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Friends, he had two of those now, there to watch his back and help him when he got poisoned by some prick. It was a two way road, Jacob had saved both of them at least once, going as far as risk his life for Ruby, that should have been the moment he realized this relationship run far deeper than he would ever expect, but it took him almost dying for Jacob realize he wasn’t the only one who felt this way. The word friend many times was just thrown around like a meaningless thing that could be easily replaced, but for him, it was much more important, he had been calling those two friends for a while now, and the events of this nigh proved to him that it wasn’t only him grasping to a relationship bound to end badly, the feeling was completely mutual, and he was grateful for that.

Ruby wasn’t completely unaffected by Jacob’s state, she was holding herself back, putting on a strong face, for Jacob’s sake or to avoid showing weakness, he didn’t know, but that mask of false composure had its cracks, her voice trembling, the way her eyes had red tinge to it like she was crying a few minutes ago. He wouldn’t be the one to point any of that out, she was trying so hard, there was no need to bring the mood down even more. “I guess it is. I’m glad you were there, though.” He still thought he wouldn’t have been so lucky to get out of there if he had gone by himself.

There was still the glaring issue of that kiss, there were so many things left unsaid, or maybe that was just Jacob, and it meant nothing to Ruby. It had to be discussed nonetheless, no more misunderstandings, wasn’t that when they had decided when they first met? Right now was not the moment though. Jacob had just come back from almost being poisoned, he was weak and Max was also there. They had all the time of the world to touch on that subject, just… not now.

Max’s first reaction to hearing his name come from Jacob was to smile, so perhaps he didn’t know what had happen yet. He was just concerned, waiting to be noticed before approaching. Jacob who was still staring at the tubes attached to him, saw as the cop took his hand in a gentle grip, a greeting and a reassurance. It only made Jacob’s guilt grow, to see his friend acting so caring, and Jacob had unknowingly betrayed his trust. There was heaviness in his chest that had very little to do with his physical condition and he felt like blurting everything right there, but again, now was not the time. When the man spoke, Jacob finally gathered enough courage to look up and shoot a tiny smile, he didn’t know how to respond however. The contact ended with slight caress from Max, so affectionate, a little indication of how much he cared, and that was Max’s mistake, care for a disloyal criminal like himself only caused destruction.

The cop was always the nice one, he offered the only chair in the room to Ruby while he remained standing. Ruby’s phone buzzed shortly after, and she went to step out of the room, but not before warning Jacob to stay alive. “Sure, I promise to do my best.” He said to her back and Jacob was left alone with Max. “It seems we can’t stop saving each other, it’s getting out of control.” He told Max, slight hint of humor in his voice. He just wanted to things be simple again, not be stuck on a hospital bed or be drowning in guilt because of one stupid action, was that too much to ask? Yes, it was. He stared at Max for a few moments, the confession at the tip of his tongue “Max, I have to te-” but he was cut out by the door opening and Ruby returning. He cut himself out, the courage draining from him and he’d like to say things when she wasn’t around anyway… it would just be easier.

Soon Max was also leaving the room, to take care of… Lucius?? “Who the hell is Lucius?” He asked Ruby when they were alone, confusion clear on face. Her question made him let out an annoyed huff, the reminder that he was stuck there was not a nice one. “Yeah, I need to get out of this hospital fast, but I don’t think you can help me with that.” Stupid doctors and their stupid rules. But Ruby in that nurse outfit, definitely something Jacob didn’t need to think about at that moment. Back then when he was at the hospital with Max, he hadn’t looked twice at Ruby and her revealing costume, unaffected as always by this kind of allure, but now it felt like a switch was turned, and suddenly he didn’t felt so indifferent anymore to that. It was best if he just didn’t think too much about it, or he would be able to control his blushing. “Yes, please. Leave the nurse costume out of it.” For his sanity’s sake.

It didn’t take very long for Max to return, bearing thoughtful gifts even. Jacob eyed the cola can, wanting to drink it immediately, but he knew the man was right. “Did you bring that for me to stare and wish I could drink it? So cruel.” His voice was whiny but he shot max a thankful look anyway, thanks seemed very prominent in his vocabulary today. He probably would drink it as soon as there was no one watching, Coke was like his smuggled drug apparently. The cop also brought little Max’s bunny toy, putting it on nightstand. “Max is here too? I feel so loved.” He said after Ruby’s suggestion. The doctors and nurses would have a fit if they found a puppy in Jacob’s room, he’d like to see that.

