Day Seventeen: I Never Said It Would Be Easy.

Takes place right after HKL

Characters/Pairings: Jake/Rose; Carl (OC)/Melinda (OC)

Rating: T

Content warnings: accusations of insanity/psychosis/unreality

Don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now and that my ao3 account is wearealloflegendnow (even though I haven't posted there yet)!

~TLL~

Rose was shaking. Jake hesitantly reached out and put his arm around her, not quite believing that she was here and he was allowed to touch her again. She was staring at her front door, her head bent.

"You don't have to tell them," Jake said. "But, take it from me. It's so hard to hide stuff like this, especially from the people you love. I feel so much freer now that my dad knows."

"Yeah, but you had something good to tell him. You're a protector. You're someone important. I'm the only heir to a hateful dynasty and I just killed something! A dragon because oh yeah those are real. And, did I mention that I only think that I was raised by you guys in this loving family and magic tricked you guys into thinking it too? Do you ever get the feeling that you love my sister more? Well, maybe this is why." Rose groaned and leant her head back, staring upward. "I can't say it like that. It's going to come out all stupid."

"I never said it would be easy to tell them," Jake admitted. "It's going to suck and it's going to get complicated. But, that's why I'm here with you. You're not going to do this alone. You've got me, always."

Rose finally turned to look at him, smiling as she leant into him. "I am glad to remember you and have you back. And I'm sorry I thought you were crazy."

"It's fine. Because you know what it means?"

"What?"

"Even if your parents think you are a little crazy you know how to convince them that you're not. This is real, this is happening, and they're going to support you. That's what parents do, even when they think you're a looney tune."

Jake was glad that she was still smiling, even though she became more somber as they entered her home.

"Mom? Dad?"

"Here."

Rose peeked around the side of the living room and Jake stayed behind her, out of sight. "Is Heather home?"

"No, hon, she's out for the night," said Carl, Rose's father.

"Oh, good," Rose said. "There's something I need to talk to you guys about."

"Is everything all right?" asked Melinda, Rose's mother, and even Jake could hear the love and concern in her voice.

Jake fully understood why Rose was worried. He had stressed over all of the same things when he hadn't told his father the truth but all of that worry and all of that stress felt so stupid now that everything was out in the open. Not only was his father completely supportive, he was utterly fascinated in a way that was slowly driving Haley and Gramps insane and Jake was loving every minute of it. Parents loved their children. That was why parents had children – to love them.

"Well, yes, but I … I found some things out about myself that I need to share with you and I need to start by introducing my friend. Mom, Dad, this is Jake."

Jake stepped into view as Rose made way for him. He let out a little wave and reintroduced himself. Melinda's mouth dropped in astonishment while Carl was already halfway out of his armchair.

"That boy!" Melinda gasped.

"You just had him arrested! For stalking!" Carl's face was going red. "What is he doing back here?"

"Mom, Dad, I know how this sounds," Rose said but Jake could tell how much she was struggling to stay calm. He wanted to put his arm around her waist and comfort her but he also wasn't looking forward to being punched by her father if he tried. "Please, just give us some time to explain."

"Melinda, call the police," Carl ordered. "Rose, get away from that boy!"

"Daddy, please," Rose said, grabbing onto Jake. "Let me talk first!"

"Talk about what?" Melinda asked. "Where did he come from?"

"From another life," Rose admitted. The tears were springing into her eyes now and all Jake could do was squeeze her hand. He wished there was more he could do. "Please, just hear us out. I didn't listen to him and I should have. Trust me on this."

"Trust you?" Carl was on his feet now, bearing down on them. "We called the police on this freak because you said to. Now we're supposed to trust that you changed your mind? Get over here right now, young lady."

Jake was already loosening his grip. If this was how it was going to be, he wasn't going to force Rose to choose between him and her parents. He knew what she had done and what she had sacrificed to have her parents in her life. Jake was not going to be the person that took them away from her. Rose tightened her grip on his hand and anchored him to her side.

"No. Mom, put the phone down. Either hear me out and then decide if you want to call the police or I am leaving right now."

"You're a child," Melinda said. "You're going nowhere."

"I will if I have to," Rose declared, pushing her chin out in that stubborn way that Jake knew so well. "I am trying to open up to you and tell you about my life. Isn't that what every parent of a teenager wants?"

"We want you away from the boy," Carl said. He was starting to sound calmer but Jake could see the angry expressions haunting his face. This wasn't fine. Maybe Jake shouldn't be here. Maybe Rose should have done this on her own. "And then we'll talk."

