Here we were, the place where this whole mess started. Well, the second place where the mess started, I suppose, technically, the place where it all started was in Peyton's bed. But the place I am talking about now, is the doctor's office. Peyton asked me to come along, because, I guess, this baby could technically be mine, and I guess I should be here. Shit, I am babbling. Anyway. Kennedy isn't thrilled that I am here, but he is trying to act like it isn't bothering him. I know better and so does Peyton. We're all nervous, I mean, it's the first time any of us has had to deal with anything like this. Kennedy didn't know about Olivia until she was three. He missed all of the fun stuff we are going through now. I've never knocked anyone up, until now, if I even did. This was such a confusing mess, and I had no choice but to act as if this kid was mine. I guess now I had to be here for every check-up. It was the responsible thing to do, yes, but honestly, I wouldn't miss it for the world. The thought of having a kid thrilled me. I may be young, and I may have a lifestyle not ideal for raising a kid, but I wanted this. I wanted a family, and sure, it may not be the perfect family, but it would be mine. My own family. I chuckled to myself at the thought and earned two pairs of eyes staring at me. I shook my head and poker faced it, but I was beaming on the inside.
"Brock," the nurse called, and we all stood up. I wonder if the other people in the waiting room were imagining what our lives were like, what, with two guys walking in with one girl. I bet they were wondering which one was the dad and which one was the brother. Kennedy looked more like her brother than I did. That almost gave me a little satisfaction.
The nurse ushered Kennedy and I into the room while she took Peyton for whatever it was she needed to do. This place still freaked me out, the posters still made me glad I was a male. Kennedy was sitting in a chair, tapping his foot quickly. I was leaning against the wall, feeling like a third wheel on this outing. Sure, I was happy that I got a chance to be here. Peyton invited me this morning, but I felt like this was meant to be their family. They got married to start their life together. I was just the ex boyfriend who was here because I had sex with her twice upon a time.
I felt like the silence was awkward for both of us, but neither of us made a move to say anything to break it. Kennedy looked at me and tapped his foot faster. I rubbed the back of my neck and looked down at the ground. Thankfully, only a few minutes passed until our awkwardness barrier entered the room. She took her seat on the examining table, looking a little scared, but she quickly gave me a smile, telling me that she would be fine. I looked over at Kennedy, who was watching our little exchange with a sour face. A few seconds later the ultrasound tech came in; a different one than we had last time. This one was around our age, and she was absolutely gorgeous. I had a hard time hearing what she said over the sound of my heart, which had started to beat faster. What was going on? This only happened when I saw Peyton. I think she introduced herself as "Parker." Is that her last name? First name? I don't know. Maybe I should stop staring at her and actually listen.
I snapped out of my trance and watched her squeeze the gel on Peyton's growing stomach. It had only been a few weeks since we were in this very room, but she was starting to show. I watched the way Parker moved the tiny wand around, slightly pressing into her flesh. I looked at the screen and smiled when we all heard the steady heartbeat.
"Actually," Parker started after Kennedy commented on the heartbeat, "There are two heartbeats."
"What, mine and the babies?" Peyton asked, slightly confused.
"No," Parker said, squinting at the screen. "Ah there, see," she pointed, "There is one baby, and then there," she said, pointing to another blob on the screen, "is the other."
"Twins?" Kennedy asked, squinting at the screen.
"Twins," Parker confirmed nodding her head. I looked at Peyton, who had gone as white as she was the first time we were here.
"No, but they didn't tell us that last time. They didn't tell us that there were two." Peyton said as Parker wiped the gel off of her stomach.
"Sometimes people miss important stuff like that."
"Oh god," Peyton closed her eyes. "Oh god. "
Kennedy tried to comfort her, but it wasn't working. Parker, if that was even her name, I just kept calling her that in my head; was writing something on Peyton's chart. She caught me staring and smiled. I smiled back, not taking my eyes off of her. She closed the chart and told us we were free to leave, then walked out of the room.
