FicWad

Enjoy.


When Pete walked off stage at the end of the concert, Haley was no longer in her spot by the side. He figured she was probably off somewhere making out with Charlie, and got mad all over again. He tossed his bass to the tech that was waiting, and stormed off to go pout in the bus. “Yo, Pete! Wait up!” Patrick jogged over to catch up to him. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Pete said, still walking.
“You didn’t mess up that bad. The kids didn’t even notice.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what happened.”
“Sometimes your friends just stab you in the back, and there’s nothing you can do.” Patrick grabbed his arm to make him stop.
“Ok, what the hell are you talking about?”
“Charlie. I saw him with Haley. He knew I liked her, and I didn’t know how to make a move. He totally undermined me.”
“He wouldn’t do that. He’s one of your best friends.”
“I know what I saw.” Pete turned and continued to the bus.

Pete stomped onto the bus, fuming with the rage he didn’t realize he had. Expecting to walk into volume 2 of the internet video, he froze, speechless at what he saw. Haley was sitting at the table in the kitchen area, alone, reading a magazine. “Hey.” She looked up when he entered.
“Hi.”
“The show was great. Sorry I didn’t stay for the encore, it just got so cold when the sun went down.”
“Cold…yeah.” He was still shocked to see her sitting there alone.
“I borrowed one of your hoodies, I hope you don’t mind.” She pointed at the shirt he just realized she was wearing.
“Um, yeah sure.” He nodded. “I’m gonna go to bed. The guys should be here in a few minutes.”
“But it’s so early.” Haley said confused, looking at the clock on the wall.
“I’m tired.” He said, sounding pissed off again. So he didn’t catch them this time, but that didn’t mean nothing was going on.

The rest of the guys finally made it onto the bus, and it was on its way to the next city. “You guys were great tonight.” Haley said. They were all sitting in the front trying to wind down, giving Pete his space wherever he stormed off to in the back.
“How come you didn’t stay until the end?” Patrick asked, knowing why Pete was upset. Everyone else was still completely in the dark.
“I got really cold, and I didn’t realize how close it was to the end. I came to get a hoodie and by the time I got back you were on the last song. I’ll stay tomorrow though, I promise.”
“You’d better. It could have been some of my best stuff and you missed it, now you’ll never know.” Joe said, pouting.
“I’m sorry Joe, I guess you’ll just have to do even better next time.” Haley laughed. “So to change the subject, what’s up with him? Is he mad at me or something?” she nodded towards the back of the bus where no one had seen or heard from Pete in almost 2 hours.
“He messed up during Dance, Dance and I think he’s just taking it badly. I don’t think anyone noticed though.” Andy said.
“Does that happen a lot?” she asked.
“He just gets all moody and emo sometimes.” Patrick shrugged. “It’s complicated.”
“Oh. So do you guys have anything you have to do tomorrow?”
“Not until sound check at like, 1ish.” Patrick shook his head.
“Cool, maybe we could all do something. I’ve never been to Cleveland.”
“Is there really anything to do in Cleveland?” Joe asked.
“I’ve always wanted to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” Haley suggested.
“Then it’s a plan, and I’m going to sleep.” Patrick said, getting up and heading towards the bunk area. Everyone else soon followed. Haley noticed that Pete had flung all the dirty laundry out of his new bunk and it was all in a pile in the middle of the aisle. He also took all of his stuff out of his bunk and put her things in it for her, straightening it up a little. ‘He may be mad about something random, but he’s still a gentleman.’ She thought to herself. She climbed into the bunk and came face to face with a picture of herself in a bikini standing next to Pete at the grill at Joe’s house the first time they had all hung out. She smiled at the thought that she was the only picture he had hung up and rolled over and tried to fall asleep.

