I've Been Waiting Such a Long Time for Someone to Come Along

"Babydoll." John whispered. "Babydoll, you're home."

"Alright. I'm up." I told him as I rubbed my tired eyes.

"Car rides make you pretty tired, huh?" He chuckled as he helped me out the truck.

"Yeah, I guess." I said before letting out a big yawn.

He smiled and took my hand before we started walking up to the porch. I stopped at the door and turned to him.

"Thanks for everything, John. I don't know how to repay you."

"Seriously, Millie don't worry about it. I'm just glad that you had a good time." He said. "But I'm gonna go in with you, I think we might have some explaining to do."

"You don't have to take responsibility for me. I'm a big girl." I assured him.

"I called Garrett. He's pretty pissed and so are your parents, but they went to sleep already..." He told me.

"You-"

Before I could finish my sentence he pulled me inside and we were met by Garrett and Trey standing there with their arms crossed.

"Thanks for finally bringing her home." Trey said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes at them and gripped Johns hand. John looked down and frowned.

"It's almost one thirty. Can we just talk about this when I wake up?" I pleaded, not wanting to fight in front of John.

"No, we can't. You can't just run away Millie," Garrett lectured, "We were worried about you. Who knows what could have happened to you out there!"

"I was with John and we're fine so you all can stop worrying. Besides we barely even left the hotel room." I smirked.

"Asshole!" Garrett cried lunging towards John.

"She was joking!" John exclaimed in fear, stepping back from him and holding up his hands.

Garrett looked at me for assurance and I glared back.

"I was just joking." I gritted through my teeth in a low angry voice. "I suggest that you guys drop it because I don't know about John, but I'm not sorry. There are worse things we could have done, so how about you get over it."

"Listen you little brat, we were worried about you. Sorry for caring, but news flash, you're five foot two and a hundred and fifteen pounds, if somebody wanted to hurt you it wouldn't be that hard. So stop being a bitch and just admit that you're a helpless little girl and you know it." Garrett spat.

Trey and John stood there shocked and waited for my rebuttal. But it never came.

"Garrett, shut the fuck up. You have no right saying that shit to her. I don't mean to be a dick, but if you have a problem, then yell at me. It was my idea. We just wanted to get away from everything for awhile and I didn't want anyone to stop us. I'm sorry, but she's right. We're adults, and yeah we should've called but we didn't and we're fine. I wouldn't let anything happen to her, and that's a promise."

I stood there, my lip still quivering at Garrett's harsh words.

"You're a drunk! You don't know how to take care of yourself let alone our little sister." Garrett shouted.

I could see John's face get red and his grip on my hand tightened.

Before he could do anything, I slapped Garrett hard across the face. I didn't say anything else before stomping upstairs and slamming my bedroom door shut.

I was so upset that I didn't know what to do. So first, I threw a bag on my bed and started throwing clothes in it. I didn't even know where I planned on going, but that didn't stop me from packing my heart out.

"Babydoll..." I heard from behind me. "What are you doing?"

"I'm so sick of this place! I'm going somewhere so I can get away from him." I told him, angry tears were blurring my vision but I didn't let them fall.

"Mill, you need to stay. Please just stay for me? They care about you." He tried to convince me.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"How can you stand up for him after he said that about you?" I asked.

A sad smile appeared on his face and he pulled me into a tight hug.

"He's right. It was a stupid thing to do. I've never taken care of anything or anyone in my life." He said.

"I don't believe that." I murmured against his warm chest.

"I guess it just comes naturally when I'm with you." He said, holding me a little tighter.

"I still wanna go." I sniffled.

"Tell you what? Call me tomorrow when you wake up and I'll come get you. We'll spend the whole day together doing whatever you want. How does that sound?" He suggested, still holding me in his arms.

"Alright." I agreed.

He pulled away and gave me a lingering kiss on the forehead. I looked up into his eyes and wanted nothing more than to just kiss him and never let him go. No one has ever made me feel so special before.

"I'll miss sleeping next to you tonight, babydoll." He smirked.

"Likewise, cutie pie."

---

John

I drove home with a huge grin on my face. The past two days were almost surreal to me. I never meant for it to happen, but I fell in love with Millie Nickelsen. She was everything I ever wanted. I just wish I realized it sooner so I didn't have to spend all that time fighting with her. She's funny, smart, and she would never hurt me. If I gave her my heart she would cherish it forever and ever. That was all I ever really wanted, was for someone to love me with the same intensity that I loved them. I just need to take her advice and dive straight into things. If I hold back I'm going to get myself hurt.

I pulled into the driveway and whipped out my phone. I don't know how long I sat there going through the pictures I took of her and I at the zoo. My favorite picture was the one she took of the both of us when we first got there. Her soft cheek was pressed to mine and her eyes were lit up like fireworks. My heart swelled up with pride knowing that I made her that happy for even just a few days.

When I was in the middle of watching the video of her freaking out at the sharks, my phone went dead. I sighed and retreated inside at last. I opened the door quietly and walked into the kitchen for a quick snack.

"Nice of you to join us." I heard someone say.

I turned around and saw my dad smirking at me.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about not calling..." I apologized as I walked to the fridge to see what was there.

"Don't worry about it. I just want to know who this girl is that you're going nuts for." He said, taking a seat on a barstool at the counter.

"Millie." I grinned. "Millie Nickelsen. She was upset about- uh, well she was just upset so I took her on a surprise vacation to San Diego."

"And?" He asked, wanting more information.

I grabbed milk and poured myself a bowl of cereal. Then I pulled up a stool and took a seat next to him.

"So how was your trip to Grandma's?" I asked, trying to change the subject. For some reason talking about girls was easier with my mom.

"Fine. What did you guys do in San Diego?"

"I took her to the zoo," I said as I plugged my phone in quickly. It lit up and I showed him my screensaver which was Millie grinning while she held the stuffed bear cub that I got her. "That's her."

"She's cute, Johno. I heard Sierra and Ross were douchebags to her at dinner. Your mom thinks she'll never come back." He chuckled.

"Those two are always douchebags. But she'll come back." I assured him.

I glanced back down at my phone and smiled. My heart started to race and my palms were growing sweaty just looking at her picture.

"Hello?"

"Huh?" I asked, snapping out of my trance.

"My God. You are in love son. I wanna meet her soon. We'll talk about the kidnapping thing tomorrow, but for now I'm going back to bed." He told me. He gave me a quick pat on the back before he walked upstairs.

I stared at her picture again and repeated to myself.

"I am in love."