"Alone No Matter What"

Chapter 23- Comfort

[Short chapter & Unedited- please excuse any mistakes/typos=]

Chapter 23

Lizzy's P.O.V

I open my eyes realising that I fell asleep. Something hard poking my head. I look around the room. Jenny lies asleep in Charles' lap whilst he looks adoringly at her, stroking her hair. We're still in Jenny's room. I've been moved from the bed though, I look beneath me in shock. I'm on her baby blue couch, but that's not what surprises me. It's the legs beneath my own. Tilting my head back slightly, I turn my gaze to the smirking guy staring directly at me.

"What were you dreaming about? You were calling my name out in your sleep." His smirk widens as he attempts to imitate my voice in a high-pitched tone, "Jason! Jason!"

"What?! No way. I did not say that!" I shoot back, feeling my face redden in embarrassment. What's happened to me? I never blush! Oh- that's right, you kissed this guy! My sub-conscience screams at me.

"You're right." A voice chuckles. I look up and see Charles staring at us. "Jace is just teasing you. What he means to say is that he wishes you were calling his name out in your sleep. But luckily for you, you weren't. Jace and his wishful thinking." He clicks his tongue, grinning at Jace.

"Way to ruin my fun Charlie boy." Jace scowls.

It is then that I become aware of the hard thing poking my head. My eyes widen in realisation and I automatically jump off of Jace.

"Oh my god!" I squeak in further embarrassment, my face blatantly scarlet. "What the fuck dude?"

"Hey! It's not my fault. I can't control my body when there so happens to be a pretty girl laying on top of me!" He defends himself, trying to fend off a smile. Pretty girl? Damn him.

"You are such an animal!"

"For you, I will be anything," he gives me a goofy grin.

"Can you guys stop flirting. Jenny's asleep and she needs the rest." Charles interrupts, thankfully.

"Right, sorry." I say. Then the full extent of what happened just a few hours ago hits me. Jenny's mum! Poor Jenny. After telling him about my past, Jace has still continued to treat me as normal. He doesn't treat me like the coward I really am. Right now, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"What are we supposed to do now?" I question, knowing they both know what I'm talking about.

"Before I came upstairs, I convinced the police officers to let Jenny's mothers body go. After the detectives do an extensive autopsy, we should be able to get the body for a funeral by Thursday." Charles answers.

"So that's what you were doing whilst we were all here." I say in wonder. Charles and his charm, trust him to be able to convince the body to be released earlier!

"It just seems so awful referring to Mrs. Walker as... the body." Jace says.

"Yeah. It's so horrible. Any idea what happened? The officers said they're treating her death as a homicide. Who would do this?" I ask aggravated, sitting on the arm of the couch, beside Jace's head.

"From what I know, she had her oesophagus pipe crushed. It was completely shattered! That could very well mean she was strangled to death. Judging by how much she was injured, it must of been from a man." Charles replies, answering all my questions.

"Oh god! That's so terrible." My voice full of pain, my eyes stinging from tears that want to fall. Jace sits up and pulls me into him, tightening his hold on me. I feel relieved from his comfort, but it doesn't help my worry from diminishing. Jenny in no way deserves to go through this, her mother didn't deserve to die like this. Yes, she was overly strict but the truth is she acted like that because she cared for her daughter, trying ever so hard to protect her.

"What else can you tell me?" I ask, feeling my throat get heavy with the impulse to cry. I try to push it back; I have to be strong, if not for myself, then for Jenny.

Charles looks down at Jenny, his expression showing devastation as he plays with her hair. "Jenny's mother was a strong person, just like Jenny. She put up a fight. When the police were called lots of things were on the floor and a vase was smashed across the wall. It's evident that she tried to defend herself, she must have been so scared."

"I want so badly to find her killer. Oh for fucks sake! For all we know it could be a burglar that we will NEVER see again!" I voice my thoughts.

"Liz, this sort of thing is out of our hands. There is nothing we can do." Jace says softly, tightening his hold on me.

"I feel so useless. I just want to help." I whisper, closing my eyes and snuggling closer to Jace. He feels so good.

"I feel even more useless than you." Charles sighs. "If I hadn't taken Jenny on a date, then maybe, just maybe we could have stopped this from happening. I could have fought the man off."

As I open my mouth to reassure Charles it is not his fault, a small voice beats me to it.

"It's not your fault she's dead." Jenny's voice says softly, every word spoken with sadness. "It was out of our control. No one could have known."

"Your awake! You hungry?" Charles' voice sounds cheerful but his pale green eyes tell a different story entirely. Instead of refusing to eat, like I would have suspected, she jumps right up and smiles slightly.

"Would I? Yes. But before that, I would really like you to kiss me." She says, her face giving off a cheeky vibe. Charles looks at her, his face revealing how shocked he is.

Instead of being able to watch the cute couple, I am pulled up when Jace stands up. He takes my hand and we exit the room to give them some much needed privacy. Both of us go to the kitchen. I start to make toast whilst Jace puts jam on them. We hadn't even said a word yet but there was no need to, seeing as we work so well together. I never knew I'd meet someone who understood me so well. At the same time I was messed up, but then again, so was he.

"Jenny seems to have become more daring, with the way she told Charles to kiss her." He chuckles.

"She's trying to get her mind off what really happened. And she feels strongly for Charles, if she's with him, she must feel safe." I reply. "I know deep down she is still devastated about her mum, but like Charles said, she's strong."

"You're right. I just hope we keep her mind off it. I know she should be able to mourn her mother's death, but not forever. We are her friends so we have to help her get back on her feet." Jace says, finishing spreading Jam on the last toast.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." I smile slightly at him.

Together, we go up the stairs back into Jenny's room. Both the pair's lips are red and swollen. I can't help but smile. But then images of Jace and I kissing come into my head and I feel my face go hot. I look down at my shoes so no one realises. Passing pieces of toast to Jenny and Charles I sit back down on the couch, munching on my own slice.

I find myself going back to earlier on today, the kiss. It was... perfect. And Jace even got possessive. So possessive he admitted to liking me! What if he doesn't really like me? What if his judgement is clouded by the kiss we shared? That would mean my liking him is one sided. And honestly, I'm not sure if I'm okay with that.

•~~~~~~~~~•

A/N- Sorry it's so short, I would write more but I need to get ready for school tomorrow :|| Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! Something big may or may not be about to come up... xD

Vote and comment

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed your spring break!

-Aaliyah xo