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athenasbloodyspear · 2 years

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Don’t Make Me Beg Now Baby

Chapter 8: Weight of Dreams

Chapter Warnings: swearing, dissociation, panic, anxiety

Hi all. SURPRISE! New chapter. I’m struggling with these next few chapters because I want them to be perfect lol so they’re coming out a bit slower than the others, but I promise there is more coming. Thank you so much for your encouragement! Honestly it’s the only reason I keep pushing through the bad days to keep writing. <3 Much love.

Also I was frantically trying to post before my flight took off so if there’s any typos please forgive me.

Taglist: @dogwithabird

Read on Ao3 | Masterlist

Maven woke before Jake, their bodies tangled together. Maven laid sprawled over Jake’s chest with one leg hooked between his. He had one hand wrapped around her shoulders and tangled in the hair at the base of her neck and one on the outside of the knee she had thrown over him, as if he had pulled it there himself.

Maven instinctually buried her nose in his shoulder as she stretched awake, taking in a deep breath of him. She felt his hands shift on her, rubbing back and forth a bit as he stretched and came to consciousness.

“Hi.” She squeaked out, lifting her head slightly to see him.

“Morning.” He mumbled, his voice deep and raspy with sleep. “How are you?”

“Amazing.” Maven mumbled back, resting her head back on his pectoral. Her head shook a bit as he chuckled. His arms wrapped more tightly around her, squeezing slightly to hold her tighter.

They both laid there for a bit, just breathing. Jake truly couldn’t believe he was there, in this tent, on an island in Lake Superior, with his arms around this woman. He felt high. His hands were tingling and he couldn’t keep the stupid loopy grin off his face as he stared at the ceiling of their tent.

They heard rustling and the sound of the other tent unzipping. Someone got out and shuffled toward the fire, likely to start it for their morning coffee.

“I’m going to get up.” Jake murmured, rubbing his hand up and down Maven’s back twice before letting her shift her weight off of him. He sat up, turning to look down at Maven where she laid sprawled out, her face buried in his pillow. He leaned down, leaving a soft kiss on the high point of her cheekbone before sliding out from under his sleeping bag and unzipping the tent.

When he stepped out into the early morning light, he had to squint to see where he was going. He wandered toward the fire where Danny sat on a log, poking at the tiny flames that had started. He sat down opposite Danny and yawned big, stretching his arms above his head. They sat in silence for a bit as they waited for the flames to get high enough to set their tiny camp pot over.

Jake looked up as he heard the door to his tent unzip, and Maven stepped out. He felt every drop of blood in him rush south when he saw her standing there barefoot. Her hair was mussed from sleep, her face puffy and adorable, a pair of loose denim shorts thrown over that little black bikini that he thought about a little too much. Staring at her, he was in awe of the fact that he knew what it felt like to have her arms wrapped around him. He could feel the phantom press of her lips against his. The ghost of her body sinking its weight into his. He couldn’t help but beam at her as she approached the fire. She walked up behind him and tangled her fingers in the ends of his hair where it hung halfway down his back. “I’m going to go for a morning swim. Wake myself up a bit.”

“Okay.” Jake responded, tilting his head all the way back so he could look at her. “Have fun.”

Maven smiled down at him, running the tip of her pointer finger down the center of his forehead and across his nose, tapping the tip of it twice before walking in the direction of the lake. When Jake lifted his head again, Danny was looking at him with the softest smile on his face. Jake flushed red, dropping his eyes to the fire and watching the flames grow.

Jake stayed silent. He hadn’t sorted his thoughts about everything enough to vocalize anything. Luckily Danny didn’t pry. They sat in comfortable silence and waited for the water to boil for coffee. Maven had wandered down the shore. Jake could still make out her form in the distance, crouching down and looking at what washed up on the beach overnight. Probably collecting any trash she found to add to their bag they’d carry off the island.

The whir of a zipper broke the silence between them as Sammy and Josh, both looking groggy, stepped out of their tent.

“Morning.” Sam croaked. They walked over to the log and plopped down, right as Danny pulled the camping pot off the stove to pour coffee into each person's camp mug. Sam took a long sip of coffee and settled his gaze on Jake. “You look happy this morning.”

Jake shrugged in response, an involuntary blush rising to his face again. Danny chuckled a bit under his breath, sneaking a look at Jake through his lashes as he tended to the fire. “What was that look Daniel just gave you?” Josh quipped.

“Oh my god.” Sam’s jaw dropped open. “Did something happen?”

Jake coughed to clear his throat. “It’s none of your business-”

“Holy shit.” Sam interrupted. “What happened? Tell me everything now.”

“Sam-” Jake groaned.

He was interrupted by the shrill ringing of a cell phone. He flinched when he recognized the ringtone that Josh had programmed into his phone specifically for their record label. “I didn’t even know we had service out here.” Josh muttered, pulling it out of his back pocket and answering it. “What’s shakin?”

Josh listened in silence for a bit before speaking. “Yeah they’re all here. Want me to go on speaker?”

~0~

Maven couldn’t keep the smile off her face, even as she waded into the too cold Lake Superior water to wake herself up.

She didn’t know what, if anything, would happen now but she decided to relish in her joy while she had it. She stopped at the spot she knew they’d kissed the night before, the slight disturbance in the sand pattern making her grin grow. She debated taking a shell from the shore to remember, but the environmentalist in her made her leave them where they belonged. She’d hold onto the memory instead.

She dipped her toes into the water, goosebumps rising to her skin at the cool temperature. As much as she didn’t want to wash the skin Jake had touched, she also wanted to feel clean when he touched her skin again.

Hopefully.

She was trying hard not to get ahead of herself. They’d kissed, they hadn’t had a chance to talk about what that might mean. A tiny voice in the back of her head reminded her that he didn’t live here, that he would have to leave someday.

We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

It was risky for her, to be careless with her emotions like this, but after years of controlling every thought and action she decided to throw herself into whatever she wanted to for the time being.

She waded further into the water, taking a deep breath and plunging deep into the freezing water.

~0~

Jake was pale as Josh hung up the phone, his hands gripped tightly around his coffee mug. The whole circle was tense, all eyes on him as he tried to control his breathing.

