Young Writers Society

Not too many emotions shot through Julian, as he supposed they should have. He just knew that Jace could surely be a brat when he wanted things. He knew that Jace got whatever he wanted, when he wanted it. Julian stared at the flooor, spacing out. He let the words register in his mind before speaking.

"What do you mean, hurt you. It's Jace, you couldn't have really think it would have lasted forever."

She only smiled at Julian, it was a sad smile. "I did. I thought it would last."


"What'd he do? Not send you flowers on your birthday or something?"

Naya laughed, it was an ‘I wish that was all he did’ kinda laugh.

“No, he just changed after your dad let him join the business. It was like he became a completely different person; he got all wooden and corporate...” she chucked the bottle onto the floor. “He was away all the time and when he’d come back he was cold and he’d get angry and violent for no reason...he’d spend his time breaking one dangerous deal after another just to make his dad proud of him...but obviously he didn’t get away with it for long, soon the cops got involved and I was scared for him, y’know, I told him to stop but he wouldn’t listen...”

Naya began rubbing her eyes to clear her vision before continuing. It was like she was discussing the weather with Julian, and not what happened with Jace - what she swore she’d never tell anyone about.

“One night he got angrier than usual...we were at this hotel where we’d spend our weekends together...he came with blood all over his shirt...I asked him what happened and he...” Naya was so stoned she didn’t realise tears were forming in her eyes, “...he said that I was seeing someone behind his back and that he had proof...I told him that I had no idea what he was talking about...he hit me and said that I was lying...” the tears were now running down her cheeks, but Naya continued as if everything was okay. “Then he told me that everyone that he loved played him, his dad, his mom, you,” she pointed at Julian before continuing, “he said that he thought I was different but that I played him just like everyone else...and then he told me that he was going to teach everyone a lesson...starting with me...”

Julian felt his eyebrows slowly come down, it was a fierce look he had on his face. What did she mean? Then he remembered his conversation with Jace. He had said, 'I taught her a lesson.'

What does it mean? What does it mean? Julian felt himself thinking. His mind was in a twist with this whole screwed up situation. They always did say that the poor kids were the happiest.

"What happened?" Julian asked, as if he didn't know where he was.

Naya shook her head, obviously too drunk to want to carry on. Julian stood up and placed both of his hands on her shoulders , gently, and looked into her eyes. "What happened, Naya?"

She covered her ears, as if he had spoken too loudly and she shook her head, violently.

"Naya, what... Did... Jace... Do?" This was the last time he was going to ask her nicely...

Naya swallowed. “I can’t...” she said, with a frightened look on her face. “I can’t tell you...”

Julian’s grip on her shoulders went from gentle to violent in a matter of seconds. His green eyes pierced her brown ones dangerously.

“Tell me what he did...” he demanded. His voice was calm but there was no denying its coldness.

Naya began to feel faint, she wished she could just pass out now but her body seemed unwilling.

“Naya!” Julian boomed suddenly, making her jump, “tell me what he did NOW!”

Naya’s heart began to race. Her mind immediately flashed back to that night at the hotel room. Jace had stumbled in drunk, his face practically seething with anger.

She cautiously approached him. “Julian, what the hell happened to you? Why are you covered in blood?”

Jace burst into laughter. “Our company just lost 4 million dollars...” he slurred drunkenly. “4 million dollars...and who did my dear old dad blame for it...me...” his eyes began to grow dangerous. “Everyone always blames me...” he tried to walk straight but his legs started to give in.

Naya rushed to help him back to his feet.

“Come on,” she said, lifting him up, “sit down on the bed...”

“No!” Jace shouted suddenly, brushing Naya’s hands off from him. “No...” he made his way to the hotel room’s mini-bar and grabbed a bottle of champagne.

Naya just watched with horror as Jace uncorked the bottle and took a large swig.

“They’re all the same...” he continued drunkenly, “all of them. My dad, my mom, Julian...they all play me...I work my ass off and they all just take advantage of me...they all treat me like shit...” he took another long hard swig from the bottle before darting his head towards Naya, as if noticing her for the first time. He moved towards her, slowly closing the distance between them, his face dead serious, until he had a terrified Naya backed up against the wall.

“Jace...” Naya’s voice shook with fear. “Jace, let me go...”

