FicWad

Molly decided against asking Patrick about the picture as she didn't want to risk their possibly still tentative newly reestablished friendship over "snooping." It was the next day after school that she decided to find out information on the subject of one Miss Allison Landry and Mr. Patrick Stumph's relationship or non-relationship as it maybe. So what does one do when they attend GBS and they need information about something that involved any high standing "scene kids". They go to none other then Miss Elyse Heather Michaels, best friend extrodinaire to Molly and reigning Chicago SceneQueen to everyone else. That was why Molly Ann O'Conell was navigating a semi-crowded mall on a Tuesday afternoon in order to question Elyse in what could essentially be considered her court, Hot Topic.
"Yo," Molly started as she walked into the thankfully mostly empty store. Elyse glanced up from where she was helping an incredibly young girl who looked like she belonged in The GAP rather then Hot Topic pick out patches and gestured with the international symbol for "wait a minute bitch", also known as rolling her eyes and waving Molly away in the direction of the tshirts.
Molly skimmed through some of the shirts that were available and once again reiterated to herself why she hated this store. 'crap..crap...green day...crap...op ivy...more crap..' Finally after about ten minutes had passed Elyse came over.
"Now, whatsup?" She started as she tried to straighten out the shirts Molly had been pawing through.
"Allison and Patrick are dating again." Molly cut right to the heart of the problem and Elyse dropped the hanger she had been about to put a shirt on.
"WHAT?!"
"Yea pretty much what my reaction was when I saw the picture he had in his planner dated this July." Elyse just stared at her best friend in shock before narrowing her eyes and asking, "Wait...why do you care?"
"'cause Patrick is my friend and I don't want him to get hurt again?"
"Nice stock answer. Now why do you really care?"
"bitch. you know why." Molly's answer caused Elyse to crack up and start reorganizing the shirts again.
"Ok...so that picture. Yea, Patrick and Allison may have gone out, like once, this summer. He even told me and Matt about it and said he felt weird about the date and everything. So no they aren't dating again."
"Right. So what's with the picture? Why take it in the first place let alone keep it?"
"This is Patrick Martin Stumph, I've known the boy since I was five and I still don't understand why he does half the stuff he does." Elyse brushed off Molly concern trying not to make the younger girl worried about what she was sure was a non-problem. "Now, are you ready for your birthday party on Saturday night?"
"Eh..."
"Eh? No little girl there is no 'eh' allowed. You are turning seventeen. You are growing up, and in case you haven't noticed you are friends with one of the hottest up and coming bands on the Chicago scene. You are elite. Almost as cool as me."
"I hate that word."
"What word? Scene, elite or cool?"
"How about the implications of all three?"
"Bah. Accept your coolness. I made you and you are my greatest creation. And as for all the elite and scene stuff, I know its bullshit. But sometimes you have to play up the bullshit in order to survive. Do you really want to be on the bottom when you could be on top? Kids look up to us Molly and we therefore have a role to play. They put us there its not like we did it ourselves."
"Sometimes you scare me. But you are going to be an amazing DJ one day so I guess its ok. I'm gonna head home I just wanted to ask you about that thing."
"Damn skippy. I'll see you tomorrow" Was the reply from her best friend as Molly left the store and Elyse turned back to help another up and coming hipster who still hadn't quite grown into their white belts and converses.

