Labeled Love (45 page)

She turns to face me. “What?” she asks, chewing on her lip.

“Open your hand.”

When she does, I place the moon and star charm gently onto her palm. Putting her free hand up to her opened mouth, she exclaims, “Aw, Jace, it’s perfect.”

“I want you to always remember how perfect our first time was, and that I am always going to love you under the moon and the stars, baby.” Then I make my voice low and talk into her ear. “Look, baby,” I point up, “we’re under the moon and the stars. I can’t wait to hear our song. I’ve been thinking about it since I got off the phone with you earlier. It makes this charm even more special.” Looking up, she sees the stars and smiles.

She puts the charm in my hand for me to put on her bracelet. When I do, she lifts her wrist and shakes all her charms around. “I love every single memory you’ve given me.” She looks down at her bracelet. “When do you have to leave?” She leans over, kissing me lightly on my lips. I moan into her mouth. I wish I didn’t have to leave, but I told her I wouldn’t stay at the party too long.

“I can’t wait to spend the whole night with you again,” I say.

“Let’s do it tomorrow night,” she suggests with a gleam in her eye.

“How about I come over tomorrow afternoon? I need to have that heart-to-heart with your daddy.” I wink at her. Otherwise, I’d take her to the beach, lay her down onto the cool sand, and give her every ounce of need I feel for her right now. But, it’s time to do things the right way, and I really want to talk to her dad and tell him how much I love her. I don’t want Shay to just go to him, asking if we can move in with each other. I smile, raising my eyebrows as she looks back at me. “You know I never want to leave you.” I lower my voice. “So, don’t pout, pretty girl.”

It pains me physically when I leave her or when she walks away from me. It always has. Never once since we were kids has the pain eased. That’s why I have to get my shit together. I can’t stand the thought of being away from this girl, so I sit by the fire with her and talk. Holding her hand, I gently rub little circles over her soft skin. I breathe her in and play with her hair while I make small conversation with those around us. I want a lifetime with her, so after a while, I get up ready to go home so I can be up early to meet up with Garrett.

“I’ve got to leave, pretty girl.”

I feel her sigh against my chest. “Okay,” she says, taking a breath. “I’ll walk you out.” She gets off my lap. Her hug is tight, strong, and loving, just like our relationship. I pick her up, holding her against me. I just don’t want to let her go tonight. I need to feel her. Setting her down, I kiss her forehead.

“Stay here,” I tell her. “You don’t have to walk us out. Roast another marshmallow, baby. I want to walk away knowing your pouty lips are filled with sweetness.” She tries to stand strong, even though I know I just made her weak. She loves when I talk like that to her.

“All right,” she says as she reaches up, pressing her sweet lips to mine. “Tomorrow we start living our dreams, right?”

“Yes, as long as we have your family’s support, we’re going to start working toward our forever, baby.” We lock eyes, and I take her in. She looks so happy. I look over at Landon who looks at me like,
please don’t make me go.
I nod my head to the side, letting him know we’re out of here. I wave to Shay’s friends around the fire and then kiss her on the nose. “Eat a marshmallow for me.” As I start walking away, I’m pushed forward. Her arms wrap around me.

“Love you, baby,” she says, hugging me tightly around my back. I turn to her.

“God, you make it so hard to walk away. I can’t imagine not touching you.”

She giggles. “Well, good thing you don’t have to worry about that. You’re going to be able to touch me all day long soon.” Her eyes sparkle as I run my hand over her warm cheek.

“I can’t wait, baby.” I walk away, happy.

I smile the whole way to the driveway, until I hear a familiar voice behind me that stops me in my tracks. The low, harsh tone belonging to the one person I can’t stand. His heavy footsteps get closer.

“Just a quickie, huh?” he asks. I turn toward his smug voice. “You must feel really out of place here. Not quite like the ghetto, right?” I laugh at him. This guy is the biggest douche. “You know this is my scene, right, Jace? You’ve been blocking my view since you got here.”

“And, what view would that be, Cole?” I ask, feeling my heart pick up. He’s looking at me like I’m the biggest piece of shit. I want to wipe that arrogant look off his fucking face.

“You know she should be mine, right?” My adrenaline starts to flow. I need to walk away. Where the hell is Landon? Then he hits a nerve. “She deserves someone that can take care of her,” he spits out harshly, the loud music muffling his voice.

“Don’t fucking look at her,” I say as calmly as I can. 

Cole laughs at me like I’m some kind of joke. I’m so sick of this guy. This time we’re not on school grounds, and I plan to let him know what’s up. I turn around to see if Shay is in sight. She’s not. I don’t want her to ever see my angry side again; violence is not something she’s accustomed to, and I want to keep it that way.  

Hesitating, I take a deep breath, loosening the tight grip I have my hands in. I’m on the brink. I’ve tried to keep my cool with this douche, but this is the third time he’s pissed me off. 

You know what they say… The third time’s a charm.

“I find it comical that you tell me not to look at her,” he declares. I bring my gaze to his. “The thing is, Jace, I’ve always looked at Shay. We go back even further than you. I was finger painting with her when she was barely out of diapers. Our families have been friends since we were born.” He drives the knife a little deeper this time, causing me to finally lose it. Raising his voice, drawing attention, he adds, “I got to look at her all day long. You, on the other hand, never got that time with her, did you? While you were slumming it, I got to sit across from her at lunch and buddy up and study with her. I got to look at those long, tanned legs walking past me in the halls. I got to smell her fresh out-of-the-shower hair every morning when she leaned back in her chair, letting her hair fall around my desk. I got those sweet lips smiling at me every day. I got to breathe her in
all day long
!” Then he laughs. He has the fucking nerve to laugh at me. “Damn, I’m going to really miss high school!”

