As it turned out, Jace Hartley was a romantic.

I had mentally created a list of attributes for him over the years. Asshole, liar, cruel, rude, trickster. And over the last few months, the list had expanded; sweet, kind, generous, funny, beautiful. I never thought I'd be adding romantic, never though I would be the one to associate such a word to him.

But after a lazy afternoon spent kissing, laughing, arguing and futilely trying to get rid of Knight—who thought it was his prerogative to stand around making faces and jokes at our expense—Jace bent down to whisper in my ear. "Elle, will you let me take you on a date?"

His voice was gentle and his smile was hopeful, and I knew in that moment that this boy held the power to break my heart.

I looked up at him with a small smile, considering. A date. With Jace Hartley. We really had done the whole romance thing backwards. He'd been in love with me before we were even friends, and I'd let him kiss me before we'd ever been on a date. We were a mess. But when I saw the way he was looking at me, tentative and sweet, as if he thought I would say no, or laugh and proclaim that it was all a joke, I winked at him.

"I'll think about it," I said, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him in for another kiss as Knight gagged on the couch in the corner. I turned to face him. "You can leave," I told Knight. "I would really like it, actually."

"I see," said Knight with a sigh. "You two want to have sex, and so you ditch your poor friend Knight. It's okay, I know where your priorities lie."

"Oh, I'm sorry Knight, would like us to invite you to join?" I said sweetly.

"No," muttered Knight sullenly. "But while I'm here, you could be a little more inclusive."

Jace raised an eyebrow. "So, you're saying you do want to be included? Because I like you just fine, I just don't know how I feel about—"

"Oh, yuck," said Knight. He pointed at me. "You were more fun when you were being dumb."

"I wasn't that bad," I muttered.

"Really? He looked at you like he was an eager-to-please golden retriever." Knight shrugged. "Half our friends thought you knew, because it was so obvious. But kept telling them you only had like half a brain cel—"

"You can shut up now."

"I mean, it wasn't even a secret!" Knight continued. "It was, like, the most obvious thing in the world. It honestly started to get to the point where I thought I'd have to take you to see a doctor; like, were you blind? Were you deaf? Just regular insane?"

"Does he ever stop?" Jace asked passively.

"No," I said, regretfully.

Knight gasped. "Oh, so this is how it's going to be, huh? No need to make fun of Jace anymore, so you're taking it out on me. And you—" he looked accusingly at Jace "—are just going to join in to impress your girlfriend, and once again, poor Cole Knight is left alone."

"It really seems like you want to join in," said Jace with a small smirk.

"Oh, my god. I hate you both. What am I supposed to do now?"

I pretended to look around. "I think I have that giant horse dil—"

Knight cut me off and raised a hand. "No. You are both the worst. To think, I was so scared of Lena breaking your heart, Jace, I was ready to take a stand and give you custody of me."

"You can't assign custody of yourself," I muttered. "That's not what custody is."

"I was going to make him adopt me," Knight said.

"You're older than him!" I protested.

"I just think he'd be a really good father," Knight continued. "He'd probably play catch with me. Teach me to drive. I can see him coming to my parent-teacher interviews. But now you've corrupted him. He'd probably never return from the supermarket with the milk, and I'd have to eat milkless cereal."

I looked fondly at Jace. "Should we kick him out?"

"No, wait!" Knight protested. "I'll be quiet!"

He zipped his lips dramatically and sat in resolute silence.

Which was nice for the thirty seconds it lasted, because it had given me the opportunity to pull Jace in for a kiss and murmur, "Yeah, you can take me out on a date. But you should probably try to make it special, because I plan the next one, and it's going to kick your date's ass."

Jace's eyes danced. "Are we competing over best dates now?"

"We're completing over everything, always, you should know that by now, Hartley," I said against his lips. We had been fighting for over a decade, and I hardly saw any reason why we should stop now. I quite liked defeating Jace Hartley. "Including this."

And then I'd kissed him properly, and he'd gasped two words against my skin that made me smile. "You win."

***

"Holy shit," said Daria, in an uncharacteristic display of profanity. "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. I know you can't see my right now, but I'm dancing. There are pirouettes involved. Jace, I swear, if you're lying to me."

Jace smiled fondly at the phone. "I am not actually lying."

I wanted to grab his hand. Daria's excitement told me just how long this date had been coming. Since the very inception of his friendship with Daria, really. Years and years of wasted time.

A squeal came from down the line, and I heard the unmistakeable sound of springs coming through Jace's speakerphone as Daria jumped on her bed. "Guys. Guys. Tell me everything. Holy shit, Jace, I have to be your best man. I would rock a suit."

