Slightly disgruntled by how he allowed himself to get so distracted, Clare was able to take the lead over Jake as he tried to compose himself. He wasn't sure why her laugh had put him out of sorts. It could possibly be attributed to the fact that it had been so long since he heard such a sound from her, but he wasn't totally sure. So it was only natural for him to be surprised by the innocent sound, much like how he had been when they were kids. There weren't many laughs to be had from the girl when Jake chased after her with dead frogs he had found by the lake.

Unfortunately for Jake, no amount of trying to get ahead worked to his advantage. He had debated pushing her over or simply nudging her controller with his elbow, but his pride was worth more than that. He couldn't be the guy who won simply by cheating. Besides, Clare had by now defeated his bot and was already starting to gloat. Jake demanded a rematch, to which she surprisingly agreed. Of course, as luck would have it for Jake, she ended up winning again, which Jake claimed to be a fluke and she in turn called him a sore loser. Now grumpy, Jake promptly put the toys away and refused to play any more games with her for the rest of the day.

Clare found this entertaining and took pleasure in his pain, taking advantage of her bragging rights for the rest of the day. Whatever Jake was doing, Clare made sure to walk over to him and remind him of whom the champion was, causing him to roll his eyes and push her away. After a while Clare swore she saw a small smile on his face and was convinced that he didn't mind it as much as he tried to make it seem.

When the end of the day came and Jake had to take her home, Clare felt a little bit sad again. She had just gotten the chance to hang out with Jake again and she didn't want him to leave, causing them to once again be away for so long. Spending the day with him, even if it was just for such a short amount of time, felt almost refreshing as it reminded her of the good times they had in the past, minus the dead frogs incident that she much rather would have forgotten.

It made her want to hang out with him more. Maybe not be dragged out of lunch again, but she was positive that they could figure something out; an agreement to keep them from going crazy. Ever since he first left, Clare yearned for the chance to hang out with him again. And since it had come, she just didn't want to give him up so soon, uncertain of when they could do this all again.

Once the pair finally reached the Edwards-Martin house, Clare kept her hand on the handle of the door, not yet willing herself to open it until she got to speak another part of her mind. "Jake," she started, turning towards him with a small, sad smile. "Don't let your only reason for hanging out with me be because you're bored or alone, ok? And give me a little more of a fair warning before swooping in to pick me. I can only imagine what mom and dad are going to say when they see me. Oh, and you should really stop by some time, just for dinner or something. I'm not the only one here who misses you, you know."

Smiling back at her, Jake nodded at her words, leaning forward to draw her into an overdue hug, holding her tightly. "Yes, to all those things, alright? Make sure you check your phone. I'm sure I'll be calling it soon enough. And don't worry about them; they know I didn't kidnap you, so it'll be fine. There are worse people who could have taken you from your studies. Now get out of here," he teased, watching her exit the car and head into her house before making his way back to his own.

Later that night, as Jake expected, he received a call from his parents, who weren't as thrilled as Jake thought they would be about him taking Clare out of class without their permission. But he managed to schmooze them over, or at least Glen who passed his happiness onto a less pleased Helen. When she eventually gave in, forgetting for a second how much of a riff-raff she viewed Jake, he threw out the offer of stopping by for dinner sometime within the next week. They made sure to tell him that wouldn't always fix the problem, but eventually agreed, expressing that they did miss him a lot.

With everyone's busy schedules in place, the dinner continued to get pushed back. During that time, though, Jake made sure to keep in touch with Clare, just as he promised he would. They even got together sometimes, though it never involved any more games in which Jake would lose. On the night of the dinner, Jake agreed to make the arrangement a monthly deal, which pleased both of his parents and they made sure that each time would consist of his favorite meal; meatloaf.

That same night he and Clare struck up another deal. Not only would he promise to keep in touch with her and hang out more, but the more now meant once a week. The timeframe they had previously been working with still wasn't enough, so they both felt that it was necessary to amp up the amount of time spent together. There was the argument that one would get tired with the other, but they came to the conclusion that going out every so often and not just sticking to the cabin would fix that immensely. And for a few months it did, causing these weekly hangout sessions to bring the two closer, or at least closer than they had been since their break up a long time ago.

