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can’t you see that i’m falling (falling for you)

happy valentine’s day, @b99-is-superb!! i’m your b99 valentine! hope you enjoy this fic i wrote for you!! 💕

read on ao3

i. when Amy Santiago started living

She’s exhausted all the time.

Amy’s held high expectations for college nearly all of her life. She’s had everything mapped out since she was eleven years old: she’s going to study criminology and then enter the police training academy. After that, she'd work her years as a beat cop, get promoted to detective, and then to sergeant. Before long, she would be the youngest captain in the entire NYPD.

She has a plan, and she is going to stick to it no matter how much caffeine goes into her body throughout the next four years.

Cursing under her breath, Amy picks up the pen that she has dropped on the floor. She bends her head over the criminal justice textbook that she is reading and fumbles for a highlighter. The book thuds to the floor.

"Shut up," her roommate mutters from across the dorm. Rosa Diaz is also a criminal justice major and she's very badass and scary. Once, Amy had asked her where she had gotten the scar on her eyebrow from, and Rosa had scowled and sent her a death glare. Amy had resolves to never ask Rosa another personal question after that.

"Sorry," Amy squeaks, picking up her book and watching Rosa's dark and curly hair disappear beneath the covers. Amy flips the book open to the page she had been on and takes a sip from the cold coffee mug sitting on her desk.

Her thoughts are interrupted as she hears loud music bursting from outside of the dorm. Rosa groans and pulls a pillow over her face. Amy frowns and stands up. She walks to the door and opens it.

"Shut up! Some of us are trying to study, and others are trying to sleep!" she scolds. A boy with obnoxious brown curls and a speaker dangling in one hand sends her a goofy grin.

"Sorry," he says. "Me and my buddy were partying! Because that's what college is all about, baby!" He takes the speaker and disappears down the hall.

Amy rolls her eyes. "My buddy and I," she corrects, even though the boy is long gone. Amy steps back into her dorm and shuts the door, ignoring Rosa's soft snores and heading back to her desk. College boys are so stupid, Amy thinks to herself. They don't focus on the actual material and education that university had to offer. They only care about partying.

She falls asleep sometime later with her forehead resting on the criminal justice textbook and her mug of coffee only half-drained.

Rosa violently shakes her awake a few hours later. Amy whips her head up from the book. "Adjudication!" she yelps in her half-awake, half-asleep state.

"Class is starting in half an hour," Rosa says, rolling her eyes.

"Half an hour! Why didn't you wake me up earlier!" Amy scrambles to her closet and pulls out a pantsuit. She nearly trips over her own feet as she rushes to the bathroom.

"Nerd," Rosa mutters, grabbing her bag and heading out of the dorm. The door slams shut and Amy is left in the dorm alone, frantically jamming her books into her bag and spilling highlighters everywhere. However, she makes it to class five minutes before the lecture starts, scoring a seat in the front row. Amy sighs with relief as she pulls out her laptop, ready to learn.

Another few minutes pass and Amy looks around. The hall is decently filled with students. Amy spots Rosa sitting in the back with her legs propped up and her laptop sitting in her lap. Behind Rosa sits a guy with curly hair― a guy that Amy faintly recognizes. With a jolt, Amy realizes that he's the partying college student from the night before. Amy rolls her eyes and turns to the front of the hall.

The lecture flies by fast, with Amy furiously typing everything down and eagerly answering questions when they are asked. After it ends, Amy rushes to meet up with Rosa, who is talking to the curly-haired boy. He looks up and down at Amy.

"Hey, you're that girl who yelled at me last night!"

"I did not yell―" Amy huffs.

"Title of your sex tape! You know, you don't have to dress like that. Most people just come to class in their pajamas," the boy says. Amy frowns and notes his sweatpants and hoodie.

"I want to look presentable," she says, smoothing out her suit. "Unlike you, obviously." He laughs, which irks Amy further. "Amy Santiago," Amy says. He shakes her hand.

"Jake Peralta. Cooler than you," he says.

"Dorks," Rosa mutters, looking between them. "Is this over? I thought you were gonna introduce me to your friend, Peralta," she says.

"She's right here!" A voice says from behind them. Amy whips around and comes face to face with a bright blue-eyed girl who holds a thermos in one hand and a cell phone in the other. Her auburn hair falls around her shoulders and she looks at Jake. "Oh, Pineapples, you never introduced me to your girlfriend!" she laughs delightedly.

"Pineapples?" both Rosa and Amy murmur in disbelief as Jake says, "She's not my girlfriend. Ugh, Gina!"

Gina ignores him as she looks at Rosa. "So you're Rosa Diaz," she says, surveying Rosa. Rosa stares right back at her.

"And you're the igneous Gina Linetti," Rosa shoots back at her. Neither of them break eye contact.

"I feel like we're witnessing something very special," Jake whispers. Both Rosa and Gina ignore him.

Amy frowns and waits for Rosa to look away from Gina. After several long seconds, she does. "How do you even know Jake?" Amy asks Rosa.

"Oh, his roommate had a crush on me or something," Rosa says without even looking at Amy. She's sneaking glances at Gina while Gina taps something on her phone. "I don't reciprocate. And I am very single." Her last words are directly phrased towards Gina.

"Oh, cool," Amy says. She turns to Gina, hoping to strike up a conversation with her. "Who's your roommate?" Amy asks, wondering if she sounds interesting enough for Gina to reply.

Gina doesn't look up from her phone. "Hmm? Don't have one. I'm too rare of a species."

"That made no sense," Amy says.

"Isn't Gina great?" Jake smiles. "Okay, bye, I gotta go! I'm meeting Charles for some coffee. You girls have fun! And don't go telling people off, now, Santiago!" he says, and leaves the group.

