The Middle - Volume Three ✔️

Chapter 34 (Patrick)

Patrick

I’m lying on top of my bed with my hands under the back of my head, staring up at the ceiling. I can’t believe Noah slept with someone else in New York. He really is an asshole. And I can’t believe he asked Jamie to be his girlfriend, and she told him that she has slept with someone else too. And she told him that she needs space. What the hell does that mean?

I know what it means. It means she wants to be Noah’s girlfriend, but she doesn’t wanna dive right in to spare my feelings. Why else would she have rushed over here to tell me about it? Christ, what a mess.

I hear the front door slam and I know Jamie must have stopped to talk to Joel on her way out. I sigh, I guess I should go talk to him. But as I sit up, my bedroom door flies open and Joel fills the doorway. Here we go.

“Why can you never keep your fucking dick in your pants?!” He growls at me. Oh, please.

“I can, it’s firmly tucked away right now, isn’t it?” I consider standing up to get on his level, but there’s no point trying to intimidate him. He’s mad, but he’s my best friend, and I know his anger comes from a good place.

“You know what I mean, you asshole.” He closes the door and sits down behind my drum kit. I should tell him to get the fuck away from it, but I don’t. It’s not like he’d know what to do with it anyway. And I know he won’t touch anything. But he called me an asshole, so I feel like being an asshole.
“You slept with her? You actually slept with her!?” He’s shaking his head at me in disbelief. Why is it so hard to believe?

“Yeah… three times.” I reply evenly.

“What!?” He accidentally knocks his arm against one of the symbols.

“Watch it!” I shout at him. “I don’t touch your fucking guitars, so don’t touch my drums.”

“Sorry, but… she told me you slept with her the other night, then again in the morning. When else did it happen??” He’s frowning at me. So I frown right back at him, does he really need to know all the fine details?

“Jesus Christ, Joel. People can have sex more than once in the same night, you know. You should try it some time, it’s fun” I wink at him, and his frown deepens.

“Stop kidding around, man. This is serious.” He says, and I know he’s right. I sigh and run a hand through my hair, anticipating an awkward conversation.

“I know, I know.” I say.

“Do you, though?” Joel is not happy. “You realise the future of the band is at stake? And your friendship with Jamie? Not to mention Jay! He would probably murder you if he knew about this!” He’s flailing his hands around like an idiot, he needs to calm down.

“Okay, Joel, I get it.” I hiss at him, “But would you please shut up, or my fucking little brother is gonna find out too.”

He glares at me for a moment before standing up and walking over to the bedroom door. His hand is on the door handle, but he turns back around to face me before he leaves.

“You do know you need to suck it up and deal with it if she chooses Noah, right?”

“Of course I do.” I look down at the floor, hating the pity in Joel’s eyes right now. “And of course she’ll choose him. There’s no choice. You know she’s crazy about him.”

“Would she sleep with you three times if she was crazy about Noah?” I look up at him, and he’s cocking his head at me. What the hell is he getting at?

“I don’t know, she slept with Shaun Campbell plenty of times before. Fuck knows what goes through her head.” I sigh.

“Yeah, and you sleep with loads of girls. You can’t judge.”

“I’m not judging! I’m just saying I don’t know what the hell she wants.” I protest.

“Have you asked her?”

“No. I don’t wanna confuse her, or push her.”

“Well, I agree with you there.” Joel says, opening the door. “She needs to figure this out on her own, we can’t force these things.”

“We sure can’t.” I lay back on my bed, done talking about this. He can go now.

“Just one last thing.” He says, so I sit up, propping my weight up with my elbows.

“Not a word to Jay.” He looks at me seriously, and I nod my head. Duh.