Coming Home (Jace Norman fanfiction) (COMPLETED)

Chapter 19

I shoulder my backpack, and head for the front doors. I'm supposed to be meeting Ashtyn and Lilian there. Since the boys are otherwise occupied, I'm not worried about Jace and Blake meeting. Jace knows nothing about Blake. But Blake doesn't seem to happy with the fact that I'm friends with Jace. Well, let me qualify that. He doesn't seem to like that I'm such GOOD friends with him. I see Ashtyn and Lilian sitting on the cement curb at the front of the school. I look down at my phone, there's a text from Jace, saying he'll be there in 10 minutes. I call out to my friends.
"Ash! Lil!" They turn around, and wave. I run up to them, and join them, sitting down on the curb.
"Hey." Lilian says, not looking up from her phone.
"She's DMing Jace and Sean." Ashtyn explains.
"Ohhh. Got ya." I reply. I like to look down at my phone. Another message from Jace, saying he'll be here in 5 minutes. "My ride will be here in 5." I say to them.
"Oh, ok." Lilian says, looking up from her phone. I glance at her curiously, nodding at her phone. "I finished, I just have to wait for them to answer." She grins.
"Hey Katie. Who's picking you up anyways?" Ashtyn asks, before I can say anything to Lilian.
"Oh, a friend. We're going to hang out." I reply.
"Which friend?" Lilian asks. "Not to be mean, but you just moved here."
"That friend." I say pointing to Jace's mom's car, that had just turned into the parking lot. Lilian and Ashtyn can't see him because the windows are tinted, but I recognize the car from yesterday.
"Who?" Lilian asks again. Just then, the SUV pulls up in front of us, and the door opens. I see Jace's feet first, so Lilian and Ashtyn are craning their necks, trying to see who it is. Then, the rest of Jace appears. Lillian and Ashton bring their hands to their mouths. They're in shock.
Lilian turns to me and mouths, "JACE NORMAN!" I grin and nod. Jace walks over.
"Hey Kay." He says, smiling at me. Only a handful of people call me that. Mostly Karly, and a few other people from where I used to live. He turns to my friends. "Lilian and Ashtyn right?" Ashtyn nods, blushing profusely. But Lilian just stands there, trying to talk, only managing to get her jaw to open and close. I elbow her.
"Uh. Hi. Jace. Norman." Lilian stammers. I giggle.
"Hi." Jace says back. "Did you guys get the stuff I gave to Katie?" They nod their heads vigorously. "Cool." Jace is being really sweet with my friends. It makes me happy. "So totally random question. Do you guys want to take a picture?" Jace asks.
"Oh my gosh! Yes please! That would be awesome!" Lilian exclaims. By now, other people have started to notice, and recognize Jace, and are looking and pointing. Some are even whispering to each other as well. Jace takes Lilian's phone and snaps a quick selfie, then he does the same with Ashtyn's phone and mine.
"Thank you so much Jace!" Ashtyn says, grinning from ear to ear.
"Anytime." He replies smiling. Then he turns to me. "We should probably go." I nod my head and pull open the rear door passenger side door. I wave to Ash and Lil.
"Bye guys!" They wave in return. As soon as Jace and I have our doors closed, and seatbelts on, Jace's mom drives away. I see a bunch of people run up to Ashtyn and Lilian. I'll probably be hearing about this later. Jace had climbed in beside me so we could talk easier.
"Hey." He says, leaning towards me. He's smiling. Like that smile that makes all his fangirls swoon. It takes every bit of energy I've got, not to start blushing like crazy.
"Hey." I say back. I try to flash the cutest smile I can. But I'm terrible at flirting, so it probably looks like I'm constipated. He laughs. God I love his laugh, it's so cute. "Thanks for being so cool with my friends." I say. I decide to stop trying to be flirty, because it likely won't end well for me.
"No problem. They seem pretty cool. I'd love to hang out with them sometime."
"That would actually be so cool." I reply. I figure he means it, but he probably won't be able to go through with it. Just because he's so busy with his filming schedule and stuff, he won't have the time.
"Well then, tell me, what's the one thing you would want to do with me and your friends? My treat." He says suddenly. I stare at him in surprise.
"You mean it?" I ask. I guess my surprise is evident, because he says;
"Yeah! What did you think?" He grins and punches me lightly on the arm. It doesn't hurt, just gives me butterflies in my stomach. I grin sheepishly.
"I don't know, I just thought you'd be super busy, or something." He grins at me. He doesn't reply though. He must sense my curiosity, because he nods towards his mom. I guess he doesn't want her to hear. Plus, we're almost at the mall anyways, like we're pulling into the parking lot. His mom stops in front of the food court entrance. It's the same mall as yesterday. I grab my backpack and thank Jace's mom, before climbing out, onto the asphalt parking lot. Jace gets out on the other side and walks around the car to me. We step onto the sidewalk at the same time. He waves good bye to his mom, and then walks with me into the mall.
"Starbucks?" He asks.
"Yes please." I answer. He leads me to the line up, it not very long thankfully.
"What were you going to say in the car?" I ask. He looks at me.
"I'll make time for it. And for you." He smiles softly. I feel my heart melt.
"You just made my day." I say to him.
"Good." Then he puts his arm around my shoulder, and half hugs me. I'm going to die. Bring on the heart attack, stroke, whatever it is, but I'M GOING TO DIE. "Now, will you please tell me what you want to do?" He asks me, faking exasperation. He still hasn't taken his arm away. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? I think about his question, and then it hits me.
"I want to go skating!"
"Skating?" He asks. He seems surprised.
