A Good Guy & A Bad Boy

Ch. 18

Jake, Nick, and Troy heard the front door being opened and a familiar voice.

"I forgot my wallet in my room," Becky said with a phone up to her ear.

"Hide!" Jake whispered.

Troy and Nick opened the closet and pulled out an empty suitcase and some clothes and entered the closet, closing the closet door. Jake tried to hide but...

"Hello, Jake," Becky said. "Welcome home."

Jake looked at his suitcase and his clothes.

"I'm not at home," he said. "I'm here to get my stuff and leave."

"Jake, what made you wanna leave?"

"I dunno, maybe because of... the millions of times you hurt me just because you think you can?! I'm much more happier at Nick's place than here!"

"Nick doesn't care about you. He's just doing this either because of pity of so he can have a way to make you do whatever he wants you to do. Once you've done everything you can, him and his parents will kick you out."

"They don't want anything from me! Nick was the one who suggested I move in with him and his family so I could get away from you!"

"And look how that turned out. I see you're still recovering from a black eye that I didn't even give you."

Jake filled his suitcase with his clothes and pushed it out the window.

"How did you even get in here?" Becky asked.

"Next time, lock the back door when you leave," Jake responded.

Becky exited the room and headed downstairs, Jake opening the closet to let Nick and Troy out. He went to the window and rolled out a rope ladder that was attached to the bottom of the window.

"C'mon, before she comes back," Jake said.

Troy and Nick climbed out the window, seeing Becky's face through the back screen door. Nick grabbed Jake's suitcase and ran out the yard. Becky rushing upstairs to see that Jake is halfway down the ladder.

"See ya, Becky!" Jake ran off as he hit the ground.

Becky quickly went to the front door, rushing out it to see Jake, Nick, and Troy running down the street.

Soon, Jack and Troy were sitting on a park bench, breathing heavily.

"That felt awesome!" Jake said. "I can't believe we got away with that."

"Well then, believe it," Troy replied. "We got what we need to put Becky in jail."

"Operation: Takedown Becky is a success."

Troy looked at Jake with a solemn look. He saw that Jake was wearing the locket he gave him back at the party.

"Jake, there's something I need to tell you," Troy said.

"You didn't call me 'Jakey' like you'd normally do," Jake replied. "This must be important."

"That necklace I gave you wasn't a normal necklace. It's was a locket I got from my mom before I was in foster care. Open it up."

Jake opened the locket and saw the baby picture and the mother's picture.

"Me and one of the babies have the exact same... birthmark," he said.

"My birthmark is the same as the other baby," Troy replied. "I've been meaning to tell you this for a while, so I'm gonna tell you now. Jake... I'm your brother."

"That explains why you wanna be around him so much," Nick said as he appears with three bottles of water. "Why did you wait until the day of the homecoming dance to tell him? Do anybody else know?"

"The only other person who know is Erica, and I told her after we broke into Insidious."

"Why did you wait?" Jake asked.

"I tried to tell you at the party, but you was ready to leave. Then I wanted to tell you after the heist, but I never got the chance."

"Troy, I'm not mad at you. I see you tried to tell me for so long. I'm just happy you did. Now I know that my birth family is closer than I thought."

Troy looked over at Nick, who returned a smile.

"If Jake's okay with it, then I am too," Nick said.

The boys came together for a group hug, smiling and sighing happily.

"I just took notice of something," Nick said.

"What?" Jake asked.

"The quarterback of Pendergast High, who is pretty much the most popular guy at school, is my brother-in-law."

Jake and Troy laughed at Nick's comment and walked back to Nick's apartment. When they entered the living room, they saw Clair and Gerald tied up. Nick and Troy untied them while Jake took noticed of a note on the refrigerator.

"You two okay?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, we're fine," Clair answered.

"I don't think being tied up in my own home counts as 'fine'," Gerald commented.

"What happened?" Troy asked.

"Guys, come look," Jake pointed at the note and read it when Nick and Troy approached.

NOTE: You're next, Jake Arnette

-Becky

"She came here, tied my godparents up, and left a scary note about harming a minor," Nick said. "How is she not in jail yet?"

"Don't worry," Troy said. "She's getting her just desserts at the dance, and that's a promise."