FicWad

"Alright Bill, talk."

William Beckett arched a perfect brow as he looked up from his cell phone to meet the hazel brown eyes of his demanding friend and colleague, Pete Wentz. The older male had taken a seat across the table from him and was leaning forward into the table as he eyed William with an intense stare. A soft sigh escaped William's lips as he put his chin on his wrist and leveled a bored look at his nosy friend. "Talk about what, Peter?"

Pete's eyes danced lower on William before coming back up to meet the liquid browns staring back at him. "The hickey on your collar bone," he replied. "I noticed it earlier and I even caught you put your hand over it, almost like you were toying with it. Now. Talk. Who gave it to you?"

William managed to contain himself as he allowed a small smile to lift the corners of his mouth. "The person I was with last night at the Jackson stop," he answered as he looked to his phone and gave a short chuckle as an unknown number sent a text asking how he was doing. "What of it?" 'Fine, when did you steal my number?' He hit send and looked at Pete.

"I didn't know you had a girl with you yesterday," Pete said as he met eyes with William. "I didn't see you sneak off with anyone."

William chuckled as he tucked some hair behind his ear. "Oh, you did," he mused as another text came in, "you just didn't suspect anything." (You had to take a show after. Remember?)

When Pete saw the slight flush that had started to creep up William's face his eyes narrowed at the phone he was staring at. "That's her, isn't it?"

William's eyes slowly lifted to look at Pete. "No, it's not her," he answered as he replied to the text. 'Smooth. Sneaky, but smooth. BTW, you left a mark.' He looked at Pete. "Just why are you so curious?"

"My best friend obviously got some last night and he's not sharing details. You rented a car in Jackson so you could stay the night with some person you're hiding." Pete leaned on the table as he leg began to bounce. "You tell me why I'm curious."

Both men looked at William's phone as it chimed once more, and William grabbed for it, opening the new message. (You kept calling me Cowboy. I guess I felt the need to brand my stallion ;D) Without a look at Pete, William could tell by the sudden heat on his face that his blush had gotten worse. He dared a glance at Pete, whose hand shot out and snatched the phone before he could pull it back. "No!" He yelped and launched over the table, sending both him and Pete to the floor with such a ruckus that the other cafe goers had gone quiet to watch the two struggle for the phone.

As Adam Siska grabbed William, and Brendon Urie grabbed Pete, the two younger males struggled to pull apart the fired up guys. With a desperate move of grabbing a handful of William's hair, Adam made his friend go still, even though a deep, infuriated growl bubbled up from William's throat. Brendon had Pete still as well, having pulled the same last resort move as Adam had, fisting a handful of Pete's meticulously styled hair. Neither Adam nor Brendon had put their friends in pain, but it was enough to still the battle in the venue's set up cafe.

"Give me...the phone," William growled, his eyes wild and cheeks flushed with his exertion, "now."

Pete reluctantly held out the phone and stared back with angered eyes that did little to hide the hurt underneath. He couldn't believe William would act like this to hide someone when they could trust each other with every intimate detail. He didn't get what the big deal was this time and when the phone chimed once more, striking a newly raw nerve, Pete sneered at William and pushed Brendon's hand from his head before he stalked off.

William rose to his feet and stalked off in the opposite direction, not wanting another confrontation, leaving Brendon, Adam, and the other occupants staring in both directions with utter confusion. He looked at his phone, groaning when he saw the spider web cracks in the glass of his iPhone, and opened the new text. (I guess your phone wound up in your pocket and got lonely enough to try to text me. All I got was random letters.)

Climbing the stairs of his band's bus, William took care to shit the door before checking to make sure the bus was empty. Opening the last message, he hit the button to call the sender and sat on the couch, crossing his legs as he waited for his one-night stand to answer. The soft chuckle that greeted his ear sent a shiver down his spine.

"Hey Stallion."

William tried, and failed, to fight the smile that suddenly pulled at his lips. "Hey, Cowboy..."

"So, called to explain the text?"

"Long story short? I need a new phone," William answered as he looked at his nails. The laughter on the other end of the phone earned a glare and pout.

"Didn't I just tell you last-"

"Shut it," William snapped, his temper from the previous fight, flaring at the feeling of having irony shoved in his face. He was still on edge want wanted to vent and this guy was dangerously close to being an outlet. Especially if he chose now to gloat over his comments on touch screens last night.

"Uh-oh... What happened William?"

Without his understanding it, the concern in the older male's tone made him feel like an ass for snapping at him. He switched his crossed legs and ran his free hand through his hair with a sigh. "Sorry... A friend of mine got nosy when he pointed out the mark you left, and no one knows about last night. You had just sent your text about branding me, it was still open, and he grabbed it." William bit his lip. "I actually launched myself over the table at him. I guess in the struggle that followed when I was trying to wrestle the phone from him, before my screen cracked, we sent you a message..."

"So, wait, you actually launched yourself over a table at someone?" The male's deep laugh made certain areas of William's body come to life, making his shift in memory of the prior evening. "Who knew you had such a fire in you?"

"So, Stallion suits me then?"

"I wouldn't mind trying to tame you, it would be quite a challenge, that's for sure."

