CONTENT WARNING:
Intimate scenes.

A panting Jace crashed down on Tabitha's bed.
Sweat droplets had collected on his brows and temples.
After checking Tabitha didn't mind, he quickly removed his shirt, revealing a grey vest.
Jace and Tabitha spent the last few hours working on the dance video for Tabitha's YouTube channel. 

"Awesome stuff, Jace", said Tabitha.
"This video will be epic.
We'll get loads of views."

Jace smirked.
"Ah, so this wasn't about helping a mate at all?
You just care about the views?", he joked.

"Oh, sorry, what gave you the impression I was doing this for you in the first place?
It's obviously about the views", she joked, making Jace laugh. 

He kept his eyes on Tabitha's face, a smile appearing on his own as he listened to her laugh.
It was odd, for someone as lively as Tabitha, her laugh was quite contained. It sounded genuine and happy, but Jace used to imagine her having one of those unique laughs.
As her laughter died down, her smile faltered.
She looked into Jace's eyes, expecting him to look away, but the boy kept eye contact with her.
For a brief moment—just a couple of seconds, she let herself look down at his lips.
Jace seemed to pick up on this, and he edged closer to her. 

"You know... I could always show you some moves, if you'd like?", he offered. 

"Do I look like the dancing type?"

"Actually, yeah", he said, before reaching for her hand.
"But I can show you some different moves if you're not keen on dancing."

Tabitha smiled and leaned in, her eyes flickering to his lips once more, which were only inches away from hers.
"Oh yeah?
What kind of moves?"

Suddenly, Tabitha's door opened, making the pair jump.
Completely taken by surprise, Tabitha somehow ended up jumping so far back her head almost hit the wall. 

"Oh!
Sorry, didn't mean to scare you", apologised Sutton. 

She looked at both of their faces, the cogs in her brain spinning rapidly.
She furrowed her eyebrows and squinted at Jace, before looking at Tabitha, then back at Jace. 

"Sorry, what were you two up to exactly?"

"Nothing!", exclaimed Tabitha.
She noticed the surprised looks from the twins, so cleared her throat.
"Um, nothing", she repeated.
"Did you need something?"

Sutton stared at Tabitha for a few more seconds, the sudden change in Tabitha's demeanour piquing her interest. 

"Uh, y-yes, Luka's made dinner", she said. 

"I thought he hated cooking", said Jace.

"He wanted us to try his favourite Korean dish.
It smells amazing, so I'm going to need you to get your ar*es up so we can start eating!"

¤¤¤

At the dinner table, Luka was passing out plates of a Korean dish, called Japchae, which consisted of stir-fried glass noodles, vegetables and other ingredients depending on your taste. 

"My Mum would make this for me all the time when I was younger", said Luka.
"I stopped eating it for a while, but when I was studying for my exams, Mum would make this for me.
She taught me how to make it so I could eat my comfort food when I was stressed with uni work", explained Luka.

Sutton smiled.
"Your Mum sounds so lovely."

"Yeah, and so does this food!", exclaimed Jace.

"Yeah, well I thought it would be nice to make it for you guys.
Fair warning, it's not as good as my Mum's, and I haven't made it that many times before", said Luka.

"I'm sure it'll be great", said KJ.

The roommates started tucking into their meals.
Luka placed a small container of food in the fridge for Anvi, who was staying at the library until late today.

"So, how was everyone's day?", asked Luka.

"Good", said KJ.
"Had a Film Society meeting today."

"Oh yeah, your first meeting was today right?", replied Luka.

"How was it?", asked Sutton.
"This Japchae is amazing by the way, Luka."

"Thank you!", smiled Luka.  

"Yeah, she's right, it's really nice", said KJ.
"And uh, the meeting was alright.
We just talked about our favourite films, experience we have with making films and photography."

From the corner of her eye, Sutton saw Jace and Tabitha whispering to each other.
They had moved their chairs so that they were sitting right side by side.
Their arms were brushing up against each other, and Jace had moved his head closer to Tabitha's, to hear her better.

It could all be perfectly innocent, but Sutton had been noticing the little moments they shared recently.
They were quite close at the poetry recital, and she spotted them exchanging lingering looks on a few occasions.
Your looks don't just linger for fun! Something was definitely going on between them. 

"Uh, that sounds great, KJ", said Sutton, before looking back at Jace and Tabitha. "Right guys?
Tabitha, what KJ is saying is great, isn't it?"

