Lay Down Your Arms; Give Up The Fight

Best party of the year.

John walked into Tim's house and immediately was consumed by the shaking of the bass.
Shay clung to his side close as they wandered through the maze to find the rest of the band. They weaved through various couples making out and through sweaty guys in the usual 'musician' attire fist-pumping and shouting. Finally, the caught sight of a small boy with shoulder length brown hair dancing with an equally tiny blond girl.

John leaned in to whisper to Shay, "That's Pat's girl, Lauren. He really likes her, but she's a skank." Shay examined her style and concluded that it would best be described as 'Whore Couture.' She was donned in a skin tight leopard print strapless dress that ended right below her butt. Her hair was bumped up higher than Snooki could handle, and Shay couldn't even see her eyes through all the black makeup. What was Pat thinking?

Shay rolled her eyes at the girl. "Let's go get something to drink, O'Callaghan." Shay didn't really know why she decided to call him by his last name, but it didn't matter; he was already leading her to the cooler of bottled goodies.

As John began to pour a cup of some sort of beer, a drunken Eric Halvorsen decides to stumble over to where John was standing. He was literally shitfaced, and John had trouble understanding his slurred words.

"Fuck you, O'Callaghan. I thought we were, we were buddies. But I guess not. Yeah, fuck you, too, whore," he yelled as he pointed his finger from John to Shay.

Before anything else could be said, he was laying on the ground. John's face was red with fury. He had just punched his best friend. He couldn't believe Eric, even drunk, would say those things.

"I could care less what you say about me, Eric, but when you bring my girlfriend into this, there are going to be major problems. Don't you dare talk to her that way, even if you're drunk, douchebag." John grabbed Shay's hand after he finished saying what he had to and pulled her outside.

Shay couldn't help but let the tears swell up in her eyes.
"John, am I, am I really a whore?"

"Shay, are you kidding me? Of course not. Baby, he's just jealous. Don't listen to anything he tries to tell you, okay?" John kissed her forehead and pulled her into a hug.
"You're beautiful, baby," he whispered into her neck.

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It seemed like a suitable time to leave the party. Fights, to any degree, were best to be avoided. John drove the car home and Shay sat quietly playing on her iPhone.

She was in the middle of playing Tap Tap Revenge when a text message appeared on her screen. It was from Eric Halvorsen. What the hell did he want now?

'You think you've got it all good, don't you? Well, what you don't know is that he cheated on you. I would tell you, but I think it's best that you hear it up close and personal from him.'

Shay's mouth hung open in shock as she read those words. Her vision fogged up and the only word she could see was 'cheated.' Nothing had stood out to her more clear than that. She tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, but she just couldn't seem to find the strength to fight the tears.

It couldn't be true. John would never. Not her John. Halvo's drunk; he doesn't know what he's talking about.

John looked over and tried to read the expression on Shay's face.

"Baby, what's wrong?" He knew she was upset about what Eric said, but she looked a lot more troubled than just that.

Shay choked on her words as she struggled to speak. "John, did you cheat on me?"

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"John, are you fucking kidding me? You ask me to marry you, then the next week you go and visit your ex girlfriend's house? That's bullshit!" Shay couldn't contain her anger.

"Shay, baby, you've gotta listen to me! I was at her house because she texted me and told me she had something of mine. I would never cheat on you!" Who told her that crap? Who would try to tear them apart?

Shay collapsed onto the floor and began to cry. Her tears were salty and she licked them off of her lips as they fell from her cheeks. Her entire frame was shaking as she tried to encompass the whole situation.

"Give me some time, John. I'm going to sleep. Don't talk to me until I talk to you." Shay whispered as she sulked to the couch in the living room.

John ran his hands through his hair. He didn't cheat on her. He could never do something like that, nor did he need to. Everything he needed was right in front of him, right here with Shay. He walked upstairs and got his guitar out of their bedroom. He sat on the bed and sang her favorite song, hoping that she would hear and come running back into his arms. He could only hope.

"Untangle me," he whispered as he finished playing the last chord. He cringed when he heard the room to the spare bedroom slam shut. What could he possibly do to make her believe him?

He began to just strum and sing the words that came onto his heart. He jumped from Nirvana to Brighten, and back to Augustana. The lyrics just couldn't express his heart, so he whipped out his favorite moleskin notebook and ink pen.

But tonight was different from every other. No words crossed through John's head, and he sat there idly staring at the blank sheet of paper for 2 hours. Nothing. Blank.
He threw the notebook at the wall, and broke down. He let down his guard and began to cry. He fell asleep with red eyes, his only Shay on his mind through his dreams and nightmares.