This couldn’t be happening. This is why he didn’t get involved with people, or get his hopes up about things. Of course shit like this happened right when things were getting good.

“What are you thinking?” Josh asked Jake, his voice tentative. Jake ground his jaw, looking out across the shore. He spotted Maven’s form walking out of the Lake. She looked every bit the Lake Nymph he’d begun to imagine her as. Dripping wet and gorgeous with the early morning sun at her back. Normally he’d try to hide it, but when his eyes filled slightly he just let them. No tears fell, but he knew they all saw. At this point he didn’t care.

“You heard them. We don’t have a choice.” Jake grit out. “We have to go back.”

“It’s our album.” Sam retorted. “We have the ultimate say.”

“We have a contract, Sam.” Jake grit out. “We’re legally bound to fulfill certain obligations.”

“Fuck that.” Sam spit. “Fuck that. We’re not leaving.”

“We have to.” Danny said gently, glancing at Jake. “He’s right.”

“We’ll come back then or something. Make it quick. We can write quickly.” Sam’s tone was scrambling now. He knew it was false hope. A pipe dream. They were obligated to return to the studio in Nashville to make final masters for the album. It could take months, and that’s if they were lucky. The detailed work on mixing and mastering the album had to happen. It was inevitable.

“We knew this was going to happen.” Jake choked out, his voice cracking a bit as he wiped at his eyes. “I was an idiot for pretending it wouldn’t. I should never have let anything happen. I knew and I shouldn’t have done this to her. Fuck.”

“Jake.” Sam prodded gently. “What happened?”

Jake opened his mouth to respond, ready to spill his guts. All of them. How deeply he felt, how different she made him feel. His brothers knew everything already, but they deserved to hear it out of his mouth.

He didn’t get the chance.

“Jesus.” Maven whistled. “What happened here? You guys look like someone died.”

Everyone’s heads snapped to where Maven stood. Her shorts in her hand, shaking a tiny bit from the cold. She had her arms crossed over her chest and a joking smile on her face that faltered and fell when everyone didn’t immediately respond to her question.

Jake felt like someone was shoving a hot iron rod through his chest.

Maven’s eyes flitted between all four men before landing on Jake, who couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes at the moment. His gaze fell to the middle of her torso. The sweet soft skin of her stomach was pebbled with goosebumps and still dripping off the last of Lake Superior. It was agony thinking about his hands on her body last night. The noises she made. But looking at her eyes would have hurt more.

In his blurry unfocused vision he saw Maven take a cautious step toward him.

“What’s going on?” Maven whispered. “Jake?”

“We have to go back to Nashville.” Sam blurted, clearly sensing no one else was going to take the initiative.

“Oh.” Maven choked, halting in place. “When?”

“Our flight is at 5am tomorrow.” Sam continued, his eyes moving from Maven over to the frozen statue that used to be his brother.

“Oh.” Maven repeated. She turned her head to look at Jake again, and when he still couldn’t lift his gaze to hers she clenched her jaw. Flexing and unflexing her fists a few times she finally continued. “Well let's pack up then, yeah?” She turned quickly, trying to keep the tears that sprang to her eyes a secret from the group. She hurried over to the tent she’d been sharing with Jake and ripped open the front door, stepping inside and quickly throwing her shorts and shirt over her wet suit. At this point she didn’t care about physical comfort. She needed to get off this island and away from these boys before she lost her shit.

She felt like her throat was closing up, a lump formed so rapidly that she was struggling to breathe. She was panicking, which was a feeling she hadn’t felt in a few months. She hated herself, for letting it get this far when she knew it wouldn’t be forever. She’d ignored all the warning signs and tramped down all her fears because she’d felt different with him. Safe. Warm. Cared for. Understood. She refused to break down. He hadn’t promised her anything, she’d simply let her emotions get ahead of her.

She should have known it was too good to be true.

Jake stepped tentatively into the tent behind her. She felt his presence, but he didn’t speak for a long moment. Maven focused on rolling up her sleeping bag and shoving all of her scattered things into her backpack. After a few moments of Jake simply watching, he finally croaked out. “Maven, I’m so-”

“Don’t you dare fucking say I’m sorry right now. Just pack Jacob.” Maven snapped.

She felt like if he was tender with her at this moment a dam would break inside her. She’d end up a blubbering mess in his arms. The idea of being that vulnerable with him right now made her skin crawl. She couldn’t. He was leaving. And that was that. She couldn’t dwell or she’d reveal that her feelings went way deeper than just attraction. It was too late for that. They could only move forward.

“Maven-” Jake tried again.

“Let’s just go hom--Back to Traverse City.” Maven corrected herself.

Jake stood for a few more moments, watching Maven jerkily throw things in her backpack before she stood and pushed past him out of the tent. As soon as she’d zipped up the door behind him, his legs gave out and he collapsed down on the hard floor of the tent. He buried his head in his hands, sucking in a deep breath through his nose to keep himself from breaking down.

He wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to confess that he’d been trying to keep this from happening. He’d tried to keep her at arms length. He’d tried because he knew it was going to be lethal when he was torn away from her, he’d just hoped he could spare her at least. He was weak and naive. He’d let his desires cloud his judgement and in the end he did the thing he’d sworn to himself he wouldn’t do. He’d hurt her.

Blinking rapidly to keep tears at bay, he began the process of packing up his backpack and rolling his sleeping bag. The tent flaps were closed, so no one would ever know that he took a few moments to hold it to his nose, breathing in the scent of Maven and him, combined from where they’d spent the night tangled together. No one would know that a lone tear finally escaped and rolled down his face, dripping onto the nylon fabric of the tent bottom with a loud plop.

He stood, running his hands through his hair a few times, trying to collect his composure. He wasn’t going to burden her now with his pain. The least he could do was be as collected as possible until they could speak somewhere privately. Then he’d let the walls come down and tell her everything. Including admitting he was stupid for not coming clean about his feelings and his fears sooner.

Once Jake pushed out of the tent, everyone worked in tandem to silently breakdown their campsite. Maven gathered all of the trash and scattered the wood they’d piled up. When they had their backpacks strapped to them again they began their trek to the ferry.

