Actions

Work Header

You Belong With Me

Summary:

“Patricia…” Alfie repeats. “Don’t you think it’s a little bit too long? How about… Trixie? Yes, that’s right, Trixie!”

Friendship of Alfie and Patricia since the beginning. Characters, ships, and tags will be added as the story goes. Basically, the show was not enough for me, their friendship was not enough for me, so I wrote my own version of their relationship throughout the years) Enjoy your reading!

Notes:

The first chapters will be small, 'cause it's pre-canon for now, so these are just little sketches, but when we'll get to the show... Well, buckle up, I have plenty ideas and plenty of time because I have finally submitted all of my college applications and finally I am writing something other than essays, yayy!! For now, enjoy this little chapter)

Chapter 1: Thirteen - Part 1

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Alfie is thirteen when his parents receive a special invitation with scholarship for Alfie in Amun Academy, a boarding school in Liverpool, from someone named Mr. Eric Sweet and decide to accept it, hoping that this opportunity will teach their son discipline and responsibility.

Alfie is thirteen when the doors of a huge house called Anubis open in front of him, his parents are saying goodbye from the car, and Alfie is greeted by an amiable woman who smells like home-baked cookies and a frightening man with a pin on his jacket.

Alfie is thirteen when a tall skinny boy with messy hair approaches him, shakes his hand, and introduces himself as his roommate Jerome, who, by the way, arrived here because of the same invitation from a headmaster.

Patricia is twelve, her birthday is in one week, and she is really excited about being older.

Patricia is still twelve when a new boy arrives to House of Anubis, who immediately becomes involved with her best friend Jerome, who eats half of the baked goods Trudy made for the whole table, and who awkwardly stumbles and drops two glasses on the floor, breaking them.

Patricia is twelve when Trudy gasps, Victor gives to a new boy his broom with a death stare, Jerome giggles from around the corner, and this new boy falls on his knees, obsessively trying to clean up a mess and mumbling something about detentions on the first day and his parents.

“Be careful, Alfie. Don’t cut yourself,’ says Trudy, helping a boy sweep the glass.

Patricia glances at Jerome, who is making a quick exit. Of course, he caused this. She knows Jerome well enough to connect the dots and realize that it was him who decided that pushing Alfie to the dining table would be funny. Patricia notices that Alfie sees nothing funny in the situation.

“You okay?’ the girl asks, approaching him.

Alfie is trying to hold back his tears, looking at his hand. A piece of glass has cut his skin, causing the palm to bleed.

Patricia takes Alfie to see Trudy and holds his hand while the housemother sanitizes fresh cut and puts a bandage over it.

Alfie thanks his new acquaintance, a thin girl with long brown hair and piercing sparkling green eyes.

“I’m Alfie, by the way,” he introduces himself with a warm smile.

“Patricia,” she responds, returning the smile.

“Patricia…” Alfie repeats. “Don’t you think it’s a little bit too long? How about… Trixie? Yes, that’s right, Trixie!”

Patricia giggles softly, approving this short form of her name. She adores how sweet it sounds from Alfie. He notices that his new friend has such a lovely laugh. Ever since, Alfie is constantly trying his best to make Patricia laugh so he could hear it again and again.

Patricia is turning thirteen when Alfie gives her a little pink hand watch as a present. The day before he breaks his piggy bank which he took from home and secretly runs to the town so he could buy a gift for Patricia.

Patricia is thirteen when she thanks Alfie and puts the watch on her hand. And she carefully wears it for years.

Patricia is finally thirteen when she becomes inseparable with Alfie and Jerome. They cause troubles, joke around, and prank the rest of Anubis residents. Obviously, they get detentions, but they do not care that much because the fun is worth it. Victor calls their trio unmanageable and sends Trudy to a supermarket to buy a hundred toothbrushes.

Notes:

Soooo, basically, I was wondering where did Patricia's pink watch come from, 'cause it's not really her style, and that's the story I came up with) I hope you liked it!

Chapter 2: Thirteen - Part 2

Summary:

This chapter is inspired by the work of trixieludgate called "treetop talks". I always liked the idea of Alfie and Patricia having their own secret place and the tree in the forest just seemed perfect. P.S. laundry room will also appear in this story, but a little bit later) So, this is my vision of how they find a tree and how it became their special place, enjoy!
By the way, if you haven't read "treetop talks", you definitely should, the work is absolutely amazing!!

