in between all things

Chapter Seventeen

"The man slut and the sarcastic virgin. I can totally see it." Macie said.

I elbowed her in the side and continued to look ahead, my hand in Jace's. "Shut up. This is a pity party, don't make it cringe."

Jace let go of my hand, causing me to look over at him. "This is not a pity party, idiot."

I sighed dramatically. "Yeah, it is. Macie and Drew need to pity me because sweet Jace is gone."

Drew started to snicker upon hearing that. "Wait. There's a sweet Jace?"

"Guys, stop arguing. I didn't just sneak out of my room - at midnight, might I add - to surround myself with idiotic behaviour." Macie said glaring at Drew, Jace and I. "I can't believe you're moving, Ashy!"

"Well, you better believe it. Dad was all like, ' I'm going to take your ass to church and make you better!'" I said, rolling my eyes. I didn't particularly want to talk about this now, but I knew Macie would question me. I mean, we did barge in through her bedroom window an hour ago without giving a reason until twenty or so minutes ago.

"Harsh," Macie said.

"Did he really say that?" Jace asked, surprised.

"Yeah." Drew piped up. I looked up at him for the first time in a while and saw his eyes locked on Macie. I shot him a curious look, which he glared at me for.

"God," Macie said. "So anyways. Where's Damo?" Macie asked Jace.

Jace shrugged. "I have to call him still."

"Do it now. I need a rest from walking." Drew said, stopping at the side of the road and stretching.

"Lazy ass!" Macie and I cooed.

"Assholes." Drew grumbled, blushing, and glared at us, though I noticed that his eyes softened when they landed on Macie.

"I'll be right back," Jace said, taking his phone out of his pocket and walking a few meters up the road. I sat down next to Macie on the curb and stared after him. I still couldn't believe that everything I had now was going to get taken from me in a matter of hours.

Macie elbowed me, bringing me out of my thoughts. "You really like him?" She asked, whispering so Drew wouldn't be able to hear her.

I rolled my eyes and shrugged. "Drew really likes you."

"I know. Stop avoiding the question." She retorted.

"Yes, I do really like Jace.  Now back to Drew. How'd you know?" These past few weeks Drew's affections had become startlingly obvious to me.

Macie shrugged. "It's obvious. I mean it's not like we're in a book, Ash. This is real life. And things aren't perfect and people aren't the best actors."

"Okay, this doesn't sound like we're talking about Drew anymore. Are you giving me a pep talk?"

"Is it working?"

"No," I said flatly.

Macie shrugged. "Oh well, I tried. Hey, here comes your boy toy."

I looked up and saw Jace walking back up to us, his phone in his right hand. He looked happy, which automatically brought my mood up. "Damo is down near Rikers. Let's go." Jace said.

"Help me up," I demanded, lifting my arms up. Jace groaned and grabbed my hands, helping me up.

"Why's he at Rikers?" I asked. Rikers was a bar downtown that most of us South Side kids went to, to get drunk and have fun. The guy who owns the bar, Riker, was a pretty cool guy.

"Riker and Damo are friends remember?" Jace said.

"Nah, I think Ash was drunk when you told us that," Drew said, helping Macie up from the curb. Once they were up, Macie grabbed Drew's hand and they started walking with us down the road.

I wanted to tell Macie not to lead Drew on but at the same time, I didn't want to bring the mood down anymore. Now wasn't the time to be serious. I didn't want people to be serious and worry about me. I could deal with this on my own.

"Meanie," I said to Drew, pouting.

Jace chuckled and kissed the top of my head lightly. "You know it's true."

Oh my god. I'm an alcoholic. "I'm an alcoholic."

"He's doing it again," Drew said, groaning.

"Oh hell." Jace groaned.

"Hush your groaning, boys. You sound like you're engaging in some pretty wild sex." Macie said, annoyed.

I started to choke on my laughter. I looked at Drew and Jace who were glaring at Macie and I while blushing. "Macie has sass!" I said loudly.

"I've always had sass," Macie said in a duh voice. Jace muttered something under his breath and Drew and I started laughing.

This was shaping up to be the best last night ever.

~~~

"That was fun."

I turned to look at Jace like he was crazy. "All we did at Rikers was sit and drink beer."

Jace took my hand and kissed my forehead. I kept my eyes on Macie and Drew who were mucking around up the road. They'd taken off to give Jace and I some privacy because he had to take the next turn off home. I was dreading watching him go. I never wanted this night to end, even if all we did was make fucked up jokes about Damo.

"Still. Damo was cool about us. Unless he was too drunk to notice."

I laughed and punched Jace in the arm. "He actually probably was."

Jace chuckled, then grabbed my shoulders and turned me around to face him. His fingers caressed my cheekbones. "I'm going to miss you."

"Wow. Don't go sappy on me." I said, even though I was going to miss him too. I hated this. Jace leant in and kissed me softly. I moaned against his lips, trying to savour the moment.

After he pulled away, I groaned. "Don't make me cry on you, fuckhead."

Jace glared at me fondly. "You've turned me into a sap."

I gave him a peck on the lips. "You're welcome."

Jace smiled at me and we continued to walk down the road until we reached his turn off. Jace punched me in the shoulder and kissed my head. "It's going to be okay."

"Okay," I mumbled. "Bye."

"Cya, loser," Jace said with a smile. I stared after him sadly. I couldn't believe this was it. After mere weeks of a short-lived romance, this was how it ended?

After Jace was halfway up his street I turned and ran up to Drew who was standing outside Macie's house. When he saw me he turned to me, running a hand through his blonde hair.

"You okay?" He asked.

I nodded. "Sure."

"I can't believe this. I'm sorry Ashy." Drew said for like the hundredth time.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Drew I'm not mad. You didn't do this. Stop apologizing and bloody hug me." I said as Drew smirked at me and pulled me into a hug.

"I love you," Drew said quietly.

"Back at you bro. Now let's head home. You have to help me pack."

As we walked home I started to think that maybe Macie was wrong. Maybe life was like a book, and without breaking the hypothetical fourth wall, I believed it to some degree. I mean, I never expected this to happen and I definitely  hated it, but I couldn't fix it. Maybe this was just another chapter, and not the end. Nothing was permanent. Though there was one thing I knew for sure:

I was in love with my brother's best friend.

Edited by: LarryShipSails

Hi guys!! LarryShipSails here, if any of y'all notice any mistakes that I've missed out or feel that some parts would sound better if worded differently, please @ me and I'll check it out!! Thanks in advance!! :)