Before they started on the trail, Jake stopped quickly, pulling out his phone to snap a photo of where they’d been the last two nights. They’d done an impeccable job of cleaning up after themselves and you could barely tell where the two tents had been. If you looked at the photo, you’d think it was just a clearing off a trail, but Jake would remember the exact location of that tent for the rest of his life.

~0~

They made the hike, ferry and car ride in relative silence. By the time they made it back to Traverse City it was pushing 5pm. Maven helped them unload the tents into the garage of the cabin. She quickly gave each boy a warm hug.

“Well good luck out there rockstars.” She quipped, her nerves coming through via the higher pitch to her voice. “If you do a show in Michigan again I’ll try to see if Levi and I can drive down.”

She hugged Jake last, resisting the urge to hold him forever, she quickly stepped away and shoved her hands through her hair. “Good luck packing, assholes!” She quipped, a forced smile on her face as she spun and walked quickly down the driveway. She heard feet padding down the concrete toward her and then there was a hand on her bicep, spinning her around.

“Wait.” Jake’s eyes were wild, panic in his voice. “Can I come by? After I pack? We should really talk.”

“Jake, it’s fine.” Maven pulled her arm out of his grasp and started to turn around again. Jake’s hands darted out and grabbed her face, his palms resting on the soft place of her neck right below her jaw, a copy of the way he’d held her last night.

“Please. I need to talk to you.” He implored, his thumbs rubbing gentle lines up and down the sides of Maven’s neck.

Maven was gentle when she pulled away from him this time, snagging one of his hands and squeezing once. “If you have time.”

Maven turned finally then, and Jake stood rooted to his spot as she got in her car and drove away.

~0~

She hadn’t been able to cry. She’d just gone to Levi’s house to pick up Stacy. Levi had asked her why she looked like a ghost. She’d simply mumbled something about not sleeping well while camping. Then she went back to her apartment and sat on the couch. Stacy laid curled up with her head resting on Maven’s thigh, very aware that something was wrong with her mom.

She didn’t know how much time had passed by the time she came back to awareness, but by the low angle of the sun it had to have been around 9pm.

She became aware of the frantic knocking on her front door slowly. She sucked in a deep breath to bring her brain back down to earth, and groaned as her stiff joints straightened out to standing. Stacy stayed close by her heels as she padded barefoot to the front door. Right as her hand touched the front door she became aware that she was still wearing the vaguely damp t-shirt and jean shorts over her wet bikini.

When was the last time she’d eaten? It must have been the sandwiches they’d picked up on the drive home. That had to have been more than seven hours ago. She felt faint.

She pulled open the front door to see Jake, his gaze on his feet and his hand still paused in midair as he’d been knocking. When his red-rimmed eyes sprung up to hers, he let out a massive breath of relief.

“I’ve been knocking for like ten minutes. I thought you weren’t going to open the door.” He breathed.

“Sorry.” Maven mumbled. “Come in.” She walked away from the open door a few feet, before turning around to look at him, crossing her arms over her chest. Jake stepped cautiously across the threshold, pushing the door shut behind him before turning to her. They stood in momentary silence until Maven finally broke. “What’s up?”

“Maven I--” Jake reached a hand toward her, taking another step into the room, but he halted when she retreated a step. “Mave, please.”

“Please what, Jake?” Maven sighed. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“I don’t want you to think that I planned this. Like I’m running away.”

Maven rolled her eyes. “Stop Jake. It’s fine. Go. Have fun. Release a badass new album. Win another Grammy. Live your dream.”

“No please--”

“I’m not going to be the girl who gets in the way of what you four are doing. I’m not gonna be the girl who makes things even more complicated for you than they already are. You need simplicity now, to focus on your work and finding happiness within the constraints you’ve been given.” Maven smiled softly at him then, real genuine love in her voice. “It's your time Jake. Your life. Go live it.”

“What happens with us?” Jake choked out, daring another step toward her and feeling a burst of hope when she didn’t retreat.

His hope was dashed when her smile turned sad and she shook her head. “There’s no us Jake. There’s you. There’s your Brothers. There’s Danny. There’s Greta Van Fleet.”

“We’ll come back.” Jake insisted, daring another step that she reflected backwards away from him.

Maven leaked out a resigned sigh. “Alright.”

Jake huffed a breath. “You don’t believe me.”

Maven leaned her hip against her couch and offered him another heartbreaking smile. “Life has a funny way of slipping by without your control.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Jake demanded.

His chest clenched in agony when he noticed the glossy sheen of tears in Maven’s eyes. Her voice cracked slightly when she spoke. “It means I’m so proud of you. It means I really hope you don’t have to come back here.”

“What does that mean?” Jake whimpered, his whole chest caving in on him.

“It means you should go.” Maven approached him, and then stepped around him, popping open the door. “You have an early flight.”

“Mave-”

“Don’t miss me.” Maven chuckled humorlessly.

“I will.” Jake insisted.

“Alright.” Maven choked out, disbelief evident in her voice. Jake stepped past the threshold and into the hall.

Maven started to close the door to her apartment but he spun, sticking his hand out to stop it and choking out “I wish you’d believe me.”

“I know.” She whispered.

“How do I make you believe me?”

She just stared at him in response, a single tear dripping down her cheek.

“Goodbye Jake.” She whispered, softly closing the door shut in his face.

They both clamped down on their emotions hard, keeping sound at bay. But silently, with a few inches of wood between them, they both wept.

~0~

Maven tried to sleep, but it eluded her. She tossed and turned for hours, periodically checking her clock, watching the minutes tick by. She knew they flew out at 5am and she would have preferred to be unconscious when the plane left the ground, but apparently that was asking too much.

She leaked tears intermittently, but mostly just laid, replaying their moments in her head.

His palm wrapped around hers. His hands on her face. His lips crashing onto hers.

It morphed in her brain, like one of those edits of a comedy show set to horror movie music. These moments that were beautiful distorted to unsettling. It kept her from sleeping. She should have known. She should have seen this coming. Another man, making promises he couldn’t keep. Same old story. Same old ending.

At about 3:45am her phone dinged. She nearly ignored it, opting to continue her restless tossing instead. About 10 minutes later curiosity got the best of her and she rolled over, snagging it off the nightstand.

