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N I N E

"miscommunication"

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warning: just in case i think i should say that from this chapter on, there's gonna be some angst and violence (i don't know if i'd count this one, but again, just in case), i'm gonna put a warning in each chapter thoughΒ 

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Jake's POV

HE KNOCKED ON SARAH'S DOOR, accommodating the collar of his shirt. When she opened, he tried to smile, wishing he could actually mean it. Her face told that too, like they both were thinking the same thing but wouldn't share it. Jake knew that keeping secrets between them wasn't good at all for their relationship, but, suddenly, it all felt new. Not a good kind of new, though. Something he wasn't ever gonna get used to.

"Jake," Sarah said, nodding towards the inside. Jake found the place so familiar. Of course, he lived there before. "Come in."Β 

Stepping inside that place was weird. He could tell that Sarah found it odd as well, because none of them seemed to be that comfortable. Maybe it was weird that he was there, but they were only gonna work on a case together. It was a work thing. They were gonna be professional.Β 

"Are you sure we should be working on it here?" Sarah asked. "I mean, you know what Holt thinks about bringing cases with us."

"It's gonna be fine," Jake replied, taking his hoodie off.Β 

"Alright," Sarah put the box with the files on the table of her living room and started checking the binders and folders. They had discussed many of the information already. Jake sat on the couch, feeling home.Β 

"So, going over the case, we basically have no suspects. They interrogated the mother of the murdered. She said that everyone loved him and she didn't know why someone would do something like that, but they found written threats."

Sarah clicked her tongue. "About motive... maybe he was involved in something illegal. Maybe he was thinking to betray somebody, it could be anything."

"Yeah, it could be anything... I'll tell Rosa if she can help," Jake said, and texted his friend. Once he finished, he put his phone next to Sarah's, on the table.Β 

Sarah stood up. "Try to think of something, I'll be back," she said, and as she walked away, Jake just stayed there, tapping his feet against the floor.

But then, his phone buzzed. He thought maybe Rosa had already answered, but it was too late when he noticed that he hadn't grabbed his phone, but Sarah's instead. And he saw a message. Something that left him terribly confused but that also made anger grow inside him, for some reason.

Henry: hey, are we going out tonight?Β 

Since the name didn't sound familiar to Jake, he frowned, curious. He didn't remember Sarah mentioning any Henry before, and they always told the other everything. Of course, that was before all of that happened, but she would've told Jake about him surely. So... who was that?

Jake was not impulsiveβ€”at least not when he felt that way... jealous. He hated feeling like that, and he tried to be cautious and respectful, but at that moment... he wanted to know who Henry was and why he was asking to go out with Sarah. And he knew that they weren't so good, but if he would've been the one to start dating again he would've told her.

Gulping, he glanced up, making sure Sarah wasn't coming, and with an inevitable sensation of guilt knotting his stomach, he began to scroll up on their conversation and immediately thought it was a mistake. He found out they had been seeing each other for a while. He didn't know what for, but he didn't want to see more to find out too.Β 

"What are you doing?"Β 

Jake jumped on his seat and looked up to see Sarah there, her arms crossed over her chest. Shit.

"Who's Henry?" Jake asked.

"Answer my question first."

"Who is him?" Jake also stood up. He was taller than Sarah but he was pretty sure she wasn't scared of him. And she shouldn't be, of course.Β 

"I'll answer when you answer."

Jake sighed. "I took your phone thinking it was mine and then I saw his message," his voice came out as though his throat was sore. He was tense and he'd never felt smaller, but also... had Sarah replaced him that easy?

"He's my friend," Sarah said with a challening tone. "I met him like a week ago or so, at a cafΓ©. That's it."

"Yeah, but..." Jake shook his head, narrowing his eyes. "It's unbelieavable."

"What is?"

"That as soon as we're not together you already found someone else."

"We're not even dating!" Sarah said, she seemed to be getting angry. Jake didn't like to be used to that tension forming between them, but unfortunately, he was. They had been fighting so often lately that it was almost impossible they didn't start yelling after a few words.Β 

"Maybe I should go," Jake said, putting his hoodie back on.Β 

Sarah rolled her eyes as Jake exited her apartment, but she went behind him. Jake was overwhelmed and annoyed and he didn't want her to follow him, but he knew she was stubborn and wasn't gonna listen to him.Β 

"Jake," she called him.Β 

"What?" he snapped before going into the elevator, then it occured to him that if he went inside she would too, so he took the stairs. Then again... Sarah followed. "Stop. Go away."

"That's not gonna fix this. You're always running from your problems. Always."

"Say whatever you want, I don't wanna listen to you," Jake said, covering his ears childishly.

He heard Sarah's muffled complains until he arrived to the street, received by a chilly night, and before he entered his car, he turned around to face her, noticing she was almost in tears from all the yelling. Even if he was mad and confused by what he'd read and what she'd told, Jake didn't like to see Sarah that way. It hurt him. It was all screwed up.Β 

Whatever Charles, Rosa and Amy tried to do to "fix" that, it was surely gonna change nothing. There was no way they could go back to normal.

"Sarah, it's late. I was here to work on a case. You know what we're going through, so please... stop," Jake said, emphasizing the last word, like he was begging her to do it.Β 

"Don't you think I want to stop too?"

"So then do it."

"It's not that easy."

"Why not?"

