Fake It Like You Matter

When we got in the doors at the House of Blues, the concert had already begun but Pete squeezed us right up to the front.

"Here," He pulled me close and moved me in front of him so I could see, "Good?"

I nodded.

I didn't recognize the band just starting on stage, but they were really good. I think. It was a little hard to think about anything with so little space between Pete and I. His tattooed arms were on either side of me holding on to the barrier, and there was no escaping him. Not that
I wanted to.

I was secretly enjoying his closeness as much as the show itself until the singer of the band on stage came over before their last song to yell something to Pete. He actually stood there in front of us for a minute and they had a conversation.

"You came!"

Pete responded, "Like I'd miss this?!"

The tall, lanky guy smiled, "You gonna stick around after?"

"I cant..."

"Tomorrow, then..." Singer guy in impossibly tight pants shrugged, shook his longish hair, and the music picked up.

As he went to sing, I looked back at Pete.

"He's a friend." He explained, unable to contain his smile as he watched them play their last song of the night.

I was suddenly thinking about what Jessa had said earlier that day at work. Maybe Pete was a big deal. I found myself getting a little insecure and wondering what he liked about me if he was such a big deal, because I was definitely not a big deal.

The last song from Pete's friends band ended and before they left the stage, the bass player with hair like Pauly Shore casually walked up, bent all the way over and presented me with a guitar pick, a bashful smile and then he ran off stage.

"I think that just made my night." I said looking down at the pick in my hand.

"The nights not over yet." Pete said right in my ear making me shiver a little, "Cold?"

I looked at him, shaking my head and saw that stupid little smirk of his reappear.

Soon Dashboard Confessional were taking the stage, and it was so dream-like to be standing there watching them that I almost needed to pinch myself. They were amazing, and the entire crowd seemed to be singing along to every word. Pete and I were no exception.

Their show flew by and they played all of their best songs, ending the set with Vindicated, however, after a bit of coaxing, they came back and played an encore of Hands Down.

I noticed part way through the last song that at some point Pete's arms had made their way around me. I smiled back at him and pulled him a little closer. Then as everyone in the room sang 'and I knew that you meant it, that you meant it, that you meant it...' over and over, I was pretty sure that this had been the best concert ever.

Dashboard said goodnight, left the stage for good and slowly everyone began making their way out of the venue. Pete and I stayed near the front of the stage until most of the people had left, then he took my hand.

"So, did you like it?"

"Are you kidding? That was incredible, Pete." I shook my head. "Thank you so much for bringing me."

Pete smiled, shrugged and we started moving towards the doors.

As we walked out, we were stopped by at least a half dozen people who either had to tell Pete Wentz how awesome he was or just wanted to say hi. I was getting a little weirded out, but he was taking it all in stride.

"Sorry about all that..." He sighed, "It just happens sometimes. I guess they don't really make exceptions when I'm on a date or whatever..."

'It's okay,' I shrugged, and tried to play it off.

I was pretty sure he could see right through me, but he didn't say anything. He just gave my hand a squeeze and offered a reassuring smile before we got in his car to head home.

"So, is it okay if I walk you to your door?" Pete wondered pulling up to the curb in front of my house. "You know, make sure you get there safely?"

I looked over at him and the hopeful little grin he was wearing told me that wasn't all he was asking if he could do.

"I would love it if you walked me to my door." I played along.

He jumped out, ran around to my side of the car and opened my door for me.

"Thanks," I laughed as he helped me out.

"You're welcome."

I had pushed the thoughts about him apparently being such a big deal to the back of my head and was more worried about the fact that I would probably be kissing him in less than 3 minutes.

As we made our way up the footpath, I found myself wishing the stone walkway was both longer and shorter. Longer so that I would have more time to prepare for what was coming, and shorter because I didn't want to wait another second.

"Well heres my door." I mumbled, as we climbed the porch steps, "Looks like we made it in one piece."

Pete was smiling, and he took a little step closer, resting his hands on my waist.
I was quickly growing more anxious than I could ever remember feeling and my cheeks were burning up. I was trying to think of something else to say like 'I had a really great time', but it was like all my thoughts were getting stuck to the inside of my head and nothing would come out.

Before I knew what was happening Pete's lips had crashed against mine and it took me a second to realize that we were kissing. Or at least that we were trying to.

First it was uncomfortable because my lips were too dry, then he pressed a little too hard and it kind of hurt my top lip, and as we tried to recover, our teeth clacked together. He pulled away with a sigh.

"I'm sorry." He shook his head, "That was awful."

I didn't want to agree with him, so I bit my lip and looked up at him apologetically, "I'm sorry..."

"No, it was me," He took a step back, looked away and gave his arms a shake, "Ah, I'm just so fucking nervous."

"Aw," I laughed and admitted, "Me too, Pete. Oh my God..."

"Really?" He asked looking at me again.

I could feel myself turning pink again, but nodded, "So nervous."

He sighed again smiling awkwardly, "I totally screwed up our first kiss. Love, I swear, I'm usually better at this."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," I tried then giggled, "Dude, worst case scenario, we just get to spend some free time trying to get it right."

He nodded slowly and that little smirk had returned when he said, "I could think of worse things, but who knows how long it might take..."

"Well I have all night..."

It was my turn to smirk, and he moved his arms around me again.

"It's too bad some of us have places to be in the morning..." He shrugged playfully.

I gave him a 'whatever' look and responded with a ladylike. "Shut up and kiss me again."

He pulled me close to him and his lips found their way back to mine.

Our second kiss was gentle, slow and as each moment passed it grew deeper and more passionate. I could feel the intensifying urgency of it right down to my toes, then suddenly he pulled away and rested his forehead against mine as we caught our breath.

"Oi," I whispered, "That was..."

"Better."

"Yeah," I cuddled into him. "Wow."

He squeezed me back and laughed, "Pretty much."

"So... I had a really good time with you tonight." I managed after a few moments, "Dinner was great and the show was unbelievable. Thank you for bringing me."

"Thank you for coming. I couldn't have found a better plus one anywhere." He shrugged, "I... uh... Can I stop by tomorrow sometime?"

"Sure, I should be around all day," I nodded.

"How bout around four?"

I smiled sheepishly, "Not gonna lie, I might still be in my pajamas. Possibly even still in bed..."

"Perfect."

He stole another quick little kiss and we finally said goodnight.