Five Foot Six Inches of Trouble

Chapter 24

Pete stood up from his chair. Oh no. No no no no no no no. He was coming to get me. I looked at Tonia, panicked. What was I going to do? I'm not a good public speaker. People were going to hate me. I knew it. By the time Pete got to me I was hyperventilating. I tried to hide it. Pete held out his hand. I stared at it for a moment before taking it. He led me to the desk. There was no chair for me so I just sat on his lap. I just looked at everyone for a second. They looked as shocked as I felt. Pete wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Say hi." He whispered into my back.

I took the microphone from the stand. I cleared my throat before speaking. "Um, hi everyone. I'm Cricket. You all probably knew that."

"How'd you meet Pete?" Someone shouted.

I smiled at the memory. "At a concert. He threw me and my friend backstage passes. We kissed not more than a half hour later and I've loved him ever since."

The room started buzzing again, more writing occurring.

"Where are you from?" Another person shouted.

"A small town an hour away from DC. You've probably never heard of it."

"Do any of your friends or family know about your engagement with Pete?"

"Actually, my mom does. And my best friends Tonia and Jillian do because..." I paused. I looked over at Joe.

He took over from there. "Jillian is my fiancée." More gasps erupted in the room. I thought the hands of the writers would fall off. "Sadly she's not here today though. You'll meet her eventually."

I raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged.

"Cricket how does it feel to be dating one of the most talked about people in the world?"

I paused to think for a moment. "I've never really thought about it that way. I just know that it feels like I'm engaged to the most wonderful guy I've ever met. I don't feel like he's famous. Half the time I forget. He's just the perfectly weird guy that I can't wait to get married to. That's it I guess."

More writing. The scratching of the pencils and pens were going to drive me crazy.

"When's the wedding?"

"I'm not sure actually. Whenever the tour ends and he's not busy I guess."

Pete leaned his head on my back. I guessed he was closing his eyes for a minute. I didn't blame him. This was boring.

"Any more questions?" Miranda asked.

Before they could answer I set the microphone down on the desk." Nice to meet you all." I said hopping off of Pete's lap.

He got up and kissed me. The room let out a simaltanious "Awww."

I smiled and waved goodbye to the reporters as I made my way back to my seat. Tonia and Jillian beamed at me.

"You were GREAT!" Tonia exclaimed.

"Really?"

They both nodded. I hoped to god the world would think so too.

---

The press conference slowed down about forty five minutes later. My leg was still shaking gently. I couldn't believe I had just been on TV. A person like me isn't the person that's supposed to be on TV. I'm too...normal. The camera crews and reporters began filing out of the room, leaving just the guys and us here alone with Miranda. Pete jumped off the desk and ran to me, picking me up and spinning me around. He set me down and kissed me.

"You ROCKED!" He said smiling. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

I pushed him back. "You asshole! You could've told me you were bringing me on stage. I thought we were keeping this a secret! Not tell the whole universe! Now the fans are really going to hate me. Now they have no chance at you at all, they're going to be livid."

He looked shocked. "I just thought that...I don't know. I didn't want to hide you anymore, you know? I want to show you off. And screw them they never had a chance with me in the first place."

"Pete, I was one of those fans that never had a chance with you in the first place, remember? Trust me, they think they have a chance. They don't care how old you are or how famous. Love doesn't have boundaries for them. Anything is within reach when you're as hopeful as they are."

"Oh... Right."

I wrapped my arms around his waist, my head leaning against his chest. My eyes started to swell with tears. "I don't want anything bad to happen to us, Pete." I said.

"Nothing is going to happen to us. I love you more than anyone else in the world and I won't let a bunch of fangirls get in the way of that, ok? Just promise me you won't let the fans or the fame get to you." He whispered.

"Never." I whispered back.

"Cricket, you need to promise me."

I looked up at him and kissed him. "I promise."