Learn From Cigarette Burns

I breathed in deeply and let it out in a love sick sigh as I admired the pretty wedding band I had bought for my fiancé a few days prior. I knew that she would love it when she saw it.

Granted, she had nearly seen it when I had been so careless with the Tiffany & Co. bag that carried the ring that would stay in place on her finger for the remainder of her life. Although she chose not to comment about the bag, I saw the happy smile that she tried to hide by a casual turn of the head.

Letting my eyes wander across the admittedly pricy ring, which served as a symbol of a priceless vow, I decided that I had looked at it long enough and then slipped it back into the black velour box it had come in. Closing the box and putting it back into the bag, I placed the bag in my duffle bag, underneath some dirty clothes where I sure no one would care to look, in case they ever got the random desire.

Just as I zipped the bag up and pushed it out of the way, I heard the main door of the suite open. I waited for a few seconds before the sound of my fiancés gentle voice floated through the quiet living quarters.

"John?"

I fluffed up my pillow on the bed and then took a seat. "In the room." I replied.

As Dee exchanged a few inaudible words with someone - presumably Kennedy - I lay back on the bed and then closed my eyes. I felt tired that day, even though I did absolutely nothing, therefore having no reason whatsoever to be so tired.

"O'Callaghan."

I looked over and saw Dee standing in the doorway with various shopping bags held in either one of her hands. Although there was no visible smile on her face, I saw the sparkle of happiness in her eyes, and I found that I couldn't help but smile up at her.

"Hey sweetheart." I said gently. "How did the shopping go?" I questioned, though I had no need to, seeing as how the shopping bags seemed to speak for themselves.

My fiancé eyed me with her green stare for a few seconds before she nodded her head as if agreeing to something only she knew about.

"It was good." She replied, finally stepping into the room and then closing the door behind her. "I found your ring." She added softly.

"Yeah?"

For the first time since she returned, a smile pulled across her lips. "Yes."

I lowered my eyes from hers momentarily, glancing at the shopping bags, and then locked my gaze with hers once again.

"Looks like you found some other things as well." I pointed out.

Dee shrugged her shoulders in an indifferent manner and then turned her back to me before setting her bags on the small table by the window.

"Oh, a few things." She replied, her back still toward me. I heard the crinkling of the bags as she shifted through their contents. A few seconds later the noise stopped, suggesting that she had found what she was looking for. "Say, John?" She asked, turning around and holding up a new lingerie set for me to see, "what do you think of this?"

I eyed the lingerie and then looked at my fiancé before feeling a blush spread across my face, given that it was made of material that didn’t really cover anything at all. I opened my mouth to reply, but then quickly closed it, seeing as how I was too flustered to even say anything witty or even perverted about it.

"Oh, wait," Dee said, lowering her new purchase and hiding it behind her back slightly, "I should really be showing this to Kennedy, shouldn't I, seeing as how he and I are going to have a beautiful child together."

Her words snapped me out of my schoolboy fantasies and I sat up straight. "What?" I half shrieked, half yelled, making me sound as if I were an adolescent going through puberty. My heart started to pound furiously within my chest and my mouth gaped open, though no air seemed to be entering or exiting into my lungs.

"Relax, Cornelius," she smirked, tossing the lingerie in my direction.

Still in shock, I made no move to catch the lingerie so it fell onto my lap as I stared at the pretty girl I have been in love with since we were thirteen years old.

"When I was purchasing your ring, some woman had mistaken Kennedy for my fiancé." She said. "She thought that we made such a lovely couple, and I didn't have the heart to correct her. I found it entertaining."

Realizing that she was joking about having kids with Kennedy, I felt my heartbeat slowly starting to return back to it's normal pattern.

"Oh," I whispered, "I just though ... " I trailed off, blushing furiously. No longer able to look at my fiancé, I stared down at the provocative lingerie in my lap.

"You thought that I was leaving you for Kennedy again?" She laughed quietly.

"Well," I mumbled before envisioning Dee in the lingerie set on my lap.

Blushing once again, I cursed myself under my breath and then set the thin material aside.

"John Cornelius O'Callaghan," Dee sighed, "I haven't seen you blush this much since the night we took each other's virginity."

Swallowing down the nervous lump that had suddenly arisen in my throat, I shrugged my shoulders in what I hoped was a nonchalant gesture. My fiancé, however, knew me better than anyone, and she was able to see how nervous I was just then. Truth be told, I really did feel as if I were a virgin again, sitting there watching my fiancé with a mischievous, yet passionate glint in her eyes.

As if sensing this, a shy smile pulled across her lips and she began making her way toward me, slowly unbuttoning her dark green blouse as she did so. When she was done unbuttoning the last button, she slid the cotton fabric off of her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor.

Her smile had since disappeared, but she had a loving expression nonetheless. In the blink of an eye she was straddling my lap. As I struggled to catch my breath, her hands found their way to the bottom of my shirt and gently began pulling it up and over my head. I looked to clock to see if we had enough time to do what we were about to do before turning nervous eyes back to Dee.

"We have one hour." I whispered.

"Shh," was her only reply before she pressed her lips to mine.

The passing minutes seemed like a blur, and before I knew it, she and I were intertwined with one another in the soft sheets, our bodies performing the most intimate of acts, while our minds took a break, letting our lust for one another take over. All too soon it seemed the rush of ecstasy and euphoria slowed to a stop as we laid still in each others arms, quietly listening to the sound of each other's heart rates and breathing patterns return back to normal.

