"Yeah, I guess so." Tris sighed as she flopped onto Tyler's bed. She was ashamed to say that she hadn't met her best friend in some time, and she had apologized for it. Tyler didn't mind, however, since he was busy because he decided that his father would have wanted a small funeral. It was only him and his father's two sisters. The police couldn't find anything about the possible murder, so they closed the case. Tyler had to give it up as well, since he couldn't find anything.
"Look, let me just ask you something," Tyler told the brunette as he sat at his desk, looking at her. "Did you like it?"
Tris scowled. "I don't know! That's the worst part! I don't know if I liked it or if I didn't it."
"Tris, do you even like him? Or do you think it's weird because he's your friend?"
She fell silent. Do I like Jace? She asked herself. But she couldn't come around to an answer, her mind listing out all the pros and cons as she thought about having an actual relationship with the blonde boy. "I think I like him...but I also thought that I like Luke from third grade, look how he turned out."
"Hey, Luke is a human," Tyler pointed out, leaning back in his chair. "Jace is only half human. He's half angel. Also, Luke didn't have a personality."
"Tyler! You're making this more difficult, you idiot."
"I'm trying to make you realize that you like him, Tris. As more than a friend," Tyler told her. "And is it such a bad thing if you like him?"
The girl sighed loudly. "No...but what if we break up? It'll be so awkward."
"Well, you can forget about that. You two obviously like each other. Your first date won't be awkward because you know each other fairly well. You know, he's the first person you talked to about how you felt with Cristina. And it was someone who wasn't me, Simon or Clary. It was Jace, Tris. If you guys trust each other that much and you like each other..." Tyler shrugged. "...I don't see why not date each other."
Tris exhaled through her nose quickly, almost laughing because she hated how right he was. Jace shared with her everything he could remember from his childhood and Tris did the same. She even let him in on all the embarassing stories from her childhood, and he was the shoulder she could cry on when she felt a little low. She remembered how she had taken him into her arms on Valentine's ship when he thought that the man was his father, and she knew he was surprised. But she was delighted because that day she knew that he wasn't ashamed to show how he felt to her. And he was more than happy because he knew he could let his guard down and be himself around her.
So what the Hell was wrong?
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Tris let out a loud laugh as Louis tried to guess what she was drawing on the piece of paper as he guessed anything but what she drew. He let out a breathy laugh as he continued to guess, getting more frustrated by the second. They had been spending the past hour together, playing pictionary because they were bored. "Tris, what even is that?!" Louis yelled, pointing at it.
"It's aorta, you idiot!" Tris yelled back, laughing slightly as he huffed.
"I thought we agreed on nothing science-y, man—"
A knock on the door interrupted Louis from his complaint. Tris sighed as she stood up and opened the door, only to want to shut it back again. "Hey...what's up?" the girl asked, raising her brows at the nervous looking blonde haired boy in front of her.
"Nothing. Can I come in?" he asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
Tris only nodded as she let him in, turning her back on him to widen her eyes at Louis cautiously, and he got the message. Slowly standing up and giving Jace an awkward wave before leaving, shutting the door behind him.
The silence in the room was heavy, as Tris fiddled with her fingers while Jace bit the inside of his cheek. If anyone walked in, they would probably think that the pair didn't know how to speak. Jace cleared his throat. "So, um, I wanted to talk about the-the thing that happened in the Seelie Court—"
"No, Jace, I only did that to save your lives," Tris told him quickly. "Look, if I could go back, I still would've done it. It would have killed you and my brother if I didn't. But I don't...I don't wanna talk about it. I don't even like thinking about it." Well, I just didn't like the circumstances under which that happened, she thought.
"So, what you're saying is that you want to forget it and go back to normal?" He had a small frown on his face, his voice cracking a little.
"Yeah," Tris shrugged, though her heart was telling her the opposite.
"Okay. I guess it was a-a mistake," Jace huffed, a small smile on his face, though it wasn't genuine.
"Yes," Tris nodded awkwardly, silence filling the room once again.
"I should probably get going," Jace told her, jabbing his thumb towards her door. Tris only nodded, following him as he got out the room and she gave him a small wave, closing the door behind him.
She let out a sigh as she leaned against the door, hand still on the doorknob. The girl felt like pulling her hair out, and wanting to burn it right in front of her eyes. However, her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Thinking it was Louis, she opened it, only to find Jace staring right back at her.
"It wasn't a mistake, was it?" he asked, letting out a small chuckle.
And she knew in that moment that he liked her the same way she liked him. But she just needed to know that if she would hold his hand, he would do the same. That if she hugged him, he would put his arms around her. And she needed to know that if she kissed him, he would kiss back.
So she stepped forward, placing her lips onto his and smiled as he kissed her back, his hands on the side of her waist and her arms on his waist before they pulled away, breathing heavy. A smile broke out onto both their faces, laughter leving their lips as he pulled her into a large hug, where he felt like he could stay there, like that with her forever.
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