FicWad

The days were passing slower than I ever thought was possible. It felt like the guys had been gone a year and yet, I looked at the calendar and it had only been a month. Our time without them wasn't even half over yet. Jess was constantly dragging me out of the apartment in an attempt to take my mind off how much I missed them. I think it was mostly to help her deal, though. When I get sad, I mope. When Jess is sad, she gets productive. This is how I found myself in Home Depot halfway through the 5thweek of Fall Out Boy's absence. Jess had decided, in her misery, to paint the apartment and was forcing me to help.

"What do you think?" She asked holding up two paint samples.

"Uh, this one would go better with plain white." I said pointing to the green one.

She smiled, pleased that I was actually making an effort."Absolutely." She agreed. It was her way of encouraging me to keep up the cheerful act.

We got the paint cans and stood in line to checkout. A guy got in line behind us and I could feel him looking at us. I turned around. "Can I help y-" I stopped short. This guy looked very familiar. "Do I know you?"

"That depends on if your name is Jenna Ralston and if her name is Jessica Danner." He said motioning to Jess.

I slowly nodded. "And you are?"

A big smile lit up his handsome face. "Don't you remember me? I'm James. James Baker."

/No way. /I looked at him closely and saw that he definitely was our old high school friend. I dropped my paint can and tackled him in a hug while Jess carefully put her paint down and did the same. "Why are you in Chicago of all places?" I asked him breathlessly. We had all grown up in Seattle.

"I just moved here. I didn't know you guys lived here."

"Yeah we have an apartment in Glenview. Not too far from here."

He grinned. "I live in the city. I got a new job here."

We continued talking after we had paid. Finally he looked around and seemed to notice, for the first time that we were standing in the middle of Home Depot. "Uh, you guys want to go for coffee or something?"

Jess answered for both of us. "Sure." She smiled.



At the coffee shop, I found myself trying to get James'attention. Why? I have no idea. All I know is that when Jess was talking to him, I would try to be in the conversation. Even when they were talking about basketball, which they had both played and I had never had anything to do with. I even asked Jess to go get me napkins so I could have a little time alone with him./ Childish? Probably. Crazy? Most definitely./

We parted ways, promising to keep in contact. After the exchange of phone numbers and addresses, Jess and I headed home. It wasn't until I was in the car that I realized I hadn't thought of Patrick the whole time.

Once we were home, Jess walked into her bedroom. "You like him." She called, shutting the door before I had the chance to answer.

Did that stop me? No. "I like Patrick smart one." I shouted back.

She opened her door and stuck her head out at me. "Just go with it. I want you to be happy and I know you're not as long as you're pining away over Patrick who is with Kara."

She has a point. I gave her an exasperated look."Fine. I'll see if anything happens with James."

"Good girl." She replied before shutting her door again.





~Patrick's POV~

What Pete told me really shook me up. That was the last thing I was expecting to come out of his mouth. I had asked Andy, who seemed alittle shocked at the question. Finally, he had told me that Pete was telling the truth. Currently, I was sitting on my bus trying to figure out what to do. In the months that I had been with Kara, I had really started to care for her. But then again, that could just be the part of you that's desperate to get over Jenna. And according to Pete and Andy, I had basically told Jenna that Ididn't want to be with her by asking Kara out in the first place. But maybe she still wants to be with you. I sighed. My conscience wasn't being any help at all.

I abandoned my thoughts and went to find Kara. Maybe she wasn't the best person to talk to at the moment but she could always make me smile. I strolled through the parking lot of the venue searching for her. She's probably inside. I walked into the huge arena and asked the nearest crew member I saw if they had seen her. They waved vaguely to the backstage area. Oh that helps. Nevertheless, I headed backstage. I hadn't been there very long before I heard a rustling from around the corner. I turned and there she was. Did I mention she was making out with a security guard?

"K-Kara?" I asked incredulously.

She immediately jumped and turned towards me. Her eyes widened when she saw who had spoken. "Patrick! I can explain!"

Yes. I'm sure there's a perfectly viable explanation as to why you're making out with someone who isn't me. All I said was, "I don't particularly want to hear it." I turned abruptly and walked off in the direction I came. She followed me all the way to my bus. As soon as she had shut the door she said, "Patrick... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I frowned at her as she continued, "I love you. That didn't mean anything. It was a mistake."

"No." I said. "The mistake was me asking you out in the first place."

She looked like she had been slapped and I felt a little guilty. "But Patrick..." She trailed off.

"Look. I can't be with someone who would do that. It doesn't matter if it was on accident or not, you always have a choice."

She nodded and I sensed an air of defeat around her. "I know you didn't want to be with me anyway." I tried to retort but she cut me off. "It's ok. I don't blame you. Just be happy ok?"

"Ok." I said quietly. This was by far the easiest break-up Ihad ever been through.

"Thanks for the memories Patrick." I couldn't help myself but grin at the quote.

She took that as a sign that it was ok to smile and she did so. She opened her arms and I walked into them. "Goodbye." She said softly

"Bye Kara."



And just like that, it was over. I drove her to the airport and she took the first flight back to Chicago. Finally, for the first time in two months, I allowed myself to think about Jenna freely. Should I call her tonight or surprise her? I decided that it would be better if I was there when I told her what had happened so I told myself to wait. Chicago had never seemed so wonderful.