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

Chapter 23: 4:00AM

"So did she like it?" Sam asked, smirking at Jake. Jake gave him a nod.
"Yes, thank you, Sam." He said, rolling his eyes with a smile.
"Ugh, I'm so romantic, it's ridiculous." Sam laughed to himself, going into the fridge.

Josh looked over at the table, and then up at me and Jake. I felt my face burn. He didn't say anything. I figured as much. I felt Jake gently squeeze my arm. A smile escaped my lips.

"I can't believe we're finally gonna be home tomorrow." Sam said, sitting down across from us at the table. He went into the pizza box and grabbed himself a slice. "Mom said everyone's coming out to the show. It's gonna be great, and then a huge party back at the house after."

I got more nervous the more they talked about it. Jake gently squeezed my arm again.

"So when are we getting there?" Jake asked, pulling me closer to him.
"We should be there by morning." Sam said, taking a bite.
"Alright, I'll call Mom tonight." I peeked up at him. Call her? I'd have to find a way to conveniently be out of the room. Sam could tell something was off.

"What's up, Jess?" He laughed. I knew I was blushing now.
"Nothing." I said, taking another bite of my food. He smirked at me.
"You'll be fine. Everyone's gonna love you." I smiled, peeking back up at him.
"Thanks." I mouthed to him.
"Not to mention Jake hasn't shut up about you." Jake shot him a look.
"Okay, thank you, Sam." He said sarcastically. I gave his arm a gentle squeeze. He sighed, peeking down at me.

"We should head to bed." He said. "We're gonna get there pretty early." I nodded, taking his hand and leading to the back room.

The next morning I woke up to the room pitch black, and the faint sound of Jake snoring next to me. I could feel the bus still driving so we hadn't gotten there yet. I peeked over at my phone. It was only 4:00am. I sat up, propping my head on my hand, looking over at Jake, who's hair messily fell into his face, blowing with ever breath. I gently moved it away, tucking it behind his ear. He sighed, slowly opening his eyes.

"Hey.." He said with a tired smile. "How long have you been up?" I shrugged.
"Only a few minutes." I said quietly. He reached over, bringing me closer to him.
"Come here.." He sighed, wrapping his arm around my stomach and pulling me up against him. I moved my hand into his, intertwining our fingers.

Josh's P.O.V

I woke up facing the window, my eyes adjusting to the minimal lights that went by as we continued driving. I could tell by how much darker it was that we were close to home. I peeked over at my phone. 4:00am. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, looking around. The bus was quiet. Everyone else was still asleep.

I quietly hopped down, going over to the counter and made myself a cup of coffee. There was no use trying to go back to sleep.

I heard a whisper from behind me.
"Josh?" I turned around to see Jess standing in the bedroom doorway. My cheeks burned.
"Oh, hey.. sorry.. did I wake you up?" I whispered back. She smiled, shaking her head.
"No.. I was up." She said, looking over at the counter. 
"Oh.. here." I said, handing her the cup of coffee. She smirked up at me.
"You made this for you." She giggled. I shrugged, feeling a smile escape my lips. 
"I'll make another one." She hesitated, but eventually took it.
"Thank you."

She went over and sat down on the couch.
"You know.." I said, looking up at my bunk. "The view is nicer from up there." She looked back over at me with a smirk.
"Oh yeah?" I could feel my face get hot. I nodded. She then went over, hopping up onto my bunk. My heart started to beat faster. She moved towards the wall, pushing her back against my pillows, and stared out the window. I leaned back against the counter, watching her admire the views passing by. 

She was so effortlessly beautiful, and she had no idea. For a few minutes, I tried to forget about the fact that she just came out of the back room where Jake was still asleep in her bed, and imagined a world where maybe she'd be happy... just sitting with me in mine. I couldn't help but smile at the thought. She turned to me.
"You coming up?" She asked. I bit my lip, nodding. 

I hopped up, leaning my back against the opposite wall. I watched as her tired eyes danced around the window, the golden street lights shining across her face as we passed by. She took a sip, and turned to me.

"What?" She giggled. My cheeks burned, but a smile escaped my lips. 
"Nothing." I sighed. She held her stare on me. I felt my heart started to race.
"If you want to go back to sleep, just tell me. I'll leave." She laughed, looking back out the window.

"I'd never tell you to leave, Jess." I sighed. She turned back to me. I bit down on my lip, looking back out the window. I hoped it was still dark enough where she could tell how red my face was. I could feel her watching me. 

This was torture.

"Are you excited to see everyone?" She finally asked. I let out a deep breath.
"Yeah." I said plainly. "I get homesick a lot when we're on the road."
"I'm excited to see where you guys grew up." She said. My stomach dropped. You guys. 

What she meant was Jake.

I looked back out the window. The sky was slowly starting to get lighter.
"I can't remember the last time I was awake to see the sunrise." She said.
"I always try to be." I said quietly. She looked back over at me smiling. 
"I'm glad we can be like this with each other now." She sighed. 

My heart dropped.

"Me too." I said, forcing a smile, turning back towards the window. I felt like I was going to be sick. She clearly knew how I felt, and she was fine with acting like there was nothing between us. Maybe to her there was nothing between us. 

I thought back to what Sam said.

"Jess, I.." I stopped, feeling my heart race again. She turned to me.
"Yeah?"
"I wrote you something." She looked back at me wide-eyed.
"What.. what do you mean?" She asked, her grip tightening on her cup. My face was burning again. I reached next to her, pulling out the ukulele from the side of my bunk.
"I mean.. I wrote you something." I said again, putting my cup down on the windowsill. I saw her face drop and her cheeks turn red.

I quietly sang, staring at her with dazed eyes, my heart feeling like it was going to beat out of my chest. She didn't look away the entire time. When I finished, I placed the ukulele next to me, forcing myself to look back up at her. I bit down hard on my lip, waiting for her to say something.

Anything.

"You.. you wrote me a song." She sighed.
"I did." I said quietly. 

She pushed herself up from the pillows, slowly making her way over to me. My entire body felt like it was on fire. She sat down in front of me, inches from my face.

"That's one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me." She whispered. I looked down to see her hand on my leg. My eyes moved down from hers to her lips. I wanted nothing more than to know what it would feel like to kiss her right now. I slowly reached up, gently touching her cheek. Her eyes got wide and she quickly pulled her hand away. My stomach dropped.

"I'm.. I'm sorry. I didn't mean.." I stammered. She shook her head, backing away.
"It was beautiful." She eventually said, looking away. "But I.. I should try to get some more sleep.. before we get there." I sighed.
"Y-yeah. Okay." 

She hopped down, gently opening the door to the back room. Before going back inside, she peeked back up at me, giving me a small smile. I felt my face get hot again, forcing a smile back. After she closed the door, I plopped back down on my bed, hiding my face in my pillows. I sighed. They already smelt like her. My stomach dropped.

"Real smooth." I heard. I picked my head up to see Sam sitting up in his bunk, smirking at me.
"I don't want to talk about it." I mumbled, rolling over to face the window again.

"It was a good song." He said. "Maybe.. play it tonight."