"I'll just give you guys a minute," I said after a moment. I casually slipped out and looked around for Parker. There was something about her that was oddly familiar, like the first time I saw Peyton. We knew each other from summer camp. Where did I know Parker from?
I bounded down the hall, trying to find her, and then I did. I found her alright. My body smacked right into hers as I rounded the corner, sending all of the files she was holding airborne, as we awkwardly fell to the floor.
"I thought this type of stuff only happened on TV," she whispered to herself as she tried to sit upright. Her hand went to her head, rubbing the spot that had previously collided with mine. I rubbed my head as well, holding back a stream of curses that I knew wouldn't be appropriate.
"I'm sorry," I said, looking around to all of the papers on the floor.
"My fault. I was the one who wasn't paying attention," she sighed and then looked at her watch. "Shit, now I'm late."
I started scooping up all of the papers on the floor, trying to sort them out.
"These are confidential, O'Callaghan. That means you can't see them," she stood up, grabbing the papers out of my hand. I just stared at her.
"How did you know my last name? " I asked, staring up at her with an inquisitive look. She just smiled at me.
"Think about it," she demanded before she turned on her heal and walked down the hall, only glancing back at me once.
/\\/\\/\\
"You think you know everybody though," Kennedy said, sharply turning a corner.
"Maybe I do know everyone," I retorted, racking my brain to place where I knew her from. I couldn't think of anything.
"Baby, I'm hungry," Peyton informed him, staring out of the window.
"Well," Kennedy said, reaching a hand in the small bag he had in the back seat, while keeping one hand on the wheel. He fished out a sandwich and handed it to her. She looked at him and her eyes lit up.
"Is this…" she started but Kennedy smiled and nodded.
"Peanut butter and pickle."
"God, I love you," she said, ripping open the plastic bag and devouring the sandwich.
"God, I am going to puke," I said, watching her eat the most disgusting sounding sandwich in the world.
"You didn't have to make it," Kennedy laughed, eying the sandwich as well.
"Both of you shut up," she growled. "You aren't the one carrying a child. OH YEAH, I FORGOT, TWO CHILDREN," she shouted, stuffing the last bit of sandwich in her mouth before crossing her arms.
"Well, whoever got you pregnant did a good job," Kennedy joked, but I think it was too soon, because the glare he got from Peyton scared even me, who was usually the target of those glares
"You are so fucking funny," she said, turning her head to look out of the window.
"If all else fails, we can each have a child, huh John?" Kennedy joked again, but then he realized what he had just said and mentally slapped himself.
"Are you kidding me?" Peyton asked. "Did you really just say that?"
"Peyton, he was just kidding," I said, trying to defend him. I know Kennedy thinks without speaking sometimes and I know that he didn't mean it.
"WE ARE NOT SPLITTING THESE KIDS UP," she shouted. I watched Kennedy in the rearview mirror. He closed his eyes and wished he had just stopped while he was ahead.
"Peyton, I really was kidding. You know I wouldn't want that."
"Then why would you even say something like that? Kidding or not it was dumb," she shook her head and waited for him to respond.
"You know, living with you hasn't been a walk in the park lately. I understand that you're pregnant and you have mood swings, but damn it Peyton, I get in trouble for everything. I got in trouble for suggesting Olivia go stay with Nick and Sophia today. I don't understand it."
Peyton was silent as she stared out of the window. This car was suddenly feeling really small, and I wish I didn't have to listen to this. It was silent for a few minutes, but she finally spoke up.
"I know," she nodded. "I know that I haven't been easy to live with. I'll try harder to wrap my head around this whole situation."
I watched Kennedy reach over and grab her hand. That was the end of that argument. As Peyton often said, "Praise Justin!"
"Maybe she went to ASU." I said, bringing the conversation back to Parker, who was still dancing across my mind.
