Clandestine (Pete Wentz / Fall Out Boy Fanfic)

Chapter 1 - Run Away

Ariel Raven

Clandestine. It's a word used to describe something that is done in absolute secrecy. It was once a word used in the title of a clothing line owned by a bassist in a rather well known band. I guess it's also a word I would use describe the past year of my life.

Perhaps I should start at the beginning. It all started the day I ran away. Now, before this starts to sound too cliché, I should tell you that I ran away from a number of things, and there were also a number of things that I didn't run away from. Those things were just collateral damage, I suppose. I ran away from a dead end job, a fiancé, and a lonely apartment. I did not run away from my parents and a decent life.

Let's begin with the fiancé. He was perfect. He was, quite literally, everything I'd ever dreamed of. Tall, fair hair, bright blue eyes, and a Harvard law degree. He loved to read. He spent nearly every afternoon curled up on the couch beside me with a book in his hands. He was kind. He was gentle. He never did a thing without my consent. But he wasn't, I'd found, what I wanted. After a while, he became too perfect. There was no surprise in our relationship any more, and I was growing bored. That was where the loneliness came in, no matter how often we were together. I realized that I didn't love him, and rather than woman up and tell him that, I broke his heart in a different way, and simply disappeared. I haven't spoken to him since I left three weeks ago.

Then, there was my job. There's not much else to say, other than I was stuck in a coffee shop, day in and day out, consistently doing nothing compared to my Harvard graduate fiancé. I'd always dreamed of creating something. I liked to write, but I wasn't the best at it, and I knew there was no use in dreaming of something that would never be. I was, however, fairly skilled with a guitar. I only had a cheap old acoustic that I'd bought nearly fifteen years ago, but it still worked well enough.

And with that small, insignificant little dream, I ended up here, on the outskirts of Los Angeles, with the ridiculous notion that I might actually make it somewhere in my life. It was there, on a train platform, that I ran into my destiny for the first time, though I didn't quite realize it yet. It was quick, and truth be told, I probably would have forgotten about it in an instant if he hadn't reminded me of it the second time we would meet. I had my guitar slung by its shoulder strap over my back, and my eyes were turned down to the floor. I had just finished playing for the people walking by, and in three hours, I'd earned myself a whopping five dollars to spend on dinner. I knew it wasn't that I was bad at it, it was just that people in this city were stuck up and stingy with their money. It was the exact reason I was planning on moving deeper into the city tomorrow, to attempt to play for more money.

As I trudged away from the platform, my left shoulder collided hard with another body, nearly sending me to the pavement, but I caught my balance and was about to glare at the person who had run into me, despite the fact that it was probably my own fault. Before I could do that, however, a voice distracted my thoughts. "Shit!" He gasped, quickly grasping my upper arm as if he needed to catch me, "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I told him, gently shrugging out of his grasp. I glanced up at him quickly and my bright blue eyes connected with a pair of wide, brown eyes, surrounded by dark eyeliner and thick eyebrows. I turned away quickly and kept walking, not bothering to offer the stranger another thought, and I was on my way.

***

"Home" was a local homeless shelter I had found. It obviously wasn't much, but they were willing to put me up for a few days. I had about three nights left before they inevitably kicked me out, plus, I didn't want them finding out about my past. I wasn't about to go back and explain myself now, so my best bet would be to just keep running. On my way there, I stopped at a McDonalds and bought myself two Mcdoubles and fry, about all I could afford, and ate it as I walked down the street to the shelter.

I had finished it by the time I got to the front door, and I quickly and quietly made my way to my bedroom, which I shared with two other families. One, was a single mother with her two sons. The other was a young husband and wife, with their daughter. I never really spoke to the much, but when I walked in, the two boys walked over to me and hugged my legs. "Hi, Ariel," One cooed, smiling toothily at me as I set my guitar down on my cot.

"Will you play us a song today?" The other asked, earning a stern snap from their mother.

"Thomas! Leave her alone, she just walked in the door."

"No, no," I told her, it's fine. Really. What would you guys like to hear?"

"Anything!" They boys gasped in unison.

I chuckled and settled down on my cot, balancing the guitar on my legs, and smiled over at the husband and wife, who were sitting close together on a single cot, the mother nursing her little girl. I began to play, simply stringing together chords and coming up with my own little song for them. They boys loved it; They bounced around happily in front of me, and when it was over, they clapped and thanked me. Then, as always, their mother ushered them off to bed, and the baby was eventually laid down in her crib.

For most of the night, I laid in my cot and tossed and turned. I thought about my ex, if I could really call him that, since I never actually broke up with him, and I thought about my parents. I thought about my life back there, and I honestly shivered from it. I knew I didn't want to go back, and I vowed that I never would. I reminded myself of that every night.

***

The next day passed just like any other. I never expected it to go any differently, and of course, it didn't. I woke up, showered, and left, with my guitar thrown over my back and a sense of freedom rushing through my veins. The only real difference today, was that I wouldn't be coming back to this shelter tonight. If all goes as planned, I'll be well into L.A. by sundown, and with a decent meal in my belly.

I began my walk as normal, heading for the train station that I usually played at. Once I arrived, I stood around for a while, searching for the best way to sneak my way onto a train that could take me into the city. And once again, I ran into him. At first, I didn't realize that it wasn't a complete stranger who caught me by my arm as I very nearly tumbled to the ground. Except for the fact that he was a complete and total stranger, except for his eyes and his voice. "Whoa, there," He had chuckled, pulling me back to my feet. I stood right around the same height as him, which, really wasn't all that impressive. He was rather short, and this time, I noticed the jet black hair that he very obviously flat ironed to lay over his right eye. In all honestly, I didn't recognize him at all, until he spoke again. "We must stop meeting like this," he laughed, flicking his head to the side to move his hair. It didn't do much for him, because it fell right back into place. "Are you alright?" He asked, and I realized that I still hadn't said a word to this poor boy that I keep trying to take out in the middle of the platform.

"Yeah," I said, again shrugging my arm out of his grip. "Sorry. My bad."

"Not at all," The boy replied, holding his hand out for me to shake. "But if this is going to be a regular thing, I should at least introduce myself. I'm Pete."

Gingerly, and as if it might bite me, I reached out to shake his hand. "Ariel," I stated. "'m sorry, but I...have to catch a train," I lied, and quickly pushed past him into the crowd of people again. I didn't give him a chance to say anything else, and I never looked back once as I kept pushing closer to the train that would only lead me right back to him, though I didn't know it yet. I was moving toward my future, my destiny. And right now, I knew that future was music. I just didn't know that I had literally thrown myself into the arms of the person who would make my dream a reality.

A/N: So what do you guys think so far?? I hope you're enjoying it, cause I'm super excited about where this is going to go. I'm writing this for @MrsWentzUrieMathers and I really hope I don't disappoint!! <3