That Saturday Molly woke up and headed downstairs only to stop in shock at the sight that greeted her. A fully made breakfast sat on the table and a pile of presents was on the counter. Sean, Jamie and her parents were all sitting there as well.
"Uhhhh..."
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" was shouted by Jamie while the other three just smiled and said it in their indoor voices.
"Morning....thanks Mom." Molly said when her mother handed her a large cup of coffee.
"Now you sit down and we'll eat and then you can open your presents. Peter told me that he has big plans for you this evening so I wanted to do your presents and cake early instead of tonight."
"Oh...great." Molly mumbled trying not to dream up all the embarassing things Pete might have planned for her tonight at the show.
"Don't talk that way Molly. You should be grateful. Having such a nice boy courting you." Her mother said causing Molly to choke on the gulp of coffee she had just put in her mouth. Once Molly had regained control of her breathing she looked around and saw her father's eyebrow almost to his hairline and even Sean's jaw was on the table at that statement. The only one seemingly unaffected by it was Jamie who was happily eating his fruitloops.
"Mom, Pete is definitly not courting me. And I am definitly not interested in him."
"Good." her father stated with more then a little bit of relief in his voice as he turned back to his newspaper.
"But he is so nice." Maureen continued, I had a long talk with him and he seems very understanding of the entire situation Molly Ann."
"Mom, seriously. Not gonna happen. You can crush on him all you want...as I know you will. I however will focus on people more my age and maturity level."
"oh?" Her mother asked as she handed Molly some pancakes.
'crap' Molly thought as she saw that she had once again peaked the interest of her brother and father.
"Umm...Patrick?" Molly said cautiously not sure how her father would respond. Her mother looked puzzled and Sean smirked.
"Patrick?" Maureen began questioning, "is that the boy with the hat and glasses who mumbles and looks down a lot?"
"Gee Mom, I'm surprised you even noticed." Molly said softly after chewing a bite of food.
"Of course I noticed. He's a cute one Mol." Her mother said with a giggle.
'oh great, its a buddy buddy week' Molly thought with disdain in her mental tone.
"I suppose Patrick would be suitable." Her father suddenly interjected. Molly glanced up curiously at his tone. "His father is afterall well established on his own and their family doesn't have any sort of untoward reputation." Molly rolled her eyes and continued with her breakfast. 'God you would think I was like a princess or some shit'
That night Molly got ready for the show with Elyse's help. This was Fall Out Boy's first real show. Sure they had played some smaller events, including the random show where they got their name of course, but this one was at the Knights of Columbus. To get booked at the Chicago KofC was the best way to get exposure for your band on the local scene. Elyse picked out Molly's outfit. "An ensemble befitting the occasion." was what she had said. Molly was decked out in tight black knee length shorts with a white studded belt and red converse high tops. On her top she was wearing a tight black Rolling Stones logo t-shirt. Her hair had been flat ironed pin straight and pulled back with cherry clips and her makeup had been done with a bit of a goth/punk flair to it. Staring at her reflection through her new black cat's eye glasses frames Molly turned to Elyse and stated,
"Dude! I look like a walking ad for Hot Topic!"
"....duh?" The older girl looked confused as to why this was a problem.
"Nevermind." Molly muttered as she grabbed her side bag and the two left her room to pick up Matt and head to the show in downtown Chicago.

The three friends walked up to the doors of the building and Elyse smiled at the man working the door.
"Three bucks kids." He began, but Elyse was quick to inform him they were on the list. The man working as bouncer for the evening smirked and found their names letting them in. Despite being friends with these people Molly hadn't attended a show since she had arrived in Chicago at the beginning of the year. She almost fell over in shock over how different it was from the Long Island scene. Long Island's highschool age scene was much more focused on emo and indie rock rather then punk. In fact from what she had heard from her friends a local band Brand New was going to put Long Island on the map next month with their first CD. Molly had met Jesse, the lead singer, at some shows over the years and despite being a few years older then her he had always been super chill and willing to talk music. So when Molly walked into the KofC she was surprised at how many hardcore looking punk rock kids there were. Suddenly Elyse's insistance that she change up her look a little bit made more sense. Her old hippie indie rock vibe would have gotten her ass kicked at this show.
"Birthday Girl!" was screamed from behind her and Molly felt herself being lifted up and spun around in circles. Considering the person who picked her up was actually strong enough to hold her in the air for a significant amount of time Molly immediately yelled "ANDY! Put me DOWN!"
"How'd you know it was me?" he asked in confusion.
"Drummer arms." was Molly's response. To which the red head smirked and flexed. And so started the night of Molly Ann O'Conell's seventeenth birthday.

