Heartless

I kept my eyes shut as I felt myself wake up, sighing irritably. I laid still for a second until I noticed something moving on my side.

My eyes snapped open, and I blinked a few times before slowly glancing down to see...

An arm.

I rolled my eyes at myself and frowned before turning over a bit to see exactly who said arm belonged to. I was slightly shocked to see Jace sleeping behind me. And I was more than shocked to see that he was naked.

I felt myself flush lightly before I remembered what had happened the night before, making me groan. We hadn't had sex, but it was a near thing. I slowly sat up, covering myself once I noticed my state of... nudity, as well. Jace stirred slightly before rolling over and hugging his pillow, making me smile as I crawled over him to retrieve my clothes. They had been thrown all over the room, so eventually I gave up and just got new ones, deciding on a shower.

The shower turned out to be a good idea. I managed to get some thinking done that would have otherwise been forgotten with Jace distracting me. Though I was sure he didn't mean to distract. It just sort of... Happened.

I quickly washed my hair and body before wrapping a towel around my waist, shaking my head in an attempt to get the excess water out. I stopped in front of the mirror, taking a good look at myself. It wasn't something I did usually, since I didn't really like to be reminded of what I looked like, but after seeing Jace...

I rubbed lightly at the thin skin on my cheek, frowning when it started to turn a pink color even at the light touch. My eyes stared back, practically lifeless with hardly any ability to see the light violet color that they were. I sighed and jumped slightly when I heard the bathroom door open, seeing Jace stumble in. “Oh shit, sorry. I thought you'd be in the kitchen or something by now.” he yawned as I glanced over him in the mirror, happy that he at least had on his boxers. “Woke up later than usual.” I murmured back. Jace smirked slightly, pushing me over slightly so he could grab a toothbrush.

I watched for a minute as he began to brush his teeth, occasionally smiling when he made a face at the taste of the toothpaste. Eventually though, I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest. It wasn't until he was about to leave the bathroom that I managed to speak up.

“... I don't know if I'm ready to trust you, Jace.”

I glanced up from my feet to the mirror, seeing Jace staring intently at the back of my head as he tapped on the doorway with his fingers. “I'm not asking you to,” he replied while shaking his head, “I'm just asking you to have some faith in me, that I won't just randomly leave you. Even if it's just a little.”

“... And if you do leave again? I don't want to be stuck here wondering if you'll be coming back.” I whispered. I felt his arms come around my waist from behind as he lightly kissed the top of my head. “Will, I told you, I had-”

“I know why you left, I'm not saying it was a bad thing to do.” I interrupted. It was silent for a minute until he sighed. “... But?”

“... I don't know if I can handle you leaving again. Especially after this.” I finished, ducking my head again as I felt him hug me tighter. “Will, I can't promise that I won't leave, but... I can promise that if I do, I will tell you, and I will be back. No matter what.” he said quietly, rubbing my hip with his thumb. “I know it's not the best thing in the world, but... It'll have to do. For now, at least.”

He smiled slightly to me in the mirror before letting go and leaving the bathroom, picking up his jeans on his way to the living room. I smiled as I watched him before turning back to the counter, leaning against it slightly and nodding to myself. “It'll do for now.”

“So how have you been?”

“Fine Mom.”

“Taking your medicine?”

“Yes Mom.”

“Not being too active?”

“... Sure.”

“... Will-”

“Yeah?”

“What was that hesitation?”

I sighed and rolled my eyes to myself as I finished washing up the dishes, keeping my back to Mom. “Nothing Mom. There's just been a bit more work around the house with Jace being back.”

Let's not mention that he doesn't make the food or wash his own dishes. And let's not also mention that particular night a week ago that we spent otherwise occupied.

“Speaking of him, where is he? I expected him to be here.” She wondered aloud. I shrugged slightly. “He said something about going to the store to pick up a few things.” I told her. I noticed her nod out of my peripheral vision (what small amount of it there is) before she got serious, making me duck my head. “Willow... Jace and you... You haven't been... Doing things together, have you?” she asked. I frowned and glanced at her. “No, Mom. Why would you even think that?”