Amy frowns. "Who's Charles," she says. Her question goes ignored by both Rosa and Gina, who are apparently texting each other now. "Come one, guys! You're literally standing less that a foot away from each other!" Amy says. Rosa and Gina make no comment and furiously type on their phones. "Okay; I'm leaving!" Amy tells them. She lingers there for a moment before walking away.

Amy yawns as she walks across campus. She's very tired due to the lack of sleep from the night before, so she makes a U-turn and heads to one of the cafes on campus. As she's ordering a coffee with several espresso shots, she hears not one, but two obnoxious voices behind her. It is just her luck to have stumbled into the cafe where Jake Peralta’s meeting his friend for coffee.

"Amy!" she hears. "Come sit with us!" Amy turns around and glares at Jake, who is waving her over. Feeling the many pairs of eyes on her, Amy sighs and makes her way over to Jake and another guy.

"Charles, this is Amy. Amy, this is my roommate, Charles," Jake says.

"Roommate and best friend!" Charles says ecstatically. "Ooh, Amy… I think I hear wedding bells!"

Amy wrinkles her nose. "What?" she and Jake ask at the same time. Amy stares at Charles, realizing that this was the guy who had a crush on Rosa. There was no way that Rosa would ever date him. Amy didn't know much about Rosa, but she wasn't exactly sure that Rosa was the romantic type.

"A match made in heaven," Charles continues dreamily.

"Ignore him," Jake says quickly. "Anyways, do you have your notes from the lecture today?" Without waiting for Amy's response, Jake continues speaking. "Could I borrow them? I spilled some orange soda on my laptop."

"Gross," Amy says, tipping her head back and drinking some of her coffee.

"So, can I borrow them?"

"I'll email them to you," Amy says, rolling her eyes. "Give me your email."

"First you exchange emails! And then you exchange numbers! And then… you exchange kisses!" Charles beams, sipping on what looks like a frozen cappuccino.

"Charles, no," Jake says sternly.

"I just really ship you guys," Charles smiles, stirring his straw around in the beverage in front of him. Amy chooses to ignore Charles altogether and pushes her laptop towards Jake. She eyes his coffee as he types into her laptop, making sure that his elbows are far away from the liquid.

Three minutes later, she's emailed him her notes for the lecture. Amy takes note of the time and raises an eyebrow in surprise. She leans back and gulps down the rest of her coffee. "Gotta go, bye!" Amy says, throwing her bag over her shoulder and bolting out of the cafe.

She slows down as she reaches the library. Amy checks out a few books and then takes them up to her dorm, not bothering to knock as she pushes open the door. She is met by Rosa and Gina passive-aggressively making out. Amy's eyes widen and she quickly backs out into the hallway and shuts the door.

In a few minutes, Amy is sitting against a large oak tree outside. She balances the book against her knees as she reads. The weather is pleasant, and the leaves have just started to change color. A breeze of air sends her hair fluttering around her head. Amy pulls a hair tie off of her wrist and pulls her hair up into a ponytail.

She spends the next hour peacefully, until she hears her name being shouted again. This time, it is Charles's voice instead of Jake's. Amy shuts her book in annoyance. Jake Peralta and his friend just really aren't ever going to leave her alone, are they?

A soccer ball skids to a stop by her feet and Jake runs over to retrieve it. "What are you doing here?" he asks. "This is a place for physical activity, not reading. Shouldn't you be reading in your dorm room, or the library?" he mocks. “Libraries aren’t real, by the way.”

Amy scowls. "I would be, but you set my roommate up with your friend and they're… in there," Amy says awkwardly.

Jake laughs. "I knew it! I knew that Gina would fall so hard for her," he grins.

"Wait, you set Gina up with someone? Who?" Charles asks. "Who's your roommate?"

"Rosa Diaz," Amy answers without thinking.

"Rosa! Come on! Why does Gina have everything I don't?" Charles mourns. Jake pats Charles on the back, holding the soccer ball under one arm.

"You'll get over it, buddy," he says. "Hey, Santiago, could you help me with some of the course material later? You seem like a really big nerd and I don't understand all of it."

If there was one thing that Amy really loved doing, it was to teach other people and watch as everything clicked into place while they learned the material. But with Jake, Amy isn't sure how she feels about Jake… but she also doesn't want to pass up the opportunity to teach someone something.

"Omigosh did you just ask her out on a date!" Charles squeals.

"No! Give it a rest, man! I just need help with the course material!" Jake says. Amy notices that there is a brand new tint of pink across his cheeks. She dismisses it as a result of his "physical activity" and looks up at him.

"Fine. Whatever. Tomorrow, at the library, at 3 PM," Amy instructs. She stands up with her book under her arm, brushing herself off and starting to walk away. “And it’s a real place, Peralta!” she calls over her shoulder at the last second.

The next day, Amy Santiago sits in the library at 3 PM with all of the course books spread out in front of her. She taps her foot under the table, impatiently waiting for Jake to arrive so that she can force information in his brain and be done with this already.

She hears him before she sees him. He stumbles through the rows of bookshelves and his feet thud loudly on the floor as he takes a seat next to her. He is slightly out of breath, and he puts down an open can of orange soda onto the table.

Amy moves it aside. "This is a library," she hisses. "Be respectful."

"Whatever. Okay, so what are we learning here today?" Jake asks. His eyes slightly glaze over at the sight of all of the open books.

Amy pulls a book closer to them and starts explaining the concept to Jake.

Half an hour passes, and Amy's fairly proud of Jake's progress. He's doing pretty well with the questions that she's throwing at him. "Okay, that's cool, but here's a question for you: sour skittles or m&ms?" he asks her after a while.

Amy debates on whether she should dismiss this question and continue talking about the course material that lies on the table in front of them. Instead she asks, "Why do the skittles have to be sour?"

"Because sour skittles are better!" Jake insists delightedly.

Amy pretends to think about it for a while. "M&ms, obviously," she answers.

