White Walls

“Alright, everything seems to be just fine for now, Miss Johnson,” my doctor told me, once she’d done the usual check up. “We’re just waiting for the test results which we’ll get back in a few days, but we’re not expecting anything too drastic.” She smiled warmly, reassuring me that I was going to be okay.

“So everything seemed fine?” Hilary asked, like an overbearing mother. I didn’t mind though. She was going through so much emotionally, it didn’t hurt me to let her be protective over someone besides her daughter.

“Yes, everything seemed fine. Apart from the extra kilos you seemed to have lost,” the doctor tutted, sending me a look, “we should be expecting an improvement when the tests get back.”

Hilary sent me a proud smile that caused me to laugh. I couldn’t wait to see what she was like when Alex was a teenager. “All the more reason to tell John what’s been going on.” She boasted as we left the clinic, myself with another refill of medication and Hilary with a pamphlet about coping with divorce. She seemed to be in a ‘happier’ mood ever since she told me she was divorcing Austin. I didn’t tell her that John had spent the night at Tim’s once I’d told him the news on the drive home. He was incredibly loyal to his friends and I admired that he still supported him, even if they played the ‘bad guy’ role this time.

I was somewhat happy about what my doctor had said, that I was getting better- minus the few kilos. I guess it just gave me all the more reason to get Taco Bell for lunch today. I’d booked a morning appointment in order to make it to work that morning. It was getting busier as per usual with This Century doing an in-store mid day, meaning we’d have to start setting up as soon as we got to work (it was all hands on deck) and then The Maine had a small local show during the week, with Tim wanting to have a new shirt design ready to sell at the merch table.

Once I dropped Hilary home, I made my way to the store that had been closed until the gig later today. When I got there, there was already a line of teenagers waiting eagerly from the door, some noticing me as I walked past. I gave a smile as I hid behind my sunglasses, offering a small wave as I used my keys to unlock the door. I could see the others were already here, which I was relieved about meaning we wouldn’t be stressing about not being able to open on time.

“There she is! How is it we’re all here before you?” Jace called out teasingly from behind the counter.

I playfully rolled my eyes, waving him off. “Yeah, yeah. I had a doctors’ appointment, sue me. That’s what happens when you get old!”

“Oh please, you haven’t even turned twenty five yet.” Lennon laughed as he walked from the back, a box of t-shirts in his hands.

“But I have had a son,” I stated, sending him a look. “That throws me like, ten years further in life than you, young man.” I laughed, heading towards the stockroom to leave my belongings in a safe place.

“So how far does marriage throw you?” He teased, raising an eyebrow. “Can I overtake you then?”

I stopped in my tracks, the smile slipping from my face. “What?”

“I uh, I asked last night. If you were here this morning you would have heard.” He smirked towards the end.

“Oh my gosh, congratulations.” I gasped, walking over and hugging him. “I had no idea you were even thinking about asking.”

“Yeah, none of us did.” Elijah mused as he walked past us. “Just make sure she’s not in it for the money.”

I hit Elijah up the back of the head for his comment, pulling away from Lennon’s hug. “That’s amazing, Len. Do you guys know when you want to get married?”

“It’ll be a long engagement,” he nodded, “we’ve both got a lot going on. Besides, I can’t get married before my boss does.”

“Oh, if- if your boss does.” I mused, sending him a look before heading back into the stock room to put my things down. Of course I was happy for him, I got on really well with his girlfriend (well, fiancé now) and I thought they were perfect for eachother, it’s just that they hadn’t been together as long as John and I and it was unfair how I had to wait around and watch all of my friends get married.

My best friend was getting divorced before I was setting foot down the aisle!

I tried my best to push the thoughts out of my head as I carried on to find how every one else was getting along. We as the merchandising team were there because we ran the store and some of the guys knew how to set the gear up, but the boys in This Century did most of the work, due to the fact that they knew how they liked things to be set up.

We were going well and following the schedule to the point where we actually ended up setting up ahead of time. By the time the gig rolled around, the line outside had almost doubled and we were welcoming people into the store, where they formed a crowd around the small stage towards the back of the store, leaving the counter free to access for paying customers. Tim introduced the guys on stage before joining me and the rest of the team behind the counter and in the stock room.

