The beeping of the alarm clock woke up Jake. He lazily slapped the stop button and shook his head, clearing the drowsiness of the night before out of his head. He laid back down on his back, staring at the ceiling. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed slightly, lost in his own world.
Emma stirred beside him and turned over to face him, placing her hand on his chest and her head on his shoulder. “You okay?” she asked, looking up at him. He smiled back down at her and nodded, not trusting his voice. Thoughts were flying around his head and he didn’t know what to do with them.
He stood up abruptly and walked over to the bathroom down the hall. He felt Emma’s curious gaze follow his bare back as he closed the door behind him. He sighed and looked around the tiny bathroom. It was a big change at first, going from the spacious house of Miss Peregrine back to a tiny house unlike the kind he grew up in, but the familiarity of the tight space made the transition easier on him.
He looked at the barren wooden door, the cracked sink that was being held together by hope and pieces of tape; emphasis on the latter one. The sink counter was tiny and held Emma’s hairbrush and three toothbrushes; one for him, Emma, and Charlie. The cabinets below were broken and one was half hanging off its hinges, but they still worked. A chipped mirror hung above that, and a naked bulb on a string above that. The shower was a corner of the bathroom where a faucet-like spout stuck out of the wall, and a slab of stone with a slight lip on it kept the water from flooding the bathroom every time someone showered. The hole in the middle of the slab resembled a drain and worked so long as they cleaned it every so often. A towel bar below the small window held some towels that were drying from previous uses, soaking in the dim sunlight to get warm and dry.
He sighed and slid down the door, his back catching against the rough wood that was painted white some time ago, but had now faded as the wood cracked and aged. The walls didn’t look any better. Emma had tried to make the walls look more cheery by putting a wallpaper with roses on it, and though it hid the grotesque wood beneath, it couldn’t hide the bumps and imperfections of the wall. He gently rested his head against the door, staring at the little bit of light coming into the room; the short, slim window at the top of the bathroom’s far wall caught the morning sun as it weakly shined through the clouds blanketing the sky. The small willow tree Emma had planted was barely blooming.
A slight knock came at the door. “Hey, Jake, are you alright in there?” Emma asked, her voice muffled through the door. Charlie gurgled and slammed his little fist against the wall, shouting in the same tone Emma used with Jake just then. Emma laughed softly and shushed him. “Shush, sweetie, I’ll get you breakfast in a minute alright? Why don’t you go find a book to read while you wait?” Charlie made a noise that sounded like a yes, and there was a slight thump that Jake assumed was Charlie being set down, the pitter patter of little feet growing softer confirming his assumption.
After the feet quieted, there was another soft knock at the door. “Jake, what’s wrong?” he stayed silent. “Talk to me.” she commanded, the sweetness in her voice slowly leaving. Jake stayed quiet, not even daring to breathe. She knocked hard, jarring his teeth as the vibrations went through the door and into his head. “Jake! Are you in there? What happened? Talk to me right now otherwise I am going to break this door down!” she said, her voice stretching.
“Alright, alright, I’m alive,” he said, a slight smile in his voice. Emma, on the other hand, did not sound like she was smiling, and the tone of her voice wiped the smile right off his face.
“God, Jake, you got to stop locking yourself in there. You know how long you’ve been in here this time?” she asked, her question sounding more tired than angry. Jake thought about it. He had come in, locked the door, looked around, then sat down.
“Five minutes?” he guessed. Emma’s sharp bark of laughter told him otherwise.
“Five minutes?! Seriously?” she asked, a tone of anger seeping into her voice. She sighed and Jake could almost imagine her in her heavy boots, a hand around her slender waist, supporting her other elbow while she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Jake,” she said softly, her voice right next to his ear through the door. “It’s been an hour.” she said softly. He jerked up, standing awkwardly, tripping on his own feet, then regaining his balance.
“An hour?” he asked, taken aback. He had sat down to think for a few minutes, not an entire hour! He shook his head, trying to remember what he had thought about over the past hour.
Emma sighed again, the sound coming from the floor again. There was some movement behind the door, then the doorknob lifted in its place, and Emma walked in. Damn this old doorknob. Why didn’t it ever work when he wanted it to? But maybe he had forgotten to lock the door but thought he did. He looked at the doorknob in Emma’s hand, not looking at her. The lock was in the locked position, so he had locked it, but she had found the lock’s weak spot, raising the knob to allow her in.
