FicWad

I remember when I thought I had found the perfect way to grow old...
My thoughts raced as I waited for Pete to get out of the locker rooms. I couldn't believe that I had just kissed him. And it wasn't a simple brother/sister peck. This was a serious life altering kiss.

"You ok?" Pete asked startling me from my thoughts.

"Yeah. Of course," I said nodding my head. He looked at me concerned.

"Come on," he said and held out his hand for me to take. I just stared at it for a moment and slipped my hand in his. I felt a surge of energy and my heart began to beat faster. He walked quickly to his car and I was curious as to what his rush was.

"We need to talk," he said starting the car and turning the heat on. I was frozen to the bone after sitting outside in the cold for so long and he must have noticed.

"We do?" I asked trying to play innocent. I doubt it was working.

"We kissed," he blurted out.

"We did," I said matter-o-factly.

"And I wanted to," he said shortly.

"You did," I said back. This conversation wasn't going the way I thought it would.

"And you wanted to," he stated.

"I did," I really wanted this to go somewhere else. We know all of this already.

"Now what?" he asked. I sat there confused. That was a good question. Now what?

"I dunno. Where do you want this to go?" I asked. I knew what I wanted, but if he didn't want the same thing, there was no way I was going to throw my heart out there for him to tear into shreds.

"My intentions were not to kiss you tonight, but I looked down on you and it seemed like the most perfect thing at the time. You know?" he said staring at his steering wheel. Was this a sign that he was nervous?

"I guess," I said not really knowing what to think. "So," I said trying to get an answer from him.

"Izzy. I like you. I like you a lot," he said now looking at me. I was speechless.

"I like you too, Pete," I said back to him.

"I guess I'm just scared, because if we try a more intimate relationship and it doesn't work out, I don't know how I would live without you," he said showing that he had been thinking about this for some time. My heart melted at his words.

"I know what you mean. But, Pete, honestly. What could possibly happen that would make us not be friends? You would never hurt me and I would never dream of hurting you. If it doesn't work out, we will still be friends. I think our relationship can withstand such a thing," I said trying my hardest to get what I wanted whether I believed my words fully or not.

"So you think so? You think this is a good thing?" he asked testing the waters.

"Yeah. I do. I think it is what we both want, right?" I asked him hoping he was going to say yes.

"I do want to," he said blushing. I got butterflies in my stomach.

"Then it is settled?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said laughing. He leaned in and kissed me.

"Now how do we tell the gang?" I asked after we parted.

"Let's just let them figure it out on their own. They are smart, well, most of them are," he said putting the car in gear and flying out of the parking lot.

--------------------------

We pulled up to Andy's and could hear the music from outside.
"Good Lord, I guess Andy wasn't kidding when he said that he and Joe were going to get things ready. He must have invited the entire town," I said looking at the cars that lined the street. Pete just parked in the driveway.

"I guess," Pete said quietly. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"Are you ok?" I asked him trying to read his face.

"I'm fine," he smiled and pulled me towards the garage.

We walked into a smoky, loud garage that was filled with people. I looked around and saw many faces that I recognized from school, but no one that I would voluntarily talk to.

"Pete! Izzy! Over here!" I heard Joe yell our names. He was back by the keg, which I was unsure where or from whom it came from.

"Come on," I yelled and pulled Pete over by the boys.

"Hey guys!" Pete yelled and kept a tight grip on my hand.

"Want some beer?" Andy asked pumping the keg.

"Yeah," Pete said grabbing a cup for me and himself.

"Thanks," I said grabbing the cup with my free hand.

"Oh my God!" Adrianne squealed from behind Andy. I jumped slightly.

"What?" Andy asked confused looking all around.

"You two are together!" she said ignoring Andy's questioning.

"Who is?" Joe asked looking at Ady confused.

"Pete and Izzy," she said giddy.

"What? Ady, how much did you have to drink?" Andy asked handing Joe a refill on his beer. Pete and I just stayed quiet and watched the interaction.

"Shut up. I know what I'm talking about. Look! They are holding hands and haven't let go of each other since they got here. Ohhh, cute you guys!" she said getting all mushy.

