_________________________________

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

A L E X I

It was ten or so minutes after dinner had ended and I was helping Elle and Jace clear away the table.

"I have plates!" I called, entering the kitchen to see Jace and Elle engaged in what looked like a private discussion.

I frowned at them, "did I interrupt something?" I asked, my eyes flitting between them.

Elle shook her head, "pass them to Jace, only a few at a time though."

Confused, I passed a few plates at a time to Jace, who washed them up in the sink before giving them to Elle.

A man who cleans.
Oh, golly.

"Can't we use your amazing, high-tech, modern and can-wash-things-easier dishwasher?" I asked Elle, watching her pull a face as she dried a plate.

"There's already stuff in there." She told me.

It was now my turn to pull a face. Though, I didn't get much out of it since the three of us soon fell silent.

Jace and Elle having taken ages doing whatever they were doing, I soon wandered off into my thoughts.

And soon, I found myself back to earlier. Back to when Jace kissed me.

I think for a moment I was too shocked to move. And then I kicked myself into action.

The kiss, oh, the kiss.

It didn't last very long at all, but I felt every single heat warm my heart when it did last. When Jace pulled away, I think I realised just how much I adored him. How much I loved him.

I stared up at him, watching him stare down at me. "What..." he smiled down at me as I fumbled.

"I heard that if you occupy moving lips then the person would stop talking."

I recognised what he had said, probably because I had said it after I first kissed him.

"I said that," I responded, making him grin.

"You did, Lex."

I grinned up at him, the nickname, as always, charming me.

"Lex." He repeated. I frowned. "Lex." He said again.

"Lex?"

I froze, my eyes refocusing suddenly. Then I was very aware of both Jace and Elle staring at me.

"Can I have the rest of the plates, please?" He asked politely, frowning over at me.

I looked between him and the plates. Then I shoved them into his hands before actually running away.

I got to the hallway when I came to a halt in front of the power couple themselves. Sky and Jameson.

"You guys really pick your times, excuse me!" I tried to slip in the gap between them since that's the only way I could escape, but then Jameson closed the gap, making me freeze.

I huffed. "I won't push an injured man, Jameson, but I may be forced to if you don't grant me access," I said, my eyes narrowing at him.

Sky crossed her arms over her chest. "What's going on?" She asked.

I sighed, realising that I was trapped. "Running from Jace; he's scary."

Sky pulled a face, "I thought you liked him."

Feeling my secrets unfold before my eyes, I frowned to disguise the butterflies that they set free.

"Like him?" I asked, watching her expression morph into confusion.

"Yeah...I mean you shared a tent on our mission." She said, frowning.

I smiled. "So because I didn't let him sleep outside in the cold, I like him? No, I'm just nice." I said, trying once more to squeeze past them. Nope. I huffed.

"You and 'nice' is like chalk and cheese." Jameson retorted.

I gaped at him. "Look," I said, changing the subject, "Jace and I...we're kind of like acquaintances. It's like...me and Jameson, I like you—sometimes—but not that much."

Sky narrowed her eyes. "So that's why you share a room? You're 'acquainted'?"

I nodded. "Exactly. Nothing but a mutual interest of sleep between us. We're just acquainted for the sake of the mission, really," I said, trying to blabber my way out of a big problem. "Like teammates, nothing more."

When I was finished, Sky did not ask me another question and Jameson did not make another remark. If it wasn't for the fact that they were both looking behind me, then maybe by the fact that I could just feel his presence.

I turned slowly, saying, "Jace." And then I watched as he walked away.

I hurried after him. "Jace!" I called, watching him cut through the kitchen and out into the garden. Elle's eyes followed us as we moved quickly.

When we were out of the way of the windows, Jace turned abruptly, nearly sending me crashing into him.

"Did you mean what you said? We're just 'acquaintances'?" He spat the word out as if the quicker he got it out, the quicker the poison would escape his system.

I froze, frowning up at him. Considering what to do for a few moments, I finally reached out to hold onto his hands as I said, "of course not."

He stared into my eyes for a few moments. "Then why would you say it?" He asked. "After...after what happened earlier?"