“Mama!” I turned around to see John carrying Lucas through the store to get to me. John was oblivious towards the younger girls with hearts in their eyes as he carried his son, more focused on his footing as not to trip with him in his arms. He’d done it once before, breaking his wrist because he put his hand out to protect Lucas before himself. Lucas got away with a tiny scratch and John ended up trying not to cry in the emergency room.

“Hey darlin’,” John murmured, kissing my cheek as he handed me our son. I can’t believe only next week he’d be turning three. It was insane to think how fast the last three years had gone. Not to mention John would be turning twenty-eight. Speaking of which, I still hadn’t decided on what I was going to get him for his birthday. The last two years we’d focused more on Lucas (unintentionally of course) so I wanted this year to be special. I wanted to get him something that would show how much I loved and appreciated him and maybe hinted that we were in fact ready to take the next step? I’d been looking online all week but had yet to find what it was that I was looking for.

“Hey, I didn’t know you guys were coming down,” I cooed, kissing Lucas’ nose. “What have you been up to?”

“We just went shopping,” John shrugged simply, giving me a small smile. “Got this one a few things.” He murmured, poking Lucas’ stomach.

“You know it’s his birthday next week, right?” I teased, pushing Lucas’ hair behind his ears.

“Yeah, but I’m his dad. I’m meant to spoil him.” John chuckled, before greeting the other guys that had shown up to support 8123. I couldn’t help but smile with that comment. We were doing really well and I think Lucas could sense it too. We tried to hide our disagreements from him because we didn’t want him to get between that kind of thing being so young, but I think he could sense when John and I weren’t on good terms, and he usually stuck to me when he did.

Like I’ve told John numerous times, Lucas is a mama’s boy and always will be.

***

“So how was Austin last night?” I asked as I drove the three of us home that afternoon once the gig had finished. Joel and the boys stayed behind to talk to fans so some of us headed home, leaving the clearing out to Jace, Matt and the girls. “I didn’t get to see you much this morning.”

“He was…he was a wreck,” John mused with a nod. “He’s upset with Hilary over the divorce, which is understandable. He wants to figure things out with her.”

“I don’t think that’ll be happening.” I scoffed, shaking my head. “She needs this.”

“She needs to break up their family?” John scoffed, clearly not agreeing with me.

“He’s the one that screwed up by cheating on her.” I snapped, feeling myself become defensive on Hilary’s behalf. “He deserves this, John. He lied, and you know how much that hurt Hilary.”

John sighed. “He told me about the cheating too. He was under a lot of pressure, his dad was playing mind games with him, telling him he wasn’t good enough for his family. He was going through a lot he didn’t tell Hilary.”

“That’s not her fault, he should have been honest. He made a vow to her, remember?” I mused, wondering if that meant anything to men at all, or if it was meaningless words to impress the in-laws. I’d like to think I knew John better than that.

“I’m not defending him, Leighton.” John stated, looking over at me to send me a look. “I agree that what he did has no excuse. I just think that she shouldn’t divorce him without talking to him first. Clearly their marriage didn’t mean as much to her as I thought.”

“Their marriage meant everything to her.” I muttered, rolling my eyes at his ignorant comment. “She was hurt. She’s confused and upset. If he’s half the man he promised he’d be at their wedding, he wouldn’t give up so easily.”

I felt the tension between us rising, and wondered if Lucas could too, or if he was too busy playing on John’s phone in the backseat to care.

“Clearly we have different feelings towards this.” John said maturely. “I’d rather not continue arguing over it.”

“Me neither.” I mumbled.

“Good.”

“Good.”

The awkward silence filled the car for the rest of the drive home. Being close friends with both Austin and Hilary was obviously going to have its negative side, especially in a situation like this. I know John was just trying to be loyal to his friend, as was I, but like we’d just witnessed, there was no way for us to talk about it without getting defensive for the other person.

When we pulled up in the driveway of our home, he spoke up, deciding to break the silence.
“When he spoke that shit to you at the party, I stood up for you. I didn’t just let it slide, Leighton.” He said, looking over at me.

I nodded, my hands still on the steering wheel. “I don’t doubt you for a second, babe.”

He nodded slowly, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek before getting out of the car in order to free Lucas, who had grown quite restless in the backseat.

I let out a sigh before following him up to the front door, feeling exhausted. I blamed it on the fact that I hadn’t taken my medication this morning after my appointment and that it was the fatigue thing.

