Work Text:
The second Jake and Amy left for their cruise Rosa noticed the file on her desk.
It was a report for a B&E she and Amy had worked the past few days, with an arrest report distinctly not signed by one Amy Santiago. Rosa had intended to grab Amy that morning, have her sign the form, and immediately send it off to be processed. But now, this case would be sitting on her desk, remaining open and looming over her for the next week. Feeling frustrated, Rosa got up and headed over to Sarge's desk, asking if she could be assigned a new case despite her current one technically remaining open.
Of course this dangling case was no big deal, cases get delayed far longer than a week all the time, but it still unreasonably annoyed Rosa. She wasn’t some organisational freak like Santiago, but she still liked to be quietly organised, and prided herself on not wasting people’s time. That being said, she also prided herself on not working during her days off, and so when late on Friday night she saw Jake’s rather obnoxious Snapchat story showing him and Amy back in Brooklyn (seriously, how many filters does one photo need?), she knew there was no way she was going to bug Amy for her signature until after she clocked in again on Monday.
Apparently the universe didn’t like this plan as much as Rosa did. Not only did she spend her whole Monday shift stuck on door duty with some nervous and incompetent rookies, but they had nothing to even show for it. They had no sighting of their prime suspect, and to top it all off, both Jake and Amy had apparently taken that Monday off too - so no signature. Feeling frustrated at a day where no progress was made, and wanting to achieve something, anything, Rosa grabbed that god-damn file off her desk and found herself riding over to Amy’s apartment.
She didn’t have any expectations necessarily as to what she would find when the door to Amy’s apartment swung open, but she still found herself slightly surprised to find Jake standing there, dressed in his signature hoodie, with a pair of loose fitting sweat pants, and hair much fluffier than she was used to seeing it at work.
“Rosa!” Jake exclaimed, clearly surprised by her presence, “You’re not Thai food”
“No”, Rosa replied, deadpan as always, “and you’re not Amy”
“Ah keen eye you’ve got there Diaz, you should be a detective or something”, Jake said, his goofy grin taking shape on his face as he spoke
“Ha Ha” Rosa answered, not laughing, “where’s Amy? I need her to sign this arrest report”
“Oh, she’s in the shower at the moment” Jake replied, before opening the door further and stepping aside, “come in though, you can wait for her in here”
Despite the casual nature of Jake’s invitation, Rosa couldn’t help but feel slightly sceptical. This wasn’t Jake’s place, what business did he have inviting people in? She would hate it if anyone, even a partner, decided who was and wasn’t allowed inside her home. But, she supposed, perhaps Santiago was different, maybe she was fine with Jake treating her home as if it was his.
“Diaz!” Jake yelled, interrupting her train of thought, “you coming in or what?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows in an unbearably annoying way.
Despite her qualms, she really wanted this stupid report signed, so she nodded once and followed him through into Amy’s apartment. The lights inside were dimmed slightly, making the whole place seem cosy in a way she hadn’t seen before, and she couldn’t help but watch Jake as she entered, noticing how… comfortable he looked here. He didn’t have the awkward air of existing in someone else’s space, where you don’t quite know what you can or can’t touch, and where you never feel as though you can truly relax. Instead he looked completely natural in Amy’s space, slamming the door closed before throwing himself down on the couch, picking up the TV remote and pausing whatever was playing on her TV. She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t help but find it... weird? No, surprising? Noteworthy?
“Seriously Diaz, what’s with you?” Jake spoke again, interpreting her thoughts for a second time.
“Long day” she grumbled, “when’s Amy gonna be out the shower?”
“I don’t know, soon, probably. She only went in like five minutes before you got here. Though…” Jake trailed off, tilting his head to the side in thought “I think today is a hair wash day, in which case… longer. She has a very thorough routine”
Rosa watched as a slightly awed smile crept on Jake’s face as he mentioned Amy’s shower routine, as if he found its very existence endearing.
“Right… why do you know so much about Amy’s hair washing routine anyway?” Rosa asked before she could stop herself. She didn’t really care, it’s just that the Jake she’d known for the past decade could hardly remember what day rent was due, let alone anything as detailed as what days Amy washes her hair.
“Gee I don’t know Rosa, maybe because I’m her boyfriend or something? Shockingly I do listen when she tells me stuff” Jake replied, a hint of offence clouding his tone. Rosa floundered for a second, Jake seeming upset at the idea of being a bad boyfriend was certainly… new.
