Spinning.

Cabin fever in Los Angeles was the worst.

I was caught between not having a lot of energy to do things and being restless, leaving me to go insane from the combination. My apartment was nice, sure, but I could only spend so long in one place before I went crazy. And for a city known for everything that’s constantly happening, when you’re a 23 year old with cancer, the list of things to do shrinks down to practically nothing. It was almost like the city was taunting me, and it was getting really old, really fast.

To be fair, it wasn’t like I was just locked up alone in my metaphorical tower. I had lunch with Ava almost every day, and I regularly crashed The Maine’s rehearsals. Plus I regularly saw Andy and Kelly, not to mention my parents. And the fact that Tessa was in town meant that I had extra company, and that I scored some free cooking lessons in my downtime. But my trips away from my apartment were usually short and resulted in a long nap upon my return, which led to my trips becoming less and less frequent.

“I’m booored,” I whined, flopping back onto the couch. It was only 10 AM and I was already this way, which meant it was going to be a long day.

John simply chuckled, sitting down next to me and sipping his coffee.

“Well, what do you want to do about it?”

I sighed, looking up at him. “I don’t know. I feel like I’ve done everything I can do at this point.”

Watching out my window, John paused for a moment before offering a solution.

“Do you wanna get out of here?”

“Well yeah,” I scoffed, “this apartment is becoming a prison.”

“No, I mean like get out of Los Angeles.” He turned, his eyes meeting mine. “We could get out of town for the weekend, go someplace quiet and get away from this—“ John gestured to the skyline out my window.

“What were you thinking?” I inquired, curious about his plans.

Taking a vacation of sorts hadn’t occurred to me before, but thinking about it, I didn’t see why we couldn’t get away for a bit. It’s not like I had to be back at the hospital for another couple of weeks.

“Well my family’s having a reunion of sorts this weekend—we have a couple cabins on Lake Powell that my dad and my uncles own, so we do an annual thing where everyone goes at the same time. It’s nothing too fancy, we usually do our own thing during the days, then we all grill out together at night and hang out. My mom just called this morning to say that it’s happening, and if you wanted to come she’d love to see you, and I would love to have you there… I mean, if you feel up to it. No pressure though, I know my brothers can be a handful…” John clarified, worried about pressuring me into going.

“Are you kidding?” I chuckled, giving him a grin, “That sounds amazing. Besides, I already told you, I like your family. And I could use a change of pace.”

John leaned over, pressing a kiss to my forehead before hopping up from the couch.

“Have I told you that I love you?” He called over his shoulder as he walked away, presumably to go get his phone and call his mom back.

“I love you too!” I called back, turning to look at where he dashed off to before returning my gaze to the Los Angeles skyline.

It would be good to get some air.



The sun was just starting to set as we finally pulled onto the gravel driveway of the cabin. I almost didn’t even realize that we were there, having spent most of the drive fast asleep—John’s rhythmic tapping on the steering wheel seemed to put me to sleep. I took the opportunity to stretch out, my body stiff from the hours spent curled up in the seat.

“We’re here,” John leaned over, kissing my cheek.

“I see that,” I smiled, unlocking the door and hopping out of the truck.

The instant I was out of the car, the sensation of fresh air overcame me, a grin tugging at my lips with the calming sensation it brought on. John had moved around to the truck bed, pulling our stuff from the back before stopping, his eyes focused on me.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and momentarily immersing myself in nostalgia from my high school days spent basking in the land of ten thousand lakes. Even though I was a thousand miles away, nothing made me feel so at peace.

I heard the sound of bags being set on the ground and footsteps approaching, only to feel the familiar arms snake around my waist as John rested his chin on my head.

“I’m glad you came,” he murmured, looking down at me. “I think this will be good for you.”

I looked up at him and smiled, knowing that this would be as good for him as it would for me.

“I’m looking forward to it,” I quietly told him, popping up onto my toes so I could kiss him.

From behind us the sound of a screen door banging shut caught our attention, both of us turning to see Jenny and an older woman in the doorway.

“I thought I heard you two!” Jenny called out, briskly approaching us, the older woman following behind.

“Hey Ma, hey Nana!” John replied, his face lighting up as soon as he saw them. I couldn’t help but grin at the reunion, knowing that John always had a soft spot for his family.

Jenny wasted no time pulling each of us into a hug, first embracing her son before turning and pulling me into my own embrace.

“So glad to see you dear,” Jenny gushed, pulling back to give me the once-over. “How are you feeling?”

Surprisingly, when Jenny asked the question, it didn’t feel overbearing. It felt more like a casual catch up, which while it caught me off guard, was more than welcome.

“I’m not too bad,” I shrugged, unsure of really how to answer her question. “I mean, I’ve been better, but given the circumstances I could be worse.” I reached up and adjusted the beanie covering my scalp, my fingers anxious for something to do.

“That’s true,” she agreed, turning back to John and the older woman, who apparently was the Nana that John had told me about. “Beret, have you met Nana?”

“I don’t believe so,” I politely responded, offering my hand to her. “I’m Beret—“

“Oh please, we hug.” Nana laughed, pulling me into a hug much like Jenny had done moments before. I couldn’t help but laugh with her—there was just something about her that made me like her right away. “I’ve heard marvelous things about you, darling. And to think that John was keeping you to himself!” She scoffed, batting at the air as she pulled away. My cheeks flushed at her comment, unable to hide my smile.

“Hey now, I—“

“Nonsense,” Nana cut John off before he could protest, causing both Jenny and I to laugh some more. “Anyways, dinner’s almost ready. We made sure to wait until everyone was here to eat, so let’s get your things inside and we’ll get some food in your stomachs! God knows we need to fatten this one up,” Nana turned, lightly smacking John’s stomach as she passed him. John jumped from surprise as she did so, causing me to stifle my laughter, John shooting me a mockingly dirty look in return. Jenny followed behind, disappearing into the cabin, leaving John and I to our own devices in the driveway. I reached for my bag, John swatting my hands away before grabbing it and flinging it over his shoulder, taking his own bag in one hand and turning to me.

“Shall we, my dear?”

I turned to him, grabbing his free hand and lacing my fingers with his.

“Why yes, I suppose we shall.”