William laughed and played with his small choker. "I like the sound of that. It sounds fun."

"A wild one like you could never be truly tamed," he gave another chill-inducing chuckle. "So, you're in Portland in a couple of days... If you could hold off on replacing your phone until then, I could be your phone shopping buddy? I kind of owe it to you since I sort of made you launch yourself at your friend over a table," he chuckled.

"Isn't that little much for a follow up on your one-night stand Mr. Cowboy?"

"Hey now city boy, don't forget that we led up to sex after hanging out for a bit and clicking. I did tell you before things got hot that I thought you were a cool guy."

"Can I confess something? I honestly don't remember a lot about last night before I started sobering up."

Laughter filled the line, making William flush one more. "Before the real fun happened. I had sobered up considerably myself. Then again, I wasn't as drunk as you were Mr. Beckett. You didn't miss much, just a lot of ego inflating and smoke blowing."

"So you're sure you want to be seen out in public with a younger, more attractive male as sexy as I am?" William smiled as he toyed with the hem of his shirt.

"Eh, a little worried about taking the spotlight from that pretty face."

William laughed and shook his head. "Okay, I take that as a yes, and I think I can hold off on my phone."

"I'll make it worth your while if you can indeed be patient."

"You promise?"

"I promise. So, why exactly did you react like that over your friend possibly seeing the message?"

"I know the hidden question in there Lance, and I'm not ashamed, or embarrassed, but there would be no living with Pete if he saw it," William answered with a small shake of his head. "He knows I'm bi, but he doesn't need to know the details of what I do or who I do it with. He even questioned me about leaving with a girl with how rarely I'm even seen with guys around my friends. Some things I just like to keep private."

"But if somehow he did find out you left with me, would it bother you?"

"Do I have to parade you around and go down on you in front of him to get my point across that it's not you at all? That it's just a privacy issue?"

"Well I definitely wouldn't mind the act itself," Lance chuckled.

"Ugh, horny fucking cowboy," William scoffed as he rolled his eyes. "I need to talk to Pete, I'll call you later."

"Goodbye William."

"Goodbye Lance."

As his cracked phone screen turned black after having disconnected the call, William Beckett ran his thumb over the cracks and emitted a sigh of resignation. He left he bus and went in search of his friend, and after almost fifteen minutes of searching, and a helpful hint from Dirty, William came to stand outside the Fall Out Boy dressing room. Bringing his hand up, William rapped on the door and when a wounded set of eyes greeted him, William nudged the door open further and turned to face Pete. It didn't surprise him that Pete was facing him with arms folded over his chest, a brow arched, and his wounded eyes now staring angrily at him.

"Who says I'm ready to talk to you?" Pete questioned, his voice stern and cold, but William knew better. He knew his friend well enough to know acting from genuine rejection.

"You let me in," William replied with a soft voice. "You at least are curious as to what I have to say..."

"And that is?" He retorted as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Taking a bite of the proverbial bullet, William pulled down the neck of his shirt, exposing the hickey that had been in question earlier. "Lance Bass."

Pete's gaze stayed steady for a moment before a look on confusion flashed on his features before realization hit. His lips trembled momentarily as he tried to compose himself, but Pete lost it, laughing and leaning on the door for support. "Wh-What!?"

"Lance was there last night, and talking led to a one-night stand. The reason I lunged at you was because after I told him he left a mark, the message he sent that you almost saw, was him saying that it was him branding me." As Pete laughed harder, William reminded himself that he had exposed the small affair to get Pete's forgiveness. "And you can see why I didn't want you to see the message..."

Pete slowed his laughter and smiled at the younger male, approaching him before pulling him into a hug and giving his back a few friendly smacks. He chuckled as William returned the hug before the two pulled apart. "Are you serious? You and the gay NSync guy?" Pete questioned with a smile from ear to ear.

"Yes, I'm serious," William answered. "I knew there would be no living with you if you saw that text, so I freaked and went with my first reaction."

"To tackle me?" Pete raised a brow. "Your first reaction was to tackle me to the ground. God, you are gay," he chuckled.

William grinned. "Well, did you see the text? I think it worked just fine. Even though I guess it was over the top..."

"Uh, yeah?" Pete punched William's arm and shook his head. "You launched over a table to fight me for your phone. I shouldn't have grabbed it, but you shouldn't have tackled me. I'm not your lover boy."

As Pete bust out in a new round of laughter, William grinned and bared the first of what would be many jabs for his escapade. But at least he and Pete were okay again, even though he knew he would never hear the end of it for sacking up with Lance Bass. Who was going to be showing up in a couple of days for phone shopping. When Pete noticed that William's face had fallen, his eyes had gone wide, and he suddenly looked paler, Pete's laughter died.

"Bill... You okay?"

William's glazes expression shifted to Pete as he recovered from the realization of how bad Pete would be in front of, or around, Lance. "Oh... God..."

[Author's Note: I won't lie, I've been toying with the idea of this for some time now, and I finally got to get it done. It just took some stuff happening to clear up my creativeness. I've got a lot going on right now so I'm not sure when I'll be doing more updates but here is a little something for you all to read. You all know I like the mismatched pairs.]