Sweetheart, Just Be Real

I walked into the hospital room for the second day in a row and continued cuddling with my boyfriend.

He had to stay for a couple days because they wanted to keep an eye on him. I hated seeing him like that but I was glad that he was okay. His truck, however, was not. His dad promised to take him car shopping as soon as he was released.

"John?" I spoke up from next to him.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you were my first kiss." I said quietly as I traced the pattern of the ugly hospital gown.

He placed a loving kiss on my temple and held me close.

"Me too."

I just grinned and kept my eyes on the steady rising and falling of his chest.

"Yo! Johno!" I heard as voices filled the previously serene hospital room.

One by one, the guys filed into the room. Jared led them, followed by Pat, Tim, Garrett, Kennedy, and Eric.

"Whoa! Dude! Number one, no banging in hospitals. Number two, no banging my sister!" Eric exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes and reluctantly pulled myself from John and the hospital bed.

"When did this happen?" Garrett asked slowly. I laughed at all the guys' slack jawed expressions.

I blushed and looked at John to answer.

"Yesterday." He answered with a laugh. I smiled at him and he laced our fingers.

I was surprised that he wasn't afraid to show affection in front of all the guys.

"Um...okay?" Tim said, raising an eyebrow.

"So, we came to give you some company but it looks like you've already got some..." Jared trailed off.

"No, stay. It's fine." I urged.

"Okay." Pat shrugged as he took a seat on one of the chairs.

"I brought my guitar!" Kennedy announced as he held up the acoustic.

"Nice! I've been working on a new song, actually." John told everybody.

"Really? Wanna play it?" Kennedy asked as he held out the guitar.

"Um...nah, it's not finished." He said, scratching the back of his neck nervously as he snuck a glance at me.

"C'mon, play it." I urged with a smile.

"Okay, fine." He sighed.

Kennedy handed him the guitar and he proceeded to make sure he had the right cords before he sang.

"Well my cowboy boots,
Oh they don't seem to fool
Not anyone
Not even you

I've got an old suitcase
Full of my old ways
And I tossed it away
And I swallowed that key

So take a deep breath, throw it all away

So don't fight
'Cause this is what you need
Come on and shake, shake, shake it around again"

I grinned and started clapping as he finished.

"That was amazing, John!" I exclaimed.

"It's not done." He shrugged.

"Gross, first you're snuggling then you're writing a song about her." Eric shuddered.

"Oh shut up!" I jokingly scolded.

"Quit annoying my baby." John smirked, knowing it would bother Eric.

All the guys let out a sarcastic "Aw" and made fun of John.

"This is so...weird." Pat said.

"Yeah, like do you guys even like each other? Why didn't any of us know about this?" Jared cried dramatically.

"It just happened kind of...suddenly I guess." I shrugged.

"You guess? Well gee, I'm glad you talked it over with all of us!" Pat exclaimed.

"We're sorry, Pat. We didn't know it upset you so much when we left you out of our love lives. We'll be sure to include you next time." I joked sarcastically.

"That's all I ask." He huffed.

We laughed and everybody started in on a conversation. I sat back, like I usually did, and only spoke up when I felt it was necessary.

Eventually everybody left and I eagerly crawled back into bed with John.

We talked for a little bit and then there was a knock at the door.

"Uh, come in?" John called.

The door opened and there stood an old man dressed in a Santa suit with a large stocking in his hand.

"Ho, ho, ho, how are we feeling?" He asked, imitating Santa.

"Pretty good," John laughed. "What about you?"

"Oh, Santa couldn't be better. Would you two like a candy cane?" He asked.

"Sure!" I nodded excitedly. The man fished two candy canes out of his stocking and handed them to us.

"Have a merry Christmas and try to stay on the nice list!" He said with a wink before walking out.

After he left we burst out laughing.

"I love how everyone thinks we're having sex in the hospital!" I chuckled.

"We could be..." He smirked as his hand slid down my waist.

"No way." I stated bluntly.

"Okay, okay. It was worth a shot." He chuckled.

I started to unwrap my candy cane when John spoke up again.

"Kay, what do you want for Christmas?" He asked.

"Um..." I trailed off as I thought about it. "Nothing."

"You have to want something!" He exclaimed.

"I don't know," I shrugged "I'll get back to you. What do you want?"

"I already got it." He smiled.

"A totaled truck?" I smirked.

"You."