I Could Have Died With You; 05
So, Pete was thinking, maybe the night wasn't lost after all. Maybe there was still a chance his plan would work and he'd catch Scarlet wanting to know too much. After all, she was the one who had suggested, scratch, insisted they stayed a while longer. She was the one who had been casual and fun the whole evening when everybody knew that wasn't like her at all.
And, Pete was thinking, maybe he wouldn't even need a confession. By the way Scarlet kept asking not so discreet questions about their lives and careers, it was maybe a little too obvious that the only reason she hung out with them was merely professional. And Pete didn't know why that bothered him so.
"So, are you guys working on a new album yet?" Scarlet tried to sound casual and pass it up as small talk as she shuffled Patrick's deck of cards for whatever game they were playing - she didn't remember anymore.
"Yeah, actually..." Pete started but was warned by Patrick's ever-present glare. Pete gave him a reassuring smile and continued. "We've been writing a lot lately, I think the album might be out in a few months."
A small smile of satisfaction invaded Scarlet's manipulative features as she gave everyone their cards.
Patrick looked around confused. That wasn't the truth at all. They hadn't written anything lately, they had been too busy touring to work on upcoming songs, and if Pete had come up with any lyrics at all, he certainly hadn't shown them to Patrick.
Charlie yawned from behind her cards and initiated the game. It wasn't like being invited to spend the night
"Any idea how the album's going to be called?" Scarlet tried her best to sound interested but not too interested, like, 'we're-sort-of-friends' interested, but not 'my-career-kind-of-depends-on-this' interested. She was fooling just about Mindy, maybe.
Pete smirked. "We were thinking of 'Snitches and Talkers Get Stitches and Walkers', actually." He lied. If Charlie didn't know any better, she would have protested that that was already the title of one of their songs, but obviously, they knew that, and obviously, Pete was just being Pete, so she settled for silence.
Scarlet pretended that the alleged title didn't ring true to her at all and squeezed her cell phone inside her pocket, where five new pressuring messages from Steve awaited her.
"Of course." She muttered knowingly, as though years and years of understanding Fall Out Boy song titles danced away in her background. "There had to be some kind of pun there, didn't it?"
Pete raised an eyebrow, an offended, questioning eyebrow, at her. "What do you mean?"
Scarlet spoke like a pro. "Well, I just think you guys are getting a bit tiring, what with all the pop culture fests and the I-said-this-but-I-actually-meant-it-the-other-way-around shit. Seriously, reinvent yourselves."
Charlie exchanged a look with Patrick who exchanged a look with Pete who was glaring at Scarlet like she had stolen his lunch money. What the hell did she know?
"What the hell do you know?" he asked, when his brain started cooperating with his mouth again and he remembered Scarlet did not possess the ability to read minds, thanks.
"I'm a music critic!"
"I am a musician!"
"Pete sweetie, can we go home?" Mindy's tiny voice asked before two sets of infuriated eyes burned holes into her, while both Pete and Scarlet yelled in unison:
"NOT NOW!"
Mindy looked about as small as a snow globe, and seriously, if it had been a regular boyfriend and not the Pete Wentz (was he even her boyfriend?), he might as well not be getting any anytime soon. But Pete wasn't the Pete Wentz for no reason, and he quickly made up for his sudden outburst at Mindy.
"Sorry, babe." He murmured, kissing her exposed neck lightly. Mindy smiled as he rested his head on her shoulder reassuringly. "Scar just annoys the hell out of me sometimes", Pete confessed, talking as though Scarlet wasn't sitting in front of him and hearing him just perfectly; she rolled her eyes. "And besides, Scar, you're not a music critic. You're a low class paparazzi, so don't pretend to know anything about music, alright?"
Scarlet wanted to maybe throw things at his head. Heavy, sharpened things. "Oh for fuck's sake, you can't even play the bass properly."
"True that." Pete admitted, waving a calloused finger in her general direction. "But you're in the presence of a musical genius; your uninformed commentaries offend my Patrick." 'His' Patrick blushed and made a face. "Tell her, Trick."
