There Is No Arizona

“The rumors are true,” I heard John’s soft voice say from behind me.

Looking over my shoulder, I spotted the lanky yet good looking boy standing there with a ridiculous looking green headband on, apparently it’s the new style for all the cool kids. Backing away from the SUV, I turned completely around then eyed John a little better, “What rumors?” I wondered as I started to grab another large suitcase that was over packed with clothes that I’ll need over in Paris.

“You’re really leaving … moving.” He said, his voice still soft.

“No, those rumors aren’t true, I’m simply relocating for the Summer so Janelle can work in Paris and my Parents can stay here with Jonas and go to all his little league games together. So they can be there for their only Son like they were there for their five Daughters.” I shrugged a bit then tried to lift my bag but had difficulties performing the simple task. When my Father brought it down the stairs and out to the SUV for me, he made it look easy.

Without a word, John closed the space between us and gently moved me out of the way before while picking up my bag, making it look effortless as he placed it in the SUV next to my others. For a skinny boy, he has a lot of muscle.

“Thanks,” I muttered to him before forcing a smile, “Why are you here, John? To try and stop me from moving to Australia, because obviously you didn’t know I was leaving for Paris.”

“No,” He shook his head, “I wasn’t planning on stopping you, you wouldn’t listen to me anyway,” He pointed out, “But Tim and I were talking…”

“Oh God,” I rolled my eyes, knowing that Tim went and ran his big mouth to John, that boy couldn’t keep a secret to save his life, even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to.

“I won’t go into detail about what we talked about because truthfully, a lot of it had nothing to do with you,” He made a face then shrugged his shoulders before speaking again, “He told me you asked him if he thought I was in love.”

“Yeah, so?” I asked, wondering where he was going with this.

“How come you couldn’t ask me that?”

“Well,” I started, “It didn’t seem like something to ask you, we haven't really been talking since … since that day and …”

“It is,” He cut me off, “It is love, I’m madly in love.” He informed me, “I don’t want to play this game, I don’t want to make you feel bad for leaving Arizona or make you feel like shit because of what you feel you need to do. I love you, and now you know, everything’s out in the open, I’m here when you’re ready, the ball is in your court now.”

I stood there and stared up into his green eyes before smiling ever so softly, “I’ll be back at the end of the Summer,” I whispered.

“I’ll see you then, I guess.” John muttered, letting a small smile tug on the corner of his lips.

“Yeah, I suppose you will.” I closed the small space between us, stood on the tips of my toes before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek, “If I had it to do all over again,” I whispered in his ear slowly, “I would’ve done one thing different.”

“What would that be?” He wondered, slyly wrapping his arms around me, pulling me close.

“I would’ve chosen the shy, soft spoken boy right from the start,” I smiled, “Want to know a secret?” I wondered, “My heart has always skipped a beat when you walk into a room,” I informed him before he had the chance to tell me if he wanted the secret or not.

“Do you wanna know what?” He questioned, “I believe you,”

I smiled again then moved away from him but before I could get out of his arms, he pulled me close once again and lowered his head, kissing my lips lightly, “Be good over there,” He ordered, “Try not to let any stupid French boys steal your heart from me.”

“Who says you even have it?” I teased.

“So it’s gonna be like that?” John laughed playfully.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be like that,” I confirmed then I lifted my left hand and tugged off a ring, a simple silver band, that my Father bought me. He bought it for me because I kept stealing my Mother’s wedding band when I was a little girl and when I couldn’t find hers, I’d steal his. I can’t really explain why I did it but I suppose it was to feel closer to them and the love that they shared. So he bought the ring for me, had it custom made to resemble both his and my Mother’s rings and since I was old enough for it to fit my finger, I’ve never taken it off and people have always assumed it was from AJ but it isn't.

“Here,” I whispered as I lifted John’s left hand and pushed the ring onto his index finger, seeing as how it’s the only finger that it fit properly, “Keep this safe for me while I’m gone,” I muttered as I lightly traced it on his finger.

“Danielle,” He whispered to me, knowing the importance of the ring.

“What?” I asked.

“I can’t…”

“You can,” I assured with a smile, “Take it, think of it as the key to my heart and wear it with pride.” I laughed then shrugged, “And it’s not like it’s a girl ring or a boy ring, it’s just a ring.”

