[Chapter Seven : Stolen Breaths and Locked Lips]

I woke up to his scent. How long had I dreamt of coming home and falling asleep with the guy I had loved for almost my entire life. We had always been strictly best friends, nothing more and nothing less. But everytime I fell asleep in his bed, next to him as strictly his best friend, I always found myself wanting more out of it. More than to be his best friend. It was always a farfetched, unreachable dream for me. But when I had met Mason, I told myself it was true love. Told myself we loved each other and would get married. When deep down, I knew I was in love with my best friend. Cliche as it is, that's how it was.

"How long are you gonna lay there with your eyes closed?" He asked me twirling a piece of my hair in his fingers.

"I don't know. Depends on how long you knew I was awake?"

"A while. I can tell anything about you Kelsey. That is one of the privelages of being your best friend forever. And now, more than best friends. In a way."

I smiled at the sound of 'more than best friends' rolling off his tongue.

"You like the way that sounds as well?" He asked me, rolling onto his side.

"Yeah." I said with a sigh and a smile.

"Good." He said leaning over and giving me another kiss. I got time to kiss him back this time before the door pushed open.

"Are you two...Oh man!" Joe said before running out of the room. I laughed into the kiss and Pete couldn't contain himself. He exploded into a fit of laughter as well. He was still leaning over me when Joe came back, dragging Patrick by the hand.

"What?" I asked with an innocent smile.

"You and Pete were......."

"What Joe? Never seen two people kiss before?" Pete asked him, teasing him.

Joe flicked him off before walking out of the room. I smiled, happier than I had been since I had come home.

"Come on, lets go get something to eat. I'm starving." He told me getting out of bed

"You are always starving." I told him.

"Are you calling me fat?" He said putting his hands on his hips like a girl.

"No....not at all." I said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Your gonna get it darling." He said diving onto the bed and tickling me. "Say I'm not fat. NOW!"

"NEVER!"

"Say it or else you die!"

"Ok...You....aren't....fat." I said between laughs.

"Good girl. Now come on." He said offering me and hand and helping me up. I smirked and took his hand.

"At least... not.. That fat..." I said, letting go of Pete's and and running out of the room.

"Oh! That's it! You're done for!!" Pete yelled, running after me. I screamed and took off down the stairs.

"JOOOOOOOE!!!!!! Save me!!" I screamed, quickly hiding behind him.

"From what? Why? No, you have Pete germs. That kids dirty..." Joe said, laughing and getting out of the way of Pete, who was running straight at us.

I ran out the door and around the house to the backyard. Pete was right behind me. He was chasing me around the house for the second time when there was a loud crack of thunder and it started raining. Big deal, it was just rain. I kept running and he kept chasing. As I ran down the trail to the lake, avoiding the growing mud puddles, I wondered if our fort was still in the woods.

"Kelsey! Wait!" Pete yelled over the rain. I was getting tired of running so I slowed down and he came up next to me. He looked at me. "Say you're sorry or I'll throw you in the lake."

"I'm sorry!" I replied, not wanting to get any more wet.

Pete smiled and took my hand. We slowly walked onto the beach, trying to catch our breath. Just then there was another loud crack of thunder. The lightning struck the sand infront of us. My jaw dropped and I started at Pete. He had the same expression.

"Wow..." We both said at the same time.

"What just happened?"

"We could have almost died."

"Did we?"

"No. Fucking moron." I said, laughing as I walked over to where the lightning had hit the sand. I held out my hand to him, "Come 'ere Peterpan, look at this."

"Its just like that movie..."

"Yeah. It is."

"So what happens next?" Pete asked, pulling me close to him.

"Hmm... I think it was something kinda like this." I said, kissing him gently on the lips. I felt him smile as he kissed back.

The cold wind off the lake was picking up and the rain started coming down harder. I was cold but didnt want to let go of Pete. The warmth from his body was enough to keep me in his arms forever. I'm not sure how long we stood there for, just watching the waves hit the shore, but it was a long time.

"Come on. Lets go home. I'm still hungry." Pete said, letting go of me.

"Way to ruin a perfect moment." I laughed. "But yeah... I'm kinda hungry now too." I replied, taking the hand he had held out to me. "And I'm fucking cold."

"Ugh. I'll get you more dry clothes when we get home."

"Psh! You say it like you dont want me wearing your clothes."

"OH! I dont mind you wearing them, I just dont want to have to wash all of them."

"Yeah right. Like you do the laundry anyways!" I joked. "Wait, are you calling me dirty?"

"Maybe I am... Maybe I'm not... You'll never know!" Pete replied, a big smile on his face.

"Well maybe I'll just have to go home and get my own clothes and never talk to you again!" I told him, crossing my arms. Pete laughed and took my hand back.

"You love me too much to do that."

