Categories > Celebrities > Fall Out Boy > Of All the Gin Joints in All the World
007. i wish i could take it back now
3 reviewsZoe and Pete have a conversation but are interrupted when the tire blows out on the bus. Now the two of them must walk on the lonely highway to a little tire emporium miles away...
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I had managed to avoid any awkward situation with Pete by the time we got onto the highway. The boys were either sleeping or playing video games and Kevin and I were working tirelessly on finishing all of the plans for the tour. There was definitely a tension in the air when Pete came out to get a drink and even though I felt his eyes bore into my skin I forced myself not look over at him. Almost the entire day had come and gone and I was exhausted but couldn’t sleep.
I stared at my laptop, three thirty in the morning and I couldn’t fall asleep. Kevin had passed out hours earlier and so had everyone else (except for the driver, of course!) and I had no means of entertaining myself. “Can’t sleep?” I heard the voice behind me say over my shoulder.
“Nope,” I responded lazily, not even turning around to acknowledge the person who stood behind me.
“What’s with the cold shoulder?” I heard him ask again as the person slid into the seat across from the couch I was laying on.
“What cold shoulder?” I asked Pete sarcastically. I shot him a glance that got across the whole ‘I’m so sick of dealing with you’ feeling I had.
“Ha. Ha.” he said with a hollow tone, “Look. We’re in a bus and it’s pretty confined so why don’t we at least try to get along?”
“Why don’t you take your own advice?” I snapped back, slamming my computer shut. I sat up and faced him, our knees hitting each other slightly.
“What’s your problem?” He asked as if just trying to push my buttons.
“Seriously? Are you seriously asking my what my problem is?!”
“Yeah. I am,” he said standing up, his hands on his hips.
“You,” I said simply, “I think that you are a douche bag. That’s the problem.”
Pete opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud popping sound. A tire had blown and the bus was veering sharply to the right - forcing Pete to fall onto me on the couch. I let out a quiet yell but was muffled by Pete’s chest. The driver came in moments later only to exit the bus in a haste. “Get off of me!” I said pushing Pete off of me. I let out a sigh and walked out to help the driver. Pete followed close behind.
“Aw shit,” the driver, a balding man named Harold, muttered as he kicked the bus tire.
“What’s up Harold?” I asked, shoving my hands in my pockets.
“Tire blew. Fucking thing was just replaced. My boss is gonna give the company hell.”
“Can you fix it?” I heard Pete ask from behind me.
“Nah. I gotta wait for the truck to bring by a tire. Like I said, it’s new so we weren’t s’posed to pick up the spare ‘til we hit New York. I called them but they said it’s gonna be 24 hours till they can get here.”
“Seriously?” I asked, letting out a sigh.
“Well there was a tire center that may carry the tire we need a couple of miles back. I could walk it if it’s to much of a hassle to wait,” Harold said slowly, looking down the empty highway.
“Well how about I go, I can’t sleep anyways. I’ll call you when I get there and you can give me the info. I’ll get a tow truck when I’m there too and I can get them to bring me back.”
“You sure you wanna be goin’ out there alone? It’s pretty empty. I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that…” Harold voiced his opinion, obviously concerned.
“She wont be alone,” Pete said – making my stomach cringe, “I’ll go with her.”
After about twenty minutes of walking in silence on the side of the road I finally looked over at Pete, “you really didn’t have to come out…”
“Harold wouldn’t have let you go. He would have been having a heart attack right now and come after you himself,” Pete said with a grin, letting out a little laugh.
It was beginning to get cool and I hadn’t dressed for the cold trek we were embarking on. I was wearing just a tank top and a pair of jeans with some chucks (I was not going to wear my heels to walk that far, I’m not that crazy!) while Pete was wearing some of his Clandestine clothes. He must have noticed I was cold because a few moments after I thought to myself that I was cold he slipped off his denim jacket and handed it to me – no words were exchanged.
I slipped on his jacket and immediately felt so much warmer. I couldn’t help but notice the smirk on his lips as I smiled from the warmth and I immediately bit my lip. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” He said smiling at me. Smiling. What was he so happy about? “You know, I’m not really that much of a douche when you take the time to get to know me.”
