Where Will I Be When I Wake up Next to a Stranger

On November 17th, Katherine was sifting through her mail and found an envelope with just her name on it, and no return address. She opened it up without hesitation reading Peter’s handwriting on a ripped piece of notebook paper.

Dear Ms. Katherine Wiley,
Our first date is a secret, but the attire is to dress as nice as possible and expect to be home late. I will pick you up at 7:30 P.M. on the dot.

Xoxo Pete Wentz.

Katherine smiled as she slipped the piece of paper back into the envelope. She grabbed the rest of the mail and skipped all the way back up the drive way into the house.

---

“Well you look very nice, what’s the occasion?” Her dad asked as he sat on the couch, watching whatever Amity was watching.
“It’s a secret.” Katherine smiled as she twirled around in a flashy short red dress that had two black roses pinned to the side that she was sure to wear spandex under.
“Ah, with the Mr. Wentz I assume.” Her dad smiled to himself as she nodded.

At 7:29, Katherine was standing at the door rocking back and fourth in her satin red pumps. The door bell rang at exactly 7:30 and Katherine tried to hide her giggle and opened the door to find Peter in a black suit with a black under shirt and a silver tie. His hair was in the same disheveled way it always was and his eyeliner was still there. Katherine smile as she told her dad bye and left with Peter in a cab.

“You look rather dashing.” Peter told her in an accent as she laugh at him.
“Well so do you, Mr. Wentz.” She said in an accent, making him laugh with her.

An awkward silence fell in cab before Katherine asked where they were going.

“It’s a secret.” Pete reminded her as she rolled her eyes at him.

As Pete was reaching across the seat to grab her hand, a loud crack of thunder and lightening startled them both.

“Great.” Katherine said sarcastically as she stared out the window, when it started to sprinkle.
“No, this is perfect.” Peter grinned to her as she quirked an eyebrow but asked nothing of it.
“Here is fine Al, thanks man.” Pete said all of a sudden as Katherine glanced around and noticed they were out of the city and somewhat in the middle of nowhere.

Pete paid the fare and proceeded to get our as Katherine sat there.

“You’ve got to be kidding me Peter.” She began as rain now started to splatter down.
“Just trust me.” Pete said to her before he closed his door.
“Oh boy.” Katherine sighed to herself as she got out.

As the cab drove away, Peter walked over to Katherine and her hand, guiding her to his van.

“You have a van?” Katherine asked as they both got in.
“Yes, and I use to live in it.” Peter laughed at himself as he turned around, showing her the mattress and blankets.
“Nice Peter, very nice.” Katherine giggled as he started the van, and started to drive deeper into the middle of nowhere.
“Here we are.” Peter said a few minutes later, the van overlooking the city.

He reversed and angled the back of the van to the view of Chicago. He turned off the van and rushed outside to open the back doors. He climbed in and used a towel to dry his hair.

“You coming?” Peter asked Katherine as she just stared at him from the passenger seat.
“Of course.” She smiled as she unbuckled herself and climbed into the back, sitting next to him on the mattress.

Another crack of thunder and a flash of lightening streaked across the dark grey sky of Chicago.

“Woah.” Katherine breathed, never noticing before how pretty it was.
“Beautiful huh?” Peter asked her quietly.
“Yeah. I never noticed how beautiful it was...” Katherine trailed off.
“Oh, here.” Peter said as he handed her a blanket, noticing her shivering.
“Thank you.” She smiled, covering herself, trying to get warm.

A few minutes passed before Katherine complained of still being cold.

“Well body heat is the best option for warmth but…” Peter grinned sheepishly, blushing for even mentioning it.
“Well shit if it gets me warm…” Katherine started to say and crawled up to him.

He removed his blanket, and she settled for sitting in his lap, and he wrapped his blanket around the two of them as she did the same with hers.