WHEN YOU WAKE UP, CHECK YOUR FRONT DOOR.

I’LL MISS YOU, EVEN IF YOU DON’T WANT ME TO.

From Jake.

She flung her blankets off, Stacy giving a disgruntled huff at the intrusion in her blissful sleep. Maven hurried to the front door and ripped it open. By her feet was a brown paper package wrapped in twine. She picked it up quickly and flopped onto her couch.

She tore into the brown paper, a choked sob ripping out of her lungs as she unfolded the gift. She wept openly, ugly and raw in a way she hadn’t yet. Before it had been a few tears that she’d tried to shove down to the best of her ability. She stopped holding back now. She cried so hard that Stacy trotted nervously into the room and curled up by her feet.

It was the dress. The green velvet one he’d made her try on downtown.

All she could do was grieve. To sob and sob and sob at what could have been and what would never be, holding the sage colored velvet to her chest.

A note fluttered to the floor with “Mave” written in Jake’s hand. She debated whether or not she actually wanted to open it for a few moments before curiosity won again.

She folded open the note and found one simple sentence.

For when I get back.

All she could do was drop her head in her hands and weep.

---

Only a little sorry. ;)

#Greta Van Fleet #greta fic #greta van fleet fan fiction #jake fic #jake kiszka #jake gvf #peaceful army

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athenasbloodyspear · 2 years

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Don’t Make Me Beg Now Baby

Chapter 7: Flower Power

Chapter Warnings: swearing, alcohol, marijuana use, reference to sexual abuse

Thank you so much for your patience! I just got a promotion at work so I was pretty busy for a bit, hopefully I can get back to more regularly scheduled programming lol. Love you all. Hope you like. <3 I’m working on a series of photos for a “moodboard” type as well as a spotify playlist for Maven (per request from @ur-tangerine) I should have those soon!!!

Read on Ao3 | Masterlist

There was nothing quite like driving across the Mackinac Bridge on a sunny summer day. The sun glinted off the lake and the warm breeze drifted through the window, tossing everyone’s long hair. The music was blasting and everyone sang at the top of their lungs

There was nothing quite like driving through the upper peninsula. Seeing small towns with beer halls and antique stores. Pulling over for a bathroom break and getting lost in a flea market for an hour. The back of Maven’s car, which was already full of gear, getting filled near to the brim with various finds. Piled in between tents and backpacks full of easy to carry meals were a vintage leather messenger bag, an army green military surplus jacket, an old mirror with a gold scrolling frame, a box of mismatched crystal brandy glasses, an old picnic basket that was the perfect size to fit vinyls, a framed movie poster from 1952, and an old quilt stitched by a local grandmother. Everyone had a homemade veggie pasty in their hands that they’d bought from a stand at the market. They were all munching away as Maven pulled back onto the road. Jake had two in his hands, occasionally holding one up to her to take a bite.

There was nothing quite like pulling into the parking lot of the Grand Island ferry and seeing the wide expanse of Lake Superior glittering behind the dock. Pulling out backpacks of gear, strapping whatever they could to their backs and wandering onto the deck. The cool breeze kept the end-of-summer heat bearable as they headed out across the water. They had about a two mile hike to their destination before they could set up camp and their goal was to have their feet in the water and a joint in hand by sunset. They each sat side by side on the ferry, their packs at their feet, letting the sun wash over them. It was quiet between them, but a pleasant sort of silence. The kind of comfortable silence between a group of people who are usually surrounded by a cacophony of sound, but who know how much is said in silence.

It was there, with her head leaning back on the railing of the ferry that Maven decided she could let go. Control was something she thrived on. Living on her own, working a job that let her decide her hours, isolating herself from her past, all of these things she did as a way to control her life after it had fallen completely out of her hands. She’d thought upon moving up north and blazing her own trail that she’d let go of what happened to her at the hands of those she’d called friends, but she’d only been holding onto it in a different way. She’d kept so many people at arms length for fear of them hurting her, and as the sun glimmered behind her closed eyelids she came to the realization that she’d been letting Ryan win.

Yes, there was a solid chance that people could hurt her again. Levi had, when he questioned her decisions, but she’d laid down her boundaries and repaired her relationship with him. She was stronger than she gave herself credit for. She’d been terrified of getting any closer to the boys because she didn’t want to give them the opportunity to hurt her. And while she was quite positive they’d never intentionally abuse her in any way, she was also discrediting herself. It wasn’t that they’d never hurt her, they probably would. Unintentionally, as any friends do. There’s disagreements, misunderstandings and general life could throw any sort of wrench in their well intentioned plans. The thought struck her that it wasn’t her job to control others and keep them from hurting her, it was her job to trust that she would be okay no matter what came her way. She had the strength to keep moving, even if she’d forgotten that. Ryan had drugged her, used her, and dropped her like she was nothing. But she was still here. She’d thought herself weak, unable to live through another failed friendship or relationship, but she’d forgotten that she’d survived.

More than survived; she was currently on a ferry with her new best friends to camp under the stars for a few days. She was living.

“What are you thinking about?” Jake’s soft voice spoke from beside her.

Maven hummed, opening her eyes and rolling her head to look at him. She pulled a deep breath in through her nose when their eyes connected. The sun behind him illuminated a few strands of hair that had escaped his low bun, causing a halo effect around his head. The golden light fell across his cheekbones and brought a warm flush to the high points of his face. She didn’t speak for a long moment as her eyes tracked over his features. She didn’t know where life would take them. She didn’t know when she’d fall down and have to haul herself back up again.

She did know, however, that she wanted to memorize how she felt in this moment. She knew that the next time it felt impossible to keep moving, she’d remember that there are days like this. There are days when you are on a boat, the wind in your hair, the sun on your back, while you look at a person who completely changed your life. A person who offered you kindness and gentleness without asking for anything in return. A person who met you in moments you weren’t proud of, and did not judge, only offered their hand to start again.

She wanted to memorize this moment. She didn’t even want to pull out her phone and take a photo of him because she knew it wouldn’t do it justice. You couldn’t capture this feeling in an image. It was simultaneously fleeting and infinite. The cycle of life brings you back to moments where you feel both grounded to earth and flying 10,000 feet in the air. Maven closed her eyes again, trying to imprint the view on her brain.

