(Lexy's POV)
"I'm so excited that you're going to be staying with Pete and me, Lex!" Catherine exclaimed as she took my packed bags out of my hands and set them down beside the couch on the floor, "We're going to have so much fun! You've missed so much!"
"Did I?" I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Oh my god, yes!" She squealed, sitting down on the couch and patting the couch cushion beside her, indicating she wanted me to sit down next to her. I sighed before doing as she wanted. She began to tell me everything that happened while she was here and I was in New Jersey.
She started with when she took me to the concert all that time ago and how she found out Brendon had a new girlfriend - that was why she said in the car the day we were leaving that seeing him was just "fine". So he was not the reason she moved back, she moved back just because she hated living in New Jersey. She didn't make friends in New Jersey and she absolutely hated Dad, so she found no reason to stay in a place that made her miserable
When she moved back, she had nowhere to go. But she knew that we were good friends with Patrick's family, so she went there and stayed there for a while. (I was completely unaware of this. I wondered why Patrick didn't tell me about this. I mean, she was staying in his house. You would've thought he would've told me my sister was staying with him. But he didn't. Why? I have no clue.)
She told me it was rough the first few weeks, she had almost no friends. All of her friends had moved away or had left to go to college. Brendon was still there, but Catherine couldn't stand seeing him with Sarah, his girlfriend. I guess she was the Stumph's new neighbor and Catherine would see Brendon coming and going from the house constantly, with and without Sarah. So during those first few weeks, her only real friend was Mrs. Stumph. "She was kind of like the mother I never had," Catherine described her as. She made her meals every day and would take her out shopping with her and did "everything I could've done with mom, but wasn't able to".
One day though, Patrick came to the house with the band. That's when Catherine really got to know Pete (I mean, she knew who he was before then - she'd known he was one of the guys I was always hanging out with - but this time she really got to know him). The guys invited her to listen to the songs they were working on, which were the songs for Infinity On High. Pete and her really clicked during that time, she claimed. The two of them exchanged numbers and they began talking almost every day.
About a few weeks later, Pete asked Cath to be his girlfriend. She obviously agreed and the two of them had been together ever since. She moved in with him about a month after he asked her to be his girlfriend.
"What about you?" She questioned after finishing her story, "What's been going on with my little sis?" She punched me playfully on the shoulder.
I laughed and rubbed my arm where she hit me, "Oh, I don't know. Not much. Nothing as interesting as what you just told me."
"Come on, you had to live with dad, I'm sure something interesting happened. Even it's not much."
I shook my head, "No, still nothing really."
Catherine cocked her head to the side. "C'mon, Lex. Nothing?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you keeping something from me?"
"What? No!"
You know, besides Patrick coming to see me, defying my father's request for him to leave when he arrived at the house. And our dad falling down the stairs and having to be sent to the hospital. And then there was Mikey cheating on me with his supposed ex-girlfriend.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"C'mon, I'm your big sister. We haven't seen each other in nearly a year. There must be something you want to tell me," She urged.
"I don't know what you want me to tell you, Cath!" I exclaimed, followed by a slight chuckle. "I'm sorry, I just-"
I was cut off by a "NO!" that came from the hallway. It was Patrick. Catherine and I both went silent. There was a response to the "NO!", but it was too quiet for the two of us to hear. Catherine stood up.
"Where are you going?" I asked her in a whisper.
"I want to hear what they're saying," She replied softly, tiptoeing her way over to the door.
"You shouldn't do that, Cath," I retorted, standing up as well. "They obviously wanted their privacy. We should respect it and leave them alone."
"Oh pfft," She scoffed, waving her hand in my direction, "They won't even notice I'm there." She reached the front door and pressed her ear against it. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. It wasn't even a minute before the door was pushed open, causing Catherine to jump back. Pete and Patrick walked in, Patrick's cheeks a bright red color.
"Hey guys!" Catherine greeted. "What'd you talk about?"
Way to be blunt, Catherine.
Pete wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her close, and kissed her on the cheek. "Don't worry about it." It was awkward seeing one of my friends kiss my sister. Even though it was only on the cheek.
She pouted, looking up at Pete, "But now I have to worry about it."
"Trust me, babe, if I could tell you, I would, but I promised I wouldn't," He said before pushing a piece of hair that had fallen out of her bun behind her ear and kissing her again, but this time on the lips. I averted my gaze away, not wanting to see the kiss escalate into something more.
"Why don't you two kids go out to lunch or something?" Catherine suggested to me and Patrick, even though they were only a year older than us. I looked back over at her and saw her looking lustfully into Pete's eyes. "Pete and I need a little privacy."
I gagged.
"L-Let's go, Lex," Patrick stuttered, extending his hand out to me. I had almost no hesitation in placing my hand in his and letting him escort me out of the apartment. We walked down to his car and got in, driving away.
*****
We ended up just going to a local McDonald's and getting lunch there. We sat down at the table with our tray of fast food. There was a long silence where my childhood friend and neighbor and I just sat there, eating our food. Patrick took a sip of his soda and cleared his throat, finally breaking the awkward silence, "So you're going to be staying with Pete?"
"Yeah," I told him, picking at my fries, "Until I get my own place, that is."
He sat back in the uncomfortable plastic booth he was sitting in across from me before saying, "You know you can always stay with me."
"I know," I remarked, the corner of my lip curling up, "But I think I just want to stay there for a little."
"You sure? I mean, I know the piss and alcohol smell has gone away a little, but still...it's not the greatest place to be staying in. Plus you'll be living with Pete. Pete. Just think about that." I giggled and he laughed too. He heaved a sigh and said, "I'm really happy that you're back, Lexy."
I smiled, "Me too."
There was another moment of silence between us before he remarked, completely off topic, "So, um...you know how I said, back in New Jersey, that I was dating Elisa?"
The smile on my face disappeared. I never really liked her. I know she was Marie's friend and that she was Patrick's girlfriend, but I still didn't like her. I don't know why I didn't like her. Maybe it was out of jealously.
"Yeah...what about it?"
"Well...we had a fight last night," He disclosed to me, sitting forward and folding his hands on the table, "And...um...I found out she cheated on me with Spencer." My eyes widened in disbelief. "Yeah, she, um, she slept with him."
I frowned, "I'm so sorry, Patrick."
"It's not your fault." He retorted, "But anyways, um, I don't know...I don't know what's going to happen next. I don't know if I'm going to call it off with her or if we're going to talk things out and try to save our relationship." I stared at him blankly. "I don't know what I want to do, Lexy."
I shifted awkwardly in my seat.
He heaved a sigh, "You know that I've liked you for a long time, Lex. I told you that before you moved." I nodded my head. "But...I like Elisa. I like her a lot. Even after what she did."
I bit my lip and averted my gaze away. Hearing he liked her hurt, I'm not going to lie. She didn't deserve Patrick. And it kills me to think that she'd gotten him to date her only to have her cheat on him with her ex-boyfriend.
"But that doesn't mean I stopped liking you," He added, reaching his hand over the table and placing it over mine. "Before I make any decisions, Lex, I need to know. I need to know that you never stopped liking me too." I slowly looked up at him.