FicWad

A/N - Chapter 9! Woohoo! I'm quite proud as this was a fairly quick update for me....okay so it was about 3 weeks but still I'm proud at least! The Ollie in me just couldn't wait to be written down so enjoy! Please R & R they make me happy. XX

Wandering but Not Lost

X

Okay so listening in on someone's conversation is bad....she was talking really loudly though; infact she was yelling at one point. Slightly worried now....

I looked across at Link as she snapped her mobile shut angrily. Almost as if suddenly remembering my presence she looked over at me awkwardly.

"Sorry, that was a, erm, friend. She's kind of going through a bad patch and I had to be a bit harsh to try and get her out of it"

"Ok....." I said slowly still watching her; she looks tense and wound up. Damn I really I hate awkward silences. What to say? Damn....my years of being a computer geek in my room have ruined all ability to communicate with human life forms. Okay I'm stuck in geek mode, just great. Jackass. Link sighs heavily then looks dejectedly off to the opposite side of the carriage. We sit in silence for a while, Link staring darkly out of the window, her eyes cloudy with contemplation whilst I continued to observe her discretely.

"So have you always lived in G-town?" She asked suddenly. She sounded distant though, frustrated and still a little angry; it was like someone had pulled the plug just as she was about to defeat the Pokemon boss. I will never forgive Eddy for that. Snapping back to the present I focused on what she had actually said.

"G-town?" I questioned confused.

"Yeah, G-town. Grantham. The hell hole we call home." She replied with a small slanted smile.

"O right, in that case yes I've always lived in Grantham. Though I've never heard it called G-town before. Who actually calls it that?" I asked slightly suspicious.

Her head turned so fast to meet my gaze I swear she must have gotten whiplash.

"Err, everyone!'

Well obviously not. Sheesh.

"Since when?" I asked teasingly.

"As long as I can remember....."

"Oh right, you have amnesia then. That explains it!" I put on my best cheeky grin in an attempt to break the awkwardness that was still present between us.

"Oi. Everyone who's anyone calls it G-town" She said laughing, practically backing me into the window. Seriously, crazy girl! Why do I always sit next to a crazy person, drunkard or old duffer who likes to share their boring life story? Listen lady I do not care that you got that hat for the Queens God damn coronation! Okay going off on a tangent again....where was I?

"Wow. Ok. Don't know what to say to that. Guess that's my new word for the day."

"Definitely!" She says with a smile. I'm glad she's happy again, it doesn't suit her looking so sad. "So.....you play guitar right?" she asks me as I put away my Nintendo DS; it's clearly going to become redundant on this particular train journey.

"Does the earth have two moons?!" I say with a grin. This is defiantly my sort of topic and I can feel the excitement bubbling already; I don't often get to talk about music with people back at uni. It's an unfortunate side effect of studying Computer Sciences; Geeks everywhere and not the good kind.

"Um, no. Just the moon. Singular." She says giving me an odd look.

Ok, I know I'm a geek for knowing this. So shoot me. Why didn't I just go with yes? Simple. Urgh. Moron. May the earth open up and swallow me.

"Actually the earth has two moons. The moon, and Cruithne, a much smaller satellite which orbits the earth about once a year." I reel off cringing before I can stop myself.

"Right......" She says nodding at me and raising an eyebrow. God I suck.

"Yeah so anyway....guitar. Been playing since high school. I'm not bad, but I'm no Joe Trohman"

"You like fall out boy?" She asks her amber gaze clouding slightly.

"Does the earth have two moons?" I retorted with a smile. She laughed her pale, freckled face lighting up as she smiled.

"I grant you he is pretty good, though I think Ray Toro is better. But I guess that's maybe because Ray is more of a lead guitarist; where as with Fall out Boy, Wentz is the main man and Joe kind of gets pushed to the back along with Andy." She said thoughtfully.