“I’m sure,” I said sarcastically.
“Truthfully,” he said shoving his hands into his jean pockets, “scout’s honor.”
“I know exactly how you are. I’ve had to deal with guys like you my entire life. Guys who think every girl wants to get in his pants and jump him after introductions. Guys who can’t take no for an answer.”
“You may be right but there’s more to me than that. I haven’t always been like that, ask Patrick.”
I scoffed in response, “Everyone has a story but the past means nothing if you can’t be respectful in the present.”
Pete sighed and shook his head, “Look if you want me to say sorry I will.”
“I don’t want you to say it, I want you to actually be sorry.” I said. Then I paused, “No. Actually I don’t want an apology, I just want you to not be a douche. That would be grand.”
“Well then you have to stop being a bitch,” he said simply, stopping in his tracks.
“Excuse me? I haven’t done anything!” I said walking to meet him.
“Oh please. I could have been trying to make nice with you all of this time and you wouldn’t have even noticed! You are to busy giving me lectures and the cold shoulder!”
“Have not.” I argued, I could feel my blood pressure rising from the anger in my brain, “Why are you so frustrating!?”
Pete just laughed, “I’m really not though.”
“You are!” I yelled, “You think you are such hot shit that you can say or do anything and the world will be alright! Well you can’t charm your way out of everything Mr. Wentz!”
Pete just stared at me, his head cocked to the side and his silly smirk on his stupid face. “I can’t?”
“No.” I said quickly and began to walk again, “We need to keep walking, I can see lights.”
We continued walking in silence and finally, two and a half hours after leaving the bus we arrived at Lenny’s Tire Emporium only to find the night worker was out at a job. “I cannot believe this!” I said leaning against the brick wall. There was nothing else around, no other buildings, diners, anything. I sighed and read the note posted on the door again, “Out on a job, back by eight.” It was almost six in the morning and the sun was almost beginning to rise. It would have been better if I had not been sleep deprived and with anyone else in the universe. “So what else do we do for two hours?” I asked, looking over at Pete I sighed, “don’t answer that.”
Pete simply laughed and shrugged in response before sitting on a stack of tires. Thinking it was a good idea I sat on the stack next to him, my feet thankful for the break. “Can I ask you a question?” he asked after a few moments of silence.
“Sure.”
“Why Kevin?” He asked with a serious look on his face.
“What?” I asked confused. Why was he asking about Kevin?
“Why him? What does he have that all of the other guys don’t to make you want to date him?” he asked more specifically, “Just curious because personally I don’t really like him.”
I was a bit taken aback but I answered his question nonetheless, “He’s sweet, nice, caring, everything a girl could want.” I said looking down on the ground, “He has a stable job, can support me, works in the same field, common interests. Everything a girl could want.”
“You said that twice.” Pete said quickly.
“What?”
“you said ‘everything a girl could want’ twice.”
“So?”
“So is it what you want? I mean, you just described what everybody says they want. Is that what you want?”
I wasn’t sure to be offended by his question or appreciative of his concern. “Of course,” I said slowly. My mind began to examine my relationship with Kevin. From the time I was first interested in boys my family had always told me what to look for and I’ve always looked for the guys that fit the profile but I never really asked myself what I wanted. “I mean, what’s not to like?”
Pete shook his head as if he were disappointed, “You need someone more adventurous,” he said simply.
“What? How would you know what I need?” I asked turning to look at him.
“I read your resume, saw your job application video, I know what you are like.” He said, without stopping he continued, “and Kevin doesn’t fit what you need. You like adventure, joking around, relaxing. Kevin is very structured, a planner and organizer. I bet he plans all of your dates to the T doesn’t he, no spontinaety.”
I said nothing in response, he was right, but I wouldn’t admit it to him.
He laughed and continued, “you need a guy who will surprise you and take you out on the road for a day, stopping wherever comes first. Not one who lives out of his BlackBerry.”
