The Outskirts: Thé Crystal Keepers (Jace x OC)

The Crystal Keepers: 25 *

Everyone was happy to see Joe and Outlaw safe. They filled us in on how they had made it back to Forge's, and then discovered it had been raided. They said that they had checked Oldbase and eastbase, and found that they had been bombed as well. That's when they headed to Rainday.
After they were done, I explained how me and Sidekick had found Blake, and introduced him to Joe.
"Where's Cole?" Joe finally asked.
"We sent him on a mission as a errand boy to get a message to Queen Harmony. He left yesterday." Nova said.
I mostly tuned out the rest of they're conversation. I was glad that Joe had made it back, but it only made me worry more that Jace and Roulette hadn't made it yet. They were the last ones.
I excused myself from the common room, and was planning on going to bed, when Trickster knocked on my door.
"Hey," Trickster said. "I uh, found this in my room. Looks like Forge grabbed our stuff before he was raided. I thought you might want these."
He handed me my dress, along with my leggings and blue jacket. But there was something else.
"Is this . . ." I started, trailing off.
He cleared his throat. "It's Jaces sweatshirt. I thought that maybe it would help a little bit."
I felt myself tearing up. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him.
"Thank you." I said.
"Of course," he said, pulling back, leaving his hands on my shoulders. "He'll be back, okay? I promise."
I tried my hardest to believe him.
He left the room, shutting the door behind him.
I unfolded the sweatshirt. It was the same one he had been wearing the day I met him at Skyport. His favorite one.
I put on my black leggings and the sweatshirt. It was a little long on me, but it was super comfortable, and it smelled like him.
Feeling a little better, I slept the best I had in days.

