Falling

Chapter 2: The Calm Before The Storm

       As worried as Annabelle had been earlier that day, by 2:30, she was beating herself up for ever doubting that her best friend still loved her. She'd found herself searching for signs that he hadn't changed, or even that he had. Jace had been the one constant thing in her life, and Belle didn't think she'd be able to keep it together if he went and changed up on her. Once she'd realized that the things that made Jace, well, Jace had remained the same, she started pinpointing the things that she loved about him, like the way he reacted to cigarette smoke.

       She loved the way he cherished the stray cats that dominated the school. She loved the way he flared his nostrils when he was lost in thought. Long story short, her Jace was still hers. She mentally slapped herself because no, he wasn't hers, and she needed to stop thinking of him that way. She had a boyfriend and no matter how funny, sweet, muscular, tattooed, smart, and, now, sexy her best friend was, Belle couldn't just throw away her four-year relationship for him........ Could she?

       The two friends lounged on the grass outside of the locker rooms, Annabelle waiting for Alex to get out of a meeting for the football team, and Jace wanting to get as much time alone with Annabelle as possible. He was in love with her, after all. As they caught up on the events of their summer vacations, Jace indulged his best friend with stories of meeting some of her favorite bands and going to a few summer parties through his summer work at various record labels. He also indulged in the details of his physical transformation. Jace knew that Belle loved him for what was on the inside, but he was tired of hating his appearance.

       He'd never dared to tell his parents what he wanted to wear or the money to buy his own clothes, so he'd just lived life wearing what they bought for him. After he'd gotten his first high paying job with Epitaph Records, He'd thrown away his entire wardrobe and replaced it all with clothes he'd felt at home wearing. The only detail that he'd left out was the fact that Annabelle, herself, was part of the reason for the change. Jace had always known that Belle loved two things. Tattoos and the dark. He knew that if he put what was inside of him on the outside, she would love it. So he did it, and he was right. She loved it.

       Now, it was Belle's turn to tell about the nightmare she called her summer. Annabelle tried to keep it together as she confided in her best friend, but she immediately found herself collapsing into Jace's hard chest, letting all her darkest memories come out. She'd started from the day her mother found out Lucifer was cheating and finished with the worst of the abuse her mother had suffered. She'd told him about the cheating, but she knew about Jace's temper, so she'd decided to keep the damage to herself. 

      This time she told him everything. When she told him about the first time that her stepfather had hit her mother, she felt Jace stiffen underneath her, and his body begin to shake. This tension lasted until she let out a particularly heart-wrenching sob, and he quickly softened again, hell-bent on supporting his best friend. The last piece of information that she'd provided him with was the information she'd gained from the news earlier that morning. Jace's eyes grew watery as she relinquished the story to him.

       Hearing about the death of Annabelle Tankz devastated him. Although he was the oldest, Tankz was like an older sister to him, and losing her made him want to curl up into a ball and cry. When they'd first met, Jace had given her a hard time because he thought that she was trying to break up the duo, not join it. He quickly realized that he'd misjudged her after she saved Belle from a group of bullies during her first year of middle school. After that, she proved that she knew him better than he knew himself. Tankz knew that he was in love with Belle before he did, and once he did realize it, he hid it so well that no one knew about his little crush.

       Even then, Tankz was able to see through his mask. She had guided him to accept his past and his future. She'd made everything that had ever happened to him, from the abuse by his former stepfather to the previous drug abuse of his mother; she'd made it all seem okay. So yeah. Losing her hurt. It hurt a lot, and he wasn't ready to accept that he'd never be able to witness her smile light up a room or her voice rally a crowd or her sweetness move a mountain ever again.