Tease
The Sole Survivor
An American Dragon: Jake Long Story

–

Knock, knock.

Jonathan Long, Jake Long's kind father, turned from the television to glance at the door with a raised eyebrow.

Knock, knock, knock.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jon saw Susan Long, Jake's mother, peek from the kitchen, a towel and dish in her hand as she peered at the door.

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

The knocks were getting more impatient now. Haley, Jake's younger sister, unbeknownst to her parents, glared irritably down the stairs at the door.

Jonathan met Susan's eyes and she directed her gaze meaningfully toward the door with a pointed glare. Jon sighed and heaved himself from the couch and moped to the front door, catching his wife's satisfied grin as she turned and headed back into the kitchen to resume her duties. Grumbling under his breath, he approached the door and pulled it open, only to come face to face with an almost irked Trixie Carter, one of Jake's best friends. He blinked in surprise.

"Hey, Mr. L." She addressed him calmly.

"Well, hello, Trixie!" He greeted cheerfully and waved her inside. It was still winter, so the winds were a bit chilly. He shivered and shut the door behind him. "What brings you to our home?" Jon questioned as she silently removed her hat, scarf, jacket and gloves. Sighing, she turned to face him.

"Is Jake home?" Was all she asked. Jon paused; concern leaking into his features as Susan curiously leaned on the doorframe from the kitchen.

"He's upstairs, still asleep." Susan called to her. "Why, what's wrong?" She asked as she placed the dish and towel on the counter to join her husband near the front door. Trixie waved her hand in the air, scoffing with a grin.

"Nothing's wrong, Mr. and Mrs. Long!" She exclaimed and her eyes were noticeably wide and excited. "I just need to tell Jakey somethin'." The young girl told them. And with that, she turned and began heading upstairs to Jake's room. "I'll just go wake him up, okay?" She called over her shoulder and soon, she was gone from their view. Blinking in curious surprise, Susan and Jonathan glanced at each other before shrugging and heading back to their original activities.

Upstairs, Haley waited until Trixie reached the top before she approached her.

"Hey, Trixie, what's up?" The younger girl asked as she followed Trixie to Jake's bedroom door. Trixie shrugged offhandedly and leaned against the wall, her hand on the door knob.

"Oh nothing much, lil' Haley, I just need to talk to Jakey for a sec." She responded before shooing her away. "I'll get back to you later, okay?" Haley lowered one eyebrow at the older girl but turned and entered her room.

"Sheesh, no need to be rude…" Haley muttered and closed her bedroom door behind her.

Shutting the door behind her and leaning back against it, Trixie breathed a soft sigh of relief. "Okay, now I just need… to…" She trailed off as her eyes met the sleeping figure of Jake Long. The thirteen-year-old protector of the magical realm was curled up on his side, his blanket tightly bound around his body. The tip of his nose, his eyes, part of his left ear and a tuff of black, green streaked hair was all she could see through the pillow and comforter.

Trixie, before she could help it, felt a small smile placing itself on her lips. She quietly tiptoed over to his bed before kneeling beside him, her brown eyes never leaving his face. Carefully, Trixie leaned her forearms on the edge of the bed and reached out a hand toward his hair, stroking the tips of it gently. "Oh Jakey, my man…" She sighed and retracted her hand, placing it on his shoulder and began shaking him gently. "Jake, boy, you got to get up." She called, watching as his black eyebrows knit together tightly. Trixie stood and sat beside him as she leaned on him.

"Jake, I know you're awake."

Jake groaned and cracked an eye open.

"What do you want?" He croaked, still groggy. He tried to pull the covers over his head, but Trixie caught them and jerked them clean off his shoulders. "Trixie…" He whined and buried his face in his pillow.

"Nah uh, brother, you need to wake up. I need to tell you something, Jakey." That got him interested. He shot up, instantly alert as he gave her a wide-eyed stare.

"What is it? What's wrong? Who's hurt? Do I need to bring out the Am drag?" He asked question after question before the young African American girl slapped her hand over his rambling mouth. Jake paused and glanced down at her hand in surprise.