"Sweetheart, we have to get ready." I muttered softly.

"Just a second," she mumbled into the bare skin of my chest, "I'm trying to figure out where that last orgasm ranks in the history of all my orgasms."

"Babe," I grinned.

"What?" She questioned. "Seriously, O'Callaghan, that last one was intense. You've stepped up your game; I know what I gotta bring to the bed next time we throw down."

"Dee?!" I laughed, "what is with you today? You're all frisky and whatnot."

"What? I can't be frisky?" She teased as she sat up.

"I'm supposed to be the frisky one." I mumbled.

"Yeah, well you haven't actually made a move at all during this entire tour so I had to take matters into my own hands." She said, shrugging her shoulders. "What else was I supposed to do? I had the urge."

I made a weird face and then laughed quietly. "You make it sound like you had the urge to pee." I commented before I sat up as well.

"Well, like the urge to pee, you can only contain the need for sex for so long." She said simply.

I leaned over, placing a gentle kiss on her bare back before using her shoulder as a resting place for my forehead.

"Come on, John," she whispered softly, "I just bought a pretty new dress especially for tonight just like you ordered and I'm determined to show it off."

"Alright." I agreed.

I straightened up my posture as she climbed to her feet and watched her walk away with a love sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I awoke from my dream and then sighed heavily before rolling over. I had planned on settling in to fall back asleep, but when I realized that the sheets beside me were cold and empty I opened my eyes.

"Babe?" I called out tiredly. "John?"

When no response came, I whined softly and sat up. I looked around the room but found my fiancé no where.

"Damn it, John." I muttered.

Determined to get at least two more hours worth of sleep in his arms, I kicked back the blankets and grabbed a dirty shirt from the floor. After pulling it on, I slid on John's basketball shorts from yesterday and left the room.

I looked around the living quarters and saw Kennedy sitting on the couch, a bowl of cereal in his lap while his eyes were glued to the television. I cleared my throat, letting him know I was in somewhat of a bind, and he looked up at me. His hazel eyes assessed my appearance for a couple of seconds before he finished chewing his food, swallowed, and then looked back to the television.

"Your shirt is inside out." He commented.

"I don't care," I grumbled, "Where's John at? I'm not done cuddling with him." I pouted.

"He went out to get you two some breakfast." Kennedy replied. "He should be back pretty soon."

"Why didn't he just order room service?" I growled lowly.

Although Kennedy didn't turn his eyes back in my direction, I saw him raise an eyebrow at my response.

"Well, can you call him and tell him to hurry back?" I muttered.

Kennedy furrowed his eyebrows slightly and turned his confused stare back to me. "You're perfectly capable of calling him yourself." He replied, not rudely, but simply pointing out the facts.

"It's early and I'm bitchy." I mumbled. "I don't want to talk to him."

Without another word I turned around and went back into the room. I pulled off my shirt, tossing it aside and then made a move to remove the shorts as well when the door opened. Expecting it to be John, I looked up but then jumped in surprise when I saw that it was Kennedy.

"Kennedy?!" I wailed, covering my bare chest. "What the hell are you doing?"

"A part of me wishes that you had just stayed back in Arizona." He muttered.

"Excuse me?" I replied.

"A part of me wishes that you had just stayed back in Arizona." He repeated. "You're my friend and all, Dee, and I like you well enough, but sometimes you just treat John like crap. I know you love him with all your heart but sometimes you just bitch constantly and it makes him sad."

"If I ever bitched at him he would tell me." I said, though not as confident as I would have liked.

"Yeah, he calls you out when it's something really crude that you had said, but he would never put you in your place for the little things. Little things add up, though." Kennedy told me. "This morning he just wanted to do something sweet for you; he planned on coming back before you woke up so that he could surprise you. But things didn't go as he planned and now you're bitching around about him being gone; by the time he comes back you're going to be pissed and it's going to turn into a fight that should never have even happened."

"So what," I mumbled, "it's just one silly fight and we'll have made up before lunch." I said. "Nothing big, it's what we do."

"Petty fighting is for high school." He said, shaking his head. "Like I said, all this adds up. I'd hate to see your relationship ruined because one day things just go too far. You two have the type of relationship that people are jealous of ... the kind that I'm jealous off." He muttered.

I was taken aback by his sincerity, and his words made me realize that he had a point. Sure John and I were known for our fights that would last for a time span of three hours, but what if one day it lasted longer? What if it was something we never got over?

I frowned softly and then looked at Kennedy with guilty eyes.

"You asked me why I didn't have a girlfriend." He muttered. "The truth is that I had an amazing girlfriend; I really thought that she would be the girl that I was going to marry but ... she couldn't handle me being away on tour. I tried to talk the guys into letting her go with us once, but ... they wouldn't have it. So she broke up with me, told me she couldn't take it anymore."

"Oh, Kennedy," I whispered, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Kennedy shook his head. "It doesn't matter now, it's in the past and she's gone, off with someone else." He sighed. "I don't what you and John to have the same ending." He said simply before he turned around and left the room.

As the door closed behind him, I had the sudden urge to cry. As to the exact reasons why? I'm not entirely sure.

I felt as if I somehow owed Kennedy now for pointing out my faults. Who knows, perhaps he had actually saved my relationship with John in the long run.

Not knowing what else to do I climbed back underneath the covers and curled up into a ball, waiting anxiously for my fiancé to return.