"Will you just give it up, bro?" Kennedy chuckled.
"It is going to bug him until he figures it out," Peyton turned around and smiled at me.
"If you can't place a girl that hot, then something is wrong with you," Kennedy joked. Peyton hit him.
"Maybe she was some random girl you slept with at a show," Peyton said, her tone sounding eerily cheery. "You seemed to do that a lot."
Kennedy shot me an apologetic glance in the rearview mirror. I shook it off. She was right, I did do that a lot, but it was only so that I could get over her. It didn't work, obviously.
My thoughts were broken when Peyton's phone started ringing. She grabbed it and stared at it.
"Are you going to answer it?" Kennedy asked, not taking his eyes off of the road.
"It's my step-sister."
"I thought you never talked to them?" I asked.
"I don't, but if she's calling me it must be important," she grumbled, hitting the "accept" button on the phone.
I listened to the one-sided part of the conversation that I could hear, but I tried to piece in the other side. After 5 minutes of awkwardness, Peyton hung up the phone and set it down on her lap. She didn't say anything.
"Well?" Kennedy prodded, trying to get her to tell us.
"My mom is going into surgery tomorrow. I don't know what for, I didn't ask. Jessica said that the doctor said that she might not make it."
"Wow," I said, forgetting all about Parker.
"They said I may want to come see her before the surgery. The surgery is tomorrow."
"Do you want to go?" I asked.
"I don't know. I mean, we aren't close."
"But she's your mom," I pushed, "You're going to regret this if something happens."
"He's right," Kennedy said, squeezing her hand.
"I know," she nodded. "But I can't just drop everything and go to Alabama."
"What would you be dropping?" I asked.
"Tomorrow is Valentine's day," Kennedy sighed.
"So what? It's a stupid holiday. It isn't even a holiday." I said. "You guys know you love each other. Why do you need a holiday to celebrate it? Are you going to love her tomorrow more than any other day?"
"No," Kennedy sighed. "You're right. You should go. I'll call Nick and tell him we have to reschedule the construction."
"Construction?" I asked.
"Nick and I are supposed to put together cribs and all of that wonderful baby stuff in both of our house tomorrow morning."
"I would offer to do it, but I can't build things." I shrugged.
"No, you shouldn't cancel. You guys are both leaving for tour next week for a few months. There won't be another time. Sophia is due right around the time you guys get back," Peyton said, looking over at Kennedy.
"Well, I don't want you going by yourself. Can't Julia go?"
"She's busy all of the time lately," I said. She had a lot on her plate right now and Garrett could never come out and play, not that he wanted to. He would rather be with Julia, and I didn't mind.
"Are you busy, John?" Peyton asked, turning around in her seat. I glanced in the rearview mirror at Kennedy and saw his jaw tick.
"Uh." I stalled, thinking. I wasn't busy at all, but Kennedy didn't want me to be the one to go with her to Alabama. "I was going to move some of my stuff back from Chico."
"That can wait. We're only going to be gone for a day or two, tops. Please John," she whined, giving me those big brown eyes and pouty lip.
I glanced back at Kennedy once more before I answered. I couldn't say no to her. So I didn't.
/\\/\\/\\/\\
"Snacks?" I asked.
"Check!" Peyton said, nodding.
"Tunes?"
"Check."
"Money?"
"Check!" she said, after digging around in her bag.
"Well, guess that's all we need." I said, trying to think.
"If not, we'll stop and get it.," she said, putting the car in reverse.
"Kennedy's not pleased that I am going," I observed, looking at his shrinking form in the side mirror.
"He needs a break from my mood swings anyways," she shrugged. "I don't know why he wouldn't trust me."
"It's not you he doesn't trust," I said, grabbing the ipod and hitting shuffle.
"Oh god, why are we listening to your ipod?" she asked as soon as some polka music filled the car.
"Because. I have variety. You have the same old shit on yours," I teased.
