FicWad

Emma stopped outside the door to Pete's apartment across town. Patrick ran into her. "It's just a door, Emma, go inside, no one can hurt you..." he said, reaching around her and throwing the door open. The loud music and shouting flooded out into the hallway. Patrick quickly shoved her inside and shut the door. A round of yells went up from the other side of the room and Emma heard people catcalling and saying "Look at the fox Patrick brought along!" Patrick blushed and shook his head, making a slicing motion across his throat. "I'll fucking kill them..." he muttered, grabbing her hand and leading her over to the group of people yelling at him. They stared at Emma. She smiled nervously and waved. "Wait a second, don't I know you? You look familiar..." one guy said, standing up to get a better view. Just then Joe walked up. "Holy shit! It's Emma!" he shouted, running over to give her a hug. She had thought earlier of all the hateful things she was going to say to him for never calling her in 3 years and being some friend, but as soon as she saw him, she didn't care anymore. She hugged him back. "Hooo-ly shit," he said, again, holding her at arm's length. "Patrick, you sneaky devil you..." he said, pointing at Patrick. Emma laughed. "Guys, this is Emma, old friend of our's..." Patrick said, motioning to her. "And this is Dirty, Andy, Jim, and William..." he said, pointing at the 4 other guys at the table. They all nodded and waved. Emma smiled shyly and said hi. Joe ran off, calling "Pete! Pete! Hey, people, where the fuck is Pete?" Emma panicked, not ready to see Pete yet and turned to Patrick. His eyes apologized to her and he squeezed her hand. "You've got to see him sometime..." he whispered in her ear. She took a deep breath and nodded.

"So, wait, you're Emma?" Andy asked. Emma nodded, "Yeah, why?" He just nodded and said, "It's just nice to put a name with the face. And to see the girl Pete writes everything about..." She stared at him. "How do you know it's about me?" Dirty piped up, "He dreams about you sometimes, when he actually sleeps..." Emma laughed, "Ok, seriously. How do you know it's ME that he 's dreaming about?" Dirty started humping the table and moaning "Oh...Emmie...mmm..." Emma's mouth dropped open. Dirty stopped and said, "I figured Emmie was a nickname for Emma...so yeah." Emma nodded. "Yeah, he's the only one who ever called me Emmie," she said, becoming embarrassed. At that very moment, Joe returned, dragging Pete behind him. Emma gasped as she stared at him. He looked just the same as he always had. She smiled weakly at him, the thought of Dirty's story fresh in her mind. Pete's mouth dropped open and he sunk down into a chair staring at her. "Aaaawwwwkkkkward..." the kid named William piped up and got up and walked away. "Emmie..." Pete breathed out. She stared at him, staring at her. "Hey Pete..." she said, quietly, sitting across the table from him. "Happy birthday," he said quietly. She smiled and murmured thanks. She turned her attention back to the other guys at the table and jumped into conversation with them, the entire time, fully aware that Pete was staring at her.

"Em?" he asked, suddenly, out of the blue about 30 minutes later. Everyone jumped at hearing his voice. Emma turned to look at him. "Can we go talk somewhere, alone?" he said, noticing Patrick starting to stand up. Emma nodded and got up and followed Pete out onto the small balcony of his apartment. They stared at the view for several moments before Emma spoke up. "Three years? Seriously..." she said, quietly. Pete turned to look at her. "You hurt me, Emma..." was all he said. She stared at him, feeling her temper rise. "I hurt you, Pete, seriously? You screwed with my head...you lured me into cheating on my boyfriend, you made me believe that you only enjoyed what we had because it was secret and wrong, you left me when you found out I was single, I thought you didn't love me...you told me that I had nothing to say...that I was just a sad song. I think if someone was keeping score, you'd be the one who hurt ME, not the other way around..." she spat out. "I guess we're just a bunch of missed signals and miscommunication..." he muttered. "You confuse the hell out of me..." she said, picking at her nail polish. "Happy birthday...." He said, again. Emma glanced at him and smirked. "You already said that..." she commented. He nodded. "I know, those 2 were for turning 22 and 23, since I was stupid and missed those..." he said, quietly. She nodded. "What about 24?" she murmured. She could feel herself slipping back into routine and she was trying to stop herself but she couldn't help it. She let him pull her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes. They faintly heard someone calling for them to come watch the countdown. "I missed you..." she murmured, hoping to hear the same from him. "Happy birthday, Em..." he said, before giving her a lingering kiss and pulling back. "I can't do this..." he murmured, disappearing back into his apartment.

Emma sunk down on the balcony, feeling defeated. Why had she come anyways?