Girls, Breaking Hearts

Happy birthday, kid! Have fun, but not too much. - JCO’CV

The moment John hit send, he felt ridiculous. What was going on with him? The moment he found out it was Brooke’s birthday, per Shane’s loud phone call to her, he’d tried to find a way to get her number. Knowing he couldn’t ask for it directly, he thought of how he could trick his brother to let him borrow his phone.

“Shit, my phone’s not working,” he muttered and immediately looked at Shane. “Hey, can I use your phone for a moment? I need to call Halvo.”

“Why not use yours?” Shane asked, raising his eyebrows at his brother.

“Because it’s not working,” John said, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. He was too old to have a stupid fight with his teenage brother.

“Its light is on,” Shane pointed out with a frown, and John scoffed.

“I can’t make any calls, dumbass,” he said. “Just let me use your phone, please.”

“Fine.” Shane huffed as he handed his phone to his brother, who immediately snatched it away and began typing on his own phone. After a few seconds, he handed it back, looking completely bored.

“Forget it, it can wait,” he said as he stood up and began walking to the backyard.

“Weird,” Shane muttered as he continued eating his breakfast.

Now John felt stupid as he paced around the backyard, waiting for a reply from her. He kept saying to himself it was wrong, he was acting completely immature and he could get in trouble for it, but when his phone vibrated, all those thoughts went away.

“Thanks!”

That was it. That was her reply- just a curt thanks, not even a complete ‘thank you’, without a smiley attached and more importantly, without his name. He frowned, debating with his mind for a moment then finally, he deleted the message.

He was done. His stupidity was short-lived and now it was time to forget about his stupid crush.

Brooke gasped upon seeing the cabin that was going to be their home for the night. There was a private resort in Mesa owned by Ashley and Melissa’s parents, that John rented for the night, under Jared’s name so their friends thought it was Jared and Tessa going on a trip.

The cabin was a bungalow made of bricks, which stood on a cemented platform. The door was decorated with messages written by the visitors and a simple Welcome! board hung above it.

“John, this is beautiful!” she exclaimed, looking over at him wide eyes.

“You’re beautiful,” he said softly, grabbing her hand in his and turning her face to him so he could kiss her properly. She blushed, closing her eyes as his lips met hers.

“Babe I don’t even know what’s with this trip, I mean it isn’t my birthday or yours but I love it,” she said when they parted. John grinned and walked back to the car to get their bags.

“Just being the best boyfriend in the world!”

They entered the house and she looked back at him with a huge smile on her face. “I feel like while we’re having sex tonight one of us will suddenly hear something and then someone will come in and kill us both.”

“I’ll protect you,” he said, dropping their bags on the floor and walking over to her to engulf his curvy frame in his arms. He let his fingers slide under her shirt, his fingertips grazing her bare waist. She closed her eyes and leaned against his chest, sighing contently.

“John...”

“Baby you’re really beautiful,” he mumbled sincerely, moving his lips to her shoulder. He kissed her once, and then swiftly turned her around so they were facing each other. His lips curled up into a smile, giving her that smile which was a favourite of hers. She looked into his eyes, happily taking in the more than satisfied expression on his face.

John easily lost himself in her eyes, like the first time he ever saw her. He couldn’t believe how extremely lucky he was with her, and he wanted her to feel like he was worth it.

“You really are. Okay? And I just don’t mean the stunning exterior- you have a good heart, and you take amazing care of me, and you’ve sacrificed a lot for me... And I know this relationship takes its toll on you sometimes and your other relationships, but God you’re still here baby... With me, even after I’ve done a lot of stupid shit, and I appreciate that. You deserve the best and I promise you, I will try to be that from now on,” he stated sincerely.

“John you sound like you’re proposing...” she trailed off, laughing to try and cover up the hesitance in her voice. But John didn’t falter, he just laughed as well and continued to talk.

“I’m not baby, just stating the facts.” He couldn’t stop smiling as she shifted her weight and grabbed his hands, tangling their fingers together. “No more saying we should stop this once and for all, no more cold feet and acting stupid. If you want to make this public, if you want us to be normal, I will do that. I love you so much, Brooklyn Shelton... I’m all yours. You can do whatever you want with me and I’ll still be here.”

She couldn’t help but smile wider at his words, her heart swelling with so much love. “I think you’ve turned gay, O’Callaghan.”

