Euphoria

Where it did not feel like some destiny that was tailored out for her was looming at the back of her head.

That was him if he was being honest. It was all he had Everly been aware of. It was the very reason why home did not feel like home for him.

The first chance he had gotten, he bailed. He bailed without looking back and until now, he didn't feel the least bit sorry about wanting to live his life.

He stared at her as she rested her back on the chair.

"Water." She said as she noticed that he raised his hands to ask her the question again. 

She knew him so well. She was the only one that did right now, he thought to himself. 

Clive was gone. He still found it weird that he called his father Clive. Heck, the man never knew him. He always went on and on about duty but somehow, he still managed to accommodate his excesses. Still, that did not count as actually knowing him for what it was worth, he told himself.

If there was one person that had the ability to guess what he was thinking then it had to be her. He knew that there was no point lying to her so he had to confide in her when he was about to leave. 

If he didn't do that, she would have found out anyway and would be pissed.

He didn't want to see her pissed and yes, she could still kick his butt, he reminded himself. 

Their childhood was exciting. He made a mental note to try as much as possible to get this over with and have her be on her way. He had not let this much thoughts of his past barrage his mind in years. The fact that he was seeing her now made all the things that he had been trying to hold back inside come pouring — and in the most unruly fashion too.

He sighed as he continued to walk towards the kitchen. 

His home was set in different eras. The living room was a modern type American set up. It was huge as he had been told. Humongous according to what one of the architects that designed the place said. He often wondered during the process; the architect that is. He wondered who would be eccentric enough to brave this design. Turns out that he was the one that was that eccentric.

Other parts of his home had different cultural representations. His bathroom was Slavic. His bedroom was themed in a Japanese styled manner. It was his most favorite room in all of these. Tailored after his love for Japanese animations.

Jace was a well-built young man in his late twenties. He wore his hair in a buzz fade that made his face look smart. His body did nothing to not distract any oncoming gaze that sought him out. He was built very nicely. Years of hitting the gym paid off and he was a McCain as much as he would hate to remind himself. They were built like mountains. An unstoppable force in anyone's path. Anyone that they choose to barrage for what it was worth.

His blue eyes were just like his father's although he would drop dead before he admitted that he had anything in common with that man. This was a fact however. One that he could do absolutely nothing about.

"So, how long are you in town for?" He asked, trying not to turn around.

She had to have had some place where she was staying, he told himself. 

"I'm not sure. Just until I—" she started to say but she eventually trailed off and stopped.

"Just until you what?" He asked her in a stiller voice. 

He had already gotten the water she wanted and he was back to the living room. 

"Uh, nothing." She said, looking away from him.

"Until you convince me to come back home with you right?" He asked her.

It wasn't really a question and they both knew it. It was more like an affirmation that he knew what she was doing. What she was sent here for. It would do them good for him to break that illusion that he didn't know. Also, she needed to know right now that he was not letting them manipulate him into coming back home. He was not so easily deceived, even if it came in the form of an old face. 

He was far too strong minded for that to happen.

"It's not like that, Jace." She said in her smallish voice as she unconsciously put her hair behind her ear.

She did that when she was nervous. He had known that part about her for ages. She didn't want anyone to see how afraid she would usually get so she tried to keep them distracted. 

"You don't see me making any bold assumptions now do you?" Jace asked. "Enlighten me. How is it like?" He asked her.

"It's —" she began. 

Jace stared at her with his piercing blue eyes, expecting her to say something would make it look like he had not just been ambushed. I mean, he saw it coming so it didn't matter. He just didn't want her to act like they didn't plan to lure him back home.

He would have made it back home eventually if they met him. Heck, it was only a matter of time. He had a duty. But no, he told himself. They didn't trust him enough to do that. Let him make his own decisions.

Somehow, he started to guess that Clive was the only one that kept them at bay. Those blood thirsty geezers.

"You know," he began to say as he handed her the glass of water. "I thought you would trust me." He told her, turning around to face the sea.

It was a magnificent view but he was not feeling it right now. It didn't feel like the usual wash of Euphoria that it usually filled him with. 

He stared deep into the sea.