Jaime couldn't help pace in the living room in front of Milagros who looked like she was about to yell at him. They had finished cleaning all the glass while the rest of the family finished packing all of their things to get ready for their flight in a couple of hours. Luckily Javier was busy getting the car ready for the trip and Jaime didn't have to keep seeing his judgmental stare. 

"I should also tell you that I told her." Milagros stated flinching like she expected Jaime to yell at her, the problem was that he didn't know what his sister was referring to. He told Milagros everything and so really she could be referring to anything. 

"Told her what?" He questioned unable to deny that he was starting to feel a little panicked. He was determined to get Gemma back and he didn't want to do anything that could jeopardize what he hoped was some progress. She was talking to him so that had to mean something, but Gemma was also incredibly mature so she could just be talking to him because she wasn't the type to just treat someone horribly. 

"I just told her about Tom. And all the things he would say to you." She replied slowly realizing that it might have been a mistake. 

"I have this last chance Milagros." Jaime reminded her trying his best not to sound too desperate but that was impossible to do when he was in fact very desperate. "I can't mess this up."

Milagros rolled her  clearly annoyed with him, but she would "You wouldn't have to try to fix things if you didn't act like an idiot in the first place."

The last couple of months Milagros had heard him complain to the point where she was starting to be less gentle about the way she phrased things. Luckily he had also been able to reconnect with Paco after they had bumped into each other in the grocery store. It turns out that they still had a little too much in common. 

Just like Jaime had been a complete idiot letting his insecurities get in the way of his relationship with Gemma. Paco had also messed things up with Brenda so badly that she had broken up with him. But unlike Jaime who still had hope that he could fix things Paco felt that there was absolutely nothing that could be done with get Brenda back. Apparently they had a terrible fight and they both had said extremely hurtful things to each other. Jaime found it unfortunate because that meant that the three of them couldn't be around each other like they had in high school.  

Jaime groaned long ago having realized how much of an idiot he had been. "I'm aware." 

"I also hate to break this to you but there is no way you are going to win her back wearing Rudy's clothes." 

Milagros as annoyingly right. His current look was not one that was going to wine Gemma over, but maybe he would have some time to do his hair before they headed out. Gemma had told his before that she loved his hair so he had to make sure that he styled it the way she liked. 

"Alright!" Rudy declared as he stepped inside the living room not looking very impressed with the cleaning job. "Everything is ready to go if you want to go get la Gemma y la Jenny."

"I'll go!" Jaime quickly offered as he headed up the stairs a decision that he quickly regretted when he realized that it meant that Gemma would have to see him looking like a complete mess. 

When he arrived at Gemma's room he froze when he placed his hand around the doorknob realizing that he had lost the right to enter her bedroom unannounced. It was a right that he intended to win back as he knocked on the door waiting for her response. 

"Come in." It was Jenny that replied and Jaime couldn't help but hesitate again as he realized that he hadn't had much of a chance to clean himself up either. But it was too late for any of that now as he finally opened the door. 

Jaime hated how different the bedroom looked. That the bed that they used to share wasn't the same, but the type of bed didn't matter as long as he got to fall asleep with her in his arms again. It was almost like he hadn't had a goodnights sleep since the breakup. But hopefully after everything related to the red robot was over he could really focus on getting her back. 

"Hey." Jaime said awkwardly looking between Gemma and Jenny. He had a feeling that they had been talking about him from the looks on both of their faces. He wanted to hope that they were talking good things, though from the look on Jenny's face specifically he knew that wasn't the case. Jenny looked incredibly annoyed not that Jaime could blame her. He deserved every annoyed look from Jenny, Brenda and Javier. "The car is ready for whenever you want to head out."

"Are you sure you want to be seen in public looking like that?" Jenny questioned as she looked him with every intention to humiliate him just a little. Though she did have a point he very much didn't want to be seen in public wearing Rudy's oversized t-shirt and shorts. 

"Believe it or not this was the best Rudy had." Jaime replied as he tugged at the hem of the shirt. At the very least the clothes were cleaning. 

"I still have some of your clothes if you want to change?"

Jaime couldn't help but feel the slightest bit excited hearing that she hadn't thrown out his things. That had to be a good sign right? It had to mean that she still felt something if she wasn't able to get rid of them. "You do?"

"Yeah they're in the garage." She replied and that new fact was a little less promising.  If his stuff was all packed way that meant that she didn't want to see it. Maybe in the same way that Gemma had practically remodeled the entire house, it was like she wanted to wipe away every memory they had together. Hopefully she hadn't been entirely successful and there was still a part of her that loved him still. "Come on."

"I'm going to make some of the calls that we talked about." Jenny said which seemed like the opposite of what Gemma wanted to hear. Maybe it had to do with the fact that now she had to be alone with him, he hoped that wasn't the case even though it seemed to be exactly it. 