I smiled at that memory but cast my head downwards as I thought about his question. I shrugged, "I guess maybe I'm used to concealing it. After all, you were pretty much disgusted by the idea of being in a relationship with me a few months ago." I said, raising my head so that our eyes met once more.

Jace avoided eye contact as he appeared to think about this.

I fretted. "I'm telling the truth, Jace."

He looked up quickly. "No, of course, Lex." He said, before hesitantly reaching out and tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. "I know when you're lying anyway."

I rose my eyebrows. "You do?" I asked in disbelief.

He smiled and nodded. "I don't know. I can tell, though."

I frowned, "usually I can lie all day long and rarely does anyone see through it."

He ran his finger across my cheek. "It's not healthy to lie all day long." He told me, making me roll my eyes. I would've made a witty quip to respond to that, but his proximity and the fact that his finger was running down the edges of my face had me lacking the ability to speak.

"I'm sorry," I said suddenly, before watching him frown down at me. "I forgot to wish you a happy birthday," I said.

Jace shook his head quickly. "Nonsense, it's fine," seeing my expression, he added, "honestly, and my parents will probably want to celebrate it at some point too. It's fine, Lex."

I smiled, nodding my head as I suddenly got a very impulsive idea. "I think I've figured out your birthday present," I said, a weird feeling overcoming me.

"Yeah?" Jace asked, raising an eyebrow, "almost a week after my birthday?"

I rolled my eyes before grabbing his hand. "Come on, there's something I want to show you."

We walked out into the setting sun, trudging through the grass. I lead him up to a hill as the darkness began to consume our surroundings. With no street lights, we were shrouded in darkness; no one could see us.

I came to a stop on top of the hill, saying, "here's good—sit down."

I sat atop the hill, though Jace took a few moments, looking confused.

"What are we doing?" Jace asked after a few seconds of silence. I smiled, pulling out my phone.

"I really want to show you this in real life, but we aren't exactly in the area for it, so," I turned my phone on its side and pressed play, beckoning Jace to sit closer to me. He peered down at the small gap between us, before raising his head, as though he were about to ask more questions.

"Shh," I said, silencing him. "Just wait."

And then, as if like clockwork, bright lights appeared in the sky of the video clip I was showing him. Bright blue ribbons ran across the sky, and then green interwove through the gaps.

I gaped at my phone for a few moments, wishing I could see this in real life, before turning to see Jace in just as much awe as I was. Jace noticed me looking at him and squeezed my hand as he continued to look up at the screen.

"I didn't spend any money, but I thought that you could see how beautiful your eyes are—your Northern Light eyes."

Jace remained silent for a few moments, before he finally spoke, "wow, Lex. Thank you."

I beamed, though he could hardly see it. We turned to glance at each other at the same time.

Then we were closer.
Then our lips were stuck together.
Then I was on top of him, on top of a hill, under the Northern Lights.

________________________________

I need to edit this in a blast before my mum buries me aliiveeeee

I keep editing on my laptop and it's taking so long but hopefully my chapters read better now ?? (I'm using Grammarly so)

apparently my readability on this is 93 (94 on Her Life) and 11 year olds can read both 😂😂

must have good plot lines if my writing is simple enough for 11 year olds to understand 😂😭

anyway

-blast

FABULOUS SONGS

Songs that played when I was writing this chapter (in order):
DNA - Lia Marie Johnson
Low - Lauren Aquilina
Julian - Say Lou Lou
The Man Who Can't Be Moved - The Script
Settle - Vera Blue
Insomniac - Amber Run
Dead of Night - Ruelle
Sky Full Of Song - Florence + The Machine
TALK ME DOWN - Troye Sivan
Recover - Ruelle
I Want You so Bad - Glades
Shaking Heads - Foxes
Back To You - Selena Gomez (13RW out today ❤️)

END OF FABULOUS SONGS

Date written:
14/05/18
18/05/18

__________
Next update: Friday
__________

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN SPOILER:

Finally, the confession.

Plus some awkward meetings in a heated situation...