back to normal, but with Patrick there, she felt like she could do anything. Cara looked sideways at the man standing beside her. With the sun hitting his hair, it made it look golden. He noticed Cara looking at him and glanced at her; the sunlight framing her face. Patrick smiled at her, letting her know that he was there for her.
"I want to see Micah again," Cara said suddenly.
Patrick quit walking and turned to face Cara fully. He was so glad to hear that Cara was by his side. Taking the hand that was in hers, he pulled her to him. Their lips met for the first time since Micah arrived. Cara let out and audible sigh, which made Patrick smile beneath the kiss. They were startled apart when the door was jerked open.
"Surprise!" yelled multiple voices. Cara blinked and stared into her living room. Two pairs of hands took Cara and Patrick by the arms and dragged them into the house. There were balloons around the place and a banner that said "Welcome Home Cara" atop the fireplace wall. The two pairs of arms were Leila and Pete; who had set the whole thing up. The welcome home party got into full swing and everyone was having a great time. However, Cara felt guilty that they threw her a party for the reasons she went into the hospital for. She kept looking for a chance to break away. When she finally did find a spot, the only person to notice her was Pete. Breaking away fro the crowd himself, he followed her to her bedroom. Finding the door shut, he knocked on it. He heard Cara groan.
"Come in," her voice said. Pete opened the door slowly.
She rolled over, expecting to see Leila or Casie, but not Pete. She was a little shocked that Pete was standing there. She felt a little vulnerable under his stare.
"I know what you're going through," Pete said, looking at Cara.
She wanted to retort, snapping at him. He knew nothing of what she was going through. But something held her back.
"I attempted suicide with pills about six years back," he said solemnly.
Cara's mouth dropped. She didn't know anything about that. She felt guilty for thinking bad of Pete when he had at least overdosed before. She wasn't trying to kill herself, but didn't care if she had lived or died at the time. Knowing this about Pete made her calm down a bit.
"Does life get any easier? You know, with everyone knowing about it?" Cara mumbled.
"It takes a while; a long time for me. But it might have gone easier if I hadn't turned into a recluse and shut everyone out. You just need to lean on your friends. They will be the most important part of your recovery," Pete said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
Cara looked up at Pete with watery eyes.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone."
"I know Cara. It was just too much to deal with all at once. I understand, I do. Don't put all the blame on yourself," Pete said soothingly, placing a hand on her shoulder.
--
Cara and Pete came down from upstairs a while later with the party still raging. No one had noticed their disappearance. Pete went to stand by Leila, and watched on as Cara found Patrick. Leila looked up to Pete, about to ask what was going on, but Pete hushed her. He just gestured towards Cara and Patrick. Leila watched on with Pete, smiling. Cara grabbed Patrick about the elbow and turned him around gently. Patrick looked to Cara with curious eyes. Without warning, Cara pulled him to her with fast speed, her lips crashing into his. Patrick was shocked by her actions, but quickly kissed her back. They stayed like that for quite some time. Every now and then a person would turn to look at them. The only person that kept their eyes on them was Casie. She was the only one there without another to sit beside her. It was times like these that she missed Parker. She tore her eyes away Cara and Patrick, looking for Leila. She found her in a corner with her forehead on Pete's; they were smiling, laughing and holding each others hands. Casie downed her beer, and stood up, weaving a little and stumbled to the kitchen to grab another.
As she popped the top of a new beer, Leila walked into the room, to refresh her sweet tea. Noticing Casie turn up her can, she stopped to face her.
"Don't you think you've had enough of those, Cas?" Leila asked her friend.
"No, I'm fine, I'm not even buzzed yet," Casie said, her words slurring together.
Leila shook her head laughing. "Don't drink yourself sick at least. Remember we're going to Chicago tomorrow to start planning for Danielle's wedding?" Leila said before leaving Casie alone in the kitchen.
Casie walked to the doorway. Seeing all these happy couples made her sick. She took a drink. Leila had gone back over to Pete, pressing in very close smiling at one another; and Cara was still lip-locked with Patrick. Casie took another drink. Why was she the only one that wasn't happy? Why did she have to watch everyone be happy together when she felt so alone? She could feel herself slipping into a vass pit of despair. She took another drink, finishing her seventh beer.
