"You said it."

"Yeah.. I guess I did." He sighed, playfully rolling his eyes. "Look what you've done to me, you've made me soft." I couldn't help but smile, feeling my cheeks burn as I pulled him into another gentle kiss.

"You've always been soft." I whispered. "For me, at least." He smirked back at me, scrunching up his face.

"Maybe." He said, rubbing his nose against mine. "But.. don't tell anyone."

"Your secret is safe with me."

"Come on, let's head back before this thing comes crashing down." He laughed, taking my hand and helping me back down to the ground. I loved that we were going down together this time instead of him running off without me.

The walk back felt different.

I was his and he was mine and now..

Now everyone would know.

"W-what were.. you gonna say?" He finally asked, peeking down at me. I felt my body get hot, now feeling better about it considering he had said it first. I looked back up at him.

"That I love you." His eyes instantly lit up as he leaned in for another kiss.

"So you're soft too." He giggled. I nodded, leaning my head against his arm as we continued back.

"I guess I am."

When we finally reached the house, he motioned towards his back door.

"Now.. I know what we've talked about but.. it would.. kinda mean a lot to me if.. you'd stay in my bed tonight." He said, gently pulling me towards him. As much as I wanted to fight him on it, after everything he had done for me.. I don't think I could anymore. I owed him that much.

After all, he was my boyfriend now.

"Okay." I finally said, giving him a gentle smile. He stopped, his anxious face relaxing into an excited grin.

"Really?" He asked. I nodded. He hesitated for a moment before pulling me into another long kiss.

"But.. we need to talk about something." I sighed. He held his stare on me, eventually nodding.

"Okay." He said softly. "What is it?"

"I think.. you know what it is." He was quiet, nodding again.

"I think so too."

"You have no idea how happy I am to be your girlfriend, but.. that doesn't mean I don't care about his feelings. I.. I want us to be.. us, but.. I never want it to seem like we're rubbing it in his face. I promise not to act like.. we're hiding anything but.. you have to be able to give me that. Okay?" He nodded, his smile growing.

"Okay." He said, kissing me again. "So.. what does that mean then?" I bit down on my lip, thinking for a moment.

"That means.. at least.. for right now, while it's still fresh, we.. we shouldn't be.. physical with each other in front of him." His face dropped.

"Nothing at all?"

"Jake, I just-"

"Okay, let's compromise." He said. "No kissing, but.. I can still touch you. I can hold your hand, I can have my arm around you, I can do those little things that boyfriends like to do-"

"I've never seen you do those things with your other girlfriends." I smirked. He smiled back.

"Jaime.."

"Jake, I-"

"I think that's fair." He said plainly. I held my stare on him, knowing that was he was asking for was more than fair.

"Okay fine." I said softly, avoiding his eyes. He instantly tilting my chin back up to face him. "But-"

"Here we go." He laughed, his smile growing.

"But.. we can't exclude him either. We can all still.. go out as a group, and.. him and I.. we can still hang out as friends." I could tell he wasn't happy about this.

"But he can't touch you when you're together." He said. "In any way that would be.. inappropriate for someone who's not your boyfriend to touch you."

"You mean like you did." I laughed. He tried his best to contain his smile, shaking his head.

"Exactly."

"That's a little hypocritical, don't you think?"

"Jaime.."

"He won't do that." I finally said.

"Okay."

"And one more thing.." I added.

"Of course." He laughed.

"I'll stay in your room tonight, but.. I think it's best if we stay at my house when we can. It's not fair to him to have to deal with that in his own house. Especially if.. we have somewhere else we can go."

"Can we.. rotate?"

"A few times at my house for every one at yours."

"How many is a few times, Jaime." He giggled to himself. "We have to be specific."

"You're lucky we get to sleep over at all. We'll.. figure this out as we go along." He scrunched up his face again.

"Fine." He finally sighed. "But tonight.."

"But tonight I'll stay with you." I said, following him closely as he eagerly lead towards the back door.

He peeked his head into the kitchen, looking around before pulling me in, quickly guiding me down the hallway and up the stairs where he peeked around again to make sure the coast was clear. As I made my way into his room, I could hear a door open behind me when he quickly pushed me further in, shutting the door before anyone could see.

