OKAY, I give you… probably one of the first positive Cake stories. Haha. There aren't many, but I read like 3 or 4 last night and they all were mostly about an abusive Jake. I actually just call him Cake. Lol. I kept telling my sister "When I say Cake, I mean him, or else I'll say Cake and Clare."

I asked my dad if he wanted Eclares or Cake, and he said Eclares. Wait, no cake. Then I was like do you know what I'm talking about?, so he just said no, but I know there's no cake or eclares in there (the kitchen). We had some from a party, lol... So he said he'll watch it with me, because I told him all about what might happen this season. He's watched some episodes of Degrassi with me before:) Now our whole family watches it:p.

Clare finished tying her bikini. It was a simple bathing suit, with green and white stripes. Green had always been her favorite color, and when she saw it at the store, she had to get it. After a quick check to see if it was secure, she grabbed her towel off of her bed. She then glanced out the window. Jake was still waiting on one of the lounge chairs for her. Clare told him that he could start swimming without her, but he had just said that the water would be too cold. She knew he was lying. He was just waiting for her. That was the way she remembered him—sweet. Perhaps too sweet.

She turned away from the window, slipped her feet into her flipflops, and then walked down to the kitchen. She glanced at the new picture on the fridge. It was of her and Jake. They'd taken it just a week earlier, at the movies. She noticed the bunny ears he added in behind her head; his sense of humor had not changed even slightly.

"Clare," Mrs. Edwards walked into the kitchen from the living room. "Jake is outside. You shouldn't keep him waiting."

"I'm not." Clare promised, opening the sliding door, and then walking out onto the deck.

"Clare!" Jake cheered as soon as he saw her emerge from the inside of the house. "Finally someone's ready." He joked.

"I'm a girl. Sue me."

As she got closer to him, he realized her choice of attire. "My, Clare Edwards in a bikini. Who would have thought that would happen?"

She rolled her eyes, giving him a quick, but playful, slap on the arm. "Shut up. You haven't seen me since the sixth grade. I have a right to change."

"Now who is this change for exactly? …Wait, does my little Clare have a b-boyfriend?" He chuckled.

"No!"

"Oh, you do. I know it. You wouldn't be so keen on denying it unless you were dating someone. Who is it? No, let me guess… No, wait, it was more than one, wasn't it? I bet the boys were all over my Clare-bear, huh?"

"Only two."

"Only two? Hmm, well, I hope they were worthy of your time. Tell me about them."

Clare swallowed. She really didn't want to discuss Eli right now. "Can't we just go swimming, Jake? I'm sure the water isn't that cold."

"Fine." He gave in. "But you have to give me something. It's been almost 5 years, for crying out loud. I want to know everything that's happened to my girl since then."

The pet names were harmless when they were children, but now they just seemed to mean more to her. Of course they were older, so the times were different, but he was still like an older brother to her. "Okay, we can go swimming." He was about to say something, but she beat him to the punchline. "And I'll tell you what you've missed out on. …As long as you tell me what I've been missing."

"Deal. Whatever it takes to get something out of you." He smiled, grabbing her hand. They walked to the shallow end of the pool. They both stepped onto the first step at the same time, the cold water touching the skin of their feet.

Clare shivered. "Maybe it is cold."

"Oh really?" Uh-oh, Clare knew the look on Jake's face.

"Jake Austin Martin, don't you dare do that! I swear, I will never speak to you again. I—"

He placed one hand over her mouth so the adults inside wouldn't hear Clare's yelps, and with the other hand around her waist, he pulled her into his arms. He then walked into the water until it was well above his waist. He was fairly tall, so Clare was only partially covered by the water. He walked deeper, and then went under the water, Clare's head going under just before his.

After both of them had re-surfaced, he looked to Clare to see if she was ready to kill him or not. Instead, she was choking on water.

"Oh my God, Clare. I'm so sorry, I—"

"—Kidding."

"Don't do that to me ever again."

"But I was only joking."

"It still scared the hell out of me. It would have been all my fault."

"Jake..."

"Clare-bear, you're my best friend. You've always been there for me, and I intend to always be there for you."

"Jake, I love you." She kissed him on the cheek, before wrapping her arms around him.

"I love you, too, Clare." His grip around her tightened when he saw someone standing on the porch. Mrs. Edwards had obviously let him in. He looked down at Clare, but more importantly at her position with Jake. "Clare," He leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Huh?" She pulled away so she could see his face.

He pointed in the direction of the porch.

"Oh...Eli."

"Who's he?"

"My …friend. I guess I didn't tell him I had plans today." Truthfully, she had no idea why he was here. They were still ignoring each other. Jake would know something was going on, but he wouldn't say anything to her. "Let me go get rid of him."

"No, it's cool. We have all of break to hang out. I'd like to meet him." They both got out of the pool and then dried off. He was taking longer than her, so she quickly dragged him by the hand toward the porch. As they reached the porch steps, she put Jake's arm around her. It was a friendly gesture that he didn't mind, but she'd placed his hand specifically on her waist…

"Hi, Eli. This is my friend, Jake.

"Hi." Jake said.

