Bad Habits

"Just as I thought. Katherine Annette and John Cornelius, get downstairs right this minute!"

My mother screamed from downstairs. I jumped up off of John, and tapped him awake.
"Our parents are back!" I whispered, and he sat up.
"They weren't supposed to be back for another week."
"My mom just yelled at us, she's downstairs."
"What did we do?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. I shrugged, then grabbed his hand and pulled him into my room. We went into my bathroom and I squeezed some toothpaste on my toothbrush, before shoving it in my mouth.
"What did we do?" I asked, and John looked down, running a hand through his messy hair as we both brushed our teeth.
"Kat, John, now!" my father yelled, and we spit and rinsed our mouthed, throwing our toothbrushes back.

"You guys are back early," I mumbled, stepping into the dinning room, where the half empty six pack of beer, the condom that I had taken from Eric and my parents were. I stopped dead in my tracks, my eyes wide as I stared down at the table. I glanced over at John, wishing for the first time that he had put on a shirt. He sauntered up and stood next to me, until he saw the table. His eyes grew wide and he glanced at my dad. John turned and started running, as my dad stood and dashed after him.
"Don't run! He's an ex football star," I called as John bolted to the back yard. I turned to see my mother practically glaring at me with her arms crossed.
"I wanted you two to get together, not get drunk and have sex!" she yelled, and I chewed on the inside of my bottom lip, avoiding her eyes.
"We didn't get drunk, and we didn't have sex." I said quietly, and she shook her head.
"Well, obviously, the condom is not used, and there's only four beers empty, which means there's no possible way we could have gotten drunk off of two beers, and we didn't have sex because the condom is right there... In the package... Unused." I said, as John ran back in, pure horror on his face as my father followed close behind him, reaching his arms out. John ran behind me and grabbed my shoulders, ducking down.
"Help me!" he screamed, and I crossed my arms, standing in front of my dad.
"Calm the fuck down, before I cut you, old man." I said, and he narrowed his eyes, before moving some loose strands of my bun away from my neck, revealing the hickey John had given me. Both my parents gasped, shooting glares at John.
"I'm calling your mother." she said, grabbing her phone.
"Oh, shit," he carried on, then laid his forehead on my shoulder.
"She's gonna fucking kill me," he mumbled, and I grabbed his hands from my shoulders and put them around my waist.

"Hey, Jenny. So, funny thing about John not being at your house, he's at mine. We found a six pack, a condom, and he gave Kat a hickey. You might wanna come over here and take care of him before Ted does." she said, and we could here Jenny's voice, before my mom hung the phone up.
"We'll just go upstairs and wait for Jenny," I mumbled, grabbing John's wrist and tugging him along with me as I bolted to the stairs.
"Couch." my father boomed, and we stopped in our tracks, before going over to the couch. John sat down in the corner, and I sat on his lap, leaning my back against the arm rest of the couch. He sighed, then ran his hand up my bare leg, chewing on the bottom of his lip. My father cleared his throat, and John yanked his hand away, looking up at him. I rolled my eyes, then put my finger under his chin, turning his head towards me and kissing him. He pulled away after a minute and laid his forehead against mine.
"You're trying to get me killed." he whispered against my lips, and I smiled, before placing a hand on his cheek and kissing him again. He rested his hand on my upper thigh, and deepened the kiss, starting to part my lips. Complete silence. Then the sound of our front door opening, and inaudible whispers from our mothers. I pulled away as he was about to slip his tongue in my mouth and looked up to see our mothers staring at us, a hint of a small smile playing on their lips.

"Okay, you guys are just too cute, but you're in trouble." Jenny said, stepping in front of us with my mom.
"John Cornelius O'Callaghan, you gave her a hickey?" she asked, resting her hands on her hips with pursed lips.
"It's not that big of a deal," I mumbled as Jenny moved some hair from my neck.
"Oh, that's not too bad. It's almost gone. That means that must have happened a few days ago, huh?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at her son. I could feel his pulse start to race, and he nodded, starting to nervously chew on his bottom lip again.
"And what else? A couple beers and an unused condom? Now seriously, guys, what was going on with that?"
"We were hanging out with Nicole and Kennedy, but went back to our house with Eric to grab my bathing suit and a six pack he had so we could come here and drink a little and chill in the hot tub." John said shakily, and she raised an eyebrow.
"What about the condom?"
"I got it from Eric. Just in case. We weren't planning on doing it. If anything, our plan is to wait awhile." I said, and Jenny gave a relaxed sigh.
"See, Donna, it's not that bad. You guys overreact so much." she said, rolling her eyes. John let out the breath he had been holding, and I looked at him with a smile. He grinned, then caressed my cheek as he left a long kiss on my lips.
"You guys are just so cute. Go upstairs." Jenny squealed, and I stood. John jumped up, then yanked me up bridal style in his arms and carried me upstairs, leaving me with my arms wrapped loosely around his neck and giggles escaping my lips. He laid me on the couch and crawled over me, pecking me on the lips a couple times.
"Your dad almost fucking killed me." he said, a smile on his lips as I ran my hands up his bare chest, stopping at his neck. One hand was partly in the hair on the back of his neck, while the other was resting on his shoulder.
"Don't run from my dad. He was the star football player in high school and college," I smiled, and he chuckled, before kissing from my ear down to my collar bone. He pulled his lips from me, then grabbed the blanket and pulled it over us. He laid down on top of me, resting his head on my chest. He turned on a movie, and I smiled, running my fingers through his hair.

