The Weight of Dreams || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 20: Friends

I quickly backed away.
"W-we should go in." I said, looking down at our hands.
"You sure?" He sighed. I peeked up at him, seeing him still holding his dazed stare on me.
"I.. um.. yeah. Let's go." I grabbed his hand and reached for the door, leading him out. Looking around, there was no one. It was the first time in a long time there was.. absolute silence. 

It was eerily comforting. 

"I bet you haven't experienced this in a while." He said, smiling down at me, gently swinging our hands. "Welcome to our world, where no one cares." He laughed. I smiled back up at him. He looked so beautiful under the glow of the streetlights. He stared back at me, biting down on his lip.

"Juliette.. can we talk?" He asked. I felt my heart start to race.
"About what?" He looked down at our hands, still swinging them back and forth as he leaned up against the side of the bar.
"About.. you and Jake." He said quietly. My stomach dropped.

"What about me and Jake?"
"He really likes you, Juliette." He sighed. "Like.. really likes you. And.. I can tell that us being like this.. really hurts him. He'll never admit it, but I know it does." I stared back at him, feeling my heart race. He gently let go of my hand and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"And.. I can't do that to him." He said, now looking down at his feet. "I'm sorry."

My heart dropped and I felt my body go cold.
"Sam, I-"
"And I know you feel the same way about him too. So, it's okay. I know this, us, whatever this is, is just so other people don't catch on to you two, but.. he should be the one here with you right now. Not me. And don't worry, no one will ever know. Not from me, anyway." He said, peeking up at me, giving me a small smile. I felt like I was going to be sick. I wanted to tell him how I really felt. About him. But nothing came out.

"But.. but in the car.. you were..we-" He bit his lip, nodding.
"I shouldn't have been like that. I'm sorry. We're friends, and I don't want to ruin that." My heart sunk. Friends.

I could feel tears come to my eyes. I quickly blinked them away, looking out towards the parking lot. What was taking them all so long? Of course the one time I didn't want to be alone with him, they were late.

"Yeah." I snapped, looking away from him. "You're right. We're just friends. That's it."
"Juliette?" He asked, leaning towards me. I shook my head.
"No. You're right. I do like Jake." I said sternly, feeling my cheeks burn. "It's fine. We're fine."
"I'm.. I'm confused because.. it really doesn't sound fine. Juliette, I thought this is what you wa-"
"It is what I want. Glad we feel the same." I wiped my eyes again.
"Y-yeah." He said, his voice sinking. "Me too, I guess." 

There were a few minutes of silence before the bus finally pulled up. Tony stepped out first, followed by Amy, then Josh, Danny, and finally Jake, who flashed me a big smile.
"There you are." He said, he went to reach over but hesitated. I leaned in close.
"It's okay." I said, sliding my hand into his. His smile grew as he intertwined our fingers.

"Come on, it's time to party!" I called out, pulling Jake inside.
"Oh, thank god. She's having fun tonight!" Tony cheered. "Whatever you did, good job." He said, patting Sam on the back.

When we got inside, it was much louder than I expected, but still not nearly as crazy as a club. I turned to Jake.
"Can you get me a drink?" I asked, leaning in close. He nodded.
"Of course, what do you want?" 
"Whatever you're having." I said, smiling up at him. His cheeks burned as he went up to the bar. I followed Amy over to the couches towards the back, plopping down.

"So what happened with Sam?" She asked, leaning in.
"Nothing." I snapped, looking away. "Absolutely nothing. And nothing is going to happen." She backed away, staring at me wide eyed.
"Juliette, what happened?" She said softly into my ear. I shook my head, doing everything in my power to keep my eyes away from Sam who went with Jake up to the bar.