Sequel: Four Years
Status: Completed. Read the sequel "Four Years" :)

My Saving Grace

Where The Lines Overlap

Rachel's POV

May 03, 2005.

I stepped out of the black SUV and waited for Pete to walk around the car. He quickly appeared out of thin air and grabbed my hand, beginning to excitedly drag me into the Best Buy.

The rest of the guys followed behind us quickly. Joe had the camera filming us as we all walked into the large store. Pete ran towards the CD's, dragging me along with him. I struggled to keep up. I knew I shouldn't have worn these damn heels.

"New releases, there it is!" Pete exclaimed happily, jumping up and down. Wow, he was really excited over this. He picked up the copy of the CD and shoved it into my hand. Well, looks like I was getting a new CD. I thought I would be given one. I didn't think I had to buy it.

"Dude, wait, lemme see," Joe said, shoving the camera down to my hand. I held up the CD, the camera following. "Amazing..."

I laughed and looked over to the rack of CD's. This was one of the last ones. Or, from what I could see. They might've had more, but I didn't know.

"Ahh, Fall Out Boy. Nice choice. That CD's been flying off the shelf since we opened this morning. So many kids love it. Fall Out Boy's a lucky band to have fans as awesome as they do," A store employee noted.

"They sure are," I smiled at the guys as they ran over to the part of the rack that held the 'F' bands. They dug through the CD's, only finding a couple of copies of EOWYG and TTTYG.

"I want a copy," Jess smiled, grabbing the second to last CD off the shelf. She walked over to Patrick, a huge smile on her face. She was proud of the guys. I was too. I was unbelievably proud. These guys had come so far. I remember the Thanksgiving when Patrick told the family he joined a band. My dad snorted and said that being in a band would get Trick nowhere, and that it wasn't a legit job. Well guess what, Dad? Trick proved you wrong.

"Guys, we've got to go now. You've got a couple interviews later, yeah?" I said, walking over to the guys.

"Yeah, keyword being later," Joe retorted, pointing the camera at me.

I swatted the camera out of my face and stuck my tongue out at him, "Later, meaning one thirty. Which is...in fifteen minutes."

"Oh, fuck, really?" He gasped. He shut off the camera and dragged me and Jess up to the registers. We both paid quickly as the guys ran out to the SUV. I really picked the wrong day to wear heels.

I struggled to run out to the car, but I made it. I hopped in the back, barely getting the door shut in time. Pete had zoomed off, sending me straight to the floor.

I groaned and sat up as he came to a sudden stop. My head flew into the seat in front of me, earning laughs from everyone in the SUV. I felt my cheeks grow warmer as I climbed onto the seat and buckled myself in.

Once I was all set, Pete sped off again. He was a fucking maniac. I clutched Joe's arm tightly and squeezed my eyes shut as Pete weaved in and out of traffic. If we made it out alive, well, that would be amazing. I had a feeling we weren't going to though.

The tires screeched to a halt. I opened one eye and peeked out the window. We were in front of a large building. I think this was a magazine's building...AP? Was that what it was called? I thought so, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure.

The guys climbed out of the vehicle quickly, waiting ever so impatiently for Jess and I.

"Guys, if you don't mind, Rach and I are gonna drive around the streets of LA blasting From Under The Cork Tree while you're getting interviewed. Is that cool?" Jess asked, climbing over the seat to sit in the drivers seat.

"Sure," Andy shrugged, shutting the passengers side door. I unbuckled myself and climbed over the seat to sit in the passengers side. My stomach was making it a little difficult to climb over swiftly and gracefully.

"Have fun with your interview!" I yelled as they walked into the building.

"Have fun with our car and CD!" Pete laughed, waving as Jess smirked and sped off.

I ripped open the CD excitedly. Judging on how epic Sugar, We're Going Down was, the rest of the CD would be fucking orgasmic.

I popped the CD into the CD player and it started playing. Camera shutters filled the car, making a small smile creep up on my face. I now wanted to go take pictures...

Jess turned up the stereo as the song quickly started. Patrick's voice quickly consumed the car.

"Brothers and sisters put this record down. Take my advice, 'cause we are bad news. We will leave you high and dry. It's not worth the hearing you'll lose."

This was pretty damn good so far. Lyrically, it was amazing. Musically, equally as amazing. I was thoroughly surprised and impressed with their sound change. It was a little softer than TTTYG, but still it was beautiful. They had matured a lot.

Jess and I flew through the LA streets blaring our boys, earning honks and glares from the other people we were sharing the streets with. We had all the windows rolled down and the stereo pretty much as loud as it could go as track two came on.

