It has taken me ages to finish this one! I've had the beginning and the end written for almost a year, but I never got it written in time for it to not be destroyed by canon – to give you an idea of how long ago it was, it was originally about Amy's first three dates with Teddy. It's been languishing in my B99 folder, and then I realised last week that I could make it work with the current canon. Anyway, it will be once again destroyed canonically by what I've heard about Sunday night's episode, but at least it's out there finally!

It's way long than I intended, but I hope you like it anyway…

THIRD DATE

Amy met Sam two months after breaking up with Teddy.

It hadn't been the easiest time for her. Not only had she had to get over the longest relationship she'd had since leaving college (yeah, okay, she'd ended it, but still… a nine-month long relationship is not something you just brush off at her age), but she'd had to get over Jake as well.

No, that was the wrong phrase. Not get over him exactly, it was more like… make her peace with never being with him.

Here's the thing: until Jake had done his big confession to her the night he'd left to go undercover, she'd not been thinking about him like that at all. That's not to say she never had – Jake Peralta was a good-looking guy, and when he wasn't going out of his way to be a goofball and/or pain in her ass, he was sweet, and funny, and a great partner. So of course the thought had crossed her mind from time to time, but in a seriously fleeting way – and she'd always been sure that there was no way he could ever see her like that anyway. She'd been positive that she wasn't his type, and since she generally wanted to strangle him way more than do anything else with him, that had been totally okay with her.

And then he'd gone and told her about his feelings for her and disappeared and left her just thinking about him constantly for six months before coming back and lying about his feelings before telling her again that he liked her and then being all back in the precinct and… the thoughts had no longer been fleeting.

It wasn't until he started dating Sophia (a.k.a. the perfect woman - like, seriously), though, that her feelings had become impossible to ignore, and by then obviously it was too late. There'd been a moment in the inn when she'd finally admitted her feelings to him and he had this look on his face that got her thinking that… well, it didn't matter, because the whole thing was barely a blip for him and Sophia and now it was two months later and they were stronger than ever.

So anyway, back to the point – the point being that it had been two months of getting used to being single again while simultaneously making her peace with Jake and Sophia. And seriously, it had gone pretty well if she did say so herself, and by the end of January (even though it was cold as all hell in the city and where there wasn't snow there was slush and it was dark like all the time) Amy felt pretty good about her life.

She was even happy for Jake. Seriously, she was. He and Sophia were great together, and she was proud of him for maintaining such a healthy, mature relationship. Yes, sometimes she wondered what if? but the fact was that she and Jake had never even been on a date (no, that did not count!) and there was no telling if they would work as a couple, not in the way that Jake and Sophia definitely did. So it was pointless to waste time thinking about it.

Enter Sam.

Sam Llewellyn was an attractive, thirty-something, single doctor who moved into Amy's apartment building at the beginning of January. I know right? Single, cute, and a doctor. (Amy hadn't breathed a word about him to her Mom yet, because if she heard about him, she'd start planning the wedding.)

Anyway, she'd seen him around and exchanged a few words with him since he'd moved in, but the breakthrough came the day after she'd inadvertently given the Captain food poisoning. It had been a great day, even with the food poisoning - she'd really connected with the Captain, they'd worked so well together and she'd really felt that mentor/mentee bond she'd been craving for so long, and she'd even got him to laugh… actually laugh… (oh, and she'd found out Terry was going to have another kid, which was also good).

So she'd arrived back at her building with a pretty good feeling, only to find Sam struggling to fit a new armchair into the tiny elevator. Amy helped him carry the armchair up the stairs four floors, which gave them a chance to talk properly, and they hit it off right away. He was divorced with no kids, had just moved to New York from Chicago, and he was nice and funny and easy to talk to, and god it just felt so good to have one of those conversations again, you know? Where you're getting to know someone and really clicking, and things start to take on a flirty edge as the two of you realise that hey, this could maybe lead somewhere.

He invited her in for coffee and then asked her out to dinner for the next night, and she'd gone into work the next day with a huge grin on her face.

Which was, obviously, a stupid move on her part.

"Why so happy, Santiago?" Gina said the moment she stepped into the bullpen. "Did you finally get laid?"

Amy blinked, her grin freezing in place. Even after working with Gina for over three years, she still found it hard to deal with how blunt she could be.

"What? No! I-"

"Hmm, no, maybe not, you don't really give off the vibe of someone who's had multiple orgasms in the past twelve hours…"

Amy's mouth dropped open.

"Well the sex could have just been bad," Rosa said, leaning back on her desk and surveying Amy like she was a piece of evidence to be figured out. A quick glance around the pen told Amy that everyone was listening in, and she very specifically made sure not to catch Jake's eye. She was just glad the Captain wasn't in yet.

"Then why would she be smiling like that?" Gina demanded of Rosa, who just shrugged.

"He was probably all romantic and crap, to make up for being terrible in bed," she said. "Santiago would be all over that."

"Hey!" Amy exclaimed. (That was so not true. Though even if it was, sex wasn't everything if the guy was nice, right?)

"Ooh, close to the mark," Gina noted. Amy rolled her eyes.

"Did he cook for you?" Charles asked. "What did he cook? Because the menu one chooses to cook for a lover is an excellent indication of how they feel, and I'm very good at deciphering culinary messages."

"Come on Boyle," Jake said in a slightly pained voice. "We agreed you wouldn't say lover anymore."

