Jacob hasn't slept a wink. He'd spent almost the entire night tossing and turning and as soon as the time on the overly fancy clock sitting on the bedside table hit 6:00 AM, he rolled out of bed and got dressed. He changed on autopilot and slowly crept down the stairs, hoping not to wake Edward on his way down. He closes the door behind him and is suddenly aware that he hasn't gone anywhere without the man since he'd started crashing here and he doesn't have a key. Edward doesn't even have a security system for this massive thing he calls a house. 

That lack of security gives him pause and makes him second guess leaving, but if he doesn't get this thing under control now, he's going to have even bigger problems on his hands. He stands there for a bit.

 If he were a know-it-all doctor, where would he keep a spare key? 

He looks under the doormat, in a potted plant, he even looks in a little holder that's meant for mail and he's about to give up and storm back into the house when his eyes catches the shiny metal of an old looking plaque hanging just above the little storage box. He lifts it up partially to see a key taped behind the damned thing and tries his best not to roll his eyes because of course. He was pretending to date someone who'd completed several agonizing years medical school and who pays a criminal amount in bills to own a mostly empty house. That doesn't sound like a normal person who'd have an average hiding spot for anything, let alone the key to his half empty mammoth of a mansion.

He finally rushes out to his car and climbs into it before taking off towards his own, more reasonable home. He pulls out his key, but doesn't even get to use it as the door swings open and he's met with Leah staring down at him the way she does when she knows he's here for something stupid. 

"What happened?" She asks as soon as she's finished pouring him a cup of coffee. 

"Something's wrong..." He starts, sighing as he brings the cup up to his lips.

"Yeah, you imprinted on someone." She says bluntly, ignoring the way he almost drops his mug in shock.

"What?"

"Yeah, I can smell it on you, and considering you've only been around a total of two people and one of them is a literal baby, I'm going to assume it's the doctor. Am I wrong?" She says, smug smile already in place as she watches him process what she'd just said.

"Excuse me?" 

She rolls her eyes before turning towards the stairs. 

"Quil!" She calls towards the staircase.

Jacob can feel the exact moment that his stomach drops to his ass as he contemplates bolting for the door. Just as his brain catches up, she grabs a hold of his wrist in a grip so strong that he might as well accept his fate.

Quil comes down the stairs quickly, smile in place as soon as he sees Jacob standing at the kitchen counter. However, it quickly falls when he sees the deathgrip Leah has on his arm.

"Something happen?" He asks as soon as he's at the bottom.

"Your cousin imprinted on the colleague he's supposed to be helping protect that poor baby." Then, she's up the stairs before can even realize that she's let go of his arm.

Quil's staring at him, but Jacob's eyes are staring into his coffee as the last several minutes dawn on him.

He knew that whatever he'd been feeling for the last couple of days wasn't normal. So much so that he'd tried to counteract it and every single time he could feel it blowing up in his face. He could even feel it in the way the man looked at him, like he was trying to figure him out. Jacob had been meaner than usual, because he couldn't stop himself from crowding into the man's space like he belonged to him. It only got worse when he was touting around Bear. The way he was showing her around Jacob's desk, he felt like he was losing his mind. 

Everything felt more intense, even guilt. He felt guilty about scaring him that day. He couldn't let it happen again. He wouldn't let it happen again even if it meant taking himself off of the case. The way he'd gone out of his way for Jacob to make sure he was okay instead of running directly to the Chief meant that something. Jacob's just not sure what exactly. He was going so far as to sit through questionable movies while Jacob gravitated towards him like they were some fucking magnets.

Honestly, if you asked him anything about The Titanic, he wouldn't be able to answer any question that was past the opening credits.

"This is serious, huh?" Quil breaks through his thoughts before taking a sip at his own coffee. 

"Nah, I think it's a platonic thing. I imprint on my friends all the time. Don't you?" He says, knowing damn well he sounds like a dick, but he'd been walking on eggshells for the past week while trying to figure out what was wrong with him. 

