#jake centric

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It wasn’t easy to live with being deprived of one of your senses. It wasn’t easy to live without being able to hear anything at all. It wasn’t easy to live when every medical help that you seek, gives up on the cure. It wasn’t easy to know that finally when you find a cure, you have to rely on hearing aids for the rest of her life. And it wasn’t easy to live your life depending on hearing aids when you know that the reason why you’re wearing them is your step father. But that was Jake’s life.

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Jake’s life wasn’t always like that. He had been a healthy child throughout his life until his mother married a man that ruined their entire life. And worst was that whenever Jake complained to his mother that his step Dad was very abusive, would hit him or even try to molest him, his mother never believed. She believed in his good side only. It was only once when the man had beaten up Jake to a limit when the boy was black and blue that the mother realized her husband’s actual nature but it was too late. When his lies were caught, the man tried to eliminate the whole family by setting the house on fire and one particular explosion too close to him left Jake deaf at the age of 10 itself.

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But Jake never let himself be discouraged by it. Jake had been really brave throughout his life, standing by his mother as she rebuild her life. And Jake also bravely accepted the fact that he had to rely on his hearing aids to be able to hear.

Jake had even managed to claim a place in the boy band Stereo Kicks. He bravely made his own identity and never let his disability affect him ever.

But as strong minded as he was, Jake had kept his disease a secret from his own bandmates. As strong as he was, he was really not ready to accept any more comments on his disability.

He just wouldn’t be able that his boy band start differentiating with him just on basis of his hard hearing.

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Unfortunately for Jake, his secret was soon out. He’d taken so many precautions to not let the boys know that he couldn’t hear. He would wear beanies to hide his hearing aid and sometimes for precautions, he would even not wear the hearing aids in case the boys saw it. But not even much days into the band, his secret was out. And it’s Charlie who unveiled the secret.

A simple case of misplace was the reason why Jake’s secret was out when once Charlie found Jake’s hearing aids.

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It happened once when the boy was all sitting around watching a movie. As the boys had launched in a tickle attack before, Jake’s beanie got thrown off. Conscious about his hearing aids, Jake had removed the hearing aids and hidden it next to him on the couch. He thought he’ll be okay but halfway through the movie Reece had asked him for the popcorns and since he was focusing on the movie and wasn’t even seeing Reece to lip read and understand, he didn’t hear anything.

“Dude, is the story that interesting that you couldn’t even hear me shouting for the popcorn” Reece asked as he playfully hit Jake on the arm.

“Uh? Sorry” Jake stammered before clumsily getting up, making an excuse that he needed the bathroom.

It was only after he got up that Charlie noticed something on the couch.

“Are these hearing aids?” Charlie asked, holding the hearing aids up.

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Unaware of what was going on downstairs, Jake came back only to see his hearing aids in Charlie’s hands.

“Whose is it?” Chris asked, taking it from Charlie to inspect it when suddenly Jake snatched it.

“It’s mine okay” Jake shouted, as he understood what was going on even without hearing. He was about to run off to his room when Barclay stopped him.

Barclay mumbled something before realizing that Jake wouldn’t even be able to hear him. He gestured to the hearing aids and lifted it to Jake’s ear and waited until Jake wore them before saying, “why didn’t you tell us?”

Jake sighed before saying, “I didn’t want to be treated any differently than now.”

They sat around, listening to how Jake had been abused in his childhood and how he lost his hearing sense.

After letting the boys know the truth, Jake closed his eyes, letting a tear run down his cheeks as he took in everybody’s shocked face.

And that’s when Jake found himself pulled in a group hug.

“You’re such a strong guy Jake” James said.

“We’re all so proud of you” Casey added.

And then a promise was whispered to him, “You’re not different from us, Jake. If you’re different in any way then it is because you’re so brave. I promise, Jake. Your secret doesn’t make any difference.”

Jake nodded, knowing that he could trust the boys with this.

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Being deprived of one of your senses isn’t really easy when you know you have a long life ahead. It isn’t easy to be judged by people just because one of your senses makes you different from others. But when you have support of good friends, being deprived of one of your senses also doesn’t really make a big effect on your life.

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A/N

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Singing in a band, performing in front of a huge audience and rocking the judges and the audience were what Jake always dreamt about. And currently, he was living his dreams. He was on the x factor performing in front of highly respected judges and rocking the stage along with his bandmates of Stereo Kicks, Tom, Barclay, Chris, James, Casey, Charlie and Reece. Now that he was finally achieving his dreams, Jake wasn’t going to let his epilepsy ruin his dreams.

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Jake had lived with epilepsy for his whole childhood. He hated the facts that he had to always be careful so that nothing triggers his epilepsy. Sometimes even his medicines or being careful couldn’t stop his epilepsy attacks. An out of nowhere seizure could happen anytime to him. But lately, Jake was doing fairly well as he hadn’t any grand mal in the past few days. He had managed to even keep his epilepsy a secret from the boys. Except the judges or some important people related to the x factor, Jake hadn’t let anyone know about his epilepsy. He was adamant on people not treating him any different than what he is just because of his epilepsy.

