"How many of those are you gonna bring back?" Jake laughed, playfully shoving me off the trail. I felt my cheeks burn, avoiding his eyes.

"I.. I only have one." I muttered, carefully inspecting the path incase I found any more on the way back home.

As we got closer, I felt my heart jump as Jaime leaned out of her window, flashing me a wide grin as her long brown hair gracefully fell over her shoulders. I waved up at her, mirroring her contagious smile.

"You gonna come listen to us play today?" I asked, seeing Jake make his way back inside out of the corner of my eye. I was always thankful that he gave us these moments alone together, no matter how short.

"I think I can sneak out for a little while." She laughed. I suddenly felt the nerves grow inside of me. It didn't matter how many times she watched me sing, every time felt like the first time, and every time I wanted to make sure I impressed her.

I don't know if I would try as hard as I did if it wasn't for her. Just having her around made me better.

I reached into my pocket, tossing her up the pink rock I had found for her. She leaned further out, catching it in her hands, grasping it tightly.

"What's this?" She giggled, examining it closer. I felt my face get hot as my smile grew.

Her laughter, music to my ears.

"Found it by the water and thought of you." I said as casually as I could manage for someone who spent hours digging around in the dirt just to find her the perfect one. "See you later!"

She nodded, leaning back into her bedroom as I quickly went into the house, peeking back one last time before shutting the door behind me, but she had already disappeared.

"So, how is she?" Jake smirked from the counter. "Is she gonna come over later?" I felt my cheeks burn as I looked over, now seeing Mom at the kitchen sink finishing up the dishes from breakfast.

"She said she might stop by." I said simply. He nodded, smirking over at her. I avoided both of their stares as I went into the fridge.

"Why don't you ask her if she wants to come over for dinner." Mom chimed in. I could feel my face getting hotter, knowing it was going to be bright red by the time I popped my head back out.

"Um.. n-no, she's.. she's probably busy." I lied. I heard Jake laugh behind me.

"She's never busy. He's just too nervous."

"No I'm not." I said, finally shutting the door and leaning against the counter, tightly crossing my arms against my chest. "She just.. you know she's got a lot going on. She can't be away for too long."

"How is her mom doing?" Mom asked, drying off her hands and going over to the counter, turning around to face me. I shrugged, avoiding their eyes again.

"She doesn't really talk much about it." I muttered. I'm sure with that being the only thing she focuses on all day, every day, the few moments she had for herself (or with me), that was the last thing she wanted to talk about, and I didn't blame her.

"I just worry.." She sighed. "Every time that ambulance pulls up, I just-" I shook my head.

"Yeah.. I know. Me too."

It was terrifying.

I don't know what I would ever do if something happened to my mom.

I could only imagine what Jaime was going through, but I prayed I never had to.

"Where's Sam?" I asked, trying my best to get the attention off of me. Jake shrugged.

"Probably still sleeping. I figured you and I could go out back and see what we could get done before he woke up though, he could catch up later." I nodded, finally grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and motioning towards the back door.

Jake grabbed his guitar and started tuning as he peeked back up at me, flashing me a smug grin.

"So.. you write any more songs for her?" He asked. I rolled my eyes, trying my best to contain my smile, but knowing there was nothing to do about my obnoxiously blushing face. I hated how I could never hide how I felt about her.

There was no way she didn't know, right?

I mean.. everyone else seemed to.

"Maybe." I muttered, going over and plugging in the amps. I could hear him giggling as his guitar started to play through, dabbling with a riff he had written a few days ago.

"I don't know how she hasn't figured it out yet." He said. "You're not exactly subtle."

"What do you mean? I don't do anything.." I said, my voice trailing off. He rolled his eyes, that same smirk pressed across his lips as he continued to play.

Then my heart jumped, my head perking up as Jaime made her way into the garage, flashing me a beaming smile.

"Hey! You made it." I said, pulling her into a quick one-armed hug, trying my hardest not to be.. not subtle.

"Of course." She said. "You guys sound great from next door but it's not the same as getting to see you." I felt a pang of excitement in my gut. You. As in.. me? Me specifically?

"Where's Sam?" She asked, looking around. I shrugged, rolling my eyes.

"Who knows, honestly, probably still sleeping." I laughed. "He'll get here eventually. But he just learns along after Jake and I have everything figured out anyway." I felt my face get hot again as I heard Jake giggle to himself, peeking up at us with a smirk, his eyes moving from her and then back to me.

As if that wasn't any more subtle.

I shot him a look.

"Have you guys written anything new?" She asked, sitting down on the couch in the corner. I shrugged, teetering back and forth indecisively, never sure how to answer that question. We were always working on new songs but.. it was rare they ever felt finished.

"I think we've got something, but.. we're working through it." I said, propping my hands up onto my hips. Jake shook his head, looking up at her.

"I showed him a riff I've been working on, but he said it's not good enough." He laughed, shooting me another look. I rolled my eyes.

"It's gotta be perfect." I said, smirking back at her.

Because.. almost everything I wrote was about her.

So it had to be perfect.

Her cheeks burned as a smile escaped her lips, keeping her eyes on me. I could feel Jake looking over at us again, flashing us a smug grin. I subtly waved him off before finally breaking our stare, making my way back over to the microphone, hoping she didn't realize just how badly I was blushing now too.

"So, what do I get to hear today?" She asked.

"Well, for our biggest fan, it's listener's choice." I joked, smirking back at her.

"I'm pretty sure I'm your only fan right now." She laughed, leaning back. I scrunched up my face, feeling my heart start to beat faster.

She was the only fan I ever needed.

"Do you want to hear something or not?" I finally asked.

"You know which one I like." She said softly. I nodded, biting down on my lip, motioning to Jake.

He knew.

And then I started to sing.

She is a lady, comes from all around

So many places, but she's homeward bound

And now she walks kinda funny

I think she knows

Day by day by day

Our love grows

She's a lantern in the night

She's outta sight.