"Oh!
Uh, sorry, I wasn't really–"

"KJ had his first Film Club meeting today!", interjected Sutton.

"Oh, right.
Sorry KJ, that does sound good.
How was it?", asked Tabitha.

"He's already answered that", said Sutton.

"It's not a big deal", said KJ.

"No, no, of course it is!
We're all friends here, right?
And friends listen to each other", said Sutton.

"Sis, are you alright?", questioned Jace.

"Oh I'm fabulous, brother.
Why wouldn't I be?"

"Uh, just asking."

The rest of the dinner went by relatively smoothly, although there were more awkward silences than usual.
After dinner, Sutton and KJ get started on the dishes, as they are on washing up duty.
 Sutton grabbed a bowl and started scrubbing it with the sponge.
She moved the sponge in short, aggressive swipes, some soap-suds flying around due to the sheer force used.

"Is there any reason why you're cleaning that bowl like you're a murderer cleaning up their crime scene?", questioned KJ.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

KJ pointed to her hands, which where gripping the bowl tightly.

"Grip that bowl any tighter and you'll break it."

Sutton exhaled sharply, loosening her grip on the bowl.
She looked at KJ, who was putting some of the cutlery away. 

"Here, KJ, do you think there's anything going on between Tabitha and Jace?"

KJ shrugged.
"Dunno."

"Really?
You haven't noticed anything?"

"I notice a lot of things.
Things that matter."

"So, what, you're saying that Tabitha getting with my brother doesn't matter?"

"It doesn't.
Not to me."

"Well it matters to me."

"Why?"

"Because he's my brother!"

"Oh what a perfectly clear explanation", he replied, sarcastically, earning an eye roll from Sutton.

"You don't get it."

"You're right, I don't.
I don't have any siblings, so I don't know why it's such a big deal, but it
clearly is to you.
So maybe, I don't know, talk to your brother?"

Sutton contemplated KJ's advice.
After realising that he had a point, she rolled her eyes and gave him a small smile. 

"You just had to make sense, didn't ya?"

¤¤¤

Later that day, Tabitha was sitting at the dining table, working on her book, whilst Sutton was watching a movie.
It was getting quite dark, so KJ had offered to go and pick Anvi up from the library, as opposed to her walking back alone.
Luka and Jace were studying in Luka's room. 

Although the movie was playing, Sutton's focus was on Tabitha.
She thought back to the advice KJ gave her, but the more she thought about it the more she realised who she really needed to talk to.
Tabitha.

"Tabitha, do you have a minute?"

"Yeah, sure", said Tabitha.
"Is everything alright?"

Sutton made her way over to the table. Tabitha moved her notebooks so that Sutton had more space to rest her arms on the table. Tabitha took a deep breath.
She exhaled softly, but made sure to drag it out, to give her brain more time to think of a good way to ask what she wanted to.

"Are you ok, Sutton?
You've been acting weird all day."

"Yes, well, there's a very good reason for that.
Do... do you remember what I told you and Anvi?
About my brother and how he's, you know... off-limits?"

Tabitha's body tensed up.
She put her hands under the table, before clasping them and resting them on her lap.
She looked down to her notebook for a few seconds, before looking back at Sutton.

"Mhm.
Yeah."

"Right, well, it's just... I've been noticing how close you two have been getting lately.
I just wanted to make sure, well of course it's understandable if you forgot what I said, but uh... yeah.
This is your reminder, I suppose."

You would've thought the movie playing would help to undercut some of the awkward tension, but it may as well have been silent. 

"Right", said Tabitha.
"No, we're just, we're just friends."

"Good.
Because, well, it would be quite awkward, wouldn't it?
I mean, I'd hate for you to have to choose sides between us if we ever got into an argument, which we inevitably will.
It's only natural for siblings to fight.
I just think there would be a lot of tension, you know?
It's just easier for everyone if we're all friends.
Besties, even."

"Yeah, uh, that makes sense.
I wouldn't want you to have to choose either.
We're all living together, after all.
We should be having fun!"

"Exactly!", exclaimed Sutton.
"I'm so glad we've got that sorted."

¤¤¤

Desperately wanting to put their conversation behind them, the following week, Sutton got the group invited to a party.

Tabitha flicked through all the clothes in her wardrobe.
Even though she wasn't going to make a move on Jace, she still wanted to look her best for him.
I mean, she knew she'd look incredible in anything, but keeping away from Jace was becoming more difficult.
She wanted him to struggle as much as she was, so upped her fashion game.

