38.

MONDAY MORNING, Jace was waiting for me outside my house. He leaned against his car, arms crossed and smile bright on his face as he typed on his phone. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I knew he was messaging me.

I ran down my porch and ambushed him before he could even look up.

I threw myself into his arms, tugging him close and squeezing my body against his. He laughed, swinging me as I grinned up at him.

"Good morning," I said, smiling.

"Good morning, princess," he said, pressing a kiss to my nose.

I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Really? Princess Jasmine? You couldn't think of anything more original?"

"What's wrong with Princess Jasmine? She was my first crush back when I was five."

I pouted. "You've had crushes other than me?"

"I didn't know you when I was five," he replied. I lifted a brow and he smiled, melting in my arms. "I mean... No. You were my first crush. Obviously."

"Even when you were five?"

"Yes. I saw you in a dream. It was prophetic, really."

I laughed, lifting onto my toes to kiss his lips properly, and he kissed me back slowly.

"I was just texting you," he murmured against my lips.

"I know," I said. "But I was busy."

"Jumping me?"

"Yes, jumping you. Now, less talking, more jumping." I kissed him again and this time, he leaned completely into it, pressing me against the door of his car.

His hands slipped over my back and shoulders before reaching my hair. I'd pulled it into a bun, too lazy to properly style it.

He tugged at it, pulling away to pepper kisses across my jaw and down my neck.

"I hate this," he muttered against skin. He nuzzled against my neck; his breath hot as it fanned down to my collarbones.

I hummed. "Well, if you've got a free hour to style it for me, be my guest."

Suddenly, he bit my neck, then pulled back to grin at me when I yelped.

"That's for being cheeky," he teased.

"You love it when I'm cheeky."

"I do."

I laughed, slipping out from his arms to walk towards the passenger seat. "We're going to be late for school if we keep this up, Jace."

"I can't help it," he replied, shrugging. "As much as I love Piper, it's nice to be alone for once."

I smiled to myself, silently agreeing. He must have texted Piper not to pick us up today because I'd woken up to a text from her along the lines of have fun, but not too much fun, followed by a thousand winking emojis.

I slipped into the car, strapping the seatbelt over my chest. It still scratched at my skin, and when the engine roared, my heart still jumped in my chest, but it was becoming easier. Day by day.

Jace's hand slipped easily into mine, squeezing my fingers as he began to pull the car out with the other hand. He chattered mindlessly, talking about all things from what he had for breakfast to how he dreaded his biology lab today.

His lips pulled at the corners as he spoke, his fingers tapping against the steering wheel. Music played quietly on the radio and my heart lurched. My chest felt full.

Everything felt right.

Halfway through a sentence, he threw a glance towards me, catching my look, and grinned.

"What?" he asked.

I blinked, realising I'd been staring, and a smile drifted onto my lips. "Nothing. I just really love you."

"I really love you too, Jasmine."

I laughed, squeezing his hand before reaching forward to turn the radio up. Jace grinned, rolling the windows down despite how windy it was today.

The breeze whipped at our faces and we screamed the lyrics to Burning Love until we reached the school gates.

Piper was waiting for us when Jace parked the car. She lifted a brow at him as he slammed the car door shut.

"So that's why you told me not to come this morning," she said.

I snorted. "What were you thinking?"

"Something that had nothing to do with cars." She paused, humming. "Well, not entirely, I guess. Depending on the person."

I screwed up my nose at that, whacking her arm as Jace turned bright red. She laughed, holding her hands up in defence.

"Hey, you got my text, didn't you? You shouldn't be surprised."

"Text? What text?" Jace asked.

I shook my head, feeling my own face heat. "Nothing. No text."

"So, when did you get this hunk of metal back?" Piper asked, pushing the conversation forward.

He shrugged. "My mom came around. Kind of."

"Right," I muttered, stepping beside him to grab his arm. "I wanted to talk about that."

He looked down at me for a moment before glancing over his shoulder to look meaningfully at Piper.

She caught the message instantly, lifting her hands.

"Alright. I get it. I'll see you at your locker, Jas?"

I nodded, mouthing a thank you to her as she spun and made her way into the main school building. Jace turned to me, hiking his backpack higher on his shoulder.

"What's up?" he asked, although the look in his eyes told me he knew exactly what was up.

"Did you talk to your mother?" I asked, the words coming out in a flurry of merging words and hurried confidence. He stared at me with raised eyebrows and before he could speak, the rest of my thoughts tumbled out all at once. "Is she starting to understand? Are you going to move? Are you leaving me? What did she say at dinner?"

"Jas," he said, smiling gently. He placed a hand on my shoulder, his fingers grazing up to tickle at my bare neck. "Calm down. It's okay. I mean, yeah, she's still a bit... difficult. We're not really talking. But she agreed to come to my therapy session this week. We're going to try to work things out."

"Right," I mumbled, nodding. "Right. Yeah. Of course."

"Jasmine." He squeezed my shoulder and I forced myself to meet his eyes. "I won't leave you. I'm going to graduate here, no matter what my mom says."

The way his golden eyes glittered, and his lips tilted at the corners seemed to comfort me. I nodded, exhaling deeply.