My eyes are wild. People are gathered around us because of Cole’s loud mouth. I try hard to think of Shay, but I can’t take it. He’s telling me everything I already know. Everything I let fester every fucking day Shay was away from me. He’s crawling under my insecure skin.

“You know how the trash picks up once a week, Jace? That pretty much sums up your relationship with Shay, doesn’t it? You’re the trash she picks up when she wants to escape her perfect life. Then she puts you away and doesn’t worry about you again until trash day. Eventually, she’ll get to the point where she doesn’t have to take the trash out anymore and will give that job to someone else and move on.”

 “You piece of shit,” I say as I pummel him to the ground. I don’t think; I just react. Relentless, I don’t give a fuck that I just heard his head crack the pavement. “She’s my girl. Do you hear me, motherfucker? She’s my girl!” Blood pours out of Cole’s nose and the side of his head as I continue punching him. “No one is taking Shay away from me. You can’t take her away from me!” He reaches up, hitting me in my side, dazing me enough to make me suck in a breath, but not stopping me. “Don’t you get it? She belongs to me. You will never take what’s mine!” People are screaming. Blood is everywhere, but the only red I see is behind my eyes. He’s not fighting me anymore, but I can’t stop. “You can’t take her away from me!”

I vaguely hear sirens in the distance, but I don’t care. I’ve been waiting for three years to wipe Cole’s smug look off his face. I keep hitting him, even though I practically knocked him out with the first punch. I want to hurt him with my fist like he has hurt me with his words repeatedly.

As bright lights shine around us, I hear Shay’s faint voice. I’m in such a zone. Her voice becomes clearer. She’s screaming, crying… Panic is in her voice. She screams my name and then Landon’s. She begs me to stop. I’ve never heard Shay’s voice sound this way.

It brings me out of my rage.

Everything falls away.

Landon grabs me, pulling me off Cole. As soon as I get to my feet, I search frantically for where Shay’s voice was coming from. When we lock eyes, I’m crushed. She’s shaking, tears pouring down her reddened cheeks. Gasping for air, she repeats, “Jace,” over and over.

“Stop, Jace. You got to stop,” Landon says, loosening his grip around my arms. I’m out of breath when I get loose from him.

As I reach for Shay, I’m slammed to the ground, hard. I feel the blood pour from my face immediately. Looking to the side, I see someone rush to Cole. He’s lying there lifeless while the cops are holding me down like I’m some kind of criminal. Maybe I am.

Everything turns to a blur. I hear Cole mumbling incoherent words. People are yelling, telling the cops he wants to press charges. Shay is pleading for him not to as Landon holds her back. Turning my head to the side, I rub the gash, causing more blood to pour out. Shit, the cut feels deep.

I watch Shay’s white Converse lift off the ground from the force Landon has on her. My heart is breaking. I want to reassure her. Feeling the handcuffs go on me, I don’t resist. I can’t scare her any more than I already have. 

I failed her tonight.

When the cops lift me off the ground, I don’t want to look at her or see the disappointment in her eyes. It’s no use, though. They stand me up facing everyone. Right away, my eyes lock with the only girl I’ve ever wanted to look at for the rest of my life. She gasps, putting her hands to her mouth.

“He’s hurt!” she screams. I know she’s talking about the gash on my head. I’m not worried about it. The head always bleeds heavily. I try to get words out of my mouth to comfort her, but who am I kidding? She will find no comfort right now. “He’s hurt!” she repeats through frantic breaths.

People gathered around yell out angrily, “Are you kidding me, Shay?”

Cole starts spitting up blood next to her on the pavement. She shudders. If I didn’t have my fucking hands handcuffed behind my back, I would kick his ass all over again for making my girl scared. 

I bite my bottom lip hard for my stupid thoughts. I’m the one that should be getting my ass kicked for what I just did. Cole doesn’t look good. I think I really fucked him up. I should’ve kept my cool. Looking up at Shay with pleading eyes, I mouth slowly as the cop backs me up into the cop car, “I’m so sorry, baby.”  

“Wipe his face!” she screams, trying to get to me. Landon puts his arms around her from behind, bringing her back. “Please,” she cries, “he’s hurt. Please, wipe the blood off his face.” 

I can’t take hearing her voice so distraught. I know nothing is going to make her feel better right now, but I have to try. “Baby, I’m okay… Please, stop crying. I’ll be okay.” We don’t break eye contact until I’m shut into the police car.

“I’ll make sure she’s okay,” Landon says the last words I hear.

Shay.

Looking down, I wince from the pain radiating down my arms from the tightness of the handcuffs. Blood freely falls down my face. 

What the hell am I going to do now?

WHAT THE HELL
just happened?

When I heard the commotion, I was sitting with a mouth full of marshmallow, just like Jace told me to do. I was filled with warm thoughts of my boy. People started chanting, “Fight,” and ran to the front of the house. I didn’t know what to think. I just ran when I saw Landon sprinting away from Brooke. He had her pinned against the house, tongue down her throat. 

We were just in the backyard. I was just sitting in his lap. He was just kissing me. 

Literally in shock, I don’t even register the fact that the paramedics have shown up until I see them tending to Cole. He doesn’t look good. They lay him down onto a gurney as he goes limp. I should care. I know I should go make sure the boy I’ve known all my life is okay, but somehow I can’t make myself do it.