“Just curious... I know you two spend a lot of time together, and you're really close.” She defended herself, throwing her hands up. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again and shook my head instead. “Mom, it's no different than before he left when we were younger.” I explained.

“... And you think I don't know what you boys did in that room?”

That comment made me freeze, the cup falling out of my hand and back into the water with a dull sound. “Will, I'm not as oblivious as you think I am. And while I'm all for you two experimenting if you want to, I don't want you to get hurt if Jace decides otherwise.”

I pushed myself away from the sink to face her, crossing my arms over my chest. “Mom... I appreciate it, I really do, but... I'm twenty years old. I can handle myself if Jace does end up deciding he doesn't want this. Besides, we've already talked about it, and according to him, he isn't going anywhere.” I told her. She nodded thoughtfully, about to respond when the front door opened. Then, apparently, she decided to switch the topic. “Are you using protection?” she asked loudly. I felt my eyes widen as there was a loud crashing noise from the living room, followed by an equally loud 'fuck'.

Mom smirked slightly while I blushed and put my head in my hand, sighing as Jace stumbled into the kitchen and casually leaned against the doorway. “So, who's talking about protection?”

Mom laughed loudly and patted his arm, shaking her head. “Nothing you need to worry about dear. Have a nice night you two, and Will, remember what I said.” she told us as I held the thumb of my other hand up, signaling I had heard her. We waited until she was out of the house to begin talking. “So, what fascinating conversation did I happen to walk in on?” Jace asked. I sighed and went back over to the sink, picking up the cup I had held previously. “You... Don't want to know, Jace.”

“Oh, on the contrary.”

I smirked slightly and looked at him. “We actually happened to be talking about you.” I replied. He raised an eyebrow in interest. “Oh really? Do tell.”

“No, I don't think I will.”

“... You evil little man.”

I shook my head at him, washing the cup in hand as he walked over, standing next to me. He stared at me for a second before rolling up his sleeves and putting his hand on the sink, pulling out a bowl and grabbing a rag, beginning to wash it. We stood in silence, washing plates and bowls until Jace couldn't take it anymore. “I feel so fucking domesticated...”

“Welcome to my boring life.” I responded quietly, smiling. He nodded in agreement. “Well... I guess being domesticated with you isn't so bad.” he added. I leaned against him lightly, resting my head on his shoulder while we finished the dishes quickly. We stood there for another few minutes before Jace put his arm around my shoulders. “Why don't we go watch a movie? We can get some popcorn, some soda, and just relax for the rest of the night.” he suggested. I frowned slightly. “But I just washed everything...”

“I'll wash anything we use in the morning.”

“... Promise?”

“Promise.”

I sighed, but nodded and went out to the living room, looking over at the DVD's I had. I realized that there weren't really that many...

Jace walked out after me, picking up the remote. “Do you have On Demand?” he asked. I nodded back, watching as he flicked through the movies until he got to the horror films. “Jace... Are you really gonna make me watch a horror film?” I asked. He nodded happily, browsing through them until he found one he liked, which I had never heard of before. “You'll like it. Or scream and then murder me in my sleep. Either way.” he told me, heading back into the kitchen for drinks and food. I frowned after him, sitting on the couch and waiting.

About halfway through the movie, I was clinging to Jace and was unable to take my eyes off the screen, no matter what. Jace was rather calm about it, rubbing my shoulder lightly while blinking and sighing occasionally. At one particular part I was very close to screaming, but managed to contain myself by squeezing Jace's arm. I jumped a bit when I heard him whisper. “Will, I'm losing circulation.”

I glanced down to see his fingers, which were rather pale. I hadn't realized how tight I was holding on, letting go slowly and curling up holding my hands together and pulling my legs up to my chest. I jumped again when I felt Jace slide his arm across my shoulders and pull me closer to him, so I was leaning against his side. “Next time I'm picking the movie.” I mumbled, wincing when there was a scene with way more blood than should be legal. Jace chuckled, squeezing me lightly. “We'll see.” he murmured. I rolled my eyes and sighed, reluctantly sitting through the rest of the movie.

I was going to have so many nightmares tonight...