FicWad

Author's Note: Alright. This is somewhat an important chapter that's going to lead into all the screaming, ripping hair out, drama. Have fun.

We turned a corner on Mariposa Lane, and I managed to pull away from Pete by dropping my arm next to my side. With the sun beating down on my back, his arm around my back wasn't helping keeping my shirt dry free of sweat. Another cool breeze whisked between the tall city buildings of New Mexico, pushing my bangs out of my eyes and away from my forehead, refreshingly.

I looked over at Pete, and he was browsing through his sidekick, his thumbs swiftly moving across the keyboard, then flipped it closed, and focused his attention on me. I waited for him to say something sarcastic, like, 'I like me too' , but he just smiled. Which was unusual, but I wasn't complaining. We didn't have to have a conversation to enjoy each others company, walking around in streets of New Mexico.

Turning another corner, he seemed to know exactly where he was heading. It wasn't too far from the venue, and I wouldn't mind walking around her later on tonight, as we passed a Starbucks.

"Mmm Coffee," I said as I rubbed my stomach.

"How'd you know?" He said as he turned to the door, and held it open for me to go in.

I rolled my eyes. "Only you'd take a girl to Starbucks for breakfast."

"You're the only girl I know, that likes Starbucks for breakfast."

The familiar smell of coffee nuts mixed with pastries, and loud contemporary music played. A few business men in suits and ties were in line as we made our way over to a table that sat two in the corner. I peeled off my sunglasses that were sticking to my face, and Pete laughed as he took his off too. I scrunched up my face at him as we sat down.

"Your sunglasses leave marks under your eyes," he laughed as he pointed under his own eyes.

I quickly rubbed at them, feeling self conscious. Stupid Pete. Stupid sunglasses.

"Thanks a lot," I rubbed.

He pulled out his plain black wallet from the back of his pocket, and pulled out a twenty. "You're welcome." He motioned for me to walk with him to the line, and I got up, giving up on rubbing the marks away from my eyes. "What do you want?" He asked as he looked at the pastries.

I shrugged. "A cinnamon roll."

"Cinnamon roll for the lady, rice crispy for the man," he noted.

"Man?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you questioning my sexuality Aaryn Anne?"

"Nooo," I flicked my wrist, "We all know you're a manly man."

He puffed out his chest and broadened his shoulders. "That's right!"

I back handed him in the stomach, and he doubled over, letting the air release. "Jeeze!" he exclaimed as he stood back up, and messed up my hair a little.

I laughed as the business man looked back at us with shifty eyes, then turned back around. I made a face at him as he ordered a black coffee. Gross.

"I can help the next person in line," said a tan boy, probably Mexican, as he opened another cash register.

Pete greeted him with a friendly Hello, and he flashed a movie star white, teeth. I blinked twice, to make sure I wasn't imagining things. If only there was a ching noise, it would've perfected the effect. I read his name tag on his green apron that had the Starbucks logo in white in the middle of his chest. Andrew, it read.

"What can I get for you guys today?" he asked as he prepped his sharpie marker by taking the cap off.

Pete put a hand over his mouth, and he observed the menu. He mumbled a 'hmm that sounds good', but stayed silent. I shoved him a little, and he looked over me as innocently as a baby in a crib. "I don't know what I want."

"You're lucky I do," I placed my hands on the cold counter, and leaned forward a little. "Passion Fruit tea, veinte, sweetened, please. Oh and that cinnamon roll."

"Gross," Pete added. He was probably the only person on this planet that hated that drink.

Andrew nodded, "And your name?"

I gave him my name, and he looked to Pete, who was still reading the menu.

"And are you ready?" He asked as he scribbled my name onto a cup.

He shook his head no, "Not yet."

I looked behind me, and saw a line forming with anxious customers to get their drinks. Feeling slightly embarrassed, I nudged him, "Stop being an ass. You know what you want."

He looked over his shoulder and saw the line. "Eh, not really."

"Peter."

"Aaryn."

"God," I said under my breath as I crossed my arms over my chest, and glanced over my shoulder.

Pete laughed, "I'll just get a large hot chocolate. With a rice crispy," he looked at his name tag, "Andrew."