--
They all filed off the air plane the next day to the setting sun on Chicago. Leila was excited to go back to Pete's family's house. It had that something special that made her feel apart of something. It made her feel the same way as she felt when she was with her own family. Cara was planning on spending some real quality time with Patrick and his son, staying at his parent's house. Joe offered Casie a room at his place to her, which she gladly accepted. Pete and Leila wanted her to stay at his place, but secretly Casie couldn't bear to be around them right now. Seeing Cara and Leila happy and in love, albeit she was happy for them, made her extremely depressed.
"Please, come stay with me at the Wentz's house?" Leila begged Casie again.
"I don't want to intrude on you and Pete," Casie said. Pete went to open his mouth and Casie held up her hand. "Besides, I want to get to know Danielle better."
Leila shut up about it. She was really starting to worry about her best friend. She didn't seem like her self lately; plus the fact that she was drinking every night. Leila watched on as Casie left them and trudged over to Joe and Danielle. She shot a look at Pete, who was watching Casie too, frowning. He met her gaze, both sharing the same unspoken worries. Crowds were starting to form around them, with people realizing who they were. There was no more time to watch Casie if they wanted to remain semi-unnoticed. They hustled to cars waiting for them outside and they all parted company.
Once Leila and Pete arrived at Pete's childhood home, they went straight upstairs to drop their luggage off. No one was home. The Wentz's had gone out with their only daughter, leaving a note on the kitchen table. Leila plopped down on the couch, sighing away the day. Pete came and sat close next to her, taking her hand in his. Leila studied Pete's thumb rubbing the top her hand for a few minutes, before turning her face to meet his.
"I'm worried about Casie," Leila whispered to him.
Pete looked down at her, "Me too," he admitted.
"She hasn't been herself lately and she… she seems to be drinking a lot more; which is not like her," Leila trailed off, moving her gaze to the blank TV.
"We'll figure out some way to help her," Pete said. He had become to close to all the girls since that fateful concert, that he felt like they were a part of his big family; he must do everything he could to make sure that she was going to be okay. Pete looked in Leila's deep green eyes and saw worry for her friend. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. She tucked her face in the crook of his neck, her arms wrapping around his waist.
--
Patrick led Cara up the walk to his parent's house. Cara felt very nervous about meeting the Stump's. She wondered what they would think about her abandoning Patrick in his hour of need, if Patrick had told them, that is. Patrick felt the hesitance because he was actually pulling her, instead of guiding. He turned around, facing Cara. Releasing her hand, he walked up to her, their noses almost touching.
"It's going to be fine. I promise, I'll be right here for you every step of the way," Patrick whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek. Cara smiled at him, and nodded for him to go inside the house.
--
"I want to announce our engagement," Joe said abruptly, spinning around to face Danielle. She just stared t him with wide eyes. A smile soon traced her lips. Joe really loved her.
"If that's what you want to do, then let's go!" she said, running to him. When their lips broke apart, she looked up at him. "How are we going to do it?"
Joe frowned in thought for a moment, but a smile soon crept across his face.
"A concert. I'll announce it at a concert!" he exclaimed.
"But Joey, you're not going on tour for another two months," Danielle said to him. He frowned again, but another idea hit him.
"Then we will just play a random show here in Chicago," he said, smiling at Danielle. A crooked smile slide on her face at the energy of Joe.
--
Pete was flipping through the TV channels as Leila was trying to find something to eat. They still had the house to themselves, not expecting anyone home for a long time. He felt a vibration coming from his pant pocket a long with a Van Halen song. He pulled out his phone and answered it.
"What's up Joe?" Pete greeted Joe's ringtone.
"Dude, how do you feel about performing a small gig tonight at our old place?" Joe asked him hurriedly.
Pete listened to Joe's reasons and a smile formed on his lips.
"Dude, I'm fine with it. Just get Patrick and Andy to agree, and I'm there," Pete said and they hung up.
"You're where?" Leila asked, coming back in to the living room with two plates of hot pockets and Capri Sun drinks.
"We're doing a small show tonight for Joe's benefit," Pete said, taking the plate from Leila and began eating his ham and cheese hot pocket.
