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“Oh my god, you really are the angel of love, aren't you?” Amy bit down her grin that evening. She hadn't even seen him at all that day, and she didn't realize how much she would miss his face. Of course they worked together M-F, and even before they started dating if they were working different cases they probably would have at least caught glimpses of each other. She never used to see him on the weekend so it wasn't like she saw his face every single day for years, but she usually saw it every Thursday for years, and she didn't get to see it at all that Thursday. And since Jake was her boyfriend now she did see him every weekend and every week day. She saw him every day now, essentially.
But this was the first time in ages that she hadn't seen him in person for over 24 hours straight. And the first time in ages that she hadn't kissed him for over 24 hours straight. It felt like she hadn't seen his smile in years when he opened the door for her a few minutes earlier, and the first thing she did was kiss it.
They spent almost every weekend together falling asleep and snuggling in the same bed (which Jake refused to call anything but 'sleepovers') and so normally that would mean she wouldn't be snuggling with him on a Thursday night with work tomorrow, but she really wanted to break routine that night, so she did.
It hadn't even been a month yet. Since them. It was only 19 days since they decided to screw light and breezy (she was counting because they were the best 19 days she'd had in a long while). And even though they weren't light and breezy anymore, she thought that maybe sleepovers on weekdays would be too quick for him because she'd never even gone that fast with someone before, and this was Jake who usually wasn't comfortable with emotional leaps in relationships. And even though it was only 19 days she already had a drawer filled with some clothes and pajamas for weekend sleepovers at his place (and he had a drawer for weekends at hers). And that was fast for normal relationships, so she didn't want to push it.
But she really missed him that day and wanted to fall asleep next to him and get all snuggly, so she let herself.
When her day was finally and officially done, she just texted him one word.
Amy:
Sleepover?
Jake:
Already waiting
She had been helping the captain with the PR campaign and had a whole mess of that, but he had a busy day too so they both logged in some serious overtime.
While the PR campaign didn't exactly crash and burn and ended on a medium note (not a high note or a low note) his day had a very happy ending. A rom-com ending that was practically made for a movie (a really weird independent film, but it was still rom-com adorable). She only got to his apartment 15 minutes after he did after their long days but he was already in pajamas and ready to crawl into bed and pass out because apparently being an amazing best friend was trying work.
Jake wasn't even bragging about it, and was actually downplaying it. All he said was that he helped out Charles and he'd tell her more about it tomorrow because he was too tired to go into it tonight.
But while they were both still earning overtime about an hour ago Boyle left her three voicemails and texted her a whole damn novel about everything Jake did for him.
She thought he might have been over exaggerating at first because Boyle is even more biased when telling stories about how amazing Jake is than Jake is biased when telling stories about how amazing Jake is.
And while Charles was so exhilarated when relaying that day's events and glowing in his praise, when she verified that all of it actually happened (sex paintings as an alibi was pretty unbelievable) all that was left was her boyfriend who was unbelievable and amazing. Jake was swinging his feet off the edge of his bed at the moment cause he refused to even stand after all of the hours he spent on his feet, but he didn't know she knew all about his adorableness yet so now she got to tease him.
“Huh? I feel like you're referencing something, but I don't know what.”
“You know, the angel of love? The movie thing? What you did for Boyle today? He told me all about it,” Amy elbowed him all smug and smiley before unbuttoning her work top and removing her bra along with it to slip on a sleep shirt for some well deserved rest.
And yeah, they were still pretty new so he was still getting used to having the privilege and honor of seeing shirtless Santiago, but seeing her wiggle her arms through the holes of the T shirt doing that little dance she always did made him happy beyond belief.
He never knew he'd be so happy at the sight of a girl putting her shirt back on, unless said girl was getting dressed after sex, and even then he probably wouldn't have been exactly happy about it.
But seeing that cute little dance habit of hers made him so nonsensically giddy and mushy that it was nauseating. That he got to find out that Amy had a pajama dance that he was already accustomed to, and he got to watch movies with her on the couch any night they wanted, and that he got to cuddle with her and kiss her on the forehead whenever he wanted.
