Hurricane

December 2005

Days flew by, and before I knew it Pete and I were on a plane to Chicago to spend Christmas with our families. We were only staying until the twenty-sixth, and then we were continuing on with the tour. I was still on Panic!’s bus, which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I almost didn’t want to leave. I had become pretty good friends with everyone by now. I actually had a lot in common with the lead singer, Brendon. So I wouldn’t mind if I had to stay on Panic!’s bus—although if I were on Fall Out Boy’s bus, I might actually get to see Pete for more than five minutes.

I know Pete’s busy all the time but touring with him almost seemed pointless because I never got to see him. But at least I had something to do; I was working. The long plane ride home would have been a great way to talk to Pete and spend some time with him, but he was sleeping so I just read a book I had purchased recently that I had wanted to read.

These few days home also would have been a nice way to spend time with Pete, but we had agreed that it would be best to spend Christmas with our families, so I wouldn’t see Pete until the morning after Christmas when he came to pick me up to go to the airport.

It’s difficult, but I am getting used to not seeing Pete as much.

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Christmas was uneventful, not that I expected it to be any different. I slept in on Christmas day and when I got up, I exchanged presents with my parents. I hadn’t known what to get my mom and dad, so I just got them each a gift card to a store I thought they liked. They gave me a few books they thought I would like as well as a new journal and pen. I guess they had noticed me with my other journal that I had bought a while ago, but I hadn’t written too much in it. I thanked them and then my mom went to go start lunch and my dad picked up the newspaper he had been reading and began reading it again. I went up to my room with my presents.

Pete called me that night and asked if I wanted to go out to dinner. He picked me up a few hours later and he drove us to what looked like a nice restaurant. Once we had been seated, Pete took my hand and smiled at me.

“I’m sorry we don’t get to see each other very much,” Pete said.

“It’s fine,” I said, smiling back. “I understand that you’re busy.”

“I still feel bad,” he said. “Are you at least comfortable on Panic!’s bus?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “It’s a bit easier now that I know the guys.”

“Good,” he said. “I’m trying to make room on my bus, but its hard moving things around at the moment.”

“Really, don’t worry about it,” I said.

The waitress came and we ordered our food.

“Well, are you at least enjoying yourself?” Pete questioned.

“Yeah,” I answered. “It’s a lot of fun to see how everything works and such.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “I was a little worried that you regretted coming on tour.”

“Not at all,” I said, smiling at him.

“Merry Christmas by the way,” Pete said.

“Oh yeah,” I laughed. “I almost forgot—Merry Christmas.”

“I got you something,” Pete said.

“You really didn’t have to,” I said as he reached into his pocket. “I didn’t even get you anything.”

“I want you to have this,” he said, pulling out a rectangular black velvet box. “It’s to make up somewhat for you not being able to see me as much.”

I took the box from him and opened it slowly. Inside was a thin silver chain with a small treble clef hanging on it. I looked at Pete and smiled.

“I love it,” I said. I took it out of the box and held it up delicately and Pete stood up, taking the necklace from my hand carefully. He moved my hair out of the way and placed the necklace around my neck before quickly hooking the clasp. I fixed my hair and looked down at the necklace. “It’s really beautiful.”

Pete smiled.

“I’m glad you like it,” he said.

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Pete stayed the night at my house. He had already said good bye to his family and was all ready to go. My parents didn’t seem to mind, which I was happy about. It was nice to actually be close to Pete. I hadn’t been able to sleep in the same bed as Pete in a while and it was a comforting feeling.

Pete woke me up early and I took a shower before getting dressed. I packed up the presents my parents had given me thinking they might give me something to do at some point. Pete was waiting for me downstairs while I packed.

“Are you ready?” Pete asked when I had gotten downstairs.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Let’s go,” he said, smiling at me before taking one of my bags. In the car, he kissed me for a moment before backing out of the driveway. I was going to savor these moments because I knew that as soon as we got back, it would return to how it had been before where I would barely see Pete at all.