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Meg and Jake are sitting next to each other on one of the crooked old pieces of wood scattered around the campfire. The rest of the survivors are currently in a trial, they haven’t been gone for too long but the fact that no one has returned must be a good sign.
They’ve got Laurie with them, if there is anyone who can run that killer around it’s her. Dwight’s always been good with putting the generators back together so Jake knows it’ll be a clean match and they’ll make it out unscathed.
It’s a bit quiet around the burning ember right now with Meg, she is usually a talker and Jake is curious to know why she's so silent.
He takes a glance over at her, she seems to be running circles around the top of her right hand. A bashful smile painted across her face. Jake’s intrigued by what might be bouncing around that head of hers.
“Can I ask what that look is for?” Jake says, he’s cocking an eyebrow as he watches Meg jump at the sound of his voice.
“What look?” She questions him, Jake can see she’s trying so hard not to smile right now. He gets the feeling he might already know what she’s thinking about, but he’s a sucker for bugging his best friend.
“That look!” He says as a matter of fact. Meg quickly looks the other way for a moment before turning back to him, “It’s nothing” she reassures him with a shy smile.
Jake is cracking a grin himself, Meg’s smile is contagious. He’s never seen anything like it before, he grew up in a pretty straight faced household that not even exciting achievements could change the norm. Her smile is radiant, her eyes squint so tightly that he can barely see the blue that resides there.
“Was it because she was holding your hand?” Jake questions, he can see her eyes grow wide at his words. She’s quickly looking away, tucking a straggling baby hair behind her ear.
“Why would you think that?” She nervously whispers.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” Jake asks her, he’s leaning forward to try to get a better look at the red head. She’s scrunching up her face into a pout before letting out a deep sigh.
“Her hands are so soft...” she says longingly, she’s still not looking at him. Jake can’t help but laugh at the situation.
“See this is why I didn’t want to say anything!!!” She whines as she turns to face Jake and gives him a playful shove.
“Hey! I’m not laughing at you!” Jake pleads as he lifts his hand up in defense.
“I’m just laughing at…” He pauses as Meg gives him a stern look.
“Okay, maybe I was kind of laughing at you” Jake admits and Meg shoves him for another time, “It’s not like that!!” Jake pleades again with another chuckle.
“I’m laughing at how bad you’ve got it,” He finishes but Meg is already crossing her arms and giving him another pout. Jake can just imagine her giving her mom the same look when she was a kid. He knows if he saw it while she was growing up, he would let her get away with anything.
“Well, I'm sorry I like holding my girlfriends hand!” She states.
Jake gives her a pained expression, he feels like a bit of an ass for laughing. But he and Meg are close and he knows he can get away with joking around with her more than he can with most of the other survivors.
“What else do you like about her?” Jake asks, he knows he can get her to crack with the right question.
“Why?? So you can laugh at me some more?” She says, a little bit of poison in her tone.
Jake lets out a small sigh, there's a bit of silence before he decides to speak again.
“I know you like when she braids your hair… More so than when I do it,” He admits.
“Yeah because you suck at it,” She responds and Jake chuckles, he can see a smile cracking on the side of her lips.
“I like how she does French braids,” she adds as she looks up at him.
“She does a good job every time, they always look nice!” Jake tells her, he watches as she reaches up to grab one of her three braids and starts to run her hands along it.
“She’s so gentle with everything she does” Meg adds with a hazy sigh.
“There’s even something about the way she…” she hesitates for a moment.
“Yeah?” Jake eggs on.
“I feel like everything she says is said with so much care and kindness, she could be insulting me, but the way she does it… I would probably feel like it’s a good thing,” Meg confesses and the idea of that is so funny to Jake, but he decides to hold in his laughter for the sake of the mood.
“You know I see the way she looks at you, Megs” Jake confesses and he can see Megs cheeks dust a light shade of pink.
“But I’ve also seen the way you look at her” He adds.
“Have you ever been with someone that you feel like, even if you’re in a world of endless time it still feels like it’s not enough?” She asks him and Jake can feel himself freezing on the spot. He knows it’s a rhetorical question, but it still moves him enough to want to answer.
“I-....” is the only word he can get out before Meg is continuing on.
“Every time I look at her, Jake… She just makes me want to do better and be a better person” Meg confesses and the thought of it is endearing, he knows exactly what she means.