John seemed to notice my shaking legs as I made my way to our bedroom, following me down the hall once he’d put Lucas in front of the TV. “Leighton? Are you okay?”

“Just tired,” I mumbled, dropping my bag on the floor beside our bed before climbing in. “Go play with Lucas.”

“Darlin’, you look sick.” John murmured, leaning over me. He put his hand up near my forehead, wincing. “You’ve got a fever.”

I frowned, lifting my hand to my face and frowning. “No I don’t-“

“You won’t feel it, but I can. You’re staying in bed, sweet 'art. Take your jeans off, you’ll be more comfortable.” He told me, pulling the covers down to do it for me.

And I almost let him. But that was before I remembered exactly what I looked like without pants. Frail. Thin. Anorexic. I quickly shoved his hands away. “I’ll do it. Can you go get me some water?”

He gave me a confused look but nodded anyway, getting up to walk to the kitchen. When I was sure he was gone, I quickly moved to shed my jeans, throwing them across the room before turning on my side and pulling the covers up to my neck. I couldn’t let him see me like this. From now on, my goal was to put on more weight, and to do it fast.

“Here darlin’,” he murmured, climbing onto our bed with my glass in hand. When I didn’t move, he put it on his dresser and laid down beside me, thankfully staying on top of the covers. “How are you feeling?”

“Just tired,” I yawned, playing with the hem of his t-shirt.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly, propping himself up on his elbow.

“I’m fine babe,” I murmured, closing my eyes.

“So how did the doctors’ appointment go?” He mumbled, playing with my hair. I’d told him I was going that morning, and that it was just a casual check up. He knew that I’d go to the doctors every ‘few months’ (really it was like every few weeks), as I’d told him it was just because of the complications when Lucas was born, triggered a few things in my health, but nothing to be concerned about. So he knew my health wasn’t one hundred percent, but he didn’t know that I was battling this type of anorexia again, or that I was on medication.

Quite frankly, I didn’t want to him to know. I felt that if he knew, it would only cause problems between us. He pressure me to take more time off from work to look after ‘myself’ and Lucas, or that he’d baby me and treat me like I was weaker than him, because finally I was.
Okay so maybe it was more of a pride thing for me, but it would change our relationship too and that wasn’t something I was prepared for.

“It was okay,” I mumbled into his chest, not wanting to look him in the eyes while I lied to him. “Everything’s fine.”

“Good. The last thing we need is something wrong with you.” He mused, kissing the top of my head before climbing out of bed. “I’m gonna make a start on dinner, you just get some rest okay?”

“Yep.” I nodded, before burying my face in my pillow.

I didn’t burst into tears until he left the room.

***

JOHN’S POV

“Daddy…I wanna say goodbye to mommy.” Lucas whined by my feet as I closed the bedroom door behind me, not allowing him entrance.

“No bub, she’s sick,” I told him, shaking my head. She’d taken a turn for the worst last night, even throwing up at one point. I didn’t want him to catch whatever it was that she had, nor did I want him to disturb her while she was trying to recover. I bent down and lifted him in to my arms before heading towards the kitchen. “Come on, we gotta get you to grandma and grandpa’s.”

He didn’t fight me further as I grabbed our things and left the loft, having said goodbye to Leighton earlier. She’d fought with me on going to work but I didn’t buy it. She needed to recover, not deal with the stress that was her work.

So leaving that morning, I felt good, feeling that I’d taken control of the situation and stepped up when Lei needed me too. She said she’d be going out later but would pick Lucas up for me so I could stay later with the guys, considering we were planning for the show we had coming up this Saturday.

It felt good to have control of life again. It felt really good.

***

“All I’m saying, sweetheart, is that you really need to start thinking about your future with Leighton.”

I sighed, sitting back in the kitchen chair I’d been occupying for the last twenty minutes. I thought I’d be able to drop in to see my mom and check up on Lucas while we had a break in the studio, but of course, I should have expected a lecture on just about every life decision I’d ever made.

“What do you mean, mom?” I murmured, looking over at Lucas as he played on the floor near the table. “We have a healthy kid, that’s all I could ask for.”

“I’m sure it’s not all she could ask for.” My mother hummed, sending me a knowing look.