“You seem to think you know Kevin pretty well, as a matter of fact I think you are completely wrong. I like my relationship with Kevin. I like to know when and where we do things before they happen – I’m not a fan of surprises.” I said standing, the pent up anger forgotten earlier was beginning to rise again.
Pete stood as well and had a serious look in his face, “I’ve worked with him for a while, I know exactly who he is,” he said slowly. “He’s not very aggressive, I bet you had to ask him out first, right?” He asked, stepping towards me and grinned when I didn’t respond, “right. He doesn’t like making the first moves, you kissed him first too right?” Another silent response from me, and Pete let out a low chuckle, “right.” Another step towards me. I countered by stepping backwards until I was against the brick. Pete boldly came up towards me and put his hands on the wall on either side of me and cocked his head to the side, “You need a guy who isn’t afraid to take the risk of rejection.”
Before I could say anything in response he kissed me. He pulled back quickly, not saying anything. We didn’t move for a second and I realized he was right. I don’t know if it was the sleep deprivation, the psychological tricks he had been playing to downplay Kevin, or my aching feet but the next thing I knew I wrapped an arm around Pete’s neck and used my other hand to pull his face towards mine and I kissed him.
My mind screamed for me to stop but I willed it to quiet and as I continued to kiss Pete he began to come out of shock and kiss me back harder. I wasn’t ever the kind of girl to cheat on a guy or kiss a guy I wasn’t dating – I was much more innocent than most believed. Pete moved closer until our bodies were in full contact and I was roughly pushed up against the brick wall.
I heard a man clear his throat and immediately pushed Pete away from me, my face flushing beet red and breathing heavily. I looked up and saw Kevin, arms crossed standing next to another man who I assumed to be Lenny the tire guy. “Hope I’m not interrupting,” Kevin said with obvious anger in his voice.
“Kevin….” I said slowly casting my eyes down in shame I took a deep breath.
“I called the Tire Emporium when Harold woke me up this morning and he came out to fix us, didn’t see you guys so we decided to come back to see if you were here.” He said slowly.
“Oh..” I managed to say, forcing myself to look at him.
“Well great, let’s get to the bus,” Pete said, as if nothing had happened. I stared at him in disbelief, “Great job Kev,” he said, not even looking at me.
It was a very uncomfortable ride with Lenny, Kevin, Me, and Pete in the bench seat of the tow truck on the way back to the bus.
I stared at my laptop, three thirty in the morning and I couldn’t fall asleep. Kevin had passed out hours earlier and so had everyone else (except for the driver, of course!) and I had no means of entertaining myself. “Can’t sleep?” I heard the voice behind me say over my shoulder.
“Nope,” I responded lazily, not even turning around to acknowledge the person who stood behind me.
“What’s with the cold shoulder?” I heard him ask again as the person slid into the seat across from the couch I was laying on.
“What cold shoulder?” I asked Pete sarcastically. I shot him a glance that got across the whole ‘I’m so sick of dealing with you’ feeling I had.
“Ha. Ha.” he said with a hollow tone, “Look. We’re in a bus and it’s pretty confined so why don’t we at least try to get along?”
“Why don’t you take your own advice?” I snapped back, slamming my computer shut. I sat up and faced him, our knees hitting each other slightly.
“What’s your problem?” He asked as if just trying to push my buttons.
“Seriously? Are you seriously asking my what my problem is?!”
“Yeah. I am,” he said standing up, his hands on his hips.
“You,” I said simply, “I think that you are a douche bag. That’s the problem.”
Pete opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud popping sound. A tire had blown and the bus was veering sharply to the right - forcing Pete to fall onto me on the couch. I let out a quiet yell but was muffled by Pete’s chest. The driver came in moments later only to exit the bus in a haste. “Get off of me!” I said pushing Pete off of me. I let out a sigh and walked out to help the driver. Pete followed close behind.
“Aw shit,” the driver, a balding man named Harold, muttered as he kicked the bus tire.
“What’s up Harold?” I asked, shoving my hands in my pockets.
“Tire blew. Fucking thing was just replaced. My boss is gonna give the company hell.”
