La Vie En Rose

Vegas - All Time Low

“Alright, alright.” Garrett stuck out his stomach and started rubbing it as we exited Applebees. “It is time for the food coma to commence.”

It was a late Saturday night and we were finally heading back to Arizona. These past couple of days in California have definitely been busy, yesterday being the busiest. The guys had to get up early Friday morning to finish off their music video and were stuck at the location for most of the day. Luckily, the photo shoot and interview I had at the NYLON offices, took a good couple of hours so I wasn’t left by my lonesome self for too long. If anything, I didn’t mind the extra couple of hours by myself. It gave me the chance to do some Christmas shopping for my family.

As for John and me...well I wasn’t sure what we were, exactly. We haven’t really told any of the guys what we did at Jac’s party just yet. I guess you could say it was our little secret. This was, evidently, starting to prose a problem, however. John and I were never alone and if we were, it was only for a split second, when Garrett and Kennedy would be brushing their teeth in the bathroom. The sexual tension between us was becoming unbearable. I couldn’t even sleep with him (no, not in that way. What do you think I am, some hussy? I’m classy as can be for a nineteen year old!) because Kennedy and Garrett absolutely refused to share a bed (“Garrett touches places that shouldn’t be touched when one is sleeping, Gigi!” Kennedy tried to explain to me Thursday night when we came back from Jac’s house.).

And it wasn’t like John was making it any easier for me when we were with the guys. If I caught his eye, he would wink or lick his lips, just to tease me. Earlier this morning, when we all went down to the continental breakfast, he started text me things saying “You look so cute when you have bed head ;)” or “I want to kiss you so badly right now”. I had to try everything in my power to stop the smile from forming on my lips. Of course, nothing gets by the guys, so they started poking fun at me, thinking Richie was sexting me. I couldn’t help but notice John was biting his lip while all this went on, casually poking at his eggs.

You would think it would stop there, but it didn’t. During dinner at Applebees, John was sat right at the head of the table, while Kennedy and I were the closest to him - I was on his right and Kennedy, to his left. Leave it to John to start feeling up my legs when he “accidentally” dropped his napkin. I almost spat out the water I was drinking the minute his cool, slender fingers grazed my calves. It completely caught me off guard, causing the water I was drinking, to go down the wrong pipe. I started coughing uncontrollably as John came back up to the table, neatly putting the napkin back on his lap with a smirk on his face. I wanted to kill him. Still, he wasn’t finished yet. While everyone was just about wrapping up their dinners, and intently listening to a funny story Pat was telling, his hands started wandering again. John’s fingers had somehow, MAGICALLY, ended up on one of my knees. I gave him a quick glance, wondering where he was going with this, but he showed zero emotion to what he was doing; he was just casually listening to what Pat was saying. It was when his fingers started making their way towards dangerous territory, that I had gasped loudly and grabbed onto his hand. Everyone turned towards me and gave me a baffled look.

“Sorry.” I apologized, nervously laughing as I pushed John’s hand away from me. “I thought I saw a spider on my leg.”

I glared at John, who tried stifling his laughter by taking a sip of his drink and somehow, instantaneously, finding a framed picture on the wall, very interesting. He was pretty freaking pleased with himself. Alas, no one suspected anything of it, except Kennedy, who had raised an eyebrow at both John and myself. Luckily, he didn’t say or ask anything.

“Who’s driving us home tonight?” Jared asked as we walked toward the van.

“I am, JarBear.” John answered, giving him a slap on the back. “Taking one for the team.” He then looked at me and smiled. “Sit up front with me?”

“After that little stunt you pulled at dinner?” I questioned, pointing my thumb back at Applebees. “Fuck no!”

Of course, I eventually had to give in. I couldn’t say no to his pleading eyes and pouted lips. So, with a huge sigh, I called shot gun.

While everyone in the back got comfortable and John fixed the locations on the GPS, I adjusted the heat coming from the vents and took off my jacket, tucking my feet underneath me.

“Okay.” John muttered to no one in particular, as he set the GPS back on the dashboard. “It is now currently thirty past ten, meaning we will be back in Phoenix, Arizona around half four am. We have a long night ahead of us, everyone.”

Garrett had suddenly appeared in between John and I, leaning his hands against our seats. “Yeah so, I’m going to pass out in about a minute or two so I want to say goodnight.” He reached over to John and ruffled his hair before kissing it. “Night!” Then he reached over to me, wrapping his arms around my neck and kissing me on the cheek. “Night!”

“Goodnight schnookums!” John replied in a high pitch voice. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Unreal, these guys.

And so, the trip began. For the first hour, light conversation was held in the back but for the most part, I didn’t pay attention to what they were talking about. I sat quietly, with my elbow resting against the window, and took in the last remaining moments of Los Angeles before John pulled onto the Interstate. I didn’t know when I would be back here again, so I took it all in before it vanished.

It was a different kind of drive to the previous one we made on Wednesday morning. Instead of seeing mountains in the distant, groups of cactus and the sandy desert, it was completely pitch black all around us, except for the couple of feet in front of the van. I didn’t mind it, really. While the ‘Road trip’ playlist on John’s ipod played softly on the radio, and the final conversations ceased in the back, I was perfectly relaxed and comfortable. I wasn’t even tired yet. Then again, it was only midnight.

I started twirling a strand of my hair around my finger mindlessly, as I thought about all the things I had to do when I got home. I had typed out the list of things to do on my Blackberry at one point last night when I couldn’t fall asleep. The thought of it made me dread going back. I didn’t want to face reality again.

