a/n: there may be some typos. they will be fixed later.

Jacob can feel Newton about to open his mouth before he can even fix his lips to speak. He whips his head around, glare in place as he tries his best to refrain from reeling back and socking him in the mouth. Newton takes a step back, mouth opening and closing like he was finally second guessing himself. He looks genuinely shocked for whatever reason. What the hell did he think this was?

"What the hell was that?" Jacob grits out, teeth clenched as he tries to contain his anger.

"I-I just..." Mike's staring at him like he's got a second head, like he's the one who walked into someone's home and hit on that person's boyfriend. 

Jacob can't even comprehend the logic, doesn't want to try to. He just wants to punch the man square in the face, but he refrains from doing so. He was already having enough problems with this case, he didn't want to get kicked off of it for punching the shit out of another officer.

Jacob doesn't bother waiting for him to conjure up an answer as he throws the roller into the pan and turns to head for the door. He wants to hop in his car, maybe call up Quil and scream out his frustrations, but he's still covered in paint. He's still covered in bright yellow paint and his clothes are in Edward's room. Great.

Edward's got his back turned. He's lying in bed, curled up under the duvet and his back is turned towards the door. The TV is off and there is nothing but deafening silence as Jacob shuffles into the room. He goes through his bag, grabbing at the first items he gets his hands on before turning to head into the bathroom. He wants to stop, maybe say something. What was the right thing to say? He wasn't sure and he didn't want to make it worse by opening his stupid mouth. 

So, he scurries into the bathroom. 

He feels like a fucking asshole. 

When he gets out, Edward is still tucked up underneath the blankets, but Bear's laying on his chest. Jacob can see his face now, but his eyes are closed. He wants to climb in next to him, curl around him, reassure him. The stupid instincts inside of his head are urging him to do so, but he's already done enough harm, so he reluctantly heads for the door instead.

Quil doesn't look or sound surprised when he picks up the facetime call. He just greets Jacob the same way he always does before moving so that Leah and Seth aren't eavesdropping on their conversation. Jacob just gets comfortable in the driver's seat of his car and waits for his cousin to head upstairs. Quil steps into his room and shuts the door before his face finally reappears in the camera. Jacob can see in the small preview camera that he definitely looks distraught, but that seems to be his new normal.

"What happened this time?" Quil asks as he seats himself on the edge of the bed. 

"Mike happened." Jacob huffs.

"Mike?" Quil asks, clearly confused as to why Mike's existence would be an issue. Jacob can see him trying to figure it out in his mind, and by the way his eyebrows shoot up, Jacob can also tell when he stumbles to the wrong conclusion.

Who can blame him really? Jacob was given the heads up and he was still taken aback by it.

"Mike tried to come on to me," Jacob spits out. 

Quil's eyebrows somehow manage to rise even higher, eyes wide as he takes in what he's just been told.

"Today is a Saturday." Quil points out as if the entire police force disappeared when the weekend started. Though, Jacob couldn't fault him for the thought process. He didn't exactly make it a habit of hanging out with his coworkers outside of work hours. It was even more of a cemented fact now that he was spending all of his time with Edward.

"There was a security issue. The Chief wanted to bring in more protection for Bear so she sent Mike. I was working on painting Bear's room and he followed me upstairs. Next thing I know, he's about two centimeters from my face." Jacob's aware that he's yelling. Hell, he's probably yelling so loud that anyone walking down the street could easily hear him even with the windows up, but he's livid.

"Let me guess, your boyfriend saw?" Quil asks in a voice that was just as tired as Jacob felt.

'Cause of course he fucking saw. The man somehow had the amazing talent of popping up when it was the least convenient for Jacob. 

Whatever expression Jacob has seems to answer Quil's question. 

"How'd he respond?" 

It's not the question Jacob's expecting. Though, he should've been expecting it after the last conversation they'd had where Quil had somehow skipped to the conclusion that Edward somehow had comparable feelings. 

"He looked mad. He just stormed off." Jacob sighs before looking up towards the house as if he'd see the man standing in the window.

"Maybe you should tell him how you feel so he doesn't feel like he has to worry about Mike." Quil suggests like it's the most logical answer to Jacob's mounting problems. 

Jacob stares at Quil as if he's lost his mind. 

"He clearly cares about you, Jay." He says it as if that's the only thing that makes sense. 

It doesn't make an ounce of sense to Jacob. He seemed perpetually upset, like he couldn't catch a break to save his life. He probably wishes he could go back in time and choose someone else. Jacob wouldn't blame him. 

"Someone who doesn't care wouldn't get upset that you were potentially interested in another guy, Jake." Quil continues spewing his theory despite the exasperated look on Jacob's face. 