He was so in love with her that... that was just it. He was so in love with Amy Santiago. He was so corny and gushy about her that he didn't even mind being corny. He didn't mind being so in love with her that he didn't know what to do, because even though he didn't know what to do with the feeling, it was a good feeling.
He wasn't scared of it, or trying to run away from it. He liked being in love with Amy Santiago. He wanted to be in love with Amy Santiago. Old Jake would have been miles away if there was even the hint of something this emotional happening so soon- but current Jake loved being in love with Amy Santiago. Cause she loved him too.
Neither of them had actually said the L-word out loud yet, but it wasn't like it was a big secret. It had been a long time coming, because they always had the worst timing. And the past month was great because he was in love with her for ages, but now he could let himself be happy about that fact. Back before liking her so much was an awful feeling a lot because he didn't have a hope of ever being with her. Or at least he thought.
But liking Amy when he was with her, and dating, and her liking him- that was the best feeling in the world.
Having these conversations on nights like these and letting themselves be happy for once was a very mutual feeling of contentment.
“Like I said, huh?”
Amy was grinning and waiting for him to remember something or get what she was hinting at, but he had absolutely no clue what it was. She was doing that whole wink wink nudge nudge thing, but when she realized that he wasn't going to get it without her telling him her face fell and she blushed completely embarrassed about whatever she was trying to call up and it was great.
“Never mind, it was just something stupid you said a long time ago,” she brushed off as nonchalantly as she could.
“You know I can't let something go when you normally say never mind, and this is a never mind about something I've said? And it's stupid? You kinda have to tell me now.”
Him shining his bright and eager eyes on her were the same as a spotlight trained on her and she shouldn't have felt self conscious, but she did. It wasn't like there was anything to be super embarrassed about since Jake was her boyfriend now so she should stop being flustered about stuff like this, but she was expecting him to immediately recall it and when she realized she would have to remind him of the exact incident she felt a little self conscious for remembering it for whatever reason. She had a good memory, but when she was actually thinking about it at the moment it was still an odd thing for her to recall, and he was gonna read way too much into it and wouldn't write it off as her good memory.
“It was like a year or two ago and you were giving someone romantic advice, and I made a comment on how you didn't have the most successful track record in the dating department. And you said that you were like an angel of love who can't find love for himself. And you were teasing me and said to admit I would see that movie and I did because I would still watch a movie with that premise. When I heard what you did for Boyle today it just reminded me of that conversation.”
“You actually listen to me?” Jake asked like it was the most surprising thing he had ever heard, and she just rolled her eyes. And even though she still felt a little self conscious she was reminded that this was Jake who was goofy and stupid and so very kind, and even though she was embarrassed (just a tad now) it was okay to be embarrassed with him.
“Of course I do. I always do. You know I do,” she said with her affectionate smile that was on retainer just for him.
“Yeah, I know you listen to me about important stuff, but I didn't think you listened to the rest of the stupid stuff that comes out of my mouth most of the time. I still don't actually remember what you're talking about. I don't even remember half of the stuff that comes out of my mouth, case in point. Two years ago? Was it before I went all mafia undercover?”
“Um...” she paused to call up a more specific date for the memory if she could manage it. “Yeah, I think it was. But not a long time before. I know it was at work so you were probably giving advice to Boyle since he's the only person who would ever listen to romantic advice coming from you.”
“Hmmm... Boyle, movie, angel of love, Amy. Not ringing any bells. No, wait- I do remember that conversation! He was going full Boyle, which I am very qualified to inform him when he's going full Boyle. The angel of love! That was me! I said that! Holy crap Ames, that really was years ago. How in the world did you remember that? I barely even remember that.”
He was curious to see if she had some sort of secret or maybe even wrote it down or something, because even though Amy an impressive memory as long as he had known her something so inconsequential was a lot even for her. Something so inconsequential was a lot for anyone who didn't have a photographic memory and remembered every second of their life. The only way Jake had a hope of remembering something as inconsequential as that was because he said it. If anyone else said it he never would have had a chance. Even if they asked Boyle he was sure to not remember it because it was just 60 seconds of a snippet of a conversation from years ago that shouldn't have made an impression on anyone. But Amy didn't even have an answer for how she managed to remember it and just shrugged in response.
