Jane swiftly set down her tray, then she went behind the counter and within seconds, she returned with a steaming mug and a plate of toast for Jake to eat.
"Eat first Jake, then tell me who's name it is I'll be breaking his bones tonight." Jane placed his breakfast before him and Jake could see how serious she was right now.
Jane cared a lot about him, and Jake knew when she was serious or simply trying to make him smile.
And right now, Jake couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked with the serious look she had on her face.
"Thanks, but there's no need to worry about it."
"You think I'm weak don't you?"
"No, I don't."
"Good, because I've been working hard these past few weeks on how to control my mana so I'm sure I can take on a couple of bullies on my own."
Jake smiled even more as he focused on the food in front of him.
Talking to Jane always made him happy ever since he had known her.
She was his neighbor and the two had been pretty close growing up together.
Jake knew how nice and caring Jane was, so he knew she was serious about what she was talking about right now, but the last thing he would ever want was to put her in harm's way.
He cared too much about Jane to ever put her in danger, so he wouldn't want her to ever be involved with the gang troubling him in the slums.
However, he also knew that he couldn't hide the truth from her even if he wanted to because there's only one stubborn gang syndicate in this side of town, and everyone knows about them.
"It's The Iron Fang gang again, isn't it?" Jane asked in a softened tone and Jake replied with a nod.
"Yeah. They want money I don't have so I guess they think if they hit me hard enough, I'll start producing gold coins out of my gut." Jake tried to make a silly joke as he stared at the coffee in front of him, but Jane wasn't smiling.
She's known about the Iron Fang gang threatening Jake to pay back the money his uncle owed them before he died.
At first, she's been working hard and taking different shifts to help raise the funds Jake needed to repay back his uncle's debt but when the last mana rift appeared, it destroyed a lot of things and affected a lot of people, including her sister, who's now currently being hospitalized.
Now, Jane had no choice but to focus on raising funds to pay her sister's hospital bills, while leaving Jake to fend for himself once more, as he struggled to raise enough money to survive.
But this hurt Jane a lot because it was simply too much of a responsibility for a twenty year old to handle on his own.
Jane's expression slowly hardened in frustration as she clenched her fingers into a fist. "This is unfair. Why are they treating you like this, if your uncle was alive right now, he..."
"But he isn't." Jake interjected, and a sudden silence reigned between them.
Jane knew how much Jake loved his uncle but she didn't want him to be sad right now, so she tried not to talk about the sensitive topic anymore.
But she was still pissed about how The Iron Fang Gang were treating her beloved Jake.
At first, it was always a simple warning, so Jane never really thought too much about it.
But then, the gang members slowly began to threaten him, now they were directly bullying him, and this wasn't the first time it was happening.
It was the second, and Jane wasn't going to allow them to do it a third time.
*Sighs*
Pushing this thought aside for now, Jane slowly calm her nerves with a sigh, then she glanced back at Jake who was simply enjoying his morning breakfast.
A smile appeared on her lips but it was swiftly replaced with a frown when she noticed the bruises and cuts which had spoiled his handsome face.
Jake had brown colored hair with a beautiful set of blue eyes that made him look tremendously adorable.
But to see him hurt in so much pain right now, made Jane's heart to ache in ways she couldn't have imagined possible.
"J-Jake." Jane called out as she tried to hold his hand which was currently on the table, but before she could, a man at the far end of the diner slammed his cup on the counter, forcing both Jake and Jane to turn their attention towards him.
"Hey! I've been waiting ten minutes for my order!!"
Jane gritted her teeth in a cute way but she didn't lash out at her customer.
Instead, she took a deep sigh before returning her gaze back to Jake.
"Jake, I'm sorry.... I wish I could stay a bit longer and maybe at least heal you but....." Jane gestured helplessly to the impatient customer behind her and Jake smiled with an understanding look on his face.
"It's fine. I was heading out to see Alice anyway." Jake muttered as he slid out of the booth and thanked her for the meal.
Jake was even more grateful because she didn't ask him to pay a dime.
Meanwhile, Jane appreciated the gesture but she frowned after hearing Jake talking about her sister.
Alice was currently hospitalized in a health care center but it's been weeks since Jane last visited her little sister.
The medical bills alone were more than enough to keep her running herself ragged but she knew she was supposed to at least make time to visit Alice.
Knowing this, Jane tried not to think too much about it.
Instead, she tried to force a smile on her face as she felt relieved to have someone like Jake, caring for Alice just as much as she did.
"Thank you Jake, but tell her I said hi, okay."
"I will."
"Oh, and make sure you come straight home after, okay? I'll be done with my shift by then and I can finally take care of those cuts."
Jake smiled and nodded in response.
"I'll be seeing you later." Jake assured her before turning towards the exit and Jane watched as he left the diner before hurrying back to attend to the unhappy customers.