Under the Water

After our little...adventure in the shower, we eventually made it out of our room and onto the streets of Chicago, though to be clear, when I say ‘the streets of Chicago’, I actually mean the street the hotel is on, because for whatever reason Jack took maybe ten steps total before stopping like a total lunatic in front of the hotel’s designated drop off zone.

“...uh...Jack?” I asked, staring pointedly at my boyfriend as he stubbornly refused to budge one way or the other, instead staying firmly planted in front of our hotel with his eyes wavering back and forth observing the busy afternoon traffic. “What are you doing? I thought we were going to go somewhere?”

“We are.” He answered with a small nod, not even glancing at me as he whipped his phone out, fingers flying across his iPhone to shoot out a quick text before politely putting the phone back into his jean pocket. “We’re just meeting someone first before we go.”

I narrowed my eyes as I observed how hard Jack was trying to keep this surprise under lock and key. He’d evaded all my questions, even after I promised him a blowjob if he gave me a hint. Normally, that would’ve melted Jack like a candle, but that son of a bitch held his ground, telling me, albeit with a voice a bit higher than usual, that I’d just have to wait and see.

Well. Fuck.

As far as I was concerned, whatever it was, it better be damn good. “You’re just determined to be as vague as possible, aren’t you?”

“I just want you to be surprised, is all.” He shrugged while I continued to stare carefully at my boyfriend, mind racing over what could be up his sleeve. It was mid-summer, and Midnight was about to drop our EP. Could it be about that? Or maybe it could be about the Panic! at the Disco show a few cities over that I’d been secretly dying to check out on our day off. I mean, it was only a fifty mile drive out of Chicago--yes, I checked--and Jack knew I was a huge Panic! fan. Plus, now that we were label mates, maybe he figured now was as good a time as any to meet. Maybe Jack pulled a few strings and got us a couple tickets to see the show?

...okay. Maybe that last one was a bit far fetched. Not that Jack didn’t have an in with Brendon; they attended quite a few epic parties together and had become good pals over the years, I guess. I found this weird at first, given that Brendon was like a musically gifted God and Jack was...well, Jack. Gifted in his own ways, for sure, but I’d been around him for so long the idea of him hanging out with otherwise ‘famous’ people still got to me on occasion, especially when they were people I looked up to. Granted, I was slowly compiling my list of famous people I called friends as well, but the shell-shock of celebrity still occasionally got to me, alright?

As I contemplated the various possibilities of what the hell my boyfriend had planned, a gust of wind flew by us, causing my hair to fly in front of my face. I quickly shoved my hand up though my hair, combing it back in it’s rightful place, shaking my head as the warm, humid air made my skin tingle with dampness. “Okay.” I pursed my lips, already feeling gross in the Chicago summer weather. “Well whatever it is we’re waiting for, is it at least going to be soon? I already feel like I’m starting to melt.” As I said this I grabbed the neckline to my summer dress and lifted it just a bit so my chest could breathe.

Jack raised a brow, eyes shamelessly wandering down towards my cleavage as he chuckled. “Don’t worry, babe. Just a few more minutes, I promise. We’re just meeting someone and then we’ll be on our way.”

My ears perked up. Meeting someone? Again with the vagueness.

My mind naturally shot to Jack’s best friend and bandmate. “Is it Alex?”

He shook his head. “Nope. He’s spending the day with Lisa while she’s visiting, remember?”

Oh. Right.

“Okay...what about Rian or Zack? Cass isn’t visiting so Rian is probably free and Zack is probably free to hang unless he found a skate park or something...Or Matt or--”

“Sally, I’m not telling you!” Jack laughed at my attempts to unveil his surprise. I opened my mouth, about to plead yet again for him to just tell me already when a car honked twice in quick succession. Head shooting up towards the sound, his lips broke into an excited grin as his eyes fixated on a specific vehicle. “Looks like our ride is here!”

“What, where?” I furrowed my brows, looking at the plethora of cars in front of us. I frowned, not recognizing anything out of the ordinary. No tour bus, no van with Warped stickers on the back, nothing.

