I Gave It All

Claudia's POV~~

An hour later, Jake was finally finished packing, and we were loading our things into his car. I walked back inside the house after closing the trunk. Everyone else except CC was packing as well. Jinxx was going to live with Sammi, and Andy was visiting his parents for awhile while he found a place. I hugged CC and Ashley, before grabbing Jake's hand and following him out the door. We both got in the car, and Jake sped off.

About ten minutes later, we passed Austin's house. Of course the light turned red right as we pulled in front of it. Austin was sitting outside on a lawn chair, looking directly at me. His eyes widened when he saw Jake next to me, then he retreated into his house, presumingly slamming the door behind him. The light turned green and we sped away. I let out a sigh and Jake removed his right hand from the steering wheel, grabbing mine.

"What's wrong?" He asked. I looked over at him.

"There's nothing wrong... I'm just nervous... I guess." I said. He scrunched his eyebrows up.

"What would you be nervous of?" Jake asked.

"I don't know really..." I said. He chuckled slightly and pulled into a Wal*Mart parking lot.

"Why are we here?" I asked.

"Food, drinks." Jake said with a shrug.

"Oh. Alright." I said as I got out of the car. I took Jake's outstretched hand and we walked inside, getting plenty of weird looks. Jake led me around the store, getting his desired and needed products. Neither of us said anything, as Jake was too focused on shopping. After about thirty minutes, we were finally out of there and back in the car. I gratefully sat down and closed the car door just as Jake was getting in.

"That took ages." I said. Jake chuckled.

"If you think thirty minutes is ages, be my guest. It really wasn't that long." He said.

"Well then.." I said with a slight laugh. Jake pulled out of the parking lot and I turned the radio on, surfing the channels, but not finding anything good. I put a CD in instead, Escape The Fate.

"You like Escape The Fate?" Jake asked.

"More like love." I replied.

"What's your favorite song?"

"Gorgeous Nightmare." I said as a smile tugged at my lips. Jake did smile.

"We're here!" He announced thirty more minutes later.

"Finally!!" I groaned. Jake laughed and followed my actions, getting out of the car. We walked up about three flights of stairs after getting our things or of the car. I wasn't too thrilled about lugging a suitcase up that many steps, but at least I didn't have to do it again. We finally reached his apartment and there was a piece of paper taped to the door. Not just any piece of paper, a conviction notice.

"What!?" Jake somewhat yelled after reading it.

"This was put up here this morning. I only have three weeks to pay this fee for not paying my bills, or I'm out." He said.

"How much is it?" I asked as I rubbed his shoulder.

"It's not much. It's only $5k. Don't worry, I can pay it." He said with an exasperated sigh. He ripped the paper off the door and unlocked it, pushing it open.

"I don't understand though... when were you here last?" I asked.

"About.. a month ago." He said. I nodded, then a confused look took over on my face.

"We just got back from tour about a month ago.. did you visit this place just to relax or something?" I asked. Jake just nodded, and I shut up.

"Do you want to come with me to pay this, or go you want to unpack?" He asked.

"I'll stay and unpack. I'll see you in a few." I said. He nodded and kissed my cheek, then left, gently shutting the door behind him. I flicked on the living room light, revealing a couch, a tv, and a small coffee table, nothing too exciting. I dragged my suitcase with me down the hall, entering one of the two bedrooms. This one looked like the guest room. It was barely decorated, and the walls were a plain pasty white. I left that room and continued down to the other one. This one seemed more homey than the other one. I started to unpack after setting my suitcase on the bed. It didn't take me very long to unpack everything, and by the time I did, Jake was back with a guest. I slid the suitcase under the bed and walked down the hall, approaching both men.

"Ahh.. Claudia.. this is Mr. Neuro... he's my landlord." Jake said, gesturing to the middle-aged man. I shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you." I said with a smile.

"Same. So Jacob, are you planning on staying here for a while?" Mr. Neuro asked, directing his attention away from me.

"Uh.. yes i do.. especially now that we're living together, and we don't have a tour for a while.." Jake said.

"Oh, is she your girlfriend?"

"Indeed." Jake said. Mr. Neuro nodded and smiled at me. He then turned for the door.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Claudia. Pay your bills, Jacob." He said, then he left. I looked at Jake, a fit of laughter threatening to let loose.

"Don't laugh at me." He pouted.

"Fine." I said. I kissed his cheek and took a seat on the couch with a smile on my face. Jake left to pack, leaving me alone on the couch. I sighed and turned on the tv, falling asleep minutes later.

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