“Do you wanna know the worst part?” he asked her as if he was deaf to her pleas. “I always thought that you were different...I thought my family could let me down a hundred times but I could always count on you to be there for me...but you’re just like them aren't you...you’re just the same...you played with me just like they played with me...”

Naya placed a loving hand on Jace’s cheek, “Jace, what are you talking about?” she asked, her voice desperate.

His eyes pierced into hers with such intensity it made her heart pound with fear.

“You cheated on me...” he responded, his voice a whisper.

Naya stared at him as if he were mad. “What?” she breathed. “No-”

“Don’t lie to me...” he interrupted, moving his face close. “You were seeing some guy while I was away...”

Naya couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Who the hell was he talking about? “You mean, Oscar?” she asked suddenly. She’d been seeing Oscar for a few days after he came back from Spain but that was just to catch up. Nothing had happened. “No, Jace, Oscar’s just a friend-”

“You didn’t like the way I handled my business, you didn’t like what I was becoming so you decided to find somebody else...”

Naya’s eyes streamed with tears. “Jace, I swear to you, you’re drunk, you’re not thinking straight, you’ve got this all wrong-”

Suddenly Jace grasped Naya’s neck. His face barely an inch away from hers, “Y’know, my dad was right about women...” he continued, “they can’t be trusted...”

“Jace, please-” Naya could hardly breathe under his grasp.

“I’m gonna teach each one of you a lesson...” he said dangerously, his grip around her neck tightening so that Naya could feel the pain of his nails digging into her skin. She was practically choking in her tears but Jace was disturbingly calm.

Suddenly, he violently turned her around so that her forehead was now slammed up against the wall. “Starting with you...” he concluded, tracing the outer shell of her ear with his lips...

Julian couldn't process everything that she was telling him. He never wanted Jace to grow up like him. Julian would never hit a woman, but he would acuse and he would yell but never hit one. Julian stared at Naya as if she was crazy.

"No. Jace-I couldn't see it happening." Julian said, in a new state of shock.

Naya clenched her teeth as tears were melting off her cheeks. "Well it did!" She yelled. Then she gasped. "It happened. I don't care if you don't believe me, it happened."

Julian pinched the bridge of his nose. He took a deep breath, it was over now. He couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't make it go away. He couldn't exactly kick Jace's ass. It didn't work that way. He could try to make sure nothing happened to her, but unfortunaly he couldn't make himself raise any emotion.

"Okay." He whisper. "I believe you." It was truth. He just couldn't believe Jace would do it.

Naya was shaking from head to toe. She may have been drunk, but part of her brain was still switched on-the part that finally realised exactly what she’d just said. What had happened with Jace, something that she swore she’d never talk about... Julian now knew about it. She couldn’t believe how stupid she was.

And Julian's response: 'Okay...I believe you...' that was all he could say? Then again, she couldn't blame him, he only knew half of the story, about the beatings, he didn't know what happened afterwards...and besides, what was she expecting him to say, 'I'm gonna kill him', or 'he's not going to get away with this?', of course he wouldn't say those things. This was his brother's business. Julian didn't care about her, and why would he? Naya was nothing to him, she meant nothing to him.

Wiping her tears away still half-dazed at how easily she'd just let out the most darkest moment in her life, she scrambled off her bed and headed for the door. She needed to get out of here now, she needed some air, and most of all she needed to forget everything...

Julian pulled on his coat and went after her. He knew she needed some time to herself, but not right now. They were still a target, and he wasn't going to let herself get killed because she wasn't thinking straight. He headed after her, not bothering to lock the door. He slammed it closed and slowly followed her. She was sobbing, he wasn't sure how she could still stay standing for how many tears blurred her vision and how drunk she was.

"I know you're upset, but you can't just up and leave like that." He said, gently as he could.

She turned on him. Her cheeks were flushed. The tears were dry on her cheeks and her mascara was running. "I don't really care." She said, as if he told her to go into time out.

He stood there, his gaze darkening. "You don't really care?" He spat.

She bowed her head and shook it, her curls were starting to fall into waves. "You just care about yourself."

Julian stared at her for a long time. She was throwing daggers in his direction, she was blaming him for Jace's faults. Now all of a sudden it was his fault. "You just don't get it do you? If we are out here, when we don't need to be they can find us."

