"Look man, why don't you fuck off? Clearly none of us want you here" Jace says to my relief.
"Why so tense all the time, brother? You're clearly brushing off on your little girlfriend over here. Or maybe she just needs a good fuck from someone like me" Derek says, looking Jace straight in the eyes.
Without second guessing it, Jace takes another step forward. So do Ben and Austin at the same time, while Bree's and my own mouth have fallen wide open. I look over to Sarah and see a huge look of disappointment on her face, seeing Mason with a person like Derek. Even Jessica and Lisa have fallen quiet, which is really untypical for the two of them.
I'm happy that Austin pushes Jace aside before he can actually punch Derek in the face. "You've got some fucking nerve" Austin hisses towards him, getting up in his face. Derek starts laughing, while Mason and Dean also chuckle.
"I'm sorry, I can't watch this" Sarah says with a disgusted look on her face. She turns around and leaves the room immediately. A twinkle in Mason's eye tells me that he feels sorry for himself, that he lost Sarah because of someone like Derek. Too bad.
As Austin and Jace are busy with Derek, Ben directs his next question towards me. "Will they be okay? I don't want Sarah to be alone here" he says genuinely.
"Go" I whisper shakily and nod at him. At this point I can't tell if my shaking comes from the anxiety, my disgust or my actual rage against Derek right now. I lay my hand in Jace's from behind and feel that he's shaking from anger just like me. Nevertheless, he holds my hand tight.
"Come on guys, I'm just playing a little" Derek smirks and raises his arms in defense. "But Jace, tell me; how did you like Halloween? I'd be happy to offer you another line. I'm sure Jessica would love to join you" he provokes further.
My head is fuming and I can't hold myself back any longer. I ignore the shakiness of my body and voice and push past Jace and Austin. Derek is an asshole who needs to be told just that. "That's enough. You're crazy to think I'd ever want to be around a manipulative, disgusting person like you. I don't understand how anyone would ever want to be around you" I blurt out, not stopping my feelings. I take a look at Mason, Dean, Lisa and Jessica. "But then again, I guess you found some people who are willing to put up with you. That's if you're not blackmailing them with something too" I say and turn around to leave without another word.
I regret it instantly, knowing I might have spoiled yet another secret of Jace to Bree. Then again, she already knows enough, so maybe this is not big deal.
"Better follow your girl, she seems pissed bro" I hear Derek say towards Jace.
"Take your little shit heads and stay the fuck away from us" he spits back at Derek before Austin, Bree and him follow me out the door. I'm aware that we caused quite the scene, but at the moment I don't care. I'm fuming, and I don't know how to stop my anger. "Mila" Jace says, gently touching my arm as we arrive outside.
The cold air hits me, but I can't calm down. "Don't touch me right now" I tell him, mad at him too for keeping Derek's and Jessica's friendship - yet another thing - from me.
"Let's give them a minute" Austin mumbles towards Bree, as they walk past us towards Ben and Sarah, who are standing near the street in front of the frat house.
"What's going on?" Jace says slightly confused.
"What's going on? How could you keep that from me, that Derek and Jessica know each other? How can you keep everything from me and just be okay with it?" I slightly yell, trying not to cause any more commotion than we already did today.
"Mila, calm down. Everyone can hear you" Jace says, grabbing me by the arm to pull me aside from the others slightly.
"I really don't care! I know we talked about this yesterday, but all of this is just getting too much for me, Jace" I say honestly, trying to calm myself.
Jace is quiet for a few seconds. "How did you know Derek is blackmailing me?" he asks me slightly annoyed, without responding to anything I just said.
I take a big breath. "I'm not stupid. Why else would he be able to make you take drugs?" I say scoffing. "What does he have over you?" I ask him once again, weak from the energy that is leaving my body with every word.
It looks like Jace is actually contemplating on telling me. His eyes start to water slightly. I know that he's not about to cry, but I see the anxiety he's feeling about the whole situation. His rage is also clearly still there. "Fuck!" he says, looking like he could punch something. "I can't. You'll leave me if I tell you" Jace yells, just as honest as me.
My heart aches even further when those words leave his mouth. All of this isn't about you, Mila, remember that. I don't want to increase his anger, in fact I don't want to fight with him at all. "Don't say that. I'm still here now, there's nothing else you could do" I admit softly.
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Mila" Jace says, and I know that I need to let it go.
"Jace" I whisper softly, taking a step towards him. I stand on my tiptoes to embrace him in a tight hug slowly. "I'm sorry, I won't push any further. I wasn't mad at you, it was Lisa, Jessica, Derek. All of them" I add, tired of arguing. A tear escapes my eye from the exhaustion of today.