She styled her hair into tight curls, and chose a bold red lip colour for makeup. She wore emerald green eyeshadow with glitter to match, and the eyeliner she added helped to accentuate her eyes.
Finally, she decided to wear a black low neck halter top, with black ripped jeans.
She quickly looked at herself in the mirror.
She liked what she saw, but did wonder if the makeup was too bold.
Sutton was the one who was known for her bold makeup choices, specifically her eye looks. 

"Tabitha, the cars are here!", called out Luka.
"Everyone's waiting outside."

"Oh, alright!
I'm on my way!"

She grabbed her red lipstick and put it in her purse, before looking at herself in the mirror one more time.
She nodded to herself and turned towards the door.
She remembered to get the flat keys from the dining table. 

"Hey, Tabitha–woah..."

Jace, who had just come through the front door, stopped in his tracks when he saw Tabitha.
His mouth opened slightly, and his eyes widened. 

Instinctively, Tabitha covered her face and turned away.
"Oh, don't!
It's too much, isn't it?"

"What?
No, what are you on about?", he questioned, walking towards her. 

"I don't know why I'm trying so bloody hard, I look like a weirdo–"

"Oi!", exclaimed Jace.

He reached out for Tabitha's hands, gently taking them in his.
As he lowered them from her face, Tabitha looked down.
He let go of one of her hands, before placing his thumb and index finger on her chin, and carefully lifting her head up.
Tabitha's breath hitched as their eyes met.
The usual charming sparkle in his eyes wasn't there, nor was the longing look he'd often give Tabitha.
Instead, he looked at her with genuine worry.
In that moment it seemed like he didn't care about anyone or anything else.

Tabitha wasn't used to this from him.

"You're so beautiful, Tabitha.
Not just now, but, always."

This wasn't his usual flirting.
No, it couldn't be.
His words seemed to carry so much weight this time. 

After a few seconds of hesitation, he gently caressed her face with his thumb.
The gesture comforted Tabitha.
People may think she's always confident, and so sure of herself, but she isn't always like that.
Sure, she can filter out whose opinion of her she wants to let go from the ones she wants to hold on to, but when she genuinely wants to be liked, she feels pressured.
Wanting to be liked is one of the most natural feelings in the world though.

"Uh, th-thanks, Jace", she said, before pulling away from him.

Sutton's words flooded her head, making her put some distance between them.
She may have thought Sutton was overreacting, but she was her friend, and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt her.

"No worries", he said.
"But yeah, it's like I'm always telling Sutton, as long as you like what you're wearing, no one else's opinion matters."

"And the best brother of the year award goes to...", grinned Tabitha.

Jace chuckled.
"Any brother would say the same."

"Not mine.
They use their fists more than their words.
Like one time, this guy called me fat, and my oldest brother beat him up."

"Woah... yeah that could never be me."

"Aww, is the poor baby afraid to bruise his hands?", she teased. 

Jace playfully rolled his eyes.
"No, I just don't think beating people up would solve anything."

Tabitha nodded.
"Yeah, I agree.
I mean, that boy did stop picking on me, but that's beside the point.
It would've been nice if they had talked to me, and given me a pep talk, like the ones you give Sutton.
The boy may have stopped, but it took me a longer time to stop feeling ugly."

Jace frowned.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Tabitha shrugged.
"It's all in the past now.
I learned to stop caring about people's opinions.
If the person doesn't matter to me, why should their opinion?"

Jace smiled.
"You see, that's what I like about you."

After checking that they had everything, the pair headed out of the door, already well aware that the cars had been waiting for a while now.

When she heard the front door close, Sutton emerged from her room.
A pained expression covered her face, and she looked at the area where her brother and friend had just been.
She remembered how close they were to each other, until she had forced herself to close her door.
She stared until she couldn't feel the pain anymore. 

No.

Now all she felt was betrayal.

¤¤¤

The party was a lot bigger than the ones the group were used to, because the host had rented out one of the rooms in the town hall.
The songs of choice were a lot of old school tunes that seemed to be well-received by the crowd.

"Why would someone need to rent out a room here just for a party?", questioned KJ.

"Trish, who is the host, recently moved here from Sweden.
Her family are still moving in to their new house, but she wanted to have a party to get to know people her age", explained Sutton.

"That's actually a good idea", said Luka. "Which course is she doing?"

"Marine biology", she replied.

"Ok I have to meet her!"

"I'll point her out to you if I see her", said Sutton.

