Passenger Seat

“Should I put my hair up or down?” I asked John who was impatiently waiting by the door. He was slumped up against a wall with his hands in his pockets, he lifted up his right arm and looked at his watch and let out a huff.

“I don't know B, down.” I looked into the small mirror on the wall and agreed with him. I put a little gel in my hair for it to stay in its waves. I picked up my purse and put my cell phone in it.

He opened the door and I slipped into the bathroom one more time to look at myself in the mirror.

“I'm sorry, I just want to look nice, is that so bad?” I asked as I felt Johns eyes on me basically pulling me out of the room.

“You look beautiful, if you didn't then I wouldn't be going out with you.” I walked closer to him and gave him a look and a slap at the arm.

“Your mean.”

“What I said you looked beautiful.” He said as he shut the door and made sure it locked. We walked down the hallway to the elevator.

“Whatever you say Mr. O'Callaghan.”

“But seriously you do look beautiful, Blake.” He looked deeply into my eyes and it made me blush.

“Thank you and you look very handsome also.” He was wearing his regular dark wash jeans and a nice black button up shirt. He always had the looks, he always had girls eyes on him. He had that charm that made you fall for him. It never worked on me because I was so in love with Kennedy but now being here with John I might be falling for it.

“So where are we going?” I asked as we got into Johns car and buckled up. He turned to me and gave me a big smile.

“You'll just have to wait and see.”

“You're killing me.” He just let out a laugh and put on the music. The windows were down and blowing through out the car. The sun was still up in the sky but it was burning down on us. The drive was peaceful, we didn't talk but there was no need for it. It was comfortable, I felt at peace being with John right now. We drove through the streets, stopped at the red lights or the stop signs, I saw people walking around with their loved ones. Everyone seemed like they were in a comfortable state, which made me feel good. I looked over at the smiling boy next to me and gave him a big smile.

“What are you smiling at Miss Green?”

“I'm just happy.” I gave him one last look and looked out my window. We pulled into a parking lot and we there was a old stone building in front of us.

“We are here!” John sounded like a little kid at Christmas. This must be a pretty good place if he's this excited. He quickly got out of the car and ran to my side of the car to open the door. “My dear.” He said as he held out his hand for me to take.

“Thank you.” I took his hand and got out of the car. I straightened out my dress and made shirt I looked okay. We started to walk towards the front entrance, John opened the door for me and then took my hand again. We walked up to a pedestal with a young girl dressed in a nice sundress behind it. She greeted us with a big smile.

“Welcome to Augustos how can I help you?”

“I made a reservation for 6:30.” I looked over at John, I was very impressed that he went though all of this.

“Oh okay, whats your the name under?” she asked as she went to a clip board and flipped back a few pages. She looked back up at John and waited for the answer.

“O'Callaghan”

“Okay hold on one second.” she skimmed the list and flipped a page and looked back up. “John O'Callaghan?”

He gave her a pleasant smile, “Yup that'd be me.” She put the clip board away and had a big smile on her face. She took out two menus and stepped to the side.

“You can follow me this way.” We both nodded and we began to walk way from everyone. She opened up a door to the outside patio. She held the door open for us and gestured us outside. John went to the furthest chair and pulled it out for me.

“Thank you.” I said as I looked up at him and gave him a smile which he returned. The hostess put the menus down in front of both John and I and asked if there was anything else we needed and we both declined. As she walked away she closed the door and I just let out a laugh. I looked around and saw all the other tables were empty, it was just me and him.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I just can't believe you did all of this, it's amazing.”

“Well what can I say, I am John O'Callaghan the Fifth.” He gave me a charming smile that he gave to everyone, he knew he was all that.

I shook my head and let out a small laugh. I looked down at my menu and opened it up. I looked at all the food and drinks and everything looked so yummy and expensive.

“Oh my God John, you can afford this? We could have gone to In N Out, I wouldn't have minded.”

“Yeah we could of but I wanted a nice meal. Don't worry about it,”He reached over and grabbed my hand and squeezed it, “I got it taken care of.” He gave me a reassuring smile and I looked back down at the menu.

An older looked man came out with a white button up shirt and black pants on, with a white apron wrapped around his waste. He took out a small writing pad and a pen and looked at us.

