I'm happy once my long day comes to an end at six in the evening. It flew by without a lot of anxiety, I guess I've had enough of it in these past few days.
I haven't heard from Jace after this morning, but I guess we don't have to know where the other is all the time. In that exact moment, my phone starts vibrating in my pocket.
Is dinner in the city okay? We picked a nice little restaurant Bree texts me.
I type my answer right away. Sounds good! I send.
I know I didn't ask Jace if he's okay with driving into the city, but I'm sure he won't mind. Bree gives me the address seconds after, and attaches a picture with directions. The restaurant looks pretty already, I can tell Bree has picked it.
My phone vibrates for the second time, while I'm walking out of the seminar room. It's a call from Jace this time. For some reason my heart still flutters every time I see his name on the screen.
"Hey" I say softly into the phone.
"Hey. Where are you?" he wants to know.
"I just finished all of my seminars and was about to head back to the dorm. I'm still in the main building" I answer.
"Bree is at Austin's already, wait in the café for me?" he asks me again. "I don't want you to be alone in the dorm and I have that thing at six thirty, remember?" he adds.
Right, the incident with Derek and all.
"Okay, I'll wait there. I'd like to change before dinner though, do you think we'll make it on time? We have to drive into the city, I hope you don't mind" I explain, already walking over to the café right on campus.
"We'll be fine. I'll see you soon" Jace says, hanging up the phone.
I contemplate just going to my dorm anyway, but I know Jace would kill me if I did. I hate being late and I definitely don't feel like sitting in the café all by myself for thirty minutes. Social anxiety and all that. I guess I'll have to endure it today. I walk inside, and see that the coffee shop is still pretty packed with people. I order myself a chamomille tea, and sit down in one of the corners.
Instead of trying to pass the time, I decide to get some reading done for my classes. Hopefully time will fly by faster then. I notice my stomach grumble, as I'm starting to get hungry already. I try not to think about fainting and push the thought right back out of my head. Finishing the first text quickly, I move on to the next one, occasionally taking a sip of the hot tea.
"Ready to go?" Jace's voice pulls me out of my thoughts.
I glance at my phone, 6:25pm. I guess I did get lost in my uni work, thankfully.
"You're early" I notice, packing all my stuff together.
"Yeah, I made some arrangements so we wouldn't be late. Come on" he says grabbing my bag for me.
"Thank you" I remark, as Jace grabs my chin to press a kiss on my lips.
I don't think I'll ever get used to the stares we get on campus from kissing in public. I think I can even hear some whispering in the corners, but I ignore it. Jace grabs my hand, and we make our way over to my dorm.
"Do you have the location of the restaurant?" Jace asks me on our stroll.
"Yeah, Bree send me the address. Here" I answer and hand him my phone.
Jace quickly types something away on his own. "I know where it is, it's only twenty minutes from here."
I feel a little relief fall off of my shoulders. No need to be anxious about the time then.
"Awesome" I say, smiling at him. "How was your day?" I add, just when we enter the building my room is located in.
Jace is silent for a second. "You know, it's been a long time since someone asked me that" he admits to me.
My heart cracks a little. I look at him and make a little note in my head to try to ask him everyday. "It was good babe. Yours?" he half-smiles back at me.
"Good" I smile back at him.
We arrive in front of my door and I quickly unlock it so we can head inside. Jace throws himself onto my bed, scrolling through his phone.
"We need to leave in ten. Think you can do that?" Jace remarks cheekily.
"Yes, you should know I don't take long to get ready" I argue back, simply earning a laugh from Jace.
I take off my jacket and walk over to my closet to decide what to put on. Keeping the time in mind, I grab my blue, baggy jeans, a tight black top and combine it with my black blazer.
After changing into them, I turn on my straightener. While waiting for it to get hot, I reapply my make up. I watch Jace in the mirror for a little while. Once again, he doesn't have to put a lot of effort into his clothes, he looks good no matter what he wears. Today he's in his usual black jeans with a dark grey sweater.
Only now I notice that we're basically matching with our dark outfits, but I don't have the time to change again. I straighten my ash blonde hair, put on my white and black sneakers and then I'm ready to head out the door.
"We can go" I tell Jace, probably pulling him out of his thoughts.
