Always There - Part 2 || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 230: In This Lifetime

I quickly got changed, searching through my closet for something comfortable, having barely had the time to unpack since I got back. Never did I think that I'd feel like a stranger in my own home.

Finally, I came across one of Jake's old t-shirts. I slid out of my dress, and pulled it over my head. His scent had faded since the last time I'd worn it, making me hopeful that he'd get close enough tonight to leave it smelling like him once again.

Then my heart jumped, hearing the sound of my phone vibrate on my dresser, hoping it was him telling me that he was on his way.

Josh: thank you for coming tonight <3 I'm sorry about everything that happened. I didn't mean to ruin our party lol but I still want to talk about this. I'm sorry I made you feel like I was just letting you go. That wasn't my intention. All I want is for you to be happy, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you to be happy with me. I would have loved for you to have stayed tonight, but I understand you wanting to go home. It's too soon, I know. But when you're ready to talk about it, just let me know. sleep well. I'll see you in the morning. I love you. <3

My body instantly went cold as I plopped down on my bed in a daze, reading it over and over. I guess I really hadn't given him an answer at the hospital, but I wasn't thinking straight. I was just happy that he was alive. I would've said anything in that moment with him. But it was best that we didn't.

I knew that he was only doing what he thought was best for me, but all I wanted was what's best for us. I had had my heart set on us from the moment he slid that ring onto my finger, that same ring that now sat on my end table, staring at me, begging to be worn again.

On the proper hand.

But he was also right in the sense where I couldn't just ignore how I felt about Jake, and apparently everyone could see it, especially Josh. Despite trying my best to push the feelings down, there was no denying that they had always been there, and most likely always would be. And it wasn't fair to be engaged to anyone if I wasn't completely sure.

My heart jumped at the feeling of my phone vibrating again.

Jake: hey <3 just getting cleaned up and then I'll be right over.
Jake: anything you want me to bring?

It was embarrassing how easily he could make me smile.

Jaime: just you <3
Jaime: I'll be downstairs to meet you at the door.
Jake: you're cute lol
Jake: be right there <33
Jaime: <333
Jake: stop it. you're distracting me lol
Jake: (never stop <3)

I quietly made my way downstairs, listening for him as I waited by the window, but it didn't take long to hear the slamming of their back door, his footsteps making his way across the lawn. I quickly opened the door and was now face to face with him smiling back at me.

"Hi." I whispered, moving out of the way to let him in. He quickly maneuvered around me, instantly pulling me into a long kiss.
"Hi." He giggled. "I missed you." I felt my heart beat faster, now wrapping my arms around his neck. It was beginning to feel like how it did when we first got together, and that's what I had been longing for ever since that day he climbed into the back of that van and drove away from me.

We hadn't been the same since.
Like a piece of my heart had left with him.

"So.. you said you had something to show me?" He asked, now motioning upstairs. I nodded, giggling to myself, taking his hand and quietly leading us up and into my room, gently shutting and locking the door behind us.

"Just so you know.. she knows you're here." I said, sitting down on the edge of my bed. His smile grew, his cheeks now turning red.
"Oh, so I don't have to be quiet?" He laughed.
"No, you should still be quiet." I said, reaching over for his shirt, pulling him closer. I looked down, finally noticing that he had worn one of mine too.

I leaned into another long kiss, running my fingers through his hair, pulling him in closer until I felt that familiar smile spread across his lips. He kissed me back harder, his hands moving down to my waist where he carefully lifted me up, carrying me further back onto the bed, now crawling over me.

"Are you gonna show me or is that gonna have to wait?" He sighed, his kisses moving down to my neck. I clutched onto his shirt, feeling my heart beat faster as his kisses got harder. As badly as I wanted to..

"Let me show you first." I said, gently pushing him away. He held his stare on me, playfully rolling his eyes as he lied down next to me, propping his head up onto his hand. I got lost in his eyes for a moment, remembering how they kindly they gazed upon me in not only times like this, but moments so casual, so ordinary, leading me to believe that his trance was not dictated merely by lust, but the depths of love's most unforgiving spells.

And how beautiful this love was that we had gotten lost in together.

I leaned into a quick kiss before reaching over and grabbing my backpack from the end of my beg, feeling around until I finally felt the familiar binding of my now favorite leather-bound notebook. As I turned back to him, his eyes instantly lit up, his smile growing into a toothy grin.

"I'm glad to see you're using it." He said softly, taking it from my hands and flipping it over, gently tapping the back. "And look at that, you listened. You were great." I couldn't help but smile, feeling my cheeks burn.
"I guess I was." I giggled, taking it back from him. He smirked back at me, propping himself up, leaning back against my pillows. I crawled over next to him, cuddling close.

"So, I haven't really told anybody this.." I started, feeling my heart beat faster. He was quiet for a moment.
"Anybody?" He asked. I hesitated for a moment before nodding. I knew who he was really asking about. But after everything, I just couldn't bare to bring it up to Josh. Though, if he was going to wind up working on the movie, he was bound to find out eventually.

But it only felt appropriate that I told Jake first.

"I wanted to show you.. the original screenplay that I wrote." I finally said, avoiding his eyes. "The one that got picked for the award." He was quiet for a moment, but I expected the hesitation, I'm sure assuming what it could possibly be about.
"You wanted to show.. me?" He asked. I nodded, finally forcing myself to meet his gaze again. I flipped through the pages, finally finding the one that was marked off.

"Jake, I.. I thought about you.. every day when I was in New York. I thought about us, and.. everything we had been through and.. those were the moments that truly felt like a movie to me. And if there was even a chance of getting to share that with the world, well.. I wanted to take it, because after everything, we deserved the happy ending in at least one lifetime."

I then placed the journal in his hands, watching as he reluctantly took it and started to read. He stayed quiet, his eyes quickly scanning the page, his body eventually relaxing when he realized..

"Jaime.." He sighed, finally looking over at me. "You wrote about us." I nodded, unable to contain my smile as tears came to my eyes. He reached up, carefully wiping them away before leaning into a long kiss, gently caressing my face.

When I wrote this, the possibility of us was over. My life was laid out for me. But in those nights, my pen frantically scribbled across the paper in such heartache, wishing just for a second I could go back and relive those moments when I felt like fairytales could exist because I was living proof of them; I was living it.

Within that journal lied so many 'what if's' and 'maybe's' and 'could have's' and possibilities, all just meant for me, until one day, I had re-written our story, and what a waste it would be for such a love to end so suddenly; it deserved an end of such magnitudes that we had always deserved, and at least the versions of ourselves who didn't walk away could live out their lives together in the ways they were warranted.

"It's not too late, you know." He finally whispered. "We can still have a happy ending in this lifetime too."

He was right.
Now.. it was right at my fingertips.
And this time, I was going to take it.