“There. It’s not so bad now is it?” Peter said to her as she got settled into his lap.
“Now I’m actually warm.” Katherine laughed as they watched the thunder storm brew up in front of them.
“Do you do this often? I mean, come out here and watch thunder storms.” Katherine asked after a while of silence between the two of them.
“A lot actually. Not just when it’s thunder storms either, I come here to think, and write. It’s very calming. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, ya know?” He explained as she nodded.
“What do you do to get away from everything?” Pete asked her as she shrugged.
“If I’m in a big enough place, I dance, but that’s rare, so I just usually take bathes I suppose.” She responded.
“Now about this dancing, what kind do you mean?”
“I can do any kind of style really. Ballroom, jazz, tap, ballet, freestyle even.” Katherine laughed trying to make Peter understand her passion.
“Really…You must teach me someday.” He declared, as she giggled at him.
“Maybe. It takes talent to dance like me.” She teased him as he scoffed.
“I’m kidding Wentz. I’ll teach you.” She smiled as she leaned her head to the side, glancing at his doe eyes. Their faces were so close together that their breath was hot on each other’s faces.

They stayed like that for a few moments longer before Peter touched his nose to hers, their lips skimming.

“Are you hungry?” He asked as she turned around, watching the pouring rain.
“Actually, yes.” She answered, trying to push the incident that just happened to the back of her mind.
“Chinese takeout?” He asked her as she grinned.
“I could never turn down Chinese food.” She told him as he shut the back doors and they got into their seats.

---

Coming back to the same spot they were watching the thunderstorm, they ate dinner and talked. They mostly had a discussion about their futures, but sometimes about their past too. Katherine was brave enough to talk about her mom, and Peter was brave enough to talk about girls he ever felt anything for or had actual one night stands with. Katherine counted nine girls all in all. Four he actual relationships with, two were flings, and the rest were one night stands. She didn’t really mind how many girls he’d been with, but she was scared to just become a number to him.

“Ya know, I’m really surprised you guys haven’t gotten signed yet.” Katherine said randomly, referring to Fall Out Boy.

Peter laughed and shrugged.

“We’ll get there eventually. If not, then I suppose it’s not meant to be.” Peter said as he ate his fried rice.
“And if you get famous? You can be on the cover of every magazine, make awesome music videos, and you Mr. Wentz would be the heart throb. Patrick would come in for a close second though.” Katherine said, as Pete just gave a small smile.
“You don’t want that?” Katherine asked as she noticed his quietness.
“It would be nice to get somewhere, maybe even get big, but in all honesty I do want a normal life in the end. Married, kids, nice house, the whole shebang.” Peter explained to her, staring at her the whole time.
“True. But I think any person wants that, mostly. If not that, then true happiness.”
“Yeah…” He trailed off, still staring at her.

A few minutes of silence, glances, and staring at each other, Katherine was the first to begin talking.

“Peter…Can I ask you something…Weird?”
“Of course.”
“What do you think of me, in all honesty. And, what are your feelings towards me?” Katherine laid out there, her curiosity getting the best of her.

Peter took a few moments to answer, pulling on his hair per usual.

“Katherine, I think you’re a beautiful woman inside and out. You deserve so much more than what others have given you. You are one of the bravest, most strongest women I have ever known. Ya know, when I first saw you I just knew you were, as cliché as it sounds, different. And no one has ever given me that perspective on the first glance, but you…”
“I really don’t know what I feel towards you. I just know that I always feel at home when I’m with you. Even if it’s just out for lunch or something simple, it makes me so happy. And waking up next to you has never felt so right with anyone else.” Peter finished explaining himself, tossing his empty carry-out carton in a trash bag.
“What about you, for me?” He asked, not waiting for a response to his small confessions.
“Peter I believe that you are a wonderful, caring man. For the small time I have known you, it’s felt like months, even years that we’ve known each other. Without you, I have no clue where I would be right now. You were the one that convinced me to do what’s right and I can never thank you enough for that…”
“My feelings towards you are indecisive. For one side, I just want to make this work because it feels right. But for the other, I’m scared of making anything work for the fear of actually feeling something I’ve never felt for another person. I don’t even know if I’m ready for that kind of relationship that has that prospective. But I honestly want to be.” Katherine spilled.

