You Make The Scars Pretty And The Freckles Beautiful [Editing]

Chapter 6

(Sam)

Where the hell are you, and where's Jace?! You didn't do anything, did you?! My brother was freaking out. Don't you DARE hurt him, he- I cut him off.

"Alex, listen. I didn't do anything to him, he's fine. We're at his house right now because he had some stuff to check on."

What reason do I have to belie... I took the phone away from my ear, done with my brother's mindless yelling.

Jace looked at me. "I can talk to him if you want..." As soon as the words left his mouth, I handed the phone to him.

"Please make him stop yelling, it gives me a headache." The boy beside me laughed, taking the phone.

"Hey Kizu, it's Jace." He paused, listening to my twin. "No, he wasn't lying, he's just helping me with some things." Another pause. "Yes, we're at my house, in the backyard to be precise. I had to let my dog outside, and Sam's sitting here with me."

I sighed, tuning out the rest of the conversation. I felt terrible because I'd basically obliterated my brother's trust when he found out what had been happening with Jace.

And I missed what we'd had before our mom had died.

The brother dynamic between us just kind of evaporated on that day- we separated ourselves without even trying. We were both so busy trying to find someone or something to hold ourselves together that we failed to see the other person in the exact same position.

"Yeah, don't worry. Bye." Jace finished the call and handed me my phone, smiling. "You were right, he really is a stress case."

I nodded, still spacing out a bit. "He's been like that since Mom died, and I can't blame him- I did some stupid shit after her death," I said absentmindedly.

"L-Like what..? It's alright if you don't wanna tell me, just if youre comfortable sharing." Finally breaking out of my daze, I faced the boy beside me. His freckles that dotted his cheeks like stars in the night sky, the delicate curvature of his lips and the gentle slope of his nose... he looked so pretty in the warm autumn light.

God, I was so gay for him- nobody thinks of a friend like that and doesn't have a crush on them.

He can't know, though... it would break whatever friendship we had, and I couldn't lose that, even after all the shit I'd done. I cared about the boy.

"S-Sam?" I snapped back to reality.

"Sorry, I just spaced out there. After my mom died, I was depressed as fuck and would leave the house in the middle of the night, just to get away. It scared Alex so much, he became extremely overprotective. And then he found out what I'd been doing to you, so now he trusts me even less."

Jace nodded. "I... I get the depression thing. Is Kizu's real name Alex? You've called him that a couple times now."

I froze. I'd accidentally given away my brother's real name without knowing, but...

It was Jace, so I could trust him. Alex would probably be pissed at me for telling, but it was Jace, and I felt that he was an extremely trustworthy person.

I nodded tentatively. "Yeah. The reason he started going by Kizuato was because in middle school, right after he came out as ace, he got jumped by some dickheads from the football team. They beat him up and gave him the scars on his face, so he, being the stubborn idiot he is, got the bastards caught and started going by Kizuato, which means 'scarred' in Japanese." Jace looked stunned, then nodded.

"I see..." He didn't question it, but instead got up, walked to the middle of his yard, and collapsed. I leapt up, ran over to him and almost called for help, but then Jace rolled over and latched onto my leg, pulling me to the ground. I yelped in surprise, tumbling onto the soft, green lawn.