Jake lingered for a moment, staying silent as he held his stare on me until he finally leaned in for one more kiss. I didn't hesitate to reach up, tightly wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him in closer to me, kissing him back harder.

When he finally backed away, I wiped my eyes, forcing as much of a smile as I could manage.

"Now.. go be great." I sighed. He nodded.

"I will." He said, and after one more quick kiss, he slowly made his way back across the yard, towards their van.

Watching him walk away felt surreal.

I couldn't imagine what life without him looked like.

What was I supposed to do now?

It felt like a piece of me was already missing.

As much as I didn't want to see him physically drive away, I knew I would hate myself if I let a second go by of him still being here where I wasn't with him. I hopped down from the table, quickly running after him.

"Wait!" I yelled. He instantly stopped, wiping his eyes again as he turned around to face me, reaching out his hand. I tightly grabbed it, pulling him in closer, holding onto his his arm with my other hand. He leaned down, kissing the top of my head as he lead us down the driveway towards the van where I could see the rest of the guys had finally finished packing up, slamming the back doors shut.

Danny hopped into the driver's seat, followed by Sam in the passenger. Josh hung back for a moment before hopping into the back. I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldn't look away as Jake gently caressed my face, pulling me back into a long kiss.

"I'm gonna miss you so much." He sighed, leaning his forehead against mine. "But I promise, I'll call you as soon as we get to the venue, and we'll talk every night. I can't wait to tell you all about everything. You're gonna get so sick of me." He laughed. Finally a genuine smile escaped my lips.

"I will never get sick of you. Call me whenever you want, as much as you want." He nodded, biting down on his lip.

"Okay."

By now more tears filled my eyes, my chest feeling tight again as I reached up, pulling him back into another series of kisses. I just couldn't accept that it was really it.

"I love you." I sighed, just needing him to hear it as much as possible. His smile grew.

"And I love you." He said. "I'll see you soon, okay?" I nodded, watching as he finally climbed into the backseat of the van behind Josh, holding his stare on me for just a few more seconds before shutting the door behind him.

And just like that.. they were gone.

"You're still my best friend." Jaime said, and my heart sunk. Best friend. What did that even mean? We barely even talked anymore. Every second she could, she spent with Jake.

Never did I think I would ever be so jealous of my own brother. Jake, nonetheless. He was supposed to be my best friend.

I felt my cheeks burn as tears filled my eyes. How could she not realize just how much this was killing me?

"Josh.." She sighed, tears filling her eyes now too. At least she felt something. There was no way that everything between us could have just disappeared like that, could it? Because I knew for me.. it was never going to go away.

And that killed me the most.

"Jaime, this is just.. this isn't how I thought we'd be saying goodbye. I.. I never thought I would ever have to say goodbye to you, but now it's like.. I don't know.. I just feel like when we come back.. you won't even recognize me anymore, like.. everything is moving so fast and.. it's happening without me." My heart jumped as she reached up, gently running her fingers through my hair.

"Speaking of recognizing you.." She said, a smile escaping her lips. I felt my heart beat faster, the same way it always did when she smiled.

"Did you do this for me?"

"I just wanted you to notice me again." I sighed.

"I always notice you." She said softly. "You're.. so easy to notice. And.. I'm sure there will be thousands of girls who will notice you, every single night.."

I didn't care how many girls there were.

I would never see anyone else but her.

"Really?" I asked, my cheeks burning red.

"Of course I do, you're.. you." What did that mean? I held my stare on her, my eyes moving down to her lips. I had never felt anywhere close to how I felt when I kissed her, and what I would give to kiss her again.

"You know I don't care about that, Jaime" I said softly.

"Yeah, you say that now. A single guy on tour-" A single guy. I never wanted to be a single guy, let alone a single guy on tour. All I wanted was her to come home to.

"That wasn't my choice." I muttered, trying my best to contain my tears again.

"I'm sorry." She reached up, grabbing onto my arm like she used to. I loved when she held me. I felt like I could do anything.

And I would, for her.

"You're the only one I have ever wanted to impress." I sighed, staring back at her with dazed eyes.

"Well.. you always have." My eyes moved back down to her lips as I leaned my forehead against hers. I moved cautiously, never wanting to make her uncomfortable, but she seemed to welcome everything, as if wanting me just as much.

I carefully reached up, holding her face in my hands, staring back into her eyes; those big, beautiful eyes. How I ever managed to find my way back after getting lost in those hypnotic eyes was beyond me, but I fell for it every time.

I then slowly leaned in, waiting for any sign from her that she didn't want me to, but.. she never did. And then suddenly her lips met mine, and it felt like my heart was going to combust. I quickly pulled away, gently running my fingers down her cheek before I pushed it too far.

"Goodbye, Jaime." I finally said, running my fingers through her hair, pulling her in and kissing her forehead. It felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest and left out here in the backyard. I moved away as more tears came to her eyes, not able to see her like that. Nothing killed me more than seeing her cry.

But something told me that those tears weren't entirely for me.

I made my way towards the van, seeing Sam and Danny finishing up shoving the suitcases into the back, slamming the door behind them. Looking around, I could see Jake standing back, his eyes sad as he looked around, no doubt searching for any sign of Jaime.

And then like clockwork, he picked up the phone, not on it for more than a minute before shoving it back into his pocket and quickly making his way into the backyard.

Figures she was saving her final goodbye for him.

While I still had time, I ran back into the house and up the stairs, skipping two steps at a time to get to my room, looking through my desk.

Where was it? I knew I had it here somewhere.

I kept rummaging through my drawers until finally I found the necklace Jaime had given me for my birthday years ago. A simple thin, gold chain. I remember I had told her that I had never really had any real jewelry. I could only imagine how much she had to save up, just to get this for me. And because it was from her, that made it the best birthday gift in the world.

And I needed to have it with me.

I needed her with me.

I made my way back outside and over to the van, leaning up against it, waiting for Jake to get back. But knowing them, we were probably going to be late.

Soon enough, they walked out together through the back gate, hand in hand as she tightly clung to his arm. He leaned down, kissing the top of her head as he lead them them down the driveway towards the van.

Danny hopped into the driver's seat and Sam followed, claiming the passenger's side like always, but I hung back for a moment, despite knowing how much it would kill me to hear anything, I just wasn't ready to leave yet.

"I'm gonna miss you so much." Jake said softly, leaning his forehead against hers. "But I promise, I'll call you as soon as we get to the venue, and we'll talk every night. I can't wait to tell you all about everything. You're gonna get so sick of me." He laughed. She finally smiled through the tears. I'm glad someone was able to make her smile.

"I will never get sick of you. Call me whenever you want, as much as you want." She said. He nodded, biting down on his lip.

"Okay."

And then she reached up, pulling him into a series of kisses.

"I love you." She sighed. I had heard enough, finally climbing into the backseat.

"And I love you." He said. "I'll see you soon, okay?" And then he climbed into the van after me, holding his stare on her for just a few more seconds before shutting the door behind him, keeping his eyes out the window on her until we drove away.

And what felt like a second later, he turned his body towards the door, hiding his face away from us into his pillow pressed up against the window, trying his best to muffle his cries.

They truly were each other's.