Long hair flying in the wind, cerulean waters glittering, the white noise of a boat engine. A hand on her face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Jake’s tentative voice. “Mave? You okay?”

“I’m okay.” Maven reminded herself. “I’m okay.”

Jake’s hand reached down and intertwined with hers. He squeezed her hand once before releasing it.

~0~

They eventually landed on Grand Island and started their trek into the woods. They didn’t speak much on the hike in, all collectively and silently deciding to fully immerse themselves into the woods. They paused briefly about a mile in, Danny was leading and made sure everyone stopped to take some water and drop their packs for a moment. Most of this passed without a word, the group silently communicating their needs.

Once they reached the spot they’d hoped to camp in, they began setting up. The lot they’d reserved had enough space for two large tents. Maven left the boys in charge of the tents as she wandered into the woods to find some dead leaves and fallen branches to start a fire. She was busy a couple hundred yards away, so she missed the bickering among the men.

“No Josh, you have the tent facing the wrong way, we want the door facing the lake.”

“Speaking of the tents, did we ever discuss who’s sleeping where?”

“Why, Samuel, did you direct that question so pointedly at me?”

“Why, Jacob, are you continuing to play stupid with your own flesh and blood?”

“I think we can just set them up and then see what everyone is comfortable with.”

“See? Danny has the right idea.”

“Is this facing the right way?”

“Yes Josh, it’s perfect now. Thank you.”

“So we’re just… not going to address that Maven has to sleep in one of these tents with us?”

“Can you like… not make this weird?”

“I’m trying to avoid it being weird by making a plan.”

“I don’t want to push her to do anything she’s not comfortable with.”

“Fine! I’ll go ask her what she wants.”

“Sam, wait!” Jake yelled at Sam’s back as he sauntered into the woods, looking entirely too pleased with himself, grumbling when Sam simply threw up the bird over his shoulder in reply.

Sam stomped through the underbrush until he saw Maven’s form, crouched over with her arms full of various sized branches.

“Hey!” He called in greeting. “How’s it going?”

“Good!” Maven called back without looking up. “I got distracted by these really pretty mushrooms growing at the base of this tree. It seriously looks like little fairies built a village.”

“We should ask if they’d like to join our fire.”

“Ha ha.” Maven said drily, standing up and adjusting her firewood load in her arms. “What’s up? You four having trouble with the tents?”

“Kinda. Wondering where you’d be most comfortable sleeping so we can throw your bag in there.”

“Oh!” Maven squeaked, her face burning. “Wherever is fine.”

“Uh huh.” Sam teased. “You sure about that?”

“Yeah. We could do like, an early to bed, early to rise tent? And then the night owls in another?”

“Right…” Sam trailed off. “I’m just gonna throw backpacks in tents and we’ll figure it out.”

Maven felt like her face was going to melt off with how hot it was. “Great. Carry this load back for me? I’ll find more.”

“Sure thing!” Sammy snagged the pile out of Maven’s hands and traipsed back to the campsite, throwing the pile down between the two tents. “So, throw Jake and Maven’s stuff in that tent and the three of us will be in the other.”

“What did she say?” Jake stood quickly from where he’d been pounding a tent stake into the dirt.

“With her words? She said ‘Wherever’ but her face was the shade of a tomato so I’m thinking she had more feelings about it than she let on.”

“Sam, I don't want to make her uncomfortable or pressure her.”

“If it’s weird or she’s uncomfortable we’ll figure something out. You can come cuddle up with the three of us here or something. Relax dude. We’re just having fun and camping right? Everyone will be in their own sleeping bags anyway.” Sammy gave Jake a knowing smirk and a wink after his last sentence, tossing Maven and Jake’s backpacks inside one of the tents.

“He’s right, you know.” Danny had walked up to where Jake had been hammering in the last tent stake and finished pounding it for him.

“What?” Jake spluttered.

“Everyone has their own sleeping bag. It’s just a tent. No pressure. For either of you.” Danny said softly.

“Right.” Jake sighed. “No pressure.”

He felt a lot of pressure.

~0~

Once the tents were set up and Maven had brought back a few armloads of dead branches they set to work putting a fire together. In their camping packs they’d brought a couple of dishes for the fire along with some canned goods. They settled on heating up some black beans and canned veggies for tacos, which they’d brought a pack of tortillas for. Once the fire was started and their resident chef Sam was in his element, Maven announced she was gonna unpack her bag a bit and set up her sleeping spot.

She stood from the fire and wandered into the tent that Sam had said he’d thrown her bag into. Upon stepping through the zippered door she froze, noting that Jake’s bag was the only other bag in the tent. There was a short spike of nerves, but they settled when she remembered who it was. This was Jake. She was in no danger here. However, the butterflies returned in a different form when she thought a little more about who it was. This was Jake. She was in a different form of danger here.

Her face flushed again.

Behind her the zipper hissed and Jake stepped in, quickly zipping the bug screen closed again to avoid any unwanted guests. “Sam just threw stuff in here, if you’d like to sleep somewhere else--”

“It’s okay.” Maven smiled at him. “Unless you’re uncomfortable--”

“No.” Jake quickly cut her off. That was the opposite of how he felt. He was nervous, of course, but he also really wanted her here with him. He was trying not to think about the territorial instinct that kicked in when he thought about her in here with Sam instead of him. It was irrational, he knew, but he didn’t want her sharing a tent with anyone else. “This is fine.”

“Okay.” Maven said softly. She crouched and pulled her lightweight sleeping bag from her backpack, unrolling it on one half of the space. Jake did the same. The tent was a medium size, with about three feet of space between them once they both spread their things out. Once they were all settled they turned to each other and smiled, both chuckling a little nervously.

“Shall we?” Maven motioned toward the door.

“Yes. Right. We shall.” Jake said back, unzipping the door to the tent and theatrically sweeping into a bow, offering her the open door to exit first.

After she’d left he quickly shook his own head.

Get your shit together Jake.

~0~

Upon settling in at the fire that Danny had built with the supplies that Maven found, Josh made a show of reaching into his backpack and pulling out an entire fifth of tequila.