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Unfortunately, Jake couldn’t keep it a secret for long. He had managed to go some days without having a seizure but as they were performing on the x factor stage, Jake happened to have a seizure live on stage. They had been performing quite well when suddenly Jake lifted his head up to look at the audience when he unfortunately saw the flashing lights. He stood there frozen, feeling his fingers twitch as his eyes rolled back. And minutes later, he had fallen on the stage, having a seizure in front of the audience, the judges and his bandmates.

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The boys stood there in shock as they watched Jake fall down on stage but a bigger shock for them was to watch Jake have a seizure in front of them. For a minute none of them knew what to do but when they saw Jake seizing on the floor, they all sprung in action.

“Jake” Tom shouted, crouching down next to Jake.

“Shit, is he having a seizure?” Chris asked.

“Casey, give me your jacket” Barclay shouted as he removed his own jacket putting it under Jake’s head who was seizing violently and noticing a bump behind Jake’s head.

Casey sighed as he put his jacket on Jake’s lap noticing the wet jeans as Jake wet himself during his seizure.

“I’ll get them to call an ambulance” James said as he ran backstage.

Charlie and Reece held onto each other as they watched the ambulance arrive quickly take Jake with them.

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Reaching the hospital, they were assured that Jake was fine as they followed the doctor to Jake’s room.

“But doc, a seizure out of nowhere” Casey asked.

“Is it because he fell and injured his head?” Barclay asked.

“No, falling and injuring his head caused him to pass out but as far as having a seizure, I was forwarded his medical history and it’s recorded that Jake has epilepsy.” The doctor said.

“Jake has epilepsy?” James asked.

“Yes” the doctor confirmed.

“He never told us” Chris said.

Ignoring the fact that Jake never told them, Tom decided to focus on the matter at hand first. “Doc, is there any special precautions that we need to take with Jake’s condition?” Tom asked.

“Come with me, I’ll give you the prescription of new medicines that he needs to take and I’ll tell you what special care should be taken around him” the doctor said as Tom and Barclay followed the doctor.

“Is he going to be alright?” Charlie asked.

Casey smiled as he pulled both the youngest, Reece and Charlie in a hug assuring them that Jake will be fine.

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When Jake woke up, he couldn’t bring himself to look up to the boys.

“I ruined it, right?” Jake asked.

Tom sighed softly as he saw Jake blinking back tears. “You didn’t ruin anything Jake. Don’t worry about it.” Tom assured Jake, ruffling his hair.

“You should have told us about your epilepsy but that’s okay. Now that we know about it we can take better care of you.” Barclay said.

“Oh God, please don’t treat me like I’m made of glass” Jake whined.

“Well, it’s your punishment since you decided to hide such a thing from us” Casey chuckled.

“You scared us” Reece said as he and Charlie leaned forward to hug Jake.

Jake smiled softly as he patted both boys on the back.

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As long as he had the boys, Jake was sure that no seizure was going to hold him back. There would be no holding back at all when it came to achieving his dreams.

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A/N

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Jake was the second oldest but if you look in terms of height, he would be the last one. Given his short height, he looked like the youngest. Hell, even Reece and Charlie were taller than him by some inches. Because of his height, Jake used to suffer through a lot of taunts and mockery. This is used to hurt Jake because he had a medical condition, he never could grow in height. But in his current height, Jake always found himself unable to fight back those mockeries.

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When Stereo Kicks was formed, Jake was sure his height would someday be laughed about. And that day came soon. The boys were sitting around when suddenly Charlie started getting the hiccups. Standing up to get Charlie a glass of water, Jake found the glass on the top shelf. Standing on his tip toes also, he couldn’t reach the glass. He could clearly hear the boys laughing at him while he tried jumping to get to the glass.

“Aww… Poor Jake” Casey laughed.

“Come on Jakey, you can get the glass” Chris snickered.

“Go for it Jake, we’re with you” James laughed.

Reece and Barclay had been chuckling and even Charlie was laughing as Tom stood up, handing Jake the glass.

Feeling embarrassed, Jake ran away from the kitchen to his room.

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Feeling bad about laughing at Jake, the boys went to his room to apologize. They found Jake quickly wiping at his face.

“Oh bud, we were just kidding, babe” Tom said, sitting next to Jake.

“I know” Jake sniffled.

“Hey, we’re sorry, Jake. We didn’t know that you’ll feel so bad.” Barclay said.

“I really wish that I could be tall too.” Jake said.

“That’s not a problem. I can tell you the perfect trick to get…” James trailed off, but Jake cut him off by shaking his head, “it won’t work.”

“You didn’t even listen to him” Casey said.

“I know it won’t work because it’s a medical condition. My height will remain as such itself” Jake mumbled.

“Oh Jakey, I’m so sorry, mate” Reece said.

“Sorry” Charlie said, holding his ears.

Jake looked up at him before chuckling softly.

Since that day, the boys had been really protective with Jake.

