FicWad

Morning came, and Emily awoke cuddled with Patrick and Joe. She lay in bed for several minutes, staring out the window, where sunlight was merrily streaming through. Patrick stirred, and she propped herself on her elbow, facing him.
"'Morning." he mumbled, pushing his sandy hair out of his eyes.
"'Morning." she replied. They stared at each other for several minutes, neither one knowing what to say. Patrick blushed at the thought of what had happened last night; he hadn't cried himself to sleep in ages, let alone with Emily and Joe in the same bed. Joe blearily opened his eyes, and rolled over to see Patrick and Emily staring at each other.
"Hey, you guys." he muttered.
"Hey." they chimed.
"Breakfast?" Emily asked.
"Yeah."
"I'm not cooking, get dressed, and we'll head down to that vegan café we like."
"Mmkay." they agreed, and the three of them crawled out of bed. Emily went to her room to change, and Joe went in search of some tee shirt, leaving Patrick alone in the bedroom. As he struggled into his jeans, his cell phone, which lay on his bedstead, began to vibrate. He hopped over to the table and picked up his cell phone, flipping it open.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Patrick, it's Pete."
"Uh...hey," he replied distractedly, zipping up his jeans, "Why didn't you call the land line?"
"Emily might answer it, and she'd just slam the phone down."
"Good point."
There was an awkward pause, and Patrick heard Pete sigh sadly.
"What happened after Andy and I left last night?"
"Joe and I just went to bed. We didn't say anything, but I know he was as awake as I was. We just kinda lay in bed for, like, two hours. Then...Emily came in. Me and her crawled into bed with Joe, and we just kinda...held her. We ended up crying ourselves to sleep."
"The three of you?"
"Mmhmm."
Pete didn't answer right away.
"Same. Except I was alone, and the heater in my room was broken." he finally admitted.
"Alone and cold."
"Mmhmm."
Patrick couldn't help but crack a small smile.
"I know you're smiling over there, Patrick Stump."
"Sorry. Listen, we're all going for breakfast."
"The usual place?"
"Yep. Call Andy, would ya?"
"No problem."
"'K, see you in a bit...oh, and ,Pete?"
"Yeah?"
"Emily's cooled off. Apologize to her and she'll be fine, okay?"
"Yeah, okay."

A week passed, and the four boys packed up. They celebrated Andy's 23rd birthday without much enthusiasm. Tension remained between Pete and Emily, and it was killing him. Every smile was fake, every word directed towards him hinted at sarcasm. He felt like dying. One drizzling Saturday morning, they loaded their earthly belongings into a rented moving van and said goodbye to the small crowd of people that had gathered outside Joe, Patrick and Emily's apartment building. Their mothers bade tearful goodbyes, and casual friends shook their hands and patted their backs. Emily hung back, bitting her lip, her dark hair falling in her eyes. These people didn't get it; to the parents, their children were leaving, moving on in life. To these casual friends, they were leaving to make a record and make a pile of money. To Emily, the world was ending, and that was that. Andy tore himself away from his mother's arms and wandered over to where Emily sat on the front stoop.
"Hey." he greeted her, a sad smile across his lips.
Emily smiled in reply, patting the concrete beside her, inviting Andy to sit down. He did so.
"How're you feeling?"
"Like the sun burnt out."
Andy gave her a peculiar stare.
"That sounds...poetic."
Emily laughed.
"Whatever. That's how I feel. How do you feel?"
"Do you want me to be honest."
Emily glared at him.
"Okay, okay. I am psyched as hell. We're making a record! Aaaaand...I feel like shit about leaving you here."
Emily smiled, this time a true smile.
"You are making a record." she laughed.
"Don't forget this, Em; we love you. No matter what happens, we will never forget you."
"Damn straight." she answered bluntly, an impish grin across her lips.
Andy enveloped her in a hug, wishing he could never let go.

"Hey, Pete." Pete heard his name called softly, and he turned around. Joe and broken free of his mother, lipstick marks smeared over his left cheek.
"What're you gonna do about Emily?"
"What do you mean, what am I gonna do?"
Joe gazed into Pete's eyes knowingly.
"You know what I mean."
Pete sighed.
"There's nothing I CAN do. I'm 23 and she's 17."
"Correction; you're almost 24 and she's almost 18."
"I know, but...Joe, it's never gonna happen. I'd best just leave it alone. It's not like I'll never see her again, I mean, if it's meant to be...it'll happen."
Joe nodded, and he clapped Pete on the shoulder.
"Good choice."

Emily wandered over to Patrick and Joe, who were talking with a friend of theirs from another band.
"Hey, guys, can I get my goodbye in?"
"Oh, yeah." Joe answered. They waved to the other boy and turned to Emily. Emily extended her arms to Joe, who lifted her off her feet and spun her around.
"I love you." he whispered into her hair, gently placing her back on her feet.
"I love you, too."
Joe heard his name called, and his mother attacked him once again with kisses. Patrick and Emily laughed before breaking away from the others.
"I promised myself I wouldn't cry." Emily said softly.
Patrick took both Emily's hands in his and smiled, his eyes glassy.
"Funny, I promised myself the same thing."
Emily laughed lightly, and then sank into Patrick's arms.
"I'm gonna miss you sooo much." she whispered.
"I'm gonna miss you more than you'll ever know. I love you, Emily. We all do."
Emily felt a hot tear fall onto her neck, and she broke away from Patrick slightly.
"Hey, you said no crying." she told him soothingly.
"I'm not crying." he muttered, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his coat.
Emily smiled, and kissed his cheek.
"I love you."
And they broke away.

Patrick, Joe and Andy were all inside the van, and most of the other people had left. Pete was strapping the last suitcase in place when he heard a voice behind him.
"Hey, don't I get a goodbye?"
He whirled around- there stood Emily, her eyes glazed with tears.
"Uh, yeah, of course..." he babbled.
Emily moved towards him, and she took on of his hands in both of hers, examining the chipped black nail polish.
"I'm gonna miss these hands." she whispered.
Pete tilted her chin up, and he gazed into her eyes.
"I'm gonna miss these eyes." he replied.
They stared at each other for a long time, studying each other's faces, memorizing ever inch.
"I'm sorry, Emily." Pete finally whispered, breaking the silence, and looking away.
"Sorry for what?"
"Sorry for always being such an asshole."
"Oh, no, Pete-"
"No, Emily, I am. And I'm sorry as hell. The truth is...I love you."
Emily smiled, her eyes shaking with tears that were about to spill at any moment. Pete meant it one way, she took it another.
"I love you, too."
Pete gazed at her, feeling dazed. Emily stood on tip-toe, kissing Pete's cheek. But not the usual peck- her lips remained. Pete kissed her neck softly, and suddenly, her lips were moving towards his...and for a moment, there was a flicker of that blissful tongue he had always wished for. They broke away slowly, and Emily's eyes flickered nervously.
"Goodbye." she whispered, and she left.