#4: The Way I Loved You

A Colton Dixon and Jessica Sanchez song-shot

[Featuring: DeAndre Brackensick]

~ ~ ~

He is sensible and so incredible
And all my single friends are jealous

“I got a secret. But you guys have to guess. I’ll nod if you got it right.” Jessica told her best friends during their weekly Friday night sleepovers.

“Let me guess, you went shopping today and you got yourself that new handbag that I’d been dying to have but you won’t tell me that you bought it because I might get mad at you?” Hollie said in one breath.

Jessica stared at her in disbelief. “No,” she said shaking her head. “Why would I do that, Hollie?”

“You’re right. You’d never do such a thing.” The blonde agreed.

“Today’s your cheat day and you didn’t spend it with me?” Elise asked. She and Jessica are each other’s trainers when it comes to physical activities. They help each other on their diets and spends one cheat day a week with each other, eating and drinking as much junk as they can. Besides, they know how to get rid of it anyway.

“No, won’t do it without you, Leesy.” Jessica replied.

“Got a boyfriend?” Skylar asked.

Jessica nodded, causing for all the girls to squeal in delight.

"Who is he?” Elise asked.

“Deandre.” Jessica said.

Hollie gasped. “You mean that guy who’s checking you out from the movie theatre last week?” she asked with her eyes widening.

“You still remember that? I do too!” Skylar said as she and Hollie gave each other a high-five.

“Yep. That’s him. Turns out, he lives across the street from me.” She answered, pointing out the window.

“So, they’re the new neighbors you’d been talking about for days.” Skylar said.

Jessica nodded.

“I’m so jealous. Jessica’s got a boyfriend, and a really cute one, and I have none.” Hollie said, pouting like a little girl.

He says everything I need to hear

And it's like I couldn't ask for anything better

One night, Jessica was at her bedroom reading a book to tire herself. She’s already halfway through it though she still can’t seem to feel tired and sleepy.

Suddenly, her phone rang. It was from Deandre.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Look out the window.” Deandre instructed.

Jessica stood up. Before she looks out the window, she tries to fix herself with one hand since the other was holding her phone.

“You don’t have to fix yourself, Jessica. You’re already beautiful. Bed hair or not, messy or clean, no makeup or with makeup, you’re still my beautiful Jessica.” Deandre said.

Jessica smiled. “You saw me?” she asked.

“Yep, I can see your shadow.” Deandre replied.

Jessica laughed. She leaned in so that she can see outside her window. She grinned when she saw Deandre looking out at his window, staring at her.

“Hey beautiful.” Deandre said through the phone.

“Hey handsome. What’re you up to tonight?” she asked.

“Nothing. I just want to sit here and stare at you all night.” He replied.

“Aw, that’s so sweet.” Jessica commented.

“I love you.” He said.

Jessica’s grin widens. “I love you, too.” She said. “I’m so glad I have you. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

He opens up my door and I get into his car

And he says, "You look beautiful tonight"

And I feel perfectly fine

It was their first month anniversary and Deandre insisted he pick Jessica up even though she lives just across the street from him.

When Jessica walked down the driveway, Deandre smiled and met her halfway.

“You look beautiful tonight.” He whispered as he planted a soft kiss on her cheek. She giggled at the gesture.

Together, they walked towards Deandre’s car and he opened it up for her. She beamed at him and she hopped in, watching as Deandre closes her door and walked around the car and into the driver’s seat.

Jessica was certain she was feeling nothing but spectacular. This night is going to be magical and romantic, she could just feel it.

But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain
It's two am and I'm cursing your name
You're so in love that you act insane
And that's the way I loved you

Breaking down and coming undone
It's a roller coaster kinda rush
And I never knew I could feel that much
And that's the way I loved you

Jessica and Deandre together with Hollie went grocery shopping one Saturday afternoon. The couple, coincidentally, had been asked by their parents to go grocery shopping so they went together; Jessica asking if Hollie could tag-along.

“Dre, can we split up and then meet back here at the cashier? Hollie and I need to fetch some girly stuff.” Jessica said.

Deandre nodded in agreement, taking the shopping cart with him. “Text me when you’re done.” He reminded.

“Will do, boss.” She replied with a salute.

With one last smile and tousling Jessica’s hair, Deandre took off leaving Hollie and Jessica to grab their girly necessities.

Jessica and Hollie walked along the aisles with their arms looped around each other. They were laughing about some guy Jessica caught checking Hollie out.

“I told you he was checking you out.” Jessica insisted.

“Oh Jess, that’s ridiculous. Who would want to be with someone who’s as small as me?” Hollie asked.

