Value Me
Jake is finally back. He visited the precinct earlier to say hello and get some - well deserved - praising and attention from his fellow ex-(soon to be again)co-workers. He's not officially back at the Nine-Nine yet, this will take some days because, after all, he was truly fired. Amy doesn't have a chance to speak with him and, honestly, besides a "good to have you back" welcome words and a half-hug, she doesn't even try. This moment is his thunder, might as well let him enjoy the full of it without any other worries. They'll talk later.
And 'later' it's just some hours after when they all meet at their usual bar to celebrate Jake's success. At first they keep their distance, but Amy doesn't want to do things when their half-drunk, so she waits for the few seconds when everyone seems to be entertained with something else than Jake to approach him.
"Hey, do you have a minute? We kinda of really need to talk."
He knows what this is about, so he hesitates.
"I dunno Amy, maybe later would be better."
"Really? How old are you? Let's just do it Jake, there's no way out and you know it… I'll wait for you outside on the smokers' area."
She doesn't have to wait long until he shows up and leans against the small fence next to her.
"'Sup?"
"I'll just go straight to the point here Jake…"
They turn to look at each other, both dead serious. Jake's mouth has never been drier than right now and Amy's heart was threatening to burst out of her chest.
"I'm angry at you. I'm angry because that night you said those things to me… and then, well, then you left. For six months."
"Amy…"
She cuts him.
"No, Jake. Let me speak."
Her face was a mix of emotions that he couldn't quite figure out. Anger was there, for sure, but most of it seemed to be sadness and confusion.
"The thing is, I was happy. I had Teddy, a mature-stable relationship that I enjoyed and was kind of proud of. I was doing good at work. All was fine. Then you came and crashed everything by saying you liked me."
"I'm sorry Amy, it wasn't my intention. I just needed to tell you…"
"I know, okay... You could have died and I'm being crazy selfish for being upset with you about that but, for fuck sake! You left me knocked down. I couldn't look at Teddy anymore for months without thinking of you. I couldn't concentrate at work because your stupid empty desk was right in front of me. I couldn't sleep without the words 'romantic stylez', with a z, popping into my head. Not a day went by that I didn't wonder if that was one last joke…"
"Of course not!"
"Well, how could I know?!"
She has tears forming on her eyes and, for the first time, Jake realizes how difficult it must have been for her. Of course he was martyring himself with self-pity for the last six months. The woman he loved - had feelings for - was dating someone else while he was trapped with a dangerous family of criminals, without being able to have any contact with her, and likely to die at any second. But from where he was he couldn't see the emptiness. She could. He was somewhere else, new people, new life, new things in his mind to worry about. She was there every day, safe and sound and alone with her thoughts, facing the emptiness without being able to fill it, without being able to keep moving forward with her life.
"Are you still dating Teddy?"
Amy takes a depth breath and looks down before answering him.
"Yes. I… I never knew what to do. So I just did nothing. I'm stuck Jake, my life is exactly the same it was six months ago in that parking lot. Except now you're coming back and not leaving. And now I can finally deal with things and not just think endlessly about them."
"I'm sorry."
Jake puts his hands on her shoulders and pulls her into a comforting hug.
"… I don't know what's gonna be." - he's whispering - "All I know is that everything I said that night it's still true. Every single word. But I'm not asking you to dump Teddy for me, or to say you like me back or anything. I just wanna make things right, I don't think I can live with myself if we can't stay partners - friends - because of what I said. I just can't..."
They part from the hug to look at each other again.
"Can we do that? Can we deal with this wouldn't killing what we had?"
He gives her a gentle kiss on the forhead.
"I guess we have to."
Zip Me
One would think that a grown man should know better than going to a kids' party and spend the whole time jumping in the trampoline like a crazy person. But Jake Peralta wasn't exactly the grown man kind, and his trampoline adventure was precisely how he managed to break his left arm during Cagney and Lacey's birthday party.
"Charles, where's Jake?"
"I'm not sure. Is he coming today? It has only been a couple of days since the accident."
"He's supposed to. He texted me yesterday telling me not to go to the steak-out without him. We're supposed to leave in half-an-hour."
"Sorry Amy, I really have no idea. But please let know or I'll be worried about him."
Amy never enjoyed waiting around for people, so she grabs her phone and calls Peralta, asking where the hell he is.
"Yeah, about that. I'm having some trouble with my arm. Do you think you can come by my place first and help me out really quickly? Then we'll go directly to the steak-out. Guarantee."
"Gosh! Alright, leave your door open."
Amy arrives at Jake's place and, as she requested, the door was unlocked so she just slides in. Jake was sitting on his couch with nothing on but his white underwear.
"What the actual fuck Jake?!" She says, closing the door behind her.
"Hey, sorry about that but… this is why I need your help. My arm hurts as fuck when I move it, so I'm kinda having trouble to put my clothes on." Amy is looking at him dead serious for what seems like minutes, until she burst out laughing. He makes his best 'this is my nightmare' face while she's still cracking up, before calling her attention again.
"C'mon Amy, we're gonna be late, help me out here."
He grabs his undershirt from the pile of clothes that were in the couch and puts the good arm in, making a wince face when trying to pass the broken arm through the other sleeve.
"Oh my God! Are you kidding me?! That's why you can't dress yourself. Here…"
She gets closer to - half-naked - Jake and pull his shirt off, ignoring the fast beatings of her heart when they lock eyes together.
"First you put the injured arm in" – she helps him do that – "so, unless you also have something wrong in your head, you won't hurt yourself."
"Shit, this seems pretty obvious now that you've said it. But try being rational under the effect of severe pain and a lot of drugs." She cracks a smile at that.
Amy goes to Peralta's pile of clothes and grabs his navy blue pants, also sorting out his plaid shirt and hoodie. She helps Jake put his pants on and, without exchanging a word, assist him on closing his fly. This is probably the closest she has ever been to Jake Peralta's genitalia – not that she pays any attention to his genitalia on a regular basis, of course not.
When Jake's pants and shoes are on – and both the detectives are slightly blushing for the excess of proximity – he can't help himself but to make the inevitable joke.
"You're really good at dressing me. Maybe sometime we should try the undressing way around, just for a change."
Amy doesn't even bother to answer that, she's already rolling her eyes and storming out his door.
"I'll wait for you in the car, butthead."