"Yeah! I haven't been in forever! I miss it." I had actually only knew Jace for two years, before he moved. I used to live in Canada, believe it or not. Hockey had been my life. But when had I moved to the States, I just didn't end up continuing. I knew I still had my old skates somewhere though. My feet hadn't really grown, so they should still fit.
"Oh that's right. You're Canadian, eh?" Jace says teasingly. I giggle.
"Shut up. All Canadians don't play Hockey." I tell him. He laughs.
"Nah. I don't believe you." He replies. He finally takes his arm away.
"It's true! Lacrosse is actually our national sport." I leave out the fact that Canada has two, and the other one is actually Hockey. We're now at the front of the line.
"What can I get you?" The barista asks. Jace turns to me, and motions that I go first. The lady smiles at me.
"Oh. Just a small Cotton Candy frappe, please."
"Sure. And for you?" She asks Jace. He looks at me.
"I'll have what she's having." He replies.
"Alright. And together or separate bills?" The barista asks.
"Together." Jace says, before I can say, "separate". I look at him.
"You don't have to do that, I have money." I tell him.
"It's fine, I want to." We move ahead, and grab our drinks. Jace leads me to a table, and we sit down. "You know, you never really told me much about when you lived in Canada." he says to me.
"Is there something specific you wanted to know?" I ask.
"Can you speak French?" He says, he smiles mischievously.
"Well, I used to be in french immersion, which is like super french for kids learning it in school as a second language , so I'd like to think I'm still good at it." I say to him. I smile shyly.
"Say something!" He grins. I stick my tung out at him.
"Ok fine." I take a deep breath, it's definitely been awhile. "Here goes it. Mon ami Jace ne connaissent pas, de quoi je parle. Alors, si je dis des mots mauvais à propos de lui, il ne connaîtra pas, qu'il devrait me frapper."
"That was good! You had the accent and everything!" Jace laughs. "Now what did you say? I heard my name." He raises an eyebrow accusingly. I laugh.
"I said, more or less, that: My friend Jace has no idea what I'm talking about. So if I say some not so nice words about him, he won't know to hit me." I smile at him.
"Cute." He replies. I see he's almost done his drink. Which makes me sad, I don't want to leave yet. This was fun. "One thing though, you said 'my FRIEND Jace'." He adds casually. I pale.
"Yeah. Is that ok? Sorry I thought we were. Would have it been better if said acquaintance?" I pretend everything is fine. But I feel a pit in my stomach. Did I just ruin everything by saying "friend"?
"Well, I wouldn't say 'acquaintance' per say. But I would like to use another word. You'd have to be cool with it though." He says. It looks like he's trying to hide a smile. But he's a professional actor, so how am I supposed to know?
"Oh. But wait, why would I have to be ok with it?" I ask. Then, realization hits me. I stare at him. Please tell me this is all a dream, and I'm not going crazy. Because there is no way that this is a reality. Jace sees the look on my face and smiles.
"Katie." He starts. Don't panic, don't panic. Breathe. Hold it together Katie! I mentally tell myself. Jace continues.
"Would you like to go out with me? If you don't really want to go, that's cool." He looks down at his shoes as he says the last part, looking sad. Which honestly, just makes him look cuter.
"No! I'd love to!" I say. He looks back up and smiles.
"Cool! We can go skating. I still want you to bring your friends ok? Less awkwardness and stuff. Plus I already said we would do that." I smile so big, my cheeks hurt. But I'm so happy, I couldn't stop if tried. Not that I'm about to.
"No that's fine! I completely agree. Would it be cool if I invited my sister too?" I ask.
"Yeah, absolutely. No problem." He says quickly. It's really weird to see him like this, he seems relieved but also really nervous. Not like his normal cool, confident, and in my personal opinion, adorable, self. It's kind of cute, seeing him like this. But I don't want the old Jace to disappear just because we're going on a date.
"I'm so excited." I say to him. "Even though we don't have a day or place." I laugh, and he laughs with me.
"I'll worry about the place." He assures me. "You just find a date that works for everyone, ok?"
"What about you? I mean, don't you have to film?" I ask, concerned.
"Remember? I said, I'd make time." He says softly, smiling at me. I blush.
"Right."
"Anyways, I realize you might not want to talk about it, but, when I saw all those comments on instagram, I felt so bad. I mean, I totally blew you off last night, and that was not cool of me at all. I still feel bad." He says to me. My heart twinges, as the memories come back.
"It was hard to deal with last night. But my friends from school were there from me." I could have added "when you weren't" but I don't think it's worth it. Why start it? He's obviously sorry, and more importantly, HE JUST ASKED ME OUT.
"I'm glad to hear that." He grabs his empty cup off the table, and I do the same. We walk over to the trash can, and toss our garbage inside. I pull out my phone, and text my mom to come get me.
"My mom will be here in 20." I tell him.
"Ok. Cool." He pulls out his own phone. I see him open snapchat. He takes a selfie of himself with the trash can. I laugh.
"Classy." I say to him. I'm smiling teasingly.
"I think you mean 'trashy'!" He replies, grinning. I kill myself laughing. That was pretty funny. I open my snapchat. He's posted his 'trashy' selfie to his story, with the caption;
"Hanging out with my new best friend 👌"
I take a screen shot of it, as I'm sure many other people have done as well. He starts taking more selfies with other inanimate objects around us, such as the potted plant. So I open my Instagram. Both Lilian and Ashtyn have posted the selfies Jace took with them on their phones. There's a lot of comments asking how they got to meet him, and where it was. And also if it's the same girl from the other picture. But I'm glad to see they haven't replied. I notice I have a DM. I open it. It's from the fan account.

