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Hii back at it again. Enjoy!
Shout out to Anthony4252 your loyalty is amazing.
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Jake held Rose's wrist as he led her to a park. "Where are we going?" she asked him.
"To get ice cream," he told her. It was surprisingly nice out for November weather and many others were out. Kids played with each other, dogs were fetching sticks with their owners, and a young couple walked by holding hands. Jake looked at them and moved his hand from her wrist to her fingers, locking his with hers.
Rose looked at him with rosey cheeks and smiled. That smile wiped away any doubts he had about her breaking up with him. He missed her so much, it was almost as if electricity passed through him.
It seemed to be that many others had the same idea as Jake because the line was so long. Fortunately, it was moving up pretty quickly. The couple stood in the back of the line, deep in conversation for awhile, not realizing who was behind them. They were halfway up the line from where they were when Jake saw blonde hair from his peripheral vision. It wasn't Rose's.
He turned around to see Brad standing right behind them, pretending not to notice the two. When Jake looked up at him Brad finally "noticed" the two. "Hey, Jake! You're so short I didn't even see you there!" he teased.
Jake huffed in annoyance, not replying.
Brad looked at Rose, clearly not recognizing her. He smirked, "Who's this beauty? You his cousin or something, 'cause no way someone as hot as you would go on a date with this guy."
Jake pressed his lips together in silence. It took so much out of him not to beat up this guy sometimes.
"Actually, I am on a date with him." Rose took Jake's arm and to both guy's surprise, locked it with her's. "Do you not remember who I am?"
Brad blankly stared at her.
"You seriously don't recognize me?" She took off her hair elastic, allowing her straight blonde hair to fall down her shoulders.
Brad gasped, "Daisy! You're here? When you'd come back?"
"Daisy?" Rose asked out loud. "It's Rose."
"Same thing!" Brad chuckled. "Wow. Been awhile. You're so cute I didn't even recognize you."
Everyone had been slowly gaining their memories back about Rose, even though Jake changed the past. It was like their brains came to the conclusion that she moved away to Hong Kong, even though she lived there her whole life. It was a confusing thing that concerned Jake at one point, but Lao Shi told him not to worry. As long as no one caught on everything should be fine. Besides, there wasn't much the magical beings could do.
Rose rolled her eyes. "See you haven't changed a bit."
"I definitely have changed," Brad flexed his muscles, "been working on my self physically and mentally. I'm a much more sensitive guy."
"Ha," Rose laughed stiffly, "you're still on that 'I'm a sensitive guy' bullshit?"
"No need to get aggressive. I didn't know girls as pretty as you even swears."
"It's swore."
"Huh?"
She corrected, "It's 'I didn't know girls as pretty as you even swore'."
Brad placed his hands in his pockets, moving closer. "Same thing."
Jake grew even more annoyed. Could this guy ever shut up? Or maybe move away to a bigger mansion with rich kids his age in a private school? Jake was fine with either. "Didn't you try to hit on Alicia the other day?" he mentioned.
"That tease? Ew."
"Funny you say 'ew' now when you wanted her over your house."
Rose was lost. "Who's that?"
"One of Jake's loser friends," Brad said.
It was finally Rose and Jake's turn to order. Quickly after, it was ready. They both got a large ice cream in a cup that was cookie dough flavor. Next was Brad's turn. They took that opportunity to get far away from him as possible. It worked. They hadn't seen him the rest of the date.
Jake caught Rose up with school, his family, friends, and American Dragon duties. Rose caught him up with school even though to her it seemed less interesting than his life. But to Jake it seemed all the more interesting, mainly because she lived overseas in another country that he was barely used to. It was like everything that happened between the Sara and Kara disappeared. As if his brain had thrown the memory away.
Rose and Jake made it back to Jake's home with smiles stained on their faces and hands intertwined. Jake loved rubbing his thumb against her's. From the way her ponytail swished when she walked to whenever she giggled even though there was nothing to giggle about; everything about her infatuated the boy.
Rose went to walk up the stairs but Jake stopped her, pulling her aside in the crevice between the wall of the house and the wall of the stairs. He said, "I had fun today."
Rose wrinkled her nose dramatically. "You still smell like fish."
Jake froze and sniffed himself. He realized she was only joking and laughed it off, "No, I don't!"
She stuck out her tongue and laughed along with him. Rose opened her eyes to Jake cornering her. Though they were the same height, she felt so small in that moment. Her back leaned against the wall and she relaxed her knees. Jake couldn't help but keep staring. He didn't know when he could look at her like this again.
Rose bashfully fixed a piece of her hair behind her ear. It was so unlike her to be shy, Jake's eyes had to get use to it. "Why do you keep staring?" she asked, not looking at him.
