A/N: it took a while to get to the good stuff but I’m really proud of this one and I’m lowkey glad it took me a year to finally write it lmao ALSO we’re gonna pretend covid isn’t a thing for this
You had met the Why Don’t We boys through your best friend Ashley, Corbyn’s sister, the two of you had been friends since the Besson’s moved in across the street when you, Ashley and Corbyn were little kids. When the three of you were older Corbyn started hanging out with you and Ashley more, the three of you became inseparable. So when Corbyn and the boys became a band, you were so happy for him and were there every step of the way, as long as Ashley was also there.
When the boys went on their Something Different Tour, Corbyn asked Ashley and you to come along since Jack’s sister, Ava, and Daniel’s sister, Anna, were also coming; Corbyn always saw you as his second sister, so naturally the two of you went along. You were both really excited, of course you had met the rest of the boys and their siblings before but spending the entire summer all together was going to be really fun. Ever since that tour, you, Ashley, Ava and Anna were closer than ever, and would join the boys on tour whenever you could. It would also be important to note that ever since that first tour you joined the boys on, you had a crush on Jack, and it only grew as the years went on and the closer you got with him, and the other boys.
Through the years, you’d been able to keep your crush a secret aside from telling Ashley and Anna. You didn’t want to tell Ava, but after a couple years she ended up finding out from Ashley and Anna slipping up when the four of you were hanging out, “oh my god! You like Jack?!” You obviously couldn’t deny or keep it from her any longer, “yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…are you mad?” “No! Oh my gosh! I mean like don’t tell me the detailed things you like about him,” she laughed, “but I’m sorry you felt like you had to keep it from me!” You sighed in relief, “I’m so glad, it’s been hard keeping this from you for so long. I obviously know nothing could happen because he’s with Gabbie now but, I don’t know sometimes it’s just hard being friends with him but,” you trailed off. The three girls came and hugged you and spent the rest of the night watching movies like you planned.
Just a few months after that happened Jack told you all that him and Gabbie were having a baby. To say that destroyed you was an understatement, but what could you do. You hugged Jack, “I’m so happy and excited for you boy,” the nickname you had for him. He hugged you back, “thank you sweet,” his nickname for you, “I appreciate that so much. I was honestly so scared to tell everyone.” “Just as long as you’re happy and this is what you want,” you pulled away from him and smiled. “Yes Y/N, I’m really happy, and it makes me even happier that the guys and you girls are happy and excited for me too, thank you so much, I love you sweet,” he kissed the top of your head. “Love you too boy,” you gave him another quick hug as Anna approached. “Jack, I’m so happy for you,” she hugged him. “Thanks Anna. I’m going to the other room, you guys coming?” Anna spoke before you could, “yeah sure, we’ll be there in a sec.” Jack nodded and walked away. Anna turned to you looking concerned, “are you okay?” “I mean what can I do?” Anna hugged you and then Ashley and Ava made their way over to the two of you. Before you could keep being sad you turned to Ava with a happy expression, “this is so exciting! You’re gonna be an aunt!” “I know! I’m so excited for Jack. But I’m also worried for you, I wanted to make sure you were okay.” You hugged Ava, “thank you girl, I appreciate it,” you pulled away and continued, “I’m really excited for him, I know he’s always wanted to be a dad, I love that all his dreams are coming true at the same time.” Ashley chimed in, “but how are you?” “There’s nothing I can do, I think I’m just gonna mirror his emotions, if he’s excited, I’m excited, that’s all I can do; be supportive and be happy for him I guess.” Ashley smiled sympathetically at you and pulled you into a hug. You hugged her right back and tried not to cry. You know that you never dated Jack and that he had no idea of your feelings, but you’ve had these growing feelings for the last two years, you love him, and there isn’t anything you could do.
The months went on as the boys did promo for their debut album and upcoming tour, you were so proud of Corbyn and the rest of the boys, this is what they’ve been striving for since their first EP and everything was finally happening for them.
