Home is Where the Heart Is (Home #1) (5 page)

Her anger faded and she softened. “Jace, I was wrong… I was…”

“You were right,” he said bluntly. “Tell Matt I bailed.”

Without waiting for a response he breezed out of the door into the crisp air and stumbled his way down the street.

It was eerie how quiet it was around him. There were no animals making any noise, no television sets playing, not even people up this late and socialising. It was like walking through a dead, empty town. Which was pretty fitting, seeing as that was how he felt most of the time.

Fuck Kimberley. With every step he took he became more and more aware of the feelings he had been pushing deep down. He was starting to feel the slap of reality beating at him, and the spectrum of emotions he had done all he could to suppress rearing their ugly head.

It was too hard. Making his Mum proud, picking up the pieces his Dad left, maintaining a social life, and being a good student. It was all too much and he was breaking under all of the pressure. He was failing everything and he just couldn’t seem to make it right no matter how hard he tried.

He stared up at the sky, noticing how bright the stars were next to the pearly full moon. Maybe he could grab a change of clothes and head to the beach for a swim to finish off what he’d started earlier that day.

He approached his front door cautiously, and gave his jacket a sniff before attempting to do anything further. Ah shit - there was no way his mum was going to buy that he walked passed a smoker this time, and he was sure his breath wasn’t minty fresh either.

He checked his watch. Two a.m. There was a pretty good chance she hadn’t bothered to wait up but he wasn’t sure if he could risk it. He knew she wouldn’t punish him and that was the problem. He was too much of a coward to face her sad, disappointed eyes and the silence that would follow.

With a deep breath he headed around the side and began to climb the drain pipe up to his balcony that lead from his room. With his buzz gone, he only slipped once, and made it up with minimal noise.

If he was lucky, his Mum wouldn’t even stir and he could try and clean himself up before crashing. All thoughts tonight of going back to the beach for the final swim were eliminated by his weariness….maybe another time.

Jace was just about to open the doors and head inside when he felt it; that sense of being watched.

He spun around suddenly and found a shadow watching him from the balcony next door.

He jumped in surprise, rattling his door slightly in the process.

“Shit!” he swore, knowing his Mum would definitely have heard that.

The shadow person said nothing - just remained sitting in the dark, watching.

“Um…hello?” he called praying he wasn’t actually starting to lose his mind.

“Sneaking out?” a pretty voice asked.

He moved toward the voice. “Technically I’m sneaking in. What are you doing up at this time?”

A small hand gestured to the clear sky. “I like to watch the stars when I can’t sleep. It’s a comfort that they never change.”

He just stared as his mind raced to process what was happening. Had he not sobered up as much as he thought?

“Are you OK? You look weird.”

She moved forward so the moonlight illuminated her face slightly.

Holy shit.

She was small like a fairy, with long blonde hair and creamy white skin. He couldn’t see what colour her eyes were in the dark, but they had a bright, intelligence in them.

“Are you real?” he whispered.

She raised an eyebrow. “How drunk are you?”

He shook his head to try and clear it. There was a
hot
as
shit
girl right in front of him and he was making an idiot of himself.

“Not very. So any reason you can’t sleep? Or were you instinctually waiting for me to arrive?”

He shuffled forward to the edge of his balcony, his body yearning to move as close to her as he could.

She backed away a short distance and turned her face so a curtain of hair shielded her from his view.

“You’re pretty cocky for this time in the morning.”

He held his hand up. “I’m self-aware, not cocky.”

She turned enough so this time he could see her roll her eyes.

“Ok, that was lame, I’m sorry,” he said ruefully.

She moved slightly forward again and gestured to his jumper. “You’re going to need to burn that, I can smell you from here and there’s a rip at the back.”

Jace grinned. “You were watching me.”

“I was waiting to see if I needed to call the police or not. Seeing someone shimmy up a drain pipe at two in the morning isn’t exactly normal behaviour.”

Jace smiled and leaned as far as he could on the rail. “So, what’s your decision?”

A tiny smile played on her full lips. “I guess you’ll find out. If you hear the sirens getting close, I suggest you run, Spider Man.”

“You’re not going to turn me in,” he responded with conviction.

“Oh, really? And why is that?”

He grinned. “Because then you won’t get to have these delightful late night talks with your new friend.”

“Friend?” she asked jeeringly. “I barely know you.”

The smile on her face faltered as she realised the truth of her words, and she shifted backwards.

“I shouldn’t to speak to strangers,” she told him as she turned to head back inside her room.

“But I’m not a stranger. I’m your friendly neighbour, Jace Scown.”

He watched as she froze, and wondered if he’d said something wrong.

She half turned. “As in Jason?”

Instantly he knew by the way she choked out the word that she’d been hurt by this guy, and not just in a small way. A simple break up wouldn’t cause the kind of horror that darkened all her features.

“Nope, just Jace, but if you think another name is better suited, I’m up for suggestions.”

She half smiled. “I’ll think on it.”

He turned his back to her and took a slow step away.

“Wait! Where are you going?” she called.

He turned with a wicked grin. “Oh you see, my Mum told me I should never speak to strangers.”

“Is that so?”

“It is. However, if you were to tell me your name, that would fix this problem right up.”

“Is that what you think?”

“Yes indeed,” he replied, really enjoying himself for the first time all night.