"My music is not shit!" she defended. "This is fucking polka music. POLKA MUSIC!" she repeated for emphasis.
"Yeah, what of it?" I asked, turning the stereo up louder.
"We have a whole day of driving, Corny," she said. My heart skipped a beat when she used my nickname again. "I can't take this shit!"
/\\/\\/\\
I took the drivers seat somewhere in Texas. Peyton fell asleep as soon as she took the passenger's seat. It was just me, my thoughts, and the open road.
My thoughts shifted from Peyton to Parker. The way she made a ponytail sexy. The way she didn't just tell me who she was, she wanted me to think about it. I did the same thing to Peyton. She wanted to make sure that she stayed on my mind. And she did. The whole drive, I was racking my brain. She was a mystery to me. I had obviously met her before, but why didn't someone that beautiful stay in my memories? I looked at the GPS and saw that we only had a few more miles until we reached Birmingham. This trip had flown by. I stopped thinking about Parker, because she had invaded my thoughts this whole trip. I had driven on autopilot, not remembering the last time I had actively paid attention to the road. It was like life. I had driven on autopilot for the past few years, letting Peyton slip away from me. Maybe that was meant to happen.
/\\/\\/\\
As soon as we entered the hospital, Peyton tensed up. She hated hospitals more than anyone else I knew. I took initiative and went to the desk to ask which room Peyton's mom was in. As soon as I knew, I grabbed Peyton's hand and drug her to the elevator. I knew she hated them, but I am sure her pregnant ass wouldn't want to walk up the stairs. It was okay though, she squeezed my hand the whole time.
As soon as the elevator opened, it revealed her sister. I had never met anyone from this side of her family, but I had seen pictures. She was leaning against the wall, looking worn out and beat. I had never been through this, a sick parent in the hospital, but this was the second time Peyton has had to go through it. I imagine her sister has been through it before. Maybe her mom was in the hospital a lot. Peyton never knew because this whole side of her family were like strangers to her. They never kept in touch.
"Jessica," Peyton called out. Jessica turned to look, and forced a smile. She started to walk towards us, and we started towards her, meeting somewhere in the middle.
"Peyton!" Jessica tried to cheerfully greet us, but it came out as tired and seemed like the best she could give us right now. "God, you're pregnant!"
Peyton just nodded and painted a smile on. She didn't like talking about the pregnancy. She had just told our friends about it when she started to really show. Carrying twins made her show earlier than she normally would have. They were all supportive, though they didn't know why I went with Peyton to her check ups. We left the part where I may be the father out. No need to drag other people in this mess until we definitely knew.
"What's going on with mom?" Peyton asked, shifting the attention off of her.
"She's having a kidney transplant. They found a tumor on hers a few years back, and she's had so many surgeries since then."
"Why am I just now hearing about this?" Peyton asked, sounding a little hurt. It surprised me how much she cared. I thought she didn't like her mom.
"Mom told us not to tell you. She said that," Jessica started, but the bit her lip as if she were trying to keep the words from escaping.
"She said that?" Peyton urged her on. Jessica let out a sigh.
"She said that you wouldn't want to be bothered with any of this. You made it a point to let us know that you didn't like us, Peyton. It was like you thought you were so much better than us, and you deserved more than Alabama had to offer. Mom just decided that if you wanted to be in our lives, you would be. The phone works both ways, you know?"
The words stung Peyton, I could tell. She looked as if she were about to cry. I wouldn't be surprised if she did. She did that a lot lately.
"It's not that I thought I was better," Peyton started, fidgeting with her hands. For some reason, Jessica made her nervous. "I just felt like I didn't belong. When my mom married your dad, I was the outcast, you know? We moved into your house, and lived by your rules. It was hard for me. I never thought I was better than you. All I knew was my family. When mom moved back to Alabama after my parents divorce, it was hard for me to adjust. Tempe was always home. I just don't feel like a part of your family. I never made friends like you did. You were the prom queen Jessica, I was lost in your shadow, and I always would be. I changed when I moved to Arizona. Arizona is a part of me. All of my friends are there, my husband is there," she paused to take a breath. "I think back to the summer's I spent here, and I just remember them being miserable. It was nothing against you, or mom, or even your dad. I just love Arizona."
