Please vote, comment and share if you enjoy this chapter and the story as a whole!!

"I'm excited!" Calla squealed.

"You're not even the one going," Syd reminded her as she walked in and out of her closet, a different outfit in her hands each time.

"I know but what if he asks Ivy to be his girlfriend, or tells her that he loves her?"

"Yeah, that's a point," Sydney started as I placed my phone on charge and flopped down onto her bed.

I got home over an hour ago and on my way here I got a text from Jace saying he was going to pick me up at 5pm. I still had plenty of time to get ready, well not really but they both insisted on me getting ready now. Something to do with me never being on time which wasn't true.

Well, maybe it was kind of true, but I wasn't going to admit that to them.

"What are you and Jace?"

I stared blankly at Sydney. My brain couldn't properly comprehend the question. "Humans?"

"Are you serious?"

"I didn't understand the question, I zoned out."

"What are you and Jace? Like, do you have labels or..."

"Oh." I frowned. Of course I had thought of this before now, I just didn't think it mattered too much. We both knew we were committed to what we had.

"There are no labels but we're exclusive," I told them both with confidence.

"I know what you should do," Cals excitedly announced in a raised tone, "If he doesn't ask you tonight, you should ask him. You don't have to do the typical boy-asks-girl shit. I mean, some gender roles like that are stupid."

I thought about it for a second and she did have a point. I had never waited for someone to do something for me before so why start now?

"I might actually do that, you know."

"Do what?" Sydney shouted from her filled closet. It was like a jungle in there. There were clothes everywhere, and I mean everywhere. That's why I wasn't helping her, you couldn't even see the ground.

I waited till Syd was back in the room with us before answering, otherwise I would have had to repeat myself multiple times because she wouldn't have heard me. I think she needs to get her hearing checked but she doesn't listen to me. "Ask Jace to be my boyfriend."

She carefully laid out a check, pleated skirt with a black turtle neck jumper and sheer tights. She picked them back up, shaking her head, "Wow okay. That actually is a really good idea."

"I know. I'm full of them," Calla joked, flicking her hair over her shoulder before sitting down next to me.

I pushed Calla's shoulder playfully, "Shut up."

"Wow. Rude much?" She sat back up and I chuckled. When we stopped messing around and looked up, Syd was stood in front of both of us, hands on her hips, an eyebrow raised. What's she going to complain about now?

Cals turned to me, her eyebrows raised as she bit back a smile, "Looks like we're in trouble."

"Like naughty children," I sniggered and got clothes thrown at my face. I took them off me and immediately turned to Calla. Her hand was over her mouth as she tried not to laugh. My mouth fell open as my head slowly moved to reveal Syd still standing in the same spot as before, a proud smile on her lips. "They're your clothes. Go get changed," Sydney demanded.

I had no idea when or why she started acting like the mother of the group but it was hilarious. I got up and walked to the bathroom, spinning round and glancing at Calla before closing the door behind me. I heard Calla's boisterous laughter that was interrupted by a thud and a groan not long after.

As I walked past the mirror, I caught a glimpse of myself - Syd always knew how to style me. I was dressed in a black dress that stopped mid-thigh and had a sweetheart neckline. A long, open, cream cardigan laid on my shoulders, black knee high boots tying it all together. I loved what Syd had done.

When I exited the bathroom, Syd instantly pushed me into the seat that sat in front of her 'makeup station' as she called it, and immediately began sectioning my hair. I used the massive mirror in front of me to look for Calla. I couldn't see her. But when she did walk back in the room, an ice pack was balanced on her forehead. I thought about asking what happened, but then realised it was probably best to leave it.

Sydney had finally finished straightening my hair and Cals and Syd had started talking again. It was awkward till Sydney muttered an apology and everything was forgiven. Now, however, I was growing more and more tired with sitting in the chair with every passing second.

"You're done now," I told Sydney and stood up, not giving her chance to tell me any different. I knew she was just being picky and straightening random pieces of hair now anyway, so she complied quite easily.

"Okay, but let me just touch up your makeup-" she moved towards me with another brush in her hand and I jumped out of the way. I couldn't stand sitting in the chair for any longer. I briefly told her I was going to get a drink, resulting in her telling me not to smudge my lipstick, and ran out of the room as quickly as I could.