"Hey." Eli mumbled. "Um, Clare, I can see that you're busy, so I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye." She said, a little confused. She wondered what Eli was here for. "So," She began. "do you want to finish swimming, or do you just want to go hangout inside with the 'rents?"

"I think I'd rather swim." He laughed. He removed her arm from around his waist, and then took her hand and led her back to the pool.

Clare sighed. She knew she was making things awkward between her and Jake, but she needed something to get rid of Eli. She didn't want to talk to him right now, and it was the only way. She wanted to spend time with Jake.

"Oh, and you never told me about these boyfriends of yours." They had reached the deep end of the pool. They both sat down on the ground with their feet in the water.

"Well, last year there was K.C. That lasted a while, but I'm just glad it ended."

"What happened?"

"He, uh, cheated on me. …But he got his payback, because now he's a dad."

"Luckily it wasn't you."

"It definitely wouldn't have been me."

"What about the other one?"

"Huh?" She asked.

"You said there were two guys. Who's the other one?"

"Oh." She didn't want to tell Jake about Eli. She was surprised that he didn't say he would hurt K.C. But she wondered what Jake would do if he found out about Eli. Although Eli never cheated on her, their relationship was definitely more complicated, and it was best to forget about it. "Um," She dug deep into her brain. Reese had given her a compliment once. "Reese."

"Did he cheat on you, too?"

Clare shook her head. "No. I actually really liked him. I-I still do, but there were a lot of issues."

"Like what?"

"A-a bunch of things. "His ex, his …obsession. Just our different personalities…"

"Obsession? He wasn't like a drug-dealer or anything, was he?"

"No." Even after a few guesses, he would know that it was hoarding. "He just… I…I felt trapped and suffocated. A lot of people don't understand him, and I was one of the only people that did. I don't think he's over it." Okay, so lying about who she really had dated wasn't a good idea, but Jake just got back in town. He and Clare needed time to catch-up, and she didn't want him worrying about her.

"Wait, wait, wait. Is he stalking you?"

"No, of course not. We haven't really talked in a while. …We're doing more of ignoring each other than talking to each other. …But, anyway, tell me about your girlfriends. I bet you were a ladies' man, huh?"

"Some would say." He grinned. "There were a few. Some better than others, of course. But only one really stuck out. Sarah. She was great. Great for me, at least."

"What happened?"

"She moved to Minnesota, and that was basically the end of that. We both weren't good with long-distance relationships."

"Oh, so is that why you and I didn't talk much after you moved to Saskatchewan?"

"Hey, I emailed you and called when I could."

"I know. I'm kidding."

"Oh… I knew that."

"Of course you did." Clare rolled her eyes.

Jake leaned down to stick his hand in the water.

Immediately, Clare knew what he was going to do, so she stood up and ran away from the pool. He soon began to chase her around the yard, purposely running at a slower pace to let her win.

Mrs. Edwards picked up her cup of tea and took another sip. She and her husband were catching-up with the Martins. As Mr. Martin was discussing his new job in town, the reason his family moved back to Toronto, Helen's eyes couldn't help but stray to the two teenagers outside. Her eyes followed their every move as they chased each other around the yard, especially when Jake playfully tackled Clare.

She almost stood up, the urge to go run to her little girl's side tugging at her mind. She knew Jake never had the intent to do with Clare what other boys wanted to do, but he was still a boy. What if he changed since they had last seen each other? He'd likely had girlfriends, so he had to have had at least some type of sensual and physical attraction toward them. She knew that he probably hadn't given into temptation, but just because he hadn't before, it didn't necessarily mean that he wouldn't in the future. The very near future. And maybe, just maybe, he would be taking away someone else's innocence besides his own.

"I'll be right back." Helen stood up and walked toward the door. She put her hand on the doorknob, but decided against it and returned to her seat. They'll be fine. Clare knows better.

"Helen," Laura, Jake's mother, placed her hand over Helen's. "They'll be okay."

"We've brought him up right." Mr. Martin cut in. "Just as we know you two have done with Clare."

"I know. It's just that we've always talked about setting them up with each other, but after she and her boyfriend just broke up, I'm sure she'll want to get over it right away. Even if that means doing something …crazy."

"Helen," Randall took his wife's hand and kissed the top of it. "They won't do anything they'll regret."

Helen sighed. Hopefully.

"Make love to the camera." Jake took another picture of Clare for their scrapbook.

Even though it was from a movie, Clare couldn't help but decipher a hidden meaning in his words. Throwing around a careless sexual phrase made Clare believe that Jake might not be a virgin anymore. They'd taken a class in elementary school together so that they would learn that lesson early on, but she highly doubted that he would go against everything he'd been taught. And it wasn't like she was going to ask him right here and now.

"You know, you should be a model."

"Eww, I'm not pretty enough for that."

"Yes you are. You're beautiful."

"You really think so?"

"Of course, Clare-bear. You're better than all of those girls out there."

Clare blushed. "Thanks."

Jake smiled. "No problem. That's what best friends are for, right?"

That word: friends. Of course she would always be friends with him, but with 5 years between them, who knew what they would be settled with?

Reviews please? =D. Tell me if you guys like it! I hope to get a lot of reviews:) It will make me happy, since I have to go to the dentist =(.