Robin was in the gym working out when she backed up into a fellow resident. “Oh, whoops!” She turned around and smiled sheepishly. “My bad.” She panted, still bouncing on her feet as she raised her eyebrows. “Just know if I pissed you off so much you want to fight, I’m ready for you.”

It was five days after the New Year but for the Blake the party had kept going. As with anything, he liked to go big and had found something to do all through the week until finally it seemed emotions for the New Year had finally grown weary and he had a serious hangover as he woke up midday. “Please, don’t talk,” he said as he could hear someone nearby. He put a hand to his head and decided the first thing he needed to do today was get some coffee. “I need coffee.”

Declan was walking in to the apartment building from work. It had been a long day, between working his shift at the police department and then going by his shop afterwards he was pretty tired. But that didn’t get rid of the smile on his face. For the first time in his life he was happy and in a good place and was staying in it. He felt like a new man, being positive and happy all of the time. As he walked in he saw a fellow resident before smiling at them. “Hi.” Declan said, waving his hand softly. “How was your New Years?” He asked eagerly, being much more outgoing than he normally was but it was because he was so happy.

Unaware she was even speaking to anyone in particular since she constantly rambled to herself, Aleksandra turned in her barstool to face the man next to her. Rolling her eyes in a joking manner, a grin appeared on her small oval face before she shook her head. “I suppose you heard me talking to myself huh? I promise you I’m not psychotic. Aleksandra, though, nice to meet you.” Grabbing her margarita and pulling it closer, she pursed her lips to take a sip before placing it back down. “I’ll take you up on that offer, though. I really don’t need to start off the year with high blood pressure.” A bit hesitant to continue talking, because she didn’t want to seem like an odd ball to her new acquaintance, she shook her head some more and rambled on. “I hope you guys like cookies also, cause I sort of made a good 50 of them also.”

Lindsay knew the drive was going to be awkward so she decided to just stay quiet, only speak if spoken to. Not because she didn’t want to resolve what was going on between the two but because she didn’t want to get knee deep in serious conversation when their minds were supposed to be on the task at hand for their job. Neither one could really afford to fuck up. She just looked over at Jake when he tried to apologize and shook her head. “Really, Jake — now isn’t the time but I think everyone is still in the processing phase including myself. I still wake up every morning and think this past month has been a dream because who in their right mind would actually want to marry me? But that’s besides the point. I really do want to fix things between us, I just need to know how to do that. When we’re done with this we should go to lunch and just sit down and talk about everything, okay?” 

Lindsay was flooded with so many emotions over every aspect of their conversation that she was left speechless which was a pretty hard thing to do to the detective. She just stood there stunned not knowing what to say, trying to find the words until they were ( thankfully ) interrupted by their co-worker. “I can’t with this right now, we need to go.” was all she responded with and quickly exited the locker room to be briefed on what was going on and what the plan was with this new case. She just wished it wasn’t Jake who was going to have to sit next to her in the car, she could use a breather but nothing was ever made easy for her. “You can drive,” she said tossing the keys to her partner; a total rarity. That’s how you KNEW she was off her game.

Before she learned that Jake wouldn’t be attending the wedding Lindsay did wonder if he would have spoken out against it if given the chance and that worried her. In some ways, deep down, him not being there was a relief even if it hurt on all the surface levels. She just stood there biting the inside of her cheek not knowing how to respond to all that he was saying until he voiced his opinion on it seeming to have moved too fast. “That’s not fair and quite frankly none of your business. Who are you to say what’s too fast when you were the one trying to move way too quickly our entire relationship? Declan and I have known each other even longer than we have. Friends first counts for something, it wasn’t as fast as everyone thinks when feelings progressed over years of friendship. Of all people you should understand that. What is it going to take to get your support? Why can’t you just be happy for me? It hurts because I never meant for this or ANYTHING to ever come between us, Jake. I don’t think you realize just how much you truly mean to me.”

She looked down at the ring tattooed around her finger and then back up to her partner. Her heart ached at his words; she thought they had gotten passed all this. “Jake…” she sighed and then rose her hands to her temples and pushed her hair back. “You can’t say things like that to me. You just can’t. Do you even know how hard it was for me to look around the courthouse and see everyone I cared about except you there? I never thought you wouldn’t be there on my wedding day. I needed you so I’m sorry if I’m having a hard time accepting the fact that you weren’t there but I thought maybe just once you’d put my feelings ahead of your own. I should have known better then maybe at least I wouldn’t be so disappointed.” 

