Ghost Man on Third [Jake]

[Fifi Hart]

Fifi was pounding the pavement at the mall trying to find a more stable job than the temp agency she'd been working with recently. Bren and Vin brought in money, sure, and so did her paintings, but she just...needed a real job. At least to keep her busy, and maybe let her have a few more goodies. Of course, Fifi wasn't living in poverty or anything! But she would have liked to afford a luxury or two now and then.

Until then, though, she was content to let food be her luxury. She'd splurged on a large, disgustingly pink cupcake from a local bakery. The raspberry confection had really hit the spot and Fiona was licking the remnants of the icing from her fingers by the end. She giggled and hummed in delight, rising from her seat on a bench to dispose of the wrapper. When she did so, she made a double-take at a man walking out of a store not far from her.

She'd made a habit of not really thinking about certain people, sure that she'd never see them again. Now that her life was back in order, it was just best to assume they were gone off somewhere...or dead. But there was no mistaking him. It was definitely him. What did she do?

Before she could stop herself, Fifi called out. "Jake?...Jake!"

[Jacob Lawrence]

Jake had been out running a few errands and picking up a few things he needed for the project he was working on with Brendan. What with working for Cynthia and Riley, he'd been keeping himself quite busy lately and he was actually rather glad for that. Too much time alone always led to thinking about things that he'd rather not dwell on.

He also had to gather a few things for the newest addition to his household. Jesse had brought Gambit to him, needing someone to look after the dog while he went back to school. As much as Jake didn't want Jesse back in his life, he couldn't turn away a dog in need. Which meant he needed a new set of food and water bowls, another dog bed, and obviously more dog food. They were necessary expenses, he supposed, and at least now he had a steady source of income.

Checking a hastily scribbled list he'd pulled from his pocket, Jake was interrupted by someone calling his name. He didn't recognize the voice, but when he turned to look around, he instantly recognized the girl. "Fifi?" He asked incredulously, his hand dropping to his side. He hadn't seen her in over a year and had often thought of what could have happened to her. It was a relief to see that she was healthy and seemingly in good spirits. Unlike Jesse, Jake had never really had a problem with the younger girl. She'd practically been born into MSAD, and that was during Jake's good times with the group. (If they could be called that.)

Slowly he made his way over to her, taking the time to try and think of something to say. For once, his mind was almost painfully blank. After some pause, he finally spoke, "I'm glad to see you're okay."

[Fifi Hart]

Fifi just stared at him, her mouth agape. First Jesse and now this? It was definitely a..."Yeah, Blast from the past." She said breathlessly, unable to keep from staring. He looked the same, he sounded almost the same, but she knew everything was different. Everyone was different. Whoever was left, anyway.

"W...what are you doing in Pilot Ridge?" She asked without really thinking of how it sounded. Really she was just curious how he was holding up, what he'd managed to do with himself. How he'd managed to...well escape. If he even had. She hadn't kept up with anyone after she'd betrayed them gone to juvie, and while she hadn't realized it at first, she just assumed everyone was gone forever.

[Jacob Lawrence]

Jake smiled humorlessly at the question and shrugged his shoulders. "Trying to put my life back together, I guess." He was selfish, he knew that, and even though Pilot Ridge should have been the last place he came back to, he just wanted to feel at home. "I'm not on the run anymore." He didn't like to talk about the time he'd spent in jail, but that was something he'd done on his own accord.

"What about you?" He had to admit, he was curious. "Did you go back to Hammel?" Of course the school wouldn't turn away a student in need. If they were taking Jesse back, they would obviously have taken Fifi. There was something different about her now, something that Jake couldn't quite place, and he wondered if that change had happened before or after she'd left.

[Fifi Hart]

Fifi smiled warmly, nodding with grave understanding. "Well, I guess Pilot Ridge is as good of a place to start as any." She gestured around herself vaguely. "I did the same." She obviously wilted with relief when Jake explained he was no longer on the run. That meant he'd either gone off the map, had the charges dropped, or done his time. She didn't really care to find out which.

"I'm glad to hear that." She said earnestly, running her fingers through her long hair. Fifi didn't think Jake had even seen it at that length. "Yeah I...I graduated, actually!" She beamed with quiet pride. "It was tough, but I buckled down and did it after I got out of juvie." She snorted. "Can't believe I didn't get stuck there sooner, y'know?"

She bit her lip, looking over Jake hesitantly. "They---" She cleared her throat. "They took in Levi too. He's happy. Safe. And Jesse." Fifi didn't know how much Jake knew, but she couldn't help but be curious. "How long have you been back? I mean...you've seen anyone?"

[Jacob Lawrence]

The smile turned genuine when Fifi explained that she'd graduated. "Congratulations." He knew she was a very smart girl and she probably could have graduated top of her class if she hadn't been involved with all the mess that MSAD had caused. "Well..." Jake laughed just a little. "It's not always easy to catch a fox."

A certain sadness touched his expression when Fifi mentioned Levi. "I know." He knew the boy didn't trust him anymore and he honestly couldn't blame him, but he was still so fond of him. For a long while there, Levi had been one of the few people at the compound that would actually talk to him. "I brought him here after we found out about Gabe." Jake looked down at his feet. "And I spoke with him not too long ago. I brought Bucky to see him." That had been worth it just to see Levi smile.

"I also ran into Sean." That... had gone about as well as he could have hoped. "And Morgan." But he quickly tried to change the subject, lifting his hand to the back of his head as he asked, "So what have you been up to since graduating? Are you looking into college?"

[Fifi Hart]

“Thanks!” She chirped, chuckling. Fiona was glad Levi and Jake had at least talked. They’d seemed close, and it was good for Levi so see the pup again, she was sure. Her eyes widened at the mention of Morgan. There was some serious baggage there that Fiona barely knew the half of. She’d left before things went totally nuts on that front.

