We walked back in silence, him slowing his pace to stay even with mine, but I knew he couldn't wait to get back home. And neither could I, but.. for a different reason.

I peeked down at his hand that he always left readily available to me, just in case, but I kept mine shoved in my pockets, my arms tight against my sides, trying my best to keep out the chill from the night air.

As we made our way back up the driveway, I followed him up to their backdoor when he stopped, turning back to face me, as if for just a moment, forgetting that Jake was waiting for me upstairs. His face dropped as he went inside, letting me in past him. I quickly made my way through the kitchen and up the stairs, wanting to get to Jake's room before he had to see me go in.

I knocked on the door, already opening it before he could answer. He turned to face me, his guitar on his lap as he flashed me a wide grin. I couldn't help but smile, shutting the door behind me, plopping down on his bed.

"Everything alright?" He asked simply, but I knew how much he wanted to pry. I nodded.

"Mhm.." I said, kicking off my shoes and crawling over to him, pulling him in, kissing his cheek. His eyes instantly shot down to Josh's shirt. My cheeks burned.

"W-what did you guys talk about?" He casually strummed, keeping his eyes down, trying his hardest not to come off like he cared as much as he did. I wouldn't be surprised if he was at his window the whole time watching us. I nonchalantly slid off the flannel, placing it over his desk chair.

"Us." I said, leaning my head on his shoulder. He stopped, peeking up at me.

"Us, you mean.. you and him?" I nodded.

"Well.. what about you and him?" I reached up, gently running my fingers through his hair.

"Nothing, because.. there is no me and him, there's only me and you." His smile grew as his cheeks burned red.

"Did he.. try anything with you?" He asked, continuing to strum again. I shook my head.

"No, but.. I think he wanted to." He stopped again.

"But nothing-"

"Nothing happened. I promise."

"Okay." He sighed, gently caressing my cheek, pulling me into a tender kiss.

I couldn't even begin to explain how much I was going to miss kissing him. It was all I thought about when I wasn't, amongst.. other things.

I reached over, grabbing onto his shirt, pulling him in closer as I kissed him back harder, feeling his lips curl into a smile. He moved away, leaning his forehead against mine.

"What were you playing?" I asked. He smirked back at me, pulling me into one more quick kiss.

"Well, since you took forever to come back.. I was just.. learning this for you." I moved away, letting him play again. My heart jumped as he started to sing.

Wise men say

Only fools rush in

But I can't help falling in love with you

Shall I stay?

Would it be a sin

If I can't help falling in love with you?

Our song.

Just when I thought my love couldn't get any deeper.

And then it hit me again.

In a matter of hours.. he would be gone.

I cuddled closer to him, keeping my eyes on him as he played despite how he always kept his head down. I wanted to remember this. I wanted to remember everything. Who knew this song could sound even more beautiful, but everything was so beautiful when he came from him.

As he finished, he finally peeked up at me, leaning in, gently kissing my forehead.

"Hey.." He whispered, gently wiping my eyes that had begin welling up with tears. "W-what's wrong?" I looked away, knowing that the look in his eyes would only make this worse.

I missed him so much and he wasn't even gone yet.

"Nothing." I sighed, forcing a smile. "That was beautiful. You're.. so talented. Everyone is gonna love you." He held his stare on me for a moment before leaning into another gentle kiss.

"You know that you're the only one that really matters, right?" I wiped my eyes again, another smile escaping my lips.

"You're sweet, but.. they all matter too. And.. you deserve for them to love you. You deserve the world, Jake, and.. I'm so glad you're finally gonna get it." I felt more tears coming to my eyes.

"I'm gonna be home before you know it, I promise." He said, holding my face in his hands again. "And when I do, I'm gonna do everything I can to help you get ready for school because you're gonna get in, and you're gonna be amazing, and one day I'm gonna get to see our love story made into a movie, and.. that's gonna be because of you."

I reached up, wrapping my arm around his neck, pulling him in closer again. I could feel every second going by, each one bringing us that much closer to sunrise, that much closer to him being gone.

I just couldn't stop crying, no matter how hard I tried, and I hated myself for it. I only had so many hours left and I was spending them miserable. All I wanted was just one more perfect night with him, but I just couldn't stop.

"Jaime, please.." He whispered, gently kissing me again. "It's gonna be okay, I promise, I-"

"I don't want you to go." I cried, feeling my chest get tighter. He stopped, his face dropping as he stared back at me.

"Jaime.."

"I.. I'm sorry, but.. I don't. After all this time, all this time we could have been together and we just.. weren't, and now everything is perfect and.. and you're leaving. And.. I just can't."

"I know, and.. I'm sorry, and I hate it but.. it's gonna be okay, I promise, nothing is going to-"

"Jake, please don't go."

I knew it wasn't fair, asking this of him. This was his dream, this had always been his dream, and I knew that, but.. we had always been my dream, and the idea of that now being hundreds of miles away, doing god knows what with god knows who. I couldn't do how many months of this. I could barely handle the thought of it, how was I supposed to handle this?

"Come with me." He sighed, gently tangling his fingers in my hair, pulling me in closer.

"I can't." I muttered, now hating the hand that I had been dealt. In a perfect world, I could have gone with him no problem. Why did it have to be my Mom? I had already lost my Dad, what could I have possibly done to deserve this? The both of them? And now I had to stay here to take care of her. What about me? I finally had someone willing and wanting to take care of me, but he had to leave me too.

It wasn't fair.

"Don't go." I whispered again, pulling him into a long kiss. I felt him kiss me back instantly, his grip on me getting tighter as he pulled me onto his lap.

"Jaime.. please don't ask that of me." He sighed, gently wiping my eyes again. He stared back at me, but not with the same beautiful eyes that I had fallen so deeply in love with. These were dark and barren, sad and heartbroken.

It only made it hurt even more.

"Why not?" I managed, my breaths getting heavier as my heart beat faster. All I wanted was to be okay, to spend our last moments together in nothing but overwhelming waves of love, crashing hard against the shore, being pushed and pulled with the strongest undertow.

"Because.. then I won't." He said.

My stomach dropped.

Knowing the fact, that just like that, he was willing to give it all up for me.. was more than enough for me to never let him.

I wiped my eyes again, trying to calm myself down as much as I could.

"I'm.. I'm sorry." I cried. "I.. I don't want to ruin this for you, I just-"

"Jaime, you could never ruin this for me." He said, pulling me back into a long, tender kiss. I reached up, tangling my fingers in his hair, kissing him back harder as I felt his arms slowly wrap themselves around me, carefully moving me back onto his bed.

"Jaime, if you really need me to stay.. then I will, just.. say the word and-"

"No." I said, quickly cutting him off. "You have to go." He held his stare on me for a moment, finally nodding, pulling me back into a passionate kiss.