FicWad

A.N. Whoa, I kinda forgot about this. Oops. Oh well, at least this chapter is kind of long. -shrugs- Hope you guys like.


I groan in discomfort as I throw my napkin on my empty plate. "My god. I have never been this uncomfortable in my entire life." I push the plate aside and drop my head on the table.

Pete laughs as he continues to slowly eat his fries and shake. "You can't hack it anymore?"

I lift up my head just enough to look at him. "What do you think? I'm slumped over the table, groaning like I just stubbed my toe and can barely move. But besides that, sure, I can hack it." I say sarcastically.

"You ate too fast. I told you to slow down."

"I tried. But it was just so damn good." I drop my head onto the table again, causing a thud. "I think I just gained 15 pounds."

Pete sniggers. "I'm guessing you don't eat like this anymore?"

"Nope. No time. Too busy." I mumble.

"Do you need to walk it off?"

"Yes, please." I mutter.

"Ok," he says as he laughs at my pain. He places some money at the table, takes one last sip of his drink and gets up from the booth. "Come on, Dani Boy. Let's walk those pounds off."

I gradually stand up from the booth. "Oi. My stomach is going to explode." We begin to walk out of the dinner.

"Alright, but when it does, get away from me."

I smile. "You're so nice."

"Well, I do try." He walks backwards in front of me with his hands in his hoodie, "So, where to?"

"I don't know. I miss Wilmette. Let's walk around Old Square."

"Sure thing." He moves to the side of me and starts walking at my pace. "So? How does it feel being back home?"

I look around at my surroundings. The tall, green trees. The quiet roads. The small, one story buildings. This is nothing like New York City. Living here a long time ago, the trees, the roads, and small buildings were the main reasons I wanted to get out of Wilmette. Now, coming back here after living in my "dream city", those were the reason I wanted to come home. You can take the small town girl out of the town, but you can't take the small town girl out of the girl.

"Danielle?"

I realized I had been quiet for a while, so I turn to him and smile. "It's really great to be home."

----------

"Well, well, well. If it isn't /Casa De Wentz/. It looks exactly the same." I say as we make our way down Peter's street slowly and towards his house.

"Yeah, I know. Better for me. This is the only thing in my life that'll never change."

"I wish I had that."

"Had what?"

"That one place where, no matter what places you've been or things you've done, it'll always stays the same; it'll always be home."

"You don't feel at home at your mom's?"

I shrug. "Her boyfriend is kind of weird."

Pete laughs. "Yeah, he is kind of out there."

"But she's happy. He's good for her. I just feel like I'm in the way."

"Well, home doesn't have to be a specific place. It could be somewhere in general. Won't Wilmette always be home for you?"

"I love being back in Wilmette, but it's just been so long. I haven't forgotten about Wilmette, it's always been a part of me, but it kinda feels like Wilmette's forgotten about me." We reach the gate surrounding his house. We stop.

"Forget about you? Never. You're unforgettable." He says as he opens the gate and motions me to go in first.

I laugh as I walk into the yard. "Are you hitting on me, Mr. Wentz?"

"Maybe. It depends, am I getting anywhere?" He says with a smirk oh his face.

I laugh out loud. "Not in your house with your mom here, your not." I joke looking at his mother's car in the front.

He opens the front door and we walk into the house. "Oh come on. Don't act like we never did anything in the house while my mom was here."

I open my mouth in shock. I point my finger at him. "That was one time and I felt incredibly guilty during it."

Suddenly we hear a voice. "Felt guilty doing what?"

"Nothing." Pete says quickly. He walks over to his mother, who is standing in the dinning room, and kisses her on the cheek. "Hi, mom."

"Hey," She looks past Peter to see me standing in the living room. "Oh, lord. Are my eyes deceiving me because there is no way that Danielle Wheeler is standing in my living room," she exclaims with a smile on her face.

I smile back. "Mrs. Wentz, it's good to see you again."

"Mrs. Wentz? You haven't called me that since you and Peter first met. It's Dale and you know it."

"I do know. I just didn't think-"

"It's been a long time, I know."

I sigh. Why this is awkward? I used to be so close to this woman; I always viewed her as a second mother. "It has."

A bigger smile breaks out on her face. "What are you doing standing there looking at me as if you don't know me. Come here and hug me."

I lightly chuckle and step towards her to envelope her in a hug.

"You look good," she whispers in my ear.

"You too," I whisper back.

She pulls back and looks past me at Pete. I couldn't see but I think they made an agreement of the sort.

"Well. I'm sure you and Peter have tons to catch up on, so I'll leave you guys to it." She hugs me once more. "Don't stay away this long ever again, you hear me?"

I chuckle. "I won't, I promise."

She lets go, turns to Pete, and points her finger at him in the strict way she treated Pete, and says, "Not too much noise, you hear me? Don't make a mess in the kitchen like you always do and don't forget to feed Pandora and Marley."

"I'll keep it down, I won't make a mess, and I'll feed the dogs right now." He answers back obediently. When it came to his mother, Pete was always a child. Good to know that his rock star status didn't change that. "Night mom."

"Good night, Dale."

"Good night you two." She then walks up the stairs into her bedroom.

