A/N: The three-chapter thing is not happening, since this AU is eating me alive. It'll probably be five or six parts total. Please let me know if you're reading! Thanks.
It's a coping mechanism, mostly, when Jake decides to step back a bit. Outside of one particular classroom, he carries on with his usual act, being the guy he has grown accustomed to being. But he doesn't throw away that hour he shares with Leslie—in the loosest definition of the word 'share.' Law was already one of his favourite classes, and if everyone around him questions why he's suddenly paying studious attention in class, raising his hand, turning assignments in on time, well, nothing wrong with a little mystery.
He's learning; that's what school is for, isn't it? Learning things like Leslie's dad is also a retired cop. Learning that she's passionate about fighting corruption in politics and policing. Learning that she wants to answer every question, but instead counts out on the fingers of one hand—one, two, three, four—only raising her hand for every fifth answer. He wonders who gave her that advice. Wonders who would put limits on her bright and inquisitive mind.
Wonders if she's altogether too smart for him, anyway.
He knows the answer to that: yes. No question to it at all. But he's got other skills, like trading in his most charming smile for his most sheepish, instead, when she happens to glance over at him after he finishes speaking. Not only agreeing with her, because he learned long ago (say, kindergarten) that that doesn't work as well as instinct says it should. Bringing up fresh arguments, offering other points of view—in short, using up all his brainpower for the day in one short hour. It's worth it, because sometimes that sheepish smile draws a shy one in return, and on those days he drives home humming a tune.
Midway through October, Jake stays a minute after class to ask Mr. Jennings a question about the next assignment—"I don't know what's going on with you, Doyle, but keep it up"—and Leslie does too. He books it out the door after, not wanting to give the impression he's waiting around for her or anything creepy like that, but he's stopped in the hall by a dense mob.
He tilts up on his toes, looking to the centre of the mass to see what's up, and finds a circle of tall boys pushing around someone much smaller and scrawnier. Jake looks around, hoping someone else will step forward, but everyone's just watching and cheering on the fight, so he sighs and pushes in.
When he gets closer, he sees that the tall kids only really look tall in relation to the boy they're knocking around, and probably the whole group is made up of minor niners. Jake's got at least three inches and forty pounds on the biggest, so he steps into the middle and puts his hands up, saying, "All right, that's enough."
"Mind your business," the big one says, turning to the side and spitting on the linoleum.
Jake rolls his eyes—that's disgusting, uncivilized, not to mention unsanitary—and steps closer, putting his hands on the other guy's shoulders. "Listen, fella, you can turn and walk away or you can take one on the chin. I don't much care which you choose."
"Who you callin' fella?" he says, blustery, eyes darting around to his other friends (who, to their credit, don't step in).
Looking over his shoulder, Jake sizes up the kid they were picking on, quick. He looks like a scared bunny and Jake realizes that if he throws the first punch this is going to get very ugly, very fast. Not worth it.
He steps back, lets his shoulders fall to make himself look smaller. "You're right, man, I don't know you. But this guy—" He looks back again, reaching out his arm to hook it around the skinny neck of the niner, tugging him forward to stand at his side. "—he's a real good buddy of mine, so you know, I would appreciate it if we could just let the dust settle here."
The big kid, leader of the pack, scoffs. "Whatever, dude. Let's go." He turns, his boys right behind, and they face down the mob of kids still watching. Eyes are already turning away, no one wanting to pick beef with a bully that just got shut down, and the hall clears rapidly.
"Wow. Wow wow wow!"
Eyebrows drawing together, Jake turns to look at the kid beside him, who is suddenly all lit up and just about bursting out of his skin.
"That was awesome!" he says, bouncing up on the balls of his feet. "Wow!" He puts his fists up in front of him, throwing mock punches at Jake's shoulder. He crouches in a fighting stance, making himself even tinier, and Jake tugs him up by the collar of his shirt.
"Okay, all right."
The kid just grins up at him, hooking his thumbs in the straps of his backpack. "That was so cool. You rock, man."
"Well, you're welcome," Jake says, turning away, but the kid grabs the hem of his shirt and tugs, not letting go until Jake stares him down incredulously.
Then he sticks out his hand. "I'm Des, and you just saved my life."
Sighing, Jake shakes his hand, surprised to find it firm and dry. "Jake. And you should get to class."
"Sure man, sure," he says, tugging his backpack up his shoulders again. He starts to walk backwards, waving one hand far too enthusiastically. "I'll see you soon!"
Jake hangs his head. What the heck did he just get himself into? He turns, knowing he'll be late for his next class himself, and startles when he sees Leslie standing by the door to their classroom, the only soul left in the deserted hall as the bell rings.
He smiles curiously at her and she takes a step forward, clasping her hands in front of her.
"That was really nice of you," she says, so quiet he has to strain his ears even in the dead quiet.
