Muse - Fighting Fate #1 (30 page)

I closed my messages down and opened my photos. As soon as it opened, I found myself staring at a picture of Jace and me together. It looked like Jace was holding my phone to take the picture. I was wearing a really sexy red dress, which made me blush just looking at it, and Jace was wearing a pair of jeans with a white button down shirt. He looked hot.

I stared at the picture for a long time, trying to see the girl in the picture as actually being me. It was almost impossible. I flicked to the next picture, but there were no more of the two of us together.

Putting my phone into sleep mode, I curled up on my bed and closed my eyes. My head was a swirling mess. I didn’t know how any of that fit in with what I’d imagined. It didn’t make any sense. Sighing, I
forced myself to push it all out of my mind and go to sleep.

My
dreams were filled with Jace. It was just picture after picture, scene after scene, of just him with me, smiling, laughing, caring for me, gentle, and loving. The warmth of it all flooded me. It roused my soul from its confused state and set it on fire.

I woke crying
. I was a mess. Everything was rushing back to me at the speed of light. I could remember it all, and burning brightest, is the memory of him gazing into my eyes and telling me he loved me.

I cried so hard I could hardly breathe
. All I could think about was how he’d looked in the hospital, how devastated he’d seemed. I’d caused him so much pain. The memory of it in his eyes was like a knife plunged straight into my heart. I couldn’t believe what I’d done to him.

Without
another thought, I picked up my phone and dialed.

Chapter 53

Jace

I woke to the sound of my phone ringing. Why the fuck hadn’t I turned it off? I’d had Aiden and the guys driving me fucking crazy all god damned afternoon, trying to get me to go to some fucking party.

They’d all insisted it’d take my mind off Mia, but I didn’t want my fucking mind off her. She was all that fucking mattered. As far as I was concerned, the minute I took my mind off her, I’d given up, and that was never fucking happening.

Reaching over to where my phone sat on the bedside table, I fumbled, trying to find the power button so I could ignore the call, but all I managed to do was push it off to the floor.

“For fuck’s sake!” I growled.

I considered just letting it ring out, but the volume was turned up full blast for some stupid fucking reason and it was grating on my fucking nerves. Why had I chosen that song as my ring tone again?

Leaning over the bed to silence it, I froze. Mia’s face was staring at me from the screen. It was Mia trying to ring me?

My heart instantly sprang into a panicked beat. Before I knew what I was doing, I’d scooped up the phone and was on my feet with the phone pressed to my ear. “Hello?”

The silence on the other end confused me. Had I left it too long to answer? Had she
misdialed? I pulled the phone away from my ear so I could check the status of the call. It said it was connected. It was timing the call…

Putting
it back to my ear, I tried again. “Mia?” That was when I heard the little sobs, and I felt my heart shatter. “Mia, baby? Are you there?”

“Jace…” she choked out. “I’m...so...sorry.”

I didn’t know how my heart could break any more than it already had, but it did. Just the broken sound of her voice, the desperation in it, did it.

“I..c...can’t...”

Fuck! I fucking hated this! I felt so fucking helpless. “Are you at home, baby?” I asked frantically.

“...y...yes...”

I banged my forehead against the wall and squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t stand it. I needed to go to her. Reaching for my jeans, I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. “I’m going to come over okay, baby? I’ll be there in a minute.” I was already halfway into my jeans.

She didn’t answer. All I could hear was crying.

Grabbing a shirt and my keys, I ran out the door. “I’m getting in the car now, okay? I’m coming.”

The sobbing on the other end of the line grew louder. Motherfucking hell. At this rate I was going to be in tears by the time I reached my fucking car!

“Baby, I’m going to hang up now, okay? Can you go open up your patio door for me?”

I heard her gasping for breaths. “O...okay...”

I didn’t want to hang up, but I needed two hands for this drive. I pressed end and cranked the car to life. It was much the same driving I’d done when I’d found out she’d been hurt. Luckily, this time I didn’t have far to go. I reached her house in less than two minutes.

Parking haphazardly, I threw myself out the car and ran around the back of the house. Her door was already open, and she was standing there with tears pouring down her face. Without a thought, I scooped her up into my arms and lifted her off the floor.

Mia’s arms went straight around my neck, clinging to me with her life. Harsh sobs wracked her body, making my chest ache with indescribable pain. I held her against me harder. I had no idea how to take away either of our pain, but this was a start.

She pressed her face into the curve of my
neck as I walked further into the room, shoving the door closed as I went. For countless moments I just stood there in the middle of her room, the both of us just clinging to each other.

When her sobs subsided, I lowered her feet to the floor, keeping my
arms wrapped around her tightly. There was no way I was letting her go if she didn’t ask me to. But Mia didn’t loosen her hold on me either. She just continued to cling to me as though she was frightened I’d leave if she let me go.

Neither of
us said anything while we stood there holding each other. I was just so fucking grateful she was letting me be there.

A few moments later
, Mia loosened her hold on me, bringing her hands down to rest on my chest. She didn’t lift her head to look at me. She just left it resting there, taking slow, deep breaths.

