Greta Van Fleet | One-Shots

Complicated | JTK

Childhood friendships are fantastic. A lifetime of shared jokes and stories. A certain way to maintain sanity while growing up in a small town. However, fantastic can be quite a subject term, especially when you're in love with your best friends brother.

warnings: making out, mentions of sex (but alas, none), alcohol consumption, use of wacky tobacky, embarrassing high school crushes (deserves a warning of its own)

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Complicated. That was the only way you could describe your feelings for him. It was funny, at first. You never minded being the brunt of the jokes for a week or two, but when the weeks turned into months, and eventually years, it had begun to get old, and the joke had long ran its course. Although you'd never outright admitted how you felt for him, anyone with a working pair of eyes and/or ears could infer. The blushing, the stuttering, the gazes that were casted for just a moment too long. It was all textbook signs of a case of the lovesick blues. And your friends seemed to find it hilarious. But it wasn't. You were in love with your best friends brother, and there was no world where you could believe he loved you back.

It started all of those years ago on the porch of your childhood home. Your group of friends had decided to go for a swim on the sweltering summer day. Somewhere between the lines of middle school ending and that fateful day in august, he somehow turned into more than just your best friends brother. He was Jake. Jake, with the stupid grin, and the pretty eyes, and the nice arms (they weren't really that nice back then, but to a fourteen year old, they were for sure the best you'd ever seen). He wasn't just an extension of Josh anymore, the separate entity that encased all of the same loveable traits as your best friend. He was Jake, with his own traits that you weren't sure had always been there, or had suddenly developed overnight. His own jokes, and his own distinct laugh that was more than music to your ears, and his his newly found theoretical hold he had you in. And he was breathtaking.

"Hey, Sunny!" Josh yelled from the pool in your backyard. "When you're finished checking my brother out, feel free to join us!" He'd shouted, splashing a handful of water at you. This caused a chorus of laughter from the group of boys. Your cheeks burned crimson and you wanted to curl up in the corner and pass away. Luckily, Jake caught your gaze and smiled at you, making a motion with his head as if to tell you to jump in. Your embarrassment fizzled, replaced with eagerness to join your friends. By the time the sun started to set, you thought the staring had been long forgotten. Boy, we're you wrong.

The next joke had been made that same night as you settled into your sleeping bags in the basement of your home. You were nestled on the pullout couch, squeezed in with Josh and Jake. Sam and Danny had sprawled out on the air mattress. "Did you want me to sleep on the air mattress?" Josh asked as you shifted to get comfortable.

"No, why?" You had taken it as an honest question.

"I just thought that maybe you'd like some alone time with Jake," he giggled. You rolled your eyes and smacked him on the arm while the room filled with laughter.

"Ha! Clever! You should be proud of that one." You patronized. After a few moments of small chatter, sounds of snores filled the room, but you couldn't sleep. You stayed silent while gazing up at the ceiling, hoping Jake wasn't weirded out by Josh's antics. Somewhere in the midst of your thinking, Josh had tumbled off the couch to find his way to the bathroom. When Jake spoke, it startled you.

"Don't listen to him, Sunny. He's just being an ass." He reassured you.

"Thanks, Jakey. I know what he's like, it's okay." In the darkness, Jake's hand reached out to meet yours. He gave it a short-lived, reassuring squeeze before turning on his opposite side, back facing you. You fell asleep with a smile on your face before Josh even returned.