Chapter Text
It was finally summer.
Amy Santiago had no plans other than to sleep in more than she would since school, get a job somewhere -she wanted to work at the library- and read as much as she wanted. Junior year was more difficult than she planed. Jake Peralta had decided to hang out with her and her friends but had mostly stuck with Gina in the beginning. She had first met him freshman year but they didn’t get off on the right foot. He liked to bug her a lot and really got on her last nerve sometimes. He made an effort to bug her more than usual the past year.
Other than Jake bugging her, she found that the work was much harder and the teachers stricter. She adjusted quickly and worked hard. ACTs were killer but she got past them by studying hard. Of course, that made her almost skip out on prom. When Gina and Rosa heard she was going to bail, leaving a certain Teddy dateless, they made her go, forcing her dress on her the night of and doing her make-up. Teddy found her pretty and Gina patted herself on the back. Jake got caught up with his own date but when he saw her he made the comment of her dress made her look like a mermaid. She mentioned it was her mother’s but had a few tweaks to it. He shut his mouth and left her alone with Teddy.
Teddy... He was gone now. He had to move away. Something about his dad’s job making them move. He had created a Skype account to keep in touch with her but she was afraid of the long distance. She was going to see how that would turn out later, though. She decided to not let that ruin her perfect summer.
What did ruin it was the insistent knocking on her window. Seriously? It was a story up. She got out of bed, not sure what to expect because this never happened to her before. The person was really not who she was expecting.
"Peralta?" She asked as she opened her window carefully. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm bored already," he said, obviously struggling to stay on. "Will you let me in?"
"Fine," she held out her hand to help him up. He took it and fell rather loudly onto her floor. She cringed, not sure if her mom was at work yet. What time was it anyway? "9:30..." she mumbled after looking at her watch.
"Don't you just look stunning," he commented with a smirk.
Her hands went to her hair instantly to comb it down blindly. "What are you doing at my house? Shouldn't you be with your friends?"
"Charles left for some weird cooking camp. Well, he's leaving in a couple hours but I already said goodbye after helping him pack. Gina's on that cruise for half the summer-"
"I remember her talking about that," she interrupted.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Rosa scares me and doesn't seem like a fun person to hang out with and well, Terry is going to spend nearly every second with his girlfriend."
"And you decided I wanted to hang out with you?"
"Well, your friends are gone too."
Since his friends were technically her friends too.
"You don't know that. Kylie could still be in town," she crossed her arms defensively.
"She isn't because you said she invited you to the beach for the whole summer but you didn't want to spend your whole time there."
"I didn't think you listened."
"I do," he smiled proudly.
"Well, maybe I had plans to hang out with Teddy."
Jake paused for a moment like he was thinking of anything she said about him. "He's moving either today or tomorrow. I don't remember which."
"Tomorrow," she confirmed. "I was planning on hanging out with him but-"
"He's doing last minute packing?"
Okay, Jake really did listen to her and remembered what she said.
"Yeah," she sighed in defeat. "I'm completely free. What did you plan?"
"I didn't," he said which surprised her because he usually planned a lot if he was going to ruin her life.
"I'm not just going to sit around-"
"Oh, how about ice cream? You eat that don't you?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" She asked.
"I thought you were on some weird diet?"
"I gave up on that a long time ago."
He smiled. "Great. Get dressed and we can go."
"Go wait in my bathroom," she pointed to the door. "You aren't going to watch me change."
He wiggled his eyebrows. "I like it when you order me around."
"You know what, wait in here instead. I'm afraid you'll do something weird in there," she grabbed some clothes quickly.
"Who says I won't do weird things in here too?"
She glared at him. "Touch anything and I'll push you out the window. I'd love to see you fall."
He held up his hands and then proceeded to sit on her bed. She went into the bathroom and changed quickly. Taming her hair would be what would take her a long time to get ready. She had no other choice but to wet it then try blow drying it. Knowing her luck she'd end up having to put it up in a bun. When she had her hair all wrapped up in a towel she searched for her glasses out of habit but they weren't there which only meant they were on her bedside table. Jake could find them.
She heard him giggling. Sighing, she put in her contacts quickly and peeked out to find him with her glasses on.
"You are crazy blind," he said.
"I said don't touch anything!"
"I'm sorry, they were just there. Hey, can I just put them on my penis?” She gave him a look. “No? Okay, putting them down." He put them back.
She groaned and went back into the bathroom. Why was she going along with him? Moments later she stepped out with her hair in a bun.
"So, what was the point in wetting your hair?" Jake asked as he stood up.
