Thinking Of You

I woke up the next morning to John singing softly as the rest of the boys slept. I rubbed my eyes and looked up at Garrett, who had headphones on and was laying back, sleeping. I quietly sat up and looked at Kennedy, Pat and Jared. Pat was wearing headphones as well.

"Oh, shit, sorry. Did I wake you up?" John asked, looking up in the mirror at me with big eyes. I smiled, then shook my head.
"It's nice waking up to you singing." I said, and he gave a soft smile.
"Thanks..."

"You know, you really do have an amazing voice."
"Eh," he mumbled with a shrug. I sighed, then sat back.
"Can we stop somewhere? I need to use the bathroom and brush my teeth..." I said, and he nodded.

We stopped at a Buc-ees and I woke the other boys up. We went inside and changed, brushed our hair and teeth and bought some food.
"Sleep good?" Garrett asked as we stood together in one of the isles. I smiled, then nodded, before leaning up and kissing him.
"Sorry I fell asleep on you," I said, and he shrugged.
"I liked it," he grinned, then wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I put an arm around his waist, and pulled him with me over to the drinks. I pulled out an Arizona Tea and a red vitamin water. I handed him the water, and we walked down the chip isle. I grabbed a bag of xtra cheddar goldfish, then headed to the front and waited for the rest of the guys.

"Hey, I'll drive and give you a break if you want, John," Garrett offered as we headed back out to the parking lot, where Jared was filling up the gas tank.
"Thanks. I'm so tired." John mumbled as he threw a bag of Sour Patch Kids at Jared. We all got back in the van, everyone sitting in the same spots, except for John and Garrett, who had switched. I crossed my legs and turned so my back was leaning against the window, and John laid down, laying his head in my lap. I ran my hands through his messy hair a few times, before twirling the tips between my fingers. He rolled over on his stomach a few minutes later, and I smiled. I brought my fingers to his back and gently scratched it until he fell asleep.

****

Later that night, John forced me to stay up with him and Garrett. I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head on his chest as he sang to me softly while Kennedy, Pat and Jared slept.

"You can't expect me to stay awake while you're singing to me," I said, looking up at John and he smiled.
"Alright, well, you can go to sleep if you're tired." he chuckled, and I smiled.
"Don't stop singing." I ordered as I closed my eyes. He chuckled, then kissed my head.
"Alright."

Soon enough, I drifted off to sleep to John's voice.

Garrett's POV;

I looked up in the mirror at John and Krys, and sighed. She was finally asleep.
"John..." I said quietly, and he stopped singing and looked up at me.
"You like her, huh?"
"...Uh... Yeah... I always will, I guess. But we've agreed on being strictly friends. And that's all we are. I mean, she's my best friend. We're all group, you know that. You don't have anything to worry about, Garrett." he said, sitting up in his seat and looking at me. I chewed on the inside of my bottom lip, feeling nauseous.
"Yeah... I just... You guys look so happy together, so I figured..."
"No. She's in love with you."
"But she loves you, too."
"Garrett, I don't think you understand." he said, then came over and sat in the middle, next to me.

"She's more loyal to you than you think. All those times she's told you she kissed me were not true. I always kissed her, but she told you she kissed me because she didn't want you to hate me even more than you did. When you guys hadn't spoken in a few months because of the thing between you and Meg... I begged her to have sex with me. She never did because she knew even though the two of you hadn't been talking, you were still together and she loved you. She still does. I'm such a fucking dick." he said, running a hand down his face. I focused on the road, shocked that Krysten would actually lie about that so I wouldn't hate John.

"She's told me she loves me, but not as much as you. Not even close. I don't want to break apart something special between you two, Gare. It still eats me alive inside to think that I hurt one of my closest friends. I'm not taking her away from you. Not again." he said, and I clenched the steering wheel.

"I don't understand how she loves me more than you. You're so much more talented than me, and needless to say, obviously quite a bit more attractive." I said, and he chuckled.
"You really think she cares about looks? And you are way more talented than me. You sing, play bass, and guitar. I can sing, and play a little bit of guitar. You two have so much more in common than we do. And I'm a dick, and you're a pretty nice guy. You are better than me." he said, and I gave a small crooked smile.

"So you two never..."
"No. She refused to do it. I promise you have nothing to worry about."
"I want to marry her." I said quickly, then glanced over at him. His face was full of shock, his eyes wide and jaw dropped.
"You know she's not gonna say yes yet."
"Yeah... I know. I don't know if I'm ready yet. I just know I want to spend the rest of my life with her."
"Alright... Well... Marry her. Just wait, ya'know? She'd get really freaked out if you gave her a ring this soon."
"Yeah, I know. You know we haven't even dated for a year yet? It seems like it's been forever. It'll be a year in the beginning of September."
"Hey, we're going in June, it's almost a year. It's felt like so much longer. It feels like she and Ken have lived here with us since we were little kids."
"Yeah," I said, giving a smile. I looked up into the mirror at the sleeping Krys in the back, and my stomach turned. She was so beautiful, her hand balled into a fist in front of her face. I loved how she slept. She still makes my heart flutter.

"Why don't you pull over and we can get some sleep." John said, and I nodded. We pulled into a truck stop and pulled into the corner. I locked all the doors, then stepped in the back and gently picked Krysten up. She rustled, and I stopped.
"Garrett?" she whimpered, and I furrowed my brow.
"Yeah, babe, it's me," I whispered, and she grabbed my shirt.
"You okay?" I asked, and she shook her head as a couple tears dripped down her cheeks.
"Nightmare." she whispered, and I bit my lip, then laid her back down.
"It's okay, I'm here. I'm right here, sleeping right next to you. We're all here," I said, kissing her head. I laid down next to her in the back seat, putting an arm around her. She clung to my chest, cuddling up to my body.
"You're freezing." I said, and she nodded.
"You're really warm." she mumbled, and I stroked her hair as John laid a blanket over us. He set out a couple blankets on the floor, and laid down next to us, pulling a blanket over himself.
"I love you, Gare." she whispered, and I smiled.
"I love you, too, baby."

A few minutes later, she was sound asleep again.
"I love you, man," John said, and I held back a chuckle.
"I love you, too, bro." I said, as our hands slapped quietly together.

I took my hand back from John, then kissed Krysten's head before closing my eyes.