Fall Out Boy- A Little Less Sixteen Candles Untold (fanfic)

After: Chapter 8- If I Don't Wake Up Dead

Joe’s eyelids slowly began to close, before he forced them back open.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been since Pete had decided to lock himself in the bedroom, but to him it had felt like time was stretching out before him and moving slowly, even though he wished it wouldn’t. Joe could understand Pete isolating himself from the others, he almost felt the same way- even though he still had Andy, it didn’t replace the feeling of emptiness in his heart; Patrick was gone, and now it felt like a part of him was gone as well.

The sound of clattering plates from across the room was the only sound in the warehouse and seemed to echo from wall to wall as Andy was moving around the kitchen area trying to keep himself occupied. Joe quite admired Andy’s efforts- he’s trying to keep himself busy, trying to stop himself from falling apart. Meanwhile, Joe himself was slumped on the sofa, exhausted and weak, both physically and mentally as he tried to avoid falling asleep and falling into the unconscious, fighting against it. He wanted to do what Andy was doing, keeping himself distracted to try and forget the loss of their friend, but he also didn’t want to forget. It felt like giving up too easily. 

Joe continued his battle with consciousness, and failing as his eyes fell shut once more, his vision being cut off and into blackness, until a familiar voice cut through and brought him out of it, eyes flying back open.

“Are you okay?”

Joe saw Andy standing directly in front of him with a small plate in his hand; his long brown hair was a tangled mess, part of it covering his face like a mask, but behind the mask Joe knew that his eyes were sad, reddened and wide from sobs and his face flushed with blood- Joe could imagine his own face looking quite similar, they were both in the exact same situation, feeling the exact same way.

Joe rubbed his eyes, groaning. “Do you really need me to answer that?” His voice came out strained.

Both of them were distraught and in deep mental pain, Joe thought the only thing keeping them both stable and sane was each other. I’ve already lost one friend, I don’t want to loose another. Now that Patrick was no longer with them, he couldn’t imagine loosing Andy too, he wouldn’t be able to handle it at all.

Andy moved his head to look at his feet, as if regretting what he said and Joe instantly felt guilty; he didn’t want to hurt Andy or push him away, but he couldn’t help it; he felt like he hated the world right now and everything in it. Like Pete, Joe wanted to shut himself off and shield himself from everything so he could grieve alone, but somehow he couldn’t find the courage to.

Patrick was always the reasonable one, the one who was always reassuring and best in these types of situations. As Joe looked back on old memories replaying in his mind, he felt the tears begin to well back up behind his eyes once more but bit them back. His mind recalled the time where he had been taken by the Dandies and even though he was barely conscious at the time, he knew that it was only because of Patrick creating a distraction that allowed them to escape and make it out alive. Me and Andy might have been dead a long time ago if it wasn’t for Patrick.  
If I could switch places with Patrick, I would.

Joe noticed Andy lift his head and look at him again, their eyes met- they could both easily guess how the other one was feeling.

Andy cleared his throat. “Go to sleep if you want.”

Joe raised an eyebrow.

“It’s obvious that you’re tired.” Andy continued. “You don’t have to stay awake if you don’t want to.” 
Yeah, I guess you’re right….Joe opened his mouth to agree with Andy, but stopped before shaking his head and changing his mind. “No….” his voice trailed off slightly as he yawned.  “I don’t want to-“