"I'm tired of just running!" She yelled.

Julian rolled his eyes. "Baby, if they find us and they come for you, I have no fucking way of protecting you. Then worse things will happen."

She should be pretty surprised. Julian never ever said things like that. To anyone...

Naya just stared at him, her eyes darting around his face, before turning away and wiping her face with her sleeve. She really wanted to leave, she wanted to just get a taxi right now and go straight home. She couldn’t be without her family anymore, she needed her sister, she needed Rosa, she needed people who loved her, people who would pull her into an embrace and comfort her, who would tell her everything was going to be okay even if it wasn’t going to be, just to give her those few seconds of hope...

But she couldn’t and she knew she couldn’t. Her family were a long way away, she wouldn’t be seeing them anytime soon. With that in mind, she headed back to the room not meeting Julian’s eye as she passed him. Once she stepped inside her head began to throb and she had a strange taste in her mouth. She quickly went straight for the bathroom and puked up everything she’d eaten and drunk that day.

“Shit...” she slurred, feeling more coming along.

And she thought getting pissed off her head would make things better...

What the hell had just happened? Why did he feel so helpess, Julian never felt helpless. In fact, when the feeling came along he couldn't name it. It took him almost fifteen minutes to pin point it. He was feeling anxious. Anxiety was starting to settle in. He wanted to bang his head against the wall just to get a good night sleep. He was in fact almost praying for something to knock him out. He knew alcohol would accomplish nothing, they both needed to be sober. At least, until they were safely back home. Julian had decided that tomorrow they would have to move motels, go to the next city. They couldn't stay here anymore. He pulled off his shoes, took off his coat and hung it up.

Julian heard Naya yack into the sink, which Julian had to admit, he knew the feeling. He then heard the sink go on and he was guessing she was brushing her teeth. Julian changed while she was in there, having a feeling that she was going to be a while. He pulled off his shirt, and felt the necklace hit his neck. He put on sweatpants and turned on the TV. He layed down on his bed, ontop of the covers.

Five minutes later she came out. She was wearing sweatpants and a vintage t-shirt, her hair was in a pony-tail and her face had the I-dare-you-to-say-something look on it. Julian had to admit, he had never seen her like this. It was, well, sexy. And, he loved a good challenge. He stared at her, from head to toe. He made sure his gaze was really slow.

"What are you staring at." She must have noticed.

He met her eyes. "If you can't already tell, I'm staring at you, Angel."

Naya ran the tap and gargled mouthwash like her life depended on it. When she was sure she got the awful taste of puke and alcohol out of her mouth, she tied her curls back and changed into her spare clothes. She really didn’t want to wear sweatpants, it was embarrassing. Normally she wouldn’t be caught dead in them – ever – her clothes were always more classier than that, but she figured her life was far from normal now, and as far as embarrassment was concerned, Julian had already seen her at her worst; pissed out of her mind and puking up all over the place with tears down her face, her make-up smeared all over, her ankle bruised up, her cheek bruised up, her hair dishevelled, mascara running down her cheeks, shaving cream all over her body...embarrassment just wasn’t an option anymore...

Feeling more miserable by the minute she finally stepped out of the bathroom making sure to avoid eye-contact with Julian. Unfortunately, he was making that difficult because she could feel him watching her.

“What are you staring at?” she asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable under his gaze.

He locked eyes with hers and smiled. "If you can't already tell, I'm staring at you, Angel."

Naya looked horrified. “There’s some sick still left on my face, isn’t there?” she could’ve sworn she got rid of it all.

For a second, Julian looked a little confused before a ghost of a smirk returned to his face. “Uh no, it’s not sick...it’s something else...”

“What?” she asked, confused and a little worried at the same time, her voice still a little slurry. “Oh my god, is it a spot?”

“I can’t tell...you need to come a little bit closer...” he said. Naya couldn't help but notice a smile growing on his face. Maybe she was just imagining it.

Julian layed down, acting as if it weren't a big deal. It was. Julian had finally relaxed and wanted to have some fun. Naya put her hands on her hips and stood with one hip up, resting all her weight on her right leg.

"What is it, Julian?" she asked.

He felt the corners of his mouth twitch. "Just come here."

