A Few of My Famous Friends

After pacing for ten minutes straight, Jon finally left the kitchen area of the tour bus to probably check his email or something else that has to do with corresponding with his girlfriend. We were heading to Chicago, and he couldn't wait to get back.

"Man, he's whipped. But I'm glad he left. I have to talk to you guys." I said sitting next to Pete.

Jon and I were on Fall Out Boy's bus simply because this bus was the one that was going around to all the Chicagoan's houses and also left earlier. Leaving earlier=getting to Chicago earlier.

"'Bout what?" Pete asked, slinging his arm casually around me. After that whole 'whore' incident, we've been getting along very well.

"You guys suck."

"Thanks a lot Kate. What did we do to you?" Andy said from his seat a little bit away.

"No, your music. Well, not all of it. But most of it."

"I repeat, thanks a lot Kate."

"I'm just saying, guys who have never played in front of a live audience wrote better songs than you experienced musicians."

"So, you're saying Panic at the Disco writes better music than us? That Ross is a better lyricist than me?" Pete asked, shifting so he was looking at me. He took my hands in his. "I'm sorry Kate, but if this relationship is going to work out, you have to support me 110%. This means saying you like my band better than your brother's, even if you're lying through your teeth."

I pulled my hands out of his and laughed. "Pete, sweetie, this means I'm breaking up with you, I guess." I kissed his cheek.

He pouted.

I laughed again. "Pete, we're not going out."

"But we could pretend to get your boyfriend's knickers in a twist." Pete said with a cocky smirk. "Besides, you know you love me."

"Psht, no. If I were to date anyone in Fall Out Boy, it'd be Patrick. Sorry Peter Pan."

Patrick just so happened to be walking by and blushed at this.

"Aw, I made him uncomfortable!" I cooed.

"Why don't you love me?" Pete asked, a pout on his face again.

"Cause you're cocky. And your lyrics suck. And Patrick's a pimp. And who wouldn't want their very own Patrick? And-"

"Okay, I get it." Pete said, trying to make me shut up.

I laughed. "Aw, Petey, I was just kidding. You're lyrics don't suck. Most of the time."

"Jon!" Pete called to where my brother had disappeared, "Your sister's mean! Make her go away!"

"Sorry Pete!" Jon called, "You're stuck with her forever! She's now your personal stalker!"

"Sweet!" I said at the same time as Pete said "Damn!"

I decided to ignore him and go pester JoeTroh. I stood up and walked away.

"Kate, I'm sorry baby! We can work things out! I love you! Please come back!" Pete called after me. I shook my head, laughed and kept walking.

"Hey JoeTrohFro." I said, sitting on Joe's lap. "How are you?"

"Awesome. Are you tormenting Pete again?"

"Puh-lease. Of course I am. There's nothing else to do."

"Well, we'll be in Wilmette in a few minutes."

"So we go to your hometown first?!"

"Duh, Kate."

I stuck out my tongue at him and passed the time by braiding his Jew fro.

We stopped at JoeTrohFro's house first. When we got there, Joe lifted up a heaving looking flower pot outside the door and Patrick grabbed a key that laid underneath.

Joe replaced the pot and grabbed the key from Patrick. He twisted the key in the lock, opened the door, and ushered us in.

"Joseph Mark Trohman, is that you?" A woman called from inside. "You've been gone for a week and a half. You said three months."

"Love ya too mom!" He called back, rolling his eyes.

A motherly woman came into the hall, drying her hands in a dish towel.

"It's nice to see you boys again," she said, kissing their cheeks. She then turned to me. "Joseph, who is this girl?"

"Jon's sister, Kate."

I stuck out my hand. "Hello Mrs. Trohman. It's nice to meet you."

"Nonsense, you're Joseph's friend and Jonathan's sister. You're practically family." She said, kissing my cheek. She then turned to Joe and looked at him properly for the first time.

"Joseph, what on Earth did you do to your hair?"

He put a hand to his hair self-consciously. "Oh," he said, relaxing, "Kate braided it."

I laughed. "Guilty as charged," I admitted.

"I just so happened to have made some cookies. I had a feeling someone would visit. Call it a mother's sixth sense." Mrs. Trohman said, winking at me.

"Sorry Mom, we have to reunite these losers with their families. We just dropped by to say hi."

"Well at least take some to go."

None of us could argue with this logic, so we grabbed a cookie or two each and departed.

We then visited Andy's family, then Patrick's. I was introduced to each of their families as "Kate, Jon's sister".

Pete, of course, had to be different. He introduced me to his mom as "Kate, Jon's sister and my secret lover".

I then proceeded to whack him over his head until he took it back.

Lastly, we went into the depths of Chicago to see Jon's and my mom.

We walked in the door and I saw my mom, Scarlett and Josh Taylor, my boyfriend, sitting at my kitchen table, just talking.

