Chapter 14 – The Morning After (Sort Of)
1083 Words
By the time Lena climbed back through her bedroom window, her hoodie snagged on the sill and her knee slightly bruised from a poorly timed landing, the sun was just starting to sneak up behind the trees. Her phone read 5:32 a.m.
She collapsed onto her bed face-first, fully clothed, heart still fluttering like she’d run a marathon. And her lips still tingled from Jace’s kiss—the slow one. The soft one. The kind that didn’t just make you feel wanted, but chosen.
She should have been panicking about the four hours of sleep she wasn’t getting, or the fact that she’d technically broken a curfew she wasn’t even allowed to have. But instead, her thoughts were a warm blur of his voice, his hands, the way he said he couldn’t sleep because of her.
She was officially losing her mind. And loving it.
⸻
Monday morning came for her like a slap.
She rolled out of bed groggy, sore, and half-late. Her ponytail was crooked, her shirt was buttoned wrong the first time, and she barely avoided pouring orange juice into her cereal. It was the kind of chaos she usually avoided with military precision—but not today.
Today, she floated.
Riley spotted her the second she stepped onto campus, trotting up beside her like a caffeinated detective with new evidence.
“So,” Riley began, leaning in. “Where were you really last night?”
Lena blinked. “You texted me?”
“Three times. I even threatened to call your mom and pretend I was an honor society rep doing a wellness check.”
“Okay, wow.”
Riley narrowed her eyes. “You were with him again, weren’t you?”
Lena smiled in a way that gave her away instantly.
“Oh my God,” Riley whispered. “You’re so far gone.”
“I’m fine,” Lena protested.
“You snuck out. You never sneak out.”
Lena bit her lip.
Riley poked her shoulder. “Tell me everything. Was there another kiss? Emotional trauma bonding? Motorcycle joyrides?”
“Just… a park,” Lena said quietly. “We talked. A lot.”
Riley studied her, then gave a soft smile. “Okay, wow. You’re, like… emotionally invested.”
Lena nodded.
“And he’s not just a crush.”
Another nod.
“Okay,” Riley said, squeezing her arm. “I’m scared for you. But also very into this. Proceed with caution—and maybe pepper spray. I’m not saying I don’t trust him, but I’m not saying I do either.”
“I know,” Lena said. “But I feel good when I’m with him. Like I’m not pretending.”
Riley sighed. “Ugh. You’re in the feeling stage. There’s no turning back now.”
⸻
Jace didn’t text her during first or second period, and Lena pretended that didn’t bother her. She even convinced herself she wasn’t checking her phone under her desk like a lovesick puppy.
But by lunch, there was still nothing.
She was halfway to the cafeteria when a voice stopped her.
“Carter.”
She turned—and froze.
It wasn’t Jace.
It was Madison Hunt. Cheerleader. Walking billboard for good hair decisions. And—most importantly—Jace’s ex-girlfriend.
“Hey?” Lena said cautiously.
Madison smiled—but not the friendly kind. It was the kind of smile people wore before they lit a fire behind your back.
“So… you and Jace,” Madison said. “That’s a thing now?”
Lena blinked. “I… guess?”
“That’s cute.” Madison’s voice was syrupy. “Really.”
Lena crossed her arms. “Do you need something?”
“No,” Madison said sweetly. “Just thought you should know—he’s not a boyfriend type. He’s a thrill. A hobby. A season, if you will.”
Lena’s spine straightened. “You don’t know what we are.”
“Maybe not,” Madison agreed. “But I do know what he’s like when he gets bored. I’ve been there. So… just don’t fall too hard.”
With a flip of her glossy hair, Madison walked away, leaving Lena in the hallway with heat rising to her cheeks—not from embarrassment, but from anger.
Because why did people think they had the right to tell her who he was?
Why did everyone assume they knew him?
And why, even now, did a tiny sliver of doubt wedge itself under her ribs like a splinter?
⸻
She found Jace near the auto shop after school. He was leaning against the chain-link fence, headphones in, nodding to a beat only he could hear. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing forearms that should be illegal, and he was scribbling something in a beat-up notebook.
He looked up the moment she approached.
“Hey, stranger,” he said, pulling out one earbud.
“I was wondering if you’d ghosted me,” she said, only half-joking.
He held up the notebook. “Got a new idea for the band. Got lost in it.”
She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Do you always shut the world out when you’re writing?”
“Sometimes. Only way to hear myself think.”
There was a beat of silence.
“Madison talked to me today,” Lena said carefully.
Jace’s jaw tensed. “Yeah?”
“She said you get bored. That you’re not a relationship guy.”
He looked away.
“And are you?” Lena asked. “Because I’m not asking for fireworks and promises, but I need to know if I’m just… temporary.”
Jace looked back at her then—sharp, honest, a little bit hurt.
“I’ve never done this before,” he said. “Not like this. Not where I actually care what someone thinks. You scare the hell out of me, Carter.”
“Why?”
“Because I want this to work,” he said, voice low. “And I don’t know how to be the guy who keeps good things.”
Lena reached out, fingers curling into his hoodie. “Then learn. With me.”
He exhaled—slow and steady—and nodded.
“I want that,” he whispered. “I want you.”
And just like that, the splinter of doubt dissolved.
Because no matter what the world thought of him, Jace Blackwood wanted her. And that meant something.
Even if the road ahead was messy.
Especially then.
- Writer
