FicWad

The flight to California took longer then Pete had ever imagined it would. He’d taken this route from Chicago to L.A. a million times but this seemed much different. Every mile the plane put behind him was another mile between Pete and Jazie. In all his years, he had never gotten this wrapped up in a girl, especially one that was so much younger then him. This was love, he knew it. Pete was head over heels in love with Jazie and there was only one thing keeping her from him; Patrick.

Once Pete arrived in LAX, he took a taxi to his house and got settled in. Everything was the way he left it; no food in the fridge, counters a mess, and dirty laundry everywhere. Home sweet home. The first thing he wanted to do when he got there was call Jazie and see how she was doing, but remembered what he told her in the note.

“Space….we need space,” he told himself after taking a long breath.

He went upstairs and took a hot shower to relax his tense muscles after the long flight. He got out and changed into some night clothes and got ready for a party he had to attend later that evening.

Some friends called him a few days ago asking him to come and chill for a birthday party they were hosting at a club. It was perfect timing; just what he needed to get his mind off of Jazie.

So he had a driver take him to the club at around 11 and Pete went straight to the bar. After schmoozing it up with some hot shot producers and celebs, Pete had a few drinks in his system and was ready to party it up. He helped out the DJ and played some dance tunes to lighten the mood. He made a shout out to the birthday girl and toasted her, just another excuse for a drink. He hung out with old friends and laughed all night as he pounded back shots, but in the back of his mind all he could think of was Jazie. He couldn’t shake her, no matter how hard he tried. After a few hours, this whole night seemed like a lost cause so he talked to a few more people and said his goodbyes for the night, making the excuse that he had a lot of band promos in the morning. Around 3am, Pete called the driver and was picked up and went back up to his house for the night.

“What a waste of time…” He sighed to under his breath as he got out of the car in the driveway.

He stumbled through the door and made his way to the master bedroom, crashing on the bed without even changing. He fell asleep within seconds.

That first night pretty much gives you a good picture of what the next week and a half were like. He would spend all day locked up in his house, writing sappy love songs, reading love stories, thinking about calling Jazie, wanting to be with Jazie, missing Jazie’s smile, needing Jazie. Jazie, Jazie, Jazie, Jazie.

Then in the evenings he would stumble his way to some random club and attempt to have fun with some acquaintances, then give up and go home more depressed then he was when he woke up that morning.

He thought this little trip “home” would fix all of his problems or give him a clear idea of what to do with Jazie, but it was just giving him serious withdrawal symptoms.

Everyone he talked to and hung out with were polite when they were with him, but Pete’s negative energy was hard to ignore. He sucked the happiness out of any room. So after a while, people slowly stopped calling him to hang out and he wasn’t going to complain any time soon or make an effort to be around people. So he just sank deeper into a hole.

He had plenty of time to think about Jazie and Patrick and where he fit into their crazy love triangle while he escaped from the world. He came to a pretty sad conclusion; Jazie and Patrick were probably in it for the long haul. Jazie knows about Patrick and Anna and she’s still sticking by his side. I’m not sure if she still thinks he’s cheating, but the fact that it wouldn’t make her waver at all on her decision to stay with him says a lot about the strength of their love. Maybe it’s too strong for me to get in the middle of……


1 WEEK LATER

Pete decided, after having all that time to clear his head that he should stop being a party pooper and get back out there and have some fun. There was no point in moping around when there was nothing he could do about it here. So live it up till he gets back to Chicago, then he can talk to Jazie.

So he went to a local L.A. club with the intention of meeting up with a few friends. They agreed to hang out with him after making sure he was….stable...again. He got to the club with a smile on his face; a first for him since the day he landed in LAX.

Once he got into the club he went straight to the bar out of habit. After about an hour, he’d had a few drinks and he just got done stepping in for the DJ for a few songs, as requested by the DJ himself. He’d been dancing around with a few friends when he noticed someone walk into the club and go to the bar. He excused himself and slowly followed him, taking a stool a few stools away from him. He watched the man carefully as he ordered a few shots of whiskey.

Shit man, whiskey. He must be having a hell of a day, Pete laughed to himself.

