Chapter Twenty Seven: Anything You Say Can And Will Be Held Against You

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Mini dedications to MrBendezedrine and inubz101- you'll know eventually. Dedication to _hogwarts_fanfic_ for making me laugh a lot with the comments!

|| Patrick Stump|| First Person||

I stand behind Andy nervously, fidgeting with the plastic handles of the drug store grocery bag. Andy wanted to give Pete the stuff immediately, which resulted in us showing up at his door right after we got to the hotel. I honestly just wanted to see Cole. That tweet would only make sense to the both of us, considering I was the only one who heard her say I Love You to me. Andy knocks again.

"Yeah?" Pete groans groggily, pulling open the door to the room. He's in a grey t-shirt and shorts, his hair a disheveled mess. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he'd been crying. What the hell happened in there?

"Hey, we got the stuff." Andy says, narrowing his eyes in question. Andy bites his bottom lip. "Where's Cole?"

"Since you, Mother Hurley, were out at the store, I went mama bear on her." Pete tries to grin, but it falters almost as fast as it came. He moves back and lets us step inside of his room. I was saddened to find Cole in bed, fast asleep. I guess that's what sickness does to you.

"Good," Andy says, passing the bag of medicine and other important stuff to Pete. "You know how to use this stuff, so I'll save you the whole pharmacist Hurley act."

"Thanks, dude." Pete smiles gratefully, turning his head to look at Cole. He sighs tiredly when he sees her. Cole is on her side, facing the cream wall, her face not in our direction. A towel is draped over her pillow, a damp shirt over her forehead. The covers are half on her, her black t-shirt rising up to the point the small of her back is exposed. She's sick. "Our mom is worried about her."

"What do you mean?" I ask immediately, worry filling up every single inch and crevice of my brain. Pete shakes his head and sighs.

"She isn't going home, if that's what you're asking. Mom is just worried that Cole will run into Derek." Pete answers my question, looking over at his sister to check if she woke up. She didn't. Pete walks to the very right of the room, dropping the grocery bag on the table lightly. Their room was quite small, but they only had to deal with it for tonight before we're off to that whole Ziplining adventure thing. After that thing, we'll be doing a concert in Vancouver, and then working on the other shows in Canada.

"How is that possible? Isn't he in Chicago?" Andy asks.

"He was, but our mom was asking around Cole's old high school friends if they knew Derek Skinner, and these girls named Jenna and Skye let it slip that Derek was looking for her." Pete bites his bottom lip and shakes his head, pressing his palms over his eyes. "I'm so scared for her, Patrick."

"We just have to make sure that she isn't in the public eye too often." I say, even though I know that because she's touring with us, she always will be in the public eye. And it's not like those photographers back in Colorado haven't posted on their blogs about how Cole pretty much lashed out on them for accusing her of being in the middle of an affair with me. God, it's like she'll never get a break when she's near us.

"Impossible, look." Andy says, scrolling through his phone quickly before passing it to me. On the screen is an article about me and Cole, posted just hours before. There are three pictures- the first one of Cole burying her face into my shirt on the plane when she had an attack, the second of me and Cole goofing off with each other at the airport when she stole my hat, and the last one being when I kissed her forehead when Andy and I were leaving. A screenshot of one of Cole's tweets was included as well; ColeWentz: with @PatrickStump, vlogging and somehow managing to inhale all of the food on the bus. The picture she linked to the tweet was a selfie that we took, her head on my shoulder while I smiled brightly at her, rather than the camera. Man, did I look like a sick puppy in love. The title of the article was referencing a tweet Cole made an hour or two before. 'What did Cole Wentz mean?'

"I don't even want to read it." I sigh, passing the phone to Pete to look at. Andy shrugs his shoulders.

"You don't have to to know they're dissecting your relationship to make Cole seem like a boyfriend stealer." Andy tells me, taking his phone from Pete. I watch Andy as he slips his smartphone back into his pocket, bringing his right hand up to run his fingers through his hair. At that exact second, I think about Elisa. She knew about Derek.

"Elisa knew before us." I blurt out suddenly, looking between my friends. Andy's eyes widen considerably while Pete's jaw drops ever so slightly. I know what they're going to ask next, so I save them the trouble and continue on. "I heard her tell Cole to stay away from us or else she'll tell everyone about what happened to her."

"And you didn't think to tell us?" Pete responds in annoyance. My heart jumps a bit at his tone of voice and I quickly shake my head, trying to redeem myself.

"No, no, I forgot. All Elisa mentioned was his name. I'm sorry I didn't tell you- I was too busy worrying about Cole because she slit her wrists after that." I hiss, trying to keep my voice low. Pete shakes his head in disbelief, biting his bottom lip. Cole shifts in bed ever so slightly but remains asleep.

"How did that bitch know before us?" Pete inquires, sitting on the edge of his bed and clasping his hands together as his elbows rest on his knees. I shrug my shoulders, but Andy was already on it.

"They're mutuals." Andy says, looking at both me and Pete. I raise my eyebrows in question. "Facebook friends. Elisa and Derek are friends."

"What?" It isn't me or Pete who speak. It's Cole, who seems to be sitting up in bed, groggy.

"How much did you hear?" Andy asks, and Cole shrugs truthfully.

"Everything past 'Elisa knew before us.'" She mumbles, rubbing her red eyes. Her pink hair is slightly damp from Pete's t-shirt over her forehead and her face is slightly red. Her shirt is still riding up, her abdomen slightly visible. She reaches up and begins to tie her hair up with the black elastic around her wrist. "Well? Go on, what connection do Elisa and Derek have?"

"Well, they have the same friends on Facebook and, um, their statuses."

"What are there statuses?" Pete asks Andy, who bites his tongue for a moment before deciding to continue with voicing his findings.

"In a relationship."

-/::\-

OH MY GOD SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING ABOUT ELISA AND HOW SHE KNEW DEREK SO HERE YOU KIDDIES GO! A SOMEWHAT EXPLANATION WITH THE WORST CLIFFHANGER I COULD PUT.

Thank you guys so so so so much for just reading, and thank you a thousand times over for voting and commenting! I read every comment and try to reply to them immediately, and I know who votes and everything. Thankiesssss!

-Stay Classy, Young Volcanoes

•LeaveNoWordsUnspoken

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