"Well, I feel like I understand a little more about you." Jessica smiled. "You're married?" Peyton smiled and nodded.
"Got married last month."
"Are you..?" she started to ask, looking at me, but I just shook my head no.
"Oh god, you got knocked up. You've been pregnant for longer than a month!" Jessica eyed Peyton's stomach.
"Technically speaking, yes. I did. But I didn't know I was pregnant when I got married, if that is any consolation."
"Touché," Jessica nodded. "Mom's about to go into surgery. Want to see her before she goes?"
Peyton bit her lip, taking in the reality of it all. She hadn't seen her mother in years. She was going to in a matter of seconds. She looked at me, and I smiled at her, willing her to go ahead.
"Will you come with me?" she whispered, looking like she was about to hurl. She was nervous.
"Aw, come on. You're a rock star. You don't need me," I winked at her. She chuckled and nodded.
"You're right. If I can sing in front of people, I can do this." She looked at Jessica and nodded. I watched her follow her step- sister, only looking back at me once.
/\\/\\/\\
She was in her mom's room for two hours. Two long, boring hours. I almost wished I went with her. I stopped counting how many times I took a walk to the snack machine. There was nothing in there that I wanted, but it was like the refrigerator, I kept checking to see if something had magically appeared. In case you were wondering, nothing did. I dug out my phone for the thousandth time and scrolled through my contacts, looking for someone to text. Kennedy? No. Jared? With Tess. Nick? Eh. Halvo? Bingo.
I texted him a quick, "sup bro?" before setting my phone down on the seat next to me. It took him a few minutes to reply, but he finally did. The conversation went a little something like this.
Halvo - "Yo."
Me – "Send me some noodz. I'm bored."
Halvo – "Do you want my noodz or..?"
Me- "Whatever you feel like."
Halvo – "I don't feel like sending any. How's Alabama?"
Me – "How do you know I'm in Alabama?"
Halvo – "You tweeted 'Sweet Home Alabama.' I know you weren't just tweeting song lyrics from a lame song. Wait, it's you. You were."
Me- "Peyton's mom is in the hospital."
Halvo - "Shit bro. Tell her I'm sorry."
Me "Will do."
Halvo – "You guys are going to miss a sick party tonight."
I stopped texting him, because Peyton finally walked out. It looked as if she had cried sometime in the past two hours. Her eyes were all puffy and red and her mascara left a trail down her cheeks.
"That was hard," she sighed, placing her purse around her shoulder.
"Want to talk about it?" I asked, throwing my arm around her, leading her to the elevator. Her mom was going into surgery, and there was nothing more we could do now. The surgery would take a few hours. We would know something whenever it was over.
"Not right now. I'm tired."
"Are we going to a hotel?" I asked, not oblivious to how hard she was squeezing my hand. She really hated elevators.
"Nope," she shook her hand, making the keys jingle. "Ted gave me his house keys."
"Ted's your step-father?" I asked. She nodded.
"Do you remember how to get there?" I asked.
"That's why they invented the GPS, Corny," she smiled and waved a piece of paper with an address on it in my face.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to the house. It was an amazing brick house with ivy growing across the walls. It was picture perfect, and Peyton smiled at my reaction.
"I know, right? They don't build them like this in Tempe."
"God, why not?" I asked, stepping out of the car and grabbing my bag from the backseat. I grabbed hers too. She was pregnant, if you forgot.
"No need to. A lot of houses in Alabama are brick to resist the weather and tornados. The only thing that happens in Tempe is, well nothing. It's just really hot."
"Makes sense," I nodded, following her down the brick pathway.