The 2 people blocking the man from Pete’s sight got up and headed for the dance floor, leaving Pete in full view of him. He ordered another beer and pretended not to have recognized the man yet. A minute or so passed and Pete had finished his beer before other man looked up from his shots to even notice him. It was when Pete shouted to the bartender for another beer that the man turned towards Pete and swore under his breath after registering his face. Pete turned towards Patrick and smiled.

“Hey, small world huh?” Pete smirked as he said it.

Patrick finished the last shot of his second round and nodded.

“I guess so.”

Pete nodded towards Patrick’s collection of shot glasses.

“Drinking your troubles away there Patty?” Patrick looked down at the glasses and sighed.

“You could say that.” He laid his head on the bar and muttered a few shit’s under his breath.

“What’s the problem Patrick?” Pete asked with fake concern as he scooted right next to him and took a seat. He patted Patrick’s back lightly for to really sell the concern thing.

He shrugged Pete off and slurred “You have no idea who I am Pete. I’m horrible. I…am….an ASSHOLE.” Patrick pointed to Pete as he slurred out the last word loudly.

Pete rolled his eyes, not caring if Patrick noticed. “I know Patrick. You’re a huge asshole, for many reasons. What took you so long to figure this all out?”

Patrick didn’t listen to Pete’s joking tone and furrowed his brow in anger.

“You don’t get it,” Patrick spit out venomously. He took a second to order another round of shots and turned back to Pete.

“I can’t control myself. I….I don’t deserve Jazie. God, I’m worthless.” He put his head back down on the bar and folded his arms around it.

Pete’s eyes grew larger as he let the statement sink in. What has he done….

“What are you talking about Patrick? What did you do that’s so horrible?” Pete felt like an idiot for even saying it. They both knew the answer and it was just a big elephant in the room.

“Don’t play dumb with me Pete! I cheated on Jazie. With Anna. When we were in New York a few weeks ago for those stupid fucking dolls, I called Anna up and she met me at the hotel. You had already left by then…” Patrick said that last part almost inaudibly; it was such a quiet whisper.

Pete snorted and looked down at his hands. “They’re called action figures….” Then his head shot up as he realized what Patrick just said. Even though on this point Pete was a massive hypocrite, he couldn’t control his anger.

“You WHAT!? You fucking cheated on Jazie!...AGAIN! You said you were done with that whore. Jazie just moved in with you…I thought it was getting serious. And you do THIS!” Pete wiped his forehead and tried to calm himself down. He had to think rationally if he wanted revenge.

Patrick sniffled and sighed. “Jazie and I…..broke up. I think she sensed something was wrong with me. We broke up right before you left for Cali. Everything went downhill after that trip to New York. It’s like…she knew what I did.” Pete gasped and tried to stifle a smile as a thought became clear.

He knew why they really broke up. It was because Jazie and he slept together. He was the reason they broke up and he didn’t even do it on purpose. Imagine what could have happened if he actually tried. He also realized that this was his chance. Jazie broke up with Patrick. Think about how final the split would be if she knew that Patrick cheated on her again…..even though she wouldn’t have much room to talk.

Pete created a plan. At this point, his only agenda was to hurt Patrick. And hurt him Pete would.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair casually, and poor innocent Patrick was never going to see it coming.

“Wow, that’s heavy man.” He paused and tried to hide a snide smirk. He was doing a horrible job of it. Pete cleared his throat and continued. “It’s kind of a coincidence though….The same night you were cheating on Jazie, she was cheating on you.” Pete laughed at the irony.

Patrick lost his grip on the shot glass in his hand and let it fall on the bar. Whiskey went everywhere. He didn’t look down to see his mess. His eyes stayed locked with Pete’s.

“What?” He whispered desperately.

“Jazie….and I….made loooove. You know, for her first time she was actually an animal in bed. I mean really. I never thought she would be a screamer but damn. The only way I could get her to shut up was keeping her mouth full with...well you know.” Pete stopped and chuckled, letting the silence fill in the blank. Patrick stared unbelievably at his once best friend. Tears welled up in his eyes as he fought for words. Pete hid a smile. Hook, line, and sinker.

