Something to Remember

JOHN:

I watched Sarah worriedly while she hung up stared at her phone.

“What’s going on? Is everything ok?”

Suddenly looking up at me as though she had forgotten I was there, a grin slowly began creeping across her face. I was completely confused.

“Yep, Kyle is as perfect as can be expected and now available for visitors,” she answered, but I could tell from her expression that wasn’t all. I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t so I knew she was expecting me to ask.

“And…” I looked at her expectantly, causing her to grin even wider.

“Oh yeah, AND Zac is going to come on tour with us as my band’s new bass player,” she said, shrugging casually. I gaped at her.

“Zac, as in ‘I love you so much’ but like a best friend, Zac?” I asked, doing my best to not let my possessiveness show. When she nodded enthusiastically, I had to remind myself that this was supposed to be a good thing.

“Well, that’s pretty cool. I guess I never realized he was a musician too,” I commented innocently.

“That makes two of us then!” Sarah laughed and stood up.

“Apparently I left my phone at the hospital because Ryan picked it up when Zac called it and told him everything that was going on. One thing led to another, Zac told Ryan he could play, and now he’s going on tour! I mean, obviously he won’t be replacing Kyle or anything, he’s just standing in for him until he recovers, but it’s still exciting!” she explained.

I followed her lead and stood up, knowing she’d want to go see Kyle, but remained silent. I could feel my anger growing.

Why was this such a big deal to her? But more importantly, why was this such a big deal to me? There was no reason for me to worry, Sarah loved me and Zac was just somebody she knew.

Then I remembered the phone call in Pat’s kitchen and felt like screaming. Fuck it. I was not letting her get stolen away by some big city douchebag.

“So, how about you tell me about him?” I suggested as I picked up our blanket and began walking back to the car, lacing our fingers together. I smiled at her through clenched teeth and she agreed happily, telling me all about her best friend Zac.

The more she talked (gushed more like it) about him, the more I loathed him. It was horrible really, I hated the guy and I had yet to even lay eyes on him.

****** Weeks Later:TOUR TIME!!! ******

Standing outside the tour bus, I no longer felt guilty for harboring harsh feelings towards Zac. He was a complete tool and everybody aside from Sarah knew it.

The way he dressed should have been a dead giveaway. His t-shirt looked tight enough to rip at the seams and his preppy board shorts somewhat pissed me off. Ok, so he was built. That didn’t change the fact that he looked like an ass.

When Sarah and I had approached him earlier, I made sure to have my arm around her shoulders. It was an obvious sign of ownership but I didn’t give a shit, Sarah was mine and he needed to know it.

She had immediately slipped away from me to hug him, and I did my best to look comfortable, but when she returned to my side I couldn’t resist sighing. Something about this guy made me uneasy and, judging by the glances Kenny kept throwing me, I wasn’t the only one.

“Hey, Sarah! You look great!” He shamelessly allowed his eyes to roam over her body, pausing on her exposed legs, and I shivered. This was weird and I wanted to rip his head off.

“Shut up, I do not. But oh my god, it’s so amazing that you’re actually here!” Sarah clearly showed no signs that she felt any sort of bad vibe from him so I played along, pretending to be the chill boyfriend.

“Hey man, nice to finally meet you,” I said, stepping up while reaching my hand out to him. Zac shook it firmly and smirked at me.

“Ah, John O’Callaghan. I feel like I know you already,” he said, clearly implying that Sarah talked about me all the time. After replaying it in my head though, I couldn’t help but suspect there something more to his tone. Maybe I was just paranoid.

“And I you,” I smiled back at him, more as a display of teeth than a warm gesture.

I noticed Sarah grin at my formal way of speaking. She was always telling me how adorable she thought it was when I spoke old fashioned and for a moment, I felt some of my tenseness lessen.

Then I watched as Zac introduce himself to the rest of the guys and I changed my mind.
Sarah leaned against my side and I pulled her closer to me, not missing the look that passed over Zac’s face as he watched us out of the corner of his eye. Oh, hell no.

“Hey, I’m gonna go grab my water bottle and lock up my car,” she said to me and I nodded.

“You want me to come with?” I asked her, more than willing to get away from her new bassist.

“No I’m fine, I’ll be right back,” she said and leaned up to give me a kiss. As she pulled away, I stopped her with a hand on her lower back.

“I love you, babe,” I whispered into her ear and she grinned at me, giving me another peck on the lips.

