Moving Out

It was Saturday that Jace was getting ready to move in her own space. Mom told her over and over that she didn't have to leave and she could stay with us for how long she wanted. Mom really liked her that I sometimes felt I was adopted.

"Mom," I said exasperated. "You can let go of Jace now. The duplex she's moving in is basically just six meteres behind our house."

An old lady lived in that duplex a few years back, but she fell ill and her daughter got her to live with her and her family. The daughter put the duplex up for rent since the old lady didn't want to sell it. The last occupant of the duplex moved out for about a few weeks now.

"It's still not the same!" Mom cried and hugged Jace tighter. I swear my Mom could be overreacting sometimes.

"Can't.. breathe," Jace managed to wheeze out.

"Mom! You're squeezing the life out of her, for fu—"

Mom glared at me and let go of Jace to point a finger at my face. "Just try and finish that sentence, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Summers!"

I rolled my eyes at her. "That's not even my full name, Mom." She sometimes had this habit of adding her favorite author's full name in mine.

Mom rolled her eyes at me and turned back to Jace who subtly took a step back. "You are eating every single dinner with us, Jace Connors. Do you hear me?"

"With the way you're looking at me, how could I say no?" Jace said, smirking at my Mom, which was a wrong move. She smacked her right over the head just like she usually did to me.

"Stop talking like Tolkien," Mom scowled at her. "And stop treating him like a brother! You're supposed to be my future daughter-in-law—"

"Mom!" I yelled again, but this time, in frustration. Jace flushed tomato red. And my ears felt hot from embarrassment.

"Don't yell at me, I'm still your mother," my said mother glared at me.

"And she's just helping you," Aeron's smug voice came from the front door.

Great.

"It's a shame though," Elli said, patting my shoulder and went to Jace. "That Marissa had to spill it before you do." She pinched her cousin's still reddening cheeks and didn't even turn a hair when Jace gave her, her deathly glare.

"For the record, I wasn't treating him like a brother," Jace said as she slaps Elli's hand away from her face. "I'm treating him just fine, right Summers?"

"Oh!" Mom exclaimed with a sniff. "I can't wait to see little Jaces and Tolkiens running about. I would definitely fuss over them and—"

I tuned out what my Mom was going on about. I hung my head in resignation and didn't dare meet Jace's gaze. I swear sometimes my Mom's mouth ran on autopilot, and worse was she didn't even have a filter.

"Uh, I guess we have to go," came Jace's awkward voice. I snapped my head towards her and saw her whole face red again.

I heard Aeron snickered beside me and I nudged him harder 'accidentally'.

"Oof!" Aeron hunched a little rubbing his side. "The f*ck did I do?"

"For siding with Mom," I hissed at him and turned to my mother who was squeezing the life out of Jace again. "Mom, Jace needs to go. Stop choking her. Now," I prompted.

Mom reluctantly let go of Jace. "Your apartment is just practically behind this house Jace Connors," she said sternly as she narrowed her eyes at Jace. "You just yell if you need something. And buy a phone for God's sake, or I'll buy you one myself even if you don't want to."

Jace's mouth curved a little in amusement. I remember her threatening my Mom to not talk with her anymore if she bought her a phone.

"Yeah, fine," Jace answered. "In one condition."

Mom's brows furrowed. "And what is that?"

Jace grinned. "I gotta eat dinner here only on weekends." The twins snickered at the look of horror in Mom's face.

Honestly, I was already thinking I was really adopted. Mom's attachment and fondness of Jace was too much it wasn't funny anymore. She was like that with Elli when we were younger but the latter didn't like that much attention, so she lessened her visits whenever Mom was home. But Elli understood that Mom was like that for a reason, that's why she let her fuss over her sometimes.

Imagine what Mom was like to me since I was born. Until now. Though since Jace lived with us for a month and she found out Jace practically raised by a nanny, her maternal instinct soared ten times over and made sure that she somehow filled those years when Jace needed a mother. That was how they got closer that fast. Jace wouldn't admit it to me, or to my Mom, but she loved to be taken care of. Mom just tends to over exaggerate.

And it was truly refreshing seeing Jace showing different emotions now. At least in front of us. It felt like it had been ages ago when she was still stone-faced and all tiny smirks. I think it was thanks to Mom that she was now showing this side of her.

Speaking of which, Mom pouted at what Jace proposed. "Fine. But you'll stay here every Sunday," she countered.

"Fine, fine," Jace reluctantly gave in. "Thank you Marissa, for everything." She bowed and Mom started to sniffle again.

"Okay, let's go!" I said before Mom could hug Jace again. "See you later Mom!" I snatched Jace's backpack from her and pulled her outside with the twins snickering behind us.

~~•~~•

We used Aeron's truck to get to Jace's apartment. It was actually nice. She saw the duplex a few days ago while on her morning run. She said the rent was affordable, plus it was just some meters away from behind our house.

"Sweet," Elli commented. There's already a couch in the small living room. There was a partition between it and the kitchen/dining area. Upstairs was the bedroom and the bathroom. The walls were a hue of light blue, and it was quite cool.

Jace only had a few things that she brought with her. With the exception of her clothes, she had her laptop, which I failed to notice in her backpack when I 'inspected' it, and a few books. She said she would just purchase a few things she needed when she had time.

"Do you know who's renting the other side?" Elli asked while helping Jace unpacked.

"No," Jace answered, piling and hanging her clothes in the closet. "Didn't ask the landlady."

