Girls, Breaking Hearts

Brooke awkwardly fiddled with the hem of her shirt as she sat beside John on the couch, while he pressed play and waited until the movie started. He seemed at peace, which was in total contrast to how Brooke was feeling as of the moment. Something was bothering her, but he clearly couldn’t tell, and she wasn’t sure how she wanted to tell him.

He draped his arm over her shoulder, urging her to lean on him and she did. She looked up at him subtly, and upon seeing the small smile on his face, she felt her heart skip a beat. There was no doubt in her mind that she was lucky. How she managed to pull the whole thing with John off was beyond her, but she wasn’t complaining. He seemed happy as well. So could her asking one simple question ruin what they already had?

“John?” she started, not sure when she mustered the courage but it was now there.

He looked at her, trying to hide the smile because she both sounded and looked serious, but he couldn’t stop himself. He was happy. “Hmm?”

She bit her lip, slightly sitting up so that they were head-level with each other, but not far enough to make him remove his arm. “I, ummm...” She looked directly into his eyes, sure that the look on her face wasn’t anywhere near his right now. “Do you ever think about labelling this a relationship? I mean, it looks like we’re headed that way- I mean you did refer to me as your girlfriend when Shane caught us the first time, so why prolong it you know?”

She couldn’t decipher the look on his face, while he was trying to keep a straight one. Honestly, the same thought had been swimming in his mind for a while since, but he wanted it to be either cute or impulsive, just something that she would remember for a long time. He didn’t think she would ever ask him that, since for the most part, Brooke was shy borderline awkward, and he didn’t know if it was just the way she was or it was his presence’s effect.

“You asking me to be your boyfriend?” he teased, his mouth curling up into a smirk, making her blush at once. She looked away from him, pulling herself away and standing up.

“I was just asking, you don’t have to- I mean it was more a suggestion- it’s not like...” She paused, realizing she was stammering. She knew that deep down, she wanted the label. He was the only guy she liked and he had told her she was the only girl he liked as well, so by calling it a relationship they would simply make the exclusivity official. She needed that assurance, so she risked being called pushy.

He continued to smirk, amused at how shy and unsure she looked. He liked her more when she was in his arms, but seeing her act like this just made him want to tease her more. In all honesty, he found it cute. “I mean I’m independent by nature, see even our band’s not signed so...” he stated, stopping when she turned her head and started to walk away. He could tell she felt rejected, so he immediately snaked his arm around her waist and swiftly pulled her back to him, situating her on his lap. “Hey,” he cooed softly, pressing a kiss to the spot behind her ear. “I was kidding. I want that, okay? I was just waiting for the perfect time to ask. I had no idea we were on the same page so I kind of dragged it.” He chuckled, pressing kisses to her shoulder until she finally smiled and looked at him.

“Okay,” she admitted. “It would have been awkward if I asked that and you were on a different page-”

“But I’m not.” He laughed, turning her so she was facing him, and claimed her lips hotly. He moved, making her shriek in delight as he swiftly set her on the couch, his hands rounding her back. She giggled against his lips, making him pull away. He smiled as he hovered over her, staring at her happy face for a few seconds before leaning back down, kissing her lips, and sneaking his hand up her shirt.

“John,” she moaned, instinctively arching her body upward as she kissed back, “the movie-”

“Can wait,” he simply said against her lips, biting her bottom and squeezing her sides, once more making her shriek.

~

Brooke’s birthday was in one week. John’s homecoming was in four days. And Bailey was officially meeting John in two days.

John was beyond nervous. He had been the second Brooke told him about Bailey’s demand. He immediately sought advice from his friends, who’d laughed at the predicament he was in and cracked a few jokes on how Bailey Shelton was going to crush his bones, before finally telling him to just be calm. Not that it worked though. The only thing that kept him calm was the shows every night, and meeting the fans- it kept his mind off things, even for just a while. Then after, when he would face the reality that he was meeting his girlfriend’s sister a few days after flying he home, the anxiety would come crawling back in.

But talking to Brooke always pushed whatever anxiety away. He was laying on the couch in the lounge part of the bus, his phone on his ear, his mouth hurting from all the smiling that she caused.

“Stop laughing John, it’s not funny,” she insisted, but her voice was laced with controlled laughter as well, only prodding him to chuckle even louder.

“Uh sorry but a girl hitting on you and asking to take you out on a date is pretty funny,” he commented. Apparently, word got around in school that Brooke was not into boys and preferred the other gender, causing a college girl- a friend of a friend- to give it a try at a party she’d gone to the previous night. “Wait, is it too late to request a threesome?”

“John!” she scolded, making him laugh even more as he pictured her signature blush hitting her face. “Stop!”

“No wait I have a couple more jokes.” He grinned, preparing to deliver his next one. “Can you-”

“Keep it up and I’ll tell my sister you’re trying to get me into that stuff,” she warned, and he immediately backed down. The smile left his face and he hit his temple with his hand, loudly groaning.

“That’s a low blow,” he mumbled, and she laughed on the other line. “Really low.”

