Anchor ⚓︎ Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

⚓︎ chapter five ⚓︎

Eleanor gasped as she immediately walked out and closed the door behind her. "Bradley!" She exclaimed, genuinely excited to see him but not so soon, especially when her boyfriend whom he disliked was in her apartment. She hopefully said it loud enough for Jake to hear and get the clue to hide for the moment.

She wrapped her arms around him tightly, making sure the door was closed before pulling away and looking at him. "I thought you weren't coming home until next week," she said, trying to distract him.

He looked at her suspiciously, he could always tell when she was hiding something.  "I wanted to surprise you, is that a crime?" He asked slowly.

"No!" Eleanor was quick to reply, "I just wish I had more notice to make sure the place was clean, it's a pigsty right now."

Bradley looked at her like she was crazy.  "Ellie, your place is never messy," he told her, "you pride yourself in making sure it's clean, what's going on?"

He went towards the door, grabbing the handle and Eleanor quickly covered her face before he opened the door.  He walked in and since he didn't begin yelling, Eleanor followed him in to find no sign of Jake. Good, he had heard her.

"See?" Bradley stated, "This is the cleanest place I have ever seen."

"Thank you," she responded, glancing around the room before looking down the hall to see if she could see where Jake had hidden.  Her bedroom door was slightly open and she knew it had been closed before Jake got there. 

"I think I hear my phone vibrating in my room, give me one second," she told Bradley before walking down to her room.

Upon entering, Jake peaked his head out of her closet. "He's here?" He whispered as he came out and walked towards her.

Eleanor nodded without trying to laugh as she closed the door. "He wanted to surprise me," she responded, "what do we do?"

"He's gonna find out anyway, why don't we just walk out there together and tell him?" Jake wondered as he grabbed her hands.

"Because he will probably kill you," Eleanor told him, gently caressing his face, "we're not in public, don't underestimate him."

"I doubt he'd actually-"

Jake was cut off by Bradley's voice coming right outside the door before it opened. "Eleanor, your phone is out here the coffee-"

Bradley stopped mid-sentence when he saw Jake standing there holding her hands. Eleanor's stomach dropped as Bradley looked between the two of them, a clear look of confusion on his face.

"What are you doing in my sister's room, Hangman?" Bradley asked slowly.  Then he noticed their hands, which were still holding the others.

Immediately, Eleanor pushed Jake behind her to create a barrier between Jake and Bradley. "Bradley, let me explain," she told him, but then she realized there really wasn't much to explain, "okay, it's not really that complicated actually, we're dating."

Bradley's eyes went wide for a second as he stared at the two of them with complete shock on his face. Then he groaned. "Eleanor, I thought I told you to stay away from him!"

"I'm an adult, I can date whoever I want to date," she defended, annoyed at Bradley's tone.

"Yes, but why Hangman?" Bradley complained.

"Because he has been nothing but a gentleman to me!" She defended, "And we really like each other!"

"Rooster," Jake stated, slowly walking around to stand in front of Eleanor, "I know we haven't gotten along before but I promise you that I genuinely care about your sister. These past few weeks that we have spent together have been the best and I mean that. I'm not looking for permission because we are adults but just know that my intentions are completely pure with her."