"Hey. I'm sorry too. I know this is a lot to put up with" Jace says, pulling away from me to cup my face in his big hands. "Why are you crying?" he asks me gently. I'm almost a little frustrated with his question.
"I'm not going to leave you, don't you understand? There's nothing you could do to push me away" I say, not really answering his question, while quiet sobs escape my mouth. Jace strokes my cheek with his thumb and nods his head up and down slowly, signalling me that he understands.
He presses his lips onto mine and I feel like I can finally breathe properly again. I pull away from Jace to take a deep breath and use my index fingers to wipe any smudged mascara away from under my eyes. "I can't believe we fought in front of everybody, that's so embarrassing" I say, dreading to face them after everything that happened.
"Don't be stupid. Come on, we'll join them" Jace says, grabbing my hand into his.
I nod back at him and we make our way over to our friends. All of their heads snap in our direction, worry visible in everyone's eyes. "I'm so sorry guys" I say, apologising for this messed up evening.
"Don't worry. We get it" Bree says, placing her hand on my arm gently. I look at her gratefully.
"How about we grab something to eat? Let's make the best out of the rest of this evening" Austin suggests. I know that I'm tired, but I would hate for tonight to end this way. So we all agree.
"There's a McDonalds right around the corner" Jace says, smirking at me to lift my mood.
"Ugh yes! That's the kind of food I need after today" Bree chirps in. No one protests, so we walk the five minutes to one of the most famous fast food places in the world.
I'm surprised that Ben and Sarah don't ask about tonight's situation again. My guess is they knows it's business they shouldn't know about. Not even I know the whole deal, and somehow I still got caught up in this whole mess.
"Have a seat guys, we'll grab some food for everyone" Jace says to us, as Austin is already on his way to the counter. I don't ask questions, but I see Austin patting Jace on the back softly. Guess they have to have a little talk about everything that went down, and I don't blame them.
"I'm once again really sorry guys. This is not what we had planned for tonight" I say to fill the awkward silence that is spreading.
Sarah looks at me, with Ben's jacket around her shoulders. What a gentleman. "That was honestly crazy. Who does this Derek guy think he is?" Sarah admits to us. "And then Mason... I had no idea" she adds, still sounding shocked. Bree lays her hand on Sarah's arm softly, like she does so often with me.
"Let's just... forget about it and move on" I suggest, as Jace and Austin return to the table.
"Sounds good to me" Austin chirps in, taking a seat next to his girlfriend. The boys place the food on the table, and everyone grabs themselves a burger and fries. Jace places the vegan option right in front of me.
"Thank you, but I don't think I can eat" I say, half-smiling at Jace.
"Okay" he nods at me. "We'll save it for later then" he adds, placing a quick kiss on my head before taking a bite of his burger. I can tell the mood is down for everybody, and I'm glad when Ben speaks up, trying to lighten it.
"So, I guess not much has changed with you two. Jace is always getting himself in trouble and Austin gets him out of that shit" he smirks at the boys, trying to tease them slightly.
"Tell me about it, man" Austin chuckles back and even I have to crack a smile. I wonder if Ben knows that Jace is dealing drugs, but I decide that it's clearly a question for another time.
"But Jace, I have to say your girl has some serious balls" Ben chuckles, referring to my little rant at Derek.
"She does. She has to put up with me all the time" Jace answers, laying his arm around me.
I roll my eyes at him slightly, but a smile falls onto my lips anyway. "Derek's an ass and he needed to be told so" I say honestly.
"Damn right. What you said was right on point. I can't believe Lisa is hanging out with them anyway" Bree chirps in.
"Yeah, I wonder how that happened. We hung out so much, she never mentioned a word" Sarah says, letting her head fall onto Ben's shoulder. We're all silent, probably thinking about the same thing.
"I, for one, am tired of seeing Derek's fucking face everywhere. From now on we're only going to clubs in the city" Jace says, finishing his food.
"I think that sounds good" I answer, as everyone agrees with me.
"You know what, I have an amazing idea. How about we all get out of here after our exams this semester? My parents own a beach house in Oregon near where I grew up. There's enough room for all of us. What do you guys think?" Bree says excitedly.
Exams, a thought that I've been dreading for a while now. Nevertheless, I love the idea of getting away from everything with my friends for a while, and spend some alone time with Jace.
"That sounds amazing. Are you sure your parents wouldn't mind?" Sarah asks Bree, as Jace places his hand on my thigh.
"What do you think?" Jace whispers towards me, as the others already discuss sleeping and driving arrangements.
"Honestly, I love the idea. And, I'd go anywhere with you" I whisper back honestly. Jace smiles at me genuinely as everyone looks at us to hear what we think.
"We're in" Jace says and the others cheer slightly. I can't wait for our first little vacation. But first, we have to get the exams out of the way.
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