Author's Note: I got one request for Jake saying I love you for the first time and another one just asking for some Jake fluff in general. Figured I could easily make these into one fic. No smut (shocker I know) but figured it's okay since my next fic is FILTHY. I hope you all enjoy!
Word Count: 2763
Warnings: Literally none. Jake is a sweetheart. There is some awful flirting though. (I'm a classics major I only know how to flirt with history nerds)
Song to Listen to While Reading:
.•° ✿ °•.❁.•° ✿ °•.
“Hey, Jake?” You call out, grabbing your keys from their hook on the wall as you slip your shoes on.
“Yeah?” Jake’s face peeks out from around the corner to look at you, chestnut locks falling in messy waves on either side of his face.
“Since you’re so insistent on following me around today,” you say with a smile, turning to grab your purse from the kitchen table, “would you be so kind as to come with me on an errand?”
“Sure!” He nods enthusiastically, stepping fully into the room with a wide smile on his face. “I love car rides.”
You just shake your head fondly at him as he practically skips across the kitchen to follow you out the door.
Jake had arrived at your door earlier this morning, a coffee cup in hand and a glimmer in his eye as he’d announced his plan to spend the day with you.
“Well, I don’t really have anything fun planned to do today…” You’d hedged, trying to ignore the butterflies that erupted in your stomach at the knowledge that he wanted to spend time with you.
“So?” He had shoved past you and walked into your house as if it were his own place and plopped himself down on your sofa. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. We can just have a chill day.”
He’d kept true to his word, content to just spend time in your presence as you went about your boring Saturday. He’d gone with you to walk your dog and then had sat next to you as you folded laundry – all the while insisting that he didn’t mind what you two were doing so long as he was with you. It had all felt so domestic and you’re pretty sure that you had been blushing non-stop since he stepped through the door. But, you try to remind yourself that this is what best friends do. They hang out with each other. They do laundry together. They dance in the kitchen while they cook lunch. All totally normal best friend things to do.
You keep reminding yourself that as Jake climbs into the passenger seat next to you and immediately hooks his phone up to the AUX because he knows you won’t ever tell him no. The afternoon light is spilling through the windows and painting his face in a warm glow and making his chocolate eyes reflect back a honeyed brown as he turns his head to look at you.
“Where are we going?”
The sound of Chris Stapleton wafts its way through your car’s speakers as you pull out of your driveway.
“I want to go buy some flowers. There’s a new shop down the road and I wanted to go check it out.”
He nods once, shuffling a little in his seat and as your eyes track the movement, you realize suddenly that he hasn’t buckled himself in.
“Jacob Thomas, fasten your seat belt right now.” You scold, turning your eyes back to the road.
“Ugh. Sorry, mom.” He grumbles but relents. “Why is my best friend so mean to me?” He elements, sarcasm is evident in his tone.
The corners of your lips turn upwards despite yourself.
“Don’t make me turn this car around.”
He smiles – the one that makes his eyes crinkle around the edges and you tighten your grip on the steering wheel. Just friends, you remind yourself.
“Whatever.” He says finally, fiddling a little bit with his white bracelet that’s definitely seen better days, and you don’t hesitate to tell him so.
“It’s got character.” He tells you, fondly running his fingers over the knotted rope. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” You look both ways before turning into the parking lot of the shop – Oak St Garden Shoppe painted lovingly on the side of the little building. You park the car and unfasten your seatbelt.
Jake only shrugs before unbuckling and stepping out of the car. You do the same and he catches your eye over the roof of the car.
“Who are you getting flowers for, anyways?”
“Myself. The kitchen needs some brightening up.”
Jake follows you dutifully as you walk into the shop. He walks close enough that your shoulders brush and you can’t help the warmth that spreads through you at the feeling. As you both walk up to the front, your eye is captured by some potted sunflowers lining the walls of the patio.
“Do you remember how we met?” Jake asks you, his mind clearly going where yours had at the sight of the flowers.
“'Course I do.”
.•° ✿ °•.❁.•° ✿ °•.
“Y/n, baby?” You hear your mother’s voice call from downstairs, causing you to look up from your sketchbook in slight annoyance at being interrupted.
“Yeah?” You call back, allowing your annoyance to bleed into your tone.
“Can you come down here please!”
You huff a breath, closing your sketchbook and making your way downstairs as slowly as possible – just to spite her a little bit for bothering you.
“What?” You snap, rounding the corner into the kitchen with heavy footfalls, only to stop dead in your tracks to see a woman you’ve never seen before sitting at your kitchen table. Her eyes, and the eyes of the two young boys who stand next to her, cut quickly to you. Your cheeks redden slightly.