“Can you fix it?” I heard Pete ask from behind me.
“Nah. I gotta wait for the truck to bring by a tire. Like I said, it’s new so we weren’t s’posed to pick up the spare ‘til we hit New York. I called them but they said it’s gonna be 24 hours till they can get here.”
“Seriously?” I asked, letting out a sigh.
“Well there was a tire center that may carry the tire we need a couple of miles back. I could walk it if it’s to much of a hassle to wait,” Harold said slowly, looking down the empty highway.
“Well how about I go, I can’t sleep anyways. I’ll call you when I get there and you can give me the info. I’ll get a tow truck when I’m there too and I can get them to bring me back.”
“You sure you wanna be goin’ out there alone? It’s pretty empty. I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that…” Harold voiced his opinion, obviously concerned.
“She wont be alone,” Pete said – making my stomach cringe, “I’ll go with her.”
After about twenty minutes of walking in silence on the side of the road I finally looked over at Pete, “you really didn’t have to come out…”
“Harold wouldn’t have let you go. He would have been having a heart attack right now and come after you himself,” Pete said with a grin, letting out a little laugh.
It was beginning to get cool and I hadn’t dressed for the cold trek we were embarking on. I was wearing just a tank top and a pair of jeans with some chucks (I was not going to wear my heels to walk that far, I’m not that crazy!) while Pete was wearing some of his Clandestine clothes. He must have noticed I was cold because a few moments after I thought to myself that I was cold he slipped off his denim jacket and handed it to me – no words were exchanged.
I slipped on his jacket and immediately felt so much warmer. I couldn’t help but notice the smirk on his lips as I smiled from the warmth and I immediately bit my lip. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” He said smiling at me. Smiling. What was he so happy about? “You know, I’m not really that much of a douche when you take the time to get to know me.”
“I’m sure,” I said sarcastically.
“Truthfully,” he said shoving his hands into his jean pockets, “scout’s honor.”
“I know exactly how you are. I’ve had to deal with guys like you my entire life. Guys who think every girl wants to get in his pants and jump him after introductions. Guys who can’t take no for an answer.”
“You may be right but there’s more to me than that. I haven’t always been like that, ask Patrick.”
I scoffed in response, “Everyone has a story but the past means nothing if you can’t be respectful in the present.”
Pete sighed and shook his head, “Look if you want me to say sorry I will.”
“I don’t want you to say it, I want you to actually be sorry.” I said. Then I paused, “No. Actually I don’t want an apology, I just want you to not be a douche. That would be grand.”
“Well then you have to stop being a bitch,” he said simply, stopping in his tracks.
“Excuse me? I haven’t done anything!” I said walking to meet him.
“Oh please. I could have been trying to make nice with you all of this time and you wouldn’t have even noticed! You are to busy giving me lectures and the cold shoulder!”
“Have not.” I argued, I could feel my blood pressure rising from the anger in my brain, “Why are you so frustrating!?”
Pete just laughed, “I’m really not though.”
“You are!” I yelled, “You think you are such hot shit that you can say or do anything and the world will be alright! Well you can’t charm your way out of everything Mr. Wentz!”
Pete just stared at me, his head cocked to the side and his silly smirk on his stupid face. “I can’t?”
“No.” I said quickly and began to walk again, “We need to keep walking, I can see lights.”
We continued walking in silence and finally, two and a half hours after leaving the bus we arrived at Lenny’s Tire Emporium only to find the night worker was out at a job. “I cannot believe this!” I said leaning against the brick wall. There was nothing else around, no other buildings, diners, anything. I sighed and read the note posted on the door again, “Out on a job, back by eight.” It was almost six in the morning and the sun was almost beginning to rise. It would have been better if I had not been sleep deprived and with anyone else in the universe. “So what else do we do for two hours?” I asked, looking over at Pete I sighed, “don’t answer that.”
Pete simply laughed and shrugged in response before sitting on a stack of tires. Thinking it was a good idea I sat on the stack next to him, my feet thankful for the break. “Can I ask you a question?” he asked after a few moments of silence.