“You hiked all the way out here with that in your bag?” Sammy asked incredulously.

“You said to pack essentials. This seemed essential to me.” Josh quipped.

Maven couldn’t stop laughing. Her giggles became contagious and suddenly the whole group was laughing so hard barely any sound was coming out. Occasionally someone would snort or cough and the peals of laughter would start again.

“Did you even fit any clothes in that backpack?” Maven finally choked out between giggles.

“We’re only here for a few days. One outfit seemed like enough.” Josh shrugged.

This started the laughter all over again.

Josh poured healthy servings of liquor into everyone’s camp mugs, and he continued to top everyone off, often when they weren’t paying attention.

“Dude. You’re gonna get everyone wasted.” Jake commented when he caught him topping off his cup about an hour later. He’d noticed that his head had gotten pretty fuzzy and he’d wondered how much he’d actually consumed at that point.

“Everyone except Maven.” Josh grinned. “She’s been hiding her cup from me.”

“Hey!” Maven teased. “I learned my lesson last time. Kiszka’s plus tequila plus fire did not end well for me.”

At this, Sammy laughed so hard he fell off his log. Danny lost his shit at Sammy and the group's uncontrolled giggling started again. Jake took another long sip from his cup, glancing at Maven as she cackled.

She looked so pretty, laughing with the golden light of the fire flickering over her face.

He wanted to be closer to her, like she was his personal sun pulling him into her orbit. He wanted to bask in that light forever, and soak up as much vitamin D as he could. At the very same time, it was like looking directly at the sun when he stared at her. It wasn’t just her looks, of course she was gorgeous, but her soul was stunning. There she was, a woman who had been used and abused by people she trusted, by her friends, and she still sat with them and laughed with them. Trusting them, caring for them, loving them. It felt surreal.

It was the push and pull. He was honored and humbled that someone like her would trust four hooligans like them, but he was also terrified. He didn’t know what life would bring, and even though he’d tried to forget for the last few days, he knew they wouldn’t be able to stay in Michigan forever.

But looking at her now, with the glow on her face, none of that mattered to him. Keeping that smile there was the most important thing to him at that moment. His brain was fuzzy and his limbs felt a little heavy, but he knew that he didn’t care if he got dragged into her orbit and burned up on entry.

So, he scooted closer to her and laid his head on her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her, mixed with campfire and tequila. Her giggle softened, and she let out a surprised “Oh. Hi.” as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He groaned when she buried her fingers in his hair and scratched lightly on the nape of his neck. He could hear his brothers giggling but he didn’t give a shit. He closed his eyes and sighed, relaxing his body against hers.

“You okay Jakey?” Josh had his fist against his lips, trying to choke back laughter. Sammy just kept repeatedly smacking Danny’s upper arm until Danny finally whispered. “I know. I know.”

“Mmmhmmm.” Jake mumbled. Nuzzling his nose into the crook of Maven’s neck.

She giggled again, a deep flush coming over her whole body. “Too much tequila?” Jake didn’t respond, choosing instead to just take a deep full breath of her scent. She widened her eyes at the boys across the fire, dragging her fingers through Jake’s hair. She froze when she heard him mumble something against the soft part of her neck, his lips brushing her collarbones. “What was that?”

“So beautiful.” He mumbled. As if she wasn’t flushed head to toe already. The rest of the boys were biting their fists and Sam was tapping his toes excitedly against the ground.

“Perhaps not exactly what I had in mind when I told him to do something, but it works.” Josh muttered.

“Shhh.” Sam hushed him. “What’s up Jake?” He asked, a little louder.

“Very happy.” He mumbled. He tipped forward a bit, his head landing in Maven’s lap this time instead. He turned his torso so he was laying along the log, looking up at her face. She smiled down at him, dragging her fingers through his hair from scalp to end.

“You cannot be comfortable.” Maven murmured to him. The log surely was not the best thing to be laying on.

“I am.” Jake smiled up at her, his glazed eyes and wide grin causing her to stifle a laugh with her palm. He quickly reached up with clumsy hands to pull her hand away from her mouth. “No.” He pouted. “I like your smile. Let me see.”

“Oh christ.” Josh said, rolling his eyes. Sammy just smacked Josh’s chest for that comment.

Maven traced his eyebrows with her fingertips delicately. “I think it’s time for someone to go to bed.” She whispered. Jake only hummed in response. “Can you guys help me get him to bed?”

Danny stood up, clapping his hands together. “Alright buddy. Let’s go to bed.” Between Sam and Dan they helped a stumbling Jake through the door of their tent and into his sleeping bag. Maven tucked his full water bottle next to his head and ducked back out of the tent to the fire.

There was a brief moment of silence before the four broke into soft giggles for the umpteenth time that evening. When Danny noticed Maven’s nervous blush, he quickly steered conversation away from the drunken Kiszka antics. Maven smiled sweetly in his direction as thanks, to which he nodded in response.

~0~

When Jake woke, his mouth felt sticky and dry and his brain was throbbing in his skull. Not to mention the inevitable sore back and joints from tent camping. He groaned lightly as he pried open his eyes. The light coming through the tent windows made him squeeze his eyes shut again for a moment. When he braved the action again, he noticed his full water bottle next to him, which he promptly snagged, hauling himself to a sitting position to chug about half of it without taking a breath.

When he pulled the bottle away from his face, he finally took in his surroundings. In his sleep he must have rolled closer to where Maven still lay slumbering, as the three feet between them was more like one foot now. She looked peaceful, her soft breaths moving a chunk of hair that had fallen in her face. He gently reached out to pull the strand away from her mouth, tucking it behind her ear.

He didn’t remember much after about halfway through the bonfire. Just lots of laughter. Did she rub his head again at one point? Or was that a dream?

He bit back a groan as he eased his achy joints to standing, trying to rustle the least amount of fabric so he didn’t wake Maven. He quietly unzipped the tent door and stumbled into the early morning light. It had to be somewhere around 6am, but he had a hard time sleeping after drinking. He flopped down onto a log by the fire and slowly sipped on his water. After an indeterminate amount of time, the door to the other tent opened and Danny stepped out.