I rolled my eyes and lifted the mug to my lips. I’d asked for a black coffee with three sugars, but she said ‘no’ and gave me a green tea. Apparently it didn’t matter that I was almost thirty, my mother still tried to make my decisions for me. “Can I please have a coffee-“

“Herbal tea is better for your voice, sweets,” she said, cutting me off and dropping my question. “Don’t ignore me, John. I’m your mother, you can talk to me.”

“I know I can,” I nodded, leaning across and patting her hand. If I could avoid it, I would-

“So talk to me, John.” She forced, curling her fingers around my hand in a death grip.

“Mom!” I whined, pulling back quickly. “My god, do you bother Ross this much?”

“No, because he’s married.”

Ah, there it is.

“Mom, I’ve told you before not to meddle in mine and Leighton’s relationship,” I warned, sending her a look. “You don’t know how we work.”

“I’m not meddling, John. I’m giving you a push in the right direction.” She stated ‘wisely’.

“By pushing me into a marriage I’m not good enough for?” I scoffed, not meaning to let the words slip between my lips.

My mom looked up at me, a soft expression gracing her face. “Honey you are more than good enough for a marriage with Leighton.”

I raised an eyebrow at her, not believing her for a second. “Ma, a marriage with Leighton could be the biggest mistake of my life.”

She frowned at me, clearly not expecting that. “Don’t you dare tell me you’re breaking up with the mother of your child-“

“That’s exactly what I mean,” I stated, pointing at her. “Am I only marrying her because she’s the mother of my child?”

“No, you’re going to marry her because you love and care for her and you want to protect her.”

“I love and care for my brothers but I’m not going to marry them,” I pointed out, knowing she’d appreciate those kind words to my siblings.

“Tell me John, are you as in love with Leighton as you were the moment you first told her?” She asked me seriously, sitting back to properly look at me. I hated how she did that, my old therapist used to do the same once I’d come clean about being molested as a child.

“Even more,” I shrugged, “it grows every day.”

“And do you want to spend the rest of your life with her, regardless of Lucas?”

I nodded. “I couldn’t imagine my life without her. I need her.”

“Would you stick around if she became gravely ill? Mentally or physically?”

“Of course I would, I could never pay her back for everything she’s done to help me, but I’d spend the rest of my years trying.” I answered honestly. I’d forever be in her debt after everything I’d already put her through.

“You are more than good enough, sweets.”

“Not for her though.” I mumbled to myself, the lack of self-confidence crippling my choices.

“Did Leighton say that?” She frowned.

“Of course not, but it’s obvious ma,” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “I mean, she could do so much better than me. I know that having a child links us together for life, but what if it doesn’t work out? What if I fuck it up and lose her for good? I know I told her we’d do it soon, but that was just to buy myself time. I don’t think I can promise her that I won’t mess it all up.”

“Of course you’re going to mess up, you are your fathers’ son.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “But she loves you sweetheart, and I can see that this is something she wants. Don’t make the mistake of not asking just because you’re scared. Talk to Jared, or Austin about it, they’ll know exactly what you’re going through.”

I looked up. “Hilary and Austin are getting a divorce.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “What?”

I shrugged and nodded. “He messed it up. That’s exactly what I mean, ma. Plus, she’s fighting him on custody. Alex isn’t even one yet.”

“I’ll be having a long chat to his mother later on,” she hummed, shaking her head. “Don’t let that scare you off, sweets. Look how happy Jared and Parker are, they’ve got a wonderful marriage with a baby on the way, you can talk to him about anything. Trust me on this sweets, you won’t regret it.” She said finally, finishing up with her sales pitch on marriage.

“I’ll take it into consideration,” I mused with a nod. “Wait, how did you know they’re expecting? I haven’t told you-“

“That boy calls me more than you do.” My mother scolded me, before going into another one of her lectures.

If he’s not being the perfect husband, he’s being the perfect future-father.

Or the perfect son. To my mother.

Well, at least someone was, apparently.

***

LEIGHTON’S POV

The next few days at home allowed me to recover to whatever kind of sickness I’d developed over the last week. I still managed to get some work done from home, with Lennon and Tate dropping by one Wednesday to get work done on the intimates line.

I also managed to pull everything together for John and Lucas’ party, which pushed a load off of my shoulders. It helped that I also had Jac and Hilary helping out with the planning. I know 28 and 3 weren’t exactly milestones, but I liked to celebrate the two most important people in my life- I don’t know how I was going to cope when we would be celebrating 30 and 5.