“I don’t care.” He kissed the side of her lips and started walking into the kitchen area. “Would you like to eat something first, or shall we go into the water now?”

“John, wait.”

He looked over at her, his eyebrows arched up questioningly. Biting her lip, she walked towards him, fingering the hem of her shirt.

“I have a feeling that, what brought this on is, your knowledge of being my first, and, I just- I don’t regret it, John. I love you and I know you think I’m young, which I am- that sometimes I don’t mean what I say... I mean, there are times even I doubt the words coming out of my mouth, or how I feel when it’s 2 AM and I think I can’t take it, but John, this... How I feel for you... I can’t doubt it.”

The sudden confession didn’t get to John as much as the tears spilling down on her face did. She sat down on the floor and he quickly walked back to her, crouching down and pulling her into his arms, caressing her back to try and give her comfort of some sort. She felt utterly stupid and immature, but it only prodded her to continue talking.

“I don’t say it a lot, and I won’t okay? That I love you- I just, sometimes I still think you doubt it, and you have every right to, so I’m opting not to say it as much-”

“Brooklyn,” he called softly, lifting her chin up so he could stare into her eyes. It was the third time he’d ever seen her cry, and he hated it more than the last time. He felt like he’d upset her, but the thing was, he couldn’t counter everything she’d said because yes, sometimes he did think about whether she loved him or didn’t. It was easy to doubt, because she was young. That was it. It all boiled down to her age. Girls her age got confused a lot, over feelings, thoughts, even sexuality. And most times, she seemed different than the rest...like she was older, more mature, had her shit together. When he looked into her eyes, without a doubt he could tell she cared about him, that she loved him. When they spoke on the phone while he was on tour, and she’d laugh heartily over his stupid joke, he didn’t doubt it. But other times, when he talked to fans, or saw teenage couples walking down the street with their hands intertwined and their eyes filled with lust... He doubted whether a seventeen-year-old could really be in-love or not.

And he knew that if they publicized it, everyone else would think that they wouldn’t last. Maybe their parents would sit it out or try to break it off, but either way they would have it in their heads that it wouldn’t last. He didn’t want their opinion to get to her. More importantly, he didn’t want them to be right.

“Brooke, baby please...”

“I’m sorry, I’m ruining this trip.” She chuckled, wiping her eyes and sniffing. “I’m sorry, John, just-”

“Stop apologizing,” he cut her off gently, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “You didn’t ruin anything.” He didn’t like seeing her upset, he didn’t like it when she cried but he would rather comfort her rather than she did it on her own. So he just held her in his arms, not asking her to stop crying at all.

She looked up at him, eyes filled with hesitance as finally she took a deep breath, her voice shaky as she said: “I told my sister.”

~

When John’s phone went off at 1 in the morning, he’d immediately thought it was a booty call from his recent fuck buddy. But it was just a number that flashed on the screen, a familiar one yet he couldn’t pinpoint who the caller was.

He groaned, extending his arm over his bedside table to grab his phone. He’d been so close to falling asleep, and to have that taken away from him was cruel. But if it were to be rewarded with sexual favours, then maybe he could cut the caller some slack.

"Hello?”

“John could you- John could you come get me?”

Her voice was trembling as she let the words flow out of her mouth, but even over the phone John could tell who it was. “Brooklyn?” he asked, sitting up on his bed. “Brooklyn, is that you- what’s going on?” His tone went from curious to concern after processing the tremor in her voice.

“Vance tried to- I was- we were kissing and then he tried to- John-”

She didn’t know why she called John and he didn’t know why she called him. It just happened. He was just the first person she thought to call during her frenzied and panicked state and she did not know what to feel about that.

“Where are you?” He stood up, getting dressed as fast as he could, worry filling his entire body. A reaction he did not understand nor intended to think about. He just knew he needed to get to her as soon as possible.

When he found her sitting on a curb, knees pulled up to her chest, looking fragile, he felt relieved at first, that at least she was safe. Then mad. He knew she had spent the night with Shane and their friends, but where the fuck was his brother? Why wasn’t he with her? And who the fuck was that Vance guy, why was she left with the jerk?

He got out of the car, and upon seeing him she stood up, walking over and, he noticed, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying. He instantly softened. She was wearing a bandeau top, very short leather shorts and what John liked to call hooker heels. She looked very provocative and for some reason it didn’t sit well with John.