“If I were a guy, I would.” Jessica replied. “You’re pretty cute too.”

They were on the snacks aisle (Jessica said she needs to fetch some junk for her and Elise’s scheduled cheat day tomorrow), when Hollie spotted someone familiar. She tapped Jessica on the arm quite hard causing for Jessica to drop the chocolate she was holding.

“Hollie!” Jessica whined, bending down to pick the fallen chocolate bar.

“Jessica, look.” Hollie said.

“What?” Jessica asked. She followed Hollie’s finger and dropped the chocolate for the second time when she saw whom Hollie was pointing at.

“That’s Colton, right? Your ex?” Hollie asked.

“Stop pointing. That’s rude.” Jessica said. “And yes, that’s Colton.”

“Do you want to talk to him?” Hollie questioned. “Maybe ask how he was doing and why was he back in town?”

Jessica shook her head. “No, no—“

“Hey Colton!” Hollie yelled.

The tall blonde turned around and saw the two ladies making their way towards him, arm-in-arm. “Jessica?” he asked as soon as he saw her.

She manages to flash a small smile. “Hi, Colton. It’s been a long time.” She muttered.

“And you’re Hollie, right?” Colton asked, pointing at the petite blonde standing beside Jessica.

“Yup, that’s me. Glad you still remember.” She replied.

Colton smiled at her then quickly shifted his gaze back to Jessica, silently studying her if she somehow changed, since the last time he saw her was two years ago before he moved out of town.

“Um…” Jessica muttered awkwardly.

“Hey, um, Jessica, do you maybe want to go—“

“There you are!” Deandre suddenly appeared, pushing a nearly full shopping cart with him. He stopped beside Jessica and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. “I’ve been looking all over for you two.” He added.

“Oh, we kind of ran into…um…” Jessica stammered.

“An old friend.” Colton finished. “Hi, I’m Colton. I’m an old friend of Jessica and Hollie.” He said.

“Oh, nice to meet you. I’m Deandre.”

“He’s my boyfriend…yeah.” Jessica said.

Colton was quite taken aback when Jessica introduced Deandre as her boyfriend. His smile faltered though he managed to show a somewhat fake smile. “Well, it was nice bumping into you two and Deandre. I better go now.” Colton said as he nodded at Jessica sadly and turns to walk away.

He respects my space
And never makes me wait
And he calls exactly when he says he will

Deandre came just in time. He was asked by Jessica’s mom to fetch her after school since she’s having overtime in the office that night.

“Just in time.” Jessica commented as she glanced at her watch.

“Told you I’m punctual.” Deandre said.

“Of course you are.” She replied as she pinches his cheeks lightly.

The whole car ride was all about singing random songs that comes on the radio. They also decided to take out food for dinner and together, they ate silently in the car with Jessica feeding Deandre since he’s driving.

When Deandre parked outside Jessica’s house, he turned to look at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll call you, okay?” he said.

“Okay.” She replied. “Sing me to sleep on the phone.”

“Will do, boss.” He said. It had been their favorite phrase ever since Jessica first said it at the grocery store.

That night, Deandre did call like said he will and sang Jessica her lullaby.

He's close to my mother
Talks business with my father
He's charming and endearing
And I'm comfortable

There was a time when Jessica invited Deandre over to dinner. He just arrived, greeting everyone in Jessica’s family.

“Come on, Mom’s in the kitchen.” Jessica said.

Jessica linked her arms with Deandre’s and they walked towards the kitchen to inform Jessica’s Mom that her daughter’s boyfriend just arrived.

“Hey Mom, Deandre’s here.” Jessica said.

“Oh, hi Deandre.” Mrs. Sanchez said with a smile.

“Good evening, Mrs. Sanchez. How are you doing?” Deandre asked formally.

“I’m good. Thanks for asking.” She replied.

“No problem.” Deandre said. “Do you need some help with that?”

“Deandre, you don’t have to do that.” Jessica said.

“No, Jess, I insist.” Deandre replied.

“Honey, it’s okay. Besides, I could really use some help rinsing these vegetables.” Mrs. Sanchez said.

Deandre smiled at his girlfriend before rolling up his sleeves and made himself busy with helping Mrs. Sanchez prepare their dinner. Jessica offered a hand here and there as well.

When it was time for dinner, everyone in the family were quiet as they listened to Deandre and Mr. Sanchez’s conversation about business. Sure, Deandre’s still young to be thinking about business. But yet, he can be so childish today and then act like a grown-up the next.

Mr. Sanchez was impressed at Deandre’s plan for his future. His business plan was quite intelligent and simple at the same time. When Deandre went home after watching a football game with the whole family, Jessica received a pat in the back from her father.