"It looked greasy," she grabbed her shoes and slipped them on quickly. "Give me a minute to see if my mom is still here. Stay put."
"But I want to go sneaking around with you," he nearly whined.
"I won’t be doing any sneaking around. I'm going to the kitchen to grab a bagel," Jake made a slight puppy dog face. "And you one too if you’re good. While I'm down there I'll see if my mom left yet and if my brother is still asleep. Just stay, please?"
"I never get to do anything cool," he sat back down.
"You could be out there casually if you went through the front door." She left before he had a chance to say anything. She went down the stairs quickly but quietly. She grabbed her bagel and an extra for Jake. On her way back, she peeked into her mother’s room, which was empty. The rest of the house seemed empty. On her way back upstairs her brother took a double take as she went to her room.
"Who's in your room?" He asked.
"What?"
"Mom is waking you up. I saw someone in your bed," he said.
"It's no one. Just a pillow," she said.
"No, I saw a person. They moved."
"Do me a favor, get mom to come to the kitchen, do whatever you have to and I'll pay you five bucks."
He crossed his arms, "Fifteen."
"Ten!"
"Fine, deal, but I want details later," he went down stairs while she went into a room and waited. She could hear glass shatter and him curse loudly. Next she hears her mother’s footsteps pass the door. Amy rushed into her room and closed the door.
"Peralta!" She hissed.
He threw the covers off. "It was the only option."
"Okay, climb out the window. There's no way I can get you to the front door," she said.
"You'll have to help me."
"How?"
"I don't know. I just know that it's easier to climb up than it is to climb down."
"And you know this how?" Had he done this before at her house or just someone else’s?
"Everyone knows that," he said. "Fine, I'll try it on my own but don't expect me to be quiet."
"I can't believe I'm trying this," she muttered under her breath. She grabbed his wrist and moved out of her room. She pushed him down the stairs quickly and went straight for the front door. She was almost there.
"Amy?" Her mother called, barely able to see her from the kitchen.
Amy shoved Jake into the small closet by their front door. "Yes Mamma?"
"Are you going out already?" She moved from the kitchen to her daughter.
"Yes," she nodded. "My friends invited me out to eat breakfast with them and hang out as long as possible."
"I thought they were gone already."
"No, they're all leaving this afternoon," she corrected. Which, was almost a lie.
"I'm sorry we couldn't go anywhere this summer Amy," her mother cupped her daughters face in her hands. "But I can't leave work that long."
"It's okay, Mamma, I was really planning on getting a job at the library," she could almost hear Jake snort.
"Well, I'm glad you don't mind," she kissed Amy on the forehead. "Have a good time with your friends."
"I will," she smiled and went to open the closet door. Her mother finally walked away and she opened it with a sigh. Peeking back to where her mother went, she opened the front door and shoved Jake out.
"Oh my god, the library? Really?" Jake asked.
"Shut up," she shoved him. "Unlike you, I read."
"It's lame," was all he said.
They walked in silence from then on. Amy had never really been alone with Jake like this. If they were alone it was just that they got stuck as partners for school. He never did any work while she did all of it so; she never really talked to him. There really could have been better things Jake could do than hang out with her. She really didn’t understand why he wanted to hang out with her if she was so boring.
"Oh, do I get that bagel?" He asked.
"Well, you got in my bed..."
"I had no other choice. The door started opening and I was already sitting on your bed. I freaked out."
"Here," she gave him the extra.
He smiled and took a big bite out of it. Big just like his mouth. She remembered the day that she and Teddy had their first kiss. It was quick but he did at the school. Jake had seen it and once he had he started yelling that Amy had just had her first kiss ever. Everyone stared and started clapping unsurely. Jake clapped the loudest and winked before walking away. It was an embarrassing moment for her that she really started hating him even more. When they got to the ice cream shop, Jake held open the door for her. She said a quiet thank you and went on in, smiling as the cold air hit her suddenly.
"I'll order, what do you want?" Jake said.
"Uh, just some chocolate ice cream," she said after glancing at the many flavors.
"Come on, get something not boring."
"Fine, cookie dough," she said.
He went up to the counter as she sat down. He turned around after a moment. "Darling,” he called across the place that held very few people. "Cone or cup? I'd go with cup if I were you."
"What does that even mean?"
"I know how messy of an eater you are."
She glared, "Cone."
"Cup it is," he turned around.
She rolled her eyes and waited for him to come back. He handed her ice cream and ate his immediately.
"What did you get?"
"It's called Superman. Amazing," he smiled.
She nodded and the next thing she knew, he was holding out his spoon to her.
"Want to try?" He asked.