Max could complain all he wanted, but sometimes he acted so much like a dog it wasn’t even funny. Specially with his habit of sitting on the ground. Ruby protested, unable to hold back the caring nature she usually kept hidden, Jacob liked when she let that side of her be seen. “You can sit beside me Max, the doctors aren’t watching.” He patted the bed on his side, it should be enough space for Max to sit down if he didn’t sprawled around too much.

Slowly, the man seemed to calm himself down, taking deep breaths and letting go of the vice like grip on the car. Jacob thought his companion should get used to these kind of excitements quickly, or he was bound to end up dead in an alley otherwise. Betrayals and surprises happen, and this time they even survived without a single scratch. One thing, was that the man seemed to take Jacob’s word seriously, he wasn’t expecting that, most people just ignored what he said, thinking his sarcasm wasn’t worth anything, but apparently this guy was trying to learn the ropes of the business and would take advice from where he could get. “How long have you been doing… this?” he asked curiously referring to the mafia business, figuring it shouldn’t be very long. “because you might want to get used to this type of thing fast.” And now he was just handing out advice, how odd.

The man was all polite too, apologizing and everything for his suspicion. It was like a little fish amidst all the sharks, Jacob didn’t mind, he meant no harm to anyone as long as they didn’t attack first, but others might see it as a weakness. There was still hope, however, he was already putting Jacob’s advice to use “You have point, good thing you’re learning, keep that up and you might become a decent mercenary yet.” It would be a shame if he was killed before he could really grow into the profession, a waste of potential. Perhaps Jacob could help with that? He didn’t usually go out of his way to help anyone, but it could be fun to teach someone to kill and survived in the middle of the sharks and tigers.

There was a lull in the conversation, the men growing silent while Jacob kept on driving. Until the other man hesitantly asked what were their next course of action. “Now we go home.” He answered simply. “Sorry if this was the most boring and simple job they could give us, but at least there was a bit of excitement, with that trap.” At least it went exactly as the family planned, even though he was still mad that he wasn’t informed what the plan was.

It wouldn’t take much longer for them to arrive at the manor, a few more minutes and it would be visible on the distance, and Jacob wished to leave the place as fast as possible when they got there. “If you want a bit more excitement, I can let you report that the mission is done and went without a hitch.” He wouldn’t even bother to ask for an explanation, but the other man might let curiosity out, thinking about that, It might be enough to convince Jacob to stick around a bit longer, just to see what would happen.

After a few minutes of waiting Jacob was convinced he couldn’t receive any visitors right now. What they expect him to do by himself in a boring, colorless room? Ugh, each time he was forced to stay more than ten minutes at a hospital, Jacob was reminded of every little reason why he hated them in the first place. It wasn’t only they staff’s constant need to know everything about his life, though that was also a reason, but it could be so boring and lonely, he got antsy just have to wait around until his body decided to cooperate and the doctors were always finding more excuses to keep him in bed for longer than necessary. This time, however, he knew it was really serious, his body still felt tired and nauseous, he couldn’t really get up and start running around, still, he liked to have the option to leave.

Some more minutes passed, and Jacob believed if Ruby was there before, she probably would have grown tired of waiting and left. Hopefully she would come the next day, and wouldn’t leave him rotting in a hospital bed by himself. The nurses also seemed intent on not bothering him, he wasn’t sure what the time was, but it should be either pretty late or very early, the only thing he could do was to go back to sleep, so he closed his eyes and tried to relax. He was close to falling asleep when the door opened softly, and Jacob thought it would be another nurse and prepared himself to answer another round of questions, but when he looked up, it was the familiar figure of Ruby who stepped inside. Her posture seemed distressed, and look of worry upon her features. He waved slightly at her a small smile on his face, his hand had several tubes and wires attached to it, not a pretty sight.

There was something about the way she said his name, perhaps it was the near death experience, perhaps it was the relief that could clearly be heard on her tone, it left him unsure how he should react. Then there were those moments spent before everything went wrong, that kiss that should mean so much, but at the same time could mean nothing, Jacob wasn’t sure what to say, how to reassure Ruby that he was fine. And then she hugged him, he was used to Max being the touchy person, Ruby usually kept her distance (except when she didn’t, and then kisses happened, but Jacob wasn’t thinking about that.) He accepted the hug, wrapping his arms around the woman with barely any hesitance.

It was a very brief contact, that she ended to scold him playfully, but the worry in her words hadn’t gone away yet. “I’m sorry.” He said sincerely, he wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for. How much he screwed up the mission, for letting himself be distracted, for putting her in danger, for kissing her when he knew she already had Max, even though Ruby was the one who started it. “I wa- Thank you, Ruby, for helping me, really.” He said a bit awkwardly but still honest, he wasn’t used to have someone watching his back anymore, he didn’t know what would’ve happened to him if she wasn’t there, he never expected the target to be so competent in fighting.

