Screaming Death ⚔ Jace Herondale [Discontinued]

10|Ten

Jace chuckled as he stepped further into the room eyes on the strawberry blonde who was yet to meet his eyes. His smirk faltered as he became more serious. "You alright?"

Lyla finally lifted her gaze from her collarbone pulling the sleeve over her shoulder blade. "I'm breathing aren't I?" Though she didn't seem to care how she had risked her life Jace felt regret for not going with her as she had asked. "You're not here to give me an earful are you? I just got one from Alec, let me breathe okay?"

"Alec can be a little-"

"Overdramatic? Brooding?" Lyla asked raising an eyebrow.

The blonde's smirk had returned as he shook his head "I was going to say difficult."

The strawberry blonde nodded before her gaze shifted to her ankle. "I got the location for the tattoo parlor, as soon as the swelling goes down I can go back to looking."

"I can go." Jace offered to which Lyla shook her head her smile faltering.

"I sprained my ankle Jace, it's nothing. I can do the searching, you guys just focus on waking Clary's mom and I'll figure it out."

"What happened?" Jace asked reading the girl like an open book. He could see within her green eyes that something was bothering her.

"What do you mean? I thought it was pretty clear, I tried kicking down a door with a three hundred dollar shoe -which by the way isn't as easy as it looks- and hurt my ankle." Lyla explained though she knew that wasn't what he was asking her about, she just refused to acknowledge that he was the first to see that something was wrong.

"It isn't hard to do." Jace couldn't help adding to which Lyla rolled her eyes, the boy smirking as he moved further into the room. "You know what I mean Lyla."

It was the first time since knowing the Wayland boy she had acknowledged the way her name sounded falling from his lips. It sounded airy with his slightly deep voice... Sexy and there was nothing she wanted more than to hear him repeat her name again. At this realization a frown replaced her previously pursed lips. She did trust Jace but something was holding her back from telling him what she had witnessed today. "I was completely terrified when I went into that building."

Jace watched the girl silently before moving to take the empty spot on the hard bed beside her. Lyla shifted slightly as she adjusted her upper body so she could face him without hurting her ankle. "At one point I was going to give up. My legs and arms were protesting but then I kept pushing myself." Her eyes lifted from staring at the white sheet beneath her to meet the blue-brown eyes of Jace Wayland who watched her intently.

"When I got out, I felt something. I felt so happy, so overjoyed and it was disbelieving that I saved someone. My heart was pounding, my ankle wasn't even a concern, hell I didn't give two shits about my wrecked wardrobe." A soft laugh left her lips, leaving behind the traces if a small smile. "Then I heard her, her voice was so soft. She told me thanks and suddenly the fear that I felt was worth it... I know it all seems stupid, Alec told me."

"It's not stupid... You are courageous and selfless, not many people would've done what you did." Jace said softly "Remember when you first told me you were scared?"

"I do because you still haven't genuinely apologized for being a dick." Lyla stated recalling the yelling match which had took place between the two outside of a nightclub she had went to with Thomas.Jace smirked not uttering a word as he held eye contact.

"The difference between then and now is the fact that despite the fear you went in not caring and not runaway."

"Running is all I know." Her voice was barely above a whisper but Jace had heard. "It's what I've been thought but now I don't think about running. Why is that?"

Jace hesitantly reached forward pushing strands of red-blonde hair from her face, his pink lips in a straight line as he concentrated on his task. "You're the only one who can answer that."

Lyla stayed silent as she admired the handsome man before her. Everything about him was attractive, from his floppy blonde hair to his unique colored irises, from his slightly crooked nose to the way his medium pink lips formed the words he spoke. Her breath hitched as his hands rested on her flushed cheeks, eyes clashing together in an intense stare.

"You're beautiful," Lyla murmured softly as her small hands lifted to rest on Jace's cheeks, feeling the rough edges of his stubble along her palm. Jace leant forward and stopped, nose brushing against Lyla's. The two were a breath away from kissing and for a split second it was what they both wanted.

"I want to but..." Lyla pulled back her hands falling to her lap. "The only reason we want to is because we both want to forget something. I was okay with using you because we'd be doing the same thing but you're something and I don't want to ruin that."

Jace disappointed let his hands fall from her cheeks as he stood from the bed. "Yeah, you're right." He nodded as if to further show his agreement.

"You're coming with me to the tattoo parlor right?"

Jace smirk returned as he shoved his hands in the pocket of his denim. "Whose gonna ward off the demons if I don't?"

Lyla gave a smirk of her own. "I'm sure you're aware that I'm not just a pretty face."

⚜

Lyla stared up at the night sky, smiling at the million stars that splashed across the dark sky like paint to a canvas. The sight always took her breath away and to her it seemed to grow even more beautiful with each passing night.

She glanced around her surroundings, inhaling deeply at the site of the many trees. They stood tall in the night making it quite impossible to see farther than they granted. Lyla took a step forward and slowly approached the shining light in the distance, losing control of her limbs the farther she went. The night air kissed her flushed cheeks, blowing her strawberry blonde hair from her face.

In the blink of an eye she was in a familiar apartment and as her Nana walked by she realized no one could see her. Then she heard it.

"I don't want her anywhere near me!" Meredith yelled the auburn haired woman coming into view as she furiously tugged a lone suitcase. "She has an issue and you're the cause of it so you keep her!"

Aurora was hot on her heels "She's just a little girl."

Unknown to both a little Lyla peeked from behind a wall, watching the two women argue.

"A curse is what she is. The teachers are complaining about her mom, they're saying that she needs help because she keeps crying that there are voices in her head."

Aurora sighed as she watched her only child furiously gather her things that were scattered around the house they shared. Meredith had moved in with Aurora when she had fell pregnant with Lyla, never would the old woman think that everything would lead to this.

"So you're just going to leave her?"

"I'm getting as far away as I can." Meredith replied just as Lyla stepped into the living room her lips trembling as she wrung her hands together.

"Mommy?"

Meredith ignored the girl's call continuing her task. It was when Aurora move towards the little girl that the woman seized her packing. "This is your fault you know?" She asked rhetorically "I thought that we could be normal but you, you're the reason I ended up with an insane child. You keep her."

Lyla woke gasping for air, her hands pushing hair from her face as she stared ahead in the dark room. The memory had came so sudden and though she thought she made peace with what had happened, there was thill a dull ache.

Meredith had gotten the normal she wanted, and Lyla couldn't help but wonder what life would be like with her mother. Would she still have been the way she was? Or would she be different?

She never had indulged in a serious relationship and she knew it had something to do with not having both parents, so now she wondered if even one could've made a difference. She did miss her mother and it was in times like these she allowed herself to cry. She allowed herself to feel weak and not be the stubborn girl who didn't seem to care about anything for once.

Lyla Spade allowed herself to be the weak little girl who was a disgrace to her mother just for tonight.