the summer of like {petekey}

13

t h i r t e e n

pete's an asshole-
what else is new?

Mikey leaves the bus with a grin on his face. Meanwhile, Pete is having a fucking crisis.

He'd promised himself to stay away from Mikey, cause it was obvious the two of them didn't work out. And now what? Now he's gone and fucked it all up!

Pete slumps back on the couch (he's checked and double-checked that they haven't left any come stains, and they haven't, thank god) and groans. He has absolutely no idea where his bandmates are. Probably watching another band perform, because oh yeah, Warped Tour is still a thing. Oh, shit, he hopes Mikey hasn't missed his own performance. That would be hilarious. 'Where were you?' 'Oh, off fucking Pete Wentz.' That would go over well.

Oh well. It's all in the past now. Hopefully he'll have better self-restraint next time Mikey comes onto him, and maybe he'll have the common sense to push Mikey off and say they need to stop. Pete doubts he will, but he entertains the idea anyway.

Pete gets up and makes sure his pants are zipped. If anything, today has given him good jerk-off material. Which is always a bonus.

He hasn't fully forgotten about that purple-haired girl, either. It's not like he and Mikey are official, still. He can go fuck anyone he wants.

So later that night, at the afterparty (which is at a club now, not outside- nice), Pete finds her and flirts his way straight into her bed. Or rather, the back wall of the club, desperately trying to remain as quiet as possible, and of course failing. She giggles at him and puts her number into his phone when they're done, straightening her skirt and her topknots. He wonders how she gets into the afterparties. A groupie, he realizes then, laughing at his idiocy, and she confirms it.

"But really," he adds, leaning against the wall, brushing her hair away from her face. He laughs a little, she mimics it and tilts her head. "You're, um. Wow." He looks down and shakes his head. "You're gorgeous."

"You're drunk," she responds easily. Pete shrugs in a 'what-can-you-do' sort of way and pushes his hair back. She beams at him. "Look, I should probably get back inside."

"Hey, wait," he says, knowing he's being stupid. "How would you like to spend the night on the bus with me?"

She pauses. It's not every day that you get to spend the night with someone who's currently holding a number one hit song in the radio. "Sure," she answers, surprised. "Didn't think you were the type, Pete."

"Yeah, well. Gotta take my mind off of things. What's your name, by the way?"

"April."

"Hi." He graces her with a smile and she laughs.

"Hi yourself. Wanna head back now?"

"Sure," Pete says back, "April." He tries out her name, tasting it, the way it rolls off his tongue. It's blocky and goes rougher than Mikey's name. Hopefully that'll change by tomorrow morning, he thinks, and if doesn't, he'll have her stay another night. As long as it takes.

"You're weird, you know?" April asks him as they walk back. "You're like- lost in your thoughts. Kind of half-here and half-not." She considers this for a moment. "It's cute, actually."