JACE

I sigh as I breathe out and stare at the sky on the way back to my home to collect my things the next morning. Now that it's finally over, well, the main struggle is finally over, I'm going to live with Clattonia and the others in the hideout. My eyebrows raise slightly in surprise whenever I look back down to find Misa sitting on my porch steps as I approach my house.

"I figured you'd come by sooner or later," Misa says, smiling painfully, "I just didn't know when."

"Misa," I breathe out, my steps slowing down now, "how long have you been waiting here?"

"A while," Misa shrugs, breathing out and adjusting her designer scarf that rests against her white tanktop and compliments her jean shorts and sneakers while her black hair is actually down for once, flowing passed her shoulders, "it doesn't really matter. I just wanted to talk to you."

Her blue eyes meet mine and she stands up from the stairs, stepping off to the side as I approach and walk up the stairs, pausing for a moment to look at her before reaching for my door.

"Well, are you coming in?" I ask, raising a brow.

"Yeah," Misa nods, "I'd like to."

I gently push the door open, stepping inside with Misa following behind me.

"I'm sure you have a lot to say," I start, taking off my shoes and walking towards the kitchen to grab each of us a drink as Misa slips off her shoes.

"You really meant it when you said I'd find out what you were up to, huh?" Misa muses as I walk back over to her and hand her a glass bottle of Coke, "it was pretty hard to miss."

"Yeah, well," I smile at her weakly, "I did say that you'd find out."

"You know that I'm not mad at you, right?" Misa asks as I open my bottle of Coke and take a drink before walking towards my room with my bottle in my hand.

"I know that," I say as I enter my room and place my bottle down on my nightstand, "I just hoped that you wouldn't despise me or be disappointed in me."

"I could never hate you, Jace," Misa sighs as she follows me into my room, "I could never be disappointed in you either. You're like my little brother. Besides, didn't I always tell you to follow your heart? As long as you believe in what you're doing and that it's truly the right thing to do, then I could never be disappointed in you. And it seems to me like you did just that."

"I'm glad you understand," I glance over my shoulder at her to give her a small smile as I gather my clothes from my room, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Probably be lost," Misa chuckles, "do you need any help? I can go grab some bags from your kitchen to put your stuff in."

"That's okay," I wave a hand, "I can do it later."

"If you say so," Misa says as she sits on my bed and swings her legs back and forth a few times before taking a sip of her drink, "so, where are you going to live now that all this happened? The place where I dropped Larissa off earlier?"

"Yeah," I nod, "you can come visit any time you want, you know."

"I don't know if I'd be exactly welcome there, Jace," Misa laughs nervously.

"They're really great people," I start, "all of them are. Some of them probably would be skeptical and wouldn't warm up to you for a while, but they wouldn't hurt you."

"I know they wouldn't hurt me," Misa explains, "I just feel like I wouldn't feel welcomed there. But, if I get to see you, then I suppose I could visit a few times. After all, it would be worth it. And who knows, maybe I'll become friends with some of them."

"That's the spirit," I smile wryly as I gather more clothes out of my closet, sliding them off of their hangers.

"You really should have gotten someone to come help you with this," Misa says as she looks around my room, "you have a lot to take over there. How are you going to carry this all over yourself?"

"I was going to call Asylum and have him give me a ride," I explain, "or I could ask someone else. One of the Supernatural in the group can teleport instantaneously, so I could ask her for help. Although, I'm not quite sure if she'd help me without something in return. She's a bit of a diva."

"I see," Misa smiles wryly, "it seems like you have quite the interesting friends, Jace. I'm proud."

"You're proud?" I ask, raising a brow and glancing over my shoulder to look at her.

"Mmm hmm," she hums, nodding and closing her eyes as she sits on my bed and takes another sip of her Coke before tilting her head to the side and opening her eyes, looking at me, "it seems you've met some very interesting and very valuable people. I'm proud of you. Keep them close, okay? And I'll kick your ass if you're an idiot."

"Okay," I start, furrowing my eyebrows in slight confusion, "but I still don't get why you're proud of me."

"Because you found the most important thing, Jace," Misa smiles, standing up and heading over to my door-frame before glancing over her shoulder at me, "you found yourself. I'll see you around, Jace."

I turn back to face my closet, my expression turning into one of a reminiscent smile as I continue digging through my closet and thinking about Misa's words.

***

I glance around the room that the others said I could take as my stuff is splayed all throughout it and I wonder how I could make it my own. Maybe I'll move some of the furniture around or paint the walls a different color.

"You know, you could've asked to move in with me," Clattonia says.

"Clattonia," I breathe out and turn around to find her standing in my door-frame, leaning against it with her arms crossed, "hey..."

"Hey yourself," Clattonia chuckles and walks in further, glancing around my room, "so, I see that you've gotten all of your stuff. It's still a mess in here though."

"Yeah," I nod, "I know. I was hoping to make it more personal after I got most things settled. Although, settling things will probably involve moving a lot of things around again."

"Hey, Jace," Clattonia starts and I can sense her presence closing in on me, "can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" I ask, glancing over my shoulder to look at her.

"I was going to ask you if you ever saw Kaden again..." Clattonia trails off, "I mean, I'm not expecting you to, but I was just wondering, you know?"

"You really miss him, don't you?" I ask, smiling sadly at her and turning to fully face her.

"Yeah," Clattonia nods, her eyes meeting mine, "I really do. But the thing is, I've accepted what's happened. I know that I can't bring him back, I always knew that. And I'm not clinging to the idea that I can communicate with him through you. I just...I wanted to know that he was okay. You know?"

"I understand," I say, "trust me. I get it. And, while I haven't heard from him ever since the day that I told you, I know that he still loves you and that he's watching over you. He really cares about you, Clattonia. He wants you to be happy. He'll be okay as long as you're okay. So take care of yourself, would you?"

"Thank you," Clattonia smiles warmly, relief showing in her eyes, "and I will. But..."

"But?" I raise my eyebrows as she slowly comes closer and grabs ahold of my hands, glancing up into my eyes and biting her bottom lip gently.

"I was hoping that you'd be there to make sure I take care of myself too," Clattonia says, "if you get what I mean. You see, I'm not entirely certain of what you want us to be. But I do know that I love you, Jace Athens. And I believe that love is like a fire, feelings can develop quickly and burn brightly, with bursts of passion along the way, but unless you keep feeding the flame moderately, it will die. And with you, I don't think I'll have to worry about that."

"Clattonia...I..." I trail off, not knowing the right words to say, "I already told you that I love you. Whenever I sacrificed myself to save you, I was content with that decision because it meant saving you, and that was all that mattered to me. I wasn't worried about losing my world because if I'm being perfectly honest, Clattonia Cessair, you are my world."

I smile warmly and chuckle to myself whenever I see Clattonia starting to tear up and I raise one of my hands to wipe away her tears before brushing my thumb across her cheekbone and leaning down, pressing my lips gently to hers as Clattonia's arms snake around my shoulders and my neck. I begin to press a bit deeper into the kiss after a few moments and pull her closer against me, my other hand resting against her waist. We stay that way for a few moments before slightly pulling apart, my forehead resting on hers as we smile at each other.

"I would love it if you would be my girlfriend, Clattonia," I smile.

"And I would love for you to be my boyfriend," Clattonia laughs and smiles widely as I pick her up and twirl her around in my arms.

And the two of us spend the rest of the time sorting out my new room and being close with one another, which ends in me eventually pulling her onto my lap as I sit on my bed and I end up lying down with her, talking about nothing in particular for hours on end until we fall asleep together.