“How excited are you about meeting her?” she teased, giggling. “Should I tell her to bring Justin along so she can really get her point across?”

“No,” he grumbled, scowling as he thought of Bailey’s boyfriend who was undoubtedly a catch, compared to him. “And I don’t get why you’re so amused at this, you should be consoling me right now and telling me you’ll make sure Spitfire Shelton doesn’t decapitate, or, worse, castrate me.”

She giggled once more, making him smile a little at her giddiness. “It’s funny knowing you’re squirming when I mention it,” she admitted. “Plus she’s warmed up a bit, I mean at least to me. So it’s all on you.”

“Great, isn’t a relationship supposedly about compromise and fairness and all that shit?”

“No, I read somewhere that both of you should be like 60-40, 60 giving and 40 receiving.”

“Well shit,” he chuckled, resituating himself on the couch, “ours is like 90-10 then, since I’m clearly the one trying to make this work while you’re just there making fun of my effort.”

“Chickening out about meeting my sister isn’t classified as effort,” she scoffed, making him chuckle once more. “Besides, I’m the one making sure you won’t end up dead, so you owe me.”

“Huh, I bet I can show you how much I’m thankful once I get home,” he said, his voice low and raspier and he could almost see her blush. “You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

“John,” she whined, and his grin widened. “John don’t do this-”

“I’m not doing anything,” he said, laughing as he sat up and poured himself a glass of whiskey. “I’m simply telling my girlfriend what I want to do when I get home to her, is that wrong?”

“Technically, she’s still seventeen and if you’re telling a seventeen-year-old dirty things, then yes, it’s wrong.”

John flinched upon hearing the voice, and cursed out loud as he turned and saw Kennedy laughing at him. He hadn’t even seen nor heard his friend approach, which was ridiculous since they were living in a bus. “Fuck you,” he snapped, flipping the guitarist off, who simply laughed in return, grabbed John’s drink, and left. Sighing, John laid back down, silently telling himself that Brooke was turning legal in a week and age didn’t matter.

“What was that?” Brooke asked, concern in her voice as John stayed silent for a few moments. “What happened-”

“Nothing, Kennedy just snuck up on me is all, being stupid as usual.”

She chuckled a little, but pondered on how different things between them now were. A comment like that would have set John off a few months ago, but now, with them having said the “l” word earlier, and their friends knowing about their relationship, her age was no longer that big of an issue, at least with them. “That might be because he’s always around you,” she joked. “You know how they say you’re the summation of five of your closest associates?”

“Whatever,” he huffed jokingly, throwing a light joke and they went at it for a while, back and forth, until she finally said she was sleepy.

“I’m going to sleep now,” she said, stifling a yawn. “We’re helping Amber move to her apartment tomorrow.”

“Oh she’s moving?” he mused, “couldn’t wait until graduation?”

She laughed, turning on her side and moving the phone to her other ear. “It was her mother’s birthday gift to her.”

“And guess whose birthday is coming up soon...”

“Stop,” she whined, scowling at the discussion they’d already had. “We already talked about it, no surprises.”

“See that’s no fun at all,” he scoffed. “You’re my girl and I want to-”

“Let’s just be spontaneous,” she insisted. “We’ll figure it out when you’re home.”

“Fiiiiine.” He pouted, making her laugh. The sound that filled his ears was beyond beautiful. “Four more days baby.” He sighed, an easy smile grazing his lips. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too, John.”

“Good,” he mumbled. “You better.”

~

Brooke’s parents disallowed her to spend the night at Amber’s, claiming her sister was still home and the sleepovers could wait. She was bummed about not being able to be with John on his first night home, but she couldn’t force her parents or guilt them into allowing her. She was feeling guilty enough, having to lie about her whereabouts most of the time.

So she sat through dinner, as her parents, for the nth time, compared the two sisters and Justin listened.

“Well, at least I can still say with certainty that even though she’s out a lot these days, at least my youngest is not sneaking out,” Marissa quipped, eyeing Bailey who rolled her eyes, smiling. “I have to tell you, this one right here was too much work, and everyone who knows us can attest to that.”

“Not true,” Bailey scoffed, linking her arm around her boyfriend’s. “I wasn’t that bad.”

“Oh but she was,” David agreed, nodding. “In fact I can’t put to words how much I’m thankful that you tamed her. And of course, I’m glad that this one didn’t follow her sister’s footsteps.”

Their father reached out to Brooke and patted her shoulder, making her smile meekly at him. She couldn’t fight the guilty feeling making its way up her throat, and it didn’t help that Bailey had laughed when his father said that.

“You sure did a better job on her,” she admitted, smirking at her younger sister. Both of them knew their parents couldn’t tell they were conveying something to teach other. They were both subtle for some reason. “Brooke would never sneak out. Or maybe she would, but she’d leave a note anyway saying where she went or tell us the next morning that she’d sneaked out last night.”

