Learn From Cigarette Burns

Hearing a small noise at my bedroom doorway, I looked up and saw my mom watching me with sad tears glazing over her eyes. Tilting her head to the side, she raised her hand and pressed the tissue to her nose, and then took a deep breath, steadying herself. Giving her a sad look, I set aside my books I was packing, and then crossed the room to hug her tightly.
 
"Mom, you promised that when I moved out you wouldn't cry." I sighed.
 
"I know, I know." She sniffed before she pulled away, and then ran her fingers through my hair, straightening it out for me. "I'm just being a sap. I thought that it'd be easier than this to watch you pack your things and move out, but it's not. I can't believe how grown up you've become; I mean, you're engaged," she pointed out. She sighed softly and then kissed my forehead before she pulled away. "You're the oldest and the first to move out of the house; it's gonna take me some time to get used to this."
 
"Mom, John and I will be just fine on our own." I assured her. "We've been looking forward to this for a long time now."
 
"Yeah," she sighed, "I know."
 
She sniffed slightly as she hugged me tightly once again, and then released me. "Your brother called," She said, "He said that he and John had to stop by John's parents house real fast before they come back here."
 
"Alright." I replied.
 
"What do you want for lunch, sweetheart?" My mom asked as she stood back, leaning against my doorframe.
 
"Alfredo." I said. "Now that I'm moving out, it's probably going to be a while before I'm able to talk you into cooking some for me again."
 
My mom smile softly before she nodded her head. "Alright, babe, I can do that."
 
"Thank you," I said sweetly before she turned around, and disappeared into the hallway, leaving me alone once again.
 
Taking a deep breath, I let it out in a soft sigh before I sank down onto my bed and glanced around my room. The entire time I've been packing my things ... it just seems weird. I've never had to pack all my things at once, not like this. Sure, I've packed some clothes for a two week vacation a time or two, but I've never had to pack up my things, knowing that I was moving.
 
Although I was excited to move into an apartment with John, there was still an empty sense in my stomach as I packed my belongings. This is the room I grew up in. It held so many memories, a majority of which had to do with John. And now I was leaving, off to make new memories with him in a new place.
 
The entire situation was just throwing me for an unexpected whirl.
 
Some time passed, and I was able to finish packing up the rest of the books I wanted to take with me, and then closed the box before I packed it across the room and set it beside the rest of the boxes that were ready to go. As I straightened myself up, I glanced out the window and saw that my dad's truck was parked back in the front, indicating that John and David had finally returned. I paused momentarily to tug off my sweatshirt, and then tossed it onto my bed before I made my way into the living room where John and my brother were sprawled out on the couches.
 
"Were you two able to get everything into the apartment?" I asked.
 
"Mhmm." My brother mumbled.
 
"Already?" I asked. "That was fast."
 
"We met our neighbors." John said as he tugged me down beside him. "They offered to help us move our bed and stuff in."
 
"Oh, that was nice."
 
"Yup," he said before he yawned loudly. "Baby I'm tired." He whined. "Let's go up to your room and take a nap real fast."
 
"John, lunch is almost ready though." I said, running my hands through his hair, and brushing it out of his face.
 
"What's for lunch?"
 
"Alfredo."
 
"Mmm ... well, how about after we eat lunch we'll go and take a nap?" He suggested. "I didn't get any sleep last night." He pouted.
 
"That's not my fault." I smirked as I stood up.
 
John growled lowly and then reached up, slapping my butt hard enough to make it sting. "Like hell it's not." He mumbled as he sat up and ran a hand tiredly across his face.
 
"Why's it my fault?" I asked. "I didn't do anything."
 
John raised an eyebrow in response, and then cleared his throat. "Do you really want me to answer that in front of your brother?"
 
When I finally remembered exactly what he was talking about, my eyes widened slightly, and my cheeks started to burn. "No," I mumbled.
 
"Well then," John laughed, "let's go take a nap."
 
"John, just suck it up so you can get a good nights rest tonight in our new place." I suggested.
 
"Dee," he whined, "I'm fucking tired. You wore me out last night when you made me - "
 
I put my hand over his mouth, stopping him before he blurted out exactly what we had done last night right in front of my dad. Giving my dad a sheepish smile, he responded with a perturbed look before he shook his head, and continued on out the door.
 
"John O'Callaghan, if you had finished that sentence, I highly doubt that I'd be moving in with you any time soon." I muttered as I lowered my hand.
 
"I didn't know your dad was right there." He whispered as if he still feared that my dad was within earshot.
 
"Yeah, yeah," I sighed, tugging on his shirt, "come on; we'll go eat and then we can take a quick nap in my room."
 
Slowly, John shook his head as he stood up. "I'm not tired anymore," he admitted, "that little thing with your dad kinda scared me ... I'm good to go now."
 
I laughed quietly and then slipped my hand into his, squeezing it tightly. "Still scared of my dad?"
 
"Well, yeah, when it comes to talking about sex." He blushed. "No guy ever wants to talk to his fiancés dad about sex. I mean, I know that your dad is cool with me and stuff, but I'm still scared of the guy. Mainly because I know that he can throw me through the wall if I ever do something to you that he doesn't approve of."
 
