Fall Out Boy || We've Been Planning Something Big

Pete shuffled along in the general direction of the warehouse. His heart was fluttering a little faster than usual, and he couldn't help but feel the pounding of adrenaline in his veins.

Had he really gotten up the nerve and kissed Joss? Sure, it was just a friendly kiss on the cheek. She had probably thought nothing of it. But he would be lying if he said he didn't feel any sparks between them.

Hard to believe that it was less than six months ago that the pair had met. They'd been at odds in the beginning, had hardly agreed on anything. But they'd worked together, mellowed out, and become close friends.

Now it appeared that the friendship was blossoming into something else entirely.

What would happen if Joss and I-

A scream snapped the Hunter abruptly from his musings. It was the high-pitched, terrified shriek of someone in trouble. And that someone sounded a lot like...

"Joss!" Pete cursed, tearing back to the streetlight on Trinity Avenue.

Trinity was deserted, but Jocelyn's screams were coming from an alley connecting the street to Park Boulevard. The scuffle of movement in the shadows was enough to confirm his belief that she was there. Pete cracked his knuckles, anger flaring in his chest. If some scumbag had done anything to her, he would personally make his last few moments of life a living hell.

With a roar, he launched himself into the alley. But the scene that met his eyes astonished him.

No less than twenty vampires, all of them from the Punk gang, had Joss surrounded. They pressed in around her, taunting her, pushing her, daring her to get away. She cowered in the center, looking frightened and calling desperately for help.

"HEY!" Pete bellowed. "Leave her alone, bastards!"

One vampire who appeared to be the leader broke away from the group, glaring daggers at Pete. He wasn't a very pretty vampire. He was bald, all except a row of stitches that looked like wiry hair. And it looked like he got into a fight with his eyeliner; the eyeliner obviously won and sported its victory by streaking a spider-web of lines from around his eyes. The rest of the Punks stopped what they were doing and watched, while still keeping an eye on Joss, making sure she couldnt escape and stop their fun.

"Is she yours, then?" the Punk asked, daring Pete to defy him, looking for a fight.

"Damn right, she's mine." He glowered at the other vampire, pure hatred expelling any fear from his body. His senses were heightened, and he had never been more aware of his vampiric gifts.

"Well, in that case," the Punk leader said softly, nodding to the group. Another Punk shoved Joss roughly through the mass of people. "You can have her. She's all yours. As a matter of fact, why don't we hold her for you? She looks like a fighter." The second vampire grabbed Joss, pinning her arms at her sides and exposing her neck.

Pete felt the involuntary protrusion of his fangs. Was that the adrenaline clouding the edges of his vision, or was it bloodlust?

Her eyes grew wide and pleading. "Pete, please! No! Help me!" she cried.

"'Pete, help me!'" the leader mocked. "What is she, your girlfriend?" Pete was pushed forward by the Punks, leaving no room between Joss and himself. "Well, then, Petey-boy. Kiss her. Kiss your girlfriend."

The other vampires picked up a chant. "Kiss her, kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!"

"No!" Joss cried. "Someone, help! Please!"

Pete pushed against the arms restraining him. With his heightened senses, he could hear every pulse of her heartbeat, smell the blood in her body...he could practically taste it, and it was right there, right in front of him, for him to take. His fangs brushed her collarbone, and a rush of bloodlust nearly knocked him out.

No, said a firm voice in his head. Not only is that a living, breathing human being, that's Joss. I won't become a killer, not like this.

He bit hard into the arm of the Punk leader.

Hisses and gasps escaped from the Punks. How dare he defy their leader like that?! But in their shock, they had forgotten about Joss, and she ran like her life depended on it which it did.

Pete swung at the vampires as they charged him. He connected with, and cracked, faces, skulls and ribs with his fist, dazing some vampires and disabling a few more. He'd have to fight his way out of this mess, but he'd saved Joss.

It was worth it.

One Joss was a good distance away from certain death she stopped to look at the fray. She was breathing heavy and her heart was beating out of her chest, but she was still alive. Pete was throwing punches left and right, releasing his fury. Those Punks didn't have a chance against Pete, even if he was out numbered. Joss gave a little smile. She knew she owed that boy now.