During the 8 Letters Tour, you couldn’t join them because of school, and honestly you didn’t really want to. It was getting closer to Gabbie’s due date and you didn’t think you could handle being with the boys while Jack was always facetiming her and talking about the baby. You were obviously still so excited for the two of them and their families, but you couldn’t put yourself through that. Corbyn had noticed your distance from the boys and questioned you about it, and you, not ever being able to lie to Corbyn, ended up telling him everything, from the beginning to where you were at now. “I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t tell me, you can tell me anything, always, even if you think it could make me uncomfortable. I’m always here for you no matter what,” he had said to you while holding onto you tightly. You started tearing up a little, “thanks Corbyn, love you. So that’s why I don’t wanna come on tour with you guys this year, especially tour after she’s had the baby and it’s all anyone talks about. I don’t want it to seem like I’m being rude, but I just can’t do it.” Corbyn, still holding you, kissed the top of your head, “you don’t have to apologize Y/N, I understand, and don’t worry, I won’t tell the boys, your secret is safe with me.” You held onto him tighter, “I love you Corbyn, I don’t know what I’d do without you and Ashley.”
The birth was hard for you, but those emotions were quickly pushed aside when you got to see Lavender for the first time. She was definitely the cutest little baby you’d ever seen. You expressed your love and excitement to both Jack and Gabbie, “oh my god guys she’s incredible, I’m so happy for you,” you hugged the two of them. “Thanks Y/N, that really means a lot,” Gabbie said to you smiling while she looked at her baby. Jack pulled you into a hug again, “sweet, thank you so much for supporting us through all of this, it really means the world.” You were released from the hug and smiled at him, “of course boy, this is gonna be such an exciting journey for the three of you.”
When Jack and Gabbie broke up, you wouldn’t say you were happy, you were obviously sad for him because you know they tried hard to make it work, especially for Lav, but in the end it just didn’t work out. He leaned on the boys, his sisters, and you a lot. He found it harder to lean on the boys’ sisters because they were close with Gabbie and her sister, but you were also closer to the boys and their sisters since you weren’t actually family. He found it easier as the months went on and the more distracted he was by being with you and the boys so much. You found yourself hanging out with Jack a lot more than you used to, sure you were closest with him after Corbyn, but you hadn’t ever really been able to spend that much time together because they were either in the studio, on tour or he was with Gabbie or his family. It was definitely a change, but you certainly were not mad at it, you loved spending time with him.
Jack’s POV
“Dude did Y/N just leave,” Corbyn asked. “Yeah, why?” “Wow she didn’t even say bye to her best friend.” “What do you mean she just said bye to me?” “Ha. Ha. Very funny Jack, I’m her best friend here, you can be number two, but I’m number one,” Corbyn laughed, I knew he was joking. I laughed with him, “yeah yeah, I know, no need to rub it in.” He looked at me blankly for a second, so I gave him a questioning look. “How’s everything going man?” I tilted my head, still confused, “what do you mean?” “Just life, stuff in general, how’s everything?” I was still confused but answered him anyways, “It’s fine, same as usual, why?” “Just wondering. When are you seeing Lav?” “This weekend, we can all hang out one day so you guys can see her too. I know you’ve all also missed her.” “Yeah man thanks! That’d be great, I miss the little peanut,” he paused for a few seconds before he continued, “is Y/N gonna come too?” “Sure yeah, I can text her, or you can if you want.” “That’s fine, you can ask her man.” I was confused a little again, “okay…am I missing something here?” “What do you mean?” “I don’t know, you’re being kinda weird man,” I laughed awkwardly. “I was just seeing what you wanted to do when we all see you and Lav, nothing weird.” I side glanced quickly before looking back at him, “okay man, whatever you say.” He smiled at me and then he walked away back to his room.
The next day was just as weird, but this time it wasn’t just Corbyn, it was Daniel, honestly it was all of the boys. So when we were in the kitchen, I said something to them, “okay guys what gives?! Why are acting all strange, yesterday it was Corbyn and now it’s all of you! What’s going on?” The boys all looked at each other before Zach spoke up, “do you have something you wanna tell us?” I looked at them very confused, “huh? What the hell do you mean?” This time Jonah started to talk, “I don’t know, maybe about girls, or one girl.” I was even more confused than before, but Jonah kept talking, “you know it’s okay to feel how you feel, it’s been a while since you and Gabbie broke up.” Correction, now I was more confused than before, “guys I’m honestly so lost, what the hell are you talking about?” Corbyn’s turn to talk, “bro I wouldn’t be mad at you, it’s not a problem at all that you like Y/N, you don’t have to hide it from any of us.” “Woah what? Yeah sure, I like Y/N as a friend, but honestly Corb, it’s nothing more than that,” I couldn’t believe what was going on, “sure we spend a lot of time together now but that’s just because we’ve gotten a lot closer and we have a good time together.” “Jack,” Daniel started, “you don’t have to deny your feelings man, we all just want the best for you.” Jonah started talking again, “alright bro, maybe you don’t realize it yet, but we all can see it, you obviously like Y/N, but if you need some time to see it now that we’ve pointed it out, that’s fine.” Then they all walked out of the kitchen.
