The Perfect Storm 3

Chapter 281

(Song for this chapter: Midnight road by SF9) and (LMLY by Jackson Wang)

The perfect midnight sky is shining its stars down to us as everyone slowly makes their way out of the church and to whichever home they belong to after the celebration. I'm surprised I didn't see Betty at the wedding. But since she was only my mother's friend, I'm assuming I won't be seeing much of her.

Miles's hand holding mine feels like heaven, it feels like diamonds; exactly the way the midnight sky looks above us.

"Madison," I hear Nancy's soft voice, and I stop, my heels difficult to place on the unstable rocky ground.

"Nancy," I smile at the woman beside me as Miles softly lets go of my hand so I can face her properly.

"I don't know what you two have decided for tonight,  but I'd like to invite you both to stay over at our house for the night," she smiles brightly, dusting her dress off slightly with bright cheeks staring at us.

"We'd love to," I speak, watching my mother's house in the distance behind her and gulping down what I know I don't want to feel all over again by staying there, despite having a permanent key to her house.

Nancy smiles once more, "I'll go find some bed sheets and pillows for you two," she adds before slowly walking away, her heels having trouble in the rocky ground too.

"We'll leave early tomorrow, six am," Miles's voice cuts in, Ohio to WSU is going to take a while, and he's right. We need to leave very early.

"Okay," I face him softly, my voice just as pillowy.

I turn my head back to see the crowd walking behind us, and with them Jace and Rosie. and while Rosie is giggling and watching her now-husband, he's watching me; he's watching us.

"You okay, babe?" Miles's voice feels like a knife and I quickly turn my head back to him, his strong arms holding me and helping me walk more steadily toward Jace's house.

"Yeah," I speak even though the emotions of Jace being so changed want t take over me.

As I watch the sky in front of me, we keep getting closer and closer to Jace's house and I feel butterflies all over me, he's married, everything seems to have changed; our childhood seems to have been more than a lifetime ago.

THE NIGHT SEEMS TO NEVER HAVE come to a real end because I'm still staring at something above me in the darkness, wondering if Jace will survive this; or if this was the best idea for him, and something tells me that he might be thinking the same thing.

Of course, Nancy didn't assume that Miles and I were going to be sleeping together despite me being pregnant. Being in a separate room from him reminds me of my mother and somehow, I'm grateful he's not next to me right now because it somehow allows me to remember what my mother was like.

A SOUND WAKES ME and I feel as though I've been tossing and turning and falling asleep and now finally I give up. I won't be able to fall asleep like this. I'm instantly reminded of David; something I managed to forget even if just for a day or two.

I slowly step out of bed, the stress of my memories about David striking me and making me want to try to sleep again. But with all my strength mustered and with a few deep breaths, I manage to slowly open the door, glancing once at the small clock Nancy has hanging above the bathroom; five am. 

I slowly make my way inside, and grab whatever towel I find, taking my clothes off, nerves tightening around my body at the memory of getting into the shower after David but I try my best to block him out completely, and when I manage to let the water run and get into the shower, I hear sounds coming from another room.

Somehow I hope that Nancy or Ben is awake, someone besides me walking in the night not knowing how to sleep anymore.

I take a few more deep breaths; something my doctor told me would help me with the pregnancy since my body feels weakened and tired from it.

I quickly wash through my hair, letting the warm water run all over, and then before I know it, the mirror has fogged up and I don't feel like staying any longer. I wrap a towel I find around my body before allowing the water off the ends of my hair to drip on the floor as I've always done.

I wrap the towel tightly and follow the sound before realizing that I don't have clothes on which I know would be rude of me to do in front of anyone but Miles but somehow when I hear the familiar boxing sounds, I somehow forget about having nothing but a towel on completely.

the boxing increases as if slowly but surely the strength does too.

I stand outside the door quietly and at the same time that my fingers push at the door slowly, I hear Miles's voice, "You've got a lot of anger in you," Miles speaks as I open the door fully, Jace's eyes instantly hit mine.

"You have no idea," his voice might as well be him letting out a breath, but I hear his words clear as anything else in the room. I know he's not angry at me; I know exactly what he means. Both of their eyes are on me now and I feel as though I'm out of place and then I realize I have nothing but a towel wrapped around me.

Miles takes his jacket off, handing it to me and smiling with his eyes, "We'll leave in ten minutes,"

I nod and quickly escape the room, feeling Jace's eyes on me as I leave. I run back into the bathroom and grab the clothes that were meant for today.

With almost one swift motion, I'm wearing the clothes and I've left the towel behind on the floor neatly folded.

I walk back into the room, now both Miles and Jace placing all of the exercise equipment they must have used, back where they belong, making the room much cleaner than when I walked into it.

Jace's oft eyes are on mine. I'm thankful that it's just the three of us that are awake because saying goodbye to Jace is harder than it ever had been. He seems so adult-like all of a sudden, and I know exactly why; he needs to move on, he needs to have a life worth living but it still hurts me, that everything we had is now non-existent. I never knew that one of the things that made our friendship so perfect were the feelings Jace had about me, and without them, everything seems so different and I know I'll miss the way things were even though I can't allow myself to do that to him.

"I'll see you soon, Jace," I speak through the tears welling up in my eyes.