Chapter 12- Second chances

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"Jace! Wait!" Katie ran down the stairs after him. Desperation overrode the exhaustion of her muscles as she raced down the stairs after him. Jace didn't look back, he kept going, running for the door.

"Please!" She called, running out the door after Jace. Racing through the streets, Katie chased after him, silently pleading for him to stop and hear her out.

Neither of them knew quite where they were headed, but they didn't stop to check either.
A billion things raced through each of their minds, but the one thing they both felt was fear. Katie feared losing her second chance while Jace feared the violence he hadn't known Katie had inside her.

Though, luckily for Katie, Jace didn't have the endurance she had and was forced to stop and catch his breath. She caught up in less than a minute. He stood, hands on his knees, breathing heavily and not looking at her.

"Jace..." Katie pleaded, walking toward him slowly like someone approaching a small bird that they can't risk scaring away.

He edged away, eyeing her warily, "What the hell happened?" He asked desperately, fear lacing his tone as his eyes darted about her. The shell shock of witnessing her violent side was still paralyzing his mind with concern and fear.

She opened her mouth but closed it again as she realized the only explanation was to tell him everything. Her biggest fear, most crucially secret subject, her past and history. Jace looked at her, waiting for an explanation to talk him out of his new found fear of her strength and capability of violence.

Taking a deep breath, Katie began to recant her life. She sighed, trying to ease her nerves, "Well my mom left me in a field as a baby, I never even met her," Katie started, as the two walked to a bench on the grassy hill, "I was taken in by a farmer and his wife. But when I was around 9 the farmer and his wife went on a trip and died in a plane crash. I never saw them again and was on my own from then on. And that was about the time I met my two former best friends."

Jace listened carefully, trying to be understanding and not move away from her out of fear. "Who were they?"

Katie took a shaky breath as memories flooded her, "The people you saw unconscious in the hallway. Romona and James. They were runaways, alone like me and unwanted by their families, and they found me in the farmers house all alone and from then on we all stayed together as a group. Those were the good days, before everything fell apart, back when we ran around causing trouble and laughing till our stomachs hurt."

Jace smiled thinking to himself, those do sound like good days. But as the present showed, all good things must come to an end. "What happened?" Jace asked, peering into Katie's troubled eyes.

"As we grew up, James and I fell for each other, or so I thought at the time. And for awhile everything was perfect, I had my best friend and my boyfriend, running free with no rules. But one day I came back from getting our food, stealing it actually, and I found them making out on the couch. James tried to say it wasn't what it seemed but I knew better. And when a family found us they decided to adopt us, but by now I'd taken on a darker personality because of their betrayal. So the family only took in Romona and James."

Jace looked shocked, "I'm so sorry."

No wonder you're so guarded, Jace thought sadly as he finally began understanding how distant she was and her reason for it.

Katie nodded, "After that I tried my hardest to forget they existed. I've been doing that ever since. Until the day I received a random letter from Romona, begging for help. That's why I made you promise not to follow me into the forest, I couldn't ruin everything by smashing my past and present together. Though when I got there, James showed up and I couldn't bring myself to help them. Especially not him. But when I said no to helping them, they persisted and sent letter after letter."

Jace grimaced, realization dawning on his face, "Is that why you always checked the doorstep for mail and newspaper even when I said I would?"

Katie offered a sad and apologetic smile, "Yeah, I was trying to prevent, well, trying to prevent this." Katie gestured to their current state. She'd never wanted him to find out all the things about her that she wished weren't true.

"So you threw away the letters in hopes of avoiding your past?" Jace asked for clarification.

Nodding, Katie tried to explain, "I just," she faltered, looking away, "I just wanted a new start without my past weighing me down. And I thought that maybe..." Katie stopped, as she was surprised by her own thoughts. Only now did she realize how much she cared about Jace even if she'd never even considered the possibility of him mattering to her before now. But when she'd almost lost him, it forced her to see how much she'd come to enjoy being around him.

"Maybe what?" Jace asked, looking into Katie's swirling orange eyes, snapping her out of her shocked thoughts.

"I thought, maybe you'd be my second chance." Katie admitted, averting her gaze and feeling almost embarrassed by what she considered weakness. She'd never depended on anyone for anything, to her it seemed weak to depend on someone for a second chance.

"Who ever said I wouldn't be?" Jace questioned, putting his arm over her shoulders as she turned to look at him, her brow furrowed.

"But you're scared of me now..." Katie reasoned, studying his expression and frowning as her voice trailed off hesitantly.

Jace shook his head, "I was scared of you, but not now. Not now that I know what those two put you through. You had to stand up for yourself."

Katie stared at him in absolute amazement, no one ever sympathized with her because of the fact that she was a homeless and orphaned thief.

No one except Jace.

"But I'm still guilty... I still beat them both unconscious..." Katie reminded him in confusion. Sympathy was foreign to her and she didn't know quite what to make of it. How can he not be scared of me? Katie wondered in confusion.

"Good people have to win the battles sometimes, even if that means fighting hard." Jace added, pulling her into a tight hug and she, for once, didn't pull away.

She hugged him back, "Thank you." she murmured.

Jace nodded and eventually pulled back to look her in the eyes, "Now let's go get the lake house back."

/*\*/*\*/*\*/

James and Romona were just waking up when Jace and Katie got back. They rushed up stairs, quickly knocking James and Romona unconsciousness again and carrying them out to the dock.

After setting them at the end of the dock, Katie quickly scribbled a note and left it in James's shirt pocket.

Giving a sigh of relief Katie followed Jace back to the lake house. This time, instead of jogging away to the upstairs, she took a seat on the couch next to Jace.

"Well I told you all of my story, what about you?" Katie prompted, glancing at Jace who seemed a little unsettled by the question.

"I already told you mine." Jace followed up quickly, evading the real question.

"You know what I mean! What'd you leave out? I know there's more you're not telling me." Katie stated, confident that he was holding back.

"How would you know?" Jace raised an eyebrow.

"Because I know the look of someone who's hiding something," Katie answered before quietly adding, "I've worn that look for a long time."

Jace sighed, giving in, "Ok, maybe there's a little bit that I forgot to mention."

Katie rested her chin on her hands waiting expectantly, "Well, let's hear it then."

Jace nodded, taking a deep breath before beginning the complete version of his life story.

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