"What! Why?" Jake asks, smiling at her.

Amy smiles back. "Because it's a commonly known fact that chocolate is better that hard candy," she says.

"Skittles are not a hard candy," Jake grins. "They soften in your mouth."

"Well, they're better than orange soda," Amy says.

"How dare you. Orange soda is the best thing ever since Die-Hard. Hey, do you like Die-Hard?" Jake asks eagerly.

"What?" Amy asks.

Jake hits himself on the forehead with his open palm. "Oh my goodness, Amy Santiago, how have you been on this planet for so long without hearing about only the best cop movie in all of damn history!? And you don't like orange soda? Have you ever even tried it? Who are you?"

Amy laughs. "Who are you, Jake Peralta?" she asks. He pushes the can of orange soda towards her, and she gingerly picks it up and takes a sip. She puts it down and is about to comment on the fizz of the beverage when they hear a loud squeal from one of the nearby bookshelves.

Jake and Amy both whip their heads over to the noise. "Is Charles spying on us?" Amy whispers uncomfortable.

"Seems like it," Jake whispers back, and Amy hastily refocuses on the abandoned course material lying on the table in front of them.

The next day, neither Amy nor Rosa have an early class. Amy lies on her bed in the dorm room, staring up at the ceiling. Rosa sits cross-legged on her own bed, probably texting Gina. "Hey, do you like Jake?" Rosa asks suddenly. Her voice cuts through the silence of the room and makes Amy flinch.

"What? No!" Amy says hastily. "What makes you say that!" Not willing to admit it to anyone, Amy had actually been thinking about Jake moments before. She had mostly been considering whether they were actually friends. Maybe she had been thinking about his curly hair and how soft his lips would feel against hers, but probably not.

"I think you like him," Rosa says bluntly.

"Do not," Amy argues, picking up her cell phone. She pretends to scroll through something before glancing up at Rosa, who is smirking at Amy. "I think you like Gina!" Amy says quickly, trying to get Rosa to stop nagging her about Jake.

"Obviously," Rosa shrugs. "We spent at least half an hour making out last night."

"Too much information!" Amy yelps. Rosa stares at her. "Besides, I don't like Jake like that," Amy says, regaining her cool. "We're just friends."

Rosa shrugs. "Okay, whatever you say, Santiago," she says, and continues to text Gina.

Amy runs into Jake twice again that day. Once, at the same cafe, where Amy is getting a coffee. Jake sits down with her and they discuss their classes and other current events while Amy sips her coffee and Jake drinks a sugary vanilla milkshake.

The other time, she's browsing in the library when she bumps into Jake. "Hey," he says. "I thought I'd find you here. Listen, we're having a party― actually, not exactly a party," he says quickly after seeing Amy's frown. "It's more of a friend's hangout type thing. Rosa, Gina, and Charles will be there, and some other people too. Wanna come? There's no illegal alcohol, I promise."

Despite everything, Amy laughs. "Sure, why not," she decides.

"There'll be m&ms, because I know you like them. And pizza―" Jake starts uncertainly.

"Shut up, Peralta," Amy grins. "I'll be there."

ii. there's no one else. who else is? quite like you

Later that day, Rosa and Amy are back in their dorm. Rosa is sitting on her bed, pulling on a heeled black boot. Amy looks through her closet for something appropriate to wear to the party― friend's hangout thing.

"Is this too much?" she asks Rosa, pulling out a red dress and holding it up.

"Why do you even care about what you're gonna wear?" Rosa asks, popping off the top of a dark shade of lipstick. She starts applying it without the use of a mirror.

"Too much, then," Amy decides. She ends up pulling on a pair of leggings and a pink shirt. Before she can change her mind, she quickly grabs a denim jacket and pulls it over the shirt.

"Seriously, dude, you don't need to dress up or anything," Rosa says.

"It's just my first college party and I want everything to go perfectly," Amy sighs, trying to justify herself.

"Is that really it?" Rosa says doubtfully, proceeding to clasp a delicate chain around her neck.

"Okay, I think I have a problem," Amy admits, sitting down on her bed. "I might like, be attracted to Jake or something," she groans, tugging on a bracelet wrapped around her wrist.

"Yes!" Rosa mutters triumphantly, picking up her phone. Amy hasn't seen Rosa text anyone other than Gina, so she just assumes that Rosa is texting Gina. "Thanks, Santiago. You just got me twenty bucks."

Amy frowns. "Rosa, I have a real problem here! Can you help me or not? Like, I want to hate him, but I just can't! This doesn’t make sense. Everything about me should hate him. So why don’t I?" She slumps down and sighs.

"Because you're physically attracted to him," Rosa says, now examining her nails.

"Ugh, I hate this," Amy mutters. "Can we just go?"

It takes them a few minutes of walking to get to Charles and Jake's dorm. "Ooh, girl, you look hot," Gina says to Rosa as she opens the door for them. Amy sees a smile nearly blossom onto Rosa's face, but Rosa quickly coughs and covers her mouth.

"Hey, Amy! How good are you at Monopoly?" Jake asks, standing up.

Amy grins. "I could beat you any day in my sleep," she says.

"Oh, it's on," Jake challenges, pulling out the game board. Charles looks between the two of them and beams.

"It's happening!" he mutters. Out of the corner of her eye, Amy sees Gina handing Rosa a twenty dollar bill and discreetly rolls her eyes before turning back to the game.

"So what happens if I win?" Amy asks almost a little flirtatiously. Jake grins.

"Oh, a bet? It is so on, Santiago. If I win, I get tot take you on the worst date in history," Jake pitches.

A hand flies to her chest and Amy gasps in mock-horror. She doesn't like the sound of "the worst date in history" but if it's a date with Jake Peralta, she might be willing to even lose a game of Monopoly for it. But it's Monopoly, she tells herself. You can't lose your Monopoly championship title.

