The Rhythm of the Rain (Patrick Stump / Fall Out Boy Fanfic)

Chapter 6 - But We Are Alive

Patrick Stump

After the show, I went back to the dressing room to shower and change my clothes. When I came out of the bathroom, the guys were all sitting around, waiting their turns for the shower. Pete looked up at me when I walked with a towel over my head. "Are we still on for our first show after party?" He asked, looking at me with more excitement than was probably necessary.

"Yeah, I'm ready when you are," I told him, drying my hair quickly before I put my fedora back on. "By the way," I added, "I invited Lily to come with us. I hope that's okay with you guys." I looked around at all of them, and nobody seemed too bothered by it, except for Pete, who was grinning like a kid at Christmas. "Don't," I stated, pointing at him threateningly.

"I wasn't going to say anything," he countered, trying his best to look innocent. He did not succeed.

I rolled my eyes at him and checked myself over in the mirror before heading out. I went out to the busses, where Lily was waiting on the curb between them. She was sitting there with a book on her lap, seemingly engrossed in it. That was another thing to add to the list of things I had yet to find out about her; She loves books. "Hey," I said, as I approached her.

She looked up quickly, as if I had startled her from the world on the page that she was lost in, and smiled at me. "Hi," She said softly, gently closing her book and sliding it into her purse at her side. "The show was amazing!"

"You liked it?" I asked, blushing slightly as I shoved my hands in my pockets. She nodded vigorously as she stood up beside me. "Thank you," I said softly.

"So where are the guys?" She asked, looking back towards the door of the venue.

"Showering and getting ready," I stated, "They'll be out soon. And the bar Pete wanted to go to is just down the street, so we can just walk there when they're ready."

Lily nodded, smiling warmly at me. I couldn't stop myself as my eyes began wander a bit, taking in the fact that she had changed her clothes from earlier. She was wearing skinny jeans and a Blink-182 t-shirt beneath a black cardigan. He hair wasn't quite so curly, but running in gentle, loose, waves over her shoulders. She was beautiful.

"Lovebirds!" Came a familiar voice from behind us. Lily and I both scowled at the term and turned to see Pete jogging over to us. Joe was trailing right behind him, and Andy came out shortly after. "All ready to go?" Pete asked, looking around at all of us. We all nodded, and began the short walk to the bar.

When we walked in, Lily stuck close beside me. It was more of a club than a bar, and there were a large number of people dancing to whatever the DJ was playing. The bar itself was fairly empty, so the five of us walked over there immediately to find seats. I sat on the end of the bar, with Lily between myself and Andy, then Pete and Joe on the other side of him. We all ordered a round of drinks, Pete claiming that he would cover the tab for all of us, but I doubted him and started my own tab for myself and Lily. She smiled at me thankfully, and sipped at the fruity drink she had ordered.

Within an hour, we had all probably had too much to drink already. This usually happened the first night of tour, and it was always a blast. We had a hotel down the street that we had checked into this morning, mostly for the sole purpose of sleeping off hangovers before driving to the next venue. Now, Pete was off on a tangent, telling funny stories that we've all heard a million times, but Lily found them hilarious. As the night went on, I found myself continually staring at Lily. I couldn't get over how beautiful she looked tonight, and I just wanted to hold her hand. Completely platonically, of course, but I wanted it so bad that I started looking for reasons to do so. Finally, I had a brilliant idea.