Pete waits for the click of her door to turn back to me. "So....what do you wanna do?" Pete asks.

I smile. "I wanna see your room." I hurry upstairs, Pete hurrying behind me. As I reach the second floor, I slow down my pace. I don't want Piper to come out of her room to yell at us.

I reach the familiar door on the top floor and turn the door knob. I lightly chuckle as I step inside. "Am I caught in a time warp or something because this looks exactly like it did 5 years ago."

He shrugs. "I just never had the time to redecorate. I like it though, it's comfortable for me."

"Huh. I just realized, Wilmette is your Never land."

Pete laughs. "It sure is."

I gasp. "My bed!" I skip over to the bed on the left and plop down on it. "Just as comfy as I remember it."
Pete smirks as he sits across from me on the 2nd bed. He looks down at his hands in his lap with his 'thinking face'.

I look at him curiously. "What are you thinking about?"

He keeps his head down. "Is it weird being back in this room together?"

"No, why?" I ask.

"Well, everything happened in this room. First kiss..." he trails off.

"First date." I smile.

"First time we said 'I love you'."

"The first time."

"The 'I hate you' days," he chuckles.

"Then the 'making up the next day' days," I laugh as well.

"First fight."

My smile disappears. "Last fight."

Pete nods, "The break-up".

I clear my throat. "Come to think of it, it is weird being back in this room." I say awkwardly.

"Yeah. We shouldn't think about it. Let's talk about something else."

"Good idea. What time is your show tomorrow?"

"The show starts at 7, but I gotta be there by noon, I think."

I nod, "Cool".

"You should come."

I take a deep breath. "I don't think I should."

"Why not?"

"You've already spent the evening with me; do you really want to spend tomorrow with me too?"

Pete smiles, "Absolutely".

I grin. "Are you really still the same Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III I knew all those years ago?"

"I hope so."

"I think so," I state.

Pete shrugs, "Sometimes, I'm not so sure. Every single day, with every single fan that we gain, I feel as if I slip further and further away from the person I used to be. I'm not saying it's a completely bad, but it isn't exactly great either. I want to stay humble, but sometimes it's hard when-"

"Everyone is saying that you're the best." I finish his sentence.

"Yeah."

I rest on my elbows. "I know the feeling. The more and more you hear it, the more and more you want to do anything and everything in your power to make sure you stay that way, even if it means giving up everything you stood for."

Pete looks back at me with a look on his face and nods slowly. "Yeah."

I nod back and sigh, "yeah." I tuck my hair behind my ear and scoff. "Besides, when have you ever been humble? You have always been the most conceited and arrogant person I've known."

"Well," he shrugs. "My name is Pete Wentz."

I laugh. "Yes it is. Pete Wentz: Cocky Bastard Extraordinaire."

"You better believe it." He joins in laughing.

I lie back down on the bed, smiling.

"What about you?"

"What about me?" I ask.

"Are you still the same Dani Wheel I knew all those years ago?"

I sigh, "nope".

"Why not?"

I shrug. "I grew up. It's impossible for me to stay that rebellious immature little girl. I moved to a place where I didn't know anyone, so I had to learn to depend on myself. It's a good thing though. I didn't like the person I used to be."

"I liked that person. She was fucking amazing," Pete says with a smile on his face. "She was ballsy and didn't take shit from anyone. She's a legend here in Wilmette."

I scoff and quickly sit up. "She was also insecure, depressed, bitchy, inconsiderate, and juvenile, she never listened to anyone, and she wasted her time fucking around when she could have done something productive with her life. But instead, she made things harder for me. She was so busy going to hardcore shows and fucking around that she didn't realize that she had to grow up and be a goddamn adult. And because she was so stupid, I've spent the last five years working my ass off to prove to everyone that I was more than Dani Wheel: Hardcore Queen." I don't remember when it was during my rant that I lost my temper, but I did.

Pete just stares at me, unknowing how to respond to my outburst.

I sigh and lay back down. "Sorry."

"It's ok. Glad you got it out. It looks like you still got some Dani Wheel in you."

I roll my eyes. "Don't say that."

"Why?" Pete asks.

"Because I don't want to have anything to do with her anymore."

"Why?"

"You sound like a four year old with all you 'whys'."

"Yeah you were immature. So what? You were a kid. And yeah, we did some pretty stupid shit. We all did. But you learned from it. It made you who you are today. Where else did you think you learned how not to let people walk all over you in the corporate world? Don't be ashamed of the person who made you into the beautiful, talented, intelligent, hard ass that you are."

I smirk. "Well, when you put it that way," I trail off. I look at Pete seriously, "You always knew what to say to make me feel better."

Pete stares back at me intensely. "It's a gift."

Not feeling comfortable with the intense eye-lock we had, I break the gaze and look around me. I see The Wonder Year's DVD lying next to me. I pick it and show it to him. "/Wonder Years/?"

He laughs. "Sure. I'll put it in." He gets up from the bed, grabs it from my hands and walks over to the TV to put it on.

I let out a breath of air and close my eyes. Being next to Pete Wentz is just as dangerous as it was 5 years ago. Oh boy....