I'm glad that you guys are liking Jace. Trust me, there is more to him than some sweet southern boy, *wink* wink*. And I love jealous Damon too! He needs to get his shit together haha!
For anyone who wants to know, I see Jace as Jeremy Sumpter. Yes, he is the kid who played Peter Pan in 2003 that every girl had their first crush on. Tbh I still have a crush on him. But that is who I base Jace off of, if you want you can look him up!
I plan to update on Christmas, but if I end up unable to do so, Happy Holidays! On with the story!
Season 2 Episode 2 Brave New World (Part 2)
"That was pretty…" Stefan thought for a moment. "Steamy huh?"
Damon huffed.
"Don't tease, brother." Damon ordered. He was watching Mason intently, beating person after person in arm wrestling. How could he be that strong? No human was that strong. No, there was something going on with him and his angry little nephew. Damon just had to figure out what.
"Elena told me that Alex seemed upset." Stefan said, causing Damon's eyebrows to furrow. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that, would you?"
"We had a misunderstanding." Damon told his brother. "Now, it's understood. So you can chill out."
"I'm chill." Stefan replied. "I just want to make sure you don't mess this up."
Damon scoffed. Stefan needed to worry about his own relationship instead of what was going on with him and Alex. With Katherine lurking around hell bent on messing up Stefan's relationship with Elena, he should have been focusing on that. Katherine had made it clear she wanted Stefan back and Damon wouldn't put it past her to mess with Elena to get to Stefan. Katherine just better not do the same with Alex or he would make sure he was the one to drive a stake through her heart.
"Why are you so concerned with what is going on in my life?" Damon asked, turning so he could see Stefan fully. Stefan shrugged, making Damon roll his eyes.
"Alex is Elena's family. Therefore she is my concern." Stefan explained. "And besides, she's the best thing that has ever happened to you."
Damon furrowed his brows. Sure, Alex was a step up from where he was, a significant step up. Katherine was mean and manipulative, Alex was the exact opposite. Alex was sweet, and kind. She was always thinking of others before herself, something Damon admired. How could Katherine even compare to what Alex had?
"Who wants to go next?" Mason called out, catching the Salvatore's attention. Damon smirked. He had the perfect plan to test Mason's strength, and also get Stefan off his back.
"Stefan wants to go!" Damon yelled. Mason looked over at Damon and the two shared a glance. Stefan agreed to the challenge and he walked over to Mason. They set up their arms resting on their elbows. Damon watched closely as they began pushing each other. He could see that Stefan wasn't using his full strength, but it was also obvious that he had underestimated Mason's own strength. Mason slammed Stefan's hand down on the table.
Stefan walked back over to Damon with a weird expression.
"You didn't put in any effort at all." Damon scoffed.
"Yeah, actually I did." Stefan admitted. Damon made a face and looked around to see if anyone was watching them. He then steered Stefan away from the scene.
"Is he…?" Damon asked. He hadn't thought that were vampires, but if Stefan had to struggle against Mason, he was obviously something.
"No, no, it wasn't that kind of strength but it was more than human, if that makes sense." Stefan said. He seemed to be confused as well, but unlike Damon he wasn't dwelling on it.
"What is up with that family?" Damon asked irritated. "They're not vampires, what the hell are they?"
"Maybe they are ninja turtles." Stefan joked. Damon made a face.
"You're not funny." Damon commented.
"Or zombies, werewolves." Stefan continued. Damon rolled his eyes and looked to his left. A young guy was working on something. Damon walked over to him despite Stefan's protests.
"Hey you!" Damon called. The guy looked up, unamused by Damon's greeting.
"I have a name." He muttered. The guy looked tough, and was built. He could stand up to Tyler.
"Yeah I don't care." Damon replied and grabbed his shoulder. "I need you to pick a fight with someone, a kid named Tyler Lockwood."
"Damon don't do this." Stefan pleaded, but Damon ignored him.
"It's just an experiment." Damon explained. "Get him mad, don't back down no matter what he does, okay?"
"I won't back down." Carter said and walked away from Damon, looking very determined. Damon turned back to Stefan who looked very disappointed.
"You do realize someone is going to get hurt right?" Stefan asked. Damon scoffed. He was positive someone would get hurt, but as long as it wasn't him he wasn't too concerned.