He slips his phone into his pocket, looking over to me. He stands up from the bed, grabbing his jacket. I put my own jacket on and find my purse on my desk. I try to open the door, but Jace holds it closed. He's standing right behind me, breathing down my neck. "Jace, we have to go..." I say, but I'm interrupted by his hand on waist turning me around to face him.
"Or" he murmurs. "I could rip these clothes off of you. That's exactly what they're making me want to do."
My cheeks turn red hot, flattered by his words. I lean my head forward to give him a quick kiss on the lips, telling him thank you. I know I'm leaving him wanting more, but we do have to go.
"We can't cancel now" I whisper back at him.
Jace lets out a sigh. "I know, let's go. We'll get to the other part later" he smirks at me.
I ignore his comment, but I have to smile to myself. We walk through the door and soon arrive at Jace's car. We get to the restaurant in Downtown Seattle twenty minutes later, like Jace said we would. I know that Austin and Bree are already sitting inside, because I can see them through the window. Jace holds the door open for me like a gentleman as we enter the restaurant. We let the seater know we're with someone and make our way over to the table.
"Mila! Jace!" Bree says in her usual enthusiastic way once she sees us.
She immediately shoots up to greet us, embracing me in a hug.
"Hey you" I say back.
I get into a good mood right away, Bree does that to me. She gives Jace a little hug as well, while I approach Austin.
"Nice to officially meet you" I smile at him.
I don't know if hugging is appropriate, because I saw him once at lunch with the girls, or if I'm supposed to shake his hand. He takes the decision from me and quickly embraces me as well. I like him already.
"You too" he smiles back before giving Jace quick handshake with a little hug.
"Hey man" Jace says smiling from ear to ear.
"Look at us, when did we become pussies?" Austin jokes with him.
"I know man" Jace agrees, pulling up the chair across from Bree for me.
I sit down happily, quickly rolling my eyes and see Bree doing the same. I chuckle at her.
"You guys picked a nice place" I remark taking off my jacket to hang it over my chair.
The restaurant is boho themed with modern furniture and a really cozy atmosphere. Perfect for this time of year.
"Bree's choice" Austin says, leaning his arm over her chair.
"I figured" I laugh at him.
All of us quickly scan through the menu and order our meals.
"So, how long have the two of you known each other? You never told me" Bree asks directed towards Austin.
"We met in kindergarden already. Then we went to school together and in college I still have to endure him" Austin teases Jace.
He starts to laugh. "Yeah, fuck you too" is his answer to which Austin laughs.
I didn't know that Jace met Austin such a long time ago. I always assumed he was one of the drug dealer friends he met at the beginning of college. I like Austin even more now. Bree glances at me. I've asked her before if Austin deals like Jace, and that basically just got denied. I feel the same relief Bree probably feels.
"How nice" she answers just when the waiter brings our drinks to the table.
We chit chat for a while, all getting to know each other, before our meals arrive.
"Austin, do you have the same major as Jace?" I ask politely as we dig into our meals.
"No, I study law actually" Austin says, and I almost choke on my food.
How ironic, Austin studies law while his best friends is dealing drugs at night. I can see a tiny grin on Jace's face as well, as he gently strokes my thigh a few times. He sees the irony too.
"Wow!" I say impressed. "So, you want to become a lawyer?" I add, genuinely interested.
"Yeah" he nods his head. "What about you?"
"I have the same major as Bree. I'd love to be an event planner for concerts one day" I say as my cheeks heat up slightly. I feel silly for dreaming about it sometimes.
"And you Bree? I've never asked you" I direct towards her, so the attention isn't on me anymore.
"I really want to go into marketing. I'm actually starting an internship soon, I totally forgot to tell you!" she says enthusiastically.
"Sounds amazing! I'm so happy for you" I tell her.
An internship, something I wouldn't be able to to at the moment because of my panic disorder.
Jace and Austin start talking about sports, so Bree and I treasure our girl time a little more. Glancing at Jace a few times, I see that he looks the happiest I've ever seen him. He's constantly smiling and laughing with Austin. You can tell they're genuine best friends.
"Well, I'm going to head to the bathroom really quick. Excuse me" Bree says, as she gets up to maker her way through the restaurant.
"I've been meaning to talk to you about something" Jace starts, once Bree is out of sight.
______________
What does Jace want to say?
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned :)