sunshine riptide (peterick)

manic

for as long as he could remember things had always been this way.

he would experience the euphoric highs of life, yelling as loud as his lungs would allow. jumping around a stage, feeling on top of the world, the music was part of him. his thoughts would quiet and his blood would thrum with life. his fingers would blister and bleed from being forced to tear at the bass in his hands, but he was so caught up in his own bliss that he didn't notice, didn't care about the marks being left behind on his skin.

he was addicted to the music, on those nights. it was better than anything, pouring liquid sunshine into his veins, shooting up on the high of the moment.

yes, people would notice his crazed attitude. he'd get questions, some positive, others not. but it didn't matter to him on those days, everything was just one beautiful disaster. the world was created just for his enjoyment, it was his to remake. everything belonged to him and he would squeeze all the color out of a single day just because he could.

he knew it wasn't healthy, this pulsating feeling of power that he felt in his bones, but it was so addicting. he needed this feeling, just as he needed air. without it he was just a fish, flopping on the deck frantically wishing for a single drop of water.

so he lived despite it and he lived because of it.

///

it was on one of these sunshiny days that everything came crashing down.

the four boys, who had started tentatively calling themselves fall out boy, crammed into their shitty van after opening for a show at a tiny dive bar. sweaty and exhausted, but with smiles as big as their hopes for the future, they cranked up the radio and sped off. their show had gone amazingly, people were engaged, screaming back the words and thrumming with the same feeling that he felt in his veins.

so they were celebrating. with the money scraped up from in-between seat cushions and crumpled in pockets, they unanimously agreed that they deserved a night at a motel.

"pete, turn down the radio, it's giving me another headache," patrick half-heartedly griped from somewhere in the back of the vehicle.

"i will do no such thing," a cheshire-grinned pete stared back as his grumpy friend and waited for a reply.

"for fuck's sake pete, just give the poor kid a break, he's the whole reason this whole band thing is even working," joe snorted from beside pete, reaching to turn down the booming stereo.

"whatever you say, captain" pete retorted, voice dripping with sickly-sweet sarcasm as he aimed a two-figured salute towards the curly-haired man.

the boys continued with their lighthearted teasing and back-and-forth banter, eyes and moods dropping as the sun started to hit the horizon. joe swore that they were just about an hour away from the motel they'd stay at for the night, but by then andy and patrick were already asleep in the back. pete quietly spoke to joe, bouncing his leg and thrumming his fingers on his thighs to try to burn off the excess energy still flowing through his system.

"do you think we'll really make it?" pete wondered aloud, his brain-to-mouth filter not quite functioning at this time of night.

"i don't know, but if we don't at least we'll have these memories," an unusually profound statement slipping off joe's lips.

"yeah, yeah but i really think we could be something big. we have our golden ticket, our secret weapon," the shorter man gestured to a sleeping patrick curled in the backseat, "and we have something special, all four of us. i don't know how to explain it but i really think we're going to be something big. something that changes people and takes the world by storm. we're going to be a tempest in a teacup, we'll be remembered for years, centuries even." pete mused.

"you know, for once i think you might be right, pete."

the lull in the conversation was welcome. the quiet hum of the radio and the creaking of the ancient van were enough for pete to start to doze off. eyes closed, stuck between sleep and reality. the next few moments could have lasted minutes or hours, but he didn't mind.

for once pete's dream wasn't a typical nightmare or a forgettable plot line. his dream was of them.

all three of his fellow bandmates were together on a stage, playing their hearts out. together they strung together music for hundreds, no thousands, of fans, all screaming and clapping and crying. it was euphoric, brilliant, everything pete never knew he needed.

his fingers plucked out melodies and effortlessly shifted between chords on his bass as he spun and moved across the stage. andy pounded on the drums like he was born only to do this one task perfectly. joe was crooning into a mic, as his fingers picked at his guitar.
and patrick, his golden trick, was magic. his voice was enrapturing, it caught pete's attention and he couldn't help but step towards the golden notes spilling from between pink lips.

pete's feet decided to move without conscious approval from pete himself, and soon enough he was right next to patrick. he couldn't resist the perfect boy, singing his words. so with little caution he stretched out his neck and nuzzled against patrick's neck.

a searing pain tore across pete's side and his back. the music stopped and all the illusions of fans and instruments disappeared. it was now just him and patrick, so very close but still in pain. he could bits of red, but for some reason, he only had one thought in his head. he looked at the perfect blond boy beside him, as he captured petal soft lips with his own.

with a gasp he opened his eyes. quickly realizing his dream wasn't far from reality, he tried to roll away from the struggling patrick beneath him. he quickly realized the impossibility of that when he discovered the sticky blood coating his side and his awkward positioning pressed up against the side of the van.

everything was hazy, the beautiful boy below him and the chaos around him. his mind struggled to process the images, but he slowly pieced together what had most likely happened. their van was on its side, they had gotten into an accident.

just as pete came to this realization, he began to feel the affects of sleep and adrenaline wear off, and started to feel the excruciating pain in this side and across his back. he reached over to his side, only to find it coated in a scarlet shade of red.

trying to ignore his own injuries he looked down at patrick who was hyperventilating, but otherwise seemed unharmed. he shushed the smaller boy and tried to voice that everything was going to be okay, but the words wouldn't make it out from between the his uncooperative lips. his head was stuffed with cotton and his mouth was a desert.

his vision started to swim, growing darker and darker. he could hear the distant shouts of andy and joe and the small whimpers coming from patrick, but they sounded underwater. he briefly smelt burning rubber and sweat, but it was soon overtaken by the overpowering stench of metallic blood.

that last thing pete remembered before the world goes completely black, is plush lips pressed against his own.

---

hey thanks a bunch for reading my trash. i hope you enjoyed because this is my first story on wattpad and i'm excited, but also half asleep. i'll maybe update this semi regularly. leave any thoughts or suggestions in the comments and have a great day!