independent. | Jace Wayland

chapter 7: wayland.

I crouched beside the kid on the floor, he looked about 17.

"Are- are they gone?" He whimpered, remaining curled on the floor.

"Yeah kid, they're gone. You're fine." I said and slumped onto the floor next to him, "If those kids ever give you shit again, here," I handed him the big kids knife, "Use this because that asshole deserves it." He sat up. "Are you okay to get up? No broken ribs or anything?" I asked, just wanting to make sure.

"No, I'm fine, little bruised but fine. Thank you, I'm Leo." He held out his hand and I shook it, keeping my other hand still on my rib cage.

"I'm Y/n."

"Nice to meet you Y/n..." He paused, angling his head as if to get a better look at me from where I was sitting on the floor, "Is that- oh my god!" His eyes widened at the sight of my hand painted red, though I'm sure in this dim light, it looked black. "Hang on- let me call an ambulance." He dug in his pocket for his phone.

"Leo, I'm fine." He continued to look, "Leo." He ignored me, his fingers were shaking, I'm guessing he didn't like blood. "Leo!" I yelled, he looked back at me. "Go home."

"But I can't just- just leave you here."

"Leo, I'm telling you, go home. I'm fine. Go home or I'll throw you in the river myself." I joked, though I was actually considering it.

"O-okay, thank you again Y/n. Thank you." And he was gone.

I'm not sure how long I sat on the floor but I managed to push myself up eventually. I walked over to the wall beside the river and rested one hand on the cold stone and pulled the other away from my body to see it painted in red. I hissed and held it back.

"Okay, been stabbed-ish, err, Leo said goodbye, Leo is safe on his way home-" But i didn't finish my recap of the last 10 minutes because another voice snapped from the darkness.

"Who's Leo?"

"Ahh, Blondie, perfect timing." I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "You know when a girl jumps out a window to get away from you, you might wanna take that as a hint she doesn't want to be followed by you."

"Yeah, well I never have been one for getting hints." I could hear the amusement in his voice, "and the name is Jace, Jace Wayland." He remained behind me, I think he was waiting for me to turn around but if I did he would see the vast amounts of blood seeping out my side.

"I prefer B-blondie, you know, suits you better anyway." I coughed, clearing my throat, still facing the river, "Stalker much? What are you doing here, Wayland?" I heard his footsteps creep closer but I didn't turn to see how close he was behind me.

"I came to find you, you may not believe me but I want to help and that means taking you to the institute." His words were calm and steady, like he was reciting a poem or a letter, as if he were reading the words from a sheet in front of him. Like he'd rehearsed this.

"You're not making this sound like an option." I muttered, leaning more and more on the stone beside me.

"Are you always this stubborn or am I just lucky?" He retorted, I could practically hear the raised corners of his mouth.

"Sorry, you're right, that was unfair of me... I just don't have the energy to pretend to like you right now. I don't even know you, I mean, I met you yesterday." Now that he laughed at.

"Good thing, I'm not here to compete for your affection. Now I need you to come with me." His tone became serious, I guess there was no avoiding him this time.

"You should know I'm rather sad I have no more windows right now to jump out of, though I am contemplating jumping in the river." I leaned over the stone wall to look down at the black water below, "I must admit, it doesn't look entirely inviting."

"I don't recommend it as I am for sure not going to be fishing you out, however I will be waiting for you when you crawl out looking like a drowned rat." He came to lean against the wall beside me but I kept my body angled, kept my blood soaked shirt and where I kept my hand clutched at my chest, away from his piercing gaze.

I laugh, goddamn it I laughed. My chest rose and fell in the chorus of contractions that sent sharp spikes of pain coursing through my entire midsection. I flinched and curved in, groaning.

I slowly pulled my hand away and it was caked in blood, I looked down even further to see the blood seeping further down my body. That's when I knew I had to do something and fast, otherwise, it looked like I was going to bleed out and that wasn't on my list of things to do tonight.

Fuck it, i had no where to go and Magnus's was too far. I turned and Jace had already been leaning around as far as he could to see what was causing me such distress, his eyes widened at the sight of my blood soaked state.

I groaned and my entire weight was now leaning heavily on the wall behind me as i faced Jace, I could barely keep myself upright. Jace was by my side, his arms taking my weight and suddenly I couldn't feel the cold paved pavement anymore. I was engulfed with the sweet smell of metal, sweat and blood. Held tight against his leather jacket which radiated his warmth. I felt my side shriek at me and I winced, grimacing from the feeling but my eyes were feeling increasingly heavy by the second.

"Arghhh- fuck."

"What happened? Y/n stay with me." His voice low, barely audible, we were walking. Well, he was walking. My eyelids danced open, closed, open, closed. Stay awake. Stay awake.

"Oh- just bleeding profusely, just another Sunday night." He huffed and his pace increased.

I began to whisper to myself again: "L-leo is safe on his way home, you've b-been stabbed, Blondie is Jace but you p-prefer Blondie. Blondie is carrying you- stay awake, stay a-awake."

But that was something I simply wasn't capable of.