Description: As she watched them, she noticed how happy they looked together and wondered if she would ever find love like that herself. He loved her without realizing it was love, believing it to simply be friendship. Perhaps, one day, they could find the courage to admit their feelings for each other.
AN: This is basically Jessica and Toby confessing to their friends (Gina, Nick and Lucas) their feelings for one another, which they had been unaware of until recently.
AN#2: I'm so sorry for not updating but my laptop screen broke and then, to make matters even worse, my network went down for 3 days which meant I had no Internet access. But hopefully you guys will enjoy this chapter.
Jessica sighed with an air of sadness as she watched Lucas and Gina. She was truly happy that they had found each other but the niggling thought that had been bothering her ever since they had got together was:
When will I find love like that?
It hadn't been an issue she had been particularly worried about in the past. She had her platonic, almost sibling-like love with Gina, Toby, Nick and Lucas so she hadn't really taken an interest in romantic love. At least she hadn't, until she saw just how happy love made people feel. Once again, she sighed, wondering why thinking about love made her feel so miserable.
Nick watched her from the doorway. He didn't have any romantic feelings for Jessica but he thought of her as a sister and he hated seeing her look so unhappy.
"Are you okay, Jessica?" he asked, moving toward her. She jumped, clearly having not noticed him, and spun round. Upon seeing it was him, she turned back and continued staring forlornly out of the window.
"I'm fine, thanks." she said in an unconvincingly cheerful tone. Nick raised an eyebrow and stepped forward to stand beside her. Together they looked out of the window.
"You don't sound like it." he observed. "What's wrong? You know you can talk to us if there's anything bothering you."
She turned her head and looked at him for a few moments before returning her wistful attention to the window. It was a while before she spoke. "I'm really glad Lucas and Gina have found each other. They seem so happy together but-"
"But-" Nick prompted her, wanting to know what the problem was so that he could help.
"Well, will I ever find a love like that?" she asked, sounding ashamed for worrying about something so trivial. "I mean, there's no one who fits what I'm looking for."
Nick looked at her. "Do you know what you're looking for?" he asked. She looked thoughtful before shaking her head. "I think you're looking for someone who can be protective and loving towards you, someone who can cheer you up when you're down and be your shoulder to cry on, someone who would go to the ends of the earth to make you happy and would willingly sacrifice himself to keep you safe."
Jessica's eyes widened. "That's exactly what I want, Nick! How did you know that?"
Nick scratched the top of his head. "A lucky guess, I suppose." he said modestly. He watched his friend's face fall and her shoulders slump down. He wondered why she had suddenly become so downcast.
"I'm never going to find anyone like that, though, am I? My perfect guy?" she asked wistfully before adding, "And even if I did, how would I know if I loved him or not?"
Nick shrugged, being pretty clueless when it came to love. Anything that involved scientific or mathematical formulae he could do, but love was an entirely different matter. "Why don't you try asking Gina?" He suggested, not really wanting to discuss the topic. "I'm gonna go and help Toby finish cleaning the bathroom."
She smiled affectionately at the mention of Toby's name, something that didn't go unnoticed by Nick. "Don't tell me he flooded it again."
"Well, actually, I did," Nick confessed, looking guilty as Jessica glared at him. "Toby just said he'd take the blame 'cos it's usually him that does stuff like that, but I kinda feel bad about it so I'm gonna go and help out. See you later!"
He turned round and added, "Oh, and by the way, I think the one you're looking for is closer than you realize."
"Wait. What do you-?" Jessica asked, puzzled but Nick left without replying.
Jessica decided to wait until Gina was alone before she approached her, not particularly wanting to be the third wheel. Whilst she waited, she drummed her fingers on the counter and sighed. Waiting, it seemed, took forever. Eventually Lucas stood up, kissed Gina on the cheek and walked through the door into the kitchen where Jessica was stood, trying not to look too impatient.
"Hey, Jess, where are-?" he began, looking around.
"In the bathroom." She replied distractedly, wanting to go and have a private conversation with Gina. Fortunately, for her, Lucas caught on quite quickly and said he would go up to help out too. He nodded toward Gina, indicating that she should take the opportunity she had been given, and she smiled gratefully as she walked out into the garden.
"Gina?" Jessica began nervously. Her friend immediately looked up and smiled. "I need to talk to you about something..."
Meanwhile Toby, Nick and Lucas were all busy cleaning the bathroom when Toby suddenly spoke. "Guys, there's something I need to talk to you about."
They both looked at each other. "Okay, go ahead. We're all ears." Lucas said, as he and Nick ceased their cleaning and raised their heads to look at him.