"John, let's go." Jenny called up the stairs, and he sat up a little.
"What?"
"Leave the poor girl alone! I know you've stayed with each other these past few days, so come home and hang out with Eric. Take a break from each other."
"Mom," John groaned, and I smiled.
"I'll see you in a couple days." I said, planting a kiss on his lips.
"Alright." he sighed, standing. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up. I threw my arms around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around my hips, picking me up and squeezing me. I giggled, then kissed him again, and he gave his infamous crooked smile.
"Goodbye." he said, and my face fell.
"Don't say goodbye. Goodbye's last forever." I said, and he looked out the window.
"...Then... Goodnight."
"It's afternoon," I commented, starting to smile.
"Shut up." he said, then kissed me.

"Let's go," Jenny carried on, and John pulled away.
"See you later. Text me, or call me, or come over if you need anything. Anything, okay?" he said as he started down the stairs.
"Alright, fair winds, Cornelius." I chuckled, waving, before going into my room. I closed my door and cleaned up my room a little bit, before grabbing my guitar and sitting on my now dry bed. I tuned it, then messed around with some chords, before playing a Queen song, eventually singing as well.

My door opened and a singing Kennedy walked in. He sang along with me as he sported a smile. When I finished the song, I stood and hugged him.
"Is Nicole here?" I asked, and he shook his head.
"Just me. I wanted to see if you wanted to come with me to the field and jam, and get some lunch or something." he said, and I nodded.
"Sounds great." I smiled.
I turned and grabbed a pair of jeans from my closet and changed into them, before grabbing my guitar and slipping on some shoes. The two of us headed downstairs, and out the door. We gently laid our guitars in his backseat, before I slid into the passengers seat. Kennedy put on the radio, then shot me a smile, before we backed out of my driveway.
"This is the story of a girl who cried a river and drowned the whole world..." we sang together.

When we reached the restaurant, we went inside, and sat down in a booth across from each other.
"I missed you." he said, and I looked up at him, a smile playing on my lips.
"I missed you, too. We haven't hung out just the two of us in a long time."
"Yeah... Ever since you started talking to John..."
He mumbled, and I looked down and bit my bottom lip.
"But we're together now." I said, looking up into his eyes.
"...Yeah." he finally said with a smile.
Our waitress came up then and we ordered our drinks.

After we ate, we walked out to his car and got in, heading to the old field we used to play in when we were kids. We sat down Indian style across from each other, and tuned our guitars.
"Oh, I wrote a song..." he said, and my face lit up.
"No way? Come on, play it!" I said enthusiastically. Kennedy looked at me skeptically, and I pursed my lips, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow. He took a deep breath, then looked down at his shaking hands before starting. When he started singing, I smiled, then closed my eyes and laid back, listening to his flawless voice. When he finished, he set his guitar next to mine and laid next to me. I rolled on my side and opened my eyes, to see Kennedy's locked with mine as a small smile was on his lips. I grinned, and he put his hand on my waist, then leaned up and kissed my forehead. I laid my hand on his cheek, caressing it softly with my thumb.
"Kennedy... I can't like you. So stop being beautiful and affectionate, okay?" I said, and his smiled.
"It's all innocent."
"Well, your innocence will turn into something more. I don't want anything we do to lead to something else. John's already worried."
"He shouldn't be. You don't love me."
"I do love you, just not that way..." I said quietly, my stomach tying in knots.
"I'm not in love with anyone."
"You're lying." he retorted quickly, and I furrowed my brow, giving him questioning eyes.
"I don't know what love is."
"That's why you're lying. You're in love with John."
"I don't know." I said simply, and he sighed.
"You don't know? Next time you kiss John, that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach, the way your heart speeds up, the way you feel invincible when you're with him, your confidence when you're with him, the feeling of comfort with each other, the feeling of you not having to hide anything, because it doesn't matter... That's love."
"How do you know?"
"I've been in love before."
"Who was she?"
"Who is she." he corrected.
"You'll never know." he whispered with a smile, and I closed my eyes with a smile.
"Does Nicole know?"
"Yeah, but she's not gonna tell you." he said, sitting up.
"Why not? I wanna know!" I exclaimed, sitting up as well.
"Nope! Now, where were we?" he asked, picking up his guitar.