"I'm not offended." Patrick said. Pete smiled distractedly at Mindy's neck.
"I'm out of here." Scarlet announced, getting up and off the couch and making a grab for her coat and handbag. "Thank you for dinner, Patrick. Charlie." Charlie made a small waving gesture and Scarlet opened and closed Patrick's apartment, getting out.
"You're welcome!" Pete yelled after her, to no effect.
Charlie stood up from the couch and made her way towards the living room's biggest and nearest window, looking out to where, several feet below, a small Scarlet opened the door to her black Honda Civic, her movements shaky due to the amounts of snow that had accumulated on the concrete, got into the car and closed the door abruptly. Charlie watched with only slight amusement as Scarlet tried to start her car more than a few times, her attempts frustrated.
"Guys, I don't think she's going anywhere." She informed, and honestly, Patrick had been expecting the snow to corrupt his guests' way to their own houses.
"You can all stay here for the night, if you want." He offered and, well, what other option did they have?
Several minutes and several self-questioning later, the doorbell rang and Patrick invited a wet, miserable looking Scarlet in. "You can crash here if you'd like, Scarlet."
"Thanks Patrick, that'd be lovely." She responded, but her face didn't show any signs of appreciation at all.
Pete unzipped his hoodie all the way down. "Yay, a sleepover!"
Charlie was oh so very happy that her first night with Patrick had been ruined by the snow and, well, everyone. Except, you know, not.
Not that she was planning on having sex with him right away, because, seriously, Charlie wasn't like that, and besides, she believed they still had a lot of getting to know each other to do before that; Charlie wanted this to maybe be a long term relationship, not a fling and two night stands. Also, Patrick wasn't like that either. And she knew that.
Nevertheless, spending the night at Patrick's, in Patrick's bed, wearing Patrick's ancient David Bowie t-shirt and boxers, being held by Patrick's pale arms while she tried to get her heart to stop beating so goddamn fast so she could fall asleep, was definitely something she'd like to recall fondly in the future.
"Some day," Patrick murmured, somehow sure she was still awake even though the lights were all off and he was facing her back, "we'll have to go out and do something that doesn't include Pete. Or Scarlet." Charlie laughed, Patrick thought it was beautiful. "Some day soon", he added and kissed her temple. That was how Charlene fell asleep.
Mindy snored. Pete knew this because she had gotten really tired of all the foreplay really fast and fallen asleep while Pete proceeded to get her acquainted with all his techniques that usually stole the sleep out of people for various nights afterwards. How rude.
(Pete kept telling himself that all his foreplay and no actual action could be explained by the fact that they were staying as guests in Patrick's house, with Patrick sleeping in the other room not too far away, but seriously? He had invited girls over to his bunk with Patrick sleeping just above him, really, and Pete never had been much discreet or shy when it came to his sex life.)
So, Mindy snored. And Pete always associated snoring with Joe, and that? That was so not sexy. Either way, Pete was currently an insomniac ball of sexual frustration. Stupid, stupid Mindy.
Scarlet stared blankly at the shadowed ceiling above her. How exactly was she expected to fall asleep in some guy's living room couch? Seriously, stupid Mindy and Jason for being a couple and getting the guest room. And stupid snow for blocking the roads and stupid car for not starting and stupid Steve for making her come to this stupid dinner!
She kicked down the blankets (Patrick really had lots of bed supplies for someone who was barely ever home) and got up from the couch, going into the kitchen for water, or whatever the hell. Patrick's fridge was almost empty, except for a carton of milk, a couple of Red Bull cans and what Pete hadn't shoved into his mouth of the cupcakes they had served for desert. Scarlet thought she might as well throw caution to the wind and have one of the Red Bulls; she wasn't going to be able to sleep anyway.
When Pete entered the kitchen, Scarlet was reaching for the can in the fridge and the light that came from inside it was the only reason Pete was able to realize someone else was there and that it was her; all the other lights had been kept off, evidently as to not wake anybody else up.
