Always There || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 88: Needed to Know

I walked around the store as she brought Jaime's bracelet into the back, slowly scanning through the different selections of necklaces, watches, earrings, until I finally got to the ring section, feeling my heart beat faster.

Maybe one day I'd get to come back and look through those.

I didn't have to wait long before she came back out, and wrapped up the bracelet, handing me the bag.
"And here you are!" She said cheerfully. "I hope she loves it. Can't wait to see you again."
"Thank you so much. Hopefully soon." I laughed, taking the bag and heading back down the sidewalk to pickup our dinner, and quickly head home, feeling like I had given them more than enough time alone together.

As I pulled up the driveway, I could see that the light in her bedroom was still off, which meant she was still down by the river with him. I placed our food and gift bags down on her front steps and hastily made my way down the dirt path. The closer I got, the louder the roaring of the crashing water became, until soon enough I heard voices.

Her voice.

"Josh, I just think that.. maybe some people are just.. meant to be friends, and-"
"And I don't think we're one of them." Josh said. My stomach dropped. I should have known he would just use this as an excuse to try and win her back. Ever since the show he's been acting different. I should have known he couldn't just accept the fact that we were happy together.

"Look.. maybe you need time. We were each other's first everything, and I can understand being unsure of something like this so soon but.. I have always been sure about you. I have never picked anyone over you and I never would." He reached over for her, gently caressing her face. I felt like I was going to be sick, my feet suddenly forgetting how to move. I was frozen in place, praying that nothing else happened. I wanted to scream but nothing came out.

I knew he was talking about me. This wasn't fair. I couldn't help that I was scared back then. She was all I wanted but.. I was also terrified of the idea of ruining anything with her. I just.. wasn't ready. And by the looks of it, I was right. Things never work out with the first person you're with. You have to learn to grow, that way by the time you find your person, your actual person, you can love them fully, the way they deserve to be loved, and now the time was finally right for us, and I was ready to give her everything.

"You have no idea how badly I want to kiss you again, but.. I won't. Not unless you ask me to." He said, moving closer to her. I felt like I was going to explode, wanting nothing more than to rip him off of her, but.. another part of me needed to see how this played out. If she still loved him.. I needed to know.

But she really didn't seem to mind.

Then finally, she moved away, grabbing her bag and tossing it over her shoulder, but I couldn't hear her over the crashing of the water. And then her face dropped when she turned to face me.

"Jake, I-"
"Sorry, didn't know I'd be interrupting anything."
"N-no, you're not, I was just-"
"Just in the middle of something, clearly." I sighed. "Well, don't let me stop you."
"Jake, no, I was-"

"She was going to find you." Josh snapped, glaring back at me. "Don't worry. Nothing happened. I don't do that." It was taking everything in me not to snap, but I didn't want her to see me like that. That's all she needed, was to see how jealous I really was, after trying so hard to convince her I wasn't. It was bad enough I had to live with knowing that they've slept together, making the idea of them hanging out together alone that much more excruciating, but then not knowing how she felt about him, all the while.. still not wanting to be that way with me.

This was going to drive me insane.

I took a deep breath, finally reaching my arm out for her. She didn't hesitate to run over to me, positioning herself underneath it, holding me close as I grabbed her bag from her, tossing it over my shoulder.
"Come on." I said simply. "I got us dinner." She held onto me tightly as we made our way through the woods, but not before I felt her turn around, peeking back at him.

The walk back was silent, her grip on me getting tighter as he leaned her head against my arm. I let myself calm down before I said anything, not wanting to ruin the night with an outburst that would potentially drive her right back to him.

Now I couldn't help but wonder what else he had said to her before I showed up.

When we got back to the house, I saw her peek around me, looking at her front steps.
"Jake.." She sighed. "W-what's that?" I bit down on my lip, peeking down at her.
"What's what?" I asked, smirking down at her. She flashed me a wide grin as she hid her face in my arm. I leaned down, gently kissing the top of her head.
"Let's go eat."