Mended Hearts | Johannie

Chapter Nine

*♥︎...2 weeks later, after all the teas been spilled and the secrets have been exposed...♥︎*

Carson's POV

            I sit across from Annie, who looks exhausted. Her head is in her hands, as she explains the situation. I listen patiently, even though I can feel my heart sink. Right now, the last thing Annie needs is another person, who's going to judge her. She just needs someone to listen and for someone to try and understand.
           "I wish I could undo everything I did. I just wish everything could go back to the way it was, before." Annie softly says, after she finishes explaining and apologizing. I nod, "Me too. I wish life wasn't so confusing." Annie reaches across the table, taking my hand in hers. She squeezes my hand, smiling sadly.
           "Thank you for listening and for being so understanding. I need some time to figure out how I feel. I told Asher and John, the same thing I'm telling you. It's not fair to any of you, for me to lead you on or play with your emotions." She sighs, "I'm not trying to break any hearts, I'm just trying to figure out my own heart. Once I do, I'll let you guys know how I really feel, but for now...I just need some space."
             She stands up and pushes her chair in. She grabs her smoothie, leaning across the table and pressing a kiss to my cheek. "I'm sorry." She whispers, before turning around and leaving.  I watch her go, before grabbing my own drink and leaving.

             I park my car, in the garage, before heading inside. I make my way upstairs, heading straight for my room. As I pass by Jayden's room, I overhear part of her heated phone call.
             "Stop telling me what to do, Lauren! I didn't ask for your advice, because maybe, I don't want to make up with Annie. Maybe I don't care, ever think of that?" I roll my eyes, as I continue on my way to my room.
              Jayden and Annie's friendship fell apart, after Annie found about her and Hayden. Turns out, Hayden was the one who spilled the beans. He felt bad and called Annie, letting her in on everything she didn't know. She was furious and she and Jayden had a huge fight. Then, Jayden and Hayden fought and he ended things.
              Hayden assumed Annie knew and was ok with it, until he finally realized she didn't know.  He confronted Jayden and suddenly, everything went downhill real quick.
              Lauren and Annie eventually made up, which is good, because Annie's losing a lot of her L.A friends. She agreed to rejoin the tour, but it took a lot of convincing. When she doesn't have to rehearse with him, she's avoiding Johnny as much as she can. It's obvious he's hurt and it's obvious she's upset.
              Asher's in L.A for awhile, but he and Annie aren't hanging out. She sat him down and explained what was going on, letting him know she needed space. The three of us, all got an explanation and an apology from her, before she asked us for space. We all agreed to give it to her, even though it hurt.

              I walk into my room, sitting down at my desk. I open up my laptop, before starting to write down lyrics, for a new song. Usually when I'm upset, I end up coming up with new songs. This time it's no different, as I turn all my feelings into lyrics.
             I stare at the screen in front of me, reading through the lyrics. I call my manager, realizing this song is better than I thought. I grab my guitar and starting playing chords, deciding to record it. I join the lyrics with the chords, recording as I sing and play.
              I send the recording to my manager, who immediately calls me. We set up a date to record the song, before I go back to playing the chords. I guess "breakups" really do help produce songs.

Johnny's POV

               I stare out my bedroom window. If this is what heartbreak feels like, then I guess my heart's breaking. All I can think about is Annie. I didn't want to pretend the kiss didn't happen, but what could I do? Annie's always put others before herself, and she knew it wasn't fair to the others.
               She an Asher are talking again, but like she told me, she asked him for space. She did the same to Carson. She's repairing her and Lauren's friendship, while trying to maintain the ones she still has left. Lilia, Kenzie, and Lauren seem to be some of her only close friends, left.
               My door swings open, pulling me out of my thoughts. "John! Em's here! She's staying with us!" I turn and see Lauren smiling widely, as she tells me the good news.
               I jump out of chair, following Lauren downstairs. Emily Skinner is standing by our front door, smiling and laughing. "John, Lauren! It's so good to see you!" She hugs Lauren before hugging me. Emily's the perfect distraction to get my mind off Annie. The timing couldn't of been more perfect.
               "What brings you to L.A?" Lauren asks. Emily smiles, "I'm working on a modeling gig. I'm doing a photo shoot with Annie Leblanc." So much for a distraction. I think.
                Lauren's eyes meet mine, concern in her expression. I drop my gaze to the floor, not wanting to see the pity in her eyes. She clears her throat, "How about you guys go do something? Show her around L.A." I shrug, turning back towards the stairs. "I don't feel like going out, Laur. You guys have fun, but I'm not going."
                I go up the stairs, two at time. I hear Lauren mutter something, but I ignore it. I push open my bedroom door, before slamming it shut. Seeing Emily and hearing her mention Annie's name, it reopened the wounds I'd been trying so desperately to heal. Since when did Annie Leblanc have the power to break me? I bitterly think.

