I'm Amazed That I Got This Far

FF To Friday

"Are you ready to go, John?" I asked John as I walked out of our bedroom and into the other room, to see him and Eric standing by the door, waiting to leave for The Maine's first show.

"Yes." John nodded, bouncing up and down on his feet. "I'm ready, excited, and nervous."

"You'll do fine. Trust me, it's not as hard once you get used to it." Eric assured him as he opened the front door. "Let's head out!"

After I grabbed my jacket and slipped on my shoes, John, Eric, and I walked out of our apartment and locked the door behind us. As we walked down the stairs, I looked over at John to see him messing with his hair, and I could tell he was nervous. I understood he was a little worried about performing, but I wasn't sure why he was, because I knew he would do great. He had been practicing with the guys everyday for hours and had the songs memorized (that I knew of, anyway). This was the first time that John was performing in front of an actual crowd, and I was excited for him. I believed that he would do well and I knew he knew that too; he just didn't fully believe in himself.

When we got into Eric's car, he started it up and backed out of his parking spot, before taking off towards the bar where The Maine was playing. I looked at John from where I was sitting in the backseat, and he looked back at me and smiled slightly. I smiled back at him, hoping that I could ease his nerves once we got to the show, before I looked out the window. I saw Eric look over at John and smile at him, before he turned back to the road and continued to drive.

Once we got to the bar, we all got out of Eric's car, and walked inside. There were people everywhere, and we found our way to the back, where Jared, Garrett, Pat, Kennedy, Britton, and Aubree were standing with three other guys and three other girls. We all went up to them and once Garrett saw us, he waved. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey." I smiled, as Britton hugged me tightly. "Hey, girl!"

"Hi," I grinned, before hugging Aubree. "Hi, Aubree."

"Hi, Kalen." Aubree said happily.

"Are you ready for the show, John?" Kennedy asked, a smile on his face.

"Yeah." John smiled, nodding his head.

"Guys, these are my friends, Nick, Andrew, and Justin," Eric said, as he pointed to each guy. "And these are their girlfriends, Cate, Zimmy, and Chelsea."

"Hi, I'm Kalen," I smiled, as I waved at all of them. "This is John."

"Hey, man, good luck tonight." Nick said with a smile as he looked at John. "You guys will kick ass."

"Thanks, bro." John said, before running a hand through his hair. "When are we going to set up?"

"Everything's already set up," Garrett shrugged. "We did it before you got here. All you have to do is go up there and look purdy."

John nodded and sighed to himself, before looking down at the ground. I wrapped my arm around his left arm and sent him an encouraging smile, which he returned. All of us stood around for a little while, and I talked to all of the girls and got to know Cate, Zimmy, and Chelsea who were all extremely nice and friendly, while John talked to the guys and tried to calm himself down. Once it was time for The Maine to go on, John came over to me and smiled nervously. "We're going on."

"You're going to do great," I said as I grabbed his hands. "Just be confident."

"I'm so nervous," he sighed as he chewed on his bottom lip. "This is the scariest thing I've ever done."

"John, you've made it this far," I told him. "This is what you want, and you have it."

"I know, I know," he nodded. "I'm just scared."

"Don't worry about it. You'll do great and I'll be watching you," I said before kissing him. "Good luck."

"Thanks." He grinned once we pulled away.

I smiled and nodded as I let go of his hands, so he could go onto the stage. The girls, Nick, Justin, Eric, Andrew, and I all walked out from the back and found tables that were close to the small stage at the front of the bar. All of the guys walked onstage with their instruments, and the crowd looked at them and waited for John to say something. John grabbed the microphone and looked out into the crowd, before introducing themselves and saying what song they were going to sing. Some people in the crowd started to clap as they started playing (half of them being drunken fools), and they started to dance to The Way We Talk.

Throughout The Maine's whole performance, John barely faced the crowd, and went back towards Pat's drum set and stayed there almost the whole show. Half of the people in the crowd didn't seem to notice because they were so intoxicated, and I knew that he couldn't help it because he was so nervous. All of the guys gave it their all and by the time they were finished with their set, they had the whole bar screaming and clapping for them. They all smiled as they ran off stage, and the girls, the other guys, and I went to the back to see all of them smiling and giving each other 'great job's and 'you did awesome's.

