Hey! We are back with another chapter! It's a wee bit of a filler, I suppose. But, hey! New cover?

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"Choices. Choices. Too. Many. Choices," Jesse muttered, walking up the stairs and down the hall, sifting through a couple of giant envelopes with college names scrawled across the front. He entered his room and chucked the slightly offending papers on his desk.

Jesse flopped on his bed with a sigh, palming his face and rubbing his eyes with gusto. The stress of choosing a college and figuring out the rest of his life nibbled at the back of his mind. These were choices that would follow him the rest of his life; it would shape who he became and what he would do in the future.

Having all of that resting on his shoulders just freaked him out a bit. Not to mention the other portions of his life that were freaking him out.

Like how Everett currently had a stack of papers and envelopes to the ones Jesse had on his desk. But Everett really hadn't made much of a discussion of it. While Jesse and Everett clearly were on great terms, over the past two weeks, Everett didn't really talk about this particular event with him.

Which, okay, fair enough - Jesse and Everett both had a lot on their plates. Everett was juggling a brand new relationship and colleges, while Jesse had work and colleges. So, yeah, they were a little busy at the moment.

Jesse just wanted Everett to talk to him about this particular thing for some reason. Maybe because, to him, it meant really letting go.

For as long as he could remember, Jesse played the older brother despite being younger. When they were small, Jesse sacrificed a lot to make sure Everett would be okay. That aspect of his personality hadn't changed. Even though he was absolutely thrilled about Everetts progress, Jesse still got nervous when Everett's future came up.

Jesse still cared and wanted Everett to be stable and happy. It was amazing to watch Everett take charge of his own life; it was simultaneously both terrifying and exciting for Jesse.

But instead of coming to him with this huge decision, Everett seemed content to have conversation in low tones with Lizzie and his mother. Jesse knew what they were about; of course he did. The huge envelopes gave it away. However, Jesse didn't even know which colleges Everett even applied to. There were so many with a great music program and no doubt Everett could get in on scholarship.

Jesse shook his head lightly, focusing instead on the piano playing downstairs. He smiled, knowing that hadn't changed at all. Everett still loved his piano more than anything else.

Everett's music definitely changed though. Light, happy tunes filled the house and lifted everyone's spirit.

Eyeing the stack of envelopes taunting him from the desk, Jesse stood up and left his room. The stress inside of the flimsy containers would still be there later. It wasn't over yet; not by a long shot.

But, hey - that was a problem for later.

Jesse descended the stairs two at a time, swinging around the railing once he hit the bottom. He walked up to the piano and leaned his body weight on the back, propping up his head on his elbows.

"That is quite the lovely tune, bro. I wonder what the inspiration behind such joy could be?" Jesse watched as his brothers face bloomed a deep pink at his teasing.

"Shut up," Everett muttered grouchily, but no one could deny the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. The man shook his head and continued on, fingers never slipping and momentum never fading.

As soon as the song ended, Everett breathed deeply and started all over again. He seemed deep in concentration, all of his focus honed in on the instrument sitting in front of him.

"What's with the perfectionism coming out?" Jesse finally asked once the song had been run through again. And again. And again. Jesse couldn't find anything wrong with what came out; the song was perfection itself. But Everett seemed determined to make it more so.

In response to his brother, Everett let out a little huff. He slid down the on the piano bench and gestured to it for his brother. Jesse plopped down on the bench and wiggled his butt around a little.

"Why haven't you picked up like, I don't know, a cushion or something? Doesn't your butt go numb?" Jesse asked offhandedly. Though once he spotted the look on Everett's face, he shut up. "Right. We're getting off track."

"It's just," Everett began expressing his thoughts after a moment, but paused. "I picked a college," he finished sheepishly, wringing his hands together.

It took several moments for it to sink in, but once it does, Jesse's mouth falls open. "You . . . what?" This decision was something Jesse spent nights agonizing over without Everett ever realizing it and now . . . now what?

"Yeah," Everett softly replied, one finger tracing the piano keys, one by one. He sighed. "I was going to tell you tonight. I've just been trying to figure everything out. It's weird," he mused, propping up one elbow on the edge of the piano and leaning against his arm. "These are things I never thought about doing before and now it's all hitting me at once and I'm just like, whoa there - slow down."

Jesse slowly nodded, processing everything. "So, then . . . where are you going?"

Everett motioned for Jesse to stand up; Jesse did so and watched from the side as Everett opened the bench top, pulling out an envelope from inside. It was handed to him and Jesse read the name on the front out loud.

"Curtis Institute of Music?" his tone was confused and he furrowed his brow. Looking back up at Everett, he asked, "I would have thought Julliard would have been your first choice. I'm pretty sure you got an acceptance letter."

Everett fidgeted nervously, shuffling from one foot to the other. "Well, yeah, but . . ."