“Um. Hi.” You say, wringing your hands together a little.
“These are our new neighbors.” Your mother says, coming up behind you and resting her hand on your shoulder. “I wanted you to come say hi.”
“Oh. Hi.” You give them a little wave, unsure of what else to do.
“Hello.” The woman says, her kind eyes regarding you as she speaks, “I’m Karen. And these are my boys Josh and Jake.” She turns to look at them, nudging each of them subtly to speak.
“Hi.”
“Hello.”
They both speak at the same time and your eyes widen as you really look at them for the first time. They look exactly alike. Like, completely alike.
Karen laughs lightly as she takes in your shocked expression as she rises from her seat at the table.
“They're twins if you couldn’t tell.”
Your mom laughs behind you and squeezes your shoulder lightly before stepping away.
“Josh and Jake will be in the same grade as you once school starts.” Your mom says, walking over to the stove to stir whatever it is that she’s cooking. “It’ll be nice to know some people going in. Making friends in middle school can be a little scary sometimes.”
“Oh cool.” You don’t really know what else to say to them, and Josh and Jake (you’re still not sure which is which) both look to be in the same boat.
“Well,” Karen says, brushing her palms across her skirt as she looks down at her sons. “I suppose we should get going now. Your dad will be coming home soon. Jake?”
One of the boys – the one on the left, looks up at her.
“Want to give Y/n here her gift?”
Jake nods, stepping towards you tentatively and you realize now that he’s been holding something behind his back. He brings his arm forward and you see that he’s holding a single sunflower in his hand. He holds it out to you, eyes trained on the floor.
“Th-thank you.” You tell him, taking the flower from his grasp.
“You’re welcome.” He says, a tiny grin peeking out through his shyness.
You watched the three of them go before looking down at the flower in your hand.
You had kept it for a very long time.
.•° ✿ °•.❁.•° ✿ °•.
“You’re lucky.” Jake says, brushing past you to go look at some ferns hanging on some hooks on the awning.
“And why’s that?”
“Imagine if me and Josh hadn’t agreed to be friends with you. Middle school would’ve sucked for you.”
“Oh, really?” You ask him, placing your hands on your hips. “The way I remember it, I was the one who decided to become friends with you two.”
“Mmm. Sure.”
You roll your eyes.
“I could have made plenty of other friends if it weren’t for you two ruining all my cool points.” You tell him, though you both know that you’re not serious. The three of you had been inseparable – completely content with only each other. You hadn’t needed (or wanted) anyone else.
Jake tosses his head back and laughs loudly, his eyes closing against the afternoon sun. Your heart feels like it might explode.
“Pretty sure it was just Josh ruining all your street cred.”
“And how do you figure that?”
He shrugs.
“He was a weird kid.”
“And you were emo. Your point?”
Jake turns to you, a hand placed dramatically over his heart as he drops his mouth open in mock offense.
“And what’s wrong with being emo?”
“Your music taste, for one.” You tell him, leading him away from the ferns to go look at some of the bouquets that line the opposite wall.
“You wound me.” He says, giving you an over-the-top pout.
“And your hair.”
“It was glorious. And hot.” He says with a cocky grin. “All the chicks loved it.”
“Uh huh.” you giggle at him, grabbing his wrist and tugging him over to come stand next to you again.
“Which one?” You ask him, gesturing towards the overwhelming amount of bouquets.
Jake crouches down, the tip of his pointer finger coming to rest on his chin as he looks at the flowers and you take the opportunity to look at him instead. His hair is messy – like he’s been running his fingers through it incessantly (which you know he probably has, despite how many times you tell him to leave it alone). He’s wearing a pair of old jeans and a distressed old band tee and he’s got a bandana twisted up and tied around his neck along with a few necklaces. The afternoon sun once again bathes him in warmth – making his brown hair reflect almost auburn beneath its rays. He looks so… soft as he crouches there. The way he’s actually thinking about which one to pick (when most guys wouldn’t even care) makes your heart flutter and butterflies to once again take up residence in your tummy. You long to reach out and feel his soft hair or his warm skin beneath your fingertips. Your chest aches as you stand there watching him, feeling as though this moment is the first one where you’ve known true happiness – just basking in his presence and feeling lucky that even after his band has found success, he still is content to come and spend his day with you. You wish that this moment could last forever. You want to bottle up his warmth and sweetness and keep it in your pocket for rainy days when he’s gone.
…All of which you remind yourself is totally normal to want around your best friend.
“This one.” He finally says, snapping you from your thoughts as he stands back up.