Against his better judgment, Pete continued torturing his friend. “Oh come on Patrick. You couldn’t count on both hands and feet how many times you’ve cheated on Jazie and she has sex with your best friend once, and you freak out? Get a hold of yourself man.” Pete snorted and sipped on his beer. He opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by Patrick’s fist flying at his face.

Patrick got a good shot to Pete’s jaw that left him falling backwards off the stool and onto the floor.

After the shock on his face settled, Pete smiled slowly as he licked blood off of his bottom lip. He got up and stood tall (or as tall as a 5’5 guy could) taunting Patrick, begging for him to hit him again.

“Come on Patty, that’s the best you got? It hurt worse when Jazie slapped my ass in bed.” Patrick growled and charged for Pete with all the force he could muster but Pete jumped out of the way, making Patrick fly towards a nearby table. Drinks shattered and spilled everywhere as Patrick stood up, getting himself ready for another round.

He ran towards Pete again but didn’t see Pete holding a beer bottle. He couldn’t stop himself in time and when he got too close, Pete smashed it over his head. Patrick stumbled backwards and shook the glass off him. It only seemed to make a dramatic mess, nothing more. It didn’t faze Patrick at all. Pete found Patrick’s sad attempt to physically hurt him hilarious. Pete chuckled loudly as he walked up to Patrick and landed a good uppercut to his face, following with another punch in his gut. Patrick fumbled backwards trying to catch his breath.

He bent over and grabbed his stomach. “You’re….lying. Jazie would never do that. Especially with you,” he wheezed. Patrick’s effort to make Pete feel inadequate just made him laugh even harder, knowing the truth all too well: If it was Patrick at her door that night, she never would have given up her virginity. Even though she was under the influence, after all this time dating Patrick, she still picked him. She loved Pete.

A crowd started to form around the fight. It didn’t look like anybody had called security yet, but possibly because they recognized who was fighting and wanted to wait and see who would come out the winner. Pete looked around and knew they would get kicked out soon if this thing got any worse.

Patrick recovered after a minute and made his way back over to Pete, running into him and wrapped his arms around Pete’s waist, trying to throw him to the ground. It kind of just looked like he was giving Pete’s stomach a hug, because Pete wasn’t budging an inch. Pete rolled his eyes and kneed him in the stomach, then pushed Patrick off of him.

“Man, I’m just defending myself. You started this whole thing. You can stop it anytime, but I’ll warn you. By the looks of it, I have a bit more energy.” He raised an eyebrow as Patrick made Pete’s point by using this little break to catch his breath. He looked pathetic as he hunched over and fought for air.

But it didn’t look like he was going to give up because he got up and tried to get in one more good punch but Pete slipped out of the way, making Patrick’s flying fist land right into a man standing right by the bar: the back of a huge muscular man’s head, more specifically. Patrick stumbled backwards in shock and his mouth hung to the floor as a body builder looking man turned around and scowled in Patrick’s direction. Pete’s eyes widened as he realized that he probably just gave his best friend a death wish.

Patrick tripped over a fallen stool and stumbled to stand up again but the large man just kept walking towards him, towering over Patrick’s helpless body. He gulped and prayed that his death would be as quick and painless as possible. The man picked Patrick up by the front of his shirt and reached his arm back, ready to land a solid punch right to his face that would probably prove to be fatal by the looks of the force behind the fist. Right as he was about to swing, shards of wood flew everywhere and the big man fell to the ground as Pete slammed a bar stool into the back of his head. Pete stumbled back and started to laugh at seeing the huge man on the floor in the fetal position, whimpering of all things.

He looked over at Patrick and nodded. “Lets get out of here man,” Pete panted. They both grabbed their coats and ran for the nearest exit.

Once they got outside, the reality of why they were fighting slowly came back to them. Their strides slowed, they became edgy, and a nervous silence covered them.

Pete took out his cell phone and called for his ride. “Well….I’m gonna head home. You have a ride?” Patrick shook his head. “No, don’t need one. My hotel is right up the street there.”

Pete nodded and the silence returned. “Hey….Patrick, why did you come to Cali anyway?”

