Back and Forth

It was wrong; neither of them could deny it. After every single kiss or touch, they would vow never again. Adora was married, and it was a shitty thing to be doing. Yet still they found themselves falling into each other in secret every single chance they could find.

So, when finally John and his band had to return to tour, both of them thought it would be for the best. In the back of their minds, they knew that some sort of consequence would have to find them eventually if the trysts continued. Four months from the fateful meeting in the small record store, they found themselves at a fork in the road, each of them forced down a different path.



"John," Addie whispered against his neck, drawing out the vowel. She paused, kissing right below his jaw with a smirk as he mumbled a response. "You weren't even listening, were you?"

"I can't lie to you, I wasn't," he laughed and she couldn't help but giggle to at the way his green eyes lit up. "I'm just trying to cherish ever single moment I have left with you, baby."

Addie fell silent, her grin quickly vanishing from her lips. John noticed the sudden change in demeanor and wrapped his lanky arms tighter around her waist. She rested her head on his chest without a second thought, her raven locks fanning over his flannel shirt.

"I don't want you to leave," she admitted, looking up at him through her thick lashes.

"I wish I didn't have to either," he murmured, sweeping the hair away from her clear, cerulean eyes.

"You've changed your tune over five years, I see," she teased softly, snuggling against him.

"I changed my tune after five days, but I was too proud to admit it back then."

"I wish you would have."

John inhaled deeply, planting a gentle kiss on the top of her head. "Yeah, me too, love. I'm just thankful that fate threw us back together, even if only for awhile."

"Even with the circumstances?" Addie asked, shifting so she was lying on her stomach looking up at him.

"I wish that maybe they could have been better, but even with them, yeah. I got you back for four months, and that's more than I could have asked for."

Addie's eyes welled up with tears that she attempted to blink back. "I wish things could have been different for us, John."

The tears spilled over and John gave a weak grin before wiping them away with his thumbs. He drew her closer to him and felt her erratic breathing against him. Her body molded perfectly against him and even in the sadness, he couldn't help but smile because she was right there next to him, so alive and so beautiful.

"Hey now, everything's going to be okay," he promised.

"How can you say that?" she inquired miserably. "How can you possibly know?"

"I just have faith. Faith that maybe, someday, you and I can be together again. It keeps me going, ya know? You're my dream, my someday."

Addie sniffled, leaning up to kiss him full on the mouth. "I love you, John Cornelius O'Callaghan."

The words were barely passed through her lips before she placed them back on John's. It was a desperate kiss, full of longing and the knowledge that he was leaving. He kissed back with the same force, eager to imprint the feeling in his memory. In one loving, lustful moment, they were just a tangle of limbs and skin, desperate to hold on to the quickly slipping time they had left.



"John, I know you're on tour and you've only been gone a week, but seriously, answer the fucking phone! It's- I need to talk to you before someone else tells you. Please, John, call me," Addie's voice cracked through the phone as John replayed the message.

He played it twice since the noise from the audience drowned out half of it. He tried in vain to figure out what was going on as his band mates sent him quizzical looks from across the room. They had just stepped off stage when John noticed his phone beeping sporadically, only to find that cryptic message.

He frantically dialed her number, waiting in terror as the ringing echoed in his ear. He was terrified and had no idea what to expect. He had never heard her sound so panicked or scared; she almost never called him unless absolutely necessary and had never asked him to call her. Something about her voice made him think she had been crying, and it broke his heart that he was miles away. He couldn't do anything but wait helplessly for her to pick up.

"Oh, John, thank god," she exclaimed finally, and he moved toward the dressing room where it was much quieter.

"What's doing on, A? Is everything alright? I mean, your message scared the shit out of me," John said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

"Oh god, John! I'm so, so, so sorry! I promise, I didn't' think he was capable... I didn't think this would happen! If I had, I swear-"

"Baby, slow down. Who's he? And what happened?" he interrupted, using the bits and pieces he had picked out from her rambles.

"Kade," she choked out, and John's blood ran cold.

"He knows," he stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry," she confirmed shakily. Slowly, she was beginning to regain her composure.

"It's okay, Adora. It's gonna be okay," he assured her, doing his best to convince himself of the same thing.

In his mind, he had prepared for something like this to happen from the moment she kissed him in the coffee shop, but a part of him had thought and prayed it never would. Even so, the dreaded moment had arrived, and he tried his best to keep calm. He was mentally prepared for this, right?

However, he was definitely not prepared in any way shape or form for what came tumbling from her mouth next.

"It's not just that," she rushed out, and her voice became low. "Kade, he's known for awhile. He had a picture of us, John."

"What kind of picture?" John asked sharply, checking over his shoulder to make sure he was alone.

"The kind that there's no way of explaining away. The kind that's clear of exactly what we were doing. And it wasn't playing monopoly."

"Well, so he knows. We can get through this, you can talk to him-"

"No, John, it's not that simple. He's furious about the affair. So furious, he didn't stop at dropping off the divorce papers this afternoon. H-he decided he wanted revenge."

Addie heard nothing on her side of the phone. She held her breath and attempted to not break down as she waited for a sign that John was still on the other end. He exhaled sharply, and she ran a hand over her face.

"What did he do?"

"The picture hit gossip sights a little over two hours ago."

Again, she was greeted with silence. The wheels in John's head turned as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pointer finger. The little composure Addie had gained back was slowly slipping away again with every second of dead air.

"Say something, please," she begged in a whisper.

"So there's a leaked picture. People know I have girlfriends and I'm not exactly virginal. It could pass for when we were dating five years ago. Sure, it's gossip and exposing, but it'll be fine," he reasoned.

"My wedding ring is clearly visible in the picture," she said hesitantly. "I'm sorry."

"Damn," John muttered, kicking at the ground. "What are we gonna do?"

"We?" Addie asked, a note of surprise in her voice.

"Yeah, we."

"I just thought..."

"You thought I was gonna let you fend for yourself in all of this?" he finally realized, his voice softening.

"You have your band and image to worry about, and I don't want to just get in the way. Say what you have to and save yourself, I've caused you enough problems."

"Adora Rieder, shut your mouth. You are anything but a problem. I mean, we got into this together, and that's the way we'll get out. I love you."

Crystalline tears stuck to her eyelashes as she gripped the phone tighter. "I love you too."

"We'll get out of this mess and figure it out from there. Together. There's no chance in hell I'm letting you slip away again," he vowed, leaning against one of the venue's walls.

"Thank you John," she whispered back, a small smile tugging at her lips for the first time in the last twenty-four hours. The awful feeling in the pit of her stomach was finally shrinking.

"Anytime, love. Now, I'll talk to Tim about everything and I'm going to try to get there as soon as I can. Where are you staying?"

"Kade kicked me out and my parents are livid. I'm at a hotel in downtown Tempe."

"Alright. Stay off the Internet, you don't want to see anything they have to say about you or us. Just stay under the radar as much as you can. Your dad's company is big, and this is gonna rock the city; I mean, you know how much people love a good scandal, and I hate to say it, but this is the definition of it. I'm coming for you as soon as I can, I promise."

"Okay. See you soon. I... I love you."

"I love you too, A. Stay safe and sound 'till I get there. And don't let anything anyone says get to you. You're my wish come true, and I'm going to get us through this. Always."