This Fragile Game

Tour was finished.

Pat couldn't' believe it was over already, he couldn't believe he would be back in Arizona in the next 24 hours. Pat would be lying if he said he wouldn't miss the adventures of being on tour. All the pranks he's done, all the friends he met, all the shows he's played.

He knows that when he gets home everything would be different with everyone, they wouldn't be crammed together in a bus so they wouldn't be getting on each other's nerves as much. But Pat was still going to miss the positives of being on tour. Like the fact that everyone got closer over tour, although they lost one man.

"Are we there yet?" Pat asked Kennedy tugging on his arm as they drove back home.

"Pat wouldn't you be able to tell?" Garrett interrupted from the front seat.

Pat narrowed his eyes at Garrett before looking to Kennedy again, "So are we there yet?" he asked again.

Kennedy chuckled and looked out the window, "Looks like we're heading into town." Kennedy mumbled. Pat squealed and crawled over Kennedy's lat so he could look out the window. He pointed out every little thing from their city. The local high school, the local post office and grocery store.

It was clear to everyone that Pat was homesick.

"So we're going to drop of Tim at his house then head Kennedy's house. Apparently his mom made a welcome home dinner." John said just getting off the phone.

Pat bit his lip as they approached his home. They pulled onto the curb and Jared got out to help get Tim's luggage out the back of the van. Pat watched as his mother opened the door running down the pathway to her oldest son an throwing her arms around him. Pat felt his eyes water up as his mother whispered something into Tim's ear, Tim nodded and looked back to the bus.

"Do you want to go say hi?" Kennedy asked softly holding Pat tightly on his lap.

Pat shook his head vigorously, "No." he cried hiding his face in Kennedy's chest. He can't see his mother, it's so clear she doesn't even want to see him.

Once Tim was done Jared got into the front seat and drove toward Kennedy's house. The mood of the whole van completely shifted into excitement as they neared their destination. Pat however was a bit nervous, Kennedy's mom is known to make a lot of food. A lot of fattening food.

"Are you hungry?" Kennedy asked as they pulled into the drive way to Kennedy's house.

Pat bit his lip and forced a smile nodding his head at Kennedy. "Yup." he said stepping out of the car along with everyone else. They all entered the house everyone was tackled into a hug by their families.

Everyone but Pat of course.

"Honey I missed you." Kennedy's mother said giving him a big hug. She released him and gave all the other boys a big hug before ushering them into the dinning room. Kennedy grabbed a plate that was set on the table, he handed Pat and plate and Pat hesitantly took it.

"Get what ever you like." Kennedy said as he served himself a large portion of lasagna.

Pat bit his lip and looked down all the food before him. Everyone else began to serve themselves and by this point Pat would usually have a mountain of food on his plate. He grabbed the fork to the lasagna and served himself a small portion.

He went along to all the dishes and served himself very little food. He barely got enough food to fill his plate when he joined his friends at the table. He sat down next to Kennedy and picked at his food.

"Aren't you hungry?" Garret asked Pat shoving a forkful of food into his mouth.

"Um I uh ate a big breakfast." Pat whispered.

"You hardly ate breakfast." John interrupted.

"Whatever." Pat mumbled taking his plate and heading to a separate room. He sat on the staircase and pushed hos food around his plate.

"You ok?" Kennedy asked sitting next to the thin boy. He set his plate on his lap and began to eat looking over at Pat who was still not eating.

"I'm fine, just a little sick." Pat lied taking a small bite of his food. "Anyway," he mumbled. "I'm staying with you right?"

Kennedy nodded and quickly swallowed his food, "Yeah I told my mom and she agreed."

Pat nodded softly and set his plate aside. He looked up to Kennedy and wrapped his thin arms around Kennedy's waist. He hummed softly and rested his head on Kennedy's shoulder. "Are you tired?" Kennedy asked Pat quietly.

Pat nodded and let his eyes slip shut. Kennedy scooped up Pat bridal style and carried him up to their bedroom. He set Pat on the bed and took off his shoes and pulled the blanket over his frail body. Kennedy smiled down and Pat and brushed his hair from his face, he kissed Pat's forehead softly before leaving the room.

He could feel an uneasiness in his stomach. He was lying to everyone, he was lying to himself and most importantly he was lying to Pat.