She turned back to her room. “Good night, Jace.”

“That’s it?” he called. “You’re really not going to tell me your name?”

“Nope,” she called back as she started to shut her doors.

“Well then, I’ll just have to call you ‘Beautiful’ until you tell me your real name.”

“You’ll be waiting a long time,” she replied.

“Beautiful, I got nothing but time.”

He heard a faint giggle, making his heart pound faster.

Maybe the holidays weren’t going to be so bad after all. In fact, he just figured out how he could keep himself busy.
 

CHAPTER 3
ISABELLE

Isabelle lay in bed with a small smile forming on her lips.

Beautiful. That’s what he had called her - the strange boy from last night. He had thought she was beautiful.

No one ever thought she was beautiful. She was the nice one or the funny one but never the beautiful girl, especially on first impressions.

It was pathetic how much their little conversation had pleased her, but she couldn’t help it. For the first time all week she had something to smile about, and the hole that was swallowing her up wasn’t as huge today.

She’d been outside last night to try and control her anxiety, and really just procrastinating going to sleep so she wouldn’t see
his
face twisted into an ugly mask of rage. Not one night had gone by that she wasn’t followed in her dreams by his savage beauty and brutality.

No one was going to be calling her beautiful if she didn’t start to get some decent sleep though. She forced herself onto her feet and turned to the mirror to inspect herself. Immediately, her smile faded and she felt sick to her stomach.

There were bruises colouring her face and she was still a mess, especially on the inside. Nearly a week had passed since she had run as fast as she could from her life and the people in it and hid herself away with her parents in this strange new coastal town.

After
the incident
she had done her best to spin the tale of being in the wrong place at the wrong time to her parents, refusing to let them press charges. Instead she told them yet another lie and said she wanted to spend a couple extra days driving and seeing the sights before they reached their destination and settled in.

She’d deleted her Facebook and ignored all the texts from Hannah and Sylvia, and now they were coming in less and less which hurt at the same time as it relieved her. Tate was not going to be swayed so easily though, and there were times that she’d had to turn her phone off for a full day just to get a break from the constant vibration alerting her to his calls.

While her parents were doing their best to give her some space, Isabelle was sure it was for their sake too, since her Dad still couldn’t even look at her without the hint of a tear in his eye. She couldn’t exactly blame him when she couldn’t look at herself without needing to swallow down the bile that came with how disgusted she was after what had happened.

“Honey?”

Isabelle jumped as her Mum quickly rushed forward.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to alarm you. Are you OK?”

She just nodded, not trusting her voice.

Her Mum gently traced the bruises along her face, her eyes filled with concern. “What’s happened to you, honey?”

Isabelle bit her lip until she tasted blood as she tried to calm herself down by ignoring all the images flooding her brain before the panic attack struck full force.

“Mum, I’m fine. It’s just a few bruises, please stop worrying.”

She was pulled into a firm hug. “That’s a Mother’s job though and I know you’re not fine.”

Isabelle froze, scrambling for an excuse.

“I just miss my friends, that’s all,” she said softly.

“Well, I haven’t seen you touch your phone even once in a week, and your Father says Tate has been trying to contact you.”

Breathe
, she reminded herself as equal parts of shame and guilt slammed into her.

“Everything’s fine,” she repeated.

Her Mum eyed her shrewdly and then turned away. “Meet me in the kitchen please, we’ve got some things to sort through.”
“Can’t wait!”

Her sarcastic remark resulted in a stern look and then her Mum left her alone again. She needed a better plan to keep her parents off her tail if she was going to survive this.

As she sank onto her bed and drew her knees up to her chest, her mind was completely blank.
A single tear fell down her cheek, that she hastily brushed away. She was going to get nowhere being the world’s greatest sook. She would be fine, she just needed to start school and keep distracted from her thoughts. Maybe make some new memories to replace the old ones that haunted her every waking moment.

“Isabelle!”

She sighed and threw on some shorts and a tank top. “I’m coming!”

She trotted down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen to find that her parents standing as a united front, surrounded by boxes. Isabelle’s stride faltered as she took in the expressions on their faces.

“Isabelle,” her Dad began in his gruff voice. “Your mother and I love you very, very much.”

Was this…? It was! Her parents were staging a freaking intervention.

“You guys can’t be serious,” she blurted out.

With narrowed eyes, her Mum continued like she hadn’t spoken.

“It hasn’t escaped our notice that you haven’t been yourself lately, and with the attack you refused to let us look into, and your complete isolation from everyone, we’re so worried.”

Her heart began to pound frantically, and she felt like a caged animal about to be shot. This could not be happening right now. She had barely escaped the interrogation the first time around, she wasn’t going to have enough strength to get through a second one.

Loud, rhythmic knocking cut into the stare off in the kitchen and took precedence over the shit storm that was about to go down. Her Mum disappeared, returning a minute later with three people in tow.

“Isabelle, our neighbours from next door came over to deliver some cookies and offer their help. Isn’t that nice?” her Mum asked with a tight smile.

Isabelle stopped short as she noticed the boy from last night smiling at her warmly next to a girl who could only be his sister, and another tall blonde boy.

“Hello, I don’t believe we’ve been formerly introduced.”

He held his hand out with a mischievous grin lighting his face. “Isabelle, is it? I’m Jace, this is my sister, Maia, and my best friend, Matt.”