❨ MISTAKES LIKE THIS ❩

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I NEED YOU

‧ : *: ‧ °✧

his eyes reflect the flames almost perfectly, the grin on his face hinting at how proud he is.

after what seems like an eternity of staring at the burning building, the lanky, black haired boy wipes his hands on his jeans and begins to stalk away.

it's almost impossible for him to stop from smirking as sirens are heard getting closer.

his steps echo on the gravel street, his head hanging low. he lifts a pale hand to brush back a long strand of hair before shoving it back into his pocket.

the hockstetter boy walks along the road for thirty more minutes before taking a sharp turn into the woods.

his steps are smaller and much gentler than before, not wanting to make too much noise as it is almost past midnight.

“henry, let me go this instant or else i'll—”

patrick's ears perk up at the sound of a female's voice, his hands instinctively reaching for the zippo in his back pocket.

the sound of two other pairs of feet rustling in the leaves causes the boy to look around wearily, not stopping until he's face to face with a girl.

his girl.

his breath hitches in his throat as he watches her tug her arm out of her cousin's grip.

god, he missed her. his lips open and close a few times, wanting to say something but, no words will leave them.

“oh hey, patrick.” henry coughs, wanting to break the awkward silence.

the dark haired boy can only nod, his gaze still stuck on his now ex-girlfriend.

“hi.” he whispers, hands shoving into his pockets as he shifts from one foot to the other.

y/n looks up and immediately feels a tug in her chest when their eyes lock, his a dark blue, reflecting guilt and shame.

she frowns, shaking her head, biting her lip to keep the tears from falling.

“i can't.” a whisper falls past her soft looking lips, and she doesn't wait another second before shuffling past him.

the dirty blonde haired boy looks between patrick and his cousin with sorrow, patting the taller boy's shoulder before quickly catching up to y/n.

patrick watches her walk away, wanting so badly to tell her to stop, but his voice is caught in his throat.

the obnoxious hollering of fire trucks and ambulances gets closer, but the young man doesn't care.

he drops himself onto the slightly damp ground and sighs, mentally cursing himself for being such a wimp.

patrick shuts his eyes, both fists clenched at his sides as he lets out a strangled sob.

he hated everything about this situation.

☆

“oh come on, ace! you can't hide forever!” ryder chuckles, a small grin on his face as he looks around the quarry.

“stop calling me that!” y/n's voice comes from behind him, causing him to quickly turn around.

he stares ahead of him confusedly, wondering where in the hell she was hiding.

“how'd you do th—” he begins to speak, but before he can finish, something is jumping onto his back and hanging there. his arms instinctively go to wrap around the smaller female's thighs, a throaty chuckle escaping him.

“gotcha.” she giggles, a yelp falling past her lips as he begins to run around with her.

“throw her in!” hunter shouts from the grass where he's sat with all the others.

ryder winks at his friend as if to tell him—don’t worry, i will.

“you'd better not!” her voice screeches, her cheeks hurting from how hard she's grinning

the finch boy ignores her protests as he climbs up to the top of the cliff and stands on the edge of it, gazing down at the greenish-blue water.

y/n tries to remove herself from his body, but that only causes him to hold onto her tighter.

“count us off!” he shouts down to his gang and victor, who seemed to never leave grayson's side.

“one!” olly cackled, running a hand through his dark truffles.

“two!” mason's grin gets wider.

“three!” victor surprises all of them by yelping, a small blush covering his cheeks. he hasn't had this much fun in a long time.

before y/n can even protest, ryder is moving back and then suddenly speeding forward, shouting a short “hooray!” before the both of them go crashing under the water's surface.

they detach themselves from one another as they come back up for air, the now, wet, y/h/c haired girl glaring at the boy beside her.

“don't give me that, you know it was fun.” he nudges her, and she cracks a smile.