"Chill, boy. Nothing's wrong." She reassured him and he let loose a deep breath, looking nearly relieved that everything was under control. Trixie quickly pulled her hand back as his warm breath invaded her palm and she laughed awkwardly, avoiding his questioning gaze.

"Okay then, well, not like I don't enjoy seeing my main girl or anything, but why are you here?" Jake asked as he scooted back to lean against his bed frame to give Trixie more room. She eyed him closely before taking in a deep breath.

"Jake… thank you." The American dragon paused as he blinked at her.

"Oh… for what?" He asked. Trixie shrugged as she smiled at him.

"You know, for helping my daddy get home for Christmas." She reminded him and instantly, Jake's eyes widened and forgetting he was leaning against it to begin with, he jerked back and his head collided with the headboard. He winced and rubbed the back of his neck as he scurried into a sitting position. He laughed and looked away.

"You know about that?" He questioned as he avoided looking her direction. Trixie rolled her eyes with a grin.

"Well, yeah. My dad says something flew over him and melted all the ice off his plane. It wasn't that hard to figure out." She scooted closer to him, wrapping her arms around his frame. "Thanks, Jakey. I really appreciate it." She murmured and buried her face in his shoulder. Jake tensed automatically and turned his head to look at her.

"It was nothing, really." He muttered and laid his head on hers for a second to return the embrace before she sat up. "Finding him, that was the tricky part. And I know how much you wanted him home so… no skin off my back. It was kind of like a present, from me to you, Trix." He told her with a small smile on his face and she grinned back at him, a small tear in her eye. Jake yawned suddenly and stretched, laying back down in his bed and groping for his covers.

"Well, it's been nice chatting with yah girl, but I think I'll just go back to sleep." He muttered and shut his eyes. Trixie rolled her eyes as she glanced at his nightstand clock.

"Jakey, come on. It's almost noon!" Jake grinned and peeked at her.

"Hey, it's a Saturday. I can afford to sleep in." He reminded her and yawned again, curling up against his pillow. Trixie groaned softly under her breath and shook her head, but she had trouble keeping her eyes off of him. For some reason, watching him sleep was fascinating. His facial expression was so neutral, so… childlike, that she couldn't help but be drawn to it.

Before she could stop herself, she scooted even closer to his once-again slumbering form. She reached out with her hand and stroked it gently through his raven black hair. To her surprise, it was incredibly soft as the strands fell through her fingertips. Slowly, her hand fell from his hair to run down his face. Curling her fingers up, she let her index finger trail across his face, over his nose, his eyelids, his lips and his chin.

Trixie hummed to herself. "It's hard to believe someone this innocent when sleeping can turn into someone so strong and fierce like the American dragon in the blink of an eye." She commented softly and sighed. She probably should go so she doesn't wake him up again. He really did need his sleep. Being the American dragon didn't exactly come with a planned schedule. Removing her hand from his cheek, she stood and towered over him.

"Good, um…" She paused as she glanced at the clock. It was well past the time for a saying like good night. "Sleep well, Jakey." She settled on and smiled down at him. As quietly as she could, she stepped to his bedroom door and opened it as softly as she could before she winced at the loud creak the door emitted. She cursed the door to oblivion and checked to make sure Jake was still asleep. Letting out the breath she didn't know she was holding she slowly began to slip through the crack in the door when she heard a light whimper behind her.

Trixie froze on the spot, her back tensing in her panic.

Was Jake waking up?

Quickly slipping back in the room, she watching Jake carefully and found he was still asleep, just plagued by nightmares, it seemed. Trixie grimaced when Jake whimpered again, this time louder and suddenly, his hands disappeared in a swirling blue cloud before revealing his scaly dragon claws. She blinked at him, wide-eyed. What in the world could he be dreaming about that he felt he had to transform? Trixie ran her hand over her eyes and groaned softly before resuming her place beside him on the bed.