"No, someone is going to get mad, as in rage." Damon explained. He had to find out what was going on with the Lockwoods. This was the way he was going to do it.
"What's that going to accomplish?" Stefan asked.
"That Tyler kid is incapable of walking away from a fight." Damon said. "Let's see who intervenes, maybe it's the ambiguous, supernatural mystery uncle."
Stefan looked like he was going to protest, but Damon walked away before he could, going down the hallway that Alex had just disappeared down.
"Caroline please." I begged, trying to push her away. It was no use, she was too strong.
"I can't." Caroline said in anguish. She didn't want to do this, and I could see she was fighting the urge to tear into my neck. However, Caroline was now a vampire and a new one at that. The craving must have been too strong. How had this happened? Damon said she would be safe in the hospital. How the hell had she died?
"Caroline!" I yelled when she moved toward my neck. I waited for the familiar pain of fangs sinking into my neck but the pain didn't come. Instead, I fell to the ground air rushing into my lungs as a result. I looked up quickly and saw that Damon had thrown Caroline down the hall, far away from me. She had caught herself, now on the defensive.
"What the hell blondie?" He asked her. Caroline started running toward him, ready to strike.
"Damon! She's a-"
But it was too late, she had caught him and tossed him into some lockers. He hit with a loud crack of metal and fell to the floor with a thud. He hadn't been expecting it, and when he looked up Caroline was leaning over him.
"I remember everything." She muttered at him like he was the scum of the earth. And to her, I bet that he was. There was nothing blocking her memory now. I wondered how I would feel if I ever remembered what Damon had done to me when we first met.
"What are you talking about?" Damon asked her. Caroline huffed.
"I remember how you manipulated me, you pushed me around, abused me, erased my memories, fed on me." Caroline explained. Damon squinted with furrowed brows.
"You can't remember. It's impossible, I mean unless you're becoming a..."
I pulled myself up, hand ready to grab the stake from my back pocket. I didn't want to use it, but if Caroline attacked me or Damon again I needed something to get her attention. I wouldn't kill her, just incapacitate her for a second. If I was even strong enough to do so.
"I have a message from Katherine" Caroline explained, my blood ran cold. "She said 'Game on.'"
And with that Caroline was gone. I looked down the hallway but she was nowhere in sight, using her speed to leave the hall without even a trace. I launched myself down to Damon, helping him sit up against the lockers. He sat there, angry and confused looking like he wanted to punch something.
"She's turned." I said, as if he didn't know. "How did this happen?"
"Katherine." Damon muttered. "What a bitch…"
Katherine… Katherine had done this. Why would she do this? Did she understand that she had just ended Caroline's life? It would never be the same, and I had a sinking suspicion that Katherine couldn't care less. But the question that continued through my mind was, why?
"What do we do?" I asked frantically. Damon met my worried gaze and put his palms on either side of my face. Caroline was my friend. I didn't want her to be a vampire. I didn't know if she could handle that.
"I'll take care of it." Damon said in a stern voice. "We need to find Stefan and Elena."
I nodded and he pulled himself up. He then took hold of my hand and led me out of the hallway.
We had gathered both Elena and Stefan in Alaric's classroom. Elena looked bewildered and quite upset. Stefan was shaking his head in disbelief.
"How did this happen?" Stefan asked, although he already knew the answer.
"Well, I fed her blood and Katherine obviously killed her and A plus B equals..." Damon trailed off. I shivered.
"But why?" Elena asked frantically. I had tried to think of everything that would possess Katherine to do such a thing, but then I remembered. Katherine was a bitch. There was no rhyme or reason, Katherine did what she wanted, when she wanted. We couldn't predict her movements, because she was unpredictable. She was like a bomb, waiting to detonate. But for what purpose? We knew she was strong, and we knew she was capable of killing. This wasn't a surprise, but why Caroline? There had to be more.
"Because Katherine is a manipulative nasty little slut." Damon answered. I took some joy out of the way he was talking bad about her. The insults that Damon had for Katherine made me have hope that he was really over her, that he had worked out his demons and he was ready to move on.
"She said Game on." Elena added. "What does that mean?"
"It means she's playing dirty, she wants us to know." Damon explained. I shivered. Katherine was not going away any time soon. She wanted to get to us and killing Caroline was the best way to do it. She was a sitting duck, just waiting in that hospital with vampire blood in her system. I had to admit that Katherine was a crafty one.