She hears Rosa snort from where she and Gina are sitting on the floor. Amy turns towards her with a "help me!" expression written all over her face. Instead, Rosa smirks and says, "I'd put ten dollars towards Amy Santiago losing this game."

"I will take that bet," Gina purrs with a hand on Rosa's arm. Amy catches a glimpse of Rosa melting into Gina's grip before turning back to Jake.

"Well, fine. If you win, then I have to go on the worst date in history with you― but by your definition. If I win, however, Jake, then you have to go on the worst date in history with me, by my definition. It's going to be hell for you, bud," Amy smirks, picking up the small metal dog. Jake squints at her.

"Fine," he says and picks up the little steamship. Behind Jake, Charles is perched on the arm of the couch. It looks as if he's about to lose his balance because his eyes are glazed and he's clearly hyperventilating.

"Can I retract my bet?" Rosa asks in a hurried voice.

"Nope. It's too late," Gina says. "But then again, if you lose, Rosie, then you could just buy me dinner instead," she offers. Rosa huffs, internally joyous. (Not that she would ever show it.)

"Fine, Gina. Amy, win the game― I mean, lose the game," Rosa orders. She sighs and takes a sip of whatever is in her red plastic cup.

"I'll be banker!" Charles yelps, grabbing the stacks of money and handing some out to both Jake and Amy. Jake rolls the dice first.

"Hey, you can't grab two hundred dollars on the first turn! You just got all of that money!" Amy says, pulling back the two hundred dollar bills that Jake had grabbed. Jake rolls his eyes.

"Whatever. I don't need no extra two hundred dollars to win this game," he says, putting his steamship on Baltic Avenue.

"God, your grammar is horrible," Amy says, rolling her eyes. She proceeds to take her turn and laugh at Jake when her dice lands an eleven. "St. Charles place is mine."

"Hey, that's me!" Charles grins. His body is positioned on the couch so that his head is directly over the game board. "I'm Charles."

Within ten minutes into the game, Amy owns six properties along with two railroads. "I am crushing it!" she says, pumping her fist into the air. She turns around to see Gina mindlessly tapping on her cell phone. Rosa is smiling proudly at her, but her face quickly turns blank when she catches Amy looking. Amy grins and turns back to the game.

A little bit later, Amy’s got her path to victory paved. She owns way more properties than Jake, resulting in way more money than Jake, and more money means more winning.

"This is my strategy," Jake says. "I let you believe that you're winning, and then at the last moment, blam-o! I come in and take all of your money and land and then I win. I'm already thinking of what you're gonna wear to the worst date ever. Blue dress, big bow in the back…" Jake muses.

"Well, you just told me what your strategy is," Amy says. "And just like that, Amy Santiago rolls a two! Now she owns all four railroads!! Suck on that!"

"Title of your sex tape," Jake says. Amy notices the way his skin crinkles above his eyebrows as he frowns. He's clearly starting to get just a little bit worried. "Charles, what do I do?" Jake asks.

Charles shrugs. "At this point, I'm rooting for both of you!" he says. "Since both of you are going to go on a date at the end of all of this anyways…"

"Worst date," Jake corrects. "Amy and I will be going on the worst date."

"You're losing, Jake," Gina says. "Just give up already so that Rosa can take me out to dinner," she says, laughing at his dumbstruck expression.

"Yeah, Jake," Rosa mutters before catching herself. "I mean, no, Jake. Just freaking win already so that Gina can pay up and I can buy that motorcycle part that I need. Oh, god, I'm telling you people way too much about myself." She glares at Gina as Gina pulls an arm around her shoulder. "You did this to me," Rosa accuses.

Gina laughs. "I made you feel your feelings? Oh, Rosa. So young. So naive," she says, twirling a strand of Rosa's curly hair around her finger.

Jake and Amy turn back to the game. "I will never surrender to you!" Jake says in a high pitched voice.

"You just did," Amy grins as Jake grudgingly puts his steamship on Boardwalk. "I've got a hotel, too, so pay up."

"I only have fifty dollars, though!" Jake exclaims. "Charles, how did this happen? You're the banker; give me some more money!"

"You can't do that," Amy says. Charles frantically looks between the two.

"Charles, as the banker and as my best friend, just please give me some more money?" Jake pleads hopelessly. Charles frowns and shoots a look at Gina, who just shrugs and turns back to her phone. By now, Charles is taking deep breaths as he tries to come to a decision.

"Jake, I'm still your best friend but I don't think that I can give you more money. It's against the rules in the handbook," Charles finally squeaks.

"Aha!" Amy cries triumphantly. "The handbook always wins," she proclaims, grabbing Jake's little steamship in tossing it onto the jail square.

"Hey!" Jake protests. "You can't do that!"

"Face it, dude," Rosa says. "Amy won."

"Great!" Gina says. "Okay, Rosa, there's this new Thai place that just opened up, and it's off campus, so you better make reservations there for… tomorrow? You good for tomorrow? Well, I don't care, because now you are."

"I'm good with that," Rosa shrugs, pulling out her own cell phone.

"Oh, maybe we could just go on a double date!" Jake suggests, his eyes lighting up.

"No," Amy, Gina, and Rosa all proclaim at the same time.

"You're going on the worst date in history with me tomorrow, buddy," Amy says, clapping Jake on the back. "It's gonna be so much fun. You gotta wear a tux, too."

"A tux! What, are we getting married now?!" Jake says obnoxiously, flicking the little green house on Pennsylvania Avenue with his finger. He grabs Amy's dog and his steamship pieces and puts them back into the box. "I don't have a tux, Santiago."

"I got you covered," Amy says. She looks around the room to see everyone looking at her with questioning expressions on their faces."What?" Amy asks. "I've got a lot of brothers. I'll just borrow the tux one of my little brothers wore to prom last year. It should fit Jake's scrawny arms."