“I feel like there were times in my life where I thought I was in love, I thought that the girl I was with was the one” she admits and Jake can’t say he’s ever felt the same, he usually hid away from his feelings. The one time he got close enough to someone it was right before he left.
“But then I was put into this world and I got to meet everyone here… I got to meet Claudette.” She says softly, her voice is getting a bit more shaky and Jake is wondering if her emotions are bubbling up the same way his emotions did the day he confessed to Michael.
“When she finally told me she loved me-…” she says with a loving sigh.
“You can’t help but feel like this world has a bit more meaning now?” Jake says, it’s not so much a question as it is a statement.
“Yeah” She whispers.
“I just… I love being in love!” She professes.
“Me too” Jake says with a light sigh.
There’s a small bit of silence before anyone says something.
“What?’ She asks.
“Hmm??” Jake responds as he looks over in her direction.
“What did you just say?” She questions him again and Jake was a bit caught up in everything she was saying he doesn’t remember what came out of his mouth.
“I-....” He pauses, he’s taking this moment to think.
Oh…
He just stares at Meg, an extreme look of horror painted across his face.
“You said ‘Me too’” She states and Jake’s mind is running as fast as it can to come up with an excuse as to why he would say something like that to her.
“I-.. I don’t think I did,” he nervously laughs as he runs his gloved hand through his unkempt hair.
“No, I'm pretty sure you did,” She says with a stern tone to her voice, Jake would be lying if he thought it wasn’t a bit intimidating. He is quickly looking away from her and letting out a strained cough.
“Who are you in love with?” Meg questions and Jake can feel his heart fall deep into the pits of his stomach at her words, he wishes she wasn’t such a good listener.
“No one,” He nervously laughs, he can feel her eyes burning holes on the side of his face.
“Are you… seeing Dwight?” she slowly questions and Jake is whipping his head in her direction.
“No no no!!” He pleads to her. “That ship sailed a long time ago!” He adds with a nervous laugh. He’s not sure why he didn’t take that moment to lie, considering the rest of the survivors in the realm identify as female.
She looks at him hard, he can see she is trying to piece together why he would say something like that to her in the first place.
“You and Laurie are really close...” she thinks out loud and Jake can’t help but choke on his own spit. “NO!” He swallows hard, hands coming back up in front of him. He can already feel the shovel being placed in his hand as he’s being guided to the backyard to dig himself a spot to lay down in.
She looks at him, more confusion scattered across her face than Jake has ever seen in his time of knowing her.
“It's really nothing Megs, I was just caught up in what you were saying… That’s all” Jake bites his bottom lip as he stares at her. Meg scrunches up her face, he can tell she’s not exactly buying it but he hopes he can distract her long enough until someone else gets back.
“Ok... if you say so” She says slowly and carefully, Jake can’t say he likes the tone in which those words were said but he’s going to take her words for truth.
There's a long string of silence that follows after and Jake is sitting there wondering what he can say to get her talking again.
“It’s taking a long time for the others to get back… It must be going well!! I think they might all get out” Jake says, he's trying to make small talk. He can’t say he was ever good at that, he’s trying his best to keep the conversation rolling.
More silence follows after.
Jake is letting out a shaky sigh as he places his hands on the tops of his thighs and starts to rhythmically tap his fingers on his legs. He figures that there might not be much discussion after this and he’s debating on going out to the forest or staying here until one of their teammates show up.
“Who is it?” Meg asks him, Jake’s fingers come to a halt and he can feel his heart rate picking up just a bit.
“I told you Meg...It’s no one” He tries his best to reassure her, He knows Meg is persistent and she gets to the bottom of everything if she can help it.
“Jake you’re such a bad liar!!!” She says to him, her voice is getting a bit louder than before.
“Well I'm not lying!!” Jake lightly shouts back, he wonders if it might have been a mistake to get so defensive about this. He can’t say he’s exactly good with confrontation. He’s always a bit of a loud mouth when it comes to standing up for himself.
“But why would you say something like that if it wasn’t true??!!” She exclaims and Jake knows she’s got him there. He doesn’t exactly talk too much to begin with, he’s a bit more thought out than most.
He’s having a hard time making eye contact with her right now. He looks down at his feet to try to distract himself for the possible upcoming confession he might have put himself into.
Silence washes over them once more, Megs glare on him is sending a shiver down his spine and he fights with himself over the idea of finding a way to get her to let it go or telling her the truth.
