If It Keeps You Around Then I'm Down

"FUCK YOU!" I called out from the bathroom. Katie and I were locked in the bathroom after being attacked with food we were eating. My navy blue tank top was smeared with icing and my jean shorts were surprisingly untouched, but my legs were a different story. Katie had white icing all over her black mini dress and was attempting to get some of it out. Our bare feet sticking ever so slightly to the tile. I was having so much fun in Arizona, thriving only with my daily call from Alex sharing everything we had done that day and commenting on it. It was like we weren't even apart.

"Ava, I'm so sorry! Everyone else is gone," John said from the other side of the door still knocking lightly I wiped some icing off of my breast that John had taken the liberty to slam into me. I got him in the hair so I suppose it was retaliation.

"John, if you're lying right now I will chop off your balls and feed them to my dogs," Katie said unlocking the door and opening it, she saw no one there and nodded before Kennedy came around the corner with an entire cake, it was his birthday cake so he could do with it as he pleased. "JOHN!" Katie shrieked so piercing dogs would've ran away.

"Oh dear God!" he called out in fear as she wiped off icing from her face so she could see, he jumped and ran into the bathroom with me locking the door. "I'm so scared right now, my mom will totally kill me if I can't have children!" He looked at me and I laughed.

"Are you serious?" I scoffed checking my phone, Alex said he would text me when they finished up their show in Vegas, the summer was passing quickly and we were counting down the days when we could finally see each other. It was like a bad romantic comedy. Katie was trying her best to beat down the door and I laughed as I wiped some frosting from the side of his face.

"How did this even start?" John asked laughing, looking down at his black board shorts and white v-neck. I thought back to earlier in the evening when we were all around the pool for Kennedy's birthday, John was pretending to eat out a cupcake and I pushed it into his face. He wiped some off his face and on to mine, leading to the cupcake in the hair, etc. I think John got the slightest bit on Pat who went crazy with icing and now we were here, in Kennedy's bathroom.

"This is getting a little too crazy for me," I laughed and John looked around sitting across from me on the edge of the bathtub. I was perched on the closed lid of a toilet pulling up my legs. We sat awkwardly for a little bit before John laughed a little. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he shook his head smirking slightly indicating that it wasn't nothing, besides every time someone said nothing it was always something.

"No seriously," I cocked my head to get him to tell me what he was laughing about.

"You have frosting on your cheek," He pointed and I tried to wipe if off and then tried to get it with my tongue, we were both giggling lightly, "here let met get it," he said standing from his position and getting closer to me, he proceeded to wipe the other cheek he had pointed too. Our faces were close and his eyes pierced mine, I felt a heat rush to my cheeks as he leaned in closing his eyes. Just a peck on the lips before he pulled away and appologized.

"No, it's okay," I said rubbing my legs, standing up so that I was staring and John's chest, he looked at me raising his eyebrows and after a moment of tension, we grabbed each other into a powerful kiss, I felt my body melt with relief and melt into his. We started making out, my legs grabbing around him and him moving me on top of the counter and into a sink. I laughed as he stopped to breathe holding himself on the mirror leaving a hand print. We heard Katie and Kennedy arguing about ending this and going swimming. "You realize Katie will hate you for this right?"

"I don't really give a fuck," he smirked before kissing me again, his tongue tangled with mine, my hands ran through his hair and rested on his neck. He cupped my face kissing em a couple more times. My phone started buzzing loudly against the countertop causing us to break apart. I panicked and slipped out from under him and into the bathtub.

"Hello?" I asked, I already knew it was Alex, but I answered out of habit.

"Have you just been doing something bad?" Alex asked suspiciously, I suppose my voice had been raised slightly revealing that I was doing something I didn't want Alex to know. John chuckled, and I realized that he could probably hear everything he was saying.

"No, what?" I asked and Alex sighed in disbelief, "Alex can I call you later, I'm kind of in the middle of something?" I said looking at John and winking exaggeratedly.

"Yeah, but I'm going to expect details," Alex said sounding amazingly like a girl he started yelling, "No you can't touch my ass!" to someone I assumed Jack which means they had ladies in the room. Jack always liked to make girls laugh, and he wouldn't preform if not for an audience.

"Bye baby!" I said loudly hoping one of them heard me.

"Bye snook'ems!" Alex said mocking me and I laughed before hanging up, John had shoved his hands in his pocket and was looking at me awkwardly.

"Oh, so I'm something?" He asked with another stupid smile on his face looking at me. I rolled my eyes and unlocked the door as John shrieked "no!" Katie and Kennedy were gone though, probably in the now closed bedroom door. We began to scout around for Jared, Pat and Garrett and saw them outside swimming getting icing off of them. Before we walked out the door to the porch I stopped him.

