Three Year's ago.

Jace's POV.

My house feels weird without my family running around it, they're out of town for the weekend and I sort of miss them but Olivia is here and that's somehow better.

We took a shower together, she was shy at first but then I kissed her and she let loose.

We still didn't fuck but it was the best shower ever. Diego would call me a pussy but I think I'm finally getting the hang of that thing they call patience.

I'm willing to wait for her to be ready.

"Hey, who's guitar is this?" She walks into the living room wearing my sweatshirt, staring down at the guitar in her hands.

"Aaron's." I smile at her.

"He sings." She states.

"Like Justin Bieber, yeah." I chuckle, nodding.

"Cool." She swings her fingers on the strings and plays something short and quick.

"I didn't know you played." I squint my eyes at her.

"Then I probably shouldn't tell you that I sing too." She mumbles, biting her lip.

"You sing? What the hell, Liv?" I widen my eyes, clearly shocked by this information.

"What?" She lifts her shoulders.

"Sing something for me." I demand.

"Don't be a cliche." She giggles, shaking her head.

"No, seriously, though," I pat my hand on the couch, signaling her to sit.

She looks at the couch, then my face and she sighs.

"Okay, what should I sing?" She drops down on the couch with the guitar in hand.

"Some tacky, cliche, Ed Sheeran song," I say randomly.

"Alright." She grins, tucking her damp hair behind her ear.

She flutters her eyes shut and takes a deep breath, she then opens them and looks down at the guitar, she looks nervous but her fingers start moving against the guitar strings.

She starts singing her version of Ed Sheeran's photograph and I have this big fucking smile on my face, so big it makes my cheeks hurt.

I hear the sound of my doorbell ring but I don't get up, I don't even look towards the front door.

"You have to get that." She stops playing.

"No, no, no, continue, they'll go away eventually." I say.

"Jace," She scolds.

"Ugh, fine," I whine, bringing myself to my feet and hurrying to get the door.

"What?!" I swing the door open, "What are you doing here?" My brows knit together at the person standing in front of me.

"Is Olivia here?" He asks in a bored tone.

"No, why?" I question suspiciously.

He looks behind him, to Olivia's car then back at me.

"Look, man, I don't have time for this, it's really important," He says.

"Tristan?" I hear her call his name behind me.

"Hey," He tilts his head to get a better look at her.

"Hi, what are you doing here?" She now stands beside me.

"We gotta talk." He says to her.

"About what?" I ask.

"Can I come in?" He points his finger inside the house, I narrow my eyes at his stupid face, glaring at him.

Olivia nudges my shoulder, urging me to respond to her ex's request.

"Sure." I step aside and he immediately walks inside.

God, I hate this.

"What's up?" Olivia crosses her arms over her chest, he runs his eyes down her appearance and clears his throat before passing her his phone.

She takes it and reads whatever is displayed on the screen.

"Ah, Gosh," she grits her teeth, gripping his phone in her hand.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be a surprise but I figured you'd wanna know." He says to her.

"What is it?" I look back and forth between them.

"My parents are flying in tonight." She informs me with a sigh.

"Isn't that good news?" I ask.

"No," she shakes her head, "I wanna spend my weekend hanging out with you, not being the perfect daughter." She starts pacing the room.

"Well, you barely see them, I think it'll be good for you." I shrug,"Plus, you can finally introduce us." I add.

Tristan snorts, like a fucking pig.

"What's funny?" I turn my head to glare at him again.

"Nothing." He waves his hand in dismissal.

"It sounded like something." I push.

"You thinking she's gonna introduce you to her parents, that's pretty funny." He smirks, like he knows something that I don't.

"Tristan," Olivia whispers in a warning tone.

"He asked." He shrugs it off.

I ignore him by turning my attention back to Olivia.

"You are gonna introduce us, right?" I ask her.

"Eventually." She stutters the word and looks down at her feet.

"Eventually?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yeah." She scratches the back of her head, looking to my living room.

"Wait a minute, do they even know about me?" I ask curiously, stepping closer to her, she takes a step back and stays quiet.

