Stardust Chords || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 22: Stuck

I couldn't remember the last time he kissed me like that. And now I felt.. nothing.

I moved away, now feeling Jake's eyes glaring a hole through us both. I wanted to throw up, but I couldn't tell if it was from this or those last two tequila shots.

"W-what are you doing here?" I stuttered. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me in closer.
"What, I can't come out and hang with my fiancé and her new buddy?" He said. I could sense his tone, I'm sure less than thrilled at the fact that he had found me alone with Jake yet again.

As clueless as he could be sometimes, he wasn't dumb.

"Well, technically-" I started, but he was quick to cut me off, leaning into another kiss.
"We've been together forever, Jewels. We might as well be engaged." He said simply.
"Did you propose to her?" Jake said, holding his glare on him as he took another sip of his drink.
"Not yet, but-"
"So then she's not your fiancé." He said, a smug grin now spreading across his lips. I couldn't help but smile, feeling my cheeks burn.

"Not yet." He said simply, his grip on me getting tighter. "But I will." Jake then turned to me, his face relaxing into a complacent grin.
"You know, a guy knows almost immediately whether or not he wants to marry a girl. The longer he keeps her waiting, the longer he's still looking for the one." My heart sunk.
"That's not true, Jewels." Noah snapped. "You know that. We've talked about it." Jake kept his eyes on me, giving me a questioning look.

And he was right. We had talked about it. Only after I had brought it up numerous times, and Noah had decided for us that it was best to wait because we were "still so young." But that was years ago, and when all of our friends started getting engaged, it was hard to believe that that was the reason anymore.

"It's getting late." I said, now wanting to be anywhere but here. How easily he could come in and ruin the perfect night, just when it finally felt like Jake was starting to talk to me. I gently nudged Noah towards the edge of the booth, but he stayed put.

"What, I just got here." He said. "I wanna hang out with your friend."
"Technically I'm your boss." Jake said, avoiding Noah's eyes as he looked back out at the bar, I'm sure scanning the place to try and find Josh and Avery again.
"So, do you make it a habit of drinking with your employees?" Noah asked, motioning towards me. "Wouldn't that technically be a conflict of interest?"

"Noah, let's just go, I'm tired." I muttered, shoving him again. He held his glare on Jake for a moment before finally reaching over, grabbing my hand and helping me out of the booth. Before he could pull me out of sight, I looked back to see Jake giving me small wave.
"Have a good night, Jewel." He said, his face dropping. I mouthed back.
"Goodnight."

Jake's P.O.V

I don't think there were enough words for how much I hated him. How could someone like her ever end up with someone like him. And then here I was, the one left alone at the bar.

It didn't take long for Sam to notice, making his way over and sliding into the booth across from me.
"So..." He said, his smile growing. I should've figured he saw the entire thing. I groaned, lying my head down on the table.
"Yeah." I muttered.
"What happened here?" He laughed. I let out a deep sigh, eventually emerging again from behind my hair.
"Nothing happened." I said. "That's the problem." He nodded, his smile growing.

"What.." I groaned, unable to contain my flustered grin. He shrugged, smirking back at me
"I just.. I haven't seen you like this in a really long time."
"Like what?" I asked, trying my best to hide my now blushing face.
"In love." He mocked, now giggling to himself. I playfully rolled my eyes, unable to contain my giddy grin.
"Shut up.." I groaned, avoiding his eyes.

"So, when are you gonna tell her?" He asked. I shrugged, taking another long sip of my drink.
"I guess it would be better to not wait until after the wedding, huh?" I joked. His eyes went wide.
"He proposed?" I shook my head.
"No. He's just trying out calling her his fiancé right now." I scoffed. "It's just.. things seemed like, well.. maybe they were going somewhere before he got here, and.. well, maybe if he hadn't shown up, maybe I could've said something but-"
"What happened before he got here?" He pried. I could hear the excitement in his voice.

These were typically talks I had with Josh, but as I looked back across the bar, I could see he was still a little preoccupied, and the last thing I wanted to do was intrude on the possibility of him having a good night. Though, from the looks of it, nothing ever progressed past what appeared to be just two friends having a drink. So for all I knew, him and I were having the same kind of night.

I'm sure he'd tell me about it later.
Or so I hoped.
Maybe he'd tell Jewel.
I hoped at some point he'd know he could trust me.
I'd always be here for him.
No matter what.

"Well, her and I were talking, and.. I don't know, things started to seem like.. well, maybe we were actually talking about us or.. maybe I was just overthinking things." I said, now nervously picking at my nails.
"What did you say?" He asked. I had never known Sam to be interested in things like this, but right now, I was happy to have anyone to talk to.

She was making me crazy. And even still, when it came down to it, she was the one I wanted here with me.

"We were just.. talking about feelings and.. stuff like that and.. she said that, if there was someone that maybe I had feelings for that.. I should tell her." His eyes went wide again, his smile growing.
"Jake, she was being so obvious!"
"You don't know that!" I said, avoiding his eyes again. "She.. she could have just been talking about anyone. But then I asked if I should still do that if she was with someone-"
"And.. what did she say to that?"
"She said that.. maybe if she knew she could make a better decision and-"
"Jake!" He yelled, playfully shoving me from across the table.

"No! You don't know that! And.. what if I was wrong? We still have to work together for the rest of the tour, that would just be.. humiliating." I said, feeling my cheeks burn again. He shrugged, giggling to himself again.
"You don't see the way she looks at you." He said softly, crossing his arms against his chest as he leaned back into the booth. I sighed, holding my stare on him.

How did she look at me?

"Then why is she still with him?" I asked, feeling another pang of jealousy in my gut. He shrugged, letting out a deep sigh.
"He seems.. safe." He said. "But that doesn't mean she's happy with him. I mean.. you spent how many years with-"
"Yeah. I get it." I snapped, quick to cut him off. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about her. He got the hint.

"Sometimes.. people just get stuck. But maybe if the right someone came along and.. showed her what she was missing, maybe it would be that much easier for her to.." He trailed off.
"To.. what?" I asked, him now peeking my interest. He shrugged, smirking back at me.
"I'm just saying.. isn't it that much easier to jump when you know you have a safety net?" I nodded, understanding what he was getting at.

"And if she says no?" I asked.
"Then you have your answer. But.. you'll never know if you don't try. And by the looks of it, you might not have much time." I sighed, finishing the rest of my drink before quickly getting up and heading towards the buses.