Jeremy was still trying to get used to Jake hanging around, especially considering how things went down on Halloween. It was almost like the popular teen didn't remember any of that, too busy hanging around him and Michael and grinning like some big goofy puppy. "What're we doing, guys? Hey, what's up? Yo, let's hang out dudes!" Honestly, this was all pretty weird for Jeremy. He did his best to just roll with it though, going along with all that weirdness.
But things only got weirder, the day Jake asked Jeremy out.
Okay, to be fair it wasn't exactly like he asked him out on a date. But you certainly wouldn't have been very far off jumping to that conclusion, watching the way Jake's eyes lit up and he raced across the schoolyard just to get the chance to talk to Jeremy. "Dude!" the out of breath jock exclaimed, practically throwing himself on top of the bewildered teen. "You doing anything later?"
"Not… really." Jeremy fidgeted a little, remembering how Michael was going to be out of town this weekend. He tried to play it off. "I mean, I wasn't planning on it. But if you had something in mind, that'd be… that'd be cool."
He didn't need the Squip to tell him that sounded dumb. Luckily, Jake didn't seem to notice. The taller boy's face lit up, like Jeremy had just confessed to buying him a birthday present, before blurting out, "You should totally come to S'barros with me then! It'll be like, loads of fun! Did you know that's my favorite place in the universe? They let you pick whatever you want!"
Jeremy laughed uneasily, even as he nodded. "Y-yeah, I remember. That sounds like fun. I'll… totally meet you there. What time were you thinking?"
"Hmm… Ooh! How 'bout around six?"
Jeremy nodded, then changed his mind and shrugged casually. "I-I mean, sure… that works for me. I guess."
Jake grinned, practically hopping down in place from his excitement. "Sweet, it's a date then!" Then as Jeremy blushed and recoiled, Jake suddenly cocked his head to one side. "Oh shit, I almost forgot! One more thing."
"Y-Yeah?" Jeremy was still trying to shake away his blush, confusion dancing across his features when he noticed the longer silhouette in the sun, an extension of Jake's left hand. He blinked, then turned back to Jake with a question on his lips.
He never even saw the bat coming, until it cracked right into his skull. Jeremy stumbled back, hollering in pain and clutching the stabbing pain. His fingers came away slick with blood, dark spots exploding in his vision as he wobbled in place. The world was already throbbing around him, consciousness fading in and out even as he struggled to lift his gaze. Jake just waved merrily at him, before lifting the bat in a high arc once more. Jeremy weakly lifted one hand, a half-hearted attempt to stop the next blow, but it did him no good. Jake just merrily brought the bat down again and again, staining the asphalt with Jeremy's blood with each blow.
Crack. Crack. Crack!
Then nothing.
* * *
Jeremy was honestly surprised when he woke up again. Though to be fair, the killer headache raging through his skull and the scent of dried blood matted in his sweaty hair told him he hadn't imagined the whole thing. He groaned, weakly trying to move his right arm to clutch at his aching head. Unfortunately, the heavy chain wouldn't allow him to get very fair. He felt sick.
It was then that he first noticed the humming. Jeremy winced, immediately squinting at the shadowy figure lurking in the basement, waiting anxiously for his vision to adjust to the darkness. When at last the shapes swam into focus, his heart leapt up into his throat and wouldn't leave, suffocating him as it pounded in frantic fear.
Jake had his back to Jeremy, but there was no mistaking that lanky frame. He was whistling loudly to himself, as he stacked each dish of pasta inside of the massive mini fridge propped up against the basement wall. It wasn't until he was just about done with the prepping that he finally thought to glance behind him, whistle trailing off as his eyes lit up. "Oh hey, dude! You're finally up!"
Jeremy did his best to recoil when Jake trotted over, but the chains still didn't allow him much movement at all. "Wh-where…?" he tried to croak, voice trembling and hoarse. Every word hurt, but he struggled to cough them out anyways. "Where… Jake, wh-where… am I?"
Jake just continued grinning down at him, not at all concerned by the terror reflected in Jeremy's wide eyes. "Home," he said simply.
Jeremy's heart sank. He immediately began to squirm again, fighting in vain to free himself. "Jake, this isn't… please, I need to… Let me go!"
Jake's smile faltered, but only slightly. Soon it was back again, just as radiant as ever as he laughed. "Nah, you don't really want that. Outside's dangerous and stuff, you know? Like that ecstasy incident, that whole time with the fire… you're much safer down here!" He reached out one hand – ignoring with Jeremy instinctively flinched – and used it to playfully rustle the bloodied, matted hair. His grin widened, an almost manic glint to his eyes even as he spoke softly. "Don't worry Jer… I'll keep you safe. I promise."
He finally stepped back again, looking quite pleased with himself. "Alright! You stay right here buddy, and I'll be right back. You'd better get some more rest! You've had a hell of a day so far. But don't worry! We can totes have all the S'barros you want when I get back."
"J-Jake…. Please…!"
But Jeremy could only watch the jock's back retreat up the stairs, disappearing in a sudden burst of light as the door clanged loudly behind him. It sounded like a death sentence. Jeremy struggled weakly for what felt likes ages afterwards, until at last he'd completely worn himself out. Then, exhausted, he hung his head in defeat.
He didn't even have the energy left to cry.