Josh turned and saw us come in. He stood up quickly. But I was too quick for him. "Josh!" I screamed, running to him and jumping in his arms. He staggered slightly under my weight, but held on to me and retained his balance. "Hey babe," he said before giving me a sweet kiss.

Someone (probably Jon) coughing in the background brought us back to reality and I got down, but still held his hand.

"Josh, these are the members of Fall Out Boy, Joe, Andy, Patrick, and Pete,"

"Her secret lover," Pete blurted out.

I glared at him. "He's just kidding," I told Josh.

We caught up before Jon complained about me being able to see my boyfriend, but him not being able to see his girlfriend, so we drove to Cassie's apartment.

While we were in the bus, I stormed up angrily to Pete. "What the hell gave you the right to tell my boyfriend you were my secret lover?"

"The first amendment: right to free speech," Pete said cockily. His smirk faded and his eyes became concerned, "I just don't think he's right for you, Kate."

I laughed. "What? Do you want to date me Peter? That's sick. You're eight years older than me."

He opened his mouth to respond, but I didn't give him a chance. I stormed away and put on my iPod headphones, turning up the volume all the way. I only had movies on it, but Pete didn't know that.

We dropped Jon off at Cassie's apartment and drove to the venue. I escaped the tour bus then and started walking around Chicago. It felt awesome to be home.

When Panic at the Disco and Paramore arrived, I was in such great spirits I offered to cook them a real homemade meal. Of course everyone accepted. So, I returned home, and started whipping up some fajitas. Of course, I made sure to include enough vegan stuff for all the vegetarians on tour.

While I was cooking, Josh hugged me from behind and started cooking for me.

"No! My meal!" I said, pushing him away lightly. "If Kate's in the kitchen, ain't nobody else allowed in the kitchen."

"That's a double negative and using improper grammar, dear." Josh said, but retreating to the eating area.

"It's the truth and you better believe it." I said, pointing my sharp knife at him.

He put his hands up in surrender. "Whatever you say, Kate. I'm not gonna argue when you're pointing a giant knife at me."

"Exactly," I said, continuing to cook.

When the fajitas were done, I set Josh to the task of getting the three bands to come to dinner.

"So, I have to call twelve people?" He asked incredulously.

"Call Zac. He'll get so excited, you'll be able to hear him screaming from here. That'll alert the rest of 'em."

He did so, and within a few minutes, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Cassie, and Scarlett all arrived. I wasn't mad at Pete anymore, cooking always cools me down.

With the help of Josh, I brought in another table and elongated both so that there was enough room for all sixteen people ranging from age 17 to 28.

I introduced everyone to Josh, and I saw him get more uneasy by the minute. He took me over to a corner of the room.

"Kate, I thought it was just going to be your brother's band on this tour. I didn't know there was going to be eleven guys."

"One of those guys is my brother."

"Okay, ten guys. It's not that I don't trust you, I just don't trust them."

"You said that when I told you I was touring with my brother's band. They wouldn't do shit to me. And besides, I have Hayley with me."

"I still don't know..."

"Josh, at least half of these guys have girlfriends. And none of them would dream of touching me. My brother would personally castrate them in their sleep. Please. Trust me."

He sighed. "I don't like it. But I trust you. So, you can do it. God, that makes me sound like a controlling ass-for-brains."

I laughed. "You are a controlling ass-for-brains." I said, kissing his cheek and running away.

When I returned from the emo corner of death, Spencer looked up at me and said, "Man, was I wrong. Sorry Jon, your sister can cook way better than you can."

Jon 'hmmph'-ed and continued eating his fajita.

Just about everyone else agreed with Spencer. I beamed. "Thank you, guys. I do try."

Later, during the concert, when I was selling merch, I was deep in thought, so I didn't do a great job. People got what they wanted, and everyone paid, it was just I had to be reminded several times.

Seeing Josh again was like seeing a list of all of his flaws. But it was also like seeing a list of all his good qualities. And I was torn between wanting to dump him and wanting to quit tour and come home.

And then there was the Ryan issue. Actually, it should be more like The Ryan Issue. It was that big.

I think I had a crush on Ryan. But I couldn't. I liked Josh. I loved Josh. Ryan was just attractive, funny and sensitive. And he had a girlfriend. Besides, even if I did like him (which I don't) and if I dumped Josh for him (which I wouldn't) and he was single (which he isn't) then he probably wouldn't date me because he doesn't like me! And even if he did like me, Jon would totally kill us if we got together. And if Jon didn't kill us, and it didn't work out, it might tear the band apart.

I kept worrying about the What-Ifs and the Maybes until the concert was over. Everyone was relieved to be sleeping in actual beds that weren't in hotels, so I wasn't really talked to that much. I actually got to sleep in my own bed, so I mulled over my feelings until about midnight, then drifted off to sleep.