"Ouch," Jake says, crossing his scrawny arms.

"See you tomorrow, Peralta," Amy says, getting off of the floor. "I'll text you the details, and you better be on time." Amy grabs her back and turns towards the door. "You coming?" she asks, turning towards Rosa right as she is about to slip out of the door.

"Nope," Rosa says briefly and turns back to shuffling a deck of Uno. "Bye."

Amy waves goodbye and turns out of the door. When she reaches her dorm, she doesn't change or go to sleep. Instead, Amy sits down at her desk and pulls out her cell phone to make a few calls.

"Hey, you still have that tux from prom last year, right?" she asks her brother Samuel Santiago over the phone. "Oh, and can you hook me up with fireworks? And maybe a bouncy castle? No, dude, I'm not planning a birthday party! I'm going on a date! No, I'm not telling you his name! Yes, he's hot! Stop asking so many questions!" She turns off the phone and puts it down on the desk, pulling a notebook closer to her and flipping it open to plan the details of the date out.

Rosa arrives back at the dorm a few hours later. The door opens and startles Amy awake from where she had dozed off on the desk.

"What're you doing?" Rosa mumbles as she looks over Amy's shoulder. "Planning your date? Dork."

"What, like you don't plan out your dates?" Amy says defensively.

"Nope," Rosa replies flatly, flopping down on her bed. "Can I borrow your charger? Charles stepped on mine and it broke."

Amy tosses her phone charger towards Rosa, who swipes it from midair. "Tomorrow's gonna be so awesome," Amy mutters, closing her notebook.

"You're not really planning something horrible, are you?" Rosa asks sleepily. "Since, you know, you're in love with him."

"Am not!" Amy says. "But yeah, I'm not planning something so bad. It might be… romantic, even," she murmurs wistfully.

"Please," Rosa mumbles. "I'm gonna throw up. Just let me sleep in peace."

"Sorry."

The next day, Amy drives down to a gas station off campus where her younger brother has agreed to meet her. Amy laughs as he hops out of their mother's minivan. "What?" Sam scowls. "Mom let me borrow it for the day. I'm saving up for my own car."

"You're gonna be there to set off the fireworks, right?" Amy asks, opening the trunk of the minivan to see the entire back of the car to see the deflated pink bouncy castle. "Actually, I don't think this is gonna fit in my car. Can you bring it?" she asks.

Sam shrugs. "Sure. It's a rental. You've got it for two day. Also, you owe me five-hundred dollars, not including the cost of the fireworks and rental. Also, I wanna meet this guy. He's hot, right?"

"Shut up," Amy mutters. "I'll pay you afterwards. Just follow me to campus."

Rosa meets her by the lake on campus, where she is planning to take Jake for a walk, and then revealing the bouncy castle to him. After that, there would be fireworks and Amy would pull out a Die-Hard DVD since he liked those movies so much and tell him that she had just felt really bad for beating him at Monopoly so badly.

"Oh my god, Santiago. Fireworks?" Rosa grins. Amy's little brother looks over at Rosa.

"Ooh, you're a babe," he says, smiling.

"Inappropriate," Amy chastises. "She's way out of your league and already taken," she tells Sam with a frown. Rosa laughs.

"Okay," Sam says. "I respect that. Is the guy you're going on a date with tonight also way out of my league and taken?" he asks.

"First of all, you haven't even seen him yet. Secondly, yes," Amy replies, pulling the bouncy castle out of the minivan.

"Taken by who, Santiago? You?" Rosa smirks and high-fives Sam.

"Shut up," Amy says, her cheeks burning. "Just help me set this thing up and make sure no one asks any questions."

"It's college," her little brother says. "No one care about what you do."

"You're not even in college yet. Shut up," Amy says.

He turns to Rosa. "I'll bet you ten dollars that Amy tells me to shut up at least fifty more times," he offers. Rosa shakes her head.

"Nah. I'll take your word on it. Besides, I'm done losing bets," she shudders.

"But I thought you wanted to take Gina out," Amy says.

"You shut up, Santiago," Rosa orders, and Amy falls silent as they set up for her and Jake's "horrible" date. Amy delivers the tuxedo to Charles, who promises to get Jake into it in time for the date.

Before long, she's dressed in sweatpants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. She waits outside of Jake's dorm room. The door creaks open, and out steps a single leg clad in nice black pants and a red sneaker.

iii. those eyes, damn, those eyes, they get me every time

"You know, I think that my sneakers really bring out my eyes," Jake says, stepping out of the dorm. Amy hears a "go to her, Jake!" presumably from Charles and awkwardly clears her throat. "Right," Jake says, shutting the door.

"They actually bring out the blood in your cheeks when you blush," Amy informs him.

"Aww, you notice when I blush!" Jake cooes.

"No I don't. I was insulting you," Amy mutters.

"Okay, but why do you get to wear normal comfy clothes when I have to wear this fancy tuxedo that barely fits me?" Jake complains.

"Because it's the worst date in the world. Besides, it fits you just fine," Amy says. "My little brother is about the same size as you."

"Are you sure your brother is as buff as me? I used to play football," Jake says proudly, puffing out his chest. Amy raises an eyebrow at him. "Okay, fine! I played flag football in the fifth grade," Jake admits. "Where are we going anyways? To the same restaurant as Rosa and Gina?"

"No! Rosa would kill me in my sleep if I crashed their date. She’s been looking forward to it more than she'll ever admit. Besides, you'll see where we're going," Amy tells him, tugging him along by the sleeve of his tux.

"Careful! Don't rip my tux!" Jake whines. "Can we get something to eat? I'm starving."

"Fine," Amy says and changes the direction that they are walking in. She leads him over to a vending machine. "You get to pay for your own food," she says. "You know, because this is the worst date in all of history and I beat you at Monopoly."