Jenny only offered an annoyed Gemma an apologetic smile before stepping out of the room. Gemma didn't say anything as she led Jaime to the garage. It was awful having to try to navigate the uncertainty in their relationship. When they were in her lab it really did feel as if there was a brief moment between them. She had smiled at him and they had talked. It hand't felt awkward or forced, but she understandable wasn't willing to forget everything that he had put her through. He had been a coward and he had no right to expect anything from her. 

There were so many boxes in the garage, most of them had already been there. But some of them were new and she reached for a smaller sized box in the corner with his name on it. 

"I got it." Jaime said quickly as he took the box away from her, it wasn't heavy and it probably didn't have very many things. The night that he had left he had taken everything out of the closet, but he knew that he had left a couple of things behind. Like some of his hoodies that Gemma at some point claimed. 

But as he set the box down on the counter and opened it he felt a lump form in his throat realizing that it wasn't only just clothes that she had poked away. There were stuffed animals and pictures, and other things that he had personally bought. It was something that he should have expected, it was a normal thing for people to do during a break-up. That didn't stop it from hurting like hell. 

Either she didn't notice how stunned he was or she was acting like she didn't notice as she pulled a hoodie out of the box. 

It was difficult having her so close and not be able to kiss her. He could only look at her lips as she spoke remembering every kiss they ever shared. Unconsciously he found himself stepping closer to her wanting to smell even a hint of her newly washed hair, he couldn't but smile a little at the smell of strawberry that he sometimes swore he could smell in his dreams.

"Right?" She asked as she looked at him expectantly and it was then that he realized that nothing that she said really registered in his brain. He had been staring at her like an idiot and the last thing that he wanted was for her to have anymore reason to be upset.

"I'm sorry what?" 

Gemma looked a little annoyed that he hadn't been listening, she hated repeating herself but was too nice to ever say it out loud. "I said they don't smell like mildew right?"

Jaime quickly lifted the hoodie up to his nose to give her the answer she was waiting for, the truth was that he didn't really care. "They're good."

"Okay then I'll let you change." Gemma said as she headed towards the door. 

"Kiss her Jaime." He heard Khaji-Da say and he had to look over at Gemma to make sure that she hadn't heard. Of course, she couldn't hear Khaji but that didn't stop Jaime from feeling a little paranoid. 

"No." He muttered knowing that after her had mistakingly tried to kiss her earlier she would only be more upset with him if he tried it again not even an hour later. 

Gemma turned around and Jaime couldn't help but mentally scold himself for talking out loud.  "What?"

"Sorry I was talking to Khaji-Da." 

"What did it say?" She asked always curious about Khaji-Da. He normally would tell her what Khaji was saying, she loved learning new things about the Scarab. It was just the way that her mind worked, always needing to know everything. 

"Nothing." Jaime replied quickly because it would be too embarrassing to tell her the truth. 

Gemma seemed a little disappointed by his response, but nodded anyway before leaving him alone. Jaime groaned feeling like he was doing everything wrong. A disappointed look was the opposite of what he wanted. Disappoint Gemma had always been one of his greatest fears while they were dating and ironically he had found a way to disappoint her in every way imaginable. 

Not wanting to waste anymore time Jaime quickly changed out of Rudy's clothes and into his own. By the time he went back into the house everyone already outside in the courtyard saying their goodbyes. Jaime knew that his family didn't want to leave them behind, but they knew it was for the best. The less they were in danger the better, and really the only reason why they accepted so quickly was because it was what Gemma wanted. Just like him they would do anything for her. 

It was impossible not to love her. Even more impossible to fall out of love with her. 

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Javier was asking her though Jaime suspected that his insistence had more to do with not wanting Gemma alone with him than anything else. 

She almost seemed to consider the idea for a moment before shaking her head. "No its would be better if you and Jenny get everything ready for when I get there."

Jaime knew that he decision to send Javier with his family had nothing to do about helping them and everything to do with her wanting to keep him safe. Anything could go wrong during their drive to Palmera and she didn't want Javier in the middle of it. To Gemma he was a father, she wasn't going to risk him if she could help it. Even if that meant that she had to suffer through a car ride with Jaime. 

Of course the circumstances were horrible, he definitely didn't want her in any kind of danger but Jaime couldn't but feel the slightest bit excited spending more time alone with her. 

Gemma didn't share his excitement as she frowned slightly as Javier opened the car door for her. Javier had rented a car not wanting to use one of the cars they already owned in case it was being tracked. He had also gone ahead to take money out of the bank for them to use. 

"You take care of her." Javier said his tone serious as he handed Jaime the car keys. Just like Gemma considered Javier a father, he also considered her a daughter. 

