“Shot gun, mother fuckers!!!” I laughed and jumped into the front seat of Joe’s SUV. We listened to Lil Wayne all the way to the party. It was going to be a big celebrity party and I was very excited. I was going to be in heaven. Pete got in behind me and slapped me across the head.
“I wanted the front seat.” He pouted.
“Stop it, Wentz!”
“No, Sempton!”
“Guys, chill. Hurry up, Patty!” Joe called.
“I’m coming! I just had to get off the phone with Rose.”
“Rose? Is she coming?” I asked.
“She told me not to get her a flight. She was working on some music with Jeremy.” Patrick rolled his eyes and hopped in the car. As soon as Patrick’s door was closed Joe floored it. We all screamed and laughed. As we pulled up to the house I could hear music playing on the inside.
“Yeah! Let’s go!” I shouted.
“You’re only eighteen… I won’t let you drink.”
“Shut up, Pete. I’m drinking. Get over it.” He laughed. I jumped out of the car and we all strolled into the house. Girls in bikinis, boys doing cocaine, girls winning in shot contests, and both of them dancing the night away on the dance floor. I saw Travie from Gym Class Heroes and ran up to him.
“Travie!”
“Eva!”
“Hey, so… there’s something I’ve always wanted you to do for me.”
“Yeah?”
“Will you draw a picture on my converse?”
“Hell yeah! Where are the sharpies?”
“I have some in my purse in Joe’s car outside.”
“Let’s go then!” I smiled and latched arms with Travie. As I walked by Pete, I winked. Patrick stopped me on my way out.
“Have you had anything to drink?” His slurred words were hilarious. We’d only been there for thirty minutes and Patrick was wasted.
“No! We’ve only been here for thirty minutes!”
“I know. I’m a party person.”
“Okay, Patty. Well you have fun. Travie is going to draw on my converse.” I smiled and walked by. A lot of eyes were on me, probably wondering what I was doing there… or what I was doing with Travie. I smiled and waved.
“You’d be good at the runway thing.” Travie noted.
“Why? What do you mean?”
“The whole innocent girl thing. You would rock the runway.”
“Well thank you, Trav. You wouldn’t be half bad yourself.” I smiled.
“So, I haven’t seen Ash in a while. Where’s she been?”
“California, I think.” I looked at him and he kinda looked away. We got to Joe’s car and I handed him some sharpies. He wrote mine and his name in graffiti letters.
“Eva, I have to tell you something.”
“Yeah, Trav?”
“I think Ashlee and Pete are meeting secretly.” My world started spinning.
“Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know, Eva. But if you confront Pete about it… don’t say I told you.” I smiled through my confusion and stuck out my pinky.
“Pinky promise.” He laughed and put our pinky’s together. I walked back into the party and Travie immediately split off to see William Beckett. I was now in the heat of a party, alone. I made my way up to the bar.
“What can I get you, pretty lady?”
“Cosmopolitan,” I said looking around for Pete or Patrick.
“Sure thing. Someone like you wouldn’t be alone at a party like this… I don’t think.”
“Oh… well, I’m not alone. Just walked off with Travie to have him draw on my converse and lost everybody.” I smiled. He set the cosmopolitan down.
“So then who are you here with?”
“Fall Out Boy.” I smiled at him.
“With a particular band member?” He smiled back. He was really cute.
“Hanging with all of them. Exclusively with Pete.” He looked at me funny.
“I just saw Pete with Ashlee Simpson.” I felt the blood drain from my head.
“You what?”
“He just walked off with Ashlee. He seemed kind of drunk. I served him a few shots before he walked off.” I wanted to get up and find him at that very moment… but I wanted to get to know this bartender more.
“So, what’s your name?”
“Taylor.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Eva. When can you leave this bar?”
“Well… I’m set to tend all night. But I’m sure someone would cover for me, why?”
“Do you think you can get away now?” I looked around for anyone I knew as I downed the rest of the cosmopolitan.
“Yeah, can you wait a minute?”
“Sure.” I resituated myself on the bar stool. Taylor walked away and made a few drinks and passed them out to the other people at the bar. He walked into the kitchen next to the bar and came back out with a pretty girl. She put on an apron and immediately started taking orders. He winked and walked around.