"Of course," Jake says, pulling a crumpled dollar bill out of his shoe. Amy wrinkles her nose. "Oh, it's still kinda damp," Jake says. "You want anything?"

Amy gags as he feeds the money to the machine. "No thanks, I'll pay for myself," she mutters, pulling a crisp bill out of her pocket. "Come on."

They walk through the halls of the door building. Amy crunches on her regular potato chips and Jake holds his bag of takis up. "Wanna see how many i can fit into my mouth?" he asks. Without waiting for her response, he begins shoving them into his mouth. "Hot, hot, hot, hot! Title of your sex tape!"

Amy grins at him. "You’re such a baby," she mocks.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you do more!" Jake challenges.

Amy rolls her eyes. "Hold this," she orders, handing her bag of chips to Jake. She takes the takis from him and starts putting some in her mouth without breaking a sweat. "This is easy. I could do this all day," she says.

"How are you not crying by now? I would be." Jake pops a handful of Amy's potato chips into his mouth. Amy shrugs.

"I've been eating spicy food all my life," she says through a full mouth of takis.

"Neat."

They walk in silence for the next few minutes until they reach the exit. Amy leads him onto the grass and they walk side-by-side in the dark. Amy can feel their hands brush against each other a few times, but she shyly pulls away each time her skin makes contact with Jake's.

iv. isn't it amazing how almost every line on our hands align

"Look, it's the moon!" Jake says, pointing up at the sky. "I used to make wishes to the man in the moon when I was younger," he says, gazing up at the sky.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Mostly stupid wishes about my dad to come home. They never actually came true. My dad kinda sucked."

"Oh. Sorry about that."

"It's fine. The lake looks really pretty with the moonlight reflecting over it," Jake points out. Amy smiles and nods. They walk closer to the lake and Jake picks up a rock and throws it into the lake, attempting to skip it over the water.

"Let me show you how it's done," Amy says, searching for a rock on the ground. She finds one and skips it three times over the water.

"How did you do that?" Jake asks with a hint of admiration in his voice. Amy shrugs.

"I've read a book."

"Of course you have," he says, but there is no mockery in his voice.

"Let's go that way," Amy points over to where she knows there is a surprise waiting for Jake. Her brother is probably hiding behind a tree somewhere, impatiently waiting for Amy to arrive with her date.

So they walk for a few more minutes in the peace and serenity of the empty grounds. Jake tells a few jokes and Amy finds herself laughing at each and every one. She looks up at him and they make brief eye contact before she sees a tint of red spreading across Jake's cheeks. "Your sneakers really do bring out your blush," Amy says.

"This isn't a bad date," Jake says. "It's actually one of the best ones I've ever been on."

"Well, there's more," Amy says proudly. She points ahead of them, and Jake turns his head to see the small pink bouncy castle.

"Oh my god! Amy! There's a bouncy castle!" He squeals like a child, running towards it at full speed. Amy laughs and follows him, watching as Jake doesn't bother to take off his sneakers before climbing into the castle. Amy kicks off her slides and joins him in the castle. He looks like he is having the time of his life, jumping up and down with the biggest smile on his face.

"This is the best! What's that?" Jake asks curiously, looking over to a black DVD box lying in the corner. He jumps closer to it and picks it up. "Die-Hard? Amy, you got Die-Hard? This is the best! I can't believe you got Die-Hard! This is the best date I've ever been on!" Jake exclaims, bouncing over to her and wrapping her up in a ginormous hug.

This time, Amy's cheeks go hot. "Aw, you're blushing," Jake says. Amy coughs into her fist a few times, thoroughly embarrassed.

"There's actually more," she says. "Come on." She slides out of the castle and Jake reluctantly follows her, clutching the Die-Hard DVD to his heart.

"There's more! Amy!"

Amy makes a sort of hand signal. A few seconds later, loud cracks rip across the sky and blue bursts across the sky in sparks. "Fireworks!" Jake grins. He gazes at Amy, who watches the fireworks up above.

A United States flag appears inside of a heart in the form of fireworks up in the sky. Amy frowns and glances towards the tree that Sam is hiding behind. He comes out defensively with his hands up.

"You never said which fireworks, so I got Fourth of July ones," he says. He looks over at Jake. "Oh, he is hot! Wow, are you two like an actual thing? Because if you aren't, send him my way!"

"Get lost," Amy orders.

"Wow, bossy much. Before I go, can I get your name and number?" Sam asks Jake.

"Shut up. Leave," Amy tells him. He shrugs and skirts away.

"My name is Jake!" Jake calls after him. "And my number is―" He starts to recite a few digits before Amy punches him softly in the shoulder.

"You really wanna date my brother when you could date me?" she asks.

"No? Wait, are we dating now?"

"Do you want to?"

"Really?" Jake asks, clutching the Die-Hard DVD close to his chest. "I mean, only if you want to," he coughs. Jake blinks a few times before looking up and gazing into Amy's eyes.

v. actions scream louder than words

Before she knows it, his mouth brushes softly against her's. She closes her eyes and sighs softly against him. Jake cups her face in his hands, dropping the Die-Hard DVD to the ground. They move closer to each other―

"Jake and Amy, sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Sam shouts from afar.

"Get out of here!" Amy hollers.

"You owe me five-hundred dollars, stupid-face! Paypal me!" he calls back at her.

"Whatever! Stop ruining my moment!" Amy screams. They hear a few leaves rustle, and Amy concludes that her brother has gone and disappeared into the night.

"Wow. I've always wanted a brother," Jake says, grinning at her.

"You can have all of mine," Amy groans. "You wanna watch this lame movie before I change my mind?" she asks, picking up the fallen Die-Hard DVD.

"Okay, Die-Hard is not lame," he insists as they make their way back to the dorms. "It is a cinematic masterpiece. It can also be used as a major coping mechanism in dire times. Not speaking from personal experience. Anyways, John McClane is literally amazing and someday I'm gonna be him."