"There's only three bedrooms, so you're going to have to share with me."
"Can't I just sleep on the couch?" I asked.
"You can, if you want to stay up all night with Ted watching infomercials. He likes them. He's odd."
"No, I'm good," I sighed, following her to the bedroom. She gasped as soon as she opened the door.
"They didn't change a thing," she shook her head. "Kill me."
"What's so bad?" I asked her, trying to peek. She never fully opened the door for me to see. I nudged it open with my toe and figured out why. NSYNC and Backstreet Boys posters lined the pastel pink walls.
"You hate pink!"
"Now you know why!" she retorted, throwing her purse down on the ancient computer desk that held up a computer one could only describe as being a "dinosaur."
"Dude, I am jealous. I always wanted a beanbag!" I exclaimed, setting down the bags and throwing myself onto the small chair.
"NO DON'T!" she screamed when I was halfway through the air. As soon as I came into contact with the beanbag chair, what seemed like a thousand 'beans' rolled across the floor." Peyton closed her eyes and shook her head.
"Thumper chewed that thing up ten years ago. My family apparently never throws anything away."
"My bad," I winced, looking at the mess all over the floor.
"It's okay," she shrugged, taking a look around at everything she left here. "Maybe we should just take a nap for a few hours, until Jessica calls me." She fell down on the bed and was asleep within minutes. I scooped as many of the 'beans' off of the floor and into the wastebasket next to her desk. Then I allowed myself to take a much-needed nap next to Peyton on the queen sized bed that was as hard as a rock.
/\\/\\/\\
When Peyton's phone started ringing, I didn't wake up instantly. She had to shake me awake. I blinked my eyes and looked around the unfamiliar room, trying to reorient myself.
"Mom's in recovery," she smiled at me, and I returned it. "She can't have any visitors right now, though." She sat up, combing her hair with her fingers mindlessly. "So, what do you want to do?"
I didn't even hesitate. "Cow tipping."
"Seriously?"
"We're in Alabama. What else is there to do?"
"Not much," she shrugged. "But I need to call Kennedy. What time is it at home?"
I looked at the clock on the wall. It seemed to have run out of batteries. I just shrugged and buried my face in the pillow. It smelled like her.
"I'll be right back," she said, leaving the room. I observed the room closer now that she was gone. She didn't have any pictures of her with friends, or any pictures at all. Besides the posters on the wall, her room was eerily bare. Peyton cherished her friends, and to think that at one point in her life she didn't have any, it was hard to believe. Even back in camp, she had loads of friends.
She came back in the room and threw her phone down on the bed.
"Let's go O'Callaghan," she growled, storming through door. I glanced at her phone and then followed her, wondering what Kennedy did, or rather, what her hormones did.
"Where are we going?" I asked, taking the passengers seat. She was backing out of the driveway before I was even fully in the car.
"I don't know. I just need to drive to think."
"What happened?"
"Gabi answered Kennedy's phone," she spat out, running her third consecutive stop sign.
"Can you please not kill us!" I screamed as soon as she ran a red light. I closed my eyes, hearing nothing but the screeching of other car's brakes.
"Fucking Gabi. The root of all evil. Answered my husbands phone. Who the fuck does she think is? Why is she with him?"
"I don't know, but I am sure there is a rational explanation," I shouted the last part, closing my eyes again as she almost took out a yield sign.
"There is no explanation!" she shook her head, sharply turning a corner. We were out of the subdivision, heading towards town.
"Pull over the car," I demanded calmly.
"No."
"Peyton, pull over the car," I demanded again.
"Fuck you."
"PULL OVER THE FUCKING CAR!"
She slammed her foot on the brake, making the car behind us swerve and barely miss the car. I jumped out of the car so fast, stomping around the front of it until I reached her door. I threw it open and waited for her to get out.