"John, whatever just happened, we can't tell anyone and it can't happen again," I stated firmly. John looked at me confused and I raised my eyebrow to see if he understood.

"Well, why not?" He asked making sure no one was around us. I didn't think it was for my sake, probably so that no one would see him getting shot down.

"Because, I don't want a relationship and my best friend already hates you enough, its not fair to you," I explained, I had a lot more reasons in my brain but for some reason those were the only ones I could formulate.

"Well, who says this has to be a relationship? Besides I think I can take care of myself," He said seductively bringing his cheek to mine and whispering lightly in my ear so that goosebumps shot across my skin. I slipped outside and bit my lip.

"Whatever you say," I said ambiguously before turning to run down the steps. I striped off my clothes to reveal the same navy bikini I had worn in Maryland. I cannon-balled in the pool trying to splash as many people as I could. Garrett laughed and simply challenged that he could do better.

After we went swimming Garrett gave me a ride to Katie's house since she was staying at Kennedy's for the night. I grabbed my phone that had gotten a little wet, but was a trooper and dialed Alex. It rang for a little bit before Alex picked up in a whisper.

"What?"

"Alex?" I asked really confused as to what was going on before realizing that he probably had company of the opposite sex and getting a call from another girl wasn't exactly the most romantic thing. Or he had already gotten a little something-something from her and was trying not to wake her up. Which was sweet in a shallow-one-night-stand kind of way.

"Yeah, Ava? Hold on, let me go out so I can talk," he said whispering, I heard him knock something over and curse under his breath. I could hear a door sliding open and shut and then Alex sighed in relief, "What's up?"

"Are you with a girl?" I said in a sing-song-y way. Alex let out a warm guffaw and sighed.

"No, I didn't want to wake Jack up, he and Rian are sharing beds and it takes him forever to fall asleep with another guy in the bed," Alex explained, I rolled my eyes in disbelief.

"What's her name Alex?" I asked with a fake harshness in my voice.

"I think it's Suzy? Susan? or is it Elise?" he thought to himself. I sighed and laughed at his expense. I turned on the shower in the bathroom down the hall and waited for it to warm up.

"You are such a slut," I laughed.

"Are you taking a shower? During our special conversation time?" Alex asked sounding very offended. I put him on speaker phone and started stripping off my iced clothes and my wet swimsuit.

"Please, you've taken a piss during our special conversation time, I should be able to bathe!" I started yelling so that he could hear me. I was skeptical about the idea but decided to try it anyways and surprisingly it was working.

"Nature called alright," Alex defended himself, "So who were you with earlier?" He asked raising his voice in a teasing older sibling manner. I laughed and started washing my hair.

"That guy, John, we just made out a little and then I told him I couldn't see him and he said that we could be friends with benefits essentially," I said before rinsing and conditioning.

"What'd you say?" Alex asked pensively.

"Nothing, I didn't answer him I just jumped in the pool, avoided conversation and got home to call you," I said adding some love to the 'you'. Alex awed and then cleared his throat.

"Isn't he a prick though?"

"Oh, extreme prick," I answered after washing my entire body. Alex sang a little to himself while he was thinking I wrapped a towel around my body and then pulled a towel into a turban to dry my hair.

"So what are you doing with him?" Alex asked after not being able to come up with anything else. I picked up the phone and turned off speaker phone bringing it to my ear.

"Nothing, I'm not over Jack yet, what am I supposed to do? Fuck him and feel like an epic slut? I mean really Alex, I just wouldn't feel right, even if he is a ridiculously hot lead singer of a band," I said debating my situation in my head. Alex simply laughed and I could imagine him shaking his head condescendingly on the other side of the line.

"Well if not, we can just get married and make our mothers happy," he suggested as I got dressed in a pair of boxers and a cut t-shirt. I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Life would be so much simpler," I said in a daze. Alex started talking about how amazing tour was and how they had gotten alcohol even without showing ID, he said that they were two shows and three days away from Phoenix. It was getting more and more tempting to go on tour with them. As fun as it was being here, I really did miss Alex. I couldn't decide either way so I was going to wait until I saw Alex and then go with my heart.

"Earth to Ava?" Alex called out like a five-year-old. I laughed and he started talking about kidnapping me again. A sudden wave of tiredness crashed down on me and I felt my eyelids feel heavy. I yawned loudly and Alex finally started making up an impromptu story, I went to bed with the sentence, "and suddenly the lion and mouse's wife got walked in on and they were like 'what the fuck, the sign says do not disturb!'" I went to sleep with a smile on my face.