"You're beautiful. Simple."
Rose could tell more changed about Jake than just his height. He was definitely more confident in himself. Unconsciously, Rose's lips parted, looking so delicate to Jake. Like if butterfly wings could be a person, that would be Rose. He held her face and brought it close. He paused, looking at her a bit more, taking a mental screenshot of her unforgettable facial expression. Half-lidded blue eyes, flushed complexion, puckered pink lips. She was so kissable right now.
Jake's phone went off. The very vibration pissed him off. He silenced it before the second ring. Unfortunately, Rose's breathtaking expression already changed. "Who was that?" she asked.
"Not important," Jake said, moving closer to her face.
The phone rang again. He huffed in frustration and picked it up. It was his grandfather. "Jake, where have you been?"
"With Rose."
"Rose?"
"Yeah, she flew in." He looked at Rose and she gave a look that said what's the problem? Jake shrugged in response. "Uh, G, can you make this quick?"
"Jake," he sighed on the other end, "did you only get one flower?"
". . . Yeah? Why?"
Lao Shi tried to hold in his annoyance. "You were supposed to get multiple!"
"Multiple?"
"Yes!"
"When-? You didn't tell me!"
"I knew you came back too soon." From where he was, Lao Shi was pacing. "I knew I should've went myself."
"Can't Haley just, I don't know, heal on her own? She seemed fine this morning, walking and having an attitude."
He stopped pacing. "Is that so?"
"Really, G. All she has is that nasally voice."
His grandfather thought for a moment. "I think one flower will be fine enough to sustain her. We should get her some medicine and she'll be alright. I know you are busy, Jake. But could you please bring your sister some medicine?"
Jake sighed but quickly accepted, "Sure, we'll head over to Walgreens. Which should I get her?"
"No, not that kind of medicine. A potion."
"Potion?"
It was close to noon when the sun began making its way to its highest peek as Trixie skated around the town. Her mom was making her angrier and angrier every second she stayed in that house. It was like whatever Trixie did wasn't good enough. She missed when she was younger and her mother was less harsh. Reminiscing on those memories brought tears to the girl's eyes, but they quickly dried from the wind in her face.
Trixie's hair wasn't done, she left it out and threw on whatever clothes she could find: a Tupac T-shirt and ripped jeans that were too tight. Trixie didn't really know where she was going. Just anywhere was fine.
She decided to skate through a neighborhood. The cars on the main streets were annoying her. The New York beeps from people with rode rage were giving her a headache.
She slowly pushed off into a neighborhood. It was so quiet. Half way through the beeping faded and was replaced with birds chirping. She took a deep breath. As she exhaled, she saw Jake knocking on someone's door.
Trixie stopped. "Jake?"
He turned around. "Hey, Trix."
She got off her skateboard and held it as she walked up to him. "What're you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be hangin' with your boo?" she smirked.
"I am but seems like everything's in my way. Haley caught this dragon fever thing."
Trixie frowned. "Aw, that sucks. Then why are you here?"
"This is Cia's house. I'm hoping she'll make a potion for me as medicine."
Trixie looked up and down the big home. "This is Cia's?"
"Yeah, you've never been here?"
Trixie shook her head no.
"I figured you'd be in here all the time doing your little girl talks. Y'know, makeovers and crystals . . . whatever girls are into."
"Jake, you know I'm not into that stuff."
"Ohh, I forgot," Jake knocked on the door once again, "you're not a girl."
Trixie scowled at him. The door finally opened a crack. Alicia's mom, Carol, peeked through. She saw the two kids and opened the door fully. "Can I help you?" she asked with a friendly smile.
Trixie and Jake were speechless. Not because of her beauty but because her pink robe was sheer. Thankfully she was wearing black underwear underneath. But even so, that barely covered much.
Jake tried not to look as he answered, "We're here for Alicia."
"Ohh, are you my daughter's friends? Come in, come in!" The two walked in, looking around the clean home.
"You're her mom?" Trixie asked.
"Yup. Alicia!" Carol called. "Come down here, please."
Alicia rolled out of bed from her slumber. She had been sleeping all morning. The "bonding" activities her mom made her do the other night lasted into the wee hours of the morning. She walked down the stairs in her pajamas that were covered in panda bears. She was surprised to see her friends. "Trixie? Jake?"
Jake waved. "Were you sleeping?"
"Kinda."
"It's almost 12, though," Trixie giggled.
"Don't judge me," she yawned, then looked at her mother. Alicia winced at her attire. "Mom! What are you wearing?"
"I was making a face mask when these two knocked. How was I supposed to know your friends were coming?" She shrugged while stirring something hands free with her magic.
