Spinning.

“Ava holy shit I can't do this.” I was pacing around the dressing room, practically tearing my hair out.

“Beret, shut up and put your big girl pants on. You're motherfucking Beret Emerson. Of course you can do this.” Ava laid on the couch, watching me with a bemused expression while she ate a cheeseburger.

We were in Minneapolis for the Valentine's day show, and I couldn't stop my heart from pounding. We had practiced “Enchanted” so much that I could have done it in my sleep, running it at sound checks to make sure we had it down when we actually got on a stage. I felt great about it until this morning, when I woke up freaking out. I hadn't really eaten anything because of my nerves, scared that I was going to get sick if I did. Ava dragged me out shopping to try and calm me down, even picking out a new outfit for the occasion. It worked for a little bit, but as soon as we returned to the venue I couldn't keep my cool.

“No, really Ava. I feel like I'm going to fucking pass out. I've never been this nervous.”

“Jesus Beret, he's just a guy.” She rolled her eyes, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “You should probably start getting ready, you know. Make yourself look all sexy and shit. We did get you a new dress after all for this.”

I sighed, putting my pacing on hold to go retrieve our bags from earlier in the day, which were scattered around the room.

“Oh my god what if I fall on stage? How embarrassing would that be?”

“Beret!” Ava stood up and put her hands on my shoulders, making me stop moving around. “Why are you so nervous? I have never, in our 23 years of friendship, seen you this fucking nervous.”

“Because Ava, he's like, perfect.” I groaned. “And I don't stand a chance and it's Valentine's da--”

“Beret!” Jared poked his head in, interrupting us. “How's it going?”

“Oh my god Jared I think I'm going to actually hurl.” I groaned.

“She's so fucking nervous!” Ava started laughing, “I've never seen her like this! It's hilarious!”

“Oh my god shut up!”

“Well, I actually have someone I'd like you to meet.” Jared stepped in, a small blonde following him. “This is Tessa. She came up for Valentine's day.” He grinned, watching her.

“Hi, I'm Beret. I've heard so much about you!” I forced a smile on my face and offered her my hand, trying to ignore the nerves that were tearing through me.

“Hi, I've heard a lot about you too!” She smiled back, shaking my hand.

“Sorry she's like on crack right now. She's nervous.” Ava laughed, mocking me. “I'm Ava, her best friend since diapers.”

“Oh my god Ava I'm going to kill you.”

Jared started laughing. “You realize he's doing the same thing in the other room right now? You two are like the same person sometimes. He won't even pregame like he normally does because he wants it to be perfect.”

“Wait, so you're the one that John's all crazy about?” Tessa looked between Jared and I, making the connection.

“She denies it, but yeah she is.” Jared laughed at my face.

“Okay that's what I thought but I didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong. Jared may have mentioned it a couple times.” She chuckled.

“Well we'll have to keep talking later, but I have to change and get ready for this...” I looked up at the clock, realizing I didn't have very long until my set started.

“Alright, we'll be seeing you after the show.” Jared tried to hide his amusement.

“Yeah, if I haven't died of nerves by then.”

The couple laughed as they left the room, leaving Ava and I to myself.

“Alright, I'll start on curling your hair after you change, can you handle your make-up?” She chuckled, pulling out her curling iron and plugging it in.

“Yeah, I think so. Jesus I feel like I'm going to prom or something again. New dress, getting my hair done, being scared as shit...” I laughed.

“Calm down, he thinks you're a babe. I could totally tell from watching him earlier.” She laughed. “He looks at you like you're the sun, moon, and stars. Also I might have caught him checking out your ass.”

“Ava!” I scolded.

“I'm just saying. He should make his move already.”

“Well it hasn't happened yet.” I rolled my eyes, slipping on my dress and tights.

“Oh my god, remember who you went to senior prom with?”

“Oh jesus don't remind me.” I dramatically moaned, not wanting to relive my senior prom.

“Brady Johnson. God he was so hot.”

“And a total dolt. Half our senior class hated me for it.”

“Yeah, because you had the only hot guy in our school as your prom date. You were so nervous!”

“Yeah because I've never heard him say an intelligent thing in my life! How the hell was I supposed to have a decent conversation with him?”

“You weren't. You were supposed to be his arm candy.” She laughed.

“Oh god can we not?” I began working on my make-up while Ava began curling the ends of my hair, making sure not to burn me in the process.

“Damn girl, you look so hot right now.” Ava smirked as she finished the last curl. “If only Brady Johnson could see you now!”

“I'd rather not.” I rolled my eyes

“Well John's sure going to have a hard time keeping his pants on, that's for sure.”

“Ava!”

“Beret!” Carolyn stuck her head into the room. “You're on in 5. The rest of the group is waiting by the stage.”

“Thanks!” I smiled at her, my heart pounding.

“Oh my god this is actually happening,” I tried to keep my hands steady as I put my earrings in and replaced the brace on my ankle, covering it with my boots.

“Knock 'em dead girl, good luck!” Ava winked, pulling me into a hug.

“Thanks, I'm gonna need it!”

Walking out to the side of the stage, I placed my ear piece in before joining in with the rest of the group for the pump up routine. I didn't see John anywhere, assuming that he was probably still getting ready since we weren't doing the duet until later in the set. Jared was standing next to one of the techs, watching us as the final touches were put on the stage before we went out.

“You'll do great.” He came over, hugging me after we had finished the pump up. “Don't worry, just do your thing and it'll all come together.”

I simply grinned at him, the adrenaline filling my system as the rest of the group made their way out on stage.

Once I got on stage, every single care I had melted away. Everything fell into place perfectly. The chemistry on stage was perfect: the on-stage humor about how my date for the night was a sock monkey made the audience laugh, and the musical chemistry made it one of our best sets ever. The audience played off the energy, going absolutely crazy the entire night.

Finally, it was time for the duet.

“So, how many of you are here on a date tonight?” I asked them. They went wild. I walked to the side of the stage, holding the microphone, and grabbed the acoustic guitar from the rack of guitars. “So for Valentine's day, I thought we could do something a little special.” I told them, returning to the front of the stage. “I'm one of the lucky ladies celebrating Single's Awareness Day, since unfortunately you can't marry stuffed animals, so instead of singing about how in love I am with someone, I thought it'd be fun to sing about how enchanting it was to meet them. And I'm getting a little help.”

The crowd cheered again.

“So, uh, John, you can come out now.”

John walked out with his guitar, and the crowd was deafening. Quite frankly, if I had been in that audience, I would have been screaming my lungs out too. He looked so good. His hair was slightly disheveled, five-o'clock shadow accenting his golden green eyes perfectly. He had on his chambray button-up with the sleeves rolled, and my favorite pair of his dark jeans. He was even wearing his black suspenders. For a moment he took my breath away-- then I remembered I was on stage and I couldn't just gawk at him.

“I know why you ladies are screaming-- he's so hot that even I got lost for a moment.” I joked.

“Why thank you.” He leaned into the microphone and grinned at me. I couldn't help but grin back.

“So if you didn't catch my subtle reference earlier, this isn't a song that either of us wrote-- it's actually a Taylor Swift song called 'Enchanted.' This is our first time ever performing it live, and we learned it just for you guys. So hope you like it!”

As he strummed the first chords, I swallowed nervously.

“There I was again tonight
forcing laughter, faking smiles,
same old tired lonely place.”

I began to relax as he took over.

“Walls of insincerity
Shifting eyes and vacancy
Vanished when I saw your face”

All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you

Your eyes whispered "Have we met?"
Across the room, your silhouette
Starts to make its way to me
The playful conversation starts
Counter all your quick remarks
Like passing notes in secrecy
And it was enchanting to meet you
All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you

By the time we hit the first chorus, we were completely immersed in the song. I had never put so much into a single song ever-- so many emotions were channeling through me as we sang. I felt like I was seriously flying. I would look over at John and he would look over at me as we were singing, and we both were wearing with the biggest grins. The crowd was so into it too-- all the Taylor Swift fans were singing along, everyone was moving along. It felt so right.

The lingering question kept me up
2 am, who do you love?
I wonder 'til I'm wide awake
Now I'm pacing back and forth
Wishing you were at my door
I'd open up and you would say
It was enchanting to meet you
All I know is I was enchanted to meet you

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
This night is flawless, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you

As John began playing the solo, I made my way over to share the microphone with him. We hadn't ever done it this way, sharing microphones, but my feet seemed to have a mind of their own. All that was running through my head were the moments with him that I treasured: the late nights talking on the tour bus, our trips to Starbucks, the early morning beignets trip in New Orleans, the snowball fight, coming with me to the funeral, our cuddle sessions, the bowling night, the feeling of his fingers playing with my hair, his super sweet attempts to make my life easier, that first night at the Warner party when we first met and I first felt the sparks fly, finding out that the girl he had been texting that night wasn't his girl. Even with 13,000 people watching, he was the only person in the entire stadium that I was interested in at that moment. Not even my family, or the people from my hometown, or the reporters, or anyone. Just him. It was just us on that stage.

This is me praying that
This was the very first page
Not where the story line ends
My thoughts will echo your name
Until I see you again
These are the words I held back
As I was leaving too soon
I was enchanted to meet you

Please don't be in love with someone else
Please don't have somebody waiting on you
Please don't be in love with someone else
Please don't have somebody waiting on you

We were making eye contact as we were singing on opposite sides of the microphone, and I could see it in his eyes when he sang “please don't be in love with someone else” that there was something special about this for him too. There were so many emotions swirling through the venue as we launched into the last chorus-- for me, it was hope, fear, anticipation, giddiness, love. Love. He couldn't tell, could he? When he looked in my eyes, what did he see? He didn't even know that I was laying it out for him, and he was inches away.

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
This night is flawless, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you

Please don't be in love with someone else
Please don't have somebody waiting on you

The sound had hardly left my mouth as I felt his hand reach up, gently tilting up my chin and bringing us even closer together. Without second thought, we each spun our guitars around to our backs as he pulled me in and our lips crashed together for the most electrifying kiss that I had ever experienced in my 23 years of existence. The crowd had erupted, but they seemed so distant compared to what was happening. The rest of the world melted away as we shared this little moment in time. All I cared about was the feeling of his soft lips against mine, his minty taste, his hands now pressed against the small of my back as my fingers tangled themselves in his hair, our lips moving together perfectly. My body felt like it was on fire; I had never felt so alive from just a kiss.

After what felt simultaneously like a split second and eternity, we broke apart for air. We both gasped at the same time as the reality of what had just happened hit us, but the grins didn't leave either of our faces. We broke eye contact to look at the audience, and again they erupted into deafening cheers. I felt his fingers lace through mine, giving my hand a squeeze. When the audience died down, I found my words.

“Wow.” I laughed. They all cheered. “John O'Callaghan, everyone.”

We embraced each other one last time, grinning before he turned to the crowd and waved. I watched him leave the stage, an added spring in his step, to be tackled by Garrett and Pat as soon as he walked off.

“Hang on a second.” I held my finger up as they screamed, and I stepped back from the microphone. I walked over to where I had my bottle of water sitting and took a couple drinks. On my way back to the microphone, I did a little dance.

“I only bring out the dance moves for special occasions.” There was no way I was going to wipe the grin off of my face, especially not with the things now running through my mind. “That...” I pointed off towards where John had walked off stage. “That wasn't planned... so... now that I've been knocked speechless with that, I suppose that isn't my date anymore.” I pointed at the sock monkey and they laughed.

The rest of the set flew by, my mind not on the music but instead on what was going to happen when I left the stage. Walking off, John was standing with his hands behind his back. A nervously hopeful grin was spread across his face, his eyes sparkling as he watched me approach. I practically ran over to him, throwing my arms around him and pressing my lips against his.

“Happy Valentine's day!” He broke the kiss with a grin, unwrapping his arms around me to present a bouquet of roses.

“Did you plan this?!” I gasped, taking the flowers from him.

“Well, not exactly.” He rubbed the back of his head, chuckling. “I mean, I had other plans for the night, but then that-” he gestured to the stage, “-happened and I just went with it.”

“You can just go with it more often,” I kissed him again. “Really, I wouldn't mind.”

Jared stuck his head out from around the corner, making sure he wasn't about to repeat the hotel room incident.

“About fucking time!” He yelled, hugging both of us.

“Oh my god that was better than watching the kiss from the notebook.” Pat came around the corner, realizing the coast was clear, and ran to embrace me.

“Only you would compare it to the kiss from the notebook,” I laughed. “Have you guys been hiding around the corner this whole time?”

Garrett and Kennedy appeared before there was even a chance for Pat to answer. “Holy shit Beret was that one hell of a show!” Kennedy started laughing. “Not only was the music awesome but you're reaction to John finally fucking kissing you might have actually been the greatest thing ever.”

“Wuv, twue wuv,” Garrett mocked, imitating the voice of the priest from A Princess Bride. I jokingly hit him. “Ouch, hit a little harder next time.” He sarcastically added.

“Okay, I'll keep that in mind.”

“And on that note, we're getting out of here.” John laughed, a blush creeping on his face. He took my hand and pulled me down the hall, Dirk following us with his camera.

John pulled me into the Maine's dressing room before planting his lips on mine again, this time with a little more passion than romance. I wasted no time kissing back, desperately wanting nothing more than to get lost in him.

“Get a room you two!” Dirk shouted from behind the camera, grinning as he watched us. We kissed again to spite him and John flipped him off, slamming the door in his face and locking it.

“So now that we've done that, can we do this?” I moved over to him, pinning him against the door and pulling his head down before crashing my lips back into his. His kiss-swollen lips met mine, moving together perfectly as he sucked on my bottom lip. He pushed me off, keeping my lips attached to his before pulling me onto the couch, having me straddle on top of him. I traced the edges of his lips with my tongue, begging for entrance. He complied, opening his mouth enough so my tongue could slip in while his arms moved around behind me to pull me closer. I felt him push against me, causing an involuntary moan to escape from my lips.

“Fuck, I've wanted to do this for so long.” I breathlessly told him between the kisses I trailed down his neck, my hands traveling over his chest and unbuttoning the top few buttons on his shirt.

“We should have figured this out a lot sooner,” He gruffly replied, his fingers tangling through my hair. I pushed down, grinding him again as I pulled away from his neck, John's eyes rolling back as a moan caught in the back of his throat. “God damnit, I know we should wait and all but I want you out of that dress so badly right now.”

He flipped both of us over, pressing his chest against mine as he began to kiss my neck, finding my sweet spot and tracing his tongue over it.

“Oh my god,” I shuddered. “Fuck, John, I can't stay quiet if you keep doing that!”

He responded by kissing down my neck, pushing the top of my dress down before sucking and biting on the newly exposed skin. I involuntarily began clutching his hair, gasping and pulling gently with each bite.

“Okay lovebirds,” Jared pounded on the door, interrupting us. “I don't know what you're doing in there, and I probably don't want to know, but It's show time. You can wait 90 minutes to get back together again.”

“Jared,” we both groaned as we sat up, panting. I yanked the top of my dress back up, adjusting it so you couldn't see the newly formed hickey on my skin, before trying to fix my hair as best as I could.

“Fuck, I need a cold shower now.” John's face was flushed as he stood up, adjusting his pants and re-buttoning his shirt. “Look what you did to me.” He laughed, checking his reflection in the mirror.

