Cross My Heart | Jason Grace x Male OC

Chapter 4: Devil Wears Gucci

(Skipping some chapters because I don't want to just copypaste from the book the whole time lmao.)

As soon as Jason saw the house, he knew he was a dead man.

"Here we are!" Drew said cheerfully. "The Big House, camp headquarters."

It didn't look threatening, just a four-story manor painted baby blue with white trim. The wraparound porch had lounge chairs, a card table, and an empty wheelchair. Wind chimes shaped like nymphs turned into trees as they spun. Jason could imagine old people coming here for summer vacation, sitting on the porch and sipping prune juice while they watched the sunset. Still, the windows seemed to glare down at him like angry eyes. The wide open doorway looked ready to swallow him. On the highest gable, a bronze eagle weathervane spun in the wind and pointed straight in his direction, as if telling him to turn around.

Every molecule in Jason's body told him he was on enemy ground.

"I am not supposed to be here," he said.

Drew circled her arm through his. "Oh, please. You're perfect here, sweetie. Believe me, I've seen a lot of heroes."

Drew smelled like Christmas—a strange combination of pine and nutmeg. Jason wondered if she always smelled like that, or if it was some kind of special perfume for the holidays. Her pink eyeliner was really distracting. Every time she blinked, he felt compelled to look at her. Maybe that was the point, to show off her warm brown eyes. She was pretty. No doubt about that. But she made Jason feel uncomfortable. He slipped his arm away as gently as he could. "Look, I appreciate—"

"Is it that girl?" Drew pouted. "Oh, please, tell me you are not dating the Dumpster Queen."

"You mean Piper? Um ..."

Jason wasn't sure how to answer. He didn't think he'd ever seen Piper before today, but he felt strangely guilty about it. He knew he shouldn't be in this place. He shouldn't befriend these people, and certainly he shouldn't date one of them. Still ... Piper had been holding his hand when he woke up on that bus. She believed she was his girlfriend. Then there was Amias. There was undoubtably some history between them that even Jason's amnesia couldn't completely erase, He'd been brave on the skywalk, fighting those venti, and when Jason had caught him in midair and they'd held each other face-to-face, he couldn't pretend he wasn't a little tempted to kiss him. But that wasn't right. He didn't even know his own story. He couldn't play with Piper's or Amias's feelings like that.

Amias answered for him. "Jason isn't dating anyone. He's far too important and far too busy to concern himself with such trivial matters." He gave Jason a sidelong glance as he spoke, his expression unreadable.

Drew raised a brow at Amias. "Oh yeah? And what are you, his secretary?" She put a hand on her hip. "Let Jason speak for himself."

Before Jason could do so, Amias took another step forward. "Listen little miss Abercrombie, he's not interested. Why don't you find someone in your own tax bracket." He stooped down to Drew's height, waving a hand towards her face. "Better yet, go fix your makeup. Those concealer lips are not cute."

Drew gasped in mock offense, putting a hand to her chest. "Am I having my style choices questioned by some emo in cowboy boots? Talk to me when you get a haircut from this century."

Amias crossed his arms and gave an eyeroll, which seemed to be his trademark. 

"Please," he said. "You're one to talk with that fuck ass perm."

Jason looked back and forth between the two of them bickering. He decided to step in before things got too nasty. "Hey, you too are both pretty catty. Why not date each other?"