I know I have a lot of stuff to work on now, like a request I've just started, but I needed to write a Jara, I was just itching to! I know people like Mickara and now Willome better (which is really strange if you ask me :D), but Jerome needs her! Without someone as an emotional support, he would either 1) Be a total mess, or 2) Go back to being a jerk.

Anyways.

This takes place last season when Jerome's dad is up for parole.

By the way, does anyone know what his dad did to get in jail in the first place? Just curious.

And how are you guys liking season 3 so far? It's my least favorite yet- it's getting too different. If Amber leaves, that will be the end.

I don't own House of Anubis.

Yes I do.

No. I'm kidding.

Clue number one: Jerome wasn't at breakfast.

Trudy had made blueberry scones. Blueberry scones, of all things! Mara had thought that perhaps he had gone to school early for some reason, and perhaps grabbed a few of the pastries fresh from the oven before he left. Everything was probably fine.

Clue number two: Jerome wasn't at lunch.

This could only mean one thing: he wasn't at school. But Alfie hadn't said anything regarding his roommate's absence, and when Mara asked him about it, he would always find some horrible excuse to avoid answering, such as "Sorry, I've lost my hearing in that ear!" Mara knew how troubled of a home life Jerome had, but she did her best to shrug off her uneasiness, thinking that she was most likely being paranoid.

Clue number three: Jerome wasn't at supper.

Okay, so all the clues had been missing a meal. But Jerome never missed a meal, as skinny as he was! He was always one of the first ones downstairs and at the table! Mara could barely concentrate on supper when she knew that something was wrong. It had to be.

She fidgeted in her seat, poking distastefully at her potatoes while the rest of the students around her laughed and talked loudly. It seemed like an eternity of blurred conversation when finally, much to Mara's relief, Eddie blurted out in a rare moment of silence, "Hey, where's Jerry?"

Everyone looked around, suddenly aware of their surroundings, apparently for the first time. Naturally, after a moment, everyone's eyes had made their way to Alfie, who looked down at his watchless wrist, back up frantically, and then pushed his seat back.

"Oh, look at the time… really must be going now! Toodles!" He hurriedly rushed past Mara, who turned her head to watch him go helplessly, only to follow him with her gaze again as he bustled back in to grab his dinner plate and make his way all the way around the table again before disappearing through the kitchen door.

"Odd…." Nina finally broke the awkward silence Alfie had left in his wake with a frown.

"Yes. But then again, when is Alfie not odd?" Amber sighed, continuing to eat. Everyone murmured their agreement and resumed their meal. But Mara knew much better than that. Jerome must have asked Alfie to cover for him for today for some reason yet to be determined, and Alfie was obviously just doing a rotten job.

"I'm not very hungry," Mara said suddenly, pushing her chair back and standing, placing her napkin down on the table.

"Are you sure? Are you okay?" Joy questioned with a slight frown and head tilt.

"I'm fine….just… not hungry…" Mara smiled slightly, lying badly, and left the room before she could be questioned further.

With the murmur of the students' chatter still drifting to her muffled from the walls, Mara headed warily down the boys' corridor to Alfie and Jerome's room.

She was really nervous. What if something drastic had happened? What if someone in Jerome's family had died, or something along those lines? And what would she do if he wasn't even there?

Mara finally reached the outside of the door, and was curious to hear there was a definite noise coming from within. However, before she burst into the room unexpectedly, she paused, straining her ears. There were some soft sounds and a few sharp inhales, but other than that, she couldn't decipher what she was listening to.

After raising her hand and putting it down again uncertainly a few times, she finally mustered up the courage to knock.

"Jerome?"

The sounds stopped.

"Jerome, I just wanted to see if you were all right."

Silence.

Mara knew by his lack of response that he most likely wanted to be alone, but she didn't care just then. For some reason, she felt restless until she knew if he was okay or not.

She gently pushed open the door, which squeaked slightly from the hinges, eyes flickering down across the messy floor, to the unmade bed, and finally, to him.