"We have to find her." Stefan said, getting up as if he was going to go search for our blonde headed friend. I stood at full height, ready to go on the search for her as well. Caroline had to be terrified, and a terrified vampire running loose was not a good thing.
"Yep." Damon said. "And kill her."
I felt my stomach lurch and I snapped my head to the side to look him straight in the eye.
"You're not gonna kill Caroline." Elena and I both said at the same time. Damon looked at us like we were both crazy. The notion of killing Caroline made my blood run cold. We couldn't do that. I wouldn't let it happen.
"She knows who we are." Damon said. "She's officially a liability, and we've got to get rid of her."
"No, Damon." I told him. "Not going to happen."
Damon made a face, one that told me that no going along with his plan was not what he wanted.
"Need I remind you that she tried to kill you in that hallway?" Damon asked me. I winced. "She's no longer your friend."
"She is my friend." I corrected him. "And she needs my help."
"We just need to help her fight the cravings." Stefan said. "We can't kill her."
Damon made an irritated noise, throwing up his hands in annoyance. This situation was not ideal, but there was no way we were going to kill Caroline. It was not an option. Regardless of what she had done, Caroline was my friend and she needed our help.
"It's the only way." Damon said. Elena grunted and walked out of the room, angrily stomping her feet. Stefan gave Damon a warning glance before he followed her out the door. The tense silence was killing me, and I could feel Damon staring at me. It was like his eyes were burning holes into my face, but I couldn't even force myself to look up at him. Instead I was glaring down at my chipped nails, having already bit them off after our fight that morning.
"She's a danger to you." Damon said softly, catching my attention. I looked up slowly and he was now glaring at the floor. I felt my heart reach out to him after I saw his face. He was concerned, but not for Caroline's safety. He was concerned for mine and I couldn't blame him for worrying about a new vampire on the loose. Vicki hadn't been able to handle it and she died. I wasn't going to let Caroline's life end the same.
"So are you and I still hang out with you." I said, getting up and walking over to him. He didn't laugh at my teasing, like I had hoped he would. When I reached him he grabbed my waist and pulled me forward. He was now at my height considering he was leaning on Alaric's desk. I put my arms around his neck, while his hands rested on my waist.
"She won't be able to handle this life." Damon said to me, looking up into my eyes. I understood what he was saying. Caroline was a bit crazy and now that she was a vampire her emotions would be heightened. She would be extra neurotic and emotional.
"I can't let you kill her." I whispered to him. "She's my friend."
He said nothing.
"We can help her." I said, trying to reassure him that this would be ok. "Stefan can teach her-"
"How to hunt rabbits." Damon scoffed. He released his hold of me and started to pace. "That's not how real vampires work."
"It works for Stefan." I corrected. Damon made a noise in the back of his throat.
"Stefan is too pure of heart to be a vampire." Damon said, turning around. "You wouldn't understand."
There was a beat of silence before I stepped closer to him.
"Help me understand." I said. He met my gaze, looking me over cautiously. Not only did I want to understand Damon's reasoning, but I was also very curious. I wanted to know what it was like, to have the constant temptation of your main food source walking around you every day. I wanted to know how to control it, how to make it better. Because if this worked out… Damon and I… there was no telling what would happen to my fate.
"It's torture." Damon said, swallowing hard. "Especially in the first year."
A year? It seemed like a short time, but to be in constant pain for a year? Sounded unbearable.
"And your emotions are heightened." He continued. "When you're angry, you could tear up a whole town."
"Good thing Caroline's not an angry person." I said. Damon didn't laugh. I watched him as he moved back to me, slowly as if he was stalking his prey. I couldn't help the involuntary shiver that went up my spine.
"It's hard to control the hunger." He said, trailing his finger over my exposed neck. "For blood and for lust."
I swallowed hard, my body flushing. I knew that we were wasting time, that Stefan and Elena were out there, looking for her. I knew that we should have been out there, but as Damon's eyes glazed over as he stared at me, and the way his finger glided over my skin, I couldn't think straight.
"And you want to kill everyone." He said, almost in a whisper. "Friends, family, no one is safe. Because the high of the kill is too much."