He goes for the latter.
“It’s… complicated” is all Jake can say, he can already feel the regret sinking in after the words leave his lips and he’s not sure how much further he can stick his foot in his mouth before he eventually chokes.
“What's complicated?” she asks him and Jake knew it was coming but he still doesn’t have an answer.
He sucks in a breath for a moment before letting out another long sigh.
“He’s not….”
“He’s not from around here...”
He can hear Meg make a bit of a confused hum and he knows he’s making the whole situation harder for himself and even more confusing for his friend.
“What do you mean?” She’s quickly asking him. Jake can’t say he even knows what he means, words are just coming out and he’s not giving them that much thought.
“Jake, are there other survivors???? Have you found something???? Is there something you’re not telling me??” she exclaims and Jake’s eyes go wide and he wonders how she came to that conclusion. He’s quickly bringing his hands up in defense and looking over in her direction.
“No!!! it’s not what you think!!!” He pleads yet again to her but that look on her face isn’t helping him much.
“He’s still in this world, just….. Not... with… Us” He manages to stutter out, he’s trying to beat around the bush long enough for it to make sense to her.
He refuses to say those 3 words.
She still looks baffled by all of this and Jake wishes he wasn’t so caught up in the moment earlier that he decided to agree with her. He’s never felt this way about anyone before and he wonders if love makes anyone as stupid as it does him.
“I don’t understand?? Who is he then?” She asks him, he can tell she is trying so hard to process everything and he’s having a hard time imagining what she might say if he confesses to her that his partner is actually one of the murderers from this world.
Jake takes in another long breath and lets it out, he goes back to tapping his finger on the tops of his thighs out of nervousness. His head is spinning on what he can say to Meg to make it make sense to her but ultimately easier for him.
He knew eventually it was going to come out, Jake admits that he always thought it would end up with someone catching him with his hand down Michael's coveralls and not because he decided to admit that he’s in love.
He knows he’s going to have to come right out and say it, he figures he needs to just rip the band aid off. He’s not sure how much time they have left before someone shows up.
“He’s…”
There’s a long drawn out pause before he decides to finally come clean.
“He’s a killer.”
Jake winces after the words leave his mouth, he’s not looking at Meg. He doesn't want to see her face right now, He’s going to give her the time to process it all. He wonders if he can get away with running out to the forest this time.
The silence that follows is one of the most painful experiences Jake has ever had to endure. He wonders if she’s ever going to say anything to him. He wonders if luck might be on his side and the trial going on right now will end and their friends come back and the conversation can get put on the back burner until they are alone again.
“You're joking, right?” is all Meg has to say.
There's a pause after and Jake slowly turns his head to look at the woman sitting next to him.
Meg looks sick, she looks like she’s holding back something and Jake is surprised at what follows after. Meg is lurching forward and covering her mouth as she lets out a loud cackle.
Jake can feel his heart skip a beat at the sound, he’s not sure how to feel right now.
He didn’t expect it to be so funny.
“Oh my gosh!!! Jake you really had me there for a second” She says with another burst of laughter.
Jake scrunches up his face in confusion, he watches as she topples over herself and spits out words talking about how ridiculous that sounds and she can’t believe he said that to her.
“I know you don’t really make jokes, but that sure was a good one!” She says and Jake watches as she wipes the corners of her eyes.
He swallows hard, Jake wonders if he’s going to have to endure his best friend going through the five stages of grief when she realizes that he’s being 100% serious right now. He hopes he will be able to get her to the acceptance part before anyone else gets back from the trial. He’s always been good with talking his way out of sticky situations.
“I’m…”
“I’m not joking, Meg” he pauses for a moment in between her bursts of laughter.
“I’m serious” He finishes as he looks up at her. She looks like a deer caught in the headlights right now.
“He’s…. He’s a killer.” Jake says one last time, he bites his bottom lip as he brings his hands together to play thumb war with himself.
“W-what?” She stutters out, eyebrows knitted close together as her giggles fade away.
They share a look and Jake can see the gears slowly turning in that big brain of hers and the more they turn the more nervous he gets.
“You’re… with… one of the killers?” She asks and Jake bites down hard on his lip before nodding at her.
“I-... I don’t understand???” she looks away for a second, she has a contemplating look on her face right now.
“Your with-??” She pauses.
“HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN????” She looks over at him and yells, her eyes are in shock right now and Jake gets the feeling he should strap in to whatever ride he’s going to be taking for these next few minutes.