"Of course I will." Jaime assured him because there was simply nothing that Javier had to worry about. He would do everything to protect her and make sure she was safe. 

Jaime said a quick good-bye to his family before getting into the car with Gemma. He was at ease knowing that his family was going to be safe and far away from any danger. The work he did as Blue Beetle was not without any consequences, but what was happening with Gemma was worse than he expected. After the second attack it was obvious that it was after her. 

"Okay wipe that smile off your face." Gemma said as she put her seatbelt on. She obviously didn't want to do the trip with him, but luckily for Jaime she really didn't have any other choice. 

Jaime couldn't help but smile a little bit but did what she asked anyway as he pulled out of the driveway. It was going to be a long drive and the rain definitely wasn't going to help their case considering that traffic in Metropolis was terrible when it rained. 

"Soooo...." Jaime said not sure if Gemma would even want to talk to him or if she just wanted to spend the entire car ride in silence. But he also knew that he had to get her to start talking, remind her of just how good they were together. 

Before he could say even think about anything to say she yawned, the exhaustion clear in her eyes. 

"Why don't you take a nap?" He questioned knowing that she really hadn't slept at all. Though she had a tendency to get little sleep anyway because when she wasn't in the lab she was always binge watching Grey's Anatomy or reading a book for as long as she could keep her eyes open. One of the thing he missed the most was probably hearing her talk about how inaccurate Greys Anatomy was. Or even better when his mother or Milagros introduced her to a telenovela that she would get a little too invested in. Though the truth was that he missed everything about her. 

"No, I'll be fine." Gemma replied though Jaime knew she was just being stubborn. "What were you saying?"

She was giving him the opening to talk and suddenly his mind went completely blank. Of course there were so many things he wanted to catch up on. Like had she discovered any new music? Or was there a new book she fell in love with. He would prefer not to talk about work or anything Tom was involved in but if that was what she wanted to talk about he would listen. He would listen to any word that came out of her mouth. 

"How are law school applications going?" She asked instead clearly having noticed Jaime's brain and mouth completely failing him. 

Jaime felt grateful, but he also wished that he wasn't so nervous. He hadn't been nervous around her the first time after the whole incident when he got the Scarab. But at that time he hadn't realized that he was in love with her. Now he was acting like a bumbling fool and that was definitely not the kind of guy she deserved. She deserved so much and although he wasn't good enough for someone like her he selfishly didn't care anymore. He just wanted to be with her. 

"I applied to a couple... I don't know if I'll get accepted to any of them." Jaime replied wishing that he could be a little more excited or that they could not talk about him. He didn't want her to think that he was anymore more of a loser than he already was. But he also wanted her opinion on this, he had been wanting to talk to her about law school.

Gemma almost seemed surprised that he was asking for her opinion. "I think that you focus too much on what other people need from you. It's time for you to focus on what you need."

"Immigration law." He replied confidently, for a while he didn't really know what route to take. Initially he wanted to take a route that would make him the most money. But he had never needed a lot of money, what he did want to do was to continue helping his community the best way that he could. His family were immigrants and her wanted to keep helping his community the best he could. 

There was a slight smile on her lips, but it was enough to have Jaime feeling like his heart had stopped in his chest. "I think that sounds perfect."

Gemma like Jaime talk a little about the schools that he had applied too and although she initially was listening it wasn't long before her exhaustion won over and she fell asleep. She always looked peaceful when she was asleep, no longer weighed down by everything that had happened with her father or the stress of managing one of the largest companies in the world. It was impossible for Jaime to not steal a couple of glances in her direction as she slept. 

And she slept for hours until he decided to stop at a dinner for dinner. She wouldn't undoubtedly wake up hungry soon and he needed a break from driving. 

Jaime couldn't help himself as he reached forward and brushed his fingers against her cheek. She was always a light sleeper and her eyes immediately opened. Jaime didn't want to be caught but she surprisingly didn't;t seem to mind as she sat up a little straighter. "Hungry?"

"How long was I asleep?" She asked as she tucked her hair behind her ears. 

"About six hours." He replied as he looked away from her and to the restaurant, the last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable. "Come on let's eat."

They spoke a little at the beginning of dinner but at some point they became silent. Truthfully the silence was making Jaime a little anxious, he felt like they needed to keep talking in order for Gemma to fall in love with him again if that was what he needed to do. But he also didn't want to seem too desperate or needy. He hoped that the silence was a comfortable one, or maybe he was overthinking every single one of their interactions. 

Suddenly she looked up to meet his eyes as they waited for the check. Jaime hadn't really realized that he had been staring at her until then and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed of being caught. 

"Stop looking at me like that." Gemma said softly. 

