My First "Shoutout Sunday": The Perfect Peter Machin

Pete (far left) and I (the guy at the bottom right with the ginger hair, obviously!) during our last proper day of year 11 at secondary school, so we were aged about 16. Nobody in this photo will forgive me for putting this on here!

Where do I begin when writing a piece about my best friend, Pete(r) Machin? He's the guy who means the most to me on this whole planet (outside of my family), a guy who - whether he realises it or not - has saved my life on at least one occasion, and a guy who I am proud to call my best friend for life. I've been lucky enough to know this unforgettable, caring, amazing, understanding, life-changing individual since the first year of secondary school - so since we're about 11 - and we have literally never fallen out since (We're 27 and 28 now, although I'm actually also 28 the day after publishing this!); although he's probably secretly [and jokingly] disliked me a lot in that time, as I am not an easy individual to have to put up with! We didn't go to the same primary school, due to living in different areas of Reading, so we didn't know each other prior to secondary school, unfortunately, but if we had, I have no doubt that we'd have been friends sooner.

Over time we got closer and closer, and one of the main things that sticks in my mind from our teenage years is the epic sleepovers we'd occasionally have, with one in particular springing to mind: it was a cold February in 2005, some of our other friends had gone to New York on a school trip, and he had an empty house, so we arranged this unforgettable sleepover. Back then you tended to have one big (LCD or plasma) TV in your house, with other TV's - like the one you'd have in your bedroom - still being one of those ones with the fat backs (CRT's)! This meant that it was always exciting to plug your games consoles in in the living room and play on "the big TV". So we plugged in his PS2 and my GameCube in the living room (he's always been a Sony fan, and I've always been a Nintendo fan, so between us we always have an interesting mixture of awesome games to play!); rearranged the furniture to be as comfortable as possible; put the fire on; ate and drank loads of junk; and played games all night (Conflict: Desert Storm II on the Cube kept us awake, playing the bloomin' hard campaign in co-op mode), which seemed crazily exciting at the time!

Pete making me laugh-out-loud whilst doing the best man's speech at Chris Fox's wedding

One thing you never forget in this world is when you're at your worst, and whether certain people stick around, whether they're there for you, etc., and with Pete I have always been able to say, "yes, he's never let me down!" I remember when I didn't have a job and wasn't in education, but he never judged me; in fact, he still came around to see me after his work - with me in my pyjamas, having done nothing productive with the day - if only to hang out for a few hours. Yes, there have been many other people who have had my back when I've been, in all honesty, suicidal, but he's the main reason why I'm still on this planet right now; that's the honest truth! I've never been so comfortable around any other human being, we share so much in common, and I can chat to him about absolutely anything - or even sit in silence whilst still feeling comfortable and like he's there for me.

He's been there with me for some of my most favourite days and nights ever, including two phenomenal concerts: the first being back on April the 12th 2008 when we saw Elliot Minor headline at the London Astoria, and the other being when Green Day played to 60,000+ people at the Emirates Stadium in London on June the 1st 2013! I'm really glad I shared these moments, and many others, with him.

*Before Green Day had come on* This was one of the best days/nights I've experienced with Pete. Green Day played for two-and-a-half hours - it was dark by the end (see below)!

The finale of Green Day's set - which was "Brutal Love" - with the lights being from everybody's camera flashes, phones, etc.!

I genuinely can't stress enough just how much he means to me: he really is my best mate for life - and a brother figure, to be honest - as well as the most perfect and inspirational human being I've ever met in my life, and I feel like I owe him so much, as he has helped me with everything from rides to and from places, to helping me through dark and depressing times. I love you, bro, and would be lost without you! :D <3