"Or, hear me out, maybe he got annoyed because we're here to do a job and he instead walks in on us potentially doing something that isn't in the job description." Jacob points out to which Quil rolls his eyes.

"Did he say anything to you?" Quil asks, moving his phone so it was propped up against something on his dresser.

"No."

"Then, he's not annoyed, he's genuinely upset. People who are a little annoyed don't storm away to their bedroom." He says it as if he's got data to back it up. 

Jacob doesn't say anything in response, mind working overtime to try to figure out how to get himself out of this mess. Maybe he could ask for someone else from the team to take Mike's place.

"Fine, if you're not going to tell the Doc, at least tell Mike so he knows to keep his distance." Quil concedes.

Jacob nods even though he's pretty sure Mike had gotten the picture by now. He'd run away to hide in the guest room. Jacob could hear him rustling around when he'd bounded down the stairs to get to his car. 

Jacob's about to say something else when he sees the Chief's name pops up, covering Quil's face.

Edward's not one to run and cry to his brothers. He's not the type to call them up unless he's found himself stumbling into a situation where he has no other choice. Usually, they're the ones calling him. It's just who he was. They checked up on him because they knew he didn't know how to keep himself out of trouble and he sure didn't know what to do when that trouble involved feelings.

So, when he crowds himself back into the bathroom, swallows his pride, and calls Jasper, he can already hear the alarm in his brother's voice as soon as he picks up.

"Hey, you okay?" Is the first thing that leaves his mouth.

He's not. He can feel the lump in his throat that he tries desperately to swallow down before he speaks.

"Do you know anyone who can install an alarm system?" He manages, distracting himself by peeling at the sticker on the tiny baby tub that he'd bought earlier.

"An alarm system?" Jasper asks, clearly even more concerned by the question.

"Yeah, Black says I need one." His voice drags, monotonous as he organizes Bear's baby soap, shampoo and her little bath towel into the little shower caddy he'd gotten her.

"Did something happen?" Edward can hear the sound of his footsteps and the sound of voices fading before a door slams. He must've stepped outside of wherever he was.

"Um, Chief said that they had reason to believe that there was more of a threat to Bear now, so I wanted to get a -"

"Edward," His brothers don't call him by his first name, they come up with stupid little nicknames. 

He's trying to get his attention, get him to give a straight answer, but Edward doesn't want to talk about it.

"Did something happen?" He says it again like Edward hadn't heard him the first time.

It's getting harder and harder for him to ignore the way his throat is tightening. He wants to brush it off, not tell Jasper about the stupid thing and the stupid feelings he's feeling for whatever reason. He wants to simply sweep it under the rug and try to get over himself, but to Jasper, who he's been lying to, that wouldn't make any sense. To him, they're in a relationship, so trying to brush off seeing what he's pretty sure he just saw would be even more cause for concern. So, he tries to choose his next words carefully.

"Uh, Officer Newton's here," he says, folding up one of the new larger towels that he'd picked up, "he was helping Jacob paint Bear's room."

Edward runs his fingers over the little ducks on the piece of cloth and ignores the way he can basically feel the gears in Jasper's head turning.

"I walked in and saw them..." It sounds stupid to his own ears, even before he can even say it, so he pauses to think it over.

What were they doing? Newton couldn't have stepped closer if he tried. They were about one move away from bumping noses. He'd moved away, but not fast enough for Edward not to catch a glimpse of him scooting further over like some teenage boy. Jacob had been standing there looking frazzled before turned to look at Edward with that guilty look. What does he have to feel guilty about? Being caught? They aren't together. Maybe he was just playing his part, but Newton wasn't looking. He was avoiding all eye contact. Edward was the only one who could see it. Or maybe he was just embarrassed at being caught. Maybe he thought Edward would tell the Chief about them. Maybe he just didn't want to get into trouble. That makes the most sense. 

It's hard not to feel ridiculous at the realization, but all of it suddenly makes sense. From the man staring at his ass to the way he'd seemed a bit reluctant to move his stuff into Edward's room. Maybe he'd wanted to stay with Newton. Maybe he'd wanted Edward's permission to do so. 

He was so busy overthinking the situation that he's almost startled by Jasper's voice.

"We'll be there in five." Then, he hangs up.

Edward sits frozen with the phone up to his ear, feeling overwhelmed to say the least.

Newton's car isn't in the driveway. Jacob's, however, is still there, but he's nowhere to be seen.

Had he left with Newton?

He opens the door to find Emmett's jeep in his driveway. His brothers are standing on his porch, pitying looks in place before he can even get the door open wide enough to see them. 

