"Thomas Kuc!" I yell and take myself down the steps to the kitchen which is where I find Thomas with a cookie in his mouth, crumbs on his lips and 3 cookies in both hands. His eyes are wide and fearful. I immediately burst out with laughter and he resumes munching.

"You actually want me to talk to Jace?" I ask him and he makes a weird noise. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"What?" I ask. He holds up a finger and then swallows. 

"Yes but only because I know how much he cares. He comes to my house everyday and asks me if I think you'd talk to him. He used to come over asking to see pics of you and I'd show him but then I just got tired of it and gave him my snap. The guy is a heartbroken sack of bones. I know exactly what he's going through." Thomas says solemnly then stuffs a whole cookie in his mouth causing me to look at him like 'really?'. He just shrugs his shoulders and keeps eating cookies.

"I hope you choke." I say and he nearly laughs.

"Thomas you saw how he treated me that night. He's the one who told me we should go our separate ways and now this stupid project is trying to get us back together." I say exasperatedly. I huff and stomp my foot. I can't believe this.

"But you're still gonna go." Thomas says.

"Who says ?" I challenge him.

"Riele, I know you better than you think. You didn't just like this kid, you were in the midst of falling in love with him. You were right on the edge of the cliff, you just took some steps back because he hurt you. You were so ready to fall with nothing but your heels keeping you grounded. Besides if you wanted to decline you would have done so already." Thomas says leaving me shocked. I regain my composure.

"How do you know I haven't emailed the school already and declined?" I inquire. 

"We wouldn't be talking about it right now. Just go to the thing and talk to Jace. I'm not saying marry him, pick up where you left off and I don't mean punch him again." Thomas says and sends me a little glare. I just smile cheekily at him.

"I'll go pack the thing is in like 2 weeks. I'll have to tell my mom." I say turning to head back upstairs.

"I already told her, it works out nicely because she had another business trip scheduled then." He says and I turn around. I lunge at him and just snatch the cookie jar away from him. I dash upstairs right as he yells my name. I laugh and just jump on my bed.

"That was not nice." He says once he's upstairs.

"Hey wait, how'd you meet this new love interest of yours?" I ask Thomas as I hold out the cookie jar for him to come and take. Once he's got it he sits on my bed.

"She was my match for the same project thing. I just did a little research and got in contact with her. I can't wait to spend more time with her. Dude, let's go on a double date." Thomas says. I just about smack him.

"Hell no." I say abruptly.

"Why noottt?" He whines out.

"Because double dates always get competitive." I say and he groans.

"Not if everyone is friends and are all genuinely happy for the other." Thomas points out. I just swat his finger out my face. He pouts. I take his finger and kiss it. He smiles and goes back to his cookies. 

"What are you the damn cookie monster?" I ask him and he nods.

"Hell yeah." He says proudly.

"Mommy! Thomas is eating all the cookies!" I yell and Thomas goes rigid.

"Thomas ! You better get us some more damn cookies !" She yells.

"Yes Mother!" He yells. I just laugh because I know he's slightly afraid of my mom.

"She's so scary." He mumbles and I laugh. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------2 Weeks Later---------------------------------------

"Thomas I'm not going no more, I'm sick." I say with a sickly voice and coughing into the phone. 

"Oh stop, I'm coming to get you now." He says and then hangs up. I roll my eyes and then wince because that actually hurts my head. I just groan and drop my head into my pillow. I start to cough which causes me to pick my head up and raise my arm to cough into my shirt. After my cough fit I sneeze twice. My head hurts even more and I lazily move my hand around for my tissue. I blow my nose and then toss my tissue into the trash near my bed. I grab my cold rag and place it on my burning hot forehead.  

"Mommmyy!" I call out for my Mom. 

"Riele, I'm losing a day of work cause of you, what do you want now?" My mom asks as she bursts into my room. I pout.

"My head hurts." I whine out.

"Will you drink the damn tea I made you?" My mom says and I shake my head no.

"Then don't call me for nothing nasty." My mother says and slams the door.

