Summer Is When Everything Could Happen

The drive back to Arizona was quiet, dull and devastating. Vance was driving, with Max in the passenger seat. Pat sat quietly at the back row, earphones plugged into his ear. Lance was busy with his phone, probably tweeting about what happened and explained to our fans. Dana was next to me, her eyes were still red from the tears she shed about leaving Warped.

My heart sunk in because this was all my fault. I cleared my throat and sat up straight. “Guys, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t let my anger took control.”

Pat pulled out his earphones and Lance sat up, leaning forward, resting his chin on the top of the seat. “Its okay, Ally cakes. We all know that you’re not the one who started it.”

“Yeah.”, Pat nodded from behind us. “Sooner or later, Kevin will find out the truth and we’ll be back on Warped.”

“Don’t you worry, Ally, everything will be fine. we just need to go incognito for a couple of weeks while I talk to Kevin and dig on Megan’s secret.”, Vance reassured me.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around Dana’s shoulder and Lance’s neck. “We’ll be fine, guys.”
**************
The sun peeked out from the horizon as the orange rays kissed my face as I sat down on the wooden chairs at the back patio. Mom left for Greece with her friends as a vacation to take her mind off of dad, and with Gummy stirred on my lap, I felt peaceful. The problem with Megan and my already two months pregnancy was off my mind.

When the sun was fully out, I stood up and walked back into the house. Gummy ran excitedly to the front door before the bell rang. Who the hell visited me in the early morning? I walked to the door and when I opened it, John was standing there, with a little smile on his face.

“John? What are you doing here?”, I asked with disbelief. “You’re alone?”

He nodded. “Can I come in?”

“Oh yeah. Sorry.”, I muttered as I let him in and closed the door. I led him to the living room before we sat down on the sofa. “What’s wrong?”

“I know about…”, his eyes looked down to my stomach and when I realized what he was talking about, my hands in his were frozen. The baby inside my stomach felt like he stopped moving and every blood cell that was in my face drained out.

“John, I could explain.”, I squeaked, but he shook his head. We stayed quiet for a moment before tears started to fall from my eyes. “I’m sorry, John, I should’ve told you sooner, you should’ve known from myself.”

“I wish I heard it from you or from Stephen.”, he muttered as he tucked a piece of my hair into the back of my ear. I looked up with a puzzled look on my face. “What?”

My eyes blinked thrice before I leaned back a bit. “W-Wait, I thought we were…”

John’s eyes widened before he erupted into laughter. “Oh my God, Ally, do you think I came here to break up with you?”

I nodded slowly. He smiled and pulled me into his arms. “Ally Smith, I’m here to check the fact, and if it’s true, I’m not that easy to dump you.”
“I hurt you too much.”, I groaned and pulled away from him. “Why are you so nice to me?”

“Wanna know why?”, he asked with a big grin plastered on his face as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “It’s because I love you.”

“Well, you could fall out of love, you know. I suggest you do it on me, now.”

John shook his head. “No. I can’t force it.”

“Do it, John!”, I screamed as I stood up and took a few steps back. “I hurt you enough!”

John looked bemused on my action. My breathing was shallow and heavy. “Just…forget about me.”

I looked down and let my tears fall to the carpeted floor. Then, John put his hands over my shoulders, making me looked up. his warm smile greeted my sight before he wiped the tears with his thumb. “No, and I won’t.”

“I hate you for being too nice.”, I muttered but when he pulled me back into his arms, I didn’t fight.

“I’m not being too nice. I’m doing what’s right to the girl I love. if you love someone, you shouldn’t love just the good things of the person, you have to love the bad things too.”

“Thank you.”, I whispered and buried my face in his chest. I could feel his head resting on the top of mine.

He nodded. “Do you wanna get breakfast?”

A giggle escaped my lips and I nodded. “I’m famished.”

We both laughed and then, I excused myself to take a shower. After I was done, I rushed downstairs, finding him playing with Gummy at the foyer. He smiled when he saw me down the stairs and lend in his hands when I was at the last two steps. I took his hand and he led me out to his car on the curb.

When we got in, he turned on the ignition and I leaned my head onto the window. As we drove to the nearest IHOP from my house, he hummed Taylor Swift’s Our Song. I turned my head to him and smiled. “Stephen got into you, huh?”

“He always sings Taylor Swift at home, which annoys the crap out of me.”

I laughed and sat up straight, then I ran my fingers through his hair. “Why do you have such soft hair?”

“You don’t like it?”, he smirked and wiggled his brows. I pursed my lips and giggled quietly. “I take that as a yes.”

His car stopped at a parking spot at the IHOP’s parking lot. We got out and I walked around the car, immediately intertwined my fingers with John’s. We walked into the restaurant and got a booth in the corner, near the windows.

It was kind of empty and we enjoyed the quietness. After the waitress took our order, I leaned back to the seat and John slipped in his hand into my tank top, caressing my stomach. His touch sent electricity through my body, but Stephen sent shivers. It was weird how they’re brothers but they made girls feel different.

“I can’t believe Stephen’s baby is inside.”, he mumbled as his fingers ran up and down my not-so-flat-anymore-stomach.

“Can we not talk about that?”, I whispered and drew an imaginary circle under his ear.

He looked up to me and smiled. “Of course.”

When our orders arrived, I quickly took a sip of my tea and when it slid down my throat, it kind of relieved the raging thirst that had been going on all night. Last night, I couldn’t eat or sleep or even drink, because the Megan problem.

“I’m sorry about your band.”, John suddenly spoke up as he took a bite of his French toast.

I nodded and flopped a cut of the chocolate chip waffle from my plate. “It’s okay. It just horrible, because that was not my fault.”

“I know. Everyone knows.”, John added. “We just need to wait until Kevin finds out and he’ll take your band back, for sure.”

“Hope so. I mean, Megan’s right. I don’t have some sort of proof or whatever. The only witness there was Dana, and now she got into some sort of shock.”

“It must be hard for her.”

“Yeah.”, I nodded again. “She was the one who got me to play keytar at the first place and the one who built this band together.”

John patted my shoulder and smiled widely. “As her friend, you have to let her know that you’re here for her.”
**********
After we were done with our breakfast, John insisted to pay and I couldn’t say no. we got back into his car and decided to go to the nearest park. The sun was still scorching down because it was still the middle of the summer. Some kids skated down the sidewalks and teenage girls walked down with only their bikini tops and mini skirts, making me remembered how I was like that back in high school.

When we arrived at the park, it was still quiet and only some people, sitting on the grass as they enjoyed the summer day. John took my hand and led me to a bench near the pond. We sat down and enjoyed each other’s presence for a couple minutes.

“Anyway, I haven’t asked this, shouldn’t you be in Florida?”, I asked.

John turned his head to me. “Well, we have three days off and I used this chance to see you. I was kind of surprised to know about your band, like, after you guys left.”

“It was only yesterday.”, I laughed and leaned my head on his shoulder.

“After that, I hailed a cab and went to the airport, picked the cheapest and fastest flight to Phoenix and here I am.”

“Bold.”

“Only for you.”, he whispered and kissed the top of my head.