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T h e   H o l l o w s   I n
O U R  F R E E D O M
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A L E X I

"Jace, wait!" I screamed into the distance for the seventh time. He was pretty fast for someone who isn't a Guardian.

I broke into a bout of sprinting, catching up to him. I grabbed ahold of his arm, turning him around to see his face, his eyes both angry and hurt.

Out of breath, I just watched him avoid my eyes.

I spoke up to prompt him, "Jace?"

It was only his name, but he immediately crumbled. We were in the shadows, next to some random canoes around the corner of the house, and so I suspected that's why he let his guard down.

Tears began to fall from his eyes, and so I quickly embraced him, trying to shield him away from the world. It was hard, since he was relatively taller than me. But we managed it, and soon he was sobbing into my neck.

"I'm so sorry, Jace." Was all I could say as I held him. I felt tears prick at my own eyes at the sight of him like this.

Jace and Jameson, admittedly, had some similar features. This, however, was different.

Jameson fought for control so often, and Sky was left trying to peel away the mask he wore. When he did lose control, though, he often did it with anger.

Jace, however, was different. He had bouts where he lost control, but I don't think he ever tried to pretend he had it in the first place. He put on a calm mask for his clients, but he wasn't a liar otherwise. When he breaks down, he isn't afraid to. Though, I've never seen him in this much hysteria.

Finally, he pulled away, but slowly. He rubbed away all the tears, covering his face with his hands.

"I'm sorry." He said.

I frowned up at him, shaking my head. I reached up to grasp onto his wrists, pulling his hands away from his face and holding onto them. "You don't have to be sorry. If anything, I'm sorry."

Jace shook his head, looking down. "It's not your fault." There was a period of silence before he next spoke, clearing his throat. "I know now how Sky felt, and," he said, suddenly looking up at me, "that wasn't your fault either." I felt my heart warm slightly, in awe of how he manages to keep me from feeling guilty though he is breaking inside.

He sighed. "I guess I knew there was something. I don't know."

I frowned. "Would it be better if you didn't know that he's your brother?" I asked him, making him flinch slightly.

He squeezed his eyes shut. "I don't know. I left my family home when I was fourteen and sought refuge with friends. Jameson would've been eight or nine. When I realised that wasn't going to work forever, I left at seventeen and started my studies to go into my job."

I listened intently, not speaking up until he was finished. "Did you not realise that he was your brother by the name?" I asked him, making him shake his head.

"I wasn't aware of his last name—I didn't have access to those kind of records, and no one told me. His first name, of course, rung alarm bells, but I supposed my brother would've shortened his name to 'Jamie' since that's what he called himself as a young child, having never been able to say his full name." He told me, eyes full of thoughts.

He shook his head. "I don't really want to remember all that stuff." He said, averting my eyes.

"That's okay," I said quickly, wanting to keep him from feeling hostile. "I had a thought whilst you were talking anyway," I told him, a smile forming on my lips.

Jace rose an eyebrow at me, which made my smile take full force.

"When's your birthday?" I asked him, surprising him slightly. "I remember you saying that it was 'next month' in January, and it's kind of almost March, so when is it?" I pressed on, showing my eagerness without a second thought.

Jace stifled a laugh. "February twenty-seventh." He told me.

"It's on Tuesday?" I asked him, ashen. "Jace, that's two days away, what am I supposed to get you in that time?"

Jace frowned down at me. "You don't have to get me anything."

I smiled. "True, you didn't get me anything." I joked playfully. I thought that Jace was going to beam in response, but he didn't. He instead furrowed his eyebrows and looked away.

"Or did you..?" I asked, waiting for a further response.

Jace shook his head. "It was nothing."

My eyebrows shot up. "You did?" I shook his hands slightly. "I want to know now!" I said, sounding alike to a child.

Jace stifled a laugh, though otherwise stood by his decision to keep me away from my present.

A few moments passed of my excited expression, and then he suddenly caved. "Fine." He said, making me cheer. "Just don't be disappointed if it's not much." He warned me.

I swayed slightly, displaying a grin as I'm sure I unearthed a flirty expression. "I could never be disappointed by anything if it comes from you."

Jace gazed down at me for a few moments, and soon my flirty expression faltered as I frowned.

"What's that look for?" I asked, confused. I think he was about to shake it off, but then he spoke up.

