Fireworks

There’s a buzzing under Audrey’s head.

She blindly feels around for the damn phone, wanting to chew the head off of whoever is texting her at – she opens one eye, and is blinded by the bright light, she blinks twice and her vision adjusts – 4:43AM.

“Okay, who the fuck?” she mutters, peering at the screen.

Pete.

She groans and buries her face in her pillow. She doesn’t want to deal with him right now.

But, she unlocks the phone anyways.

you up?

“Seriously?” she says. She almost ignores it and tosses the phone off to the side, but something in her makes her reply.

well i am NOW

She sets the phone down on the pillow next to her and doesn’t anxiously await his reply. No, she doesn’t.

And, she doesn’t snatch up the phone as soon as it begins buzzing again. Nope.

haha- sorry. didnt realize how late it was

Audrey feels herself starting to grin as she reads the text. He’s such a damn idiot.

what did you want Pete?

She sits up and turns on the light on her bedside table. She knows she’s not going to be able to fall back asleep, so why not just get a start on the day.

i dunno. i just wanted to talk to you

Audrey’s stomach drops. He wanted to talk to her at 4:30 in the morning. She doesn’t know how to feel about that, really. She was on his mind at four in the morning. Had he been awake the entire time just thinking about her?

Audrey then remembers how he rarely slept when they were together. He was always up all hours of the night. Apparently, that’s still the case.

She frowns a bit. He’s still dealing with insomnia.

about what?

She wonders about what else he could still possibly be dealing with. She remembers the depression and the awful mood swings he had. They were hard to deal with, and she thinks, that too was a cause of their fights.

She then wonders if she could deal with that now. Then shakes her head. She doesn’t want to get back with him, no. Stop.

anything.

you wanna call me and we can actually talk?

She knows she’s going to regret sending that, but who cares? It’s almost five in the morning and she’s running on three hours of sleep.

Her phone buzzes in her hand barely a minute later, and she’s just as quick to answer as he was to call.

“Hey, Pete,” she answers with a smile gracing her face. She picks at the comforter covering her legs.

“Hi, Audrey,” he says, and he sounds so tired. And, there’s the regret she feels for sending that text. Oh, well. “Sorry about, you know, waking you up.”

Audrey chuckles. “It’s okay, Pete. I was gonna get up in like an hour anyways.” That’s a lie. She didn’t have to be to work until eight thirty. “What’s up? You okay?”

Pete’s silent for a minute. Audrey thinks he fell asleep on her, when he lets out a sigh. She chews on her bottom lip, now worried about him.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he says. Audrey doesn’t buy it, but she doesn’t push it. She feels she’d be overstepping her bounds or something. It’s only been two days since they agreed to be friends. She doesn’t want to pry, she wants Pete to open up to her in time.

Prying and overstepping ruined them last time.

“That’s good,” she says.

“Yeah.”

They’re silent for a good two minutes. Audrey just picks at her comforter some more, listening to rustling around on the other side of the line. It sounds like he’s in bed, too.

Audrey feels incredibly awkward, and she doesn’t know what to say or do.

“Audrey?”

“Yeah, Pete?”

Pete sighs softly. “Do you wanna go out to breakfast?”

Audrey stops picking at her comforter, and stares straight ahead. She feels like a deer caught in the headlights.

It won’t be a date, no. It’ll just be two friends eating breakfast. Okay, yeah, she can do that.

“Yeah, Pete.”



It’s six thirty in the morning, and Audrey’s just outside LA at some diner that Pete said has the “best damn coffee and pancakes”.

She waits, alone, at a table for Pete. He texted her about five minutes ago, saying he’d been here in five minutes. She sighs and stirs her coffee.

The bell above the door chimes and Audrey’s eyes snap up to meet Pete’s. He catches her eye instantly and grins, heading over to her.

He really looks like he hasn’t slept in a while. Audrey’s a bit worried.

But, she smiles as he slides in across from her.

“Hi,” he says.

“Hey.”

Audrey pushes a cup of coffee over to him, and he grins, bright and wide. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” She smiles as she watches him pour sugar and cream into his drink. He’s so damn handsome. His eyes meet hers, and he’s look at her so fondly. Like, she’s the only one that matters to him. And, it’s very possible that that’s true.

“So, what’s up?” she asks, feeling her cheeks start to warm slightly. She glances down to her coffee and stirs it again.

“Nothin’ much, really,” he says, shrugging a bit. “Been thinking a lot about going back to the studio.”

“Oh, yeah?” Audrey asks. That’s probably why he hasn’t been sleeping. Nothing too serious to worry about, then. She feels a bit relieved. “Ashwin should have the studio agreements done on Tuesday.”

Pete nods. “Great.”

Audrey bites her lip as she watches Pete flip through the menu. She was wrong. There is something to worry about.

There’s something off about him. It could very well be from going back into the studio, but Audrey feels it’s something more. She wants to ask, so badly, but she takes a deep breath and holds back. She cannot pry.

Pete looks up at her, and smiles. Audrey shoots him one back, but her hearts not in it. She wants to know what’s bothering him.

Their waitress comes over, then, pen and pad in hand. “What can I get you two?”

Audrey’s about to order, when Pete reaches over and takes the menu from her. “Just two stacks, eggs – over easy – and sausage?” he asks, glancing at her.