“You’ve got a great boyfriend, sweetie. I’m impressed.” Mr. Sanchez commented before going up the stairs to prepare for bed.

But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain
It's two am and I'm cursing your name
You're so in love that you act insane
And that's the way I loved you

Breaking down and coming undone
It's a roller coaster kinda rush
And I never knew I could feel that much
And that's the way I loved you

Ever since the incident that happened at the grocery store last week, Jessica couldn’t seem to take her mind off of Colton. She kept on repeating the same questions over and over again: what was he supposed to say if Deandre didn’t interrupt? Was he going to ask her out once again?

She turned around and buried her face on her pillow to stop the unwanted thoughts of Colton that keeps on flooding back in her mind.

“Please stop.” She half-yelled to her pillow. “Colton, how do you manage to do this?”

“Jessica, sweetie, are you okay?” Mrs. Sanchez asked as she went inside Jessica’s room to see if she was already sleeping. (She does that every night like they were still little kids that needs to be checked up every time to see if they are following their bedtime.)

“Yes mom, I’m fine.” She replied.

“Okay then, good night. I love you.” Mrs. Sanchez said.

“I love you too, Mom.”

He can't see the smile I'm faking
And my heart's not breaking
Cause I'm not feeling anything at all

They went on a date the following day. Jessica didn’t have much sleep last night because her mind was flooded with flashbacks of Colton and her when they were still together.

Deandre kept on throwing jokes from left and right but Jessica wasn’t listening; thoughts of Colton still haunting her, unbelievably.

Deandre joked one more time and Jessica gave him a small fake smile.

“Hey, do you want to catch a movie?” Deandre asked.

“Actually, I’m not feeling well right now. Can you take me home instead?” she asked.

Deandre nodded. “Sure, Jess.” He said.

When they were walking towards Deandre’s car, a girl approached the couple.

“Deandre?” the girl asked.

“Katie?”

“Deandre! It is you!” she exclaimed as she engulfed him in a bear hug.

Jessica watched as her boyfriend was engaged in a tight embrace with a girl she never knew. She knew she should be feeling jealous at the scene unfolding in front of her but she wasn’t. She can’t even feel her heart somewhat breaking. She was fine. And Jessica found it odd.

And you were wild and crazy
Just so frustrating, intoxicating, complicated
Got away by some mistake and now

When Deandre took her home that day, she immediately rushed to her room and changed her attire. She took her phone out of her purse and scrolled through her contacts. She was hoping it was still the number he was using.

She called it.

It kept on ringing and ringing but no one was answering. When she was on the verge of giving up, he picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Hey Colton, it’s me Jessica.” She said.

“Jessica, hi. How are you?” he asked.

“I’m good.” Jessica answered. She couldn’t describe the feeling but she was kind of glad to hear Colton’s voice once again. She smiled at the thought. “Hey, can we – can we meet up? I really want to talk to you.”

“I was going to say the same thing to you when we were at the grocery store.” Colton replied.

“I’ll meet you at the usual then.” She said before hanging up. She just hopes Colton still remember the place where they usually meet up back when they were still together.

I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain
It's two am and I'm cursing your name
I'm so in love that I acted insane
And that's the way I loved you

Breaking down and coming undone
It's a roller coaster kinda rush
And I never knew I could feel that much
And that's the way I loved you
Oh, oh

“I thought you forgot the usual.” Jessica said as soon as Colton walked in to their favorite café.

“How could I forget? They serve the best coffees in town.” Colton replied.

Jessica looked down at her feet. “Yeah, they do.” She said, disappointment hanging over the tone of her voice. She was kind of hoping Colton still remembers this place because of ‘them’ and not for being the best café place.

They walked over to the cashier to order their drinks. Jessica was about to order her coffee when Colton front-run her and told the cashier what Jessica exactly wants in her coffee whilst he ordered just a plain hazelnut iced coffee.

Soon enough, the waitress handed them their orders and the two of them walked over toward the table for two at the corner.

“I didn’t know you remember that.” Jessica said.

“What?”

“My coffee.”

Colton smiled at her. “Can’t forget that either.” He replied.

Jessica stared at Colton before looking down at her cup of coffee. “Look, I wanted to see you because I wanted to ask you something.” She said.

“What is it?” Colton asked.

“Why did you move back in town?” Jessica asked.

Colton let out a sigh. “To be honest, I came back for you.” He said.

Jessica was stunned. “W-why?”

“I want you back.”

And that's the way I loved you
Oh, oh
Never knew I could feel that much
And that's the way I loved you