"Why would you go somewhere that isn't Julliard?" Jesse demanded to no one in particular, interrupting Everett in the process. His mind just couldn't wrap around the idea that Everett didn't want the best musical program in existence. "Julliard is . . . it's Julliard! And, and . . . it's close! We could still help you! You'll be too far away in, oh my god, you're going to Philadelphia?"

Jesse rambled on and on, basically repeating the same thing over and over. He watched as Everett's face twisted from confused to sympathetic. Well, that was a new expression.

"Jesse," Everett interrupted gently. He walked around the bench and put both hands on Jesse's shoulders, which were heaving with the effort of his speech. "I get it. Trust me, do." Jesse didn't seem to follow, so Everett clarified, "I'm scared, too."

And really, that was the big thing. Jesse was afraid. The school Everett set his heart on was so far away. How would he get help if he needed it?

Going to Arizona for a short trip was one thing. But for Jesse, Everett going away for several years in another state looked like a horse of a completely different color.

"I just don't see why you'd go so far away," Jesse muttered dejectedly. "I thought you would have been closer is all."

Everett huffed out a laugh and stepped away from his younger brother, one hand carding through his hair. "Yeah. Yeah, so did I. But this came in and I just . . . I don't know, Jesse. I've noticed that some things just feel right and. . . Well, this is one of them. I feel it. This is the right place to go, you know?"

With a nod, Jesse plunked back down on the piano bench. "It's cool, though, you know?" He said after a few beats of silence. "You're sort of forging your own path. You know what you want and you're going for it. That's . . . That's really admirable, bro."

And he meant it. Every single word. It's just . . .

"I don't know what I want anymore," Jesse whispered with a sigh. When he was little, Jesse had a list of things he wanted to be when he grew up. The list changed over the years from astronauts and firefighters to things like an art teacher and artist.

But now, even those seemed too restrictive; too much. At one point, Jesse could seem himself teaching in front of classrooms and spending quiet nights in his own personal studio.

Now all he saw were four bleary walls. He saw bills and settling down. He saw an unsatisfactory life waiting for him and he just didn't get why.

"It's okay that you don't, you know," Everett told him. "I just figured my life out. Barely. Lizzie is still figuring hers out. I'm pretty sure there are people twice our age still trying to figure out what they want," Everett explained quickly, the words practically tripping over each other to get out. "It's okay to not be on point all the time. It's okay to not know what you want."

"But even if it always changed, I still had something in mind, you know? Some sort of goal,"Jesse insisted.

Everett found his brothers shoulder and squeezed it slightly. "You'll be okay. Please don't worry."

And with that, Everett closed the lid of his piano and made his way out of the room. Jesse assumed it was to get food.

Jesse decided to let it slide. And by it, he meant the internalized hysteria he had of just not knowing where he would be heading in life. Things were so much different now. Everett had his life figured out. He knew what he wanted out of it now and he was pursuing it with everything he had.

With a sigh, Jesse shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind and stood, following his brother into the kitchen. "If you eat all the Doritos, I'll end you, Ev."

His comment was promptly greeted by all sorts of obnoxious crunching and Everett's food muffled laugh.

"Too late."

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"You two need a life."

Those were the kind and loving words the North brothers were greeted with as soon as Lizzie stepped foot through the door. Her eyes landed on the lump of North sitting on the couch as she dumped her bag by the door. Both turned in her direction.

One of them grinned widely and shoved the other off the couch onto the floor. "Make room for the pretty one, Jess," Everett mumbled as the latter groaned on the floor.

"All of the betrayal," Jesse wailed, though the grin on his face jinxed the effect. He settled down in front of the couch with just enough room for Lizzie to pass by and get comfy.

Everett and Lizzie exchanged quiet hellos, a few more words passing between them that Jesse couldn't quite understand. But he smiled and after greeting Lizzie himself, Jesse pushed himself up and walked out of the room.

Lizzie and Everett deserved some time just for the two of them to chat and say hi. So he excused himself and with a smile over his shoulder, walked to the kitchen. The conversation between Lizzie and Everett grew in volume. Jesse listened for a moment as they talked about their days so far and when Lizzie let out a laugh at something Everett said, Jesse ducked into the kitchen for some snacks. And drinks.

And maybe he would make some tea, too. Just to give them a bit more time together.

Cause Jesse was nice like that.

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Lizzie watched Jesse walk out of the room with a fond shake of her head. "Does he really think he's that subtle?" she chuckled, pressing a quick kiss to Everett's cheek before ducking and putting her head on his shoulder.

Everett's arm tightened around her and he grinned. "I think it brings his fanboy heart huge amounts of joy to see his, and I quote, OTP hanging together."

"That guy has been planning this for a long time, right?" Lizzie mused. "He probably know what's going to happen on our first date."

