Patrick first woke up in the dead of night, the dull shine of the couple of stage lights they had left on humming quietly in the dark. Tori was still beside him, her breathing slow and even, and her hands tightly clutching the blanket around her. It was chilly in the drafty old theater, especially on the stone floor, so Patrick gently slid closer to her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her tight against his chest. He closed his eyes then, his nose buried in Tori's hair, and let out a slow, deep sigh. He had every intention of falling back to sleep, but a noise in the darkened venue startled him.
It sounded like something had fallen far off, somewhere overhead, perhaps. Or maybe it was just something behind the stage, in the set riggings. Either way, Patrick sat bolt upright when he heard it, his eyes wide with fear. His sudden start had woken Tori as well, and now she was grumbling under her breath and sitting up beside him. "Trick," she groaned, "What the—"
Patrick quickly clapped his hands around her face, his fingers over her mouth to quiet her. She froze at that, realizing that he was listening for something. They both sat in unnerving silence for what seemed like minutes, until Tori gently placed her hand over Patrick's knee beneath the blanket that had pooled at their waists. Patrick let out an audible sigh and closed his eyes for a moment, trying his best to calm himself before he let go of Tori and turned his head to her. "I heard something. I think it came from backstage."
Tori swallowed hard and pushed the blankets off of her legs, holding her hand out to Patrick as she stood up. He hesitantly took her hand and allowed her to help him up, then laced their fingers together and began to walk toward the stage with her. He admired her bravery, he had since the day they'd met, and he silently cursed himself for being startled so badly by a bump in the night. Nevertheless, he couldn't help the pounding of his heart as they clambered onto the stage, and Tori pushed aside the curtains.
She started to venture blindly into the dark area behind the curtains, her free hand trailing over the stage equipment, and Patrick nervously pulled her back. She looked up at him quizzically, and he bit his lip. "Trick," Tori sighed, "It's okay. Come on." She tugged on his hand again, and Patrick followed behind her as she pulled him backstage. They slowly made their way towards the dressing rooms, one of which still bore the name Fall Out Boy, written in sloppy, dry-erase marker on the board outside the door. Just as they were passing that room, the same noise that had startled Patrick happened again, specifically from inside that room. Instinctively, Patrick yanked Tori behind him by her hand, as if to shield her from something, and she pushed him away in annoyance. Without hesitating, she rolled her eyes and moved to open the door to the dressing room.
Patrick nearly choked on his own breath as she haphazardly threw the door open, but when she reached inside and flipped on the light, he relaxed and nearly face-palmed right then and there. Scurrying across the counter on the opposite side of the room was a mouse, no bigger than Patrick's thumb, and it had knocked over a few bottles of Pete's hair products that had been left here in a hurry. Patrick sighed, closing his eyes as he ran a hand over his face and leaned on the doorframe. He heard a soft giggle, and then a pair of arms were wrapping themselves around his waist.
"Aww," Tori teased him, "Poor Trick was afraid of a mouse!" She playfully pulled his hands away from his face, only to see him glaring at her. She giggled again, biting her lip.
"Shut up," Patrick groaned, half heartedly pushing her away from him. Tori let him go and walked further into the room, still smiling to herself. She hopped up on the edge of the counter that the mouse had been on, picking up a stick of eyeliner and looking at it curiously.
"So," she sighed, "Which of you Fall Out Boys wore all the makeup?" Tori asked, holding the eyeliner out to Patrick like it belonged to him.
"Pete did," Patrick sighed, taking the eyeliner, "And it's Fall Out Boy. Singular."
"But there's four of –"
"I know. But it's singular. A fan came up with it a few months ago, and it just kind of stuck." Setting the eyeliner down beside her again, Patrick stood in front of her, his hands resting on her knees that were parted just enough for him to stand between them. He couldn't believe she had changed her mind about a relationship, and he was still skeptical that she might just take it back again. Still, he was thrilled to even stand this close to her. As she smirked at him and placed her hands over his, he couldn't help that his eyes strayed towards her neck. There was pretty bad bruise there, much worse than the average hickey, and it made his blood boil just looking at it. He wanted to know what that man had done to her, yet he knew he wouldn't handle it well if she told him everything.
Tori must have sensed what he was looking at, because she shifted closer to him and moved one of her hands to his chest. "Hey," she whispered, just loud enough that he could hear her and lift his eyes to hers. "I'm okay."
"I know," Patrick sighed, lifting his right hand to hold her hand to his chest. As his fingers wrapped around her wrist, he could feel the rawness of her skin where the handcuffs had been. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to –"
"Don't," Tori said, cutting him off. "Don't blame yourself. I told you to go with Pete."