Corbyn was the last to leave and he grabbed my shoulder and said, “I’m serious about what I said man, I love Y/N, she’s basically my sister, but you’re also my brother, and I just want you to be happy, however that may be,” and with that he walked out of the room leaving me with my thoughts.
I had never thought about Y/N and I like that. Sure, we hang out a lot and have a good time together, but I had genuinely never thought about that, I didn’t think I could for a while after Gabbie. But I guess thinking about it, and after the boys talking to me, I can kinda see where they’re coming from, and I think they might be right.
Corbyn’s POV
“Do you think he’s gonna realize it now,” Daniel asked. “Man I hope so, or else Y/N is gonna be devastated,” I said to the boys. “Wait what,” Daniel said. “Shit. I didn’t mean to say that, it was supposed to be a secret.” Jonah spoke up excitedly, “wait hold on Y/N likes Jack too?!” Zach piped up now, “bro that’s so good! We have to tell Jack! They could be together!” “No,” I said loudly, “we can’t tell Jack, I didn’t even mean to tell you guys. It’s just me, Ash, Ava and Anna that know.” “Hold on Anna knows? And she didn’t tell me? Damn what a sister.” “I know you’re joking, but Y/N didn’t want anyone to know, she had only told Ashley at first and then Anna, it took her a while to even tell Ava, and then even longer to tell me. She had only told me just as the 8 Letters Tour was about to kickoff. She’s felt this way for like three years.” Daniel spoke again, “damn, I hate that she had to go through all of that then, ya know, all the Jack and Gabbie stuff.” “Tell me about it, I’m glad that she had finally told me, but I hate that she felt like she couldn’t, but at least she had the girls.”
Zach spoke up, “I have an idea.” “That’s never good,” Daniel laughed. Zach rolled his eyes but continued, “what if we make Jack jealous. We pretend to set Y/N up on a date, and, hopefully, Jack tries to stop even the idea of it and ends up telling her sooner than later.” “You know what Zach,” Jonah said, “you might be onto something.” I interrupted, “we just can’t tell her it’s a plan, we have to make it seem like we’re actually setting her up with someone, I don’t want her to know that I told you guys.” “Yeah, that’s fine man, we’ll make it seem real, and when it works out, we’ll tell both of them,” Jonah said. “Hopefully it works,” I said and continued, “he has Lav this weekend and said we can all hang, including Y/N, we should do it then.” All the boys spoke at once, “sounds good,” “I’m in,” “hell yeah.”
Your POV
The day you saw Jack last was Wednesday, and then Thursday afternoon he had called me to come over on Saturday because he had Lav for the weekend and he and the boys would be hanging, and he wanted me to join. You loved how great of a dad he is, it honestly makes me love him more, but you can’t let that get in the way of our friendship and his relationship with his daughter, you know that he’s been working really hard on it since he doesn’t see her everyday like he used to. You loved seeing him in his element, and you love Lavender and missed her just as much as the other boys had, so now you’re on your way to their house to see them all.
When you got there and knocked on the door, Corbyn answered almost immediately and hugged you, “my girl! I missed you kiddo!” you laughed, “you know that I’m closer in age to you than Ashley is right?” “You’re still kiddo, kiddo,” he said, laughing now too, letting you out of the hug and bringing you into the house. “Where’s Lavender?” He nodded his head to follow him further into the house and to the living room where all the boys were. “Y/N,” Jack said excitedly when you walked in with Corbyn. “Hey boy. How’s the little girl?” “Better now that one of her favourite people is here,” he said handing her to you as you sat down. She wrapped her little arms around your neck, you hadn’t realized how much you missed her until now.
“Hey girlie,” you said and kissed her cheeks, which made her laugh. When she let go, she started to grab for Jack, so he took her and smothered her face with quick kisses which kept her laughing. It was one of your favourite things, seeing Jack with his daughter, he was meant to be a dad. Of course, he was meant to make music too, but this, this was something even more amazing, you thought. “What’s going on in that head of yours, Y/N,” Jonah asked you. You shook your head getting yourself out of your thoughts, “huh? Oh nothing.” Jonah looked at you like you were guilty, but you just didn’t pay any mind to it.
