I had never been on an airplane before.

I quickly followed Leah and Ayla as they made their way through the airport, their loud suitcases effortlessly gliding across the floor like they had done this a hundred times. I guess other families travelled much more than I assumed.

Vacations were rare for us, and when we did go, it was only to places where we could drive. I remember the long hours in the backseat with my books and my dad's old CD player, listening to whatever CD's he had packed for me while the two of them sat in the front, holding hands, sharing the occasional flirtatious glance.

I couldn't wait for the day I could take my own family on a vacation. I didn't have any siblings so the backseat got lonely sometimes.

"Do you have your ticket?" Leah asked, turning back to me, showing me her phone. She was nice, her and Sam practically always attached at the hip. We had never spoken much at parties but I always preferred her company over anyone Jake ever brought home.

Probably for more obvious reasons though.

"I think so." I said, showing her my phone. She took it, flipping through, eventually nodding.

"Yeah, Sam does all of my stuff too. He's good at that kind of thing so, that makes it much easier for me." She laughed. "Okay, so you're next to us. Perfect."

They could tell I had never done anything like this before.

I was thankful not to have to do it alone.

And that Sam chose someone so kind.

All I really wanted was to call Jake, but Sam had insisted on making it a surprise, so I decided to go along with it. But I knew that just having him to talk to would make this so much easier. My phone had been off all day, needing to conserve as much battery as I could, just in case. I wondered if he had tried to call. Hopefully he didn't think I was ignoring him.

Leah lead us over towards our gate number where we sat and waited to board.

"So.." She started, smirking over at me. "I can't believe it finally happened." I felt my cheeks burn.

"W-what?" I asked. She shrugged, her smile growing.

"You and Jake." I bit down on my lip, trying to contain my smile.

"Finally?" I asked, as if they had all been waiting for this. I saw her nudge Ayla, motioning over towards me.

"He never shut up about you." She laughed. "I don't know how the other girlfriends managed to stand it, because I know if Sam.." She stopped, peeking back over at me. "Let's just say if I ever heard Sam talk about another girl the way Jake used to talk about you, well.. I wouldn't be here right now." My heart jumped, now unable to hold in my giddy grin.

"What did he say?"

"What didn't he say?" Ayla laughed, now chiming in. "No matter what we did.. 'Oh, Jaime would love this, oh, Jaime is so good at this, remember last summer when we went here with Jaime?' It was.. adorable actually. But.. I felt for those girls. I couldn't imagine having to sit there while my boyfriend talked about someone else like that, let alone his own brother's-" Leah quickly nudged her, shooting her wide eyes.

"What?" I finally asked, feeling my heart beat faster. Leah hesitated for a moment before finally turning back to me.

"It's just that.. well, we never knew how to handle it considering.. well, you and Josh, I mean.. it was obvious. We all just kinda shrugged Jake off whenever he said anything like that because.. well.. you were with Josh."

"We.. really weren't together, not until recently." I muttered, avoiding her eyes.

"But.. you were." She said. "Even if it wasn't official.. you still were."

I guess she was right.

"I know that everyone always gets hung up on 'titles' and whatnot but.. titles don't really matter.. not if the people in them don't let it matter." She said, giving me a gentle smile. I knew this went both ways. Despite the fact that Jake always technically had a girlfriend.. he never acted like he did.

"So.. you guys were around him with his other girlfriends.." I said, still deciding whether or not I even wanted to pry. "Was he.. I mean, well.. how was he-"

"Jaime, they always came second to you. Whether he even realized it or not." Ayla laughed. "We always joked about, if somehow, one day he managed to pull you.. that would be it." My heart jumped again.

That would be it?

"You know how they say, a guy knows right away if he's going to marry a girl.. well, those girls never stood a chance, not with you in the picture. And.. they learned that pretty quick." Leah then looked down at my hand, her eyes getting wide as they stopped on my finger.

"And by the looks of it.." She giggled. "Someone already knows."

I quickly covered my hand, feeling my body get hot.

"It's not.. it's not like that, it's just-"

"I think it's exactly like that." Ayla laughed, playfully showing me her bare hands. "Normal girls don't just get a ring if it's not like that."

"He just.. he wanted us to have something to show.. that we had someone when we were apart." I said softly.

"So he's wearing one too?" Leah said, her eyes getting wide. "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day. He barely even used the word girlfriend, let alone played husband with the other girls. I think we may have to talk to the guys." She said, turning to Ayla.

"I think so, cause now Jake is making them all look bad."

I couldn't help but smile, now twirling my ring around my finger. I always knew I got lucky when it came to him, but I never imagined like this. I just couldn't wait to see him again.

I closely followed behind Leah and Ayla as they lead us through the airport towards the pick-up area out front.

"Did they say who was gonna meet us?" I asked, trying my best to keep up with them.

"Yeah, Sam said him and Danny are gonna meet us out front and then they're gonna take us to the venue." Part of me envied the fact that they would get to see their boyfriends sooner, but I knew it was only a matter of time. And it was nice enough of Sam to do all of this for me, so if he wanted it to be a surprise, then I could play along.

We didn't have to wait long until a dark grey van pulled up in front of us, two familiar faces flashing us wide grins from the front seat. They didn't hesitate to hop out, greeting the girls with a quick kiss before grabbing their bags and tossing them into the backseat. I subtly looked around for any sign of him, hoping maybe Sam changed his mind, but no such luck.

"Oh, he's gonna be so excited." Sam said, grabbing my bag before pulling me into a quick one-armed hug. "I can't believe we actually got this to work."

