What Happens On The Balcony

7 - stays on the balcony

7 weeks later | 9:00 pm

the holiday season had come and gone and i hadn't season jace in what felt like ages. it always surprised me how little i actually saw him. we lived in the same building and i never saw him digging through his mailbox in the lobby or his tall frame leaning against the wall of the elevator. jace was such a mystery to me. it was almost as if he didn't exist outside of his balcony and that's why i decided i spent the entirety of the holidays thinking of him.

i jumped at the sound of a loud banging on the wall separating mine and jace's apartments. my eyes followed the sound as it seemed to travel linearly across the entire wall. i stared in the direction of my balcony, where the noise seemed to halt. i didn't know what i was waiting for or what the banging meant, but suddenly the same annoying sound bellowed through the same place it had stopped before, this time much more aggressive.

i set my copy of the girl on the train beside me and pushed the covers off of my legs. i went over to my closet first, slipping my feet into my fluffy slippers and grabbing a sweatshirt to slip over my head, before moving to my window. as i pushed it open i felt the chill of the air nip at my cheeks. i poked my head through.

my eyes were immediately drawn towards jace's half of the balcony, where he stood with crossed arms and an impatient glare toward me.

"well come on." he gestured with his head.

i was unsure about what was happening but nonetheless ducked my body through the window, immediately wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to keep the cold wind away from me.

"whatever i say here never leaves this balcony got it?" jace quickly spoke the second i was standing up straight.

i raised my eyebrows. "are you about to tell you're an axe-murderer?"

he glared at me. "no. shut up. i'm serious i–" he shook his head, his long fingers raking through his curls. he paced as much as one could pace on the tiny balcony. he looked distressed, like whatever was on his mind had been toying at him for weeks. "i'm going crazy and i just–"

i watched him with wide eyes and still bones as i waited for him to continue, feeling like if i moved even an inch i'd disrupt whatever it was he was going through and he no longer want to talk.

"i hate june." he said with a snarl, pausing between each word.

my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "why?"

"because she–she–she's a menace!" he shouted.

"oh not the month okay." i said mostly to myself.

he glared at me, his eyes dark and narrow. i held my hands up in a quiet "sorry" motion.

"so who is june?"

"my girlfriend–ex girlfriend." he quickly corrected himself, his tone shifting to sounds much more solemn.

"oh." i said quietly, looking down at my hands. when i raised my head again jace had his elbows resting on the railing of his balcony and his hands were tangled in his hair.

"so..." i started slowly. "are you okay?" stupid question.

jace groaned, dropping his hands to the back of his neck.

"i don't know." he sighed.

suddenly he lifted his head up and turned to face me, a frown sitting on his lips and his eyes serious. "what happens on this balcony stays on the balcony okay?"

"yeah of course." i answered reassuringly, reiterating my answer to his similar question earlier.

he took a deep breath and nodded his head. "okay."