--
Patrick hung up the phone with an extremely excited Joe. He couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. Micah came running into room at the sound of his father's laughter. He stood in the door way with some of his new clothes on, the stuffed Spider-Man still in hand. Upon seeing his father, he flung Spider-Man across the room, where it landed on a lamp shade, and ran into Patrick's open arms. Patrick pulled him into a death grip; he missed his son terribly the whole time he was gone. When Micah pulled away from his father, he saw Cara sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room. Micah looked from Patrick to Cara and back to Patrick. Seeing the happy look on his father's face, he smiled.
He walked over to Cara and threw his hands around her neck. Cara's eyes widen and slowly closed her arms around him. Micah pulled back, his arms still around her.
"Thank you for making my daddy happy again," Micah said, looking Cara straight in the eyes.
Cara's breath was taken away by the child's forwardness. She knew in that instant that she had fallen in love with him. One solitary tear rolled down her face and Micah used his thumb to brush it away.
--
"Just go and stand right in front of the stage," Joe told Danielle, hugging her and kissing her forehead.
They had all been back stage for the last two hours. The girls had never experienced what it was like to be back stage with Fall Out Boy before, and they all agreed that it was quite a spectacle.
Pete was testing out his new bass strap by spinning it around his body; once it flew off and, luckily, the body guard of Fall Out Boy (Charlie) caught it in mid-flight. After that, Pete just sat down, picking out their songs while lounging in a chair. Andy had a drum pad, warming up with small exercises. All the girls could recognize that sound anywhere; all three of them had been in a marching band at one point or another in their life and knew that sound very well. After he felt like he warmed up enough, he went to tapping out random tunes that none of them could really recognize. Joe was jumping up and down, spinning and flying through the air, playing his electric guitar that wasn't plugged up; the whole time he had a smile plastered on his face. Patrick was the most amusing of them all. He had his earphones on and was just walking about belting out random lines of the songs he was listening to. Whether it was Usher's "Caught Up" or Nat King Cole's "Almost Like Being In Love", he was entertaining everyone, including his son (who was excited to get to see his dad play live) and Cara. She started singing with him when he began the Cole song. Patrick could hear her voice through his earphones, looked up and smiled at her.
"Five minutes! Five minute curtain call!" the stage hand yelled out to the guys.
All the boys looked up at the man. They got all of their concert equipment and walked to the main stage entrance.
Leila walked up to Pete, hugging him and kissing him lightly.
"Good luck, Petey. I'll be watching!" Leila said, smacking him lightly on the rear-end.
Pete smirked at her, kissing her cheek. Cara walked up to Patrick with Micah in her arms. Patrick took him from her, giving him a big hug.
"Oh my gosh, daddy! This is so cool! I can't believe I get to go to a real concert!" Micah squeaked, not able to keep his eyes still on one thing in particular.
Patrick laughed at his son's reaction to his first real concert.
"I'm glad you're so excited. I just hope it's up to what you're building it up to be," Patrick said, turning his eyes to Cara, who was standing there right in front of him. She was looking at him with a smile on her face. Cara was really excited about seeing them perform; the last time was on her birthday. It was about time that she saw them again… she was overdue. Cara stepped closer to Patrick and kissed him on the cheek, not wanting to really kiss him in front of Micah.
"Good luck Patty Cakes," she whispered in his ear.
--
The band just got through playing "Of All The Gin Joints In The World" and the crowd was going crazy, including Cara; that was her favorite Fall Out Boy song. The boys were getting ready to do their acoustic set to cool off. After they were set up, Joe spoke into the microphone.
"I would like to announce that within the next month and a half, I will be getting hitched to the greatest girl I have ever met. She is my life and I love her dearly. I'm more than ecstatic that she agreed to marry me," Joe laughed to a stunned crowd. He looked down at Danielle. She was beaming with all the girls smiling sweetly at her. "So, Dani, this is for you," Joe whispered into the mic.
"Last years wishes, are this years apologies, every last time I come
home, I take my last chance to burn a bridge or two…" Patrick began to sing, and the rest of the boys playing; Andy tapped the tambourine on his hand, keeping the beat.
"The best way to make it through, with hearts and wrists intact, is to
realize, two out of three ain't bad…"
-note from the author-
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter is going to be the bachelor's and bachelorette's party!