First

Chapter 59

His eyes instantly hardened as he took in my defensive stance and the tears silently welling in my eyes. Jace rushed towards me and smoothed his hands down my face, careful of my cheek. "Are you okay?" Jace asked before turning on my family.

"Leave her alone," Levi said coldly, advancing on Jace.

"Levi just stop," I begged. "Please, you're just going to make this worse."

Tears were now spilling down my cheeks. Jace went into protective mode. "Back off. Now," he spat. When he turned back to me his eyes widened. "Shit."

I didn't know what he was talking about until I saw the color on his palm. My make-up had rubbed off when he caressed my cheek. Dammit.

"Kadence..." Jace was utterly destroyed; I could see it in his eyes, he was drowning in his remorse because without me saying, he knew that he was the cause of my injuries.

Jace pulled me into his chest where I hid my head. He kissed my head and led me toward the bathroom. He silently coaxed me to sit on the side of the tub. I could hear my parents arguing on the other side of the door.

I watched silently as Jace grabbed a washcloth and ran it under the tap. He knelt on the floor in front of me and smoothed the cloth over my cheek, removing any trace of make-up to reveal the true nature of my injuries.

"Don't try and hide these from me or from anyone, okay?" he asked, his eyes imploring me. "I need to look at you and be reminded of what a piece of shit I am for doing this to you. I need to be reminded, Kadence."

I touched his cheek but he flinched briefly before allowing me to rest my palm on his face. Now I knew how it felt for him to have me flinch away from him earlier. It was absolutely devastating to have the person you loved most in the world flinch away from your touch; to see them fear your touch when they had once craved it. Needed it like they needed air.

"We need to talk about this, Kade," Jace said when I was still silent.

I sighed and watched the shadows of the trees dancing in the breeze. "I just want to live in my bubble of denial and ignorance for a little while longer."

I knew that Jace didn't agree but he didn't comment as he finished washing my face. Because of what happened last night Jace was going to give me whatever I asked. Even though I hated that, at the moment I was thankful. I wasn't ready to talk yet.

When all the make-up was finally washed off Jace asked, "Are you sure you're okay?" Tears welled in his eyes. "They look pretty bad."

"They're not bad compared to everything else."

He didn't have to ask what I meant. Jace laid his head on my collar bone and kissed my heart. "I know it hurts... mine hurts too. I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am, Kadence."

I sighed and ran my hands through his hair, trying to soothe the storm that I could see brewing in his eyes. "I know, Jason; it's okay. I don't want to talk about it right now though. Please. I'm not ready."

Jace nodded against my chest and pulled away. "Okay, let's go outside. I'll make you a fresh coffee."

I smiled sadly and took Jace's proffered hand. He led me back out to the kitchen and proceeded to make each of us a coffee. I soon realized that he was going to spoil me today; he was going to make sure, in his own little way, that I was okay. It would be one of the ways he'd try to apologize.

Jace kissed my head sweetly and carried both our coffees out onto the deck where my parents and brother were talking. The second that we appeared they stopped talking. I knew they had been talking about us and it wasn't the first time either. My mind flashed quickly back to the day Jace showed up at my house attacked and the next morning I had walked downstairs to a suddenly too quiet kitchen.