Notes:

This chapter is really small, but important for the plot. There will be a lot of stuff in this story related to that one moment I captured in this sketch)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Alfie is still thirteen when he decides to skip school for the first time because he wasn’t prepared for the French test. So he just wanders in the forest near the school, waiting for classes to be over.

Alfie is thirteen when he finds a tree. The tree. It stands out from all the others. It’s gnarled, majestic, and giant. It brings an impressionable Alfie to complete delight, and he just can’t wait for Patricia to see it.

Alfie is thirteen when Patricia looks at the huge oak tree with the same amazement. Not caring about their school uniform being covered in dirt, kids climb the tree to explore it, inspired by the spirit of adventure. They climb high enough and make a pact about this tree is now officially being their secret place.

“There is always so many people in the house. And here is so peaceful,” says Alfie, sitting on a branch in front of Patricia, swinging his legs in the air. He enjoys the feeling of adrenaline caused by being so high above the ground. "And no Victor with his toothbrushes!"

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Patricia agrees, trying to get small twigs and leaves out of her hair. “How did you even find it?” she asks, leaning against a tree trunk.

“By accident,” smiles Alfie.

Patricia is thirteen when she and Alfie start to run to their tree on a daily basis after school, climb high, and chatter about everything and everyone.

Patricia is thirteen when she can’t stop laughing, hearing out Alfie’s chaotic theories about zombies, aliens, and all of that. The branches of the tree shelter them from the rest of the world, and Patricia fully relaxes, happily encouraging Alfie to tell her a couple more of his supernatural fantasies.

Patricia is thirteen when she for the hundredth time promises Trudy that she would be more careful, while the housemother putting in the washing machine her dirty uniform that constantly catches on tree branches and rips apart.

Notes:

Leave a comment if you liked it)

Chapter 3: Fourteen

Notes:

So, here's how I imagine it: Jerome and Patricia are in Anubis since the beginning aka eleven years old, Alfie arrives two years later and Joy the year after that. It seems weird that Mr. Sweet managed to assemble all of them in the same time for the season 3 ceremony, I think it took him a couple of years.
Also, Fabian, Mara, Mick and Amber are in Anubis since eleven years old too, but this story revolves around Alfie and Patricia and their close friends, so the rest of the characters are gonna be only mentioned here one way or another.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Alfie is fourteen when he gets back to Anubis for his second year there. Considering his unpleasant experience with all past educational institutions, Amun Academy is the first school Alfie wants to go back to, so he is extremely excited for the new shenanigans he is going to be up to.

Patricia is still thirteen when Joy becomes her roommate. This new girl is sometimes shy, but she manages to handle Patricia’s manner of communication and they really are having fun together. Joy seems really nice and her name suits her perfectly.

“Do you like animals?” Joy asks Patricia after dinner. They are already in their room, getting ready to go to bed. Patricia brushes her hair in front of the mirror while Joy unpacks her stuff. She seems rather nervous about her first night in Anubis.

“I had a parrot when I was seven,” Patricia replies. “My sister took care of him most of the times, he was scared of me for some reasons. So I guess I’m not really good with animals. But I liked how colorful he was. He had these pretty feathers, red and blue, I fancied them.”

“Parrot? This is so cool! I’ve always wanted a bunny. But my parents never let me have a pet. They say it’s a big responsibility. So instead they got me this,” Joy smiles and takes out of the box a stuffed bunny from Ikea. “His name is Bunzy Bun!”

Patricia chuckles, seeing how Joy’s eyes sparkle with love as she hugs her bunny.

“Well, that’s a compromise, I guess,” Patricia says, crawling in her bed.

“IT’S TEN O’CLOCK!” Victor declares from downstairs. “YOU ALL HAVE FIVE MINUTES PRECISELY! AND THEN I SHALL WANT TO HEAR A PIN DROP.”

Joy shudders because she wasn’t expecting the speech.

“Yep, he does that every night here,” Patricia clarifies. “You’ll get used to it, I even think it’s funny how he never gets tired of it.”