"Yeah but he has his parts. Like the intros and the solo in Arms race and have you seen his signature guitar? I would kill for one. So they're sell outs, who cares? But yeah, Toro has to be one of the best as well. I agree he probably is better than Joe. But I'm loyal to the Trohman" I said as I leaned across the small train table. I was totally geeking out and this girl was just going with it. I'd never met anyone who actually listened to me when I rambled on about bands and music.

"Joe has his own guitars now? Wow. It took years to get a Zacke Wylde and now Joe has one after 2 albums?" She asked sounding surprised and to my amazement genuinely interested.

"Yeah. It's pretty cool. Has the clandestine logo on it, but I guess they couldn't not have it on a guitar. I want one so much but my old Peavey has been with me for years. Getting rid of it would be like loosing part of myself... that sounds so gay right?"

"No, I get you. I still have my first drum kit. It may be a bit....tarted up. But when all is said and done it's still good old Keith." She said with a smile.

"Keith?" I question.

She looks uncomfortable, looping her shaggy dark hair round her fingers. Guess it's a chick thing because I certainly never get the urge to fiddle weirdly with my hair.

"I named my drum kit after Keith Moon..." Comes the muffled response. She's hiding behind her hands now and I laugh at the childlike image.

"Hey Keith Moon is a ledge." I said sincerely, "Plus I can't chastise you when my guitar is called Anju."

Her head jerks up and she stares at me wide eyed, a look of pure amazement flashing in her eyes.

"O My God! Seriously?" She asks. I nod nervously and resist the sudden urge to play with my hair.....

"After the scatter-brained woman who ran the Stock-Pot Inn during Link's quest to save Termina?" She reels off quickly.

I don't believe it. Someone get's the name! No one ever gets the name. I swear I was meant to meet this woman.

"Yes! How the hell did you know that? Nobody understands the name ever, usually I just lie and say it was a hottie from an old Playboy I found once" I say sheepishly, I swear my face is burning up. I bet it's as red as my hair. Seriously. Not cool dude. I run a hand though my (fashionably) unkempt hair....oh grief; I'm turning into a chick! What is wrong with me?!

"Hey don't worry about it; I won't tell anyone. It's not every day you meet someone who knows about Anju." She says laughing.

Somehow with her, the fact that I named my guitar after a video game doesn't seem quite so stupid as it usually does. Infact with Link it almost seems kinda cool to be this geeky....and it's a nice feeling.

"Hang on a minute," I say suddenly as realization dawns, "Your name's Link; That's why you know! You're nicknamed after the lead character in Zelda aren't you? You're no less of a computer geek than I am!"

"Busted." She says innocently, her dark eyes sparkling.

"Hey no it's wicked and as you said; It's not every day you meet someone who's heard of Anju." I replied giving her a friendly nudge which she returned with a grin.

The food cart moved past us slowly interrupting our laughter with its creaks. I'd almost forgotten I was on the train home. We both shook our heads at the offer of food and carried on talking.

"So are you an Anju part of a band at the moment?" Link asked as she lent on the table and fixed me with an enquiring gaze.

"No, due to creative differences, or rather the lead and drummer arguing over some bird, the old band I was in split." I said trying not to sound too bitter about it. Truth was I loved that band. Well more specifically I loved making the music, being part of the scene and starting to make a name for ourselves. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

"That sucks." She said sympathetically and I nodded in agreement. It did suck. Royally.

"What about you?" I asked remembering the phone conversation and getting suddenly curious, "I didn't mean to eves drop, but it sounds like your band's going somewhere."

"I'm somewhat of a....reluctant lead in the band. We're doing ok though, just a few local gigs. As you probably heard when I was talking to Clay, the lead guitar, we got our shit listened too, but the company didn't want to sign us just yet. They said to come back next year after we'd had more experience." She said with a shrug.

"Hey it's better than no. My old band got shot down constantly. Infact thinking about it now I'm surprised we didn't split sooner...." I trailed off with a grin.

Link shook her head at my attempted sarcasm and smiled that large toothy smile at me once more. It made me want to smile too, which was odd as I haven't really had a lot to smile about lately. Uni's a bitch; I'm not in a band anymore, exams are looming.....

