Allie

A week had passed and Patrick had finally stopped showing up at the set. It took all of Alyssa's willpower to ignore the aching in her chest, to ignore the way it felt to have his eyes on her once more. She knew that she'd hurt him, and it was killing her inside, despite what he'd previously done to her. All she wanted was to run into his arms and feel safe and loved like she had before they'd gone and screwed everything up. It wasn't entirely her fault. She hadn't known she was in love with him. She never meant for any of it to happen. She'd had a fight with Pete, who she was dating at the time, about something he wasn't telling her. He had started becoming bitter and as if he had no interest in her anymore. It was so sudden. He just didn't care anymore. She had no one to turn to, aside from Patrick. It turns out he was having problems with Elisa too. He'd always thought he'd have kids someday, and Elisa used to say she wanted them too. Until, much like Pete, she'd just changed her mind. She didn't want kids and it seemed as though she was losing interest in her husband. Patrick was as lost as Alyssa, and it was destroying the both of them. Alyssa hadn't realised it at first, not until she started to develop restless butterflies that were constantly attacking her gut whenever he looked her in the eyes. She thought nothing of it. Until Pete broke up with her.
"You'll understand" he said. "It's the best thing for the both of us"
Of course, Patrick had assumed Alyssa to be a wreck. She hadn’t returned any of her calls and, naturally, he'd turned up on her doorstep at two am with chocolate and a selection of Alyssa's favourite movies.
"Thanks, but I really just want to be alone" she said solemnly.
"No, you want to wallow in self pity" he'd retorted with a laugh
"And that, my dear Lyssa, is not who you are."
Usually this would have soothed her, but by now she’d figured out what Pete had been trying to tell her. She’d spent about an hour talking to Pete about it, and how Patrick was the last person she needed to see. It was hard to accept but as soon as Pete had broken up with her, she realised that she wasn’t all that upset about their failed relationship, more about the possibility of their friendship crumbling in the same way. Pete had assured her that it wasn’t all her fault, as much as a combination of the both of them. Pete was still in love with Meagen, and Lyssa was totally, unconditionally in love with his best friend.
So when Patrick showed up at her place, she was desperate to hide her newly discovered feelings.
She had no chance of getting rid of the singer, so she let him in with a heavy heart.
“So what do you wanna talk about first?” He asked, completely oblivious as to how irresistible he looked with messy hair and glasses paired with his old jeans and lego shirt.
“I don’t want to talk,” She said quickly, facing away from him. “Lets just watch hostel, okay?”
Patrick was still in his own little world, thinking of how much he was helping his friend. So he didn’t think twice about throwing his arm around her shoulders halfway through the film.
Her body remained rigid. He didn’t notice the tears threatening to fall. He didn’t noticed how every second he was around her, another piece of her fragile heart broke. He didn’t notice how her breathing began to speed up, how her skin began to heat, how her body began to shake. She felt panic consume her, felt the world become so much more intense. Every movement, every sound, every touch magnified beyond what she could handle. Eventually she couldn’t take it anymore. She stumbled away from the couch, and ran to the bathroom. She heard patrick yell her name and get up to follow. She threw her back against the door as a pathetic substitute for the lock Pete had broken in an attempt to save her from herself the month before. He had helped her so much. He’d saved her life. Pete was her best friend and, yes, she was in love with him. Just not in the way she’d thought.

Patrick’s fists hitting the wooden door failed to cover the sounds of Alyssa’s sobs. Eventually Patrick managed to shove his way into the small, white room.
“Leave me alone!” Alyssa shrieked as Patrick grabbed her shoulders, checking her over.
The intensity of his friends protest caused him to stumble backwards.
“What? Lyss, wait!” He caught up with her just as she escaped into her bedroom.
“Lyssa, what is going on? Calm down! It’s just me- okay? It’s just me.”
Alyssa couldn’t control the anger that was mainly directed at herself, so she let it out, directing it at Patrick instead.
“Yes, Patrick, it is you. You have no idea, do you? I told you. I told you I wanted to be on my own. You were the last person I wanted to see. You are the opposite of what I need right now.”
Patrick was stunned. He’d never seen Alyssa this furious. Sure, he’d seen her mad, but never like this. Never at him. She’d stopped yelling, but substituted it with a bitter, hissing tone that, to be frank, terrified him.
“Wha-” He stuttered, taken aback.
“You don’t get it, do you? This is your fault. You did this. It would have been fine if it weren’t for you. You ruined it all.” This time it was Patrick's turn to let out the anger. For years, it had always been his fault. Folie wasn’t perfect? Patrick's fault. Crowd wasn’t great? Patrick's fault. Issues with Elisa? Totally Patrick's fault. The one person that had never blamed him was Alyssa. She had no right to accuse him of trashing her relationship with Pete. He’d only ever supported them. He wanted them to be happy, so why the hell was she standing there telling him that he was the reason they broke up?
“What the fuck? Why is it my fault? I had nothing to do with your relationship or why it failed. Maybe, just maybe, it was down to you. Maybe you’re the one that fucked up. Maybe you were to messed up for him, maybe it was the other way round but it wasn’t my fault.” He yelled, his voice dripping with bitter anger.
“Oh yeah, you go on like that. You carry on in you’re own little world. Like it or not, this was your fault. You’re just too oblivious to see it!”
“Humor me then, why is it my fault?” He said, shaking from anger.
“Because!” Alyssa said, feeling the pressure build up inside her. She shouldn’t say it, but she knew there was no way she could avoid it if he kept yelling.
“Because what?!” He shouted, louder than he had before.
“Because I’m in love with you!” Alyssa screamed, squeezing her eyes shut, wishing to take the words back.
She let out a gasp of surprise as Patrick crushed his lips against hers.