As I went to walk into the kitchen, I heard Lucas' voice come from the living room. I had no idea he was here.

Wanting to show Lucas my 'transformation' as Calla and Sydney liked to call it, I eagerly walked to the living room.

I stood in the doorway and twirled, "What do you think?" I grinned, facing Lucas on my right when I saw his eyes flicker behind me. I sighed, this wasn't the first time Lucas had company and I just walked in.

Slowly, I swivelled on my heel to reveal who was sat behind me.

"You- You're here early?"

Jace slouched in the chair behind me, the intensity of his stare making me shudder. He sat up, his hands on his knees as he looked at me with widened eyes. A confused frown etched itself on my face. He was just sitting there, not saying or doing anything.

"I think you've broken him," Lucas laughed, a small chuckle escaping Jace's mouth. I rolled my eyes but blushed under Jace's gaze nevertheless. Jace finally stood up and took a step towards me, his hands casually held my waist as he sweetly smiled at me, our faces inches away from one anothers.

"You look beautiful," he whispered, making my eyes drop to the ground and my cheeks involuntarily flared up in colour once again.

With his thumb on my chin, he lifted my face, my eyes meeting his crystal blue gaze again. It was intense. So intense my surrounding dissolved, my only focus on the guy in front of me. I watched as his sky blue eyes dropped to my lips, lingering there for a second before returning to my brown eyes. A small smile crept onto my lips as I moved forward, his hands still on my waist. "We should go now," I whispered into his ear before taking two steps back, glancing briefly behind at Lucas and laughed.

I stretched my arm out towards Jace's hand and intertwined our fingers, "We wouldn't want to be late, would we?" I grinned at him, my head tilted to the side.

"Have fun," Lucas smiled. I nodded in response before shouting up the stairs that we were leaving and running out the door, hand in hand with Jace.

-

"I feel so stuffed, I feel like I can't eat for the next week," Jace said, patting his flat stomach. How did he manage to eat as much as we did and still look good?

I laughed, knowing he seemed to be hungry every five seconds. "You'll be eating again in half an hour, mister."

"True. You know me so well, it's cute."

I rolled my eyes at his stupidity but when I looked back at his goofy but handsome face, a snort followed by an ugly laugh escaped my mouth. I felt Jace's shoulders move in laughter as we sat on the park bench together.

"I love it when you-"

I sat up, my curiosity sparked, wondering what he was going to say. But when he stopped, he didn't continue. "Go on. You love it when I what?"

The warmness of his hand smothered mine as this thumb traced light circles on my palm. When I looked his face, the deepness of his thoughts reflected clearly through his face. It looked like he was thinking about what he was going to say next, choosing his words carefully.

I watched him. It was like I could actually see the cogs turning in his head. He turned and looked at me, a smile stretched from his lips all the way to his eyes. I shot him a toothy grin back. He shook his head laughing, his brown hair bouncing around his head at the movement.

"Everything." Our eyes met, the honesty of his words shining through. "I just- I love y-"

"Aw this is nice, isn't it?" I frowned as Jace got rudely interrupted. Jace's face fell, his eyes no longer holding the warmness seconds prior, now they looked as cold as ice. I followed the rough sound of the voice to behind me, and when I saw who it was, I shifted uncomfortably closer to Jace.

Dark hair, tall and troublesome eyes. I knew this guy from somewhere.

"Jace Black. Haven't spoke to you in a while. And what's your name again, gorgeous?" Jace's hand held my own tighter. Jace looked tense, his eyes softening when apologetically looked to me.

"You know him?" Jace whispered discreetly. I thought back to when I could have possibly spoken to this guy before. With the vibes he was giving off, I wouldn't have voluntarily approached someone like him. But then I remembered.

"Christian? The guy from the lift?"

Christian stopped staring blankly into the distance and turned to me. He stared at Jace before turning to me. "Aw you remember me. Much like I remember how you hurt me." His tone changed completely, more serious. He gave off an air of unpredictability, and that concerned me.