"Like how?" Jaime questioned knowing exactly what she was talking about even if he had been doing it without noticing. But he couldn't help it. He loved her too much to look at her any differently. "Like I'm in love with you?"

Gemma's eyes widened a little and in that moment he wished that he could read her mind. "Jaime..."

"Because I am." He said quickly needing to explain himself. She needed to hear it again and he would keep repeating it until she believed it. He had never been able to tell her while they were dating because he always felt like it was only a matter of time before she realized that she was too good for him and leave. It always felt too good to be true. "I fell in love with you that night in when you took me to your lab and I teased about having seen me naked. You dropped your glove and there a small smile on your lips and your cheeks turned pink. I kept teasing you after because I wanted do see that smile again. I didn't recognize what I felt then because I had never felt that before."

She was silent for what felt like forever, and he didn't know whether it was a good thing or not. Gemma tended to overthink everything and he knew that she was dissecting every word he said. She just had to know that his words were genuine, but there was clearly something else that was bothering her. 

"Why didn't you tell me about Tom? About the things he would say to you?" Gemma asked and Jaime couldn't help but feel caught off guard by the change of subject. 

Jaime should have expected Gemma to ask him about Thomas. Mili had warned him ahead of time and yet he had hoped that Gemma wouldn't bring it up. But of course she did, it was something that seemed to be bothering her. The problem was he couldn't help but feel embarrassed about it all. How he let Thomas get in his head. It was almost scary how Thomas had been able to find every single one of his insecurities and completely expose them. 

It had always been obvious that Thomas wanted Gemma to himself. Initially Jaime wasn't sure if it had been Thomas wanting his partner back or if Thomas was in love with Gemma. Maybe it was a little bit of both. But Mili had been right about one thing, Jaime gave Tom exactly what he had wanted by leaving. 

"Cause it didn't feel important." He lied immediately regretting not being honest. He didn't even know why he felt so hesitant on just telling her how he really felt about it all. And he knew immediately that his decision not to say anything was a mistake as Gemma stood up.

"We should get moving." She replied softly before heading toward the door and Jaime sat there for a second longer. Gemma was one of the smartest people in the world so of course she could see straight through his lie. 

Quickly placed some money on the table before running after her. She was waiting for him by the car and although she was rarely ever angry it was more than obvious that she was angry now. He approached her slowly knowing that it was the truth that she wanted, and the truth was that he had kept so much about how he felt from her. But it was so hard, a lol harder than he wanted to admit. Especially when she was standing in front of him. 

"I was embarrassed." He admitted not exactly able to meet her eyes, but that wasn't something that Gemma was going to accept. She placed her hand under his chin forcing him to meet her eyes, unfortunately Jaime didn't have a chance to even enjoy the feeling of her touch before she pulled her hand away. "And I knew what he means to you. I didn't want to come between that."

Gemma looked at him for a moment before nodding. She clearly didn't know what to say or maybe his confession didn't change anything for her. After what had happened with Tom a couple of hours ago he doubted that she would try to mend things with Thomas.  

He had told her that he had been wanting to punch Thomas for a while. It wasn't entirely a lie, he had a lot of built up anger towards Thomas Morrow. But seeing the way that he forced himself on Gemma filled Jaime with rage that he could hardly keep control of. 

"I'm starting to feel like you never knew me at all." Gemma finally said and it was impossible not to notice the hurt in her eyes while also feeling like her words were a dagger in the chest. 

He didn't understand why she would think that. Not when he absolutely knew and memorized every detail about her. She was everything and he didn't know what to do or say to prove that to her. How could he put into words that being with her felt like magic? But there was no deny thing the fact that he hurt her, He hated himself everyday for hurting her, even if at the time he thought it was the best for her.

Now all he could do was cling onto the hope that he could prove that what he was saying was true. He could put everything he felt into words but none of that mattered if he couldn't find a way to prove it to her. 

A/N: Thought I should give you one chapter from Jaime's POV. I was initially very hesitant about writing it from his POV but really ended up enjoying it. Immigration is an issue that is very important to me, and is constantly brought up in my stories for a reason. Now more than ever it's important for us to advocate for the immigrant community in the United States. They are currently extremely fearful of all the immigration raids and I need you to remember that they unfortunately cannot advocate for themselves because they are afraid. So we have to be their voice and remember that they also were not able to vote. In my bio I have some links where you can inform yourself more about how to help the immigrant community. And remember that immigrants are the backbone of the US so we all need to do our part in not allowing all these injustices to happen in front of us. Scrolling and being sad and upset just aren't enough anymore. We're entering a new chapter in history and we want to make sure we are in the right side of history.  There's only 5 more chapters to go meaning that the chapter going forward are going to be a little long.