You're the One - Part 1 || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 64: Tell Him

Josh stared back at me, holding my face in his hands, giving me a subtle smile. I couldn't believe what he was saying. There is no way I could ever ask him to do that. But I knew it didn't matter, I wouldn't even have to ask. I felt more tears coming.

"It's gonna be okay, I promise." He said softly, gently wiping my eyes.
"You don't have to do this." I said, looking down.
"I know." He sighed. "But.. I want to." I peeked back up at him, a smile escaping my lips. His smile grew as he reached out, gently touching my cheek again.
"You're gonna be fine." He said softly. "Here.." He took my hand, helping me up. I held on tight as he lead us back to the van, opening the door and helping me in.

"All good?" James asked, turning back from the driver's seat. I nodded, looking out the window, trying to keep from crying again. Josh reached over, gently taking my hand again, intertwining our fingers.
"All good." Josh said. "Can we just stop off somewhere on the way back, I gotta pick up a few things."
"Sure, no problem."

I cuddled closer, leaning my head on his shoulder. I felt him sigh as he turned to me, gently kissing my forehead. As happy as I was to not be going through this alone, I couldn't help wish that Jake was here. But I could only imagine how he would react. I knew this wasn't something he wanted, so him freaking out would only make this worse.

It was hard to understand how Josh could be so calm. This wasn't his problem, and it didn't feel right to involve him. Jake was the one who should be here, but I was happy to have Josh to at least try and calm me down. 

I still didn't know if I had anything to be worried about.

"Are you gonna tell him?" Josh whispered down to me. My stomach dropped. I really wasn't sure. On one hand, if it did come back positive, it was his, he deserved to know, but it would ruin everything. And on the other, if it was negative, there was no real reason to freak him out over nothing.
"I'm not sure." I said softly, gripping his hand tighter.

James pulled into the parking lot, turning back to us.
"Are we all going in?" He asked. Josh shook his head, letting go of my hand.
"No, it's okay, I'll just run in quick." He said, giving me a small smile.
"I.. I can come with you-" He shook his head.
"You're too dressed up, it's okay. I can figure it out." He said softly, giggling to himself.
"Josh, I think I-"
"I'll be right back, it's okay. Stay."
"Josh.."

"Don't make me kiss you again." He laughed. "It seems to be the only way to get you to shut up. I'll be right back." He said, flashing me a smile, shutting the door behind him. I felt my cheeks burn as he made his way into the store. James looked back, smirking at me.

"Are you two together?" He laughed.
"No.." I said, biting down on my lip, keeping my eyes locked out the window.
"Do you want to be?" My heart started beating faster.
"I'm with Jake." I said quietly. He stayed silent for a moment.
"Oh." He finally said, turning back around. "Well.. that's complicated."
"Yeah." I sighed.

It wasn't long until I saw Josh walk back out, bag in hand. He opened the door of the van, quickly sliding back in.
"What did you get?" I asked, looking down at the full bag by his feet. 
"Well, I wasn't sure which one was best.. so I just grabbed the most expensive one, and then.. two other ones." He said.
"You bought.. three?" I giggled to myself. He smirked, peeking back up at me.
"I.. I don't know.. I figured.. we should be sure, right?" He shrugged. I couldn't help but smile. He really was sweet.

"Thank you." I said softly, gently running my fingers through his hair. His cheeks burned as his smile grew. I looked back down at the bag.
"What else did you get?" I asked.

"Well.." He said, reaching back down, pulling out a bottle of SunnyD. He smiled back at me, waiting, but eventually giggling to himself, shaking his head.
"You.. you mentioned once.. the movie Juno, remember? You said you liked it.. I'm sorry, I thought it would be funny." I smirked back at him, feeling my cheeks burn.
"Thank you." I laughed, grabbing it and taking a sip. "I'm surprised you remembered that."
"Of course I did." He said, going back into the bag. "And.. just some snacks you've said that you liked, I don't know if you're craving anything or not.." He gently placed two candy bars and a bag of popcorn on my lap.

I looked back at him, feeling my heart beat faster. He gave me a small smile, biting down on his lip.
"Thank you, Josh." I said quietly. He shrugged, holding his stare on me.
"It's no problem." He said sweetly, his cheeks getting red.
"I'm.. I'm gonna pay you ba-"
"You know I'm not gonna let you do that." He laughed, cutting me off. 
"Josh, I-"
"I want to help you." He said, reaching over, taking my hand again.
"But you-"
"If you fight me on this, you know what's gonna happen." He said, looking forward. I felt my face get hot.
"Okay." I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder again.

"If you don't plan on telling Jake, I would make sure you hide those before we get back." He said softly. "He's gonna wonder where we went." I nodded, grabbing onto his arm, pulling him closer. My heart started to pound the closer we got. I knew I couldn't lie to him, so I was hoping nothing came up. 

But I didn't know how I would feel once I actually saw him.

When we pulled up to the buses, I saw Jake already standing outside. I couldn't help but smile as he gave me small wave, making his way over, barely waiting for the van to stop before going to open the door. Josh quickly grabbed everything, tossing it back into the bag, moving it out of sight.

"There you are." Jake said, sliding open the door, reaching up and pulling me into a kiss. "I missed you." He held out his hand, helping me out of the van, grabbing the end of my dress.
"We should get you more of these, you look so good." He giggled to himself.
"I wasn't gone for that long." I laughed, wrapping my arm around him.
"Any amount of time is too long." He said, smiling down at me. My cheeks burned, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Josh hopping out of the back of the van, flashing me a look. My heart dropped as he then turned away, making his way back onto the bus.

"So.." Jake said, hesitating. "How.. was the rest of the shoot?" I smirked up at him, gently taking his hand as he started leading us back towards the bus.
"You really want to know?" I asked. He shook his head, his smile growing.
"No." He said, flashing me a smile. "But.. it felt like you were gone a long time. You guys must've.. talked a lot."
"Yeah.." I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder. "Plenty of talking."
"Alright, we don't have to talk about it, just come here." He said, reaching down, pulling me into another kiss. A smile escaped my lips as I wrapped my other arm around him, pulling him in closer. When he backed away, he leaned his forehead against mine.

"So, you ready to head in?" He asked, holding his stare on me. "Apparently we've got a decent amount of driving until the next venue." I felt my heart start to beat faster the longer he stared.
"You alright?" He asked, flashing me a smile. My cheeks burned. 

I had to tell him.

"Jake.." I said, biting down on my lip. My heart was racing. No matter how he felt about it, he at least deserved to know, he should at least have the chance to make a decision before I just made it for him.

"What is it?" He asked, his eyes eager. But things.. were going so well. And I didn't want to ruin it. Was it really worth pulling the rug out from underneath him if it was all for nothing? What if there wasn't anything to worry about?

"I.. um.." I started, feeling my stomach turn again. I did my best to keep it down. "N-nothing. Yeah.. let's head in. I'm exhausted." I sighed.
"Me too, let's get you to bed then. I've missed it." He giggled to himself, pulling me in close and kissing the top of my head.

Later. 

I'd tell him later.