"We'll talk now because I am going to tell you something insane. Absolutely off the wall insane. And I can prove every word of it if you promise to trust me and listen to me and be there for me in the way that you always have been." Rose used her free hand to wipe away the tears that were falling. Jake didn't have to be psychic to know what she was thinking: the way I thought you were but that the magic implanted in me.

"Rose," Melinda said, pushing past Carl. She looked softer, more understanding, more inviting, as she slowly approached the pair. Jake could see the hope in Rose in the way that she lifted her eyes from the floor, looking into her mother's face. "What could be so crazy? What made you change your mind on this boy?"

Jake sensed a trap. Everything that Gramps had ever bred and bullied into him told him that it was a trap. He almost tensed to pull Rose away but stopped at the very last second. These were her parents. If he didn't stay with her while they heard her out, if he didn't stay by her side now, he might as well really give her up. He could get them out; she could even get them out if she wanted to. Together, they were no match for two humans and whatever reinforcements they may or may not have already called in.

"Mom, just listen, okay? Don't say anything, just listen to everything."

Melinda promised that she would but Jake never took his eyes from Carl, standing stock still in the background, staring them down. Jake returned his challenge, staying in the hall with Rose as she started to tell the story of how Jake had shown up at their home, how she had gotten him thrown out, the realizations that she'd had looking at their homecoming photo, and everything about her past life. As she was detailing the battle between Jake, herself, and the Dark Dragon, Jake knew that Carl and Melinda had stopped listening. Rose kept blurting things out but Jake could practically see the murderous way that Carl wanted him out of their lives and see that Melinda was already thinking of psychiatrists and pills. It was fair, he guessed, to be a human and have no proof except the word's coming out of a teenaged girl's mouth.

"And I can prove all of it," Rose summed up. "Jake can turn into a dragon and I can take you to Huntsclan caches and you can meet his whole family. It's real and I'm not crazy and he's not crazy and I know this is so hard to believe but I need you to believe me. I am your daughter. I just haven't always been with you."

Melinda and Carl exchanged glances and Melinda opened her arms.

"Rose, baby, come here. You've been through so much."

Rose almost took a step forward but then she pulled herself back, half hiding behind Jake.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Her accusatory voice echoed around the room. Carl and Melinda didn't even have the decency to look ashamed but Jake couldn't blame them because he couldn't hide his own relief.

Jake had known by just looking at them that they didn't believe her. This was the trap. He was just so glad that Rose had figured it out for herself because he didn't really want to initiate the fight that would inevitably occur if she had tried to walk into her mother's hold and he'd had to pull her away.

"He can prove it!" Rose shouted, her parents' silence more than enough.

"They don't want me to," Jake said.

"There's nothing to prove. Yesterday you said this boy was a lunatic and he's clearly brainwashed you in no time at all. Come here, right now, and we'll find you the best doctors we can, honey," Melinda said.

To her credit, Jake thought, he did believe that she had her daughter's best interests at heart.

"I don't need a doctor! I need you to be my parents! Jake –"

"If you want me to, I will, but they're the type of people that aren't going to ever see it. I fight like a dragon every day in New York and it goes over everyone's heads all the time because they are not the type of people who want to see magic," Jake murmured in her ear.

"What is he telling you!?" Carl shouted. "LIES AND MORE LIES! Get over here, Rose, we are the ones that love you and he is tricking you somehow."

"What do I do?" Rose asked the air.

"I will make sure you always have a place," Jake said, "but if this is the life you choose, I can respect that. I will."

"This life?" Rose asked, spreading her arms at her parents. "This life where they won't believe me? They won't even try to understand? What kind of life and what kind of parents? No. I don't want this life."

Rose let go of Jake and turned and fled to her bedroom. Jake chased after her, unwilling to let her parents get between the two of them. Rose was already furiously stuffing things in her backpack, looking for the world like she had already known how this was going to end.

"I'm going to find a way to New York," Rose said. "I'll figure it out from there. I don't care what they say. If I stay here and I have to pretend like none of this was real for them to not want to throw me in an asylum, I'm not staying."

"We'll figure it out," Jake said.

By then, her parents were in the doorway, trapping Rose and Jake inside of her bedroom.

"The police are on their way," Melinda said calmly. "I already called them. Jake, I don't know what your problem is, but they can help you."

Rose put her backpack on over both of her shoulders and opened the window.

"What are you doing?" Carl asked, and Jake was glad he did, because he had been wondering the same thing.

"We are leaving," Rose said, taking Jake's hand. "Either I am right and he's a dragon and you're going to have to let me go or we're both going to die jumping out this window right now and you're still going to have to let me go."

"ROSE!" Carl and Melinda shouted together.

But, it was too late.

Jake and Rose were already airborne.