ON AND OFF THE SCREEN || J.N ✔️

22.

maggie's point of view

maggie
did you get the texts from sean?

jace
yeah, when do you wanna meet?

maggie
idk, a hour or so?

jace
sooner? half an hour?

maggie
aight, same place as last night?

jace
sounds good. see you then

i turn off my phone and rub my eyes, smoothing my hair out before i get up and go get ready in the bathroom.

i put my natural waves of hair up in a bun and turn on the faucet to wet my face, squirting some facial cleanser in my hand.

so, i'll have to tell jace the truth about the noah thing. but how do i make it so he doesn't blame him and ruin a perfectly good friendship? why did i agree to do this?

i wash my face, brush my teeth and throw my hair up in a neater bun. i head back into my bedroom and get dressed, not caring to do my makeup. i put on shoes and grab my phone, heading downstairs.

"why are you up and dressed so early?" nate asks. i follow his voice, leading me to the living room.

"i'm meeting jace," i respond.

"meeting him?"

"yeah, we're going to talk," i start, "and i'm telling him about the noah thing."

he shrugs. "leave me out of it," he says.

i walk away and open the front door, embracing the los angeles spring weather. as I had walked out, so did jace. we slowly walk to our meeting place, sitting down, face to face.

"can i start?" i ask.

"yeah, sure," he responds.

"well, this was solely and idea from xander and i. no one else. i'm not dating noah. we pretended so you'd realize that you shouldn't be with isabela," i manage to get out. i look down, but feel his eyes on me.

"really? so, you're not with not with noah?" he asks.

i look back at him and shake my head.

"well, that's good. you actually had me concerned," he responds, slightly smirking, looking around.

i look at him with a puzzled face.

"you're not mad?" i question.

he shakes his head.

"no, because i like you."

i look at him in the eye.

"what? then why are you with isabela?"

"out of fear. fear that you don't like me in the same way. i figured if i met someone who would be willing to date me, i'd forget about you," he says, not breaking eye contact.

"okay, i just now realized how much i sound like a dick," he says, slightly smiling.

"the real dick move is what i did. pretending to date one of your best friends just so you'd fall out of love? c'mon, i'm the worst," i respond, also gaining a smile.

"well, actually i only wanted to do the noah thing so you'd realize you should be with me," i say.

"well, i never stopped liking you so," he says.

bam! awkward silence bomb.

"maybe if i set things straight with isabela, we can think about fulfilling a relationship?" he suggests.

i smile like an idiot and nod.

"promise me you won't breakup with her through a text," i say.

"i promise."

he takes my hand and holds it, rubbing his thumb along my knuckle, then bringing my hand to his lips, kissing me softly. all i can do is smile at him. he puts his arm around me and i lean my head on his shoulder. he runs his hand up and down my upper arm. we sit like this for awhile.

happily.

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