A few hours later I woke back up and felt the bus had finally stopped moving. We were here. Looking over, I saw that Jake was already awake. I always hated when I was the last one up. I wish he had woken me up.

I pushed myself out of bed, looking around for what clean clothes I still had. If I was going to be meeting their family today, I at least wanted to look presentable. I was really hating myself for only thinking of packing jeans and t-shirts. But how was I supposed to know I was going to be meeting my boyfriend's family for the first time?

How was I supposed to know I was going to have a boyfriend?

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in." I said, quickly pulling my shirt over my head.

"Well, good morning." Jake said with a smile. He carried in a cup of coffee, handing it over to me. I smiled, taking it.

"Thank you." He shrugged, sitting down on the corner of the bed.

"So, are you excited?" He asked, smiling up at me. I sighed. I could tell he was. I didn't want to ruin it. I nodded.

"Sure." I said, laughing to myself. His smile grew.

"It's okaaaaay." He reached out for my hand, pulling me closer to him. "What are you so worried about?" I shrugged, sitting down next to him.

"I just.. I really want them to like me." I said quietly. He leaned in, kissing my forehead.

"They will." He flashed me a smile. It was contagious.

"So, when do we get to see them?" I asked. He got up, moving towards the door.

"As soon as you're ready."

"What do you mean? Like.. they're waiting for us?" I asked, feeling my cheeks burn.

"It's fine. The guys are already inside. I was waiting for you to wake up." I felt my stomach drop.

"You were waiting?" I snapped. He laughed again, taking my hand.

"Jess, it's fine. I promise. Now come on.." He pulled me out of the bedroom, and down the steps of the bus. I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest.

When we got outside, I saw we were parked in a long driveway, in the middle of the woods. It really did feel like we were in the middle of nowhere.

"Where are we?" I laughed. He smirked back at me,

"I know, I know.. but.. compared to life on the road. It's incredible."

I followed close as he lead me up the steps to the front door. When he opened it, we were greeted with a roar of cheers.

"There he is!"

"Glad someone's finally awake!" I felt my cheeks burn. Jake leaned down to me, whispering into my ear.

"Don't worry, Sam told them I was sleeping in." I sighed, giving him a small smile. He winked, squeezing my hand a little tighter.

"Thank you." I mouthed.

"So, is this the girl I've been hearing so much about?" I heard a woman's voice from inside the kitchen. Jake lead me in where I was faced with his entire family. My eyes panned around the room.

"Mom, this is Jess. Jess, this is Mom." Jake said. He moved in giving her a big hug.

"So nice to meet you!" She said, leaning in and giving me a hug as well. I was starting to feel a little better; I wasn't sure what I was so worried about.

"Nice to meet you, too." I said, eventually backing away. "I've heard so much about everyone." Her smile grew as she looked back at Jake.

"Oh, so he warned you about me?" She laughed, gently brushing the hair out of his face. He rolled his eyes, his cheeks turning a bright shade of pink.

"Yeah." He laughed. "I warned her about all of you."

"Oh, Jake. We're just fine. If she can handle you guys, then we're nothing." She said, looking back at me with a smile. "Are you hungry? I made a late breakfast for everyone." I was starving.

"Thank you." I said, looking around.

"Here.." Jake said, leading me into the dining room where Josh and Sam were already sitting at the table eating. Josh looked up at me, giving me a subtle smile. My cheeks burned. The memory of him playing his song rushed through my mind. It had felt like a dream that became real once we were face to face again. I wondered if he had mentioned it to anyone. Then Sam peeked up, giving me a subtle smile.

Yeah. He had.

Jake lead me over to a chair directly across from Josh. Of course.

"Here you go." He said, pulling it out. "I'll make you a plate." I hesitated, but eventually sat down as Jake made his way back into the kitchen. I knew the two of them were going to talk about me out there. But chances are the three of us were also going to talk about me in here.

There was no winning.

"Good.. afternoon, I guess, now." Sam laughed, smirking at me.

"Hi Sam." I sighed. His smile grew as he took another sip of his coffee.

"Sleep good?" Josh asked, breaking the awkward silence. It didn't help. Were we just going to act like nothing had happened on the bus? That's honestly what I would prefer. Especially with Jake and their entire family in the next room.

"Yeah, thanks." I said simply, looking around. Their house was so cozy. No wonder they missed it so much on the road. It felt like a real home. Thankfully Jake was quick with the food.

"Here you go." He said cheerily, placing a plate in front of me. He pulled out the chair next to me and sat close. I loved how close he always wanted to be. Especially in situations like this.

"This is delicious." I said, taking a bite.

"Mom is the best cook. It's one of the best parts about being home. Nothing beats a home cooked meal when you're used to living on a bus for months." He wasn't kidding. I had started to miss dinners at home just a few days into the tour.

"Oh look! She's finally here!" I heard from behind us. A younger girl came into the dining room, plopping down next to Josh.

"Jess, this is my sister, Ronnie." Jake said.