“I don't know how it happened!!” Jake quickly yells back, he knows exactly how it happened but he’ll never admit that to anyone.
”He was just letting me out of trials a lot and I was confused and scared and I didn’t understand either???” he says, he feels bad for lying but he needs to defuse the situation before he comes out with the whole truth. He doesn’t expect anyone to understand at the start, he didn’t believe it himself when he realized.
“How do you know it’s not just a game, Jake???? How do you know he’s not doing it to earn your trust before hurting you???” She questions him, Jake remembers when Laurie said something similar to him out in the forest back in the day of her first arrival.
He had always thought that maybe something like that was going on at the start; but as time progressed, things started to change and he started to realize that it wasn’t like that.
He wonders if he can get Meg to understand his relationship more than Laurie might ever will.
“It’s not like that” Jake says to her, she doesn’t look like she’s buying it.
“Because…” Jake swallows hard. He knows the only way he can convince her that Michael has no intentions of hurting him is if he confesses about some of their intimate moments. Like the time they sat in the forest and he held Jake's hand most of the night or when he gently kissed him behind the stacks of cars in the Autohaven realms.
Jake’s trying to piece together how he can tell her that Michael is careful with him.
“It’s not like that because…Because he… Does things to me” Jake tries to be mindful with his words but the more he speaks the more he can feel the hole underneath him falling deeper into the ground.
He winces as he looks over at Meg, she looks even more confused and Jake is wondering just how hard he can beat around this bush before the light clicks on.
“Who is it????” She blurts out.
Jake is taken by surprise at the question, he realizes that he has yet to even confess what killers he’s been fooling around and holding hands with this whole time. He realizes Meg doesn't know Michaels real name, she only knows the code names he and his friends give the evil beings in this world.
“You know…” He says as his hands dance in a strange way in front of him.
“The shape”
.
.
.
“THE SHAPE???!!!” She shouts and Jake winces.
“You’re joking??? Please tell me you’re joking???” She begs and Jake doesn’t know what to say.
“Meg, I don't know what to tell you? It just kind of happened by accident!” Jake admits, he never predicted the person he would want to spend all of his time with was someone who was meant to do the exact opposite.
“How does that just kind of happen? Killers are supposed to hurt us, kill us and sacrifice us to the entity??” She lists off.
“How do you just get into a relationship with one by accident??” She yells out in confusion as her arms spread to her sides.
“I promise, we were just friends at the start!! I didn’t think it would ever get any further than that… That wasn’t the plan” Jake retaliates back.
“I stopped seeing him at one point!! I was too afraid of what might happen if we kept being friends. I thought the Entity was trying to tell me to stop???” Jake admits, he’s remembering the night of the dream and how he had tried so hard to break all contact from Michael after that.
“And then what???” she questions.
“Then we-……” Jake pauses, he’s remembering that Meg was the one who helped push him to realize his feelings for Michael. He’s not sure if he wants to put that on her right now.
“Then what?????” Meg asks with a bit too much force in her voice.
Jake really doesn’t want to say what happened after that, he’s holding his breath and praying that she’ll put two and two together.
“Then what??” she asks him again, her voice getting even louder than the first time as she stands up from her position next to him.
Jake still isn’t saying anything.
“JAKE!!?!” She exclaims.
“WE HAD SEX, OKAY!!!” He yells back at her.
Her mouth is wide open and her eyes bug out and Jake lets out a short breath, as much as he wants to hide under a rock for the rest of his life here. He would be lying to himself if he didnt feel a sense of relief after finally admitting it to her.
“You what??” She shouts and Jake knows he doesn’t need to repeat himself.
“Jake are you stupid???”
“Why are you sleeping with one of the killers??” Her arms are still spread out at her sides and she looks absolutely terrified right now.
“It’s not like there are no other options??? You’re out in the forest by yourself all the time anyway!” She exclaims. Jake is really wishing he didn’t have to sit here and listen to a lecture on how he should be masturbating instead of having sex right now, but its not like he hasn’t had a thousands of these kinds of talks from his parents growing up, he can take this awkward one from his best friend.
“Meg I told you!!! I didn't mean for any of this to happen!” He tries to remind her.
“We just kissed and I thought that, that's where it would end!” He admits, he can't say that he’s being entirely true right now. Michaels lips are soft and he’s not sure how anyone couldn’t get lost in the moment when he’s shoving his tongue in your mouth and dragging his large hands through your hair.