Bellamy: oh ill try 😇😇

“I swear, I’m like the girl in the math equations. Aleksandra accidentally bakes 80 cupcakes…wait, I don’t know how the rest goes. Basically, I accidentally made 80 cupcakes.” Glancing at the person sitting next to her at the bar for the first time, she realized she didn’t even know the person enough to be confessing such facts to them. Her head shaking slightly and cheeks turning a hue of pink, she moved the margarita in front of her closer before pursing her lips and taking a sip. “I think I need another four of these….”

Being back in Denver was something to fall back into. Denver and Charlotte are both different in their own ways. Jake sat down at his favorite, drinking his feelings away. He looked over at the girl, talking about cupcakes. “You could take them to the police station and send them to the Intelligence Unit. My co workers will eat them like there’s no tomorrow.” he said with a small chuckle. “I’m Jake by the way.”

Lindsay sighed to herself as she watched him walk away towards the locker room and dropped the pen she was holding onto the pile of papers pushing herself back from her desk and stood up to go follow him. Whether or not it was the right decision she wasn’t sure but they had to speak sooner or later, at least this way it wouldn’t be in front of everybody else. “Glad you had a nice time,” her tone rang out bitterly as she leaned against some of the lockers watching him put his things away. “And yeah, my wedding was perfect thanks for asking.” 

Jake looked up when he heard Lindsay’s voice then sighed, knowing it was going to be a stressful thing between the two. “I’m sorry I didn’t come but I figured it would be best for everyone if I wasn’t there. You know how the halloween party went down.” Jake said before putting his stuff in his locker and closing it. “Besides.” Jake started then walked over to her, facing her. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t watch you marry him. I know that’s selfish but I just couldn’t.” 

Bellamy: i am so done playing my pure-angel-new-girl-in-town bit. u think i've waited long enough to go back2bad 😈😈😈

“Hey! Jake, we missed you, man!” She heard her co-worker exclaim and jump up out of his chair to welcome her partner back from working a case in Charlotte that Lindsay knew he had volunteered to take on just so he could have an excuse not to go to her wedding. To be honest it stung and even though it had been a few weeks she still didn’t know how she felt about him but one thing was for sure, she sure wouldn’t be giving him the warm welcome back she normally would after not seeing him for a few days. The detective barely lifted her head out of the paperwork she was going through and just gave him a half smile and a casual head nod not able or caring to muster up much more than that. Without even so much as a ‘hi’ she turned her attention back to the papers sprawled all over her desk pretending to busy herself with them. She didn’t even know what to say to Jake at this point.

@thejakebennett

Hearing his co worker’s reaction, Jake chuckled a little. “Thanks man.” he said before walking over to his desk. He looked up when he was asked how was Charlotte. “It was good. It was nice to see my old friends and everything.” He stated then turned his head to his partner who looked busy with work. Jake knew it was going to be awkward between the two since he didn’t go to the wedding. He sighed a little before grabbing his bag and making his way into the locker room to put up his things.

When Jake found out Lindsay was getting married, he didn’t know what to think. He needed a break from everything so he took a week off of work and took a plane to his hometown, Charlotte, NC. He wasn’t sure why it would help but he gave it a try. Jake made his way to Lindsay’s and Declan’s apartment and knocked on the door. Once the door opened, he saw Lindsay and couldn’t help but smile. “Hey..” he said softly, trying to find the words to speak. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to your wedding. I’ve just been dealing with stuff and I had to leave town to clear my head.” Jake said then pulled out a card and handed it to her. “This is a $30 card gift to Chipotle. I didn’t know what to get you..I’m bad at this stuff..” Jake said with a small chuckle before looking at her. 

Secret Santa Care pack includes:

A policeman box full of Coffee, a donuts mug and sweet treats. 

A tub of lollipops for all those shit days and kids who come into the station.

Hip flask for the real cold stressful days. 

Reindeer Root beer  because its fucking Christmas man! who doesn’t want that in their life.

Note reads:

Merry Christmas Jake, 

Thanks for keeping people safe and making Denver a better place

Keep going dude.