He nodded straight ahead. “The black Porche just a few cars down.”

Sure enough, a few seconds later the vehicle Jack had pointed out pulled over in front of us. Then, the passenger window rolled down to reveal none other than Pete Wentz smiling widely as he leaned over from the driver’s seat. “What’s up!” He greeted me casually as if I’d been in on Jack’s plan the whole time. “Ready to get this party started?”

“Pete?” I asked dumbly as I approached the passenger side, leaning over so I could get a good look at him. “What are you doing here?”

“I grew up here, remember? I happened to be in town when Jack gave me a call asking if I wanted to hang with you guys, so here I am.” He replied smoothly, smirking at my shocked expression. “Why are you still staring at me like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“I just wasn’t expecting to see you, that’s all.” I took a breath as I stepped back from the vehicle to find Jack staring at me expectedly. “What?” I frowned at him.

He awkwardly cleared his throat as he shook his head, shuffling to grab the back passenger door before muttering apologetically, “Sorry, I just thought you were gonna fan girl for a moment.”

Ignoring that comment, I motioned with my eyes towards the very door he’d just opened. “So is this the surprise? We’re going somewhere with Pete?”

“I’m still not saying shit, alright?” Jack rolled his eyes, sighing, “Now get in before someone sees who we’re with.”

My eyes bulged out slightly, cheeks tinted with embarrassment as I momentarily forgot Pete was stopped by fans almost everywhere he went back in LA. This probably doubled in his hometown. “Oh, right...” I quickly shuffled into the backseat, grabbing my seatbelt and clicking it in place as Jack followed suite in the seat next to me before slamming the side door shut. Pete barely waited two seconds after Jack shut the back door before quickly maneuvering his car back into traffic.

“You could’ve told me you were running late, you know?” Pete’s dark eyes glanced up to meet Jack’s through the rearview mirror. “You told me to wait for your text, and now we’re running late.”

Jack shrugged apologetically, glancing at me with semi-sheepish eyes. “Sorry, dude. We got a bit held up.”

I, meanwhile, gaped at my boyfriend. He knew he was on a tight schedule and yet he let me suggest all those little things we did back in the hotel room? I let my arm nudge him roughly. “You didn’t tell me we were on that tight of a time crunch!”

“We’re not, don’t worry!” Jack replied, raising his hands in innocence. “Pete’s just being a brat ‘cause I made him chauffeur us, that’s all.”

“Am not.” Pete stuck out his tongue just as he barely made a right turn, leading us deeper into the Chicago downtown area. I peered out the window, noting the plethora of tourists happily enjoying the museums, restaurants and shopping districts of the mid-western city. “I’m just reminding you that you only booked the--” He stopped himself, eyes darting towards me as he quickly corrected himself from ‘spoiling the surprise’ as Jack put it. “...place until two and with this goddamn traffic the way it is, we’ll get there with maybe forty minutes to spare.” Of course, to emphasize the state of traffic in front of us, a car a few feet ahead of us let out an angry honk over the dismally slow pace.

“We’ll make it with plenty of time.” Jack assured him. “Just focus on getting us there in one piece, okay?”

Pete let out a heavy sigh, turning his attention towards the clock one last time before focusing on the traffic as Jack had asked. “Whatever you say, dude...”

I let a few seconds pass, allowing the growing rumble of engines surrounding us fill my senses before I slowly turned to Jack and asked softly, “You booked something?”

“I’m not saying anything.” Jack repeated, chuckling as he shook his head.

My shoulders deflated. “It was worth a shot.” I muttered. “You’re really holding your ground on this, aren’t you?”

He just smirked.

~*~

As Pete had predicted, the traffic gods did not ease up on us any time soon, causing what I was told what should’ve been a fifteen minute drive to extend to nearly triple that. So needless to say, by the time we finally made it to our destination, the boys were anxious to get me out of the car and into whatever it was they had planned. I’d like to say that I had a few solid leads at that point, but looking up at the otherwise innocuous looking glass-panelled building we were about to enter, my leads were totaled up to a big fat zero.

“We’re going in here?” I asked, pointing up to the tall building with squinted, confused eyes.