My lips parted, as he stared into my eyes. My lips were dry, and I had to force myself to keep my tongue in my own mouth. The way he was looking at me, it was unbearable. I wanted to crash my lips on his and never stop. But Caroline… she needed me now.
"We should go find her." I said, so low I wondered if he could even hear me. Apparently he could, because he sighed, stepping back from me. The sudden loss of his hot breath on my face was enough to make me whine, but I held back. Caroline was what I needed to focus on now, not my raging hormones.
"Fine." Damon muttered. I nodded following him out of the classroom and out into the hall. We passed by the dented lockers and I felt a shiver go up my spine. I had seen what Damon was talking about, how no one was safe. Caroline was my friend, and she had almost killed me. I was hoping that Damon would hold my hand or comfort me in some kind of way, but he didn't. He kept his distance much to my disappointment.
We searched the area in silence, no sign of my blonde friend anywhere. I did find Jace though. He was talking to a group of guys from the baseball team. Jace looked like a baseball player. Once he caught my eye he smiled and waved. I did the same, although I'm sure mine wasn't as enthusiastic. While I was looking at him I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking so I ran right into Damon's back when he stopped.
He was looking around, sniffing the air.
"What is it?" I asked him. He didn't answer, he just grabbed my hand and pulled me in the direction we were headed. I had to struggle to keep up.
"What's going on?" I asked him again, dodging people's bodies.
"I smell blood." He said. I felt my stomach drop and followed him obediently. I was probably slowing him down, but he never said anything. He just pulled so hard that I thought he would break my shoulder.
He eventually led me off to a secluded area away from the crowds. I saw a blonde haired girl sitting on the back of a truck bed, and immediately recognized her. I ran over to her, taking her arms in my hands.
"Caroline." I looked up at her. Her face was covered in blood and her eyes were pouring out tears. I looked behind her and saw the dead body. "Oh God Care…"
"I didn't mean to." Caroline said, the tears in her voice. "I didn't want to do it."
I gripped her hands, looking over to Damon who stood silently with a face that said I told you so. Sweet Caroline, she had killed someone. And what hurt the most was the fact that she couldn't stop herself. I looked back to Caroline and wiped the tears from her face.
"It's ok." I told her. "Everything is going to be fine."
Suddenly, she jerked away from me, so fast that I thought I might have whiplash.
"I killed him!" Caroline shouted, pushing my hands away. "I tried to kill you!"
"It was an accident." I cooed, trying to calm her down. She shoved my hands away again.
"No!" Caroline said. "Get away!"
"Caroline-"
"Go away before I rip your throat out." Caroline warned. That was all Damon needed to pull me away by my waist and take my place. I had to strain to see over his shoulder, but I tried to keep my distance. My presence probably wasn't helping matters.
"Hey, hey it's okay." Damon said calming Caroline down. "I can help you."
"You can?" She asked hopefully. I felt so heartbroken for her. Caroline was a good person with a good heart. I couldn't imagine what this was doing to her. The fact that she hadn't asked for it, hadn't wanted it, and now she had the guilt hanging over her head that she had hurt someone… that would be more than I could take.
"What are you gonna do?" Caroline asked him. Damon cocked his head to the side and stroked the hair from her face.
"The only thing I can do." Damon said. "I'm gonna kill you."
"No!" I yelled running to Damon. As I yelled he uncovered my wooden stake, from behind his back. He must have swiped it without me knowing. I ran to him but he caught me, keeping me a god distance away from . He looked me deep in the eyes, his blue orbs very intense.
"I have to do this." Damon said. I fought against his grip, tears pooling from my eyes. "There is no other way."
"There is always another way!" I wailed. "Don't do this."
"Please!" Caroline shouted. She didn't want to die, and I wasn't going to let it happen. She didn't deserve to die. This wasn't her fault.
"She's a danger to everyone in this town." Damon tried to reason with me. "She killed someone!"
Caroline let out a cry and looked to the dead body. I looked as well feeling my stomach lurch at the sight of the body and then met his gaze again.
"If you do this, I will never forgive you." I mumbled. Damon's jaw tightened as he searched my face. I swallowed, hoping my threat would reach his heart. But I forgot that Damon did what he wanted, regardless of what I said.
"I'll just have to live with that." He said sorrowfully. I shook my head, fighting back the tears. He then effortlessly shoved me out of the way and grabbed onto Caroline, my stake raised. I yelled at him to stop, but I didn't have to.
