Title: Creepy Crawlies
Author: bubbles799
Show: Packed to the Rafters
Characters: Jake/Rachel, I mean, who else?
Summary: 'How did I not know that? How long have we been together?' Not long enough obviously.
Disclaimer: I brought back many things from my trip to LA... But PTTR was not one of those things.
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So, I have cancelled my trip to Bali, and donated all the money from my holiday fund to the relief efforts in Queensland. Remember to get on board and do whatever you can to help out. Every bit counts!
I arrived in Sydney last night after a 20+ hour trip from LA. And I wrote this on the flight back. I nearly wrote this into a chapter of 'Little Miracle', but then decided to turn it into a little one shot. Let me know what you think.
And also, Melissa is in this fiction. Just because I can. I also cannot believe I have written a fiction about this. Given my horrific fear.
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They say you learn things every day. But when you've been in a relationship for a long period of time, learning something new comes as a bit of a shock.
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Rachel and Jake had been together for nearly two years when he discovered something new about his partner.
It was after a long day at work and everyone was back at the Rafter house. Jake was staying over, and everyone from next door was over having dinner. Nathan was sitting at the table with Coby, Melissa and Carbo, talking about who knows what. Ben was pulling faces to make Ruby laugh, and looking like a general idiot. Dave and Ted had themselves seated on the couch, pretending to be interested in the sport to get out of setting the table. While Chel was helping Julie finish off dinner. Jake was in the bathroom, while Rachel was in her bedroom.
Jake walked back out to the kitchen, about to sit down with Dave and Ted when he heard the shriek. He didn't sit down, instead heading towards the bedroom he knew Rachel was in. Julie looked towards Dave, who stood up also. The others at the table simply watched as Dave followed Jake.
"Rach, what the?..." Jake began as he swung the bedroom door open. Rachel was standing on the far side of the bedroom, seemingly staring at her wardrobe door. Dave appeared behind Jake. Rachel could only point as Dave followed her line of sight towards the spider. Then he laughed a little.
"The spider?" he asked his daughter, trying to bite back a laugh.
"What?" Rachel responded to her Dad as Jake laughed before taking it upon himself to remove the offending creature. Dave only laughed as he stepped back out into the hallway.
Coming face to face with the family again, he declared with a smirk.
"Spider."
Julie shook her head before returning to the dinner.
In the bedroom, Jake had gotten rid of the spider, while Rachel still stood on the other side of the room away from the threat.
"It's gone," he said, turning back to face his girlfriend. "See?"
"Good," Rachel replied, holding her hand to her chest. She looked up at Jake laughing. "What?"
"Spiders, really?"
/
"I still can't believe you're scared of spiders," Jake said to Rachel later than night as they sat out the back of the Rafter house. It was dark out, but given the hot and humid summer weather, the couple were relishing the coolness of being outside. They were sitting on the outdoor chairs, looking up at the dark sky.
"What? They are creepy and crawly and disgusting," was Rachel's defence. "They scare the hell out of me."
"Bad experience?" Jake asked, looking over at Rachel.
"No..." Rachel said quietly. "I've just always hated them."
"Clearly," Jake said. "Still, spiders..." he spoke basically to himself.
"How long are you going to go on about this?" Rachel had to roll her eyes, still looking up at the sky.
"Just spiders... How did I not know that?" Jake repeated for what was the millionth time that evening. "How long have we been together?"
"Not long enough, obviously," was Rachel's response.
"Apparently not," agreed Jake. Both were silent for a moment, before Jake broke the silence. "So marry me." Rachel couldn't believe what she had just heard, turning to face him properly.
"What?"
"I don't have a ring or anything," Jake began. "But marry me. I want to spend the rest of my life finding out things about you." Rachel sat herself up from her slouched position, leaning on one arm of the outdoor chair to face Jake.
"So let me get this straight," she started, slightly in disbelief. "A spider just prompted you to propose?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Jake shrugged with a laugh. "What do you say?" Rachel paused for a moment, swallowing, before replying.
"I can't believe I'm going to say this, given a spider was the reason behind it..." she stopped. "But yes."
"Yes?" Jake said to confirm.
"Yes," Rachel nodded with a smile, leaning over the small space between them to kiss him. "Yes, yes, yes!"
/
A short while later, Rachel and Jake couldn't wait to share their news. Heading back inside where everyone was finishing up after dinner, Rachel couldn't help but announce.
"We're getting married!"
Julie, standing by the kitchen sink with Melissa and Ted was the first to react.
"Oh my god!" she gasped, heading over to immediately hug her daughter. Then Jake. "When?"
"Just now," Rachel said as Melissa hugged her tight.
"It was the spider," Jake added, to which the couple got strange looks.
"The spider?" Ted repeated.
"Yep, I just agreed to a marriage proposal caused by a spider," Rachel laughed, not going into any more detail as she hugged her Dad. That was their private moment; a spider.
So what do we think? I was actually watching Season 2 of Rafters on the plane as I wrote this. It inspired something in me to write it. And the fact that I am terrified of spiders. I get teased about it all the time!
Would love a review. And given I'm not heading off overseas again in the next few days, I'll be sure to be reading your PTTR fics if anyone is updating or creating!