Secrets [Trans Jake AU, Juke Fanfic]

~ Chapter 7: A Mother's Words ~

Wednesday Night

Jake put both hands on either side of the sink, leaning forward. He let out a shaky breath, and let in hundreds of thousands of thoughts and questions. He couldn't get one day without stress piling onto his shoulders, could he? 

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to do my dishes as I asked?" Jake suddenly heard behind him. The blonde boy shot around to see his mother standing behind him with her hand on her hip. "I wasn't-" Jake began, but stopped himself as soon as his mother's hand came up in front of him, signaling him to stop talking. "You were standing around," His mother corrects him. "Now, get to the dishes please; I'm not asking again, J." 

"I was just about to-" 

"Then why were you as frozen as a statue?"

"Well.." There was a silence for a few moments. "Mhm. Just do the dishes, hon, it's not that hard." Jake's mother leaned on the counter island between the two. "Yeah, I'll.. I'll get to it." 

She gave him an odd look. "..Okay, you're not being cocky. Something's up." The older woman pushed herself off the island and walked over to her son. "What's the matter, J?" She asked. "Nothing. I'm.. dealing with it," Jake responded, turning to the sink. "Ah, ah, you're not doing anything until you tell me what's bothering you." Jake's mother gripped his shoulder and spun him around to face her again. He groaned. 

"Do I have to?" 

"Well, counting that I am your mother and the only person on this Earth who will care for you with the fire of a million suns and will lay down my life for yours, yes. You do." She joked. "Listen hon, I've been at the lowest of the low. I'm sure whatever it is you're facing, I can help you through it. Listen, I'm raising two boys on my own. Not as easy as it looks, especially with Logan as one of them." Jake giggled at his mother's joke and nodded, leaning back on the sink. 

"Okay.. well.. Remember how I told you that I joined the music club?" 

Jake's mother nodded. "Yeah well.. I think.. I think I like one of the members.. His name is Luke. He's really sweet.." 

"Then, what's the problem?"

"He.. He likes someone else. A boy named Zander. And for some god-forsaken reason, everyone thinks Daisy and I are dating, so that doesn't help either."

"Daisy's the light-haired girl, right? The girl you wanted to marry in 7th grade?" 

Jake's face flushed pink. "Mom!" He yelped. She giggled then walked closer to Jake. "You said he likes this, Zander boy, right?" Jake nodded. "And, I may or may not have kind of helped him with working his way into Zander's heart.." Jake mumbled. 

"Okay.. Well, you have a choice. Either you try to win over Luke's heart by showing how you are better than this Zander kid, who you clearly are, I mean come on, you're my boy."

"Mom. You haven't even met him."

"Hey. I know that look in your eye. No self-doubting in this house, J. You wanna do that, go do it on the porch." 

Jake smiled gently at his mother, but the smile soon faded. The older woman noticed this and cupped his face in her hands, lifting his head up. "Hey. Listen. I know, love is tricky, but it takes time. People will come into your life, then leave just like that. Some you'll grow closer to and some, not so much. But in the end, you will find the one. Everyone has a soulmate. It just takes time to find them. I know you can do this. Now, if you really do want him, then you can push Zander out of the picture. But, if you can let it go, then I suggest trying to be happy for him and help him, just like you're doing."

Jake nodded, avoiding eye contact, fighting back sudden tears filling his eyes. His mom noticed this and pulled him in for a hug. "It's going to be okay, J." She said. His walls came down and the tears flooded out of his eyes as he hugged her back. He cried on her shoulder as she rubbed circles on his back with gentle "shh"'s to calm him. 

Jake pulled away and smiled at her. "Thanks, mom." 

"Of course, J. Now, why don't you wash your face and head to bed? I'll deal with the dishes." 

Jake nodded and did as he was told. 

---

Thursday

Daisy huffed and puffed as she ran throughout the corridors, searching and scanning for the boy. She stifled a smile, doing her best not to look like an idiot. She turned hundreds of corners before finally finding him walking into school with a faint frown. "Jake!" She called. His head shot up to see her running towards him. When she came to a stop she huffed out some air as she tried to catch her breath. 

"Hi, Daisy?" Jake said, confused as to why she ran up to him instead of just walking. "Okay.." Daisy gasped for air. "You remember the rumor about us, right?" She spoke, standing up straight. Jake nodded, tilting his head. "Well, it's no more! Kind of. I talked to some of the kids who started it and explained to them that it was just a big misunderstanding. It should die down in a few days." 

Jake was speechless. He just froze. But, he quickly thawed out and hugged Daisy tightly. "Oh, thank you so much, Daisy!" He cheered. "I can't explain to you how much this helps me!" Daisy pulled away to see Jake smiling ear to ear. She smiled back sweetly as she brushed some of her white hair off her shoulder. 

"Seriously. I can't thank you enough," 

"Don't worry about it! It helps me too, y'know."

Jake giggled gently. "Well, I'd better get heading to class. Again, thank you, Daisy," 

"No problem, Jake!"

As Jake was walking to his next class, he overheard something that sounded very familiar to him. 

"Oh heey Jade."

Jake was shocked by the sudden mention of his dead name. He thought it was forgotten. That no one at this school knew who he really was in the past. The blonde boy turned on his heel, his hazel eyes meeting a pair of blue icy eyes smiling at him, dirty blonde hair falling in front of them. Jake knew those eyes. They glanced over him a million times, watching him, crawling under his skin and chewing away at his confidence and stride. The longer the two pairs of eyes locked, the more fear grew inside Jake's soul. He nearly flinched when the boy merely put his hand on his hip.

Jake wanted to escape this moment. He silently pleaded for this to all be a bad dream. But alas, he never woke up. The eyes kept staring. And he kept becoming more and more fearful. He finally opened his mouth, choking out a simple two-word sentence..  

"Hi, Parker."

---

Word Count: 1179

A/N: ty to amy for helping with the last bit of this <33 


I wonder who parker is......................................................*cough* watch ep 7 *cough*