“I'm Marc and I'll be your waiter for the night, can I start you guys off with some drinks?” He looked between us and John gave me that look for me to go first.

“Oh I'll have the raspberry ice tea please.” I looked up at him and he nodded his head and wrote it down and looked at John.

“I'll have the same thing.”

“Alright two raspberry ice teas, I'll be right back with them.” We thanked him and he left and shut the door behind him.

“So have you been here before?”

“I haven't but Garrett took Lindsey here one time while we were recording and he said it was a great place.”

“Is that who you were talking to on the phone with earlier?”

He let out a little laugh and nodded is head. “Yup, he was the one. Sorry if I made it look sketchy.”

“No, it's fine, I was just worried it was Kennedy you were on the phone with. I just thought I don't know what I thought. Sorry for going crazy.”

“Your a girl its understandable.”

Marc came back with a black tray and big fancy cups on it. He set the light red liquids down in front of us and took out his writing pad again.

“Are you guys ready to order?” He looked between us and we both nodded. He turned to me and gave me a nod to tell him what I wanted.

“I'll have the fettucini alfredo and a caesar salad on the side.” He wrote it down and took the menu from my hand.

“And for you sir?” He said to John.

“I'll have the chicken parmesan.”

“Do you want a salad or soup with it?”

“Oh no, I'll just have the chicken parmesan. Thank you.” John handed him his menu and Marc left us alone once again.

There was light music playing and there was a light breeze. The sun was setting and the sky was filled with so much color. There were hardly any clouds in the sky. The patio out looked the city and if you looked further beyond that you could see the water.

“The view is beautiful.” I said as I kept my eyes out on the water.

“It sure is.” I looked over at John and he was already looking at me. I blushed a little and looked away from him and back at the view. I smiled to myself and still felt his eyes on me. I turned and looked back at him. I picked up my ice tea and took a small sip.

“Did I tell you how beautiful you look?” He said in a soft voice.

“I think you might of.”

“Well you do, you look stunning.” I looked down at the dress I bought earlier. The thought of earlier and that store and the dressing room and everything that had happened came to my mind. A small blush ran across my cheeks as I thought of it. I just gave him a smile and stared at him. His eyes looked so green tonight, they looked so pretty.

“You know B, I just-” Both our eyes were caught to the door being opened. Marc and another waiter came out with a big tray with our food. I looked at John and he looked disappointed that they were interrupting whatever he was about to say but he hid it with a small smile.

The waiters sat our plates in front of us and asked if there was anything else we could have. I asked for another ice tea and with that they left and left us.

“So what were you going-” I was about to ask what he was going to say when he interrupted me.

“Garrett said this food is amazing.” I just looked at him confused and watched him take a bite of his dinner. He didn't look at me and I took that, that he didn't want to talk about whatever he was going to say. “And he was totally right, the chicken is so yummy.”

I looked down at my plate and started to twirl my fork around and took a bite of my pasta. He was right it was pretty yummy but my thoughts were on John and what he was going to say. Through out the dinner we made light conversation, and I hoped it would go back to what he was going to say. The way his voice sounded right before the waiters came out made me scared in a way. He sounded so serious but he didn't seem mad, he seemed calmed and happy for telling me this secret.

We finished our meal and John paid for the check and I insisted to pay for the tip since that would be the only thing he would let me pay for. We walked to the car hand in hand and I was happy with how this date was going. He opened up my car door and he walked over to his side and turned the car on. Before he drove away he looked at me and I looked at him.

“Are you ready for the next part?” My eyes widened and I smiled. I didn't think he had more.

“Uh yeah of course. What else is there?”

“I guess you'll just have to wait and see.” He gave me a mysterious look and drove off. He put in the Land of Talk CD and drove towards the water. It wasn't fully dark yet but it was getting there. As we got closer to the water I could smell the sea water and it made me feel calm. I could get use to that smell.

We parked the car in a beach parking lot and got out. I started to walk towards the sand when I realized John wasn't with me. I turned back around and saw him closing the trunk of his car and he was holding his guitar case and a blanket.

“Just follow me.” He said as he took my hand and led me to the sand. Once we got on the sand we both took off our shoes and John rolled up his pant legs. He laid out the blanket and told me to take a seat. I sat down and he sat facing me. He unlocked his guitar case and took out the guitar and put it in his lap.

