The Blowback
1286 Words
Jace didn’t walk toward us.
He stormed toward us.
His steps were sharp, fast, too controlled in a way that told me control was the last thing he actually had. Mason straightened beside me like he already knew this wasn’t going to be a calm conversation.
“Dude,” Mason muttered under his breath, “try not to scare her into a coma.”
Jace didn’t even blink at him.
His eyes were all on me.
“Ariel. Come with me.”
Not a question.
Not a suggestion.
A command wrapped in panic.
My pulse jumped. “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t answer. He just scanned the hallway behind us like he expected someone to jump out at any second.
Mason stepped between us. “Bro, breathe. She’s safe.”
Jace’s jaw flexed. “No. She isn’t.”
A cold ripple slid down my spine.
“What happened?” I whispered.
He grabbed the back of his neck, pacing once like he was fighting himself. Jace Blackwood never looked unsure. Never looked shaken.
But right now?
He looked like someone had just ripped the ground out from under him.
“Rowan knows,” he muttered.
Mason’s expression dropped. “Knows what?”
Jace’s eyes flicked to me again, softer, pained, before shutting down.
“He knows she was brought up in the fight.”
My stomach twisted. “And… what does that mean?”
“It means,” Jace said, voice tight, “that he’s blaming me for dragging you into trouble. And he’s not wrong.”
“Jace—”
“I told you to stay away,” he cut in, too quickly.
I stepped closer. “And you didn’t.”
He froze.
His breath hitched.
For a moment, he looked at me like I’d said something impossible—something he didn’t know how to handle.
Mason sighed dramatically. “Here we go… the emotional meltdown of Ridgeview’s most terrifying student.”
Jace shot him a murderous look. “Leave.”
“Nope,” Mason said cheerfully. “This is my entertainment for the day.”
“Mason,” Jace growled.
I placed a hand on Mason’s arm. “It’s okay. Let me talk to him.”
Mason studied me, then Jace, then sighed. “Fine. But if he starts brooding too hard and accidentally breaks a wall, yell my name.”
He walked away, but not far. Close enough to intervene. Far enough to give us space.
Jace exhaled shakily, rubbing his knuckles, split, bruised, angry red.
“Jace,” I whispered, “why won’t you tell me what’s really going on?”
His shoulders rose and fell with a slow, painful breath.
“Ariel… you’re not supposed to matter.”
My chest tightened. “But I do?.”
He swallowed hard.
“I tried to keep you out of this. I tried to stay away. But someone saw how I reacted to you. Someone saw you talk to me. And they used it.”
“Used it how?”
He didn’t speak for several seconds.
Then finally, in a low, broken whisper…
“They said they were going to find you.”
The world tilted.
“What?” I breathed.
His eyes finally met mine looking raw, terrified, and furious at himself.
“They threatened you, Ariel. In front of me. During the fight.”
My legs went weak.
He stepped forward instantly, hands hovering like he wanted to hold me but didn’t know if he was allowed to.
“I shouldn’t have let it happen. I shouldn’t have let you get close. You don’t know these people. You don’t know what they—”
“Jace,” I said softly, “look at me.”
He did.
Slowly.
Like he was scared of what he’d see.
“I don’t blame you.”
He shook his head. “You should.”
“I don’t.”
His throat bobbed.
“You’re not the danger,” I said quietly. “You’re the warning.”
“And warnings don’t work,” he whispered, stepping closer, “because you don’t run from me.”
I swallowed. “Do you want me to?”
His breath caught.
He looked torn, like two versions of him were fighting inside his chest.
Finally, he spoke.
“No.”
That one word hit me harder than anything he’d said yet.
“But I need you safe.” His voice cracked. “And being around me… it won’t keep you safe, Ariel. It will destroy you.”
I took another step toward him. Close enough that our hands nearly touched.
“Then let me decide that,” I whispered.
His eyes searched mine, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
For the first time, Jace looked less like the dangerous boy everyone feared…
And more like a boy who feared losing something.
Losing me.
Before he could speak, a shout echoed down the hall.
“HEY! BLACKWOOD!”
We both turned.
Two boys stood near the stairwell.
The same boys from earlier.
The ones who fought him.
Jace tensed instantly, like a wolf recognizing a threat.
Mason reappeared, muttering, “Oh hell no.”
The taller boy smirked. “Didn’t think she’d still be standing next to you.”
Jace moved in front of me so fast I barely registered it—his arm extended slightly, shielding me.
“Say her name,” he said in a low, deadly voice, “and I’ll break your jaw.”
The boy laughed. “Relax, man. We just wanna talk.”
“Not happening,” Mason said, stepping beside Jace.
The second boy’s eyes slid to me.
“You really shouldn’t be hanging around him, sweetheart.”
Jace’s fists tightened.
“Back off,” he warned.
The boy grinned. “Or what? You’ll fight us again? In front of her this time?”
Jace stepped forward.
I grabbed his hoodie.
“Jace,” I breathed, “don’t.”
His jaw flexed so hard the muscle ticked.
The boys snickered.
“Let’s go,” Mason said under his breath, pulling him back. “They’re baiting you. Don’t fall for it.”
Jace didn’t move.
His fury vibrated off him like a living thing.
Like he would burn the whole school down if they touched me.
Finally—
He took a step back.
Only because my hand was still holding him.
The boys walked away laughing, but Jace didn’t chase them.
He didn’t speak.
He didn’t breathe.
He just stood there, chest heaving, eyes blazing.
I let go of him slowly.
“Jace… talk to me.”
He closed his eyes, but not before I saw the storm behind them.
When he opened them again, his voice was nothing but gravel.
“This is only the beginning.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” he said darkly, “that if they come near you again… nothing in this school will stop me.”
His gaze dropped to my hand, where I had grabbed him.
His voice softened a fraction.
“And that is the exact reason I’m dangerous.”
I breathed out shakily. “Then let me be dangerous with you.”
He looked at me like I had just punched the air out of his lungs.
“Ariel…”
For once, he had no comeback.
No warning.
No walls.
Just my name on his lips and fear in his eyes.
Fear of losing me.
Fear of wanting me.
Fear of what comes next.
And for the first time, I realized something terrifying:
Jace wasn’t the only one in danger.
I was too.
Because whatever this was between us?
It wasn’t stopping.
It was spiraling.
Fast.
And there was no going back.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD