Spinning.

Phoenix, Arizona was a beautiful city.

As much as I didn't want to be in Phoenix, since it meant the end of the tour, I couldn't lie that it was a beautiful place to be. I had a soft spot for the desert, the golden sand countering the Sapphire sky, which automatically made me like Phoenix for its location. Waking up outside the venue, it took me a moment to adjust to the idea that the Maine's bus wasn't here because we were at the last stop, and they were all home. I laid in my bunk for a moment before my phone buzzed, a message from John appearing on the screen.

”Hey beautiful, want to get breakfast?”

I crawled out of my bunk, pouring myself a cup of coffee before I answered.

”Sure, what were you thinking?”

Taking a sip of the hot liquid, I made my way back to the bunk and debated on what I should wear. The combination of Spring's arrival and the desert climate meant that I wasn't chained to the winter clothes I had been in all tour long, letting me wear something other than my usual choices. As I slipped on a dress, my phone began to ring, John's face appearing on the screen. I answered right away, not wanting to wake anyone else up from the blaring sound.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” John sounded more awake than I was. “I'm outside when you're ready to go.”

I peered out the window, trying to see where he was. I caught sight of him, leaning up against an old white pickup.

“Where are we going?”

“I thought you could come meet my parents. My mom's making brunch anyways, I'll just tell her to add a spot for you. Otherwise we could go out somewhere.”

I gave myself a once-over in the mirror, judging if I was in a suitable state to meet his parents or not.

“And before you start panicking, they'll love you no matter what. So don't obsess over what you're wearing.”

“You read my mind. That's kind of creepy.” I chuckled.

“I'm a pro. Anyways, how does it sound?”

Slipping on a pair of shoes, I ran my fingers through my hair one last time before grabbing my purse.

“Sounds good, I'll be out in a second.”

Jotting a quick note for the others (so they knew where I vanished off to), I grabbed a cardigan before strolling off the bus. John looked up, chatting on the phone with someone else as I made my way over to him.

“Alright, gotta go mom, we'll be over soon... Yeah, I love you too. Okay, I'm hanging up now. You'll see me in like ten minutes! Bye!” John pressed his lips to mine as soon as he ended the call, wrapping his arms around me. “Good morning!”

“Good morning,” I smiled, ruffling his hair. “How does it feel to be home?”

“Ah, it feels pretty good. My bed is a beautiful thing.”

“I might have some envy. You sound nice and awake.”

“I've been up for a few hours already.” He shrugged, turning to his truck.

I chuckled, walking around to the far side of his truck. “Nice ride, by the way.”

“Hey, it's old faithful. No hating here.” John smirked, climbing inside.

“I'm not hating. My first car was an old truck a lot like this one.” I shrugged, jumping in and closing the door behind me.

“You had a truck?” John shot me a look of mocking disbelief, trying not to laugh.

“I did, thank you very much.” I sarcastically responded, a grin on my face. “It was my first car and I wasn't weird for having a truck. Farm town, remember.”

“Well then.” John grinned, pulling out. “To my parents' house!”

The drive was pretty short, John effortlessly navigating the streets while I absorbed everything about Phoenix from the passenger seat. Pulling into his driveway, we found ourselves in a neighborhood of older houses, all fairly large. John walked around the car, helping me down from my seat.

“If you had a truck like this, how the hell did you climb up and get down? You're like, short.” He snickered, watching me adjust my dress.

“One, I got into the truck just fine.” I stuck out my tongue at him. “Two, I jumped to get in and jumped to get out. And three, I'm not that short! I'm five-six!”

“Oh excuse me, you're still almost a whole foot shorter than I am.” John teased, grabbing my hand.

“Whatever. I'm cute and little.”

“That you are.” He agreed, stepping onto the front porch. He didn't bother to knock, instead pushing open the door and pulling me inside. “Hello!”

The living room held two guys and an older man, all watching baseball on the flat screen that had been mounted on the wall. It was a cozy room, a plush couch and a couple of matching arm chairs setting off the family photos and knick knacks that had been placed around the room. All three raised their heads to the sound of our entrance, ignoring John but giving me the once-over. My hand involuntarily tightened around John's; with the three pairs of eyes on me, I was suddenly very nervous.

“John!” The older man stood up, moving to greet both of us.

“Hey dad,” John embraced his dad, turning to me. “Dad, this is Beret.”

I smiled at him, swallowing my nerves as he hugged me. “Nice to meet you, Beret! I'm also John. Most people just call me Jay.”

I chuckled at the nickname. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Hey losers, come say hi!” I laughed as John shouted at his brothers.

“The baseball game's on, too busy!” The younger one shouted back. “But your girlfriend's hot!”

I busted out laughing as John's face turned bright red. Moments later the two brothers were standing before us, the younger one smirking. “I say that just to embarrass the shit out of him. I'm Shane.” He offered his hand to me and I took it, trying not to laugh as John shot his younger brother an evil look.

“And I'm Ross,” the middle brother offered his hand as well, which I took.

A thin woman popped her head around the corner, her green eyes matching John's perfectly. “Oh you're here!” She grinned, approaching us. “I thought I heard noises. I'm Jenny, John's mom.” She pulled me into a hug, giving me a once-over as she pulled away. “Libby and Katie should be over in a little bit, right boys?” She looked at the younger two brothers, who both simply nodded their heads. “Well perfect. Here, come back to the kitchen with me, I'll save you from the boys and their sports... things.” She waved her arms, a chuckle escaping her lips.

John and I followed her back into the kitchen, which was filled with mixing bowls and pans frying things and all sorts of food. It took maybe three seconds for John to get himself in trouble, sticking his finger in the cinnamon roll icing Jenny had been working on and promptly getting himself banished to the living room.

“You'd think that boy would learn, after twenty three years of trying to do that.” She laughed, shaking her head. I couldn't help but laugh too, his face when she shooed him out being completely priceless.

“Old habits die hard. I totally do the same thing at home.” I confessed, causing her to grin.

In the other room I heard the door opening, the sounds of two new voices being added to the mix. Thirty seconds later, two girls appeared in the kitchen. One was a tall, model-esque brunette, bright blue eyes and fair skinned. The other was a blonde who was about my height, giant puppy dog brown eyes and a curvier figure.

“Libby! Katie!” Jenny greeted them, the smile on her face matching theirs. “How are you two?”

“Oh, I'm good!” The brunette answered, flashing a grin. “You must be John's girlfriend! I'm Libby, Ross's girlfriend.”

“And I'm Katie, I'm with Shane. The loser.” The blonde matched Libby's grin, laughing as she finished her statement. “I hope he didn't embarrass you too much.”

I chuckled. “He wasn't too bad to me. Now John on the other hand...”

“Oh god what did he say?” Libby snickered.

“John was like 'hey losers, come say hi!' and Shane was like 'Baseball's more important! But your girlfriend's hot!” I imitated, all three women snorting. “I just laughed. It was something my brother would say.”

“If you can handle Shane, you can handle anyone.” Jenny spoke. “I always tried to raise those boys to be polite, but then there was their father...”

The oven beeped, letting us know that cinnamon rolls were done. “Girls, would you mind setting the table?” She looked at the three of us, who all nodded. Libby and Katie wasted no time pulling out plates and glasses, handing me bowls before we began to set the table. It wasn't long until everything was in place, Jenny piling bacon onto a serving plate and eggs into a bowl before frosting the cinnamon rolls and setting them on the table as well.

“Boys! Brunch!” She called, grabbing a few odds and ends of things and setting them on the table. The four men filed into the dining room, sitting around the table. I slid into the seat next to John, who leaned over and planted a kiss on my cheek.

“Be prepared,” he whispered, “my brothers are conspiring to embarrass the shit out of me. I don't know if they'll try anything with you.”

“Shouldn't you be the one who's worried?”

“I'm used to it.”

“Well then, challenge accepted,” I smirked, whispering back.

John's dad said grace, afterwards everyone grabbing some food and passing things around.

“So, Beret,” John's dad started, taking a bite of bacon. “Where are you from?”

“Well, I grew up in Minnesota, but currently I live in Los Angeles.” I answered between bites of food.

“What part of Minnesota?”

“A couple hours south of the twin cities.”

“Are there a lot of people down there?”

“Not really. It's mostly farms and stuff.” I shrugged. “Pretty rural, a lot of small towns.”

“What did you do for fun?” Ross inquired.

“Not much.” I laughed. “A lot of kids spend their time working on their family's farm. I didn't grow up on one but I got dragged with my farm friends a lot. We'd have bonfires and stuff. We sort of had to get creative with entertaining ourselves.”

“And by bonfire you mean parties?” Shane smirked.

“Depended on what crowd you hung out with.” I winked.

“John would know all about parties.” He teased, John shaking his head at him and laughing.

“I'm in a band. Of course I do.”

“Remember the time when you were still in high school that you came home hungover and still drunk and dad had you mow the lawn and do yard work all day as punishment?”

“He didn't tell me it was punishment.” John scoffed, causing me to laugh.

“Yeah but after that, you never came home hungover now, did you?” his dad smirked.

I chuckled as John blushed, shaking his head.

“Yardwork while hungover... that's rough,” Katie mused.

“That's totally something my parents would have done.” I added.

“What did your parents do when you came home hungover?” Shane asked. John nervously glanced over at me.

“I was smart enough not to come home hungover.” I smirked. “My brother made a fool of himself enough times that I figured out all the good hangover remedies early on. I was almost a pro.”

“Yup, you'll fit right in here.” Ross laughed, earning a playful shove from his mother.

“Boys,” Jenny rolled her eyes, almost scolding them.

“I believe 'yolo' is the unofficial family motto.” Shane smirked, earning rolled eyes from both his girlfriend and his eldest brother.

“Yolo is the stupid people's version of Carpe Diem.” John pointed out, causing me to laugh again.

“Do you say that to everyone who says yolo?” I teased.

“Actually, I do.”

“I'm going to remember that.” Katie laughed. “That's clever.”

“Shit,” Shane groaned, “She's got a comeback now.”

“Language,” Jenny lightly scolded, causing Libby, Katie, and I to laugh at the youngest O'Callaghan.

“Baby Shane's being scolded. Sucks to be you.” John mocked.

“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes, John grinning with victory.

“So you're also a musician?” Libby cut in, changing the topic. “Not to like, interrogate you or anything.”

“Oh, no it's fine.” I answered. “Yeah, I sing for the Lady Says.”

“Oh... Oh! Oh!” Libby exclaimed, suddenly putting two and two together. “Wow! I didn't realize that you were that Beret!”

“Yup, that's me.” I chuckled. “I'm really not as interesting as people make me sound.”

“You're pretty interesting,” John wrapped his arm around me. “I don't know why you always say that.”

“Are we really having this conversation again?” I laughed, leaning my head on his shoulder and taking another bite of bacon.

“Oh, I didn't mean it that way!” Libby blushed, shaking her head. “I just saw an interview with you recently in a magazine, and I didn't realize that you were the Beret that John was dating. Whoops that sounded really bad.”

“No, it's totally fine! A lot of people don't realize it unless they're told. I don't really come across as whatever they call me these days...” I shrugged. “A lot of people sensationalize me.”

“I believe they call you an 'it girl.” Katie added in. “Yeah, you definitely don't seem like you're super famous. Not in a bad way, like you're not a diva. Which is good.”

“Imagine John with a diva.” Ross laughed. “Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.”

“I wouldn't date a diva.” John argued.

“No, a diva wouldn't date you.” Ross corrected him, earning a high five from Shane.

“Imagine if John picked up a diva for a date in his truck?” Shane snorted. “That'd be the end right there.”

“Hey, stop hating on my truck.”

“Beret, what do you think of his truck?”

“I think it's fine.” I shrugged.

“You're just saying that.” Shane smirked, raising his eyebrow at me.

“No, seriously. I actually used to have one a lot like it!” I persisted.

“Used to?”

“Yeah, my brother killed it.” I laughed. “I kinda miss it, actually. That thing was a beast.”

“Wait, you probably drive a super nice car now, don't you?”

“Um, well the car I have at home, like Minnesota home, is an old Volkswagen Jetta. I don't have a car in Los Angeles-- my label insisted on hiring a driver for me, so we take his company car. It's kind of annoying because people stare, except I'd never want to drive in LA because the traffic sucks.” I chucked.

“Wait, what did you drive before the Lady Says? When you were still in grad school?” John gave me a confused look.

“I didn't. I took the bus, like most people in LA.” I answered.

“Oh yeah, I forgot that was an option.” He nodded. “If you could get a car, what kind would you get?”

“I don't know.” I shrugged. “I don't need anything too fancy. Probably like a hybrid? Or an old bug. Those are cool.”

“Dude, how would you pass up a Ferrari? Or a Porsche?” Shane looked at me like I was crazy.

“What would the point of owning one be?” I laughed at his face.

“Picking up chicks!”

“Shane, she is a chick.” Katie rolled her eyes, chuckling.

“Fine, picking up dudes!”

“Shane, she already has a dude. Me.” John retorted, causing me to laugh.

“She could always upgrade from you.” Shane mocked, my laughter growing louder.

“I think I'm pretty set, thanks.” I told him, my laughter quieting down. Underneath the table, I squeezed John's hand. He leaned over and kissed my temple, earning an “aww” from the girls and an “eww” from his brothers.

“Well now that we have that established, how was the last leg of touring?” John's mom steered the conversation away, winking at John and I.

The discussion was lively throughout the rest of the meal, John's brothers dishing it out and John and I dishing it right back. We all had grins on our faces, laughter erupting from the table routinely as we mocked each other endlessly. By the end of the meal I didn't feel like a stranger at all, my cheeks hurting from laughing so much at the stories that were shared at the table.

As John finished off the last piece of bacon, I took one last bite of my cinnamon roll, leaning back and patting my stomach.

“That was the best food I've had in ages.” I grinned, “Thanks for brunch!”

“Oh no, it was our pleasure!” Jenny exclaimed, standing up to clear the table. “I'm just glad we finally got to meet you!”

John stood up and began to grab the empty plates, helping his mom clear the table. I joined him, grabbing some glasses and carrying them to the kitchen.

“Oh, you two don't have to help clean up! I'll get the other kids to do some work, lord knows they could use some work.” Jenny moved so we could set the dishes down on the counter. “John, you should show Beret around the area. Has she seen your apartment yet?”

“No, I haven't seen it yet.” I answered, watching Jenny shoot John a look.

“What? I had to make sure it was clean first! You never know with Gibbs.” John defended, answering his mom's look.

“Well then, you better show her!” She shooed us out of the kitchen, passing the dining room (where John's brothers were now helping clean up), and into the living room. “We'll see you two tonight after your show. But for now, go have fun! Arizona is waiting!” She hugged me one last time before hugging John.

“Alright, alright, we're going.” John laughed. “We're heading out! We'll see you all tonight!” He shouted out to the rest of his family, receiving shouts of “Adios!” and “See you later!” from everyone.

“Bye guys! Nice to meet you all!” I called after him, receiving another round of farewells from the rest of his family.

Stepping outside, the blaring Arizona sun made me glad I wasn't wearing winter clothes.

“That wasn't so bad now, was it?” He smirked, helping me up into his car before getting in himself.

“I like your family.”

“Wait, really?” His eyes widened.

“Yeah, is that weird?”

John responded by simply crashing his lips onto mine, not caring that we were still sitting in his parents' driveway. I was caught off guard at first, but after a moment I settled into it, kissing him back.

“I, uh, sorry. I just have never had that happen. Normally my girlfriends are overwhelmed by my brothers.”

“Well that's a shame. They're hilarious.”

“They're family.” He shrugged, backing out of the driveway. “It's just nice... I'm close with my family. I've always wanted a girl who understands that we're so close and likes them too.”

“Well they are a lot like my family.” I pointed out.

“That's true.“

“So where are we going now?”

“To my apartment.”

“Really?”

“Well yeah, why do you think I was up so early? I didn't want it to be a shit show when I showed it to you.”

“Aw, how sweet.” I teased, earning a pout from John.

“I try.”

It was maybe a couple minutes before we were pulling up in front of the apartment, John wasting no time getting out of the car before helping me out.

“Hm, Gibbs must be home.” He commented, looking over at another car in the parking lot.

“Gibbs?”

“Austin Gibbs. My room mate. He's cool. He's also a musician.”

“Oh,” I nodded.

John's apartment was on the second floor, down towards the end of the complex. Unlocking the door, we were greeted by Austin unloading groceries into the apartment's small kitchen, whistling as he worked.

“Gibbs!” John caught his attention, Austin turning to face us. He kind of reminded me of a cowboy, thick brown mustache and scruff along his chin matching up with disheveled, short hair on top. His flannel shirt clung to his thin frame, paired with close-fitting jeans and boots.

“John! Welcome home man!” Austin stopped what he was doing, walking over and doing a bro-shake with John. “I didn't hear you come in last night!”

“We got in really late, so I came in as quietly as I could. Hey, this is my girlfriend. Beret, this is Austin.” John introduced the two of us and Austin shook my hand, bowing slightly.

“Nice to meet you! Welcome to our humble abode.”

“You as well!” I returned, blushing.

“You guys want a beer? I just picked a bunch of stuff up for tonight, it's going to be a wild one.” Austin grinned, opening the fridge.

“Nah, I'm fine.” John waved him off, walking over and filling a glass with water instead. “Beret, do you want anything?”

“I'll just have some water.” John grabbed another glass, filling it up and handing it to me before leading me to the couch.

“So, what's planned for tonight?” John asked Austin, who had followed us into the living room.

“Halvo's hosting. He's more than set for the night, keg ordered and everything. There's also a giant bottle of Jack with your name on it.” Austin grinned. “Beret, are you much of a partier?”

“I can definitely hold my own.” I nodded.

“She can outdrink Pat.” John added.

“You'll fit right in.” Austin laughed. “I'm sure Halvo will want to play beer pong with you. It's his initiation for all of John's girlfriends.”

I laughed. “Against me or as his partner?”

“As his partner.”

“Well then, he'll probably be winning that game. I'm pretty good, if I do say so myself.”

John snickered. “You'll make up for Halvo's sorry ass. He sucks at beer pong.”

“Okay, so is his name actually Halvo or what does it stand for?”

“His full name is Eric Halvorsen. We just call him Halvo for short.” Austin clarified.

“Good to know.”

“Oh hey, I should give you the quick tour before we have to go set up.” John looked at the time, standing up.

I followed John as he led me through the small apartment, pointing out Austin's room and the room that the pair had converted into a home studio before leading me to his room.

Opening the door, John let me in before flopping back on the bed. There wasn't too much in the room-- his bed was pushed against one wall, a navy blue comforter offsetting the pale blue sheets that poked out of the top. On each side of the bed there was a small table, one table containing a lamp and an alarm clock. His closet door was open, his bags shoved inside. A couple shirts and a suit were hung up in one corner, otherwise it was still pretty empty. There was a dresser against another wall, on top a bowl that was currently empty and a record player. His curtains were pushed to the side, letting the Arizona sun soak the room. There was also a bookshelf that was half filled with books, the rest of the shelves being filled with a mixture of cd's and records.