'Cause there was definitely something. Why else would he do something as stupid as taking him to that fancy restaurant that Jacob hates. They weren't actually dating, he didn't need to care about the man's interests or impress him, they just needed to look legit. Though, he was clearly willing to sit through being uncomfortable and paying a massive bill if he thought it was going to make the snarky, little shit happy. 

Turns out the man's favorite meal would've cost Jacob, at most, twenty bucks. 

"So, it's really serious. Got it." Quil says, clearly hiding a smirk behind his mug. 

Jacob rubs at his forehead, ignoring the way his hands are starting to sweat. He should hand the case off to someone else. Though, even though it's early, due to apparent attachment, they've overcommitted to the role. He would never be able to walk into that diner ever again without Edward attached to him and Bear on his arm. 

"It's not too late to tell the Chief that you can't take this one." Quil points out, one step behind Jacob.

"He's met Darlene and Bailey." Jacob says, not able to stop the disbelieving chuckle that bubbles up his throat and out of his mouth. 

"So, you're planning on marrying this guy?" Quil teases, but Jacob can hear the concern in his voice because Jacob tended to avoid the diner when it came to dating.

 He didn't take anyone there that wasn't a family member because he didn't want to worry about the questions that came after when the staff never saw them again. Apparently, Doctor Cullen was an exception. Honestly, he stood behind the decision because who knows how long it was going to take to solve this case?

Even if he could drop the case, he doesn't know if he could sit there and watch Cullen wander into the station with some other Officer. He'd have to hide in his office for months and resist beating shit out of whoever his replacement was. 

"Why not? I've already met his family." He grumbles more as  filler than anything. Though, he realizes his mistake with the way Quil's eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. 

"You should bring him over for dinner!" Leah yells down the stairs, "Now leave before you're late for work!" 

Late for work?

Jacob looks at the time and realizes it's 7:30 AM and for the second time in the span of an hour, his heart drops. 

"Fuck!" He says, rushing for the door. 

He wasn't supposed to be gone that long. He was just supposed to see if anyone could figure out what the hell his problem was. He was supposed to be back in time to pick Edward up.

Now, he can't take his mind off of the fact that he was going to have to meet the man for lunch like he hadn't just ditched him. 

How big of a deal could it be? It's not like they were actually a thing.

That doesn't stop the guilt.

"Yo, everything alright between you two?" Jessica asks as soon as Jacob's in his office. She at least closes the door behind him before interrogating him. 

"Us two?" Jacob asks fiddling around in his bag. 

He'd forgotten to grab the file that Edward had stolen from him last night. He'd heard him slip it into the drawer in front of the fridge.

He turns to look at Jessica, only to see her standing there holding the file in her hand.

"He gave it to me this morning," She has this serious tone to her voice that Jacob's not sure he's ever heard directed at him before, "looked like he was about to start crying." 

Cullen? Crying? That's laughable. The man has four emotions and none of them is sadness. Jacob plays along though, ignoring the tight feeling in his throat at the mention of him being upset. 

"I had to go and see Leah this morning. I wasn't paying attention to the time and I wasn't able to drive him to work. I promise to make it up to him during lunch." Jacob's sure he looks guilty, because he can't help but look guilty. If he'd actually upset Edward, he was probably going to feel guilty for the rest of the day.

"Do you want me to cover while you go and see him?" Jessica's looking at him as if she's going to threaten him if he says no, but he was going to have to leave at 2:00 PM and he couldn't waste time sneaking down to the lab.

"No, I should give him some time." He says standing up and heading for the door, ignoring the way she huffs as she tugs the door open. 

"Fine, but 'making it up to him' better be something more impressive than taking him to the diner." 

