The Weight of Dreams || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 48: Stay With Me

I quickly pushed him away, feeling my whole body go cold. Despite the fact that we were still technically together, whenever he touched me, whenever anyone else touched me, I couldn't help but feel.. dirty, like I was cheating on Jake, because in my mind, I was his.

"What are you doing?" I snapped, glaring back up at him. He shook his head, nonchalantly rolling his eyes as he sat down next to me, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me up against him.
"Will you relax? People are looking." He said, leaning in close. I pulled away, looking back over towards the drink table to make sure Jake hadn't seen anything. The last thing I wanted to do was give him any reason to second guess anything.

"I don't care." I muttered, pushing his arm away. I heard him giggle, the way he always did just before shit hit the fan.
"Well, you better start caring." He whispered into my ear, his voice just as cold and emotionless as ever. It was terrifying.
"Or else what?" I asked, avoiding his eyes.
"You don't want to find out." My stomach dropped.

I knew I didn't.

I moved away again as I saw Jake begin to make his way back over to us. His face dropped when he saw Don, but he quickly recovered, forcing a unbothered smile as he got closer, handing me one of the glasses of champagne.

"Oh, now to what do we owe the pleasure?" Jake asked, sitting down on the other side of me, flashing Don a sarcastic grin. I couldn't help but smile, giggling to myself as I took a sip. Don held his stare on him, no doubt clearly bothered by how confident Jake was becoming, especially around me.

"Just figured I'd spend the night with my fiancé." Don said, wrapping his arm around me again. "I mean, she was amazing tonight after all, and she deserves to celebrate. And I love celebrating her."
"I'm sure you do." Jake muttered, rolling his eyes as he took a sip.

"I think I'm.. gonna go dance." I said, quickly finishing my champagne and pushing myself up from the couch. "Jake do you want to-"
"Jake and I are gonna talk." Don said, forcing another one of his chilling grins. I peeked over at Jake to see his face had dropped.
"He doesn't want to talk to you." I snapped, reaching over for his hand, but Don beat me to it, waving me off.
"No, I think he does." He said. Jake bit down on his lip, his cheeks burning red.

"I'll be down in a minute." He finally said, forcing a nervous grin as he reached over for my hand, gently squeezing it our usual three times. My heart jumped.
"Okay. I'll be waiting."
"Good, save at least one dance for me." He joked. I nodded, feeling my body get hot.

He could have every single one of my dances for as long as he wanted.

"Alright, come on." Amy said, grabbing onto my arm. "We'll see him later." I nodded, holding my stare on him for a moment before finally following her down stairs towards the dance floor.

Jake's P.O.V

I watched as she made her way towards the stairs, peeking back at me one last time before disappearing into the blinding strobes down below. I couldn't wait until it was time to leave. All I wanted was to be alone with her again. And if that meant I had to tolerate him for a bit, then it was more than worth it.

"So.." He finally said. "Did you tell her?" My stomach dropped.
"No." I muttered. He nodded.
"Good, because then you know-"
"I know." I snapped, hated how he could put me in such a position.
"Did you talk about it with your band?" I nodded, avoiding his eyes again.
"And?" He asked. I sighed, glaring back at him.

There was no way he could expect me to give him an answer already. Not to something as big as that.

"I don't know yet." I said softly, taking another sip. He nodded, letting out an obnoxious laugh. I hated his laugh; loud and full, disregarding anyone else around him, like everyone was lucky to be in the presence of his happiness.
"So you're considering it."

It wasn't that I was considering it, or rather.. that I wanted to. I guess I just.. was waiting to know how Julia really felt about me. If this was real to her, because.. if I really was just her.. play thing, I would feel like such an idiot for letting something like this slip away, all because I was too blind to see it. But.. if it was as real for her as it was for me, then.. there was no way I would accept it, despite knowing how angry the guys might be at me.. she was worth it.

I just wished that.. she could give me.. something.

There was no denying it; I loved her. But part of me couldn't help but feel like she had become jaded to the word, having people shout how much they loved her every day, all day. Who's to say that I wouldn't just become another voice in the crowd, another admirer to pine after and fawn over her.

And on top of that, she was still with Don. There was still talks of an engagement, a wedding, and.. even children. As much as I hoped she could be, who's to say that she could be brave enough for me when the time came? I was willing to give.. everything to be with her, but.. would she be willing to do the same?

I finished the rest of my drink before pushing myself up from the couch when I felt a strong hand grab onto my wrist, pulling me back.
"Where the hell are you going?" He asked. "We're not done here." I yanked my arm back.
"Yes we are." I snapped, storming out of the VIP lounge and quickly making my way down the stairs, scanning the entire club for Juliette.

But it didn't take long.
She lit up every room she walked into.

I hung back, watching her and Amy in the middle of the floor, dancing like no one was watching, and it was so beautiful to see her look so free. For a moment, as everyone stared at her, it wasn't just because she was Juliette, but because they had never been in the presence of someone so engulfed within their own world, not for a second caring about anyone or anything around her, fully allowing herself to become submerged within the music, becoming one with the rhythm and the beat.

Oh, how I loved her..

And then finally something came over me, where I just couldn't go another second without our world's becoming one again. I slowly made my way out, eventually reaching over for her, my hand just barely grazing her hip before her eyes shot open but instantly relaxed into a loving gaze as she wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me in close.

I could feel the eyes on us, no doubt wondering who I was, unless they had already recognized me from the videos, but she didn't care. She invited me into her world of sound where together we glided on air becoming one within the heavy bass that could only be mistaken for my heartbeat whenever I was around her.

The light buzz of the champagne gave me just enough courage to lean in, her grip getting tighter around me as my lips gently grazed her neck, slowly becoming kisses that got that much harder as they made their way up to her ear.

"I need to be alone with you." I said, as quietly as I could manage between every crash of the beat. She didn't hesitate to grab my hand, eagerly pulling me through the club, quickly enough to where people couldn't register where we were going until we were long gone.

When we got outside, the muffled sounds of the city were blocked out by the now ringing in my ears, the bass still keeping time within my chest while my heart tried to keep up. I held on tightly to her hand as she guided us down the sidewalk, swinging our hands back and forth before finally stopping at her bus, turning around to face me.

I still couldn't believe how beautiful she was, so effortlessly, naturally beautiful. It was enough to make me want to cry, to have someone like her, eyes like that gazing upon me in such a way that I knew I'd never fully deserve. How could someone of such beauty admire me in the same ways I longed for her?

In what world are the works of art just as enamored with its spectators?

I reached up for her, gently caressing her face, needing to feel for myself, proving that she was even real, but even as my rough, calloused fingers brushed against her soft, porcelain skin, I couldn't convince myself that she was anything other than a dream.

"Please stay with me." She whispered. I bit down on my lip, trying to contain my eager grin as I leaned into a gentle kiss, pulling her in closer to me. She didn't hesitate to kiss me back harder, grabbing onto my shirt as she reached back for the door handle, opening it, and guided us inside, instantly locking it behind us.