The corner of his mouth lifts, a half-laugh huffing through his nose, and he walks just close enough to be heard. "Yeah, well, I'm kind of known for my, uh, less than gentle persuasive tactics."
"And yet…" she says, tilting her head and smiling softly up at him.
"Yeah. Well." He tucks his chin into his chest, eyes on the ground, and she reaches out and puts her hand on his forearm. He looks up then and she lets her thumb sweep over the curve of his arm.
Then, without saying anything else, she ducks her head and walks away and Jake is left staring after her, deeply confused.
xxx
Two things change for Jake then. One, this Des kid starts following him around... like, everywhere. All the time. It's frankly weird. And two, Leslie looks at him a little different; a little more interested, a little less cautious. And that smile... it does things to Jake.
So when Jennings assigns a project to be completed in pairs and Jake sees Leslie's shoulders come up around her ears as she freezes in her seat, can anyone really blame him for leaning across that gap, tapping her arm, and saying, "Hey, wanna work with me?"
She looks equal parts relieved and terrified, nodding a tiny bit. "Okay."
The grin that takes over his face is uncontrollable and embarrassing, but what can you do. "Cool, I've got my car so we can go to the library or a coffee shop or my dad's office or the house or, um." He coughs, suddenly realizing how eager he's being. "You know. Whatever."
She tips her head down and away and he holds his breath until he can see her face again. It's only an instant before she looks back, but her eyes are soft and her lips barely curled and that doesn't make it any easier to breathe. "That sounds fine. Meet me at my locker?"
Jake nods, already thinking about how he needs to use his weight-training hour to work off his extra energy and spill some of his more absurd thoughts to Walter. "Sure. The car will be a bit packed, but you're small." He grins, standing up and grabbing her bag off the floor as the room starts to clear. "Kidding. There's plenty of room, but you'll have to make nice with Walter. He's harmless."
They head for the door, Leslie not saying much of anything in reply. As soon as they cross the threshold, Des pops up at Jake's side.
"Hi Jake! Lovely day today!"
"Yeah, hi."
Des turns to Leslie, waving excitedly before reaching his hand out to shake. "Hi Leslie! We haven't properly met. I'm Des, Jake's friend!"
Sighing quietly, Jake hands Leslie's bag over to her and says, "I'll see you in a few."
She smiles. "Bye Jake. Bye Des, pleasure meeting you."
Des waves again, then turns to walk at Jake's side. He's clearly suppressing something, wringing his hands until they get halfway down the hall and he bursts out with, "You're seeing her after school?!"
Jake gives him a look, but says, "Yeah, we've got a project to work on."
"Cool, Jake! It's your chance!"
"Shh," Jake hisses, glancing back the way they came. "Don't say stuff like that. If you scare her off, you're dead."
"Oh boy." Des mimes zipping his lips and throwing away the key, but a second later says, "I'm just saying, Jake! I'm rooting for you."
Jake sighs again. The kid is hopeless, but he's just so earnest about it. "Thanks, man. We'll see."
xxx
When the final bell rings, Jake and Walter walk back to Leslie's locker. Worrying about his eagerness was likely a wasted effort, since now Jake feels distinctly like he's walking to his doom, grim and silent with Walter at his side.
They see Leslie before she sees them, bent in front of her locker, filling her bag and glancing anxiously down the hall every few seconds. Jake's heart does a stupid little stutter as he waits for her to spot them, at which point he waves his hand at waist-height and she smiles in relief.
"Didn't think I'd leave you hanging, now, did you?"
She ducks her head, blushing. "No."
Stopping a foot short, Jake leans against the wall of lockers and gestures at Walter. "This is Walter, he follows me everywhere I go, and I need to drop him off on the way, if you don't mind."
"Of course." She stands, holding out her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Walter. I'm Leslie."
"Oh, I know," Walter says dryly, and Jake smacks him hard on the arm. "I mean, nice to meet you too. I haven't heard a thing about you, this guy doesn't talk about you at all, never mentioned you, in fact."
"Shut up, Walter!"
She turns quickly back to her locker, but Jake can just see a smile on her face and doesn't know what to make of it. Grabbing a key chain off the hook, she drops it into her bag and then closes and locks her locker. Before she can reach for it, Jake's swinging her bag up over his shoulder and turning down the hall.
"I'm just in the senior lot. You been there?"
Leslie walks between them, hands clasped in front of her, and shakes her head. "Nope. Only got the one senior friend with a car." She casts a shy smile to the side and Jake thinks, Friend? We're friends?! Score.
"Well, any time you need a ride," he says, "you just gotta ask. I'm a taxi service as it is."
"Oh yeah," Walter interjects (not that he's not a part of the conversation, but, well). "I'm sure it's such a hardship cartin' me around, not like we're friends or anything."
