Good Love Will Find Me

"John, come on!" John jumped out of the van and towards the stage entrance.

"Always the late one," Jared scolded.

"I was taking a nap," he defended.

"What happened to you?" asked Garrett.

"I went to Moose's."

"Of course you went to Moose's," said his sister, Leigh. 

She had her son, Luke, on her lap. He had a bottle in his mouth and was bouncing up and down. John walked over to him and gave him a high five, which caused Luke to giggle.

He took the bottle out of his mouth and said, "Hi John!"

"Hi, Luke! Are you gonna watch our show?"

Luke nodded enthusiastically.

"What songs do you want us to play?" asked Kennedy.

He thought hard with the bottle in his mouth. Then he took it out once more and mumbled something that sounded like, "Don't listen to the world, they say we're never gonna make it."

Well, it sounded more like, "Dome wissen to da whirl, they say we're nevah guna made it," but John knew what he was saying.

Everyone laughed at Luke's adorable mispronunciation of the lyrics.

"We'll make sure to play that one, little guy."

They heard the announcer call their band name and one by one, they stepped out. Pat first, Garrett second, then Kennedy.

John popped an Advil for his hangover headache.

"You were drinking again?" said Jared.

"Sure was."

"Does this have anything to do with the girl you met at the record store?"

"No!" John hissed.

"I heard she was gonna be here tonight."

"Fuck you, m-"

"Oh, there's my cue! See you out there John Oh!"

John narrowed his eyes at him and watched him run out.

Jared was such a good friend.


"How are you all doing tonight?" John yelled with vigor.

The crowd cheered loud enough for John to step back, surprised.

"It feels good to be home tonight, doesn't it, Kennedy?"

Kennedy stepped up to the mic as he finished tuning his guitar. "Sure does, John. It's nice to see some familiar faces."

As Kennedy said that, John spotted Natalie, the girl who rejected him.

"I see one right now, one by the name of Na-ta-lay!"

She stuck her middle finger up and John laughed. She was right in front, on Garrett's side.

"Good to see you too, Natalie. Glad you made it out. Alright, kiddies, this is a song called Everything I Ask For. It might sound a little different to y'all."

As the crowd cheered once more, Pat banged his drums.

"This is for the inner stoner in every one of you."


Gary threw each of the boys a towel as they walked offstage. When they entered the dressing room, Natalie was sitting with Leigh, playing pattycake with Luke.

John shot his sister a dirty look for bringing in Natalie. He just didn't feel like being insulted tonight. He was on a high from playing a hometown show and he didn't need some bitch dampening his mood.

Garrett walked to Leigh, giving her a light kiss on the lips. She smiled, her hand automatically going to the engagement ring on her finger. She twisted it around whenever she was happy; it had become a habit that John noticed.

"So, Natalie," said Garrett, "What'd you think?"

She looked up from her game of pattycake and smiled. "I really liked you guys, no lie."

"You know, I remember you from somewhere," said Jared thoughtfully.

Natalie cocked her head to the side and her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to recognize Jared.

It was one of the cutest faces John had ever seen.

Her face was addicting. He didn't know how else to put it. The way her nose was perfectly sloped and her lips were begging to be kissed. Her eyes were stunning - they were green. Jungle green. Her eyelashes were naturally long; they didn't appear to have any mascara on them. Her bangs were braided and twisted off to the side. When she smiled, he caught a glimpse of her pearly white teeth.

He wanted her.

He needed her.

His thoughts were interrupted as Jared snapped his fingers and gasped. "We had third period Chemistry together in junior year!"

"Oh yeah! We were lab partners!" Natalie replied.

"Wait, you went to Mountain Pointe?" John asked with disbelief.

There was no way he would've forgotten a face like hers. And there was no way he didn't hit on her in high school. It was impossible.

"I did! I guess we ran in different circles, or something. But, wait! If you're the Jared that I had Chemistry with, that means you guys are the band that I loved in high school! I went to all of your shows! I knew you guys sounded familiar. You guys have come a long way since then."

Pat grinned. "Which song was your favorite from tonight?"

"I think it was called Saving Grace. I really liked that one. And your Ryan Adams cover."

Jared, Leigh, and Garrett gasped. "You like Ryan Adams?"

As the four of them plunged into a deep conversation about Ryan Adams, Pat went to find Tim and Kennedy nudged John's shoulder with his.

"You alright, O'Callaghan? You look so aggravated," he laughed.

"I'm fine, dude."

"I heard she rejected you. Twice."

"Fuck off, Brock."

"Ha! She did!"

John rolled his eyes.

"Poor John's taking a blow to his ego."

All John wanted was to drink. And drink. And drink.

He didn't mean to be rude - well, he did, so he obnoxiously called out, "Party at Moose's. Anyone coming?"

Suddenly, there was whooping and yelling. Everyone headed for the van. Garrett and Leigh were saying something about having to follow them because they had to put Luke to sleep before they could go to a party.

