Christmas - Prequel to Mistletoe

December 25, 2013

Patrick

-0 days until Christmas Day-

"Patrick, come on!" I let out a breathy laugh as I ran to Gerard's door, Brendon and Ryan waiting for me impatiently, though I knew they didn't care because they had smiles on their faces. I sent a playful glare Brendon's way as he affectionately threw a small ball of snow at me, and Ryan chuckled before going inside.

I followed, Brendon trailing after as we went inside Gerard's house. "Well, they definitely went all out on the decorations." Ryan said, looking around at all the wreaths, ribbons and ornaments hung randomly on the walls and on the banister. We all went into the living room, only to be greeted by the happy faces of all of our friends. Well, except for Ray, who, for some reason, was in the midst of getting covered in fake snow by Frank.

There was a bunch of food and snacks on the coffee table, and I watched, smiling, as Tyler successfully caught a piece of popcorn in his mouth, which had been thrown by Andy. Gerard, who was standing by Frank and Ray and critiquing whatever Frank was doing, looked at us and waved, and as Ryan and Brendon went off to join the others, I was interrupted.

"Pattycakes!" I felt a pair of arms wrap around me from behind, and I gasped, letting out a small giggle as I saw Pete's face out of the corner of my eye. "You guys were late," he pouted, "I almost thought you weren't going to come." "Aww, I'd never ditch you." I answered, grinning as he grinned back. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the others, plopping me down on a couch and promptly sitting right next to me.

Joe sat on the other couch, Mikey's legs laying across him as he kept tickling him with tinsel and giving short, amused laughs at Joe's annoyed expression, which surprised me since I'd never seen him laugh before. "No, Frank, you need more-" Gerard said loudly, gesturing all over Ray's body, "there." Frank sighed. "When you asked if I wanted to build a snowman, this isn't what I had in mind." Ray nodded in agreement. "You know, same."

Ryan laughed at them when Josh walked in the room, wearing a Santa hat and what looked to be a fake beard, though it looked more like a bundle of cotton balls poorly glued together. "Ho Ho Ho, motherfuckers!" He said loudly, and Tyler snorted violently before choking on a piece of popcorn that Andy had thrown him. Josh shook his head slowly and disapprovingly. "Don't be a hoe hoe hoeseph, Tyler Joseph." Frank inhaled fake snow by accident, giggling as Gerard rolled his eyes.

Brendon snorted as Josh sighed and ripped off the beard. "Look. We're doing Secret Santa now. I didn't choose to dress up." Mikey, with a completely straight face, replied, "I think it suits you pretty well, Josh." Josh just sighed sadly as he sat down with the rest of us. They started exchanging gifts, Ray's by Tyler, Josh's by Gerard, Andy's by- you guessed it, Joe- Joe's by Mikey, and so on. I gave mine to Frank, and everyone continued on with the chatting when someone tapped my shoulder.

I looked over to see Pete, nervously fidgeting with his fingers. "Um...I have your gift, but...could I give it to you in private?" I furrowed my eyebrows, a little confused, but nodded. "Yeah, sure, Pete." He got up, me following after him as we left the room, no one noticing except Brendon and Andy, who both gave me glances which I chose to ignore.

I went up the stairs, following Pete as we reached the top, but then he stopped abruptly, both of us just standing in the hallway. I waited for him to open a door, but instead he avoided eye contact, looking slightly towards the ceiling as he whispered out, "There's mistletoe," he chuckled softly, "cheesy." At first, I didn't understand, and I confusedly looked at him as he directed his gaze towards me. "...What?" I whispered, not fully understanding. He just kept nervously staring at me, not saying anything.

I could feel myself getting more and more nervous as he stepped towards me slightly, my eyes widening. Before I could say anything else, his lips were on mine. Pete Wentz was kissing me. It almost seemed dreamlike, both of us in a dark hallway, his soft, sweet lips, tasting almost like vanilla, moving slowly, gently against mine. And I almost kissed back. I almost did.