AN: Hiya folks, Asori here. Ever since Face Off from Season 3 of Lab Rats was aired, I've thought about Jake Chambers' character quite a bit. I feel bad for the poor guy, and I also feel bad for Bree - she thought nobody liked 'a girl unveiled at an auto show', and Jake thought that no bionic girl could see anything special in him since he was ordinary. So I explored this conflict in the context of the show to portray, in my interpretation, how it all fell apart. This is also based off of the song Endless by Fox Stevenson, which I highly recommend. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats, the plot, or any of the characters, just the plot and character exploration.
Jake peeked around his locker door, unable to hide the small smile that invariably graced his lips whenever she was around. She was so beautiful, not to mention bionic. Bionic! How many girls did a guy meet like that?
That's her crazy streak, and I think she was made for me.
She says that no other guy has shown interest in her, but that can't be true. She's amazing! He let his head fall back a little as he savored the tormented pleasure that rolled within his chest. He would have never dreamed that she would ever like a guy like him – he wasn't anything special compared to other guys at their school, and he sure wasn't bionic. But, the unimaginable had happened; she had said yes. They were going to dance together, and she seemed genuinely excited to be with him. She liked him.
And he liked her – endlessly.
What can I say? he silently told her. I'm falling endlessly for you.
Shutting his locker door, he assumed a casual air and let his happiness bubble to visibility. He strolled over to where she was by her brothers, and she turned to him. That gorgeous smile lit up her features, making her sweet brown eyes positively glow. He felt himself slipping, falling into their warm, chocolaty depths….
An announcement crackled over the speakers, the message coloring his cheeks. She was equally mortified, shying away from the laughter of their classmates.
"Maybe I should just go," he told her, nearly choking on the words. He would've rather done anything but go, but he had a feeling that if he were to stay, he'd only make things worse. So he gave her one last torn look before slinking away.
Why is it that when I try to speak, I get cut down? This hadn't been the first time he'd been stopped from saying something to her, but it was the first time that it was done by embarrassment. And now he was angry at the whole thing.
Next time – next time I will speak, I will be stronger, I will be a better man. I'm going to do better, I'm going to be better. I have to, because I'm falling endlessly, endlessly….
They call this new love – it's faster, thicker, stronger than all the rest around. But she's so strong, she's so fast… can I ever keep up?
Jake slowed to a stop at her front door.
I am just not ready for these problems that I cause, she said. I'd be better off if I was just ignored.
What problems?! he wanted to scream. You're no problem – you've never caused a problem!
You're perfect.
He closed his eyes. Is she playing games with me? I don't understand… I don't understand why she says those things.
You're perfect.
His heart leapt within his chest. It was time to knock on that door and take his perfection to the school dance. Before he lost the courage, he rapped his knuckles on the wood door.
His first warning was the length of time it took for the door to actually be opened. His second was when it did open, revealing none other than…
"Principal Perry!" Jake started. "What are you doing here?"
This was not what he had in mind.
When Perry and Chase left, Adam invited Jake to sit down on the couch to wait with him. Jake wished to be away from this… strangeness – and just go to the dance with his dream girl, so he found himself asking "Is there a problem?"
"Absolutely," Adam replied with a grin.
Jake hated that he could never tell when the older boy was joking. And in hindsight, he realized that he shouldn't have taken that simple word as a joke.
When the middle bionic finally made her entrance, it was a disaster. She practically fell into the room, she called him a dork, and she made it clear that she hated his sweater. As the conversation progressed, he started doubting that it was the sweater that she actually hated.
What did I do wrong? he anguished within his mind. I knew I should've dressed classier, but there must be more to it. Did I say too much? Not enough? Did I say the wrong things? Maybe it's something else, something superficial – am I slouching, is it my hairstyle? What's wrong with me?
But he did have to admit, she acted very weird on her own part. She growled a lot, she seemed close to Perry, and… did she really just jump onto Adam's back?
This is weird – and I'm a failure – maybe I should just go.
I'm a failure… I'm failing endlessly.
Before he could escape, he was walking to the dance with her – until she went back screaming to attack her brother, of course.
If Jake had thought that picking her up from the dance was a disaster, then the dance itself must have been the result of a nuclear war.
After being blown off or straight up ditched all night, he was ready to go home and try to forget that this night had ever happened. He didn't even know if he even still liked her, especially after the way she treated him, how she was so rigid and uncomfortable dancing with him, and even the strange… un-feminine things she said. The can…?
It all made him wonder if he actually knew her.
What really stung was that the dance had been set up to be romantic, and minus the fighting Perrys (two of them?!) it was romantic – except that his date was fighting his affections. He had imagined taking her in his arms, spinning her around gently, whispering loving words, and maybe kissing her for the first time. He imagined her eyes lighting up, her cheeks flushing, and all of the cute things she would say in her bashfulness. He would be bashful too, but it would be perfect.
Why would a bionic girl ever be into a guy like me? he asked himself silently, sadly.
He had been about ready to leave, but then this volatile girl had grabbed him, dragging him back into the dance and forcing him to stay in this torture. What was this? Why would she want him to stay? She hadn't wanted to have anything to do with him all evening, so what had changed?
Was it just the image she wanted to preserve? Was that all he was? A placeholder so that she wouldn't seem like an outcast?
It made him sick.
I've been used, I've been confused, but I still don't have what I want. 'Cause what I want and what I need just isn't the same anymore….
Jake almost didn't stay for his last song that night. In hind sight, he wished he had left before then.
He had his arms wrapped around her, leading through a slow, sweet song. She rested her chin on his shoulder, but she wasn't at all relaxed. He tried rubbing her back soothingly, but that seemed to have the opposite effect that he was going for.
If she really didn't like him, couldn't she at least act like she did for his sake?
He was thinking about everything that had led up to this moment, wondering what had gone wrong when he felt her move within his arms. He frowned – this wasn't… normal movement. It was almost as if she was… growing.
He felt the form in his hands grow hard and muscular, the body contour straightening, getting larger, taller…. He let go and stepped back, staring in front of him in horror.
"What?"
Jake gulped, gesturing helplessly.
"Oh!" Chase exclaimed as he looked down at himself. Meeting Jake's eyes again, he forced a smile. "Thank you for a magical evening."
With that, Jake's dream girl-turned-boy/her brother/whattheheck scampered off to Adam, who was laughing where he was acting as the DJ. Jake's face burned and his gut was twisted with sickness. He turned to escape the nightmare when he saw the real Bree – or was she the fake? Another fake? – feigning off Principal Perry.
Before she could see him, he bolted out the back. He had to bite back the urge to break something out of anger.
What can I say? I can't fall for you because now I'm hating you endlessly, endlessly….