Easier To Lie

The doorbell rang and Mallory rolled over, groaning. She hated to be woken up before she absolutely had to, even before she became pregnant. Who didn't like to be woken up? Crazy people, that's who.

She opened one eye, waiting for her brother to get it. But the doorbell rang once more, and she didn't hear any footsteps downstairs.

Mallory debated yelling her brother's name, but from the sounds of it, he wasn't even home, so she begrudgingly stood up and padded down the stairs, grumbling to herself about how it was ridiculous to be up at this hour, ignoring the clock that said it was half past noon.

When she opened the door and came face to face with her boyfriend, however, all anger dissipated and she all but leaped into his arms for a hug.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm great! I mean, eventually, this whole kicking thing will get really irritating, but right now, it's making me feel really giddy," she giggled.

They walked, hand in hand, into the living room, where she turned on the television just in time to see Killer Klowns From Outer Space starting. He sat cross legged on the couch and turned to face her.

"I'll be right back, Gare. I'm starving."

"Did you just wake up?"

"Yeah," she called from the kitchen, "Your doorbell ringing actually woke me up. You're lucky you weren't a salesman or something, or else I would have beaten you half to death for disturbing my slumber."

Mallory came back with a bowl of Cheerios and bananas, sitting back down and mimicking Garrett's position.

He chuckled, but then his expression got serious as he asked, "How often does the baby kick?"

"A lot," she grinned, "Wanna feel?"

He nodded shyly, and she set down her bowl of cereal and took his wrist, setting his hand on her protruding belly.

Even though Garrett was concentrating on her stomach, she was concentrated on Garrett. His blue eyes were shining with anticipation, waiting for the baby to start kicking so he could feel it himself. It was almost as if he was the actual father. It wasn't the first time that Mallory had thought this about her boyfriend. She had, in fact, thought this on multiple occasions. The way that he cared so much about Mallory without suffocating her made him a perfect father-like figure for her baby. And he would worry about her, which made her feel safe, in a way. He would always be around, whether it be within arm's reach or a phone call away, she could call him for just about anything and he would do whatever he could to help her.

She felt a pang of something that she couldn't quite decode. It was like disappointment, regret, and wanting mixed into one, big emotion. And once again, not for the first time, she wished so bad that Garrett was the real father of her baby. It was in vain, of course. But she hated the fact that the baby would be born and never be able to see their father. Not that she wanted her baby and the baby's father to ever, ever come into contact with each other, but she just wished her baby had a respectable father that they could bring to school on career day or learn how to drive with.

The heaviness of her heart lifted, though, when she settled on the thought that Garrett would be a much better father than anyone else could be. And it wasn't like she didn't have a support system. She had so many people that would help her out. She wasn't alone in the situation one bit.

Garrett gasped and smiled so wide that the corners of his eyes crinkled. He looked almost Asian, a thought that made Mallory giggle.

"I felt it, Mal! The kick!"

He looked like he was going to jump up and run around the neighboorhood, announcing to the world that the baby had kicked, which was precisely how Mallory had felt the night before.

Before she could respond, however, the doorbell rang. She was so tired of being interrupted by doorbells. "I'll get it."

After turning the lock and pulling open the door, she found John standing there, wringing his hands and looking as nervous as he could possibly be.

"Are you here for Kennedy or something? Cause he's not here."

"Um, no, actually, I'm here for you."

"Oh? Are you here to insult me some more, or what?"

"No, I actually wanted to just sit down and talk like normal people. No fighting, no eye rolling, no name calling. Just talking."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"I promise. If I start to act like a jackass, then you have every right to kick me out. Seriously, Mallory, I just want to talk to you. I'll get down on my knees if I have to. Just let me say what I have to say."

"Fine."

She stepped back and he came in, closing the door behind him.

"Thank you."

"Yeah. Come into the living room, Garrett's here too." She kept an eye on him to see if he rolled his eyes, but surprisingly, he didn't. Not a word, or sound, came out of him. He just kept walking. He looked deep in thought.

John sat on the couch to the left of the one Garrett and Mallory were sitting at.

Garrett opened his mouth to protest when he saw who had rung the doorbell, but Mallory whispered, "The faster we let him talk, the faster he'll leave."

After that, no more was said and John took sighed.

