Now, second chapter. Middles. I have the next few chapters written and will type them up as I have time. Finals week is coming up and writing Animorphs slash is a pretty good way to relax between study sessions.
Jake and Cassie were a couple. No one could miss it. Least of all Tobias. There's not much you can hide from a hawk's eyes. Little glances in the heat of battle, little touches when no one else was watching—he noted them all.
And wished with every fiber of his being that he could have something like that.
Well, he probably could. With Rachel. Crazy, reckless Rachel. But he couldn't stand it. The pity in her eyes whenever she looked at him. He didn't want her pity.
Jake and Cassie were doubtless the center of their little group. Tobias, the outsider. Not that he minded. He hadn't exactly had much experience with fitting in.
Still Jake and Cassie shared those little looks, those private thought-speak conversations. It wasn't until several months after they found the dying Andalite in the construction site that Tobias finally worked out what he wanted. And it certainly wasn't Rachel.
They'd burrowed into the Yeerk pool as moles, then as bats, and they'd been stupid enough to get caught. He and Jake, still in bat form, huddled together in a small cage. Ax was somewhere nearby in his own Andalite body. Cassie and Rachel had disappeared, and he'd seen a gorilla knuckling its way behind some storage sheds. Most likely that was Marco.
Tobias shivered, scared. The other boy—or bat—shifted over to press against him. 'We'll make it out of here. I promise.' Typical Jake. Trying to be reassuring and fearless, while no doubt shaking in his metaphorical boots.
Tobias felt a surge of warmth. He didn't want to die. 'Jake…' he whispered, wishing he could somehow convey pure emotion through thought-speech. Heaven knows he didn't have the words. There was a stunned silence from his cage-mate—and Marco appeared to let them out.
From that day on Jake seemed to draw away from Cassie. Just a bit. And start including Tobias in the conversations more. Leaving his window open at night, telling Tobias it was "just in case he wanted to talk." He never took the offer, but a few days later in Cassie's barn, Jake looked up at him. Just a glance, and a smile. And Tobias realized that he wasn't on the fringes anymore.
377 words.
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