Page 73 of When Ben Loved Jace

I already told Jace everything, not holding back on any of the details. He didn’t smirk when learning that I’d said goodbye to Tim. There wasn’t a hint of satisfaction. All I got from him was pure sympathy, because he knows my pain. Jace chose to leave Victor after accepting that it wouldn’t work. And, like me, he had to make that decision again years later. I envy his strength. He hadn’t clung to Adrien while waiting for those freshly opened wounds to heal. Jace had left him too, believing it was the right thing to do. My situation is different. More than ever, I feel like I belong with him.

“Can I go with you this time?” I plead.

“No,” Jace says. “Not until you graduate. You have a thesis to write.”

I shrug, unconvinced. “I filed for an extension.”

“When’s the new deadline?”

I don’t answer him. He doesn’t need me to. We both know it’s in a matter of days.

“Life goes on,” Jace says, searching my eyes. “Even when you don’t want it to. I need you to prove that being with me is enough. Otherwise I’m just a crutch.”

I pull him close, smothering myself under his weight. “You’re way more to me than that” I promise, my voice an emotional squeak. “I love you, Jace.”

“I love you too.” He kisses me before pushing himself up again. “Now get out of bed. You have morning breath, I have to pee, Samson needs to eat, Adrien promised to make us breakfast, I have dry cleaning to pick up, you have a paper to finish…”

“All right, all right!” I complain. But I do so with a smile, because he’s right. Life does go on, and I’m so glad that we get to continue ours together.

Chapter Seventeen

My eyes are burning, but I don’t care. My whole damn head could catch fire and I wouldn’t move from this chair, because I’m so close! I’ve finally got the middle of my thesis smoothed out. With that revision in place, I only need to carry some of those new ideas through to the conclusion, which is proving more difficult than expected. The finish line is in sight. Almost there. I can do this!

Allison pads into the kitchen while rubbing her eyes.

“You’re still up?” I ask in surprise.

“No, hon,” she replies. “I just slept for eight hours straight.You’restill up. And exactly where I left you.”

I knew it was late. I just didn’t realize that it was so early!

“I’ll make some coffee,” Allison says with a yawn.

I lose myself in my work again, only pausing when she sets a mug of steaming hot caffeine next to my laptop before plopping down on the other side of the table.

“Aren’t you done yet?”

“Almost,” I say. “I just need another day.”

“How much longer do you have?”

“Another day,” I reply with a grimace.

“You’ve got this,” she assures me. “Nobody expects perfection.”

“That’s true, but if someone files a deadline extension and they hand in something that’s still sloppy, despite the extra time…”

“I see your point,” she says, “but maybe you should get a little shut-eye before you run the final stretch. It’s not like you have anything else to do today.”

“That’s true.” The only exception is— “Samson!” I hiss suddenly. “Was I over there yesterday?”

“How should I know?”

“Do you remember me leaving?”

Allison thinks about it and shrugs. “I wasn’t here the whole day, but whenever I was, you were sitting there poking away at that keyboard.”

I forgot to feed him. I’m almost sure of it now. I stand up, mybody stiff, and rush around the apartment to collect my things. Before I go, I take a few swigs of the coffee.