"I just want to say I'm sorry. I really, truly am sorry and I've really realized what I've done wrong. I was horrible to you, Mallory, calling you immature names that I never even should have thought of uttering. And Garrett, I was unfair to you. She chose you, and you deserve her. You don't deserve a shit like me, Mal. Garrett's perfect for you. He's way better for the baby too. Seriously. I would drive the relationship to the ground and leave you hanging. Garrett would never do that, honestly. So, once again, I'm really sorry and I'll leave you guys alone. Mallory, if you never want to talk to me again, I'll understand."

After what seemed like a million years of silence, Mallory opened her mouth to mumble, "I forgive you, John. And thank you for saying all that stuff about Garrett and apologizing. It means so much. And I do want to talk to you again. I'm not that much of a bitch, I promise."

Garrett just stood up and leaned down to man-hug John.

"God, I'm so glad this whole fighting thing is over," John admitted with a sigh of relief.

And he was right. It felt really good to be in the same room as John without having to glare daggers at him constantly.

He snapped his fingers, as if he just remembered something. "I also came over here to tell you that we have a meet and greet at Hot Topic in an hour."

"You're fucking kidding me," said Garrett.

"Nope, Max set it up last minute."

Garrett groaned. Not because he had to do the meet and greet, but because, "I can't get ready in an hour! I have to shower and shave and fix my hair and find an outfit and all these other things, dammit!"

Mallory and John burst out laughing and Garrett's diva fit.

"You're such a fucking girl, Garrett."


"Alright guys!" yelled Max, "Please form a single file line to the right of the table. We need this to be orderly and quick, because we want to make sure that everyone has enough time to meet all the guys, alright? No pictures with the guys, please. You can take pictures of them, but none with them. And you can either have them sign one of the posters at the end of the table, or one little thing of yours. Thank you for cooperating!"

Mallory's job was to check all the people in line to see if they were all wearing the wristbands that were necessary for entrance for the meet and greet. She sat right next to Pat, who was the first one that the fans would meet. Next was Garrett, then John, Jared, and her brother.

It made her so happy for the guys to see how many people had shown up. They really were becoming known now, so much more known than when she had first seen them play in 2007. She heard the conversations of the people in line while she checked wrists.

"Oh my god, Garrett looks so adorable today! His hair is looking really nice, and so is his outfit! I'm so glad he finally got a haircut."

The fans had Mallory to thank for that. Garrett's hair was becoming very, very shaggy, and she threatened to stop having sex with him until he cut it. Knowing neither of them could last very long without that, Garrett ran to the nearest barber shop and got a haircut.

"John's looking so much happier. It's great that he finally got past what was getting him down."

And it was true. John was smiling more, and it was obvious. All it took was an apology.

After about thirty people had gotten through, Mallory ran into a problem.

"Oh, it's you."

It was the same girl from the show the boys played, the one that asked her if Garrett had knocked her up, and wasn't it a bit early to be starting a family?

Mallory didn't want to deal with anything at the moment, especially bitchy fans. Everyone else had been nice and polite, giving her their wrist when they asked, and smiling at her when she told them they could go through.

So instead of responding, Mallory just ignored her.

When the girl realized she wasn't going to get anything out of Mallory, she smirked at said, "Garrett's only dating you because you're easy. I mean, look at you! You're pregnant, and it's not even his baby. I bet you open your legs whenever he asks you to, which is probably every day, and he just leaves you and doesn't talk to you until he's horny again."

A collective gasp ran through the part of the crowd that could hear what the girl had said.

"Excuse me? Who are you to be making these kinds of assumptions? What gives you the right to be saying these things to me? You don't know me. Garrett is dating me because he loves me. Isn't that right, Garrett?"

Mallory looked over to Garrett, desperately pleading with her eyes for him to say something. But apparently, it was in vain because he just sat there, wide eyed and open mouthed. Pat elbowed him in the rib, but he still couldn't say anything. Mallory blinked back tears when she realized Garrett wasn't going to say anything. He just cleared his throat and went back to signing whatever it was he was signing.

She swallowed, hard, trying not to look weak in front of the girl standing right in front of her. Her heart sank as she realized her boyfriend had just left her hanging like that with no explanation whatsoever.

