The Step Brother

35. Homesickness.

Jace

They don't end up eating dinner after the fight. Instead, they part just long enough to return to the villa and to his suite. Once there, they don't need words to say what they want to say. He carries her to the bedroom and they crash onto the bed together, their lips never breaking. Their hands are desperate and urgent in both removing clothes and pleasing the other. He marks her body like it's his and she claws her name into his back. She cries as he makes love to her and they both whisper 'I love you's.' This goes into the early morning hours, they even get to watch the sun rise together.

They don't talk about what the future looks like. They don't need to. He falls asleep holding her in his arms and that's where he knows he stands. The semantics and small details are only a speed bump to get over.

So when he wakes up the next morning, he's not expecting her letter.

Jace-

Please forgive me. I knew I wouldn't be able to do this if I saw your face.

All I want right now is to climb back into bed with you. But I'm afraid things aren't that simple. Like most things for us, they rarely are.

You were right. About everything. Most of all about me being in love with you too. I am. I'm starting to wonder if I ever stopped.

This isn't goodbye, but I need time to think. I hope you can understand that.

Your Lo

He'd woken up to an empty bed, which was the first thing to make his stomach twist with anxiety. He called for her and when he didn't hear her, he climbed out of bed, pulled his sweats on, and started looking in the living room. Then he saw the note on the granite counter and that's when his heart stopped. She had used the hotel stationery and pen. Before he could lift it to his eyes, he found himself hoping it was a note that she was picking up breakfast and she'd be back shortly, or that she had to run some errand for Zoey.

It doesn't hit him straight away, reading her words, what's happened. It's like when you're trying to focus heavily on something but you end up zoning out and not retaining anything. One should feel relieved to find a love confession in their lover's handwriting, but that fact is outweighed by the fact that she isn't here. Instead of celebrating their love, she has run from it.

There's a knock on the door then and he doesn't even think about putting a shirt on before answering. It has to be her. She realized her mistake and she's come back. Who else could it be?

Standing on the other side of the door, however, is not the love of his life. Instead, it's his best friends, the happy couple.

"Hey—" They both greet at once but instantly stop themselves when they see him. Their faces are filled with concern, they both speak at once.

"What's up, buddy?" Ryder says at the same time Zoey asks, "Are you okay, Jace?"

He's not sure what he must look like for them to have that kind of reaction. He knows he's not ready to respond. He has no words. Will wrote her letter, packed her bags, and took everything he could say with her. So he hands them the letter and starts making his way to the living room. He needs to sit down before he faints. The room is spinning, his hands are clammy, he feels like he's in his body but not.

The newly weds heads come together as they read the note together. Their expressions mirror each other; there's confusion, shock, worry.

"Wait, you two—?" Ryder starts.

Zoey's already miles ahead of him, already having assumed the step siblings were hooking up. "This doesn't make any sense. Tell us what happened."

They sit on either side of him on the couch and they're both patient as he tries to get through the story of dinner last night, and the conversation he attempted to have with her. "But-But I thought everything was fine. W-We came back here. We made love. We told each other all night how much we..." His nose starts to prickle and he locks his jaw. He can't cry in front of them, not again. Especially when Zoey warned both of them not to mess with each other's hearts.