"No!" She said. "Tell me what it is first."

He smirked. "Just come here."

She slowly walked toward him. She stopped at the foot of his bed. He got up, and walked to her, looking down at her. His height was intimdating. He used it well. She stood her ground, as if she were being attacked. He brought his hand to cup her cheek. She didn't flinch but she did blink. He studied her facial expression for a moment. Then he used his thumb to brush the side of her mouth. She closed her eyes and looked up.

Julian smiled, his smart ass smile. "It was just some dried toothpaste."

For what felt like a long time they both just stood there staring at each other. Caught in an abrupt and unexpected moment of compassion from a man that continued to confuse her, Naya stiffened for a moment before awkwardly using her own hand to wipe at the corner of her mouth. “You could’ve just said...” she swallowed hard, biting her lip before lowering her gaze and walking straight past him towards her bed.

Several seconds passed before Julian spoke. “You know, I was thinking it’d be best if we move motels tomorrow...maybe try another city...”

Tomorrow...Naya had almost forgotten she’d turn 24 tomorrow. Julian didn’t have to know. “Sure,” she responded before silently getting into bed.

He stopped, and stared at her for a little longer. She didn't seem to notice, until there was no noise in the room. She turned around and glared at him.

"What?" she asked.

The corners of his mouth twitched. "Your not even going to argue with me?" He asked. She usually did. About eveything! He was truly suprised.

She turned her head. Still glaring, then it broke into a smirk. "No, I guess I'm not going to argue with you."

He shrugged. As if whiping whatever she had said off. "Well, that's not any fun."

So he actually liked it when she argued with him? Strange...

She shot Julian an odd look before climbing into bed and turning over so she wasn’t facing him. She could still feel his eyes on her before he finally turned the lights out and got in bed himself.

The next morning, Naya jumped awake as memories of Jace ran through her head. For a moment she thought she was back in that hotel room with him, pinned up against the wall with his hands clasped around her neck, but as she looked over to see Julian’s sleeping body next to her she suddenly remembered where she was.

She let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes. Her head was hurting like a bitch. Being hung-over sucked, but being homesick and hung-over sucked even more. Cursing under her breath, she rolled over to her other side in annoyance, regretting it immediately as she tumbled headfirst to the floor.

She let out a frustrated groan before miserably rubbing her now very sore head. What a great way to start her birthday...

“Morning sunshine,” Julian threw her a cocky smirk as he looked down at her from his bed. “What are you doing down there?”

Naya sheepishly got to her feet. “I fell,” she said, matter-of-factly while trying to keep her gaze away from him. She wished he’d wear a damn shirt in addition to his sweatpants to bed. His bare chest didn’t exactly help her currently unstable state of mind.

She was just about to walk passed him and head for the shower when suddenly Julian grabbed her wrist stopping her in her tracks.

She slowly turned to face him, glaring into his eyes. "Can you let me go?" she asked, frustrated but trying hard not to let it show in her face.

"What are the magic words?" Julian taunted.

"Or I'll kick you in the balls." Naya deadpanned.

Laughing, Julian released her wrist. “Now, that’s more like it...” he smirked cockily.

Naya rolled her eyes and turned her nose up at him, storming for the bathroom.

Oh what fun it is to mess with your hung-oooohhverrr wiiiiife! HEY! Julian thought of the tune as he walked into the kitchen. He turned on the coffee and looked in the fridge. Yum, cold boxed waffles. Julians faaaaavorite. >_<
He popped two into the toaster and placed his hip against the counter. Today had been eleven years since his dad had killed his mom. Julian frowned. The waffles seemed to be taking forever. He heard Naya whinning about something in the next room. He had tuned her out. Honestly, this place felt like it was a prison. They had been here for two weeks. He was happy they were changing hotels! Maybe the next one they would get lucky and get an indoor pool. Maybe they had newspapers. Julian really wanted to know how things were going back home.

The waffles popped out. Julian didn't even blink. He picked them up and stuffed one into his mouth, then he returned to the bedroom and started packing. Waffle in mouth, hands busy. He didn't notice Naya come out of the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"The same thing you should be doing, Angel, packing." He said in a serious tone.

She walked to her stuff and started packing.

"Let's try to get out of here by 10." He said, looking at his watch, it was 9:37.