AH collections

The sugar baby escapades (2)

OT6
Word count: 17704
Chapters: 18

When Jeremy was five, he often went to school hungry because there were three other foster kids at the house he lived in and money was tight. It was fine. Jeremy was small. He didn't need much food.

When he was ten, he shoplifted for the first time. A hat to keep his head warm. Winter was approaching, and he didn't like his foster parents, because they weren't the nicest people. He often spent hours outside, waiting for them to fall asleep so he could crawl back inside without a fuss. Or he would just sleep on the streets. He was small. No one noticed him.

When he was sixteen, he hotwired his first car because he was getting the fuck out of dodge and never looking back. There was a cut on his head that was bleeding. His foster father was quick, but Jeremy was just quick enough to get out and slip into the old man's car. He drove as far he could on that tank of gas until he was forced to hitchhike and grift his way across the country.

That's how he made it to Los Santos, a penniless orphan with zero skills in anything.

Fast forward nine years, and every once in a while, Jeremy will take a moment to step back and think about how he got here in the first place. He wouldn't exactly say he's filled with feelings of self-loathing, thinking he doesn't deserve this. (Those issues were kissed out of him long ago.) But it does make him appreciate how well off he is. From penniless and starving on the streets to rolling in it and living in one of the most expensive penthouses in the city.

Whenever the Fakes get too hot in the city or they're just bored, Geoff prepares the yacht. It's the biggest fucking thing Jeremy has ever seen, fully staffed with a helicopter landing pad. It's a nice getaway for a while.

He's sitting on the pool deck, laid out on a lounge chair, watching Gavin, Ryan, Michael, and Geoff ensue in some sort of water wars in the pool. Both Michael and Ryan have Gavin and Geoff perched on their shoulders, each trying to topple the other into the water. It's an idyllic scene that's he capturing in his sketchbook, just something quick in lieu of an exercise.

Jack is laid outside him with a book open on her lap. She tilts down her sunglasses to look at the drawing. "You've gotten better," she says. "I'm happy for you."

They always say that to him. 'I'm happy for you.' 'I'm proud of you.' 'You're looking good, Lil J.' Now more than ever. Especially since he entered the fine arts program. They're happy for him because he's finally doing something he's always wanted to do. It's not a necessity. Not in the way stealing food and lifting wallets were. This is something his soul wants, because he has an artist's soul. And it's nice knowing they all support him, that they all want to see him succeed.

And that makes him pretty damn happy.

"Looks like Jeremy had some fun under the sun with all the sugar daddies," Rob says as he peaks through Jeremy's sketchbook.

Tess and Paula look their fill as Jeremy abandons his coffee on the counter and leaps over a table to grab it from them.

"Fucking spoiled," Paula mutters.

He sticks his tongue out at her.