p dir="ltr"Kitty ran down the city street, then stopped, worried that she'd start sweating, then started running again, worried she might miss him, then stopped and realized...she had no idea where she was going./p
p dir="ltr"That was kind of a problem./p
p dir="ltr"She fumbled her cell phone out of her bag and clumsily texted Peter:/p
p dir="ltr""Where are you guys leaving from?"/p
p dir="ltr"The perfect message. Subtle, cool, totally calm, totally collected. Not a hint of desperation...she hoped. She hit send before she could think too much about it and change her mind./p
p dir="ltr"Kitty leaned against the brick building she had frozen in front of, pressing her back into the rough mortared stones. For a moment, she felt the anxiety about to hit her in a massive wave. Was she being an idiot, jumping to conclusions about some guy she barely knew?/p
p dir="ltr"She bit her lip, holding back the hint of tears and holding her breath, just as her phone buzzed in her hand. She felt a shock go through her whole body; not surprise, but the pleasant buzz of liking someone and hoping they liked you back and having a moment where you think you've found proof that they do. What should have been the abject definition of that "joy buzzer."/p
p dir="ltr""outside of that brunhilda divebar place. r manager is dating the owner, ship she's letting us use her loading doc"/p
p dir="ltr"He had slapped a winking smiley face emoticon on the end for good measure./p
p dir="ltr"She knew the bar vaguely. Though she had never gone, Danny had described his dates with Misty there in great detail. Misty was friends with the owner. Her name was Val, maybe? Logan was a fan our their selection off Canadian beers, she recalled vaguely./p
p dir="ltr"Kitty changed directions, jogging lightly towards Brunnhilde's, and continued to push panicked thoughts or of her head. She tried to make her inner voice into Felicia's self confidence, or even Patsy's goofy self assured attitude, but she kept falling back into what Jen called her "mope-trap"; a series of what if questions that got progressively more upsetting and demoralizing as she kept dwelling on the most dour perspective of a single topic. She was pretty good about avoiding the traps, as long as she stay active and didn't dwell on the unknown (or unknowable dangers), but today, with Peter, and the rest of his bandmates, and her showing up uninvited, and, worst of all, the tour bus.../p
p dir="ltr"With her thoughts occupied, she want paying attention to where she was going, and promptly smacked into what she first thought was a person, then a large bike, and then she realized was a well-built blond man in a wheelchair./p
p dir="ltr"She scrambled back, face bright red. "I'm so, so sorry! I want looking where I was going. Oh God."/p
p dir="ltr"She was about to cover her face in shame when the man smiled jovial at her. "No sweat. I happen to enjoy when girls try to fall into my lap. Makes it easier than trying to get up." He gestured to the plaid blanket conveying his legs before whispering conspiratorally, "don't tell my girlfriend, though. She could crush me."/p
p dir="ltr"He laughed, then looked over to the doorway of the building he sat in front of. "Uh oh, too late."/p
p dir="ltr"He winked, and Kitty looked up to see a statuesque woman with long blonde braids plaited down her back carrying a 50 pound amp like it was nothing./p
p dir="ltr"The man grinned at the woman, and shouted, "not my fault, Val. She totally threw herself at me!"/p
p dir="ltr"The woman snorted, rolling her eyes and depositing the amp on the sidewalk. "Just like high school all over again, huh Flash?"/p
p dir="ltr"He laughed and shrugged. "What can I say?"/p
p dir="ltr""It's not like we can just turn off the charm, right?" This new voice was familiar, the same warm rumbly tone of.../p
p dir="ltr"Peter stood in front of Kitty, a grin so big and genuine it was infectious./p
p dir="ltr"She smiled up at him, and all the mope-traps she had created internally melted away as he enveloped her in a warm hug./p
p dir="ltr"She caught him softly whisper into the top of her hair, "you came."/p