* * *
Ridiculous as it might seem, it didn't take Jeremy long at all to get used to this bizarre new routine. Three times a day Jake would come down to the basement with a bucket of water for him to drink, alternating between different S'barros recipes to feed him. Sometimes they just talked for hours on end, sometimes Jake freed one of his hands so they could play video games together. Jake was ridiculously lucky when it came to gaming, despite having literally no experience.
Despite the circumstances, Jeremy actually found himself enjoying his time there more than once. Occasionally he might even forget that he was literally kidnapped, and how much he wanted to finally be able to move freely again. Jake just had something about him… you couldn't not enjoy yourself around the guy. He was a big ol' ray of sunshine, cheering up everyone in the room.
Then, on a day just like any other, Jeremy blinked awake and caught something strange in the corner of his vision. An awfully familiar red hoodie, just at the bottom of the stairs.
Jeremy gasped when he finally realized, immediately straining at his chains for the first time in what must have been months. "Michael? Is that really you? What're you doing here?!"
Michael didn't look at all surprised to see Jeremy chained to the wall like that, though his brow did furrow slightly as he continued sipping at his slushie. "…Shit, man," he sighed at last, when he finally set the drink down and strolled closer. "You look like crap."
"No duh! I've been chained up like this for, what, a few months now?"
Michael shrugged. "About three, yeah."
There was something off about this. Michael was acting… weird. Jeremy tried to free himself again, trying to ignore the sinking feeling that had filled the pit of his stomach. "Wait… you knew? Then why weren't you here sooner?!"
"I wanted to!" Michael protested, immediately defensive before he had a chance to regain his composure again. "…Jake wouldn't let me. He's like… crazy protective of you, man. Keeps thinking you want to leave or something." He shook his head, as if amused by such a ridiculous concept.
Jeremy was flabbergasted. "But… But I do want to leave! My dad, he'll be missing me! And what about Christine? I can't just stay here forever!"
Michael made a face, leaving the empty slushie cup as he slid his headphones back on and headed for the stairs. "Jesus Christ. You're never gonna get down at this rate. Maybe you should take some time to think things over, man. Hopefully you'll start to see reason, before things get too much out of hand."
"Michael! Michael, wait!" Jeremy called out desperately, straining more than ever in his panic. But his best friend was already disappearing into that flash of blinding light again, door slamming heavily shut behind him and leaving Jeremy alone with his thoughts. Jeremy stared dumbfounded at the darkness, his mind whirling as he tried to make sense of things. Think things over? See what he meant? What the hell was he even going on about?!
"Michael…" Jeremy whispered into the darkness, trembling now. "Michael, come back. Please…"
* * *
"Hey Jake," Jeremy tried again, for felt like the millionth time just that day. When the jock turned curiously towards him, Jeremy fumbled over his words for a moment. "I just... um... this S'barros is really great and stuff. Wish we could, you know, go eat some together at the mall sometime...?"
Jake looked pleased by that, already nodding vigorously. "Oh yeah! That'd be awesome, man! But like, you totally gotta stay here where its safe and stuff. I'll just bring you some more if you like it so much! We can have, like, a picnic and stuff. It'd be totally rad!"
Crap, that wasn't what he was going for at all! Clearly, he'd have to try something else... Jeremy swallowed back a grimace, forcing a smile and trying again. "R-Right... Oh, hey Jake! We should totally go hang by the pool sometime. Wouldn't that be fun?"
"Totally dude! But we wouldn't want you drowning and stuff, that'd be really sad. Better to stay down here where it's safe!" Jake chirped enthusiastically, not taking the hint.
Jeremy struggled to think up another plan, something that would get through to even Jake Dillinger. But before he knew it, time was up and Jake was already heading back to the stairs again. "W-Wait!" he blurted out desperately. "Come back! There's something... I, uh… need to tell you. It's super important!"
"Oh?" Jake paused on the last step, and for a moment Jeremy feared it wasn't going to work. But then Jake turned and came jogging back over, big goofy grin on his face. "What's up, bro?"
"I... uh... umm..." Coming up blank and knowing that he was running out of time, Jeremy acting in sheer desperation. He jerked his head forward, straining against his bonds to desperately smash his lips up against Jake's. It wasn't the nicest of kisses, for sure. But Jeremy did his best to deepen the smooch, blushing deeply.
When at last they broke apart, panting and staring at one another, Jake was the first to break the silence hanging overhead. "Dude... Are you asking me out?!"
Jeremy's blush deepened. "I-I guess so?"
"Sweet! Why didn't you just say so, man?" Grinning, Jake reached up and finally unchained Jeremy from the basement wall. Jeremy collapsed into a heap, his jaw dropping as well. "Shit, now I just feel silly! I thought you were trying to leave me. But if we're dating, that's totally cool!"
"Wait, you mean this whole time... it was really that eas-" Before Jeremy even had a chance to finish that thought, Jake had already grabbed him by the waist, yanking him up into the air and immediately frenching him. Then still grinning, he helped walk Jeremy up the stairs. He even waved merrily as Jeremy wobbled back down the driveway.
It wasn't until Jeremy managed to stumble all the way back home - and his dad immediately started fussing over him, relieved that he was okay - that he finally spoke again. "What the heck just happened?!"