"You guys did so great!" I smiled as I wrapped my arms around John's waist.

"Thanks." All the guys said, before John looked over at me. "I didn't even face the crowd at all!"

"Bro, don't worry about it. No one noticed anyway," Eric said as he smiled at John. "You did great either way. You guys sounds really good."

"Thanks." Garrett said happily, as he wrapped his arm around Aubree, while wiping the sleeve of his shirt across his forehead.

Eric nodded and grinned, before it was time for the guys to pack up and head home. The girls, Eric, Andrew, Justin, Nick, and I all waited outside of the bar, while the guys piled their things into a van and packed away their instruments and amps. When they were finished, John came over to me and laced his fingers with mine. Eric pulled his car keys out of his pocket and we said goodbye to all of the guys and girls, before walking towards Eric's car. We got in, once Eric unlocked the doors, and started back towards the apartment.

"So, how did it feel, John?" Eric asked as he looked over at John, who was sitting in the front seat.

John looked over at him and smiled wide. "It felt great. But I was so nervous!"

"Well, now you don't have to be nervous anymore, because you know how it is." I shrugged. "Right?"

"Right," he nodded. "Thanks for coming, guys. It means a lot."

"Anything for John!" Eric chuckled, before he continued to drive home.

***

"Eric, are you almost ready?!" I shouted from outside the bathroom door. "Other people need to get ready!"

"This is a blind date! I have to make sure I look presentable!" Eric shouted back. "You're the one that caused all of this!"

I rolled my eyes and smiled to myself as John came down the hallway and looked at me. "He still isn't out yet?"

"Nope," I sighed as I leaned against the wall. "He's worse than a girl."

"He's legit spazzing," John chuckled. "All day today he's been freaking out about this double-date. Are we picking her up at her house?"

"Yeah, that's the plan." I nodded, before banging on the door again. "Come on, Eric!"

"I'm almost finished!" Eric called. "Just give me a few more minutes!"

"I need to do my hair, still!" I groaned. "And we don't have much time left thanks to you!"

"You're welcome!" He said loudly. "This is your fault to begin with!"

"Well, if you knew how to get ready earlier!" I stated, crossing my arms over my chest.

Eric swung the bathroom door opened and looked at me. "Done! Are you happy?!"

"Yes, very." I smiled, before walking into the bathroom with John behind me.

"Don't I look nice?!" Eric asked as he looked down at himself.

"Bro, not to burst your bubble, but you look the same as everyday..." John trailed off.

Eric huffed and sighed to himself. "Thanks, I guess."

"Don't look like someone you're not, Eric." I smiled.

"I'm not!" he sighed. "I'm just nervous. What if she thinks I'm weird or something?"

"She won't, I promise." I replied. "Now, go finish getting ready so we can leave in ten minutes."

"You got it, boss." He said with a mock-salute, before walking away from the bathroom and going into his room.

I plugged in my straightener and started to apply my make up while it started to heat up. John ran a comb through his hair, fixing it how he wanted, before setting the comb down and looking at himself in the mirror. "Ready. How do I look?"

"Foxy." I smirked.

"Oh, thank you. I know," he joked, before walking out of the bathroom. "We'll be waiting in the living room!"

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me, before I started to straighten my hair. When I was finished, I ran a brush through my hair a few times, and once I made sure I was finished with everything, I walked out of the bathroom and went into the living room, to see John and Eric sitting on the couch. Once they heard me come into the room, they both stood up from where they were sitting, and went to the front door, after Eric grabbed his keys. I slipped on a pair of my shoes, and the other two did the same, before we were out the apartment door.

"Is this her house?" Eric asked, as he pulled up into the driveway of a nice, brick two-story house.

"Yes," I nodded. "This is what she has written down on the paper!"

"Okay," he nodded as he got out of the car. "I'll go get her."

"Awe, that's so cute." John said with a lisp.

"Shut up, ass." Eric chuckled, before shutting the car door and walking up to Alex's front door. John and I watched as he knocked a couple times and stepped back, waiting for someone to answer the door. A few seconds later, Alex answered the door and Eric smiled at her as they exchanged a few words. Alex smiled back at him as she shut her front door and the two headed down to Eric's car, before they both got in, and Eric started towards the pizza place.