"How slow are you? They clearly don-"

"Shut the fuck up." I snap at the annoying fucker, "Olivia, do your parents not know that you broke up with this clown?" I point at him.

"No." She shakes her head, still looking at anything other than me.

I blow out a breath, raking my hair and trying not to overreact.

"Why?" I place my hands on my hips.

"Because things are easier this way, Jace, my parents think I'm perfect and I'd like to keep it that way." She explains.

"And what? They'd think you're less perfect for having a new boyfriend?" I glance into her eyes.

"No, it's just that...." She trails and doesn't finish the sentence.

"Just that what?" I demand, flexing my jaw, she shakes her head no.

"Wow, you're really that clueless, huh?" The shit bird speaks.

"Yeah, I think I am." I snap my head to him.

"You need to look in the mirror, the answer is all over you." He points at me everywhere which instinctively makes me look down at myself.

What's that supposed to mean?

"Last time I checked, she chose whatever is all over me over you, so.."

"I know, and that's why her parents will never approve." He plasters a cocky smile, clearly enjoying everything that's happening right now.

"I'm still a little slow on that part." I say.

"Let's see," he huffs, "You drive a motorcycle, you're tattooed, Olivia takes alcohol now thanks to you, you probably had her sexed up all night and one look at her and I can tell she's infatuated with you, so infatuated she'd do anything you'd ask of her." He says, looking at Olivia the entire time.

My eyes dart to Olivia's face, I expect her to debate against his statement, to tell him he's wrong but all I see on her face is guilt.

Pure guilt.

"She's living the teen dream, your point?" I pretend to act chill.

"Well, I'm no parent but if I was, I wouldn't let you anywhere near my kid, hell I wouldn't even let you near my distant cousin whom I hate with every bone in my body." He says.

Those words don't get to me anymore, I dated girls whose parents didn't approve of me because of the tattoos and the motorcycle and the fact that I was a jock, it really bothered me when they called me names and told their daughters to dump me but it became predictable and it stopped getting to me.

But, you know the difference between those girls and Olivia? They didn't hide me from the world, not even from their disapproving parents.

"So that's what this is about? my looks?" I study her guilty face.

"Not just your looks, personality too." He answers for her.

"Man, what are you, her fucking spokesperson?"

"I have to be, her infatuation will never let her tell you the truth." He says, I roll my eyes at him.

"Olivia," I place my hands on the sides of her face, forcing her to look at me, "Answer me." I plead.

"What he said," she swallows.

Now that fucking hurts.

"I didn't hear a damn thing he said, I wanna hear it from you." I order.

"You're reckless, Jace, my parents hate recklessness," she says while looking me straight in the eye.

"That doesn't even make sense, everyone's a little reckless." I defend.

"My parents would never ever approve of someone who looks like you, to them, you just want what's in-between my legs and nothing else." She tells me.

"Doesn't he though?" Tristan scoffs.

"Motherfucker, if you don't-"

"Ignore him," she grips my jaw and turns my head back to her, "Tristan, stop talking." She says to him.

"You're not even gonna try? Maybe as a prank or something?" I hold her hands in mine.

"No, Jace, let it go." She yanks her hands from my hold.

"Okay, but what happens when we date for years and one day we decide to get married? Do we get married in secret without their approval?" I question.

"No, that's a different situation." She scratches her cheek, looking at her ex.

They exchange some kind of look, it's quick but I saw it and I saw right through it.

"You don't think we're gonna last that long." I state the obvious, nodding to myself.

"No, that's not what I said, don't think about it too much. I'm gonna go change." She scurries off before I get the chance to say anything else.

"She thinks you'll get tired of her soon or you'll fall for the first girl you'll talk to in college." He says.

"She tell you that?" I ask without looking at him.

"Yep." He breathes out.

"Fucking hell." I mutter underneath my tone.

"You love her?" He asks me, sounding seriously curious.

"Not that it's any of your fucking business but yeah, I do." I answer, palming my jaw.

He laughs and shakes his head at me like I'm stupid.

"No, you don't and neither does she." He walks into my living room and makes himself comfortable on my couch.