After hours of playing, the sun started to fall. Kennedy and I stood and headed back to his car, where we put the guitars in the back and got in.
"I'm so tired. Our parents got home this morning."
"They catch you and John?"
"They sure did. Jenny let us off though because we're cute."
"What?" he asked in a chuckle, and I smiled.
"There was beer outside around the hot tub, and a condom on the counter, and my mom walked upstairs to see if John was there, and we were sleeping on the couch. Which, at least we weren't in my bed, because that would have looked a lot worse."
"How so?"
"When we sleep in a bed, it's more... Ya'know. Spooning, and stuff. But on the couch, I was just laying on top of him."
"Oh, yeah, that's not bad at all for your parents to see." he said sarcastically, and I laughed.
"Well, it's better than finding out about last night!"
"I thought they did?"
"Well... Most of it..." I mumbled, jerking my head to the side and looking out the window.
"What happened? The condom wasn't used, was it?" he exclaimed, disgusted.
"No!"
"Then what happened, spit it out!"
"I might have..." I started, then covered up my mouth nonchalantly with my sleeve before finishing my sentence, "given him a hand job."
"What?" he asked, looking over at me as my face got red. I repeated myself, my sleeve still muffling my voice.
"Kat, what the hell happened?"
"I gave him a hand job!" I yelled, and his face filled with shock, his eyes wide and mouth open. He looked at me, then brought his hand to my forehead.
"Who are you and what did you do with my innocent little baby?"
"Shut up," I mumbled, smacking his hand away.
"So, you saw his--"
"Yes. I don't want to talk to you about this."
"You'd rather talk to Nicole about it? She's gonna ask you more awkward questions than me!"
"I just don't want to have to repeat myself."
"Did you like it?" he asked, and I clenched my jaw.
"Aw, come on, Kat, it was the first time you fooled around with someone, you had to have liked it."
He said, and my face heated up, and I crossed my arms.
"Alright, fine. I'll take you home and go talk to Nic and she'll come over and make you talk about it and probably tell your mom and then she's gonna spend the night after you guys watch a Disney movie, which will probably be Pocahontas, or Cinderella, or Spirit, or maybe even Lion King, and then I'll be left alone at my house like usual, wishing I could spend the night at your house with you watching Disney movies and bonding."
"You know us too well." I laughed, and he nodded with a proud smile.
"You can come over and spend the night later. I'll call you and you can over for dinner, okay?"
"Okay, sweet. I get to sleep in the middle."
"What?" I laughed, and he glanced over at me with a smile.
"I get to sleep between you and Nic. Then I'll have a nice pair of boobs on both sides of me," he said, snickering. I rolled my eyes, a grin playing on my lips, then slapped his shoulder.

When we got back to my house, he leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.
"Go upstairs, I'll call Nicole and tell her to come over."
"Okay, I'll text you for dinner." I said, and he nodded, then pulled out his phone. I got out and closed the door, before walking up to my front door. I walked upstairs to my room, ignoring my parents, and closed the door, plopping down on my bed.
"Aww, Kenny has my guitar," I mumbled, then covered my eyes with my arm. A few minutes later, my door opened and Nicole walked in, closing it behind her and sitting on my bed next to me.
"What happened?"
"Hmm?"
"Kennedy called me and said you needed to talk to me."
"Oh, well it's not something that important. Kennedy found out though, and I didn't want to talk to him about it so... Here you are."
"Okay, well... What happened?" she asked as I sat up.
"Last night... John and I..."
"Come on, spit it out! Did you two have sex or something?"
"Uh, no. We fooled around a bit," I mumbled, and she crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.
"How so?"
"I gave him a hand job."
"You did?" she exclaimed, and I threw myself back on my bed, covering my red face with a pillow.
"How was it? Did you see it? Did you like it? Was it big?"
"Nicole," I groaned, and she yanked the pillow from my face.
"Was it big?" she asked again, wide eyed.
"...I don't know."
"How do you not know? Was his dick big or not?" she almost yelled, and my eyes grew wide, and I lunged at her, slapping my hand over her mouth.
"My parents are here, shut your mouth!" I said, and she bit my hand.
"Was it big?" she asked again, and I rolled my eyes.
"Yes."
She squealed, then jumped up and down, clapping.
"Did you like it?" she asked, and I shrugged.
"I guess. I know he liked it."
"Well, that's a good sign. When are you gonna fuck each other?"
"Nicole!"
"It's a harmless question, answer it."
"I don't know! We're gonna wait for that..."
"You still haven't said 'I love you' yet, have you?"
"No, why would we?"
"Because you're in love with each other."
"No, we're not." I said quickly, and she rolled her eyes.
"That's what you think. You two are so in love with each other."
"That's what Kennedy said." I mumbled, and she snickered.
"Because it's true." she cooed, and I laid back.

"Girls, dinner," my mom called from downstairs, and we stood.
"Okay, we'll be down in a minute. Kennedy's gonna come over, so we'll wait for him."
"Okay."
I grabbed my phone, and opened a new text, typing in the message, then hitting Kennedy's name and sending. Within ten minutes, a knock came at the door, before Kennedy walked in.
"Hey mom and dad. Where's the girls?" he asked, and my mom smiled.
"Hi, sweetie, they should be upstairs."
Nicole and I walked out of my room and headed downstairs. We went into the kitchen and grabbed a few bowls, filling it up with spaghetti.

When we finished eating, we went upstairs to my room and closed the door. Nicole put on an old Disney movie while Kennedy and I laid down. Later that night, we fell asleep. Kennedy was in the middle with his arm around me, while Nicole was on the other side snuggled in the blankets with her forehead against Kennedy's back.