Where've You Been? (Jace)

Carmen glanced around the room and smiled. The Trophy Hall seemed to be a rather quiet place, and thankfully that Saturday morning was no exception. The library was becoming a rather plain scene, so she had decided to find somewhere else to read. She walked over to the corner of the room and sat down, crossing her ankles in front of her. Opening the book in her lap, she began to read from where her bookmark was.

Jace walked into the library to be alone. He had been suyper stressed lately because his sister had been sick. He sat down and was about to take a nap when he saw someone. A very gorgeous someone. His girlfriend to be exact. It was then that he realized he had been neglecting Carmen lately. He was a bad boyfriend. He walked over to her and sat beside her. "Hey beautiful. Remember me?" He decided to try a joke to ease her possible anger.

Carmen started when she realised that someone was speaking to her. Looking up slowly from her book, her eyes narrowed slightly when they landed on Jace. He had been nowhere to be seen since the winter holidays ended. Other than classes, he seemed to have disappeared. Placing her book down carefully, she crossed one leg over the other, her bare skin feeling the chill from the stone floor. “Hello Jace. I do vaguely remember you. Where have you been?”

"I'm so sorry. I've been taking care of sydney lately. I know I've been a shitty boyfriend and I've been neglecting you." He shook his head, full of shame. "I'm so sorry, baby." He kissed her. "Syds fine now. So I can focus on my beautiful, loving, sexy and forgiving girlfriend."

Carmen had thought many times over the past months that finding Jace and telling him she was done. It would have been on the tip of her tongue then had he not spoken of his sister. She'd heard a lot of the girl, though she hadn't had the chance to properly meet her. "It's alright, Jace," she said quietly, playing with the end of her book, "Family comes first. I'm glad to hear that she's feeling better.."

"Yeah. That mortinson kid is pushing herto get the help she needs to get away from our father.when I find out exactly what he did to my little syd.... I'll.kill him" jace felt his blood boil and fire danced across his eyes. "He deserves so much worse than death."

Carmen wondered what she could say to make Jace feel any better, but she knew that nothing would. So instead, she reached out and placed a gentle palm on his cheek. She knew that he had a temper, and she wasn't afraid of it. If she was his father, though, she was sure she should be. "Jace," she said softly, "You're sister is lucky to have you. But right now, you need to relax because you getting angry will not help either of you." While there was a question on the tip of her tongue, she forced herself not to ask it. If he wanted to share anything more with her, he would.

Jace felt himself relax at Carmens touch, "Ok beautiful. Thank you." He nuzzled his face against her hand and sighed happily. "Thank you for forgiving me for my absence as of lately. If you hadnt, I dont know what I would do." He pulled her close and smiled. He thought to himself how lucky he was and how much he loved her. Wait... Love? He had never told any girl besides his mother and Sydney that he loved them. But he did. He loved Carmen. And he planned to tell her that.

Carmen's eyes softened even more and she moved her hand to run through his hair. She had missed him more than she had expected since he'd been so preoccupied. She'd never expected for them to be together for so long, and she was rather proud of herself that she hadn't ruined things. Except for that one time.. she thought to herself, though she bit her lip and looked down. It was such a long time ago, and she didn't want it to effect anything between her and Jace. "It's okay, love," she said quietly, "you had more important things to focus on."

"For right now, you are the only important thing in my life." He kissed her softly and smiled, "Carmen, I love you." He said it. He finally said it. It felt good to hear those words come out of his mouth. ANd it was true. Every last one of them. "I love you." He kissed her harder and pulled her close to him and hugged her.

Carmen blinked a few times, and she would never admit that it was to keep the moisture in her eyes at bay. Her eyes closed as his lips touched hers softly, and she smiled. They had been together for a considerably long time, and they had never spoken such words to one another. Letting out a slow breath, she nodded before replying with a quiet, "I love you, too." As the words fell from her lips, she knew that she meant them, even if a break up had been on her mind mere minutes before. Resting her face against Jace's chest, the Ravenclaw smiled to herself.

After a few minutes, a thought appeared in her mind, and she pulled back with a serious look on her face. Ruining the moment or not, she was going to speak. "You and Sydney aren't going back there, are you?" she asked, and bit her lip before continuing, "If you need anywhere to go.. or um, stay, my house has more spare rooms than I can count.." She didn't know what he would think of her indirect offer, but she had to make it.

Jace couldnt help but smile as she said she loved him. He wrapped her in his arms and held her close to him. "I dont care what my sister does. I highly doubt our father ever actually touched her the way she says he did. I know my dad. he would never do that." Jace shook his head and looked down at his feet.

Carmen’s eyebrow furrowed at Jace’s sudden change in demeanor. One second he appeared to be contemplating murder, and the next he was on his father’s side and calling his sister a liar. Pulling back from him, she frowned and shook her head. “What’s going on, Jace?” she question, though despite her gentle voice she was planning on getting an answer. “If I had a little sister who needed me, I would never accuse her of being a liar. Innocent until proven guilty and all, but that doesn’t mean that you should automatically assume that she is lying as well. What happened to caring about her more than anything and protecting her, caring for her?” Taking a sharp breath to calm herself, Carmen faced her boyfriend with hard eyes. “Why would anyone lie about something like that?”

"Sydney has changed lately. She's turned into someone I dont even recognize. The rumors around school, they cahnged my view of my so called sister." Jace shook his head and stood up, "Things change. I love my sister. I have to. But that doesnt mean I have to like her."

Carmen frowned. She didn't know why, but she didn't like the way that Jace was talking. She's of course heard the rumours about Sydney Di Angelo, but he was her brother for goodness sake! "Rumours?" the Ravenclaw muttered, a harsh laugh escaping her lips, "Haven't you heard the many that spread around about me? Do they change your view of me, too?" As she spoke, she moved out of his embrace, looking at him carefully as she did so.

"Carmen, I love you. I know about your past. But I accept it. I accept you." He reached out and pulled her back into his arms. "I dont care what people say about you. I love you." He kissed the top of her head and rested his chin on her head.

Carmen smiled at the boy's words, but they didn't appease her unsettled stomach as much as she hoped they would. Tension still hung in the air, even as she relaxed herself in his embrace. Right as she was getting comfortable, she heard her magical watch let out a tone, and she stood quickly, placed a chaste kiss on Jace's cheek and with a speedy, "I've got to go," she rushed from the room to get to her study hall.