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patrick is nervous to say the least. if he were to say the most, he would say he was midly terrified. as in, might-just-throw-up-this-overexpensive-coffee terrified. andy looks calm while he sips his coffee. andy always looks calm so it shouldn't be a surprise to patrick but he's still cut up about that considering andy's basically a lamb to the slaughter right now. the slaughter being pete, obviously. because when isn't he responsible for luring someone into his stupid schemes.
this plan is stupid, almost stupider than pete which really is saying something because pete is an idiot.
"lower his guard so that he has to say yes," was the gist of it, but patrick just knew pete had something bigger and even more stupid under his sleeve. joe seemed fine with that probability, has seemed fine all afternoon and its kind of pissing patrick off. or maybe he's just pissed off at pete. or maybe he's just pissed off, that wouldn't be unusual.
"sooooooo andy," pete says as the previous three-way conversation dies down, a devious snake-like smile splitting his face in two. patrick actively flinches.
"how's the coffee?" he continues, batting his eyelashes and looking way less cute than patrick thinks he was supposed to.
"it’s good," andy says simply, and it makes patrick feel even worse.
“that’s good!” joe says innocently, acting like he has no intention to trick andy, which is probably true; joe has this weird gift for just ignoring the dumb things pete says and actually considering the smart ones. patrick wishes he had that skill, “it was kinda expensive, wasn’t it, patrick?”
patrick jolts and gives a nervous looking nod. andy raises an eyebrow at him, like he’s the one being suspicious. patrick looks over at pete again to see his face has transitioned from mischievous to downright evil.
“the show last night!” pete abruptly interrupts, “it was good right? you enjoyed yourself right? right?”
pete is shaking from anticipation. patrick is shaking from sheer anxiety. andy isn’t shaking, but he’s starting to look suspicious.
“yeaaah..” andy says, slowly, “right.”
pete’s smile widens, somehow, and he leans almost halfway across the table, forcing joe to hold onto his elbow to make sure pete doesn’t bellyflop onto the table.
“was it so good that’d you’d wanna do it… say, all the time?” at this point pete is about 3 inches from andy’s face, and somehow andy remains unbothered.
“i do do it all the time, “ andy says, and decidedly ignores joe’s snort at the accidental use of the word doodoo, “i drum for bands like twice every week, pete.”
“no i mean-” pete sits back down in his seat but doesn’t stop leaning towards andy like he’s got a secret to tell, “do you wanna do it all the time for our band?”
andy blinks, as pete gazes at him with wide eyes, a hopeful grin still on his face. Patrick wonders if his cheeks ever get tired.
“are you asking me to join your band?” andy asks, like it’s the simplest thing in the world, and, in hindsight, maybe it is. They work well together, on stage and off stage. sometimes, after a night of performing and watching pete like a hawk after to make sure he didn’t get any trouble, patrick would pause during load out, take a step back and just watch. watch joe and andy laugh like they’d known each other for decades despite joe only being 16. watch pete put everyone’s instruments away carefully like he was handling the people themselves. watch the contented fond looks they sometimes give each other after one of the better shows. watch them all meld together like toasted marshmallows and cupcakes and sunshine and rainbows. patrick would watch them and think they might just be the best group of people in the world.
now, patrick looks at them and wonders why any of them ever thought this wouldn't have been so easy.
pete nods so fast patrick almost thinks hes nervous, and andy says sure like it was on the tip of his tongue anyways.
pete cheers so loud almost every head in the cafe turns to look at him (which patrick knows pete sort of enjoys. sicko). joe smiles wide as patrick rolls his eyes at pete just as far back as he can manage without getting them stuck there. andy sips the rest of his coffee like it’s easy. Because, really, this is easy.
Being with them, patrick thinks, is the easiest thing in the world.