I grabbed the CD case and looked on the back for the song title. Of All The Gin Joints In The World.

"You only hold me up like this, 'cause you don't know who I really am. Sometimes I just want to know what it's like to be you. We're making out inside crashed cars. We're sleeping through all our memories. I used to waste my time dreaming of being alive, now I only waste it dreaming of you."

All dancing and jamming out I was doing, stopped. I froze. This was the song Pete was working on when I first moved in with them. I had a sneaking suspicion that this song was written about...me?

"Turn off the lights and turn off the shyness, 'cause all of our moves make up for the silence. And, oh, the way your makeup stains my pillowcase, like I'll never be the same."

...This was so written about me. It just had to be. Maybe I was just over-analyzing things. This was probably written about someone else. A past love, perhaps?

I shook my head to rid it of all those stupid thoughts. I listened as the second verse hit, then the chorus. Patrick's voice was absolutely amazing. I was so lucky to have such a talented cousin. I was insanely proud.

Then, the bridge hit.

"I've got headaches and bad luck but they couldn't touch you, no."

For some reason, this line really stuck out to me. My brain was being too analytical. I just needed to not think about things like that and just listen to the music, not over-analyze every little detail about it.

The third track immediately started playing after Of All The Gin Joints, starting out with a nice little beat. The bass kicked in shortly afterward, making my heart thump against my chest in rhythm. The car was practically jumping along to the beat.

Judging on the first three songs, this CD was going to be my new favorite thing to exist. Ever.

*

"You wanna go to the beach?"

"What? The beach? Why?"

Pete shrugged and sat up, "Well, because...I just do."

I laughed and took a seat on the bed next to him, running my hand lightly up his arm, tracing each tattoo. He stared at me for a minute before leaning in and kissing me softly.

He pulled away and smiled, "I am so lucky. How did I ever get such a beautiful, smart, funny - "

I felt my cheeks get red hot as I looked down at my hands. I twirled my thumbs around before looking up at him and sighing, "I'll go to the beach with you."

"Fuck yes!" He laughed, smiling brightly. He jumped off the bed and ran out of the room, allowing me time to get ready for the beach. He went running around the house screaming, "Get your fucking bathing suits on! We're going to the fucking beach!"

Ten minutes later and I was awkwardly standing in front of the mirror, staring at my exposed stomach. I had been staring at myself for five minutes, wondering if I should go out like this or not. I was super self-conscious. I hated looking...fat.

I groaned and grabbed a sundress out of the closet. I slipped that on, instantly feeling better about myself.

I stepped out of my room and walked downstairs where everyone was waiting. I smiled sweetly at everyone as I put my sunglasses on, "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go."

We all piled out of the house and into the SUV. Trick loaded up the SUV with towels, a cooler full of beer and soda, and other stuff that I didn't really care about.

*

I sat on a small beach chair, sunbathing and watching the guys splash around in the warm Pacific water.

"C'mon, Rae!" Pete yelled from the water. He laughed as Joe splashed him before tackling him. I giggled as I watched the two wrestle and try to dunk each other.

"You wanna go hang with them?" Jess asked, peeking over the top of her AP magazine.

I looked at her, then at the guys, then back her. I shrugged and stood up, "Why not?"

We walked down the warm, sandy beach to the water. I stood a little ways back, watching the waves crash against the shore. The foamy water raced up the beach, then quickly raced back out.

"C'mon, Rachel, the water is fucking beautiful!" Joe yelled, dunking Pete once again.

"Just like you," Some guy said as he walked by.

I felt my cheeks get warm at his compliment. He stopped and walked back to me. He extended his hand for me to shake. I took it, shaking it slightly.

"Hi, I'm Alex," He smiled.

I dropped his hand, staring at him as if he had grown a third head. "I'm - I - I'm Rachel," I stuttered out. Why was I being so stupid? The kids name was Alex. He wasn't my Alex. Wait, my Alex? Alex was just Alex.

Pete came running up to me, almost as if he sensed my discomfort. He snaked his wet arms around my waist and pulled me close to his wet body, kissing me roughly.

I pulled away, giggling a bit, "I'm all wet now, thanks."

The boy, Alex, and him started laughing really hard. At first, I didn't get why they were laughing so hard, then I realized.

"You two are pervs," I muttered, walking back up the beach. I sighed and took off my sundress, exposing my stomach. I hated wearing wet clothes. Whenever my clothes got wet, I needed to change, almost immediately. I think it was because I disliked - and I mean disliked - the feeling of wet fabric on me. Ugh.