It was after dinner when you had arrived, which meant Lav wasn’t going to be up much longer. You and the boys had planned to watch some movies and just hang out since the six of you hadn’t done that in a while. When Jack went to go put Lav down in his room he stopped at the living room entrance, “actually Y/N? Can you put her down while I warm her bottle?” “Oh uh, sure. I can warm the bottle though instead?” “No, no, it’s fine. She’ll be good, I’ll be up in a sec to actually get her to sleep.” You got up from the couch as the rest of the boys had just stared. Were you missing something? Jack gave you Lavender and he went to the kitchen. Before you walked upstairs though, you turned to the rest of the boys, “you guys are weird,” and you turned and walked away. When you got halfway up the staircase you heard the boys whispering but decided to not think much of it.
When you got up to Jack’s room, you didn’t want to put Lav down until Jack was there since he was getting her bottle. Instead you just bounced her around while walking around his room. Lavender wasn’t being fussy, she had her head on your shoulder and you could feel her breathing get heavy, but that’s right when Jack walked in, which make Lavender wake up more than she was. She lifted her head off your shoulder to see who was there and then put it right back where it was before Jack walked in. “Do you want her now? I can go downstairs.” He just shook his head, “no she’s good with you. Here.” He handed you Lavender’s bottle while you continued to hold her, “you can put her down in her bed, she’s good on her own once she has the bottle.” You looked at him and nodded, put her down in her bed and she reached for her bottle which made you laugh.
Jack’s POV
Dammit. Those damn boys. I was doing fine. Y/N and I are friends. Ever since Wednesday, I can’t get what the boys said out of my head. I knew for sure that when I saw Y/N today I’d know for sure what my feelings were. And well. They were right. Not only seeing her when she walked into the living room, but especially when she was holding Lav. There was no way I could deny it now, especially to the boys. I don’t think I could tell Y/N. I don’t think I could ever risk our friendship by telling her. And what are the odds she even likes me, or would even want to be with me? I’m a dad, and a young one at that. But the way she is with Lavender. She knows how much Lav means to me. The way Lavender seems so comfortable with her too. She was falling asleep so easily in Y/N’s arms. Seeing good Y/N is with her too. No. I can’t convince myself of something when it isn’t even true.
“Jack?” Shit. How long was I out of it? “You okay to go back down with the boys,” she asked whispering. “Oh, uh, yeah. I’ll meet you down there in a sec. I’m just gonna tuck Lav in and read her a quick story.” “Oh okay,” then she leaned down and kissed Lav on the forehead, “goodnight cutie.” Which made Lav smile. Oh god. She’s definitely not making this easy now. Then she turned to me, “we’ll try to pick a movie before you come back down. You know how they are though,” she laughed, which got me to laugh. “Yeah. Okay I’ll be down in a minute.” Then she walked out and closed the door behind her. I took a seat on Lav’s bed, “do you like Y/N honey?” She only just laughed again, which I definitely did not take as a no.
Your POV
When you got back downstairs, you sat next to Corbyn and he opened the blanket he had to share with you. “Jack said he’s just gonna read Lav a story and then he’ll be back down. Any movie ideas?” Corbyn put his arm around you, “we can wait for him. We haven’t seen ya in a few days kiddo, how’s it going?” You laughed, “Corb, I literally text you everyday.” “Yeah but the other guys, I’m sure they’d love to know about your life.” You gave him a weird look, “okay…um I’ve just been at home. I saw Ash yesterday, but other than that, I haven’t done anything.” “I have a question for ya girl,” Zach said to you. “Well maybe I have an answer for you.” Zach laughed, “are you seeing or talking to any boys?” Daniel was raising his eyebrows like he was so intrigued, and Jonah tilted his head in interest. You looked at Corbyn and he shrugged, “um no. Why do you ask, Zach?” “Well we kinda wanna set you up on a date,” Jonah said. I looked at the four boys a few times back and forth, “what? Why? I’m fine.” Corbyn leaned into my shoulder, “I don’t know kiddo, you just haven’t been out in a while.” You gave Corbyn a look that said, you know why I haven’t gone out and the reason is currently putting his daughter to bed upstairs. He widened his eyes and raised his brows, “just hear us out. Please.” You sighed, “fine.”
