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

Chapter 31: (Not) The First Time

"Do you think anyone's gonna be able to tell?" Jake asked, pulling his shirt back over his head. I smirked back at him, feeling my cheeks burn.
"Not if you pull yourself together." I laughed, pulling him into a kiss. He smiled back. 

"Here.. lemme help you.." He sighed, grabbing my shirt and pulling it over my head for me. He ran his fingers through my hair, pulling me back in, kissing me back.
"And.. maybe brush your hair." I laughed. He quickly went over and looked in the mirror.

"Ugh, everyone's gonna know." He giggled to himself, running his fingers through it, carefully trying to get it back into place. He was so cute.
"If you were so worried about that.." I started. He smirked back over at me, rolling his eyes.

"Well, when do I ever get to be alone with you?" He laughed, his cheeks getting redder. "I thought we should take advantage of it."
"Well, was it everything you thought it would be?" I smiled. He came back over, sitting down across from me, running his hands through my hair again.
"In my childhood bedroom? No." He laughed, flashing me a toothy grin. "But with you? Yeah."

He reached over, holding my face in his hands, pulling me into a passionate kiss. My lips curved into a smile.
"I love you." I sighed. He stared back with dazed eyes, gently running his fingers down my cheek.
"I love you too."

"We should get back though." I sighed. "I'm surprised we were able to sneak away for this long." He smiled, nodding.
"Alright." He said softly, taking my hand and helping me up. I intertwined our fingers as I followed him down the hallway and back outside.

"And where did you two run off to?" Sam asked, handing Jake a beer. He stared back at Sam wide-eyed, his face getting red instantly.
"He was giving me the tour." I jumped in. Jake bit down on his lip, nodding. Sam looked over at me, then back to Jake, skeptical. Jake stared back, biting down hard on his lip, his grip on my hand getting tighter.

"Wait, did you guys-"
"So, Jake's gonna introduce me to the rest of your family." I said, pulling him away. Sam held his stare on us as we made our way through the backyard. I heard Jake sigh.
"Thank you." He laughed to himself.
"You are terrible at this." I said, smirking up at him. He rolled his eyes, smiling back at me.
"I.. I can't lie." He shrugged. I shook my head, intertwining our fingers.
"Well, I guess that's nice."

I looked around and eventually saw Josh from across the yard, talking to a girl I didn't recognize.
"Hey, who's that?" I asked, motioning towards them.
"Hm?" Jake asked, looking over. Then I saw his face drop.

"He didn't.." He sighed, his jaw clenching. I looked up at him, confused.
"Who is it?" I asked, feeling my heart start to beat faster.
"This is low, even for him." Jake sighed, squeezing my hand again.
"Jake?"
"That's.. that's Amy." He said, his voice dropping.
"Who's Amy?"
"She's my ex. We broke up before the tour started."

My stomach dropped. Just before the tour started? That wasn't that long ago.. at all. And he had never once mentioned her?

"W-why is she here?" I asked, doing my best to not sound upset.
"I wish I knew." Jake said, clearly annoyed. That made me feel a little better about it.
"Do you.. wanna go over there?" I asked reluctantly. He shook his head.
"Not at all." He said sternly.
"What happened with you two?"
"I just.. it just wasn't right, and I knew it. So.. I ended it before we left." I bit down on my lip, nodding. He looked down at me.

"I didn't know she was gonna be here. I.. didn't know Josh still talked to her." He said quietly.
"How long were you two together?" I asked. I really didn't want to talk about her, but we had never discussed our past relationships before. I guess it was just easier to pretend like they didn't exist. I was happy now, the last thing I wanted to do was talk about our past. 

"About a year.." He said softly.
"A year?" I asked. He looked back down at me again. I turned, looking back at her. She was.. so pretty. My stomach dropped.

"It wasn't that serious."
"You were together for a year and it wasn't that serious?" If he didn't consider that being serious, I wondered what he thought about me.
"I know how it sounds but.. no." He sighed, looking back at me.
"Would she say the same thing?" I asked. He shrugged.
"I mean.. I don't know. I just.." He looked back over at them. My heart started to pound. He seemed bothered by her being here, more than someone who didn't consider it to be serious would be.

"Come on.." He said, pulling me the other way. "I don't want anything to ruin our day." I followed closely, but peeked back to see Josh looking over at us. I felt my cheeks burn. Jake brought me back over to the picnic table where Ronnie was sitting with Danny.

"Why is Amy here?" Jake asked sternly, sitting down next to Danny. I sat down across from him. Ronnie turned around, peeking over her and Josh.
"I didn't know he was still talking to her." She said quietly, turning back. Jake rolled his eyes, looking even more annoyed.
"He's doing this on purpose." He said quietly.
"You really think he'd do that?" Danny asked. Jake shrugged, looking away again.

"What do you mean.. still talking to her?" I asked, reaching over, gently grabbing Jake's hand. He looked up at me, giving me a subtle smile.
"When Jake and Amy broke up.. Josh kinda.. kept in contact with her." Ronnie said quietly. "We never really understood why."

"But, as you can tell.." Jake said, motioning towards me. "This isn't the first time he's been like this." My stomach dropped. 

So this whole time, it wasn't actually about me, but about getting back at Jake?

"Honestly, he's probably trying to make the both of us jealous." Jake said, keeping his eyes down on our hands. I looked back over at them and felt my cheeks burn again. I had no doubt that Jake had had other girlfriends before me, but I never thought I'd ever have to see any of them. The idea of him with someone else made me feel sick. I squeezed his hand tighter, feeling my heart beat faster. I then saw Josh and Amy turn and look over at us.

"Well, if that's what he wants to do.." I got up and went over to the other side of the table. Jake stared up at me wide-eyed as I sat down close, holding his face in my hands and pulling him into a passionate kiss.