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There was only one thing that could cheer him up lately. One person.
He knew exactly where Jace was, which was why he was headed toward the oak tree.
Jace was sitting with his back against the tree, a leaflet in his lap. Jace threw a quick glance up when he heard Ares, then glanced back down at the leaflet. It did something weird and fluttery to Ares’ chest whenever Jace saw him and instantly relaxed, because he knew it meant Jace felt safe with him.
As he sat down next to Jace, he got a look at the leaflet.
“College?”
Jace put the leaflet down on the ground next to him and looked at Ares.
“Like he’d ever let me go.”
Ares could only wince. Yeah, he didn’t see Ronin letting Jace leave for anything.
“You thinking about education?”
Jace sighed, then said, “Just looking. Dreaming, really.”
“Dreaming’s good,” Ares said.
Jace looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“Dreaming is dangerous,” Jace said with a sigh.
“Dangerous?”
Jace nodded, gaze on his hands as he said, “I dream of what I could’ve been. Who I could’ve been.”
“Who you will be,” Ares said with conviction in his voice. He’d get Jace out of there and away from Ronin someday. Somehow.
He didn’t have the slightest clue how, but he knew, one day, Jace would be free.
“Any idea what you’d do if he did let you go?”
Jace shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, come on. You've gotta have some idea. You used to play some kind of music, right?”
“That was just to pass the time.”
The way Jace said that with such nonchalance made Ares wonder if there was more to it than that.
“Well, you’re a pretty smart guy. I'm sure you could do anything you set your mind to.”
Jace gave him a dubious look.
“I don’t know what to believe less: that you think I’m pretty or smart,” Jace drawled.
Ares threw his head back with a loud laugh, his whole body shaking with the force of it. He’d known Jace was just the thing to get him relaxed and into a better headspace.
“You’re pretty and smart.”
Jace stared at him, looking stunned. He probably hadn’t thought Ares would admit to thinking that.
Jace was gorgeous. Even with the bruises and the fear in his eyes. Jace was beautiful inside out. He did truly believe that there was nothing he couldn’t do.
He wanted to take him far away from there. Away from Ronin, but he feared the consequences. Not for himself, but for Jace. They risked getting caught and that was a risk he wasn’t willing to take. It also wasn’t a decision he could make for Jace and Jace wasn’t the least bit ready to make it.