“But I couldn’t help myself.” Jake says to defend himself, he’s hoping if he sounds desperate enough she’ll maybe feel bad for him.
“How could you even think that, that could be a good idea, Jake???” Meg asks him, she looks like she wants to shake him.
“I wasn’t thinking, Okay” Jake responds.
“Clearly!!!!!” What if the entity finds out??? What if it does something to you both??? What if it hurts you??” She cries out.
“I can’t lose you!” She adds and Jake is feeling a lot of guilt right now. He can’t say he's never thought about things like these, they were a big part of why he was holding back for so long with Michael. But it comes down to what Meg told him in the past…
What's so bad about chasing your own happiness?
“He’s just not how he is in trials. He’s different when he’s with me” Jake says to her, he wonders if she’ll ever understand that maybe killers are more than what they are made out to be.
“These monsters are bad news, they are evil!” Meg says flatly and Jake understands where she’s coming from, but he still wants to try to find a way to change her mind.
“He’s not like that…'' Jake whispers.
“He’s kind… and gentle… and… he’s not a monster,” he adds as he puts his head down towards his chest and sighs.
There's a small bit of silence that follows after Jake’s words, he can feel Meg taking a seat next to him again. Jake doesn't know if he could ever make anyone understand what's going on between him and Michael. He’s not sure if it will ever make sense to anyone but them.
“I guess it's not so bad… Being friends with a killer…” Meg says, Jake takes this moment to look over at her. She’s mirroring his position like before and Jake wonders if she really means it or if she’s just saying that to keep the peace between them.
“But it's probably a bad idea to be in a relationship with one of them,” she finishes.
“Meg…” Jake whispers before she is quickly turning to face him, an exasperated look on her face.
“I’m just worried!! You could get hurt-- or maybe you’ve already gotten hurt?? Is this really what you want?” She questions him, Jake knows she’s trying to figure out why anyone in the right mind would want to be doing anything with one of the killers of this world that isn’t slamming pallets down onto them or burning flashlight lights in their eyes.
“I wish there was a way I could get you to see how he really is,” Jake sorrowfully says to her.
“I never thought about any of these things until Laurie and him both showed up…. Right from the start I knew something was different about him. He was always so… So careful with me” he adds.
“It wasn't until he started treating me differently and letting me out of trials did I start to open my mind to the idea that… Maybe the killers in this world are actually just being punished or maybe even brainwashed into doing all of these bad things to us??” He tells her. He wonders if Meg might be more open to the possibilities of killers being anything other than what the evil wants them to be.
“I don't understand… why though?” Meg asks him.
“I haven’t figured that out, I’m not really sure. But Michael seems to be one of the killers that's able to overcome it!” Jake’s not sure if she expects him to have an answer to any of this, It’s become more of a question he’s been pondering for the past little while.
“Michael??” Meg stutters out and Jake realizes that he said his name to her, he wonders if she’ll be okay with processing what he’s about to say next.
“Have you ever thought of the possibilities of these evil beings having a life before this one?” he asks her, he’s looking down at his entangled hands that are resting on the tops of his thighs.
“I… I never thought about it like that” she whispers as Jake looks over at her just in time to catch her scrunching up her face with a look of deep thought.
“Well, he had one before he got here” Jake tells her and Meg gives him yet another strange look.
“So, his name is… Michael???”
Jake nods.
“Laurie told me a while ago,” He says.
“Laurie knows him???” Meg abruptly questions him, her voice in disbelief. Jake realizes that Meg has no idea that Laurie and Michael are related. He feels like it might not be his place to tell her everything tonight.
“They have...” he pauses.
“They have history.”
Jake can't place his finger on what kind of emotion Meg has on her face right now, they’ve been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster tonight and Jake wonders how this is all going to play out after it finally sinks in.
“I never thought about the idea of killers being anything other than what they are here?” Meg says, a hint of solace in her voice.
“I never thought about it either… But Michael showed me that not all of these killers are bad. That they do have some kind of conscious left in them, that they are… Human” Jake says to her.
“And being human means they can feel things too… Anger, trust, kindness … Love” he manages to get out. Meg is quickly looking up at Jake and Jake is rapidly turning his head the other way and lets out a nervous cough.
