You Drain The Life From Me.

"Listen, John, can I just go up there to explain myself?"

"No. I'm sorry, dude. I'm just looking out for my sister. I know she doesn't want to see you. She's torn up. Just go, okay? I'll see you tomorrow for practice."

I heard this exchange from my seat atop the stairs. I was heading to the kitchen to get a glass of water, but I stopped when I heard Garrett's voice. For once, I was glad that John was overprotective.

Once he left, I finished my mission of going to get water. John was in the kitchen as well.

"I can't believe he cheated on you for three weeks," he growled. John was angry that Garrett broke his promise once again. I didn't blame him.

But I didn't say anything.

The doorbell rang once more and John rolled his eyes. I stretched out my head so I could see out the window.

"If it's Garrett again, I swear--"

"It's Stephen!" I said with an excited gasp.

"You've been hanging out with him a lot, haven't you?" There was a hint of disapproval in his voice as he spoke.

I ignored John and raced to open the door for Stephen.

"Hi," I greeted warmly. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me one of the most comforting hugs I had ever been given in my life.

He and I hadn't uttered a word about the fight that Garrett and I had had since it happened. But one thing was for sure, I knew Stephen was going to be there for me.

"Wanna go somewhere?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, lemme just go get dressed."

After pulling on a Kid Cudi t-shirt and a pair of shorts, I took the stairs two steps at a time and landed in the kitchen, surprisingly safely.

"So, uh, are you and Leigh like, going out?" John sounded extremely uncomfortable asking Stephen that question, I guessed partly because he didn't know Stephen that often, and he didn't like talking about me dating people.

Stephen didn't look relaxed either. He knew how protective John was. "Um, no. We're just friends."

John breathed a sigh of relief.

I rolled my eyes and sat down at the table with them, finishing my glass of water. "Interesting conversation you guys are having," I said with a smirk.

The awkwardness from John's question hung in the air, refusing to fade away. I decided to leave before it got any worse.

"Um, Stephen, we should probably get going."

He stood up and replied, "Yeah, for sure. Nice talking to you John Ohh."

John nodded in reply and I took Stephen by the hand and practically dragged him out of the house. I could hear John mumble, "Just friends my ass."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, I uh, saw Garrett leaving right before I came over," Stephen mumbled while waiting for our food at Denny's. We were both starving since neither of us had eaten breakfast yet.

"Yeah, he was there because he wanted to talk to me about what happened, I guess. John wouldn't let him. I just feel so bad because I'm the reason John's mad at him and Garrett's one of his best friends. They're band mates, for fuck's sake."

"You know none of what happened is your fault, right?"

"I guess. I still feel bad."

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I'm really sorry about what happened."

"No, he and I needed to talk about it."

"He didn't explain the whole thing, from what I heard."

"Well, there's nothing I'm going to do about that."

"Yeah, well--"

Stephen was interrupted by the waitress who came with our food. "Nachos and a cheese omelette with pancakes for you," she said as she set three plates in front of Stephen, "And chocolate chip pancakes for you," she finished. "Anything else?"

We both shook our heads and she walked off with a smile after we said thank you.

I sat back in my seat and watched as Stephen scarfed down his nachos. "You're so Mexican!" I blurted out, laughing uncontrollably.

He glared at me, and I just smiled cheekily.

With a giggle, I looked down at my pancakes. "Okay, okay, I'll shut up!" and after taking a bite, I added, "Sorry, fatty." Then I burst out laughing because I couldn't take his glare seriously.

"I can't take you seriously if you're glaring at me with your cheeks full of food, you fat Mexican chipmunk!"

After he swallowed, he ended up laughing as well. We got stares from the old ladies in the booth across from ours.

One of them muttered, "Kids."

I rolled my eyes, but continued laughing.