“So, what are we doing?” He leaned against the bar next to me. He was very close, that’s when I saw his icy blue eyes. I smiled at him.
“Your eyes are beautiful.” I didn’t think about it until after I said it. “I mean… uhmm…”
“No, Eva. You’re gorgeous. But if you got me away from the job to tell me my eyes are beautiful…”
“No, no, no. I just noticed. Wanna dance?”
“I’d be glad to.” I smiled and latched arms with him. Taylor was really nice. If I wasn’t already with Pete I would totally get with him. Pete. I hadn’t seen him in forever and I hadn’t thought of him until just now.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” Take You Down by Chris Brown was playing and we were slow dancing. I was looking into his icy blue eyes.
“When you saw Pete walk away with Ashlee… did he look…”
“Eva!?” I jumped out of Taylor’s arms and turned around.
“Pete.” I glared at him. Taylor stayed close by… but didn’t touch me.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I don’t know, Pete. Where’s Ashlee? I thought you were having a lot of fun with her.” I crossed my arms.
“W… what? Who told you that?”
“That’s none of your business. But what is MY business is what you were doing with that skank!”
“Who are you calling skank?” Ashlee walked up. A few people were staring… but most people couldn’t hear what we were saying over the music.
“Oh… I’m sorry. I think I was talking about you.” I smiled at her and looked back at Pete. Pete looked nervously between me and Ashley. Taylor was still standing a safe distance back.
“Eva Christine Sempton, you have crossed the line.”
“Aw… what is little Ashlee Simpson gonna do? Is she gonna go cry to her big sister?”
“Guys, stop, please?” Pete said. Ashlee and I snapped our heads towards Pete glaring at him.
“Shut the fuck up, Pete.” I said. At the same time Ashlee also spoke.
“Go on… tell her.” She smirked.
“Tell me what, bitch?” I took a step closer to her. A few more people had caught onto the fight and camera’s were flashing.
“Oh, you didn’t know then.” She flashed that evil smile. I took another step closer and got right in her face, whispering to her.
“Let me tell you something, you little bitch.” I started. She backed away, but with every step she took, I also took a step. Taylor and Pete were following behind us. The whole time Pete was begging me to stop. “You better stay the hell away from my man. You need to back the fuck off of him and stop fucking around on my best friend. YOU have put yourself in the worst situation you can imagine, fucking around with my boyfriend and cheating on my best friend.” By the time I finished my speech, she was backed up into the wall and I was right in her face. I’m sure she could feel my breath. I glared right into her eyes.
“Back off, bitch, before someone gets hurt.” She pushed me away. I shook my head and threw a punch right into her right cheek. She slid down to the floor.
“The only one that’s gonna get hurt is you.” She stood up.
“Oh, hell no!” She jumped back up and went to punch me, but I grabbed her fist and punched her left cheek. Now we had all eyes on us. Pete pulled me away from her, and Taylor pulled her away from me.
“Stop fucking hitting her!” Pete yelled.
“Get the fuck off me! Get the fuck off me! Don’t fucking touch me!” I started shouting. Pete threw me back away from Ashlee. I would have fallen, but Patrick caught me.
“What the fuck is going on!?” Patrick glared at Pete who had left bruises on my arms and had tossed me back. Had it not been for Patrick, I probably would have hit my head on the ground and blacked out. Pete ran over to Ashlee, ignoring Patrick and Taylor ran over to me.
“Eva, are you okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine. I thought I was so in love with that boy.” I started crying when I realized that I would never be able to think of him the same.
“Hey, I don’t know who you are. And you obviously know who she is… but can we have a minute?” Patrick looked at Taylor.
“Sure. I’ll be at the bar, Eva.”
“See ya, Tay.” Patrick held onto me as the tears streamed out of my eyes. He guided me to a quiet room. The paparazzi was going to love this.
“Eva, what happened?”
“It’s Ashlee and Pete.”
“Oh, fuck, Eva. What happened?”
