Treacherous

Chapter 2

I think I'll pace my
apartment a few times
and fall asleep on the couch

***

Jace sits in front of his closet, going through some boxes he hadn't unpacked when he moved back from California. It was filled with shoe boxes, and those shoe boxes were full of photos of him and his friends and family. He comes across a photo of one of his sisters, Rose, and her girlfriend, Ashton. They had their arms around each other in a tight embrace, their smiles radiant. He smiles a bit to himself. He had never seen his sister happier than when she came out and started dating Ashton. He sets the photo aside, picking up another of his sister, Lexi. He had taken the photo of her eating cereal, just to annoy her. He couldn't remember why he kept it, but he had. He flips through the photos some more, finding several more of him, Lexi and Rose at Rose and Ashton's wedding. He finds a few of him and Carter, his best friend, messing around together. Madeline, Carter's fiancée, had probably taken them.

He goes to put the pictures back in the box he found them in, pulling another shoe box towards him. He flips open the lid, pulling a stack out.

And then he freezes.

The very first photo is one of Alison and himself. They're curled up together on a couch, their heads close as they talk softly to one another. Alison's face is frozen in a laugh, and picture-Jace was smirking at her. Carter must've taken the photo.

Jace slowly goes through the shoe box, picture by picture. Each one a photo of either Alison and him, or just Alison, from his high school days. There's one of them at the zoo together. A picture of Jace and Alison kissing underneath mistletoe at a Christmas party. A group photo of him, Alison, Carter and Maddie. Another of Alison making a silly face at his camera. One of Alison curled up on his lap, asleep. He had taken that one by aiming his phone camera down at her. She looked so peaceful.

"Jace? Where are you?" Lynn's voice rings through the silence. His eyes widen as he starts carefully but quickly gathering the photos of him and Alison, putting them back in the box.

"Bedroom." He calls back, hearing her footsteps grow closer. He gets the last picture into the shoe box, flipping the lid closed right as Lynn walks in.

She kneels behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck, her lips by his ear. "Hey, babe. What are all the boxes?"

Jace glances at the shoe boxes in front of him. "Shoe boxes. They're full of photos from when I was in high school. Then there's some from when Carter and I were in college, and a bunch of Rose's wedding. I hadn't unpacked them quite yet from the move back here."

Lynn nods. "I remember you showing me pictures of Rose's wedding. She and Ashton looked lovely."

He and Lynn hadn't quite gotten together yet when Rose got married. Alison had been at the wedding, but they hadn't really spoken. There had been too much going on. Too many people to greet and catch up with.

"Yeah, they did." Jace smiles a bit. "But I'm sure you're going to look a thousand times better in your wedding dress."

Lynn presses her lips to his cheek. "You're too sweet. How is Rose doing, anyway? And Lexi? I haven't seen them since Christmas last year."

"They're doing really well. Rose and Ashton adopted a baby boy. Blake. He's adorable. Lexi and Jake are doing really well, too. Jake talked to me a few days ago, actually. He's going to propose to Lexi."