"John," I giggled, "my dad would never throw you through the wall."
 
John reached over and held open the kitchen door for me, allowing me to go in first before he followed me inside. "I know he won't," he said, "but just knowing that he can is pretty scary."
 
I rolled my eyes and chose not to say anything else as I released his hand, and directed him to take a seat at the kitchen island. I passed my mom, who was just putting the finishing touches on the alfredo, and grabbed some pasta bowls from the cabinet. I set them on the island and then grabbed some forks, setting them out as well before I sat down next to John.
 
Giving me a cute smile, he reached over and pressed his lips to mine, kissing me gently for a little while before my mom announced that lunch was ready. Reluctantly, I pulled away from John and then started to dish up my plate.
 
Lunch was good, and all the while we sat around, exchanging some small talk. After lunch was done, John when upstairs with me to help me finish packing my things, and we then spent the rest of the day, driving back and forth between my parent's house, John's parent's house, and our new apartment, moving our stuff.
 
Before I knew it, I was packing the last box of my belongings from my car and into the apartment. I heard John moving some things around in the living room, so I decided to go and join him after I kicked the door shut with my foot. Coming to the edge of the living room, I deposited my box on the floor and then watched as John rearranged the couches so that they were in a better position to see the entertainment system.
 
Once he was satisfied with where they were, he nodded his head in approval and then plopped down on one of them. Laughing softly, I made my way toward him.
 
"My dad said that tomorrow he and David would bring over that dining table for us." I said as I came to a stop beside him.
 
"Alright." He mumbled before he took my hand in his, and then pulled me down on top of him. It was only a matter of seconds before he started placing soft, random kisses here and there on my face and neck.
 
Giggling to myself, I carefully readjusted myself and then caught his lips with my own, kissing him deeply. John groaned softly, clearly enjoying the kiss, and then slid his hands underneath my shirt, letting his soft fingertips slide across my bare skin.
 
Slowly, I broke the kiss and instead moved my lips to his jaw bone, gently biting here and there. "Want to move to the bedroom?" I asked.
 
"I do, but then I don't." He mumbled. "I want to have my way with you right now, but then after we're done, what else are we gonna do? I mean, it's still pretty early."
 
"Um ... have even more sex?" I grinned.
 
"Dee, I'm not a machine!" He laughed. "I can only do it for so long."  
 
"Fine," I smiled, "we can do a little bit more unpacking, and then we can retire to the bedroom for the night."
 
"I don't want to unpack though." He pouted. "I'm tired of unpacking."
 
"Well, what do you want to do, then?" I asked.
 
John thought to himself for a little while before he sat up. Holding me close to him so I wouldn't fall over, he carefully reached over and grabbed a plastic bag from the floor, and then handed it to me. I waited until we got resituated on the couch before I reached into the bag and pulled out some wedding magazines.
 
"We need to start planning our wedding." He pointed out.
 
"Yes," I agreed, "we do."
 
"I was thinking for like ... maybe a spring wedding." He said. "I have tour with Good Charlotte and those guys, a little break, and then we tour again from October to November with All Time Low."
 
"Well, what if we have our wedding just before your tour with All Time Low?" I suggested.
 
John frowned slightly as he thought about it. "Do you think that we'll have enough time to plan everything out before then? It's like what ... three months? Most of that time I'll go gone on tour, sweetheart."
 
"Well, I don't know." I sighed. "I guess it all depends on what we want."
 
"Let's start with that then." John suggested. "What kind of wedding do we want? A big one or a small one?"
 
"I don't want a big wedding ceremony." I said. "I want just a small, backyard ceremony, with just our close family and friends."
 
"Yeah," John agreed, "me too."
 
"What about our wedding party?" I asked. "Do we want a lot of people in our wedding party?"
 
"I don’t know," he replied, "I was thinking just two or three people for my groomsmen. Garrett as my best man for sure."
 
"I think two sounds good." I said, opening one of the magazines, and flipping through it. "I don't want to spend a whole lot of money on bridesmaid dresses."
 
"Alright," he said, kissing my cheek softly, "I'll put some more thought into who else I want in my party. Do you already know who your bridesmaids are gonna be?"
 
"I already asked Jennifer to be my maid of honor," I said, speaking of my first cousin who had also graduated with John and me, "and I was going to ask Kelsey to be my other bridesmaid."
 
John nodded his head slowly before he took my hand in his, and then brought it up to his lips, kissing the back of my hand gently.
 
"I can't wait until you take my last name." He said quietly as he examined the pretty engagement ring he had slipped onto my finger.
 
"I can't wait either." I admitted. "It's gonna be crazy when people ask my last name, and I say O'Callaghan instead of Thompson." I grinned.
 
John smiled softly, and then squeezed my hand tightly. "I love you." He whispered.
 
"I love you too, babe." I smiled.
 
John sight quietly, and then kissed the back of my hand once again before he wrapped an arm around my middle, holding me closer to him. Sighing in contempt, I continued to flip through the pages of the magazine, getting ideas for our wedding.