FicWad

Pleasant states of minds can cause damage. I'm sure that's why I woke up with the weirdest thing to happen to the whole situation with Pete. Sure, we fell asleep together in the suite above the after party, but that's only because the entire wedding party was to do so. Only for a few moments did I think we were back to normal, forgetting we were still on 'just friends' term.

Let's just say he was probably having a dream.

Once fully aware of my senses, I felt his arousal at my lower back, shivering slightly as his lips curled into a small smile at my shoulder.

"Pete," I hissed, reaching down to unlatch his arm from around my waist.

He seemed to make a noise of pleasure before moving his arm back, his fingers pushing into my left hipbone. I squirmed slightly and struggled to roll over. I observed the way his eyebrows twitched and how he squeezed my hips again, slowly starting to bring me over him. I widened my eyes and braced my hands on his shoulders.

It didn't help.

So now, we looked even more into a compromising position.

Being raped by Pete while he was asleep was not part of my to-do list.

Just as I fell back to my side though, he moved over and I pinched his side to make sure he wasn't just faking sleep. He flinched and boxed me under him.

"Frisky," he mumbled and I winced slightly.

"Pete," I gripped his shoulders and shook him slightly. His eyes fluttered open and he stared down at me before gulping.

"Hi," he breathed.

I crossed my arms and sat up as he fell next to me. A very red tint came to his cheeks and he raised the comforter before sighing, embarrassed.

"Please refrain from raping me in the mornings," I mumbled. Pete gulped and shifted uncomfortably towards the edge of the bed.

"I'm," he paused to stand up, his legs fumbling slightly like jello. "Sorry," he squeaked.

I looked away until the bathroom door closed and I heard the shower start. Kicking the sheets back, I gripped my fuzzy mint colored bathrobe and walked towards the window with a view of the lake side. The sun was barely rising and I could see Joe and Ashley at the exit of the hotel, waiting for a taxi.

So he was getting more than me.

I shivered slightly and reached to turn the coffee maker on. Pete exited the bathroom not a moment later; seemingly rather beat up about the whole situation.

"Pete," he ignored me and sat on the edge of the hotel bed, his shoulders rising up in an exasperated sigh.

I frowned and waltzed over, climbing onto the bed and resting my legs to one side of me, behind his back. Sneaking my arm around his waist, and another around his back, I rested the left side of my face against his upper arm where there were still drops of water, missed by the towel. Pete sighed again and shifted his am around my shoulders, my head falling against his chest.

"I'm genuinely sorry," he whispered. I smiled lightly before moving my legs so that I was more comfortable.

"It's ok Petey," I mumbled and pulled my head away to give him a reassuring smile.

For once his smile reached his eyes and he leaned over the three inches that separated our faces to kiss my cheek. And he kept his lips there for a while. Not necessarily pressed against my cheek per se, but still lingering so I could feel them there with my eyes closed.

My breath hitched in my throat and I didn't dare move from our small embrace. The whole 'best friend' thing was being blown up by every second he stayed there, his thick eyelashes brushing against my upper cheek.

I didn't think either of us was going to move from this.

Pete gulped and I let a small breath leave my lips. The tingling from the space between us started to move down towards my jaw were he placed another peck before his lips poised over mine. I wasn't too worried about this. Sure, I insured that we worked on building the trust and love of a friendship, but we had been away from each other for so long.

In fact, we never really got a shot at a real relationship without somebody disrupting our 'dancing under the stars'. Ex: Andy, Bobby, Joe (god forbid he ran upstairs and burst open the door just to say goodbye), and my Dad.

Sometimes it was even me.

It didn't strike me that all this thought and happenings were happening in the short time span of ten seconds until Pete had placed his warm and what I thought of perfect lips on mine, our heads tilting automatically out of human nature. And for once in our crazy and twisted relationship we didn't shift to a more erotic position, start to heat things up or reach down to remove clothing.

Upon parting, both our eyes opened and as our lips fell open in a slight outstanding for the other, our noses brushed and I'm sure both our eyes had the same glimmer of love mixed with a hint of confusion.

Did we break the rule?

Or did we just...expand it a little?

We didn't talk about it.

A very, very small smile came to Pete's face and he leaned back, holding me at half arms length.

"Maybe we should go see if Alex is ready to head back home," I laughed lightly.

"That way Patrick and Izzy can catch their flight," Pete nodded and stood up, dressing slowly.

It didn't faze me nor strike me as odd that we had just shared such an intimate moment. Finding myself on the other side of the room, dressing myself, I studied Pete's movements. I don't think he was fazed either. This was truly an odd start to our week as 'parents'.

----------

Alex stared up at me with big blue eyes, Pete pretty much giving me the same expression. I placed the bag of groceries down on the counter and observed the mess the two had created in Patrick's kitchen. Though I had to give it to Pete, after all, he had placed newspaper down. But damn, they had managed to go through two egg cartons, a bottle of chocolate syrup and lots and lots of flour.

"Hi," Alex chirped her toothless smile too adorable for me to comprehend. I bent down and gathered her in my arms, Pete standing up and dusting flour off himself.

"Maybe you need a bath," I stared at Alex and she widened her eyes.

"Eww," she whined and squirmed towards Pete. He gathered her to his chest and she pouted.

"Alex," he mumbled, holding one of her hands. I placed my purse down on the counter and brushed my hand against the flour stains now on the right side of my shirt.

"But," Pete hushed Alex's protests.