Jerome was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands, looking surprisingly weak.

At the sound of the hinges, he started and looked up with a jump, and Mara's eyes widened in surprise as she noticed the tears shining in his hazel eyes.

"Mara, go back to dinner," he said flatly, in a voice so emotionless that it actually took Mara by surprise. He had ducked his head away from her again, eyes fixed on one spot on the wall beside his bed, blinking rapidly and obviously trying to hold back more tears.

She stood there for a moment, mouth open slightly, shocked and trying to think of something to say.

"Jerome…."

"Please, Mara." He looked up at her again, seemingly having decided that he had regained enough composure to briefly face her once again. "Go."

He suddenly offered a very convincing smile, but his eyes didn't quite sparkle the way they usually did. Mara bit her lip, watching him struggle to keep his grin. "I'm fine, honestly."

She might have believed him if his voice hadn't cracked on the last word.

Mara furrowed her brow slightly, concerned, and stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

Jerome tossed his hands up slightly in exasperation at her small action, looking off to the side again and swallowing visibly, eyes shining a little more than usual once more.

"Jerome…. Did something happen?"

It was deadly silent for a moment, but then Jerome looked up at her with a sad smile.

"No, Mara. Not at all. Everything is just…" he looked down again and his voice lowered a little, sounding weaker than before. "…just perfect."

"Jerome…" Mara said with a pained expression she didn't even realize she was making.

He looked back up at her and sighed deeply, sliding his hands up to his face and rubbing his eyes as if trying to calm himself down and regain his lost composure.

"Jerome… you should really talk about it."

"You really wouldn't be interested, Mara…" Jerome smiled that sick smile again, a smile just painted over the pain he was obviously experiencing. Mara felt a stab in the heart, suddenly realizing that Jerome had no concept of how to express his emotions. All he knew was how to hide them. Mara didn't think she had ever seen Jerome so broken in her life.

"Jerome, I'm always willing to listen. You should know that."

She expected another sigh, or a head turn away, or some other fake sign of happiness. Instead, he just said, "My dad lost his parole hearing."

Mara didn't know what she had been expecting, but it wasn't this. Suddenly, all the comforting remarks she had been planning to say flew from her mind, and she was left groping the air in her head for something.

"Oh, Jerome…. I'm so sorry…." she said stupidly. It was an empty condolence at best.

Jerome shook his head slightly, eyes focusing on something down and away, giving a slight, hopeless laugh. "No, no…. it's fine, really. I don't even care much." His eyes were tearing up again.

Mara stepped a little closer, a pained frown plain on her face. "Of course you care, Jerome. That's not a bad thing. You don't have to be ashamed of it."

"I'm not ashamed!" he suddenly snapped, bright eyes suddenly fixated on her as he stood ominously.

"I... I didn't mean…" Mara started, eyes wide and starting to stumble backwards slightly as the tall boy advanced on her. She had obviously said the totally wrong thing.

"I don't care what he wants to do. Why should I be ashamed of a father who isn't even a real father to me? I don't need him, Mara- why can't anyone see that? I'm not pathetic, I'm not dependent on anyone, and I don't want anything to do with him. If he wants to rot away in prison for the rest of his life, let him. Because if there's one thing I don't care about, it's him."

Mara's eyes were shining with tears, but not for herself, for Jerome, and she was standing stock still for a moment, slowly groping for words when it suddenly struck her that sometimes words weren't needed.

Mara stepped forward timidly and wrapped her arms around Jerome, burying her face in his chest. She felt his lean form start slightly, then struggle weakly, then finally break as she held on adamantly, his strong arms tentatively wrapping around her as well as she closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat as tears snaked down her cheeks.

She felt his body jerk slightly, and looked up to see Jerome Clarke, the Jerome Clarke, the joker of the house, the walking smirk, with tears running down his face. She pulled him closer, murmuring words of comfort that came from somewhere other than her brain. She wasn't thinking, she was just talking.

