Amy's P.O.V
"Cheddar!" I harshly whispered to the corgi that happened to be the father of the two mutts I now had at home.
In this moment, Jake and I were hiding in our captain's bathroom and the sharp clips of Cheddar's nails on the impeccably clean marble were definitely noises that were not necessary.
"I made you invite them because I like them," Holt condescendingly explained to his blonde husband. "They're good people." Jake and I looked at each other with equal amounts of amazement.
"Holt likes us?" He mouthed, his mouth opening wide, completing that cute face he always made when he was shocked.
"But they're cops!" Kevin exclaimed with some degree of exhaustion. "Cops are never good to us; they've done nothing but belittle you."
"They are different. Give them a chance." Holt sounded like he was pleading with Kevin and there was a moment or two of silence.
"Okay, okay. I will try. I'm sorry." Another beat of silence and then footsteps.
"Are they gone?" I asked Jake quietly. He pressed his ear against the door. I quietly tip-toed over to him, careful not to let my heels even so much as graze the floor beneath us. We listened for a while and heard nothing so we cautiously slipped out of the bathroom and got the information we came up here for.
The rest of the party was a success for Jake and I. He backed himself out of the pro-slavery stance he put himself in and I bonded with Holt over all the creative ways people have found to make things that we all use without second thought.
I recall a second where I was alone, wine glass in hand. I leaned against a wall and just watched Jake confidently talking to a group of people - which included Kevin.
"See something you like?" Rosa asked as she came up next to me. I looked at her and scoffed a little.
"I like that he's not acting like a man-child. I'm just proud of him in a weird way."
"It's more than that," she mused, before walking away. I sighed a little and looked back up at Jake and the group of people who circled him. We made eye contact for a second and I smiled at him. He excused himself from his crowd and made him way over to me.
"Looking a little lonely there, Santiago," he said to me. I straightened my posture as he neared me.
"Yeah, you know. Everything is kind of winding down. I think I'm about to head out." He nodded at me, putting his hands into his front pockets.
"Want me to walk you back? I know you usually tend to walk or take the bus if possible."
"I'm sure I can handle myself," I said with a smile. "But I would like some company."
He grinned. "Alright, just let me excuse myself and we'll head out." We parted ways and I went to go get my jacket. Similar to Jake, Gina had also surrounded herself with a group of people who were heedful of her every move.
"What I want to know is why they have not made a movie about mice who live in shower drains. Could you imagine this community of mangy little rats and then one rat that lives in my shower drain. That rat must be like, incredibly flawless. With a mane that's better than most peoples," she said, her words a tad slurred. Everyone around her ate it up.
It was typical of Gina and Jake to be magnetic. I guess they were raised with a large amount of freedom and now they still have no respect for stricter rules. It is, at times, refreshing to have them around. When I want the truth I can always count on Gina to tell it to me and if it's really bad she'll even throw in a 'kiddo' or two. With Jake, it's nice to feel like we haven't yet completely grown up. I can still participate in childish antics anytime. I can still hold onto that illusion of childhood.