"You are so gorgeous," Pete whispered as he came up from behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He rested his head on my shoulder and kissed my cheek. "Seriously, how did I get so lucky?"

"I think the question really is, how did I get so lucky?" I giggled.

"You two are so sickeningly sweet," Trick laughed as he walked up to us to get his towel. He was in the middle of drying himself off before Pete tackled him to the hot sand.

"Pete, get off!" Trick laughed as he fought to get Pete off of him. Pete laughed and pinned Trick to the sand, earning the weirdest looks from people passing by.

"Gays and their need for PDA..." A woman smirked to her friend as she passed by.

"Excuse me!" Jess yelled at them, placing her hands on her hips as the women turned around. "They're not gay. They're best friends. And why would it even matter if they were gay? I'm sure you and your...husband, boyfriend, lover - whatever - do shit like that!"

I stared between them, just waiting for a snide remark from the women who obviously thought they were better than everyone else because they lived in LA and wore huge sunglasses, and pearls, and designer swimsuits.

"Best friends don't act like that! Stop sticking up for them. They can do it themselves. Unless they are gay and they - "

"Just shut up! Do you realize how ignorant you sound right now!?" I screamed, getting fed up with the bullshit that was spewing from her mouth.

She looked over at me, looked me up and down, then scoffed, "Look at the little whore sticking up for - "

Jess ran towards the women, pissed as fucking hell. Trick scrambled to his feet and grabbed Jess right before she could punch this woman's fucking lights out. Trick struggled to keep Jess back.

I folded my arms across my stomach, trying to hide it. Yes, what that woman had said did get to me. It was obvious I was pregnant. It was obvious I was a whore. I was a huge fucking whore and everyone knew it.

"What the fuck is your problem, bitch?" Pete yelled, getting in her face. "You think that because you live in LA and drive your fucking fancy ass car, and wear designer fucking clothes, and think you're fucking rich and famous, you can put down people twenty times better than your fake ass?!"

Joe and Andy came over to us, confused as hell. I buried my face into Joe's chest as he wrapped his arms around me.

"What's going on?" Andy whispered.

"No idea, bro," Joe whispered back, watching what was going on. He rubbed my back lightly, calming me down a bit.

I sniffled and fought back the tears. I fucking hated these hormones. And these women.

"Don't you know who I am?" The woman asked through gritted teeth.

"No, but I know who you think you are!" Pete yelled.

I pulled away from Joe and looked over at Pete, a small smile growing on my face.

He was currently mocking the women. They had both placed their hands on their hips, and he did the same.

"You 'rich' people and your need to put others down," He scoffed and rolled his eyes, just like they had done to us.

"Let's go," Jess muttered, being let go from Trick's grasp. She angrily packed up our stuff as the women stormed away.

"Pete, you're so amazing," I smiled, running into his arms. I buried my head in the crook of his neck and wrapped my arms around his waist. He rested his head on mine and laid his hands on the small of my back. We stood like this for what seemed like an eternity.

"Who's hungry?" Joe said, clapping his hands to break the silence that wrapped around us all.

"Oooh, me!" I yelled, breaking away from Pete's grasp.

"Of course you are," Joe laughed, ruffling my hair.

I looked down at my feet, then back up at him, pulling the puppy dog eyes to make him feel guilty, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh my God, nothing, nothing. I didn't mean it like that. I - "

"Shut up, I know," I laughed, ruffling his hair like he had done to me a few seconds ago.

His cheeks became red as he lightly shoved me. I laughed and shoved him back.

"You guys, I fucking love you all," I smiled as everyone "Awwww!"d and ran to me for a giant group hug. Pete, of course, got to me first. Pete and I stood hugging each other, while everyone else piled on us.

I smiled to myself. My life had never been better.
♠ ♠ ♠
title credit:// where the lines overlap - paramore.

HELLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOO!

it has been way too long. i didn't get five comments. :| but i was like LOL FUCK THAT. -UPDATE!- so. yeah. ok.

you guys disappoint me. ;-;

i'mma tell you a story. :3

i saw versaemerge for the third time monday night - the last night of the vultures unite tour! :3 they were sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fantastic shglsdgjlsg. i met sierra for the third time and told her my ghost story. :3 i met blake for the second time and told him he was awesome and that this was my third time seeing them. he was impressed! :3:3:3 guys, it was so wonderful. ok. ok. ok. /story.

a big thanks goes out to -

rivals are insane
Lexxii47
tyffanicheyenne

i love you guys. so much. :3

okkkkkkkk. so. you know.

thoughts on this suckish filler?
x.