Watermelon

Are You Awake?

C: are u awake????
C: pls tell me ur awake

Jace was half-asleep in bed, haphazardly grabbing his phone from his nightstand. He squinted at the bright screen in his dark room. It was nearly 1 AM; he couldn't believe Chloe would still be awake at such a late hour. He was no longer half-asleep when he saw her texts — he was wide awake and panicking slightly.

J: im awake- what's up?? Are u ok?

C: im outside...can u let me in? Its freezing out here
C: at the front door

Jace stared at the texts in confusion for a moment before quickly rolling out of bed and stealthily making his way down the ladder that led out of his attic bedroom. He quickly tiptoed toward the front door and unlocked it as silently as he could. His eyes widened when he opened the door to see his girlfriend standing there shivering. She was wearing her pajamas — an oversized hoodie, plaid pajama pants, and a pair of fuzzy UGG boots. An over-stuffed backpack was slung over her shoulder. Her arms were crossed over each other in an attempt to keep herself warm.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He whispered, stepping aside so she come into the house. In the dim light of the living room, Jace could see Chloe's teary, blotchy cheeks. He still wasn't sure what had happened but his heart was already hurting for her.

"I, um...I think I just ran away from home..?" Chloe quietly replied, realization of what had just happened washing over her. "I got in a huge fight with my parents and I just...I can't take it anymore."

They both sat down on the couch, Jace's arm draping over Chloe's shoulders and pulling her close. "A fight about the pregnancy?"

"About the party," she sniffled, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "I guess they saw pictures from the Halloween party on Facebook and in the background of one of them they could see you and me sitting together by the fire pit." Jace used the pad of his thumb to wipe away a tear that had fallen down her face. "They were pissed. They went on this whole rant about how I should know better than to be sneaking around with you and that they clearly can't trust me to do anything and..." She couldn't keep talking. If she kept talking, she'd start sobbing. Jace wrapped his arms around her in a hug, holding her tight against him.

"It's okay. Do they know you left?"

"No," she sighed. "That's why I left in the middle of the night. I didn't want them to notice I was leaving."

"What if they find out that you snuck over here?"

"I don't even care. What are they gonna do, kick their pregnant daughter out of their house? Big deal. That's what I wanted in the first place."

Jace was quiet for a moment. "Did Marty say anything to them?"

"No. At least not before they started screaming at me. He was trying to defend us a bit while they were yelling at me though, so that was kinda nice to see."

Both of their eyes shot over to the door to Shawn and Camila's bedroom when they heard the door creak open. It was Camila. She was standing in the doorway staring at them with sleepy confusion. She walked towards them.

"What's going on?" Camila asked. Jace and Chloe looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Camila.

"I, um...I ran away from home. My parents found out that Jace and I were at the Halloween party together and...I just couldn't take it anymore." Chloe's voice broke with emotion.

"Okay. What all did you bring? Do you need anything?"

Jace smiled softly at Camila's reaction. Of course she was sympathetic; she wouldn't be the type to kick someone while they're down.