The Perfect Storm 2

Chapter 151

Hi guys!! Eeek!! I can't wait for you to get to read this chapter. I just wanted to first let you guys know that w recent chapters I've been listening to 'Fireworks' by Ateez and it's the best song ever right now. It's on Miles's playlist too ;)

Knowing that my mother was more than fine with me leaving her to go to TXSU with Jace is a little unsettling. 

I know her hidden agenda perfectly well but it didn't bother me until now. It didn't bother me when she still treated Miles kindly, but it does bother me when Jace is my only escape right now and nobody sees that but me. 

He's my only ticket away from reality and I don't want my mother to expect us to re-kindle our old thoughts of marrying each other, even if that is what she truly wants, and even if that is something I'll never do.

"Madison . . . what happened?" Jace asks as we put our seatbelts on after qucikly stopping at a gas station. Waking up at four am was easier than I expected, especially when we got to see the sunrise on our way. We still have a few hours left but knowing we'll be there at six pm doesn't feel so bad.

"Miles and I . . ." I try but take a pause, I didn't realize how much it would hurt to say his name.

"We, um, we, uh . . . we broke up." I spit out and Jace slows down the car just a little bit.

"Really?" He turns to look at me. Surprisingly his eyes don't have a hidden speck of happiness, they're fully and purely concerned, sad for me even.

"Mhm." I nod slightly before pushing a strand of hair behind my ear and looking at the empty road in front of me. It's weird how even the roads remind me of Miles. The time when he stopped in the middle of the road to kiss me even with the beeping behind him. The way his lips were so soft and the way his kiss tasted so inviting, inviting me for more.

"This is me, Madison. Are you sure you're okay? You know you can tell me anything." Jace drags me out of Miles's lips that have devoured me entirely—they've devoured my soul and I can't escape even now even when everything is over. I can't escape him.

"No." I simply say, my voice low and afraid of the real answer. I don't know how I feel but I know I'm not okay, I need him but I don't want him—I don't want his past, I don't want it to haunt me forever because I know it will.

"I'm not okay," I add. I've realized that simple lies like telling Jace I'm okay when I'm not can affect everything so much and I don't want to be like that, I don't want to be like him.

"I—" He begins but stops as soon as I rest my head on his shoulder. He tenses up slightly while he tries his best to continue driving. 

I close my eyes and feel the light breeze on me from the roofless red car that Jace and I love so much

"Madison?" He says softly as I place my hand on his chest, feeling his soft heartbeat.

"I, uh, I asked your mom . . . for your, uh . . . for your great grandmother's ring." He says and my heart stops for a second.

"Oh, you did?" I ask, unsure of how to feel. My eyes are slightly wide, with all kinds of thoughts running through my head, my heart is racing and the hand I have on his chest tells me his is too.

"I did." He replies firmly even though I can tell his voice is slightly shaky.

"But she, uh . . . she didn't have it." He says and my heart stops again, this time for longer.

"She said she lost it," Jace speaks, his voice firm and sad somehow. Even when the shocking words come out of Jace's mouth, I can't raise my head, I need to lean against him. My head is on his warm shoulder, I need him right now and I don't want to move away.

"Oh." Is all that comes out.

"Yeah, so I thought, uh, that maybe . . . we could go to some ring stores, you know, just in case, um—" He stops as soon as I nod. I look up at his blue-gray eyes as he looks down into my hazel eyes. My hand holds onto this shirt and I smile a small, "Okay."

Miles's POV

I look down at my phone only to see it ringing with Madison's name on it. 

I quickly rush up the stairs as I press the green button and sit down on the black sheets covering my bed. The darkness has already settled down in the sky and I'm completely alone; just the way I like it.

"Madison?" I question into the receiver, hoping to hear her voice since we haven't talked for almost two days now. As I wait patiently for an answer, I hope it isn't that fucker.

"Miles?" Her sweet voice calls back and I almost collapse. Hearing her again brings life back into me, it's almost as if blood is rushing through my veins again, instead of the emptiness of being without her.

"Babe—" I smile but she stops me.

"I'm marrying Jace." She says and my heart starts to pound like a motherfucker.

"W—what?" I stammer like a bitch and I can feel my heart fucking bleeding and spewing out of me.

"You heard me, you wouldn't do it, he will. It's simple, Miles. I hope you'll come to the wedding." She says and before I can answer, she hangs up.

"Fuck!" I breathe heavily, sweat running over me as I sit in my bed shirtless, realizing it was nothing but a booze-filled dream.

"Fuck." I breathe again, this time heavier and louder.

"You okay, Miles?" Valentina peeks her head through the door and no matter how many times I've told her not to treat me like a fucking child, she still does. It was fine when I was a child but now, I can deal with my own shit, even in this fucked up of a state.

"I'm fine, Valentina," I say her name for the first time in a while and I can see she's just as surprised as I am.

"I'm fine," I repeat again, this time clearer and she nods.

"Can I get you any—"

"A bottle of water and some, uh, pills for a headache. And after that, you can go home." I tell her and she nods before closing the dark door. 

Trying to keep myself awake all night with booze to keep me company just so I won't dream about her didn't work as well as I expected and now I'm stuck with a five am nightmare and a banging headache.

AFTER A QUICK SHOWER I come back into my room to find a bottle of water and an aspirin pill. 

I take the thing and swallow it with a stream of water before getting into one of my shirts and heading downstairs to the gym to sweat out all the shit that I have running through me without her. I tape my hands up with white before smashing the boxing bag for what feels like a good ten minutes without stopping. 

My arms are sore and the muscles in them are pumping. I take off my shirt and grab the water bottle, squeezing the clear liquid into my mouth before continuing. 

It feels good to be alone, without Valentina and without the help she thinks I need. I beat the shit out of the punching bag before finally taking a small towel to wipe the sweat off my forehead and as I sip the water bottle, I stare out the window at the six am clouded sunrise.