The eight friends sacked out around a corner table and started giving Molly her presents while another band played on the stage.
"Guys, you didn't have to get me anything." She insisted as she stared at the two presents that sat in front of her.
"Oh no, they really did. If only to make up for what might be happening." Max informed Molly gesturing with her eyes towards Pete who was smiling in a way that could only be described as entirely maniacial. Molly sighed and opened her presents. From Max and three fourths of Fall Out Boy she recieved, a shoe box.
"umm..."
"Open it dimwit." Pete said which earned him a smack on the back of the head from Max.
"No shit. You think?" Molly shot back as she opened the box and gasped. Inside was a beautiful journal, a marble composition notebook, and a starbucks card.
"Allow me to explain," Pete said taking the reigns over the present, "the journal itself and the starbucks card should be self explanatory. By the way, you're an addict and they have a tweleve step program to get over coffee somewhere. As for the marble book. Read the cover."
"A Self Professed Hipsters Guide to the Universe by Peter Pan" Molly read outloud before laughing, "A self professed hipster?"
"Yup. And damn proud of it." Shaking her head Molly opened the other present, which was actually a card. Inside the card she gasped in surprise at the hand written note that basically stated a Fender Stratocaster was waiting for her to pick it out and take it home.
"Wha...?"
"Well you said you wanted to learn so I figured you should learn on the best, Elyse and Matt agreed." Patrick said with a smile.
"Wow. Guys this is too much."
"No. Its not. You deserve it." Matt said firmly. Molly smiled at her friends and tried not to cry. A few minutes later the guys stood up and headed for the stage as they were on next. While the other four also got up and headed off into the crowd.

Halfway through the amazing show Pete stepped up to the mircophone and began speaking to the crowd.
"Hey Fuckers!" The crowd screamed in response, "Today is a very special day. Its one of our best friends birthdays today. She's right there in the middle of the crowd," Pete said pointing Molly out and directing the half assed spotlight onto her. "So everyone is going to sing Happy Birthday to Molly right now. 1, 2, 3 SING!" And with that command the enitre room of about three hundred kids started singing Molly Happy Birthday. Once they were done Pete stepped back up to the mic,
"I bet you thought I was going to do something way more embarassing huh?" He asked Molly, her head nodding in response from the crowd. "I decided to be nice tonight. I told you it was possible. Anyway, this next song is a new one we just finished. It's dedicated to a couple of people here tonight and its called 'World's Not Waiting'. I hope you guys like it." With his final world Andy counted off on a four count and Patrick launched into the first chorus.
"This might just be a waste of time, there's no one I'd rather waste, My time with than all my best friends, So start the car up..." The crowd went crazy over the song. People were flying all over. Crowd surfing and moshing the night away.
Later on after the show was over, the kids had headed home and the eight of them were packing up the van when Patrick took Molly into the lobby of the building.
"Patrick whatsup?" Molly started confused as to why she was being dragged off into a small empty room with her crush of the moment. Suddenly ammending her feeling from confused to excited Molly smiled up at him in a way that she hoped was alluring.
"Um...I wanted to ask you something." Patrick began stumbling over his words. Molly's heart rate sped up even more and she responded quickly with a "yes!"
"Yes what?" Patrick said confused, "you don't even know what I'm going to ask you."
"Oh...right. Well what is it?"
"I wanted to know if you wanted to go out for coffee with me tomorrow, I need to talk to you about something really important and it'll even be my treat. Kind of a bonus present for your birthday."
"...really?" Molly said in surprised. Shock and elation playing across her features.
"Yup. I think it'll be fun. We haven't been alone since you came home a few weeks ago and I'm looking forward to spending some time with you. And like I said I have something I really need to talk to you about." He said with that nervous stutter starting to come back into his voice.
"Ok. Sounds good. Starbucks tomorrow at...two? Is that ok?" Molly asked her own nervousness reflected in her voice.
"Yup. Two." Patrick responded. They both heard Andy yelling at them to hurry their asses up so everyone could go home and Patrick laughed and said, "I better go finish helping them. You coming?" He gestured outside of the building.
"Uhh..you go. I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Molly said pointing at the doorway across the hall.
"Ok. See you outside then."
"Yup." Molly said dazedly as Patrick walked out of the building. Once she was sure he was completely outside she ran into the bathroom and screamed jumping up and down.
"he asked me out he asked me out he asked me out!!" Molly repeated over and over to herself in the bathroom mirror. "YES!"



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A/N: The title is from "The World's Not Waiting (For Five Tired Boys in a Broken Down Van)" by Fall Out Boy.
LONG chapter. I know.
in regards to the birthday thing w/ the crowd at the show--that has happened to me. Its super embarassing. fun but embarassing.