Tattoos: COMPLETED ✔

Chapter 54

"Drink this," Jace demands, shoving a bottle of water under my nose as soon as we get inside.

When I hesitate to take the water from his hand because I still don't feel that well, his voice softens when he says, "Please. Please drink it." I grab the water and bring it slowly to my lips before taking a small sip.

Suprisingly, I find the water calms my stomache and helps with the nasty taste in my mouth. The only good thing that came out of throwing up is that I got all the alcohol out of my system, so now I can think with a clear head.

Jace runs a hand through his hair as he watches me down the water, and seems nervous when he tells me, "You need to.." But he trails off.

I set the empty water bottle down on the kitchen counter and look at him with raised eyebrows. "I need to what?" I ask, not thinking he's any position to be telling me what to do.

"You need to stop drinking so much," he says, rushing to get the words out. I'm shocked by his audacity. He left me for five days without any explanation and now he's telling me I need to stop drinking? What does he expect from me when he does stuff like that?

My fingers ball into tight fists. "Then you need to stop being such an asshole."

He seems suprised by my blunt response, but then puts a hand over his mouth, seemingly to hide his amusement. "It's not funny," I snap.

His hand drops, and it looks like he's trying his hardest to supress a smile. "I know it's not. I'm sorry... you're just so cute when your angry," he says. He thinks I'm cute when I'm angry? I don't know whether to be flattered or pissed off by that statement.

"I'm sorry," he says again. "Come here." He doesn't wait to see if I walk over to him before he closes the gap between us with one large stride. Wrapping his long arms around me, he pulls me tight against him, and I can't help but relax into his body and wrap my arms around him too. "I've missed you," he tells me. His words sting. Then you shouldn't have left, I want to say, but I stay quite.

His lips travel across my jaw, leaving soft kisses along the way. He moves to press his lips against mine, but I turn my head, so he touches my cheek instead. Pulling away slightly, I'm met with sad eyes; I look away.

"I'm going to take a shower."

"I'll join you," he says.

"Alone..." I trail off.

He frowns but doesn't argue. "Okay. I'll wait down here." I nod, and Jace releases me.

I can feel his eyes follow me until I'm out of sight.

First thing first, I need to brush my teeth. My mouth feels absolutely disgusting. I'm suprised Jace could stand to be that close to me; my breath smells like shit. I grab my toothbrush out of the bag of clothes Jace stole from my room and brush my teeth twice before throwing the toothbrush in the trashcan; there's no point in keeping it.

Stripping down, I leave my clothes in a pile on the floor and step under the scolding water. I scrub my hair and my body as if trying to wash away the past five- now six- days. But I know my problems can't just be erased; Jace better have a damn good excuse as to why he left or I'll... I'll... I don't know what I'll do.

My thoughts are pushed aside when I hear a "clicking" noise, like the sound of a door shutting. I half expect the curtains to be pulled back, exposing Jace's naked body as he steps in behind me, but they don't. Peeking my head around the curtains, I find Jace is not in here, but my dirty clothes have been picked up and replaced by one of his several white t-shirts. I sigh and turn off the water.