Just a Game

Every Night Has Its Dawn

A/N: Three chapters in like two days lol. I hope you like them though. And thank you so much for still sticking with me through this. I hope to hear more from you guys!

Alice // chapter thirty

Dave's, the café friends and I had agreed to meet up at, wasn't as packed as I'd expected it to be. I killed the engine, but couldn't manage enough energy to actually leave the car. My eyes searched for Jace, quickly locating him sitting between Blake and Chris, another one of his friends. There was a smile etched on his face as he joked around with the lot.

My heart skipped a beat, failing to do its job for the whole second it took me to realize that I was going to be in the same room as him.

Even worse, I wasn't so sure how he was going to treat me. I wondered if he would ignore me, pretend as if I wasn't there or just act like I hadn't broken up with him.

Much to my dismay, however, Katie turned around laughing, her gaze locking on mine. Her smile widened and I already knew that she'd squealed regardless of the fact that I couldn't hear her. I knew her too well.

Her eyebrows furrowed when I just sat there frozen in my car, not making any moves to get inside and join them. "What are you doing? Get in!" She mouthed, gesturing for me to come inside with her hand.

I sighed. I wanted to stay outside for a while longer to ponder on how I was supposed to act around Jace, but I knew that after Katie saw me, it would be impossible for me to do so. Knowing that if I stayed inside my car for a moment longer, Katie would come outside to drag me inside, I got my phone and jumped out, locking the doors before heading in.

The moment I stepped inside, I knew I'd made a mistake coming here. The group's loudness had overtaken the usual quietness of the café and I was sure almost everyone else was annoyed by it. I sure as hell already was.

But I didn't want to look bitter as I walked to where the lot sat, so I slapped a fake smile on my lips and pretended like my life wasn't falling apart.

"Hey, Alice's here!" Blake yelled from the other side of the table while I was pushing Katie over so that I could sit comfortably.

I ignored the humorous glares Katie threw my way and gave Blake a nod. "Yeah. It's not like shits awkward or anything."

My eyes didn't dare move towards Jace's direction. It was like I was afraid to even look his way. I had done him wrong in so many ways, I didn't deserve the right to be able to look him in the eye.

"Did I miss anything?" A voice that I've learned to dread chirped and seconds later, I saw her walk up to where Jace sat and plant herself in the seat between him and Chris.

And as my eyes turned on Jace for the very first time since I'd entered the café, I saw his smile towards her, his happiness to have her here with him. It was like a hard punch in the gut, reminding me of what I gave up, what I lost.

She gave me the proud eye and turned to face Blake. "You brought the onion?"

His smile widened. "Hell yeah. Prepare to be taken down!"

She snickered. "Yeah right. We'll see about that."

Blake handed her a large onion and I stared at them with questioning eyes as Tanya took a large bite from the raw onion.

What the hell?

I cringed, watching her chew her bite peacefully as if she hadn't just bitten off a piece of raw onion.

She handed the onion over to Blake, a smug smile on her lips. My eyes caught Jace's sweet smile that was directed at her and something crashed into my sanity, moving it slightly out of place.

I forced my eyes away from him when it felt as though my lungs were near a collapse. I moved my focus to Blake, who had taken a small bite of the onion and was now chewing it while trying not to throw it all up.

A snicker escaped me amidst everyone's quietness as they stared at him, wondering if he'd do it. They all turned to me in surprise, surely shocked that I was paying attention to him rather than someone in particular in the room, but they quickly followed in by laughing along seconds later. Jace, however, lingered; his eyes took on a darker tone as he searched for something. It didn't last long, though. He looked away from me quickly, causing me to gulp in nervousness.

When Blake finally spit the chewed onion out, everyone made gross noises to annoy him. Tanya high-fived Jace and the others around her as she claimed victory.

I pushed my fingers through my hair, not knowing how to decipher the whole Jace and Tanya situation. I didn't want to assume things; that seems to land me in hot water every single time. So, I was just going to trust that Jace wouldn't do that, especially not the literal day after we broke up.

"Who is that guy?" Melanie, a friend of Katie, purred, her eyes glossed over in pure seduction as she stared at someone behind me. Everyone, except for my distracted self, turned to investigate what she was talking about.

I watched in confusion as Katie's eyes widened. "Oh my God. He's staring at you, Alice!"

I nearly choked. "Me?"

She nodded fiercely. "Oh shit, I think he just sent the waiter over here."

My lips parted to make fun of her, but a boy who looked like a freshman dressed in the café's waiter attire walked up to my side of the table. "Hi, are you Alice?"

I blinked. "Um."

Katie, however, wasn't as in shock as me, because she immediately stepped in. "She is."

He smiled and handed me a folded small piece of paper. "I hope you enjoy," he nodded when I slowly took the paper from him. He then walked away, leaving me there in confusion as everyone at the table stared at me like I had another head growing on the side of my neck.

"Come on, read it!" Melanie squealed, "This is so romantic."

I froze. Romantic? My eyes flew to Jace and he was staring at me with so much agony buried deep in his eyes. He looked at the piece of paper in my hands and looked back up at me. I could see the tears that welled up in his eyes, but he pushed them back, forcing them to not fall. My breathing quickened as I watched him fight his emotions.

When I couldn't bear another moment of Jace's pained eyes, I looked away and stared at the note instead. Inhaling deeply, I unfolded the note and read the words.

"What does it say?" Melanie asked, the excitement in her voice evident.

I swallowed hard, preparing to read the words out loud, but someone beat me to it.

"Every night has a dawn," a low toned voice said, causing the girls to squeal.

I blinked. It couldn't be. Could it? I had to know that I wasn't imagining his voice, so I looked up.

It was him.

"Damon?"

He smiled, flashing his brilliantly dashing set of teeth. "Hey, beautiful."