3- Don't Want To Let Time Pass Us By

**********

Two weeks later, I moved in with Pierre. Although I had visited several times a year, I hadn't lived in Montreal since I was in high school, and it was good to be back. Of course, we only had a few days at home before Simple Plan's next tour started.

"You know you're coming on tour with us, right?" Pierre said to me almost as soon as I had finished unpacking at his apartment.

So, almost right after that, I began to pack for the tour. The first show was in Toronto (on the campus of my college, no less) on November 20th- a Tuesday, and two days before American Thanksgiving.

"Are you ready?" Pierre said to me at 9:00 that morning. "The bus is outside."

I followed Pierre downstairs and outside, where we got on the tour bus. As soon as I stepped inside the bus, I saw David run up, and engulf me in a hug.

"Katie!" he said. I hadn't seen him, Seb, Jeff, Chuck, or Pat since August, and I missed them all. "How are you?"

"I'm great, how are you?"

"I'm fantastic! I missed you. You look amazing! I'm so excited for you to come on tour with us. We're gonna have a great time. The first show's on your college's campus, did Pierre tell you that?" David was talking a mile a minute, and I smiled. I missed him.

"I missed you too. And yea, Pierre told me. I'm excited to go back; I haven't been back since I graduated."

"Oh, yeah, it'll be great. We'll have a lot of fun."

"Hey, Katie," someone else said. It was Seb, who was by then standing next to me.

"Seb!" I said, and hugged him. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too! Come on, Jeff, Chuck, and Pat are in the back playing video games." Seb said, and started walking towards the back of the bus.

I turned to face Pierre.

"I love you, you know that?" he told me.

"I love you ,too." He kissed me quickly on the lips. Pierre put his arm around me, and put our bags on a shelf next to the bunks. He pointed out which bunk belong to who, and then showed me to the back.

"Katie?" Jeff said, turning around. "Hey!" He came over to me and gave me a quick hug. "Man, it's so good to see you!"

"You, too! Hey Chuck!" I said, as Chuck came up to me. I hugged him. "Pat!" I exclaimed, and hugged him next.

**********

About six hours later, we arrived at the University of Toronto. It was the week of the "Festifall", or "Fall Festival" (which was UT's version of a Spring Fling or Spring Carnival), and Simple Plan was the headlining band for tonight's concert.

It was time for sound check at 3:00. I got to sit on stage for sound check, and Pierre kept stealing glances at me and smiling.

The first band of the night- a local band named the Greenhouse Defect- went on at 7:15. They played mostly original songs except for one cover- "Supersonic", by Oasis.

While the Greenhouse Defect performed, I hung out with the members of Simple Plan backstage. At 8:30, it was time for Simple Plan to go on. I kissed Pierre good luck, and went around the stage and stood in front.

Their first song was "I'm Just A Kid." After that, they played a variety of songs from No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls and Still Not Getting Any.

"So it's getting late," Pierre said, after the band had concluded "Me Against The World", "and we only have two more songs left for you guys. You guys wanna hear a cover?" The audience screamed. I looked around and noticed a few girls that looked far too young to be UT students (they probably went to the local high school). I couldn't blame them; when we were seniors in high school, Pierre and I had snuck in to a Green Day concert at McGill University.

"Let's play a cover!" David said into his microphone. I caught his eye, and grinned at him.

"We're gonna play a cover now. Have you guys ever heard of a band called Mest?" They screamed in acknowledgement. "This song is dedicated to a woman named Katie. I've known her for 10 years, and as of this month, I've been lucky enough to call her my fiancé. This song always makes me think of the times I spent with her back when we were in high school. It's called 'Jaded.'"

Jeff played the opening notes on his guitar, and Pierre started singing.

"There's a time and place for everything. There's a reason why certain people meet…"


After "Jaded", Simple Plan played "Perfect". As they walked off the stage, I headed back around the stage to meet them.

"How did we do?" Pierre asked me.

"You were amazing," I told him. "As always."

"I love you," he told me, and kissed me. "I'm so lucky to get to marry you." I smiled, and he kissed me again.

**********

The next day, Simple Plan had show at an arena in Toronto. The opening bands for the tour were the Plain White Ts and Matchbook Romance. The day after that- Thursday, November 22- there was no show.

That day also happened to be American Thanksgiving. After an early morning flight, we were in Boston (where the next should would be) by noon. Pierre graciously carried my bag, and opened all the doors for me.

Finally, we got to our hotel room.

"What do you want to do now?" Pierre asked me.

"Well, what do rock stars normally do on their days off?" I inquired.

"Well, normally we do nothing," he admitted. "But I thought you might want to actually do something, rather than sitting around."

"That would be good, but is there anything open today? It's Thanksgiving, you know," I reminded him.

"I have an idea," Pierre told me. "Don't forget your gloves."

As per Pierre's recommendation, I brought my gloves. I also brought a scarf and hat. Pierre wouldn't tell me where we were going, so I followed blindly as he expertly navigated Boston's subway system, the T.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" I asked.

"Yep. We've been to Boston before. I know exactly where we're headed."

Soon enough, Pierre said, "We're here," and I saw that we were standing in front of an ice skating rink.

"I haven't been ice-skating since…" I began, remembering the time Pierre and I had gone ice-skating when we were 15.

"It's okay. I know you'll be fine." Pierre said, reading my mind. "I'll hold your hand."

Soon enough, after my skates were tied (Pierre had to tie them for me- I had no clue how), we went on to the ice rink. True to his word, Pierre held my hand- both of them, in fact, as he skated (expertly) backwards (supposedly, ice hockey is pretty popular with Canadians- they can all skate) and I skated (nervously) forwards.

After a few laps of skating, I was feeling more confident. So Pierre skated forward, next to me, holding my left hand. I definitely felt like I was getting the hang of ice-skating.

"We should do this again some time," I told Pierre. But I spoke too soon- moments later, a young boy (he couldn't have been older than 8 or 9) in full hockey gear whizzed past me, causing me to lose my balance and fall. Luckily, we were close to the edge. I didn't feel like standing up right away, so I pulled Pierre down on top of me.

"Oops," I said.

"Oops."

"Well, now that we're down here, we might as well-"

"Alright."

And Pierre kissed me. It was just like I remembered him kissing me that time we were at the rink in Montreal- intense, but more romantic than aggressive. I could feel the eyes of the observers staring at us- by the sounds of it, they had all stopped skating.

The kiss ended. I smiled, and Pierre helped me up.

"I think I'm done skating," I told him.



I'm jaded, stupid, and reckless.
Not sorry, and I'll never regret
These years spent so faded and reckless.
Not sorry, and I'll never regret these years.
I'll never regret these years.


A/N- Song lyrics and chapter title are from "Jaded" by Mest.