“Every night?” Joy asks in disbelief. Patricia notices that Victor scares Joy a little since she got here. “Wow, he must have an alarm or something.”

“Yeah, imagine the horror in Victor’s eyes if he’d somehow forget the sacred time of ten o’clock,” Patricia laughs and Joy seems to relax a little bit.

“Yeah, that would be fun,” Joy responds, hesitant to turn the lights off. Half of her belongings are still in boxes and suitcase, she is not really good with the whole unpacking thing.

“Want some help with that?” Patricia asks, pointing at the mess.

“Yes, please,” Joy smiles as she slides off her bed and Patricia joins her on the floor.

Girls start to sort out Joy’s clothes and stuff, when Patricia finds her jewelry box in the pile of things. Patricia can’t help the desire to peek inside, and she freezes in amazement as she sees beautiful silver earrings in shape of a snake.

“Wow…” she exclaims. “ These are really pretty.”

“Thanks,” Joy smiles. “My dad gave them to me for my birthday,” she informs. “He is always so excited for my birthday, it’s like the biggest party in the family. I was born seventh of July, so dad says I’m special or something. He says that I was chosen by the stars ‘cause it’s a pretty date. I don’t really believe in this kind of stuff, but I have to admit seventh day of seventh month is a cool day to be born,” Joy chuckles.

“Yeah, that’s pretty cool,” Patricia agrees. She feels kind of odd as she realizes that birthdays are a big deal in Joy’s family. She always shared hers with her sister so it wasn’t as special. Patricia is used to her parents always prefer Piper over her, but still sometimes she wants a celebration that is just about her and no one else. But she wouldn’t lay all of her family drama on a girl she met today, so she just smiles.

“When’s your birthday?” Joy wonders.

“In a couple of weeks,” Patricia says as they finish organizing.

Patricia is turning fourteen when she and Joy become really good friends. When something unusual or funny happens in Anubis, Patricia's first thought is ‘I have to tell Joy’. They giggle together at Alfie and Jerome’s pranks, they sit together in class and at the dining table every day, and they scoff together at Amber’s remarks about some new line of luxury makeup or her obsession with David and Victoria Beckham.

Alfie is fourteen when he discovers the magic of the internet. Water pistols, sneezing powders, monster costumes, various junk and stuff, – all this can be ordered and delivered straight to him. He spends all of his pocket money online and the box under his bed is filling with all sorts of things. Pranks at the Anubis House level up. Jerome supports every Alfie’s idea, even the craziest ones. Moreover, Jerome seems to know how to improve any prank, making it a thousand times funnier. His wild jungle of a brain captivates Alfie so much. Sometimes Jerome crosses the line and pranks Alfie or makes fun of him, but the feeling of unity that overwhelms Alfie when they laugh together during a joint brainstorm session, anticipating a new prank, cannot be compared to anything.

Patricia is fourteen when her temper stars to show and the arguments she has with her parents become more and more heated. She hates it that her parents are always there for Piper and never there for her. She thinks that they simply left her in this stupid boarding school miles away from home and forgot about her existence. Patricia has always known that her parents love Piper way more than they love her. She has always lived in the shadow of her perfect sister. Piper is so talented, Piper never acts out, Piper never slams doors, Piper is so respectful. Piper this, Piper that. ‘Why can’t you be more like Piper?’ is the phrase she hears most these days. God, she hates it. She was kind of glad to go to a boarding school when her parents received an invitation. Originally, it was for both sisters, but Piper’s musical talent didn’t go unseen, so their parents decided to send Piper in a special school so she could develop her musical skills, and Patricia got what was left. As always. And now parents ditch on her on winter holidays to go to yet another Piper’s concert in Europe without her. Nothing’s new. The arguments reach to the point where Patricia screams through her phone that she doesn’t want to see any of them and claims that she won’t be home for summer. She has Joy, that’s all she needs. Joy gladly invites Patricia to spend summer at her place when Patricia finally tells her about family problems.

Alfie is fourteen when he notices Patricia’s weird behavior. She starts to act nervous and rude and Alfie can’t really understand why. He wants to talk to her about it, but Patricia’s always with Joy, and he wouldn’t dare to ask her a personal question in front of somebody. Not unless he wants the juice to be poured over his head, as it happened to Jerome when he told Trixie to calm down and she was in such a bad mood. So Alfie just waits for the right opportunity. He is surprised when he finds out Patricia is not going home for Christmas, so he decides to stay too.