Charles looked chagrined. "Sorry," he said. "So what's your theory, Jakey?"

"Yeah, out with it Peralta," Rosa said.

Amy willed herself not to blush as she turned to look at Jake, but she wasn't expecting him to be lounging back in his desk chair staring at her with narrowed eyes, (she didn't know what she'd been expecting, okay, so don't ask), and her embarrassment kicked up a notch. She recognised the look on his face - he was working her out like a case.

The rest of the squad knew the look as well, and they all started clamouring for him to have a guess. Amy lifted her chin and raised an eyebrow at him in a silent challenge, and Jake stood up. The bullpen fell silent.

"The case is really very simple," he said, like he was in an Agatha Christie novel or something. "One just needs to look at the facts."

He stepped out from his desk and started pacing round from desk to desk, effectively hemming Amy into the middle of a circle of her colleagues.

"Fact the first -" (he held up one finger in a completely overdramatic fashion) "Santiago has her hair down, which she usually only does when out socially... so we can conjecture she has plans to wear her hair down after work and doesn't want any kinks."

Amy rolled her eyes. It wasn't like she never wore her hair down unless she was going somewhere… but it got in her way at work. It was just more practical to wear it up.

"Fact the second - " (two fingers) "she did her nails last night, even though it was Thursday and she usually does her nails on Tuesday and Friday nights… so that coupled with the hair leads us to conclude she wants to make a good impression wherever it is she's going."

Amy's fingers twitched, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of looking at her nails. How had he noticed her nails in just those few minutes? It wasn't like she'd done anything beyond file and give them a new coat of clear varnish. And how the hell did he know her nail grooming schedule?

"Fact the third -" (you guessed it with the fingers) "she has an extra bag with her. It's not bulky enough to be an overnight bag, only for a change of clothes, and from the shape of it, shoes, most likely heels. So she's going to be dressing up."

Jake stopped his pacing and turned to face Amy, with his hands clasped behind his back. Amy could feel her cheeks burning, but she kept up her unimpressed glare as much as she could.

"Conclusion," Jake said after a few moments, "Amy has a date tonight."

Amy maintained the glare for another moment, before rolling her eyes. "Yes, fine, I have a date," she said. "His name is Sam, he's a really cute doctor who's just moved into my building - I helped him move some furniture in yesterday and we had coffee, and we're going out for dinner tonight, and he's really great and really nice and did I mention really cute, so sue me for smiling about it."

"Jeez, Amy, no one cares," Gina scoffed, before flipping her hair over her shoulder and heading back to her desk.

Amy took a deep, calming breath, stomped over to her desk, and sat down. Needless to say the grin was gone.

She avoided looking at Jake as he sat back down opposite her, and then the Captain arrived and provided a distraction for a few minutes anyway. It wasn't until Amy had worked her way through half a cup of coffee and was working on a report that Jake cleared his throat and she looked up at him.

"So, a cute doctor huh? Score." He was smiling, but it was a weird, small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes - she was sure she'd seen him smile like that before.

She ignored it and just shrugged. "Here's hoping," Amy said without thinking.

Jake's eyebrows shot up and he smirked. "Don't tell your Mom."

Amy grinned. "Not a chance," she said.

Later, as she got changed and did her make-up for her date, she allowed herself to think about how well Jake knew her, right down to when she painted her nails and what her Mom would think of Sam.

But only for a few minutes.

The first date went really well. Sam was so easy to talk to, and Amy found herself talking way more than she usually did on a first date – he just brought it out in her. It was so different to her dates with Teddy, even the early ones; she and Teddy had initially clicked because they'd had so much in common, and they'd spent ages talking about old cases, comparing notes on their precincts and quizzing each other on police codes. Sam was just so nice and charming that she found herself venturing far away from her usual first date topics (feigning interest in her date's hobbies, a few choice anecdotes about her siblings, and comparing college experiences). It was all so simple and felt so natural.

She even got up the courage to kiss him at the end of the night. He'd looked like he was going to do it anyway, but the point was she took the initiative, and she was really quite proud of that. He kissed her back and his hands felt warm and strong on her hips and he hadn't tried to push things further and it had been just so… nice. They'd made plans for date number two for that Monday, right there and then.

Amy went into the precinct on the Saturday morning, just to catch up on some union rep paperwork. Surprisingly, Jake was also there, going over his case files. This wasn't exactly a rare occurrence for him to work on a Saturday, but it was usually when he'd been super busy during the week - Amy hadn't noticed that he'd had a particularly difficult caseload.

After about fifteen minutes, Amy started to watch him out of the corner of her eye - he was shifting around a lot, and seemed to be switching between his cases every few minutes, so there was no way he could be getting any serious work done. He also kept checking his phone, and every time he did he frowned more and more.

"Are you okay?" She asked eventually.

Jake dropped his phone to the desk and picked up a case file. "I'm cool," he said. "Just… office on Saturday, am I right?"

Amy nodded slowly. "What are you working on that's dragged you in?"

"How was your date with McDreamy?"

Amy frowned - both because of the incredibly unsubtle change in topic, and the nickname.

"Okay, first of all, no," she said. "We are not calling him that."

Jake smiled for the first time that day.

"Second of all, don't change the subject, what is going on with you?"

Jake sighed. "Nothing, really I'm fine," he said. "I'm just waiting for… it doesn't matter. Seriously, tell me how the date went."