The shrill sound of a chair being pushed back rang throughout the store and John stood up, red in the face and fuming. "Miss, I don't know who you are and why you think it's alright to say things like that to someone, but it's not. That was a disgusting thing to say, especially to Mallory. Mallory hasn't done anything wrong and Garrett does indeed love Mallory and that's why they're dating. The status of her pregnancy is not your business, and it's not anyone's business but Garrett and Mallory's, and Kennedy's as well. I'm afraid you're going to have to leave because people like you aren't welcome here, or anywhere near our band. Goodbye."

The girl huffed, turned on her heel, and left. Mallory tried to catch John's eye, but he had already sat back down and was conversing with the young girl who was handing him a CD to sign.


"Look, Garrett, I'm just gonna go home, alright? I'll, um, see you tomorrow." He leaned in to kiss her, but she dodged it and hugged him instead.

She felt she had every right to be annoyed with him. Some might say that she should have been more than annoyed with him, but he had just frozen in there. Garrett was known to be extremely shy, so that's probably what happened. Right?

He just nodded and headed towards his car.

Since she was so concentrated on Garrett, she hadn't realized that John was in front of her and ran into him as she walked.

"Oh, my bad. Sorry, John."

"It's alright. You okay?"

"I guess. It's just-"

She cut herself off. Just this morning, she hated John. She never wanted to talk to him again. And now, here she was, ready to spill her guts to him. Mallory looked up into his hazel-green eyes and saw nothing but concern and care. That was when she knew she could trust John with anything.

"Garrett. He just left me there, waiting. He didn't do a single thing to help me out. He's my boyfriend. He should have at least said something, but he hasn't talked to me since we got here. Even as we were saying goodbye right now, he didn't say shit, and it really...it hurts. It's selfish, I guess, cause maybe he was just in shock, or something. But I really needed him right then and he wasn't there for me like I wanted him to be, you know?"

John nodded. "Come on, I'll take you home."

He let Kennedy know that he was taking her home in his car, and off they went. Somehow, John knew not to ask her anymore questions about the day they just had. He just turned on some Tom Petty and let the music speak for itself. Coincidentally, I Won't Back Down came on and they both started singing along. By the end, they were both smiling, the tension broken between them.

He walked Mallory to the door and grinned. "I'm really glad we aren't fighting anymore."

"Me too. Some girls in line were saying how you looked happier now."

"Cause I am."

She had an internal debate on whether or not she should have done what she was going to do, but she blurted it out before she could really think it through. "Do you want to come inside?"

He scratched the back of his head.

"I'll make some coffee, or something."

He shrugged. "One cup of coffee wouldn't hurt anyone."

They headed inside and he sat at the island as she grabbed the bag of coffee grounds, putting enough in the coffee maker for 4 to 6 cups. Kennedy could have some later, she figured. She got out the containers of suger and creamer, setting them down on the counter and sitting in front of John.

"I want to thank you for what you said back there at the store."

"It's really nothing, Mallory. That bitch deserved what she got."

"She did that at the other show you guys played at, too. And there's so much of the same shit on Tumblr. Not just in my ask, but in the tracked tags too."

"You track our tags?" he asked, the same reaction Garrett had to the so-called revelation.

"Yeah, is that bad? I like to see what people say about you guys. And lemme just say, there are some horny people on that site."

"Oh yeah, you act like it's surprising that people want a piece of this," John joked as he gestured towards his upper body.

"Why would they want that?" Mal scoffed with a smile, "It's so ugly!"

"Don't lie to yourself, you know you want it too."

"What if I did?" she whispered.

"W-well, you don't, s-so-"

He was cut off by Mallory's lips.

And for a second, he was totally into it, because he liked her, for crying out loud! He was head over heels for her. But he stopped because he realized what he was doing. If he kept kissing her, someone would find out, and then Garrett would find out, and everything would go to shit not just for him, but for Mallory as well. So he pulled away and started to shake his head feverishly.

"No, Mallory. We can't do that. Garrett means something to you, don't forget that. And I don't want you getting shit for this. If you forget about it, so will I, okay? I don't deserve you. I couldn't do that to you. I couldn't do that to Garrett."

Her eyes were wide, which seemed to be a common expression for her as of late. "I-I'm sor-sorry John, I won't do it again. I don't know what that was about, I-I really am sorry."

He just nodded, resisting the urge to tell her that he didn't want to pull away. In fact, if there was nothing stopping him, he could have kissed her - and so much more - all day long.