"Why did you think that kissing me was the best option last night?"

I sucked in a breath, feeling my cheeks flush slightly.

"I–I don't know." I told him honestly. "I just thought that if I occupied your moving lips then you would stop talking." I stared at him "Why?" I asked after a few seconds. "Did it bother you that much?" I asked him, making him stifle a laugh as he shook his head.

He let go of one of my hands, but kept ahold of one. "Let's go back to the house."

Okay excuse my twelve year old self.
He's holding my hand.
No, he's actually holding my hand.

Unfortunately, to my twelve year old self's dismay, he dropped my hand right before he opened the front door.

"So when am I getting my present?" I asked as he opened the door and held it open for me.

Jace smiled. "All in good–"

"–what present?"

I was probably expecting it to be Sky, Sapphire, or a nosy Elle. But no, it was Jace's mother.

"I'm Kathleen," the woman said, as Jace shut the door behind us, "nice to meet a girlfriend of Jackson's."

My heart kind of just froze. "Oh," I fumbled for a while. "No, we're not–"

"–this is Alexi." Jace said, interrupting me. Though, I was kind of glad; I feared that if I continued, I would stutter myself into a very big hole.

Kathleen smiled. Though I wasn't too sure the smile was genuine, or as warm as she perhaps wanted it to be.

"Strange name." She quipped in response. I stared at her, lost for words.

"Lovely name." Jace put in, sounding as if he was correcting his mother.

"We're going now." He said suddenly, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from his mother.

As we walked to the sitting room, he asked, "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I think."

"You kind of froze." I looked up to see Jace both amused and confused.

"Yeah," I blew out a breath. "Your mum is scary."

"'Scary'?" Jace repeated, as if it was ludicrous. "She's hardly my mum, anyway."

As we were about to open the door to the sitting room, Elle emerged, bags in hand.

"Oh, Lexi and Ja–" she broke off as she noticed our interlocked hands. And then she raised an eyebrow at us.

"Oh no," I said, regaining my Lexi-ness. "I have cooties now." I said, taking my hand out of Jace's hold and grabbing my rucksack, which she held in her left hand.

Elle rolled her eyes and ignored me, though I was soon surprised as Jace's and Jameson's father walked out of the room.

"It was nice of you to offer us refuge here, Jim." Elle said, smiling.

I couldn't tell if she was actually flirting or just trying to extend our visit by a couple weeks. I figured it was the latter.

"No problem." 'Jim' responded, beaming.

When he saw me and Jace standing off to the side, he paused.

He smiled at us, mainly at me. I noticed that his smile was genuine, warm—unlike his spouse's.

"It's nice to formally meet a girlfriend of Jackson's." He said, grinning.

Oh, holy.
Bury me now.

I stood frozen, watching them walk away and ascend the stairs. Soon, everyone else followed. I think I remember Sky giving me a weird look.

"Why do they both think we're going out?" I asked Jace when there was a fair distance between us and the last people in the line.

Jace stifled a laugh. "Maybe we just seem like we are. I don't know."

I started walking. "We seem like we're in a relationship?" I asked in response.

This seemed to amuse Jace. "Is that such a bad thing?" He asked.

Oh, not at all.

I didn't tell him that, though.
Still scared of my own emotions.

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oh dear oh dear oh dearrrrrr

A cute Lace/Jexi moment 😭👌🏼

DO WE HAVE SHIPPERS???
THATS ALL I WANT TO GODAMN KNOW

anyway

😂

-I will remain neutral

FABULOUS SONGS

Songs that played when I was writing this chapter (in order):
Explosions - Ellie Goulding
Night Glo - Foxes
Young And Beautiful - Lana Del Rey
Run - Leona Lewis
Earned It - Bootstraps
All To You - Sabrina Claudio
Skylines - Glades
Empty House - Billy Lockett
Start Of Time - Gabrielle Aplin
The Writer - Ellie Goulding
One Last Time - Ariana Grande
Bullet - Ann Marr
True Disaster - Tove Lo

END OF FABULOUS SONGS

Date written:
07/07/18

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Next update: Friday
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CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN SPOILER:

It doesn't matter where they are, Jameson and Sky's love prevails.

An awkward dinner takes place, and with no solution herself, Sky depends on Lexi.

dedicated to my grandad, Jim