Amy stared him down for a moment, but he'd turned his attention to his computer screen to avoid looking at her, and she could tell he wasn't in a sharing mood. So she answered the question. "It was good, thanks," she said. "Actually… it was great. We really clicked, and we're going out again on Monday night. He's just really… easy to talk to, and really fun. I haven't been so relaxed on a first date since… well, ever."

At some point during her little speech, Amy had gone back to filling out her paperwork, but there was silence after she finished talking, so she looked back up to find Jake staring at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Sounds like you really like him," he said after a long moment.

Amy hated that she blushed, but she did. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Um, yeah, I do," she said.

Jake nodded, smiling. "That's great," he said. It was the same weird small smile he'd had the day before, and again Amy was sure she'd seen him smile like that some other time, but before she could place it Jake was standing up.

"I've gotta go - I'm not getting anything done here, and I have to meet Sophia anyway," he said, turning off his computer (without properly shutting down, Amy noted). He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. "I'll see you on Monday."

And he was gone almost before Amy could tell him goodbye.

It was about half an hour of paperwork later that it hit her - it had been the same smile he'd had whenever she used to talk to him about Teddy, before he went undercover.

She didn't know what she was supposed to do with that. She didn't think he was jealous now - she knew he was happy with Sophia (who wouldn't be?), so maybe it was just that he hadn't expected her to be so into Sam after just one date, and he was surprised. To be honest, Amy was surprised herself - she didn't think she'd been this excited after a first date since high school.

Anyway, getting back to Jake, there was clearly something else going on with him - he'd been acting weird way before she'd started talking about Sam. She felt a pang of regret that he hadn't been comfortable enough to tell her what was going on, but then again… he had Sophia for that kind of thing now.

Amy shook herself and went back to her paperwork.

Jake wasn't around much on Monday. She saw him at the Monday morning briefing, and he was quiet - unusually quiet. Maybe he was just tired - he certainly looked like he'd not got much sleep. Amy would have thought she was imagining things, but she saw Charles and Terry both eyeing him with concern.

She didn't get a chance to get to the bottom of what was going on, though, as he disappeared for the rest of the day. Only Charles seemed to have any idea what was happening, and he wasn't saying anything (and anyway he too was out for a big chunk of the day, working a case with Rosa.)

Amy got on with her work, and was able to finish early enough to go home and change before her date with Sam.

Which went really well again. Honestly, Amy was shocked. In her experience, when a first date went well, the second date would generally be uncomfortable to make up for it. It was just the way of the world - or her world, anyway.

They went to see a movie and then had a great time at dinner dissecting it, and discussing all manner of other things. Once again, Amy felt herself talking way more than she usually would, laughing way more than she usually would, and feeling way more relaxed than she usually would too. They held hands all the way back to their building, and when they kissed goodnight outside Amy's door, she was almost tempted to invite him in.

Almost. She didn't. It wasn't that she didn't want to, or that she's a prude (no matter what Gina says) but she knew he had an early shift the next day. Someone needed to think about sleep patterns.

"Are you free on Friday night?" Amy asked him as he pulled away from their kiss.

Sam seemed to hesitate before answering, and Amy bit her lip, wondering if he was disappointed that she wasn't asking him in. But he smiled a second later and nodded. "I'm free all weekend," he said.

Amy smiled at that - it was cliche, but maybe the third date would be the one to… let the date go on a little later.

Amy kissed him one last time and bade him good night.

She was grinning again when she walked into the precinct the next morning, but this time none of the team paid her any attention. She soon found out why - everyone was looking at Jake, who was sitting at his desk, patiently explaining to Charles (who was sitting on the chair next to his desk and holding both of Jake's hands in his) that he was fine and no he didn't want to borrow his black leather trench coat.

Jake had broken up with Sophia.

Okay. Okay. Well. That explained why he'd been acting weird. Apparently the relationship had been getting more and more strained because of conflicts in their jobs, and Jake had spent ages yesterday trying to convince Sophia's boss to take her off a case that would pit them against each other in court again. When he'd succeeded, Sophia had gotten mad at him and told him she didn't want to be taken off the case. They'd had a big fight, which had turned into a serious discussion, which had resulted in a mutual break up.

Jake seemed to be okay.

Amy was going through the Six Stages of Freaking the Hell Out.

The first stage was shock.

What. The actual. Hell? She hadn't been expecting this. At all. Jake and Sophia had seemed solid. They'd seemed happy. Okay, granted, she hadn't actually seen the two of them together since that awful road trip, but whenever Jake had spoken about her he'd seemed really happy in the relationship. Though, now she really thought about it, he hadn't actually mentioned her in a few weeks. Oh god, had Jake been planning to break up with Sophia for weeks without her realising?

Which led to the second stage: self-assurance.

Maybe he had, but why should she have noticed? She'd spent the last couple of months doing everything she could to distance herself from Jake - emotionally, anyway. She didn't go out of her way to discuss his love life, and since he didn't bring up the looming break up with her, there was no way she could have known. After all, it had nothing to do with her. Oh god… what if it had something to do with her?

The third stage: mild panic.

Had Jake broken up with Sophia because of her? Did he still have feelings for her? And if he did, what she was supposed to do about that? Was he going to ask her out? Should she say yes? Should she cancel her date with Sam on Friday? Did she want to do that?

Amy snuck outside for a cigarette to tackle the fourth stage: calmly and logically assessing the facts.