Patricia is fourteen when she admits that not all the boys are gross. Under Joy’s influence she becomes softer. Joy is crazy about Fabian at this point, so the majority of conversations they have is about boys. Patricia pretends to hate it but secretly admires how Joy openly talks about her feelings. She thinks that she could never do that. Talking about feelings and emotions was never her strong side. However, Patricia starts to notice that her smile widens and her heart beats faster when Alfie smiles to her. She doesn’t really understand the feeling and she wouldn’t say that she has a crush on him, but she feels really comfortable around Alfie and she adores how easily he can make her laugh even when she fails a test or is upset after another conversation with her family. They don’t hang out as much as last year as she becomes best friends with Joy and Alfie spends all of his time with Jerome. But at times when they are sitting on the branches of their favorite tree, Patricia feels like she can loosen up and let all the negative emotions go away.

“I just can’t believe they would do that! Just leave me here like that!” Patricia rants to Alfie, who is also stayed at Anubis for Christmas to keep her and Jerome company. Patricia does not expect that Jerome never goes home for holidays.

“Yeah, patents suck,” Alfie supports Patricia, gently rubbing her shoulder. “But I’m kind of glad that you stayed,” he admits. “We can have so much fun together!”

“Thanks, Alfie,” Patricia smiles.

Alfie notices how her eyes shine even more green against the background of oak leaves.

“My parents have so many expectations I should live up to,” he decides to share. “I feel like I’m never enough the way I am. I should be better, I should get excellent grades, I should be nothing less than perfect,” Alfie sighs.

“Hey, you are perfect just the way you are,” Patricia says before she could even think about it. When did she become so soft? What the hell is happening to her?

“Trixie, that’s so sweet,” Alfie seems just as shocked by her words as she is. But he takes a compliment and doesn't make fun of her sudden impulse to comfort him.

Oh, now she realizes she definitely has a soft spot for him. But does she like him? Well, maybe just a teeny-tiny little bit.

Notes:

Okaaay, just hear me out! We all know Alfie has a little canonical crush on Patricia, don’t even try to say that he is not. But what about Patricia? Why does she have a canonical soft spot for Alfie? Well, maybe it is because he comforted her in the laundry room in season 1 and they’ve been close friends ever since, but I like to think it started way earlier. I’m not saying she is in love with Alfie here, I will ship Peddie till the day I die and they are my endgame, but a little teenage crush..? Well, this might have happened pre-show and this definitely happened in my head, so here it is! But prepare your heart to be broken, the next chapter is not going to be that fluffy)

Chapter 4: Fifteen

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Alfie is fifteen when he falls in love with Amber. He starts to notice that whenever Amber is in the room, he acts like a weirdo. He trips, he falls, his hands are unable to hold anything without dropping it on the floor, and he blabs the most ridiculous things that cross his mind. Jerome makes jokes about it, of course he does, but even he can understand that Alfie’s crush grows bigger and bigger as the time flows. Alfie gets it bad.

Alfie is fifteen when he finds courage to share his feelings for Amber with Patricia. He asks Patricia to meet him at their tree, saying it’s extremely important, and spills all about it, knowing that she won’t make fun of him.

Alfie is fifteen when he talks enthusiastically about Amber's silky blonde hair and charming girly style while sitting close to Patricia on the tree branch. He gets lost in his thoughts and sighs of love and does not notice how Patricia is getting gloomy, holding back her tears. Well, Alfie is right, she does not make fun of him, she is too busy handling the flow of vitriol spreading in her chest.

Patricia is still fourteen when her heart breaks for the first time. She impulsively buys a blond hair dye, cute pink flats and hairclips, a mirror with some Disney princess on it, and a lot of bows just like those that make Alfie smile every time he sees them in Amber’s hair. She thinks for a moment before using it and then tosses all of this in the trash with disgust, refusing to become one of the plastic dolls from Amber’s shelf.

Patricia is fourteen when she goes to the shopping mall again and this time she purchases stuff that she really likes. She buys a red hair dye, sharp scissors, black tights with a cool print, dark eyeliner, and the badass heavy shoes. And this time she smiles when she looks at herself in the mirror.