"You are fucking crazy," I shook my head. "You don't know why Gabi is there. It could be nothing, and you fucking blow things way out of proportion LIKE YOU ALWAYS FUCKING DO."
"IT'S FUCKING VALENTINE'S DAY, JOHN. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO THINK? SHE WANTED TO SEE OLIVIA? SHE HASN'T WANTED TO FUCKING DO THAT IN MONTHS!"
"And again, Peyton, you always think things are worse than they actually are and it's fucking annoying." I was furious at this point. I stopped to think about all of the shit Peyton had caused because she always took things one step in the wrong direction.
"Stop acting like you fucking know me John, because you don't."
"I know you better than you know yourself, princess," I seethed, waiting for her to argue, because I knew she was going to.
"Oh whatever you say, John," she crossed her arms and leaned against the car door.
"Call Kennedy again." I challenged her. "Fucking ask him, and then you will see that I am right."
"Fine," she grunted, reaching for her phone, but it wasn't in her back pocket. "Give me yours. I left mine at the house."
I handed her my phone and tapped my fingers impatiently as she waited for him to pick up. He didn't. She thrust my phone back into my hands and started pacing back and forth.
"He cheated on Gabi before," she said more to herself than me.
"He wouldn't cheat on you, Peyton," I groaned.
"Shut up, John."
"No, you shut up. Just stop it. Stop worrying about every little thing."
"He is doing this because he is having a hard time trusting me."
"Why would he?" I asked, curious.
"Ever since I told him that this baby, these babies, aren't his, he has been distant. He doesn't trust me."
I didn't say anything, because I knew she was right. I had seen first hand how distant he was lately. Not only with her, but with everyone I stepped in front of her to stop her constant pacing, making her look at me, really look at me.
"Peyton," I started, but she was Peyton, and she just kept going.
"He said that if these babies ended up being yours, we would be fine. That is a lie. How are things going to be fine if he can't even trust me?" Tears started to pool in her eyes, and it hurt me. It broke my heart to see her cry. I thought about it for a moment.
"I don't know. I can't tell the future, but I want you to know that I will always be here for you. I know everything is scary right now," I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "but in the end, everything will work out the way it was meant to." I wiped the tears away with my sleeve, and pulled her in for a hug. After a minute or two she pulled away and looked at me and then down at my phone, which was vibrating.
"Text from Halvo," she sighed, handing me the phone.
"He was having a party tonight, I am sure I will get tons of pict-" I stopped talking and stared at the screen. I fumbled to quickly close out of it, but Peyton was quick to grab it away from me, smiling as she did so. Until she looked at the screen. I heard the crack of my phone breaking against the pavement as I just stared at her.
Halvo's caption under the picture, "What should I do?"
Halvo's had sent me a picture that may have just ruined Peyton's marriage. Gabi was with Kennedy alright. They were looking too cozy on the lawn chair that sat in front of Pat and Jared's house. They were both obviously drunk, and right now, I bet Peyton wished she could drink. Instead, she did the next best thing that would make her feel a little better. She grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me in for a kiss. I shook my head and pushed her away slowly.
"You can't do this," I sighed, trying to figure out which side of the war that waging in my head I was on.
"I just did," she said, capturing my lips with hers again. I pulled back again.
"You don't even know what was going on," I tried again. "It's probably nothing. They could just be talking."
"John," she said, tears forming in her eyes again. "It doesn't matter what is happening. He is with his ex fiancé, cuddled in a lawn chair at a party thousands of miles away. And I am here, with you right now, believing that everything happens for a reason."
She had me there. Using my own words against me. Everything happened for a reason.
If everything happened for a reason, why did I feel like this was wrong? Because it was, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and I lost myself in Peyton's kiss.
I wasn't going to lie, I missed it. There was something about being in a different state, standing on the side of the road, feeling the rush of cars go by, kissing the girl you had always loved that makes it one of the best moments in your life.
Even if I knew it was wrong and I would regret it in the long run, that didn't make me stop.