Okay, let's think about this logically. From the sounds of it, Jake and Sophia had had an extremely good reason for breaking up - a mature, grown-up reason to do with their jobs and opposing world views rather than anything to do with who-might-like-whom. Amy was pretty confident that it didn't have anything to do with her. If it did, she reasoned, it would have happened sooner, and would probably have been sparked by something happening between her and Jake - not like them cheating or anything because she would never do that and she was sure Jake wouldn't either - but at least a conversation or something. She and Jake had very much not spoken about the whole feelings issue since the road trip from hell. So yeah, it couldn't be anything to do with her. And how did that make her feel? Firstly - a little relieved. She would have hated to be the reason for a break up; she would have hated having to feel guilty about a breakup of one of her friends. But mostly, she felt incredibly confused.

You've probably guessed that confusion is the fifth stage.

So, if Jake was now single, should she break things off with Sam? Did she want to? She liked Sam, she liked him a lot, and so the question was... how did she feel about Jake? Did she like him, like him?

She had… kind of. Okay, she had. But it was complicated. She'd been pretty blindsided when he'd told her he had feelings for her, and it had taken her a long time to admit to herself that she might have feelings for him too. And the thing is, that was months ago now, and she'd spent all her time since breaking up with Teddy in getting over whatever feelings she'd had for Jake. She hadn't thought about the possibility of the two of them together in so long… but was that because she was over it, or because she hadn't let herself think about it while he was with Sophia?

And then there was Sam. Sweet, kind, funny, attractive Sam. Easy Sam. (Not easy like that, get you mind out of the gutter!) It had only been two dates, yes, but they'd been great dates, and Amy had been really excited about what might happen between them… and considering how awful she'd been feeling between everything to do with Teddy and Jake, she'd been really happy to have that new relationship in her life. Their dates had been the only times recently that Amy had been able to properly relax, and she hadn't thought about Jake at all. Sam wasn't the kind of guy that Amy could just discard without a second thought, especially for the mere chance of something happening between her and Jake.

And there was the final stage: resolution.

That was the thing about her and Jake - it was all made of ifs and maybes. Jake had just broken up with his first serious girlfriend since she'd known him - he was going to be down about it for a while. And even when he was over it, was there any guarantee that he still liked her? He had chosen to stay with Sophia when she broke up with Teddy after all. And even if he did, and they started dating, was there any guarantee that they would work out? And not just in the long run - they had no idea if they would work as a couple. None at all. They could have a terrible first date and decide they'd made a mistake. Her and Sam, on the other hand, were clearly working. She liked him, she'd stopped mooning over Jake (she hadn't thought about Jake once during either of their dates), and the idea of throwing away a perfectly good relationship for the mere possibility of an untried one that would most likely backfire on her and that she wasn't even sure she wanted was ridiculous.

So, that was that - she was going to see where things went with Sam, and be a friend to Jake while he came to terms with his break up. She felt much better having made her decision, and was able to head back to her desk and face Jake feeling much calmer than before.

Charles had finally gone back to his own desk, though Amy could see him eyeing Jake with concern across the bullpen. He widened his eyes at Amy and seemed to be trying to tell her something his eyebrows, but Amy ignored him and sat down.

Jake tensed as she took her seat, but Amy just picked up the file for a case they were working on and asked him what he thought about the witness they interviewed the day before. He gave her a grateful look and they didn't talk about anything but work for the rest of the day.

They all went out for drinks that night. Amy was reluctant to go - she was sure Jake wasn't going to hold it together for much longer, and she didn't think it would be a good idea for him to be surrounded by his entire team when he had his inevitable post-relationship breakdown - but even the Captain was going, and it would be very weird if she begged off. (And she didn't want anyone to think that she was trying to avoid Jake, because she absolutely was not… she just thought he'd be better off having a quiet drink with Boyle or something. But whatever.)

To Amy's surprise, Jake not only held it together, but was joking around and playing pool and generally acting like he hadn't just gone through a major break-up. She compared it to her own post-breakup after Teddy, which had involved a lot of ice cream and Netflix, and shook her head at the difference. (Though, to be fair, Netflix was as normal for her as joking around and playing pool was for Jake. So maybe it wasn't so different after all…)

Sam text her after a couple of hours, and she retreated into a corner to answer.

Hi Amy. Still on call but on break - what you up to tonight? x

Hey! My partner broke up with his girlfriend so the whole team is out for drinks. x

Jake and Sophia broke up?

Amy frowned down at the phone screen. How did Sam know about Jake and Sophia? She must have mentioned them... she remembered telling him about the precinct over dinner, so maybe it came up then. She shrugged and text him back.

Yep. It was sudden but he seems ok. He's hustling Boyle at pool - Boyle never learns. x

They exchanged a few more texts before Sam finished his break, and Amy had a smile on her face as she wandered back over to the bar and ordered a water - it was almost time to go, and she wanted to clear her head before heading home.

Jake slid onto the barstool next to her.

"You're on water which must mean you're going to go soon," he said.

Amy raised an eyebrow at him. "And you're at the bar, which must mean you've beaten Charles for the fourth time," she said.

"Fifth, but who's counting?"

The barman gave Amy her water, and Jake ordered a beer.

"Five wins in a row - is that a record?" She asked after the barman brought back his drink.

"Joint top," Jake tells her. "Though I'm pretty sure he threw the last game. I think he feels sorry for me."