"Really? You two?" Andy asked looking at our hands.

I looked over at Pete and he shrugged.

"Yeah, we're together," I said as if it were no big deal.

"No Shit!" Joe said loudly. "This calls for a shot. It's about time you two got it together. Hey Andy! You owe me 50 bucks!" he said realizing they had made a bet.

"You made a bet as to when Izzy and I would get together?" Pete asked shocked.

"Well, yeah," Joe said as if it were an obvious thing to do.

"When?" Pete asked now laughing.

"The day we met her," Andy said handing Joe 50 bucks.

"The day we met her! What the hell guys?" Pete asked in shock.

"Dude, it was obvious. I bet that before we graduated you two would be together and Andy bet that it would be after graduation. I won!" Joe said grabbing five shot glasses and a bottle of some substance that I was sure wasn't going to taste very good. I just smiled at Pete and he looked at me and blushed.

"Alright gang. Here's to friends," Andy said being the sentimental one. I grabbed the shot and we all clinked them together and downed them quickly. I was surprised to find it didn't taste bad at all. It was actually pretty good.

"Wow, what was that?" I asked looking at the shot glass.

"Dr. McGuillicutty's Menthol," Joe said looking at the bottle.

"Yummy," I said back.

"What are we celebrating?" I heard a voice from behind me. I turned around dreading who it was.

"Hey Carrie," Joe said avoiding her question.

"Joe. So what's the celebration all about?" she asked looking at each of us with accusation.

"Pete won state. Weren't you there?" Ady asked avoiding the topic of Pete and me.

"Well, of course I was there. I wouldn't miss that for the world," she said walking closer to Pete and pressing her body against him. I got a huge wave a jealousy.

"Congratulations. Maybe we could have our own celebration. You know, later?" she asked him seductively. I was scared to see how Pete was going to respond to her. I almost jumped when I felt him grab my hand.

"I don't think so Carrie," he said making it obvious that he wasn't going home with her, but with me. She looked shocked and disgusted. She looked down at our hand intertwined.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," she said laughing out of shock.

"What?" I asked getting defensive.

"You two? Together? Right. That's really going to work out," she said getting in my face.

"And why the hell not. At least our relationship isn't based on sex. It actually has some substance, which you obviously lack," I spat in her face.

Everybody remained quiet. I could see that Joe's face had formed an 'O' in shock.

"Yeah, and when Pete gets tired of waiting for your prude ass, guess who will be coming to me. And I mean that in the most literal term," she said not backing away.

"Right, like Pete would run to you and your disease infested body? Get real, skank," I pulled out low blows.

"Oh yeah, bitch," Carrie lunged toward me but Pete got in between us.

"Carrie, that's enough!" Pete yelled and moved her away from me.

"Do you really want to be seen with such a BITCH!" Carrie yelled causing everyone in the room to look towards the display.

"I'd rather be a bitch than a WHORE!" I yelled back.

"Izzy! Stop!" Pete yelled towards my way, which shocked me into silence.

"See, Pete. She isn't right for you," Carrie said more quietly trying to put on her bedroom charm.

"Carrie, just go. I don't want you here if you can't accept the fact that Izzy and I are together. If you want to be friends with me, then you have to be friends with her too," he said rather loudly in order to get his point across. Carrie just nodded and backed away slowly.

"You'll come back. You wait. She won't give you any, and you'll be back," she said giving empty threats.

"Carrie, leave," he said firmly. She just spun on her hell and stormed out of the garage.

Pete turned around and looked at me. I was still wide-eyed with shock. The music had finally started again, and people were back to getting drunk. Pete walked up to me.

"I'm sorry, but you yelling back insults wasn't helping the situation," he said grabbing both of my hands.

"Yeah, but she sure had some good come-backs! Don't make this one mad Pete. She'll have you crying for sure," Joe said trying to lighten the mood. We both laughed at him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in my ear.

"It's ok. You're right. I shouldn't have been so cruel. I'm sorry too," I said to him.

"You shouldn't be sorry. She deserved it," he laughed and kissed my forehead.

"I think this calls for another shot!" Joe said filling our shot glasses full.