"I told them you could handle yourself."
"That's not your fault either. I'm stubborn to a fault, Trick. I get myself into messes sometimes." Tori looked down as she spoke, slowly removing her hand from Patrick's chest. He caught her fingers gently, raising them up to his chin. He pressed a kiss to them, making Tori look up again.
"I happen to like your stubbornness," he whispered, "But that doesn't change the fact that I wasn't there to help you. Victoria, when I saw him on you, I just...snapped. You know? I just saw nothing but red, and I wanted to hurt him so badly. I didn't even know what he had done to you before I got there."
Tori stared at him for a moment, taking in the glistening of his eyes and the dark circles under them. "I happen to like your protectiveness," She finally whispered, grinning slightly at him.
"I thought you hated it," Patrick whispered back, leaning just a little closer to her. "Like a few weeks ago, when we stole the guns."
"I was just being stubborn," Tori murmured, slowly sliding her arms around Patrick's neck. She pulled him closer, gently nudging the tip of her nose against his. Patrick's hands hovered awkwardly for a moment above her legs, unsure of where exactly they should be, but when Tori tilted her head towards him and pressed their lips together, his hands quickly found refuge at her waist. Their lips moved together slowly, and Tori moved her hands into Patrick's hair. It was getting to be almost too long for his liking, nearly down to his shoulders now, but as she tangled her fingers in it and gave a gentle tug as she opened her mouth to him, he couldn't help the shiver that made him press even closer to her. His hands moved to her hips as their tongues fought gently for dominance of the kiss. He pulled her against him, her hips right against his, and her legs wound themselves around his waist like they belonged there. The sudden contact made Tori moan softly into the kiss, a noise Patrick was pretty sure he'd never personally heard a girl make before, and it made him want to do anything in his power to make her make that noise again.
But then, the thought crossed his mind that they had only been together officially for a little over a few hours, and Victoria had very nearly been sexually assaulted earlier that day. She was a strong girl, but he wasn't about to put her in a similar situation hours after the attack. Reluctantly, he reached one hand up to the side of her face and gently pulled away, opening his eyes to see her flushed cheeks and kiss-swollen lips. She fluttered her eyelashes a few times, as if she were just as dazed as he was by that kiss. He smiled after a moment, biting his lip in disbelief at the girl sitting in front of him with her legs still locked around his waist. He'd never in a million years have dreamt that he would be the one to end up with such a beautiful girlfriend in the middle of the apocalypse.
Tori's smile faded for a second, and then her mouth opened in a drawn out yawn. Patrick smirked at her, his hands on her waist again. "Come on," he whispered, gently nudging her towards the edge of the counter, "Let's get you back to bed."
"I'm not that tired," she mumbled, sliding off the counter anyway and looking up at him.
Patrick chuckled and reached for her hand to lead her toward the door. "Of course not, Tori," he said, "But we both need to get some rest. It's been a long day."
"Mm...'kay," Tori yawned again, leaning slightly against Patrick as she wrapped her arm around his waist. He chuckled again and stopped to move her arm around his neck, picking her up bridal-style to carry her back towards the stage. She immediately closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder, pressing her nose into the crook of his neck. Her breath tickled his skin, and it took everything in him not to shiver at the feeling of holding her so close.
In just a few short minutes, however, Patrick eventually found his way back to the stage area. He took the small staircase to the right-hand side down to the pit, where the rest of the band still slept soundly, and walked Tori to the makeshift bed they had put together for themselves. He gently laid her down on her back, smiling as she sighed tiredly and curled up against the blankets. He laid down beside her and pulled the blanket over both of them, curling himself around her back and wrapping his arm securely around her waist. He dropped one more kiss behind her ear, whispering a soft goodnight to her, and she barely whispered a reply.
Patrick smiled as he buried his face in her hair, not caring that it smelled like sweat and cigarette smoke. He couldn't be more thankful for anything in this moment, and as he drifted slowly off to sleep, he realized just how lucky he has been in all of this. For one, he survived the apocalypse thus far, with his three best friends, and all of them were relatively unhurt. Then, he'd found this beautiful girl, or rather, she had found them, and here she was lying next to him, in his arms. As much as the world sucked, he realized, she was the one good thing about it right now. The light in his darkness.
He just couldn't shake the feeling that it was almost too perfect. After a night like this, nobody ever gets away without something going wrong. Still, he shook the thought from his head and enjoyed one of very few restful nights. He slept soundly with Tori beside him, more so than he ever had ever before.