It was the closest they'd come all day to discussing his breakup, and Amy wasn't ready for it.

"I don't know, he is really bad at pool," she said quickly, steering them back to safer waters. Jake gave her a small smile, nodded, and turned to his beer.

And Amy immediately felt like a total tool. She had to say something, right? She couldn't just not mention it, ever. She gulped down about half her water and turned to face Jake.

"Listen Jake - I'm sorry to hear about you and Sophia," she said before she could change her mind or lose her nerve.

Jake glanced at her briefly before nodding again. "Thanks," he said.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Really?" She pressed.

"Really - I'm… it sucks but… I'm okay," he said. He frowned at the wall behind the bar, as if trying to puzzle something out. "Weirdly okay," he said after a moment.

He drank down some of his beer and then shrugged. "I don't know what that says about the relationship," he said quietly. "You know - I thought I was really happy, but if I was I think I would feel… not okay. So clearly there was something wrong."

Amy could feel her heart in her throat, but she wasn't sure why. She swallowed. "Maybe the timing was off," she said gently.

Jake looked round at her, smiling that weird half smile again. "No, it was the right time but… I think it was just the wrong woman," he said.

Amy stared at him, her breath caught, but he wasn't waiting for her to say anything. He turned back to the bar and downed the rest of his drink before shaking his head.

"I need more beer."

Amy said her goodbyes and left the bar as quick as she could.

Okay, what was that?

He didn't mean her - did he? No, he didn't mean anyone, he was just talking in general… he just meant that Sophia wasn't right for him, not that there was someone else who was.

So, it was nothing. He was just a friend getting over a breakup, and that was it - and no matter what he said, he was probably feeling a lot worse than he let on, so she couldn't take anything he said too seriously.

The rest of the week went by quickly, and to Amy's surprise Jake really did seem to be okay. He was a little bit quieter than usual, but apart from that you'd never know that he'd just gone through a breakup. He hadn't even swung the other way into being overly cheerful to make up for feeling like crap (which is what Amy did for a couple of weeks after the whole road trip thing) - he was just totally normal.

She did catch him staring at her from across their desks a couple of times, but those lapses in concentration were the only effects of the breakup that she could detect. (And she was sure that it was because of the breakup. He was lost in thought or something - he had no other reason to be staring at her, she was sure.)

As Friday drew nearer, Amy really started looking forward to her date with Sam. The infamous third date. It was crazy, really, how nervous she felt about it - jeez, she was an experienced, grown woman, there was no reason to feel apprehensive. She put it down to an overload of excitement rather than anything else.

The team made plans to go out again on Friday, and she briefly considered asking Sam to postpone, but she didn't want to look like a flake… and besides, the team went out all the time. And it wasn't like Jake needed her support or anything. He was fine.

Last thing on Friday, Amy headed into the records room to put back some case files, and ran into Jake who was doing the same thing.

"You coming out tonight?" He asked her as they shelved their files.

"I can't."

"Oh come on, we're going to Dusk," Jake wheedled.

Amy pouted slightly - Dusk was one of her favourite bars, and she hadn't been there in ages. They played decent music and made amazing cocktails.

"I know you have a thing for their strawberry martinis - but I promise I'll cut you off at, like, four," Jake added.

Amy was once again reminded of how well Jake knew her, but shook her head. "I really can't - I'm going out for dinner," she said. She put the last file back and turned to face Jake. "With Sam."

Jake blinked. "Oh right," he said. "Of course."

He turned around and started searching for the right place to put his own last file. Try as she might, she couldn't ignore the way his shoulders tensed up, and her throat started feeling very tight.

Jake cleared his throat. "Wow, that must be what? Date number…" His voice was unnaturally bright, in exactly the way she'd been expecting all week and hadn't been.

"Three," Amy said quietly.

Jake nodded, still not looking at her. "Wow. Awesome." He put his file away and turned to look at her. He looked sad.

Amy was trying very hard not to panic.

"Yeah," she said weakly. "But make sure you have a strawberry martini for me."

"No way," Jake said, the sad expression fading, and the Peralta grin in place. "Boyle says I have to score tonight, and those things are way too girly."

Amy laughed. It wasn't really funny, at all, but there was still the panic under the surface, and laughing seemed a more mature response than running. She didn't want to do this now - she'd already decided that they didn't need to do this at all.

Jake looked back to normal now, so maybe she'd imagined everything anyway. The two of them headed towards the exit, only to end up walking into each other at the end of the narrow shelf corridor. Amy took a quick step back.

"Sorry," she said with a big and completely fake smile.

"My fault," said Jake. He looked at her more seriously than he'd done in quite a while, and then sighed. "I always did have bad timing."

And with that he walked straight out of the records room, leaving Amy rooted to the spot.

There was no talking herself out of this one. His quip about the right woman the other night had been ambiguous, but talking about timing, and looking at her like that, and seeming so sad when he was talking about her date with Sam… oh god.

Jake still liked her. He'd basically just told her… and she was about to go on a date with another guy.

Now, right now, was when she had to be completely honest with herself. Did she still like him?

Well… yes. Okay yes, fine, of course she did. But… and it was a big but (shut up this is not the time for jokes)... she also really liked Sam. And the fact that she knew Jake liked her didn't change what she'd decided the other day - she had a real chance for something with Sam, given how well their dates had gone and how she felt about him. She'd never had a date with Jake, everything about them was conjecture.