“hush.” her smaller hands lift above the water as she wraps one arm around his shoulder, the other hand beginning to very gently wiggle his nose ring.

the curly haired boy wrinkles his nose, swatting her hand away. he opens his mouth to say something but before he can a shout breaks out.

“y/n!” the voice belongs to belch, and the female looks over at the grass to find him standing with a worried expression.

her eyes go wide as she lets go of the boy beside her and swims towards the land, immediately drying off once she's out.

“what? what is it?” she can barely speak correctly, her heart pounding in her chest as she begins to think of the worse.

by now everyone is crowded around the two, concerned expressions written on their faces.

“it's patr—”

the heavyset young man doesn't even get to finish his sentence before the female is pushing past him, headed in the direction of the cars.

“wait, y/n/n!” the boys all rush to grab their things and run after the girl.

☆

“hey, look at me,” henry—who they picked up along the way—grabbed both of his cousin's hands, noticing how shaky they were, “it's gonna be okay, alright? it looks a lot worse than it actually is.”

y/n shakes her head, the tears that she had been holding in for more than forty minutes now beginning to fall. the rest of the boys got out of the car to give the two some privacy.

“i can't do this.” she sobs, pulling away and curling into herself, her head resting on her knees.

henry internally groans, still not used to dealing with teenage girl problems, or relationships for that matter.

he gently—not really—grabs the female by her shoulders and forces her to look him in the eye, his hands gripping her wrists.

“y/n m/n l/n. you're a strong, independent, loving, young woman. you've been there for me more than my own father has. you put everyone before yourself and you don't judge people without getting to know them first…” henry trails off, not necessarily knowing what exactly he's trying to say, “long story short. you love patrick and patrick loves you. i know you were going through a tough time and it's okay if you need a break, but avoiding him is doing nothing but hurting the both of you.”

y/n lets off a small laugh, shaky hands wiping the tears off her now flushed cheeks.

“thanks, henry.” her voice is just barely above a whisper.

the two walk into the hospital hand in hand, stopping in the waiting room where everyone else was.

“hey, you two can go on in, we got a turn already.” mason gently smiles down at y/n, “we're gonna get going.”

before the tall, blue eyed boy can walk off, she grabs his arm, pulling him into a hug. she lets him go for a few seconds, only to tell the others to join.

all nine teens hug in the middle of the waiting room, y/n in the midst of it all.

soon enough, they are detaching from one another and going their separate ways.

“i love you guys!” the female suddenly shouts after the boys, ignoring the rude stares she gets from the nurses.

“we love you too.” hunter chuckles, sending her and henry one last wave.

and that was very true, though some loved her more than the others.

a few minutes later, the two teens are standing in front of patrick's door, y/n's hand tentatively turning the knob.

she bites her lip to hold back a gasp at the sight in front of her, her legs practically moving on their own.

“oh my god, patrick.” her voice comes out in a whimper as she rushes to his bedside, “baby? can you hear me?”

the dark haired boy groans, his eyes just slightly opened.

“y/n/n?” he mutters, allowing her to climb into the hospital bed, his head resting on her stomach as soon as she's comfortable.

her small fingers brush soothingly through his black mop of hair.

“i'm so sorry.” she cries, a few of her tears falling onto her shirt, “don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

the sleepy boy chuckles, his fragile-like fingers rubbing her knee.

“it's just alcohol poisoning.”

his words cause the girl to scoff and glance up at henry, who tiredly laughs.

the room goes silent for a few minutes, until the sudden sound of a choked sob is heard.

y/n grabs patrick's face, one hand on either side of his cheek, to see that he's crying, his body shaking violently as the sobs come from deep in his chest.

her lip quivers at the sight, and she pulls him in close, inhaling his sweet scent.

“i'm sorry i messed you up, i-i understand why you don't wanna be with me anymore. i'm a monster. everything about me is awful, but—” the hockstetter boy cuts himself off as he lets out a whimper, “i need you, lil bit’. i can't live without you.”