Stefan ran over, knocking Damon away from Caroline. He growled his brother's name, but Stefan was now guarding the new vampire. Elena and I stood in as well, although both of us knew that Damon could knock us out of the way without breaking a sweat. Damon sent me a glare. He wasn't angry with me, I think he was more frustrated that I was getting involved in this. But this was Caroline we were talking about. I couldn't let Damon kill her, even if he was trying to keep me safe.
"Get away from me!" Caroline yelled. I turned and saw her glaring at Elena. "You killed me!"
"No, no, no, no Caroline! That wasn't me." Elena tried to explain. "You know that! That was Katherine."
"No! Then why did she look like you?!" Caroline shouted. "And why, why did she do this to me?"
I tried to reach for her, to console her, but she pulled away. She gave me a warning look to stay away, so I did so. She didn't want to hurt me, and she was afraid that she would if I was too close.
"It's okay Caroline, come with me." Stefan said, grabbing her up.
"She'll die." Damon said. "It's only a matter of time."
"Yeah, maybe so." Stefan replied. "But it's not gonna happen tonight."
Suddenly I saw Damon pick up my stake from the ground.
"Oh, yes it is." Damon said and charged. With lightning fast reflexes, Elena jumped in front of Caroline and as if by instinct I jumped in front of Elena. Damon stopped when the stake reached my heart. He looked down at me with a sad and confused expression. I could see that he just wanted to do this so he could assure my safety. I knew that he was doing what he thought was best. But when it came down to it, I wasn't backing down.
"Damon." I breathed. He met my gaze and swallowed. "Please."
He set his jaw and lowered the stake. I visibly relaxed as he took a few steps away. I could feel my heart pounding so hard I thought it would pop out of my chest. Damon looked defeated, having been ganged up on. I wanted to hold him, to tell him that it was all going to be alright. But I got the feeling that Damon didn't want me near him at that point.
"Caroline?"
All of us looked up or turned around and saw Bonnie. She was staring at Caroline's blood stained face in horror. She then reached forward and grabbed Caroline's arm.
"You can't be." Bonnie said, but by the look on her face, she could sense that Caroline was now a vampire. She jerked back as if Caroline's skin had burned her.
"Bonnie?" Caroline said, her voice weak and stricken with sadness. Bonnie's eyes fell on the dead body and she lurched back. She looked at Caroline, tears in her eyes, and then she looked away disgusted.
"Bonnie?" Caroline said louder, but Stefan was pulling her away. Bonnie looked like she was going to throw up, and honestly I couldn't blame her if she did. Everyone Bonnie cared about was turning to the other side. She was not a fan of vampires, and now one of her best friends was one.
"I'm going to take care of this." Damon said, pointing to the dead body. I swallowed, trying to get him to look at me, but he wouldn't he sped off. I licked my suddenly dry lips and tried to calm myself down. Caroline was a vampire, and Damon was going to kill her. He was going to kill her even if that meant I would hate him. I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"I can't believe this is happening." Bonnie said, holding her head like she was getting a migraine. Elena tried her best to console her, but Bonnie didn't look any better than before. Damon returned quickly with a shovel. I shivered looking at the body.
"It sucks to be you, buddy." Damon said to the dead guy on the platform. In that instant he fell to the ground, clutching his head. It reminded me of when the Gilbert device went off. He groaned and I ran forward to him.
"Damon!" I shouted, trying anything I could to help him. I then heard running water. I looked back over and saw that Bonnie was using her powers. The water was trickling toward Damon.
"I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt." Bonnie said. I widened my eyes.
"I didn't do this!" Damon yelled through the pain. My hands fluttered over him, but I kept my eyes on the water fast approaching.
"Bonnie stop!" I yelled at her, but she wasn't listening to me. "It wasn't his fault!"
"Everything is his fault!" Bonnie screamed at me. "How can you defend him after everything he's done?"
I didn't know how to answer. I shouldn't have forgiven him, any other sane person wouldn't have. But I saw something in Damon that no one else saw. I saw the good and the sweet Damon who wanted to protect me and wanted to protect the town. He wasn't bad, he was just misunderstood.
"Bonnie what are you doing?" Elena asked warily. The water had reached Damon, but stopped when it came close to me. I looked up at Bonnie and then the water erupted into flames.
