"The Jock and The Nerd always get together." DIRKJAKE HIGHSCHOOL AU

"Revenge in a Photo Frame"

After being excluded from his school for 20 days, and adding to that will be 25 more days once Meenah's back from the hospital and in school, which results in the maximum sentence of exclusion just before permanent exclusion. Ever since the incident, Dirk has visited almost every day to check up on Jake and see how he's dealing with himself emotionally. It's been a week since Meenah threatened Jake's life, hopefully, metaphorically, and today was the first day a social worker would be visiting.

Jade was (going) out, seeing it was a sunny day, and Bec was willing to have a second walk, she decided it would be a great idea to take him out. "You wanna come, Jake? If a dog walk doesn't cheer you up, we can play a crappy game of Pokémon Go! Haha." Jade asked with a grin. There was a knock at the door and anxiety crawled up Jake's spine. "I'll get it," said Jake, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. "Jade, how about you get going with the little dog walk of yours, 'ey, chum?" He smiled, walking towards the front door as Jade's eyebrows furrowed. She soon left, though, running out the back door as she lazily shoved Bec's leash on.

English's breath hitched as he opened the door, flinching almost. "You good, English?" It was Dirk. His breathing soon steadied again to a healthy pace. "I'm good, Strider."

~~

"Where you goin' little man?" Dave asked his younger brother.

Dirk opened the front door a crack before stopping briefly and turning around. "Jake's house." The elder Strider was soon standing at the front doorway, leaning on the door itself, forcing it shut. "Who's Jake?" Dave inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Of fucking course, you don't know who Jake is. Have you even noticed I've been going 'round his house for the past god damn week, you imbecile." Dirk snapped. Dave raised up both his hands as if to say, "ok, ok, I surrender,"

"Wow, okay. I've been caught up with work lately. Do you know how hard it is to get a shitty comic movie thing to go fuckin' viral." Dave smirked, rolling his eyes.

"Caught up with your work LATELY?! Almost every-fucking-day you're caught up with work. Do you know how hard it is for ME to deal with a brother who doesn't even know who I am, or what I'm doing half the time?! It's like you have fucking dementia for god's sake. I'd kick your ass right now, but Jake's more important. Fuck off man, and move out of the god damn way." Dirk swore and hissed as his shocked brother slowly removed his body weight of off the door, leading his brother to grab the doorknob and open the door with full force, slamming it at a speed that would wake the entire neighbourhood at night.

Aranea Serket, who was walking just around the corner, attached to her book, as per usual, looked up in surprise as she heard the slam. Her eyes landed on a frustrated Strider, who had his fists balled so tightly, his knuckles were a pale white. He shook his head momentarily, flipping off an elder boy in the window of his home, then continued walking straight onwards. Now where could Dirk Strider be going on a Saturday?

Sneaking behind the man with a various amount of space between her and himself, Aranea followed Dirk unsuspiciously all the way to someone's house, which was later revealed to be Jake's, the boy who broke her crush's neck.

Serket got out her phone. 'What if something juicy happens? Something I can spread around the school? Meenah would totally dig that.' Aranea thought. Her heart raced as all of the outcomes popped into her brain, she snickered quietly, sneaking into the small area of green conveniently placed beside Jake's house, along with a bushy tree. Seeing the tall tree, Aranea used her spider climbing skills to make her way up the middle branch, which was thankfully thick enough for her to sit on just about comfortably.

~~

"Today? The social worker's coming 'round today?" Dirk raised an eyebrow.

"I think? I mean, they haven't visited me this week, so why not now?" Jake said, looking around nervously as he gulped.

Some footsteps were heard coming down the stairs, they were slow and cautious. small breathes here and there, aaannnddd... "Jake? Oh, oh it was only Mr Strider. Hello, young man." Jake's grandmother smiled, waving her small wrinkly hands back and fourth with a small smile. "Tea, dear?"

"Yes please, Nanna." Jake smiled, but looked towards Dirk as he got up.

Nanna was already right by the kettle, gathering a cup, the sugar pot, a spoon and a teabag. Dirk tapped her shoulder. "Don't worry Mrs E, I'll do it, how 'bout you plop your little grandma bum on the couch and chill, you do plently already, huh?" Dirk grinned. Grandma English thanked Dirk massively, even cheekily placing a small kiss on his cheek, soon giggling and wiping away her lipstick mark. "Blimey, Dirk, aren't you a kind young man. I've still got some oil in my engine to kick some butt though, so you really don't have to do the small thing for me, but if you insist I'll kick my elderly feet up, hehe!" She laughed, running to the sofa to sit down. She turned to Jake. "I'd marry him if I were you!" Jake blushed a bright red, while Dirk just cleared his throat. "I've lived longer than either of your parents, so I know a good connection when I see one!"

As Jake continuously tried to fight off the idea of marrying Dirk, and Strider brang in the tea, a knock at the door once again occured. The hot drink was placed on the coffee table in front of Jake, who soon got up, only to be stopped by Dirk. "I'll get it, stay here." He sat down again.

Soon, a tall woman looking a reasonable suiting age of 30, stepped inside, standing in front of Jake, Dirk and Grandma English.

"Please," Mrs E spoke. "Take my seat. Fancy a tea? Coffee?"

"Water Would Be Fine, Thank You, Mrs English." The lady sat beside Jake. "You Must Be Jake. My Name Is Dolorosa Maryam, I Recognise That You Go To My Youngest Daughter's School, And Eldest, In Fact."

Jake gulped. "Kanaya and Porrim, yes I'm familiar with them." He looked around, attmepting to avoid awkward eye contact.

"No Need To Be Scared, Or Nervous, Jake, I'm Here To Help You Regain Trust In Yourself And Protect You." Rosa smiled sweetly, her deep green eyes warming the entire situation completely.

~~

Dolorosa continued to reassure Jake, tell him various important other details, which are unimportant for you as a reader.

"Okay, so Jake's 8een let off and now Maryam's mother is helping him regain lost friendships and all sorts. Pathetic." Aranea spoke into her phone as she videod a small section of their discussion through a window. She then proceeded to send it to various people on Snapchat, making sure she definitely sent it to Meenah to continue their 23 day long streak.

Soon enough, the social worker had left, along with Mrs English to do her weekly shopping, leaving Dirk and Jake to their own devices.

"See, that wasn't so bad, hey man?" Dirk smiled, placing a hand on Jake's shoulder.

"No, I thought it'd be a pain in the arse, but thanks to you, I guess it wasn't, bro." Jake grinned, shoving an arm around his tall friend. "How about we play some video games in my room."

Aranea made sure to take pictures of their little gay parade, before climbing out the tree. "I'll 8e 8ack."