Almost instantly, Jake seemed to sense she was there because he reached out quickly and grabbed her arms, pulling her down flush against his chest. Trixie squeaked in absolute shock, her cheek pressed firmly against him. She could feel his heartbeat through the covers and felt her face burning in a blush. She cursed and carefully tried to raise herself up onto the palms of her hands, but his arms were tight around her. Sighing, she relaxed and listened to the rhythmic beating of his heart. It was quite soothing once you were being forced to listen to it.

Especially if it was Jake Long's heartbeat.

"Whoa, whoa!" She whispered fiercely at herself. "Since when does Trixie think about Jakey like that? Come on; now get yourself up, girl!" Trixie scolded herself for even allowing Jake to put her in this predicament, even if he was asleep. Struggling to free his arms, she braced herself on either side of him and pushed. To her surprise, both of his hands fell off easily, landing of the comforter. She sat there, looking nearly stupefied. Trixie blinked and shook her head.

"Well, that was easy enough…" She muttered and looked up, only to find that Jake's face was inches from her own. She froze, not expecting him to be so close. Jake was still sleeping peacefully enough, no longer seeming to be having bad dreams. Trixie sighed and rolled her eyes, feeling stupid for having thinking those kinds of thoughts about her best friend.

"I must be loosing my mind." She began to push herself up, but soon found out that she wasn't going anywhere. She paused and eyed Jake's sleeping face only to realize that his arms had come up to hold her down again. Trixie growled and ground her teeth together.

"Jake Long, if you don't let me up –"

"Huh?" He grumbled. Trixie tensed and watched wide-eyed as one of his eyes popped open and landed on her. He grew confused, sleep still invading his brain. "Trixie? What's…" He trailed off and shut his tired eye. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, Jake, you're sleeping. You're asleep… um… you're having good dreams about… skating and kicking magical creatures' butts… and being the Am drag…" She trailed off when Jake began nodding deliriously.

"Oh, okay… yeah…" He mumbled. Trixie slipped through his arms quickly and sat up with a wide grin.

"Good, so I'm gonna go… and you enjoy your battles and half-pipes, okay? Mama Trixie's out." She told him and before she knew it, Jake had heaved himself into a sitting position and paused inches from her confused face, his eyes still shut.

"Okay, be careful going out there with the goblins. They're… nasty devils…" Jake told her as his head lolled around unsteadily. She grinned back at him and waved a hand toward his general direction.

"Oh, no worries, Jakey, I'll be as safe as –"

Suddenly and without warning, she was cut off by Jake slamming into her and kissing her dead on her lips. Trixie sat in frozen shock and her voice temporarily left her. Her heart did flip-flops in her chest as she stared at Jake. She was too nervous to do more than sit there and stare at him dumbly.

Jake dimly seemed to notice that he was sitting upright, even though he remembered vaguely lying down when he went to sleep. He clenched his eyes shut as he regained consciousness before he opened them. The first thing he saw was brown. His tired mind then seemed to register that they were brown eyes, staring unblinkingly into his own. He tilted his head slightly in confusion. Why were brown eyes so close to his face? Then he faintly realized something was touching his mouth. He blinked several times before the brown eyes in front of him narrowed into tiny slits.

Then everything clicked into place.

"AAUGGH!"

Jake leapt back from Trixie like she'd burned him and collided with his headboard again. He cringed but that was the least of his worries at the moment. Jake gaped at Trixie in shock as she leveled an irked expression at him. "What the -? Why was I… and… who… what?" He was asleep, wasn't he? Why was he kissing Trixie? What was going on? He freaked as his face flushed heavily and he covered his cheeks with his hands.

"Ah man…" He moaned and looked away.

"Jake, calm down." Trixie murmured to him and looked anxiously toward his bedroom door. His parents and his sister were bound to have heard him scream.

Jake did the only thing he could think of at the moment. He panicked.

"I am so sorry, Trix! I had no idea!" He cried and scrambled toward her on his bed, his hands out in front of him, pleading. "I really didn't mean to! Honest! Don't kill me!" Trixie watched this display emotionlessly for a few minutes before a grin cracked her frown and a giggled escaped her throat. Jake paused and his eyebrows rose incredulously. Trixie rolled her eyes and sat next to him on his bed.