Toby mumbled something under his breath, as though he hadn't wanted anyone to hear him.
Nick frowned. "Sorry, bro, but you're going to have to repeat that. Neither of us heard what you just said."
He and Lucas both looked at Toby, silently urging him to tell them what he was clearly bothered. Toby sighed, realizing that there wasn't any way of being able to avoid replying. "I-I think I'm in love with Jessica." He confessed, staring at the floor, unable to look either of them in the eye.
There was a stunned silence. Eventually Lucas broke it by saying, "Wow, we never thought you'd actually admit it!" Nick nodded his agreement.
"Wait, what?" Toby yelped, clearly confused. "What do you mean you never thought I'd actually admit it?"
Nick raised his eyebrows at his brother. "Toby, I hate to break it to you but it's been kind of obvious that your feelings for Jessica have been more than platonic for quite a while."
The blonde looked almost desperately at his brother and friend. "So what should I do?"
Elsewhere Jessica was talking to Gina about her 'problem'. "How do I know if I'm in love? I have no idea about any of this, Gina."
To her astonishment, her friend started laughing. "You mean you haven't noticed yet?"
Jessica was flummoxed. "Noticed what exactly?"
Gina hastily shook her head. "It doesn't matter," she said. "Anyway, back to the original subject. If you're in love with someone, you always feel happiest when you're with them. You both do everything you can to protect each other, which means you feel safe around that person. You'd get angry if someone was threatening or hurting them and you'd stand up for them in an instant, even if they didn't want you to. You'd go to the ends of the earth if they asked you, simply because it's them asking. When they so much as look at you, your heart races a mile a minute and it's even worse if they touch you. It feels like your skin is on fire if they accidentally brush against you. If you can look them in the eye, you nearly always end up blushing, especially when you're staring at them and they catch you looking. You'd bicker with them a lot because you don't want anyone to know about your feelings for them but, later on, you'd feel bad and do anything you could to make amends with them. Falling in love means falling in love with every part of them- the good and the bad. You'd never want them to change because you love them the way they are and, if your feelings are strong enough, you would love them forever, no matter what they do or say, no matter who they are."
"Wow," Jessica said, once Gina had finished speaking. "Do you really feel all that when you're in love with someone?"
Gina shrugged. "It's how I feel around Lucas and I know I love him."
Jessica sighed. "Well, I don't think I've felt like that around anyone." She lied because there was someone she felt like that around but she didn't want to admit it.
"Are you sure?" Gina asked, amused by her friend's naivety. "Because if you seriously don't see how you feel around him, or how he feels around you for that matter, then I-"
"Feel around who?" Jessica exploded, suddenly fed up of the cryptic advice everyone seemed to be giving her. "What? Are you trying to say that I'm in love with Toby or something? That's just-" she started laughing but it wasn't a how can you even think that? laugh, more like a how did you figure it out? laugh.
She cut herself off mid-laugh as Gina said calmly, "That's exactly what I'm saying."
"But that's- I mean, we're just friends!" Jessica protested.
"Or, at least that's what you keep telling yourself. You two are more oblivious about your feelings for each other than Lucas ever was about my feelings for him, and that's saying something!" Gina said, wanting Jessica to confess what she, Nick and Lucas knew to be the truth.
"Alright, fine!" Jessica snapped, having finally had enough. "Yes, I'm in love with Toby! Happy now?"
Gina blinked before saying, "I think I'm gonna go inside and get something to eat." She sensed that Jessica wanted to be alone after confessing her deepest secret.
Jessica did not reply so Gina got up and walked silently into the house. She turned and saw her friend staring wistfully at the sky.
At the same time, Nick sighed, watching his brother's agitated expression before saying, " You should go and tell her how you feel."
"I can't!" Toby yelled, almost desperately. "She doesn't see me like that!"
"Toby!" Lucas snapped, startling them all. "You are telling her about your feelings even if we have to drag you to her, lock you both out of the house and sing Can You Feel the Love Tonight? until you confess!"
By the time Lucas had finished his mini-rant (and nearly lost his voice in the process), Toby, looking (quite rightly, in his opinion) very scared, said, "Okay, I'll tell her! Do either of you know where she is?"
"Most likely in the garden." Nick suggested. Toby nodded his thanks and left. After he had done so, Nick looked at Lucas and they both let out simultaneous sighs.
Toby ran down the stairs into the kitchen, past Gina who was making a sandwich and into the garden, somehow without falling flat on his face. His eyes found her immediately, sitting on a lounge chair and staring at the sky whilst tapping her feet against the ground.