He doesn't bother greeting them, turning away so that they could file inside. He heads toward the kitchen to grab Bear's bottle out of the warmer. He doesn't even bother with the "it's not a big deal"s or the "I'm okay"s. He just plops down on the couch to feed the whining baby in his arms.

"So, can you do the alarm system?" He hears himself ask and he wishes he'd kept his silence because his voice sounds like it's been through a shredder.

Emmett holds up some equipment he has.

"Thought it'd be better than calling a company and risking someone else being in here." He looks apologetic when he says it. 

Truth be told, Edward's had his fill of people roaming around his house. He just wants to be alone.

He doesn't say anything to that or to Jasper when he plops down on the couch next to him. He allows Bear to distract him with her little noises and writhing as she drinks her bottle. He enjoys the fact that he doesn't have to look Jasper in the eye when he hoists her up on his shoulder to burp her.

"I'm gonna go lay down." He hears himself finally declare before beginning to maneuver around Jasper's legs. He can see Jasper holding out his hands with the intention of asking for Bear, but Edward still needs the distraction she brings, so he ignores the gesture and heads for the staircase.

He lays down with her and turns on the TV and tries not to feel too disappointed when she's asleep after about an hour. A couple of hours later, he stands to place her in her crib, only to find himself staring at the walls of her room. Someone had finished painting the last one. He stares at it for longer than he probably should before he realizes that he's being watched.

He pretends not to notice them for the time being, and turns to lower Bear down into her crib. After, he turns towards the door to see Emmett standing there with paint smeared across his right cheek. He gives Edward this little smile, that Edward hates, and goes to grab the rest of the painting supplies that he'd apparently cleaned up.

Edward steps out in the hall and realizes that the furniture has also disappeared. He doesn't ask any questions, he just goes back to laying in bed, watching some movie he doesn't know the name or plot of. Eventually, he falls into that state where he's awake, but he has completely zoned out. It's the closest thing to sleep that he's ever going to have and he takes full advantage.

The only issue is that it doesn't work this time. When he zones out, he finds himself thinking about the way Jacob looked at him. He thought about the way he touched him, the way he talked to him, the way he laughed at him. He thought and he thought and he thought until he felt ridiculous for getting so invested in a fantasy he'd agreed to be a part of. He's so distracted by his own thoughts, that he doesn't even notice the sound of the doorknob turning until it's too late. 

Jacob's standing there, phone clenched in his hands, staring at Edward. He stares at him for a long beat. It almost feels mocking the longer it goes on. Edward's about to ask him what the fuck he's looking at until he feels something wet hit the back of his hand. Edward breaks eye contact to see what it is only to find himself staring down at a clear liquid. A couple more droplets fall from, Edward realizes, his chin to join the first one. 

Edward realizes they're tears. 

Like, he's legitimately crying, runny nose and all. He swipes at his eyes as if that'll erase the evidence only to hear himself hiccup. He can feel his face flush, which is new to him considering there's not a lot of blood running through his veins. What the fuck is going on?

Edward doesn't cry. He doesn't feel enough emotion to cry. He hasn't cried since his mother died almost a century ago. Of course, he'd break the streak now over something so minuscule. What was happening to him?

He can hear Jacob shuffling around behind him, probably trying to figure out how to get out of such an awkward situation. Edward would be willing to pretend like it didn't happen if Jacob agreed. He doesn't turn around to look at him, too busy rubbing at his face with his t-shirt, so he almost jumps out of skin when he hears the sound of the bed groaning as Jacob climbs onto it. He's not sure what he's expecting from the movement, but he sure isn't expecting Jacob to pull him over like some inconsolable child. 

"I'm fine." He's pretty sure he grunts out despite allowing his face to bury itself into Jacob's shoulder. 'Cause he is. Or at least he will be as soon as he's in his right mind again. 

Jacob doesn't respond, he just sits there with his arms wrapped around Edward like that would fix all of his problems. 

Edward's not sure how long they stay like that, but when he opens his eyes again, it's dark outside. They're in a slightly different position with Jacob laying on his back and Edward turned over on his stomach, partially laying on top of Jacob. Next to Edward is Bear, who is sleepily watching him. The clock behind her head says that it's 9:23 PM. 

He doesn't want to move. He doesn't want to move and face the reality of what had happened and what was happening. He can feel Jacob's fingers in his hair, lightly tugging as he attempts to spike a section of it without alerting Edward.  Bear also has her hair pointing directly upwards. 

Maybe Edward could just stay like this and in the morning they could pretend like none of it ever happened. He closes his eyes and tries to go back to wherever he's been mentally for the last three to four hours, but his attempts are interrupted by the sound of his bedroom door opening.

