𝐻𝐴𝑁𝐷 𝐼𝑁 𝐺𝐿𝑂𝑉𝐸 - 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑘 ℎ𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟

06 ~ 𝑚𝑎𝑑

"i always thought sunrises were a lot prettier than sunsets," carrie speaks from her spot on the rooftop, "and the air always feels nicer, cleaner, you know, almost like when your out here you're the first on to breathe it."

she looks over to patrick on her right, he's seated slightly higher on the slanted tiles of her house and has barely spoken a word since they'd clambered up there and hour prior. at her stare, he reverts his gaze from looking over the streets of derry and looks at her with a subtle smirk.

"you just think constantly, don't you?" the tilt in his voice is teasing and paired with that smirk, carrie's heart ripples.

"doesn't everyone?" she asks, slightly confused.

"not if they can help it." is patrick's response and he chuckles slightly as he watches even more thoughts race behind her eyes. "see!" he exclaims, "you're doing it again!"

it's true, she was, her train of thought was very easily occupied. so she brings her attention back to patrick with an eye roll and the reply: "i guess i just like to understand things."

he nods at this. patrick too shares a desire understand things, knowledge is power, and patrick wants lots of that.

"i also have never really had anyone to talk to, so everything that caught my attention was discussed solely in my head." she grimaces at this admission and winces up at the lanky boy on her rooftop. "that sounds so sad, wow."

patrick smiles slightly, but it doesn't reach his eyes as they  are sheltered by the furrow of his strong brows. his heart is pinching for this girl, this girl's complete isolation. he imagines her sitting on this rooftop every morning, alone, he imagines her getting ready for school, alone, he pictures her walking the corridors, sitting in the classrooms and lunch hall, all alone.

he is moderately concerned by his sudden care for someone however, this is possibly the only real person he will find that doesn't pose as a threat to him, so he dismisses how uncomfortable his sudden sympathy is and remembers the only way he's going to be able to tell her who she is, is if she trusts him.

"you don't have to be lonely anymore." he says, eyes rising to the soft pinks and oranges dancing across the horizon. he observes how they make all the houses appear washed out and almost colourless, as though all the pigment has left them, rising up to paint the delicate sunrise in the sky.

"you want me to come join you and your goons?" she replies, with a quirk in her brow and a small laugh, trying to ignore the way her heart raced at his statement.

"definitely not." patrick's tone is light but there's a hardness behind his eyes that shows he means it. "henry would eat you alive."

plus patrick isn't good with sharing and can already see that sickening look henry gives all the girls, which usually doesn't bother him, however, the though of carrie under that stare makes his blood boil.

at his statement carrie begins to think about this entire situation. she thinks about him approaching her at the gig, she thinks about dancing with him. she thinks about the interaction in the school corridor, she thinks about walking home with him. she thinks about him arriving at her bedroom, she thinks about the harshness of his voice and the devilish grin. and the thinks about him here, on her rooftop, watching the sunrise. she thinks about how some moments he appears completely normal; but then she thinks about the moments where he doesn't, where that dark shadow crawls out from behind him, casting his face in something that appears twisted and almost malevolent and she thinks about how that excites her and she comes the conclusion they're both completely insane.

"we're mad, aren't we?" she says, drawing her arms around her knees and tilting her head back towards patrick. he meets her eyes with a small smile.