"Yeah. So.....I guess we're the next stop." Link said interrupting my momentary reality check.

Looking out the window I saw the big Asda fly past and other familiar Grantham landmarks come into view.

"Yeah looks that way." I said a little bit disappointed that the journey was nearly over.

She's playing with her hair again, twisting long strands of it around her finger over and over. It must be a sub conscious thing as she doesn't look nervous anymore, just lost in thought again. The train's slowing down, I can feel the slight tilt as we round the corner into the station. I can just about see the lights of the main road through all the gloom and fug that seems to permanently shroud Grantham.

"Hey before we go. What's the name of your band?" I ask. A, because I want to string the conversation out as long as possible and B, because I actually do want to know. Link's interesting, probably one of the most interesting people I've met in a long time.

She smirks to herself and I wonder if I should be slightly worried as to what this name is.

"Well....the band's pretty geeky so we eventually chose 'Control, Alt, Delete'. Basically I was totally wankered one night, fell asleep on my keyboard and woke up to find that I'd pressed the keys in my sleep and ended up with that. Not very original I'll grant you but it kinda matches our personalities."

At the mention of the name it was my turn to look surprised. I can't believe I didn't recognize her.

"Wait, you played last Thursday at the den right?" I asked suddenly.

"Yeah we did," She said looking equally as surprised, her fingers automatically going for her hair again, "You saw us?"

"Hell yeah. The Den is like my local; they have the best music and bands." I said enthusiastically, "I am so jealous of your guitarist; I wish I could do riffs like that. Though I'm more of a rhythm guitar than a lead.....And your voice. Wow. You give Amy Lee a run for her money any day."

"Err thanks, I guess. I'm not that good though. I'm a drummer at heart. I'll pass on the compliment to Clay though he'll really appreciate it." She muttered quietly. Where as some might use this tactic to fish for compliments I could tell that it wasn't the case for Link. She truly believed that she wasn't that good, at least not as a singer anyway.

"Hey don't put yourself down. CAD, right?" She nodded briefly at the abbreviation, "Well that's the best band I've seen at The Den and I've seen a fair few I can tell you. I was so hyped after your performance; I've made plans to bring all my mates from London to see you next week so they can see for themselves."

Links face now matches my hair. I get the feeling she's not the most outgoing front woman ever. She kind of reminds me of Patrick Stump. Except with nicer tits and a prettier face.

Damn were home. The train slows right down as we approach the dirty looking station that welcomes us into our great town and we both grab our bags as we get up. Of course I allow her to lead the way. Who says chivalry isn't dead eh?

"Back to good old G-town." She says as she waits for me to catch up, "It was really nice to meet you Harry. Makes a change from the usual drunks, nutters and crazy old bag ladies."

"Totally. So I'll see you next week at The Den right?" I ask hopefully.

She's shifting nervously from foot to foot, converse peeking out from under her boot cut jeans. Both of us stumble a little when the driver stamps the break.

"Yeah. Please come, I'll give you a shout out. Maybe after you can meet the rest of the guys. I think you and Clay would defiantly get along. Maybe you could even teach him a thing or two about Zelda." She replies with a smile as the train finally stops and the doors slowly open up.
"I love it when a plan comes together" I say as we both hop off the train.

"Was that your lame ass impression of the A-team?" She asks we walk side by side through the ticket check and head for the doors. Least we aren't bugged for tickets because it's off peak.

"Hey, I'm a geek! Cut me some slack. Hey do you want a lift? My cars just down the road?" I say pointing to the small Honda parked exactly where I told my brother to leave it yesterday.

"No I'm good thanks', I only live down the road. I'm just going to dump my stuff then I'm off to my local to relax and talk about this total geek I met on the train home...." She says flashing me that infectious grin. I smile back at her and then we both start to migrate in our own directions. I turn round to see her stopped a few feet away, a thoughtful look on her face.

"I'll see you around Harry." She says with conviction.