They laughed lightly, making Brooke roll her eyes. She was thankful for the shift of conversation when their parents began to ask more about Justin’s family. It would be forever weird to her how almost every conversation their parents would have with anyone, the sisters’ childhood would always be discussed and compared. Bailey had made peace with it, after her parents told her that they were proud of what she had become, she learned not to take the comparison to heart, knowing it was true anyway and she did, in fact, give them a hard time then.

Bailey slyly met the younger’s eyes as Justin and their parents swapped stories, and Brooke scowled slightly. She knew for sure that her sister was amused at all this, knowing she hadn’t been the good poster child in so long. She played with her food, unable to stop herself from wishing she was with John instead. She loved her family, but it was an ordinary night for them while John had just come back from a tour and she missed him. She knew he was disappointed when she told him, through a text message, that she would be unable to come. An I’ll talk to you later x was attached at the end, and he’d responded with a simple I understand, I miss you. But something told her he felt the same way as her, or maybe even worse.

It was eleven when their parents announced they were going to bed, leaving her, Bailey, and Justin in the living room, watching Modern Family. After a few minutes of staring blankly at the TV screen, Brooke excused herself and Bailey already knew she was going to call John.

Bailey followed the younger with her eyes, as Brooke walked into her room and shut the door. As soon as it was shut, she stood up from the couch and started walking to the stairs.

“Bailey,” Justin hissed, “Bailey, don’t you dare eavesdrop on your sister-”

“I’m not,” she defended, shooting her boyfriend a glance. “I’m just going to get something upstairs.” She headed towards the stairs, tiptoeing at each step. Justin groaned, hitting his forehead with his palm but not bothering to follow his girlfriend, knowing he wouldn’t win this one.

“Bailey, I’m sure you wouldn’t have appreciated having an older sister intruding your private life,” he lectured. “She already told you that she’s with someone. She’s making you meet him, that should be enough.”

Bailey ignored him, confirming his earlier thoughts that he, indeed, would not win this one. Soon, she made it to the top of her stairs, and outside her sister’s room. She pressed her ear to the door, hoping to catch a part of their conversation. She heard Brooke’s laugh, it was a bit too loud, indicating that she was by her study table and not her bed.

“Yeah it sucks but I’ll see you tomorrow, I promise,” she heard Brooke say in a muffled voice. “I know, John. I miss you so much.”

She rolled her eyes, already knowing that the sleepover with “Amber” was going to be a night with John. She still didn’t fully support the relationship, she hated that John was corrupting her sister. She knew he was a good guy, especially compared to the boys she had been with in her teen years, and he and Brooke had been together for almost a year as well, but of course, she just wanted to protect Brooke from the inevitable heartache. She knew it was hypocritical, after all the talk she gave her sister consisted of “don’t abstain, just make sure he’s worth it” lines, but still, Brooke was her little sister. Whatever protection she had been unable to give then, she channelled now.

“Okay then, you get some rest now.” There was a long pause, Bailey noticed, before she heard her sister sigh. “I love you, John.”

The sincerity in Brooke’s voice was disarming. Bailey immediately softened, and she wanted to slap herself in the face for what she was about to do. Not bothering to knock, she barged into her sister’s room, causing the latter to jump a little in surprise.

“Bailey, what the hell-”

“Come on,” she said, motioning to the ground floor. “We’re going on a ride.”

Brooke’s forehead creased, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Bailey, you can’t-”

“Oh come on!” she exclaimed. “I’m driving you over to ‘Amber’s’ and if anyone asks tomorrow where we went, I’ll say we just bonded.”

Brooke was taken aback for a bit, and it was a while before she finally wiped the annoyed look off her face. “Really?”

“Yes!” The older rolled her eyes as she turned around and headed for the stairs. “You don’t want to spend your time with us anyway, so come on.”

Brooke didn’t say anything, but she was all smiles as she and Bailey walked down the stairs and out of the house, simply waving goodbye to Justin. They got into their mother’s sedan, as neither of them had their own cars. Bailey had gotten one when she was sixteen, which she totalled in just a few months. Brooke had gotten one when they moved to Texas, but it was left there, and she usually just rode with her friends or used her mother’s car which was rarely used, as their parents often rode together.

The ride was fast and quiet. John Mayer echoed in the car throughout the drive, but the sisters didn’t talk, simply enjoying the peaceful silence. It wasn’t until they got to John’s apartment complex building that Brooke opened her mouth to speak for the first time since she’d told Bailey where John’s pad was.

“Bails, thank you,” she said softly, the smile on her face growing wider by the second. The older Shelton rolled her eyes and beckoned her to leave.

“Whatever. Go. I’ll pick you up at three, alright?”

Brooke nodded, unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out of the car. As she was about to close the door, Bailey called out to her, making her stop.

“This doesn’t mean he’s off the hook, okay?” Bailey warned. “We’re still going to have that talk.”

Once more, Brooke nodded, closing the door and practically running to John’s place. Bailey couldn’t fight the smile that was grazing her lips. She’d never seen herself in Brooke before, ever, but the happy look on her sister’s face reminded her of her happiest days in high school, only Brooke seemed happier than she had ever been.