Just Once - A Peterick Fic

Chapter 7

        I walked in the conference room a little late, having been running behind on time again this morning. The room was just like all the others we'd been in for meetings over the years: a large table in the middle surrounded by several chairs, a whiteboard on one wall, and a projector on the other. Andy was standing at the whiteboard, drawing something I couldn't see yet. Joe and Pete were sitting in chairs they'd turned towards each other, talking about something that appeared to trouble Pete.

        "Look who's late again," Joe called when he saw me, causing Andy and Pete to turn their heads to look at me.

        "I know, I know," I said, embarrassed. I made my way over to Pete and kissed him, just a quick peck on the lips, before sitting down in one of the many chairs. "So has the meeting not started yet? I fully expected to walk in during the middle of it."

        Pete laughed a little, telling me, "No, babe. It's over already. He shot me a smile, as if to say Nice try.

        "Oh, sorry. Did everything go well at least?" I said, starting apologetically with my tone turning more hopeful by the end.

        "Yeah, I think so. We'll probably be touring in April and May, it looks like and we've got a few shows between then, of course. There really wasn't too much for us to talk about so it was pretty short," Andy informed me, not even turning away from the whiteboard.

        "Yeah, you really didn't miss much but that doesn't mean we won't be giving you shit about it," Joe told me with a smirk.

        "Oh I expected that much," I shot back with a small smile.

        "Don't worry, I'll protect you from them," Pete told me jokingly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close. In doing so, my chair rolled towards his and they bumped into each other.

        "Hey, no PDA!" Joe shouted as if we'd just started making out instead of Pete putting his arm around me.

        In response my boyfriend stuck his tongue out at him and then turned to press his lips to mine. Surprised, it took me a moment before I began moving my lips against his. The kiss was sweet and slow, his lips soft against mine.

        "Yeah, I'm not sure I'll ever get used to that," I heard Andy say, glancing over his shoulder to see what Joe had been shouting about and squirming a little. That's when Pete and I pulled away from each other, laughing.

        "At least we're not constantly attached to each other," I countered, shrugging a little as Pete dropped his arms from around me and my chair rolled away slightly.

        "Yeah, I guess that makes getting used to it easier for us," Joe agreed with me, nodding slightly.

        "And just to clarify," Andy said, turning away from the whiteboard and leaning up against it so I still had no idea what he'd been drawing. "I don't have a problem with you guys being gay or whatever you are, it's just weird seeing two of my best friends together like that."

        "I can understand that. I mean, it's not like it wasn't weird for us too," Pete said with a slight laugh, glancing over at me. I shot him a smile, one side of my mouth curving upwards.

        "I can only imagine. I mean, it'd be like me and Joe getting together," Andy agreed, his eyes widening slightly at the thought as if it scared him.

        "Oh c'mon baby. You know you want it," Joe suggestively said to Andy, a smirk curving his lips after he'd finished speaking to let him know he was joking. Pete and I laughed but Andy squirmed like he had when Pete had kissed me.

        The room fell silent after that and everyone seemed content with it. That is, until Andy spoke up.

        "Maybe we should get going. Somebody else probably needs this room," he said, glancing around as if he'd just realized - or maybe re-realized - that the meeting was over and we were just sitting here talking.

        "Yeah, I'll see you guys later," Joe said, abruptly standing and walking out of the room quickly. I glanced over at Pete, his gaze following him as he walked out the door, a confused expression on his features.

        "That was odd..." he mumbled to himself, probably not something I was particularly meant to hear.

        "Yeah, well I guess I'm going to take off too. See you," Andy told us before strolling out of the room.

        After he'd left, Pete scoffed, his gaze trained on the whiteboard. "Nice, Andy. Very mature," he muttered, glancing over at me for my reaction.

        I just rolled my eyes, shaking my head. Our twenty-eight year old drummer had drawn a dick.

        Standing up from my chair a moment later, I told Pete, "Well I guess I'll just head back home then. You're welcome to come with if you want." At that last bit, I shrugged but I was hoping he'd say yes because cuddling and watching a movie sounded pretty good right about now.

        "Actually, I think I need to get some stuff done at home but I'll call you later, okay?" he said, looking apologetically at me.

        "Oh, okay. Well I'll talk to you then. Bye," I said before walking out of the room and back outside to the parking lot. I doubted Pete was far behind me.

        He kept true to his word and called me later that night, right before I went to bed, and we stayed talking for close to an hour before I fell asleep, dropping my phone onto the floor with Pete still on the other end.

A/N: Okay that was short I'm sorry