Naughty Princess

12

Grace helped pack the car with Addison, and they talked a little as they did.

Jace was still in the car, on his phone with someone. The sun was setting, and it was getting dark. They wouldn't be able to get to Jace's penthouse until late, but even then, Addison wished she could drag it out a bit longer.

"Please text me when you get there, okay? I know you're angry, I would be too... and I am sorry, Addy." Not all of her cases fit in the trunk, but Grace promised to drop the rest off next weekend. The leftover cases held things like coats and shoes; she didn't need them for now, and she didn't want to bother Jace with asking for two trips. She didn't even want to make two trips.

Closing the trunk softly, cutting off Jace's hushed conversation on the phone, Addison turned to her friend. She really didn't want to leave it like this, but she was still angry, and all the words she wanted to say wouldn't form.

It wasn't even just the Jace thing, it was everything. Every silly little thing that's piled up over the years. Which is silly in itself, so she holds it back inside her.

"I know, Grace. And I will, I'll make sure." It had never been awkward between them, but now she didn't know how to say goodbye. Grace made a picture, red eyes and messy hair, standing in front of her two-story house and its red door framed by white columns of stone.

Reaching forward, Addison gripped Grace's arms and pulled her into a hug. She buried her face into her friend's shoulder and tried to stop her quiet sobs.

Why did things happen the way they did?

---

When Jace pulled out of Grace's street, it was officially nighttime, and he was looking like he was one distraction away from crashing.

Addison eyed him from where she sat, hands bunched into fists in her lap. There was some traffic, but not much. The drive into New York was long, though, and there were still enough people on the road for them to slow to a stop every now and then. It was a Monday after all.

Jace was driving with one hand on the wheel, the other he leaned on, dragging a finger back and forth over his bottom lip. The whole drive, he was fiddling with the radio station, tapping at the steering wheel, or playing with his lip.

She wasn't exactly worried for her life, but nobody wants to get into a car accident, especially at night.

He had finally settled on a station playing old rock, and that's what they listened to for the rest of the ride. Addison slowly started to relax; Jace may find it hard to sit still behind a wheel, but he knew how to handle a car. Cars passed, and so did houses; she let herself be lulled into sleep.

"Addison, we're here." Startling awake, Addison sat up in the seat. She winced and rubbed at her neck; there was pain biting there. At first, she didn't know where they were; the lights outside were dim and the space empty around them.

Jace, probably on autopilot and too tired to deal with her, sighed through his nose and got out of the car. She was still blinking the sand from her eyes when he made his way around and opened her door.

Wrinkled slacks and a white button-up with sleeves pushed up to his elbows, Jace Slate made a different picture from what he did this morning.

She looked down at his hand and back up at his face. He looked tired and a little annoyed, but she didn't feel anxious. For once since she was left on the side of the street in the downpour, her head was quiet.

She grasped his warm hand and let him pull her up.