This is my take of what would happen if Jake's mom admitted she blamed him for his dad's death. This isn't slash I promise, it's a just a friendship being forged.
Ryan watched Jake walk away from Baja. Of course he'd seen the video, he had to admit Jake had gotten better at fighting. Pushing away from the table Ryan stood and followed Jake a few minutes after he walked into the bathroom. He was intending on putting Jake back into his place and inviting him to the Beatdown, but now he wasn't so sure. Jake was standing by the sink looking down, a woman's voice rang from the phone placed on the edge of the sink.
"Jake, this can't keep happening." The voice said.
"What else do you want me to do, Mom? I don't play football any more, I haven't gotten into a single fight while being here." Ryan was well aware that was a lie, he stood silently by the closed door, Jake still hadn't noticed him.
"That doesn't explain the things I found in your room, Jake. The lying, it needs to stop." Jakes mother spoke, Ryan was actually growing interested.
"That's just for training, mom. I don't fight anymore." Jake replied, it was obvious he was growing annoyed.
"Training? What training involves boxing gloves and money from your bank account?"
"It's my money, we already went through this. It's helpful training, tell me you haven't seen an improvement." Jake challenged.
"In what? Your ability to fight? What happens when Charlie grows interested in fighting, you need to set an example."
"Improvement in my anger!" Jake shouted, it echoed around the room.
"Great way of proving your point." Ryan almost laughed at that comment, this was getting interesting.
"Okay. What do you want me to do? Help Charlie out? He plays tennis, I can't. Get a job? I'm trying. Honestly, mom, tell me what should I do?" Jake was still looking into the sink as if looking for answers in the rusted drain.
"You can start by setting a better example, Charlie got into a fight the other day, I didn't tell you because you had just started treating him like a brother again."
"With who? It's a tennis academy!" Jake replied.
"That doesn't excuse the need for you to set an example." His mom kept repeating. Ryan was beginning to think it was like a-
"A broken record. You keep saying it over and over. Why do you suddenly feel the need to make sure I'm the one setting the example?" Jake asked.
"Because since your dad died he looks up to you." Jake's mom argued. Ryan was aware that the topic of his Dad affected Jake all too much.
"I didn't ask for that role." Jake whispered.
"And I didn't ask to lose my husband!" His mom shouted into the phone.
"Do you blame me for that?" Jake asked or more, challenged. Ryan stopped, this was getting bad, he should really leave. He would never have guessed the response Jake's mom had.
"What if I do!?" Everything stopped, Jake tensed up. Ryan's eyes grew at the comment, that was going over the line. During their fight Ryan never said Jake was to blame, sure he said that Jake should've done things differently, never actually said it was Jake's fault. His own mother had though, and the effect was obvious on Jake.
In a flash the phone was in his hand and being whipped at the wall, shattering into pieces before he put both palms on the sink breathing heavily. Ryan knew the signs, Jake was furious, he wanted to hit something. He did, with all his might his fist flew forward into the mirror, making the glass explode in sharp shards and crystals. It split Jake's knuckles open and cut along his forearm and wrist. To make it worse the fist then slid down the broken mirror as the fight left him, adding more cuts to his hand.
Ryan stepped forward now and grabbed Jake's shoulder and turned him around. Jake was in tears, it was a strange sight to see. Even during their fight, okay it was more of an attack, Jake didn't drop a single tear.
"Not now, Ryan." Jake said trying to turn away from him. Ryan held tightly has the blood flowed from Jake's arm, it was making his white undershirt slowly red on the right side. "I said not now!"
"Let me see." Ryan simply said motioning to the injured hand. Jake looked with wet eyes at Ryan before slowly raising his arm and letting Ryan take it. This wasn't good, his fist was bad enough the skin was peeled and bleed profusely, but his forearm was even worse, the shards of glass were actually still in the arm, Ryan knew he needed a hospital.
"It's not even that bad." Jake simply said.
"Come on, you need a hospital." Ryan motioned for Jake to follow him.
"Why, so you can humiliate me again?" Jake asked. Ryan closed his eyes. He knew he didn't deserve Jake's trust, but Jake was injured and needed help.
"You're hurt, bad. We need to get you to the hospital." Ryan said, he motioned again and this time Jake began to follow him. Ryan wasn't good at the friend thing, especially to anyone he had destroyed in a fight, but after what he witnessed Jake could use just that. A friend.
They stuck to the wall and managed to avoid the crowd of people. Jake climbed into the passenger seat of Ryan's car as he started it.
