Just something short. I was so excited watching last night episode, I swear I would explode if I didn't write something down.
Jake watched Amy take the stairs, head down, her lips moving quietly as she stalked up the dim steps – pony tail swaying with her moment. Jake didn't want to follow after her, because that would be awkward. Instead, the detective slipped into the parlor, craving something without syrup or blue food dye.
"Oh god," Jake jumped, yanking his body out of the room, seeing Teddy sitting at one of the stools. His heart pounded in his throat, as he tried to swallow it back down.
Jake Peralta was the best detective in Brooklyn – as long as you didn't ask his partner. He knew it was unreasonable to be scared of Teddy Wells. He wore mesh underwear – thank you Gina – and obsessed over a crappy beer. But, it was Jake Peralta who got Teddy into the situation and he thought maybe he owed the guy something.
Strolling back into the bar, a timid smile forcefully spread across his face, Jake sat down on the stool next to Teddy.
"I didn't think you'd come back in," Teddy murmured, tilting a Pilsner to his grim mouth.
Jake forced a laugh, "Yeah," he tapped his fingers on the polished bar top, "I thought you left."
Teddy shook his head, hunched over the bar. "It's late, I got a room."
Signaling for the bartender, Jake opened his mouth, but Teddy spoke first – which was how a frothy lager sat in front of him. At the moment, seeing Teddy's pleased smirk, Jake wished the drink was sticky and blue.
"So," Jake said, his voice hoarse after taking a swig. He officially hated Pilsner.
Teddy leaned back on his stool his small eyes earnest. "I'm sorry I brought that all up in front of your girlfriend."
Jake blinked in surprise. "Seriously?" he wondered, his voice higher than normal.
Shrugging, the larger man swished the liquid in his glass around. "I knew it was coming, and I've blamed you. From the moment Amy told me what you said to her last spring, I knew it would happen eventually."
Sucking in a breath, Jake tried not to ask – he really did. He didn't want to know. It was better if he didn't.
"I'm sorry," Jake confessed, his face crumpled into something pained and forced. "I didn't mean to ruin your relationship."
"You didn't," Teddy looked at Jake. "I guess I wanted you to hurt the way I do."
Jake bit his lip. Teddy said so many things, things that Amy never hinted at. He wanted to know – he didn't want to know. He wasn't sure what was safer. His girlfriend was upstairs – his beautiful, smart, successful and hot girlfriend was alone with creepy dolls probably plotting his convenient death and Jake was downstairs physically biting his tongue not to ask what his partner really thought of him.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Jake demanded with an easy smile. His teeth clenched together and the smile Teddy gave him was like the cinnamon on the syrupy martini that just walked by.
Teddy's jaw tightened. "She didn't stop talking about you until the week before you solved the case. And then she didn't really talk at all." the man looked straight ahead at the bar stocked with alcohol.
"Then you came back and told her you didn't mean it and then a day later you told her that was a lie." Teddy turned towards Jake. "You messed with her mind, man."
Jake looked at his drink. "I know. But she made it very clear that she was with you, and I backed off."
Teddy shook his head. "It didn't matter."
"I'm really sorry, Teddy. I had no idea. I wouldn't have told you to come if I knew."
Finishing his drink, Teddy turned back to Jake Peralta. "And if you did know, would you have invited your girlfriend?"
Jake was speechless. He had no idea what to say to that. Of course! He wanted to shout. Of course he wanted his girlfriend to come, because he was over Amy and he wanted to do something nice with Sophia. But no words came out, and if his face showed what he felt, Teddy was ignoring it.
"Bye, Peralta." Teddy mumbled, signaling for another Pilsner. Jake quietly threw down a crumpled bill and left silently.
Jake walked up the front steps of the Maple Drip Inn slowly. He was in a daze, a complicated time line patching itself together in his mind – from the moment he met Amy Santiago till that second.
Jake never believed in poor timing. If he wanted to do something, like candy for breakfast or cereal for dinner, he'd do it. Jake never had a set plan for anything. Crimes happened spontaneously and often. He never could stop and catch his breath.
His feelings for Amy occurred in the same fashion as a well planned robbery. His heart got stolen, and nothing else made sense. But, unlike finding the culprit and locking them up in holding for a few hours, he couldn't do that with Amy. She didn't do anything wrong – on the contrary, she did everything right.
She never let on that she felt even a fraction of the same things he did. She let Jake pine away and listen to Taylor Swift for much-needed guidance instead of telling him off one way or another. Amy hid behind Teddy, behind her safe relationship, instead of jumping into something unknown.
Jake could understand that. What he couldn't understand was Teddy telling him that Amy liked Jake back, in front of his super awesome girlfriend and Amy – with her deer in the headlights stare directed at him; telling and anxious. That, Jake wasn't ready for.
He wondered, as he walked to the second floor of the Inn, if Amy saw it all on his face. He felt the surprise and happiness shine through. And even for a quick second, everything felt right. He wanted to know if she saw it, and what it would mean if she had.
He ended up at her door. His hand against the smooth wood, urging whatever superpowers he believed he possessed to show themselves. Except if he could conjure fire. That wouldn't work in his situation. No, Jake wanted to read her mind or fly. Flying was always an option.
Jake stood there for ten minutes. Leaning on the opposite wall, terrified that she'd open the door for some reason and he'd have to explain himself. But the truth was, Jake couldn't. He had no idea what he was doing. Sophia was a floor away, probably pissed that he hadn't come to talk with her and Teddy was still at the bar – any minute he could come looking for his new room and see Jake standing at Amy's door.
So many things were wrong but Jake couldn't move. Rooted to the tacky carpet in the maple smelling hallway Jake wondered what Amy Santiago was thinking about. He wanted to be close to her for a minute, knowing what he now knew. He wanted a moment between them, and not the one that happened down in the restaurant. Not scared and bare and ruined by a jealous boyfriend. Something that could strictly be theirs.
But Jake was with someone. Someone great who was alone in a creepy doll infested room probably just as confused as he was. Jake touched the door once more, his fingertips skimming the grooves in the wood before he walked up the next staircase, wondering for a moment, why he couldn't remember his own room number as well as he remembered Amy's.
He didn't lie to Sophia. Jake told himself repeatedly as he laid in bed restless. He had to be up at the crack of dawn to collect the perp and drive back to Brooklyn. He needed sleep, especially after the night's revelations. He didn't think Amy would appreciate him falling asleep at the wheel and knowing her true feelings for him.
Jake sighed, snuggling into the pillow more. Sophia groaned in her sleep, throwing an arm over Jake's torso and buried her head into the side of his chest. He went still, worrying if she could feel his anxiety. How she could sleep with all those terrifying dolls around was beyond Jake.
He fully knew how insane Sophia was, and he totally dug it. They were a lot alike. She was fun and understanding and she actually liked him. So, Jake decided that he owed it to himself to see where they could go. He liked Sophia – high school stylez. Hot older woman noticing the dorky slacker: it was made for TV gold and Jake wanted to be a part of it.
Closing his eyes, Jake drifted off, promising himself that he didn't lie to his girlfriend. He never knocked on Amy's door. That had to mean something.
He'd believe that up until Amy threatened to drive them off the country road, and if that was the moment he died, Jake was glad he was with Amy Santiago.