“Lemme go find out how long she’ll be” Jake announced as he jumped up from the couch, his momentary offence already gone, “you can sit down you know Diaz, it won’t kill you” he teased as he walked towards the door Rosa knew to be Amy’s bedroom. Her eyes followed him as he left the room, watching as he slipped through the door and headed to what Rosa assumed would be an en-suite bathroom.
The bedroom door was only open for a second, but that was long enough for something significant to catch Rosa’s eye. A pile of luggage. A pile of Jake’s luggage, the same black holdall he had at the precinct before leaving for the cruise last week. ‘Has Jake not gone home yet?’ Rosa wondered.
The thought sat in her mind. Jake and Amy had spent a week together on a cruise, come home late Friday night, and then spent three more days together? Constantly together, for 10 days straight. She couldn’t imagine doing that with anyone. Even in her most recent serious relationship, Marcus, she still found herself looking forward to spending time apart, and enjoying some much needed alone time. Thinking back, she didn’t think they’d ever spent more than three nights together in a row. Yet here Jake and Amy were, spending ten straight days together, and if the comfy clothes, fluffy hair, and Thai food were anything to go by, she would bet Jake wasn’t planning on leaving for his place tonight either.
Suddenly it hit her, what she’d been noticing the whole time she’d been here but couldn’t quite figure out the significance of, Jake and Amy were serious - like, really serious.
On some level she’d already known their relationship was serious, they weren’t dating other people, they arrived at work together most mornings, and they were constantly making googly eyes at each other across their desks in a way Rosa would find cute if it were in a Nancy Meyers movie or something, but that she found eye roll inducing when witnessing it at 9am. But something felt different, something’s changed. Jake’s answering the door with such assurance, inviting her in as if it was his home. Amy’s apparent comfort at leaving Jake to have free reign of her home while she showered, and Jake’s in depth knowledge of her shower routine. Not to mention the fact that they were apparently all but living together at this point.
All at once, Rosa felt swept up in an uncomfortable, thick wave of domesticity - with an overwhelming sense that she was intruding on something - something intimate that she shouldn’t be seeing. This feeling only increased as she further looked around the apartment, seeing the blanket on the couch that clearly had the indentations of two people in it, the empty bottle of wine and two wine glasses sitting by the kitchen sink, Jake’s keys thrown haphazardly on the sideboard, as if they lived there, and his shoes taking up a space on the shoe rack by the door. Jake and Amy had a life together, a domestic, comfortable life. It was weird.
Well, it wasn’t weird really, and it certainly wasn’t something that should concern her, but it still felt weird. It was odd to see her friends in a different light, she supposed, to picture up-tight Amy in this cosy environment, and to realise that the same woman who wouldn’t let a participle dangle in a report is apparently okay to leave wine glasses in the sink and a blanket crumpled on her couch. Or that the same man who took a woman on a vending machine date and insisted that he was married to the job, was now spending his evenings eating take out and drinking wine on his girlfriend’s couch, and remembering specific details of their shared routine.
At that moment, Jake re-entered the room.
“She’ll be out in a minute” he announced, “and she said to offer you a drink” Jake grinned, “so Diaz, do you want a drink?” he asked with a flourish, gesturing towards the kitchen. “I don’t think we have much in though, unless you want Orange Soda?”
‘We’ Rosa couldn’t help but notice.
“No man, I’m good,” she replied, and then, without thinking, “so what, are you like living here now or something?”
Jake spun around to face her again, “What? No.” He replied, looking slightly confused. “For your information,'' he continued, ''I'm actually going back home tomorrow morning anyway, unless I want Holt yelling at me for not wearing a tie on my first day back” he said smugly, as if that point proved anything apart from how much time he was spending at Amy’s.
Rosa simply hummed in response, trying to shut down any further conversation on a topic she wasn’t sure why she was so interested in in the first place.
“Rosa! Hi, how are you?” Amy suddenly interrupted, bustling into the room, sounding slightly frazzled.
She was dressed similarly to Jake, comfy sweatpants, oversized hoodie, with her still wet hair combed neatly behind her back. Before Amy could busy herself with offering Rosa a drink, or trying to force her to sit down and chat, Rosa cut right to the chase,
“I forgot to get you to sign this arrest report from that bodega B&E we worked before you went away, I brought it for you to sign now.”
“Oh, oh of course! Let me just get a pen…” she walked towards her kitchen counter, reaching over to find a pen from a pot of them sitting by some takeout menus, mumbling “I can’t believe I forgot to sign that before I left” as she rummaged around.
Jake watched the scene play out from his seat on the couch,
“What’s so important about this report anyway that it couldn’t wait till tomorrow?”