Asher's POV (Didn't see that coming, did you?)

           I walk along the beach, feeling hopeless and defeated. I never used to care about things like this, dating used to be the least of my worries. But, Annie changed everything.
           I met her when we did a collab for Disney, and we instantly hit it off. She was so down to earth, which was refreshing. I was used to meeting girls who were obsessed with fame, but she was different.
           I'm not really sure when I starting falling for her, but when I did, I fell for her hard. There was no way of stopping it. 

           The waves spray my ankles, as I walk along the beach. I pull out my phone, about to text Annie. Then I remember she wants space and I agreed to give her it. I sigh and put my phone away.
          I met Annie at Disney and we started hanging out afterwards, quickly becoming friends. Turns out, we had friends in common. We easily connected and started becoming closer.
          I surprised her in Maryland, then all the messy stuff went down. Annie and John kissed, which I'll admit was painful to see. Afterwards, she apologized and asked if we could meet up and talk. She explained how she felt, she apologized, and then she basically friend zoned me. She asked for space, telling me that she needed time to figure out her feelings.
Carson and Johnny got the same talk I got. Johnny's pretty hurt, Carson's surprisingly understanding, while I'm more confused than upset.
Honestly, I'm not really mad at her, I'm more hurt. It feels like I personally got my hopes up, then I came crashing back down, but there wasn't anyone to catch me. When you fall for someone, you just got to hope they'll be there to catch you when you fall. Sometimes, there's no one and you end up getting hurt.
I sigh and continue walking along the beach, lost in thought. If only Annie felt the same way I feel.

No One's POV

Annie stood in the back of the auditorium, mentally preparing herself before seeing Johnny. She took a deep breath, then started walking towards the stage. She lowered her gaze, trying to avoid eye contact.
"We were closer than close, at our worst we were better than most. Now it's over, lately I've been wondering how you are." Johnny's back was to Annie, as he sang. She froze, unsure of what to do. "Even though you don't show it, we both know that you know it. You moved on from this small town, hanging out with a new crowd, but you've been missing me deep down."
Annie held her breath and quickly turned around. She felt as if she were intruding on something private, so she hurried out of the auditorium. Johnny's voice followed her out. "You've been frontin'... acting like our love didn't leave a scar." She paused, hand on the door handle. For some reason, that verse hit different than the other verses. She winced, before quickly opening the door and running out of the auditorium.
Johnny turned around to see who was behind him, but all he saw was the open door. He shrugged and went back to singing. It never once occurred to him, that it might have been Annie.

Annie sat outside, guilt and regret washing over her. She started humming before she softly began to sing. "You were always there for me...just like you promised you'd be...I thought we'd always be together...but I guess this can't last forever..."
"I hate to admit I miss you, I wish there was something I could do....to stop the pain so I could get you out of my brain." She closed her eyes, wishing everything could go back to the way it was. Back to when she and Carson were am unofficial thing and she and Jayden were still friends. Back to when she didn't care about Johnny, back to when she and Asher were just friends...
She opened her eyes, sharply inhaling as soon a familiar voice said, "Annie...can we talk?" Her heart sank as she turned to face him. "Hayden..."

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1,714 words. Johnny, Asher, Carson, and Annie. The weird four way love triangle. That sounds so wrong, I'm sorry! 😂 I bet y'all are probably tired of my slow updates and excuses. I'm sorry...for the 1,000,000th time. Life. There's my excuse. Anyway, that ends this chapter. Also did y'all spot the reference to one of Johnny's songs? (One of personal favorites!) Y'all probably saw my horrible excuse of an attempt at writing some song lyrics. I didn't know which of Annie's real life songs could relate to this, so I made up some of my own lyrics. It was awful, I'm sorry)