A hand tapped KJ on the back, and he turned to see Anvi.
Next to her, there was a blue haired girl.
She looked a little nervous, but Anvi was smiling brightly. 

"Hey, guys!
This is Trish.
This is her party.
She's doing marine biology, so I thought you might like to talk to her, Luka", said Anvi.

Trish waved.
"Hi."

"Oh, hey!
I'm Luka, and this is KJ.
Uh, you already know Sutton.
How are you finding Moorside so far?"

Sutton zoned out when Trish started talking, because her eyes had landed on Tabitha and Jace.
They were just talking, and they weren't even standing particularly close to each other, but earlier events were enough to worry Sutton.
As soon as Tabitha went off to talk to someone else, Sutton made a beeline for her brother.

Jace smiled when he saw Sutton approaching.
"Hey, Sunny!
Having fun?"

Sutton grabbed his arm and dragged him to the other end of the refreshments table.
There were enough people around for the pair to hide behind.

"Ow, Sutton!
Can you let my blood circulate through my arm please?"

Sutton rolled her eyes, before letting go. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Trying to save my arm!"

"No, with Tabitha."

Jace furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"With Tabitha?
What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Jace.
I've seen the way you look at her."

Jace chuckled, gently shaking his head. "Oh wow, don't tell me you've gone into your detective mode", he joked.
"If you must know, DI Mercer, there's nothing going on between us.
Well, not yet anyway."

"Not yet?"

"I mean, I like her, and I think she likes me.
It's only a matter of time before one of us makes a move", he said, before letting out a quiet gasp.
"Wait, did Tabitha ask you to talk to me?"

What Sutton should've said, was 'no'. That was the truth, after all.
But Jace liked Tabitha.
That admission alone was enough for Sutton to realise her worry may become a reality.
When Jace liked someone, they always liked him back. 

Sutton's friends, science partners, fellow students at her old theatre club. That wasn't what worried Sutton though.
What worried her was what inevitably came after.
No one stayed for Sutton.
No one cared about her feelings.
Every birthday invitation or gift was just a ploy for her 'friends' to get closer to Jace.

After all, the way to a man's heart might be his stomach, but the way to Jace's was showing love to his family.

She couldn't let the same thing happen now.
This year was supposed to be different. It was supposed to be about making a name for herself, and living the life she dreamed of.
She had ready-made friends that lived with her, and she wasn't going to let that go.

"Uh... yeah.
Look, Jace, she's um, she's... uncomfortable."

Jace's smile faltered.
"Uncomfortable?
What do you mean?"

"She doesn't like the constant flirting", she lied.

"But...she's never said that to me."

"Because she doesn't want to make things awkward."

Jace frowned.
"That's why she moved away from me earlier..."

Sutton's face soften when she saw the regret on her brother's face.
She felt a pang of guilt, and wanted nothing more than to leave.
She reached out and gently patted her brother's shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's an easy mistake to make.
Just... maybe keep some distance between you two for a while."

¤¤¤

After an exhausting day, the roommates returned home.
KJ and Anvi draped Sutton's arms over their shoulders as they guided the sleepy girl back to her room.
She wasn't nearly as tired as she was making out to be, but she didn't want to spend more time with the group.
Not after what she had done. 

KJ leaned Sutton against Anvi and walked away, to give them some space. 

"Think I'm gonna have a quick snack", said KJ.
"Does anyone want anything?"

"Just grab me an orange from the fruit bowl please", said Anvi, before helping Sutton into her room. 

"I think I'm going to make a quick bowl of pasta", said Luka.
"Mind if we share the kitchen?"

"Nah, go ahead", said KJ.
"I'm only getting some biscuits."

Tabitha pulled Jace to the side. 

"Hey, wanna help me edit the dance video?", she asked.

"Oh, no thanks."

"Really?
You said you were interested earlier."

"Right, but... I'm not really up for it right now."

"You're right, it is a little late.
How about tomorrow?"

"Look, Tabitha... it's ok.
I know you're just trying not to make things awkward but I'm ok with not spending time with you."

Tabitha raised her eyebrows at this. "I'm sorry?"

"Sutton told me about you being uncomfortable with me flirting.
I really just thought you liked me back, but if I was making you uncomfortable, I'm so sorry.
That's the last thing I want."

Tabitha had to pause for a minute, just to check that she was hearing him properly. 

"Sorry, Sutton said that?"