"Whoa, dude," Aeron suddenly cried. He was by the window of Jace's small bedroom. "You've got to see this."

"What's that?" Elli asked curiously.

"Nothing that concerns you," Aeron dismissed her. And she flipped him off with a scowl.

I walked towards Aeron and peeked at the window. "No. Way," I murmured. "Am I seeing this right?"

"Dude, I'm pretty sure you're not hallucinating," my best friend smirked at me and clapped me on the back. "The odds are actually in your f*cking favor."

"You know that we can hear you, right?" Elli said from behind us, still busy unpacking Jace's clothes. "And Jace already knew that her room’s just opposite Tolky's bedroom window. The one he never opened because the one time he did, he saw the gay couple renting here a year ago, doing the deed that scarred him for life."

I groaned out loud when I pictured the most terrifying moment of my life. I almost forgot about it but Elli had to remind me with that nightmare. "You didn't have to bring that up, E!"

Aeron chuckled beside me and sat on the window sill. "He even had nightmares of that scene."

I cringed at the memory. "Who wouldn't?" I didn't even imagine catching my parents in the act, but I just had to witness strangers at that.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Elli said. "That window would probably be opening again."

"Too bad I'll keep mine close," Jace piped in while piling her pairs of Converse beside the door.

The twins laughed out loud and I scowled at her. I crossed my arms indignantly. "I'm not a perv."

They laughed louder.

"I didn't say you are, Summers," Jace smirked at me.

I sighed and sat on the bed beside Elli. "Listen," I started. "Uhm, about what Mom said earlier."

Jace looked at me and scratched her brow. "Oh, about that. No worries Summers, I know Marissa was just kidding."

But she wasn't. "Uh, yeah. Glad we cleared that out," I said hiding my disappointment. "Wouldn't want to make things awkward."

"Yeah," Jace agreed and flopped down on the single bed. She shoved Elli to scoot towards me. "Don't hog my bed, Elizabeth."

Elli glared at her. "Don't call me that."

Aeron stood up from the window and settled by Jace's feet on the bed. The bed creaked as we crammed on it. "I think it's about time we talk about what happened this past week."

Jace remained silent as if she didn't hear what Aeron just said. We all looked at her expectantly. She was staring at the ceiling.

"Jace?" Elli called. "Don't even think of astral travelling. You might run into Parker Crane and he would probably possess your body and kill us."

Jace just smirked. "That was morbid."

"At least you reacted," Elli said smugly. "Not that hard, right?"

"Nan demo," she muttered.

"Who was the guy at Dixie's?" Aeron asked.

Jace sighed. "Jun's sort of right hand man."

Aeron sat up in surprise. "Jun Ono? Your best friend?"

Jace nodded.

"What did he say?"

"Said he's coming in a few days. Just settling some things in Japan."

"He's with you in the picture the MIB showed us," Elli said. "His face was hidden but I knew that was him."

Now, I didn't know about this Jun guy. But hearing what Elli said, I remembered Jace's wide smile while looking at the guy. I ignored the sting that I felt in my heart. It wasn't right to feel jealous at the moment. And we weren't even together in the first place. I couldn't even tell her I like her since she took off her cap at the Wongs' residence.

"Why is he coming here?" Aeron asked with his brows furrowed.

"Dude didn't elaborate. Just passed on Jun's message."

"Are you sure your father didn't send him here?" Elli inquired.

Jace shrugged. "Don't know, really. I haven't seen him since he moved away from Tokyo."

Aeron raised a brow at her. "And that was?"

"Five years ago."

We all turn to her. Aeron's face looked worried and surprised while Elli was just gawking at her.

"And you trust him to follow you here?" Aeron asked in disbelief, running his hand through his hair a bit roughly.

Jace shrugged again. "Can't see anything wrong with it. He's my best friend still."

I cleared my throat when I couldn't take keeping silent anymore. The twins turned to me curiously while Jace's face was neutral.

"I hate to pry, but can I say something?" I asked them awkwardly.

Aeron shrugged and glanced at his stubborn cousin. "Pry at your will. Maybe you can convince her not to be too trustful with that guy."

I raised a brow at him but I didn't say anything and turned to Jace.

"Don't hate me," I warn her immediately. Since the day I saw her beat up Bull, I didn't want to be on her bad side. Ever. "I think you should listen to your cousins. They may be idiots, but they care about you."

Elli glared at me but didn't say anything. Aeron was just looking at me in amusement.

"They're not exactly telling you to stop being friends with, uh, Jun?"

Jace shrugged. For some reason, I couldn't will myself to say the guy's name.

"Yeah, him. As I was saying, they're not implying that you stop being friends with him. It's obvious that you two go way back. They're just saying, and since I'm your friend, I say that you be cautious around him. Like you said, you haven't seen him or in contact with him for the past five years."

Jace pondered my opinion for a bit before sighing. "Fine."

The twins looked at each other and grinned. I've been friends with them for so many years that I already know what was running through their head.

"Wow," Elli muttered teasingly. "I didn't know you're good at getting through someone's thick head."

"Urussai,"Jace muttered and got up from the bed. "I'm hungry. Let's eat somewhere."

Elli rolled out of bed and grinned. "I know exactly the place."

Well, I could say Jace's moving out is a bit dramatic, thanks to my Mom; and somewhat awkward—again, thanks to my Mom. But over all, it went smoothly.

I just hope nothing would change between us.

~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~

Japanese word/s used and meaning:

*Nan demo. - Whatever.