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

Chapter 81: Play It Up

"Sam?" I called out, looking around. He quickly jumped up from the couch, making his way over.
"Yeah?"
"My.. camera bag is back there. Would you mind.." I bit down on my lip, feeling my cheeks burn. I'm sure Jake was still sleeping, but on the off chance he was avoiding me too, the last thing I wanted to do was run into him.

"Oh, yeah sure." He said, giving me a subtle smile. "Am I gonna get to see some of what you've shot?"
"If you want." I said, hopping back up onto his bunk. His smile grew as he nodded, quickly going into the back room. I listened carefully and was able to hear Jake's subtle snoring. Something that was once annoying, I now missed waking up to it in the middle of the night. I could feel tears start to come up my eyes, but quickly wiped them away before Sam got back. 

He flashed me a smile as he held up the bag, giving me a questioning look.
"Yes." I giggled to myself. "That's the one. Thank you." He handed it over and climbed up into the bunk, sitting close, his leg brushing up against mine. I kept my head down as I felt my cheeks burn.

I pulled up the photos from the last show. Sam leaned in closer.
"Is that what I really look like?" He laughed. "You didn't edit these yet?"
"Nope, these are right from camera, you just look that good I guess." I said, smiling back at him. His cheeks burned as he bit down on his lip, keeping his eyes on the screen.

"It's cool to see everything from someone else's perspective. I feel like.. sometimes we don't even get a chance to stop and look around, we're so focused on playing. Thanks for doing this." He said, leaning his arm on my leg, propping his head up, leaning in closer.
"You're welcome." I said softly, flipping through.

When we got to photos of Jake, I felt my body get cold, and started flipping through a little faster. Sam could tell.
"We can just look at mine." He laughed, moving his hand over mine, quickly clicking back to photos of him. I couldn't help but smile. Whether he knew it or not.. he was helping. A lot.

"What are you guys doing?"

I looked up to see Josh leaning up against the bunk.
"Jess is showing me some of the shots she got from the other night. Come look." Sam said, moving over to make room. Josh hesitated, peeking over at me. I nodded, giving him a subtle smile, patting the spot next to me. His smile grew as he hopped up, squeezing in between me and Sam.

"Oh, wow.." Josh said, leaning in closer. "These look great. This is what you see every night?" He said, peeking over at me. I nodded.
"Yeah, you guys make it easy." I laughed.

"Jess said I don't need any editing." Sam said, reaching over for the keyboard.
"I didn't say that." I giggled to myself. "I just said they weren't edited yet." 
"Hey!" He yelled out, flashing me a wide-eyed smile. I smirked back at him, feeling my cheeks burn. He bit down on his lip, holding his stare on me for a moment, before looking back down. 

"And only a few more shows left." Josh chimed in. "I'm excited to get back home for a little bit." He turned to me.
"What do you do for the holidays?" He asked, giving me a small smile.
"It's just me and my dad.. nothing crazy."
"I told Jess that maybe she should come back with us." Sam said, keeping his eyes locked on the screen. Josh looked back at me, wide-eyed.

"You're coming with us?" He asked, his smile growing. My cheeks burned.
"Oh, I.. I don't know.. I mean.." Josh nodded, looking back down.
"Right.. no, yeah I get it."
"I mean, I wanted to, but.." I shrugged, feeling my chest start to get tight again. The last thing I wanted to do was start crying again in front of the both of them. I did my best to hold it in.

"Well, if you still want to.. we'd love to have you. Mom loves you, and Ronnie hasn't stopped bothering us about you coming back." He giggled, giving me a subtle smile.
"Thank you." I sighed. "I just.. I don't know. I don't know if I could-"
"Yeah.." He said, his voice dropping. "It's okay. I understand."

I wanted nothing more than to be with them for the holidays, but not if this is how it was going to be with Jake. I couldn't even bring myself to be in the same room as him, there was no way I could go back to his house and spend the holidays with his family, even if I did have the both of them. It wouldn't matter.. not if Jake was there.

I could feel tears coming to my eyes again.

"Hey, um.. let's go check out the venue before everyone gets here." Sam said, moving my laptop out of the way. I quickly wiped my eyes, giving him a subtle smile. He nodded, smiling back at me, motioning towards the door.

As we all hopped down from the bunk, Sam turned, grabbing his jacket, handing it over to me again. I smirked back up at him, taking it, and wrapping it around me.
"Thanks." I said softly, holding my stare on him. He smiled back, his cheeks burning.

When we got outside, I felt Sam wrap his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer. My heart started beating faster. I peeked up at him, but he kept his eyes forward.

"Have less fans been waiting outside since it's been getting colder?" I asked, looking around the building.
"You'd be surprised." Josh laughed, peeking back at me. His face dropped a bit as his eyes shot from me to Sam, but I could tell he was doing his best to not let it show. "T-they're always coming out." He said, his tone changing.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there were fans out front already." Sam said. I pulled him in closer.
"You think this is the best idea then?" I whispered, smirking up at him. He bit down on his lip, smiling back.
"Maybe not." He said softly, pulling his arm back. I sighed, moving away, shoving my hands into my pockets.

And when we turned the corner, we were met with screams from the few fans that did decide to come early. I hung further back as Josh and Sam waved at them, making their way over.
"Oh my god, you guys, that new music video. It was absolutely gorgeous." One said, holding out a CD to Josh. "We are literally obsessed. It's so weird because for so long everyone thought that Jess and Jake were dating but like. After that, it was so obvious."

Josh quickly peeked over at me, motioning me over. My cheeks burned as I hesitated, shaking my head. His smile grew as he waved me over. I sighed, finally forcing myself to go.
"You're here!" Another fan yelled. "You were stunning in that video, oh my god. And you and Josh.. we can't tell you how many times we've watched it. It's insane how big it's gotten in just the past few days. We've never seen one of your videos get this big." 

My heart dropped. I hadn't even thought about the video since that night, and the last thing I wanted to do was look online at what everyone else was saying about it. I honestly expected everyone to hate me based on what the guys were saying before it went live. It was easier to just pretend it didn't exist. 

For a lot of reasons.

"We hope Josh uses you in more of their videos. It looked so real. I mean, because it is, but you know what I mean." They laughed amongst themselves. My cheeks burned as I peeked over at Josh. He looked over at me, giving me a subtle smile.

"Well, you two are adorable. You're so lucky." Another fan said, turning to me.
"Oh, no, I'm the lucky one." Josh said plainly, signing another CD. I quickly shot him a look, but he avoided my eyes, leaning in to take a photo.

"Thank you guys so much." Sam said. "We'll see you guys later! Hope you enjoy the show!" I smiled and waved as Josh moved closer, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, leading us into the venue. As the doors shut, he leaned in close.

"I'm sorry about that." He whispered, pulling his arm away. "Sometimes it's easier to just.. play it up in front of them. You don't want them asking too many questions." I bit down on my lip, nodding.

"It's.. it's okay." I said. "I don't mind." He peeked back over at me, his smile growing. I smirked back at him, motioning towards my shoulder. His cheeks burned as he wrapped his arm around me again, gently grabbing my hand, pulling me closer to him.