Twelve: Kiss Me

"Are you out of your mind?" Haley shouts at me as she stands from her seated position on the chair beside me.

I had just broken the news to her about me accepting the undercover job. I didn't expect her to react well, so her shouting isn't really a surprise to me.

What was a surprise to me was how calm and quiet Jace was beside me. He had hardly moved or said a word from the moment I told my story on what had happened during the meeting.

"Haley, I'll be okay," I assure her.

Haley laughs and begins pacing back in forth on the small strip of free space between the coffee table and entertainment center.

"What is okay for you? Even if you don't get hurt physically you can't possibly tell me that this won't stress you out and make you a nervous wreck!" She continues to shout, her pacing growing faster as she speaks.

"If I don't do this then how am I suppose to prove he's innocent?" I ask with a huff.

Haley stops in her tracks and raises a finger at me.

"Yeah, except you don't know if he's innocent. There's a reason he's being investigated. Plus, you don't know anything about his past or personal life. His favorite color is purple? That sure is some specific details about someone," she rambles.

As much as I didn't want to agree with Haley right no, I knew she was right. I don't know Tyler like that. He hasn't 'let me in' to his life. I haven't been asking to, though. I had hoped he would just tell me things on his own like I did to him, but he never did.

I still don't think he's guilty of anything. Ive looked into the eyes of psychopaths before and Tyler is far from a psychopath. Tyler has a warmth to him.

"Even if I don't go undercover I would still be spending time with him," I defend. "So why not kill two birds with one stone?"

"After everything you've learned you would still keep seeing him?"

"I would, yes. Innocent until proven guilty."

"You get a crumb of good dick and lose your damn mind," she tells me as she plops down back in the arm chair.

I smile, knowing she's given up on her argument. I was stubborn and Haley knew it. Once my mind was made up it was no use even bothering to get me to change up. I know what I needed to do, not just for me, but for people around me.

If Tyler is innocent, then that still means someone else murdered people at Joeli's. If he isn't innocent, then he's off the streets and can't cause anymore harm.

I'm just thrown in the middle of solving a crime.

"Can't you at least talk some sense in her? She listens to you more than me," Haley asks, turning her attention towards Jace.

Jace still hasn't spoke a word this entire time, nor has he even moved. I wondered what was going on in his mind and what his thoughts were on everything. I knew that when Jace was bothered by something that he shut down and tried his best to ignore it. I've always hated that about him.

"I think she should do it," he replied.

"You what?" Haley and I ask at the same time.

Jace sighs and adjusts his seating so that he's leaned forward with his elbows pressing in his knees.

"Octavia's right. He's innocent until proven guilty. If she's going to be spending time with him she can at least get information off him. Plus, this way we can keep an eye on her and make sure she's safe."

"I don't need your protection. I'm not a child," I say, growing annoyed at Jace's constant need to treat me like a child.

"I don't care if you need it or not. I'm still doing it," he snaps at me.

"Okay, lovebirds. Let's not fight," Haley calls to us, her voice raising an octave.

I rolled my eyes at her and crossed my arms over my chest, letting my body sink farther into the couch.

"If anything goes wrong you have to call me immediately and I'll be on my way," she says, moving her hands as she talks. "Wait! Call Jace first since he has a gun. Then call me."

Jace leans back into the couch, just as I was. He reaches across the small distance and grabs ahold of my hand. A small gesture, but it meant a lot to me.

I knew I would always have Jace around to keep me safe.

I looked over to Haley, who's already giving me 'the look.' I shake my head at her, hoping Jace hasn't noticed her unsubtle hints and cues at making something out of nothing.

Thankfully, Jace doesn't notice Haley and her antics. His eyes are dead locked onto me, waiting for me to say something else about the situation. His thumb rubs over the top of my knuckles and I felt comforted. I didn't feel afraid anymore.

I trusted Tyler and I didn't think he would ever hurt me or deliberately put me in any situation where I could be in harms way. There's always that 'what if' possibility, though. Even with that, the business men that Tyler was photographed with may even find out about my undercover job. There's so many possibilities of situations where everything could go wrong in a second.

Haley is right. I am completely out of my mind for doing this, but I had to.

"When are you seeing him next?" Haley asks, breaking the silence.

"He said he wanted to see me soon, but we haven't made any plans yet," I inform them.

"Give me your phone," Haley commands, holding her hand out for it.

I lift my butt up and slide the phone out of my back pocket before reaching it over to her. Haley snatches it from me and immediately starts typing on it, the clicks of the keyboard being the only sound in the room.

Jace lets go of my hand, and I miss the comforting feeling of it. He didn't need to be touching me at all times, but for some reason just the feeling of his skin on mind brought so much ease to my mind. I couldn't explain it.

"Holy shit. This boy replies fast," Haley notes, her face never leaving the lit up screen of my phone.

I had no idea what she was saying, but the sounds of texts being sent and received had me on edge. I knew she was just making plans for me, which I was grateful for since I never knew what I wanted to do.

"You and I have a double date with Tyler and Will," Haley announces.

"Woah, wait. Will? My brother Will?" Jace asks, about as confused as I am.

"Yes, your brother Will. We've been talking again as a matter of fact," She informs.

I didn't know if that was the best idea. Will can be difficult. He is very good at getting on people's nerves and does it for no reason at all and I don't know how Tyler would react to him. Will and I tend to bicker enough. I didn't need him causing a ruckus between Tyler and I.

"I know you're probably thinking that this is a bad idea," Haley starts, basically reading my mind, "but think about it. If there's anybody that can get under someone's skin it is Will. Plus, we can get Will to ask Tyler some of the questions you have been avoiding. It'll work perfectly."

"I don't know. What if Will provokes him too much and he gets violent," Jace comments.

"Will you stop acting like Tyler is a wild animal? Honestly, he's not like that," I snap at Jace.

Jace scoffs from beside me and looks away from my direction. I do the same, focusing my eyes on Haley instead.

"You two are literally children," Haley comments. "Will can handle himself and honestly if he gets his ass beat he probably deserves it and you're going to be teaching Octavia self defense. All will be well."

I had almost forgotten about that part. Jace and I hadn't exactly worked the details out on how this was going to go. I didn't really know what to expect. I had never needed to defend myself before.

Who would have thought that just a month ago I was living a simple life and now I'm undercover in a murder investigation?

*

When Jace told me to meet him at the gym this morning, I didn't think it would be as intense as it was. I thought I would show up and he would show me how to dodge some hits. I was way off when he had me start running.

When we arrived at the gym together, the first thing he had me do was stretch. I could understand that. I did not want to pull a muscle and be in any pain. I couldn't really defend myself if that were the case.

The next thing he had me do was run. I thought it would be just a couple of laps around the track around the second floor of the gym, but I was wrong. It felt like I had been running for hours. I had asked a countless amount of times when we could stop, but Jace laughed every time and kept running.

I don't know how he did it so effortlessly, because I wanted to die during every moment of it. I looked like a mess and felt like a mess. I had sweat in places I didn't even know I could sweat in.

And yet after all that, Jace still managed to look completely normal.

"Not all of self defense is just fighting. You have to be precautious. Stay aware of your surroundings. Only walk and park in well-lit areas. Keep your key in your hand while you walk to your car. Don't follow the same route or time schedule. Simple things like this may save your life," Jace says to me.

We were currently seated in the middle of a boxing ring, though we didn't have any gloves on. I felt kind of silly doing this with all the other people here in the gym, but Jace assured me that nobody cared what we were doing.

It was different seeing Jace in work out clothes. Usually when I saw him he was either wearing his uniform or just some causal wear that he could wear out. Seeing him in black shorts and a black t shirt was different, but I liked it. It made him look younger, but not child like. Jace had something manly about him and I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Are you even paying attention?" Jace asks, snapping me away from my thoughts.

"Somewhat," I answer truthfully.

Jace groans and stands up from his seated position on the floor. He reaches both his hands out and I take them, allowing him to pull me up.

"Since you only care about the action, hit me," he says, catching me off guard.

"I'm not going to hit you," I tell him.

"How are you going to learn if you don't practice? Hit me," he repeats.

"No, are you stupid?"

"Octavia, hit me," he says once more.