~Timeskip~

The days after finding Joe passed in a blur. I got used to the same routine. In the mornings I got up and patrolled with Trickster. After that we all had lunch. Usually in the afternoons the kids would play games while Googol, Nova, Joe, Outlaw, and Forge worked on contacting the other members of the Unseen, and trying to figure out which bases were still safe to use.
Then we all went to bed.
It was boring without Jace and Roulette. Jace was the comedic of the group, always making jokes and playing pranks. I missed him.
The more days that passed, the more worried I got. With Blake's help, Forge still monitored the patrolmen communications. They hadn't heard about Jace and Roulette getting caught, which made me feel a little bit better, but I still worried.
On the fifth day after Joe came back, I was curled up on the couch in Jaces sweatshirt reading a random book I found in the base. Next to me at the table, Mira, Trickster, Dalton, and Blake were playing cards.
There was a knock at the door frame.
"Having all the fun without us?"
I glanced up and did a double take.
"Roulette?" Trickster said, astonished.
"Wait," I said, setting the book down. "Does that mean—"
I cut off as Jace walked in. He leaned against the door frame, with that stupid lopsided smirk on his lips that I had fallen for over and over again.
"Did you miss me?"
I was already running over to him. I threw my arms around his neck, hugging him as tight as I could.
He laughed and spun me around.
"Please don't ever do that again," I whispered.
"Believe me, I had fully intended on strangling Forge when he fried the comms. I thought I lost you."
Someone cleared their throat. "Do we get to say welcome back, or . . ."
My face went scarlett as I reluctantly pulled away from Jace. Blake was giving me a weird look, and Mira was looking at us with a big goofy smile on her face.
I moved on to Roulette and hugged her. "I'm glad your safe. Thanks for bringing him back."
She rolled her eyes. "That kid is a piece of work. He was so worried about you, a complete wreck, really. I don't know how you stand him."
I moved out of the way so Trickster and the others could get to them.
I stood there anxiously as everyone welcomed them back. Once everyone was done, I went over to Jace and pulled him out of the room. Once we were out of sight, I immediately wrapped my arms around his torso, shutting my eyes. I had lost so much hope that it didn't feel real.
"Missed me bad, huh?" he said, laughing.
"Yes." I said, without hesitation.
He held me close, and I felt the huge cloud over worry disappear. I slowly pulled away.
He looked me up and down and grinned. "Is that my sweatshirt?"
"Maybe?" I said. "Its super comfortable."
He grinned, and my heart skipped a beat. "You can have it. It looks better on you anyway."
I smiled at him. "We should probably get back downstairs before they come looking for us. I just . . . I needed to make sure this is real. I was starting to wonder if you weren't coming back."
"We don't have to go back yet." His smirk fell. "When I heard you that you had been caught over the comms, I panicked. You have no idea how glad I am that your safe. If I had came back and you were gone, I . . ." He trailed off, running a hand through his bleached hair.
Without saying anything, I took his hand. He glanced down at our intertwined fingers. We just stood there for a moment, like it was us against the world. Then he smiled, a genuine, heart stopping smile, and god was it beautiful.
"Please don't kill me for this." he whispered, bringing his lips to mine.
The kiss was soft, but passionate. I wrapped my arms around his neck and twirled my fingers into his hair. His hands went to my waist, and I smiled against his lips. After a moment, he pulled away, leaning his forehead against mine again, and I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.
"You have no idea how long i've been wanting to do that." He said, his voice hoarse.
"I—" I started, but the door banged open, and we leaped apart.
It was Trickster. "Oi! Get your butts in here. We're having a celebration!"
He left the room again, and me and Jace grinned at each other.
"We should probably—" I started, giving a small smile.
He cleared his throat. "Yeah. Yep. Let's go." 
"Wait," I said, turning around again to face him. "That walk we took before the mission . . . was that you saying you like me?"
He smiled. "Yeah. I'm just . . . sick of pretending."
"Pretending what?" I asked coyly.
"Pretending that I'm not head over heels in love with you." He said, not a hint of regret in his voice.
A huge smile fought its way onto my face. "I love you too, rope boy."
I stole another quick kiss. After a few seconds, he pulled away from the kiss reluctantly and grinned, pulling me into the common room, our fingers intertwined. Sidekick and Outlaw had already set out a feast on the small dining room table.
That night we were up really late, playing games and catching up. Even though we were constantly on the run, I really liked the outskirts. I had a family here. As hard as I tried, I couldn't snag any alone time with Jace, but we were basically glued to each other the rest of the night.
The adults were still talking in the kitchen, leaving the kids alone.
With a glance at the boys, I dragged Mira and Roulette out of the room.
Once we had gotten to our room, I quietly shut the door, then flopped down face first onto my bed.
"Woah," Roulette said. "What happened?"
I rolled over and stared at the ceiling. "He kissed me."
The girls exchanged a glance.
"What?" Mira said.
I sat up, looking them in the eyes. "I pulled Jace out into the hallway, and we talked for a bit, and then he kissed me, and he told me he loves me, and—"
Mira squealed and I covered my ears.
"Can you be a little quieter?" I suggested.
"No! Are you kidding?" She asked. "Do you know how huge this is?" She turned to Roulette. "Pay up."
"Woah woah woah." I said, holding out my hands. "Did you two make a bet?"
"Of course we did. And I was right." Mira said. "Kendal, this is huge! He's liked you forever!"
"What?" I said. "You knew? And you didn't tell me?"
She shrugged. "I couldn't ruin the surprise."
I turned to Roulette and narrowed my eyes. "Did you know to?"
"Actually . . ." She said. "I sorta dragged it out of him when we met up underground." 
I glared at her, and Mira shrugged. "I've known since Skyport."
I gaped at her. He had liked me that long? Suddenly all the flirting made sense. "You guys should have told me!"
"No." Roulette said firmly, putting her hands on my shoulders. "You two needed to figure out the tension for yourselves." 
"I hate you guys so much."
Roulette rolled her eyes. "You love us."
I stood up and walked toward the door. "Whatever."
I went into the hallway and walked back into the living room where Cole, Dalton, and Jace were sitting playing cards.
I flopped down on the couch next to Jace, leaning against him slightly. Right now, any distance between us felt like torture. "Who's winning?"
Cole snickered. "Not your boyfriend."
Jace shot him a glare. Just then, Blake walked into the room.
"Hey, Blake," Cole said. "Wanna play?"
"Sure." He said, plopping down on the floor by the table. "What are we playing?"
"Blackjack." Dalton replied.
Blake groaned. "Deal me in."
"Have you two met yet?" Cole asked, looking between Jace and Blake.
"I'm Blake." He said cautiously.
Jace gave a nod. "I'm Jace."
"So," Blake said, looking between me and Jace. "Are you two like a thing, or . . ."
I exchanged an amused glance with Jace, biting back a smile. "You could say that."
Cole whistled. "So you finally told her then."
I gaped at him. "You knew?"
Cole snorted, placing a card down. "Everyone knew."
I looked to Dalton, who just shrugged. "It was pretty obvious."
I swatted Jace on the shoulder, and he smirked. "In a way, you're the only one who didn't know."
"I actually wanted to ask you about that," I said as the boys turned their attention to the game.
"Oh yeah?" He said, raising an eyebrow. "About what, specifically?"
"Nothing bad, just that Mira told me some pretty interesting info about you liking me back at Skyport." I whispered. The boys weren't paying any attention to us.
Jace winced slightly. "Uhm, yeah. I've liked you for a while. I was just to scared to tell you."
I gawked at him teasingly. "No way. You were scared?"
Jace rolled his eyes, but he was holding back a smile. "You were — and still are — the prettiest girl I've ever seen. So yeah, I was scared."
"If it makes you feel any better," I said quietly. "I liked you the first moment I met you."
Jace snorted. "I can't believe we liked eachother for almost a year and neither of us said anything."
"Well," I said, dragging it out. "It's not like we didn't say anything. Neither of us really kept it a secret."
He smirked. "True. I tried to tell you that night on the roof at Skyport and you thought I liked someone else."
I shot him a look, and he laughed. Before I could reply, Cole intervened.
"Are you going to play, or just accept that you lost? Again."
Jaces expression was priceless, and he gave Cole a not so friendly gesture. "I'm going to bed. I've been on the run for a week straight."
He laced his fingers with mine and pulled me up off the couch. We walked to the doorway where it split off the two rooms, the boys and girls sleeping quarters.
"They're watching us," I said once the boys were out of earshot.
Jace smiled. "Let them." He hesitated, then spoke again, softer. "Hey, will you meet me in the common room later? Just so we can talk for a little bit?"
I grinned at him. "You just got back and you're already breaking rules."
"That's why you love me right?" He said with a smirk. "Just meet me at midnight."
"Deal." I said, hardly containing my smile.
He grinned and gave me a quick kiss, then headed into the boys' room.
I bit back a smile.
It's crazy to think about that if me and Cole wouldn't have went to the haunted house, we wouldn't be here right now, and I wouldn't have met Jace. As hard as it's been, meeting him was honestly one of the best things that's ever happened to me.