“I don’t really know what happened. But Travie said something about them. And then I couldn’t find Pete. Then I went to the bar and the bartender, Taylor, the guy I was with, told me that Pete and Ashlee had just walked away together. I started talking to him… trying to get Pete out of my mind. He was nice and we were dancing. Pete came up to me and it went downhill from there. Patrick, she’s cheating on Jeremy, my BEST FUCKING FRIEND… and she’s doing it with MY boyfriend!” He hugged me tighter and rubbed my hair.
“I’m sorry, Eva. I never should have let him have you. I knew he would break your heart.” Patrick started crying, too.
“Patrick… do you still love me?”
Silence.
“Patrick…”
“Eva, I’m not going to lie and say ’no.’ but I’m also not going to lie and say ’yes.’ I love you, Eva, but not like I did. I really do love Rose. And when that gets out to the paparazzi… I’m probably facing a lawsuit.”
“Okay.”
“Do you still love me, Eva?”
“Right now… you’re the only person I could ever imagine myself loving.”
“Eva, you know I’m with Rose.”
“I know. I’m not asking you to be with me. I just wondered.” There was a knock on the door. I wiped away my tears.
“Who is it?” Patrick asked.
“It’s Pete.”
“Pete, go the fuck away!” I shouted. He rattled the door.
“Please let me in!”
“Just leave her alone for a little while, Pete.”
“Just leave me alone forever!”
Pete’s PoV:
There was so much going on. But I knew that Ashlee was the only one hurt and that I needed to make sure she was okay. I could check on Eva in a minute. I ran up to Ashlee and led her to the kitchen where I got some ice for her face.
“I have to go check on Eva. And like I said when we walked away… this isn’t going to work out between us. I love her, Ashlee. You know I do.”
“Pete, didn’t you hear the way she talked about me?”
“Yeah, and she was kind of right. But she shouldn’t have hit you once, and she hit you twice. So, I had to make sure you were okay. It was my fault.”
“No, Pete, it was my fault. And I’m sorry. Please tell her that I’m sorry… for everything that I’ve caused in her life.”
“I will.” I walked away. Joe came up to me.
“What happened?”
“I don’t have time to explain. You know where Eva and Patrick went?”
“In that room.” He pointed. I pushed through the people and knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Pete.”
“Pete, go the fuck away!” Eva shouted. I felt my heart drop. I rattled the door.
“Please let me in!”
“Just leave her alone for a little while, Pete.” I heard Patrick’s depressed voice.
“Just leave me alone forever!” I felt the hot tears sting my eyes. Just then there was a flash. I turned to see more paparazzi.
“FUCK OFF! TAKE ONE MORE FUCKING PICTURE AND I WILL BREAK EVERY SINGLE LAST CAMERA IN THIS WHOLE FUCKING PLACE!” They looked at me in shock and then walked away. They were going to make this what it isn’t… and I only knew one way to fix it.
“Eva, we have to talk.”
“Please leave?”
“Not until we talk.”
Patrick’s PoV:
Eva stood up and walked to the door, unlocking it and yanking it open.
“What, Pete?” He walked in, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck.
“I’m so sorry, Eva. I don’t know what got into me. But I do know that I owe you an explanation and an apology, even if you don’t want to be with me. It’s the least I could do. I really want to make this up to you. But it’s up to you. Will you hear me out?”
“Yeah… I will.”
“On camera?”
“Why on camera?” I snapped.
“Well, you know how the paparazzi is… and I really want our fans to know the truth. And I was gonna put it on Fall Out Boy rock.” I looked at Eva.
“Fine, but don’t expect an acted ‘it’s okay, I still love you, Pete’ attitude.”
“Fine.” Pete set down the camera and started it. Then the words started flowing out of his mouth.