After a couple hours of tossing and turning, Haley finally gave up on trying to sleep and was lying on her back in the dark, staring at the picture over her head. She heard Pete talking in the back lounge, it sounded like he was on the phone. Holding her breath, she strained to hear what he was saying. Maybe it would give her a clue about his bad mood. She thought she heard her name mentioned and then he hung up, so she decided to go casually investigate. She rolled out of the bunk and slid the door open to the lounge. Pete was lying on the couch in his boxers watching TV.
“Hey.” He said, sitting up when he saw her.
“Hi. Can’t sleep?” she sat down next to him.
“No. You?”
“It’s hard to get to sleep when I’m staring at me.” He looked confused for a second, and his eyes widened in realization.
“Shit. I’m sorry, I was going to take that down.” He blushed a little.
“It’s ok.”
“I just got off the phone with your brother. He’s been trying to call you.”
“Oh crap. My phone was in my bag. I was going to ask to borrow someone’s but I totally forgot.”
“He was worried you skipped town again.”
“Did you tell him I’m with you guys?”
“Yeah, he said he’d let your parents know. Just so they don’t worry.”
“Good.” She nodded. “So what are we watching?”
“Anchorman.”
“Ooh, I’ve actually seen this one. It’s funny.” They sat in silence, watching the movie for a few minutes. Haley kept glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. He finally noticed and smirked, still staring straight ahead.
“What?”
“Huh?”
“You keep looking at me.”
“Oh, well…before, after the show. You seemed mad about something. Did I do anything?”
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. I’m over it.”
“Ok.” They continued watching the movie, and before long they had both slouched down enough that they were half lying, Haley with her head on Pete’s chest and his arm around her shoulder. The movie ended and Pete reached for the remote and shut the TV off. Haley groaned a little when he moved, and he looked down to see her sound asleep. He adjusted their bodies as best as he could so that they were lying on the couch.
“What’s going on?” Haley mumbled half waking up.
“Nothing. Go back to sleep.”
“Ok.” She sighed and wrapped her arm around his waist. He gently kissed the top of her head and soon fell asleep himself.

When Haley woke up, she didn’t know where she was at first. It was a lot brighter than the bunk, and whatever she was lying against was kind of hard and lumpy. She opened her eyes, squinting against the light coming in the windows on both sides, and looked down at Pete snoring lightly beside her. She smiled and looked at the clock, 8:45. It was a lot earlier than she would have guessed based on the amount of light coming in. She felt Pete shift and looked down at him rubbing his eyes. “Morning.”
“What time is it?” he mumbled, stretching.
“8:45”
“Shit. You never told me you were a morning person.” He said grumpily.
Haley shrugged and smiled. “What’re ya gonna do?”
“Come here, I want to tell you something.” Pete leaned up on his elbows and tugged at her wrist to bring her closer.
“What?” she leaned down and he pulled her close to him so he could whisper in her ear.
“You look really hot when you wake up.” He smoothed her hair down where it was sticking out and she giggled and her face tinted pink. “Now it’s your turn to blush.” He smirked and pulled her face to his, pressing his lips gently against hers. He felt her relax against him and took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. He rolled her over so that he was on top and just as he moved his hand down to rest on her hip she broke the kiss and pushed him away, jumping off the couch and moving towards the door. “I’m sorry. That was too fast. he stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse.
“No… it’s just-“
“I shouldn’t have done that. I’m such an idiot.” Now he was panicking. He’d ruined his only shot.
“No. PETE.” She shouted to get his attention. “It was fine. I liked it.” she looked around the small lounge awkwardly. “I have to pee.”
“Oh. Ok.” He sighed in relief as she scurried out the door to the bathroom. Pete sat, waiting for a couple minutes thinking about what he should do if she did/didn’t come back. He combed his fingers through his hair to make sure it looked ok, and smelled his pits and his breath, just in case. He was debating whether it was inappropriate or convenient that he was in his boxers, and considered grabbing a pair of jeans when the door opened.
“Where were we?” Haley gave a sly grin as she straddled Pete’s lap and grabbed his face.
“This seems about right.” He mumbled against her lips and thrust his tongue in her mouth. “Did you brush your teeth?” he briefly pulled away and she shrugged innocently. They made out for a while longer, becoming more and more horizontal until they were lying on the couch, Pete on top of Haley and his hand had found it’s way up her shirt and was massaging her back.
“Mm…” she whimpered as he broke away and reached for the bottom of her shirt, tugging it over her head and began sucking on her neck. “Mm” she groaned again, a little peppier this time.
“Hey guys, you in here? We’re at the ven—WOAH!” Dirty burst in the door and quickly turned around, covering his eyes.
Pete jumped off of Haley and ran to the door, trying to push Dirty away from it. “Dude, get the FUCK OUT OF HERE!” Haley scrambled to get her shirt off the floor and pull it on as Joe peered his head over Dirty’s shoulder.
“NO NUDITY IN THE BUS!” After much scrambling, Pete managed to push both Dirty and Joe out the door and shut it, making sure to turn the lock. He looked over at Haley sitting on the couch looking awkward and self-conscious.
“I’m SO sorry about that.” He looked horror-stricken and moved to sit down next to her. Haley was silent for a moment before cracking up.
“Well that’s one way to start your day.” At this, Pete started laughing as well.
There was a banging on the door and Joe’s muffled voice came through it, “You guys can’t stay in there forever. You’re keeping us away from the Guitar Hero!” Haley looked over at the pile of video games in the corner.
“Maybe we should go so they don’t get the wrong impression.” She got up and Pete followed, opening the door for her and giving Joe a smirk on his way out.
“Oh, you people are nasty. Couldn’t you contain it to your bunk? Now we’re going to have to clean the couches.” He started inspecting the room for any tell tale ‘stains’.

