Breathe Me Back To Life •Patrick Stump+Fall Out Boy•

Chapter Twenty Five: Can You Feel My Heart

Dedication goes out to panicattheryden for all of the votes and lovely comments! Thank you to all of you!

||Patrick Stump|| First Person||

My breath hitches in my throat and my lungs feel like they're about to collapse once the words emit from the broken, shaky, Perfect Porcelain, Doll's mouth. She loved me, she loved me, she loved me-

As a friend.

It's obvious that it'd be only something friendly. Cole has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder- it's quite evident in her actions. Her attack has left her bruised and battered, mentally and I hope to God not physically, leaving her extremely vulnerable at this point. She needed a friend, definitely not a romantic interest, and with her whole episode mere seconds ago, the last thing on her mind would be to confess her love for me. And plus, why would she ever like me in the first place? I'm just Patrick Stump, her best friend from what- Chicago? She obviously wouldn't be interested in me because I'm... me.

But it didn't mean that I couldn't confess my undying love for her. Even if she won't know the truth behind my words.

"I love you, too." I mumble into her hair, knowing deep down that she is probably only considering this confession as strictly platonic love. But it felt... good to be able to get it off my chest. "Let's go now, okay?"

"Sure," Cole whispers, pulling back slightly to brush her pink bangs away from her eyes. She looked really cute with pink hair, which is funny because Elisa was hoping for the opposite result. She lets out a quivering sigh, and that's when I pull her into a tighter hug, holding my best friend and the girl I'm deeply- madly in love with in my arms. When we release each other from the bone crushing hug, she grins and I giggle lightly. Cole bites her bottom lip slightly, and I swear she's almost drawing blood until Pete decides to stand up.

"Here, get on." Pete smiles at her, offering her a piggy back ride. She smiles before standing up to her shaky feet, jumping up onto Pete's back and holding on tightly. I grin lightly, dipping my head at the sight of the two siblings together.

But really, is it wrong that I'm in love with her? Especially with her whole attack three months back, I feel like I'm rushing her. I feel like I'm wrong for liking someone who is so afraid of everything because of past experiences that left them extremely vulnerable.

"Come on," I'm being swept up by Hayley and Ryan as Pete and Cole move ahead. They're walking forward, keeping a close eye on me for the next half hour as we're getting our bags in the Vancouver airport. I don't really mind that Ryan and Hayley look like they're about to lock me in a broom closet and interrogate the hell out of me, because I all I can do is look at Cole. She's with Dallon and Joe right now, laughing at something silly that Joe probably said. She throws her head back and giggles, leaning into Dallon as Joe continues to spout things along the lines of idiocy. I smile when Brendon crouches in front of the considerably shorter girl and holds up a bottle of Minute Maid orange juice to her like a peace offering or a proposal. She fanes excitement, fanning her face like she's overwhelmed. Ryan cracks a grin at her behaviour for a minute before turning to me and fulfilling the prophecy with Hayley. Except they didn't lock me in a closet but rather dragged me away from the rest of the group.

"You're a good guy, Patrick." Ryan says, looking at me with a face that shows that he'a dead serious. I chew on my bottom lip and nod. I wasn't scared- why should I be? "And Cole deserves a good guy, at the least."

"Yeah," I breathe out.

"Please, don't hurt her anymore than she has been, 'Trick." Hayley is practically begging me. Cole and her are best girl friends now, and they really care about each other. They're the only girls on tour, so they've found comfort dealing with one another's antics. It makes me really happy that Cole has all this support from her friends and family. It was insane when Pete told their parents about Cole's attack. Her dad flipped his shit when he found out about it, almost calling the police. Then her mom started crying. I was so relieved that I put Cole to sleep before she had to participate in that conversation.