Vigilance

Vigilance (Chapter 11)

Word count: 25.5k

Pairings: Jake x OC, Jake x Reader, Sam x OC

Warnings: 18+ as always, drinking, smoking, language, fluff, angst, smut.

This story is a collaboration with my best pal . Please go show her some love!

               STRANGE HORIZONS: BRIDGEPORT

ONE DAY BEFORE SHOW

HER POV

You pull the ticket from the parking meter as you make your way into the garage, circling around and around trying to find an empty space to park. It was similar to the thoughts in your mind, circling round and round hoping to find one that didn't include Jake. You waited for that to happen, but it never did.

It had been two weeks since you left Nashville, and you only returned now because you had to. You wanted nothing more than to stay isolated on the sand of that sunny beach in North Carolina. Nothing but the sound of crashing waves and the feeling of the sun on your skin. A momentary escape from the real world. From your real thoughts. Your real feelings. Or at least, that's what you hoped would happen.

Your eyes caught an empty space, quickly turning into it and sitting in park. You took a deep breath as you grabbed your things from the front seat, and stepped out into the humid Tennessee air. You knew this wasn't going to be easy, nothing ever was when it came to Jake.

Your trip was supposed to clear your head, not sully it further. Caught in the crossfire of your own mind, you spent each day trying to sort out your thoughts. Find the solution you were looking for. But as the days dwindled down with no answer, you felt as if you left Nashville feeling better than when you returned to it. And now as you walked into the airport completely hazy, you wished you were still there wallowing in your own suffering on that quiet little beach.

You perched yourself on one of the overly stiff couches outside of the ticket counter, pulling your phone from your bag to check the group chat. You hadn't spoken to any of them since you left. Well, not really anyways. Just one email with their travel information, thoroughly detailed just so that they wouldn't have any reason to reach out. But they did. Mainly Sam. Even a few messages rolled in from Josh. Those didn't bother you so much. It was the messages from Jake that got to you. Each one left on read.

The truth is that you didn't know what to say. You were hurt and confused. You believed the things Josh told you about Jake that day in the green room. Believed him when he said he loved you. That he wanted you. But reality hit you that morning in his hotel room. He had slept with Summer. He didn't want you. He just wanted someone.

But what right did you have to be upset about that? You were sleeping with Sam. His brother, for god's sake. That was not lost on you. You had no room to talk. So you didn't. And now here you sat, counting down the minutes until you would have to face him again.

As the group walked through the sliding doors, you could hear them before you saw them. They stepped into the clearing looking left and right, until finally spotting you. You watched as they rolled their suitcases towards you, Sam breaking into a full out sprint. You braced yourself for the hug you were about to receive as he wrapped his arms around you pulling you up from the couch.

He spun around in a circle before setting you back on your feet, and looking you over. His eyes flashed to the phone in your hand, "Wow, so that thing does work!" he laughed.