"We've heard so much about you." She laughed, leaning in closer to me.

"Thank you, Ronnie." Jake said, trying to shut her up. His cheeks blushed.

"He's never been like this about a girl before, it's been adorable to hear, so we were all so excited to meet his mystery woman." She said, flashing me a big smile.

"I think Mom's calling you, Ron." Jake said, shooting her a look. She rolled her eyes.

"She's not and you know it. Now shut up, I'm trying to get to know your girlfriend." Jake sighed, continuing to eat.

"So, you're their photographer? That's awesome. All the shots we've seen so far have been awesome. My mom saves them all to her phone, she's crazy." She laughed. "Did Jake tell you how he picked you out specifically? He had been showing us your page for like, weeks. So when you finally confirmed, he was thrilled. We never heard the end of it." I heard Jake sigh again.

"Yes, she's heard." He snapped. Ronnie turned to me.

"He gets embarrassed so easily." She said, rolling her eyes. "You must mean a lot to him. He's never like this."

Jake stood up from his chair, grabbing his plate and smiled down at me.

"Come on, we're gonna eat outside alone." He said, grabbing my plate in his other hand. I couldn't help but smile. He was adorable when he got flustered like this.

"Looks like I'm leaving." I giggled to myself. Ronnie shot Jake a look.

"Will you calm down? We're having fun." She sighed. He nodded, shooting her a wide-eyed look.

"Yeah, yeah, so much fun. You guys can have fun together later. When I'm not around to hear any of it."

"Oh, trust me, we will. We're gonna talk about you the whole time you're on stage."

"Well, you can't, cause she has to work." He laughed as he lead me out the back door. I followed closely, flashing her a smile before shutting the door behind me.

Their backyard was gorgeous. The sun leaked through the leaves of the trees creating perfect rays of light throughout. I followed him to a secluded picnic table under one of the bigger trees.

"They all seem really nice." I said, sitting down across from him. He smirked, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, they're all so nice." He said with a smile. "Maybe a little too nice. Especially at my expense." I laughed.

"It's sweet. It's.. nice to hear those things from them." He looked back up at me.

"What, like you don't hear them from me?" He asked.

"I do." I sighed, smirking back at him. He stared back at me, and eventually patted the spot next to him on the bench. I didn't hesitate to go over, sitting close next to him.

"I'm really glad you're here." He said quietly, continuing to eat.

"So am I."

"I know you were nervous, but thanks for coming." I giggled.

"I don't really think I had a choice in the matter." He smiled, shaking his head.

"I guess not, but you're being a really good sport about it."

"I like seeing where you came from." I said, looking around. "It really is nice out here."

"I.. wanna show you something later. There's a trail we like to hike on. It's beautiful, especially at sunset." I felt my cheeks burn.

"What is this, our.. second date now?" I asked, leaning my head on his shoulder. I felt him giggle to himself.

"Yeah, we can call it that."

I stood at the sink, looking out the back window. Jess and Jake were sitting out at the old picnic table, basically on top of each other. I felt my face get hot.

"You okay, honey?" Mom asked, coming up behind me. She looked out and saw them. I heard her sigh.

"She does seem like a really sweet girl." She said. I bit my lip, nodding.

"Mhm.." I managed.

"He really likes her, Josh." My stomach dropped. I wondered what he had told Mom about her. I wondered if it was anything like what I had told her.

Probably not.

"What has he said?" I asked. She looked up at me, pursing her lips.

"You know I can't tell you.." She said, her tone dropping. "But.. she's really important to him."

"It's not fair." I muttered. She moved her hand up, gently rubbing my arm.

"I know. But.. you know she can't help how she feels." I kept my eyes locked on them, only further torturing myself with every laugh and touch they shared. The way she looked at him made my stomach turn.

"You didn't tell anyone, right?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Of course not." She said.

"Not even Ronnie?" I asked. She scoffed.

"Especially not Ronnie." I couldn't help but laugh. But I knew if Ronnie had any idea what had happened, I'd never hear the end of it. And I know she'd be furious at me for not telling her to begin with. Her and I tell each other everything.

Mostly.

"You shouldn't keep watching them if it's only going to hurt you." She eventually said, now gently rubbing my back.

"I wrote her a song." I blurted out. I felt her stop.

"You did?" She asked, as calmly as she could manage.

"And I played it for her last night.. or.. I guess technically this morning. We were both awake and.. it just felt right."

"And what did she say?"

"She said it was beautiful. And one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for her. And.. I don't know.. for a moment, it felt like.. maybe she wanted to kiss me."

"Josh, I don't want you getting your hopes up." She said quietly. "From the way Jake talks about her.. it sounds.. pretty serious between them." Now I really wondered what he was saying about her, especially for Mom to feel this way.

"What did he say?" I asked again.

"Josh.."

"I just.. I need to know." I muttered. She was quiet for a moment.

"He told me.. he thinks he's falling in love with her."

My heart dropped.