Once everyone was dressed and breakfasted and had had their fill of wise cracks about Pete and Haley’s compromising position, they all moved indoors to the venue in Cleveland and were now sitting around the dressing room waiting for something to happen. “So what are we going to do until the show?” Andy asked.
“You guys said you would take me to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…” Haley whined, faking hurt that he forgot.
“Oh yeah.” Patrick said. “That should be fun.”
“When did we say this?” Pete asked, confused.
“Last night when you were off being emo. It’s the only thing there is to do in Cleveland, pretty much.” Haley explained. “And I’ve never been there. Do you want to come?”
“I’m supposed to have a phone conference with some people about Decaydance. You know, business stuff.” Pete shook his head.
“That’s ok. It’ll just be the four of us!”
“I was thinking I might just hang here. I’m pretty tired, I didn’t sleep well.” Andy yawned.
“Three of us?” Haley scrunched up her nose and looked at Joe and Patrick. “Don’t make me go alone.” She glared at them.
“We wouldn’t let you down.” Patrick said.

The three of them were walking around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, looking at the different exhibits and joking around, annoying everyone else in the building. As they were reading at a sign about Woodstock, Joe suddenly turned serious. “So Haley…” he and Patrick both turned to face her, with their arms folded across their chests.
“Yeah?” she said, confused.
“What exactly are your intentions with our bass player?” Haley gave Joe a weird look.
“I didn’t know I had intentions?”
“Now, he likes you. And we think you like him. Don’t be leading him on if you’re only going to turn him down.” Patrick said.
“I don’t think she’d turn him down. You didn’t see them this morning.” Joe said to him, turning his head as if he didn’t want Haley to hear, even though she was two feet away from them.
“That’s right. I only heard about it.”
“I saw her boob.” Joe pointed, to show Patrick where Haley’s boobs were.
“Yeah, thanks for that by the way.” Haley said sarcastically, crossing her arms across her chest.
“The left one.” Joe said, pointing to the left side of his own chest.
“But really, Pete has the emotional security of a 14 year-old girl.” Patrick said.
“That’s perfect. I have the fashion sense of a 14 year-old girl.” Haley laughed and pointed at her Hello Kitty tee shirt.
“We’re serious. You’re our friend, but he’s our better friend.”
“He’s our bass player.” Joe nodded.
“Exactly.” Patrick nodded.
“We could probably still function as a band without him, but we wouldn’t be nearly as popular with the ladies.” Joe said
“You’d have to make Patrick get naked on the Internet.” Haley joked, slapping Patrick on the shoulder.
“And no one wants to see that.” Joe shuddered.
“Hey, I’m not that bad.” Patrick pouted.
“You are very pale though.” Haley said. “But that’s ok. I’m pasty too.” She lifted her shirt a little to show her white stomach.
“We should probably go soon, we don’t want to be late for sound check.” Patrick looked at his watch, and they all headed towards the exit.
“Can we go to the gift shop?” Haley skipped along and guided them into the shop.