“It's not much, but I'm a pretty simple guy.” He shrugged. “Also I haven't really unpacked yet, so once I do that my closet will actually have clothes in it.”

“It's very you.” I laid back, using his extended arm as a pillow. “It's like my old room. Before I moved into fancy living.”

John chuckled. “If we had been thinking, we would have just brought your bags with. Save you the trip tomorrow.”

“Either way, I would want to say bye to the guys, so I would have gone over anyways.”

“That's true.”

“Also I don't have any of my shit packed yet, I'm a procrastinator.” I laughed, kissing his nose. John took the invitation, kissing me back. We stayed there, sitting on the bed and innocently kissing for a couple minutes.

“We should probably go over and get set up.” John finally sighed, getting up.

I stood up, brushing my lips against his. “Do we really have to go yet?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Well if you ask like that...” He trailed off, reaching over and closing the door, locking it before turning back to me.

John pressed his lips to mine again, letting me fall in sync with him before slipping his tongue in. Sitting on the bed, I swung my leg over him, straddling him as we continued the kiss. John wasted no time moving his lips from mine and trailing them down my neck, dancing over my sweet spot and catching me off guard, a moan catching in my throat. His hands had found their way down to my ass, hanging on tightly as he worked his way down my collarbone and onto my chest, using his teeth to push the fabric of my dress out of the way. His hands slipped underneath my dress, trailing up my stomach and finding their way up to my breasts, gently squeezing them through the thin layer of my bra. I reached down, grasping for the hem of his t-shirt, when he cut me off.

“Let's try something a little different. Clothes mostly stay on.” He winked.

I sighed, letting my head fall back while he continued to work. “You're a tease.”

“I didn't say you couldn't still do stuff under the clothes. For example,” he reached down, pulling my underwear to the side and slipping a finger inside of me, “You can just move things to the side.”

I gasped as he slipped another finger in, shoving my lips against his before I could do anything else. We rolled over, John pressing me down into the bed and continuing to tease me while my hands roamed his chest underneath his shirt. I reached a hand down, passing it over the bulge in his pants, cutting him off as he shuddered. I smirked through kissing down his neck, reaching down and unzipping his pants, letting my hands slip under his boxers so I could continue to tease him.

“If you continue to do that,” he huskily whispered in my ear, “We're going to be losing our clothes much faster.”

I gave him an evil grin, letting my hands pick up the intensity instead of stopping. “I thought you said we weren't taking our clothes off.”

He pulled his fingers out, hooking one on my underwear and sliding it off. “I said most, not any.”

Shimmying out of his pants and boxers, he reached inside his bedside stand and pulled out a condom, hands fumbling as he slipped it on. Positioning himself, he brushed the tip against my clit a few times just to make me squirm before sliding inside. I gasped at the sensation, bracing myself as we started to get into a rhythm, my hips bucking up to meet his as the intensity picked up and our breathing became more ragged. As I was about to climax, I wrapped my legs around John's waist, changing the angle and sending both of us into another state. I came first, riding down the high as John followed shortly after. Neither of us moved, waiting until we could at least breath regularly before John pulled out and laid back next to me.

“Well that was fun.” I chuckled, still trying to catch my breath,

“Indeed, it was.” John grinned, glancing over at me.

“I love you.”

It came out of my mouth before I even realized it, my eyes bulging out of my head the moment I realized what I said. It wasn't that I didn't mean it-- I really did, more than anything. I loved his laugh, his green eyes, his poetry, his philosophy obsession, his music, his old white truck, how he was with his family, his nervous smoking-- I loved it all. I loved the things that made John, John. And I loved who he made me.

I knew he was attracted to me, I mean obviously we wouldn't have been dating if the attraction wasn't mutual. But did he love me? I didn't know if I said it too soon for him. What if it scared him away? We had been dating for a month and a half, April only being days away. Was that too soon?

My heart began to pound as I waited for John's reaction. A grin spread across his face, his eyes sparkling as he leaned over and sweetly kissed me.

“I love you too.”