Trapped Together (Complete)

~ Chapter 27 - 4:46pm ~

The drive home had been horrible. Jake had changed the music station numerous times, unable to find anything he liked. Or unable to find anything that had suited his mood. Which was either pissed off or hurtful; he wasn't sure which. He just knew that the only thing going through his mind had been those eyes of hers, those eyes that he loved. He saw the hurt, the longing, hell even the God damn love in them, and it killed him to walk away.

He had wanted nothing more than to walk into that room, pull her in his arms, and kiss her deeply. But Jay was outside, having a drink with his girlfriend, and he knew that Jay would be coming back any moment to be by his sister's side. And Jake couldn't blame him; had that been his sister, he would be protective as well, wanting to make sure she was okay and not wanting to let her out of his sight.

But at the same point in time, it sucked big time for Jake. Sure, they had their goodbyes, but fuck, it just wasn't enough. Was he supposed to go around with this huge ass fucking ache in his heart for the rest of his life? Did he really think that he could go over to Jay's house and pretend like nothing was the matter? Did he really believe that he could just get over Rachel like she was some fling and not the woman who probably held his heart?

Yeah, he would have to think long and hard about these things. And the whole fucking thing that made it worse? Well besides seeing the woman you wanted and couldn't have? There was no doubt that Jay would call him out on his bullshit if Jake didn't go over or didn't hang out. So, Jake would be forced to hang out. With that, Jake sighed and rubbed his head. God, what the hell did he do to himself?

He pulled into his driveway and headed inside to his two-bedroom condo, a place he prided himself on having. It wasn't some huge place, but it fit him and his needs. It was in the center of town, easy for him to compute, and it wasn't all too far from Jay's place, which also meant he wasn't too far away from Rachel. Jake groaned as he tossed his keys on the counter and went to the fridge, yanking out a beer. He needed to get the woman out of his head, no matter how impossible that was.

He made his way to the couch and flicked on the tv, aimlessly flipping through the channels. But just like the music, there wasn't anything holding his interest and with a sigh, he flipped it off. He grabbed his phone and quickly brought up Jay's name, giving him a call. Jay had told him before he left to call just to make sure he got in okay.

"Hey!" Jake had to suck in a breath at the sound of Rachel's voice. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he didn't think Jay's sister would have the phone.

"Hey, why do you have Jay's phone?"

"Because I get to play DJ on the way back home."

"Oh," he mumbled. "So, you guys are already heading out?"

"Yeah, we just got on the interstate about 10 minutes ago. Did you need Jay?"

"No, he just wanted me to call and let him know I got in okay, so if you don't mind passing on the message, that'd be great." God, was it going to be this hard talking to her in person? He felt like they were total strangers.

"Yeah, I'll let him know. Glad you made it back okay." He heard the pause and even he could pick up that she wanted to say more, but either couldn't or wouldn't, he wasn't sure which. He wanted to make things less awkward for them, but he had no damn clue how to go about doing that. Nothing they shared was bad, other than the fact that it was done behind Jay's back.

"Thanks. Um, I'm going to go. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, later Jake." He heard the disappointment in her voice, and it brought back the hurt he saw in her eyes. But fuck, he couldn't do anything, especially with Jay in the same car with her. She had to have known that as well. He tossed his phone on the end table and leaned back, finishing his beer. He was debating on getting another one, but he also didn't think that drinking away her memory was a good thing. For one, there wasn't enough liquor for that to happen. And for another, he didn't want to wash it away. He had loved everything they had done. He just wanted more, and this was the price they were going to have to pay, and he knew it was both of them paying.