"Hey, what are you doing home?" Josh asked. My stomach dropped as I listened closely at the door. "I figured you'd be out all night."

"Oh, um.. n-no. No, just heading to bed."

"Oh.. okay." He said softly. There was a moment of silence between them, and even from behind the door, it was excruciating.

"Hey, um.. can I tell you something?" Jake finally said. My heart sunk. He was really going to do this now? It couldn't at least wait until tomorrow?

"Y-yeah.. what is it?" He was quiet again.

"I just.. I thought I should tell you so.. it wasn't like I.. wasn't telling you, but.. I.. um.. I asked Jaime to be my girlfriend tonight. And.. and she said yes."

It was so quiet I would be shocked if Josh couldn't hear my nervous breaths from behind the door.

"Oh.." He finally managed.

"Y-yeah, so.. I.. I don't want it to be awkward, you know, with all of us.. she.. she doesn't want to upset you, and.. well, neither do I of course, but.."

"Right."

"I.. I need you to know that.. she's.. she's not like the other girls. And I know that.. well, you two.. you've had something special.. practically our whole lives but.. her and I did too, and.. I love her. And I would never do anything to hurt her. And.. she still needs you.. as her best friend, I can tell, she misses you, especially in that sense, so if you could give that to her, that would mean a lot."

"Mhm.." He muttered.

"Look, I'm.. I'm sorry it happened this way, but-"

"Y-yeah, um.. no, it's.. it's okay. Thanks for telling me. I'm.. I'm happy for you.. if she's happy."

"Yeah, I.. I think she is." Jake said softly. Despite everything, I couldn't help but smile, leaning up against the door, knowing he was saying these things completely aware that I could hear everything.

"How did you ask her?"

"Well, she told me a story about how her dad held a boom box outside of her mom's window, and played her her favorite song, so.. I did that for her." There was silence again.

"Thank you for doing something special for her. She really appreciates things like that, probably more than you know."

"She deserves them." Jake added. My heart jumped.

"She does."

I wondered how much longer they were going to let this drag out, but I'm sure Jake was just trying to kill time before Josh went back in his room. For all I knew, this could go on all night.

"I'm always going to be here for her." Josh said sternly. I could hear Jake now leaning back against the door.

"I know. I hope that you are. And I'm sure she is too. And.. I know she's always going to be there for you too."

"Cause when you hurt her again-"

"I'm not gonna hurt her." Jake snapped. They were quiet again.

"I hope you're right." He said, and then I heard footsteps, and the sound of his door closing. Jake waited a minute before eventually opening his door, quickly maneuvering inside. By now I had already made my way over to his bed, sitting down on the edge of it, staring back up at him.

"You had to tell him tonight?" I asked. He came over, sitting down close to me.

"If I hadn't, it would have seemed like I was keeping it from him. And.. despite everything, he's the one I've always told.. everything to. Him and I.. we've never had any secrets and now it's like.. I can't even tell him about the best thing that's ever happened to me because-"

"One of the best things." I laughed, leaning into a quick kiss. He bit down on his lip, holding his stare on me.

"I meant what I said." He said softly, taking off his blazer and hanging it up on the back of his door.

"Jake.." He peeked back a me, giving me a gentle smile as he continued getting changed into his sweats, pulling my old t-shirt over his head and crawling back into bed.

"Can you come here?" He sighed, reaching out for me. It was embarrassing how little it took to instantly draw me right back into him. I quickly crawled over, cuddling under his blankets, wrapping my arm around him. He pulled me in close, kissing my forehead until his lips curled into a smile.

"I love you." He whispered, his lips moving down to my cheek, and eventually to my lips where he kissed me harder, his hand moving up, caressing my face.

When he said it, it already felt so familiar, so comfortable, like we should have been telling each other for years. Eventually his kisses became even more gentle, his grip loosening as he cuddled closer, lightly draping one leg over mine. I nuzzled my face into his neck, knowing it was only a matter of time before I drifted off to sleep, comforted by the sweet smell of his cologne fading into the soothing smell of just him, and the gentle touch of his fingers lightly brushing against my skin, tracing the subtle curves of my spine, up and down my back, but not before reassuring him of the easiest promise I've ever made.

"I love you."