His eyes trailed away from her, distractedly going to the door, noticing for the first time Ruby wasn’t the only one on the room. Max was standing there, leaning against the door casually, and not saying anything. “Max?” He called, surprise on his voice. Ruby’s must’ve called him, told him what happened. At that thought a wave of guilty washed over him, he didn’t know if Ruby had said anything about the kiss, but it didn’t matter, Jacob felt like he betrayed his friend terribly, and he could barely speak through the lump that formed on his throat. He swallowed dry, licking his lips before pushing the words out “Wh- Since when you’re here? Why are you just standing over there?” He could very well guess why. Was Max furious with him? Just waiting for Jacob to get better to start demanding explanations he did not have… He looked away in shame, staring at the IV attached to his arm so he wouldn’t have to face Max.

As Max explained how the police dogs were trained, Jacob realized it wouldn’t be too bad. It would quite useful, in fact. A loyal pet that wouldn’t be afraid of fighting alongside its master, and would be fierce well trained to attack the enemies, without being actually loyal to the police, it sounded pretty neat. “In that case, I guess it would be a good idea. Though I doubt very much on Max’s ability to keep us out.” He smirked watching the dog play with the plushies. He was pretty sure the puppy would see Jacob and Ruby enough to consider them friends, and as such, wouldn’t attack unless provoked. Everyone else, though, Jacob would like to see it biting someone eventually It would be fun to have little Max around. Particularly, he wouldn’t have a pet at his house, Jacob was not good at keeping living beings alive, and it seemed too much work, but he understood why people had them, a companion for life, always there for you and also a protector in the case of this particular puppy.

Today was to be a peace day, they seem to have a lot of those lately, now that he thought about it, made you wonder how long until things went wrong. He would have to enjoy the peace while it lasted, and if that meant grinning with Max and Ruby and enjoying a fun birthday morning, he couldn’t ask for more. It was strange to think that when Max was happy, it also made Jacob happy, that was what care meant, be able to be satisfied with just a smile from the other person. It wasn’t only Max, Ruby as well, she was so excited right now, and also the day before when they baked Max’s cake. No mean actions or hurtful words, just… happy.

The cat book was a joke book, it didn’t really teach anything useful for what he saw, but it served its purpose, that is, make Max and Ruby laugh. “The book just means you have to be unpredictable, Ruby. It’s for his benefit, but yours too, You’ll have to learn new tricks” Ruby with new tricks, now that was a scary thought. As if she didn’t already cause enough mischief by just being herself.

He was almost afraid the Alice in Wonderland book had ruined the party’s mood. Great job, Jacob, you just made everything horrible without even trying, a natural talent, really. Even with Max reassuring that the book was extremely meaningful, he couldn’t help but think that he went too far, digging memories he would guess Max would like to forget. The cop seemed lost in his thoughts as he told the significance behind the fairy tale, a link to a long lost sister that he still missed, and why he just gave him and Ruby nicknames related to the story. “I though you called me bunny because of that mask…?” He asked hesitantly, unsure on what he could say to lighten the mood, but he could at least say something.

Ruby was smarter on how to change the subject, it was a bit early for cake, but the three of them were adults, there was no one to tell them what they could or couldn’t do. Though he would say until his dying breath that cyanide was completely Ruby’s fault. “The cakes is fine, it’s not poisoned, there’s no need to bring up that incident that was totally your fault.” He pointed at Ruby with a small glare. “there’s no need to worry, Max. The cake is safe” or so he hoped.

The peace and silent of the room didn’t last very long, as the three occupants woke up more and more. He heard Ruby complain about a hand, but his hands weren’t touching anyone, so he assumed Max was the one with the hand issue and didn’t move an inch. What Jacob wanted most at that moment was fall asleep again, laze around in bed until his hangover went away, but of course that wasn’t possible, he wasn’t home where he could choose to avoid the world until his brain stopped melting, he had crashed at Ruby’s place, and now everyone seemed determined to talk and move.

He felt himself being rolled over, Max who was under him suddenly moving to the top, and Jacob opened his eyes to stare at the man, wondering what he was doing exactly. He heard something in French, but it was too early for foreign languages (it wasn’t early, actually, but it felt like it was) “Speak English Max or better yet, don’t speak, silence would be nice.” He grumbled at the cop, was Max not hungover as well? Maybe Jacob was the only one who had abused the alcohol stash and was feeling like trash right now. But the stated of almost undress of Ruby, and Max’s messy appearance told otherwise, also the fact that apparently they all slept together, and wasn’t that a thought that invited all sorts of innuendos? He could tell everybody he had spent the night with two people at the same time. He wouldn’t dig himself that hole though, that would be stupid, well, maybe he would mention at the most inappropriate time to both Max and Ruby.