"Food's downstairs." A woman's voice drifts from the doorway and Edward can immediately feel himself freeze.

"Thanks, Jess." Jacob mumbles and Edward can feel his breath ghosting over the top of his scalp.

Jess?

"How's he doing?" She asks.

"I don't know. He hasn't woken up yet." Jacob answers, shifting underneath Edward.

"At least wake him up to eat. I'm gonna do a couple of rounds." Then the door is closing behind her. 

Edward keeps his eyes closed, slipping back into that semiconscious state.

Jacob had made the mistake of calling Quil again. He honestly seemed not to be able to help himself. He'd called Quil up because, despite his seemingly calm demeanor, he was panicking. He has to make the call without jostling Edward awake. They've been like this for the past four hours. He only got up when Bear needed something. He couldn't bring himself to move otherwise. So, he makes the call from an awkward angle, trying his best to angle it away from the man sleeping on his chest.

Quil answers almost immediately.

"How'd it go?" He asks as soon as he can see Jacob.

"Uh..."

How'd it go? Truthfully, it could've gone better. Jacob blinks a couple of times before sighing and angling the phone to where Quil can see a little of Edward's face.

"Oh." Is what his cousin replies with. Jacob's not even sure how he's supposed to take that. 

"Yeah, uh, not good." He finally responds, moving so Edward's head was in a better spot. 

"Not good?" Quil asks, clearly confused about how this wasn't a good thing.

"He was crying when I walked in here." Jacob explains and he can practically feel Quil gearing up to give his big speech on why that meant that Edward was in love with him. However, that's momentarily interrupted by Edward moving so that his face was pressed into Jacob's neck.

"I'm assuming I don't have to explain my thought process?" Quil asks as soon as the sleeping man resettles on top of Jacob. 

Jacob doesn't even bother with a response, smoothing Edward's hair down so it would stop tickling his cheek.

Edward allowing Jacob to comfort him doesn't mean much considering Jacob had basically forced his way in. Hell, he wasn't really sure why he was crying to begin with. Jacob hadn't been in the right mind to ask, he'd just done what his instincts told him to do. 

He really wasn't looking forward to the unpleasant conversation that he was going to have to have when Edward finally did wake up.

"Did he tell you why he was upset?" 

"No." 

"Was he like this when you met him?" It was an odd question. Definitely not something that Jacob was expecting. Like what when he met him?

Quil must see the confusion on his face because he decides to explain his question further.

"Emotional? As emotional as he is now?" 

Jacob only saw him in passing before this. Sometimes they'd have cases together where their teams would spend more time out in the field side by side, but they wouldn't talk all that often. As far as he'd seen, the man didn't have much emotion at all, even when he saw him in passing.

"I don't think so. Why?" 

Why did that matter?

"Remember that one time Embry cried because I didn't think to get him anything from the store?" 

Jacob's not expecting the tangent. He remembers that day. Quil had gone to the store to pick up some snacks for their dog pile that night, but he hadn't remembered to get Embry's favorite snack. It seemed like an overreaction, but Leah had brushed over it like it was normal, chiding Seth and Jacob before they could even think to make fun of him for it. She'd just instructed Quil to go back out and get it. 

"Yeah." 

 It was weird, but why were they talking about it right now?

"Yeah, I'd just imprinted on him." Quil informs him. 

Oh.

Jacob moves his head as Edward shuffles into a different position.

"Are you getting along a lot better now?" Quil continues.

They'd been a bit turbulent at first, just figuring each other out. Jacob could practically feel the irritation radiating off of him with every sideways glance. One mention of the glass dome he lived in and Jacob thought he'd get annoyed enough to crash the car.

"What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing. We're fine. We're gonna be fine." He hears himself mumble, fingers ruffling Edward's hair. 

Edward isn't fully aware of his surroundings even as he's seated on the stool in his own kitchen. Jacob slid food out in front of him, but he's so out of it that he doesn't feel like pretending to eat. He just watches Jacob scoop up a slice of pizza and practically inhale it. 

He's on his third slice when he looks peers up at Edward.

"Hey, you alright?"

He's about to come up with some kind of response when he realizes Jacob's no longer across the counter from him. He doesn't get time to ponder where he could've possibly gone as he feels arms wrap around his middle and weight press up against his back. 

"I can put it up and you can eat it later."

He's confused for a second until he hears the sound of the front door opening. They were back to putting on a show.

He's about to turn his head to look when he's stopped by Jacob's lips pressing against his. 

When he pulls away, Edward finds himself staring over Jacob's shoulder at Newton.