WOUNDED

23. Make me coffee

Alex was heating some leftover pizza. Her thighs looked much better than this morning. Jace was still here, currently sprawled out in the living room watching TV. His roommate hadn't picked up the phone despite the numerous times they'd tried. Jace didn't mind it at all, he was actually enjoying his stay at this house even if his host had been glaring at him since morning. After making breakfast he had settled in the living room while she had disappeared to the bedroom. The silence was peaceful and as much as she'd told him to leave, she didn't appear to be insistent about it. It was like she didn't care if he left or not.

Jace was intrigued by her behavior. Last night when he had followed her, he had expected her to force him out. To be honest he had been scared when she mentioned police and was going to leave but then she'd opened the door. He knew if she really wanted him out he'd be long gone but he'd sensed the words were empty. Just like her eyes had been.

He had tried to start a conversation various times but he'd been met with silence. Not the annoyed kind of silence as he'd observed, but more like she couldn't be bothered with some useless talk. Jace was familiar with depression and stress but whatever her eyes held was way deeper than what he was familiar with. It was scary because she looked at him as if he was not there. He could have left to find his way back home in all means but he was hesitant, why he didn't know.

Getting two plates, Alex carried the pizza slices to the living room and set it at the table. Going back again she grabbed a water bottle and two glasses. "Knock yourself out." Settling down at the opposite side she addressed him reaching out for one slice. Turning down the volume, he sat upright and grabbed the plate and two slices. Eating silently he stared at her while she stared at the window seeing everything and nothing.

"Is there something on my face?" Feeling his eyes on her, she turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "No not really, just wondering who you are." He replied with a shrug still looking at her. "Uuuh..... the owner of this house?" Scrunching her face she answered him dragging it out as a question. She didn't know what exactly that meant.

"I know that silly, I mean other than that, I've been here since last night and I can't tell a single thing about you other than the name, which I had to scavenge on my own Lol." He said rolling his eyes. He really had pretty eyes, the kind that you'd get yourself lost in, she thought. Shaking her head at the train of her thoughts she grabbed another slice and turned back to the window.

"It's a good thing isn't it, you're not here to know me after all." She supplied, munching on the pizza silently. Why would he want to know her anyway, she was merely a good Samaritan, a forced one at that.

"Well friends tell each other stuff, don't they?" Alex could feel the teasing in his voice. He was not bad company, she'd have hang out with him in the past. "What friends are you talking about, I don't see any." She answered him letting the sarcasm drip in. He rolled his eyes at that and Alex thought they'd been doing that a lot.

"Oh look, it's you and me, we're the friends, I almost didn't notice." Waving his hands around he answered. He's a lunatic, he should be in an asylum, she thought rolling her eyes back. She really needed to stop with the eye rolling, it was becoming of her.

Finishing of the pizza,he cleared the table and took the plates to the kitchen. Good, she thought, he'd better pull his weight around here. "Make me coffee while you're at it." She called out at him, it felt good calling out orders while seated. "Coming right away your highness, what would you do without me." He called back with a laugh which made her crack a smile. It'd been long since she'd had company and a sarcastic one at that. It was not that bad.

Bringing two mugs of steaming coffee back with him, he put one at her side and settled down with the other. "You're welcome." He said cheekily with a smile which she rolled her eyes at. The coffee was surprisingly good, better than she made and that was something. And the jerk had made it exactly the way she liked it, black like her soul.

"So whatsup with the guitar, are you any good or do you just carry it along to string girls along?" Alex found herself starting up with the conversation, the idiot was growing on her. "Is it stringing you along?" He asked with a wink which made her let out a very unladylike snort. Adonis would be out naked and she'd still not bat an eye. No need to tell him that though.

Jace grabbed his guitar and played a soft melody, one he'd learnt as a kid when he first picked an interest. He never played out to anyone, rather he enjoyed doing it alone as a hobby. Damn he was good, she thought surprised as she was not expecting him to be good at it. As much as her knowledge on instruments was none existent, she could recognize a good craft.

"Wow, that was surprisingly good, I didn't expect that." She told him genuinely when he was done. "Why, thank you, pleasure entertaining you." He answered with a mock head bow making her spot another tiny smile. Smiling twice a day, that was a record break. "That is the first nice thing you've said to me, its an improvement." He added jokingly which she knew was the truth.

"Well I don't make a habit of being nice to people who force themselves in my house." She said to him sipping on her coffee. It was quite funny that he'd just met this guy last night and here they were seated and listening to him play.

She was normally the one waking up in other people's houses and not the other way round. What a turn her life had taken.