Only In It For A Minute

“This one’s for you, Tash,” Jenny said, holding out a present for me.

“You didn’t need to get me anything,” I said, taking it from her.

“Don’t be silly, sweetie,” she smiled. “I told you before, you’re a part of this family now.”

As I unwrapped the gift, I saw a gorgeous magenta scarf inside the paper.

“Jenny, Jay, this is so lovely, thank you so much,” I grinned.

“Why don’t you try it on?” Jay suggested with the same look in his eyes that John gets when he’s up to something.

As I went to unfold the scarf to wrap it around my neck, I felt something fall into my lap. I moved the scarf and saw a plain with envelope with my name written on it sat there. As I opened it, I found two plane tickets to London inside.

“Oh my god,” I gasped.

“Just a little gift from Jenny and I,” Jay smiled. “For you and John.”

“I can’t accept this,” I mumbled, looking from the tickets to a grinning John and then to his parents.

“Of course you can,” Jenny told me.

“Thank you so so much, this is incredible,” I smiled widely at them.

We continued with our gifts as they were passed from John’s parents to his brothers and also myself and John.

Later that evening after all the festivities were over, John had decided to go to his room and get some sleep as it was getting late. As I sat on his bed, I stared at the envelope I held in my hand. John had got me a few things and his brothers had both gotten me something, probably with the help or instruction of Jenny, but this gift was a complete shock.

“John, your parents are amazing,” I told him, placing the envelope on his bedside table.

“Yeah, that was pretty sweet what they got you,” he said, pulling his jumper over his head.

“Us,” I corrected.

“Yeah but it’s more for you so you can see your family and friends,” he told me.

“But they’re all going to want to see you too!” I said, getting up and wrapping my arms around his bare torso. I look up and saw his green eyes staring down at me and stood on my toes to reach up to his lips. “So this was Christmas in the O’Callaghan house, huh?”

“Certainly was,” he laughed. “So you’ve now had Thanksgiving and Christmas with us, what’s next?”

“New Year.”

“Oh I’ve already got plans for us for that,” he smiled.

“You have?” I raised my eye brows.

“Yep, top secret though, sorry,” he said, pulling away and pulling off his jeans.

“So when will I get to find out what they are?” I asked, watching him.

“In about 6 days time,” he smiled, laying on his bed.

I lifted my jumper over my head and pulled off jeans and climbed onto the bed next to him in my underwear.

“Please tell me,” I asked, as I ran my hand over his chest and pouted up at him.

“Oh no, you won’t win that easily,” he let out a light laugh. We got under the sheets and I rolled over so I was facing away from him. “Tash?” he said, as he ran a hand down my back.

“No, not until you tell me!”

“It won’t be a surprise if I tell you now.”

“A surprise? For me?” I asked, rolling back over to face him. He nodded as he continued to smile. “I knew I loved you for a reason!” I laughed as I moved closer to him.

“Oh good!” he laughed again, wrapping his arms around me and holding me close.

---------

“So you told me there’s a party, what’s the big surprise?” I asked, as we walked up the drive to Pat’s front door.

“You’ll find in about 60 seconds,” he smiled, ringing the bell.

“Oh hey, John, Tash!” Tim yelled as he opened the door. “Happy new year!”

“Happy new year, man,” John said back. Tim moved so we could walk in and John led me in and tightened his grip on my hand as we walked through to the kitchen. He opened a beer for himself and poured a vodka coke for me. “There you are, now come with me.”

I followed him through Pat and Tim’s house and we said hello to people as we walked. Then we found Garrett and Kennedy stood against the door to go outside and Garrett started grinning at me.

“I hope my surprise isn’t these two,” I joked as we walked up to them.

“Oh no, it’s better,” Garrett told me.

“Will someone tell me what’s going on?!” I whined.

“There are two people here to see you,” John told me as my eyes when wide.

“WHO?”

“Come on,” he told me, taking my hand again and leading me outside with Garrett and Kennedy behind me.

“Girls?” John called and that’s when I saw them walk round the corner.

“AHHHHH! OH MY GOD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?” I squealed as I saw Lucy and Lizzie stood in front of me.

“We’re here to see you, you idiot!” Lizzie laughed. I pulled them both into a hug and we stood there with our arms around each other for a while.

“It’s so good to see you guys,” I smiled at them both as I stood back. “Did you do this?” I asked, turning back to John who nodded at me. “I love you so fucking much!”

“I’ll let you guys have a few minutes,” John said, going back inside with Garrett and Kennedy.

“I can’t believe you guys are here! It feels like forever since I last saw you two,” I said, excitedly. “How long are you here for?”

“Just 10 days,” Lucy told me. “So you better make the most of it!”

I stayed outside with Lizzie and Lucy for a while as we caught up on what we’d all been up to and how our Christmases went.

After a while, John and Garrett came back outside with drinks for us all. I could tell from the way Lizzie and Garrett kept looking at each other that their feelings for each other were still there. I caught John’s eye and smiled as I could tell he had noticed it too. We all went back inside and partied the rest of the night away and saw the new year in with everyone that had turned up to the party. When it came to midnight, John wrapped his arms around me and pulled close.

“Happy new year,” he breathed, before pressing his lips to mine.

“Happy new year, O’Callaghan” I grinned.

As I looked around the room, I saw Garrett and Lizzie with their arms around each other and nodded my head in their direction to John.

“Well, that was obvious,” he laughed. “Oh this is even better,” he said, looking in a different direction. I followed his gaze and let out a slight laugh myself.

“Is that Lucy with Joel?” I asked as I saw continued to watch one of my best friends making out with This Century’s singer.

“What is it with you and your friends and guys from bands?” John asked.

“I don’t know. I was actually going to say what is it with guys from Phoenix and English girls?” I laughed, pressing my lips back to John’s.

The night went on and eventually I was beginning to get tired. I’d managed to spent a fair amount of time with Lizzie and Lucy and we were already making plans for things to do with them while they were over. Eventually John and I made our excuses and made our way back to his house. Once we were in his room, it was time for my surprise for John. I ran into his bathroom and shut the door behind me.

“So Phoenix boy, how about you show this English girl what you’re made of?” I asked, stepping out of his bathroom, revealing the lingerie I’d changed into. John’s eyes went wide as he looked me up and down.

“Holy shit,” he said, as I saw his breathing speed up. I smiled at him as he stepped over to me and pulled me tight and pressed his lips against mine with force. “I love that you’re my girlfriend,” he said, pulling us down to his bed.

I unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off and pulled his lips back to mine. I stared into his green eyes and smiled.

“Happy new year, John,” I breathed, as our hand began to wander.