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

Monday night, Katherine had just put Amity in bed when there was a knock at the front door. Her paranoia got to her as she grabbed for a bat her dad kept near the door, and cautiously glanced outside the peephole and saw no one there. Katherine fought with herself about opening the door or not, until she heard the knocking again, but even louder. Her teeth clenched as she swung the door open and saw no one there. But right as she was about to close the door again, Pete’s head popped around the corner, scaring Katherine half to death.

“Shit, Katherine it’s just me.” Pete said quietly as he stepped into the house.
“Don’t you ever fucking do that again Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz the III.” Katherine scolded as she set the bat on the couch and ran a hand through her hair.
“I didn’t think I’d scare you that bad.” Peter said sheepishly as a wave of anger crashed through Katherine.
“Well you apparently didn’t think at all.” She said harshly as she turned around and set both her hands on the couch.

Peter bit his lip and hugged her from behind.

“I honestly didn’t think I’d scare you that bad, I’m sorry…I’m stupid alright?” He said quietly against her hair.
“I should of known after everything that has happened…” Peter murmured, running his hands over her shoulders.
“Let me make it up to you…That’s what I came here for anyhow…To take you out.” Peter smiled as she turned around, and laid her head on his chest.

“This better be good.” Katherine played as she pressed her hand in his chest.
“It will be.” Peter grinned as they walked hand in hand to his van.

They stopped at the same spot they went when he took her on their first date.

“Come on…” Peter said as he grabbed a blanket and a sleeping bag.

It was the first night snow wasn’t falling, but it was freezing cold. Katherine stepped on the frozen mud and climbed on the roof of the van with him.

“This is one of the best nights to come out here…” Peter smiled as he laid out the sleeping bag and took off his converse before sliding in.

Katherine smiled and took off her own shoes and slid in with him.

“Look.” Peter pointed at the sky as it had scattered stars everywhere.

In Chicago, it was rare for it to be a clear night where stars shone so brightly.

“Does this make up for earlier?” Pete asked quietly as Katherine turned on her back to stare up at the stars.
“Yes.” She said just as quietly as she turned her head to look at him.

Peter softly kissed her, but deepened the kiss within seconds. Katherine ran her hands through his messy hair as he climbed on top of her. He kissed her cheek, jaw line, and all the way down her neck and back up again. His knees enclosed her hips with his own and he gently grabbed her head with both hands. One of his hands went under her shirt and laid on her ribcage. His hand was freezing, none the less, but it burned against her skin. As he gently tugged at her jeans, she broke away from his kiss almost instantly. She looked away, anywhere but his face, trying to will away the images of Brian. The way he shoved himself on her, his carelessness, the loss of feeling whenever she looked him in the eyes.

“Don’t.” She said out loud, to no one in particular.
“I fucked up again, didn’t I?” Peter asked quietly, rolling off of her and laying on his side.
“No…I just…I was over thinking about Brian…” Katherine sighed to herself, sitting up and not really minding the sting from going to hot to cold so fast.
“It’s always going to be there Katherine. It’s too early anyways. That just…happened. And we just…got together. There’s no rush for it.” Peter told her as he laid in the same spot, trying to give her space.
“It’s not even that…Why am I remembering now?” Katherine asked out loud as she ran her hand through her hair.
“Maybe it had to be triggered by something. You said you didn’t really remember it before, right? Maybe you weren’t really over it, just hiding. That happened to my brother before. When his fiancé passed away, he was really…normal. But when he and I were talking about her, maybe a month or two later, he started bawling. I don’t really know if there’s anything that classifies it specifically but, he use to have really bad nightmares and I suppose flashbacks and just random images pop into his head.” Peter explained to her about his one and only brother Andrew.
“He’s okay now…But maybe that’s something like what’s happening to you.” Peter said as he sat up, bringing the blanket with him.
“It sounds similar…I felt like it was happening again…I was seeing it, and feeling everything...” Katherine told him as he gave her a sideways smile.
“He’s not coming back, I promise.” Peter promised as he wrapped the blanket around the both of them.

She leaned her head on him, and snuggled her face into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a while, making small talk, but it was enough for the both of them.

//

On Friday the 13th Fall Out Boy had a gig planned at Vision Night Club, which worked perfectly for Katherine since she actually did have to work that night. Katherine smiled to herself as Fall Out Boy was called out on the stage and the crowd screamed. Katherine smiled as they played Pretty in Punk, but she continued to work with Jonathon by her side. Some guy tried to tell her something, but she couldn’t hear so she leaned in closer to him.

“You’re really hot.” He slurred as Katherine just smiled politely.
“And I’m taken.” She told him before filling out a waitress’s order of drinks.
“Your boyfriend is crazy.” Jonathon yelled over the loud music, and pointed at Peter, who was spinning in a circle while playing his bass.
“I know.” She responded, and grinned as she stowed away from money in the cash register.
“So if everyone looks behind them to the bar and sees that pretty lady working back there, just remember she’s my girlfriend. Round of applause for the girlfriend.” Pete said into the microphone as the rest of the band was getting water.

A round of applause and even some cheers erupted throughout the club as Katherine felt all of their stares. Her face got hot and she lamely waved at everyone, not really knowing what to do.

“Ooo, didn’t see that one coming.” Jonathon said as he clapped.
“I’m gonna kill him.” Katherine said through her smile, before she shot Peter a glare.
“We have about four more songs to play for you, I think, I lost count so…Just go along with it alright?” Pete laughed into the mic as he strummed his bass. They started to play a song Katherine didn’t quite know yet, but she continued to bob her head along with it. Five songs later Fall Out Boy called it quits, and hurried off backstage. As the crowd somewhat dispersed after the show, Katherine carefully watched for the clock to strike eleven, but it didn’t seem to go any faster. She looked around for any sign of the boys, and noticed they were sitting at a booth talking with a brunette man, having a round of drinks. Katherine caught Peter’s eye and he waved her over. She obliged, untying her apron and leaving Jonathon to tend to the last few remaining customers.

“Katherine, this is our producer from our first EP, Jared Logan. This is my girlfriend Katherine.” Peter introduced them both as they shook hands.
“So what’s up boys?” Katherine asked as they made room for her in the circular booth.
“We were just talking about possibly an album.” Jared told her as the boys grinned at each other.
“Oh really? What label?” Katherine questioned with interest.
“With Uprising. What’s funny is that the other day we asked a friend of ours to possibly join the band if we did another album, so this works out perfectly.” Patrick answered as Katherine smiled at the irony.
“Katherine!” Jonathon called and she excused herself to go back to work.

Katherine finished her last few minutes of her shift popping beers caps off and wiping down the bar, when Pete appeared and drummed his hands on it.

“And what’s that big smile for?” Katherine asked as the clock struck eleven and she untied her black apron.
“We’re going into the studio! In a couple of weeks too, right after Christmas.” Pete grinned from ear to ear, trying to restrain from just yelling.
“That’s awesome baby.” Katherine smiled back untying her hair and letting it fall all around her face.
“I love when you do that.” Peter told her as she tried to hide her smile.
“Let’s get out of here.” She sighed, heading to the back to grab her sweater and purse

She put on her sweater right when they hit the snowy sidewalk, when Pete was hailing a cab down.
“I’m gonna stay at your place tonight, okay?” Peter told her as she smiled.
“I kind of already guessed that’s what you were going to do.” She grinned at him, and made sure she kissed him hard on the mouth.