Disclaimer: see chapter 1 and 2

3

Will awoke to find Jake sitting in a chair staring off into space.

"You're up early…Didn't sleep too well?" Will yawned, sitting up.

"No…not really."

"You should have woken me up, Jake. We're a better team when we're both tired, you know." He chuckled.

"I didn't want to bother you." Jake said honestly. Will laughed.

"Don't be silly! You're my brother. You're never bothering me." His voice softened. "I'm here for you, Jake. Always. Don't worry about it next time, alright?" Jake smiled hesitantly. He wasn't convinced. "Besides, when did you get so quiet? You were really outspoken for a while there." Jake shrugged. It was true, after the incident with the forest and Angelika he had been much more outgoing and happy and altogether more personable. Now, he just didn't really feel like it. He explained it to himself as, now that he and Will were back

XO

The Mayor and Robbie led them down to the lake once the sun was fully up. The fog was thicker than ever.

"Well," The Mayor accompanied the brothers to a small boat on the bank of the lake. It was a teeny row-boat, with two wooden seats at both ends and a set of oars. Jake stared at it nervously. Will groaned miserably next to him. Robbie had lingered outside the thickest of the fog, frightened of its negative effect. "Here you are. Best we've got I'm afraid. Do be careful. I hope you can solve this…" He waved and ran off. Will and Jake stared after him, confused and alone. Will clambered awkwardly into the boat.

"Come on, Jake! Let's go!" Will took the oars in his hands and grinned cockily at his brother.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Jake scrambled into the boat, having trouble finding his balance.

"You've got a bad feeling about a lot of things, Jake." Will joked and started rowing. Jake was caught off balanced and tipped over. Will laughed at him. Gripping the edge of the boat with white knuckles, Jake stared down into the inky black water.

"Look at this water…"

"What?" Will whistled happily to himself and rowed.

"It's pitch black" he stuck his finger in it and when he dragged it out, the water clung to his finger. "Ugh… it's like syrup."

"Syrup?"

"Uhm…tree sap, maybe? It's awfully thick." Will nodded knowingly. "Very curious…" Jake pulled out his notebook and slowly started writing.

"What're you writing about?" Jake said nothing for a long time. Finally, he stuck his pen in his mouth and said, garbled, "nuffing." Will sighed. They sat in silence for over half an hour while Will rowed around, mostly in circles. Finally, Will stopped rowing and started looking out over the water. It took Jake a few minutes to notice.

"Why did we stop?" He asked, finally, looking up from his book.

"Jake, which way did we come from?" Will asked slowly. Jake looked at him incredulously. He pointed over his shoulder. "Okay. Can you see the shore?" Jake sluggishly turned around. Despite the fog, he had expected to see at least a little bit of land. He didn't think they could be all that far off shore. All he could see was fog, layer upon layer of fog.

"Oh god… Where are we?" Will shrugged miserably. "Is that why we've just been going around and around for half an hour?"

"Yes. I'm afraid we're horribly lost. What do you suggest?" Jake was silent. "Well, you're supposed to be the smart one." Will said bitterly.

"Will… don't be like that. I'm sorry… I don't know what to do…I'm sorry…" He stared into the water.

"What are you sorry about? You haven't done anything wrong." Will had meant to sound comforting, but had ended up sounding mean and accusing. Jake squeaked miserably. He had taken it as 'you haven't done anything right, either.' "Oh Jake…" Jake didn't respond. Will hadn't treated him like this is a long time. He didn't know what was getting into him. Will looked at him sadly, trying to catch his eyes. He couldn't. Jake avoided him superbly, as he had been doing for most of his life. "Jacob… I'm sorry… I didn't mean it like that."

XO

After three hours of floating around on the viscous lake, Will had settled himself on the bottom of the boat, while Jake had pulled out his book again and was idly thumbing through it, reading his own scrawling handwriting. Occasionally, Will had waggled his fingers in the water, and each time he had found it harder to drag his fingers out. He had mentioned it to Jake once or twice, but Jake never responded (Will concluded he was being immature and giving him the cold shoulder).

"Will…" Jake said so softly Will barely heard him. "You…are you mad at me?" Will rolled up onto his feet, crouching in the boat indignantly. This had rocked the boat and Jake grasped the side as it settled out.

"Me?" Will cried, "Angry with you? Why? For god's sakes why?"

"I…I…" The words died on Jacobs lips.

"If anything, you should be mad at me!" Will stared at Jake longingly, hoping for some connection between them. He received nothing. "I thought we'd really gotten somewhere…" he mumbled to himself. " I thought we could talk about this stuff now…" Easing himself back onto the floor of the boat, Will glared angrily into the fog.

Jake immersed himself in his book again. He wasn't reading it, but using it as an excuse to avoid a nasty confrontation with Will. He hated when they fought, or argued, or discussed with raised voices. They had done enough of that when they were younger. Will didn't understand why Jake wasn't talking to him. They had talked about everything, except Angelika, up until just weeks ago. He couldn't understand Jakes sudden coldness. It hurt him. He wanted to be a good older brother, but he didn't really know what to do. Jake had been exactly like this, emotional and sensitive and shut off from the world, when they were teenagers. Will had always been outgoing and, while he didn't discuss his inner workings, he'd never been like Jake.

"Jake…Jake!" Jake didn't reply, he barely looked up from his book. "Jacob Grimm! Talk to me!" He changed his tone, softening his voice to sound pleading. "Jake… please… just… look at me…" Jake didn't and, frustrated, Will batted the hardback out of his hand. Jake gasped, and the pair watched the book fly out of his hand and into the water. They had a moment, Will saying, 'God, I'm so sorry' with his eyes, and Jake looking incredulous. In a split second, Jake made a decision that there were some things that were worth saving no matter what.

He leapt of the boat, reaching for the book. His fingers brushed its disheveled cover, but slid off. He gasped for air and dipped under the water. It was silent, completely silent, under the water. Jake tried desperately to find his way back to the surface, but the water was almost impossible to move though. He resurfaced barely long enough to take a breath and pry his eyes open. His fingers found the book, and grabbed it. He dragged it close to his chest, holding onto it as if for dear life. Jake felt himself being pulled back under the water, and in moments that felt like forever, he forced open his eyes and through the inky black water, he saw a single shining light. A gold ring glowed from the distance. Jake had written rings into his stories before so they held a place in his heart. This ring called to him. With no thought for the burning in his lungs, he turned downward towards the ring. A hand grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled. Jake felt like he was being torn apart and he gasped, finally remembering he was still underwater. He was drowning, he could feel it. The air was shockingly cold on his face. Coughing water and trying to breathe at the same time, Will grabbed him under the arms and heaved him into the boat. Jake coughed the thick, goopy water over the side, his eyes clamped closed. Finally, Jacob stopped coughing, and was taking deep, raspy breaths. Will watched his brother, unsure of what to do. At last, he pulled Jake close to him, holding his little brother tightly to his chest. Jake, in turn, clung to his book.

Will held Jake's shaking shoulders. "Looks like you lost your glasses…" He sighed to himself, Jakes glasses would be hard to replace. He didn't really care though. When he had grown out of his childhood glasses, they had found him a new pair, they could do it again. Mostly, he was glad his brother was alive.

XOxo

Chapter 2 wasn't great, but I like this one much much better. Well, the ending bit. Sorry the chapters are so short too… I'll try and write more next time, but now that schools started expect updates at less regular intervals… Righto, THANKS SOO SOOO SO MUCH for reading and reviewing and liking and being the coolest people EVER. If you want me to email you… or… whatever, cause I love to talk to people with similar interests to my own, put your email in the review…and I'll probably write you. Love-me