Jake ran his fingers through his hair, attempting to calm it down. He kept staring at Emma’s hands and didn’t look away until she spoke. “I don’t know what has gotten into you, and you won’t tell me what’s wrong,” she started. Jake looked up from the knob, and instead looked over her shoulder at the hallway beyond. He glanced quickly over his right shoulder and nearly laughed at how disgusting he looked right then. Recently, he hadn’t been shaving, and sleep was a patchwork that didn’t always happen. His hair was also a mess, and he hadn’t showered in who knows how long.
Emma closed the door behind her, and Jake kept staring over her shoulder at the splintered surface of the faded white door. Emma huffed and walked up to him, grabbing his chin between her thumb and forefinger, jerking his head down so he was forced to look at her. The cold look on her face at first stopped him in his tracks, as it always did, and his breath caught slightly in his throat, his shoulders tensing slightly. Emma’s gaze slid down to his shoulders and her eyes softened. She let go of his chin and slowly ran her nail down his throat, highlighting every hollow and curve in it, then traced his collarbone, pressing into the crevices and dips there. Her fingers traveled over to his shoulder, then stayed there, her eyes wandering back to his face, taking the long way across his bare chest.
Her eyes stared at him with a soft light. He stared back and felt the walls he had built inside of him melting under her warm stare. He didn’t know that those walls existed, and yet here they were, falling down. His chest felt hollow, and his throat tightened. He didn’t want to cry, not here, not now. He stared back at Emma, a pained look in his eyes. He expected her to retaliate, as he was sure he looked like a homeless person, but instead she took his arms, which had melted along with the walls, and wrapped them around her shoulders, wrapping her own arms around his chest, resting her head against his shoulder. He leaned down slightly and put his head on her shoulder.
And together they stood like that, Emma ensuring Jake stayed upright as he fell apart in her hands. Silent tears fell down his face as his knees buckled. Emma’s arms tensed as he fell, but she couldn’t hold them upright, and they tumbled, Emma breaking the hug to stop from hitting her head on the toilet seat in the small bathroom. Jake curled up into a little ball, his knuckles white as he gripped his hair with a death like vise. He rocked back and forth gently, and Emma sat up, pulling him towards her, and grabbed his head, resting it in her lap. She stroked his head as he sobbed.
They sat like that for what seemed like hours, but in reality must have been several minutes. Neither of them talked or moved. A small bump came from outside, and was followed by the muffled crying of Charlie echoing through the thin walls, down the hallway and into the bathroom. Jake had stopped crying and was hugging himself, dried tear streaks across his face. Emma gently pushed his head off of her lap and stood up, bending back down and grabbing his arm to try to encourage him to stand up as well. Jake took a deep breath, steadying himself.
He surged forward, standing up and shrugging off Emma’s hand. “Go,” he said in a shaky voice. “Charlie needs you, and I need the toilet.” Emma nodded, understanding that Jake wanted privacy. She closed the door behind her, and Jake looked at himself in the broken mirror hanging above the sink and below the naked bulb on a string that was the light in the bathroom when it was night time. He saw how much dirt was on his face, the tears cleaning it off of certain parts of his face. He bent down to the cabinet and gently opened it, its hinges creaking in protest. He grabbed a towel and gently wetted it in the sink, then applied it to his face, gently scrubbing while supporting himself with one arm on the wall. He paused the scrubbing and took a shaky breath, pressing the towel into his eyelids.
He was going to make it through today. He was going to make it through today. He chanted the saying over and over in his head as he rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes with the warm towel. He wrung it out and hung it on the towel bar, gathering his razor from the cabinet.
He stepped out of the bathroom as a new man. He had shaved, cleaned himself, put on new clothes, and did a few jumping jacks to wake himself up. He strode downstairs and sat down next to little Charlie, smiling as he played with a car. Currently, the car was crashing into his bowl of cereal, and Emma gently chastised him for it. Charlie looked up at Jake and smiled back. An uneasy feeling arose in Jake, but he fought it down, trying to keep from showing any emotion. Emma flew by and dropped a bowl of cereal in front of him too before she danced off to the sink in the morning routine. Jake smiled as he watched her hips sway, the light catching her pale skin where her shirt rode up slightly. He watched as she flew gracefully from one side of the tiny kitchen to the next, righting certain cabinets, avoiding certain boards so as to not make them squeak, and cleaning the milk from the floor that Charlie had spilled. She straightened up from the floor and a piece of her hair fell out of the messy bun she had pulled it back into. She caught Jake staring and gave him a sly wink.