But for now, he had to make a decision and get up. He rolled on his back, staring at the ceiling, his head still pounding as he tried to gather courage to get up. Max covered Ruby with a shirt, complaining and grumbling, or maybe that was just Jacob who heard everything as grumpy due to hangover. He sat up on the bed, and instantly regretted that action. The world turned and spun, dizziness assaulting his sense, he buried his head on his hands, hiding his face with another groan, wishing the pain would go away. “Why are you so angry and loud Max? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?” He said as soon as the world decided to stop spinning, taking his face from his hands and shooting a weak smirk at the cop. Maybe he could distract himself by teasing Max and making his life difficult, that was always fun.

To his surprise, his partner didn’t follow him out of the car, leaving Jacob to deal with the two contacts by himself. It didn’t matter one way or another, it wasn’t really necessary two people to deliver a single package. To be honest, he couldn’t imagine what could possibly be so important and valuable that it needed all this care. “I can assure you the package has not been trifled with, everything is exactly as previously stated.” He said neutrally, bullshitting his way through the negotiation, the woman’s suspicion growing tiresome after a few minutes. He could tell they were a jump away from either high tailing out of there or take out a gun and start shooting, Jacob on the other hand just wanted this to be all over.

There was a movement from the woman’s partner, his hand going to his pocket, Jacob narrowed his eyes, tensing up and ready to drop the package and take out his own gun. He wasn’t sure what triggered the sudden hostile action, but he the dislike for these two was growing more and more as time went by, it would be a pleasure to shoot each of them on the head. But before he could act, the sound of a car door closing echoed around them, Jacob’s partner finally deeming the situation serious enough to intervene. His posture was nonthreatening, his voice still calm as he tried to defuse the situation before it even started, it was more than Jacob would’ve tried, so perhaps it wasn’t so bad have this man on his side.

He held back the urge to snark back at the jumpy man, Jacob’s sharp tongue wouldn’t be welcomed in such a tense situation, but the “I never liked you guys’ sense of betrayal for no reason.” Was at the tip of his tongue. “He is right, we’re just the middle men here, if you have any complaints about the delivery, don’t hesitate to contact the Bianchi.” He would’ve given them his best customer smile if they could see his face, as it was, he would have to content himself with make his voice friendly and inviting. It was quite simple after that, the two finally accepted the delivery, the woman taking the package from Jacob’s hands “a bit heavier than expected.” She said to her partner, and Jacob officially considered the task done.

“Have a wonderful day.” He said to them before heading back to the car, rolling his eyes at how difficult some people made things. “that was exciting, can wait to do it again.” He muttered with an annoyed sigh to his partner unsure if the other even cared to listen. He entered the car once more, and just waited for the other man do the same so they could leave before the two contacts decided they wouldn't like to leave the two Bianchi men alive after all.

It was a battle of wills almost. The Italian who had everything to prove, and a brick wall with a taste for torture. Jacob could only watch as they stared at each other, until Valeria decided to ignore all the danger an make herself food. And as she ignored Jacob’s warnings to stay away from the cooler, he could just shrug unbothered, not his problem if she want to traumatize herself. The big guy was even nice enough to go and fetch the eggs himself, Jacob was genuinely impressed, he’d think the man would be delighted in see the woman’s reaction. Still, sudden nice intentions or no, she was still stubborn and had to look inside.

Overall, she reacted quite well to the beaten up man inside, no screams in panic, surprise, certainly, but not fear or disgust, curious. He couldn’t see inside the cooler from where he standing by the kitchen’s door, but the big guy must’ve done something that made the Valeria start talking in Italian, he couldn’t understand it, but it sounded quite angry, he thought she was complaining about the body, but to his surprise, she switched back to English to complain about…. The floor?? Priorities much? He supposed it could be a defense mechanism, ignore the obvious distress source by focusing on something minor, or maybe she was more like him and the big guy than he initially thought, the dirty floor was really the more pressing matter. It was an awfully nice floor, leaving messes like that inside was really poor taste.

At any case, he had nothing else to do here, his curiosity was satisfied, and now the man’s focus was on the Bianchi woman, a perfect moment to silently leave, like nothing happened at all. He turned his back to the due, leaving them to their floor arguing, his footsteps silent enough that it would be difficult to pinpoint exactly when he decided to leave, unless someone saw him, not by fear that someone would stop him, but he didn’t see a point in saying anything to anyone. And so, Jacob left the Bianchi manor with no further word.