Once In A Lifetime (Katy Perry/John Mayer Fanfic)

Chapter Forty-Eight: Playing With Fire

A/N: Sorry about the length, but it had to be this long - you'll see why shortly...

JOHN'S POV

I sighed before following Katy back into my mom's hospital suite, both dread and regret in my veins. Given the time, I should've and would've told my parents Katy and I weren't together, but knowing how much my mom adored Katy, I simply couldn't do it. Besides the fact somewhere inside of me had a glimmer of hope that I could fix things between the two of us, but the clock was surely ticking. And I just kept fucking it up.

I instantly made eye contact with Katy as soon as I entered the room, the two of us unable to break the gaze as I walked over to where she was sitting, just opposite my mom's bed. I gave her weak smile, before she radiated one back as I sat down.

"I'm really sorry for being such a dick," I whispered sincerely into her ear upon sitting down, the smell of Katy's sweet perfume making me feel sad that I'd hurt her - that was the last thing I wanted, yet it was ironic because it was all I seemed to do to her lately.

"It's okay, really. I'm sorry for overreacting," She whispered back, a small and genuine smile on her beautiful face, her eyes sparkling all kinds of ocean blue as I looked back at them.

"So are we good?" I asked, still whispering as I let out a small chuckle. I held out my hand as I awaited an answer, watching her as she looked down at it.

"We're good," She smiled back, placing her small, delicate hand into mine. I let out a happy sigh of relief as I wrapped my other arm around her, feeling her cuddle herself into my chest. Feeling content, I placed a small kiss on her temple, smelling the strawberry shampoo she always used on her hair. I didn't know what I was doing or why I was doing it, but I couldn't stay away from her. I just wanted to be close to her, all of the time. Maybe it was a sign of grief about my mother, or maybe it was something else entirely. I wasn't sure yet, but I was sure it wouldn't be long until I found out.

We stayed at the hospital for the next couple of hours, and it was only when I looked over to see Katy's eyes blinking slowly that I realised it had gotten extremely late - it was past two in the morning. Katy and my family had been talking about literally anything and everything, and it had been refreshing having someone with me through this.

"Hey, guys, Katy and I are going to get going. It's getting late, and we've been up since early this morning," I stated as Katy's body became heavier against my own as we sat in the chairs, my legs feeling numb due to how long I'd been sitting in one spot.

"Of course, we'll see you both tomorrow. Thank you for staying," My mom smiled as she too looked beyond exhausted, despite the fact that my two brothers had left over an hour ago to go home.

I carefully unwrapped my arm from around Katy's shoulder, with her lifting her head up to me and giving me a small, tired smile as I stood up. I held my hand out for her as she stood up, and instantly pulled her into my side, her arm wrapping around my side as she curled into my chest. I didn't know why, but I felt protective against her. There was just... Something there that made me feel I had a duty of care to look after her. Perhaps, because maybe I did. Because maybe, our past wasn't really our past just yet.

I picked Katy's handbag up from the floor, carrying it in my spare hand as we said our goodbyes to my parents before making our way out of the suite, and back towards my car. Katy's soft breaths signalled to me she was tired, and I noticed she was trying very hard to stay awake as we made our way to the car.

"I'm sorry... I didn't realise how late it was," I whispered into her ear as we finally made our way into the carpark, thanking my earlier self for parking close to the entrance.