Heartless

On Monday, Jace drove both of us to school, supposedly to make sure I actually went. I shrunk down in my seat as he pulled into a parking space and turned the engine off, looking over at me. “Will, c'mon. The sooner you face this, the sooner it's gonna be over.” he mumbled. I snorted in response.

“Yeah well, I'd rather face it, let's see, never.”

He rolled his eyes, putting his hand on my knee. “Willow. Get out of my car. I don't want your ass imprinted on my seat.” he smiled quickly before getting out and grabbing his bag from the backseat. “Oh, I see how it is. Here I am, going to my ultimate doom, and all you care about are ass imprints.” I mumbled to myself before getting out as well. Jace smirked at me over the top of the car and headed toward the entrance as I quickly glanced around, and Oh my God they're staring already...

We managed to make it to Jace's locker unscathed. “See? What did I tell you. Nothing's gonna happen. There's gonna be some staring, and that's about the extent. They would have done something by now.” he said.

“Maybe they're feeling lazy because it's a Monday.”

Jace froze and slowly turned to me with a blank expression. “Willow. Stop being so fucking pessimistic, damn it.”

I glared at his back as he walked away, slowly following him to homeroom.

By the time Art was over, I was starting to believe Jace. Maybe people would just stare for a few months. It was a rather pleasant thought until we got to lunch.

I was following Jace to our table, staring at whatever it was that was covering his tray. I never ate at school. “Will, stop looking at my food like it's not there. You're gonna make it shy.” he said with a slight smirk, making me shake my head at him as I noticed a few football players out of the corner of my eye and stopped walking.

They started walking toward me, making my arm shoot out to grab Jace's and only meeting air. Jace had already walked ahead and was sitting down at the table. The jocks stopped in front of me, the one in front raising an eyebrow. His jacket said his last name was Karow, apparently. “You're in the way.” he said. I felt myself release a breath I hadn't known I was holding in as I stepped to the side, starting to head to my table when a hand on my shoulder stopped me again.

“Where do you think you're going?”

My eyes slid shut and I sighed to myself as Karow came back in front of me, tilting his head slightly in a way that made the veins in his neck pop out. I was pretty sure he was on steroids anyway.

Karow's hand on my shoulder tightened, making me wince slightly as he got closer. “So, I heard from a very good friend of mine this weekend that you, my friend, are questioning your sexuality?”

I refused to answer, looking down at the floor between us as I heard him sigh. “I'll rephrase,” he mumbled, getting even closer so I could smell his breath, which made me gag slightly, “You a fag now?”

I looked up and gave him a blank expression to which he leaned back and shook his head. “You had to do things the hard way.” he sighed, taking his hand off my shoulder. I was about to walk away when suddenly something wet slid down the back of my neck and shoulder blades. I almost shivered when barely a second later I realized that whatever it was, it was scorching hot.

I bit my tongue to hold in the scream from feeling my skin burn, forcing my hands to stay straight as I ignored the laughter from Karow and whoever had poured something down my back fade as they walked away. After a few seconds I walked away as well, out the opposite direction and to the nearest bathroom, going into the large back stall and tearing my shirt off, which was covered in the hot substance, and pressing my back against the cold metal the stall walls were made of. I bit my tongue again, harder this time and tasting blood as my eyes watered to keep in any noise of pain that threatened to escape.

A few minutes later there was the sound of someone else coming into the bathroom and a knock on my stall. “Willow? Open up.”

My attempt to ignore Jace proved to be futile as his knocking turned into banging and his request was filled with more expletives each time. Eventually I slowly made my way to the door, careful not to move my back as I unlocked it and Jace came in, shutting it behind him and turning to me. “You're shirtless...”

“Way to go, captain obvious.”

Jace rolled his eyes and turned me around so my back was facing him as he lightly touched the burned areas.

“Damn... They got you pretty good.” he mumbled. I rolled my eyes. “Tell me something I don't know... Or feel.” I managed to ground out. I heard him sigh before he walked over to the sink and rolled up his sleeves, getting some paper towels and wetting them before going back over to me and lightly pressing it against my neck. “Just keep this here for a minute, I'm gonna go get some ice from the nurse.” he said, leaving the bathroom quickly. I waited until I couldn't hear his foot steps anymore to slid down the wall and press against it, keeping the towel against my neck as I took off my glasses and rubbed at my eyes.

I was still rubbing when I heard Jace come back in, locking the stall door and sitting beside me, reaching over to press the ice to the middle of my upper back as I hissed quietly. I watched his arm the entire time, noticing how his veins became more prominent every time more pressure was used, or how the scars would change from white to a light pink color. “What are you looking at?” he asked eventually. I shrugged, frowning at the slight pain. “You're arm,” I responded instead, “It's highly fascinating.”

I heard him chuckle before I felt myself being pushed forward slightly, watching as he maneuvered himself behind me to reach my lower back better. “How does your back feel?”

“Like it just got burned.”

“... Well no shit.”

I rolled my eyes and stared at the floor, leaning my head forward when Jace lightly pushed on the back of my head. “Your Mom's gonna be pissed.” he commented.

“... No she won't.”

I could imagine the raised eyebrow Jace more-than-likely had as he asked how she could not be pissed, choosing not to answer and shaking my head slightly instead. “She's not mad at you for being gay, is she?”

“What do you think? Only son, only child, for that matter, and he's gay. And Albino. And a nerd. Not exactly a combination destined for greatness.”

“Well, maybe not the nerd thing. And yeah, you're kinda screwed with the Albinism thing. But I don't think she should start shunning you all of a sudden for being gay.”

I sighed, glancing over my shoulder to see Jace frowning at something on my lower back as he pressed the ice to it, glaring at it slightly now. “I don't know. I guess it was kind of like the straw that broke the camels back.”

“I don't know if that metaphor applies in this situation.”

“I don't know if it's even a metaphor.”

Jace chuckled quietly before I leaned back on him, causing him to hiss as the ice came into contact with his stomach. “Holy shit that's cold!”

“Oh? Didn't know ice could be cold.” I replied sarcastically. He glared down at me as he tried to readjust himself, not succeeding in the least before giving up and rolling his eyes. “Any reason you're using me as a human pillow?”

“You're comfortable,” I replied, “And I could use a human pillow right now. Back's starting to hurt from sitting up.”

Jace nodded, bringing his arms around to rest on my stomach as I closed my eyes.

“I'm sorry...” I heard after a while, making me open my eyes again to look up at Jace. “For?”

“... Outing you. Which makes today my fault.”

I sighed silently and pressed my head back against his chest, chewing on the inside of my cheek. “It's not your fault, Jace. It was bound to happen eventually.”

I didn't get a response, making me put my hands over his and rub the back of his hands with my thumbs. “It'll be alright, eventually. Until then, I'll just have to deal with it.”

I got a response that time.

“You know, I admire you sometimes.”

I frowned. “Ew. Why?”

He sighed, tapping his fingers on my stomach lightly. “I don't know. Several reasons, which shall never be revealed to you.” I could hear him smiling, making me glare at the wall across from us.

“You are so weird.” I mumbled after a while. He laughed.

“Love you too Willow.”

I frowned slightly as I felt my heart do a little flip at the reply. (which is completely impossible, but somehow an accurate description)

“... Love you too, Jace.”

And I meant it.