The Church Boys ➸ Peterick/Brentrick

17: Merry Christmas, I Could Care Less

December wasn't exactly Patrick's favorite month out of the year.

That's right: Patrick Stump wasn't a fan of Christmas.

Of course, Christmas was okay and all. It made people happy and that was great- he loved it when people were happy- but Christmas just wasn't really his thing. It was awkward, he hated family members asking what he wanted (or, his favorite- yes, sarcasm- when they asked what size he wore), the malls jacking up prices so that a kid without a job could barely afford to buy his friends any presents, and especially the family gatherings that managed to be as awkward as trying to guess what the fuck a teenager wants for Christmas.

It's not like they could get him a porno magazine, which was anyone's best guess, but if they got him one he'd probably give it to Aaron. It wasn't his thing, at the moment, probably in partial part due to Brendon. While he wasn't upset over the breakup any more, and they could make small talk, the ideal of sex just might be forever ruined.

That, AND Mr Flowers was making them split into groups and make Christmas songs to play at the "chapel" service before break got out. They were groups of two- Dallon and Brendon were working together, just as Pete and Patrick were. Geoff paired with Frank, and Spencer stayed with the keyboardist.

Realistically, they wouldn't be that bad, in theory.

Pete came up with lyrics in about half an hour, Patrick getting a riff together in that time before they edited the lyrics and worked out a melody for the rest of the period. They figured they'd finish it the next day and perfect it the day of the assembly.

Yet, it wasn't a "happy" Christmas song, it seemed.

Pete was the best at writing bitter love songs, Patrick had discovered, but nobody else would really know about it until Friday. They weren't sure what Pete would be doing- whether he'd pick up an acoustic bass or play another guitar, or even if he'd just keep a rhythm on Patrick's acoustic.

They'd figure it out the next day.

They weren't exactly sure how the others were approaching this, though. Whether they were converting something else into a Christmas song, or just a new take on one.

pdiddly: yo are you doing anything on Friday's assembly thing?

scott ✨: no? what is it?

pdiddly: it's like a christmas thing- you guys should do something !!

scott ✨: that would actually be pretty rad, maybe we could do hallelujah or something.

pdiddly: yeah! i can talk to mr flowers and get you guys in no problem

scott ✨: i'll talk to the squad and let you know :D

Just in case. Patrick looked up from his phone and back at Pete, who was trying to tap out a rhythm. Still, the song was coming together slowly but surely. Figuring out the beat to sing the lyrics at was the hardest part, but once Patrick cracked it once, that was all it took.

Otherwise, it was just Pete giving suggestions for pitches to sing at. Once they were done, Pete just used his phone to record Patrick singing so they wouldn't forget. Just in case.

After that, they just figured they'd work out all the kinks the next day while Patrick wrote down the chords to play with the lyrics. Brendon and Dallon seemed to already have their song.

mitch 💦: we're all down for the christmas thing

pdiddly: what happened to scott?