Alicia facepalmed. "Mom, why are you using your magic? What if my friends didn't know that we're-"
"I know they know," she interrupted. "Jake's the American Dragon."
"Yeah, but what about Trixie?" Alicia huffed.
"I can just tell she knows." Carol picked up her concoction. "Now if you excuse me, I'll be in the living room."
Jake walked in front of Carol. "Wait! Excuse me, but I need your help."
She raised an eyebrow. "The American Dragon needs my help? This 'ought to be interesting."
"My sister has this thing called dragon fever. She needs medicine. I was hoping you could make some."
"You have a sister who's also a dragon? Who would've known." She put one hand on her hip, the other held the bowl. "Ah, dragon fever. I remember when I had to help your grandfather with his."
Jake asked in astonishment, "You did?"
"Yeah. You should tell him to call me back." Carol winked, then placed the bowl back on the kitchen table.
Jake and Trixie tilted their heads in confusion. Call him back? That was odd. Almost flirty.
"No disrespect, Alicia's mom, but how old are you?" Trixie asked.
Carol brought a few potions and a spell book from the back of her cabinets. "That's not important." She was silent for a few seconds, reading the spell for dragon fever medication. "Jake, this is going to take me awhile. Mixing everything's fine, but it'll have to sit for about five or six hours. Is that okay?"
Jake shrugged. As long as he didn't have to run anymore errands that involved leaving Rose he was fine. "It's okay. I'll just come back tonight."
"I can show you around the house real quick," Alicia suggested.
"Can't. Rose is waiting for me back at home!" he sang, heading out the door and waving.
"Ooh, who's Rose?" Carol asked, mixing the ingredients.
"Jake's girl," Trixie answered. She turned to Alicia. "I can stay. I have nothing else to do."
Alicia squealed. "That's great!"
Jake flew home and transformed back to normal the second he made it to his doorstep. The door was unlocked. He strolled in, expecting a house full of family members ready to embarrass him in front of Rose, but the home was empty.
Jake was worried. Worrying was an instinct at this point. Being the American Dragon always involved being anxious and alert, especially when mysteriously no one is home.
Rose peeked around the corner, startling Jake. "I didn't mean to scare you!" she told him.
Jake sighed. "No, you're good. I just thought no one was here."
Rose smirked. "No one is here."
Jake was oblivious to what she was intending. "Where'd they go?"
Rose came closer, playing with his hair. "Your dad went to work and I'm not sure about the rest."
"Sometimes that happens."
Rose took his face in her hands to make him look at her. Sometimes boys could be so clueless. "That makes it just us."
Jake's eyebrows raised in realization. "Oh! That does make it just us." The tiniest bit of sweat began to form on his forehead.
Rose moved her hand from his face to his chest, traveling over to his back. Her other hand still played with his hair. Jake was so touch deprived he didn't even know what to do in that moment. He thought about how he should have asked Spud for some pointers. Though he couldn't believe that he was actually thinking about Spud giving him some pointers on these kind of things.
Jake took his free hands to pull her in closer, feeling everything against him. That made him excited and Rose definitely noticed. Both their eyes began to close when they gradually inched their faces closer.
"It seems that every time I come down here you're being gross!" Haley exclaimed.
Jake and Rose quickly moved away from one another, faces red. Haley walked down stairs slowly and sickly, making her way to the kitchen for a snack. Jake should've known she was still home. She was ill after all.
"Sorry, Jake. I really thought she left," Rose whispered.
"It's fine," he whispered back, even though he was slightly annoyed.
Six hours later the family (plus Rose) were watching a movie. Jake took a shower, finally feeling clean after that trip. His socks he was wearing before were still wet from the river.
Half way through the movie, Haley went upstairs to get more sleep. Jake peered at the clock. He jumped up and excused himself, apologizing to Rose, telling everyone he had to retrieve the medicine.
Jake took his skateboard this time to Alicia's. The darkness of the night lingered and the streetlights paved the way. He made it to his destination quite fast and left his skateboard outside the house, hoping this trip would be short so he could be with Rose again. His skateboard being outside helped him make sure he wouldn't stay too long due to the fear of someone stealing it.
He knocked and this time Alicia answered. She smiled sweetly as she greeted and let him in. Trixie was sitting on a seat in the kitchen. She waved to Jake.
"My mom's in the living room. But here's the potion." Alicia handed him a purple bottle. "Mom made it grape flavored. Hope Haley likes grape."
"Anything's fine as long this is my last time being away from Rose." Jake took the potion.
"You must really like her, don't you?" Alicia asked, thinking about Spud.
Jake blinked twice at the random question. "We're for life." He made his way out the door.