"Because every time we talk it just gets worse and I don't think I can keep bearing that," a tear went down Sarah's right cheek. She wipped it immediately, looking at her feet.Β 

"I don't like it either, but... we're too different. You think that what happens to you isn't fair and I think that what happens to me isn't fair. That's how it works."

"I told you we could change itβ€”"

But Sarah was cut off in the middle of her sentence... They both heard a noise and exchanged looks. Jake froze, looking for the origin of it, but they didn't see anything, until...Β 


Sarah's POV

SHE LOOKED AROUND, it was all too dark to see clearly. Jake examined the street as well, but neither could identify what caused the noise. She was about to start talking to him again when a man suddenly ran next to them. It was all too fast. Sarah could only see the black clothes that the man wore, and the knife he held with his hand, its blaze reflecting the moonlight. She didn't have time to do anything.

"Ow!" Jake winced. Sarah saw blood coming from his arm, and felt dizzy right away.Β 

"Hey!" she told the man, but again, he was faster. He punched her on the stomach and kicked her so she fell backwards. She almost hit her head when she did, but luckily she was able to stop before it touched the ground. "Son of a bitch," she said.

None of them had their guns or badges on them, which made Sarah feel totally vulnerable. She sat up, recovering, and rubbed her head, which had entered in a terrible pain, and so did her abdomen. Her lungs tried to process air, but it was difficult.Β 

"Gross," she heard Jake said, and noticed the big cut on his arm. Sarah didn't look away, because she had to help him. He sat on the floor, leaning against his car.

"Shit. Are you okay?" Sarah got closer to see better.

"Yeah, it was just a shallow cut," Jake said, pressing his hoodie against the cut. There wasn't a lot of blood, though Jake had to be in pain too. "Did you see where that bastard went?"

Sarah shook her head. "No... it's too dark."

"Did he hurt you?"

"He only punched me," she said. For some reason, she felt like smiling at the question. Seconds ago they were fighting, Jake seemed really angry, and yet... he cared about her.Β 

"Why do you think he was here?"Β 

Sarah shrugged, but then something occured to her... she remembered the call again. She didn't even know who had called her, but the fact that one night she received it and then the next one somebody tried to stab her... it couldn't be a coincidence. The events had to be connected. But the man had not only hurt her, he also was there for Jake. Her eyes widened.

"Jake..."

"What?"

"Did you get any weird call last night?"Β 

At first Jake seemed to find the question a little strange, until he must've realized something and nodded.Β 

"That's why I remembered the name..." he told himself, and then he said to Sarah, "yesterday I was at my apartment and this anonymous person called saying he warned us to drop the case we were just working on. They said that we had to drop it, or..."

"Or?"

"Or they'd kill us."

"Well..." Sarah stared at him, "shit."

"We gotta go," Jake said, standing up and wincing at his cut.Β 

"Careful," Sarah said, rubbing her abdomen as she also got to her feet.Β 

"They now probably now where you live. I'll tell the squad to go my apartment."

"At this hour they are probably going to sleep," Sarah said, checking her watch. It wasn't so late, but Charles and Terry had children, and well, they were all cops.Β 

Jake and Sarah went quickly back to her apartment, only to grab all their stuff, and then got into Jake's car to drive over to his place. Sarah was behind the wheel, for Jake was still taking care of his cut. The entire ride was silent, but they didn't mind this time, neither did they feel uncomfortable. They were both scared and shocked, and Sarah had the feeling that Jake didn't wanna talk about what happened before the attack either.Β 

She did want to, though, but that was for later. Right now she had to focus on something else.Β 

Once they were at Jake's apartment, he started making some calls, as Sarah rested on his bed, since her head hurt more and more. She was taking a pill to calm the pain, but her clusmy hands dropped it.

Cursing, she noticed how it went under the bed, and she had to lay on the floor to reach it. But before she could do it, she saw something else, something shiny... it was a ring.Β 

"What?" she mumbled, and grabbed it instead. She had to squint, but a thought struck her head. What if... Jake was gonna propose?Β 

At first it sounded crazy to her, but it was totally possible. He'd been really nervous lately, and that could be another reason of why he'd been so depressed too. Because, in the state of their relationship, she would've never said yes.Β 

However...

Sarah was gonna keep spiralizing, but she heard Jake's footsteps behind and tossed the ring under the bed again, grabbing her pill this time.Β 

"Do you feel better?" Jake asked. He had put a bandage on his left arm, where he had the cut.

"Y... yes, thanks," Sarah said, even though she hadn't even taken the pill yet.

"Great."

"What about you? How's your cut?"

"It's okay," Jake said. Maybe he wasn't lying, but Sarah knew him, he would say anything for other people not to worry about him even when he was in pain.Β 

"Who did you talk to?"

"I called Holt and Terry. Sarge said he's gonna see what ha can do, but we can't obviously drop the case, so Holt suggested that they could work on it, while we... hide."

"You and me?"

"Yes."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, like, be in another place while they catch whoever sent the threats. They have us tracked, but I already checked my things, I don't have any tracker or something like that."

"So... we'll be in a witness protection program?"

"Basically," Jake took a deep breath, sitting next to Sarah. He hesitated, but then he began to rub her back.Β It was really reassuring, and being by his side made her feel like there was no problem, as if no one had sent any threats and as if there had never been any problems between the two of them. "But don't worry, okay? We'll be fine..."

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