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"So, where are we going?" I questioned, my voice sounding a little hoarse due to the lack of conversation. I had previously been staring out the window, watching sequences of cars and streetlights move past, Jace just concentrating on the unravelling road ahead.

Jace jumped at the sound of my voice but recovered quickly. I watched his reflection as he glanced at me briefly, watching me for a few seconds, a small but sad smile appearing on his face before he looked back in front of him. It took him a few seconds longer than usual to reply, he was choosing his words carefully and I didn't like it.

"Uh, we're going to my old family vacation house. It won't be much longer till we're there."

I silently nodded my head, now staring past his reflection and outside. "Jace?"

"Yeah?"

I shifted in my seat so that I was now faced towards him, "You know you don't have to walk on eggshells around me, right? Because that's what it feels like you're doing and I..." I took a deep breathe in, "I'm not angry at you, you know that right?"

His head swiftly turned to me and stared at me with slightly widened eyes, "Really?"

I wanted to take his pain away.

I felt terrible for the way I had acted. He was the one who had to go through it when the accident happened. I felt selfish and inconsiderate and all I wanted to do in that second was to hold him in a hug.

"Yes, really. Jace, I'm not mad at you. I just felt disappointed that you didn't feel - I don't know - safe enough to tell me. I'm not mad, that's the last thing I feel."

His body reacted to my touch when I reached out and held his hand in mine. He watched our hands before he looked at me. I smiled as he carefully watched my face. "Thank you," he whispered, his eyes looking brighter than before but still dimmer than normal. I winked at him in response, my bottom lip between my teeth.

Just like that, the once heavy, uncomfortable and rather grey silence had eased.

Turning on the radio and allowing it to play quietly in the background, I blankly stared back out the window. Goosebumps rose as little circles were traced in the palm of my hand and in that moment, I knew everything was going to be alright.

The car slowed down eventually coming to a halt in front of a log cabin in what looked like the middle of nowhere. It seemed... homely.

"So this is your old vacation house?" I questioned once we had both climbed out the car. It was freezing outside and instant regret hit me like a bus when I felt a cold drift of wind go past.

"Yep." I didn't realise how close he was to me before I felt his warm breath against my skin.

Suddenly, a blanket was covering my shoulders - a shield from the blistering breeze. "Wouldn't want you catching a cold." I giggled at his attempt of a joke as he lead us both somewhere away from the cabin.

He was quiet; unusually quiet. We hadn't been walking for too long, but long enough where he would have normally joked or said something stupid to make me laugh. But not now, no. It was only now there was a lack of physical... anything that I noticed how physically attentive he was.

Before now he would have had his arm wrapped around my waist or shoulders, or his hand holding mine or even sometimes his hands on my shoulders as he walked behind and would say he was going to jump over me. I smiled at the memories we both had made together.

And seeing those memories play out in my head made it very clear that Jace was now was hurting more than I could have ever imagined.   

Straight posture, head held high, not a fault in sight - he had perfected pretending to be okay.  Someone that didn't know him would say that nothing was wrong. However, to me, his head was held a little too high, his body was tense and he was playing with the rings on his fingers - he was overdoing it, but most people wouldn't have cared enough to notice.

He walked away and slightly in front of me. I jogged a little to catch up to him, bumping my shoulder into his when I did.

"What's up?"

A dazed look appeared on his face as I abruptly broke him out of his thoughts, however, it didn't take him long to cover it up with a smile. "Not much."

Lies.

But I decided to drop it. I needed to trust him. I needed to trust that he was going to tell me everything, including what he was feeling because if I didn't trust him, what was the point?

We continued to walk in silence, that was until my phone started ringing. I didn't have my phone on me, I had handed it to Jace once we got out of the car. He slid the vibrating phone out of his back pocket and handed it to me.

Darius.

I silenced my phone straight away.

Darius and I were still friends and in other circumstances, I would have answered - but Jace needed me. Jace had obviously seen who was calling and it put me on edge. There was no reason for him to be jealous, but that was one of the things we hadn't really spoken about.

I handed my phone back to him as I was still very pocketless and had to use both hands to hold the blanket. His fingers grazed my hand, my body reacted, a warm shiver racing around my body.

My body still reacted to him the same way it did in the club - the second time we met. And that felt good.

It wasn't long till we reached a big, rusted, metal gate. The type you see in movies just before something bad happens.

Graveyards always scared me.

The simple thought of people's loved ones laid to rest in a forest made me feel unsettled. To me, they meant the end and I have always hated the thought of the end, so I avoided these places for my whole life.

Graveyards signified end, and it scared me.

But I took hold of Jace's hand and followed him inside. I followed close behind until he stopped in front of a headstone.

My heart felt heavy in my chest as I followed Jace's actions and helped clean the brown, damp leaves off.

He stood still, crouched and ran his finger over the engraved words on the headstone.

Mia Louise Campbell

May your gorgeous soul rest in piece.

1998 - 2018

I carefully watched his face. His eyes were glossy and drooping at the sides. A deep sigh escaped his lips and I noticed his breathing was slightly faster than normal. I took his hand in mine and wrote circles in his palm.

It was my turn to comfort him.

(A/N) Sometimes chapters can take me a while to write so thank you for being patient.

This was sad to write. Not seeing Jace's bubbly, confident personality, but instead his hurt. Notice how they have a 'thing'? The circles in their palms is their own way of saying everything will be okay and I think it's so sweet.

Thank you for reading :)