Listen (Patrick Stump / Fall Out Boy Fanfic)

Chapter 26 - The Valley's Gonna Swallow me Whole

            "Patrick. Patrick, wake up. We're in Chicago." I woke up to the sound of Pete calling my name, along with his hand on my shoulder. He was standing over me, the bright, garish morning light pouring into the room. I was still holding onto Aria like my life depended on it, and she was still curled into my chest, sound asleep. I looked up at Pete, glaring at him slightly. "Get up, man," he chuckled, "We're in Chicago. We'll be at your place in fifteen minutes, okay?"

I mumbled a half-hearted response, then began to gently shake Aria awake as Pete left the room. She eventually looked up at me, blinking slowly in the morning light. "We're almost home," I told her, and she looked at me like I'd just spoken to her in another language.

"Home?" She asked, and I realized that I'd never told her where the bus was heading. "What about Nashville?"

"We're taking a short break from tour. We're back home for two weeks."

Aria looked at me quizzically, and then her face dropped in realization. One hand moved to her stomach, and then she looked up at me. Before she could say anything, I leaned in and kissed her softly. When I pulled away, she smiled sadly at me, but I climbed out of bed and reached for her hand.

In a matter of moments, we were dressed and I was packing our bags. We were ready to leave by the time the bus pulled up in front of our house. Pete walked into the bunk room to tell us we were there, and I threw both of our bags over my shoulder. I took Aria's hand in mine, looking at her with a forced smile that told her it was going to be okay. She smiled back, but her hand was still moving to her belly out of habit. I led her off the bus, both of us saying a brief goodbye to the guys. I didn't turn around as the bus roared to life again behind us, but kept walking up the driveway to the house. I pulled my keys from my pocket when we got there, not letting go of Aria's hand, and opened the front door.

Being home held a certain comfort that neither of us could explain, especially since these walls held no memory of the pregnancy. The entire thing had taken place on the bus, and now, it felt like a weight had been lifted from our shoulders. I set our bags down in front of the door and let go of Aria's hand, watching her as she drifted towards the kitchen. I followed her silently, wanting to just hold her suddenly, like I had last night. She was in the fridge when I walked in after her, but she closed it when she remembered that we haven't been here, so it was empty. She turned around, glanced at me, then stood on her toes to get a glass out of the cupboard. She went to the sink to fill it with water and took a long drink, looking serenely out the window over the sink as she did so. Once the glass was empty, she set it down in the sink and turned to see me still standing there.

She smiled at me, genuinely, and crossed the kitchen to stand in front of me. She wound her arms around my neck and stood up on her toes again to kiss me. My hands instinctively found their way to her waist, pulling her closer to me. When she pulled away, she rested her forehead against mine for a moment, her eyes still closed. I was staring at her intently, trying to figure out what she was feeling.

Finally, she opened her eyes with a smile. She leaned back to look at me properly, but I still held her tightly by her waist, unwilling to let her go. "Patrick," she whispered, reaching up to touch my cheek with one hand. I leaned into her touch, furrowing my brow slightly as I looked at her. She dropped her hand and let go of me entirely to sign to me. "I'm okay," she told me, smiling briefly to emphasize her point. She was okay? She just carried a baby for almost four months and lost it, but she was okay? Needless to say, I didn't believe her, because I'd only watched her carry a baby and lose it, and I was far from okay. Her hands were on my chest now, slowly sliding their way up around my shoulders. She looked up at me with that smile again, her lips pressed together, but one corner tugging them up crookedly in a smirk.