Just then Jack walked down the stairs and into the living room laughing, “still no movie?” He sat down on the other side of you. “These idiots are trying to set me up on a date,” you said not looking at him. “Oh? And with who?” You and Daniel spoke at the same time, “no clue yet,” “one of my friends.” “Wait which friend,” you asked Daniel. Jack was Daniel’s friend, was it too much to hope. You laughed to yourself. “Yeah what friend? And why wasn’t I part of this plan,” Jack asked. “Well it’s actually one of Kian’s friends, but we’ve become friends too.” “Yeah, we’ve actually been thinking about this for a week. We just didn’t tell the person yet because we wanted to make sure you were cool with this,” Jonah said to me sweetly. “No pressure kiddo. If you don’t want to go out it’s fine.” You shook your head, “you know what, I’m actually down. So who is this person.” Daniel widened his eyes at Corbyn which made you turn your head to look at him, but he was looking at Jack. When you turned to Jack, he had his head down, so you looked back at Daniel, “what? What’s wrong?” “No.”
All the boys and you turned your heads to Jack, who was now looking straight ahead. “Huh? Jack, what to do mean no? What’s wrong,” you asked him, putting your hand on his shoulder. He finally turned to you and he had a sad expression on his face. Was he okay? “Don’t,” is all he said while he just stared at me. “What? Don’t what? Go out?” “Yeah.” The other boys all have excited looks on their faces, but you were too focused on Jack. “Jack. You’re gonna have to give me more than word answers. What’s up with you?” “You can’t go out with him.” He looked at his shoulder where your hand was, and then he was grabbing that hand and your other with both of his. Your eyes widen, “and why not?” You looked you straight in your eyes, only focusing on you, “because I wanna go out with you.”
Your jaw dropped and Zach, Daniel and Jonah got up from their seats and came to Jack and grabbed him and shook him while Corbyn grabbed onto your shoulders and shook you as well and kissed the back of your head. “Woah what’s happening right now?” All the boys started to laugh and Corbyn rested his head on your back and chuckled, “oh kiddo.” Jack squeezed your hands to get your attention. You looked back at him and he was smiling sweetly at you, “sweet. I’m telling you that I like you and I wanna go out with you.” You smiled at him, “I like you too, boy,” which made him laugh.
“It worked,” Zach said excitedly. “What? What worked,” you asked looking confused at Zach. “Well, a few days ago we had a talk with Jack about you and his feelings for you. And then Corbyn let it slip that you liked Jack too, so I came up with an idea to pretend to set you up so Jack could tell you how he feels and then you’d tell him! And guess what? It freaking worked!” You turned around to look at Corbyn who had a guilty look on his face, “you told them?!” “I’m sorry Y/N, it was an accident, but look at what happened! All those years brought you here!” You widened your eyes and Jack spoke, “years?” Corbyn’s eyes widened now too and he mouthed, I’m sorry, and you just shook your head laughing and rolling your eyes. You turned back to Jack, “uh yeah. I’ve kinda felt this way for a few years. Actually, and I don’t wanna freak you out, but I don’t wanna lie to you either.”
Jack grabbed your hands again and smiled, encouraging you to continue, “well guess I’ll say it in front of the guys since Corbyn spilled anyways,” you laughed before continuing, “please, obviously, don’t feel obligated to say anything back. Since I’ve had these feelings for a few years, they’ve grown a bit, so um, I just wanted you to know that uh, I love you boy,” you laughed. Jack had a huge smile on his face, “that means so much, sweet. I can’t say that yet, but I want to one day, soon. But I do wanna tell you that I love so much about you, but I think what I love most about you is how you are with Lav and how much you care about her, and she loves you so much too.” You saw Jonah tilt his head towards the living room entrance and he got up to leave with Daniel and Zach following behind, and you looked back at Corbyn. He was smiling at you, “I’m happy for you kiddo,” then he got up, kissed your forehead and turned to Jack, “be nice to her.” The two of them laughed and Corbyn patted him on the back.
The second Corbyn walked out, Jack attacked you with a hug and now he was laying on top of you, both of you laughing. The two of you just laid there with your back to him while he held you for a while just talking about anything and everything. Then Jack got serious for a second, “I’m sorry I was oblivious for so long.” You turned to face him and smiled, “do not apologize, who knows what would’ve happened if I had told you all those years ago. I am so happy with how everything worked itself out.” He just smiled back at you and then finally, he kissed you.