“Sure.”
“Why Kevin?” He asked with a serious look on his face.
“What?” I asked confused. Why was he asking about Kevin?
“Why him? What does he have that all of the other guys don’t to make you want to date him?” he asked more specifically, “Just curious because personally I don’t really like him.”
I was a bit taken aback but I answered his question nonetheless, “He’s sweet, nice, caring, everything a girl could want.” I said looking down on the ground, “He has a stable job, can support me, works in the same field, common interests. Everything a girl could want.”
“You said that twice.” Pete said quickly.
“What?”
“you said ‘everything a girl could want’ twice.”
“So?”
“So is it what you want? I mean, you just described what everybody says they want. Is that what you want?”
I wasn’t sure to be offended by his question or appreciative of his concern. “Of course,” I said slowly. My mind began to examine my relationship with Kevin. From the time I was first interested in boys my family had always told me what to look for and I’ve always looked for the guys that fit the profile but I never really asked myself what I wanted. “I mean, what’s not to like?”
Pete shook his head as if he were disappointed, “You need someone more adventurous,” he said simply.
“What? How would you know what I need?” I asked turning to look at him.
“I read your resume, saw your job application video, I know what you are like.” He said, without stopping he continued, “and Kevin doesn’t fit what you need. You like adventure, joking around, relaxing. Kevin is very structured, a planner and organizer. I bet he plans all of your dates to the T doesn’t he, no spontinaety.”
I said nothing in response, he was right, but I wouldn’t admit it to him.
He laughed and continued, “you need a guy who will surprise you and take you out on the road for a day, stopping wherever comes first. Not one who lives out of his BlackBerry.”
“You seem to think you know Kevin pretty well, as a matter of fact I think you are completely wrong. I like my relationship with Kevin. I like to know when and where we do things before they happen – I’m not a fan of surprises.” I said standing, the pent up anger forgotten earlier was beginning to rise again.
Pete stood as well and had a serious look in his face, “I’ve worked with him for a while, I know exactly who he is,” he said slowly. “He’s not very aggressive, I bet you had to ask him out first, right?” He asked, stepping towards me and grinned when I didn’t respond, “right. He doesn’t like making the first moves, you kissed him first too right?” Another silent response from me, and Pete let out a low chuckle, “right.” Another step towards me. I countered by stepping backwards until I was against the brick. Pete boldly came up towards me and put his hands on the wall on either side of me and cocked his head to the side, “You need a guy who isn’t afraid to take the risk of rejection.”
Before I could say anything in response he kissed me. He pulled back quickly, not saying anything. We didn’t move for a second and I realized he was right. I don’t know if it was the sleep deprivation, the psychological tricks he had been playing to downplay Kevin, or my aching feet but the next thing I knew I wrapped an arm around Pete’s neck and used my other hand to pull his face towards mine and I kissed him.
My mind screamed for me to stop but I willed it to quiet and as I continued to kiss Pete he began to come out of shock and kiss me back harder. I wasn’t ever the kind of girl to cheat on a guy or kiss a guy I wasn’t dating – I was much more innocent than most believed. Pete moved closer until our bodies were in full contact and I was roughly pushed up against the brick wall.
I heard a man clear his throat and immediately pushed Pete away from me, my face flushing beet red and breathing heavily. I looked up and saw Kevin, arms crossed standing next to another man who I assumed to be Lenny the tire guy. “Hope I’m not interrupting,” Kevin said with obvious anger in his voice.
“Kevin….” I said slowly casting my eyes down in shame I took a deep breath.
“I called the Tire Emporium when Harold woke me up this morning and he came out to fix us, didn’t see you guys so we decided to come back to see if you were here.” He said slowly.
“Oh..” I managed to say, forcing myself to look at him.
“Well great, let’s get to the bus,” Pete said, as if nothing had happened. I stared at him in disbelief, “Great job Kev,” he said, not even looking at me.
It was a very uncomfortable ride with Lenny, Kevin, Me, and Pete in the bench seat of the tow truck on the way back to the bus.
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