A few weeks after moving in, Jake was living the life. Watching TV in only his boxers, eating any kind of strange concoction he wanted and, greatest of all, smoking without worrying about getting caught was everything he had wanted and more. If he wanted to go fishing on the lake naked, he did it. There was almost nothing he didn't do and for those few weeks of freedom, he felt like he was living the life.
That is, until he started getting lonely. Often times when he would invite his old friend over they would express how busy they were with homework and classes. Sometimes he would find himself asking to hang out with someone across the country, forgetting that they no longer lived down the block. It was frustrating, going from constantly being surrounded by people to being alone all the time, and as much as he wanted to convince himself that it was the greatest decision of his life, he really did hate it. Jake Martin wasn't meant to be alone.
Some days he would sit on his porch with a joint in his hands, but he would never smoke it. He had grown so tired of the drug that by now the smell would sicken him. As much as he desperately wanted to get high, he couldn't bring himself to light it up and inhale the effects. So he would sit on the porch, wondering if this was really what his life had come to. All day he would sit in the cabin, waiting for offers for work to come, but they never did. While his friends were out making the best of their lives, getting an education, Jake bummed around, wishing he had listened to his father.
Finally sick of his decision, one day during lunch time, Jake took the drive down to Degrassi and walked in. Quickly searching the cafeteria for a certain familiar face, Jake ignored the stares and whispers from people as he passed through the tables. Finding the girl he had been searching for sitting between Adam and Becky, Jake let out a sigh of relief and marched over, taking her by her arm and lifting her from the table.
"Great to see you guys, but we gotta go," he announced hastily to the other seniors at the table, not giving Clare a second to wrap her head around the situation before stealing her out of the school and into the truck. When they were halfway back to the cabin, Clare's senses seemed to finally come alive as she looked over at her impulsive brother and scoffed.
"Would you like to explain why you just swept in and carried me away from my lunch?" she asked, staring at him blankly as she tried to figure it out herself. "I haven't seen you in days, weeks, but you just decide to randomly show up and cart me off? I could get into so much trouble for this, you know. I'm going to tell mom and-" she ranted, cutting herself off with a huff when she realized that she could no longer tell on Jake when he did something bad. They couldn't ground him if he was on his own, which was not something that Clare really hated. It was like he could just prance around doing what she wanted and nobody but him had a say in the matter.
Not wanting to admit the reason for his kidnapping to be something as lame as 'being too lonely and needing someone to pass time with,' Jake muttered something about a family emergency, hoping that she would buy the excuse, though he really didn't put it past her. He was right, looking into the rear-view mirror just in time to see her roll her eyes and cross her arms over her chest. "Right, let me guess, your sock monkey ripped and you need me to sew it. Such an emergency," she deadpanned, leaning her forehead against the glass window, watching the trees pass. Jake grimaced, knowing now that this was a bad idea. He should have taken someone else from the school instead of his sister who was clearly still mad at him for something.
When they reached his cabin, Jake frowned at it, blaming the structure for the mess of a life he was having so far. Hopping out of the truck, he waited for her to join him, though she seemed to be taking her sweet time, making it clear she didn't exactly want to be there either. When she did finally emerge, she grumbled something incoherent about him feeding her, making Jake laugh lightly. "Yeah, whatever, I'll make you chicken salad and then you can help me." She didn't seem to have too much of a problem with that, or at least not as much of a problem as he thoughts she would have, so Jake walked into his humble abode and made a bee-line for the kitchen, setting out to make their lunches.
A few minutes later he was done preparing the food and they sat at the counter eating, silence floating over them as they chewed. Jake's mind began to wander as he tried to come up with something for he and Clare to do. Before he could figure out a set plan, she put half of her sandwich down and cleared her throat, grabbing his attention. "So you never really answered me. What am I doing here?" He immediately groaned at her question and put his own sandwich down, figuring he might as well tell her the truth.
"I was bored, you were the first person I thought of and if I didn't bring you here I would have gone crazy. It's lonely," he said quietly, not meeting her eyes until he heard her scoff at him. When he did look over at her, he found that she was shaking her head, giving him an incredulous look. "So you should have listened to me when I told you not to leave! I was right, Jake. I don't know why you didn't listen to me in the first place," she accused, waggling her finger at him.
"Please, Clare, I don't need your 'I told you so,' ok? Can't we just have a nice day of sibling bonding or something? The least you can do is do your homework while I sit and watch The Godfather. Please? For me?" he practically begged, feeling a lot less manly than he would have liked at the moment, but feeling that it was necessary to get her cooperation. He hated begging, but deep down he knew that by doing so Clare might just give into him.
And she did, a smirk of her own crossing her face. Instead of saying anything, wanting to instead bask in the way she had him wrapped around her finger, she picked up the other half of her sandwich and chewed on it. When she was finished she finally addressed him, though her look was a mock-stern one, as though she was pretending to be firm with him. "Fine, I'll stay and we'll bond, but I don't like how you feel you can just waltz back into my life when you want. You left, Jake. I didn't want you to, but you did anyway. And-" she stopped, shaking her head as though she changed her mind. "Just... enjoy this time with me while you can because who knows when it'll happen again, ok?" she finally said in a quiet voice, standing to put her plate in the sink.
Following her actions, Jake did the same before moving to the couch in the other room. "Thank you, that's all I ask," he replied just as quietly, now feeling bad for all she accused him of. He honestly didn't know that she felt like that. Sure, she had begged him not to go before he had, but he figured that she would have gotten over it by now. Maybe she was as lonely as he was, especially now that her boyfriend was gone as well. With a sigh he pat the place next to him for her to sit. "You know what? You choose what we watch, ok?" he suggested, passing her the remote and taking notice of the small smile on her face. So far he was off to a good start on this bonding day, though he wondered just how long that would last.