She shrugs. Why the hell not. He hadn’t lied about the coffee, so she figured she’d trust him on the food.

The waitress takes the menus from Pete and leaves the two alone again.

Audrey’s phone buzzes and her and Pete both stare at it, eyebrows slightly furrowed together.

Anika.

“I’m gonna, yeah,” Audrey says, grabbing the phone off the table and sliding out of the booth. She answers it quickly before stepping outside. “Yes, ‘Nika?”

“Where are you?” Anika asks.

“Out,” Audrey replies. She glances back into the diner, and she can see Pete from where she’s standing. He’s on the phone, too, with someone. She tilts her head slightly, wondering who he’s talking to.

“Audrey?” Anika’s voice comes floating through her ears.

“Oh, sorry. What?” she asks.

Anika sighs. “Are you with Pete?”

Audrey looks down at her feet, and kicks slightly at the pavement. “Maybe,” she mutters. “Look, before you say anything, he called me at like, five this morning. He seems upset about something.”

Anika hums. Audrey rolls her eyes. She can just feel the judgment.

“Audrey.”

“Anika, I have to go,” Audrey says. She ends the call and turns her phone on silent. She doesn’t want to deal with Anika right now. She doesn’t want another lecture on how she really should stop being a baby and get back with Pete.

She heads back into the diner. The food is there at the table and Pete’s no longer on the phone. He’s poking around his plate with his fork.

Audrey desperately wants to ask what the hell is up with him. So, she takes a deep breath and just bites the bullet.

“What’s the matter, Pete?” she asks softly, causing him to glance up at her.

He was so happy two days ago when she said they could be friends. The smile on his face was contagious, then. And, now she’s wondering what happened to it. What happened in just two days?

He runs a hand over his face and sighs. “I’m just worried about the band, that’s all.”

“Are you sure?” she asks, and she knows she’s prodding, but she can’t help it.

“Yeah.” He nods. “We haven’t been in the studio together since, fuck, ’oh-eight? What if we don’t like. Mesh?”

Audrey reaches over and lays her hand on Pete’s. She gives him a crooked smile. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, Pete.”

He turns his hand over, under hers, and gently holds her hand, rubbing it softly with his thumb. He stares at her with such a content smile on his face. Audrey almost forgets about her vow to just be friends.

“Thanks, Audrey.”



“So, how was breakfast with Pete?” Anika asks as she sits in Audrey’s office, eating away at a salad.

Audrey starts to think that Anika having an office is pointless. She just spends all her time in here anyways.

“It was fine,” Audrey says, not taking her eyes off her monitor as she reviews the copyright notices filling her inbox. She’s halfway through an email from some manager asking about the band he’s representing’s song being used in a small indie film when her phone lights up next to her on the desk.

Her eyes flick from the computer screen to the phone screen. It’s Pete.

She answers it quickly. “Yeah?”

“You at work?”

“Yeah, I am.” Audrey looks at Anika, who’s sitting there with a mouth full of salad, staring right back at her. She cocks an eyebrow and Audrey waves her hand, motioning to shoo.

Anika rolls her eyes and gets up to leave. She sticks her tongue out at Audrey before shutting the door. Audrey laughs.

“What?”

“Nothing. What’d you want, Pete?” she asks, turning her attention back to her monitor. She shoots the manager an email back, asking about arranging a meeting with the band and film director and such on Monday at three.

“I have a couple’a questions,” he says.

“About what? Can you wait ‘til, like, Tuesday? We’ve got that meeting – we’re going over the contracts,” Audrey says, pulling up the contract she’s written up for Fall Out Boy. “Plus, I don’t think your manager would be too pleased with you talking to me without them,” she laughs.

Pete laughs, too. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Sorry if I bothered you.”

Audrey smiles. “You didn’t bother me. It’s okay.”

“Okay,” he says. Audrey can hear the smile in his voice and it just makes the smile on her face stretch even more. She turns her chair so Anika can’t peer in and see her grinning like a damn fool. “So, what are you doing after work?”

Audrey’s smile falters a bit. She just saw him this morning. Don’t get her wrong, she’d love to see Pete again, but she feels this could be getting too friendly too quickly. She wanted to take it nice and slowly, and she already blew that out the water by agreeing to have breakfast with him at six in the morning.

She has to slow it down.

“Um,” she spits out after a minute. “I don’t know. I think Anika and I were going out.”

That’s a lie. She and Anika were going to both buy a bottle of wine each, then see who could finish theirs the fastest, and watch some cheesy as hell romcoms. You know, things responsible lawyers do on Friday nights.

“Oh,” is all he says.

Audrey feels bad, but she’s actually going to hold her ground on this one. “Sorry, Pete.”

“S’okay. You free Sunday?”

Sunday’s two days away. And, yeah, okay, she could totally do Sunday.

“Hm. Let me check my schedule,” she jokes, making him laugh. She loves the way his laugh makes her feel. She hates herself for it at the same time. “Yeah, okay, I’m free all day Sunday.”

“Alright, cool. So, I’ll see ya then?” he asks, and that smile is back in his voice.

“Yeah,” she breathes out, a dreamy smile plastered on her face as he hangs up. She throws her head back and stares at the ceiling, still smiling.

“Fuck.”

She’s in too deep.