The Timekeeper

Chapter Eighteen

"Candice," he smiled, and I felt my heart shatter. He was truly happy to see me, his eyes lit up almost the second he noticed who had crashed into him. "I was actually just going to call you."

His phone sat in the palm of his hand, the screen still lit. He slid it back into his jeans pocket then, before taking a small step towards me. He reached out and grabbed my hand, pressing it in between his palms. I had never seen him this relaxed and comfortable around anyone but his family, which just made me feel ten times worse than I already had.

"Really, why?" I asked, though I wasn't really listening. All I could think about was what had just happened with Ryan, and the more I looked at Jase, and how genuinely happy he looked, the more I hated myself.

"Well, about last night-" he began, but I cut in before he could go any further.

"Look, Jase, I'm so sorry. I just freaked out. I've just never been kissed before." Those un-kissed lips aren't so innocent now, though, are they? The thought drifted through my mind, making me shiver.

"It's all right, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," he said, pushing his hands into his jacket pockets.

"No, of course not!" I exclaimed. "Can we just forget about last night?"

He looked at me, really looked at me. He could tell I was trying to avoid the conversation, but I had to. I had to get as far away as possible, before I spilled everything then and there. I knew I should tell him, he deserved to know how much of an awful soul mate I was, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Are you alright, Candice? You look like you're in a pretty big hurry-" he was cut off by another voice, from a fair distance away.

"Candice! I'm sorry, okay? Please!" I saw him running towards us, and silently cursed myself. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen. He slowed as he saw me, and somehow he hadn't spotted Jase yet. Jase had spotted him though, and looked utterly confused as Ryan stopped in front of me. He glanced over at Jase then, and they locked gazes. Ryan's eyes growing wide and his face turning a shade lighter as he finally noticed who Jace was.

"Oh," Ryan puffed, clearly working out the situation in his head. I had never imagined the two of them to be in the same situation, especially not in a situation like this. It was strange to see how completely opposite they were from each other, and how I was interested in them both still confused me. There was an awkward silence for what felt like several minutes, before Jase spoke.

"Sorry for what?" His gaze hadn't moved from Ryan since he got here, and the more he stared the more I wanted to disappear.

"I, um-" Ryan stuttered.

"Wait a second, you were with Candice that night at the police station, weren't you?" Jase said, raising his eyebrow. "I thought you looked familiar."

Ryan didn't say anything, just put his head down and stared at his shoes. Jase looked at me then, before back at Ryan. His hand turned into a fist then, but they didn't move from his side.

"Candice, did he hurt you? Is that why you were running?" he said through gritted teeth.

"N-no, Jase. He didn't hurt me," I whispered, though I wasn't planning to, but it seemed to be all I could manage. He was staring at me now, his face filled with confusion.

"Then why were you running? And why was he chasing after you? I highly doubt you were playing a game of tag."

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words would come out. He knew I was hiding something from him; that there was something I wasn't telling him. He had never asked about Ryan before, though I wasn't sure if it was because he didn't care or didn't really remember him. Now, I knew it had to be because he hadn't really noticed him at the police station that night.