Scarlet was only in a white tank top and her underwear (she had solemnly protested against wearing Patrick's clothes) and Pete was pretty sure that was only because she thought no one else was up. Unfortunately for her, Pete really wanted to make fun of her (lack of) clothes or her body or just... anything, and for some reason he couldn't.
Scarlet gripped the open fridge door and took a long sip from the Red Bull can. Pete watched with a strange touch of interest as her throat worked to swallow the drink, the way her long dark hair and skin contrasted with the white of her clothing in the poor illumination getting him in some sort of daze. Insomniac ball of sexual frustration, remember? He swallowed. Hard.
Scarlet looked up startled. "Is anyone there?" Pete took a step back and mentally cursed his absentmindedly actions. Scarlet wasn't supposed to know he was there, let alone think he had been watching her or something. "Patrick?" she guessed, shutting the fridge door, ashamed that she had drunk one of his Red Bulls.
Again in the dark, Pete stepped forward cautiously as Scarlet tried to make out the intruder's movements. She had a feeling it wasn't Patrick and that made her somewhat nervous. When she started walking, she ran into something that turned out to be someone - someone who kept her in place with two strong hands on both her sides.
The intruder's breath was heavy and unsteady. Creepy, somewhat, except the warmth of his hands was so strangely assuring it was driving Scarlet nuts. On an impulse, she inched her own hands forward and touched the intruder's chest. Smooth skin. Body heat. "Jason", she murmured, and it wasn't the question it should have been.
Pete's breath caught in his throat. "Yeah."
It was Scarlet's turn to make a small swallowing noise. She made a point to take her hands off his body and ended up running them down his chest, Pete's muscles tensing up under her touch, Pete's breath on her cheek.
Pete had closed his eyes and his grip on her tightened, but it didn't hurt. He could feel her breathing hard with her hands over his bartskull tattoo, writs slightly touching the waistband of his boxers. She was just so beautiful in the dark and with her mouth shut, Pete could just... he could just kiss her. Pete wanted, needed to kiss her, and maybe also-
"Peter Wentz, what the hell?"
All of a sudden, the lights were dramatically switched on and Pete had to blink several times to get used to the new, obnoxious illumination. Scarlet had let go of him, but his hands were still on her sides, thumbs on her stomach, and god, did she look small between his fingers (and did Pete wish his urge to hold her had disappeared with the darkness).
"What exactly is happening here, Pete?" Mindy was standing at the doorway wearing Pete's shirt and sounding as human as she ever had since the moment Scarlet had met her. It was nice to see that she did have some kind of emotion in her, and that her features could do more than just smile and pout, for a change.
Scarlet was looking down and biting her lip. Pete's hair was messy and the black ink on his arms contrasted perfectly with his golden skin and his chest looked almost as good as it felt and Scarlet wanted him away, thanks. She showed him as much by pushing at him and Pete let go, finally.
"Pete!" His lack of reaction, however, was driving Mindy crazy and Scarlet could picture her throwing punches and making a huge scandal. And Pete, well, he was something over which Scarlet was definitely not willing to get into a catfight.
"Hmm? What's wrong, babe?" Pete asked her drunkenly and Mindy just sighed in frustration and stormed out of the kitchen and into the guest room. She emerged back a minute after, dressed in her own clothes and bearing her coat and handbag, heading for the door.
Pete rushed towards her and held her by the arm. "Babe, you don't have to go." Mindy tried to free herself, to no avail. "No, seriously, stay. Let me explain it to you." Let me explain it to myself, Pete thought and had a feeling he wouldn't be able to.
Mindy stopped and looked at him. "Okay, Pete", she said, "I'll stay." Pete's default grin showed his approval. "I'll stay if you can tell me my name."
Pete's face didn't fall, "Goodnight, then." And he was still grinning when she slammed the door in his face.
we do it in the dark
with smiles on our faces
we're dropped and well concealed
in secret places
we don't fight fair
please tell me how did you like it. i'm in serious need of feedback, honestly.
