Lack of Color.

John.

“Rise and shine, sweetheart.”

I opened my eyes to the sun blazing into my room, the reason why I had my sheets on my blinds. Suddenly my sight was blocked by the beautiful Erin standing there, arms on her hips. I rolled over on the other side, not wanting to get up. No matter who was waking me up.

“John don’t make me drag you out of your bed, I might look small but I’m pretty strong.
Remember when I kicked your ass in elementary when you broke my favorite pencil.”

“Just leave me alone.”

“I know you get cranky when you get woken up, but please get up.”

I turned around on my back, looking over at her completely out of it. She looked at me, a smile on her face. I finally rolled out of the bed and saw that she already grabbed clothes out and laid it out. I laughed at how cute that was before walking out to the bathroom and into the shower. I came out with the towel wrapped around my hips to see that she was still there, lying in my bed.

“I kind of need to get dressed.”

“I won’t look.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“John, come on”, she said referring to the night we had sex and I just rolled my eyes and got dressed while she was in the room.

“You done?”

“Don’t act like you weren’t staring”, I said with a laugh watching her cover her eyes with her hands.

“Okay, you caught me. I had to see you naked, you’re that hot JohnOhhhhh!”

“Damn straight”, I said with a laugh before taking a seat on the couch.

“Where are we going today?”

“You’ll see, let’s go.”

I followed her to the car and got in immediately changing what was being played. She laughed at my reflexes; she knew I hated her hardcore bands that she would listen to from time to time. When we turned into the familiar street, my heart started to pound. I looked over at her, with my heart beating out of my chest. She grabbed my hand into hers, trying to calm me down as she parked the car outside the house, I’ve been avoiding seeing.

“I don’t want to go.”

“John, I’m right here. I’ll go in with you.”

“I’m scared”

“It will be okay, I promise.”

I just looked over at her and just gave me comforting smile before leaning in and giving me kisses on the, cheek. I got out of the car first and she followed. We walked up to the door, her hand in mine going as slow as we could. We finally got to the door; my heart was beating way too hard to control. She let go of my hand and knocked on the door, and then pushing the button on the doorbell. I grabbed her hand, once again and she just gave me a tight grip before the door opened and it felt as though I was going to pass out.

“John?”

“Hi Mrs. Dennis.”

“John!”

I felt her grab me into a hug, holding me close. I could hear her sniffle back a tear before grabbing me tighter. I held her back, looking over at Erin smiling.

“Johnnnn!”

I pulled out of her arms and looked down at Brady who jumped on top of me, wrapping his arms around my neck.

“Come in, you guys. Hey honey”, she said giving Erin a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Once I stepped into the house, I felt my knees give out on me. We took a seat on the couch, and all I could see was Emily’s picture everywhere. It took every ounce of me not to break down right there and then, with Brady in my lap smiling up at me.

“You guys hungry, I can make something to eat. Anything you want John.”

“Its fine Mrs. Dennis, I’m good.”

“Are you sure, I can make you something. Anything.”

“It’s fine, really”, I said feeling shocked.

“Hey Erin, Honey. How are you?”

I froze at the sound of Emily’s Dad talking to Erin. Erin just looked down at me and I looked up and gave him a smile. I picked Brady off of my lap and stood up putting out my hand.

“Hey Mr. Dennis.”

“Come here son”, he said grabbing me into a hug.

I hugged back, feeling it too hard not to cry. We all sat around the living room talking, mostly them asking me about my band. That was until I had to go to the bathroom; I walked to the bathroom, knowing that house better than mine. When I walked out of the bathroom, I walked passed that familiar room. I pushed back the door, seeing that everything was exactly the same. I felt the tears in my eyes falling down, as looked over at her dresser, everything the same. I grabbed the picture frame of our prom picture and the tears fell down harder. I took a seat on the bed, grabbing the princess pillow she loved so much in my arms.

“It’s weird huh.”

I looked up seeing Erin standing there, a sad face on her face as she looked around. I nodded my head, putting the pillow back in its place.

“I could almost smell her.”

“Me too”, she said with a smile looking at the hundreds of pictures frames.
I finally got up from the bed and grabbed her into a hug. I held on to her waist, pulling her into me. I felt her finally hug back.

“Thank you”, I said in her ear, kissing her skin softly. “Thank you so much”, I said pulling away looking into her eyes.

“You’re welcome John.”

I walked out of the room and into the living room to talk to her parents. And that’s what I did all night. Every now and then sneaking a peak over at Erin and Brady, both of them sharing the biggest smile on their faces. I loved that smile, just as much as I loved her.