I smiled and we walked the rest of the way home in silence.

"Hi Dale. Hi mom..." I said as me and Pete walked in the door. "Mom?! What are you doing here?"

She laughed and looked at the two of us. "Visiting with my friend. Is that ok?"

"Um yeah. Sorry. I just wasnt expecting to see you." I replied, letting go of Pete's hand. I didnt want them to think anything, yet.

"Um... We're uh... Gonna go get some lunch." Pete said, grabbing my arm and dragging me back out the door.

"Woahhhhh Petey. Slow down!" I said, pulling the door shut as I tripped down the steps. He kept walking. "Pete! Stop!"

"Sorry..." He muttered, kicking at the ground. It was still raining.

"What's wrong?"

He shrugged.

"Ok... Well... I you dont wanna be in your house, we can go to mine." I offered.

He shrugged again.

"Peter, stop it!" I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the street to my house. I let go of his hand as we walked in the door, giving him the choice of coming upstairs or not for dry clothes. He followed me. "Will you tell me what's wrong now?"

"There's nothing wrong." He replied.

"Dont lie to me."

"I'm not."

"Then why are you acting like this?"

"I dont know." Pete said loudly.

"Uhh... ok then." I shook my head and walked over to my closet. I grabbed two pairs of jeans and tossed one over to Pete, who had already removed his soaking wet hoodie and tshirt. He slipped on the jeans as I dug through my closet of a shirt, bra, and underwear. I turned around.

"I'll go wait in the kitchen." Pete said simply, walking out my bedroom door. I quickly changed and brought all of our wet clothes down to the laundry room.

"So..." I opened up the pantry to see what we had for food. "We've got a whole lotta nothing. Ya wanna go out? It'd be on me?"

"Sure." Pete nodded. "But I'm paying."

"Psh! Like hell you are!"

"Kelsey, the guy always pays."

"Tell that to Mason." I said bitterly.

"I swear to fucking god. You say that name one more time and I'm gonna... uh... well you'll just have to wait and see!" Pete replied, a little frustration in his voice.

"Fine. Whatever. But I get to choose where we eat aaaannnnnd I get to drive!" I told him.

"You're such a pain."

"You love me."

"I do." Pete replied. "But uh... before we go, do you think I could get a shirt or something?"

I laughed. "No! You gotta go out shirtless!" I said. "Wait... No. Then all the girls will want you and steal you from me because they're cool and easy and there's lots of them!"

"There were so many lies in that sentence I dont even know where to start." Pete said, shaking his head and walking towards the stairs. "So instead, I'll go find myself a shirt. All by my self."

"You do that." I told him. "Just dont touch my underwear!"

Pete gave me that famous smirk and then bolted up the stairs. I heard my door slam.

"Peter Wentz!" I screamed, running up the stairs. I could hear him laughing inside. "Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz! Open this door or I'll never ever kiss you again! And that's a promise!!"

The door opened not a second later with a still shirtless Pete standing on the other side, an innocent smile on his face.

"Wow... That worked way better than I thought it would." I said laughing as I walked through the door way.

"Very funny." He replied, taking the shirt that I was holding out for him. It was black and said American Nightmare across the chest.

"Now lets go!" I said, pulling him out the door as soon as he got the shirt over his head. I tossed him the keys. "I hate driving in the rain."

Pete nodded and we ran out to the car. "How's Panera sound?" He asked, backing out of my driveway.

"Sounds like the place I would have taken us too if I was driving." I said, smiling over at him as I put in my Arma Angelus cd; Where Sleeplessness Is Rest From Nightmares.

I watched as a smile crept across Pete's as An Anthem For Those Without Breath And Heart started playing. "I havent listened to this in ever!" Pete told me, turning the volume up a little.

"Breathe their control. Breathe their control!!" Pete and I said/screamed along with the music. I started laughing when the song finished.

"What??" Pete asked, turning the volume back down.

"Listening to this makes me picture you in boys clothes..." I told him, laughing some more.

"I dont get it..."

"You looked like such a dork in those stupid baggy jeans and wife beaters." I said, biting my lip to keep from laughing again. He didnt say anything for a minute.

"Yeah... I did look pretty fucking stupid, didnt I?" Pete asked. I nodded. "But I look good now, right?"

"You do indeed Peterpan." I sighed. "You've grown up."

"Only physically..." He said, turning the music back up and screaming/singing along.

"I pray for a heart that will save my own..." I mouthed the words to myself, watching Pete out of the corner of my eye.

Just as the song finished, we pulled into the Panera parking lot. The rain had now slowed down to a light drizzle and we walked inside.

"Lets get ice cream at Homer's when we're done!" I said, jumping up and down like a little kid. Pete laughed. "I havent been there in... well... Since I left."

"Yeah..." He said as we got in line to order. "Since you left..."