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Tom was the most protective regarding Jake. As he was the oldest, he tended to be overprotective with all the boys but recently, he was keeping a close watch on Jake. If Jake would be trying to get something from the top shelf, Tom would quickly help him. He wouldn’t allow Jake to stand on tip toes or on a stool in fear that Jake would fall down. In that matter, he was really protective with Jake.

Barclay was no less. Even he watched Jake like a hawk. If Jake needed help, he would rush over to help the boy quickly.

Tom and Barclay made sure Jake didn’t get hurt in trying to do something dangerous.

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Casey, Chris and James were the ones who would be watching out for anyone who made any comments on Jake’s height. There was no one more dangerous than Casey, James or Chris if anybody laughed at Jake for his height.

Reece and Charlie, being the youngest were no longer than the older ones. They constantly followed Jake and tried to help the boy before Jake could even ask for help.

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There were times when Jake got fed up of the boys being so overprotective with him but seriously, he did appreciate that the boys were always there for him. Being the shortest one didn’t really matter as such now.

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A/N

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Looking at the crowd, Jake felt his heartbeat quicken. He found it difficult to breathe. He could feel a cold sweat run down his back. Closing his eyes for a while, Jake took a deep breath and opened them again. But yet he could still feel a little panic increasing in him. It was stupid since they were just in a small interview with some fans sitting in the studio. Tears burning in his eyes, Jake took a shaky breath which had James attention shift on him. When he was about to lose grip on his surroundings and slip in a panic attack, James’s hand on his shoulder brought him back. A gentle squeeze to his shoulder and Jake turned slightly to flash James a ‘thank you’ smile.

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Panic attacks were common for Jake. He suffered them since his childhood itself. He could suffer more than one panic attacks in a day. It was that bad but ever since he came in X factor, it got worse. Jake had tried his best to keep his panic attacks hidden from the others. But it didn’t take long for the boys to learn that Jake suffered through multiple panic attacks. Jake hated the fact that the others had learnt about it because they had started treating him like he was made up of glass but often it made Jake think that without the boys, he would never be able to fight against his panic attacks and stay in the band. Often, he found himself feeling glad that he had the boys by his side through all this.

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The boys had find out that Jake had multiple panic attacks one day before the performance on the X factor. The boys were about to go on stage when suddenly they found out they had a member less in their team, Jake. Looking around for the boy they found him in a corner backstage, hysterically crying in his knees without even looking up.

“Jake, are you okay?” Charlie asked.

“Jakey, you fine, buddy?” Barclay asked.

“I can’t do this. I’ll embarrass myself and everybody. I’ll fail everyone” Jake struggled to breathe as he spoke.

“Hey just relax Jake. Nothing like that will happen” Chris said.

“No, the boys will hate me forever” Jake mumbled.

“No Jake. We can never hate you” Casey said.

Tom crouched down in front of Jake and slowly put a hand on Jake’s back, rubbing slightly to comfort the boy. “Look at me, Jake. You’re okay. It’s just a performance. Everything will go fine. Don’t worry.” Tom said.

It took some time but finally Jake snapped out of his panic attack.

“Are you okay, now, Jake?” Reece asked.

Jake nodded, wiping at his face quickly to erase the proof that he had just been in tears.

“What was that Jake? You got stage fright?” James asked.

Finally Jake had to tell them that it was no stage fright but just a panic attack that he suffers through multiple times.

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Ever since the boys learnt about Jake’s panic attack, things started changing. At first they were over protective around Jake but then they realized that they were just making Jake feel even worse. Jake hated the fact that even the ones younger than him were trying to do something for him when it should have been the other way, Jake taking care of them. But when the boys realized that they were crowding Jake, they took some distance from Jake but stayed within reach so that whenever Jake needed them, they could be there for him and take care of him.

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If they were alone with Jake when the boy would have a panic attack then the boys didn’t have any problem. They would sit down with Jake and just talk him out of the panic attack. No matter how much time it took, they would be there for Jake and they would even be prepared if the boy would be a mess after the panic attack. From Tom to Charlie, they all knew what to do if Jake had a panic attack around them. But when they were in public, things got a bit tricky. The boys wouldn’t be able to really help Jake ground himself but they had one means to get Jake situated, a firm touch and Jake would be able to steer himself out of the panic attack. This was how, pats to the back, to the shoulder or gently shoulder or arm squeezes grew frequent whenever the boys were performing or were in public. It was the only means that could help Jake out of his panic attacks.

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Whether they were on stage or were in an interview or in any public place, if they saw Jake about to have a panic attack, one of them would just pat Jake on the back or simply squeeze his arm or shoulder until the boy snapped out of his panic attack. For people, it might seem like a simple affectionate gesture between bandmates or for some it might be a reason to ship their bandmates together in bromance or much more than that but for Jake, he was utterly grateful for those affectionate gestures that could help him from slipping in a panic attack or to find his way back to reality if ever he was having a panic attack.

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Sometimes, Jake would get very disheartened by his multiple panic attacks but whatever it was he knew the boys would be there for him. They were his anchors that help him stay ground. His bandmates were his anchors to stay grounded.

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A/N