No, she'd already gone through all this in her head, and she hadn't changed her mind. She wanted to see where things went with Sam, and just because she now knew that Jake maybe still had feelings for her, it didn't change things. She knew where she stood with Sam - all she got with Jake was uncertainty… not least in how she felt about him.

Amy took a deep breath and made her way back to the bull pen. Jake wasn't in sight, so she wasted no time in grabbing her stuff and getting the hell out of there, calling out distracted goodbyes to her teammates as she went.

She had a date to get ready for.

Her third date with Sam went pretty much the same way her other two dates with him went - namely, really well. They ordered their food and shared a bottle of wine and the conversation flowed as easily as it had ever done - they talked about books and movies and work and friends and family and even sport - and it felt as good as it always did to have so much to talk about to someone so willing to listen.

They were just finishing up their desserts when it happened.

"So, that farmers' market I was talking about? It's on this Sunday if you want to go with me," Amy said with an inviting smile.

Sam seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering. "I can't," he said.

"Do you have to work or something?" Amy asked. She thought he'd said he was free over the weekend, but maybe she was remembering wrong.

Sam sighed. "No… Amy, I'm sorry, but I don't think we should see each other again," he said.

Amy actually reeled back a little, she was so shocked. "Oh," she said. She could feel her face turning red. "Oh. Right. Okay."

She was an idiot. She'd thought they were clicking, but he didn't like her. Oh god, she was such an idiot.

Sam leant forward. "Look Amy -"

She shrugged and gave him a tight smile. "It's not you, it's me, right?" she quipped. She was going for levity - it came out as bitterness.

Sam sighed again. "No… it's you," he said bluntly. Amy's jaw dropped - okay, so she'd gone out with her share of assholes in her time, but she hadn't expected Sam to be one. He'd seemed so sweet.

"Look, Amy, I really like you," he said quickly. "You're beautiful and funny and intelligent and so easy to talk to, and I would love to keep seeing you."

Amy's instinct was to roll her eyes, but he was looking at her so intently that she couldn't help but believe him… so now she was confused.

Sam shook his head. "But I can't do that to myself when you're clearly hung up on someone else," he said.

Amy frowned. "What? What are you talking about?"

Sam smiled. "Amy it's okay," he said.

"No, seriously, what are you talking about?" Amy repeated. "Who are you talking about?"

Sam gave her an exasperated look. "Your partner - Jake Peralta," he said.

Amy jerked back. "What?!" It came out a little louder and higher than intended, and several of their fellow diners turned to look at her. She couldn't bring herself to care that much… she was completely blindsided.

Sam thought she had a thing for Jake. Sam, who had never even met Jake. Okay, so she'd been going back and forth on this herself, but she had very much decided that any lingering feelings she might have had for Jake were not worth exploring at the expense of her relationship with Sam. It wasn't an issue for her.

So why was it suddenly one for him?

"I am not - I… why would you even think that?" She demanded. Her mind was racing through the possibilities - had someone from the precinct decided to get involved and contacted Sam? Had Jake? Oh god, she was going to kill him… he had no right...

Sam chuckled. "Amy, do you not have any idea how much you talk about him?"

That snapped Amy out of her silent fuming, and she blinked at Sam in surprise.

"I – I don't…"

Sam rolled his eyes. "I know more about him than I know about you at this point," he said.

"That's not true," Amy said flatly.

Sam gave her an unimpressed look. "I know his favourite cop movie is Die Hard –"

Amy glared at him. "That's only because we were talking about our favourite cop –"

"A subject you started, by presenting a five-point argument as to why Jake's choice was flawed," said Sam.

"Well it is, but I was just -"

"I know that he supports the Nets."

Amy made a choked sound in the back of her throat. "Oh hey now, you started talking about basketball –"

"I asked if you followed a team."

"Well I don't, really, and so I kind of vicariously follow the Nets because I hear so much about them from him!"

"Which would be fine, but what you actually told me about was the time Jake met Bernard King, right down their entire conversation and impromptu rap he did and has never ceased to regret," said Sam patiently. "And then who his favourite players are, and his ideas for raps about them."

Amy could feel herself starting to blush again. "Okay, maybe that wasn't -"

"I know he's been reading What to Expect When You're Expecting because he's going to be a godfather," interrupted Sam.

"Well -"

"I know he eats nothing but peanuts on stakeouts."

Amy grabbed her wine glass and took a big gulp.

"I know he wrote you a letter of recommendation which you didn't need but have kept anyway."

Amy groaned around her wine glass and hung her head. "Oh god…"

"...And I know that he's just broken up with Sophia, and you're trying to hide how happy you are about it."

Amy's head snapped up. "I'm not happy about it," she said firmly.

Sam just smiled and reached for his own glass. "Yes you are."

"No!" She exclaimed, putting her glass back down a little more forcefully than needed. "No… Jake was serious about Sophia and I feel sorry for him."

She swallowed as she remembered Jake's expression when he'd told her he felt okay about the breakup, because he knew Sophia hadn't been the right woman for him. She remembered the way her heart beat in her throat and she hadn't been able to catch her breath.

She shook her head. "I can't be happy about it," she said quietly. "That would make me a total…"

"Of course you're happy he's single again," said Sam matter-of-factly. "You like him - it's as simple as that."