The two girls waved goodbye before he closed the door. Thankfully, his skateboard was still there. It wasn't like Alicia's neighborhood was a sketchy neighborhood anyway.
Jake jogged up the stairs with his skateboard and the potion. Outside was so unpleasantly cold, stepping into the house was a relief of warmth. "I got the potion," he exhaled.
His mother took it happily. "Thank you for doing all this for your sister." She kissed him on the head. Jake hoped Rose didn't see.
"It's no problem."
Jake looked around. Rose was nowhere in sight on the first floor. He was looking to ask her where she wanted to sleep for the night. The boy dragged his exhausted feet up the stairs to see Rose in the hallway packing her bags and his dad running to his room to put back on his outdoor clothes.
"What's going on?" He looked at his girlfriend. "You forgot something?"
Rose stood and gave Jake a sad expression. This sad expression scared him. "Oh, Jake," she began. "I have to go catch the nearest flight."
His breathing increased. "W-Why?"
Rose looked to the floor. "My dad is in the hospital. His blood pressure is bad. I want to be there in case anything happens." She quickly knelt back down to continue packing the things that were barely unpacked.
Everything that happened back in the forest flooded Jake's brain. All the memories and facts he tried his hardest to suppress came back up. His emotions rumbled like a volcano, awaiting an eruption. "I'm sorry, Rose. I'm sorry for not being there to pick you up or to hang out today. But you don't have to make up an excuse to leave."
Rose looked up at him, confused. "Make up an excuse?" she repeated.
"Yes," Jake's hands started to shake, "I know you want to break up with me, but you don't have to do this, okay? I'll make it up to you tomorrow. We can do whatever you want."
Rose's eyebrows furrowed. "Are you serious?" She stood back up. "Did you not here what I said? My father is in the fucking hospital right now and you're honestly making this about yourself? Unbelievable."
Jake couldn't get the future-telling words that Sara uttered out of his head. "But you're going to break up with me . . . You don't have to," he pleaded.
Rose's pale complexion was replaced with red. "What are you trying to do, guilt me into staying? Why would I lie? Jacob Long you are ridiculous." Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Why would I ever lie about something so awful?"
Jake realized she was serious. Her father was actually in the hospital. She was actually worried to death. Yet he made it all about himself. "Rose, I . . . Rose, I didn't-"
"Save it," she sniffled, zipping up her suitcase. "Maybe we should break up. This isn't working."
It felt as if an arrow struck Jake's heart. "Rose, no! Let's not do this; I was only paranoid because-"
"Shut up," she said. It wasn't a yell, it was cold and demanding. Rose swiftly wiped her tears and picked up her suitcase. Jake instinctively tried to help her with it. She pulled away. "Don't you get it? It's over. We live in two different worlds."
"But we've held on for so long," Jake squeaked, holding in a sob. "We've been in this together, through so much."
"It's exhausting being in this long distance relationship, missing you all the time. I know you feel the same."
Jake stayed silent. The two both refused to look at each other in that moment. She wasn't wrong. Jake's heart ached most nights just thinking about her not being near him. He couldn't enjoy a fun moment without imagining how much better that moment could be if Rose was still living in New York.
"Then you say all these things while my dad's hurt." She balled her fist.
"I didn't mean it," he objected.
"I thought you've maybe matured but I guess not." Rose walked down a few steps.
Jake reached out for her shoulder, but only touched a bit with his fingertips. "I really didn't mean it."
Rose paused. "I know you didn't." She finally looked him in the eyes. "Maybe in another world, things would work out. But not this one." She turned back around and made her way to the door.
Jake's dad ran out his room with his car keys to drop Rose off. He patted Jake's shoulder as a quick goodbye, not knowing what just happened.
The second the front door closed Jake felt like he couldn't breathe. Air was entering his body but it just didn't feel like enough. Jake backed up and hit a wall. He could hear his heart in his ears. Rose's voice echoed. Every word she said echoed. His vision blurred as tears fell. He couldn't stop this panic attack. This sudden hopeless feeling of being out of control.
I did this to myself.
Hope you enjoyed this slightly sad chapter. I'm back with the consistency! I'm going to try to cover more heavy topics while still keeping this rated T for now. I'll make sure to place any warnings in the beginning of chapters if there's anything triggering.
Also! This story is on Wattpad as well. It's better quality here, though. Since on Wattpad it's just a copy and paste basically. But copying and pasting eliminates any italics, bold print, or dividers I have on here. I just put it on Wattpad to get more readers and different perspectives because I feel like the people who read fanfiction here vs there are different (in a good and bad way lol). My Wattpad account name is the same user as here, ThatGirlOverThere12.