“I’m at the community college now, knocking out the gen-ed kinda stuff.” She scratched her head slightly, her mind still stuck on the Morgan thing. “I think I might want to become a therapist, actually. “ She confided in him. She had been rolling the thought around her mind, but wasn’t sure if she was going to do it yet. “and I moved in with my boyfriends and I’m writing a book!” She rattled off, chuckling as she let her hands fall to her side. It all sounded so strange, but it was so perfect.

“So…Mister Tonaya?” She said, her voice coming down. She’d caught his change of subject, but she couldn’t avoid it. “Are you…I mean is---.” She knitted her lips together nervously. “Are you okay? I mean, about him.”

[Jacob Lawrence]

"That sounds like a good place to start." Not that Jake really knew anything about college, he'd never went, nor even thought of going. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow when she went on to talk about becoming a therapist. Strangely enough, he could almost see it.

He did stop her, however, to ask, "Boyfriends? As in more than one?" That was perhaps a bit nosy, but he was kind of hoping he'd just misheard that. Fifi had been quite the wild child in her earlier days, though. He figured some habits died hard. If she had moved in with them, however, then that meant that whatever it was had to have been serious. And if he knew one of said boyfriends was Brendan, well, he'd be incredibly surprised.

With the conversation steered back towards Morgan, Jake fell quiet. There was a bit of inner turmoil, trying to decide just what he should say to Fifi. She didn't need to worry herself with his problems, but Jake really was trying to put lying behind him. "Honestly? No." He said in a low voice. "But it's my own fault."

[Fifi Hart]

Fifi colored slightly, chuckling. "Yeah. Two. It's...a. It's a really weird story. Maybe for some other time, yeah?" She tried to think on how long it had been. They'd only been formally together for a few months, the three of them, but Vin and Bren and she has been living together for some time. At least since Bren had lost his job.

She nodded slowly. "I understand." She tucked her hands in her pockets. "But you said you'd talked to him, right? I mean at least now you have some closure?" Now she was being nosy. Unforgivably nosy. She shuffled aside, cutting her eyes away from him. "Oh, no. Jake I'm sorry I asked."

[Jacob Lawrence]

Shrugging, Jake realized he was in no position to judge Fifi on that. Instead, he just offered up a, "Hey, as long as you're happy, that's all that matters." And he did truly mean it. Fifi had been through a lot, she deserved at least some type of stability, and she deserved someone who would treat her right. (Or two someones, as the case may be.)

Jake sighed and turned his focus back to Fifi. "That's what I thought at first too, but seeing him again..." He trailed off, feeling an uncomfortable tightness in his chest. "It didn't make anything better." Jake gripped his other arm and tried to smile at Fifi again. "It's alright. I've got to get used to it at some point, right?"

[Fifi Hart]

Fifi shook her head, at first slowly and then with more vehemence. "N...No! Jake,No. You shouldn't have to get used to something like that, that's not how---" She fumbled over some words. "That's not how love works." She finally settled, her voice taking on an almost angry tone.

She wasn't angry just...frustrated. She was frustrated that MSAD was still ruining peoples' lives. "If you love him, and I think you still do, then you deserve closure." She enthused. Fifi's nose twitched in irritation. "And if you really do love him than he deserves you to fight for him." She huffed, withdrawing into herself a little. "That's what I think, anyway."

[Jacob Lawrence]

He was taken aback by the strength in her voice and simply stared at her wide-eyed for a few seconds. "Fifi..." What did he say to something like that? He couldn't tell her she was wrong or that she was too young to understand. Fifi had been through a lot. She was young, yes, and perhaps idealistic, but she'd experienced more in her short life than others had in twice that time.

"Of course I still love him." Jake lifted his hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. Fight for him? It all sounded so romantic. If only it really worked that way. "I can only do so much. Fifi, he ran away from me. I don't blame him, but... I don't think I'm going to get closure."

But he didn't want closure. Not really. All he wanted was Morgan.

[Fifi Hart]

"All I'm saying," Fifi began, with a fair dose of sass that she hadn't used on anyone but Brendan and Vincent in quite a long time "is that you can't be coward about it, you know?" Fifi sighed, lifting her hands in a helpless gesture. "This guy changed your life, Jake. I mean..." She gestured to him.

"I know you went through some shit, but can you imagine what would have happened if you hadn't met him? If you'd been by Gabe's side through all of that?" She looked into the distance past Jake's shoulder. "There's more to you know, Jake. I can feel it. And I'm betting money it's not being on the run that did it."

[Jacob Lawrence]

He quirked a brow at Fifi, suddenly seeing the spark in her that he had remembered so well. She always did seem to get exactly what she wanted and he supposed that maybe she was truly trying to give him good advice. At the least, he didn't feel like she was trying to lead him astray. That was their past lives. They'd put those behind them.

"I guess you're right. A lot has changed because of him and for him." His shoulders sagged, but he wore a tired looking smile on his face. "I'd do anything for him." Jake ran his hands through his hair, took a deep breath, and then suddenly started laughing.

"I can see why you want to be a therapist now."

[Fifi Hart]

"Then do it!" Fifi charged him, thumping her fist in her open palm. She reached out then and squeezed his shoulder, letting the subject slide for now. Her urge to meddle called her to check in on him about it, but she wasn't sure she should. Jake really had to do this on his own.

She let her hand slide from him and giggled, tossing her hair from her face. "Yeah well...I want to be a therapist so that people..." She trailed off, a sad look misting her eyes. "So that people like us can learn, like we did, that your past doesn't have to define you. And no matter how mistakes you make, you can always clean up the mess."