You're the One - Part 1 || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 172: Out of Reach

Josh came over, placing the bag down next to me, flashing me a gentle smile.
"Here you go." He said quietly.
"Oh, yeah, thanks." I whispered, looking through and quickly tucking it under Jake's bunk. He nodded.
"No problem. And.. if you ever wanna practice again, just let me know." I nodded, my smile growing.
"Okay." His cheeks burned as he held his stare on me for a moment before heading back towards the main area.

"Josh?" I called out. He instantly stopped, turning back around.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you." I said softly. He shrugged, his cheeks burning.
"No problem."

I waited in Jake's bunk, closely listening in as he continued with his interview. I couldn't help but smile. He sounded so excited. I know he said the chances were unlikely, but I didn't see any reason why he couldn't win. He was definitely the best out of anyone I've ever photographed before.

"Yeah, no problem, thank you so much for having me!" I heard. Maybe he was finally finishing up, but I stayed in his bunk, anticipating the typing to start up again. Then my heart jumped as the door slid open, his eyes quickly shooting down to me, flashing me a wide grin.

"Hey!" He said cheerfully, hopping into the bunk next to me. I rolled over to make room for him as he wrapped his arms around me. Even if I wanted to, it was impossible to be upset when he got like this.
"How did it go?" I asked. He sighed, nuzzling his face in my neck.
"This is exhausting." He laughed. "But I think it went well. Only a few more to go, but I get a few minutes in-between." I reached up, gently running my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer.

"What kind of stuff do they ask you?"
"A lot of technical stuff, so I won't bore you with it. But they want to know about new music, touring.. the usual." I nodded, gently running my fingers up and down his back. He sighed again, gripping me tighter.
"Is that what they're all like?" I asked. He nodded.
"Yeah, so.. once you do one, you've pretty much done them all." He laughed, staring up at me with dazed eyes. I stared back, feeling my heart beat faster. His smile grew as he reached up, pulling me into a kiss. A smile escaped my lips as I kissed him back, tangling my fingers in his hair. When he backed away, he leaned his forehead against mine.

"I love you." He sighed. "I'm so happy I have you with me through all of this. You make it easier." My heart jumped.
"I do?" I asked, biting down on my lip. He nodded, his eyes lighting up.
"Of course you do." He said softly. "I love knowing you're right outside the door waiting for me. And I'm sorry I waved you off before, I.. I just get embarrassed when people watch me during those things." He giggled. I nodded.

"It's okay." I assured him, cuddling closer, gently kissing his cheek. "So.. do you think we're still going to see Addison and Sophie this week?" I saw his face drop a little.
"Oh.. yeah, um.. maybe? I'm not sure how my week is gonna look. Between the shows every night, and then everything else that gets sent to me.. I really can't commit to anything for sure."

My stomach dropped.

"Oh.." I whispered. He reached up, gently touching my cheek.
"Yeah, but.. it's okay, we'll see them again." I nodded, laying my head on his chest. I wonder if that also meant our Valentines' Day plans weren't happening either. If there even were plans. Jake still hadn't mentioned anything and.. as far as getting a room for the night, that seemed pretty unlikely at this point too.

"But.. I can promise, I'll always be here with you every single night." He said softly, his hand gliding down my arm, slowly intertwining his fingers within mine. "Falling asleep and waking up to you is my favorite thing." I could feel my heart melting in my chest.
"You always know the perfect thing say." I said, pulling him into another kiss.
"Well, you make it easy.."
"See." I laughed. He smirked back at me, his cheeks burning red.

"Oh, what did you want to ask me before?" He asked. "You.. you wanted to go somewhere." I bit down on my lip, feeling my heart beat faster.
"Oh, yeah, no, it's okay.. Josh took me." His face dropped.
"Oh.." He mumbled.
"It's.. it's okay though, you were busy."
"Yeah, but you wanted me to go. W-where did you want to go?" He muttered. I sighed, sitting up.

"I just..after.. you know.. the past few times we were together, and everything we've talked about.. I don't know.. I just wanted to see.."
"O-oh.." He whispered, his eyes sad. "Jess, I'm sorry, I.. you should've told me I would've-"
"It's okay. You have a lot going on, I should've known." He shook his head, now sitting up, reaching over and holding my face in his hand.
"I could make time for that." He said softly. "I will always make time for that." My cheeks burned as a smile escaped my lips, tears coming to my eyes.

"I told you I wanted to be part of everything this time and I meant it. So.. next time just.. tell me to shut up." He laughed, gently rubbing his thumb across my cheek. "I want this.. more than any of that. You come first." I pulled him into a long kiss, feeling him smile.
"Jake, I.. I love you, and.. I know you're excited about the idea of this, but.. this is really exciting time for you and, I don't know, one day I don't want you to look back on it and.. resent me because you missed out on it because of.. this. We have forever, but.. your moment is right now. And I want you to enjoy it." He shook his head, biting down on his lip, holding in his smile.

"You still don't get it, do you?" He giggled to himself. "You are the exciting time in my life, everything else is just.. extra." I nodded, looking down at our hands.
"Okay.." I whispered. He tilted my chin back up to face him again.
"So.. can we find out?" He smirked. I felt my cheeks burn.
"Right now?" He nodded, his smile growing.
"Let's wait.. until you're done for the day." He sighed.
"Okay, fine." He giggled, wrapping his arms around me, pulling me back down. "Then I just want to enjoy these last few minutes with you before-" He jumped as the alarm on his phone went off. He quickly reached over, shutting it off.
"Well.. so much for that." He groaned, peeking over at me with a sweet smile. My heart jumped as he reached his hand behind my head, pulling me closer, giving me a long kiss on the forehead.

"And if anything else happens.." He said, climbing out of his bunk. "Please interrupt me." I nodded, giggling to myself.
"Okay.. now go ahead. I'll be here when you get out." He nodded, leaning in the doorway for a moment, staring back at me with a gentle smile before closing the door behind him.

I reached under his bunk, pulling one of the tests out from the bag. I know how badly he said he wanted this, but.. things were really picking up for him. And if he did win.. things were only going to get more and more hectic, so I was either going to be tearing him away from all of that.. or doing everything by myself. And I didn't know which would be worse. I didn't want to worry about it until I really had to but.. it seemed like every day the life him and I dreamed of seemed further and further out of reach.