I opened the door, looking around before motioning for Jaime to follow me out.

"Now.. just tell him you have to go home so you two can finally be alone." I said, winking back at her. She sighed, shaking her head.

"Yeah, cause he's definitely gonna want to be alone with me now that he thinks we've been making out." My stomach dropped. Cause making out with me would have been the worst thing in the world?

"He knows I would never do that." I muttered. "You've been his from day one. We all know it." Her smile grew, her eyes lighting up at just the thought of being his.

As we made our way back to everyone, Josh's eyes instantly shot over to Jaime who quickly went over to him, leaning down and whispering into his ear. I kept my eyes down, trying my hardest to avoid Cait's furious glare. Josh pushed himself up from the ground, grabbing Jaime's hand and lead them both back up the steps. I watched as she followed him closely, hoping even for a second she would turn to look back at me, but she didn't.

Before I could sit down, Cait quickly got up, grabbing me by the hand and pulling me towards the stairs. I could feel my body getting hot with anger, always hating the way she pushed and pulled me in every which way, like I was some kind of rag doll. I could tell she got away with this with her other boyfriends, but I wasn't like that.

I yanked my arm away from her as she brought us outside.

"What the fuck was that?" She yelled. I could see her face getting red, her eyes starting to well up with tears. I sighed, looking away. I couldn't look at her when she started crying.

And she always cried.

Part of me felt like she did it on purpose cause she knew that was the only way to get her way with me.

"What was what?" I asked, shoving my hands into my pockets. The summer air had gotten cooler, and I could see her eyeing my flannel, just waiting for me to offer it to her. But.. I was cold too. And I knew she was just going to storm off with it. She had stolen enough of my clothes.

"You know what!" She snapped, now tightly crossing her arms. "Did you forget you have a girlfriend?!"

"Yeah, like you'd ever let me forget." I mumbled.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" I bit down on my lip, finally looking back up at her.

"Nothing." I sighed. "Nothing happened, Cait." She rolled her eyes, laughing to herself.

"Yeah right, nothing happened. Bullshit, Jake. Like you haven't been counting down the seconds until you could get her alone. Like you don't talk about her every chance you get, I swear to god if I have to hear about how great Jaime is, how cool Jaime is, how you two are such great friends.."

It felt like my body was on fire. I peeked back up at the house, making sure no one was around to hear her screaming.

"I am so sick of her! And now I'm just supposed to sit here and be okay with you making out with her? In front of me, in front of your brother who, in case you haven't noticed, is obviously in love with her, so.. you're just okay with fucking everyone over to get whatever you want, right?"

"That's not true.." I mumbled.

"Yes it is, Jake! And I.. I can't keep doing this. I shouldn't have to compete with anyone. I'm your girlfriend, I should come first. You should be talking like that about me! And if you can't well, then, I can't do this anymore." I bit down on my lip, avoiding her eyes.

"I can't do it either." I said softly.

And then she went quiet.

"You can't do it either.." She sighed, holding her glare on me.

"Cait, you and I both know this wasn't going anywhere." She shook her head, wiping her eyes.

"You know what, you're right. I'm just glad I got out early." She snapped, storming off, purposely slamming against my arm as she pushed past me, making her way back into the house. I knew she wanted me to go after her, to beg her to stay but honestly, I knew it was pointless.

It didn't take long for me to hear her car start out front, screeching as she quickly pulled out of the driveway, and sped off down the road. I couldn't be more thankful that she drove herself tonight. Nothing would have been more agonizing than that drive home.

I made my way back inside, quietly pushing through the crowd of people that still filled the kitchen and slowly trudged up the stairs, praying I didn't hear anything between Jaime and Josh before making it into my bedroom.

Thankfully, there was silence.

I plopped down onto my bed, grabbing one of my pillows and pulling it up against my chest. I wasn't sure how to feel. I knew that Cait and I were never going to work out, but it just sucked to be.. alone again, especially knowing that it was only a matter of time before Josh was the one with a girlfriend, and I was the brother left to tag along.. alone.

Reaching over, I opened my end table drawer, pulling out a photo that the three of us had taken last year. Jaime in the middle and Josh and I on either side. I was never one to smile so big in photos but then she ran over, tightly wrapping her arm around me, pulling me up against her, leaning her cheek up against mine and it just slipped out; a giddy lovestruck grin. I carefully folded the photo over, tightly creasing it down, leaving only Jaime and I visible.

I remember this day so vividly; the last day of our camping trip. Jaime's mom insisted she come with us as a way to get out of the house. She had her own tent next to Josh and I, and in the middle of the night, I rolled over to see a faint glow coming from beside us. I quietly unzipped our tent, going over to her, lightly tapping on the door. She was quiet for a moment before carefully unzipping it a bit, her face eventually relaxing when she noticed it was me.

"Jake.." She whispered. "What are you doing up?" I shrugged.

"I could ask you the same thing." She smirked up at me, opening the door a little more, motioning for me to come in. I didn't hesitate to maneuver inside, quickly shutting the door behind me.

"Can't sleep?" I asked, sitting down at the foot of her sleeping bag. She crawled back over, sticking her legs inside, pulling them up against her chest.

"No." She sighed. "You?" I shook my head, holding my stare on her.

We stayed up together that night, talking about anything and everything until the delicate glow of the early morning sun slowly crept through the walls of her tent.

"I should head back over before Josh thinks I was eaten by a bear." I giggled to myself. She nodded, her smile growing.

"We don't want that." I shook my head, but still couldn't bring myself to move.

This was all that I wanted for myself; a girl who could enjoy these things with me, the simple things, the little things. Because when it came down to it, the little things were the big things.

I jumped at the sound of gentle knocking on my door, quickly sliding the photo under my pillow.

"Hey.. you okay?" Josh whispered, peeking his head into my doorway.

"Yeah." I sighed, forcing a smile. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." My heart started beating faster. He knew me better than anyone, sometimes even more than I knew myself. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew exactly what was wrong.

"Cait and I broke up." I finally said, knowing I was going to have to explain it sooner or later.

"Oh."

"Yeah, but.. it's fine. I.. I was gonna do it anyway. Why drag it out, you know?" He nodded, now leaning in my doorway. I wondered where Jaime went. Had she actually gone home? Why was he over here with me?

"Nothing happened with Jaime." I blurted out, sitting up to face him. He nodded.

"I know." He said softly. "T-thanks."

"Sure."

He held his stare on me for a moment, and I could tell.. there was something bothering him.

"You didn't.. want anything to happen, right?" He asked. My heart dropped. He knew. He had to know. I played the whole night back through my mind, wondering where and how I could've slipped up, said s little too much, been a little too friendly. I bit down on my lip, contemplating just.. telling him. Telling him before anything got too serious between the two of them. Maybe.. he'd be selfless too and.. we'd both just agree that.. neither of us should date her.

But that would just be selfish of me.

She wanted him, and that had nothing to do with me.

"No." I finally said. "I know how you feel about her."

"Right.."

"She really likes you, Josh." I muttered. "So.. don't fuck it up." He finally nodded, smiling back at me.

"Got it. Thanks." He said, moving out of the doorframe, but still hesitating in the hallway.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked. I nodded, forcing another smile.

"Promise." I lied.

I waited until I heard his door close behind him before reaching back under my pillow, pulling out the photo of the two of us again.