I didn’t know what had happened to make her break down like that, but I was so fucking happy I’d been the one she’d called, nothing else mattered. I just stood there,
holding her and breathing her in.

As she tried to calm her shuddering body, I gently smoothed my hands
over her back, soothing and loving. I listened to her breathe, feeling the slight rise and fall of her back with my hands. Not being able to stop myself, I pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Tentatively, she lifted
her head and gazed into my eyes. She looked so fucking devastated it made my chest ache all over again. “I’m so sorry, Jace,” she whispered.

What the fuck? I frowned
at her with confusion. “What for, baby?”

Her face
crumbled a little and she swallowed hard. “I was so mean to you.”

She was…what? Realization hit me hard. Did that mean she remembered? Hope surged through me like a tidal wave.
“You remember?”

She nod
ded, her face pained.

Ah fuck. I shook my
head. “You didn’t understand, Mia. It’s fine.”

“I was so appalled by how it sounded...”
she choked.

I sighed
. “I know, baby. That’s just the way it is. It’d be the same if we tried to explain it to anyone else. Without the emotions that went along with what we experienced, it’d be easy to think what we had was just shallow and meaningless. Being there, feeling it, living it, changes how we interpret it. I know it was special, and thankfully you do too now.”

I smiled at her beautiful innocent expression. There was so much love in that smile, I knew she could see it. It was written in her eyes
. “I love you, Jace.”

I closed my
eyes as emotion took control of me. I was nearly fucking choking on it. Hearing those words from her lips again almost had me on my knees.

I opened my eyes and took her face in my hands, then I gently leant down and touched my lips to hers.
“I love you too, baby.”

She sniffled a little and pressed her face back into my chest, her arms wrapping around my waist and holding me tight. I held her there against me, one hand pressed to the small of her back, and the other holding her head softly to me, and rested my cheek against the top of her head.

We stayed like that for a long time, just needed to hold each other, feel each other, and listen to each other breathe. It was the only way we knew how to heal the wounds we’d both been left with.

When we finally pulled apart, I looked her over for the first time since her accident. The scar in her hairline made me tense. It reminded me there were still people who needed to be dealt with. Trying to push it out of my mind for now, I reached for a couple of tissues and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“How are you feeling?”

She sighed.
“Exhausted.”

Yeah, she looked it. I needed to fix that. I was going to take care of her now.

“Come on, let’s lie down.” Taking her hand, I led her over to the bed.

She
followed willingly, sliding under the sheet when I held it out. For the first time since I’d arrived, I noticed she was wearing a really cute, light pink tank top, and a pair of those panties chicks likes to call ‘boy leg’. She looked so adorable.

I tucked her in gently then, kicking off my
shoes, laid down beside her, making sure I was on top of the sheet before pulling her into my arms. She snuggled in close, laying her head on my chest and draping her arm across my chest.

Softly, I hummed the song I wrote for her while she’d been in the hospital. By the time I’d reached the chorus, she was asleep.

Chapter 54

Mia

The sensation of someone running their fingers through my hair slowly brought me out of my dreams. As I gradually became aware of my surroundings, a smile began to spread across my face.

The fingers paused in their motions and I grinned wider.

“Good morning
, beautiful.”

Jace’s low voice drifted in
to my consciousness like warm honey, joining all the other sensations I had running through my body, and sending it humming. Blinking my eyes open, I found him watching me with a gentle smile on his lips.

“You, are the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. I wish I could wake up to you like this every morning.”

Drawing in a slow, deep breath, I just lay there and took in the sight of him. We were both laying on our sides, facing each other, with our arms and legs wrapped around each other as much as was humanly possible. I must’ve wrestled with the sheet some time during the night, because I had it wrapped around my legs in a way that had obviously made it easier for me to hook my leg over his.

Wriggling closer to him, I pressed my face into the crook of his neck and breathed him in. God I loved the smell of Jace. There wasn’t a better scent in the whole world. I made a small noise of pleasure against his skin and I heard him chuckle softly.

Yeah, I thought I could wake up to him like this every morning too.

I pressed my lips to his neck and kissed him slowly, taking soft, little tastes of his skin. I heard his breath catch and felt his hands ti
ghten on my back. I loved the way he reacted to my touches. It made me feel like a temptress. Powerful.

And it turned me on.

I pushed my body against his and slid my hands into his hair.

“You might want to stop before you get too worked up
, baby,” he whispered in my ear.

I bit his neck a little then licked it better. “Why would I want to stop?”

He chuckled again. “Maybe you should look at the door.”

I paused. Shit, was someone there? Lifting my head, I saw the door was wide open. No one was there, but there was a note taped to it, written in big black marker pen.

‘THE DOOR STAYS OPEN’

Then in smaller writin
g, ‘Hi Jace’

Obviously my mom’s handiwork.

I burst out laughing. I was definitely not expecting that. Jace laughed beside me and pulled me closer. I went gladly, still giggling.