“Morning.” Danny said softly, voice raspy. Jake could only nod in response. “How’s your head?” Jake just shook his head softly again, wincing a bit. “Yeah you had your fair share of tequila.”

Jake glanced over and noticed that there was probably only a third of the bottle left where it sat in a pile of their things. “Oh god.” He groaned.

“Ah! The lover boy lives!” Josh softly quipped, having stepped out of the tent himself. Jake gave him an odd look to which Josh chuckled. “You don’t remember, do you?”

“Remember what?” Jake croaked, flipping his gaze to Danny since he knew Josh would gloat instead of just coming out with it.

Danny winced a bit at being put on the spot, but decided he should just put Jake out of his misery. “Well. You got pretty drunk.”

“Massively drunk.” Josh chimed in.

“No thanks to you.” Jake grumbled.

“Hey!” Josh pointed a finger at Jake. “I was simply making sure everyone’s cups remained filled, as any courteous man would. It’s not my fault you were sucking it down like water.”

Jake opened his mouth to retort, but Danny continued. “Jake, you were fine. Just got a little cuddly with Maven is all.” Jake whipped his head back to look at Danny, regretting it when a dull throb ricocheted around the mush of his brain.

“Oh god.” Sam’s voice joined as he stepped out of his tent. “You don’t remember? And here I was all proud of you.”

Jake groaned and dropped his head in his hands. “What did I do?”

“Nothing. Just cuddled your head in her lap and told her she was pretty.” Danny cut in before either Kiszka could start over exaggerating the story. “You were fine.”

Jake felt a blush rising to his cheeks, that only escalated when he heard the zipper of his tent announcing the arrival of Maven to the morning meeting.

“Can’t let a girl sleep, can you?” Maven muttered, stretching her arms above her head as she slid on her sandals.

Involuntarily, Jake’s jaw dropped open when a small sliver of skin made an appearance between the hem of her shirt and her sleep shorts. Somehow, everyday, this woman got prettier. Even with her hair all tangled from sleep and her eyes half open. She shuffled her way to the circle, ruffling Jake’s hair a bit as she passed. “How you feelin big guy?”

“Been better.” Jake mumbled. She huffed a laugh as she reached for a few small twigs and got to work building a fire. “Well, let’s get some coffee in you and see if you’re up for some hiking.” Maven announced.

~0~

Eventually, Jake’s brain stopped throbbing enough that they could explore the island a bit. They hiked most of the day, occasionally stopping to smoke a joint or go for a swim. They munched on the snacks they brought along and generally just caused mayhem, as was normal.

Around dinner time they made it back to the campsite and warmed up some canned soup they’d carried along for dinner as they chatted around the fire. After they’d finished they decided to go for a sunset swim to wash off the day. This inspired a round of chicken that Maven refereed. Jake and Josh vs Sammy and Danny. The latter team won, which the former team claimed was due to height advantage and not skill. It got pretty heated. All Maven could do was laugh. Eventually her referee duty required to stop the fight and shove everyone towards shore and the fire to dry off. At the fire, Jake vehemently refused any tequila, causing uproarious laughter from the group that he shrugged off. “More for me!” Josh quipped, taking a long pull straight from the bottle.

After a bit, Maven stood and announced that she wanted to wander along the shore and see the stars. Jake quickly stood alongside her and said he’d tag along. The other boys got the hint and stayed seated. The pair wandered along the shore in comfortable silence until Jake felt they were safely away from his nosy brothers.

“I’m really sorry about last night.” Jake sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

Maven halted, tossing him a curious look. “Why would you be sorry?”

“I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.” Maven simply shook her head, responding. “No. Not even close.” Biting her tongue at her slip of honesty.

A smirk twitched at the corners of Jake’s lips. “Good.” He replied simply, plopping down in the sand, his elbows resting on his knees. With one hand he gently patted the sand next to him, before wiping the sand grains off of his palm. Maven tilted her head a bit at his abruptness, but sat down next to him.

“I’m sorry.” He said softly, continuing in a rush when he saw her open her mouth to retort. “I’m sorry if they bugged you about me or anything that happened yesterday. They love me, but they also don’t know when to shut up sometimes.” Maven scoffed, but stayed silent. Something in her gut made her feel like he had more to say.

She was right.

“I really love them. A lot. They’re my best friends in the whole world and they’re helping me live a dream I really didn’t think was possible. Josh gave up his dream so we could make mine a reality and I’ll never be able to repay him. Ever. Even if we stopped tomorrow and he did whatever he wanted, I still made him wait.” Jake was fiddling around in the sand, and tossed a stone he’d found out into the splashing water. “I can’t even tell you how overwhelmed I get sometimes when we’re on stage. I’ve always loved music. Always taken pride in my craft. But being up there, with screaming fans, it still baffles me. Because when I turn and look at my Brothers and Danny, all I can think about is being in our bedrooms at like age 14 and talking about how we wanted to be rock stars. I’ll always be grateful for them for everything they’ve done to make this dream a reality.”

There was a moment of silence that Maven finally broke. “Why do I sense a ‘but’ coming?”

Jake huffed a breath, tossing another stone into the lake. “Not a ‘but’ necessarily, I just never realized that when something goes from a fun thing you do with your best friends after school and on weekends to something that you’re doing for thousands of people that the pressure takes away some of the fun. Don’t get me wrong, we still have a fuck ton of fun. There’s just…”

“Pressure.” Maven finishes.

“Yeah.” He breathes. “And I love them, but sometimes I feel like I’m not happy, even though I have literally everything I always wanted. This feels like the dumbest thing in the world to be complaining to you about right now which is why I literally never say this ever.”

“It’s okay.” Maven places her palm softly on his forearm. “It’s me.”

“I know.” Jake breathed. “Which is why I feel stupid saying this out loud because you…” He trailed off, wincing at his word choice.

“I had my dream ripped from me.” Maven said bluntly. “Just because things didn’t work exactly how I planned them doesn’t mean I’m not going to be empathetic to your feelings. My suffering doesn’t negate yours. Plus, it’s not like I’m doing too bad. I’m here with you after all.” Maven bumped her shoulder against his as an attempt to lighten the mood.