"Nothing about us is simple," snapped Amy. "First he told me he liked me but I was with someone else at the time and then he was gone for six months and just left me to deal with thay, and then he comes back and told me again but I was still with someone and then I broke up and my boyfriend told him I liked him too, in front of his girlfriend - and so then I was single but he was with her, and now they've split up and I'm with…"

Her voice trailed off, and Sam raised an eyebrow at her. Amy groaned and covered her face with her hands.

"Oh god, Sam, I'm so sorry," she said, not looking up at him.

She heard Sam chuckle again. "It's okay."

"It's so not," Amy said, lowering her hands and forcing herself to look at him. She'd never felt so embarrassed in her life, but she couldn't just run away like her instincts were telling her to. Sam deserved more than that.

"You're such a great guy, and you've had to sit here while I drone on about Peralta all night…"

"Actually, it wasn't just tonight," Sam said cheerfully. "I've just been trying to ignore it because… you know… I really like you."

Amy covered her face again. "Oh god."

"Look, I'm gonna go - but I hope we can be friends." Amy peeked over the top of her fingers and saw Sam smiling at her again. "I really mean that," he added.

Amy dropped her hands to the table and nodded. "Me too," she said seriously. She managed a small smile. "I promise I will be the best neighbour ever."

Sam started to reach for his pocket, and Amy held up her hand. "And dinner is on me. Please."

She fixed Sam with her don't-mess-with-me-I'm-armed glare, and he nodded and stood up. "See you around, neighbour," he said, with a grin. He started to walk away, but then turned back.

"Oh, and if you ever get a chance, introduce me to Jake," he said. "He sounds like a fun guy."

Amy rolled her eyes, but couldn't help her smile. "Bye Sam," she said.

She signalled for the check and didn't watch Sam leave.

So… the entire time she'd been seeing Sam, all the time she'd been enjoying their dates and not thinking about Jake at all, it turned out she'd been talking about him non-stop. It didn't need much psychoanalysis to realise why.

She liked Jake. Really liked him. Oh hell, she was crazy about him. And she was finally free to admit it.

She started grinning like a fool, and she didn't even try to stop.

It was still fairly early, so she decided to go to Dusk. She was sure the team would still be there, and she wanted - needed - to see Jake. Not necessarily because she wanted something to happen that night, but she did want him to know she wasn't seeing Sam anymore. Immediately. (And if anything did happen, she wouldn't exactly be sad about it…)

She thought about texting him as she was leaving the restaurant and getting in a taxi, but decided to surprise him instead.

And then, funnily enough, he text her. Well, Snapchat, but whatever.

Amy's heart stalled and then started beating double time when she saw his name flash on her screen. She shook her head at the way she was acting like a schoolgirl, and then opened the Snapchat. It was a selfie of him holding a strawberry martini. He'd captioned it 'as requested'.

Amy laughed. She was only a few minutes away from the bar now, but she changed her mind and decided to text him back.

Nice. How's your evening going?

There. That didn't give anything away. Her phone buzzed with his reply almost immediately.

Bangin. Obvs.

Amy grinned and took a little time over the next message. By the time she sent it, the cab was pulling up in front of Dusk.

Does the drink mean you've already scored?

Jake's reply came as she was entering the bar.

Weighing my options. Lots of options.

Amy might have felt a stab of envy at that, except for the fact that she spotted Jake almost as soon as she walked in. He and the rest of the team - well, Rosa, Gina, and Charles anyway - were in the far corner. Those three were sitting down arguing about something, but Jake was standing a few feet away, next to one of the tall tables lining the dance floor. The floor was pretty busy but not packed, giving Amy a fairly good line of sight on him but also providing cover.

Anyway, the point was, it didn't look like he was weighing anything, except his phone in his hand. Amy stopped where she was, next to the bar, and replied to his text.

Very wise.

She watched as Jake read her text with a small smile on his face, and then type something. Her phone buzzed in her hand.

How was dinner?

Dinner was great, thanks. I had salmon.

Jake smiled again when he read her answer, but his smile faded as he wrote his reply. He paused before sending it, and was gulping his drink as Amy's phone buzzed again.

And how is McDreamy?

SAM was charming and sweet as always.

Jake glared at his phone as he read her text, and Amy bit her lip. She felt a bit mean but… no, this was too entertaining to stop. She quickly sent another text.

I think you'd really like him, and he wants to meet you.

Jake positively scowled as he read the message, and he jabbed at his phone savagely as he replied.

Great. Maybe we can double date after I score tonight.

Amy grinned - okay, it was mean of her, but she couldn't help be happy at how obviously annoyed and jealous Jake was. He really did like her.

Anyway, it was time to cut to the chase.

Sam and I decided not to see each other again.

Jake's reaction made Amy laugh out loud - he literally did a fist pump. What a dork. He had a massive grin on his face as he text her back. It took a while for him to be happy with his answer - from what Amy could tell, he kept deleting what he'd written. Finally, her phone buzzed.

I'm sorry. I know you liked him.

Amy was quick with her reply. Thanks – but it's ok. I didn't like him as much as I thought I did.

Jake's grin disappeared and he wrote her a reply extremely quickly. Did he do something? What happened?

Amy rolled her eyes, and ignored the fact that she was a little bit touched by his concern. No nothing like that, she was quick to reassure him. We just decided it wasn't working.

She watched Jake relax again as he read her texts, and take a sip of his martini as he seemed to ponder what to reply. Amy's hands shook slightly as she wrote her next message.

