If you come back here anonymus, thanks for your review on my last OS! :)
This is inspired by a post by jess1999mess on Tumblr, canon divergence of episode 2x17, for kcarrollworld on Tumblr too who tagged me on it.
Expectation and reality are two very different things.
Jake understands that as he watches both his friends' parents being married by his Captain, with his very first love sat on his right side, just like he wanted it to be. Despite his little 'let's catch a bay guy' interlude with Amy before the ceremony started, everything between him and Jenny has been happening as he wished them to.
And yet, he's not as thrilled as he thought he would be, reuniting with the woman he saw for long as the love of his life.
He doesn't know what's wrong with him. He should be happy right now – given the course of the events, he's more than likely going to have his slow dance with her at last. But still, when Raymond Holt starts talking about love and marriage and what all of this means, it's not her he looks at or think of.
On the contrary, his gaze discreetly drifts away from the main couple of the day to the opposite row of seats, quickly glancing at his partner there, who doesn't see him, with her whole attention concentrated on their boss's beautiful speech.
They had a lot of fun today, working together again to chase a perp and then find back the lost wedding ring. It's been a while they haven't been that close, with all those stories of 'I like you and then me too but you don't like me anymore' between them. He's glad they're starting to regain the bond they had before all of this started.
As he watches her, his heart tightens in his chest, and a feeling he knows all too well takes over.
The same feeling that made him turn off the proposal of a relief team replacing them on their mission the night she lost their bet and they found themselves stuck on a rooftop. The same feeling that lingered during his whole undercover mission until after he came back to see her still in a relationship with her last boyfriend.
The feeling of he still likes her.
Suddenly, Jenny takes him out of his reverie by putting her hand on his tight, gently squeezing it, and he looks back at her. A bright smile appears on her features the moment their gazes meet, and he tries to offer her the same in return, but it barely reaches his eyes. He looks down at her palm on his knee, and stares at it for a while.
He has to admit then, there's no sparks anymore. The woman's touch does nothing on him. They've both grown into different persons, with different interests.
He should have seen that coming. It's been more than 20 years after all since she dumped him for that Eddie Fung at his bar-mitzvah.
He didn't think so, but it appears he's moved on from her. A long time ago. When he fell for one Amy Santiago…
Eventually the ceremony ends, and everyone is invited to join another room to celebrate the newly weds properly, and even though all he wants to do is to spend some time with his squad (with her), Jake stays with Jenny, because he's still the only person she knows and though he doesn't like her like that anymore, she's a good person.
Who doesn't deserve being left alone.
Soon enough though, after talking with other guests, it looks like she starts getting along with some of them, and while she's deep in a conversation with a man they just met, talking about their similar jobs and other things the detective barely pays attention to, he finally finds an excuse to escape her company.
It doesn't take him long to spot Amy in the crowd, sitting alone at a table, watching Charles and his father dance together to Kokomo with an amused smile on her face.
"Champagne?" he approaches her, taking a seat next to her and handing her a glass of the alcohol.
She frowns a little when she recognises him, clearly not expecting him here. She still accepts the drink.
"Where's Jenny?" she asks after taking a sip of the sparkling beverage.
"Over there," he points to where the woman is still chatting with her new friend. "Having fun?" he quickly changes topics though, not wanting to talk about her anymore.
Especially not with Amy.
Thankfully the other detective doesn't ask more questions. "Yeah, Charles finally managed to convince the DJ to put on his CDs," she nods in the direction of the man swaying his hips on the dancefloor. "He's unstoppable since," she lets out a chuckle, and Jake laughs along with her.
For a while they remain like this, watching their colleague move in silence and gently mocking him along the way, until the song stops, soon replaced by a slower music.
"What are you waiting for?" Amy presses him then, taking the floor again when she sees that he's staying next to her and doesn't seem to go and join the woman he hasn't stopped talking of sharing a slow dance with since the day before. "Isn't this the signal for your big moment with Jenny?!"
Jake swallows, lowering his gaze in embarrassment before putting it back on his friend. "Yeah, about that…" he starts, but doesn't quite know how to tell her the truth.
I wanna dance with you.
"I'm not as much into her anymore as I thought I would be," he eventually explains, shrugging as he speaks. "I mean, we were only teenagers when I was in love with her. We've changed a lot since. Things happened…"
You happened, particularly, he thinks – but of course he doesn't tell her that.
"Oh," Amy's reaction is quite simple, but his partner swears he spots something switch in her orbs as she learns about his change of hearts. She remains silent for a few seconds, as if lost deep in her thoughts, but then she eventually speaks again, smiling at him playfully.
"Well, if you still wanna slow dance with someone, I know somebody who'd be into that…" she offers, and the same beam she's wearing soon lights up his features too.
"Okay," he nods, and stands up, offering her his hand for her to take to join the dancefloor, where a few couples are already gathering around there.
(As he gets to hold her close to his chest while they move around in shared rhythm and loving looks, Jake can't help but think that this is his dream slow dance finally.)