She stared at it for a second before moving forward and eating the offered ice cream. She ‘mmm'ed quietly.
"Told you it was amazing."
"I didn't question it."
Jake didn’t say anything and continued eating. She watched him carefully. He'd go to look at her but it was like he knew she was looking toward him so he wouldn't do it.
"How's Kylie anyway?" He asked suddenly.
She had forgotten he had asked her to prom and they dated for a couple of weeks but she called it off for unknown reasons. "She's good," she said. "Not missing you much."
"Ouch," he winced visibly. "Was I really that bad of a boyfriend?"
"I don’t know what happened. She just said she broke up with you and you were a little more mutual about it than she wanted," she admitted.
Jake shrugged, "Who knows..." but the way he acted made her feel like he knew.
"You guys were cute together," she commented.
"So I've been told."
"Seriously, what happened?" She asked. "You guys were really close in the beginning and then near the end of it, she seemed really annoyed by you."
"I didn't do anything! I acted like I usually do."
"Maybe that was your problem. You annoyed her out of the relationship."
He frowned deeply. "I didn't annoy her. If anything, I made her very happy at times," he wiggled his eyebrows.
"Ew," she scrunched up her nose.
"Look, I don't know what happened. You'll have to ask Kylie."
"I already have. Multiple times. She won’t spill."
"Oh well," he shrugged. "Looks like you'll never find out"
"Come on, I have to know. What will it take?"
"Money," he said.
"How much?"
"Too much for you," he smirked.
She groaned in annoyance. "I'll find out one day, Peralta. Just wait and see."
"Oh, I will, but you'll never find out."
"I will."
"Until you do, you have to hang out with me. The ENTIRE summer."
"I should also get something from you if I figure it out," she said.
"Uh, yeah, my absence."
"No, more than that."
"A kiss," he joked.
"Ugh, no," she scrunched up her nose again. "Something good and worth winning for."
"Did Kylie tell you I was a bad kisser? 'Cause I'm not. She said I was amazing-"
"I don't want to hear about this again," she put her hands over her ears.
"She told you?"
"Yes," she sighed loudly.
"And...?"
"She said you really knew how to kiss," she recalled the memory. "For a guy who had only had one girlfriend before."
His eyes widened. "She wasn’t supposed to tell anyone!"
"Well, she did and we had a good laugh about it too."
He frowned. "We can always think of something later if we can't right now."
"Okay, sure but it has to be good."
"Oh, it will be and that's a Peralta guarantee."
"Sure, like last time when you said you could eat two corndogs at once then ended up choking?"
"You were amused, weren't you?"
"No, I had to give you the Heimlich."
"Well, you will be this time."
"Never has it ever amused-" she was interrupted by her phone going off. She frowned as she read the text.
"What's wrong?" He asked noticing how quickly it upset her.
"Hm?" She looked up at him. "Oh, nothing. It's-" she paused looking back at her phone for a second. "It's nothing. Don’t worry about it."
"Is it... is it the same reason you were crying a couple weeks ago?" He asked.
"When did you see me crying?" She asked. She remembered hearing someone and that it was just the week before.
"At school. Well, after school. I had just assumed you had gotten detention but-"
"They don’t have detention on Wednesday's" she finished.
"Yeah, exactly. It was stupid of me to think that. Is it the same thing though?"
"It's really nothing," she insisted.
"Okay," he sighed. "You finished with your ice cream?"
"Yeah," she pushed her cup to him and watched him eat what she couldn't. She didn't want to go home because from the text she got from her brother, it was chaotic again, but she didn't really want to hang out with Jake. It was actually a better option than having to deal with the chaos and she'd rather stay away from it.
"So, what now?" He asked, finishing.
"I don't know. You should have prepared this."
"There are plenty of things to do..."
"Great, let's do them."
"On other days…"
"Jake!"
"It's not my fault all our friends leave us and nothing goes on for the first part of summer," he threw his hands up in defeat.
"Well, I actually don't want to go home right now so, think of something."
"There's the park... we could probably catch a cheap movie. The local pool is open now."
"It's been open for awhile... I think I like the sound of going to the park, though."
"Park it is," Jake stood up. He had almost grabbed her hand to somewhat drag her out but he stopped himself remembering that she had a slight rule about others touching her.
They walked in silence again but after a little while of walking Jake started rambling on about things they could do but quickly moved on to movies he enjoyed. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone but she liked listening to him talk about the silly things he enjoyed. His mouth quirked into a small smile as he talked about them and he always had this small spark in his eyes.
When they got to the park, they chose a shaded area under a tree and sat down. He was still going on about Die Hard but she was hardly listening.
