First

Chapter 31

"Hey, are you awake?" Jace asked, prodding me in the side gently.

I sighed and rolled over to face him. "I am now." After I had finally gotten Jace out of the barn and into the house, he and I had stowed away in my bedroom, needing some alone time. The house was silent around us; everyone else having vacated to take my aunt and cousin sightseeing. So Jace and I had crawled into bed and both fallen asleep after he had made love to me thoroughly. And it was from that blissful sleep that Jace was now waking me. "What's up?"

Jace fiddled with his lip and I knew this was going to be a serious conversation; he never did that unless he was nervous. "I want to talk to you about something."

"Okay." I sat up, gazing at him. "Shoot."

Jace seemed to take a minute to gather his thoughts; I could practically see the thoughts flying around in his head, overwhelming him. "I want to talk to your dad... about everything. I want to tell someone and I feel like your dad is the only person besides you that I can really trust. Despite everything I know he's someone I can trust." He said it all in a rush and when he was done he took a deep breath.

My heart literally stopped in my chest only to pick up again at double the speed. "Jace, where is this coming from? Don't get me wrong," I added quickly. "I'm glad you want to tell someone, but you spent so long fighting it and fighting me... What changed from last night to today?"

He sighed, "I've been thinking," and shrugged. "When all my shit hits the fan—and it's going to come out—we're going to need an adult on my side. And I feel like your dad is the best bet; he's been more of a father to me than my own."

"If you're serious..."

Jace nodded. "I am. I'm tired of hiding it and after seeing what this is doing to you... It needs to stop, here and now and I'm the only one who can make that happen." His eyes were fierce and determined when he said, "I'm going to talk to your dad and hopefully he'll be able to help."

"I'm sure he will," I sniffed, trying to hold my emotions back and failing. "I'm so proud of you, Jace!" I cried, throwing myself on top of him.

Jace laughed and caught me as we fell back onto the pile of pillows. "It feels lighter, doesn't it?" he asked, holding me to his chest. "Simply making the decision?"

"It's a sign of things to come. It'll get a lot easier knowing it's not us against the world anymore." Just then there was banging and voices downstairs, signalling everyone's return. I groaned and buried my head in Jace's neck. Jace held me for a moment before sighing and sliding out of bed. I rolled onto my side and silently watched him get dressed. "When are you going to tell him?" I asked.

He paused with his shirt halfway over his head. "I want to wait till your family is gone. I don't want my problems overshadowing their visit." He let his shirt slide down the rest of the way. "But I feel like I won't be able to wait that long. My dad's going to come looking for me sooner or later and so is my mom. I don't have the luxury of time right now."

"Okay, so like everything else, we do this together," I announced as I crawled out of bed, leaving no room for argument. But somehow, Jace still found the room.

He sat on the edge of the bed, now watching me get dressed. "Um no. Not this time. This is something I have to do on my own, Kade."

"Um no," I replied, mimicking him. "We are doing this together."

Jace sighed in exasperation and drug his hands down his face. "I don't want to argue with you. Not now; not ever." His voice was softer now as he drew me to him. "Come here."