Patrick

Patrick Stewart
Patrick as portrayed by Ezra Miller
Name	Patrick
Gender	Male
Age	17-18
Family	Sam (step-sister) Brad (ex-lover)
Status	Alive
Actor	Ezra Miller

Patrick is the stepbrother of Sam and one of Charlie's best friends in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Character                                                                                                                 

Patrick is one of Charlie's best friends. Well, he's one of Charlie's only friends. We only get to see Patrick through what Charlie decides to share in his letters. Patrick seems like a happy-go-lucky guy who goes through a rough breakup before leaving his hometown and going to college. But we're pretty sure there's much more to him than that.

When Charlie first meets Patrick, Patrick is still known as "Nothing." As Charlie tells it, "Kids started calling him Patty when his real name is Patrick. And 'Nothing' told these kids, 'Listen, you call me Patrick, or you call me nothing'". And… they chose the latter.

Charlie says that "Patrick usually isn't unhappy". He's possibly holding a lot of it inside. Being bullied is never painless, and letting it roll off your shoulders is easier said than done.

Patrick isn't Nothing to everyone, though. He's definitely caught the attention of the school quarterback, Brad.

As it turns out, Brad and Patrick are in a steamy secret relationship. Brad wants to keep his relationship with Patrick a secret; he doesn't want anyone to find out that he's gay.

As observant as he is, Charlie doesn't really seem to see how unhealthy this secret relationship might be. After a science experiment involving a rodent, an electrical current, and "some kind of rat or mouse nip", Charlie learns that "the rat or mouse would put up with a lot more voltage for the pleasure". But he completely fails to connect the dots between the experiment and Brad and Patrick's relationship. Patrick's the mouse, Brad is totally mouse nip, and Patrick is willing to put up with a lot in order to continue seeing Brad.

So that's Charlie's take on it, but what about Patrick's? According to Charlie, "[Patrick wasn't sad because at least now, Brad doesn't have to get drunk or stoned to make love". But just as Patrick went along with being called Nothing, he goes along with this secret relationship—this is self-destruction at its worst.]

After Brad's dad walks in on Patrick and Brad together and Patrick almost gets beaten up by Brad and his friends, his mental state plummets. He's fed up with life and all its imposed rules. He talks to Charlie (well, he talks at Charlie, because Charlie never really responds), saying, "You ever think [… the only real difference between us [and any other group] is what we wear and why we wear it? […] Well, I think it's bullshit" .]

Patrick turns to drinking, drugs, and sex to numb himself from all the pain he's feeling. He's desperate to get away, telling Charlie, "I'm going away to college, right? It'll be different there. You know what I mean?" . But until he can get away physically, he tries to get away mentally. Thankfully for Patrick, he suffers little, if any, consequences of his reckless actions. We don't hear of any overdose, injury, or STI. Charlie simply says, "After a while [… he ran out of things to make himself numb" . And he just stops.]

Patrick plans to attend the University of Washington. Charlie says that "[he wants to be near the music there," , but maybe he also wants to get away from the narrow-minded people in his small town. Maybe he's finally going to stand up for himself and escape.]

In good times, in bad times, I'll be on your side forever more… Oh, sorry, just a little "That's What Friends are For" moment over here. We're talking about best friends, after all.

Patrick never really spends any solo time with our guy, even when Charlie reaches out to him after the truth-or-dare disaster: "[Patrick said that he would be busy with Brad and family things, but he'd try to call me if he could find the time. So far, he hasn't"]

He drags Charlie to the park and other hook-up locations, often ditching him once they get there.

But Charlie appreciates the attention, even if it is one-sided, and he fears that it's temporary: "Maybe since he isn't sad, he won't want to spend time with me". That's not the best kind of friend to have, and as far as we can tell from Charlie's letters, his fears come true. Charlie was there for Patrick, but Patrick just didn't return the favor.

Relationships

Charlie

Patrick with Charlie and Sam after discovering he passed shop class (graded a C-)

Patrick and Charlie meet in freshman shop class, even though Patrick is a senior. Charlie notices Patrick for his impression of their teacher and because he earned the nickname Nothing (from the teacher in the movie, from the students in the book).

They meet again, properly, at a school football game when Charlie goes to sit beside him and Sam. They begin talking and after the game they go the Big Boy for a meal, which quickly becomes a tradition.

After Patrick fights with Brad in the cafeteria, he turns to Charlie to help with his numbness. Together, they drink and visit gay bars, parks etc in the hopes that Patrick will pick up a guys. One day, they went to the golf course where Brad and Patrick used to meet and shared stories.

Sam

Sam's mom and Patrick's dad got married, meaning Sam is Patrick's step-sister. They leave for college the same year, Patrick going to Washington, Sam going to Penn.

Brad

Brad the quarterback and is Patrick's love interest. Brad is in the closet, and so had a cheerleader girlfriend called Nancy, but neither Patrick nor Brad seem to mind that. In the early stages of their relationship, Brad would get high or drunk before doing anything with Patrick and would then say he was 'so wasted' that couldn't remember anything.

Eventually, it got to the point when Brad could be with Patrick whist sober, albeit in secret. One day, Brad's dad catches them together and starts beating Brad with a belt with Patrick helplessly watching.

After that incident, Brad calls Patrick the f slur twice in the school cafeteria, resulting in a brutal fist fight between four of Brad's friends and Brad against Patrick and Charlie.