Jack nodded quickly, nudging me lightly in front of him so I was step-in-step with Pete. “Yep.” He turned his attention to Pete. “You remember where to go, right?”

He bobbed his head, laughing at my boyfriend as he reminded, “Dude, I was the one that suggested this place.”

“Oh. Right.”

I frowned as I realized Jack was splitting off from us. “Where are you going?”

“I just have to meet someone real quick. I’ll be right behind you, I promise.” He told me before pulling me in for a quick kiss. “Love you.”

“Love you, too...” I muttered on automatic, keeping my confused stare narrow and unchanging as Jack jogged around the building to meet whoever it was. My mind thoroughly jumbled, I slowly shuffled my feet back to meet Pete, who’d been patiently holding the front door open for me. As I approached him, I opened my mouth to ask him if he knew where my boyfriend ran off to, but shut it, realizing that A) he totally knew where Jack went and B) if the car ride was anything to go by, there was no chance in hell he was going to tell me. So instead, I shut my mouth and, with one last unsure glance towards Pete, I walked inside.

At first, there was nothing out of the ordinary. It was a typical building lobby with it’s typical reception desk and waiting area. Pete directed me to the left where the elevators were and we stepped in, going to the highest floor possible. Whatever it was, I had a sinking feeling it was fancy as fuck. Suddenly I felt extremely underdressed with my stupid little sundress.

The elevator let out a ding and slowly opened the thick silver doors to reveal the most beautiful restaurant I’d ever seen. With the backdrop of the Chicago skyline, chandeliers and expensive china to boot, my guess that the place was fancy as fuck seemed to be on the nose. What struck me as odd, though, was how minus the hostess smiling creepily at me at her desk, the sure to be popular establishment was oddly empty of it’s patrons and instead, standing in a large group in front of the dining tables were girls not much younger than me. One girl had a purple streak in her hair, another had an eyebrow piercing and one was proudly sporting an JAGK t-shirt. All of them though, were staring right at me.

I quickly turned to Pete. “Um, what’s going on?”

He nodded towards the group. “Why don’t you go and see?”

I rolled my eyes, stopping myself from snarkily snapping over the major lack of straight answers I’d been getting. Instead, I did as he instructed, taking a few steps towards the giddy looking girls before asking them, “What are you guys doing here?”

“We’re here to give you a message.” One of the girls in front of the group, a short girl with glasses told me. A wave of indistinct muttering amongst the group followed, then the girl motioned for another just to the right of me. Said girl nodded, revealing a piece of paper she’d been hiding behind her back. She quickly unfolded it, the paper crinkling under her fingers as she cleared her throat. Then, she began to read.

“Dear Sally,

First of all, you’re probably wondering why I’m having these fans read this to you rather than me just reading it myself. It’ll make sense in a few minutes, but for now, please bear with me speaking through these teenage girls.” The girl read, while I laughed softly at the last line, finding it funny how natural it actually was to hear my boyfriends words come like this.

The girl then passed the letter to her right, where a girl with sun-kissed skin and beautiful long black hair took over, reading the next passage. “I fell in love with you the day I met you. I told Alex I met my Sally and thank fucking God I got that right. You’re the world to me. The yin to my yang. The jam to my peanut butter. The Frank to my Gerard--” The girl paused as a wave of chuckles passed through the group. “We’ve been inseperable since the beginning, which some would call clingy...I would call loving.”

Again, the letter was passed. “We’ve had our ups and downs, too. Crazy exes, car accidents...” The reader paused, glancing up at me with knowing sorrow before carefully continuing on. “But through it all I never doubted that you weren’t it for me, because you are. You’re kind to everyone you meet and get my fucked up sense of humor. You’re a wickedly talented musician and kick ass on stage. And I’m pretty sure you love my friends almost more than me.”

“I know I’ve never been one for words, but simply put, being without you would be impossible. I’ve thought about it--those long nights in the waiting room made my mind wander, and I don’t know what I’d do without you. Whoever I was before I met you...that wild and crazy twenty one year old, I’m not him anymore.