“I don't know how you managed to listen to me when you didn't have the motivation of having sex with me. I didn't even think you listened to me now that you do have the motivation of having sex with me.”
“Just because we weren't dating doesn't mean it wasn't a cute thing to say,” Amy muttered.
“You remember my stupid throwaway comments,” he gave her his goofiest grin, and even though she was still a tad embarrassed she was glad to have made him look so happy then.
They both knew he was exaggerating about thinking that she never listened to him. She almost always responded to his stupid comments in the moment, even if it was just a groan or an eye roll, but often there was a quip back. But he didn't think she committed any of them to memory, especially not remembering stuff after such a long time. He always kinda assumed that there was a time limit before her brain wiped out all of his past comments from a certain time period to clear out storage for more of his stupid mouth words until the next spring cleaning of her memory.
He had assumed that a comment would only make it past the time barrier if it was something really stupid. And it was completely a joke at the time since he hadn't even accepted that he was feeling romantic-stylez about her yet, so of course he hadn't even hinted at it to her at that point. And okay, he was really happy that she remembered something corny he said before he even half-assed confessed to her.
He really liked that she remembered something as forgettable as that just because he said it. Especially because he was the one who said it.
“I like that you remembered that,” he said honestly because as long as she was getting mushy he thought that he might throw some in there too. He still was pretty awful at getting verbally mushy with her, but he was putting some effort in to get better at it with her. Because some stuff it was good to hear out loud. Like her telling him out loud she remembered something like that he said from years ago. He liked hearing that out loud. So he wanted to tell her at the very least out loud that it made him happy that she remembered that.
He still wasn't the best at opening up and being all mature about emotions (it hadn't even been a month after all), but she always looked so pleased when he voiced the internal monologue he had about her like 24/7, so he was working on getting better at voicing it.
Just like she looked beyond pleased right now. And even though there wasn't any reason to not be verbally mushy with his girlfriend because verbal or non-verbal they both knew the mushiness was there on both sides whether it was voiced or not. It wasn't as easy as that, though. But she always got this specific smile on her face when he actually said something, and he liked seeing that smile, so he was working on the verbal stuff.
“You didn't just remember it because it was a cute thing to say, did you? You thought I was cute even back then. You remember it because it was something a cutie like me said even before you were dating said cutie. Cause you liked me even back then, didn't you?” He elbowed her as she walked by and almost toppled off the bed from the momentum he used to even reach her. He risked falling only to land a tap on her, but his balance was even worse than usual in his tired state so he needed her help to keep from falling off and Amy rolled her eyes as she steadied him.
“Stop being a dork and don't make me put a time frame on it. Just be happy I like you now.”
“Well, would you watch a movie about current Jake?” He waggled his eyebrows paired with the most suggestive tone he could muster.
“No, I wouldn't,” she told him honestly, not even trying to tease him because it was the truth. “It would be too boring.”
He scoffed and looked so offended and was about to defend his honor of how he totally deserved a movie about him when she held a finger up before he could even launch his defense.
“Rule number one of good story telling: you need a conflict. And you lost your whole premise when you got into a happy relationship. Jake from a few years back might make for a better movie, but I want you in real life and we can watch movies together. No one wants to sit through an hour and a half just to watch someone being happy and having absolutely no problems. So I'd rather watch a movie about some other poor, lonely sap trying to find love while sitting next to you and being very, very happy together than watch a movie about you.”
“Only you could turn saying a movie about your boyfriend would be too boring into a compliment.”
While he was running around being the angel of love and also the best friend ever and saving Charles from sinking into a bottomless depression and dying of loneliness, she had filled him in a little bit about her campaign disaster already so she had an exhausting day too.