Jace nodded, before holding his hands up.
"I'll stop all the flirting from now on.
I promise."

And with that, he walked away, leaving Tabitha to process what had just happened.
She didn't try anything with Jace for weeks, because she respected her friendship with Sutton.
Sutton, a girl she hadn't known for very long at all.
Yet she still prioritised her friend's feelings.

But Sutton went behind her back and made up lies?
And for what reason?
Because as far as Tabitha could see, there were no valid reasons for that.
At all.
Friends should be able to talk to each other if they had concerns, and that's exactly what Sutton did.
So then, why did she lie afterwards?

Tabitha couldn't understand Sutton's reasoning.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
And by the time everyone else had gone into their rooms, it was safe to say one thing:

Tabitha was well and truly p*ssed off.

She stormed over to Jace's room, the blood still rushing to her ears.
She knocked on his door, her fists clenched.
As soon as Jace opened the door, and she was met with his face, her anger died down.
Not a lot—but just enough for her to start to think clearly again.
If Sutton can be a bad friend, then why can't she?
Why does she have to make sacrifices, especially when she doesn't even know the reason why?
'It'll make things awkward.'
Well maybe she just didn't care about that anymore.
Why should she care if Sutton didn't?

"Oh.
Hey Tabitha.
Did you want something?"

Tabitha just stared at Jace.
Her anger gradually melted away, and her nerves took over.
People didn't make Tabitha nervous. She didn't let them.
But in this moment, her body was going against everything she had trained it to do. 

"Are you ok?"

"Uh, c-can I come in?"

"I'm not sure if that's the best–"

"You don't make me uncomfortable."

"What?"

"When you flirt, you don't make me uncomfortable."

"But Sutton said–"

"Sutton got it wrong."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Hundred percent", she smiled.

Jace looked into Tabitha's eyes for a few seconds, a smirk appearing on his face.

"So, what, you just came here to set things straight?"

Tabitha's eyes flickered to Jace's lips. "Not exactly."

Without missing a beat, Tabitha leaned forward and connected their lips.
Jace reached out and gently grabbed the back of her head as she deepened the kiss.
The pair stumbled into the room, with Tabitha using her leg to carefully kick it shut.
Tabitha leaned against the wall as Jace bridged the gap between them, pressing his body against hers.

_________

Ok, so first off, this is probably my least favourite chapter of this book to write so far. I tried leaving, then coming back to it, but honestly, I don't think I'd be able to write this chapter decently any time soon. I like the idea as a plot point, but the pacing/description and dialogue is just off for this chapter. Maybe I'm just overthinking it, but I do not think I did a good job with this chapter, so I'd like to apologise.

I liked writing the drama part, but I'm just really bad at writing flirting/intimate moments in general, whether that's dialogue or actions. I think I've gotten a little better at writing romance, but this kind of thing is still tricky for me to write. It's like, I have an idea in my head of what I feel like their interactions would look like if they were acted out in a show or something, but I'm struggling to write it. I hope you can bear with me on this, and hopefully I'll improve as time goes on, but it's hard for me to not cringe at my writing for this sort of thing haha. 

Having said that, I do like the playful side of Tabitha and Jace's relationship. In fact, if you know any tv, movie or book ships/couples that are similar to them I'd love to know what they are. I think looking at similar  couples in this trope will help me work out more effective ways of getting that playful and flirty side across.

I wanted to give my take on the situation: both Tabitha and Sutton are strong-minded and stubborn individuals. I think, on the surface-level, neither girls believe they are in the wrong. Sutton feels guilty for lying, but she knows her reasons for it. As the audience, we know why Sutton is so against Jace and Tabitha dating, but none of the characters do yet. In terms of Tabitha, she believes in doing right by her friends, so in her mind, she'd never do anything to jeopardise her friendships. So she doesn't see them getting together as something that could ruin her friendship with Sutton. 

They both acted a little childish here, but I actually like exploring that. Some plot points may come across as silly to you guys. In shows and movies, when characters do stupid things, I get frustrated, without realising that the character is young and isn't perfect. The roommates are going to make mistakes, and they're going to react in childish ways at times. After all, they're only nineteen!

What advice would you give to Sutton and Tabitha? 

Do you think Tabitha and Jace would make a good couple?

We didn't get many scenes with the other characters, but I've got a few bonding moments to get through first, and I'm excited for a particular chapter that's coming up in Term 1.

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

LeMystical-Puffle

ruesbennett

1-800-SHAWNHUNTER-

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