Where We Started [Joetrick]

2. Advice

Hey guys! I've literally been overwhelmed by the positive response the first chapter received. Thank you so much!

Joe Trohman:

I walked into my dorm room, tired and hungry; so there was really nothing new there.

My roommate Pete looked up from his textbook. "There you are. For a second I thought that storm had taken you to Oz."

"Funny." I pulled my hoodie off and dropped it on my dorm bed.

"I try." Pete grinned. "But seriously; where were you?"

I grabbed a container of leftover Chinese food from the mini fridge and sniffed it experimentally. "Did you know there was a bookstore on campus?"

Pete raised an eyebrow. "Yes," he answered slowly. "That's where Spencer's worked for two years."

"Interesting." I put the container in the microwave and searched for clean silverware. "How did I not know that?" I gave up searching for a fork and decided to use my fingers.

"Because you've never read a book for fun in your life," Pete said under his breath.

I grabbed the container of noodles and sat on my bed. "That's what I told Patrick."

Pete looked up from his book. "Patrick? As in Stump?"

I shrugged. "I never found out his last name."

"Describe him." Pete shoved his book aside, his studying forgotten.

I slurped a noodle into my mouth. "Well," I chewed slowly, pondering how to describe Patrick perfectly. "He's kinda short, he's got ginger hair and these pretty eyes."

"That you can't really tell what color they are?" Pete asked, excited.

"Right." I said slowly, a little creeped out.

Pete continued rambling. "I mean, are they blue or green?"

"Uh huh." I pulled another noodle out of the container and dropped it into my mouth.

"Anyways." Pete kicked the book off of his bed. "Tell me more!"

I licked the tangy sauce off of my thumb. "He was cute."

And in that moment Pete seemed to have evolved into a flying squirrel, as he flew across the room and landed on my bed.

"You think he's cute?!" Pete yelled in my ear.

I jumped, tossing chow mein into the air. "Pete, what the literal fuck!"

Pete tackled me. "You just told me you think that he's cute!" He yelled in my face.

"Get off of me!" I tried to push Pete's dead weight off.

But alas, the only thing my skinny arms had lifted was the food that made its short journey to my mouth.

"Admit it!" Pete insisted. "Admit that you find him attractive."

I shoved his chest. "Pete!"

"Say it!"

"Fine!" I shouted. "I find him attractive!" I admitted.

Pete squealed like a little girl. "Ooh, my little Joey has a crush."

I shoved him off of me. "I can find someone attractive without wanting to shove my tongue down their throat." I smoothed down my rumpled clothes.

"What are we shoving tongues down?" Brendon asked, pushing the halfway closed door open.

I sighed and leaned back on my bed. "Please Brendon, come in, make yourself at home.

"If you don't want random people coming in then you should have closed the damn door." Brendon smirked and sat down on Pete's bed. "Now, who was shoving tongues down throats?"

"Nobody!" I yelled at the same time Pete said. "Patrick."

Brendon grinned and stretched out across the small twin bed. "Ooh, who's Patrick?"

"This guy that Joe met at the bookstore; the bookstore Joe didn't know existed until today," Pete explained.

I groaned. "I don't read."

"But Spencer has worked there this entire time." Brendon looked at me like I was crazy for not knowing that piece of information.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I know that now."

Pete climbed onto the bed beside Brendon. "Well Joe over there seems to think so."

Brendon's smile grew wider. I wanted to punch him in his stupid, perfect teeth. "This wouldn't be Patrick Stump, Andy Hurley's roommate?"

"How does everyone know this guy?" I muttered.

"I like to admire beautiful things." Brendon shrugged. "Sue me."

I let my head loll to the side. "Well I'd never see this guy in my life and apparently he's in my government class."

"Judging from the fact that you didn't know the on-campus bookstore where your friend worked existed; I'd say that you don't have the sharpest eyes." Pete teased.

Brendon sat up quickly. "I just had the greatest idea ever."

"Seven words that always seem to get me in trouble." I muttered.

"You should invite Patrick to Frank's Halloween party." Brendon said, the excitement on his face growing bigger.

I sat up. "No, no way." I shook my head. "That is not happening."

"Give me one good reason not to." Pete crossed his arms over his chest.

I held up a finger. "Um well. For one, I barely know him-"

"Halloween is in like two weeks; that was less time than Romeo and Juliet knew each other before they decided to get married," Brendon argued.

"Yeah but they didn't really live happily ever after," I pointed out, "they didn't even live at all."

Pete sighed. "So that was a bad example. But it wouldn't hurt you to just talk to the guy."

"Anything is better than you just stalking him from afar." Brendon stood. "Lemme know if he says yes, so I can tell Frankie. I'll be waiting."

"Yeah, well don't hold your breath," I whispered.

Pete grabbed his textbook off of the floor and flicked a noodle off of the hard cover. "I guess I owe you more noodles?"

"You guess correctly." I stared at the fallen noodles, full of regret.

Pete grabbed a jacket and smelled it. "How about we go grab some food, on me," he interjected, "and talk about your plan to woo Patrick."

"There is no plan to woo Patrick," I huffed and pulled on my still damp University themed hoodie.

"Not yet." Pete winked. "You'll thank me later," he added, looking at my sour expression.

"Yes, because it's not like I have something better to do than feed your fictional matchmaking business." I followed him out of the dorm room and into the hall.

"If you are referring to that paper for government due Friday, we both know you won't actually write it until the morning of." Pete locked the door.

I know, but a guy can't dream.

Did you like this chapter? Did ya? Did ya?

I hope your first days/weeks of school were good. Mine were.