stake out (jake peralta)

SIX

you woke up the next morning with your head pounding and a desperate need to hydrate. You blink your eyes hard a couple times in attempt to wake yourself up and turn to face the sleeping body next to you. you take in his appearance as he sleeps, watching as he lightly snores and you can't help but think about how peaceful he looks. your attention is then drawn to his arm, which you notice is still thrown over your waist and you smile to yourself.

as you look at jake, memories from the night before come flooding back to you and you remember how you ended up in jake's bed to begin with. shit, you thought to yourself. you probably wouldn't be able to live this one down. you gently moved jake's arm off of you and placed it next to him, hoping not to wake him up. he stirred a little and you winced as you waited for him to wake up, but luckily for you he continued sleeping. 

you got up and made your way to the kitchen, looking for water and some painkillers. upon finding them both, you popped two pills into your mouth and chugged down a glass of water. you refilled the cup and held it firmly in both hands, walking over to the window in jake's living room. you were unsure of the time since you didn't think jake even knew what a clock was to keep one in his house and your phone was dead, but you could tell it was late morning as you looked out the window.

you got lost in your own thoughts as you watched various cars drive past and people walk by. you were so zoned out that you didn't hear the footsteps approaching you and you jumped when you heard jake greet you. he was now standing by your side at the window, a blanket loosely hanging off his shoulders. his voice was deep and your stomach fluttered listening to him talk with his morning voice. 'i'm surprised you were able to get up this morning with all the alcohol you drank last night' jake says, but doesn't make eye contact with you. instead he continues to look out the window. you face him and smile, 'my head is killing me' you sigh and he turns to you, taking in your appearance. 'yeah, you look like a hot mess' he says playfully and you nudge him in response. 

you take the blanket off his shoulders and pull it over yours, walking over to his couch and throwing yourself down. you started to feel awkward, not sure if jake was going to or wanted to bring up what you had confessed to him last night. you watched him with cautious eyes as he followed your movement and sat himself down on the couch. 'you know, i'm not going to ignore what you said to me last night' jake begins and you look at him, internally sighing. you didn't feel like getting into it now, but you knew there was no point in avoiding it. if you avoided it you were no better than when jake had avoided you after your kiss. 

'look, i'm sorry, okay? i didn't mean to make it weird after our kiss or to make you think i didn't like it, or you' he stuttered as he spoke and you could see his cheeks starting to flush red. jake was never really great at expressing his emotions so you knew this had to feel uncomfortable for him in some way. you looked at him intently as he continued to talk, 'i like you a lot, okay? i have since we started working together but, i don't know. it just seemed stupid to pursue someone i worked with. i mean i am barely around people in stable relationships- my parents... charles' he adds and lets out a small laugh at his own joke. you smile too but let him keep talking.

'my point is, i freaked out after the kiss, i've wanted to for a long time but i always suppressed it. i didn't want it to not work out and then ruin everything between us. we work well together and i don't want to put our friendship in jeopardy, but after last night i just kept thinking that avoiding it was only going to make it worse, right? which feels to me, like i have to be honest with myself and ask myself if i avoid it and make it worse, or if i go for it and take the risk for a chance to be happy with you' he finishes with a deep breath and looks at you for a response, hoping to read your eyes.

his words kept playing around in your head like a broken record, be happy with you. the thought of being with him brought a smile to your face, much like his recently spoken words did. you turn to face him with your legs crossed on the couch and you look at him. his facial expression reads to be stressed but hopeful and you couldn't help but think about how cute he looked. 'you want to be with me?' you question him and he looks at you with big eyes. 'of course i want to be with you. you are the best thing that's ever happened to me. i can't ignore that feeling anymore mila' he says, barely above a whisper. 

'i want to be with you too, jake' you say back in the same hushed tone. you drop the blanket off your shoulders and throw yourself towards him, wrapping your arms around his neck. he places his hands around your legs and pulls you up onto his lap, leaning back from the hug so that you are face to face. he leans in and kisses you, and you return the gesture. your lips move in sync with each other and it makes your stomach fill with butterflies. you feel jake smile into the kiss and you take the opportunity to slip your tongue into his mouth. he does the same and you both move together, the passion between your kiss erupting. 

jake slides his hands up underneath your shirt, holding onto your waist and pulling you down further into his lap and you quickly stop. he pulls back from the kiss and looks at you with worries eyes, hoping he hadn't done anything to upset you. you didn't want to move too fast with jake- as much as you felt something for him you didn't want to rush things and have it be unnatural. 'are you okay? did i do something?' he asks quickly and you hop off his lap and sit next to him, leaning against his arm. 'no, jake, it was perfect. i just don't want to rush anything' you say to him and he nods. 'yeah, of course, i'm happy to do that' he says and he lifts his arm up and places it on your shoulder, pulling you into him. you sigh in relief as he pulls you in and get comfortable as jake turns on the tv.

'i'm not watching any cop shows' you state and jake lets out a whine. 'fine!' he says and you speak up again, 'or any cop movies' this time jake lets out a groan, but passes you the remote. you didn't care about what you watched- you knew your mind would be somewhere else completely, thinking about jake and what had happened between you. you settled on some dumb comedy that had come up in jake's recommended and hit play as you lay comfortably by his side.

jake was flicking through the terrible free for view movies at the hotel you were staying at for the stakeout, complaining about the lack of 'cool movies'. you had just come out of the shower and were not shocked to find him in the same position on the couch, flicking through various movies and tv shows. 'jake just put on whatever comes up, you're going to fall asleep halfway through anyway' you simply state as you make your way over to your bed. it was pretty late and you had been working all day. all you wanted was some rest. you knew if jake was watching something on the tv, you would have to hear his commentary the whole time.

you loved the way he would talk about films when you watched them together , but damn, you needed some rest. you pulled the covers over yourself as you continued to watch jake look for a movie. you jump as he exclaims, finding that the tv had die hard available. you rolled your eyes at his shenanigans. 'you need to keep it down while you drool over that movie. i need sleep' you say and he turns to you with a fake offended look on his face. 'i do not drool over this movie!' he says. 'also it's only 10pm, what are you, 80 years old?' he mocks you and you throw your middle finger up at him, rolling over onto your pillow. 

before long you felt a cushion hit your side and you sit up to face jake with a smirk on his face. 'oh, you asshole' you say and throw it back at him. for the next hour, you and jake had kept busy throwing pillows and cushions at each other and joking around before you both crashed. to your surprise jake had never complained about missing out on watching die hard.

he leans down and kisses the top of your head before resting his chin on top of it as you watched the movie. you had never felt so at ease in your life before.