Don't Give Up On Us.

I saw John pull himself out of the pool and walk into my house. Feeling guilty, I dried myself off with a towel and followed along; leaving Kennedy with the rest of the boys.

I walked into my kitchen, thinking that might be the place he'd resort to. Instead of seeing John, I see my older sister with her boyfriend.
"Do you know where John is by any chance?" I asked.
"I think he just left,"
I sighed, hoping he didn't hop in his Ford pick-up and leave just yet.

I quickly ran out the front yard, looking both left and right. The breeze gave me goosebumps, considering the fact that it was getting quite late.
His Ford was still parked in front of my house. Where could he have gone?
"John?" I yelled.

I reached for the front door to enter in, until I heard his familiar, despaired voice.
"I'm here," John croaked.
He was looking down at the ground, slowly rocking back and forth on the swinging bench which had hung from the patio's ceiling.
"Please, don't be mad at me. We just made up literally two hours ago." I crossed my legs and sat facing him.
"I know I shouldn't be mad, and I'm not." He spoke.
"Then what's wrong?" I leaned in a little closer, trying to hear his soft voice.
"It's just really hard for me to see you with him. Loving you is something I've never stopped doing. I remember when I'd kiss your forehead when you were feeling down." His eyes finally met mine.
"John, I- I-'m sorr-" I was then cut off when he said,
"Hold on. I'm not done."
I exhaled and nodded at him, gesturing to go on.
"Well, I remember when you'd ask me to stay the night at your house when you were angry at someone or something. You'd call me at 3 AM to tell me you had a scary nightmare and I would rush to your house. We'd watch an episode of CatDog and fall asleep in each other's arms."
I bit my lip and took a deep breath; he was still looking at me.
"As much as I deny it, I know that there really is a part of me that is still in love with you. But I just can't put myself through that again and I'm sorry, John. Please understand that it'd really be the best for the both of us if we'd just stay friends."
I grabbed his hand as tears started to form from my eyes.
"I get it," He swallowed hard.
"There is literally tons of girls out there for you, John. Please, don't waste your time waiting for me. I love you John, but this can't work... I like Kennedy, and please tell me you can accept that. You are a sweet boy and the best boyfriend I've ever had. Any girl would be lucky to have you."
John smiled as I finished my last words.
I kissed his cheek and slowly got up from the bench.
"You're amazing, you know that?" He looked up at me.
"I've missed you, O'Callaghan."
He chuckled lightly and we both went to the backyard along with the rest of the boys.

Everyone was out of the pool, drying themselves off. It was about 6 PM, and the sun was starting to set.
"I'm fucking hungry!" Jared yelled.
Pat, Garrett, John and Kennedy shouted "Me too!" in unison.
I giggled and playfully slapped Pat on the back.
"Well let's go inside and order some pizza then."
I lead them into the kitchen as they followed.
"I'll order!" Pat shouted, as he dialed Dominos Pizza's number into the phone.
"Oh no, he's gonna do his Micheal Christ impression!" John yelled.
"Someone grab the phone from him!" Kennedy joined.
Everyone reached for Pat, but it was too late; The pizza delivery man was already on the line.
"Hi! My name is Mah-hi-cel, and I would lah-hike 2 reh-heg-ular cheese pah-heet-saz with stuh-huffed crust!" Pat improvised.
Garrett took the phone from Pat and restated.
"Hi, sorry. What Micheal is trying to say is he wants 2 regular sized cheese pizza with stuffed crust. Twenty dollars and eighty two cents? Okay. Sounds good. Thirty minutes? Alright. Thanks. Bye." Garrett hung up the phone.
"Wow, Micheal was trying to order a pizza!" Pat slapped Garrett's arm.
"Micheal is not real! He's your stupid alter ego!" Garrett responded.
Everyone broke out into a laugh as the two both complained.

As we all waited for the pizza to arrive, we decided to watch Friends in my living room.
Kennedy and Jared sat by me, while Garrett, Pat, and John were sitting on the other couch.
Just then, I started to feel Kennedy's hand snake around my waist and Jared whistled.
I adjusted myself to make it a little more comfortable under Kennedy's arm and rested my head on his shoulder.

I saw Pat glare at us, then I got a text message.
I pulled away from Kennedy to reply to his text and waited for a reply.
The conversation ended like this.

The doorbell rang and the pizza guy had come.
I quickly got up and answered the door, avoiding the awkwardness from the others as they watched what happened between me and Kennedy on the couch.