“Wow, Patricia! It’s just… WOW!” Joy declares when she sees the final look of her friend. “I don’t know what made you do this, but you look GORGEOUS!”

“Thanks,” Patricia smiles, trying to keep her voice calm. She can’t really tell Joy what exactly pushed her to make a change. “I feel gorgeous as well. I don’t know how to explain it, but it is just… so me.”

“It really suits you,” Joy nods as her mind starts working. “Actually… I may have something that would make the look even cooler. Wait here!”

Joy rushes to her drawer and takes out a pretty box with a ribbon on it.

“I wanted to give this to you in a week on your birthday, but with the whole glow up thing happening now… Well, consider it an early present!” Joy smiles as she hands a box over to Patricia.

Patricia immediately opens her gift in excitement and hugs Joy when she sees colorful hair extensions inside.

“Remember how you told me about a parrot you had? When I saw those locks in the shop I had an association right away and just had to buy it. I thought you’d like it,” Joy says, satisfied with her friend’s reaction.

“I love it!” Patricia admits, clipping on her hair a blue strand. “Thank you so much!”

The time flows and Patricia starts to get over her little crush, focusing on herself and the person she’d like to become. She discovers the world of rock music and decides to make it a part of her personality because she thinks it’s really cool.

Meanwhile, Joy talks all the time about Fabian, but she is too shy to admit her feelings out loud yet. So she constantly gets Patricia to hang out with her and Fabian because when Patricia is by her side Joy can play it cool. They just spend time together, all three of them, creating some sort of bond that Patricia thought could never be created. ‘Cause, well, it’s Fabian. Quiet, naïve, geeky Fabian. But, apparently, Patricia finds out that this kid can be a good listener and excellent friend that would help her in any situation. And with homework, of course.

Also, Patricia sees all of the awkward attempts Alfie makes to express his affection towards Amber, who is obviously head over hills for Mick. And Patricia decides that whatever she felt for Alfie is nothing more than friendship. They are close indeed but he’s just being nice to her, that’s all. She realizes that they are better off as friends. It’s stable, it’s simple, and that way she and Alfie are going to be close no matter what the circumstances are. Although sometimes, when she sees how Alfie looks at Amber, with adoration and even worship in his gaze, something hurts and she just can’t help it. Well, she decides, she is Patricia Williamson after all, there’s no way she would get like that over a boy. It’s not one of her habits and it’s definitely never going to be one.

Patricia is fifteen when she makes a promise to herself that she would never cry over some guy and never going to change herself for somebody. And if someone is not satisfied with her the way she is, they can go to hell. It’s just not worth it. Love is not what life has to offer her, she thinks, friendship is much more easy and sincere. She swears that she won’t be heartbroken ever again and closes her heart in order to keep it safe.

Alfie is fifteen when Amber and Mick start going out. Amber ignores Alfie’s existence whatsoever and, somehow, it makes him want her even more. He continues to try to win her attention, but all of his attempts are pointless. Alfie sees that Amber is really into Mick which makes him so sad he can’t even comprehend the feeling. He feels like he is not enough. Again.

“But you are,” Patricia tries to console him. “And if Amber is so blind to see it, she is not worth it.”

The academic year has almost ended, a new summer is ahead of them. They just sit on their tree quietly, caught up in thoughts. And neither of them realizes that it is not only the last time this year they have a chance to enjoy the illusive calmness of the tree, but the last time at all.

Notes:

Well, a cliffhanger, yeah) Something terrible is going to happen and the name of this something is Rufus Zeno...
Basically, I'm done with pre-canon stuff, the next chapter is going to convey events of the show. Rating is also going to be updated to T because of all the psychological trauma these kids went through. Laundry room scene is one of my favorite in the whole show, so there's gonna be a ton of stuff about it. For now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
And yeah, I came up with the whole Patricia having a parrot thing just so Joy could give her hair extensions in this chapter hehe)

Chapter 5: Sixteen - Part 1

Notes:

Patricia’s trauma in season 1 is so overlooked you guys… But not in this story, so here it is. Before reading this chapter prepare for the worst :/// TW for physical and psychological trauma and abuse. And also language

