𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐒 | Jake Peralta

twelve.

T W E L V E

"imperfect choices"

—

Jake's POV

HE NEEDED A DRINK. It only had passed a few seconds after his fight with Sarah when he texted Charles, Rosa, Amy, Gina and Terry, and told them to meet him at Shaw's that night. That was why Jake didn't need therapy, because he had enough venting with his friends, drunk. Or at least that was how he saw it, though deep down he knew it must be wrong. However, blinded by sadness, there he was, Charles and the rest of the squad next to him.

"And she called you selfish?!" a two-drink Amy yelled, and then cleared her throat. "Sorry, this is the lowest my voice can be!"

"No problem," Charles told her, and then turned to Jake, who drank a big gulp from his beer. "But why did you two start fighting?" Charles asked.

Jake stared at him. He thought that no one would noticed that he had skipped that part. But he was not ashamed, but he feared their reactions. What would they do? Look pitifully at him and be condescending towards him for the next three months, just like they had done when Sophia left him.

"We started fighting because... she confessed her feelings to me," Jake slurred in a whisper.

"So she told you she liked you?" said Gina, smirking, and bowed her head, her eyes barely open. "Oh, yeahhh, this story started getting interesting." 

"Yes, and maybe she was lying," Jake suddenly felt like he wanted to cry. Maybe it was the alcohol, but he was almost sure that it was mixed with what he actually thought. He unbuttoned his shirt and finished his fourth beer. He was unfortunately having a déjà vu, it was just like the drinks he'd have with Sarah. Ugh, even thinking about her name. He couldn't bear that. 

"What makes you think she was lying?" Terry intervened. "We've all seen her, she really likes you, man, and it hurts Terry that you fought."

Jake giggled. 

"Wooo!" Amy shouted next to him, and started moving her arms around. "Three-drink Amy! Amy dance pants, ladies and gentlemen!" she stood up from their booth, and a drunk Terry joined her as they started dancing. 

"Now that I can talk without drunk Amy," Rosa leaned to speak to Jake, "I think that what you two did was wrong. Both. None of you were considering what the other had beent through."

Jake frowned. "Whaaat?"

Rosa shook her head. "Forget it, I thin we should have that talk when you sober up. Want some water?"

"No, thanks," said Jake, and he also stood up from the booth, noticing that Charles and Gina had both fell asleep on each other's shoulder, and were snoring. He chuckled to himself and made his way to the bar. "One scotch please," he asked the bar tender. As Hank brought his drink, Jake spotted someone there, inside Shaw's. Oh, it was that son of a bitch. "Oliver Freeman."

Hank, the bar tender, gave Jake his drink, and he took it in one gulp before wobbling towards where Rosa sat alone and drank in silence, as she liked it. 

"You look upset," she told Jake. She was not that much of a good drinker, but it seemed like her head could still work. Jake scoffed.

"Yes, I am upset," he said, leaning against the wall to hold balance. "You see that man, sitting alone in the corner? He's the one that Sophia cheated on me with. What a loser, right?"

"He does look like a loser, but he's kinda hot," said Rosa, narrowing her eyes.

"He's not," Jake snapped, sniffing. Seeing Oliver again was terrible, a magnet of bad memories that he had not been able to replace. Again, the night that he found out about them, his dream, Sarah Moore, the fight... it was all a complete wreck, just like him. Jake rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and thundered his fingers. "You know what, Rosa? I think I'm gonna go get Sophia back."