His tone didn’t convey criticism or annoyance, simply curiosity and slight amusement, but Rosa couldn’t help but feel slightly foolish - not that she would ever show it. She felt awkward for interrupting their night, their apparently very domestic and cosy night, for something as minor as a signature on a case that’s already been sitting on her desk for a week. She felt like an interloper, like she was seeing a life behind closed doors that she had no business witnessing.
Amy however, seemingly did not have the same thoughts, and spun around at Jake’s words.
“Jake! What do you mean ‘what’s so important?’ Paperwork is extremely important, especially paperwork that’s been sitting unfiled for ten whole days! Honestly Rosa you should have told me earlier and I’d have come in on Friday night to sort this out!”
Amy spoke passionately while Jake just rolled his eyes, and Rosa found herself in much more familiar territory. Amy freaking out over paperwork while Jake endlessly teased her is basically what she experiences every day at work, and has been their dynamic for as long as they’ve worked together.
Once Amy found a satisfactory pen (‘she probably has a specific pen for paperwork’ Rosa thought) she took the file out of Rosa’s outstretched hand, taking it over to the dining table to read over and sign. All Rosa could do was hope Amy would read quickly, as the familiar teasing hadn’t lessened her desire to get out of there as soon as possible, to put an end to the feeling of being suffocated by the sweetness this shared space seemed to radiate.
A knock at the door sounded through the apartment.
“Oh, that must be the food” Amy said, looking up from the report she was undoubtedly combing through for any spelling or grammar mistakes, “Jake will you get it?”
“What? Why can’t you? I’m comfy” Jake replied, further nestling down into the couch, before glancing up and seeing the glare Amy was giving him, “fiiiiine” he whined, heaving himself up from the couch, “but only because I love you.”
‘Oh. That’s new,’ Rosa thought, glancing over at Amy and seeing a slight blush coat her cheeks at Jake’s words. ‘That must be very new’ she thought, assessing Amy’s reaction. That must mean... she was right, something had changed. Their relationship wasn’t just serious, it was serious and they were in love. Everything she’d noticed since arriving suddenly made sense, Jake feeling so comfortable here in Amy’s home, the two of them having spent over a week in each other’s company, the domestic routine they have settled into, it was all because they were in love.
It was… sweet. She decided. Well, it was still weird to see, and she felt slightly uncomfortable in a way she didn’t quite understand, but she was happy for them. As much as she would never admit it to either of them, at least not yet, they were a good couple, and clearly made each other happy, so yeah. Being in love. It suited them.
After a quick exchange at the door, Jake returned with their food - setting it down on the coffee table before turning in the direction of the kitchen.
“Rosa, you’re welcome to stay if you want. We ordered way too much food for two people anyway, so you can eat if you’re hungry” Amy offered, smiling kindly in Rosa’s direction.
“Oh no, thanks but, I’m good” Rosa replied, her attention drawn over to the kitchen as she spoke, where Jake was gathering plates, forks, and seemingly fetching a half full bottle of wine from the refrigerator. ‘Sweet’ Rosa thought, but way too much for her.
“Oh okay, well, here you go! All signed and ready for sweet, sweet filing!” Amy beamed, handing Rosa the arrest report complete with her overly complicated signature.
“You’re weird” Rosa replied, taking the file out of her hands, causing Jake to snort in laughter from across the room. “I’m leaving now, bye”
“See ya at work tomorrow Diaz!” Jake calls from his place back on Amy’s couch, leaning over the armrest to flash a grin in her direction.
Amy walks her to the door, holding it open for her before saying a final goodbye. The door shut behind her and Rosa found herself standing in the hallway of Amy’s floor for a moment, hearing the faint buzz of the TV start up again as they hit play on whatever Jake had paused before. Coming back to herself, she swiftly left the building, heading back to work to file this god-damn report before going home herself.
Jake and Amy finally returned to work the next day, and things were normal. They sat opposite each other, blatantly flirted in a way they thought was subtle, though remained pretty boring and professional for the most part. But Rosa couldn’t help but feel like she knew the truth, she’d seen behind the curtain. Knowing that the man currently whooping and hollering his way through the precinct in celebration for closing a case was going to go home that night and drink wine curled up in a blanket with the women he loved. And the woman painstakingly replying to a week's worth of missed emails, and updating her weekly to-do list, would be curled right up there with him, eating take out together and watching some action movie. Everyone else in the precinct may know about their relationship, but Rosa couldn’t help but feel she was the only one who understood how serious it was. Looking over at Amy, and seeing the soft smile on her face as she watched Jake’s crazed antics, it was clear as day to Rosa that their relationship was here to stay, and that one day she would be attending their wedding, and, oh God, babysitting their kids.