Currently though, Lucas and I were out for lunch with Jac on what seemed to be a nice cool Saturday. Eric was at the venue with John, helping set up for tonight’s show. John had been feeling a little under the weather himself, but I knew that there was no way he could have caught my fever considering his sickness had more to do with symptoms from his medication, after being instructed to take a higher dose.

“So, are you bringing this cutie to the show tonight?” Jac asked, ruffling Lucas’ hair.

“Yeah, John wants him to be at more shows so he can see what his old man does for a living,” I smirked, knowing John really just wanted to impress his son. “It’s kind of cute.”

“He’s trying to push your little boy into the music field, Lei, don’t be charmed into it.” Jac chuckled, sending me a teasing look. “Before you know it you’ll be home alone with both your boys on tour.”

“No way. No more O’Callaghan’s are allowed to tour.” I said firmly, shaking my head as I cut up Lucas’ sausage roll for him. “I’m keeping this one captive for the next eighteen years.”

“Oh how you are going to be so wrong.” She laughed, shaking her head.

We began talking more about the wedding and it made me nervous with how close it actually was. Sure, it was still a good few weeks away, but with a set date and a finalized guest list, it only felt like yesterday they’d announced their engagement to the world.

Our dress fittings were also coming up soon, which worried me. I didn’t want to be the only one out of place because of my weight. The rest of the girls were fit and healthy, I…I was thin and frail and it was beginning to show. I don’t know how John hadn’t noticed yet, but I was thankful he hadn’t. I decided against bringing it up with Jac, instead tucking into my fattening burger and fries. I needed to put on as much weight as I could in order to look somewhat normal for the fittings- I didn’t want to let Jac down by ruining the photos.

I was going to fight this thing.

***

Later on that evening, I was standing backstage watching the boys play. Jac stood on my left, with Tim on my right, Lucas on his shoulders so he could see properly. He had on his headphones so the loud music wouldn’t damage his ears. John loved when he came out to watch him, but he always made sure his ears were protected and that he wasn’t roaming around parts of the venue he shouldn’t be, in case of getting hurt. Everybody knew to watch out for him, but some things just couldn’t be helped.
I smiled when I looked up to see Lucas beaming from ear to ear, clapping his hands (out of sync) to the music. John would look over at him every few minutes and I swooned as he couldn’t help but smile at his little boy. The set was going well, and I was proud of the guys for still having the same amount of energy as the day they started- if not more. It was inspiring to see them continue to pursue what they love, even with all of the obstacles and hardships they’d faced over the years.

It made him happy, and that’s all I wanted.

JOHN’S POV

The adrenalin was rushing through my body, pulling me up to the usual high I felt when we were performing. It probably helped that Lei and Lucas were backstage, it gave me something to work for, someone to impress. It gave me the extra push I needed to put on a good show.
It was going well, we were connecting with the crowd, we were sounding fucking awesome- I didn’t think anything could go wrong. I mean, I’d started feeling a little light headed earlier but it was nothing major.

That is of course, until I saw a few horrified looks from the a couple of people in the audience. I turned to Jared and his eyes widened as he kept on playing, walking over to me to whisper in my ear.

“Major nosebleed dude.”

My hand shot to my face, where I hadn’t noticed the blood, dripping down my face. I figured it was just sweat from the heavy lighting, but I guess I was mistaken. I looked down to see my white t-shirt stained with my blood. I shoved the mic on the stand before rushing to the side of the stage, pulling my shirt over my head. Tim approached me with a towel and a water bottle while the band elongated the interlude on the bridge.

“Dude, what the fuck?” He gasped, clearly not prepared to see all the blood.

“It’s the fucking medication!” I yelled over the music. I’m pretty sure I was spitting blood at this point.

“Hospital?!” He yelled in question.

I shook my head, moving the towel from my mouth. “I can play, this just won’t stop!”

Tim nodded slowly, still unconvinced as he passed me the water. By now the towel was almost drenched in blood. “I don’t know…”

“Get me a fucking chair or something,” I said, the music having come to an end as the song did. I could hear Garrett’s smart ass mouth speaking and distracting everyone from what was going on over here. I looked over to find Leighton but she had her back to me with Lucas in her arms, her hand over his eyes.

“Dude!”

My attention returned to my situation, as I shoved the towel back under my nose. It wasn’t stopping
anytime soon, and that was actually starting to worry me. “We’ve got one more song. Call an ambulance and I’ll finish the show.”