"I'm not going to miss your next gig for anything. Unless they discover a new moon of course" I say with a wink.

"Bye Harry." She laughs and gives me a small wave as she starts to walk off again.

"Bye Link, and don't forget..... Live by the pic dude, by the pic! Woo!" I shout at her retreating figure and do metal hands in the air. The other passengers leaving the station look on in amusement. Link looks over her shoulder at me, raises her eyebrows, gives me another wave and walks off into the evening.

X

God I can't believe he just did metal hands, has the man no shame?! Can't believe he's seen us play though, what are the chances of that? And Anju! I can't wait to tell the guys about Harry, maybe a rhythm guitarist is just what we need.....

X

As far as second kisses go it was pretty damn good. Amazing actually.

Infact the only thing that would make it better would be a change of location. Now don't get me wrong I'm not one of those women who expect candlelit dinners or fireworks, it's just that a ditch is so undignified. Also dirty, lets not forget that.

Pete however didn't seem to have noticed anything slightly bizarre about the position we were in and was steadily inching his hands up my top sending my already whirling mind into spasms.

"Pete," I gasped as he reached my bra (must remember to thank Logan for packing my nice underwear) and started doing something absolutely amazing that involved my breasts and his hands. My own treacherous hands were moving of their own accord all over his back touching everything they could and savoring every minute of it.

I actually think we might have started dry humping right here in the middle of Leeds Festival if I hadn't taken charge and rolled us over so that I was on top of him straddling his waist. My breath was coming out in sharp pants and I had really bad pins and needles in my leg that was giving me the strange urge to laugh which at this moment in time really wouldn't be appropriate.

I looked down at Pete and immediately wanted to lean down and kiss him again. His dark hair was in a disheveled mess, hanging loosely down over one of his eyes. His tight t-shirt was rumpled up displaying his lower torso, tattoos and all and my hands unwillingly moved up to touch the smooth skin.

"If you start up with that you may find yourself on your back again." He said lowly, his voice deep and throaty. I stilled my hands and let them rest gently on his chest as I tried to get my breath back. Pete moved his own hand from its position on my waist and swept his hair back from his eyes in an impatient gesture. His eyes were large and dilated giving him an almost otherworldly appearance and I felt myself being drawn in again.

I don't think that it had fully sunk in that he was here. Right in front of me....well under me really but still. I had been avoiding everything about this man for the past few months, since I saw that article in.....o god.

Looking back down at him I saw his expression change.

"Ollie?" He questioned softly, his eyes suddenly full of concern, "What's wrong?"

Quickly getting off him I adjusted my now creased clothes and avoided his gaze.

"Nothing. Nothings wrong....I just remembered that I was supposed to meet Logan at the camp." I said quickly wanting to get as far away from him as possible. How could I forget the article?....."A source close to the band has said that Wentz has been pining for his new love interest whilst touring the US and is reportedly "Head over heels in love". Fellow band mate and friend Patrick Stump refused to comment when questioned at a concert in Florida earlier this week.".....

I will not be the other woman. I know what that feels like and it hurts like hell.

I heard him get up from off the grass and watched as he walked a few paces to pick up a baseball cap that I vaguely remember flying off as we rolled down the hill. Shoving it into his hoodie he walked back over to me and stood in front of me frowning.

"I guess I'll see you around then." I said as I turned around and began to walk away. I was doing the right thing here; I was protecting us both in the long run. I wouldn't be breaking up a relationship and Pete would have a clear conscience; we both won. Why then did I feel like the biggest loser on the planet?

Walking away from someone I barely know shouldn't be this hard.

"What the hell Ollie?!" I heard Pete snap from behind me.

I carried on walking but was forced to stop when a strong grip pulled me back around. Gripping both of my arms now, much as Logan had earlier, Pete had inadvertently trapped me but it wasn't panic I felt now. It was a sharp stabbing pain of regret, regret for feeling so much about someone who I couldn't be with and regret for putting all of my friends through my pain.