Jake chuckled softly. “I just have a really hard time getting close to people. Trusting people. I used to love making friends and speaking with new people but as the stakes get higher we’ve had to close ourselves off and I hate it. I understand it. It’s for our safety, it’s to help preserve our work and the band. I just…”

“Just what?”

“I feel like I’ve stopped myself from doing things I want to do because we have all this stuff in the way now. Contracts and deadlines and press. Instead of feeling like freedom it just feels like the walls are closing in around me. We got more freedom originally, but then as we grew the leashes got tighter. We’ve never been good at being controlled. I don’t talk about this with them because I often feel like I have to be the one to keep the dream alive, you know?”

“What do you want?” Maven asked softly.

Jake’s gaze shifts over to Maven, her eyes aimed up, at the stars and the moon hovering miles away. The reflected silver light in her eyes mesmerized him. He remembered last night thinking she looked like the sun, and now she looked like the moon. He supposed his lake nymph would be both; bright and glittering during the day while hiding dark calm depths at night. She whirled between silver and gold in front of him constantly, being both a source of light and a reflection of his own. He watched her as her eyes shifted between planets and stars, the reflection dancing in her gaze. He felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest and join the supernovas dancing above them.

“So much.” He whispered, in response to her question.

“So go for it.” She murmured, still completely unaware of the snare she had him caught in. Unintentionally setting flame to soul and trapping it in the mirrored reflection of her gaze. When he didn’t respond she finally glanced back at him, she sucked in a breath at the intensity in his gaze. They both held still for a moment, their gazes jumping back and forth between each other's eyes.

Jake had doubts swirling through his mind. His fears and apprehension twisted his chest. But all he could see was her. Her mind. Her soul. Her heart. It’s light burned through the darkness of his doubt and he decided to stop fighting and fall into her gravitational pull. He held his breath as he reached out his hand, letting his fingertips skim across her brow and down her temple, skating over the high point of her cheekbone and then sinking into her hair behind her ear.

“Can I kiss you?” He breathed.

With no hesitation, finally releasing the breath she’d been holding, Maven replied “Yes.”

Jake didn’t hesitate either. He didn’t want to waste another moment on doubt.

He pulled her head toward him, tilting his to balance the movement and sealed his lips over hers. It felt like a collapsing star. Energy swirling between them, the push and pull magnified tenfold. Jake couldn’t hold back the small groan that escaped his throat, and the sound seemed to break Maven from her paralysis. She leaned closer to him, rising to her knees on the sand, making Jake tilt his chin up to keep their lips connected. She placed shaky hands on his collarbones, smoothing over the fabric of his button up to steady herself.

Their fervor increased, Jake’s other hand mirroring his first, burying itself in her hair at her temple, as he tried to pull her closer. Maven inched her knees across the sand until she gave up and tossed a leg over his, settling into the cradle of his lap. She whimpered when he snagged her lower lip between his teeth, tugging it and releasing it with a pop. It was gentle and primal at the same time and she felt like she was burning alive.

Jake leaned back slightly, using his hands to hold her head a few inches from him. Their panting breaths sounded loud in the quiet between them. He scanned her face quickly before whispering. “Is this okay?”

“Just kiss me.” Maven demanded, snagging handfuls of his shirt in her grip and hauling him back to her lips. She moaned into his mouth as he slipped his tongue just past her lips, pulling her bottom lip between his teeth again. His gentle hands slipped down her neck and over her shoulders, sweeping over the small of her waist before settling on her hips. She rocked her pelvis forward a bit, trying to push their torsos closer together. The friction forced a grunt out of Jake’s throat, one of his hands snaking up to grip the back of her head.

He needed her closer. She was literally on top of him but it wasn’t enough.

He pulled back again, and this time Maven began attacking his jaw and the side of his neck in the absence of his mouth. He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, groaning at the sensation of her teeth scraping gently over his jaw.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while.” She whispered, nipping gently at his jaw line. “So pretty.”

He groaned her name. “You’re killin me mama.”

She chuckled softly, nuzzling her nose into his ear, before sinking her teeth into his earlobe, pulling another low moan out of his chest. He grabbed both sides of her head again with his hands, pushing gently until she was looking at him again. Both of their chest heaving and hearts pounding.

“What?” Maven panted, her cheeks warm and a timid smile on her face.

Jake groaned, letting his head drop back and his gaze drift skyward. Maven strained against his hands, attempting to latch her lips and teeth to his exposed neck but he held her off. “Listen, I’d really love to continue this, but not while we’re covered in sand and my idiot brothers are within spitting distance.”

When Maven pouted, Jake couldn’t help but pull her head down to his and nip at her bottom lip again. “No pouting baby girl. I didn’t say never, just not now.”

Maven flushed hotter at his pet name. “Okay.” She whispered.

“But if you think you’re sleeping in your own sleeping bag tonight you’re dead wrong. I don’t think I could take my hands off you if I tried.” Jake gently shifted her off his lap and stood, grabbing her hands and hauling her up with him. He kept one hand tangled with hers as he walked back to camp. They walked around the back, instead of by the fire, and he quietly unzipped the tent and let her enter first. They almost got away without being seen, but Jake glanced up right before he ducked into the tent and saw Danny giving him a know-it-all smirk.

He was simply too happy to care.

When he stepped into the tent, Maven was still standing in the middle, staring at him.

“What now?” She whispered.

“We sleep.” He responded softly. When a small smile flitted at the corners of her mouth he added. “Actually sleep. Because if we get going again there’s no telling what trouble we’d get into and I’m not taking you on the hard floor of a tent the first time.”

Mavens body pulsed hot again before pouting out her bottom lip, tucking her hair behind her ears as she whispers. “Fine.”

She spins, heading toward her sleeping bag, when he quickly snags her hand, pulling her body back against his. “Oh no you don’t. You’re in mine tonight mama.”

They settle down together in silence, Jake on his side and Maven curled up in his arms. He presses a small kiss to the crown of her head, pulling her body infinitesimally closer and whispering. “Goodnight Mave” into her hair.

Taglist: @dogwithabird

#Greta Van Fleet #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta fan fleet fic #greta fic #jake fic #jake kiszka #jake gvf #peaceful army

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