Without another thought, I pull back my fist, ready to hit Jace. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but he was right. I had to learn.

Before any contact was made, Jace had already caught my fist and twisted my arm completely behind my back, drawing pain to the join. While my mind was focused on the pain in my arm, Jace hit the back of my knees, causing my legs to fall from under me. Within seconds he had my stomach pinned to the ground, hands holding my arms, and knee in my back.

He didn't hold the position for long, but I knew it most likely had to do with the constant ows that were escaping my lips. He lets me go and I turn over on my back, trying to catch my breath. It felt like I had the wind knocked out of me, even though he didn't bring me that much pain.

Jace once again reaches his arms out and I take them, letting him pull me up. This time I felt pain in the joints of my arm, making me wince.

"Did I hurt you?" He asks, face full of worry as he examines my arm like it'll show anything.

"Not really. I just haven't been stretched like that before. Stung a bit," I tell him, pulling my arm out of his grip.

Jace watches me as I roll my shoulders back and forth. I needed to loosen my body up as best as I could.

Without speaking a word, Jace walks towards me and steps until he's behind me. I had wondered what he was doing, but when his fingers began to dig into the tight muscles of my shoulders, I knew exactly what he was doing.

"Don't stress this, Tavi. You got this," he whispers in my ear, his fingers continuing to dig. "You're such a mentally strong person. Let that energy transfer over."

For the next hour, Jace taught me multiple self defense moves and tips. We went over how prevention is the best form of defense and how to get loud and act with confidence to scare your perpetrator. We went through every important pressure point to strike a person at.

I think Jace was going easy on me, but it was only day one of many. Physical fitness was not my best attribute, but I was going to put in all the work it took.

"Again," Jace says to me, waiting for my attack.

Trying again, I manage to hook my right leg around Jace's. I attempt to hit the back of his left knee with my foot, but I'm still failing at adding enough pressure to get his body to react the way I wanted it to.

The goal here was to make Jace to fall to his back. The fall would allow me to be on top of him - a position I was too familiar with. Only this time, I would have to pin his arms about his head.

I feel like a WWE wrestler, not a girl looking to defend herself.

"Show me again," I say again.

Jace nods and steps back from me, preparing to take action. Giving me no warning at all, Jace is quick to knock me off my feet. My back hits the ground harder than it has tonight, and my wrists are gripped tight in Jace's hands as he pins my arms about my head. His legs straddled my waist, putting almost all his body weight in that area.

Unlike the times before, Jace doesn't move off me as quick. Before, he got off me immediately and helped me up. Each time he asked me if he hurt me and each time I would tell him no, even if he did. I didn't need to deal with a guilty Jace who was too afraid to hurt me.

Jace's eyes were locked in on mine, but they were unreadable, an odd thing for Jace. I've known Jace for such a long time, it was unusual for me to not be able to tell what he was thinking or feeling.

Seconds past, but they felt like minutes. Jace didn't get off of me, and to be honest, I didn't want him to. The pain in my back had disappeared, and Jace's grip was loosening on my wrists.

I waited for him to say something, anything to break the silence, but he didn't. Our eyes stayed on each other, and I felt twists in my stomach. My heart was beating just as hard as it was when I was running earlier. I didn't know what to think.

Jace's face is only inches from mind, growing closer by the seconds.

Is he going to kiss me?

"Um," I say, making Jace break out of the trance he was in.

Jace scoots off of me, clearing his throat as he does so. I watch as he stands and starts to scratch at the back of his neck. He does that whenever he is nervous.

"I think that's enough for today," he says, avoiding eye contact with me.

He didn't help me up from the floor this time, but I didn't expect him to. He seemed a little more preoccupied with getting away from me at the moment.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Octavia. I'm gonna go take a shower," he tells me, leaving me with a nod.

A wide smile spreads across my face, a laugh nearly escaping when I heat him mutter the next few words.

"A cold shower."

A/N: i decided to be basic and make ship names so we have octavia and jace as jatavia and octavia and tyler as tytavia. i know it's been very jatavia heavy lately, but there will definitely be some parts with tyler and octavia coming very soon. remember to vote and comment! love to hear yalls opinions!!