Patrick sighed sadly. He was about to tell Pete all about Jazie moving out and how hard everything’s been lately between them but decided against it at the last minute; he didn’t want one more thing for Pete to give him a hard time about.

“I came up here with Joe for that Loveline thing. Remember? You were supposed to do it with me but you never picked up the phone on Thursday.”

“Ahhh…I forgot. Um…I was busy Thursday anyway. Sorry for not answering the phone.” Pete averted his eyes because he knew Patrick would be able to tell he was lying. On Thursday Pete was still wallowing in his need for Jazie. But he wasn’t about to tell Patrick that.

Pete’s ride pulled up the curb and he walked towards the car. He looked back over his shoulder at Patrick. “Man, sorry bout that eye. You might just want to ice it. And if you see Jazie, don’t tell her what happened. You and I both know she’ll never understand.” He turned and got in the car before Patrick could even reply.

Patrick sighed. He knew what Pete meant. Jazie would never understand why 2 men would ever fight over her. Plus, he wasn’t about to admit cheating on her, that being the whole reason Pete got pissed and admitted to sleeping with her. Plus, Patrick didn’t have the nerve to confront Jazie on that knowing that he would be the biggest hypocrite ever. But as far as he knew, Pete just made that all up to piss him off. So he wasn’t going to do anything based on something Pete said when he was angry and drunk.

Patrick walked to the hotel he and Joe were staying at and went to his room, knowing that he would have to explain everything to Joe once he got inside. Then he would have to explain Anna and cheating on Jazie. He would have to explain Jazie cheating on him with Pete and he would have to explain how Jazie and Pete would have some sort of intimate relationship in the first place, even though at this point he wasn’t really sure of any of that.

He took a big deep breath and opened the door to his hotel room, trying to get himself ready for whatever havoc that would soon unfold.

“Patrick? That you?” Joe called from his room in the suite.

He rubbed his forehead trying to rid it of the pulsating migraine that he’d had since the club. “Yah it’s me…” He mumbled.

Joe rounded the corner to the entrance that Patrick stood in and his jaw hit the floor. “Holy shit Patrick, what happened to your face!?”

Patrick turned and looked at himself in the mirror that hung on the wall next to him.

“Oh, that…..” He paused and took a few steady breaths. His hand touched the bruises forming on his cheek bone and the cuts on his bottom lip. He jerked his hand back instinctively as he flinched from the pain.

“Um Joe… there’s some stuff I need to tell you.”

THE NEXT DAY (In Chicago)

Sarah sat on her couch with a cup of coffee. Jazie came into the room with a steaming coffee mug and sat cross legged next to Sarah.

She wiped the tears from her eye and sniffled. “I just feel like a horrible person. I’ve kept this to myself for almost a month. I can’t take it anymore.” Sarah slowly rubbed her back for comfort.

“Shhhh Jazie, it’s ok. Just tell me whatever it is that’s bothering you. I won’t judge you, I promise.”

She looked away from Sarah’s kind eyes and sighed. “I slept with Pete.”

She didn’t look over at her best friends face because she was afraid of the painfully honest expression it would hold. She didn’t need a reminder of how shitty she was from Sarah too. So she just waited for Sarah to say something.

Sarah’s eyes widened and she fought around for the right words to say.

“Wow, so….you and Pete. Wow. Does Patrick know?”

Jazie shook her head solemnly. “No, I couldn’t bear to face him with something like this. I don’t ever want him to know. What good would come of it? I mean, I can never be angry about him and Anna ever again because I’ve done the same exact thing. With his best friend no less! Oh my god…I’m a slut.” Jazie whispered this as the thought just occurred to her.

Sarah snorted. “You are NOT a slut Jazie. Patrick has cheated on you repeatedly, and the fact that you haven’t confronted him on the matter is still beyond me. I mean after all this time, well anyway you get the point... And I think you and Pete truly have some underlining feelings for each other. It was more then just casual sex. I mean, you were a virgin for Christ’s sake. It meant something. And if Patrick wasn’t being a good boyfriend to you, then maybe you should find someone that will treat you right. Maybe there has been someone under your nose this whole time…” Sarah stopped her rant as the phone rang, leaving Jazie with a lot to think about.