Looking up at Pete I saw no regret in his eyes, only confusion and something that surprised me; he was hurt. I had hurt him by walking away. The wall I had built up from Riley blocked all feelings of pity and comfort, letting only anger through. He was in love with someone else for God sake and he had the nerve to look hurt; I'm the one in pain here not him.

"What just happened?" He said looking me straight in the eyes as if searching for something.

"I made a mistake; that's what happened." I said looking over his shoulder, focusing my attention on the people now staggering down the hill towards the campsites, "I won't be the other woman."

"What are you talking about? What other woman?" He said shaking his head in confusion.

"I read the article Pete, the one about your new love interest. I know what it's like to be cheated on and so for that matter do you. It fucking hurts Pete; I couldn't do it to someone else." I said looking down at my feet. I wasn't angry anymore, just weary of it all.

"I don't read papers or magazines Ollie; I don't know what you're talking about." He said letting go of my arms and throwing his hands around in frustration.

"It said that you were in love with someone, that you were pining for them on tour." I stated and watched as his expression changed.

"Well I don't know if it's...you know....love or anything but I feel something....a lot of something....and I guess I was pining....in a way...." He had gone slightly red and the tables were now turned as he now avoided my gaze.

What was he playing at? I don't need to stand here and listen to him reaffirm his feelings for his mystery girlfriend. Infact why am I even standing here?

I turned sharply and walked away again silently fuming. I suppose in the long run anger's a lot better than self pity.

I heard his footsteps before I felt the arm and so jerked away before he had chance to trap me again.

"What?" I snapped angrily as I turned to face him, "What do you want from me?"

"You don't get it do you?" He asked quietly, "Are you really going to make me say it aloud?"

"No apparently I don't get 'it', so yes you're going to have to tell me." I said irritably.

"The article was about you."

All the witty comebacks and caustic remarks died in my throat and I looked helplessly down at the floor, at the tents in the distance, anywhere but straight ahead.

I'm an idiot.

"No you're not." Pete said taking hold of my hands.

Okay I did not mean to say that out loud. I may think I'm an idiot in my head but I did not want him to know that I think I'm an idiot.....if that makes any sense at all. I groaned and tried to hide my head in my hands except Pete wouldn't let go.

"No," he said firmly causing me to look up in surprise, "No hiding, not anymore."

"I'm not hiding," I said, "I'm embarrassed, mortified infact. I just acted like a complete moron...."

"No you didn't," He said interrupting me, "You're wary, you've been burned. You have a right to react that way."

"But I hurt you." I said softly lacing my fingers through his.

"Yeah well I hurt you too so I guess we're even." He replied with a small toothy smile and pulled me to him. Wrapping his arms tightly around me he held me to him and I wrapped my arms around him equally as tight. With that simple gesture of closeness I felt all my barriers dissolve, Pete wasn't Riley and for that matter I wasn't the same person I was back then. Logan was right, I don't have to have all the answers, because the thing is, I know the answers to the most important questions already and that's really all that matters.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" I asked after a minute or so.

He stood back slightly and regarded me suggestively with raised eyebrows.

"I meant so we could talk," I said with a smile, "You know get to know each other?"

"Well I don't know about you but I thought we were getting to know each other fairly well in that ditch." He replied with a grin.

"Knowing my bra size does not a relationship make." I joked as he entwined our hands once more.

"A relationship..." He asked quietly, "Is that what you want?"

I looked at him awkwardly trying to read his expression. Of course I bloody wanted a relationship. I kinda thought we'd established this.

"Err yes...I mean if that's what you want...." I stuttered uncomfortably.

I hesitantly looked up waiting for his reply but instead felt his lips on mine kissing me with a deep urgency that pulsed through me like an electric shock. His hands gripped the side of my face firmly as he poured his heart and soul into the kiss before releasing me gently. I stood on slightly shaky legs at he regarded me seriously.

"Yes I want a relationship Ollie, very much so."

I didn't need to reply to that. Taking his hand I led him towards Pirate Camp.

We weren't lost in the fog anymore. We had finally found each other.