"Hey," he greeted, sitting down on the other lounge chair. She looked at him, an (adorable, if he was honest) blush on her face as their eyes met. Eventually she shyly looked away and Toby couldn't help but feel slightly amused at the way she was acting around him. That was, at least, until he remembered that he acted in exactly the same way around her.
Jessica looked at her feet as she summoned the courage to ask him what had been on her mind since her talk with Gina. Looking up at him, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach, she asked earnestly, "Have you ever been in love?"
Toby silently nodded, wondering what she had been thinking about that caused her to ask that question. "Yeah," he said lightly. "Why do you want to know?"
"I-I just-" she started before thinking better of it. When she spoke again, she couldn't quite hide the envy in her voice as she asked, "What is she like? She must be really special."
"Perfect," Toby told her quietly. "She- everything about her is perfect. I just wish she would realize that herself." As he spoke, he gently took hold of her hands causing her to look up at him. This somehow gave him the courage to admit his true feelings.
"I wish you'd see how perfect you are! I-l love you so much, and it scares me how long I've loved you, knowing that you'd never feel the same way!"
Jessica looked at him, not quite sure what to do or say. She had spent so long convincing herself that her love was unrequited that hearing him say he loved her was almost too much for her to bear. This caused her to remain silent, thoughts racing around in her head.
She doesn't feel the same way! Toby mentally yelled at himself. You idiot! All you've done is ruin a perfectly good friendship because you had to go and tell her you were in love with her!
Trying to keep the pain out of his voice, he said, with a numb feeling in his chest, "It doesn't matter. Just forget what I said, okay." The feeling of knowing she didn't feel the same far outweighed the feeling of thinking she didn't feel the same.
Jessica felt awful. She had heard the pain in Toby's voice which made her upset because she had caused him pain and he was the last person she wanted to hurt.
I have to tell him the truth! She told herself. Before I lose him forever! I couldn't bear it if that happened!
"Toby?" She began, sounding quite nervous. " I-I have to tell you this now. I didn't want to say anything but now that I know about your feelings..."
"Yeah, I know," Toby began. "You're in love wi-" He wondered why she was telling him this and then considered whether she was actually trying to crush his recently broken heart.
"With you!" Jessica yelled, grabbing him by the shoulders, none too gently. "I'm in love with you!" She let out a sudden squeak of surprise as Toby, having given in to what was only going to be inevitable since he had joined her, pulled her towards him and kissed her, trying to convey all the feelings he felt for her into that one kiss. His arms slid around her waist, pulling her even closer to him and she felt her own arms moving up his back and around his neck. She kissed him back with fierce passion, feeling as though she could learn everything about him from this one kiss.
Eventually their need to breathe meant they had to break apart. Toby said, as he gently kissed her forehead, "If it was physically possible, I would do that forever." He smiled as she blushed and playfully shoved him. "I love it when you blush." He told her, a wide grin on his face. "I also love the fact that it's usually me that makes you blush." Taking hold of her hands once again, he added, "But, most of all, I love knowing that you love me." He pulled her close to him and, without hesitation, she leant her head against his shoulder as they both watched the sunset.
Back in the house, Nick, Lucas and Gina had been secretly spying on their friends the whole time and were all thrilled that they had finally admitted their feelings.
"He kissed her! I can't believe it! And now they're watching the sunset together! That's so romantic!" Gina squealed, sounding like a fan whose favorite movie couple had just kissed for the first time.
I'm so glad I don't have to see Toby moping around anymore, pretending to be happy. Nick thought to himself, knowing that Toby and Jessica would be far happier together than apart.
"Oh man, and I was really looking forward to executing Plan B too!" Lucas sighed, slightly disappointed that he hadn't been able to put his ingenious plan into motion.
"What was Plan B?" Gina asked curiously, looking from Lucas to Nick, her dark eyes demanding answers.
"Lucas can explain." Nick said hastily. The boy looked up as he heard his name, smiled at his girlfriend and, taking hold of her hand, walked into the living room. All the while, he was explaining the finer details of Plan B whilst Gina listened in earnest.
Nick shook his head in amusement before returning his attention to the window. He saw them, sitting side by side, her head on his shoulder, his arm round her waist.
This morning, neither of them thought their love would be noticed. Now, though, they have their love for each other and it will make them even stronger. I have to say that Toby isn't the only one who looks happy- they both do because the only way they would ever truly be happy would be for them to confess their true feelings, which they have done. I hope they'll be happy together. A love as strong as theirs should last forever.
AN: Wow, this is the longest chapter so far (2989 words to be precise). I hope you all enjoy this chapter and hopefully there will be more chapters to come. Thank you all for your patience because I know I'm terrible at updating! :')