The Fueled By Ramen Analysis

“I wish for you on a falling star wondering where you are. And do I ever cross your mind in the warm sunshine?” I began singing as we all walked with a spring to our step down the streets of downtown Chicago.

“She's from, the city of angels, like Betty Davis, James Dean and Gable,” Patrick sang along, making the grin on my face grow bigger.

“Never knew what she means to me, I fell for the girl right next to me,” improvved Sisky, sending a wink my way.

“Shooby doo-wap and scooby snacks, met a fly boy and I can't relax, the only problem is he’s a TAI TV star,” I sang, adjusting the lyrics myself.

“My friends they should believe me, cause they can really see me. At the risk of sounding cheesy, think I fell for the girl right next to me,” Sisky belted, putting his arm around me.

“You guys are silly!” I giggled as Adam and Patrick sang the rest of Girl on TV by LFO, making me the focus of the song.

“And that is why you love us,” Patrick said matter of factly.

“Yes, that is definitely why I can’t live without you boys in my life,” I said, giving them each a peck on the cheek.

“May May, what about me?!“ Joe pouted as he stopped in his tracks and crossed his arms. “You always show Patrick love and now Siska? What does a man gotta do to get some love around here?!” He earned a bunch of laughs from the group and yet a smile still didn’t creep on his face.

“Wait are you serious?” I said worriedly, stepping towards him.

“Nah I was just kidding,” Joe grinned, resuming his step. “Just wanted to see how you’d react. I know I’m your number one hoe.”

“You boys,” I said, shaking my head. “Whenever I’m with you I feel like a mom not spreading her love enough.”

“Then fix it momma!” Andy joked.

“Will do my baby!” I giggled, playing along. “Now what would my babies like to-”

“There they are!” someone screamed from behind us, earning a look back from every single member of our group. My eyes grew wide at the sight of at least 7 paparazzi running towards us.

“Motherfuckers,” Andy growled as him and the others started running. I stood in shock, watching the men with cameras worth thousands and thousands of dollars come closer.

“What are you doing Buttercup?” Will asked, grabbing my hand. “We have to go!”

Still in a state of shock all I could manage to do was nod and try to keep up with the rest of them as Will led. “Almost there Buttercup,” Will panted from beside me. “Just don’t look back, we don’t need to give them pictures they can actually use.”

As soon as the words left his mouth the little kid in me had the sudden urge to look back. And once I did, everything turned black.

___________________________________________

“What the fuck guys?!” I heard someone faintly say, waking me up. My forehead instantly scrunched up at the throbbing pain I felt. “Why would you even put her in a situation like that. Think before you fucking act! It’s not that hard.”

I stirred on the unfamiliar bed as I blinked to get my eyes adjusted to the artificial light. I looked all around me and didn’t recognize a thing. The walls were lined with a variety of posters from bands like Radiohead and The Beatles.

“What if something serious happened to her huh?!” the voice I could now distinguish as Pete’s boomed. “Why didn’t you bring her to the hospital? And why is she in there alone? What the fuck guys there’s a whole army of you and not one of you fucktards can go and fucking stay with her? I swear to God if-”

“Pete,” Ashlee’s voice pleaded. “Calm down, you might wake her up.”

“This isn’t the last you’re going to hear from me,” Pete spat nastily. I sat up slowly, not knowing what to do as I heard footsteps coming towards the room I was in.

“No more yelling,” I said softly once they walked in as tears slowly fell down my cheeks. “Please, they don’t deserve it.”

“Aww sweetie, I’ll try my best to keep him in check,” Ashlee cooed, climbing onto the bed and hugging me. “Are you feeling alright?”

“I… I don’t know what happened,” I said, looking at Pete, then her, then back at Pete. “Wait, why are you guys here? What about your honeymoon?”

“Don’t worry about that Best,” Pete said, sitting on the edge of my bed. He softly swept a strand of hair away from my face and behind my ear. “Are you okay? And tell the truth, I need to know so I can decide whether or not we should be taking you to the hospital.”

“My head’s just hurting. Nothing three Aleves can’t fix,” I said as cheerfully as I could but failed miserably. “Why aren’t you guys shacking it up in the tropics right now?”