“I’ll be right back.” She got up and answered the phone, then walked back to the couch with it.

“Hey honey.” She smiled with squeaky happiness. Jazie just rolled her eyes.

Well she MUST be talking to Joe. Jazie thought, annoyed but mostly jealous at their happiness.

Sarah gasped into the phone.

“They did what!?......and when did this happen?..........Yesterday! And you just now decided to let me and Jazie know? What do you mean she can’t know. Why can’t I tell her? Yah I know about that…..It’s a long story. Patrick did WHAT!? That fucking bastard….I swear to God I’m going to smother him in his sleep!....What? Ok, I’ll calm down. Sorry, I just got a little worked up. Well Jesus, what am I supposed to think? So He’s pretty messed up...Ouch. Are their hands ok? I mean they can still play their instruments right? No permanent damage? Oh that’s unfortunate…so what about Pete? Ok so when are they coming back?......Ok. Wow, well I’ll just see you when you get home then sweetie. Love you too. Bye.” Sarah hung up the phone and sighed heavily, falling back into the couch.

“Woooow.” She turned and saw the mix of confusion, anger, and horror on Jazie’s face and knew that she HAD to explain, no matter what Joe had asked her to do, or NOT to do in this case.

“Ok…. I’m not supposed to tell you, but you already know some of it because you just told me something that was part of it.” Jazie just glared at her vagueness.

“Ok okay, I’ll get to the good stuff. So while Pete was in LA, you know Patrick and Joe went down there for something, Patrick apparently ran into Pete in a bar. They were both totally smashed and they got into a fight over you, and they started throwing punches. Someone got a bar stool and some beer bottles broken over their heads and they both came out of it with a few scrapes and bruises, but mostly Patrick. You know physical stuff was never really his strong suit….” Sarah rambled on about random details and Jazie interrupted her with a gasp.

“Oh my god! Are they ok? What the hell were they thinking fighting in public? Over ME no less! What the hell has gotten into those boys? Damn it. I’m going to have to beat both their asses when they come back to Chicago.” Sarah raised her hand to stop Jazie.

“Hun, that’s not even the worse part. The reason they were fighting over you was because Patrick confessed something to Pete and made him angry enough to want to hurt him…”Sarah paused, wondering if it was a really good idea to tell Jazie this.

Jazie signaled for her to keep going. “Confessed WHAT?” She asked annoyed.

“He confessed to cheating on you with Anna when they went to New York earlier in the month…”Sara whispered fast hoping Jazie wouldn’t hear.

After a few silent moments, Jazie’s lip started to quiver.

“….The same day they got there? The day….I….and Pete…” She couldn’t finish her sentence. She stopped and tried to breath but it felt like her chest was shrinking and her throat was closing up. She felt like she was crying but she wasn’t making any noise and didn’t feel any tears.

Patrick cheated on me again…with that Anna! God Patrick you just can’t keep it in your damn pants!!! Ugh, but how can I be this angry when I turned around and did the same thing to him?....This is all wrong. I should be aloud to be angry but I can’t. I can’t be a hypocrite…
Finally she felt the tears and knew she would survive. You have to be able to breath to cry.

“Oh god Jaze, I’m so sorry babe.” She hugged her best friend and cradled her until Jazie stopped sobbing.

“What do I do?” She begged almost in a whisper.

Sarah looked off past Jazie and stared at the wall as she thought.

“I think….you need someone right now. But you need someone you know will take care of you. You need someone you know without a doubt loves you with all their heart. Someone you can trust.” Jazie sat up and wiped her eyes. She nodded and knew exactly who that was without giving it a second thought.

She got up and went to her room to grab her cell phone. She sat on her bed and dialed a number she knew by heart.

Someone picked up on the other end and Jazie took a deep breath.

“Hey. Yah it’s me, Jaze. Um…I’ve been thinking a lot about you and me, you know with what’s been going on between us lately. And I don’t want to be away from you anymore. I really need you right now. I think….I realized how much I love you. Please just come home.”