“But I know who gave it to you,” He pointed out.

“Good, and you know the story behind it.” I shrugged, “You know I’ve always wanted a love like my Mom and Dad’s, I finally have it.” I whispered then shrugged my shoulders, “Wear it, keep it for me, I’ll see you when I get home, promise.” I stood on the tips of my toes once more and pressed my lips to his once again but this time, John slowly parted my lips with his tongue.

With his arms around me and mine around him, we shared our first kiss standing on the sidewalk in front of my parents house and the butterflies in my stomach told me that I have definitely been missing out on something amazing. Moving his lips from mine, John pressed his forehead to mine and sighed softly, “Be safe over there, will you?” He muttered, “A pretty little American girl like yourself could get into some trouble without even trying.”

I smiled as I rubbed my nose to his slowly, “I will,” I assured, “And you be safe too,” I paused, “Touring can get pretty rough,”

He laughed, “I think I can handle it,”

“I have to get the rest of my bags and my Sister, our plane leaves soon.”

“Isn't it private?” He wondered but kept his forehead to mine.

“Yeah but even private planes have a schedule to keep to,” I insisted then stole one more kiss, “Be Good, Johno.”

“Always,” He backed away and smiled softly before he slowly started to walk away, “I’ll see you soon.”

“Ok,” I confirmed then turned my back to him to count my bags in the SUV then I frowned and turned around once again, “Hey, John?”

Looking over his shoulder at me, he just smiled.

“I love you, too.” I informed him.

He smirked cutely then nodded, “I kinda figured that,” He teased, “But it’s nice to hear you say it nonetheless, and do you mind giving me a call when you land over there?” He wondered, “Just so I know you made it.”

“Yeah, I’ll call.”

“Ok, see you later, Danielle.”

“See you later,” I mocked as I watched him get in his car and slowly drive away.

Once he was gone, I turned towards the house and jumped out of surprise when I saw both my parents standing on the sidewalk next to me.

“He’s a nice boy,” My Mom said with a nod of her head.

“Don’t take this personally but I like him better than I liked AJ, may he rest in peace.” My Dad insisted.

I eyed the both of them thoroughly, “How long have you two been watching?” I wondered.

“Long enough to know that you’re finally madly in love with the boy that has been the right one all along.” My Dad informed me, “Be easy on him, Dani.” He ordered, “Don’t break his heart.”

“Why aren’t you telling him that?” I defended.

“Because, we know you,” My Mom butted in, “And we know if anyone will be breaking anyone’s heart, it’ll be you breaking his, Miss Independent,”

I shook my head a little bit then looked down at my finger where my ring once was, “No,” I whispered, “There will be no heart breaking,”

“Well, it’s kind of inevitable.” My Dad said simply.

“But you just told me!” I wailed, getting frustrated.

“What I meant was …” he trailed off with a frown, trying to find the right words, “There’s going to be fights, he’ll break your heart and let you down and you’ll do the same with him but what I meant was, don’t over-do it, don’t break his heart and leave it broken.”

I rolled my eyes but said nothing more on the subject of breaking hearts.

“So, are you two together now or what?” My Mom grinned.

“No, we’re not together.”

“Well, it sure looked like it to us,” My Dad frowned at me.

“We will be soon enough, but for now he’s going on tour and I’m going to Paris, we’ll see what happens when we both get back at the end of the Summer.”

My Parent just smiled at me then my Mom let out a gentle sigh, “You better get out back and play catch with Jonas for a little bit, he’s been back there by himself all morning, crying because you’re leaving.”

“He’s going to miss Janelle too,” I assured as I started towards the front door of our house.

“Yeah, but he’s going to miss you more.” My Dad insisted, “He loves all his Sister’s equally but he likes you the best.”

I just smiled to myself but said nothing else to my Parents while I made my way to the back yard. Once I was there and had talked Jonas into playing catch with me, I suddenly realized that everyone was right all along. There’s no need for me to leave Arizona because once I do, I’ll miss everything I have here and then I’ll truly be depressed and that wouldn’t be good at all. Plus, if I’m John’s Mrs. Right, I have to be able to enjoy the perks of being Mrs. Right, if you know what I mean, and I can’t enjoy them if I’m thousands of miles away in Australia, can I?

I guess Arizona isn’t so bad after all.