Amy laughs as she listens to Jake talk. His hand brushes against hers. Amy confidently takes it and grips his hand loosely in her own. They continue laughing and talking all the way up to Jake's dorm, where Charles excitedly leaves them.

"All we're gonna do is watch Die-Hard," Jake insists to Charles. "Stop freaking out."

Amy doesn't pay very good attention to the movie. She's too caught up in Jake's presence and eventually rests her head on his shoulder and falls asleep. He shakes her awake after the movie is over.

"Does your brother need his tux back? I can give it to him later―"

"Please. I'll do it," Amy says. "He'll just try to propose to you or something. Anyways, I guess this is the end of the worst―"

"Best," Jake corrects her.

"Best date in history," Amy finishes. "I'm kinda looking forward to more dates?"

"Me too," Jake says quickly.

"It's getting late, so I better get going," Amy says, heading towards the door and waving goodbye.

That date turns out to be the first of many more that follow it. From walking each other to their classes and studying together late at night to going out to fancy restaurants, Jake and Amy fall quickly into a void of love. Charles, as always, eggs them on ecstatically. Even Rosa and Gina love Jake and Amy's relationship, though they'd never verbally tell the two.

They all miraculously end up together in the same precinct somehow. Even Gina works with them as the civilian administrator. It's actually quite nice for Amy to have all of her friends together with her. Trying to befriend new coworkers has always sounded like a nightmare to Amy, and she's glad that she doesn't have to since they are already her friends. She just has to put some effort into befriending Sergeant Terry Jeffords, who is much softer than he actually seems.

They attend Rosa and Gina's wedding, which is small but incredibly beautiful. Seeing her best friends getting married― Amy has to admit that she cries a little while clinging to Jake's hand. Gina looks like the most beautiful angel in the entire world. Rosa gazes at her with starstruck eyes while clutching a bouquet of white roses. They have the kind of relationship that Amy has always wanted. And she knows that she has Jake and dreams of having a fairytale wedding with him someday.

vi. our lips are moving, they're makin' words, words turn to riddles, don't make it worse

Her relationship with Jake however isn't perfect. There are a few bumps across the road, such as the time where Jake and Amy are sort-of taking a break from each other, due to Jake's "constant immaturity and unseriousness in the workplace." Amy meets Detective Teddy Wells, who is― well― attractive. He shows an interest in her, and at first, Amy's not so sure, but she decides to go on a few dates with him.

He sucks. There's no other way to say it. Teddy Wells is the most boring man that Amy Santiago has ever had the displeasure of meeting. She finds herself missing Jake. Jake, who makes her laugh. Jake, who is always fun to be around. Teddy is nothing compared to Jake Peralta.

So Amy breaks it off with Teddy. She shows up at Shaw's later on to find Jake and talk to him, but comes in right in time to hear Jake announce that he's got a girlfriend, Sophia Perez.

Amy isn't jealous. They had decided to take a break from each other on mutual terms, and therefore had the right to see other people. It didn't matter how much Amy missed being with Jake or how much she still loved him deep inside her heart. Jake was with Sophia and there was nothing that Amy could do about it.

"What if they get married?" Amy asks worriedly one night. She is hanging out at Rosa and Gina's apartment, lounging on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn in front of her.. Rosa shrugs in reply to Amy's question.

"They won't," Gina assures her.

"How do you know that?" Amy nervously bites her nails.

"I know Jake. I know his heart better than he knows it. He doesn't love Sophia the way he loved you, Ally. You guys had something way more special. You two just need to find your hearts again," Gina tells her, fully concentrating on the bottle of hot pink nail polish in front of her.

"My name is Amy," Amy corrects. "How did you guys know?"

"Know what?" Rosa asks, shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"Know that you were perfect for each other."

Gina looks up. "I knew that Rosa was the one when we went to…" She gives Rosa a knowing look and Rosa smiles. "Where we…"

"What? What?" Amy asks frantically, looking from Rosa to Gina.

"Oh, we went to Quebec and pretended that Gina was a world famous celebrity. I was her bodyguard," Rosa says swiftly. Amy slightly frowns at them, watching as Gina swipes a thin layer of hot pink nail polish over her nails.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing," both Gina and Rosa say at the same time. And then Gina says, "You'll have your own moment, Amy. It's different for everyone; when they figure out who they're really meant to be with. Of course, many people have thought that I was the one for them because I'm just of course so glamorous like that. But Rosa's the right one for me."

"Oh, you got my name right!" Amy says, pleased.

"What was that, Annie?"

Amy decides to drop it since Gina's provided her with pretty good advice. Rosa smiles fondly at her wife looks to Amy.

"Maybe go to him," Rosa suggests bluntly.

"I can't do that! He's already with someone!" Amy whines, grabbing a few kernels of popcorn. "What if we never end up back together again?"

"You sound like an idiot," Rosa decides.

"Yeah, maybe I do."

"You definitely do," Gina pitches in. She has started to paint a glittery top coat over her nails.

"Maybe I'll talk to him tomorrow," Amy decides.

It turns out that she doesn't have to. Jake comes into work all mopey and sad. He's even got an energy bar; the kind with raisins in it. If Jake isn't noticing the difference between chocolate chips and raisins, then he must be really upset. It doesn't take a detective to figure out that Jake and Sophia probably broke up.

Her suspicions are confirmed when Jake drops his head onto his desk and groans. "I'm so sorry for arresting your boss, Sophia. Just take me back," he mutters into his computer keyboard.

This doesn't make Amy happy, of course. It's absolutely devastating to see Jake Peralta as a train wreck. Amy may love him and want to be with him, but above anything, she just wanted Jake to be happy. Even if he was happy with Sophia.

