FicWad

It was a few days later when Patrick , Andy, and Joe got to talk to Pete about his recent choice in women, and as curious as they were, they had to be careful of what they said because they didn’t want to be rid of the girl; they just wanted to know why her? She was seriously not the type of girl Pete normally went for, although her personality kicked ass in their opinions, and she wasn’t ugly at all. They were just caught off guard by it. There was no other explanation.

“Maybe this is some alternate universe and he has ‘Shallow Hall’ syndrome,” Joe muttered as they knocked on the door of Pete’s parents’ home.

The door opened to reveal Pete’s father standing in the doorway. He gave a hard glance at Patrick, still unforgiving of him dropping his lit cigar on his pants, then pouring ice water on the ruined pants, before he turned a warm smile to Andy and Joe. “Hello boys,” he said as he swung the door open to let the three in.

Patrick gave a weak smile since he caught the meaning behind the look sent his way. “Hi Mr. Wentz,” he said as they were inside and the door was shut. “Pete home?”

Mr. Wentz gave Patrick a short look before looking at Andy. “You boys looking for him?”

Patrick gave a defeated sigh as Joe gave him a sympathetic look and Andy spoke up. “Yes sir, we have some, er, band, issues to talk about with him,” spoke the drummer. “Is he available?”

Mr. Wentz nodded. “Yep, he sure is. He’s up in his room and from the silence I take it he’s working on lyrics,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Or he’s passed out from getting in late.” He looked thoughtful for a moment before he looked at the guys. “Have you boys met that new girlfriend of his yet?”

Joe nodded and managed to be the first to speak up. “Yes Mr. Wentz, we have,” he said. “She seems like an okay person from what we saw the other day. He brought her over so we got to meet her.”

“So you boys think she’s alright?” Asked Pete’s mother as she emerged from the kitchen, a dish rag on her hands.

“Yes Mama Wentz,” Patrick said, earning a fond smile since Mrs. Wentz liked him. She didn’t hold it against him that he had almost set her husband’s pants on fire. “We don’t think she would hurt him, but we can’t give a full judgement yet, you know?”

“Yes, of course,” Mrs. Wentz said as she came over and hugged each of the guys, kissing them all on the cheek. “Now you go on up and check on that son of mine and make sure he isn’t trying to hang upside down from the ceiling lamp again.”

Patrick chuckled and as they walked up the stairs to their friend’s room, they shared a confused look before they knocked on Pete’s door. “Pete, you in there?” Joe asked.

“Who’s there?” Came a muffled voice from the other side of the door.

Patrick chuckled, recognizing the tone of his voice as one that said he was indeed working on lyrics. “Your band dude, open the friggin door man.”

Shuffling was heard before the door opened and Pete poked his head out, looking at his band mates. “What’s up?” He asked, not moving so they could come in.

Patrick lifted a brow. “Um, we wanted to come and talk with you dude, can we uh, come in?” He asked, the other two taking note of the fact that he wasn’t letting them in right away with a smile like he usually did.

“Um, I kind of have Casey over right now,” he said with a small grin that he rarely got. “Can I call you guys later?”

“Sure man, no prob,” Andy spoke up before the other two said anything else. “Sorry for not calling before popping by.”

“Hey it’s okay,” Pete said, smiling more as he looked at his friends. “I’ll call you when she goes home, okay?”

“Alright man,” Joe said, “talk to you later.”

“Bye Pete,” Andy and Patrick said as they turned and walked back downstairs.

When they were gone, Pete pulled his head back in and shut the door, returning to the bed, where Casey was looking over the lyrics he had wanted to show her before showing them to the guys. “Sorry about that,” he said, laying on the bed next to her, laying on his back so he was looking at the ceiling.

She looked up at him from the writings on the paper and smiled, giving him a small curious glance. “Why did you turn them away? I wouldn’t have cared if they came in,” she smiled and lightly nudged his leg with her own, making him smile at her.

“They have an issue about me letting others see lyrics before they see them,” he said with a shrug as she looked back to the paper and he looked up at the ceiling.

“So why let me see them?” She asked.

“If I told you, it’s not easy to understand,” he said as he looked over at her. “Not many people get it.”

She looked at him with a small smile. “Try me?”

He chuckled softly, finding the smile cute. “Let’s say I wrote a song that the guys liked. Once it hits radio, and no one likes it, it becomes a waste of everyone’s time. You see, while they liked playing it, someone outside of the band might not like it.”

“So basically by having me read the lyrics before your band reads them, I’m the test audience for a new movie about to be released to the public, a.k.a. your band? Like that?” She asked.

Pete smiled, a little shocked that she had understood, but happy at the same time. “Yeah, exactly like that,” he said as she returned his smile.

“Good,” she smiled as he turned onto his side and draped an arm around her back since she was on her stomach, propped up on her elbows. “Thanks for letting me be the test audience,” she chuckled.

Pete chuckled before kissing her shoulder. “How does the test audience like the movie so far?”

Casey giggled. “So far the test audience likes it.”

Pete chuckled. “Good, another satisfied customer.”

“Oh, I’m not a customer,” she said with a grin. “I’m a paid test audience.”

Pete laughed as she giggled. “Oh are you now? I don’t remember paying the audience.”

“That’s because I haven’t received payment yet,” she giggled. “Your payment is overdue.”

“Oh?” He chuckled. “How much do I owe you?”

“I believe the payment was a kiss.”

“You know, that does sound right,” he grinned as he leaned forward to kiss her, stopping before their lips touched when someone started knocking loudly on the door.

“Peter, don’t forget to take your clothes out of the dryer!” His Mother called out.

Casey covered her mouth to suppress a giggle at the look on Pete’s face. Pete growled softly before responding. “Okay Mom!” He called out. “In a few minutes!”

“Alright Petey baby!”

Pete shut his eyes tight as Casey buried her face in a nearby pillow and started giggling. By now he felt like his face was as red as a lobster, or a Coke can. “I love my Mom,” he muttered as he laid on his back with a groan of frustration and embarrassment.

Casey calmed her giggles and waited a moment to make sure they had passed before she scooted over and put her hand on his chest, resting her chin on her hand. When he looked at her, still embarrassed, she gave him a small smile. “Sorry Pete.”

“Eh, not your fault,” he said as he put one arm around her and brought up his free hand to play with her hair since it was down and tumbling onto his chest. “The laughing didn’t help any...” He said with a small grin.

Casey smiled and kissed his chest, by her hand. “Anyway I can make it up to you?”

Pete smiled. “You can let me pay you now.”