Ever a Never After

chapter 1 - time stopped, heart dropped

It was an average day for Jace. Well his new average anyway. It was 5pm on a Saturday and he was walking in the mall with his friends. For some reason though today he was feeling great. Usually he didn't feel anything past good but maybe this weeks moon cycles were giving him a boost or something.

"Jace look at this."  Waylen held up a new graphic tee in the anime section of hot topic. "What do you think?" He looked at Jace waiting for his answer.

"It's cool." Is all he said with a nod of his head. Waylen's smile dropped and he tilted his head as if to say 'really.'

"You always say that."

"Well...it is." Jace laughed lightly and awkwardly smiled at him. Waylen just shook his head and headed for the checkout. He paid for his stuff and they headed out together hand in hand. The rest of the group was in the shop next to them. After about an hour of shopping they all stopped to eat then left the mall.

Kylie left with the most bags of course but Mariah was a close second with a total of 5 bags. Noor only bought one thing—a plushie—for their girlfriend and Erik bought pink socks with bananas on them along with a new Funko Pop. Waylen bought some shirts and jewelry and Jace came out with nothing. He preferred online shopping. After spending the day together they all went their separate ways, except for Waylen who rode home with Jace.

Jace parked his car on the street in front of his house and walked up the small walkway. Upon entering, something felt off. Both his parents and his little sister turned to look at them as he slowly walked towards them, confusion on his face. It was odd enough they were all just sitting in the kitchen looking like they were discussing a secret plan.

"Um...what's up?" Jace said looking around awkwardly. No one said anything.

"I'll meet you upstairs." Said Waylen, obviously noticing the tension and left his family to his privacy. Jace approached the countertop. He looked to his sister Camila. She looked down. She was a bad liar and everyone knew it so Jace knew that there was something he didn't know. Still no one said anything and at this point his anxiety started to take over and he was getting agitated. "What is it?!" He looked wide eyed to his mom and dad trying to keep his cool. His dad checked his watch and his mom said,

"Esta bien mi amor." ("It's okay my love.") This only furthered his increasing anxiety. What was going on and why was everyone being so secretive?? As if reading his mind Camila said,

"It's nothing really just...go upstairs." Jace just stared at her; he didn't know what to say. He hated surprises. Were they planning a surprise? I don't know why they would nothing special is going on, he thought. He was debating forgetting about it and summing it up to his family just being weird. Anything to calm him down. But there was something nagging him at the back of his mind. A thought. An outrageous one. The same outrageous one that usually came up now and again. As always he pushed it away. It hurt to think about. Grabbing a water from the fridge he headed up the stairs to his room. Waylen was watching Anime on Jace's tv. Laying on his back he put his headphones on and decided to listen to Harry Styles. His mood diminished.

Jace couldn't help but to think about a different time in his life. A time when he was happy beyond measure. It's been a while since he felt truly happy. Sure Waylen made him happy, happy enough he thought, but, it just wasn't the same. As much as he hated to say it, it was more of a comfort thing. He knew it wouldn't last and that he'd probably be the first to break them up. But Waylen was a decent guy and he didn't want to ruin what they had going, really he deserved better than that but he didn't know if he really wanted their relationship to continue. It was his first real relationship since that year and it was going well. Most of the time anyway. But he felt a need to be alone for a while. He felt a new sadness inching it's way forward. He closed his eyes.