Three months in, waking up on the cabin couch to find that they were in each other's arms was not a strange, or weird, occurrence. They had both gotten used to it and accepted that it would naturally happen, so much so that sometimes they would even fall asleep like that in the first place. Clare, who was always the first to nod off, would lean her head on Jake's shoulder for comfort and he would wrap an arm around her tiny frame, keeping her close and safe against his body as he stayed up a little longer. Being so close no longer freaked either of them out and no one made a big deal about it, so it quickly became their thing to do during these sessions.

Those times when they would go out to lunch on the weekends usually ended in a similar fashion. Often they would walk around town together, sometimes looking for a local ice cream joint or a new store to venture into, and Clare's arm would wrap around Jake's pulling him close to him as they walked. Sometimes when they would go into the vintage stop the old storekeeper would comment on how cute they looked together. There were many times when she asked Clare if Jake was a good boyfriend, to which the two would blush profusely, sputter out some misunderstood response and quickly detangle their arms, only to fall back into position once they left the store.

It was on those nights that Clare would go home and wonder what it would be like to date Jake again. Things had changed greatly in both of their lives, aside from their obviously new siblingship, but they had both matured, especially Jake. From what Clare could see, he was no longer that casual-dating boy she had met when he first came to Toronto. And if they got along so well together when they were just hanging out, wouldn't it only be better if they were dating? Remembering that she couldn't think about Jake that way anymore, she would quickly shake the thoughts off, laughing at her silliness and blaming that crazy old lady for making her think these things. But some days she just liked to think what if.

Unbeknownst to Clare, Jake also seemed to have these thoughts at times. He generally passed it off as him simply being lonely and her being the only one around for him. She was always around when he wanted to do something fun and she hardly ever rejected his ideas. She was always a text away and always offered a smiley face at the end of a long exchange of characters, making Jake chuckle as he imagined her making the same face herself. After a while he had convinced himself that if he started seeing someone he would get over these fleeting feelings.

When he had come up with that solution was the same night that he put it into place. After all, why not take the chance when the opportunity came about? He was sitting at The Dot that night, stirring his tea mindlessly, when his waitress, who he assumed was named Maria based on the name tag she was wearing, came and sat with him.

"I always see you in here and you're always so alone and lost in thought. You must be a writer," were the first words she said to him, breaking him out of his trance as he looked up and laughed openly at her words. He shook his head to show that she was wrong before correcting her. "No, not quite; I never was all that great with words. I'm more of a builder looking for jobs, I guess," he replied, shrugging passively as if to show how difficult that business had been for him. Finding him interesting already, 'Maria' nodded, taking in his appearance as he went back to his stirring. "A builder, hmm? What's your name, Mr. Fix-It?" she asked curiously, leaning forward across the table. "That would be Mr. Jake Fix-It, thank you very much. And you're Maria?" he asked, pointing to her name tag to show that's how he had known and he wasn't being a creepy guy. But she looked down in confusion before laughing again. "No, Maria's my friend who kindly let me borrow the name tag since I forgot mine. Boss gets really mad if we do that. No, I'm Jamie. It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Jake Fix-It. If there's anything you need, let me know." With a wink she left the table, off to help the other customers around the small café.

Realizing that he did actually have a need for this girl, since she was cute, his age and would definitely do the job, Jake scribbled his number onto a piece of paper and slipped it to her with his tip, winking just as she did before as he went off on his way. It hadn't even been four hours later when she texted him, really starting their relationship, and it all flowed from there. Soon enough there was another guest at family dinners and Glen was pleased to see that his son had finally found someone instead of sitting home alone.

The only person who seemed displeased with the setup was Clare, though she had every right to be. With Jamie in the picture, Clare-Jake weekly hangout sessions turned to bi-weekly and soon enough the only time they got to spend together was during family dinners, when the threat to their relationship herself was present. She was happy for her brother, especially since he seemed to be having a great time with his new girlfriend, but she was starting to miss him again and felt like they were right back at square one. And it sucked for her because, deep down, she just wanted Jake all to herself; no girlfriends in the way.