-Carter's POV-
As I was about to follow everyone out, Cass pulled me back and told me she needed to get something from her bedroom. I nodded my head in understanding and stayed back. As I leaned against the wall, I began to think about how jealous I was of Cassidy.
First off she was Patrick Stump's sister. Enough said.
Secondly, she was really close with Pete. I've always had a crush on him. Even when we were teenagers and they were in their twenties and we would be in her bedroom. She'd be talking to me about guys and I would be zoned out, trying to listen in on what the guys were talking about. I don't think she knows I like Pete. I don't think I've ever told her.
But then Cass and I moved to California and that crush kind of just...went away. There, I met Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco. He's probably the closest I've ever got to a guy for a friend. He and I met when I was featured in one of their songs. That's the song that actually got Cassidy and me noticed by our fans today.
I had a crush on Brendon for like a year. Then he broke my heart when he started dating this girl, Sarah, who he's married to now. He and I remained friends, but...it was never the same. And I hated Sarah, she was my sworn enemy.
That's when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I turned, thinking it was Cassidy, when in reality it was Pete. What the hell? I thought it was just her and me. Strange.
He gave me a friendly smile, "Hey Carter." He patted me on the shoulder before walking past me and out the door. I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes. That's when Cassidy came down the stairs.
"You ready?" She asked me with a smile.
"Yeah," I answered, following her out to the tour bus. I raised my eyebrow in confusion. Why were we- I began to think when Cassidy dragged me onto it. Oh dear lord, I'm on Fall Out Boy's fucking tour bus. I'M ON FALL OUT BOY'S FUCKING TOUR BUS!!! Almost all the seats were taken except one by Patrick. Cassidy had taken the one next to Pete. Of course she did.
I made my way over and asked Patrick, "May I sit here?"
He looked up at me, and from the look on his face, I could tell he was going to say no. So I went to turn when I heard him say, "Sure."
"Really?"
He laughed the most adorable laugh I might've ever heard, "Of course! It'd rude of me to say no."
I chuckled nervously before sitting beside him. The bus driver (who was also staying at the house for the week) started the tour bus up and backed out of the driveway. Over the chatter that filled the bus, I could hear a familiar song playing through the speakers.
"Hey, mind turning it up?" I asked the driver.
He nodded his head in understanding and turned the volume knob to the right. I closed my eyes as I tried to drown out all the voices and focus on the song. After a few seconds, I realized it was my song. The song that put Cass and me on the Billboard.
"Hey!" I exclaimed.
"What?" Patrick asked me, getting out of a conversation with his mom who sat across from us.
"This is our song!" I rose to my feet.
"What?" Cassidy inquired, putting her finger up to Pete's lips to shut him up. The whole bus quieted and you could hear my voice playing over the radio. "Oh my god!" She squealed, getting to her feet, "This is our song!"
"I know!" I replied as the two of us began freaking out together.
****
We arrived at the ice cream parlor shortly after. The few people there (at, what? Ten in the evening?) were teenage girls who just so happened to be Fall Out Boy fans and asked for autographs. The pop punk band gratefully signed whatever they had on them. I think one of them was their i-Phone case and the other was their clutch. The teen girls squealed in excitement and scurried away.
"...two medium twists and a small strawberry?" The ice cream worker called. Must've been what the girls who ran away ordered. "Hey, where'd they go?"
"We'll take them," Pete said, taking the ice creams, "But we still have some people who need to order." Pete handed Andy and Joe the twists and gave Cassidy the strawberry. "Your favorite," He remarked while handing it to her. She grinned. I rolled my eyes, Of course it was her favorite. "It's all on me guys!" He exclaimed, "So get whatever the fuck you want."
"No, I insist on paying," Mrs. Stump said, opening her purse.
"No," He stopped her, "It's on me. Please." She gave him that look that screamed that she'd much rather pay it herself, but she eventually caved in.
The rest of us ordered our desserts and Pete paid for it all - even the ice creams from the other girls who probably already paid. We sat at two tables, the band members at one and Cassidy, Mrs. Stump, and me at the other. Cassidy would've sat with the band, but she decided to sit with me instead. The three of us had a wonderful conversation.