...okay. I’m still wild and crazy. But less so, because of you. You’ve made me a better person.”

The letter was passed again. “Remember last year when we went to San Diego to visit your parents? Your mom sure was mad--”

“I got it from here.” A familiar voice cut off the young girl, and a second later, Jack appeared, creeping up from behind me, his voice soft and dare I say, nervous.

“Jack, what is this?” I asked, though deep down I was beginning to put the pieces together. The mere thought that he was doing what I thought he was instantly sending my heart a flutter.

He ignored my question, instead continuing where the letter left off. “Remember when I asked if you wanted to tie the knot? And how you shot me down before I could even get the question out?”

I nodded slowly, glancing at the peering eyes of young girls serving as our audience. “Um, yeah...”

“You told me to wait to ask you when I was genuinely ready. And to be honest, I’ve been ready for like a year, but after everything that went down,” He paused for a beat, gulping nervously, “I decided to wait until the perfect moment.”

Jack’s words barely flew out of his mouth before another figure appeared from behind the group, this time with an acoustic guitar in tow. A figure I happened to be very familiar with since listening to his music for, like, ever. The very same music, in fact, that Pete Wentz was a part of.

That’s right.

It was Patrick Stump.

My jaw dropped, feeling like I was on the verge of going into that statuesque state Anna had found herself in a time or two, but somehow found the strength to keep a level head. He shot a smile towards me, tipping his fedora slightly before beginning a beautifully familiar tune. One that I knew I’d mentioned was my favorite song to Jack.

Who knows how long I've loved you
You know I love you still
Will I wait a lonely lifetime
If you want me to, I will

By this time there was no doubt what was going on, and my eyes were beginning to swell with happy tears. I tore my gaze from my favorite singer to meet Jack, only to find he was now on his knee, a dark velvet box in his trembling hands.

My hands shot to my mouth as I suppressed a gasp.

“I love you, Sally. You’re my family. I’ve wanted to make this official for a while now.” He gave a nervous laugh as he glanced down at the box in his palm. “I, uh, got the ring a while back, but--”

“JUST ASK HER ALREADY!” My head shot up towards the shout to find yet another group of people hiding back in the VIP room just on the other side of the bar. A group of teary, happy faces poked out guiltily to reveal Cass, Rian and Anna all waiting for the big question to be asked.

I laughed at my friend’s outburst, sniffling as I turned back to Jack, who’d managed to open the small jewelry box to reveal a simple silver banded ring with white and black diamonds. “Sally...” I felt a chill run down my spine, bracing myself to hear the very question I’d dreamed about for ages. “...will you marry me--”

The question barely lingered before I found myself answering in a happy squeal, “OF COURSE, YOU IDIOT!” I then bent over, grabbing Jack’s face between my hands so I could give him the most passionate kiss I could. Well, as passionate as I could given our gigantic audience, anyway.

He smiled into the kiss, our teeth clashing together as we separated long enough for him to slip the ring onto my left hand. I raised my fingers to closer observe my new tolkin of love, noting the band had a small inscription on the side. “Simply meant to be.” I couldn’t help but let out a small ‘aw’ at this. “This is perfect, Jack. I love you so much...” I pulled him into a tight hug while the fans cheered loudly, some crying even harder than I was.

“It’s about damn time!” Rian commented happily as our peering group of friends and family finally came out of their hiding place, revealing themselves to be quite a bit larger than initially intended. From Vic to Lisa to Madison to Jo...all my friends were there ready to celebrate the happy occasion.

“Ditto.” Pete echoed with a laugh, having watched the whole thing happily from afar next to the hostess.

It didn’t take long before the fans were ushered out (after being graciously thanked and promised two tickets each to a future ATL show of their choice, of course) and the celebrations really kicked in. We popped out the champagne, toasting to the future, to us. And most importantly?

To love.

Notes

IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!!!!!!

Oh my GOD I can't believe I wrote it! :DDDDD

...um. Yeah. Hope you guys like it :)

Song lyrics are " I Will" by the Beatles. I'm thinking of wrapping it up here and splitting it off to part 4