"Jakey, just chill, boy. No harm done." Jake narrowed his eyes at her.

"Are you sure? 'Cause I mean… that was just uncalled for…" He muttered and flopped on his bed, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling. Trixie mimicked him and reached out for his hand. He reluctantly let her have it. She pulled his arm closer to her and held his hand in front of her face.

"We're friends, aren't we Jake?"

"Yeah, of course we are. The best." He told her.

"Well then, what's wrong with kissing one of your best girl friends?" Trixie questioned curiously and glanced at his pink, embarrassed face. He turned his head away and shrugged.

"It's just… awkward, I mean… I just never thought about kissing you before, or Spud." Jake paused at that thought before a violent shudder ran through his frame. "Err… bad thought." He grimaced and shook his head. She sighed and threaded their fingers together as she sat up to look down at him.

"Jake, look at me." She commanded softly and Jake obediently turned his head, his black eyes meeting her brown ones. "We've been friends forever, Jakey. Do you think a little kiss from you would ruin that?"

Jake turned away, looking sheepish. "I don't know." She let his hand go.

"Oh come on, boy. I keep telling you. We're friends for life and friends for real. Me and Spud, we'll always have your back." She stopped and looked down. "'Specially me." Trixie murmured.

Jake turned to glance at her. "Huh?" She quickly shook her head.

"Nothing, nothing." She dismissed and leaned her head on his stomach. She felt him tense, but he seemed okay with her position. Trixie sighed.

"What's the matter?" Jake asked curiously as he continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Jake, if I told you that… I liked that kiss… what would you say?" She asked timidly and kept her face hidden in his shirt. Trixie was aware when he lifted his head to look at her, but she was too cowardly to see what his expression was.

Jake cleared his throat and sat up on his forearms. He thought long and hard about his answer. He knew it could mean life or death for him, considering her location. "Um…" Jake started softly. "I would say…" He paused and reached up to scratch the back of his head as he looked around his room, almost begging anything to give him an option. "Uh…" He sighed and dropped his arm back on the bed.

Finally giving him mercy, depending on how you looked at it, Trixie lifted her head from his shirt to look at him. She watched him gulp under the pressure and almost smiled at him. Gaining a bit of courage, she crawled up his body until she was level with his uneasy face. He tried to lean back from her but she reached up with her hand and grabbed the collar of his pajama shirt, tugging him up to her. She saw sweat clinging to his forehead and relished in the fact she was making Jake Long, the American dragon, nervous.

"Jakey-boy, what would you do if I… kissed you, right now?" She asked him and watched amusedly as his face flushed again. His mouth grew slack as he stared at her in shock.

"Say what!?" He finally exclaimed. "W-why would you want to do that?" He continued and began to ease himself out from underneath her, looking uncertain. Trixie followed his movements before she pinned him, making his arms immobile. Jake's eyes widened as he gazed up at Trixie. "T-Trix, come on, man… think about Spud!" He cried and turned his head with a cringe, almost like he was about to be punished. Trixie raised an eyebrow at him and lowered herself to his face.

"What about Spud?" She asked, curiosity in her tone. Jake blinked and opened his eyes to glance at her.

"Err… I, eh… I don't know… Don't you… like Spud?" He asked nervously as his eyes darted around. Trixie seemed to stare him down before her eyes narrowed. Her hands came up and curled themselves in the fabric of his pajama shirt.

"Let me make something perfectly clear, Am drag…" Trixie began, her face calm. "Me and Spud, we're good buds, I mean. I can hang with him for hours on end." She told him, each statement making her bring Jake closer and closer to her. He didn't seem to realize this. "But you know something? There's something me and him have never done. You wanna know what that is?" Trixie asked, her voice sickly sweet. Jake swallowed thickly as the realization hit him.

