Murder in Middleview

Chapter Three

     Everyone gasped. Not separately or anything, but like one big collective gasp. Pretty cool really, but that's not the point. Emma's hands had flown to cover her mouth in shock as she stared at Patrick in disbelief. He still wore a goofy grin as he waited, hoping to hear at least some sort of half hearted, somewhat excited, sarcastic agreement or something. 

     Suddenly a little, bright purple, SUV came flying around a corner. Throwing up and covering the shiny car in a thick layer of dirt and dust. Everyone, now distracted, looked up at the car as it pulled in. The driver quickly jumping out and peaking over the top of it excitedly, "Guess who brought pizza!" The woman shouted with excitement. Another girl, younger than the first, stepped out of the passenger side, her arms full of at least 5 boxes of pizza from the place in town. It took a moment before the older girl noticed Pat, "Wait... did we interrup-ARE YOU TWO GETTING MARRIED?!" "Well I don't know Jimena. My knee is getting sore and she hasn't answered me yet." Pat quipped at her, before looking back at Emma, "So... will you?" 

     Emma had just uncovered her mouth and opened it to respond... when the younger girl suddenly screeched, "OH MY GO-AHHHHH! YOU TWO?! FINALLY?! AFTER ALL THESE YEA-"Gane had stepped forward, opened the top pizza box, and easily stuffed a slice of pizza into her screaming mouth, "Goodness Danielle, I swear you get louder every time I see you." Everyone laughed a little, before turning back to the couple for at least the third time so far. Emma finally smiled broadly and nodded her head in excitement, deciding that attempting to verbally answer in front of this specific group of people was probably not worth the effort. She and Patrick beamed at each other before embracing and kissing, causing Cayden to make a face and Eli to cover Madelyn's eyes... who simply peaked around Elizabeth's hand, nearly bouncing with excitement.

That Evening

     Shortly after Emma had accepted Patrick's proposal, the gang of now a dozen strong, headed inside to celebrate. Thankfully Jimena and Danielle had brought pizza, which as always was Jimena's idea. For being such a rich and sophisticated artist such as herself, she sure did love the simpler things in life. Like pizza every other day and needing a constant stream of puppy pictures, which she claims helps keep her more focused on her work. She had originally come alone, stopping and getting pizza from Middleview's very own, and cheesy, pizza joint "Zeus' Gouda Pizzeria". But she had come across Danielle. The poor girl's truck had stalled just minutes before she got to the house, she recalled to Jimena. Jimena graciously offered to take her and her bags up to the house, that was just barely a mile away, until they could get it back up and running again.

They had gathered around the large dinning room table. They decided to put all their phones in a basket, as to not get distracted or be interrupted during their weekend together. It had been ages since they had all gotten together, and they didn't want it to get ruined now. Patrick had gone to the hall closet and gathered board games. Life, Monopoly, Risk, Sorry, the works. All the good old originals and more. He even grabbed several card decks last minute, just to be safe. They spent the night away celebrating and playing games. Even the more shy people of the group, like Elizabeth and Madelyn, came out of their shells and had a good time. It was around 1 in the morning when everyone started dispersing. Emma and Pat had gone off to bed, several other's grabbed their bags and scurried off to their shared bedrooms to sleep as well. Cayden and Jimena were the last two awake. They were stuck in quite the heated round of Monopoly. It wasn't until nearly 2 that they called a truce, purely out of exhaustion, and went to bed. Jimena found she wasn't sharing a room with any of the other girls, and Cayden happily collapsed onto the living room couch.

3:47 A.M. (Patrick's PoV)

   Or so the clock on my nightstand read. I grunted slightly and rolled over, smiling as I recalled the events of the day. I reached over, only to frown as I realized the space beside me was empty. Where was Em? Maybe she had to go to the restroom, or get water? I thought as I tried to calm my irrational worry. I sat up and looked over to make sure I wasn't just losing it. She was there, though. Sitting up and trying to quietly put her slippers on, "Oh sorry." she whispered faintly, "I didn't mean to wake you up. Just forgot my glass of water in the kitchen. Not used to having so many guests over at once, just a little discombobulated." I smiled at her, scooting over to her side of the bed and gently draping an arm over her shoulder. Planting a loving kiss on the top of her head, "Don't be sorry. Be safe." I joked, causing her to laugh a little, "I'll try. Shouldn't be too difficult." I watched her go. She stopped to squish Stewy's chubby little face around, before slipping out the bedroom door.