The last time someone left me... I thought of Amber, and my heart ached. I missed her. I didn't want to go through something like that again – no one did – but we would figure things out.

Jace and I were strong. We could be strong.

My fingers twitched, moving to scratch at my wrist, but I shifted, instead taking Jace's hand into mine and beginning to lead him towards the school building.

"Good," I said, smiling and swinging our arms together. "Because I'd never forgive you if you moved to California without me. I mean, living within less than a four-hour drive of the ocean? So not fair."

"I promise you, as soon as we graduate, I'll take you anywhere you want. To any ocean you want." He lifted our joined hands and pressed a kiss to my knuckles, watching me over our hands. "I promise."

I smiled. "I'm going to hold you to that, Mr Wilson."

"I'm counting on it."

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By Friday night, I had completely run out of energy.

Our argument with Jace's mom at the start of the week had drained me of most of it and getting through the rest of the week had been a mission to say the least.

I was so exhausted, my body felt physically sore.

Ever since our conversation, my mother had become less strict about me taking on so many commitments. I was allowed to take days when I was feeling overwhelmed, and I was determined to cash that in today by skipping my usual physio lesion.

Jenna had been more than kind, telling me I probably had a decade's worth of unused sick days, and to take as much time as I needed.

Jenna had been my physio instructor, back when I could barely walk. She'd seen me at my lowest, and I could picture her wide grin as she watched me recover. I was starting to realise just how wide my circle of support really was.

I buried my face in my pillow, intending to spend the rest of the day in bed.

Sure, it was only 5PM, but that meant only eighteen hours of sleep, really.

I closed my eyes, listening to the way my heart thudded in my chest. My ears buzzed slightly in the silence. I thought about how weird it was to just be here. Be alive. For life to continue moving and the world to keep spinning.

Outside my window, I heard the rustle of trees. People walking past. I listened to the passing noises of cars, and pedestrians. Dogs barking in the distance.

Life moving on.

A car stormed past, the sound of their engine ripping through the peacefulness of the neighbourhood and my heart leapt into my throat. My grip around my pillow tightened and I willed myself to breathe slower. Calm down.

I squeezed my eyes tighter shut, trying to find the silence. Counting the barks of the neighbour's dog. Listening for that rustle of leaves again.

And before I could settle my stomach and drift into a deep sleep, hopefully empty of nightmares, a knocking sound came from my window.

I didn't have to look up to know it was Jace, but I did anyway.

He wore a plain t-shirt and sweatpants and I took a moment to admire him as he slipped in through the window before shutting it silently and crossing the room. He kicked off his shoes to hop directly into bed with me.

"Hello gorgeous," he said, his hand moving to brush my hair back and press a kick against my forehead.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. It was only after I said it that I realised how blunt it sounded.

Jace didn't even flinch.

"You seemed off at school today," he answered easily. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Fine. You know, depressed," I muttered in reply.

It had been one of those days where the water was thicker than usual, and I was drowning with every step and every breath.

He nodded in understanding and I suddenly felt guilty with how cold I must have seemed – emotionless. I moved closer, burying my face against his chest. My words came out muffled as I spoke against his t-shirt.

"Sorry. I'm just – so tired."

His hands smoothed my hair back, raking through my loose curls that had been flattened by my pillow, and massaging my scalp.

"Jasmine, you're talking to the guy who tried to off himself. I understand."

I exhaled sharply through my nose, too tired to laugh properly.

His chest rose and fell beneath my head and I turned my face to press my ear against his chest, listening to the slow pounding of his heart. Suddenly, I twisted my head, burying my face against his shirt and sniffing him.

"You smell good," I said.

He laughed, his chest rumbling with the motion. "What the hell?"

"What?"

"That was just –" he laughed again, and I found myself smiling at him. He shook his head, his fingers resuming the head massage. "It was out of nowhere. Thanks. I just had a shower. Got home not long ago."

I blinked, suddenly realising, remembering – "How was therapy?"

His fingers stilled and I craned my head up to meet his eyes. He smiled at me. The sort of gentle, tiny smile that was more a look of content than anything else. "It was good. My mom came along."

"Really? How was it?" I lifted myself up onto my elbows and his hands slid down from my hair to rest on my upper back. Our faces were close now and he shifted forward to press a tiny kiss to my forehead.

"Fine," he said. "She's still not really talking to me, but I think it's helping. It's a start at least. She's going to come again next week. I just –"

He sighed, his arms moving to grab me under my arms and hoist me up, pulling me so that I was straddling him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into a tight hug, his head finding its way into the crook of my neck.

"I just need to recharge," he said finally.

I warmed, blood rushing in my ears as he held me. Recharge was the perfect word for what I needed.

I didn't want to talk. I didn't want to do anything that required any energy. I just wanted to lie here with Jace and recharge.

Minutes passed until his arms loosened, and I pulled back to meet his eyes. He smiled at me, his eyes glancing over to my bedside table where my laptop sat.

"America's Next Top Model?" he asked.

I grinned back. "You know me too well."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Not a fan of the pacing here but it's 1am so I'll change that later hahaha! We officially have 2 chapters to go! Wtf! I can't believe how quickly it's all gone! Let me know what you'd like to see before it's all over - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you as always for reading, voting and commenting! Ily all!