“Drink water- if you pass out up there, you’re not doing another show unless you have a doctors certificate, you fucking hear me O’Callaghan?” He warned, sending me a look.

I nodded, rotating the towel so I could use whatever portion hadn’t been turned red. “Alright. I’ll see you soon man.”

He threw the water bottle at me and sent me back onstage with a pat to the back, I didn’t look back at Lucas or Lei because I knew Lucas would probably be upset or scared and if I saw those little eyes I probably wouldn’t have had the strength to finish the show.

But I did, and it was great. I came up with some bogus excuse over the hysterical nosebleed, with Garrett going on to say I never did anything half assed, including our new EP, which led to a lot of excitement among the audience in regards to the new music.

I couldn’t help but feel the same.

But I was also feeling dizzy and disorientated. When we got off stage, Max and Tim guided me straight out through the back entrance to where the ambulance was waiting.

“I told you it wasn’t a good idea,” Tim mumbled, gripping my arm tightly.

“L-Lei…where’s Lei?” I murmured, rubbing my face. “It’s hot in here- or is that just me?”

“Fuck man,” Max muttered, “that was a really bad idea.”

“Where’s Leighton? I’m not going if-“

“She’s outside man, chill out,” Tim said calmly. He’d gone through this so many times with me. He knew me too well. “Fuck your still bleeding out your face.”

“That’s why he feels like he’s gonna pass out,” Max retorted. “Good move on your part, putting him back onstage- are you kidding me?”

“Hey the fucker said he could do it!” Tim snapped back. While they bickered over me, I put more and more weight onto them as we got to the back door of the venue, getting more and more lightheaded.

When we got outside, it was a lot cooler than I expected. Then I realised I’d since discarded my blood-stained t-shirt. I saw Leighton talking to a paramedic and almost cried in relief, but there were fans around and I still had a reputation to uphold.

“John!” Lei gasped, coming to my aid.

“Where’s Luc?” I murmured, not attempting to kiss her because of all the blood that had escaped my nose in the last thirty seconds. I was moved onto a gurney within seconds and a mask was put over my face, pulling me into a hazy unconsciousness.

“He’s with Jac. Don’t stress about him babe.” She murmured, holding my hand as the gurney I was on was moved into the ambulance.

“Stay,” I whispered, my eyelids growing heavy.

“We’re not going anywhere,” she promised, kissing my temple softly as Tim climbed in beside her. “You’re going to be fine, babe.”

Her soothing voice was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

***

LEIGHTON’S POV

It was nine am. John had been home for a few days now, recovering from his little dehydration-caused black out. They said it was a medication thing, along with him dry-swallowing his pills or taking them with alcohol. I’m not going to lie, we’d been drinking a little more than we should the past few weeks and I guess it was a build up with his medication and the higher dose. In the end though, they pumped his stomach and he was okay to go home the following day.

Since then he’d been on bed rest and I’d done all over my work from home, in order to look after him and make sure Lucas didn’t annoy him too much. But while both the boys were sleeping, I took that as a chance to find something for John’s birthday. It was next week, which didn’t leave me a lot of time at all.

It wasn’t until nine that morning that I finally got out of bed, and not until ten that I got out of the house. Time was running out for me to find John a birthday present, and I had no idea what to get him, not one simple idea. We’d decided on getting Lucas a tent and camping kit so we could take him camping next summer when we had more time off. John was really looking forward to taking him out with the other O’Callaghan men, on a special annual camping trip they’d initiated two years ago. He felt that Lucas was finally old enough to be taken along and couldn’t wait to share the experience with him. Of course it was styled like an Indian’s tepee, because Lucas loved old Western films just as much as John did.

Having Lucas’ present sorted did take some stress off of my shoulders, but it lingered when I had to find something for John. I had no idea what to get him, and my time was running out. So I spent my morning walking through the mall alone, not allowing company in case of getting distracted, which was often the case. I passed the different sport stores, the gaming stores, clothing stores and music stores with nothing jumping out at me. I wanted to get him something special, something meaningful.

And that’s when I saw it.

I should have looked away the moment I walked past the jewellery store, but once that ring caught my eye, I couldn’t ignore what my heart was telling me to do. Without a second thought, I walked right into the store and over to the engagement rings.

I was going to propose to John on his birthday.