Back at the venue, Pete had spent the past three hours trying to write a new song. He had only come up with one line so far and it seemed strangely familiar, like maybe it already was a song. He slammed his laptop shut and looked over at the clock on the wall. “Where are they? They’re going to miss sound check.”
“Relax, we don’t sound check for another 15 minutes. They’ll be here.” Andy said. Just then, the door opened and Pete looked over, expectantly. Charlie stuck his head in and looked around.
“Is Haley here?”
“No, they’re not back yet.” Pete pouted.
“If you see her, could you tell her to come find me?”
“Sure, whatever.” Pete huffed. Pete sat and sulked for a few more minutes while Andy actively avoided him, until Joe bounced through the door.
“Aw man, it was the best! Check out this Led Zeppelin shirt I got.” He held up the shirt for them to see. “And I got Andy a set of drumsticks that light up when you hit them.” He pulled a pair of clear sticks out of a bag and handed them over.
“Cool!” Andy and Joe ran over to his warm up pad to try them out. “This is the awesomeist thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Where’s Haley?” Pete asked, looking back at the door.
“I don’t know. She was back talking to Patrick or something.” Joe waved him off as the drumsticks kept blinking. Patrick walked in the room followed by Haley, laughing at something he’d just said.
“Hey, you should have come. It was so much fun.” Haley said, flopping on the couch next to Pete and kissing his cheek.
“Charlie’s looking for you.” Pete said sarcastically, leaning away from her.
“Yeah, I know. I ran into him in the hallway.” She scooted closer, but he just moved farther away. Patrick saw Joe and Andy and scurried over to them, noting Pete’s bad mood.
“Hey, you like those? I picked it out.” He said, as he approached them.
“Nuh-uh. I did.” Joe said, breaking out of his shiny object-induced trance.
“You saw them and said they were cool, and then I said we should get them for Andy.”
“But I paid for them.”
“I got you something.” Haley picked up a large bag and placed it on her lap. Pete looked at her out of the corner of his eye, still pouting. “Here. It’s a Dancing Santa. But instead of Santa, it’s Elvis.” She put it on the table and pressed the button, and his hips starting to wiggle.
“Ok, that’s kind of funny.” Pete finally cracked a smile.
“What are you talking about? It’s hilarious!” Haley jumped up and started dancing with Elvis.
“You want to go check out the catering?” Pete asked, standing up from the couch.
“I’m not really hungry now, maybe when you’re done sound check?” she looked at the clock on the wall. “I should go. I told Dirty I’d help him set up his stunt for tonight.” She moved to go out the door.
“What the fuck!” Pete exploded, causing everyone to freeze in their spot.
“Excuse me?” Haley turned around, startled by his sudden freak out.
“What is with you?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Haley said, genuinely confused.
“You spend time with everyone here except me.”
“That’s because everyone has time for me, except you.” She said calmly
“That’s bull shit!”
“Hey guys, didn’t we want to go check on that…thing… out there.” Andy said to Joe and Patrick, and they all snuck out to avoid the confrontation, but stayed in the hallway in case they had to pull Pete off Haley, or Haley off Pete for that matter. She seemed like a little fighter.
“What are you so pissed off about? That I spent the afternoon with Patrick and Joe? You were too busy.”
“That’s exactly what I’m pissed off about. You go on TV talking about me, all depressed, and I come get you to keep you from tying to kill yourself again.”
“No one asked you to do that.” Haley snapped getting upset, herself.
“Then this morning. I thought it was going somewhere, but then you go off with Patrick and Joe all day.”
“It WAS going somewhere. I wanted to spend the day with you, but you had your conference. Was I supposed to sit around all day until you bothered to acknowledge me? The last time I checked you were the boss. You’re allowed to reschedule these things.” Now they were both yelling, their faces turning more red with every breath.
“And you’re always with Dirty and Charlie. How do I know what you guys do when I’m not around?”
“I’m trying to make friends. They’re nice enough to let me hang out with them. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the only girl here. Would you rather I just lock myself in the bus and not associate with anyone on the tour?”
“I would rather you not be quite so friendly with them. You’re all over them.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I SAW YOU AND CHARLIE LAST NIGHT!” Pete screamed.
“So you happened to look over the one moment that I happened to be talking to him?”
“HE HAD HIS ARM AROUND YOU!”
“He touched my shoulder for like, half a second. I can’t believe that’s what this is about!”
I don’t know why I even care, it’s not like you’re my girlfriend or anything.” Pete said, angrily. Haley froze.
“I’m not?” she said almost at a whisper. Pete looked like a deer caught in headlights.
“Do you want to be?” he said, just as quietly, moving towards her.
“I thought I already was. I came this close to giving you a blow job this morning.” She held her fingers close together.
“You did?” Pete leaned in and kissed her hard on the mouth. “Do you still want to?” Haley just smiled.
“You’re ruining it.” She kissed him again.
“What’s going on?” Joe asked, as he, Patrick and Andy had their ears pressed up against the door. The shouting had stopped, and it was uncomfortably silent.
“I think they’re doing it. Or they killed each other.” Andy said.
“Shh, I can’t hear.” Patrick waved his hand at them.
“Should we get him for sound check?” Andy said, looking at the time on his phone.
“I don’t want to go in there. What if they’re naked again?” Joe said.
“Then why didn’t you want to go to catering with me?”
“Because I’m not hungry, and you have to be at sound check, like, now.” She pointed up at the clock.
“Shit.” Pete pulled Haley by the arm and opened the door, almost running straight into his band mates in his rush to the stage.
“So, how’s it going?” Joe said casually, his face uncomfortably close to Pete’s crotch from his position listening at the door. Pete recovered from his shock and gave a wide grin.
“I gots me a girlfriend.” He wrapped his arm around Haley’s waist and pulled her close. “Come on, we’re going to be late for sound check.” He led the group down the hall to the entrance for the stage area.
“There’s still no nudity on the bus.” Joe said, following them. “It’s just common courtesy.”




I didn't realize how long this one was. Sweet. No wonder it took me a week to write it.

By the way, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gift shop is nothing like this^ It's run by FYE, so it's all cds and posters and tee shirts. All stuff you can get at the mall. Very dissappointing, don't get your hopes up. I love a good gift shop.