“Thank you for doing this, I’m so sorry I woke you up, I just-”

He touched her face gently, slowly lifting her chin up so he could see her face. The sudden gesture surprised her, made her feel uncomfortable. As soon as he spotted the tears in her eyes, she averted his gaze and moved away from his touch.

“Thank you for coming to get me,” she repeated. “I just got scared.”

“What happened?” he asked bluntly, trying to keep his tone light. Though he did have a clue, somehow he had already been enlightened by her crying face and her voice, but he wanted her to talk, to let it out.

“Nothing.”

“Brooke-”

“Can we just drive somewhere, please John.”

“Look, I am not moving until you tell me-”

“Fine, I don’t even know why I called you,” she huffed, feeling the tears come once more. She turned around and began walking away, feeling every ounce of shame in her body.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, John strode over to her, grabbing her arm. “Okay, don’t tell me, just come- come here with me, we’ll go anywhere you want,” he said, but she just looked away again, sniffing. John knew this was going to be hard. “Come on, your shoes must be killing you by now,” he added trying to make her laugh. “I think I’m spotting blisters on your feet, they look hideous.”

That did not do the trick. It just made her furious, and he figured that out when all of a sudden she took off her shoes and threw them away, thankfully not at him. “I did not want this okay!” she painfully screamed at him, tears stinging her eyes. “I wasn’t asking for it- I did not want to dress up like this- I didn’t want to hook up with him and I don’t like this feeling! It’s not my fault!”

John, surprised from her outburst, breathed deeply as he took a step towards her, wanting to calm her down. “Brooke-”

“NO!” she screamed. “What is it with guys, why can’t you understand what no means?! God I fucking... I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t want to kiss him, they forced me to give it a try and- fuck, I just...” She trailed off, then released full-blown sobs. She didn’t even hear John walk back to the car, the next thing she knew he was covering her with a large jacket, obviously his.

She looked up at him and didn’t say a thing. He wasn’t smiling. He looked mad, even. His eyebrows were knotted together and finally, she noticed that one of his hands was balled up into a fist.

Great, now he was mad at her. She quickly dried her eyes and calmed herself. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to yell... I get that you’re mad, just-”

“I’m not mad at you,” John quickly countered, not continuing any further.

“Your features are contorted in anger and your fist-”

“Not at you,” he simply said and she waited for an explanation. He looked over at her, his eyebrows raised. “Come on, you can’t put two and two together? You were at a party, almost got...whatever...my brother was there and he didn’t even try to do anything? Or any or your friends- have they texted you? Called? Asked where you are?”

She looked away from him, looking down at her bare feet. “It’s just... It’s not their fault, they wanted me to loosen up, and I... They’re not bad people, John.”

“Sure maybe they aren’t but it was a shitty move.” He sighed. “Any of them call you?”

She shook her head, looking anywhere but him. “I went off with him. They think I’m...”

“Who’s that son of a bitch anyway?” he snapped. “Let me guess- a friend of a friend of a friend?”

She found herself chuckling slightly at that, which was odd. She’d just had a bad encounter with a guy yet she was here, feeling comfortable around a man wasn’t exactly close with.

“What?” John frowned at her, his nose scrunched up in annoyance. “It’s true, isn’t it? That’s how shit like that always goes.”

“You’re absolutely right,” she said. “I may have overreacted a little earlier- you know, when I took off my shoes and started screaming... I’m sorry.” She started toying with her fingernails nervously. “It was just a bad night, honestly I’m not usually that melodramatic. Just, you know, shitty birthday, awful encounter...”

“You don’t have to apologize,” he reassured her. “And for future reference, don’t do anything out of pressure. Just do you. Though cliché, it’s the truest and most honest thing you can do.”

There was a moment of peaceful silence before she met his gaze, and smiled shyly. John’s insides churned. What was happening to him?

“Thanks again,” she said softly. “For coming here.”

“No problem.” He snickered, not tearing his gaze away from hers. The intensity her eyes held made his stomach do somersaults, something he thought only happened in the movies, or maybe in high school. Suddenly he couldn’t stop himself from asking a question he wouldn’t have asked if he weren’t delusional with sleep maybe, or if his better judgment still existed. But that conscience went out the window the moment he’d looked into her eyes and gotten lost in her stare.

“Would you like to head over to my pad and cool down a bit?”