Edward's brooding. Not intentionally, but he's well aware that he's glaring at his computer screen as he pretends to read what's on it. He's grateful, despite the circumstances, that his brothers have something distracting them so that he can sit in the break room in peace. He knows there will be questions later, but for now, they aren't shocked that he doesn't want Bear around a corpse that they plan on opening up soon.

However, that doesn't stop Black's team from peering in on him when they come to get coffee, like he's going to explode. They watch him carefully while pretending to be really interested in the brand of sugar in the little packets that the department placed in a mug next to the coffee machine. 

The blonde one, the one that Edward realizes was the one that had been ogling Jacob the day the Chief decided they were going to be paired together. 

The realization only adds to him feeling like an idiot. 'Cause why does he care? Why does any of this matter? He doesn't actually need Black to protect Bear. 

Eventually, the clock hits 12:00 PM and he's nowhere near surprised when Black saunters in. He sits down in front of Edward. 

"Had to go and see my sister this morning." He informs Edward, who has only hunched further over his computer. 

"That go well?" Edward mumbles, aware that voice sounds like he couldn't be less interested in knowing more.

"Yeah, you should really get an alarm system." 

Edward's not sure why that irritates him so much, but it gets him to finally look up from his computer, eyes hopefully piercing a hole through Black. 

"If I get that, what do I need you for?" 

The conversation is ridiculous. Edward doesn't need to know where he was, what he was doing, or why he went. He just wants to go home so he can feel whatever he's feeling without eyes watching him. 

However, Edward's question must strike a nerve, because Jacob's looking at him in a way that he doesn't like. Like Jacob had just gotten his feelings hurt. Edward stands up from his seat, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Are we going to the diner or what?" He huffs out, grabbing for Bear's car seat. 

"No, the Chief requested that we go home. Apparently, we're causing a distraction and the autopsy for the third body won't be completed until tomorrow. That mixed in with the appointment, it's a waste of a day." He informs Edward, who just stares at him. 

Causing a distraction? 

He walks out of  the break room and about twenty sets of eyes follow them as they make their way for the door. 

"Don't expect people not to be curious if you're moping in the break room that the entire department uses." Jacob mumbles as soon as they're outside. 

Edward doesn't say anything, begrudgingly sliding into the passenger seat of the cop car after buckling Bear in. The ride home is just as quiet and Edward wastes no time hauling Bear out of the car and up the stairs, hoping to not have to think about the fact the entire station was apparently invested in their fake relationship. 

He lays on the bed with Bear on his chest for a solid hour before she clocks out on him and falls asleep. He places her in her crib and ignores whatever sounds he can hear coming through the adjacent wall. It sounds like Jacob's on the phone, but that's none of his business. 

He climbs back into bed, wishing for the trillionth time in his life that he could just go to sleep. He manages to zone out for almost an hour before his phone starts buzzing on the nightstand.

"Hey, you alright?" Jasper's voice answers, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Yeah." He mumbles into his pillow.

"This morning you looked upset." He continues as if Edward hadn't answered.

"It was something stupid. I'm fine now." He mutters, ignoring the sound of a car starting up outside. 

"Stupid things don't usually cause our coworkers to ask if you're going through a breakup." 

He shouldn't laugh. He really shouldn't but the fact they'd somehow managed to convince the entire precinct that they were together was hilarious. They'd only seen the two together for a week.

"I was just mad. I'm fine." He huffs out.

"Mad about?" Jasper continues to push, probably so he could have some gossip to share with everyone else. 

"He drives us to work every morning. Today he left without me." It sounded equally as stupid when he summarized it.

Apparently, Emmett doesn't think so as he snatches the phone from Jasper.

"Do you want me to give him a black eye?" 

"No, Em, he needs both of his eyes to do his job." Edward reminds him.

"Isn't his job to protect you two?" Jasper asks after snatching the phone back from a disgruntled Emmett.

The question reminds him of the way Jacob had stared at him in the break room after he'd made that admittedly shitty remark about not needing him. 

Maybe he was a dick.