“Just wait until you see what I do to you later,” I winked at him, wrapping my arms around him from behind.

“Fuck, you tease.” He grinned, kissing me innocently before we went over to the door.

“Have a good show.” I reached up, kissing the tip of his nose.

“After that, you damn well know that I will.” He smirked, putting his ear piece in before joining the rest of the Maine at the side of the stage.

They took the stage and rocked the entire show, the crowd going wild the entire time. Garrett charmed the audience with his opening line-- “Ladies and gentlemen, we have the happiest man in the state of Minnesota singing for us tonight.” while pointing at John. As their set finished they left the stage momentarily to get ready for the encore, I checked the encore list one last time. Like usual, I would go out to help sing “I Won't Back Down.”

They went out to re-take the stage, and I waited for my cue. “Why hello again, long time no see.” Cue screaming. “This next song involves a guest, but we can't guarantee there'll be any kissing. We need that love to sing for a lovely little tune called I Won't Back Down.”

Again, the crowd went nuts as I took the stage to join them, powering through the song.

“Aren't they cute?” Kennedy asked into the microphone, the last notes fading out. John and I both looked at each other, our faces turning matching shades of red.

“We took bets on how long it would take them to finally do that.” Garrett added, smirking towards Jared. “Jared won.”

Jared bowed, and the crowd laughed. “So did you two finally figure out what I've been telling your for what, the last month?” He grinned, watching the two of us.

“I don't know Jared, I don't think I've figured it out yet.” I joked, winking at him.

John's response surprised me, especially since he's normally a pretty private guy about his relationships. As soon as I finished speaking, he turned and scooped me up, planting another kiss firmly on my lips while wrapping my legs around him so I didn't fall.

“I waited a really long time to do that.” John spoke into the microphone, still holding me up and never breaking his eye contact with me. “Normally I don't do this in front of people, but I really couldn't wait any longer.” He turned to me, kissing my nose. “ And I sure as hell wasn't going to let a stuffed animal be your date when I could be.”

I didn't think the grin on my face could be any bigger, hearing him say that. I could see Ava in the front, her entire face lit up as she watched the scene unfold.

“I should maybe let you guys finish your show now.” I laughed, John setting me down before I put the microphone I had back up on the stand.

“The Lady Says!” Kennedy announced as we left the stage.

When we finally were out of sight, Carolyn was waiting for me.

“The video of your romantic moment is already viral.” She showed me a youtube video from her phone that already had 7,000 views on it. “Happy Valentine's Day!” She laughed, then got serious. “You should probably have a conversation with him after this is done about what you two are, you know that we're going to hear about it and Alice will want something to tell people. Also, you're on to sign for fans after this. This crowd is huge, plan on it taking a while. We'll find a way to do it inside so you don't freeze to death.”

“Thanks Carolyn.” She walked away in time for the last song to start.

“Alright, this is actually our final song for the night. It's for all the beautiful girls out here tonight. It's called Everything I Ask For.”

John looked towards me and flashed a grin, which I returned. Everything in life felt so good. So perfect. I knew I was going to wake up in the morning and deal with a media storm, but I couldn't have cared less. I soaked in every word of the song, the harmonies, the beats. I desperately wanted to hold onto this moment where everything felt so incredible.

“Good night Minneapolis!” As the lights dimmed, they made their way off the stage. We walked back to the dressing rooms together, fingers loosely laced. We stopped in front of the The Maine dressing room.

“I should shower.” He smiled.

“Getting that cold shower out of the way?” I laughed.

We leaned in for one last kiss.

“Just you wait.” John winked, laughing at my face.

“I could say the same to you.” I reminded him, causing him to blush.
We stood there for a moment, his perfect green eyes meeting mine, before he spoke up again.

“Thank you.” He smiled.

“For what?”

“For this.”

I bit my lip, grinning at him as we separated. I was higher than a kite.