I jumped back, the fire scaring me. Damon yelled out in pain as the fire licked his pants and climbed. I looked at him horrified and then up to Bonnie.
"Stop!" I yelled. "Bonnie you're going to kill him!"
But Bonnie didn't stop. The fire raged and I felt my eyes become watery. I locked eyes with Elena, and even though she didn't want to, she ran to Bonnie and stopped her. The fire died down and Damon lay on the asphalt panting. I swallowed brushing the hair out of his eyes.
Bonnie then embraced Elena and Elena led them away. Damon lay there motionless for a long while and I just sat there with him. This was twice now that I thought I was going to see Damon die by bursting into flames. He was one lucky bastard that he hadn't been yet.
"She needs to chill." Damon said. I looked over at him with a glare. "Get it. Fire, chill. Oh, come on that's funny."
I shook my head and stood up, stalking off even though he tried to get me to stop.
I made my way through the carnival, most people leaving. I was too irritated at that moment to even care that I didn't have a ride. Too much had happened and too many people were dying. I couldn't handle this right now.
"Alex!"
I turned and saw Jace jogging toward me. I put on a fake smile, so as not to alarm him of my actual mood. He had that smile on his face and his eyes twinkled in the moonlight.
"Hey." I said simply. I wasn't in the mood to talk. I just wanted to go home.
"Are you alright?" He asked. Obviously, my fake smile hadn't fooled him at all. "You disappeared."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry I had some… stuff to deal with." I shrugged. He gave me a look that told me he wasn't buying it.
"So, you won't take a compliment." Jace said. "And you lie. Good to know."
I sighed, not wanting to explain myself to a total stranger. Besides, when else would I ever really see him? He said he was starting school soon, but that didn't mean that we would talk or that I would seek him out.
"I've had a really long day." I admitted. His face had the expression of sympathy.
"Sorry." He said. "Boyfriend troubles?"
"Something like that." I shrugged. "Listen, I'm going to head home."
"Will I see you again?" He asked, hopefully. I smiled and nodded.
"Yes." I replied. He grinned.
"Will we get to hang out again?" He asked. I bit my bottom lip. "I'll take that as a no."
"Will you take a maybe?" I asked. He chuckled.
"I guess if that's all I can get." He shrugged. I saw the sadness in his eyes and felt suddenly bad. It was nothing against him, Jace was a nice guy. But after the night I had, I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep.
"If it's any consolation… I had fun tonight." I told him. He smiled and I found that I did as well.
"Yeah." He said. "Me too."
I waved goodbye to him and turned on my heel, walking home.
Jace watched her walk away, his smile falling the moment her back was to him. He kicked the dirt, cursing to himself. This was not going to plan. He had hoped that his charming good looks and sweet demeanor would reel her in, but she was much harder to crack. Salvatore had already gotten his claws in her, and he could see she was already falling, hard. This would be tougher than he first imagined.
He did see Salvatore, the oldest, walking toward where Alex had just disappeared. He hadn't seen him, instead he looked very distracted, probably trying to find Alex. Jace glared, he had never even met him and he already hated him. He would be glad when he was gone for good.
Just then his phone rang. He looked down at the number and smirked. He clicked send and put the phone up to his ear.
"Hey boss." He said fondly into the phone. He heard a sigh from the other end.
"I love when you call me that." She mused. "How was your first day on the job?"
He grimaced to himself, not wanting to disappoint her. But this feeling, it was mixed in with his fear of disappointing her. He knew that she wasn't one to be trifled with, and when she found out that he hadn't done as well as she hoped, he was afraid of what she would do to him.
"By your silence I will take it that it wasn't good." She said. He huffed, rubbing the back of his head.
"She's falling for Salvatore." He said. "I'm going to have to work a little harder."
He could hear her make a noise of displeasure and he flinched. His mission was to insert himself into Alex's life, get her close to him, and make her trust him. Then they could strike and move on from this big mess. Then it could just be the two of them, just him and-
"Don't disappoint me Jace." She growled into the phone. "I brought you up from the awful life you had, gave you strength and love."
"I know. And I appreciate it-"
"Do not make me send you back there." She warned. Jace swallowed hard. The idea of going back into the foster homes and the sadness made him nervous. He would have to do better.
"I won't disappoint you."