The Last of the Real Ones || a Patrick Stump AU ||

one

Patrick spots the familiar form sitting on the grass. The lake water quietly strokes the sandy shore, reminding him how he and Nia used to question the strange transition when they were younger. Patrick smiles to himself as he starts towards his friend, making sure his movements are as silent as possible. Once he reaches his friend, another figure sits beside her. She looks over at him and scoots closer.

A strange, icy feeling courses through Patrick's chest— almost as if his heart claimed a winter kingdom in his chest, or his body created an empty, frosty void. It was Nia's boyfriend, Tom.

"Hey, Patrick!" the boy calls out, smiling at Patrick through the dim lighting. Nia snaps her head to find her best friend approaching. Tom ruins everything. The blonde boy pushes through his thoughts and smiles at the unexpected guest.

"Hey, Tom," Patrick mumbles. He sits on the other side of Nia, his arm lazily resting on his knee. "I wish I knew you were joining us."
"Sorry, Buster," Nia whispers to him, and smiles apologetically. She hands him a brown bottle from a cardboard case. "Root beer?"
"Thanks."

Patrick knows that he shouldn't feel this way towards Tom. He almost hates him, but for what reason? As far as he knows, Nia's boyfriend is a decent guy. She's happy with him and that should be the only thing that matters to Patrick. Nia is like a sister to him. It's only natural instinct that he becomes the protective force he has been for her for eleven years. He was there when she scraped her knee while learning how to skateboard and he was there through all the heartbreaks in high school. He was also capable of knowing what guys like Tom can do to girls like her.

"She talks a lot about you, Pat," Tom mentions. He leans forward to look past Nia and at her closest friend. Patrick cringes at the shorthand name, but manages to cover it with a smile.
"Just call me Patrick," he says before taking a sip of his soda.
"My bad, man," Tom chuckles. "So, have you two known each other a while?"
"Uh, I guess you could say that," Patrick stammers.
"We've been pals since we were seven," Nia interjects. She looks back at Patrick and smiles before giving him a playful shove on the shoulder. Patrick smiles back at the girl.

"Seven? Damn, that's a long time!" Tom gawks.
"Yeah, me and Buster go way back."
"Is Buster your middle name or something?" he asks Patrick. Patrick shakes his head.
"Nah, it's just a nickname..."
"A nickname I have for him," Nia explains.
"Aw, you guys have nicknames for each other," her boyfriend chortles. Patrick tears his attention away from the couple and starts to find rocks to skip on the lake.
"What does he call you?" Patrick hears Tom ask.
"Witch," Nia answers with a grin present in her voice.
"Witch? Why?"
"Because of my eyes," Nia says. Tom is silent, still confused.

This guy doesn't know a damn thing about her, Patrick thinks to himself before a snicker slips from him. The couple look over at Patrick— he just now notices that their bickering had ceased.

"Sorry," Patrick chuckles. "Just, uh, remembered something funny."

With that, Patrick stands from the grass and makes his way down to the lakeshore with his collection of rocks. He chucks a stone, the earth-material chuck skipping along the surface of the water. With each skip, he feels his heart sink lower and lower into the pit of his stomach. He heaves a sigh and brushes the feeling off, waiting for the stars to claim the sky. Nighttime was always Patrick's favorite time of day when he was Nia. She would gawk at the stars and planets in the sky and ramble on about articles she had read about how Earth tilts and aligns with constellations and neighboring planets. That's where him and Nia were different. Over the years, Patrick realized being a Ghostbuster wasn't likely (let alone possible). However, he did gain a passion for music. Nia was still fixated on stars, just like before.

Patrick glances back at the couple over his shoulder, wondering if Tom ever notices those things about her. His chest starts to feel weird again. An unexplainable type of weird he is not familiar with.

"Stop it," Patrick mumbles to himself before skipping another stone.
"Hey, Patrick," Nia says from behind him. Patrick almost jumps at her voice, but turns towards her. Tom is still on the grass; Patrick barely makes out an apologetic smile that hesitates on Nia's face. "Pass me some of those rocks, yeah?"
"Tom is an ass," Patrick blurts out as he divides his collection of rocks to share with Nia. The violet-eyed girl laughs and joins her friend's stone tossing.

"Give him a chance, willya?" she insists through a chuckle.
"He doesn't know a damn thing about you!"
"That's not true—"
"Does he know why he's here? At our lake? On our patch of grass?" Patrick asks. It's his turn to chuckle.
"Please, Patrick. I'm not a kid," Nia huffs. She tosses her final rock and lets it skip along the water. Patrick feels the temporary winter in his chest again. "Please. At least stay for the cool facts I've got! I read another stack of articles this morning."
"Yeah, sure," Patrick says, a weak smile faltering on his face. Nia playfully punches Patrick's shoulder with a chuckle.
"He's a good guy. I promise," she says.
"If he does anything, you know I'll beat his ass," Patrick halfway jokes.

The night claims the sky and the trio are gathered on the grass, their heads towards the skies. Nia studies every shining speck with amazement. Patrick was used to that.

"Tom! A shooting star!" Nia gasps. She nudges her boyfriend, but receives no response. Patrick rolls his eyes at the stranger, discovering that he fell asleep.

"Hey, I saw that, Buster!" Nia says. "He had a long day at work."

So did I, but you don't see me complaining, Patrick snaps internally. Instead, he suffices with shrugging at her response.

"I saw the shooting star," he says as he rests his head on his knees. He hugs his legs closer to his chest for more support and comfort.
"It's actually not shooting," Nia corrects. "It's—"
"—a dying star that is falling into our gravitational force," Patrick finishes with a laugh. He looks over at Nia, finding her giving him a playful glare before laughing at him.

"Still wanna make a wish?" Patrick suggests.
"Yeah, I wish you didn't steal my thunder, prick," she laughs. Patrick chuckles at the remark. He glances down at a sleeping Tom.

Me too.

A/N:
Sorry this took so long but wow?? Over 20 reads on the first part? I've already gotten some good feedback so far on this! Thank you so much! If you have any suggestions for the story, totally mention them in the comments or PM me :) ❤️❤️❤️

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