*****
We went back to the house around eleven forty-five. We finished our ice creams around ten thirty, but we decided to stop at some grocery store before going back to the house and by a shit ton of junk food and stuff we liked for the week - all on Mrs. Stump. Once we came back, Mrs. Stump went to bed, so we had to be quiet. The guys, Cass, and I played Dance Central for the XBox until about one in the morning, that's when everyone decided to go to bed themselves.
Cass had one of those beds that had a pull out bed underneath it, so I was sleeping on that. But I couldn't fall asleep. So I traveled down to the basement and into the room where the Stumps kept all of their musical equipment and, when we were younger, Patrick and his friends would practice. I sat down at the keyboard, propped a piece of printer paper on the music rack, and tried writing a new song. I had basic training on the keyboard, but I wasn't as great as Cassidy was, so I was finding it quite difficult to come up with the music for the melody I came up with using what lyrics I remembered that were scribbled down in Cassidy's notebook that I saw before we left and what lyrics I added to it.
"Couldn't sleep, huh?" Someone's voice scared me. I nearly fell off the stool I was so scared. I looked up and saw Pete standing in the doorway, shirtless and in his pajama pants.
I put a smile on my face and folded my hands in my lap, "Yeah. Sorry if I woke you."
"Nah, it's cool," He said, walking into the room, "I couldn't sleep either." He made his way over to where I was and stood behind me, "'Something On The Side', huh?"
"Yeah, Cass came up with name and some of the lyrics actually," I told him.
"Oh cool," He sat down beside me, "How about you sing it for me?"
I laughed nervously and came up with the lamest excuse ever, "It's late and my voice kind of hurts..."
"Oh come on, I'm sure it can't be worse than mine," He joked, nudging me in the arm playfully.
"Pete, I really-"
"Come on!" He urged, "If you're afraid of sounding bad, you can't. I heard you on the radio and you sounded gorgeous." I blushed. "So please, if you would," He motioned to the paper with the lyrics.
I heaved a sigh and pressed the key and made sure I was in tune. I took in a big breath and sang what I had so far. He cut me off at one part and said for me to wait a second. He got up and picked up one of the acoustic guitars that was leaning against the wall. He did a quick sound check before telling me to continue singing. I did as he said and he added this basic chord progression to the song, even adding a little background singing part. He made what I had imagined for the song even better. I laughed when the song was over as I covered my face.
"What's so funny?" He asked, setting down the guitar and walking over to me.
"I just can't believe I sang with you."
"Why can't you believe it?" He sat down beside me and picked up the lyric sheet off of the rack, along with the pencil I had been using.
"Well...you're Pete Wentz."
"So? You're Carter Jackson. What's the difference?"
I chuckled, "Are you seriously asking me that question?" He nodded his head yes. I took in a quick breath, "Well for starters, you're famous."
"So are you. Number 23 on the Billboard. Remember?"
I blushed, "Well secondly, you-"
Before I could give him my second reason, he stood up and set the lyrics and pencil back down on the rack. I cut myself short and looked up at him, confused.
"What?" He asked.
"You're leaving?"
"Well, yeah, it's three in the morning. I've got to get some sleep and so do you," He started to walk towards the door. "Big day tomorrow."
Big day tomorrow? What were we going to do? But instead of asking that question, I jumped to my feet and blurted out, "But I didn't give you my second reason!"
He sighed and turned around, "What's your second reason, Carter?"
I stood there, speechless. I didn't know what I was going to say. Probably something stupid that he saved me from embarrassing myself even more in front of him. I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know."
"Exactly," He smirked, "No difference."
"But..."
"Nope! No difference!" He cut me off. I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. He grinned and said, "Goodnight, Carter."
"'Night, Pete."
He winked at me before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. I heaved a sigh and plopped back down on the stool. That's when I noticed something written on the top of my lyric sheet. I snatched it up and squinted my eyes to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing. And sure enough it was. Pete left me his number with the message "call me anytime".