"What do you want, Christian?" Jace demanded in an aggravated tone, now stood up but distance still between them both. Something in my gut didn't feel right and I couldn't figure out why. It was more than just Christian, but what evaded me.

Completely ignoring Jace's question, Christian continued speaking to me, "So, have you worked out what you were confused by during our last interaction?" I stood up, feeling defensiveness crawl up my spine. I shook my head. I knew exactly what he was referring to, but it still confused me.

I gave him a fake name: Mia. He made a comment about it being a coincidence and then proceeded to laugh as Jace hadn't told me something. I doubted that I didn't know now, but I couldn't relate it to anything he had said.

"Nice to know you haven't really changed, Jace. Still hiding yourself from people, aren't you?"

"What do you want?"

"I want to hurt you two like she did me in the elevator. Then we'll be even," he smirked maliciously. Jace's hand started tracing circles in a comforting way on my back, but stopped abruptly with the next words that exited Christian's mouth, "How's Mia?"

I turned so I could see Jace's face, only to see the rage in his eyes. Christian was only saying it because that's the name I used, so why was Jace so effected by it?

I turned to Jace, taking a step towards him, "He's only saying that because I said a fake name when we first met. I wasn't comfortable telling him my real name."

A light chuckle came from Christians mouth, "You really have kept her in the dark, haven't you?" Jace didn't respond. I felt so confused. There was something these two knew and, once again, I didn't know a single thing about it. I hated the feeling, being clueless, so I was glad when Christian carried on talking. "Do you want to tell her, or me?"

A frown drew my eyebrows together, "What is he talking about?" I directed towards Jace, but he stood there, like he was frozen. But he ignored me and spoke directly to Christian, "Don't you dare!"

"You know about Jace's ex?" He began, staring at Jace and my heart sunk. I nodded my head lightly, my heart in my throat but beating erratically at the same time.

"Well, her name was Mia and they were perfect together. They were even engaged and going to get married," I turned to look at Jace but he just avoided my eyes. That was enough confirmation for me.

"But then one day, they both went to a party. And at that party, they had an argument, the worst and most explosive argument they had ever had. It resulted in Mia leaving in frustration and he," he used his finger to point at Jace, "let her go. She left and jumped into some random guys car and-"

"And they crashed and died," Jace finished. He was staring at the ground distantly.

I was overwhelmed. He had never told me any of this before and it was a lot to process. I knew about Mia, but not everything.

"Well, I will leave you guys now. Enjoy whatever you do." And with that, Christian finally left.

I didn't know what to say. And by the way Jace just stood there scanning my face, neither did he.

The car ride home was silent and not the comfortable silence I was used to with him.

I honestly had no idea what to say to him. He hadn't done anything wrong, he couldn't control who's car she got into, but I knew he blamed himself for that. I wasn't angry or scared of what happened between them, it was a freak accident and the only person to blame would be the driver... but he hid something from me and that was the final straw.

The car sat outside my house. I felt gutted that such a good day had to end this way, but it was out of my control. I felt like I needed to have someone to blame for the burning feeling in my chest, but there was no one. I couldn't even blame Christian as he was only telling the truth.

The only person I could really blame was myself for getting into this situation.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you-" Jace started, but I didn't want to hear it. It was just going to be more excuses when I've been nothing but open with him.

"Don't worry about it."

"But-"

"It's fine," I snapped and he fell quite at the tone of my voice. I unstrapped the seatbelt and opened the car door. I took a moment to look at Jace one more time. He sat gripping onto the steering wheel so hard his knuckles appeared white, staring off into the darkness in front. His head was pushed deep into the head rest attached to the seat. He looked... defeated but I couldn't always be there when I keep getting hurt.

"I'm- I'm going to go now." He lightly nodded his head, keeping his eyes trained in front of him. I shut the car door and walked into the house, shutting the door behind me and it was only then I heard the wheels of his car drive off into the distance.

(A/N) HONESTY is the best policy. Ew that was cringe but whatever, it's truee.

I had to make Ivy take Jace back last time, even if I didn't want her to, because the return of Christian was necessary. Who remembers their previous encounter?

What's going to happen now? Will Ivy understand and take him back (again) or will this be it?

Thanks for reading :)