"Hi, Alex." I greeted from the backseat.

"Hi, Kalen," Alex grinned, before looking at John. "Hey, John."

"Hello!" John said happily, before Eric started a conversation with Alex, and John and I had one of our own.

Once we got to the pizza place, Eric pulled into a parking spot and turned off his car, before all of us got out and started towards the building. Eric got to the door first, and he opened it, letting Alex, John, and me in, before coming in behind us. We walked up to the podium where a hostess was, and after she grabbed four menues, she led us over to a booth. John and I sat on one side of the booth, while Eric and Alex sat on the other, and we started to look over our menu.

"I think they're getting along nicely." John commented as he looked over at Alex and Eric, who were both laughing at something that one of them had said.

"That's good for us," I smiled as I looked at John. "Now Eric can't hate us."

John chuckled and nodded. "Exactly."

After a waitress came over to take our order, she walked away and came back about 20 minutes later with our food. The whole entire dinner was spent laughing and talking between the four of us, and it was obvious that Eric and Alex were hitting it off perfectly, and John and I were both happy for them. When we were done eating our food, and it was time for us to leave. John and Eric paid for the meal, and we walked out of the building and back to Eric's car.

"Thank you." Alex and I said at the same time to Eric and John.

"You're welcome." They both replied with smiles on their faces.

"Is it okay if I drop you guys off at the apartment first?" Eric asked as he looked at us through the rear view mirror. "I'm going to go back to Alex's house to hang out."

"Oh, to 'hang out'!" John said using air quotes. "That sounds naughty!"

"Shut up, John!" he chuckled. "Don't be a perv!"

"I'm not being a perv! I am being a man!" He stated, a smile on his face.

"Right, right." he nodded. "And no procreating back at the apartment, either."

"That's the first thing we're going to do..." John said slowly. "You just ruined it all, Eric."

Eric rolled his eyes and smiled to himself, before turning his attention to the road and Alex. I smiled to myself and sighed, happy that everything worked out perfectly, and I'm sure Eric was happy that him and Alex got along great. The whole car ride was silent, except for Eric and Alex talking in the front, before Eric pulled up to the apartment building, to let me and John out. We said goodbye to Eric and Alex, before walking into the apartment building and going to our floor. After John unlocked the door, we walked into our apartment, took showers and went to bed.

FF

"I'll see you in, like, ten minutes, babe," John said from the other line. "We're almost there."

"Okay," I said, a wide smile plastered on my face. "All the girls and I are waiting!"

"Alright," he chuckled. "Bye."

"Bye." I said, before hanging up and looking at Britton, Aubree, Cate, Alex, Zimmy, and Chelsea. "The guys are all going to be here in ten minutes."

The Maine and A Rocket To The Moon both got signed last year, and they were just getting back from their first tour, which they've been on for a little over five months. The apartment was completely silent for those five months without John and Eric there, and to be honest, I missed them there, screaming and noises all day, and I knew I wasn't going to miss the silence from when I was there by myself. The only good thing about all of the guys being gone was that all of the girls got to come over to the apartment and we had girl time without interruptions.

All of the girls cheered as they heard the good news, and we all rushed out of the apartment, before going down the stairs, and out the doors, so we could wait for the guys' vans to pull up. Going five months without John was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, considering we've never been separated for more than three days, especially since we lived together and were best friends. I was excited to hear all about his experience on tour, because when he would call me, we would talk about things over here and how he was--not anything about the actual tour.

Ten minutes later, two vans with trailers attached pulled up to the curb and they came to a stop. The side doors both flew open, and the guys all got out of their van, before coming over to us and greeting us with hugs and kisses. John grinned as he came over to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." I said with a smile as I hugged him back.

"How was everything?" He asked, before kissing me.

"Everything was fine," I replied, once we pulled away. "How was everything there?"

"Great. I can't wait to tell you about it when we get inside." He said happily.

"Good, because I can't wait to hear it." I said with a grin.

John smiled wide before pressing his lips to mine again. "I love you, Kalen."

"I love you, too, John."