Summary:
Jake, not knowing how to deal with his feelings, became a bit... moody from time to time, more than usual. He didn't have many issues in the past when it came to liking people romantically. Hell, he even had a crush on Sam at one point, but it was different this time. He hadn't bullied any of his previous crushes, and sometimes it was hard enough being friends with Felix because of their past. What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? "Hi Felix, you know how I used to egg your house, throw things at you, call you names and beat you up? Yeah, turns out I like you now, wanna go out sometime?" Probably wouldn't go so well.
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If you told Jake Riles at the beginning of year 10 that, in a few months, he would be sent to another universe, he would've scoffed and pushed you around a bit. But if you told him that, because of being sent to an alternative universe, he would end up being friends with and having a crush on Felix Ferne of all people, he would've probably beat the living shit out of you. And yet, here he was, good mates with and getting tongue-tied around the weird, freaky goth kid who used to be one of his main targets.
Jake, not knowing how to deal with his feelings, became a bit... moody from time to time, more than usual. He didn't have many issues in the past when it came to liking people romantically. Hell, he even had a crush on Sam at one point, but it was different this time. He hadn't bullied any of his previous crushes, and sometimes it was hard enough being friends with Felix because of their past. What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? "Hi Felix, you know how I used to egg your house, throw things at you, call you names and beat you up? Yeah, turns out I like you now, wanna go out sometime?" Probably wouldn't go so well.
-/-/-/-/-
"Hey Jake! We're going to the shack after school, you coming?" Sam asked him after English.
"Nah, have some stuff to deal with." He replied.
Sam stopped him in the middle of the corridor. "You okay, dude? You seem a bit out of it lately."
"Yeah, there's just some shit going on, ya know? I'll be fine, mate. Don't worry about it."
"Okay... if you say so."
-/-/-/-/-
After school had ended, Jake went home, dropped off his backpack, changed clothes and went to his quiet place. His quiet place was a grassy area near a stream that his mum would take him to when he was younger, it was also where he discovered his ability to control earth so it kinda became a habit of his to go there and practice his earth powers without distractions.
He sat at the edge of the small hill and threw pebbles in the water, thinking over everything that had happened while he was gone, when Andy went missing and what he would do about his Felix issue. He thought that the best idea would be to ignore his feelings and hope they would go away. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side.
"You know, if you keep up this whole angst fest, I'll be out of a job."
Jake looked behind him to see Felix walking towards him, shrugging his bag off and placing it on the grass.
"I'm the goth one, remember?" Felix said as he sat down, stretching his legs out and hanging them over the edge of the hill.
"You never know, I just might look good in black." Jake said with no emotion, throwing another pebbling into the water below.
Felix nudged Jake's shoulder. "Okay, what's up with you?"
"The sky." Jake replied sarcastically.
"C'mon, you've been acting weird recently."
"Oh, that's rich, coming from you!"
Felix was starting to get pissed. "Seriously, Jake. What is your problem?"
Jake stood up, throwing the last small rock in his hand into the stream. "You wanna know what my problem is? My problem is you, Felix!"
Felix stood up, matching Jake in height. He wouldn't let himself be intimidated by him anymore, whether they were friends now, or not. "Right, okay! How have I fucked up this time?"
"You just... and your.... And your stupid face."
"Wow, those are some solid reasons to be a fuckin' arsehole, Jake."
Jake sighed, sitting down on a large rock. "Look, I didn't mean to, okay?"
Felix crossed his arms. "Didn't mean to what? Be a fuckin' prick?"
"No. Well, yeah, that too. But..." Jake began to trail off.
"But what? Jake, you know you can talk to me, right? I know I'm not as good as Sam when it comes to talking about stuff and I know that you're pretty close to Andy, but, I'm your friend too."
Jake put his arm over his eyes and laid down on the rock. "That's the problem."
Felix paused, looking over at Jake. "Your problem is... that I'm your friend? Shit, Jake. It's not that hard to tell someone you hate them, hell, you used to constantly tell me all the time!"
"The problem is that you're friends with me after I did all that terrible shit to you! How can you even hang around me? Why would you put up with me?"
Felix walked over to Jake and nudged his knee with his leg so Jake could move over and let Felix sit down. "Look, yeah, you used to be a massive dick. Huge. I mean gigantic!"
Jake interrupted him by hitting him in the gut as he sat up.
"Oww! Okay, jeez. Point is, you've changed. You realized how fucked up you were acting before and decided to fix it, for your mum, for Andy, for Mike, even for me. But most importantly, you did it for yourself. Shit like that takes guts."
"Really?"
"Yeah, you standing up to Trent and Dylan? Honestly, one of my favourite moments while we were gone." Felix paused for a moment, looking at Jake and then to the ground. "I'm actually really glad we're friends, Jake."
Jake smiled. "Yeah, me too." Jake moved his eyesight away from Felix and over to the stream. "Which is why I'm afraid I'll ruin it."
"Uh, no offence, Jake, but, if anyone is gonna ruin anything, it's gonna be me. It's kinda my thing." Felix said jokingly.
Jake decided to rip the band-aid off. "I like you."
"Yeah, I like you too. We just went over this."
"No, I like you, like you."
"Oh."
Jake stood up. "Forget it." He said, starting to walk home.
"Jake." Felix managed to catch Jake's arm. "I like you too."
"Oh."
"That's what all this was about?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, the world's not crumbling apart because we're not just friends anymore. I think you'll be okay."
"Yeah, well. Wait..." Jake stopped. "Did you just make an earth joke."
Felix smirked, grabbing his bag and running off. "Last one to the shack is a rotten egg!" He yelled.
Jake smiled. "Oh, you are so on!"
