Hesitating and Suffocating

Cally laughed so hard her stomach hurt, and she kept laughing. She had been worried earlier, afraid that she would lose who she was meant to be, and lose who she had loved. She was going into her identity crisis, but was glad she had Kennedy to distract her. “Kennedy, you’re going to make me fall into the streets!” Cally said, grabbing his forearm as they walked back towards the van.

Cally and Kennedy headed to the bar a few blocks down from the venue, drinking their worries away and both of them cracking jokes. Cally felt really happy with him. She forgot about her worries, about the lack of things she remembered about her past. She forgot that John hated her guts, and forgot how much that hurt. She was just happy to be with someone who didn’t make her feel like who she was now - the girl for forgot it all.

“Well, you know I’d catch you,” Kennedy said sweetly, and Cally smiled up at him, leaning her head up against his shoulder, yawning a little as she dug her hand around in pocket, searching for the noise blaring. She yawned as she answered the call, still a tad bit drunk. “Hello?”

“Cally, where the fuck are you?!” Garrett said, not quite angry, but sounding very, very, worried. Kennedy looked down at Cally’s emerald green eyes, looking worried. She rolled her eyes, an act of drunken surprise.

“Calm down, Gare. I’m almost there. I can see the van.” She saw him turn around, and waved. He waved back, exhaling into the phone.

“You scared the crap out of me, Cally. Please don’t ever wander off that like again.” He paused for a moment, and seemed to frown. “Are you with Kennedy?” He asked, and Cally hung up the phone as she stood ten feet from him.

“Yeah,” She said, letting go of Kennedy to wrap her arms around Garrett in a hug, still smiling at Kennedy behind Garrett’s back. Garrett hugged her tight, both of them ignoring the glares from John as they climbed into the car.

“We’re gonna drive for a little while longer towards the next venue before checking into a hotel,” Jamie said, jumping in as John glared at Cally, wedged between Garrett and Kennedy in the way back of the car. As they drove off into the dark horizon, Cally rested her head on Kennedy’s shoulder, while keeping her fingers entangled with Garrett’s as she drifted off into a happy sleep.

John’s knuckles were white against the steering wheel, his eyes watching in the rearview mirror as Garrett’s huge hands wrapped around Cally’s small ones, the same ones John had held a few months ago. He saw the way that Cally rested her head on Kennedy’s shoulder, and the way he looked down at her.

It was the same way John had looked at her.