“Man
, I love that sound. I missed it.”

My giggling instantly stopped.
The truth of the last week was sobering. I squeezed him tight and tilted my head to look at him. “I love you,” I whispered.

His chest rose with a deep breath as he gazed back at me. I pushed up a little further and touched my lips to his. It started as a soft, lingering kiss, but I could feel the hurt he’d been carrying this last week, and I wanted to take that pain away. It was inside me too
. The fact that I’d put that pain there made it mine to share.

Threading my hand into his hair, I kissed him deeper. That was the only way I knew how to sooth it. He responded without question. I wasn’t sure if he knew what I was doing or not, but it felt like he did.

We didn’t let it go too far. The awareness of the open door kept us in check. When we finally broke apart, we just lay there gazing at each other, Jace with his hand cupping my face and his thumb drawing circles on my cheek.

I didn’t know how long we lay there for, but sometime later, a tapping sounded on the door and Aiden walked in, plonking himself down on the end of the bed. His eyes narrowed on Jace, but he seemed to be smiling a little.

“So, does this mean your memory’s back?”

I grinned. “Maybe…”

Aiden smiled then, and it was a real, genuine smile too. “Thank god! Sad Jace was really starting to piss me off.”

Jace laughed beside me. “
Yeah, okay, I’ll give you that one.”

Aiden laughed. “Well, you two need to get up. Mom’s cooking up a storm to celebrate the return of Mia.”

Jace kissed my forehead gently. “And that is definitely something to celebrate.”

I grinned. It sure was.

***

Much to my surprise, the day ended up turning in to one big celebration. After we finished the massive breakfast Mom had prepared, Kaeli arrived, dropping in to see how I was doing. Then Dean and Matt had rocked in, apparently needing to check on Jace.
It was perfect.

We ended up down in the dungeon, spread out over the lounges and cushions the boys had down there. I was sitting on Jace’s lap because, to be honest, I didn’t want to be anywhere I couldn’t touch him.
Jace seemed to be of the same mind, because he never once let go of me either.

After many hours that consisted of laughing, eating, drinking, and music playing, I decided a little bit of girl time was necessary
, so I regretfully unpeeled myself out of Jace’s arms, and Kaeli and I went back to my room.

It wasn’t until after dinner that Kaeli eventually went home. We hugged at the front door for a long time, both of us a little emotional and teary, but happy just the same.

Watching her drive away, I decided while all the boys were still down in the dungeon, it was time to find Mom and have ‘the talk’.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous at all as I knocked on her bedroom door and let myself in. I knew the time was right. I felt ready for it.

Mom looked up from the book she was reading and smiled. “Hey, baby. Has Kaeli gone home?”

I sat down and pulled one of her pillows to my chest, hugging it. “Yeah. I had a good day. I loved that everyone came over.”

“Yeah, that was nice. It was good to see you all so happy.”

I nodded and took a steadying breath. “I actually came to talk to you about Jace.”

She sat up straighter, giving me her full attention. “Sure, honey. What’s up?”

I met her gaze head on, wanting her to see that I was approaching this from a mature point of view.
“I know you said you wanted the door left open when Jace was in my room, but I want to be able to have some privacy with him.”

Mom exhaled lightly.
“Mia...”

“Look, Mom, I know it’s a lot to ask
. I understand that – I really do, but I want to be with him. I’m not saying I’m going to take him in my room tonight and have sex with him, but it is going to happen, and I would much prefer that it happened somewhere I felt safe and comfortable. I don’t want to feel like I’m hiding anything from you or sneaking around. I like that I can be honest with you about everything.”

I watched her sigh
. I could see this wasn’t something she particularly wanted to deal with, but I wanted to be open with her about his. “I know you’re right, honey. It’s just a lot for me to take in. You’re still my baby, you know. To think that you’re mature enough to have that kind of a relationship with someone is alien to me. Are you sure you’re ready? It’s a big step to take.”

I paused, my head nodding slightly as I thought over her words. I wanted to word it so she’d understand exactly what he did to me.
“I know you haven’t seen Jace and me together much, so I can understand how you might think I’m rushing into it, but when we’re alone, he’s so incredibly sweet to me, Mom. He’s so gentle and attentive. He makes me laugh and he makes me cry with how much I feel for him, and when he kisses me, it’s like he can heal all the hurt I’ve ever felt.”

Her eyes widened a little as she watched me pour everything out. I could tell she was surprised by it. Tears welled in her eyes.
“Oh, baby, I’m so happy that you’ve found someone who does that to you. Your dad was like that for me. That’s why I haven’t found anyone else.”

She leant forward with her arms out and I went into them with all the love I had for her. She was the best Mom in the world. She did it tough without Dad, and I would always apprec
iate everything she did for me.

“You’ve grown into such an amazing young woman
, Mia. I trust your ability to make mature decisions, so if you feel like the time is right with Jace, then I’ll give you my blessing.”

“Thanks
, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you too
, baby girl.”

I gave her another hug and kissed her cheek before leaving to find Jace.