The wink sent tendrils of fire through him, and the longing to taste her became strong. She brushed by and ran her nail gently across his chin, biting her lip, and Jake had to fight the urge to pin her to the counter and kiss her neck as she put the bowls away. He turned back to his cereal, the fire that lit up his body slowly dying as the cold food entered his body. He finished his cereal and put his bowl in the dishwasher, Emma whisking by him, her finger tracing down his back where his scar was as she passed.
He turned and smiled wickedly at her. “What, you trying to wreck me this morning?” he asked, panting slightly. Emma raised her eyebrows at him slightly and put her hands on her narrow, slim waist. Jake wrenched his eyes back up, trying to keep his eyes on her face, but they kept wandering down and down.
She smiled back at him, batting her eyelashes innocently. “I’d do nothing of the sort.” and she walked by again, standing on tip toes slightly and grazing her lips against his neck. The fire within him lit up again and he reached behind him, grabbing her by the waist and flinging her backwards, wedging her in a corner between the two countertops. He barred her from moving out of the corner with his body and leaned down, kissing her lips. She laughed softly and pulled away. “Tonight.” she said softly, putting her finger on his lips, slowly pulling it downwards, throwing gasoline on the fire burning inside him. She pushed him away playfully, and he staggered backwards, his eyes closed, a smile on his face.
“I’m gonna hold you to that promise,” he said. She laughed and swept Charlie out of his seat, bringing him up the rickety old stairs that were just past the small living room where two chairs and some toys near a fireplace were. He sighed and smiled, content with this life he had built. He grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl that was on the counter, then followed after Emma and Charlie.
Upstairs Emma was trying to put some clothing on the squirming wraith called Charlie. He screamed and said he didn’t want to put clothes on, and that he wanted to go outside. Jake had fun watching the scene unfurl, leaning on the door frame and eating his banana. Emma looked up at him and blew the strands of hair out of her face, catching sight of the slight grin on Jake’s face. She stood up and stomped over, her weighted boots heavy on the ground. In one solid movement, she had taken the banana from his hand and launched him into Charlie’s room. He stumbled in and landed on his bottom on the rug in the middle of the floor. He looked back at Emma, who had taken his spot and was leaning against the door frame, eating his banana and smiling. Jake raised a playful eyebrow at her as she motioned at Charlie.
“He’s all yours,” she said around a bit of banana. Jake rolled his eyes and stood up, looking over at Charlie. In the time that it had taken for Jake to enter the room, Charlie had built a little barricade around himself, using his laundry and his bed. Jake walked over and picked him up, Charlie squirming in his arms.
“Charlie, you need to get dressed.” he said sternly, holding Charlie in his arms. Charlie couldn’t escape his grip.
“I don’t wanna! I wanna play outside!” he said in his little voice. Jake nodded and brought him over to the tiny closet Charlie had.
“Well, in order to play outside you have to get dressed, don’t you?” Jake said absentmindedly as if it didn’t matter. Charlie froze and thought about it. Jake smiled inwardly. He knew that the only way to get Charlie to do things was to make him think it was his idea and his alone. Charlie started squirming to get out of Jake’s grip again, and Jake set him down. He waddled over to his closet and closed the door, saying “go away!” at them. Jake nodded and left the room, Emma in tow. Emma had eaten a few bites of his banana, but not all of it.
She offered it back to Jake, but Jake refused. “Not hungry anymore.” he said as he walked to the front door. Emma had paused when he said not hungry, and Jake looked back at her, one hand on the front door. “Meet you two at the park.” he said, opening the door and leaving. He waited for a second and then heard Emma’s footsteps as she walked up the stairs. He sighed and put his hands in his pockets, soaking up the warmth of the summer sun. The fog had left, and the clouds were spotted, the sun’s warmth slipping through them. He walked down the cracked sidewalk, then turned the corner. At the end of the street was the park, it’s playground already crawling with children. Adults sat in the benches surrounding the playground, but there was one bench that was only occupied by one person.
Jake was confused. Plenty of parents were standing, and everyone in this neighborhood knew each other enough that sitting next to them on the bench wouldn’t be awkward. He wandered closer to the bench, seeing the back of the figure. The figure wore clothes that seemed out of place in the present day. They wore a long sleeve shirt with a vest over it. Their hair was a brown color and as Jake approached, his smile grew bigger. He knew who it was.