"You, uh… never kissed Spud." He confirmed weakly, almost whispering when he noticed how close she was. Trixie grinned at him, almost a little too viciously for his liking. He paled and instantly wished he was back asleep so he wouldn't have had to deal with this. A dragon mission sounded like a breath of fresh air at the moment, but he knew that Lao Shi and Fu Dog were away visiting the Dragon Council this weekend, so he was a free dragon, so to speak, unless they called him long distance.

"Good dragon." Trixie cooed in a whisper before pressing her mouth gently against his. Letting out a squeak that would make any man feel ashamed, Jake seemed to jolt in shock and his eyes widened. Trixie closed her eyes and practically melted against him. This second kiss was completely worth it when she felt her lips tingling. Kissing Jake Long was probably the best kind of relief Trixie could ever feel, but she had no idea why. Maybe it was because he'd been her best friend for years. Or maybe it was the fact when she'd found out he was a magical dragon that she began to think about him more often, wondering if he was safe when he was out doing his dragon business.

Jake didn't know what to do. Trixie had never acted like she'd wanted to kiss him before, and now she was practically forcing him to kiss her. As he thought about it, it was his entire fault. He was the one who'd kissed her first in his sleep, probably causing her to like kissing him, or maybe even causing her to like Jake himself. But the more he thought about it, the more he was beginning to get used to the feel of her lips on his, the more he was starting to like it, even. Taking in a deep breath through his nose, he finally kissed her back. Not two seconds after he did, he felt Trixie freeze in surprise. Obviously, she'd been counting on just a one-sided two-party kiss.

Pulling back from Jake, Trixie panted and leaned her forehead against his, meeting his gaze. She saw a brilliant blush on his face and couldn't help but chuckle. He glared at her.

"What's so funny?" He asked, looking irked she'd laughed at him after such an intimate gesture. Trixie smiled and gave him the sweetest, chaste kiss she could muster. Jake blinked at her in surprise.

"Nothing, I just never figured I'd like kissing you so much, Jake Long." Trixie chuckled again at his pale, pink face before she sat up and held her warm cheeks with her hands. "Wow, there's nothing like kissing a cute boy to make your hormones speed up." She commented and laughed as his blush intensified. Jake cleared his throat and sat up, his fingertips touching his lips. Trixie watched him with a curious expression.

"What are you thinking about, Jakey?" She asked. He glanced up at her with a serious face.

"You."

Trixie blinked. "What?" Jake closed his eyes and scooted closer to her.

"Trix… we just kissed." He reminded her and finally opened his eyes to look at her. Trixie cocked her head with a small smile.

"Yeah." She paused. "I just kissed you and my heart is still buzzing." She giggled and pressed a hand to her chest as if to calm it down. "I never dreamed of my heart going this fast from a kiss, Jake."

Jake looked away and stared at his pillow. "I never dreamed I'd ever kiss you, Trix, but it happened." He sighed. "Twice." Trixie grew silent as she listened to her heart beating in her chest as Jake watched her. Getting an idea, she crawled toward him and pressed her ear against his chest, listening to his erratic heartbeat. He tensed in surprise before relaxing, realizing what she was doing.

"Your heart is going so fast, Jake." She told him, a smile in her voice. He nodded.

"Yeah, I know."

"Jake…" Trixie leaned up and looked into his eyes. "I know this is probably going to sound weird, or something… but… can I kiss you again?" She asked, watching as his eyes widened and he glanced at her.

"Say what?!" He cried again for the second time that day. Trixie glared at him. "But, um… but…" He tried but failed. He sighed and grudgingly pursed his lips, his eyebrows knotting together stubbornly. Trixie stared at his face for a few seconds before frowning.

"Well, kiss me." Trixie commanded. The American dragon's eyes popped open in shock.

"What?!"

"I don't wanna make you do something you don't wanna do, boy. You have to do something this time if you want Mama Trixie's sugar." Jake blanched at her words and rolled his eyes, groaning under his breath.

"Ah man…" He grumbled and pursed his lips again, almost resembling a blowfish and lowered his head until his mouth brushed against hers. Trixie rolled her eyes.

