ofnifflersandkings:

Title: Late For the Date
Character: Jake Peralta
A/n: It was a lot harder than I thought to manage school and this because i can no longer procrastinate writing during the day and then just stay up till 2am to finish a story.

Previous Part: http://ofnifflersandkings.tumblr.com/post/164424008027/title-minor-set-back-character-jake-peralta

•

In retrospect, it might have been a bad idea to invite you over to Jake’s place for the date. The whole building was unpredictable and he legitimately had nothing planned.

Jake slumped down in his seat, hands dragging down his face as he tried to formulate an idea in his head.

That or which persona he would take up when he inevitably makes a total and complete fool of himself in front of you therefore causing him to flee the country and herd goats to avoid the shame.

It’s just that he was so attracted to you, that sometimes he didn’t even know what he was saying to you half the time. He hadn’t felt that way about anyone in what felt like forever. Jake wanted to do this date right, and not halfass it like he did with everything else.

“Hey, Cassanova,” Gina said as she gracefully plopped into the seat next to his desk. “Little bird told me you managed to snag a date with (Y/n).”

“Is this little bird Charles?”

Gina laughed while her and Charles exchanged a quick glance at each other. “Maybe, anways tell me all the details of what you have planned.”

Jake huffed. “Funny you mention that, cause I got nothing.”

“That’s surprising coming from you. You’re usually the top guy when it comes to setting up dates.”

“That’s just it though, all my previous dates have been total flops. And I really want this one to work out,” He said, casting her a hopeful glance. “Any ideas?”

“Oh, you want a full on thing? Then no, I cannot be of help to you. But, Amy and her are good friends, so trying asking her,” Gina said, standing up and stretching. “But I mean if things don’t work out, send her my way.”

Jake only nodded, too distracted by his thoughts but when he did his head shot up. “Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?!”

•

To say it was chaos in the Peralta apartment would be a drastic understatement for the situation at hand. He had been taking better care of the apartment, but now it felt like every little thing was out of place and had to be taken care of asap.

God, is this how Santiago felt all the time?

That poor woman.

Jake pulled up his sleeve to check the time and saw that be still had an hour left before you were gonna arrive.

After his small discussion with Amy, he was fairly certain that the date would be pretty good. He learned that grand or extravagant gestures tend to make you uncomfortable, and if he treated this like a more casual hang out then you would enjoy yourself a lot more.

That was Jake’s main goal for the evening, to make you comfortable around him so you both could enjoy yourselves.

With everything done all he had to do was sit and wait for you to show up.

•

Jake checked his watch for the fifth time in the span of a three minutes. His knees jolted up and down nervously as he continued to glance at the door of his apartment, barely listening to the silly sitcom he had playing on the television.

You were almost twenty minutes late, something very unusual since Amy and Captain Holt would boast about your punctuality to him, in hopes something might rub off on him.

Another ten minutes passed and Jake tried not to let the hurt settle in, there weren’t any messages from you and if it was something serious he knew you would have called.

Jake let out a deep sigh and went to turn off the television when there were a few frantic knocks at the door.

His whole heart jumped at the sound and he tried to not seem too eager as he went to open the door. Taking a small moment to clear his throat and smoothen out his hair, Jake finally opened it.

“I am so sorry!” You said with a large huff. “So much was happening, I got lost in a bit of my work and then my aunt called me just as I was about to leave and the woman can talk for ages.”

Jake couldn’t keep back the smile, he was just so happy to see you and that he could avoid the potential heartbreak over you standing him up.

“It’s totally cool,” Jake said, trying to seem nonchalant while his heart felt like it was ready to hop out of his chest and take off screaming. “I mean I don’t have any aunts but I can imagine they would be delightful ladies who would talk to me a ton too.”

Jake brought you inside his apartment and gave you a small tour of where everything was. “Bathroom’s on the second door to the left if ya need it and bedroom is the last door of the hall if you need a quiet place to have a mental breakdown like I do twice a day.”

Jake’s ears perked up whenever you laughed and he noticed you open up your bag to pull something out.

“First of all, I wanted to say thank you for being so sweet about me being unbearably late for our date,” You then took out a paper bag and held it out to him, Jake couldn’t help but smile at the brightly colored chalk that stained your hands. “Secondly, I got this for you because I felt really bad about it.”

Jake feigned a suspicious look as he opened the bag and looked inside. “It’s an everything bagel!” He said with a happy laugh as he unwrapped it. “Look! It even has beef jerky! Where did you get this at?”