"Ma!" I yell and hold my head. She opens it and mumbles a sorry then closes it softly. I just lay in bed miserable, feeling weak as shit. I pick up my phone to see no notifications. I need friends, what in the hell. I toss my phone and I hear it meet my nightstand surface. I just stuff my face into my pillow. My door opens. I just turn over and I see Thomas but he's not fully in my room just in the doorway.

"Hiii Riele." He says and I just roll my eyes.

"Go away. I'm not going." I say and he sighs.

"Relax, I called them and they know you guys will be a little late." He says and I sit straight up.

"You guys?" I ask even though it hurts my throat a little.

"Yeah, um Jace is here." Thomas says. I sit up straight but the blood in my body moves around and my head hurts. I clutch my head and let out a groan.

"Thomas, boy you are lucky I'm sick or else you'd be trying to catch these hands." I say a little weakly. I look at Thomas and he's smiling sadly. He turns his head and starts mumbling. I just lay back down and cover my head with my pillow. I hear my door close. I can't believe this child would bring that demon into my house. I just sigh and take my pillow off my face. I attempt to get up but stop once I see Jace. He's in my room and on my bed. 

"Get out." I say and he just sits there. I stare at him blankly. We sit in silence and then I decide to actually look at him. His hair is usually a little messy but right now it's perfect. Actually it's too perfect, it looks like he put it together to give off the illusion of perfection but I can tell it's not. He's got a mustache growing in and a little stubble which makes him look a lot older than normal. He's got some serious bags under his eyes and his eyes don't hold a single spark of adventure like they used to. His skin looks a little pale.

"Riele -"

"Jace don't. Get out." I say cutting him off. He sighs and I notice he's been slouching this whole time, Jace never slouches. He's always had good posture. 

"But I just -"

"I will not say it again. I'm sick and you're irritating me. Get out." I say. He gets up rather abruptly and leaves. Thomas comes in and I roll my eyes.

"You don't get to roll your eyes, what the hell Riele?" Thomas says and I look at him incredulously. This man is angry with me? I think not.

"Don't you get mad at me, did I say to bring him here? No, you did that. On top of that I'm sick so I really don't feel in the mood to socialize. You can get out too." I say and then I lay down. I feel my bed dip. 

"I'm sorry. I was out of line. I'll be leaving soon but I need you to get better. I love you, little lady." Thomas teases and I smile.

"Thomas you're my fave. Thanks for coming, I love you too." I say and he stands up.

"If you need anything call Jace or your mom, and hey don't make him cry anymore." Thomas says and walks out before I can say anything. I made Jace cry? I won't have that. I slowly get up. I wrap my blanket around myself and stuff my feet in my fluffy bunny slippers. I slowly shuffle out my room and into the hall. I find Jace sitting right outside my door, I sit down next to him.

"Tom said I made you cry." I say softly. I look at Jace and he shakes his head.

"Naw, I can't cry anymore. I did my crying weeks ago." He replies softly.

"Was it cause of me?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"No, it was cause of me. I was stupid, yes I cried over you but it was my fault that happened." Jace says and I nod.

"I'm sorry, I'm still not ready to try and give you a second chance." I say truthfully. I sniffle and then cough. 

"Sorry." I squeak out.

"Don't be and I don't think you should give me a second chance." Jace admits.

"Wait so why are you here?" I ask him and he gets a little spark in his eye and I catch the ghost of a smile grace his lips.

"Just because I don't think you should give me a second chance doesn't mean I don't want one." He says and then he gets up.

"I'm going to get you that tea and you're going to get better." He calls over his shoulder and heads downstairs. I've never seen him so broken before. I get up and return to my room. I sit on my bed and just rub my head. Of course I sneeze 4 times in a row right then. I grab a tissue and blow my nose. I throw it away and sanitize my hands. I get my phone and open it to see I have a text from a number I didn't even know I unblocked. It was simple and straight to the point, sent from Jace Norman himself, about 5 minutes ago.

Please