"Jakey, I know you can do better than that. I mean, come on, I felt more emotion when you were asleep –" She was cut off by his mouth plowing into hers forcefully to shut her up. She grinned inwardly. Teasing Jake was always a fun thing to do when she wanted him to do something for her. Melting against him, she wrapped her arms around his slender neck.

"Jake, honey! Are you awake yet? It's been twenty minutes since we sent Trixie up there! Aren't you hungry?" Susan called up the stairs, causing Trixie and Jake's eyes to pop open. Breaking apart quickly, Jake cleared his throat and jumped off his bed swiftly. He ran to the door and pulled it open to shout back to his mother.

"Yeah, Mom! I'll be down in a second!" He called back before he sighed and turned back to face Trixie, who sat smirking on his bed. "What?" He asked grouchily and crossed his arms. Trixie's smirk widened and she slid off his bed to stand.

"You kissed me." Jake's eyes widened.

"Shh! Someone will hear you!" He whined and quickly pushed her out of his room. "Go downstairs; I'll meet you there for breakfast!" He told her hurriedly and slammed it shut in her face. Trixie blinked in stunned surprise at his quick dismissal. Shrugging, she grinned and headed down the stairs to the kitchen to meet with Jake's parents again.

Inside his room, Jake panted as he leaned against his door, his heart thumping in his chest. "What has gotten into me?" He asked himself before he slapped himself in the face. "Gah! Get it together, man! It's Trixie!" He reminded himself harshly and quickly dressed himself. "I have a feeling this is going to be an awkward day." He muttered ruefully as he opened his door, only to come face to face with his younger sister, Haley.

"YAAUUGH! What is it with you people and scaring me today?" He asked aggravatingly as he stepped around her grinning face.

"Oh Jaaaake!" Haley called sweetly as she bounced along behind him.

"What?" He asked as he took one step at a time into the bathroom to brush and gel his hair.

"You and Trixie took an awful long time in your room and I was just wondering if –"

"Haley! Drop it! Nothing happened, okay? Go away!" He cried in wild panic and pushed her out of the bathroom, slamming it shut once she was out.

Haley blinked before a grin crossed her lips. She giggled and skipped down the stairs.

Jake groaned as he heaved himself away from the door. Sighing, he looked in the mirror and grimaced. He looked even worse than he did when he went to bed the night before. Sighing, Jake pulled out his hair gel and special styling comb before a knock came at the bathroom door. He growled.

"What?" He called and it opened to reveal Trixie's grinning face. He paled and gulped slightly before he turned away from her. "What do you want, Trix? I'm getting ready." Trixie casually walked into the bathroom, eyeing Jake's reflection in the mirror until she stood beside him. Slowly, she hooked her arms around his neck, causing him to freeze in alarm.

She held his gaze in the mirror and pulled him close until her lips were at his ear. He shuddered at the warm breath from her ear and turned his head only to realize too late his mistake. Her lips were on his in half a second flat, causing him to grunt in surprise again. She pulled away to whisper in his ear.

"I can't seem to get enough of you, Jakey." She breathed and almost instantly, his face flared crimson and he jerked away from her, his eyes wide. Trixie merely grinned and crossed her arms. Jake's eyes traveled to the window and back to her before he quickly made his decision.

"Dragon up!" He cried and in record time, a blue tornado engulfed him, transforming him into the American dragon. Trixie watched in amusement as he frantically scrambled to the window, squeezed out of it and flew off out of sight. She giggled and shook her head. Maybe one day she'd tell him that she was only teasing him, but she'd be damned if she quit any time soon.

Jake Long was just too much fun to tease.

–

A/N: I never dreamed I'd be writing an ADJL story, but here it is. Once I started, I couldn't seem to stop. Teasing Jake is just so fun! He's just too adorable for his own good. ;D I'm sorry if Trixie or anybody else is OOC or anything, it wasn't my intention. Anyway, please enjoy and review for the love of grilled cheese! And pudding! Lots and lots of pudding! 3

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Am Drag, or any other characters I use and abuse. –grins–