Love_jace: hey, I figured you might want to know, I got the picture off @henrydanger4life, they deleted it not long after, cause everyone went crazy

Kaykay_99: OMG thanks so much! I've actually been dying to find out, but I felt weird asking! 😅😂

They reply seconds later.

Love_jace: you are so welcome! Now I'm just wondering, what's the story with you and Jace? You don't have to tell me. I was just curious 😁😅

I don't need or want anyone to know about Jace and I, outside of people I trust, that is.

Kaykay_99: we used to live close to each other and we were good friends. And I just moved out near him, so we started hanging out again. We're just friends 😊 and by the way, the other girl in that photo was just my younger sister.

Love_jace: that's so cool! 😊

Kaykay_99: yeah, Ik 😉 btw, if I get a behind the scenes pic or something, that you can repost, I'll DM it to you. Please don't repost anything, unless I DM it to you or I say it's cool. Please? 😁

Love_jace: of course! Np! I g2g now though, it was nice talking to you!

I close instagram, and open the group chat with Lilian and Ashtyn.

K: thanks guys for not answering the questions on Instagram

L: np!

A: yeah! We get it completely!

K: 😊💙
K: by the way HUGE NEWS to share with u guys later! Text me in an hour!

A: omg what is it!? 😱

L: yeah!😵

K: not telling!😝

I exit out of my messages, and open snapchat, I take a selfie with Jace's garbage can, but Jace jumps in at the last minute, and it ends up being all three of us. Garbage can included. I laugh, and put the caption as;
"Stealing Jace's new best friend 😝😎"
I save it, then post it to my story. I take a good selfie, with the Starbucks sign in the background, and caption that;
"First Starbucks in LA! ☕️😍😋"
I post that one to my story too. Then, since Jace is back on his phone, probably on Instagram or something. I decide to take another selfie. Before I can, Jace walks over to me, and wraps his arms around my neck in a hug. He smiles his perfect smile. His teeth shine in the light. I smile and take the picture. Obviously I'm not posting that picture. But I love it, I set it as my new lock screen. A text from my mom comes in.

Mom: I'm here. Same door I dropped you off at yesterday, meet me here in 5!

K: ok, b there in a sec

Jace saw the text on my screen, so I don't haven't to explain.
"I'm sorry you have to go, this was fun." He says, smiling at me, somewhat sadly.
"I agree! We should definitely do this again!" I say to him, smiling in return. He hugs me, like a full out hug. I hug him back. Thankfully, I don't think any of Jace's fans saw us around, at all, today.
"Listen, is it cool, if we only tell people we know about us? Just cause, online is a lot of pressure." I ask him.
"Yeah that's completely fine with me! I was actually going to suggest that. I don't want to subject you to all of haters, or my fans that want me to remain forever single!" He laughs at the last part. I smile, and give him another quick hug, before I pull away and head out the door. I see him wave as the sliding automatic doors hiss shut. I open my mom's car door and clamber in. I sit back, and close my eyes. Getting lost in my thoughts, as my mom drives off towards home.