Steal My Heart

Chapter 24: I.. I Thought Of My Dad And...

Today is the day after my incident and I made up my mind to talk to Jace when he came back from.. wherever he went.

Logan slept in the living room today because he wanted to give Jace "space" and when we woke up, he was gone.

This morning after breakfast we just hung out till Jace came back, grabbed an apple and went back to his room, not uttering a word.

Logan helped me make lasagna, so hopefully when I'm done talking to him, he'll eat.

Logan and Mia are now at the beach and I've told them, well, argued with them until they agreed not to come back until I tell them to because I know for sure they'll listen to our conversation.

I head over to his room and knock on the door. "Jace" no answer. "I know you're there" no answer. "Don't make me sing Snowman."

He doesn't respond. When I clear my throat to start, the door opens.

In the doorway is a broken Jace in sweatpants and a plain white shirt.

Suddenly everything I rehearsed, gone. I groan and Jace's head shoots up.

"No, I wasn't groaning at you, I was groaning because I can't remember anything I'd rehearsed before now and" I rambled on, "although you do deserve the groan and by the way where were you this morning? So you think it's fair to abandon your friends on a vacation you planned? That's doesn't seem--" I'm cut off by Jace chuckling.

He steps aside and I walk in. I walk over to the bed and sit, while he sits on the chair, his eyes downcast.

None of us say anything for a while until he breaks the silence. "I'm sorry, Emma. I didn't mean to do that. I thought you could swim and Mia told me but I didn't believe her and she--"

Now it's my turn to chuckle. "I'm not mad at you Jace."

His face is a mixture of surprise and disbelief. "You're not?"

"Of course not. Why would I be?" I ask softly.

"Well, I almost did kill you so I thought you'll be mad" he explained.

"Why did you act that way yesterday?" I ask him, completely ignoring his last statement.

"I.. I thought of my dad and I was scared.." He trailed off.

I groaned and this time it was directed at him. "You didn't kill your dad" I say almost harshly.

"But his test was scheduled that day and if he went he wouldn't have died because I wanted to go to that place so bad" he says quietly.

"You know what? I'm sure your dad can't rest in peace because of you" I tell him.

He stares at me, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "W-w hat?"

"You need to stop blaming yourself. I'm sure your dad can't rest because of that" I deadpan.

His mouth is just opening and closing like a fish out of water. I just shake my head and get up.

"So are you coming? I made lasagna."

***

"It has to be perfect" Logan says grabbing the tents.

"I know" Mia rolls her eyes again. Logan is so pushy when it comes to his best friend.

We're planning a camping trip to make Jace feel better but he doesn't know.

He's currently in the shower and when he's done, he and Logan are going to play video games which will give us time to set up.

"Are you sure you guys can handle it alone?" Logan asks us.