The morning sunlight slipped through the tiny space in the closed blinds of Jace's apartment, soft and pale. His phone buzzed against his chest, startling him awake.
His head throbbed. His mouth was dry. The bitter aftertaste of whiskey sat heavy on his tongue. It was a mistake. He rarely drank. But last night... last night broke him.
"Amy..." he muttered hoarsely, lifting the phone with trembling fingers. He blinked against the bright screen. No new messages. No missed calls.
Only his last text sat there, unanswered.
No reply. Just silence.
He sat up slowly, pressing a palm to his forehead, elbows on his knees. "God... what the hell am I doing..." He muttered .The weight of it all.....the guilt, the regret, the mess.....it was all suffocating.
He looked around his place, suddenly hating how empty it felt. It was supposed to be them together in this house,waking up from bed together,making and sharing breakfast over jokes but no....it's just him.....sitting all alone in a pull of regrets wishing everything had gone differently.
Instead… Gina. Her voice. Her hands. Her goddamn timing.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," Jace muttered, running his fingers through his disheveled hair. "You shouldn't have come..."
Without thinking, he reached for his keys on the floor where it fell the previous night. He knew exactly where Amy would go. Sophie. Amy always ran to Sophie when she was broken. And right now, he'd broken her.
This couldn't wait.
....
By the time Jace parked across from Sophie's house, his heart was hammering harder than it had all night. He barely remembered the drive here. Adrenaline replaced every reasonable thought.
He was halfway to the door before he even thought about what he was going to say.
He knocked once then the knock came hard. Firm. Again. Three times.
Sophie rolled her eyes from the kitchen, hands on her hips. "Oh, for God's sake…"
Amy sat frozen on the armrest of the couch, knees drawn up, fingers curled tightly around the sleeves of her oversized hoodie. Her heart was a fist, tight and aching.
The knocks came again.
"Ames," came his voice, muffled through the door. "Amy, please. I know you're in there."
Amy flinched, as if the words carried weight enough to bruise her. Of course he knew she was here. Where else would she go?
"I don't know how he even found his way here," Sophie muttered bitterly, already striding toward the door.
"Don't," Amy whispered hoarsely, eyes wide, vulnerable, full of exhaustion. "Don't open it."
Sophie froze. "I'm not going to. I'm just going to tell him to go to hell properly."
But Amy was already moving, slow and quiet, creeping toward the window by the living room, the one hidden behind a thin curtain. Just enough space to see outside. Just enough to see him.
There he was. Standing on the walkway in front of Sophie's house. Disheveled. Tired. Hair messy, beard rough, like he hadn't slept. Like he hadn't even cared to check what he looked like.
"Ames... please."
Amy gripped the curtain tighter.
"I know you're in there. Just... just talk to me," Jace said, his voice rough with something between pleading and breaking. "You don't have to come out. Just say something. Anything."
"I didn't lie to hurt you," he continued, his voice cracking at the edges. "I lied because I was scared. That's not an excuse. I know that. I....I just... I didn't want to lose you. And I was so damn sure she was in the past..."
"I knew he was gonna pull this," Sophie muttered from the doorway, arms crossed. "Couldn't give you a minute to breathe, could he?"
Jace took a step closer, his hand pressed against the door as if he could hold it open with will alone. "I messed up. I should've told you about Gina. I should've" His voice cracked, sharp and painful. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to ruin what we had. I was stupid. And scared. And I don't want to lose you over this.
More silence. The air thick, heavy, like the weight of things left unsaid could suffocate them all.
Then Jace whispered one more thing, raw, barely audible: "She's in the past. You're my now."
That did it.
Sophie, who'd been watching this train wreck quietly, snapped. She yanked the door open, nearly hitting him with it.
"You need to leave."
Jace blinked, startled by her sudden appearance. "Soph...."
"No. Don't 'Soph' me like we're good," she cut him off. "She doesn't owe you anything. Not her time, not her words, not even a glance out the damn window."
"I'm not here to fight," Jace said quietly, shaking his head. "I just...."
"You don't get to decide how she heals from you," Sophie hissed, stepping outside now, physically blocking the doorway with her body. "You stood in front of her with another woman's hands on you, and now you want to show up here, acting like sorry fixes it?"
"I didn't want her there," Jace bit back, frustration bubbling beneath the sorrow. "I didn't ask for this. Gina's the past, I told you that...."
"You lied about her," Sophie snapped. "Call it what you want, but it's a lie, and Amy deserves better than that, She hates lies and she can't stand it."
Amy could see all of it now.Jace standing there, helpless, shoulders heavy with regret, Sophie practically vibrating with fury, her fists clenched like she was holding herself back from swinging.
Amy shut her eyes, tears burning hot, her chest rising and falling in sharp bursts. The pain felt sharper hearing him like this, hearing the rawness of it all. She wanted to scream, wanted to run out and push him and kiss him...."Why didn't you just tell me? Why didn't you trust me enough?" She thought.