"You hear a baby crying?" Jake says, grinning. "What the heck's a baby doing in the high school?"
"I'm gonna kill you, Jake."
Leslie rides shotgun, obviously, and Walter grumbles quietly as he wedges himself into the back seat.
When they pull up outside the elementary school, Jake says, "This will be my niece, Tinny. She's in a bit of a grump, but don't take it personally."
A minute later, Tinny is hopping in the back, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Walter and then looking forward to Jake and Leslie, staring at the back of Leslie's head.
As he starts to pull away from the curb, Jake says, "Little one, this is Leslie."
"Leslie?!" she almost yells, incredulous, but before she can make Jake drive off the road Leslie is turning around, offering her hand over the back of her seat.
"Glad to meet you, Tinny." She pauses, as Tinny begrudgingly shakes her hand, and then smiles and says, "I see you got all the good genes in the family."
Tinny remains wary, looking from Leslie to Jake and back again. "I'm surprised Jake managed to get you in his car."
"Tinny!" Jake yelps, and Leslie blushes, despite the fact that she didn't actually say anything all that inappropriate.
"We have a school project," Leslie says, turning around to face front and staring out the window.
"Uh-huh," Tinny replies, also staring out the window.
Jake and Walter lock eyes in the rearview, slightly bewildered, and then the car is pulling up outside Walter's house and he's saying, "You know, I could stick around," to which Jake responds, "Dream on, brother. See you tomorrow."
Then it's just Jake and two confusing girls that he can't begin to comprehend, so he keeps his lips buttoned until they pull up outside the Duke. He wants Leslie to feel comfortable, and okay, a little tiny part of him wants to say, See? She's spending time with me. Willingly. See? and so they take the fire escape up to the office. Rose is at one desk with the laptop, Mal at the other with a pile of papers and folders in front of him.
"Hey," Jake says, waving one hand as Tinny swerves to the couch and Leslie hesitates behind him. "Okay if we set up to work here?"
"Of course," Rose says, getting to her feet. "But introduce us first."
"Ah, yeah. Rose, Dad, this is Leslie. Leslie, my dad and his wife, Rose. We have a school project."
"Well, that's just lovely." Rose walks the rest of the way forward, reaching for Leslie's hand and holding it between both of hers as she examines Leslie's face. "So nice to meet you, dear. Jake—"
He coughs loudly.
"—hasn't said a word about you."
"I'm hearing that a lot today," Leslie murmurs in reply.
Malachy joins them where they're starting to fill up the doorway. "Good to meet you, Leslie. Jake's not as dumb as he looks, I assure you."
"Yeah, thanks," Jake says, pushing past Mal and Rose and ushering Leslie toward the table. "Here we are." He hooks his foot around the leg of the chair, pulling it out for Leslie, and deposits her bag to the side, before rounding the table to take his own seat. Dropping his textbook on the table, he flips it open to the chapter they're working on.
"So we can use any case from the chapter," he begins, and keeps talking as Leslie looks at him, her eyes alert and intent, focusing on his eyes and then watching his lips move before flicking back up to his eyes. Jake has no idea what he's saying; all he knows is he could talk forever if she kept looking at him that way. After a while, she presses her lips together, trapping a smile, and he finally trails off.
"Right," she says, "so the important thing is to make sure we can detail both sides," and she goes on for not quite as long. It's Jake's turn to watch her, and... wow. He has a problem. She doesn't exactly shed her self-consciousness, offers her opinion like it's a gift that he may very well reject, but he can tell that under that caution is a confidence in her ideas. She knows what she thinks, what she believes, but she isn't sure other people will share her views, or accept them.
And Jake has a problem, because all he wants to do now is give her that acceptance she's been craving, accept absolutely everything about her. This isn't his ordinary crush. He's already in too deep, and this is the first time they've spent together outside of class.
He's screwed, to be blunt.
A few hours of surprisingly productive work later, Jake offers to drive Leslie home. Tinny will ride with Mal and Rose, so they're completely alone for the first time ever, and Jake has no idea what to say.
"Are you hungry?" he asks, because he's hungry, and she shoots him a look.
"I'll have dinner when I get home."
"We could... get something?" Not like a date, I'm not asking you out on a date, at least not right now, although if you wanted it to be a date that could work too, but I'm just hungry, okay?
There's a pause, and when Jake glances over she's squinting out the window. "I have to make dinner for my dad."
A breath whooshes out of him in relief, though he keeps it as quiet as he can. "Okay. Maybe another time."
She doesn't reply, but when he looks over again he can see the corner of her mouth ticked up, so he smiles too. When they pull up outside her house, she reaches for the handle but doesn't open it yet. She looks at him, looks away, looks at him once more. Finally she says, "I'll see you tomorrow," her voice soft, and Jake nods.
"See you tomorrow."