Jace:
I woke up at the sound of a loud crash. At first I thought it was thunder accompanying the rain storm that was pouring outside my window. I checked my alarm clock on my nightstand table, the solid red lights in the form of numbers told me it was 1:30 AM. As lightning flashed in my windows, I realized that thunder was not what woke me up. What woke me up, in fact, were noises coming from the apartment above mine. I live in Idris, a small country in Europe, inside a well-kept apartment building that had three floors. I lived on the first floor in room sixteen, while my noisy upstairs neighbor lived on the second floor. Suddenly, I heard glass shatter, presumably against a wall, and a door slam. Heavy footsteps thunder down the stairs.
Thump, thump thump.
Whoever was storming out must've been pretty mad. As I heard the person leave the building's front doors, I laid down to try and return to sleep; but, what I heard next made me freeze. I listened as the sound of the girl's voice carried through the floorboards, she was crying. I wondered, then, was that her boyfriend? Did he hurt her? Now I was too worried to fall asleep. I mean, what if she was seriously injured and needed medical attention?
So, I slipped on a shirt, as I only slept in sweatpants, socks, shoes, and a sweatshirt and left my apartment. I took the elevator to the second floor and walked down the hall, following the sounds of someone sobbing. I came to apartment thirty-six and prayed that this was the right door, and not me waking some poor person up in the middle of the night. I knocked on her door. The sobs grew faint before the shuffling of feet grew louder. A woman with a small, petite figure stood on the other side of the door. She had fire engine red, curly hair and emerald green eyes. My eyes glanced over the dust of freckles she had across her nose and the fairy-like features of her face. Her skin looked like porcelain and my fingers itched to feel if it was as smooth as it looked. I was starstruck. It had been clear she'd been crying, her eyes had a tinge of red and slight puffiness; however, I saw no bruises as far as I could tell. She wore a plain, long-sleeve black sweater that was zipped up to her chin and grey shorts, her legs on display.
"Can I help you with something?" her voice is small and hesitant, almost shy. It shook me out of my, hopefully not obvious, ogling.
"Uh, yeah, sorry to bother you so late. I live below you in room sixteen," I pause and look to see if she recognized me at all, not that she would because we've never really met, "Anyway I was just concerned about...well the noises I've been hearing? They sounded kind of bad. Are you alright?" Her cheeks flushed with red and her posture immediately stiffened.
"Sorry, everything is just fine here. I think, maybe, your ears were playing tricks on you," she said nervously, as though she were afraid she was going to offend me. Although I got the hint, she didn't want to talk about it, certainly not with a stranger. But I thought I'd try again, just to be safe.
"Are you sur-"
"Thank you, for caring, sir. That's really nice of you to check and to know that someone in this world has concern for others and kindness, but I have to go back in now. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about whatever noises you heard, but I didn't hear anything so…"
I nodded my head slowly, not believing her at all really, "Right. No problem, sorry for bothering you then." I turned to leave, but right before I reached the elevator her voice stopped me.
"Maybe it was the wind?" I faced her again and she looked hesitant to share, but I took what I could get. Maybe eventually she would start opening up about what was really going on.
"Yeah, it must've been the wind."
"Alright, goodnight…"
"Jace."
"Goodnight Jace. I'm Clary, by the way." I smiled softly.
"Night Clary."
I made my way into the elevator and back to my apartment. Getting myself a glass of water, I sat at the kitchen counter. I couldn't shake this feeling that something was horribly wrong. Clearly something was wrong, but I didn't want to intrude and make things worse. I didn't have all the facts; although, the only way to get all the facts was to ask Clary about her situation. I sighed and finished my water and tried to fall asleep. I was restless, tossing and turning, but sleep would not find me. My mind kept conjuring up images and images of someone hurting Clary. Who would do that to her? Why would they do that? She was so pure and sweet and I barely met her for five minutes. Jesus Christ Herondale, get a grip. I won't lie and say I wasn't a player throughout high school and college. I was exactly that. Had a new girl almost every week, like clockwork. I hadn't had a serious girlfriend all my life, but neither have I had a fling or a one-stand for a couple of years now. But Clary...there was just something about her that branded itself into my brain. I glanced at my alarm clock for the millionth time, 3:25. I let out a harsh breath, I just couldn't bear the thought of leaving her anymore. I got up, put my clothes back on and left for the elevator, taking it to the second floor. Walked down the hall, past the two doors to room thirty-six on the left side. I knocked again. There was beat before I heard the shuffling of feet again and the door swung open,
"Jace?" Clary's brows were scrunched in confusion.
"Hi. Yeah, I'm really sorry about bothering you again, but I just…" I trailed off because what was I going to say? I know you're lying and I think you're in a toxic relationship? That would go over just great. I ran my hand through my hair, frustrated.
"Actually could you do me a favor?" I say, an idea beginning to form in my mind.
"I guess it depends on what you want, but yeah I suppose…"
"I know it's late and all, but could you stay awake for like ten minutes? Oh and can I give you my phone number?"
She looked at me like I was insane and maybe I was, but I was determined to get her to trust me.
"I guess…"
"Great! Um, here's my phone, if you could just type your number in. I swear there's a point to all this." I handed her my phone and waited nervously while she typed in her number. Giving it back to me, she asked, "So what are you doing exactly?"
"I'm going to go back to my room, but just wait up okay?"
"Okay…" I sighed in relief as she closed her door and speed walked to the elevator, riding it back to my floor. I flew down the hall and unlocked my apartment. I headed straight for my closet, searching for my bluetooth speaker. Connecting it to my phone, I opened my apple music app and played "Lean on Me," hoping she gets the message that she can lean on me. I hope that she knows she'll be okay. I open my phone and text her.
Text from Jace, sent to Clary:
Do you hear it?
Read 3:31 AM
Text received from Clary:
The song?
Read 3:31 AM
Text from Jace, sent to Clary:
Yeah.
Read 3:32 AM
Text received from Clary:
It's a pretty song...Why are you playing it?
Read 3:33 AM
I hesitated. Would my response scare her away or pull her closer?
Text from Jace, sent to Clary:
I promise I'm not playing tricks on you. I want you to know that my place is always open for you to come in. You could stay for an hour or two if you ever needed a friend. We can talk about the noises whenever you're ready.
Read 3:34 AM
Text received from Clary:
Jace, I told you, it must have been the wind.
Read 3:34 AM
Text from Jace, sent to Clary:
I understand it must be a difficult truth to face and even harder to share with others. So, until you're ready, and not until then, it must have been the wind.
Read 3:35 AM
Three Days Later
Text received from Clary:
Are you free? I need to talk to a friend.
Read 1:20 AM
Author's note: Hi! Long time, no see! I hope everybody is safe and healthy in this hard time. Quarantine is starting to get harder and harder everyday, so I just wanted to write this story about being there for each other. Anyway how's everyone doing? I've been binging Grey's Anatomy and reading some new books and listening to new music.
Books: The Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken, Imagine Me (the last book of the Shatter Me series) by Tahereh Mafi, and Deathless Divide (sequel to Dread Nation) by Justina Ireland
Music: I've been on an Old Dominion kick, Six Feet Apart - Alec Benjamin, Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol, Breathe - Years & Years, Bottom of the River - Delta Rae, Feeling Good - Michael Buble, Teeth and Youngblood - 5 Seconds of Summer, and Sick Boy - The Chainsmokers.
What about you guys? Any suggestions?