She doesn't make eye contact with Jake for the rest of the day. He needs some time and space to recover, and Amy's sure as hell it's not going to help him to talk to his ex of all people. Especially the ex who was still in love with him.

Amy avoids Jake for the next few weeks. The only actual contact that she makes with him is when they are assigned to a case together.

The case turns out to be disastrous. Kind of. Not really. They go undercover as a couple and Amy's heart hurts with the thought of Dora being engaged to Johnny. Wishing that it was Amy who was engaged to Jake.

But then they kiss. And it's for the operation, Amy knows, but still. The kiss is the rekindling of a whirlwind of emotions and feelings. Feelings, specifically for Jake. She doesn't know what's going on in his head while they kiss but she's hoping that he's feeling something similar to what she's feeling.

vii. feel some type of way, i ain't tryna play. you got options, i got options but you're here with me

And it happens again. They are pressed against a tree to maintain their cover as Johnny and Dora, and Amy feels a burst of nostalgia. She remembers a night when they were in college; when they had been out on a midnight walk and Jake had pressed her against a tree and tenderly kissed her.

Now they're grown, but it still feels the same as it had felt ten years ago.

After the night is over, Jake asks if he can talk to her. He gazes at her with absolute heart eyes when he asks if they can give it another shot.

viii. it's strange how you can never know who's going to stay with you and who will leave

And then it's the day of their wedding and Amy is an absolute disaster. The day is supposed to be perfect; why is everything falling apart? First, they weren't able to get Amy's dream venue. Then, there's a bomb inside of their venue. Amy doesn't have a veil. She doesn't have flowers or even her dress. She's standing there, hours before she is supposed to get married to the love of her life, in sweatpants and with tears streaming down her face.

Jake jumps to her aid, holding her tight and comforting her. "Babe, I'd marry you anywhere. You're the love of my life, you know that?"

She sniffles and nods. He wipes her tears with the corner of his sleeve and continues speaking.

"You remember that day back when we were in college? When you helped me with the course material in the library, like a day after we met? You flirted with me for twenty seconds and then I became obsessed with you forever. And then we went on the best date in the history of all dates. It's going to be okay, Ames. We're gonna get married no matter what."

And that is all it takes to reassure her. She meets her family outside of the precinct, greeting her parents with hugs. Her brothers all smile at her and she turns around to see Jake at her side.

Her younger brother Sam leaps forward at the sight of Jake. "Hey, man! I know it's your big day and all, and you're marrying my sister, but why marry her when you can have me?" he says in an exaggerated tone, falling onto one knee and holding up a purple plastic ring.

"Get outta here, Sam!" Amy orders, but she's laughing.

"Hmm," Jake says, pretending to consider. "I think I'm gonna have to make a pros and cons list."

"He's perfect for you, mija!" Amy's mother exclaims ecstatically.

"I know." Amy is practically glowing before she remembers all of her problems. "I don't have a venue or a dress or―"

"Calm down," Jake says, placing a hand on her shoulder. His phone rings abruptly, and he quickly picks it up. "It's Charles. We're gonna go figure this out, okay? I'll be back with a solution. I love you, Ames."

And then he's dashing out of the precinct. Her hero.

"Hey," Gina says, walking up to Amy. "You wanna borrow my dress?"

Amy stares at her. "You have a wedding dress?"

Gina shrugs. "Yup. You wanna wear it, Addie?"

"Amy. Uh, yeah! If you have a wedding dress!" Amy says brightly, deciding to ignore the fact that Gina was going to show up at Amy's wedding in a wedding dress. Maybe things were starting to look up.

Rosa comes by with a beautiful bouquet of white flowers. "Here," she says, thrusting them into Amy's arms after they have put her into the wedding dress. It isn't Amy's dream dress, but it's beautiful enough and she honestly loves it.

"You look great," Terry says.

"Thanks," Amy beams. "Does anyone know where Jake is?"

Captain Holt emerges from his office. "Peralta just called. I have some bad news. Due to a series of brownouts, Peralta and Boyle are trapped on the Brooklyn Bridge. Apparently, it is empty. Peralta says that if Santiago wants, they can get married on the bridge because it seems like he and Boyle are going to be stuck there for a while."

"What are we waiting for?!" Rosa pumps her fist in the air. "Let's go get Amy married on the Brooklyn Bridge!"

Amy's eyes widen. "What? Really? I can't decide if this is good or if it's a disaster."

"It's whatever you want it to be," Terry tells her. "C'mon, Santiago. Let's go!"

ix. in the darkest night, i'll be waiting for you

In ten minutes, she's on the Brooklyn Bridge. The only problem is that Jake is on the other side. A tear threatens to fall from her eye but Amy holds herself together, looking bravely to her friends.

"I love you, Ames!" she hears him shout from the other side.

"I love you too!" she calls back.

"We're gonna do this, okay? It's gonna happen!"

The feeling of dread in Amy's stomach is replaced by a swarm of butterflies and a smile blooms onto her face. "Yes! We're gonna do this!" she says, taking a deep breath. "Captain Holt?"

He's at the middle of the bridge. "Do you, Jake Peralta," his voice booms with authority, "take Amy Santiago to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"Yes! I do!" Jake shouts.

Tears threaten to take over Amy again. They aren't like the scared tears from before; they're happy and joyous and everything good in the world.

Captain Holt continues to officiate the wedding. “Do you, Amy Santiago, take this man, Jake Peralta, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

x. don't know what you did to me, i can't breathe but i'm living

She confidently looks up and a smile breaks over her face. “I do,” she says with as much strength she can muster. Everyone cheers and Amy’s suddenly got tears streaming down her face and a smile so bright that it could rival a 350 watt incandescent light bulb.

Their first kiss as a married couple makes Amy’s heart soar. All of the butterflies in her stomach do a happy dance when Jake leans down and tenderly kisses her lips.

And she knows that she’s happy.

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