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Patricia is just turning sixteen when Joy goes missing. It’s weird, she thinks, that it happens all of the sudden. One moment she sits next to Joy in class and the next – Joy is gone and a new American girl takes her place. Patricia screams at Nina, confused and angry. What do you mean Joy is gone? At the exact day Nina joined the school? WHERE’S JOY? It is all too strange, but her housemates are rather skeptical about the whole situation. But Patricia does not believe in coincidences. Her intuition tells her something’s off, something’s wrong, and Joy is not okay. People don’t disappear like this in the middle of the day, and Patricia decides to act on this gut feeling. No one seems to care much though. Even Alfie looks at her with uncertainty and hesitation. He doesn’t really believe that something terrible actually happened to Joy. He prefers to think that there’s no big mystery behind all of this and his and Jerome’s little spiritual séance parody assures her in it. And Patricia wants to scream.

Patricia is sixteen when she thinks she is going insane. No one believes her and she spends days overthinking and driving herself crazy. Is she actually crazy? Does she overreact? But if so, why Joy hasn’t called her? Hasn’t texted her? Why can’t she have Joy’s home number? No, Patricia thinks, something’s not right here. Even the school photo is fixed now. And she is determined to find out the truth. She goes to the police station, practically crying and shaking, and tells officer all about her friend’s disappearance. He calls her the next day and reassures that everything’s fine. But then she accidentally overhears officer’s conversation with Victor and everything derails again. Now she definitely knows that something’s going on and it petrifies her. Her best friend might be dead. Patricia cries for help but no one listens. Not Mara, not Fabian, not even her parents.

Her confidence tumbles even more when she starts seeing things. Patricia sees a man in a leather jacket for the first time during a drama lesson. She makes everyone pay attention, but the man is already gone and her classmates don’t believe her again. Mr. Winkler kinda does though. He tells her to stay after class and she lets herself hope that she finally found someone who believes her.

The same man appears in her bedroom in the middle of the night and Patricia paralyzes in fear, screaming her lungs out. Victor calls the police, but officer’s statement that no one is in the house does not calm her down. She already knows that teachers are hiding something and police is involved. No one believes her.

Patricia spends the day at the house and eventually falls asleep on the couch, extremely exhausted. Mr. Winkler comes to visit her, smiles reassuringly, and Patricia thinks that it’s not that bad after all. Jason believes her.

The third time she sees the man is when she is on her way to the oak tree, where she hopes to find some sort of peace and just think about everything. And although this man scares the life out of her and makes her shout and run away, now she knows that he is real. And she’s not completely lost it.

The fourth time Patricia sees the man she finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out he is a private investigator and he promises her he would help her find Joy. Patricia is still afraid of him, but she picks up the business card that he left for her and keeps it just in case.

After Jason’s betrayal she realizes for the hundredth time that she is absolutely alone in her misery. There is no one nearby to get her out of a panic room she locked herself in. Well, maybe, she thinks, she’s not entirely alone after all. She takes her phone and dials a number from Rene Zeldman’s business card, hoping he could help her. No one else can, and he is her last straw, last chance to finally find out what actually happened to Joy. Her hands are shaking when Patricia listens to the beeps and it feels like an eternity before PI answers the phone.

“Dr. Zeldman? It’s Patricia Williamson. We need to talk.”

Alfie is sixteen when his little trip to the cellar grows into a profound psychological breakdown. He gets stuck in the cellar for hours and witnesses something so horrible and horrifying that his brain simply collapses and Alfie gets to the hospital. When he wakes up, he does not remember what or who he saw and he does not even want to remember any of this. He just knows that it was the most traumatizing thing he has ever experienced. Alfie wishes that he would never go through something like this again.

Alfie is sixteen when Patricia and Jerome visit him at the hospital and he is really glad to see them both although he does not show it. He gets flashbacks about the good old times when there were just three of them against the whole world and Victor’s toothbrushes.

Alfie is sixteen when his parents decide to visit him and see how he’s doing in school. He makes the whole house pretend to be his subordinates while he plays the role of the boss. The whole act is rather ridiculous and the tie is too tight around his neck, but his parents seem pleased. They finally leave and Alfie lets himself to be himself. Perfect just the way he is, as Patricia once said. Alfie remembers her words with a giant smile and runs in his room with Jerome. Pranks in the house are back on!