The sentiment was supposed to come across as a joke, but as luck would have it, the air turned quiet and just a tad awkward. It hadn't exactly come up before but despite being official . . . Lizzie and Everett were still one date short of . . . well, one date.

It's just that they spent so much time together, dates weren't exactly one of the hottest topics of conversation. They spent more time talking about colleges and the future and the best place to get pizza.

Which, now that Lizzie thought about it, that particular topic of conversation might have been a great time to bring up an actual date thing. But it just - well, it just never happened.

"We should probably do that," Everett said quietly, fiddling with the seam of Lizzie's shirt. He let it go and smoothed it over a bit. Instead, he detached himself from Lizzie and folded his hands in his lap. "At one point. Since we like ... do stuff together. Maybe that's a thing. We should do. Together."

Lizzie looked over at him, lips curving up in a small smile, waiting for his next line of thought. When he didn't offer anything up, she figured that was pretty much the invite. And as she opened her mouth to confirm, Everett popped in with, "Lizzie, do you want to go on a date with me?"

And for some odd reason - that wasn't what she expected to happen next. So, formal invitation . . .

"Yes . . ."

Lizzie couldn't figure out why Everett seemed so surprised at her answer. The two of them hung out nearly every day, they discussed their futures and they've shared a brief kiss on several occasions. So they hadn't been on a date yet; big deal.

Lizzie and Everett were best friends turned into a package deal. Seriously - Everett didn't have any actual reason to be concerned about his question.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

And at that point, Everett grinned so bright that Lizzie thought she would be blinded. The entire thing made an entire academy of Jedi butterflies erupt in her stomach.

"Why haven't you said anything else?" Everett asked. With a little more confidence, he continued with, "I mean, I've sort of got an idea of what to do. I think it would be fun. I think. I hope. Maybe. I don't know. I'm sort of new to this." Everett shrugged helplessly.

Lizzie just couldn't even think of what to say; she just smiled wide and leaned into Everett. "I'm excited," she told him quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I think we need a new affirmative. 'Yeah' is starting to lose it's meaning."

Everett rolled his eyes and lightly pinched her shoulder. "Be nice!" he scolded playfully.

In a strange twisty sort of dance, Lizzie squirmed away from him and scrambled to her feet. She whirled around and pointed at him, saying, "That's it, North. I'm going to check in on the other North brother and see why he hasn't returned with any drinks or anything. You're a pain."

All her teasing followed over her shoulder as she turned towards the kitchen. As she rounded in the corner, she found Jesse casually standing on the other side of the kitchen. One leg was swung in front of the other, his hip resting against the counter. He held a mug in his hand and seemed to be pouring water into it.

He looked very . . . posed.

"You little sneak."

Jesse looked up with surprise, setting down the kettle and mug. "Me? What did I do?" Little by little, a smirk crossed on his face and he chuckled. "Okay, what gave me away?"

Rolling her eyes, Lizzie made her way to the cabinets. She pulled one open and grabbed a bag of chips while saying, "Well, the GQ Polaroid moment on the other side of the kitchen might have tipped me off."

"Too stiff?"

"Too posed."

"Of course. I gotta work on that."

"You ever going to join us back out there?" Lizzie asked, her arms fulled of chips, one hand already in a bag.

Jesse shrugged. "Meh, thought I'd let you guys have some time alone."

"And by alone you mean us in one room while you listened in from the other?"

"Exactly?"

Lizzie shook her head and smiled. "You're such a dork." She momentarily paused and looked in Jesse's direction. "You okay?"

Jesse frowned and nodded. "Well, yeah - why?" Upon seeing the look Lizzie gave him, he rolled his eyes and he rolled them hard. "Everett got to you." It was a straight up statement. Nothing about it was a question. "You're bringing this up, because?"

An exasperated sigh came from the other side of the room and before any time could be wasted, Lizzie stood in front of him.

She started at him intensely and Jesse gulped a little bit. Being on the receiving end of Lizzie's intense stare really was nothing to be happy about.

"You would talk to me, right?" she asked quietly, earnestly. When Jesse seemed confused, she continued, "About what's bothering you. If it hit some sort of apex you would let me know, right? You'd talk to me and we could hash it out together. We're friends, Jess. Don't forget that. Just because Everett and I are a thing now doesn't mean you can't talk to me. Okay?"

He smiled back at her and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. Thank you, Lizzie." A sly grin crossed his face. "So . . . you and Everett going on a date, huh?"

As Jesse spoke, Lizzie shook her head and backed away. "No. No, no . . . we are not having this conversation. Nope. Nope. Nope."

"But, Lizzie," he called out after her. "I was under the impression we could tell each other everything!"

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I didn't know how to end this chapter, but ta-da! So hopefully you enjoyed this chapter and more will be coming soon!

Your comments and votes are always appreciated and hearing what you think always inspires the next chapter!

I shall talk to you soon!