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

Chapter Fifty Two: I Want To Hate Every Part of You

||Patrick Stump|| First Person||

If I didn't have asthma, I'm pretty sure I would have held my breath until I passed out. But unfortunately, that doesn't really seem to be effective at this point, so I substitute the passing out part to signify shock with almost ripping Elisa's hand off, grabbing the lone earring.

"What are you talking about?" Josh asks, his eyebrows furrowed up and his mouth poised into a frown. Josh Dun is the kind of person some would just hug because of how nice and 'adorable' he is and all that jazz, but right now? He looked ready to beat the shit out of someone.

"She's somewhere with Derek, most likely unconscious, and a gun trained to her head." Elisa smiles triumphantly, biting her pink stained lip. "She's a threat to his future. If he goes to jail, he's never going to have the life he deserves."

"You do realize that most... attack cases go by without any charges pressed against the suspect because räpe is a difficult thing to prove?" Brendon says, twiddling his fingers as he chews on the inside of his cheek. He's just as nervous because everything we say has to be important. Everything we say has to be carefully worded, because Cole's life may depend on it. "Even if she were to press charges, who says she'd win the case? Derek already knows this."

"We recently figured out that Cole was videotaping the party." Elisa sighs, rolling her eyes slightly while I still don't quite believe that it's possible to experience so much surprise in one day. "Derek suspects that she didn't stop recording. Her phone was in her shorts' pocket, and maybe it died of low battery, I don't know. But it has audio of them talking and if she shows that to the police, Derek is dead."

"Have you ever thought of justice?" Pete sneers, his voice deeper than usual and coated with malice. "Because that's what's coming to him."

"Have you ever heard of a gun? Because if you don't shut up, Cole is dead." Elisa smirks when Pete bites back a snarky remark. I narrow my eyes at her and inhale sharply.

"What do you want from us?" I ask quietly, scared of what the answer might be.

"Well, she clearly isn't cooperating," Elisa taps her chin lightly with her finger, as if she was just starting to think about what they possibly might want from us.

"What do you mean?" I ask, my voice cracking slightly. Elisa smiles widely, flipping her curly hair back and over her shoulder.

"She claims the phone is no longer in her possession, which is BS because everyone carries their phone with them." Elisa sighs.

"Has it never occurred to you that maybe she's telling you the truth?" Pete steps forward, his hands balled up into trembling fists at his sides. "Because she broke her phone."

"What?" I guess it's Elisa's turn to be shocked, because she's taking a step back. "What are you talking about?"

"She shattered the screen. Our parents bought her a new one." Pete growls venomously, and I almost sidestep away from him and out of his line of rage. I bite my bottom lip nervously.

"But Derek-"

"If my sister dies because of your ignorance, I swear to God, Elisa, you're dead." If he could, Pete would have been blowing steam from his ears and he would have grown horns. The smug look on her face vanishes almost immediately, and something tells me that Derek hasn't been telling her the truth for the longest time.

"You really are stupid." I say slowly, and Elisa's head snaps up and to my direction. Hurt crosses her face for a second, but I don't feel bad one bit. "Do you really think he likes you?"

"He loves me." Elisa retorts immediately, defensive as fuck. I roll my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest.

"If you really think so, I feel even worse for you. He's using you to get to Cole. How can you be so stupid? Do you really think he's that dumb?" I say. Elisa raises her eyebrows, her bottom lip quivering slightly. I keep going though. "You really think he took her to wherever alone to 'just question' her?"