"Get blood on my seats and I'll kill you." Ryan threatened, it fell on deaf ears.
"How much of that did you hear?" Jake said staring with blank eyes out the window, he held a rag to his bleeding arm, it didn't do much.
"I heard enough." Was his reply. The drive took longer than he wished and he knew that Jake was feeling the pain now that the adrenaline had worn off, and now blood loss was starting to affect him. He rushed Jake into the emergency room and walked with him to the examination table. Ryan stayed by Jake as the shards were removed and the stitches were put in, Jake wasn't his friend, but after what his mom said to him, he sure needed someone to help him.
"Ryan, you can go home. It's not like you want to be here anyway." Jake said with a monotone voice, the wait for the okay that Jake could go home was taking forever.
"How will you get home then?" Ryan asked, Jake just looked at him with sad eyes. Ryan felt sorry for him, he regretted ever fighting Jake, his life was complicated enough and Ryan only made it worse. Baja was right, he was only happy when he was hurting people.
"I'll take the bus." Came the slow response.
"No, you're not riding that disease infested tin can." Ryan argued. "I'll just take you home."
"Just take me to Max's house," was the reply, "I couldn't stand the sight of my mom tonight."
"Actually Max went home with a girl he met today, one of my buddies texted me. If you want you could uh..." Ryan paused and Jake looked at him again.
"Could what?" Jake finally asked.
"Stay at my place." Ryan blurted.
"Yeah, sure. I'll do that." Jake replied sarcastically. Ryan expected that from him.
"I'm serious, I may be cruel but I'm not making you sleep in the streets." Ryan told Jake. It was getting irritating, just take the invite, Ryan thought.
"I cou-" Jake was interrupted as the nurse walked in with the release papers and slip for a prescription to stop the pain and reduce infection.
"They'll make you drowsy so take them only at night, okay?" The nurse replied with the all too happy voice they all had. Jake nodded and slowly stood, he looked at his ruined shirt and sighed. Jake got his prescription at the front desk, which was odd for a hospital to do.
"Have a nice day, Mr. Tyler."
"Thanks." He said with a mixed smile. Ryan knew that Jake's mother saying she blamed him for the death of his dad would hit him hard, but it had began to crush him. Jake walked to Ryan's car and they drove onto the highway. Ryan was actually starting to see a friendship forming which was strange because most friends liked him because they were scared of him or liked him for his money.
"Jake, I'm serious. You can stay at my place tonight." Ryan offered again. The walls of their rivalry were crumbling slowly.
"No, it's fine. I'll just go home." Jake told him. Ryan ignored him and drove right past his apartment. "Hey! You missed it." Jake protested, Ryan just kept driving. Before long they were pulling into his mansion and Ryan was pulling Jake out of the car by his good arm.
"Seriously, just take me home." Jake said fighting him a little.
"I heard the conversation, Jake. That's not what you want to do." Ryan said. "I don't want to fight you anymore."
"What?" Jake asked in disbelief.
"You heard me, Jake. I don't understand why, just fighting you doesn't seem right." Ryan told him.
"My mom told me the truth, Ryan. You don't need to change anything, I've known what she thought for a long time."
"I want us to be friends." Ryan interrupted. This stopped Jake in his path.
"That's a little weird, Ryan."
"Not like that you idiot, gross. It's just this fighting, the rivalry, its pointless."
"You don't need to feel sympathetic about me." Jake said.
"I'm not saying I am. I walked into that bathroom tonight expecting to put you in your place, and now I see there was no point in having that idea." Jake looked at Ryan and yawned. Ryan rolled his eyes and dragged him into the house and into his room, it was enormous with an entire living room set in the center of it.
"You don't get a say in the matter. Tomorrow I'll take you home, tonight you sleep here." Ryan said patting the couch that ended up being a fold out. Jake deflated and looked back down at his ruined shirt, Ryan handed him a new one and walked away. After changing and taking his pills Jake slept soundly on the couch while Ryan stayed up, watching tv waiting to get tired. He looked over at the form on the bed/couch and chucked. Those pills lived up to their side effects.
That night Jake and Ryan's rivalry ended, and Jake's relationship with his mother slowly healed after many fights and heart to hearts. Ryan was completely different, he ditched his group of friends and started hanging around Max, Jake, and Baja, he gave up fighting and only trained with Jake at the Combat Club. Jake and Ryan never went to the beatdown, and Max never got hurt. A little push from destiny was all that the group of four needed to change everything.
Thank you for reading my second fanfiction! I had this idea while writing my first one and I had to type this at 3 in the morning. Thank you.