OFF LIMITS

N.I.N.E.T.E.E.N

Ellery walked into her first class of the day with Jace by her side. He stopped her before she could walk over to Sam. "Ellery," he said. "Are you okay?"

Ellery nodded. "I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me."

"No, I'm not fine, I'm stressing out," she said quickly and took a deep breath. "I have no idea what they're going to do."

"They can't do anything to you," Jace said softly. "They don't control you." Jace's eyes grew darker. "No one does."

"I think they need reminding of that sometimes."

Jace smirked. "I think you did exactly that just now."

"I better take a seat."

"Wait, one more thing," Jace said. He leaned into Ellery's ear. "I hope I'm worth all this hassle, little rebel."

Ellery couldn't help but blush. "You're not getting out of telling me why my brothers are like this," she said. "Promise me."

"I promise I'll explain everything to you."

Ellery raised an eyebrow. "When?" She pushed.

Jace smirked. "Soon." He then pulled away from Ellery and went and sat down with Gavin and Shaun. Shaun watched as Ellery sat down next to Sam. He missed her.

"You alright, man?" Jace asked, nudging his cousin on the arm.

"God, I miss her," Shaun sighed. "If we could just tell her then this drama between us would just be gone."

"You're doing no such thing," Jace said sternly. He was talking to Shaun but his attention was on Ellery who was being grilled with questions by Sam. She kept on glancing at him so he guessed she was asking Ellery about him. "She's not finding out right now."

"What if she never forgives me?" Shaun groaned.

"She's a very patient girl, it take's a lot to rile her up. She's forgiving. You're her best friend, she'll forgive you."

"But what if she doesn't-"

"She's your best friend. You know her better than everyone. Is she the type to hold grudges?"

"No," Shaun said. "She isn't."

"There you go," Jace shrugged.

"Why aren't you telling her?" Gavin wondered, joining in on the conversation.

"I don't want to cloud her judgement," Jace said honestly. "She doesn't know about us, she's not been exposed to our culture. It's a very daunting concept if you've never heard of it before. I want her to like me before she's told she has too."

"She does like you, Jace," Shaun said. "She's never liked anyone in the past, but she definitely likes you."

"I want her to be sure before I unload loads of information on her," Jace said. "I also want to figure out exactly what her brother's are hiding. I have my suspicions, but I need to follow them up."

"How?"

"It's simple really," Jace said. He smiled softly when Ellery laughed at something Sam said. "I just need to steal her tablets."

*

By lunch time Ellery had avoided her brothers 15 times, and heard that her brothers and Jace had been in altercations at least 4 times. She also had 3 missed calls from Logan. Ellery had just finished putting her books in her locker and she checked her phone. Sam was meeting her so they could go to Ellery's house to pick up her things.