“And I you,” she answered softly, giggling over her repeating of my words. I shook my head at her humorously and reluctantly let her go, watching as she skipped away to her car, which was parked in my driveway.

Garrett and Jack, who had been as inseparable as Sarah and I the past few weeks, inched their way over to me.

“Sooo, what do you think? Is he a complete dick or what?” Garrett said, earning a shove from Jack, who looked over at Zac to make sure he didn’t hear.

“Oh keep your pants on Jack, he’s too busy bragging about his new shoes to Tyler and drooling over Sarah to hear us,” he said and I glared at him.

“He’s got a point, John. He seems awfully interested in your girlfriend,” Jack commented and I clenched my fists.

“I know, he’s seriously pissing me off,” I said and they both nodded in agreement. We all looked over to where he was loading his luggage into the bus’s storage and talking to an annoyed-looking Tyler. He stopped to put chapstick on his lips and I rolled my eyes.

“I don’t understand what she sees in him,” Jack shook his head and Garrett shrugged.

“You know Sarah, she’s always finding the best in people. Take John for instance, she’s forgiven his sorry ass plenty of times and now look, they’re together again,” he said, causing Jack to laugh and I flicked him off.

With Sarah’s return, both bands boarded the bus, and I took Sarah to show her around.

“Well, Ms. Lane, welcome to the tour bus,” I told her and hooked one arm around her waist to lead her towards the back, pointing out various things along the way.

“…Bunks, bathroom, and this, this is the back lounge. It’s pretty much where we spend all of our time,” I told her and collapsed on the couch. Sarah sat down next to me and leaned her head on my shoulder. She pulled out her phone and typed something before putting back into her pocket.

“Who was that?” I asked, not trying to sound nosy. I was just curious considering the majority of her friends were all on the same bus as us.

“Twitter, I just wanted to let the fans know we are heading off,” she said and flipped on the TV. It was on a celebrity gossip channel.

“Through the Dark and their touring partner, The Maine, are performing their first concert together tomorrow in California, excluding bass player Kyle Langly who is still recovering from a severe dog attack from several weeks ago.” While the woman spoke various paparazzi pictures of Sarah flashed on the screen, the majority of her entering and leaving the hospital. She sighed.

“I don’t know how so many people can take pictures of me without me noticing, or why they want to take pictures of me to begin with,” she said, sounding tired and I rubbed her arm.

“It’s what they do, stealthily photograph all of the successful, beautiful people they wish they were,” I told her, smiling when I noticed her blush.

She looked like she was about to respond, but she paused with her mouth still open and turned up the TV.

“…and John O’Callaghan, front man of The Maine, are getting quite cozy. Neither have commented on the matter but don’t worry, we’ll be tuning in to California tomorrow while Liz sits down for an exclusive interview with both bands. There will be more to come on this brewing relationship.” Now there were photos of Sarah and me together from the past few weeks; holding hands, hugging, and laughing all throughout Arizona. I chuckled.

“Brewing relationship? They never know what the hell they’re talking about,” I said and Sarah giggled quietly.

“Looks like we should be nervous though, we have our first interview together tomorrow. People will analyze our every word and move,” she said, trying to sound light but I could hear the undercurrent of worry in her voice.

“Hey,” I said gently, “All we have to do is be ourselves. Screw what everybody else says.”

Sarah looked up into my eyes and smiled lovingly at me. I held her gaze, unable to look away from her eyes, and her breathe caught as I leaned in closer. Her face slowly became serious and she began to lean in too, only pausing when she was a hair’s width away from me.

“You’re beautiful, John.”

She said it shyly and I watched in amazement as her cheeks flushed pink again. Typically, I probably would have found a comment like that to be strange, but coming from Sarah it didn’t sound that way in the slightest. Instead, it gave me a fluttery feeling in my stomach and I grinned like an idiot.

“Yeah? Well, I think you’re incredible,” I whispered back and just as I was closing the gap between us, the door to the room swung open.

“Hey guys!”

Zac flopped down next to Sarah and confidently changed the channel to the hockey game. Letting out a shaky breath, Sarah kissed me on the cheek before leaning away from me and getting up.

“I have to use the bathroom and then find out where Pat is hiding all the food. I’ll be right back,” she said and smiled at both of us before leaving.

I looked over at Zac and felt like I was going to kill him. He was leaning back against the cushions with his hands behind his head and a shit eating smirk plastered on his face. The bastard had known exactly what he was doing and I didn’t doubt that this wasn’t all he had in mind.

Motherfucker.