An hour later, both Patrick, Joe, and had I changed out of our blood stained clothes, and into shirts from the gift shop in the gas station which read 'Chicago, Illinois.'

Not only was it embarrassing that the T-shirts were in wild colors, but the three of us picked the same shirt, so you can only imagine how that looked.

We were all squished in Pete's car again, except Patrick had decided to take off his cap until we got to the restaurant to avoid any further injuries.

Once we got there, we found Susan, Alex, and Ronnie all sitting at the table, plates of food already in front of them.

"Where the hell were you guys?" Susan Asked, then taking a sip of her martini.

"And why are you wearing matching shirts?" Alex Asked, taking a sip of his apple juice.

"We had a bit of an incident." I Said.

"But...that's all over now." Pete Said. "Let's eat, and talk about albums and stuff."

He sat down in the chair next to Susan, and Andy and Joe also sat at the table.

I looked around and noticed that there were no other chairs, and even if there was, the table was crowded as it was.

Of course. Why would anything go right for me today?

"Hey, Pete." Andy Said.

"Yeah?"

"There's no more seats."

Pete looked around, then chuckled nervously. "I guess not.." he said. "Why don't you and Patrick sit at another table? You can get to know each other that way."

I looked over at Patrick, who, for some reason was by one of those little toy dispenser things you find in restaurants, putting his hat back on now that I was safe from hitting my nose on it.

"Patrick?" Pete called.

Patrick turned around, then jogged back over. "Yeah?"

"Did You hear me?"

Patrick hesitated, then shook his head.

"There are no more seats." Pete Said. "So...why don't the two of you go sit together?"

Patrick gave Pete a look, and Pete just winked at him.

Patrick shook his head in disbelief.

"I mean...if you don't want to it's okay.." I Said, feeling slightly uncomfortable in this situation.

"Oh, no...we can go sit." Patrick Said, looking over at me.

"Okay.." I Said.

We both looked around awkwardly for a moment. "So...What about that table?" He asked, pointing over at a table with two chairs by it.

I nodded. "That should work."

"Okay.." He said, scratching his arm. "That table it is, then.."

Another hour later, the both of us were laughing hysterically after Patrick told a funny tour story.

We had also had a few drinks, which definitely made everything seen ten times funnier than it actually was.

Pete and the others kept giving us looks, Pete looking like he was happy for us, and the others giving us a 'Why the fuck are they drinking so early in the day?' look.

But I was definitely enjoying this side of Patrick. He seemed so much less shy then when we had first met, and it had only taken a couple of drinks to get him to come out of his shell.

Yet there was a part of him that seemed so sad. I had noticed that when we first met. Sure, I didn't know Patrick personally, but in videos and interviews, he used to laugh, and smile.

I had hardly seen him do either of those in the amount of time that we were hanging out, except for now, of course, where he was laughing about everything.

"And then Pete, he jumped off the stage." He said, propping himself up with his elbow on the table. "He lost his bass, and the crowd wouldn't give it back.."

He laughed, and I did as well. "You have a lot of funny stories."

He took a sip of whatever alcoholic drink he had, and chuckled. "Being a band for so many years, you tend to witness a lot of interesting stuff."

I nodded. "So...how are you lately?"

He shrugged a bit, then hesitated. "Okay." He said.

"Really?" I Asked, taking a sip of my Bloody Mary. I wasn't trying to pry, but he just didn't seem 'Okay.'

"Yes, I'm fine." He said, the tone in his voice changing.

It was like the tone he used in 'Bishops Knife Trick' with the llamas. Which probably meant I should step off, and abort my mission of finding out why Stump was sad.

I looked down, mumbling a "Sorry."

There was silence between us for a moment, and he took another sip of his drink.

"Why do you care?" He asked, his voice softer than before.

I looked up. "You just...seem sad." I Said. "I was worried about you.."

He nodded, looking over at the nearby window. "Thanks," He mumbled. "For worrying."

I nodded back, lifting up my glass and taking a swig. "Want another drink?" I Asked, placing it back down on the counter.

"Sure." He said.

I stood up and grabbed his glass, taking it over to the bar.

"Two more Bloody Marys." I Said as the bartender walked up. "Please."

He nodded, starting on both of the drinks.

"I'll be back." I Said, then began walking over to Pete and the others.

Pete looked up, smiling. "How are you and Patrick hitting it off?"

"Fine." I Said, then fake smiled. "Pete, can we talk?"

He furrowed his eyebrow. "Okay.." he said, getting out of his chair.

I grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him out of the restaurant, thankfully without Patrick noticing.

"Emma, what's up?" He asked.

"Is Patrick okay?" I Asked.

"Why?"

"He seems sad. Like, really sad." I Said. "He acted weird when I asked him, too."

"I'm sure he's fine." He said, scratching his neck and looking in at Patrick.

"Pete, I know it's none of my business, but you can tell me the truth." I Said. "Maybe I can help."

"I don't know." He said.

"About what?"

"If you can help."

"Why? What's up?"

He shook his head, sighing. "His wife left. Took the kids, and left the country when he was on tour. He came home to an empty house and a restraining order on the table." he said, looking at Patrick through the window sadly. "He was heartbroken. Wouldn't even leave his bed."

"When was this?" I Asked.

"Three months ago." He said. "They got a divorce just last month, so it hurts him even worse. The truth is, I'm worried about my friend."

I looked down, nodding. "Thank you for telling me, Pete."

"Please, don't tell him that I told you." He said. "He'll be even more embarrassed if he knew that you know, especially since you just met."

"I won't say a word." I Said, then held out my arms for a hug.

Pete smiled weakly, then walked over and hugged me tightly.

When I went back into the restaurant, I went straight to the bar and grabbed our Bloody Marys, then went back to the table, where Patrick was scrolling through his phone.

"Hey, Stump." I Said, putting his glass down in front of him.

He looked up from his phone. "Oh, thanks." He said. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I was just using the bathroom." I Said.

He nodded, lifting up his glass to take a sip.

Now that I looked, sadness was so clear in his eyes. I couldn't imagine how it would feel to lose your wife and kids out of the blue, and not be able to see them again. Especially since Patrick was probably the best husband in the world.

I hated the fact that this happened to him, and wanted to help in any way possible.