“Right before we went on tour, Ashlee started leaving notes in my jacket pockets. They basically said ‘I still love you and I wish I could be with you. I really do like Jeremy and I don’t want to hurt him… blah blah blah.’ She really wanted me to meet up with her and talk about how we went wrong… so I agreed. We met in private at her friend’s apartment. It’s a miracle the paparazzi didn’t get a hold of pictures of that. We talked for a while on her friends couch and as soon as her friend stepped out of the house to go to the store, she kissed me. I don’t know what it was, but something about it seemed refreshing at the time. I kissed back, with no intention of going any farther. And I didn’t. When I left I made sure it was clear that we weren’t meeting again. But she called me crying about some guy that hurt her, and so I met up with her again. I don’t love her like I did, but I still do love her as a friend and care for her. She didn’t make a move on me, just talked. By the time she had finished telling her story she had tears streaming down her face… and I just really wanted to kiss her and make everything better. So I did. I didn’t know that it was going to start a revolution. She called me over and over and over the next few days. I finally called her back and met up with her at Angels and Kings earlier when I told you that I had an interview. Patrick found me of course and made me promise that what happened with me and Ashlee was over and that you would never find out about it and would never be in pain from it. But tonight, when I was waiting at the bar for you to get back, Ashlee came up to me. I had quite a few drinks when she came up, and she quickly lured me away. She brought me into a room and laid me down. I kept saying ‘no.’ You probably don’t believe me… but I really did. She wouldn’t listen to me. I pushed her off of me and explained to her why I couldn’t do that. She at least pretended to understand. I left the room and came looking for you. That’s when I saw you and that guy dancing. And you obviously know the rest of the story. When you and Patrick walked away I got Ashlee some ice and then came straight for you. I’m sorry, Eva. And if you can’t forgive me… I can completely understand that. I just want you to know that I am genuinely sorry and I never meant to hurt you.” The camera was still rolling and there was a few seconds of silence.
“You knew, Patrick. You didn’t tell me.”
“He promised it was over… and I never wanted you to know that people could be so cruel. And that anyone would ever do that to you. I wanted to save you from that. That obviously didn’t work.” I grabbed her hand as I talked. She didn’t yank it away, so I figured she wasn’t too mad at me.
“It’s going to take a long time for me to trust either of you again. I’m not saying there’s no future for us, Pete, and I’m not saying that you and I won’t be best friends again someday, Patrick. I just need some time to get over you both betraying me. I’m not going to cause problems with everyone else. I’m still going to talk to both of you guys, acquaintances… friends. But probably never what we were. Thank you, though, Patrick, for protecting me. And thank you, Pete, for explaining to me. I know how hard that must be. And if you don’t mind… I’d like to find Joe and Andy and go back to the tour bus now.” I stood up.
“Eva, thanks. And Joe got us a hotel room.” Pete spoke. Did he really expect her to sleep in the same bed as him.
“That would be nice.” She stood up and walked out the door. Joe was standing there.
“Can we leave, Joe?”
“Yeah, let’s go. Andy already left.” We were almost out the door, then Eva got frantic.
“Hold on a second!” She ran back to the bar and talked to Taylor for a minute. She got out her phone, obviously saving his number. She hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek then ran back to us.
Eva’s PoV:
As soon as I got in the car I turned on my iPod and listened to everything but Fall Out Boy. I drifted to sleep. I really wanted to cry or scream… but I knew there would be no use. Pete had apologized and Patrick had only been looking out for me… and it would all go away sooner if I just let it blow over. That was very not like me back in that room… but it felt good to be the one who was mature. And it felt good to know that if you’re mature… everyone else will be, too. I wondered if the fans would be mad at Pete for hurting me like that. I would eventually find out… but all I could think about was sleep. Pete woke me up when we got to the hotel. I crawled into the king-sized bed, with my back to the other side of the bed. Pete crawled in on the other side and put his arm around me.
“I’m sorry, Eva.”
“I know…” I heard him sigh. “I forgive you.” I could feel him give a faint smile.
“Is there an us?” I rolled over and looked him right in the eyes.
“I could never stop loving you. But I’ve already stopped trusting you. And as far as I’m concerned… if there’s no trust, then there’s no love between us. It’ll come back, Pete. Give it time.”
“I love you, Eva.”
“Wentz, don’t put me in that situation. I can’t lie to you.”
“What would be the lie?”
“Saying that I don’t love you.” Pete nodded and looked into my eyes for a second. He kissed my forehead.
“Goodnight, Eva. Thank you so much for being so understanding. I’m not used to girls who can do that.”
“Goodnight, Pete.” And with that, I went to sleep comfortably in Pete’s arms with his heartbeat next to my ear. It never felt more right… It never felt more wrong.
