Remind Me That We'll Always Have Each Other

I had to admit, the concert was amazing. Thanks to John, me, Jeremiah, and Lainey got to have front row seats. The whole time The Maine was on stage, my heart rate was beating irradically, and John kept stealing glances at me, causing my face to get 10x warmer than it already was.

John told me to meet him on stage, when everything was cleared. So, here I was, waiting. The concert had been over for at least a good hour, but there were still a lot of fans waiting for their chance to meet and take pictures with Garrett, Kennedy, Pat, John, and Jared. I sat on the edge of the stage, swinging my legs back and forth, until I heard footsteps.

"Finally." I teased.

He smiled, "It takes time to look this good."

I laughed, "I bet it does."

"How long have you been waiting here?"

"Since the crowd cleared."

"Damn, that's awhile." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I don't mind waiting . . . I got to meet a lot of your fans."

"Yeah?" He laughed, "Were they viscious?"

"Hardly. Most of them just wanted to know how I knew you, and if I could get them pass security so they could see you."

"Ah, I see." He took a drink out of his water bottle.

"By the way, you were amazing."

He smiled, "Really?"

"Of course. You've really got an amazing voice John."

"Thanks. I'm still hoping I can hear yours soon."

I rolled my eyes, and smiled, "Don't hold your breath."

We both laughed, and it didn't take long for a line to form before us. I didn't mind waiting and watching while he signed, took pictures, and talked to fans. I honestly thought it was sweet at how John was so friendly to all of them. Unlike some other singers, you could actually tell that he enjoyed getting to know his fans - that they meant something to him. The line eventually started to die down, and after signing and taking one last picture, John grabbed my hand, and pulled me off the stage.

"Let's go grub."

I laughed, "You're hungry again?"

"Hey, all they give me to eat is some trail mix and gatorade. How can you expect your boyfriend to live off of that?"

I smiled when I heard him say, 'your boyfriend'. "You're right, we better get you some food!"

We walked outside and saw Jeremaih and Lainey kissing.

"Ugh, Lainey!" I teased.

She pulled away from him, and smiled. "Sorry."

I smiled, "Yeah, yeah. I forgive you." She walked over to me, and gave me a hug.

"How'd you like the concert?"

"It was amazing, to say the least."

She grinned, "I know right. Did you see that one sound check guy? Ah, totally gorgeous."

I laughed, "There were a lot of sound check guys."

Jeremiah cleared his throat, "What was that again, Lainey?"

She blushed, and turned around to face him, "Nothing, love. Nothing at all."

"Uh - huh." He acted sad, and Lainey went over and wrapped him into a hug.

I looked over at John, and saw that he was watching them. He noticed me staring at him, and he looked at me, smiling. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go grub." I said, in the same he had.

He laughed, and I took the initiative of grabbing his hand, and intertwining our fingers. He looked at me, with the biggest smile ever, and gave my hand a squeeze.

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"Wow, John. This place is gorgeous. Are you sure it's not too expensive?" I asked him, once we took our seats at the table the waiter assigned up too.

John laughed, "Don't worry about the cost Kaydence. Just get whatever you want, okay?"

I nodded my head, "I guess."

Jeremiah and Lainey occupied the two seats in front of us.

"I forgot that Kaydence hasn't been here before." Lainey said, whilst placing her purse on the ground, by her feet. "They just built a few months back."

"Oh. They've built a lot of stuff since I've been gone." I laughed.

Jeremiah smiled, "Well at least it'll be exciting for you to see everything. I'm kinda bored with it all."

John laughed, "Yeah, same here. But at least they have the best lasagna in town."

"True. That shit's addicting." Jeremiah added.

Me and Lainey looked at each other, and laughed. I opened up the menu, and glanced at the various food items. After a minute or two of looking, I decided on ordering The Spaghetti Platter, whatever that meant. The picture just looked good.

After we gave our orders to the waiter, John's phone went off.

"Hello? Out to eat. Because you dumbass's were off somewhere else. Yeah, she's with me. Tell Garrett I said to shut the hell up. Yeah, yeah. Bye." John hung up.

I laughed, "Who was that?"

"Jared. He was just calling to annoy me."

Lainey laughed, "Didn't he do that the other day when we were at the aquarium, too?"

He nodded his head and took a sip of his Sprite, "He's my best friend, but sometimes I just wanna put a bullet in him."

We all laughed, and Jeremiah looked at me. "What did you get again, Kaydence?"

"Uh, the Spaghetti Platter."

He nodded his head, "It's good. Trust me, you'll love it."

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After dinner, we went went walking by the beach. I had to admit, it felt nice to have John's hand in mines. His hand was warm, and much larger than my own, but somehow, our hands seemed to fit perfectly.

"Can I ask you something?"

I nodded my head, "Anything."

"Why did you . . . become anorexic?"

I looked down at the sand in my toes, and bit down on my bottom lip.

"I'm sorry. That's way too personal." He apologized.

I looked back up to him, and his green eyes looked at me with sympathy. "No, it's fine." I sighed. "I can't explain it. It's like . . . I was losing control of everything around me. Food was the one thing in my life, that I could control. I started off by only counting calories, and exercising. Then it turned into binging and purging. Eventually, I became full blown anorexic. I knew I was losing weight . . . but when I looked in the mirror, I didn't see it. It's so hard to explain . . ."

He nodded his head, "It's okay. I'm sorry bringing the subject up."

"Don't be. It's fine John, really. I'm used to talking about it."

He smiled, and looked up into the sky, "The stars are beautiful tonight."

I looked up as well, "Yeah, they are."

"But they have nothing on you."

I laughed, "That was cheesy."

"Yeah, but it's also true." He laughed.

I smiled, and took a step closer to him. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my lips, and his arms wrapped around my waist. My arms found their way around his neck, and soon, his lips were crushed onto mines. It was the first kiss I had, had in so long. It felt . . . right. Not like my kisses in the past, when I was usually too drunk or high to remember or care who I was kissing.

He pulled away and looked at me, "I better get you home. Jeremiah will kick my ass if I keep you out late."

I smiled, "I think you could take him."

He laughed, "Let's not risk it, eh?" He gave me one last peck, before we walked back to his car.

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I couldn't get John out of my mind. I could still remember the way my hand felt in his - the way his lips felt on mines. Perfect. That's exactly what it was. It had just started to rain outside, and the pitter-patter of the water droplets was not helping me fall asleep. I felt like I was fifteen-years-old again, and crushing on the cutest, most popular boy in school, Only this time, the boy liked me back.

My stomach felt abnormally full, and it was an uncomfortable feeling. I took in a deep breath, and went through the steps of my therapy in my head.

It wasn't working. I needed to empty the contents of my stomach. I gripped the blankets, and held my breath. You can't Kaydence. You can't do it. You're going to ruin all your hard work. You're going to let mom, Tim, Mia, and Jeremiah down. Tears began to trickle down my cheek, and I threw the blankets off me, and ran to the bathroom.

I turned the faucet on in the sink, and let the water run full speed, making a loud noise. I lifted the toilet lid, and closed my eyes as I felt the familair feeling of my finger sliding down my throat.