Work Text:
Jake sat at his desk trying to ignore all the noises that surrounded him. The clock gradually ticking. The sounds of shoes scuffling across the floor. The disorganized chatter amongst his coworkers. He tried to dismiss the way the fluorescent light made his eyes burn. And the way his clothes scratched like needles across his body.
Charles sat in front of him rambling on about some dish that he made over the weekend, but Jake couldn't understand what he was saying. And not in the normal 'I don't understand these chef terms so I'm just going to ignore you' type of way; this was more of an 'everything your saying is muffled' kind of way instead. Like his friends' words had been cloaked in a blanket and blurred from reality.
He tried his best to pretend everything was fine. But as his breathing got more shallow and tears formed in his eyes, he knew he wasn't fine and he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up the act.
"Sorry, Charles but I need to go real quick, " He answered hastily, racking his brain for an excuse but all he found her his scattered thoughts.
"Sure. Is everything alright?" He asked his best friend concerned noticing his off behavior.
"Yep, just need to go...do stuff, " He choked out, quickly grabbing his phone and walking out of the bullpen and towards the evidence locker.
He desperately searched for the light switch, squinting at the unbearable brightness. Jake sighed contently once the light was off, before losing all oxygen in his lungs. It felt as if a rope had been tied around his chest, unwilling to give him any air. He made his way to a corner and slid down the wall, laying his head in between his knees.
He flinched as he felt a hand on him, looking up to see his childhood best friend. She rubbed his back soothingly and he quickly melted into her touch. He was glad she was here but Jake wondered how Gina knew what happened. Was it that obvious that something was going on? Had everyone else noticed as well?
"I'm the only one who knows anything," She reassured, playing with a loose curl in his hair, twirling it around her fingers.
"Did I say that out loud?" He asked thinking back to his previous thoughts.
"No, I just know you," She admitted honestly.
"Oh," He breathed out, giving her a gentle smile, "How did you–"
"Baby boy, I know you better than you know yourself," She explained, "I made you a promise and I haven't broke it so far."
~
Jake and Gina sat in their Spanish class, listening to their teacher drone on about the importance of speaking Spanish in her class.
Gina sat blowing on her freshly painted nails before a note was slipped to her.
'I feel like I cant breathe'
Gina was immediately able to recognize Jake's messy handwriting. After reading it, she looked towards her best friend and saw how frantic he looked. She picked up and pen and scribbled something on the back of his note. A chain of kids had to pass the paper along before Jake received the message.
'What's wrong? Should you go to the nurse? Maybe you're having a heartattack. You should make sure your not dying'
He looked at her and shook his head with a small smile.
'It's happened before and I havnt died yet
Just to loud in here'
She looked at him confused before writing something down.
Jake unfolded the paper that had been passed to him and read her cursive writing.
'Bathroom.'
He raised his hand, waiting for his teacher to call on him. After what seemed like a lifetime, she acknowledged him.
"Can I go–"
"In Eśpanol' She yelled.
"Uh...Can me go dós la baño?" He stuttered out, trying to keep his breathing under control.
She sighed at his Spanish but waved him off and he quickly ran out of the class.
Gina knew she couldn't ask to go to the bathroom at the same time so instead, she ripped a piece of paper from her notebook and threw it towards the front of the class, hitting a kid in the head. When his head whipped around, she quickly hid her face in her book, pretending to take notes. And when he went to the teacher to tell her what happened, ("tattle-tale," Gina thought) she used the opportunity to sneak out the door without anyone noticing.
She made her way to the boys' bathroom without anyone noticing as well and locked the door behind her. She saw Jake sitting on the floor fidgeting with his fingers and sat next to him.
She carefully placed her hand on his shoulder but quickly pulled away when he flinched at her touch.
"Sorry, can you do that again?" He sheepishly asked but she complied, rubbing his shoulders with her thumb.
"Remember when we were little," She started, think back towards the memory, "and we were playing hide and seek? I was counting and you had managed to climb up the tree at the park. And once I found your hiding spot, you were too scared to come down."
Jake laughed at the memory, "And then your mom had to get in the tree to get me down."
"Yeah, you looked so stupid," She laughed at him playfully and he couldn't help but laugh as well. They reminisced about more childhood memories until his labored breathing went back to normal.
"Are you okay?" She asked wiping a tear from his face.
"I don't know why this happens," He admitted, "I don't get it. It's just annoying."
"It's fine if you don't understand it. Just let me help you," She held out her pinky, "If you let me, I will help you every single time it happens."
"What about when I'm a genius hero-detective and you're a famous reality person?" He asked thinking about their future.
"Then you can call me with your telegraphic phone from the future, and I'll help you then."
"Promise?" He asked, locking his pinky with hers.
"Promise," She repeated, shaking their hands causing them both to erupt into a fit of giggles.
~
"Thanks, Gines," Jake said, resting his head on her shoulder.
"Of course boo." She twirled his curl around her finger until he stood up, brushing off his pants. She copied him and she checked the time.
"We only have a couple hours left. We could just skip," She offered. "Remember when we used to do that and go to Sal's? It was so much fun."
"Gina we're not middle schoolers anymore we can't just skip," Jake explained as they started walking back to the bullpen.
"God you're so boring now," She complained but they both went back to their desk.
"Where were you? Are you okay?" Charles asked as soon as Jake stepped into the bullpen causing everyone to look at them.
"Jesus man I'm fine," He ushered them to his desk ignoring everyone's weird stares. "Just...got a headache."
"Oh, well I have a headache remedy using pig sperm and–"
"Lalalalalalala" Jake sang loudly putting his fingers in his ears until Charles walked away.
Gina stopped by his desk and handed him a bottle of water.
"Eww. There's no flavor in here," He complained but Gina hit him in the back of the head. "Ow."
"I don't care. You just cried all of the orange soda you've ever drank out of your body and we both know you can't afford to go to the hospital for dehydration,"
"Aww you’re taking care of me," Jake gushed jokingly.
"Yeah, whatever. Don't get used to it," Gina said before walking back to her desk. She kicked her legs on top of the desk and got on her phone regaining her normal 'Gina' composure.
Jake smiled and opened the bottle, trying his best to chug down his "least favorite drink".
"Jake Peralta drinking water? Who are you and what have you done with my partner," Amy joked sitting back down.
"Haha" He replied dryly before gulping some more water and grimacing at the taste.
Jake got back to his work filling out a case file and finally finished (even though he protested constantly claiming "paperwork is dumb")
Jake finally finished the water and threw it into the trash bin across the room (and pretended he didn't see it miss and roll into the break room). He checked his phone and saw a missed message from Gina. He rolled his eyes as he realized how humanity relied too much on talking to screens rather than face to face and it could probably end up having some major negative effects in the future. But he ignored his thoughts and opened the text.
'u feeling better boo?' Her text asked.
'Yeah thank you :)' He responded quickly.
'Of course'
'I looove u Gina' He replied
'Weird'
'Admit it u luv me' She rolled her eyes to him but texted back.
'Fine'
He waited until she responded to put his phone away.
'Luv U 2 loser'