Be Alright

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Eight: Safe

As soon as I walk through the front door of the apartment, I sling my bag to the floor and let go of the suit case handle. Of course the one day I had things to carry with me would be the day the elevator is out. I did need the workout after all the food I ate this past weekend, making at least one positive to the horrific journey up the five flights of stairs.

After I finally catch my breath, I nice the trail of rose petals that lead from the front door through the living room, and I wonder what sort of Valentines activities Evan had planned for Haley. When I begin following the petals through the apartment, I find that they don't lead to Haley's bedroom. Instead, they lead to mine

My face twists into one of confusion, and I begin to wonder how Tyler was able to do this without even being here.

When I open the door to my room, I'm greeted with lit candles and balloons floating everywhere, all in pink and gold shades. The pink rose petals continue into the room, spread across my bed. In the center of the bed is a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolate, along with a humongous sized teddy bear.

I'm in complete aw at the Valentine's Day decorations, and I am nearly at a loss of words at the sight.

I hurry over to the bed and grab the card on top, quickly pulling it out to read it. Expecting to find Tyler's name signed at the bottom, I'm shocked to find Jace's name instead.

"Before you give me the 'we are just friends' talk I just want to let you know that I ordered all this for Kristen and well, you see how that went. So I had to do something with it. Might as well be given to my best friend," Jace says, coming up behind me in the room.

I don't know how he got inside, but something tells me with how often he is here that he probably has gotten his own key made. With Jace's surprising behaviors, it wouldn't be that far fetched.

I trudge towards Jace and wrap my arms around him, hugging him as tight as I can. He does the same, and together we stand there enveloped in each other.

With the combination of the Valentine's decorations and gifts, the Kensley situation, and the overall fact that I just have missed my best friend makes me feel like I should hold him all night.

"I missed the fuck out of you," I mumble as I step away from him.

"Missed you more," He comments and grabs ahold of my right hand with his left, playing with my fingers.

"Thank you for all of this. I love it," I thank him and he nods, a smile on his lips.

Walking over to my bed, I begin moving the flowers and other gifts off the bed and onto my desk so I can sit down. Jace helps me and then joins me, laying across the bed while I sit up with my legs crossed over each other.

"How was your trip?" He starts by asking.

"It was fun. I was convinced I was going to eat hypothermia the whole time, but after a while I got used to the coldness," I say, remembering how extra I was being with the amount of clothing I used to cover my body. "I met Tyler's family. They were all very nice and good to me and just made me feel welcomed and loved."

Jace nods as I speak, his blue eyes staring me down as I do. He hangs onto every word I say, as if I am suddenly so interesting.