“What are you thinking about?” John asked me softly, making a quick glance in my direction before turning his eyes back onto the road.

I looked over at John and shrugged. “Nothing and everything.”

“Makes sense.” He smiled. “Do you think everyone is asleep back there?”

I glanced behind me and waited a moment before my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Garrett, who was closest to me, had his mouth wide open and his eyes closed shut as one of his legs hung off the seat. Kennedy had his head against the window in the next row, with Jared beside him (his head was threatening to move for Kennedy’s shoulder. Why didn’t I have a camera on me?). Pat and Tim were also dead to the world - the sound of synchronized snoring could be heard faintly. After observing the whole van, I turned back to John and nodded. “Yeah, they’re all gone.”

“Good.” He said simply, instantly shifted in his seat and switching hands on the wheel. With his free right hand, he reached over the console and took hold of my hand, lacing our fingers tightly. “Better.”

I giggled and rested our hands on my lap. “You are seriously something else.”

“What can I say?” He shrugged. “I just can’t stay away from you.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Yeah, you made that painfully obvious for the past couple of days.”

He laughed, knowing what I was referring to. “I’m sorry! It was just...too amusing to watch you squirm.”

“I hate you.” I said simply.

“You enjoyed it.”

“Not in the slightest.”

“I didn’t take you as a liar, Gigi King.”

“Well, I didn’t take you as a molester, John O’Callaghan.”

He gasped and looked at me before sighing. “Touche.”

I grinned with triumph before lifting our hands to my lips and kissing the back of his hand softly. This, surely enough, made a smile appear on John’s face.

This was all still new to me. I couldn’t believe one trip to California changed everything between John and I. Did I know what this is? No. Was it fun? You bet it was.

Around quarter to three, we were just hitting the Arizona state line but we needed to stop at a gas station since the gas tank was near to empty. I needed a coffee anyways if I was going to plan on staying up for the next two hours.

We finally pulled into a massive truck stop, that was lit brightly and had a huge convenience store. John drove the van up to one of the gas nuzzles and turned off the engine. Letting out a tired yawn, I hopped out of the van, buttoned up my black peacoat and headed over to the store while John filled up the tank.

I shoved my closed fists into the pockets of my coat as I walked across the somewhat empty station. Fortunately, the winds weren’t too strong but there was still an icy bite in the air. People probably thought I was crazy for wearing my dark ripped denim shorts but in my defense, I had originally planned on wearing my tights with them but....they got a little ruined.

The little bell above the main entrance dinged as I stepped into the empty store. I stood for a second and took in my surroundings, quickly familiarizing myself with the area. The first thing I noticed was the popular Christmas song ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ playing softly from the speakers in the ceiling. It was just like any other plain old gas station: fluorescent lighting, gritty tiling and copious amounts of junk food and condoms. I gave the man behind the counter a friendly smile before searching for the coffee machine.

Another yawn escaped my lips as I lazily strolled across the store, picking up an empty foam cup at the coffee counter and pouring myself a steaming hot cup of coffee. As I poured the half and half and stirred it into the black coffee, I started thinking. What’s it going to be like when we get back to Arizona? Was I suppose to call John my boyfriend now? See, this is exactly what I was afraid of: starting a relationship. I am at that point in my life where, I’m going to be so busy that I don’t think I’ll have time for a fling or a boyfriend. I live on the other side of the country for Gods sake. Are we going to be that kind of couple who only see each other on the holidays? I could feel my heart shatter at the thought. I was beginning to fear the future.

My anxious thoughts quickly vanished when the sound of the bell dinged and seconds later, a pair of arms wrap around my waist. A smirk appeared on my lips as John hummed along to the Christmas tune into my neck. I cringed, trying to block my neck with my shoulder as John’s lips grazed my skin. “John, that tickles!”

“Mmmm.” He hummed. “You smell good.”

I laughed and lifted my hand to his hair and ruffled it. “Come on, let’s go home.”

He grabbed an energy drink from the refrigerator before we walked up to the cash register. He decided to pay first and insisted on buying me a coffee. After several minutes of arguing about letting me pay - the man behind the counter watched with complete amusement - I gave up and John happily paid for both drinks.

“You need to stop doing that.” I stated as he opened the door for me.

“Stop doing what?” He asked innocently.

“Buying me stuff!”

He laughed and came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my neck and kissing my cheek uncontrollably. “Come on, my little Gigi, I love doing it!”

“Well...learn to hate it!” I lamely retorted, holding onto his arm that was still wrapped around my neck.

He laughed again before releasing my neck and reaching for my hand instead. My skin felt icy compared to his warm skin. Walking back to the van, he happily swung our enclosed hands back and forth. I looked at the van nervously, wondering if any of the guys had woken up but thought against it, seeing as it was almost three in the morning.

We hopped into the soundless van, fastened our seat belts once more and headed back out onto the road.

“You know,” I started, shifting in my seat. “I’m kinda feeling some Christmas tunes.”

“I was thinking the same thing, actually.” John smiled, giving me a quick glance. “I think there’s a playlist on my iPod.”

I grabbed his iPod happily and searched for it. Once I found it I pressed shuffle and dropped it back into the cup holder. I smiled to myself, stretching my legs out in front of me and folding my hands neatly on my stomach. “Perfect.”

Everything was just so perfect.