She would for sure tell him every part about it in extraneous detail tomorrow (Santiago was so not a big picture person) but until they both got some rest she settled for just giving him the main idea instead of hashing into how stressful it was and getting all worked up over it again.
Of course they didn't work all of their cases together, but usually if they were both exhausted from running around all day it was because they were running around together.
So yeah, he kinda missed her.
It was incredibly lame how he wanted nothing more in the world right now than to just lay down and cuddle with her until sleep overtook them. And he didn't even care how lame it was, cause it was nice to be lame with her. Being lame with Amy Santiago was a very good feeling.
He wasn't even sure if cuddling or snuggling was the right word because that usually (he thought) meant that you were more than a little awake. Spooning was a form of cuddling that was almost used exclusively when falling/staying asleep, and Amy did spoon- but she also did a lot of not-spooning cuddle positions in her sleep. Like there was the spooning where they were both facing the same direction, and then the touchy thing facing each other, and even if he was lying on his back that night she would be kinda tilted so she wasn't quite sleeping next to him but not quite sleeping on him either with her arm draped over his torso- so she was always like right up on him and snuggly when they slept in the same bed that night. And it was pretty great.
Jake could only ever fall asleep on his side or his back, and even then he only slept on his side when spooning with someone- if he was sharing the bed with a girlfriend that night and they weren't spooning he slept on his back and they didn't cuddle and it was all fine and dandy.
Most people didn't find any cuddling position comfortable that would work on someone who was sleeping on their back, but it didn't bother Amy at all and she could make literally any position work.
He never knew how much he would like being in a relationship with a clingly sleeper, but now he did. He really liked it. Like a lot.
And yeah, they screwed light and breezy the day after they started it and went all serious- but it hadn't even been a month since then. And until that Thursday night he hadn't even considered suggesting weekday sleepovers, but when he saw her that night looking all tuckered and completely happy to see him he realized what she was doing. Jake was pretty awful at communication, but Amy had known him for years and knew he wasn't the best at romantical-relationship stuff and had assumed that even mentioning weekday sleepovers in less than a month would be pushing too quickly for him.
He could tell by the look on her face. That the only reason she risked asking tonight was because she was too exhausted to worry about going quick and that she wanted a sleepover even more than most days.
And it was annoying that she knew him so well, and he kinda felt like an idiot that it took him that long to figure out that she was doing it all for him when she did way too many things purely for his benefit because she knew him so well.
He sucked at communication and just let it go so they could relax tonight, but tomorrow he was actually going to communicate and say out loud that he wanted weekend and weekday sleepovers.
When they were actually laying in bed with all the lights turned off and ready to start dreaming, it was pretty lame how happy it made him to be wrapped up under the covers and tangled into her. So very lame, and he loved every second of it.
“I think Angel of Love might be the title of Jake Peralta's sex tape,” she teased and he couldn't help but chuckle. His eyelids were so heavy that he couldn't even open them to see her even if the room wasn't pitch black in the middle of the night, but luckily he didn't need to see her. Just feel her.
“I think I could make that work. Sappy porno could be my selling point.”
“Now that is a movie about current Jake that I would definitely watch.”
“Call me crazy, but I think you are perfect for the part of playing my girlfriend in Angel of Love. The Peralta-Santiago sex tape.”
“We are so not making a home made sex tape,” she murmured as her voice had faded from wide-awake and jokey to sleepy and jokey. And even from her voice it was easy to tell that she was just as content to be lying there next to him as he was to be lying there next to her.
He could have tried to keep up the teasing a little bit longer, but he wanted to let her sleep and not be the only thing keeping her up. So instead of saying anything back he kissed her temple and she hummed and tightened her grip on him to keep him exactly as close as she wanted him to be. Which wasn't a problem at all, because he could never be too close to her.
After about five minutes of silence and her steady breathing he was sure she was asleep and he was getting close, she spoke (which wasn't all that surprising because she almost never fell asleep within five minutes of trying).
“I missed you today,” she whispered. He didn't know if she was whispering because she thought he might be asleep and didn't want to wake him if he was, but he was still awake enough to respond so he whispered right back.
“I missed you too.”