"Thanks again." I said. He shook his head, shrugging it off.

"Oh no, Jaime. Thank you." He laughed. "Maybe now with you here he'll actually be bearable."

"What do you mean?" I asked, hopping into the backseat. He shut the door behind me, climbing back into the driver's side.

He hesitated for a moment, checking all the mirrors before finally pulling out.

"He's just.. it's just really good that you're here, Jaime. He misses you." I could tell there was more he wasn't telling me but I decided not to push it.

"We were just talking about all the times Jake would just look for reasons to bring up Jaime when we were all hanging out." Leah laughed, playfully reaching for him through the seat. His smile grew as he peeked back at me.

"Oh, you heard about that huh?" He said. "Yeah.. it was probably for the best that you and Josh were off doing your own thing. Honestly, I don't know how the rest of us didn't pick up on it sooner."

"Speak for yourself." Ayla chimed in. "All of the girls knew. Especially Jake's girlfriends." Sam nodded, giggling to himself.

"Yeah, he really wasn't very.. considerate when it came to that. But.. he really spoke highly of you. I guess we all just.. thought you were really good friends."

"Again.." Leah laughed. "Speak for yourself. You guys are so oblivious. Why don't guys ever pick up on these things?"

"Well, I never had any idea." I said softly, now looking out the window.

When we finally pulled up to the venue, I could feel my heart beating faster. I couldn't get in there soon enough, but also part of me wondered which Jake I would be walking into. I know that Josh had said that tour had been hard on them, but I could only hope that he could put that behind him, at least for a few minutes.

I just needed to hold him again.

"Where is he-"

"Chances are he's in the back room. He doesn't really.. socialize with the other bands much. He really just spends the day playing until we go on." That made me sad, knowing just how social Jake usually was.

I think that was one thing that I always admired, but was also intimidated by when it came to him. He was able to talk to anyone, was always the life of the party, turning heads in every room he walked into. I guess that was why I never thought I had a chance.

No one's head turned when I walked through the door.

"Now, I know how much you want to see him.." Sam giggled. "But.. I think we should be a little dramatic, after everything he's put us through."

"What are you thinking?" I asked, smirking back up at him.

"We're going on soon so.. here. Give me your bag. You wait in the wings. He should be out soon." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a lanyard and placed it over my head.

"This is so they don't kick you out." He said. "If anyone says anything to you, just say you're with us and show them this. They won't bother you."

"Wow, look at you guys. You have passes now?" He nodded, rolling his eyes as he playfully shoved me away.

"Yeah, don't get crazy. We're the opener. It won't get you too far."

"Still impressive." He nodded, holding his stare on me.

"It is cool." He sighed. "Okay, you wait here.." I nodded, watching as he lead the girls down towards their dressing room.

"Did you know that Jake got her a ring?" I heard as they made their way down the hall. I couldn't help but smile as Sam playfully shoved her away, before instantly pulling her back in, wrapping his arm around her and kissing the top of her head. It was nice to see him so happy.

Looking around, I couldn't believe I was here. I couldn't believe they were here. I know we had talked about it our entire lives, but here I was, now waiting backstage at a venue that wasn't in our hometown. They had done it, and even though it was just the first step, I was so proud of them.

I was proud of him.

People came and went, all without giving me a second look as they carried on, filling the wings with freshly tuned instruments. It was so interesting to see just how much went into putting on a show like this. I could already tell, we were a long way from home.

"And who are you?" I heard from behind me. I quickly turned around, my face now inches away from him. He had pitch black hair and piercing green eyes that never once strayed away from mine, his lips curling into a playful grin.

"I'm Jaime." I muttered, feeling my cheeks burn. He nodded, holding his hand out. I hesitated for a moment before finally taking it.

"Well hi there Jaime." He said, gently shaking it. "I'm Liam. And.. what do you do here?" He looked down at my lanyard, now inspecting it.

"O-oh, no I.. um.. I'm here with a band." He nodded again, his smile growing.

"Oh, what a coincidence. Me too. How have we never met before? What do you play?"

"No, I um.. I don't play anything, I'm not in the band, I just.. I'm with-" And then I felt my heart jump as I heard familiar voices making their way down the hall.

I would know that voice anywhere.

I pulled my hand away as they turned the corner.

"Well.. hopefully I see you around, Jaime." He said, flashing me a smile before heading backstage. I nodded, keeping my eyes on the doorway as one by one Sam and Danny lead their girlfriends through the wings, followed by Josh and then finally Jake.

I couldn't help but smile, my body now feeling like it was on fire. It was taking everything in me now to run over to him right now, but I'm sure Sam wanted to wait to see how long it took for Jake to realize on his own that I was here.

The rest of them hung together on the other side as Jake slowly made his way over, grabbing his guitar from the rack and lifting it over his head. I leaned back against the wall, trying my hardest to contain my laughter as he began to strum along, pacing back and forth.

"Looking good." I finally said.

"Thanks." He sighed, keeping his eyes down as he brushed me off. I bit down on my lip, trying my hardest to contain my grin, now knowing he didn't even entertain compliments from anyone else. And then he stopped, his head slowly perking up as he turned back to face me.

"Jaime.." He exhaled, quickly grabbing his guitar and tossing it back onto the rack, running over and pulling me into a tight hug, spinning me around. I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him tight, hiding my face in his neck.

"You're here.." He sighed, as he finally let me down. I nodded, wiping the tears from my eyes as I held his face in my hands, pulling him into a passionate kiss.

There was so much I wanted to say, but nothing came out. I was just so relieved to feel home again.