Fall Out Boy Imagines

Joe - Strike!

requested by: me

word count: 1199

band member: joe the troh

era: high school, but like his senior year when he was in fall out boy

*

It was well known in your community that bowling ruined friendships. So, you didn't know why you agreed to go bowling with your best friend Joe and his friends at the local lanes, but you did. And you were really bad at bowling.

"Yes!" Patrick cheered from the lane over from where you, Pete, and Joe were (since there was six of you, Pete--the one who organized this get-together--rented two lanes). You leaned back into your grimy chair right in front of lane 38, applauding Patrick's strike. As Andy took Patrick's place and Pete grabbed his second bowling ball from the dispenser, Joe tapped your shoulder, a laminated menu in his hand.

"Yeah?"

"I'm thinking," he paused, nodding to the various food choices on the paper, "we get pizza and coke."

"And nachos, don't forget the nachos."

A laugh escaped his lips and he looked back down at the neon menu, his pointer finger scanning for the cheesy chips. "Yup, nachos too. I'm gonna go after my next turn."

"Which is right now, Frohman," Pete strutted back to the table, plopping down across from you and patting his friend on the back. "Good luck," the bassist smirked, his eyes darting up to the scoreboard. You checked and, sure enough, in flashing black numbers it showed that Pete had just passed Joe with a score of 54-51. The two had been neck and neck up until this point, and while there was still five rounds left, Pete seemed confident in his victory. Joe punched him playfully on the shoulder and rushed up to the bowling ball dispenser, heaving up a bright pink ball that read "12". Just as he approached the lane Pete coughed.

"We're getting nachos, correct?"

"Oh, yeah," you smiled, "Do you think I would let Joe not get us nachos? Are you kidding?"

Pete nodded, a smile creeping onto his lips, revealing porcelain teeth that glistened in the dim lighting. Was it mischief, charm? He turned to you, "You know he likes you, right?"

"...excuse me?"

"Joe--he has a huge crush on you," his words were barely audible, and he leaned over the table as Joe knocked down seven pins. Pete leaned back, "Aw, c'mon! I'm gonna catch up again next round!" And he was back looking at you.

"He likes me? What?" Your brows were knit in confusion. Yeah, you liked Joe, he was your best friend...but were the feelings mutual? Was Pete joking? It was nearing April, after all...this could've been a prank.

Pete scoffed, "Why do you think he invited you? The only other girl here is Andy's girlfriend--" Pete waved a hand over to where Maia was stepping up to the lane, tucking a blonde strand of hair behind her ear, "He's trying to beat me so he can impress you. He never tries this hard at bowling."

You became fascinated at the grey countertop as Joe approached after getting a spare. He snatched up the menu and stuck a tongue out at his friend, "Beat that, Peter."

Pete groaned, "Don't call me Peter, God..."

Joe laughed again (he did have a cute laugh, in your opinion), "Well, I'm off to get food. Patrick's paying for his lane's, right?"

"Yup, yup," you supplied, sitting up.

"Cool beans. I wish the best of luck to you, (Y/N)," he gestured to the empty lane 38, where it was your turn. Your failure waited.

--OoO--OoO--OoO--

You finished your turn quickly, almost dropping the 10-pound bowling ball on your maroon bowling shoes in the rush. But you scored a five...well, on the first ball. The second ball went straight for the gutter, but that was nothing new. Joe was still at the food counter, pointing and reading his order to the sleepy cashier when you plopped down again across from Pete, who still had that goddamn mischievous smile on his lips.

"Explain."

"I already told you," the black-haired college student held up his hands, "The guy has a major crush."

"But," you sighed, resting your forehead on the palms of your hands, sticky from the used bowling balls, "Should I ask him out? I--"
"Do you like him?"

You folded your hands together and rested your chin on top of them, looking up at the ceiling, "I mean, kind of, I guess..."

"So, they gave me the nachos and coke now, but it's gonna be a bit for the pizza--hey!" Joe walked over, balancing two trays of nachos on his right arm and gripping a pitcher of fizzing soda in the other, "Pete, you're up, c'mon."

Was he getting jealous? Was that why he acted weird when you talked to other members of his band...because he thought you liked them? So many things clicked in your brain at that moment, and you tried to prevent your mouth from dropping when Joe set the food on the table, and within seconds Patrick was next to you, reaching for the nachos.

"No, no," you slapped his arm away, and Joe stifled a laugh, "Get your own."

Patrick pursed his lips and slumped his shoulders, his blue eyes meeting yours, "But Andy's not gonna eat them, and Maia's lactose intolerant," You raised your eyebrows. "And you know I'm not gonna eat one of these whole things myself."

A part of you didn't want Patrick to go--you could stall time to decide whether or not you liked Joe or not. So, with a quick glance at your curly-haired love interest, your mutual agreement to let Patrick snack on your nachos was made, and a grin stretched from ear to ear on the singer's face. He held up one of the biggest chips and dipped it in the cheesy sauce, crunching it in his mouth and closing his eyes as he ate.

You pushed yourself up from your seat and scuffed your rental shoes over to Joe, who was standing up and paying attention to Pete's technique. He was really thinking this through, you thought, and you weren't surprised when it took him a few seconds to notice that you were right in front of him. "Oh, hi, what's up?"

"I-uh-would you--" you coughed, well, too late to go back now, and continued, "Do you wanna go out sometime?"

Joe's cyan eyes practically bugged out of his head, "What?"

"Do you wanna go on a date sometime, maybe?"
"Um..."

Your stomach wrapped itself in knots as you waited. Was it a lie? Did Pete trick you? He didn't look happy...he looked on the spot and slightly terrified. You felt bad almost immediately, and you bit down on your lip, hard, like you were trying to draw blood.

"Curly, you're up," Pete called suddenly, right behind you, making you almost jump out of your shoes. If anything, the air got more tense. But then Joe exhaled.

"Yes."

"What?"

"To (Y/N)," Joe nodded, "I'd love to go on a date sometime."

You released your teeth's grip on your bottom lip, "Awesome."

Joe nodded and scurried away from the situation and over to the lane, where his turn seemed more appealing than ever. Patrick frowned and Pete clapped a hand on your back, making you jump again.

"Patrick, I'll take those ten dollars any time now."

*

A/N: listened to really old pop-punk while writing this. sum 41, blink-182...why did a lot of old pop-punk bands use numbers? we'll never know

also, sorry if your name's maia. i literally just chose a random name and that was the first one that came to mind so

have an awesome day everyone!

~Olivia <3