He scribbled Pete onto the cup, and went to get our pastries. He placed them into a bag, and gave us our total. "Nine dollars and fifty cents."

"Jesus Christ," Pete said as he handed his twenty to the boy and he handed back change.

"You act like you don't spend three hundred dollars on a BBC sweater."

He stuck the change in his pocket as we walked over to the bar to wait for our drinks.

"That was a gift."

"It's still three hundred dollars."

"Gift."

"Do we always have to argue?"

"No."

We got quiet, and I stared up at him. With a slight grin, I let out a chuckle.

"I don't think we've gone a day without arguing over something."

"It's not our style."

I nodded. "Yeah. We'd make a horrible couple."

He looked down to the floor, and I bit my lip, bad thing to say. Great. Ten points for me to make Peter feel bad twice in one day.

The drinks came to the bar, and I grabbed my cup before they called out my name. I headed back to our table, and took a seat, sipping my tea. He sat across from me, placing his phone down on the table. I took mine out, and placed it next to his. It was somewhat tradition, to put our phones in the middle of the table whenever we went to Starbucks. It started with me and Patrick last tour, since we hated to keep our phones in our pockets, and everyone just seemed to catch on.

I pulled my cinnamon roll out of the bag, and peeled off an ample amount. I felt my mouth water. It looked almost too good to eat, but not good enough. I stuffed it in my mouth, crumbs falling onto the brown table.

"Real cute Aarie," Pete said sarcastically.

I made a kiss face at him, and he grinned. I rubbed crumbs off my mouth as I swallowed.

"So what hotel are we living in tonight?" I asked as I took another sip of my drink.

His sidekick vibrated, and he picked it up and flipped it open. "Holiday Inn," he said as he texted frantically, and then shut it closed.

I became curious, and pulled his phone to me. "Who are you texting?"

"Joe," he took a big gulp of his hot chocolate, "he got so high last night after the show."

"When does he not get high?" I examined his sidekick, and went to the pictures section. I laughed when I saw an old picture of us at From Under The Cork Tree release party. Our faces were bright red, and our eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep.

"Tuesdays."

"Only Trohman."

He reached over the table and grabbed the sidekick from me, and put it back on the table. "Stop being so nosey." He positioned his elbows on the table, and placed his head in his hands, leaning forward. I copied him, and our faces were barely inches away from each other.

I hated to show our relationship in public, but for some reason, being in the corner, I felt that no one could really see us. Staring into his eyes, he had complete control over me at the moment, even if I fought it, I couldn't look away.

"I dreamt about you last night," I whispered.

"Really?" His eyes lit up suddenly.

"Yeah. It was when you first took me to the spot in the park in Winnetka by the collage."

"I remember that day," he said as he came closer to my face.

I bit my lip, feeling my stomach start to churn. "Me too."

"I always dream about you," his voice was barely a whisper now.

Unconsciously, I moved closer to him closing the space between us, watching his perfectly sculpted lips move as he talked.

"You're the last thing I think about-"

"Pete stop," I cut off, but didn't pull away.

"Why?" His eyes looked softly at me.

I sighed. "I... don't know..."

He closed his eyes, and I watched him close the gap between us before I closed mine too as our lips met. My heart started to race, and I felt his arms grab my wrists to pull them away from my face. He laced them with his, and I felt the familiar warm, comforting, feeling, drape around me.

But our moment was short lived, as the table vibrated beneath us. Unlacing our hands, I pulled away from him, and quickly grabbed his sidekick, that was vibrating in a circular motion.

"Hey!" Pete said as I pulled it towards me.

"I'm going to give this person a piece of my mind," I said, half angrily. I looked down at the caller ID, and I felt my heart sink into my stomach and dissolve into the acids. I re-read it, just to make sure I was reading right.

It was her.

"Are you going to answer it?" He asked, staring at the vibrating phone in my hands.

"No," I said shoving it back to him.

I watched him look at the caller ID, and then he looked back up at me as I crossed my arms across my chest and leaned back in my chair. Hesitantly, he answered quietly, as if I wouldn't hear.

"Audrie?" He looked away from me, but I continue to glare at him.

I wanted to rip the phone from his hands, and throw it against a wall until it shattered into thousands of pieces as I overheard her voice coo a small, 'Petey.'