Jace's voice softened again. "I just need to tell her I'm sorry."
"You just did and it's not going to fix anything," Sophie said coldly. "Now go."
He stood there, jaw tight, running a hand through his already disheveled hair. His eyes flickered up toward the window as if he could feel Amy watching from behind the curtain but she didn't move. Didn't give him the comfort of her gaze. Just stood there, unseen, breaking from the inside out.
Jace's voice came again, softer this time. Broken. Beaten. "Amy... please. Don't let this be it."
His words hung heavy, echoing against the closed door and the hollow ache in Amy's chest.
For a second, she almost spoke. Almost.
Instead, she stepped back, curtain falling closed again.
Jace stood there for another long minute. Waiting. Hoping.
"I'm not giving up on you." He muttered.
Finally, after a long breath, Jace stepped back down the walkway. Defeated. Shattered. He didn't argue. Didn't yell. Just nodded once, like a man walking away from a grave.
As the door closed sharply behind him, Sophie turned and leaned her head against the wood, exhaling all her tension.
Amy let go of the curtain, wiping her eyes quickly before Sophie could see.
"I'm sorry," Amy whispered, voice trembling.
"For what?" Sophie came over, her face softer now. "For Jace? Nah. Don't apologize for his mess."
Amy tried to laugh but it broke in her throat. "I don't even know if I'm mad… or just… tired."
"You're both," Sophie said gently. "And you don't have to figure it out today."
Amy nodded, breath shaky. And she let herself lean into Sophie's embrace, letting the tears come.....not for Jace, not yet.....but for the weight of it all and that she still loved him no matter what. And it hurt to know that there was another woman in the picture whether he still loved her or not because women are cunning and looking at Gina.....she wasn't far from it at all.
.....
The door slammed harder than he intended, rattling the frame. Jace kicked his shoes off violently, pacing back and forth like a caged animal.
"Damn it, Gina," he muttered. "Damn it."
He dragged his hands through his hair and nearly ripped the strands out by the roots. His jaw was clenched so tight it ached.
He hadn't planned any of this. He hadn't asked for Gina to show up, hadn't wanted her to come back into his life. Why now? Why now, when things with Amy were finally starting to feel like home?
He didn't even realize he was swearing under his breath until he caught his own reflection in the hallway mirror.... eyes wild, face pale with frustration and exhaustion.
With a growl, he headed for the bathroom.
He stepped under the freezing spray of the shower, fully clothed at first. He didn't care. The cold bit into his skin like punishment, like he deserved it.
"Amy…" he whispered through clenched teeth. "I swear, you don't know how much I didn't want this. Gina is in the past. She is the past."
He pressed his forehead against the cold tiles, water dripping from his hair, his breath hitching.
"God," he muttered. "I'm losing it."
Later, when he was done having his bath, with joggers on and a towel around his neck, he sat on the edge of his bed, phone in his hand, staring at her name on the screen.
Typing.
Deleting.
Typing again.
Finally, he sent one text:
Jace:
Ames, I'm sorry. Please. Just talk to me.
He waited, staring at the screen like it held his entire life.
No response.
Just the cold echo of water still dripping in the bathroom, the sound of someone who deserved to be left alone and it was all Gina's fault. She should have just left the past in the past where it belonged.
That night...
Amy stood at the window long after Jace's voice disappeared. She could still hear it in her ears: "I know you're in there, Ames…" It looped like a broken record.
Behind her, Sophie hovered quietly, waiting for Amy to speak first.
"I'm such an idiot," Amy finally muttered, folding her arms tightly across her chest, like she was holding herself together by force.
"Hey." Sophie stepped closer, careful, like approaching a skittish animal. "Don't. Don't do that to yourself."
Amy's laugh was dry and humorless. "I should've known. The late texts. The calls he brushed off. That stupid old friend with the random photograph event invites." Her throat burned as she swallowed. "I walked right into it."
Sophie frowned, crossing her arms. "Did he… actually do something with her? Or was she just...?"
"I don't know," Amy cut in sharply unsure of what to believe anymore. "I don't care."
A beat of silence passed.
"Okay," Sophie said softly. "Okay."
Amy exhaled sharply, brushing a hand over her face. Her skin felt too tight. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm just..... I'm so angry, Soph. I trusted him. And he lied. And the worst part?" She finally turned, eyes glassy. "I still want to run after him like a pathetic idiot."
Sophie's expression softened as she stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Amy tightly. "You're not pathetic. You're in love. And he messed up. Don't blame yourself for someone else's mistake."
Amy didn't hug her back right away. It felt like if she moved, she'd shatter.
But finally, her hands curled loosely around Sophie's waist.
"I hate this," Amy whispered. "I hate him."
And they both knew it wasn't true.