"It's okay, Jerome. It's going to be okay." He held onto her tighter than before, and she would have pulled away earlier except for the fact that she felt as if when she let go, he would fall to pieces. So she let him hold onto her for as long as he needed.

"I should have been there." He said in a shaky voice, sounding like a completely different person. Mara was taken aback, but she listened quietly. "I didn't go to the hearing. I should have gone. He needed me, and I let him down. I really am a… a terrible person."

This Jerome scared Mara. She needed to fix him.

"Jerome, no one can blame you for skipping it. He…." She softened her voice in fear of offending him again. "… hurt you."

But Jerome just shook his head.

"No, Mara. He was trying to apologize. He has been for all this time, and I've been pushing him away-" he broke off as a new wave of tears enveloped him and he pulled away from her, trying in vain to stop the flow by angrily rubbing at his eyes.

"Jerome!" Mara managed to grab his struggling wrists. "Look at me. Look at me." She used her most gentle assertive voice.

"I'm not five, Mara-"
"Just look at me." This time her voice was soft and calm, and he couldn't help but obey.

Mara reached up slowly and softly stroked his cheeks free of tears, smiling slightly.

"It's okay, Jerome. You can visit him and write him-"

"But-"

"And everything is going to work out. You can talk to him within the week. Explain everything to him. I'll even go with you, if you'd like."

For a beat, he looked conflicted, as if he was trying to decide on how to argue back, but after a moment of indecisiveness, calm flickered across his features, and he relaxed visibly, nodding shakily.

"All right…"

Mara smiled encouragingly, feeling a swell of happiness and affection. And then Jerome said something a little more unexpected.

"Thank you, Mara… I love you."

He hadn't meant it intensely or seriously, Mara knew that. But he had meant it, and the fact that he depended on her so much made her heart almost ache with returned affection. She really liked Jerome. She truly did, and to hear him say that…

"I love you, too, Jerome." She smiled slightly and pulled him into another hug, the words feeling weird in her mouth. Almost as if they didn't belong, as if she'd said a wrong line in a play or something.

"I mean it." He said softly, resting his chin on her head comfortably, holding her close to him. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent, taking joy in his now- calmed breathing and heartbeat. He was going to be okay, and she smiled.

"You're always there for me, Jaffray. I owe you a lot."

They pulled away and Mara smiled up at him, and he smiled back, and suddenly just leaned down and kissed her full on the lips strongly, and she took a stumble step backwards, eyes widening in shock. Before it even registered with her what exactly what was happening, Jerome pulled away quickly, leaving Mara dumbfounded and rigid in the spot.

Jerome covered his mouth, eyes just as wide as hers.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what that was…. "

As Jerome stumbled over excuses, as soon as she could think normally again, a smile crept across Mara's features. She tried to hold it back at least partially, but she couldn't. Her heart was warm with joy and her breath was fluttery.

"You don't have to be sorry." She interrupted somewhere around his "I don't know what I was thinking", blushed, and before Jerome could open his mouth again to respond or question her, rose up on her tippy toes and held his tearstained face, kissing him again softly and lightly.

She pulled away after a few seconds, feeling lightheaded and giddy.

Jerome looked down at her and actually let out a breathless laugh. "Thank you, Mara."

She nodded absently, looking down with a smile.

"No… thank you."

There wasn't any difference when he said it the second time, but it held a different meaning. Something that went beyond this conversation, something that made Mara glad to know Jerome Clarke. To be able to be there for him and help him. She suddenly realized how much he needed her.

She nodded again, this time looking up into his eyes so that he knew she understood.

"Now let's go have supper," she smiled, taking his hand. "I'm sure you're starving."

Jerome smirked a little.

"And maybe afterwards I can help you write a letter to your dad?"

He smiled.

There you go! Not very well written, but whatever. I just wanted an excuse to write a broken Jerome.