Soon, Natalie and John were the only ones left in the room.

"You coming?" John asked her, but not unkindly.

She shrugged, the opposite of the snide comment he expected her to make.

"You're more than welcome to."

She smiled a soft half smile that drove John wild.

"I don't know the way, though."

"I'll come with you in your car," he offered. He tried not to sound too eager; he didn't want to scare her or piss her off.

"Um, sure, I guess. I'll try not to murder you along the way," she joked.

John just smiled.


"So who's driving?" John asked with a smirk.

She wordlessly placed the keys in his hand and smiled softly, getting inside the car.

He ran a hand through his hair, wondering what the night would bring. John walked around the front of the car and got into it, plopping down on the driver's seat.

When he got inside, Monte Carlo by U.S. Royalty was playing. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel along with the beat.

"How long have you lived in Tempe?"

"All my life," Natalie answered, "But shit happened and I had to move to California."

"What brings you back?"

John wasn't bullshitting conversation like he usually did with girls at clubs or parties. He was genuinely interested in her past.

"My mom's getting married."

"Are you happy or sad about that?"

She shrugged.

When the song stopped playing, it changed to Let's Dance by David Bowie.

John chuckled and looked over to Natalie. Her cheeks were bright red and she sunk down in her seat, fidgeting.

"Why are you embarrassed? David Bowie is the shit!"

Natalie sat back up and beamed.

"I usually get crap for having that on my iPod," she explained.

"Don't even worry about it. I actually have a dance to this song and I made the guys do it with me once."

She giggled.

John almost crashed the car.

He had heard girls giggle before, sure. He had even heard Pat giggle, which slightly terrified him. He had heard Luke giggle, and he thought nothing could be cuter.

He was wrong.

Now all he wanted was to make her giggle even more.

They were almost to the party when My My, Hey Hey by Neil Young started playing and John couldn't help but sing along.

"My my, hey hey. Rock and roll is here to stay. It's better to burn out than to fade away. My my, hey hey."

Natalie mumbled something he couldn't make out and when he turned to her, she was staring at him, mouth open in awe.

He chuckled. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Y-you sound exactly like him. I - holy shit. That's amazing."

Now it was John's turn to blush.

"Why, thank you."

She just nodded and he turned back to the road, arriving at Moose's house.

She didn't have a chance to thank him before he was out of the car and opening the door for her.

Natalie was speechless once again.

He shrugged. "It's just the way my mom taught me."

"To sing like Neil Young?"

He laughed. "No, to open doors for girls. No matter how much they seem to hate me."


John was having a hard time deciding whether he would be John Ohh, the innocent sweet talker that girls fawned over, or John Ohh, the one known for one night stands. The one who had girls eating out of the palm of his hand.

But he let the alcohol decide that for him.

And the alcohol picked John Ohh #2.

He headed to the backyard to find someone to call his for the night. On the way, he ran into his friend Halvo, who he talked about Cardinals baseball to. Halvo was currently having a hissy fit over how the season was going, but John couldn't be bothered to worry about such topics.

He just wanted to have a good time.

So when Halvo was done rambling, John clapped him on the back and kept making his way out the back door.

Once he was out in the fresh air, John pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one, taking a long drag.

"You know, those are bad for you."

The voice was small and soft, and he instantly became annoyed.

"You sound like my mom," John scoffed.

"I sound like mine too. Can I have one?"

The voice sounded so innocent; there was no way she could have been asking for a cigarette. She must have been joking.

"I thought you said they were bad," John commented as he pulled out the box and offered it to her.

"I never said I didn't like them. Or guys who smoke."

He turned to her with a smirk and came face to face with Natalie. Trying to hide his surprise, John retrieved the box after she took one out and put it back in his pocket.

"You surprise me more and more every minute that I'm with you," John mumbled quietly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing."

They both stood still, blowing smoke into the night air.

"Jesus, it's fucking hot out here."

John eyed the pool and looked around. The last of the people lingering in the backyard were making their way inside.

Before he could say anything, Natalie had already thrown her cigarette to the ground and was smashing it with her shoe, which she took off, along with the other one. Then she pulled off her shirt and shimmied out of her shorts.

She walked backwards towards the pool and smiled.

"Are you coming?"

John set down his red cup and discarded his cigarette. He mimicked Natalie's actions and walked towards her.

He was in a daze.

Just mere hours ago, Natalie was flipping John off. She was insulting him and shooting him degrading looks.

Now she was swimming with him.

In her underwear.

Shameless.

Why?

"How much have you had to drink tonight?" he questioned.

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just wondering."

"A shit ton."

He nodded, her answer answering his silent question. Of course. In the morning, everything would go back to normal.

But then again, he would much rather have her acting this way towards him, maybe even get her in bed.

And maybe, just maybe, tomorrow, things wouldn't be the same. Maybe after tonight, she would treat him differently.

So he decided to take a chance.

He grabbed her hand and jumped in.