There's a lingering bit of silence that fills the air after the words leave Jakes mouth, he doesn’t have much else to add. He feels like he’s said enough already.
“You really do feel the same?” Meg says, it seems more like a statement rather than a question but Jake can’t help but nod.
“I know it's a hard pill to swallow, I get it.” He admits to her. “But I’ve never felt anything like this before, Meg” he adds, he wonders if he can manage anymore defense before he inevitably accepts the conversation for what it is.
“Before getting put into this world, I always felt like something was missing…” he starts to speak, “When I was out on my own that feeling never left me, I always thought it was the guilt of never saying goodbye to my family… Even though I knew they would never care” He finishes, he’s not sure if anything he’s saying right now is making any sense to her.
“And what about here?? what about with all of us?” Meg questions him. Jake knows she's a little insecure and she probably thinks there's something she’s not doing, something that she hasn’t done that led Jake to bonding with one of the killers.
“You guys were the best thing that ever happened to me, Megs!” Jake reassures her.
“You’ve all taught me so much about myself. Things I didn't even realize. I didn't think I could ever make meaningful friendships like I have with all of you” He finishes and he can already see the smile creeping at the corners of her lips.
“Well now you're stuck with all of us!!” Meg says with a gentle punch to the side of Jake’s arm and Jake can’t help but laugh.
“Then Michael and Laurie showed up…” Jake takes in a long pause, he places his hand on his side and gently rubs the area Meg hit.
“I know I’m going to sound fucking insane right now and even thinking about it sounds crazy…” Jake nervously says to her, he figures he needs to come out and say it again. He knows that the conversation started with him agreeing with his friend that he loves being in love. But he can’t help but feel like that got lost in all the other information he’s been providing to her tonight.
“Michael showed me…” Jake says, but he’s cut off by Meg reaching out and grabbing onto his hand and holding on to it tightly and he can’t help but look over at her.
“It’s not crazy at all,” she says to him with a smile.
“Do you think anyone ever really plans to get trapped in a world like this and find that silver lining???” She asks him.
They stare at each other for a few moments, Jake knows she wasn’t asking him directly. He gets the feeling that there might be a bit more understanding to the situation now. He can feel Meg squeezing his hand again before she continues.
“To find that person that makes you want to keep going?? That makes this awful world bearable?? Keeps that flickering light of hope going, praying that maybe one day you’ll make it out of here… and be able to have that wedding you always dreamt of as a kid?? build a family and a life with the girl you didn't realize you want to spend the rest of your life with??? That no matter whatever happens in your life you can’t help but think…”
“Can’t help but feel…”
“That it was always her!”
Jake can see tears welling up near the sides of her eyes as she finishes speaking to him, a strained smile on her face.
“Exactly” Jake whispers, he’s shifting the hand she’s holding on to and interlocking their fingers together. Jake slowly lifts their entangled hands up towards his mouth and gently kisses them before placing it back down onto his lap with a comforting smile.
“Jake, you’re my best friend and as long as you're happy... and you promise to be careful” She says with a tearful laugh. She’s bringing her free hand up towards her eyes and gently wiping the wetness away.
“And he treats you right…” She says with a pause, Jake doesn’t have time to get a word in before Meg is speaking again.
“And I mean that!! I’m no killer but I know a thing or two!” She adds and Jake can't help but laugh along with her. He appreciates her support and honesty when it comes to all of this, he never in a million years expected for this conversation to go as well as it has.
“I've got your back, Jake!” She says with a bright smile, it's reassuring and comforting and Jake wonders how he ever managed to get through life without knowing someone like Meg.
“C’mere kid!” Jake says with a huff of a laugh and Meg is releasing her hand from his and scooching herself over to Jake. He’s quickly wrapping his arm around her as she slots herself underneath him like a puzzle piece.
Jake feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders after this conversation with Meg, he knew it was always going to be a hard talk when it inevitably came out. He wanted to be as safe as possible with Michael to prevent it from happening so soon, he’s surprised they kept it a secret for so long.
Jake feels a bit more at peace with everything now, he feels like he can breath a bit easier after their conversation tonight.
Jake can feel Meg wrap her arms around his torso and he leans into her a little more before letting out a deep sigh.
“You know, Meg”
“Hmmm?”
“His hands are soft too”
“I hate you so much”
Jake wraps his arm around her shoulder tighter and pulls her closer to him as they both laugh and converse about their partners, just long enough before the others get back.