“We caught the first flight out here after Patrick called us,” Pete said, putting one of his hands over Ashlee’s and the other over mine. “He told us about the paparazzi and how you took a nasty fall while running away. Best, your health is more important to us than a stupid vacation. There’ll be many chances to escape for a while but it seems like ever since you got to Chicago these fucktards have sent you into a whirlwind of disaster. It’s all my fault I didn’t schedule everything right. I should have been in town to welcome you to your new home and to make sure you got settled and to-”

“Best,” I sighed. “Please stop beating yourself up over it. I’m a big girl now. I’m not going to lie and say I can take care of myself without any help from you but you baby me and when something goes wrong ,you blame yourself. That’s not fair to me, to you, or even to Ashlee. You have other priorities besides me. You can’t expect to always be there to catch me when I fall. I need to start learning how to get up by myself but you know if I ever needed your help, I’d call you in an instant."

Pete looked as if he was at a loss for words. He kept taking sharp breaths as if he was about to say something but would stop before a single sound was emitted. Pete asked Ashlee if we could talk in private, kissing her forehead as she left the bed. When the door closed after her, he looked at me for a long time. “May May,” he began softly. “I know that everything you said is right but you have to understand that me and you aren‘t just best friends, and that we aren‘t just like brother and sister. I don‘t know what the fuck we are but the connection we have makes it so that when things hurt you, they hurt me, especially when I know I could have prevented it from happening. The bond we have is much stronger than anyone can even imagine us having. Best, I’m going to tell you the truth, okay?”

He paused and looked at me, searching for some sort of emotion. Everything had made sense until his last sentence. I nodded for him to continue, hoping that his honesty wouldn’t bring anything negative with it.

“There are three women in my life. My mom, Ashlee, and you. But if I were to rank them in importance and priority it would be my mom, you, then Ash. Our friendship started before I even knew her and although I have no doubts about my love for her and her love for me, you still rank number two in my life,” Pete said earnestly. “The unconditional love that my mom has for me, and that I have for her is the same that we share. I can do the stupidest, shittiest thing ever and yet the love will still be there. Although I hope it doesn’t happen, there’s a chance that years from now me and Ashlee will divorce. The odds are against us. But what me and you have, that’s unbreakable. I… I just needed you to know that.”

“That’s not fair to Ashlee Best,” I said, looking him right in the eyes. “She should be your one and only. I don’t feel comfortable being number one right after your mom.”

“But it’s true, you have to understand where I’m coming from. If you had a boyfriend, where would I rank?“ he asked, looking right back into my eyes.

“After my grandpa and before my boyfriend,” I mumbled.

“And if you fell madly in love with this guy and you guys married, where would I rank then?”

I closed my eyes and breathed in. “After my grandpa and before my husband,” I answered, admitting defeat.

“Our friendship is what others dream of Chelsea May. We’re the realest when around each other and we both know when it came down to it we’re the only ones that are 100 percent truly there for the other. Relationships come and go. Friends come and go. But this right here isn’t going anywhere, ever. That’s why I do the things I do. That’s why I treat you better than I would a little sister. That’s why I do all that I can to protect you. Because if I lost you, I’d basically lose myself. You keep me sane, you keep me going. Without you there would be no Pete Wentz right now,” he said never breaking our eye contact. “You don’t have to learn how to get up by yourself because now we’re closer together. Now I can be there.”

“Best,” I said, rolling my eyes. “That last part is going overboard. But I understand, I’d do anything and everything for you too. Now get up!”

“Why?” he chuckled, getting up from the bed like I had.

“So I can give you this!” I grinned, wrapping my arms around him. He returned the embrace but with ten times the force, picking me up in the process.

“I love you best,” I whispered into his ear.

“I love you too,” he said softly.

“Best?” I said when he returned me to the floor.

“Yes?”

“Do you think Ashlee ever has or ever will get jealous of me?” I asked timidly.

“Don’t worry about that. If it ever does happen, you just let me deal with it, kay?”

“Kay,” I said, looking away. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, come on,” he said walking towards the door. “ I have a surprise for you.”