She might as well be as honest a person can get.

“Understandable.” Pete nodded, passing her the trash bag for her own cartons.

As they cleaned up, they didn’t say anything to each other.

“We have one more thing left to do.” Pete announced, fixing his tie and hair in the rearview mirror.
“Really now…” Katherine trailed off, both of them getting into their seats.
“Yes, I promise. One more thing left to do on this date.” Peter grinned as he started the van and they started to drive to more civilized places.
“So, was there really any point to us dressing up nice?” Katherine asked as he tried to focus on the road.
“Actually not really, I just wanted to see you get all dressed up.” Peter laughed as Katherine punched him in the arm.
“Might I add, red is definitely your color girl.” Peter said in a high pitched voice as Katherine laughed at him.

Pete pulled in to a gymnastics building, Katherine quirking an eyebrow and hoping to god they weren’t doing some kind of gymnastics class.

“Just trust me.” Peter told her, grabbing her hand and walking into the building.
“You’ve said that twice tonight and I don’t know if I should.” Katherine responded, trying to keep up with his fast pace in her satin red pumps.
“Your going to have to trust me for this next part. Hey Andy!” He greeted to a man who was jumping on a trampoline.
“Hey Wentz, didn’t think you’d come. I totally thought you were lying about a date.” Andy said all throughout doing flips.
“That’s Andy, a friend from senior year. He works here.” Pete explained to Katherine as she smiled at him.

Andy stopped and got off the trampoline to introduce himself.

“Andy Hurley, at your service.” He greeted her as he stuck out his hand.
“Katherine Wiley.” She responded as she shook his hand.
“So, ready for the leap of faith?” Andy asked the two of them as he started to walk towards a foam pit.
“What?” Katherine asked as she looked from Peter to Andy, waiting for an answer.
“The leap of faith is where we trust each other enough to jump into the foam pit together.” Pete explained to her as he pointed at a staircase that led up to a least two and ½ stories high.
“Holy shit.” Katherine breathed as she stared up at the diving board type plank.
“It looks high, but it’s not.” Andy said as he looked up at it too.

Katherine shook her head and took off her pumps, leaving them with Pete’s dress shoes.

“I’ll see you at the bottom.” Andy winked at the two of them as they two of them as they both made their way up the staircase.

They both were silent all the way up the spiral stairs, until they reached the diving board looking plank.

“You trust me, right?” Peter asked her as he grabbed her hand.
“I suppose so.” Katherine responded, glancing over to look at the foam pit.
“Good.” Pete smiled at her.
“On three, okay?” Peter said as Katherine gripped his hand tighter, not out of fear of heights or falling, but out of fear of him letting go.
“1, 2…3.” Peter counted as they both leaped off and landed safely in the foam pit.

Andy was clapping and chuckling beside the pit as Katherine rolled over and laid on Pete’s shoulder.

“That was nice.” Katherine smiled, trying to fix her hair.

Pete smiled and moved a stray strand out of her face. They stared at each other before Andy somewhat ruined the moment.

“Nice leap there love birds.” He commented.

Peter and Katherine broke their gaze, and started to climb out of the pit.

“Thank you Andy, I’ll call you sometime soon alright?” Pete told Andy as Katherine and he made their way back to the van.

Pete drove Katherine home, yawning from his lack of sleep.

“Well this was exciting.” Katherine said as they sat out front of her house.
“Well we have two more dates left.” Pete smiled, turning towards her.
“True.” Katherine agreed as she didn’t know how to end this date casually.
“Goodnight Peter.” She said quietly, reaching for the handle.
“Wait.” He mumbled as she turned back to him.

Pete leaned forward, nearly touching their lips together, but instead kissed her cheek.

“Goodnight Katherine.” He smiled to her as she blushed and left towards her house.