tangled up in blue

18

lullaby- sia

Jace and I both turned to see who was in the doorway, my heart stopping within the cage of his arms.

Palcifer looked up at us and yapped.

"Holy shit," Jace sighed in relief, resting his forehead on my shoulder. I ran my fingers through his hair without a second thought like it was something we did.

My chest heaved against his as the anxiety slowly seeped out of me. "Palcifer, one of these days I'm gonna put you down." The shih-tzu bared his teeth and growled at me in response before curling up on the floor at the end of Jace's bed.

Jace.

We both looked at each other after a moment, realizing that we were still barely an inch apart, and instantly scrambled back. Jace sat abruptly back against the headboard to put distance between us, and I awkwardly forced myself to stand up. An uncomfortable beat of silence of passed, in which we avoided looking at each other, and I silently promised to 'accidentally' stand on my dog's tail later.

"Uh, I-I should leave," I stammered, scratching the back of my neck and blushing.

"Yeah," he replied as he settled under his duvet, fixing me with an unreadable expression. "You should."

I swallowed down the strange hurt feeling that rose up in my throat and nodded, directing my gaze to the floor. Wordlessly, I turned to leave, thinking he was done with me just like usual, until he grabbed my wrist. I spun around, shock and confusion evident on my face, and reflected in his unreadable eyes.

"I didn't say I wanted you to," he said, his voice low.

His fingers were burning a permanent mark upon my wrist. I could feel a new scar form every time his thumb grazed over my skin.

I blinked at him, terrified that he was finally pranking me back, that acting vulnerable and gaining my trust was all just some sick joke that he was using to hurt me. But when he spoke again, I knew that whatever this was had to be real.

"I don't want you to go, Noah."

Noah.

For all the years I had known him, he had only slipped up a few times on his mission to call me Quinn or some other irritating quip, but all of a sudden he was saying it over and over and honestly, I realised I had never cared much for my name until it came from his tongue.

Noah, Noah, Noah. Jace. Jacob.

I could listen to him say our names forever.

It took me a second to process that I wasn't dreaming and His Lordship, Sir Resident Bad Boy was actually asking me to sleep in his bed. Again.

This is weird. So naturally, I'm doing it.

I quickly closed the door, praying no one came to wake Jace up early tomorrow and tentatively pulled back the covers. He pretended not to watch me as I awkwardly laid down, but I was already watching him. We both stared up at the dark ceiling, our bodies rigid.

"Apparently Palcifer is in love with you," I said, my dry voice cracking awkwardly in the tense silence.

He chuckled slightly over the sound of the dog's gentle snoring. The demon only seemed peaceful in slumber, but even then, it was a beast heavy with its sins. "Yeah, I have that effect on people."

Even though the room was dark, I rolled my eyes with a scoff.

"Pal's not so bad," he continued. "He talks less than you. I like him more. Cuter, too."

"First of all, Pal? Please put me out of my misery. Secondly... shut up. We both know you-" I almost commented on how he called my pretty boy before, but I caught my tongue, remembering that neither of us were gay, we hated each other, and there was a perfectly rational explanation for the several intimate nicknames he'd given me over the years.