{Did You Notice?} COMPLETE ✅

~Day 17~

Jace POV

It made me sad to think we didn't know her that well.

Me and Jack had known her for quite some time now- about 2 or 3 years so. From what we knew, she was smart, funny, kind, caring and full of charisma. Well that's how she used to be.

I remember when we first met her. I was attracted to her personality straight away- she was so full of life and was unafraid to be herself. She was a strong young woman who didn't take nothing from no one and cared for her friends like family with the whole of her heart. She would take a bullet for her closest friends and not think about it for a second. That's how devout she was.

She seemed to like me and Jack straight away. It was easy to make her laugh, and her laugh was utterly contagious. She could lift your spirits with a sentence and a lopsided grin and it made you feel glad to be around her. She thrived on others' happiness, and was intimate and personal so getting to know her was no problem at all. She's one of the best people I have ever known.

She isn't like that so much now. It's like someone has been eating away at the person she was for the last month or so. She's lost this charismatic brilliance she used to have, she's so tired she and works too hard. She rarely laughs and avoids physical contact. It's like she's fading away by the day- like dust wisping away in the winter winds.

I decided to take a walk to stop thinking so much just as the sun had set, a cool breeze gliding over my skin as the moon began lifting itself into the sky. It was peacefully calm; the sky grey and ashy but oddly beautiful all the same.

My feet led me to the sea where the rocks stretched out into the foaming waves. The surface of the sea was an inky black and glittered in the dim light, lapping over the shore with a lazy contentedness. It was like coming home, I thought as I listened to my feet crunch over the damp pebbles. I was absorbed in the scene until a figure caught my eye. A figure all too familiar.

I didn't take a moment to walk up to her and stop by her side, my eyes not leaving the sea. She didn't look up at me either, lost in the waves that went in and back out again, over and over again. Her voice cut through the silence. "I love the sea's routine. It's so simple. In and out, in and out. It's comforting."

I stared at her for a moment, before sitting down beside her, close to the water's edge. It kept creeping up on us but it never reached us. 

"How are you?" I asked. I felt as if the question needed to be asked.

She seemed to think long and hard about her answer before she answered: "Right now? Lost. Stumbling in the dark a little bit. But some people are making it a bit easier." She finally turned to me, her eyes looking even more alluring in the dark. "People like you Jace."

I continued to stare at her softly, sighing. "If you're thanking me, you needn't to."

A comfortable silence ensued before she spoke again. "When was the last time someone thanked you though?"

That shut me up. I saw a small triumphant smile grace her features with that and I slowly put an arm around her, pulling her in for a hug. Not for any reason other than she probably needed one. She seemed a little shocked at first before she leaned in and rested her head on my collarbone. She smelt like salt and coconut- a scent far too familiar. My heart suddenly leapt, and I pulled her closer. I hadn't realised how much I missed her.

She seemed to hear my thoughts as I looked down and her eyes that were partly concealed by her hood and hair glistened with tears. My heart ached for her.

"Oh my.." I soothed, resting my chin atop of her head. "What has happened to you? What have you been through?"

I watched her tears flow silently but freely at my words, and I felt my own eyes glaze over. I hardly ever cried, but seeing her so broken when she should be so happy was heart breaking for me.

I felt them glide warmly down my cheeks before I whispered softly. "Do you remember your birthday last year?"

She paused for a moment before nodding beneath me. She knew what I was talking about. "When you held me on that cliff. I remember." Her voice was beautifully broken.

I sighed, wiping my cheeks. "You were so full of life then. So you. So how you should be."

She let out a small sob and I hugged her close to my chest, gently rocking her back and forth. The black sea smudged as new tears pricked my eyes.

"I was in love with you then.." she whispered raggedly as if she couldn't believe it. "I was.."

"Shh, it's alright now," I comforted quietly. "It's different now. It's better now. You have me. I have you." The tears began flowing faster as thoughts of her letting the black waves engulf her plagued my mind. "I have you don't I?"

She sobbed and sobbed into my chest, her body shaking like a leaf in the wind before she whispered to me: "You have me, you have me, you have me..."

I only realised she stopped when I heard her soft snores. She had fallen asleep in my arms, tears shining on her cheeks like dew. I wiped them off, ignoring my own. She stirred a little and faintly whispered "I'm going to miss you. I'm going to miss you so much.."

She is not leaving me.