Always There - Part 2 || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 236: The Only One

I could hear his faint giggling behind me, I'm sure expecting the best, but I could barely concentrate on anything else.

As far as I knew, everything was fine with her. Why hadn't anyone told me? All of this was happening while I was off in New York, playing house, dreaming up fairytales for the big screen all the while my life back home was crumbling.

And I had no idea.

I pulled him through the field, far enough away from everyone where I knew we were out of earshot, subconsciously bringing us back over to our tree; I had missed it, wondering when the next time him and I could be back here together, secretly wondering if the next time we were, he'd have a.. specific question for me.

I felt his fingers make their way into mine, making it that much harder to stay angry. And I knew I had no reason to be. I wasn't mad at him, I was mad at myself for not being here. What if something happened and I wasn't here to help her? I would have never forgiven myself.

And maybe not even him.

When we finally reached the tree, I yanked my hand out of his, practically dropping down onto the ground, leaning back against it. His face instantly dropped when he noticed my expression was less flirtatious than he was imagining.

"Jaime.. w-what's wrong?" He asked, his voice now quiet. He sat down, timidly reaching out for me. I shrugged, avoiding his eyes.
"Jaime?"
"You never told me." I finally managed, feeling my heart beat faster. He was quiet for a moment, I'm sure racking his brain of what he could have possibly kept from me.
"T-tell you what?"
"About my mom." His eyes went wide.
"Jaime, I-"
"You never told me, and I.. I mean.. how many times? W-what even happened?"

He hesitated before finally crawling over next to me. I reluctantly cuddled closer to him, nuzzling my face into his chest as I felt him tightly wrap his arms around me.
"It was only a few times." He finally muttered, his fingers now gently gliding up and down my back. I could finally start to feel myself calm down at the sureness in his voice.
"She was okay, Jaime. I made sure of it."

I believed him.

"What happened?" I asked, reaching back over for his hand, tightly intertwining our fingers. I felt him sigh, now leaning his head against mine.
"She.. she just.. she got sick, I.. I don't know, I'm sorry, I don't know all of the details, I just.. I did everything I could to make sure that she was okay. She didn't want you to know. She didn't want to ruin anything for you. And she knew how hard that was for me, she.. she begged me not to tell you because.. she didn't want you to come home, not until you were done. It killed me to keep it from you, but.. I.. she was right and.. we just wanted you to have your chance. You deserved it."

She had kept this from me.
And it made sense.
I would have come home immediately.

"I wanted to tell you, but.. she insisted. But.. if it ever got to the point where.. well, I.. I would've called you. If it was.. important. I swear, Jaime."
"Thank you." I whispered, leaning into a gentle kiss. I instantly felt his hand moving up, now caressing my face. When I finally moved away, he stayed quiet, holding his stare on me, I'm sure terrified of saying the wrong thing. I didn't blame him.

"I'm glad she had you." I said. He nodded, giving me a gentle smile, brushing his thumb against my cheek.
"I am too. And maybe.. that's why I was meant to be home, you know? And.. if that's the case, then I'm glad nothing happened with the band. If.. if it made any difference that I was here, then it was worth it for me."

My heart jumped, instantly remembering that night out on my front steps. That night he had chosen the tour over her, over me. How different things were now. He had said how one day he would make it up to me, and this was more than enough.

"Please don't be mad at me." He whispered, his eyes sad. Even like this, he was still so beautiful.
"I could never be mad at you." I sighed, leaning into another long kiss. He kissed me back harder, tangling his fingers in my hair again until that inevitable smile escaped his lips once again; it tasted so much sweeter than it looked.

"Yes you could." He giggled, combing his fingers through my hair. "You have plenty to be mad about." I shook my head, cuddling closer.
"None of those things matter anymore." I sighed, pulling him back into another kiss. My cheeks burned at his quiet laughter.
"I'm surprised you're kissing me." He whispered, peeking back over towards everyone else in their backyard. "You know, considering.."
"So am I." I shrugged, smirking back at him. He was quiet again, holding his stare. I could see the gears turning behind his eyes, I'm sure wondering how he could bring it up again without me trying to change the subject.

This time, he decided to just go for it.

"Jaime, I want it to be us again."
"Jake, I-"
"Just.. let me get this out." He giggled. "And then.. I'll drop it. I promise. And.. if you're still not interested, well.. then you're gonna have to ask me next time." I couldn't help but smile.
"That sounds fair." He nodded, letting out a deep sigh.

"Alright, look.. I know that I fucked up in the past, and I'm sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am, and.. how sorry I'm gonna be for the rest of our lives. But please believe me when I tell you that.. I have never loved anyone the way I love you, Jaime. And I never will. And I know that. It has always been you. You are.. the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing on my mind before I fall asleep, and as if that wasn't enough, you somehow seem to take over my dreams too, which.. recently has gotten annoying because.. it's just not fair that all I do is think about you when.. I know you're not thinking about me like-"
"I am." I blurted out, finally cutting him off. "I do think about you. All the time. And.. in a perfect world, it always would've been me and you, but-"
"You wrote your love story about us. You could've written about anything, or anyone, but you wrote about us, and I think that has to count for something."

He was right, as much as I didn't want to admit it. I was engaged, and even still he was the one I was thinking about, writing about, dreaming about..

"I will do whatever you need me to do." He said. I had never seen him like this before. Growing up, all I ever wanted was to see him care about something like this, no matter what it was. And as much as I loved the fact that it was for me, what I really wanted was for him to want something for himself in the same way.

"You know what I want you to do." I said, now gently holding his face in my hand. He let out another deep sigh, his face dropping.
"Jaime, you know I can't control-"
"I know you can't control what happens, but you can control whether or not you try. And.. I would hate myself if I kept you from trying, because I know how great you are, and how great you can become."
"You know I want nothing more than to be able to give that to you, but-"
"But I don't want you to give that to me, I want you to give that to yourself."

His face finally relaxed into a gentle grin.
"I love you, Jaime Adams." He said, now with a hint of relief.
"And I love you, Jake Kiszka." I laughed. He bit down on his lip, trying his best to contain his giddy grin.
"I love when you say my name."
"Well, you better get used to it. Because one day, everyone will be screaming your name."
"But your voice is the only one I'll ever hear."

My heart jumped as I pulled him into another passionate kiss.