You cast your eyes downwards to look at the one he’s pointing at and your breath catches in your throat. It really is a beautiful bouquet. It’s mostly greenery – with white petunias, tulips, and daisies throughout. But at the very center are three sunflowers – their yellow petals contrasting beautifully with the green and white.
“It’s perfect.”
.•° ✿ °•.❁.•° ✿ °•.
Jake had insisted on paying and there’d been nothing you could do to change his mind – he’d claimed that it was a thank you for spending the day with him. Clearly, he didn’t realize just how much you wanted to be in his presence.
“This really is a beautiful bouquet.” You tell him as you place the flowers into a vase of water on your kitchen counter.
“What can I say? I’ve got a great eye.” He grins at you.
You glance back downwards and your eyes widen as you see a bumble bee crawling pitifully across one of the sunflowers.
“Oh no!” You cry, looking around frantically for something that might help the little thing.
“What?” Jake asks, straightening up from where he’d been leaning against the counter. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s a bumble bee in the flowers and he doesn’t look good.” You tell him, running to your fridge to grab a bottle of water.
Jake visibly relaxes.
“Oh. God.” He breathes out, leaning back against the counter again. “I thought something was really wrong.”
“Something is really wrong, Jake.” Your voice trembles a little as you unscrew the top from the water bottle and carefully pour a little water into it.
Jake, sensing your distress, strides over the flowers and looks at you a little guiltily.
“You’re right. Sorry.” He says, looking down at the poor bee. “What can I do?”
You walk carefully over to him with the cap of water.
“Can you pick him up and put him in the cap? He’s probably dehydrated."
Jake looks at you wide eyed.
“Won’t it sting?”
“It’s a carpenter bee, so probably not.” You tell him, concern still painting your features. Jake looks unconvinced so you sigh and hold the cap out for him to take. “Fine. Switch with me.”
Jake cups his palm around the cap and watches as you carefully lift the bee from the bouquet and place him on the rim of the cap. With no small amount of skill, the two of you manage to deposit the cap back into your palm without disturbing the bee as it drinks. Almost immediately, its little wings begin to perk up a bit and you smile widely down at it.
“Thank god. It’s precious.”
“Yeah.” Jake says quietly. “It is.”
You look up at him with a proud smile and you find him already looking at you fondly.
“You are not keeping it, though.” He scolds, pointing his finger at you.
“Ugh. I know. Here.” You nod your head towards the double glass doors that lead to your backyard . “Will you open that for me?”
Jake nods and unlocks it before opening it fully and holding it there so you can lift your palm up. The bee takes its cue and buzzes away, disappearing into the sky as you stand there watching it go.
“God I love you.”
Jake’s voice startles you and you turn your eyes away from where the bee had disappeared to look at him. He’s got a strange look on his face – one that you haven’t really seen before. His brown eyes regard you nervously, as if he's surprised himself by speaking.
“I love you too, Jake. You’re my best friend.” You tell him with a smile, patting his chest once before turning around to walk back inside to place the cap of water back on the counter.
Jake follows, allowing the back door to close loudly behind him.
“No, no. I mean… I’m in love with you, Y/n.”
“What?” You don’t mean to say the word so loudly and you can physically see Jake recoil as if he’s been struck. You’re stuck there for a moment, frozen in place as you both stare at each other.
Jake’s face falls and he drops his head, taking your silence as a rejection. It’s anything but that. You can hardly believe it. Decades. You've spent decades pining after him and wishing that he felt the same. And suddenly you realize that maybe he's been doing the exact same thing.
“I’m sorry. I-”
“I’m in love with you too, silly.”
You silence him by crossing the kitchen quickly and practically tackling him into a hug before pressing your lips to his. His eyes widen in shock before they flutter closed and a soft exhale escapes him. It's everything you've ever dreamed it would be.
As you pull away, you’re met with a wide-eyed Jake with a pretty blush spreading across his face.
A smile spreads across his face, making his eyes glitter in a way that makes your knees weak.
“Really?”
“Really.” You tell him, lacing your fingers with his. “Just didn’t think you felt the same.”
“Neither did I.”
Jake looks away suddenly, casting his gaze back towards the glass doors where the sunset is on full display. A tiny little laugh falls from between his plump lips.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing.” He says, turning back to look at you. “I’ve just always dreamed of kissing you in front of a sunset.”
“Oh.” You can feel the heat spreading across your face. “Maybe um. Maybe you should do it again. Just to make sure you remember the feeling.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget.” He admits, before pressing his lips to yours once again.
.•° ✿ °•.❁.•° ✿ °•.
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If you're reading this, I love you! 💞
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rebloggin’ this now cause i’m out to eat wit out of town family at the moment, but i can’t wait to get home to read this! I know it’s gon’ be so good! 🤗
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