"We'll both take a bath with you and then it's off to bed," My eyes widened and I whipped my head around to face him. He smiled and placed Alex down, her little legs wobbling towards the stairs.

"No way," I hissed. Pete reached out and gripped my elbows, hushing me.

"Don't worry," he started and crunched up his face in thought. "Just get in your bathing suit and we'll be ok," I was going to protest but caught glimpse of Alex holding herself up on the banister that over looked the living room and kitchen island.

"Ok," I whispered.

Pete beamed, accomplished and skipped towards the stairs, Alex gasping and running away further into upstairs territory. Meaning them in the bathroom was odd enough, holding a few towels to my chest, still self conscious of my miss-shaped figure.

Alex already stood in her baby bikini, playing with the growing bubbles, Pete sitting on the closed toilet, one hand testing the water. His line of vision trailed away from Alex and he caught me nervously observing myself in the mirror.

"You look fine," he spoke out, Alex oblivious to what he was talking about. I looked over and bit my lip for a moment.

"Really?" I asked.

Pete nodded and dried his hand off on his jeans before standing and resting his hands on my hips. The fact that one was colder than the other made me jump slightly, making him laugh. Pete guided me towards the tub where Alex had paused to look up at us. She gushed and smiled wide, blowing bubbled up into the air.

I stepped in with a gentle shove from Pete, using the walls to sit down behind Alex. She picked some more bubbles up and gave them to me before dancing some more in her open space. Curse me, I thought as I turned my head in time to see Pete shimmying his way out of his jeans, one leg already in the water behind me. Alex giggled and rested one hand on my cheek.

"Aunty Eee," she started. I smiled. "Pink," she mumbled.

Pete situated himself behind me, legs on either side of mine. He smirked, knowing what the little tyke was talking about.

"She's just embarrassed," he spoke to her. Alex scrunched up her face, confused.

"Embarr," she frowned.

I giggled lightly before taking the sponge and wiping her down. I jumped slightly as hands met my back and heated water dripped from my shoulders.

"I never really realized how much of a mother you could have been," I gulped. Pete frowned when I didn't respond. "Maybe it's too soon to mention that," Alex seemed to notice.

"Eee is a mommy?" Pete seemed to take a breath before shifting to stand.

"Come on Alex, it's time for bed," she caught eyes with me and I gave a reassuring smile before nodding.

Pete dried the two of them off before turning his head and giving me this look that confused me. I shook my head and drained the bath, taking the towel with me until I reached the guest bedroom where I changed.

It took a half an hour for Pete to wonder into the room, speechless, but his eyes told me he needed to talk. I stayed lying down, my head propped on a couple of pillows as he pulled pajama pants on, a small sigh escaping his lips.

"Ev," I had closed my eyes when he started to climb onto the bed.

"Yea?" I croaked.

"I think it's time we talked about...our misfortunes of past...happenings," I took a sharp breath.

I never knew how touchy the subject could be.

The minute I opened my eyes, they clouded over with tears, the sensation burning.

"I..." My lungs started to contract and it became harder to breathe.

Pete seemed shocked for only a small second before his arms circled around me and I gladly accepted the hug, my arms placed loosely around his neck and shoulder.

"I miss him too, Evie," he mumbled into my shoulder.

I hiccupped and closed my eyes tight, hiding all the light from the world as I lowered my head further and further into the crevice of his neck.

"I never hated you," I managed out.

Pete didn't even flinch.

"I didn't leave you," he whispered.

I pulled back and wiped at my eyes.

"What?" Pete gulped.

"Bobby made me leave," he paused. "He said now that the baby had died, you didn't need me anymore," I parted my lips, flabbergasted.

"And you /listened/!?" Pete's breath hitched.

"I know," he muttered. I cupped his face in my hands and read his eyes.

Regret.

I sighed and brought him into another hug before kissing his temple.

"The only thing that I thought about the whole five months until your accident was if you really wanted to marry me,"

Pete didn't respond.

Though, I was secretly wishing he wouldn't. That was an even touchier subject. Really, I don't know why I brought it up. We pulled away and gave each other smiles before a yawn slipped through my senses and I blinked hard.

"We'll sleep tonight and talk in the morning," Pete whispered, moving the sheets to lye me down and tuck me in. He stood up to turn off the light and even before he managed to sneak an arm around my waist, I was oblivious to the world around me.

----------

"Don't loose this one," I blinked hard, turning to find Beverly.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. She smirked.

"I'm your sister," she started, looking up from filing her nails. "I'm allowed to haunt your dreams," I gulped.

"What do you mean," Beverly sighed and hopped off from her cloud.

"I am dead you know," she started. "But I'm here to talk to you about Mr. Wentz," I raised an eyebrow.

"About?" I asked. Beverly sighed.

"Listen, don't think all the drama is over," she mumbled. "Because there is still a lot of stuff that is going to happen to you guys," I sighed.

"That's reassuring," Beverly rolled her eyes.

"Eviez," she started.

I cringed.

"Don't call me that," She sneered.

"Whatever," she sighed deeply. "It's supposed to test you guys," I reached out to her and she took my hand.

"Beverly," I started. Her eyes became saddened.

"I really do miss you Ev," she shifted slightly. "I'm only here to tell you don't think things wont ever work out because every force that you thought didn't love you is working to make it," she brushed a loving hand against my cheek. "Wonderful," I blinked and upon opening my eyes, found her gone.

"Wonderful," I repeated.