You gave him a wink and tapped the side of your nose. “I know a guy, makes anything I ask him to really. And I remember you talking about wanting one so I thought it would make up for me.”

Jake’s whole system was being overflooded with pleasant affection for you that he couldn’t help but lean over and give you a big hug.

Though when he realized what he did he almost dropped the bagel. “I’m sorry, that was really awkward and I dunno how comfortable you are with that kind of stuff.”

You smiled at him and shook your head. “No it’s fine, I thought it was pretty cute.”

Jake set the food aside and helped you out of your coat. “Now the date can officially begin!”

•

You stiffled a laugh as you reached out to move Jake’s head back to it’s former position. “Jake Peralta, if you’re going to be my muse then you have to sit still.”

After watching a couple comedies and spending a good few of hours just talking and exchanging funny stories while the two of enjoyed each other’s company. Then you finally managed to convince Jake to let you draw him.

Trouble was, he kept making silly faces or intentionally moving poses to try and get a reaction out of you. “I’m your muse? I’m not an overly kinky man, but I must say, I do like the sound of that.”

You shot him a look and pushed on his shoulder so he’s stumble out of his weird position on the couch. “Hush up, you’re distracting me from my art.”

Jake placed his chin in his hand and watched your hands float around the sketchbook and how your eyes would quickly switch between his face and the page. “You’re incredibly attractive like this, did you know that?”

You smiled, still keeping your gaze on the paper. “Why Mr. Peralta, you are quite foward.”

Jake chuckled, tilting his head ever slightly. “It’s true, Gina was telling me about the whole attractive artist thing and I gotta say that I’m into it.”

“Guess that’s lucky for me then.” You said, smudging one part of his shirt while you debated what to do next, missing Jake’s content sigh while he watched you.

“Just a bit more,” You said, taking one last glance up at him and then tossing your pencil aside. “Done!”

Jake eagerly waited for you to flip the sketchbook over but when you didn’t he raised an eyebrow. “Well? Aren’t you gonna show me?”

“Should I?” You asked, placing it close to your chest so it was totally concealed. “I don’t think you’ve earned it.”

“Not fair! I am the best muse an artist could have!” He argued, trying to steal the book away from you.

“Lemme see!”

“Nah, I don’t feel like it.”

“(Y/n)!”

Jake started tickling your sides. “Show me! Let me gaze upon my beautiful face!” His laughter mixing with yours whenever you tried to swat him away.

“Fine! Fine!” You wheezed, pushing him off of you enough to plop the page onto his lap.

“Aw man,” Jake said as he held the picture close to him. “I look absolutely dreadful, is this what I look like all the time because I should really work on that.”

You nudged him. “Shut up, you’re not that bad.”

Jake wiggled his eyebrows. “(Y/n), are you trying to tell me that I’m pretty.”

“Would you mind if I was?”

Jake blushed, and cleared his throat. “N-Not at all.”

You leaned against him. “Well you’re pretty handsome, Peralta.”

Jake looked down at you and smiled. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

“Thank you, I try my best,” You said with a smile, leaning over to look at the clock on the microwave. “Oh wow, I think I should be heading home.” You announced, rolling off the coach and springing to your feet.

He stood up, handing you your sketchbook and helping you retrieve your things. “You’re leaving me so soon?” He asked once the two of you were at the door. “I didn’t get to turn my charm on.”

You smiled over your shoulder while putting your coat on. “I think you were charming enough, besides if I hang around you too much I’ll lose the allure.”

Jake leaned against the doorframe while you finished getting situated. “Well, you’re welcome at my place any time. I’d be happy to have you over again.”

“I might take you up on that offer, Detective Peralta,” You said, smiling whenever he chuckled. “Anyways, thank you for a very fun evening.”

“It was fun for me too. Definitely ranks pretty high on my best date list.” Jake said, your gazes meeting briefly as he decided weither or not to kiss your goodnight.

“I’ll see you later then.” You said before he could make up his mind.

“Goodnight, let me know when you get home safe.” Jake told you, awkwardly shaking your hand.

You smiled and nodded before turning around for breif second, then quickly facing him again, lightly tugging on the front of his shirt to give him a small kiss on his cheek.

“Will do.” You said, letting him go and walking down the hallway.

Jake leaned over the doorframe to make sure you were gone before fist bumping the air and closing the door.

Definitely the top of his best date list.