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Arriving back home, I unlock the door with my key, and I'm surprised to see Jace sitting in the same spot from earlier

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Arriving back home, I unlock the door with my key, and I'm surprised to see Jace sitting in the same spot from earlier. "Hey" he says quietly, not sure what to do with himself.

"Hey. Can I talk to you about something?" I ask him quietly, jumping right into the idea I had before I forget it again.

"Sure" he says slightly nervous, making room for me on the couch.

Things are weird because I just took off earlier, but I have to talk to him about this now. "I was walking through the mall thinking about my birthday... and there's this idea that came to my mind. Does Derek know my dad, Jace?" I ask him tucking my left foot under my right thigh. 

"Of course, he's like the main supplier of all the dealers. Why?" Jace answers, looking curious.

"I've thought about it, and I'm going to call him. I'll tell him about the whole situation and ask him to make it go away, I don't care what it takes. I mean, he owes me big time for lying to me all of those years, and I'm sure this won't be a problem for him. You said he knows how to give people a fright..." I say, already seeing that Jace is thinking about it.

"I'm pretty sure your dad hates me, Mila" he states bluntly. 

"He doesn't hate you. He hates that I'm involved in all of this, but it's too late for that now anyway. Is this an idea you think could work?" I ask him, wanting to know his opinion. 

Jace thinks for a few seconds. "I mean, yeah. It's a pretty good idea. We can figure out what to tell him together" he finally admits.

I feel a huge amount of relief, thinking about at least one of our problems being eliminated. "Okay, then I'll call him later" I say, almost having to smile.

"Thank you, Mila" he says sincerely. "You're too far away from me" he adds, scooting in closer. His hand finds its way onto my thigh and I tense at his touch. I'm not doing it purpose, but I see the way it pains him. 

"Are you ready to grab my stuff from mom's house?" I ask him quietly, filling the tension with conversation.

Jace looks at me with hope in his eyes. "Really? When you left this morning, I thought you had changed your mind" he answers honestly. 

I take a second to find the right words. "I'm sorry for taking off like that. Nothing has changed, I just needed to clear my head after everything" I reassure him quietly.

Jace sighs once again. "Really? You're just being really distant, and I... I don't know how to deal with all of that when all I want is to have you close to me" he admits, his hand still on my thigh. 

I take a big breath. "I know. It's honestly just hard for me to be close to you when I know that you've been with someone else. I'm sorry about it, and I'm really not trying to hurt you on purpose" I say quietly, feeling like it's hard for me to talk about.

"That's fair" Jace says, with pain in his voice. "I'm the one who's sorry, Mila. Is there anything I can do to make it better? Is there anything you'd like to know?" he asks me.

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