He walked up to the figure who was looking around the playground at all the kids. Jake reached out and flicked the back of the figure's head. “Hey, Enoch,” he said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked, sarcastically being formal.
Enoch flinched at the flick and looked back at him, one eyebrow raised as if to say “Really?” Jake laughed and slid onto the bench Enoch was on. “Seriously though, what’s up? Did something happen?” Jake asked. Not that Jake needed more on his plate at the moment.
Enoch shrugged and looked ahead at the playground, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands out front with his fingers interlaced. He squinted against the bright sun as it shone throughout the playground. Jake’s playful smile slipped off his face. “Enoch,” he said softly, hating to see him look so dejected. “Please, tell me what happened,” he pleaded.
Enoch took a deep breath and sat up straight, a smile being thrown onto his face crookedly. “Nothing, just came to see how you and Emma were faring with Charlie.” he said in a fake cheery tone. Jake furrowed his eyebrows at his behavior, but didn’t pry; when Enoch was ready to tell Jake what this was about, he’d tell him.
Jake looked towards the playground as a ball of energy flew towards it. It halted and waited at the base of the climbing wall, and Jake recognized Charlie. Emma ruffled Jake’s hair as she walked behind him with the stroller, parking it at the end of the bench and sitting down next to it, wedged between the stroller and Jake. “Hey Enoch,” she said cheerfully. “As you can see, Charlie’s been waiting for the park ever since he heard Jake’s alarm today.” Emma laughed slightly, and Enoch exhaled sharply, a smile on his face; a polite form of laughter that slowly died off.
Emma reached over and gently touched Jake’s arm, resting her head on his shoulder. It was a slight gesture, and Jake was sure she did it simply because she wanted to rest her head on something, but something in the gesture or around the gesture made Enoch jump up from the bench and stuff his hands in his pockets. Jake stood up and stood next to Enoch, concern in his eyes. “Enoch, what’s wrong?” Jake asked.
Enoch shrugged. “Just didn’t feel like sitting. How’s your back doing? Is it still healing or has it finally scarred?” Enoch asked, looking at Jake’s back. Jake flexed his back muscles, and something in Enoch’s eye flickered, but it was gone before Jake could pinpoint what had flicked across his eyes.
“I think it’s healed,” he said. Enoch nodded. They stood there awkwardly, the tension between them palpable. Jake caught Enoch’s eye and they communicated via looks. What’s wrong? Jake asked. Enoch looked away, not responding. Jake clenched his jaw in slight frustration. “Hey, Enoch, why don’t you come over for lunch? We’ll be going home for it in about an hour or two, after Charlie’s run out of energy.” Jake said, a smile on his face. Enoch gave a half smile back.
“I wish I could, but I have to go back to Miss Peregrine’s. Bye, Jake, hope to see you, a-and Emma-the three of you- soon.” he said awkwardly, leaving without explaining why he had to go back. Enoch disappeared around a corner, and Jake sat back down.
“Well, that was weird.” Emma said as she wrapped her hand in Jake’s bigger hand, her other hand wrapping around his arm.
“Yeah. Especially since Miss Peregrine's house is the other way.” Jake said. Emma bit her lip and stared at the corner where Enoch had turned, a worried expression on her face. Jake sighed. “Well, we can go over to Miss Peregrine’s tomorrow. Have some lunch with everyone else; it has been awhile since we’ve seen everyone, and they’ll all be so happy to see little Charlie again.” Jake said. Emma nodded. “Ok, tomorrow at lunch it is.” Jake smiled down at Emma and she looked up at him. She stole a kiss from him and pecked him on the cheek.
An hour later, Emma was near the base of the playground, calling for Charlie to come down. Jake stayed on the bench, watching the ordeal. Charlie heard his name and looked over the bar, straight down at Emma. “C’mon, Charlie, it’s time to go.” Charlie gave a loud “No!” in return and vanished into the throng of kids on the playset. Emma crossed her arms and called again, but Charlie didn’t show. Emma looked over at Jake, who was still lounging on the bench, and stomped over to him, her heavy boots sending clouds of sand in her wake.
Emma sat down next to Jake. “Go on.” she said. Jake raised an eyebrow at her. “Go on, you can go on the playground, I can’t. My boots would break the plastic,” She shoved Jake off of the bench and Jake looked back at her, mock irritation on his face. She waved at him and batted her eyelashes, and Jake rolled his eyes, walking towards the playground.
The next thing Jake knew he was stuck in the monkey ropes.