He thinks I like someone else.

Jake visibly swallowed as he read it - even from across the room, Amy could see his Adam's apple bob nervously. It made her grin.

Who?

He looked so nervous that Amy felt her own nerves start to fade. She took a deep breath and sent her reply. You're a detective, Peralta. You can work it out yourself.

Jake's eyebrows shot up, and he actually dropped his phone down on the table as his hands went up to fist in his hair. Amy could see him mouthing "okay, okay…" to himself as he stared down at the phone. Amy was a little surprised by his reaction - she'd expected him to be smug, or just… you know, happy, but instead he looked more nervous than ever.

It was completely adorable, and Amy bit her lip to try and stop herself from grinning like a complete fool, but it was a losing battle.

Jake had picked up his phone again, and was mumbling something to himself as he typed a message. Amy's nerves were crashing over her as she waited to see what he had to say.

In the end, it was pretty innocuous. Where are you? Wanna come and hang out?

Amy took a calming breath. Well, this was the moment of truth. Kind of. Well, one of them. Because she knew that when they came face to face something was going to happen. This was either where and when they finally started something, or where and when they managed to ruin everything before it even began. (She was hoping not, but… well, neither of them had a great track record.)

Amy didn't realise how long she'd been standing there staring at her phone until it buzzed with a second message.

Seriously, come and hang out. It's Friday night, don't go home.

She glanced up at Jake again, and saw he was looking a bit worried, presumably at her lack of response. Amy took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and sent a final text before dropping her phone into her purse.

OK. Meet you on the dance floor in five seconds?

Amy kept her eyes on Jake as she wound her way between the people on the dance floor, and saw him frown as he read her text. Then his eyes widened and his head snapped up, looking around the dance floor. He spotted her almost immediately, and his jaw dropped a little.

Amy smirked.

Jake dropped his head down for a moment, and when he looked up again he had a rueful smile. He shoved his phone into his pocket and made his way over to her, shaking his head.

"You were here the whole time, weren't you?" He said, speaking loudly to be heard over the music.

"Yep," said Amy gleefully, the novelty of pulling one over on Jake for once getting the better of her nerves.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Great."

Amy's grin turned wicked. "I almost couldn't see you for the crowd of ladies around you…"

"Ha ha," said Jake flatly, folding his arms. "I'll have you know that I…" His voice trailed off and he ended up just staring at her, wearing that same weird smile she'd seen so often the past few weeks. Except this time it reached his eyes.

"You look beautiful," he said.

Amy's breath caught in her throat and all trace of smugness was gone. Suddenly she felt absurdly bashful - and her hand went to her hair to tuck a stray strand behind her ear.

"Thanks," she said. They stood there just smiling at each other like a couple of dopes until the moment was ruined by a drunk guy barrelling into Amy's back and pitching her forward towards Jake.

Jake caught her and quickly stepped around her so he was between her and the drunk guy, who was apologising very loudly as he was dragged away by his friends.

Amy was gripping Jake's arms, and he had caught her with a hand on each side of her torso, but as he stepped round her he slid his arms behind her so that by the time they stopped they were wrapped round her waist. Amy moved her hands up his arms to rest on his shoulders, and Jake gave her a smug grin before starting to turn them on the spot like they were dancing.

Amy laughed. "Okay, that was pretty smooth," she admitted, able to speak normally now that they were so close.

Jake shrugged nonchalantly. "That's why they call me Smooth Jake," he said.

"Sure they do, Pineapples."

Jake huffed at the nickname, before giving her an affectionate look that made Amy grin.

"So… you like someone else, huh?" He said in a low voice.

Amy was sure that if it wasn't for the loud music Jake would be able to hear her heart beating like crazy, but she shrugged in what she hoped was a casual way.

"Well, Sam noticed that I kept talking about some other guy all the time, so he thinks I have a crush," Amy said. Jake's arms tightened around her back, and she swallowed, looking up at him seriously. "And I think he's right."

Jake nodded. "Well, he is a doctor, so you should probably listen to him," he said. It was a joke, clearly, but he sounded and looked totally serious. They'd stopped moving, though Amy only vaguely registered that fact in the back of her mind - most of her attention was on Jake's eyes, which seemed to be getting bigger and he dipped his head down towards her.

Amy closed her eyes, but at the last second Jake froze, and Amy's eyes shot open again.

Jake smirked at her. "You are talking about me, right?" He joked.

Amy rolled her eyes, grabbed his stupid face in her hands, and kissed him. There was a moment where it was fairly one sided, and then Jake's arms tightened again, his head tilted, and he was kissing her back. Boy was he kissing her back.

He tasted like strawberry martini.

Dimly, the part of Amy's brain that wasn't repeating things like finally, yes and Jake over and over (which was most of her brain, let's face it) couldn't help but compare how she was feeling right then to how she'd felt those couple of times she'd kissed Sam.

What a joke - how had she decided this wasn't worth fighting for?

Jake pulled back way before Amy was ready for the kiss to be over, and one look at his face told her he'd done so just so he could make a joke. "I'll take that as a yes," he said, confirming her suspicions.

Amy glared at him - god he was annoying - and moved her hand up into his hair, dragging her nails across his scalp. She took an obscene amount of pleasure in the way his eyes dilated and his smirk was wiped off his face.

"Stop talking," she said firmly, before pulling him back down to her.

And for maybe the first time ever, he did.

THE END