Patricia is sixteen when every ounce of her existence gets poisoned by Rufus Zeno. Three days in a deserted storage unit drain her physically and mentally. Patricia does not show her fear, trying to get Rufus to let her go, but she is scared. Really scared. Like she never was before. Hell, she does not even know if she’ll make it out alive. Rufus is a fucking psychopath, now she knows it. His piercing icy eyes scare the living shit out of her. Patricia makes an attempt to escape while she still can, but Rufus grabs her, almost crushing bones in her leg, and rudely throws her back in a rotten chair. Damn, she really is stuck.

Nina and Amber somehow find her, but Rufus outsmarts them, locking girls in the storage unit. Now she has to worry about them too. But at the same time Patricia is a little bit relieved. Her friends have found her. They know she is in danger. She practically spits these words in Rufus’ face, finally reassured that she is not alone anymore. But the spur of the moment relief turns into everlasting despair when she has to spend hours in the back of Rufus’ truck.

And even when she safely gets back to the Anubis House, she is still not okay. She doubts if she ever going to be okay. All this mess makes her sick so much that she wants to scream at the top of her lungs, and when she finally gets ready to do it, she can't make a sound. And all she can do is just lie exhausted on the icy tile of the bathroom floor, not feeling its coldness beneath, silently drown in sobs that bind the body from the outside and from the inside, and slowly and quietly die over and over again, getting lost in thoughts, not distinguishing hallucinations from reality.

Patricia has bruises all over her body. The biggest one is on her ankle. Rufus didn’t really care about her well-being and dragged her like she wasn’t a living person. Her fingernails broke when she was trying to open a barn’s door and then escape from his truck. Now she despise the violet hair extension that one day was her favorite. Rufus tore it out of her hair so roughly that her head still hurts.

She sighs heavily several times and bursts into tears, desperately covering her mouth with her hands, which are shaking so much as if a current of two hundred and twenty volts had been passed through them. She pants, unable to stop the panic attack.

It is a real dumb tantrum. She wants to scream, but she just quietly burrows into the pillow and blanket with her head when all the most terrible things climb into her mind, literally finishing her off. And she wants to lie down on the floor, close her eyes and wake up as a little five-year-old child waiting for Santa on Christmas night. And it hurts her to realize that all this mess is happening to her. And she’s just in pain. And she cries, screams, without making a sound, scratching her skin and biting her lips. And this pain, devouring her from the inside out… She can't cry it out, can't shout it out, and can’t overcome it.

For the first time in her life she wants to call her mother to hug her, feel sorry for her and calm her down, say the most banal thing: "Honey, I'm with you, it’s going to be okay." But she is not exactly on speaking terms with her family. Her mother doesn’t believe her, thinking she’s just seeking attention. Patricia wants to hide from everything around her, to hide from herself.

She's broken. And she's alone. Suffocating with despair.

And the realization of this fact causes another flood of tears. It kills her. It kills everything in her that made her so strong. It only gets worse every day. The feelings, emotions that she experiences, all these problems pile up on her in one big snowball, preventing her from breathing and living. She will never be the same ever again. It's too complicated.

Recurring nightmares become the icing on the cake. Patricia cannot close her eyes without seeing Rufus grabbing her, looking at her with loathing and aversion. She was never so scared before. She cannot sleep for days. But her body is exhausted. Patricia falls asleep in history class and has to relive her nightmare all over again. She jumps awake, almost dropping her chair, and literally sprints out of the classroom, not wanting for anyone to find her. Not wanting for anyone to see her weakness. Her first thought is to climb up her favorite tree. To find comfort between its branches. Then she remembers that the forest is Rufus’ beloved place for hiding. No way she is going anywhere near there right now. Patricia hides in the laundry room in the Anubis House, trying to prevent another panic attack.

Patricia is only sixteen.

Notes:

I’m sorry that here is not much stuff from Alfie’s perspective and no dialogs, but I just needed to convey Patricia’s trauma here. And the chapter turned out longer than I thought it would be so there will be two parts of it. The second part will start with my favorite scene in the laundry room and there will be a lot of Alfie’s pov so yeah) And by the way, HOLY FUCK SHE IS JUST SIXTEEN… like whaaat?