“This whole journey has been so much fun, I've learned a lot about you, and there’s still so much I want to know about you.” He looked at me deeply and had a cute smile on. “What I was trying to say back at the restaurant is that,” he paused and looked away, he looked like he was trying to find the right words while I was freaking out inside. What did he want to tell me? “Even before this trip and everything, I've always liked you, I've always thought you were so cute and your personality is so adorable. I always hid my feelings because you and Kennedy but I don't get why he would do something like that to you.” I couldn't believe what was going on. John has been crushing on me? I never expected that to come out of his mouth. “It's his lost for losing you.” He stopped talking and looked me.

“I-I uh I don't know what to say. Why were you so mad when you found out that I didn't love Kennedy any more?”

“I wasn't mad at you, I was just mad that you weren't happy, that Kennedy wasn't a good enough boyfriend for you. It doesn't make sense I know but I want you to be happy, you deserve that.”

He was being so sweet and so kind. I couldn't believe that he was saying all of this. It still didn't make sense but I went along with it. I didn't want to ruin the mood.

“I wrote a song and I want to play it for you.”

My smile grew and I nodded my head. I was in awe at this point. I couldn't believe everything that had happened tonight.

He started to strum the guitar and closed his eyes. When he opened them up again he looked straight at me and began to sing.

“Oh it’s safe to say I knew it, yeah I knew it all along, asking the same questions, singing the same songs,I’ve been gone for a while, been traveling along, looking for a new life when I already had my own, so walk back home on every road. ” His voice sounded so raw and beautiful, I've never heard someone sing so well, not that a lot of people sang to me but I knew John was really talented

“On every road,we cross alone,we thinking of those we left back home swallow your pride and apologies because were the lucky ones on the road.” I couldn't help but to smile at him and watch him sing his heart out. Every time he closed his eyes I really looked at him. The way he looked so focused and knew exactly what he was doing. My eyes would travel to his lips and I wanted to feel his lips against mine again.

“Yeah it’s safe to say I knew that all the selfish things I’d do, would eventually come creeping back around, oh way back when you called me young, said we’re innocent and dumb, I knew that you’d come creeping back around again, so walk back home on every road.”

“On every road,we cross alone,we thinking of those we left back home swallow your pride and apologies because were the lucky ones on the road.”

“So yeah, I know its not done yet, I'm still working on it, but what do you think?” He asked as he set his guitar back in the case and looked at me. I was speechless, that was an amazing song.

“John that was incredible, seriously. Is that going to be on the new record?”

“Mhmm.” He nodded his head and gave me that knowing smile. He knew he did amazing, you could see it written all over his face.

“Wow, it'll be great once you have Jared’s amazing guitar skills.”

“Whats up with you and Jared. My guitar skills are good.”

“Yeah I would just stick with the singing and leave the guitar to Jared.”

He nudged my shoulder and I fell to the sand a little. I pushed him back and he grabbed my arms and brought me down with him. I was on top of him and both of us were just looking at each other, in silence. I leaned my head down and pushed my lips up against his lightly. I lifted my head and I started to blush when he gave me that charming smile. His hand went to my neck and brought my lips to his. He moved us to he was on top of me and kissed me passionately. After tonight and everything John had done for me I knew ending it like this was right. I didn't feel weird kissing him, it was awkward, it was perfect.

He lifted his head up a little and looked down at me. He got off of me and I sat up. I watched as he reached over to his right to his guitar and pulled something out.

“I have one more surprise for you.” He had a small box in his hands and he was giving it to me.

“What is it?” I asked as I looked down at the box and back up at him.

“Just open it.”

I pulled the top off of it and saw a small dream catcher necklace. It was so beautiful and perfect. I looked up at John with small tears in my eyes. I attacked him and gave him a hug.

“What was that for?”

I pulled away and looked at him. He wiped my tears away with his thumb. “No one has been this nice to me in a really long time, it's just so nice. Thank you so much.” I took the necklace out and put it around my neck.

“It looks great on you.” he said in a soft voice. I looked down at it and back up at John. I leaned forward again and gave him a kiss.

“Thank you.”