"Santiago," his voice cut her thoughts.
"What?"
"When did I lose you?"
"At Die Hard..."
"What?! Tell me you're lying!" He burst out. "That's THE best cop movie!"
"Oh, no Training Day is!" She argued.
"So, now you join in?" He asks. "I’m afraid it's a little too late, Santiago."
"You're just saying that so you'll win the argument," she rolled her eyes.
"I don't cheat," he said.
"You do, like, every single time we have an argument."
"You can't exactly cheat at that..."
"You trick me," she pointed a finger at him.
"Okay, well, it works."
She opened her mouth to say something but closed it, not having a good response.
Jake smirked, "I think I like you better when you aren’t talking."
She punched his arm, making him squeal. "I like you better hurt," she said.
"That made no sense."
"Yeah, neither does your face."
Jake snorted and looked away. He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. "You love my face."
"You wish," Amy replied, leaning against the tree too.
Jake smiled.
Jake's idea of lunch was getting a hot dog from a guy in the park who was selling them. They were cheap. They found a park bench to sit at and while Amy ate her dog, Jake got a picture of her. She glared at him, which he also got, and he insisted it was for black mail purposes, even memories. So, when they finished eating, they had somehow gotten involved in a big frisbee game. He threatened Amy that he was going to take her down.
Needless to say, he didn't.
"Man that was such a great day!" Jake said when they were walking back to Amy's house.
"I'll have to admit, it was pretty nice," she said.
He smiled. "See, I'm not that bad."
"You're still very unbearable," she pointed out. "We can't let you get a bigger ego than you already have."
"Nothing will bring my ego down."
"How about losing to a girl?"
"Hey, you were on a team. It's nothing bad to be ashamed of. It was... fair."
"Really? You're being such a good sport-"
"I lied. They totally cheated!" He frowned
"There it is..."
They found themselves at Amy's house soon enough, and Amy found herself lingering by the gate in front of her house. She watched Jake, waiting to see what he would do.
"Did you have fun today?" He asked, leaning on the gate coolly.
"Yeah, it was better than I expected," she admitted.
"Really?" His face seemed to light up.
"Yeah, you’re annoying but you can sure make someone have a good time," she shrugged, playing it off coolly.
"See you tomorrow then?" He asked, hopeful.
"Maybe," she sighed and opened the gate. "There's this going on and I want to go."
"The old library is selling a lot of their books?” Jake said pretended he wasn’t sure.
"How did you know that?"
"Like I said, I listen when you talk," he shrugged and started to walk away. "I can take you if you want."
"As long as you don’t make fun of me!"
"No promises!" He called down the street, a big grin on his face.
Amy rolled her eyes and went on inside. Her brother was already at the door.
"That bad?" She whispered.
"It's over," he said. "I met you at the door because I was looking out the window when I saw you with a guy who wasn't your boyfriend."
"I can have guy friends too," she moved past him.
"Is that who was in your bed this morning?" He asked. When she didn’t answer he spoke up again. "You promised to tell me details."
"Fine," she sighed. "He came to my window knocking on it. He wanted to hang out today. He's just a school friend."
"What's his name? He looks kind of familiar..."
"Peralta. Jake Peralta?"
"Oh yeah! He was always the jokester.... what are you doing hanging out with him?"
"He invited me and all my friends left. Even my boyfriend who said he'd never leave me."
"I'm sure he just meant relationship wise. He probably didn’t even expect the move, sis," he tried giving advice.
"Maybe you’re right," she said on the couch glumly.
"Did you go by and say good bye like you were planning?" He sat next to her.
"No, I was with Peralta all day. Besides, he was doing all last minute packing because he tried protesting by not packing."
Her brother snorted. "That didn’t work I'm sure."
"Definitely not."
"You'll be okay, sis. You'll get to see each other again," he patted his little sister’s shoulder.
"Yeah, that’s what he told me. Maybe later in the summer or next year."
"That's great!"
"Yeah," she smiled, trying to act excited but she didn’t feel it and she was sure it was because she didn’t believe he was going to be able to visit.
"Well, mom is cooking dinner right now."
"Dad?" She asked, knowing the answer.
"Out," he said quietly.
"Figures," she mumbled.
"They're just going through a rough spot," he assured her.
"They were better off when everyone else was here Marcos!"
"That's because they were barely seeing each other. There were too many kids to have time to sit down and talk."
She sighed. "Well, it sucks."
"You'll be gone next year and I promised not to leave until you do."
"Thanks for that by the way."
"I don't trust them alone with you when they're like this" he said.
"I wouldn't either."