"You would look very hot," I said. "I would probably try to marry you instead."

She sighed dramatically. "And it is tragic that our love story must come to an end. You can never date a friends ex."

"It's been an hour," I pleaded hopefully. "It hardly counts."

Jace looked down at me. "It definitely counts."

A gasp. Daria seemed to be doing a jig around the roof, if her sharp intakes of breath suggested anything "So cute. So perfect. I'm coming over, I need to witness this in 4D. Knight, tell me you took pictures. I'm just assuming he's there, you guys will never have alone time."

"Very rude of you to assume I have nothing better to do with my life," said Knight, folding his arms over his chest. At my expression, one of complete disbelief, he sighed. "But, yeah, I have nothing better to do with my life. I have pictures."

Jace kissed my forehead swiftly.

"I got another one," said Knight, holding his phone up victoriously.

Daria clapped her hands together. "I knew something would be different," she said softly. "When you came back to school this year. I just felt it."

"What did you feel?" I asked her.

"I'm not sure," said Daria. "Maybe just that in the face of all your pain, you were ready for something good. And that maybe, just maybe, it would spur my best friend to get his head out of his ass, and finally realise that his elaborate version of pulling your pigtails in the playground wouldn't quite suffice anymore."

"Oh, shut it, Dars," Jace complained, sending them both off into an amicable argument about spilling secrets and what it meant to be a good friend.

"You can't tell her to shut it," said Knight aghast. "It's Daria."

I thought about Daria's words though. She was right. I'd sat in this room for months, my leg had been crushed, and I'd ignored it as my heart leapt into my throat with every turn of a car tyre. I had been ready for something good; I just never suspected what it would be.

Cole Knight and Jace Hartley had changed my life; two boys I'd always known, but never properly. I had always known Knight and Hartley, who I'd thought ridiculous and petulant and arrogant. Now I knew Cole and Jace, and they were the two most important people in my life.

I looked over at my boys, who were now wrestling with the phone while Daria yelled at them to make nice, and I smiled.

***

"I can't believe it," I said softly, as I examined my reflection in the mirror and smoothed down the sides of my dress. It was blue, with tiny white flowers. A dress that was a little bit girly, a little bit romantic, and decided not the kind of outfit I'd ever get blood on. Which pretty much forced me to acknowledge that this was decidedly not a mission of espionage or sabotage. "I'm going on a date with Jace Hartley."

"I can," said Kaelin drily. "Angry sparks, Lena. You always wanted to bang him into next week."

I shot her a look. "I did not."

Kaelin shrugged. "You did. It's okay if you still don't want to come to terms with it. But you're a passionate girl, and I've never seen you do anything with as much fervour as I saw you fight with that boy. Don't deny that he was your favourite part of every day, even if it was just to argue with him. Jace Hartley is the best thing that ever happened to you."

I looked at my reflection. Dark curls, blue eyes, pale skin, the splash of freckles across the bridge of my nose. Etched into the corners of the mirror were doodles I'd done over the years; there was one tiny H with a small cross through it. I'd scratched my anger across all the surfaces of my life. Because Kaelin was right.

I was passionate, and I'd always been passionate about Jace Hartley.

I smiled. "Yeah, he is."

***

"So," said McKenna, leaning against the pillars at the front of my house. She was wearing a cute sundress and smiling, as we waited for Jace's car to pull up in the driveway. "You finally figured it out."

As I waited in the driveway with McKenna and the rest of our group—who, for reasons unbeknownst to me, felt a need to be present—I realised I was terrified. I thought I knew true fear; the first time I'd sat in a car after the accident, the moment at the top of the roller coaster. The accident itself; although, really, the feeling of getting your leg crushed by metal definitely sucked way worse than this. But going on a date with Jace Hartley was one of the scariest things I've ever had to do. I just felt terrified and in love. But it didn't stop me from smiling at McKenna. "Yeah, I figured it out."

She didn't look jealous or angry or even sad. Just a little bit melancholy, and a whole lot happy. I tangled my fingers in hers and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"About fucking time, honestly," said Jonah. He was leaning against one of the pillars with Daria, waiting apathetically for his amusement—the sight of Jace Hartley and Lena Montez, dating—and offering snide commentary. "I mean, c'mon, the guy was so in love with you it was a little bit pathetic."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You're one to talk, Lover Boy."

Jace had told me, a month or so ago, that Jonah Aristone had been in love with me. He'd also said that everyone had liked me at some point, which was decidedly untrue, but kind of made way more sense in context, now.

Jonah sat bolt upright at my words, and looked around at our friends with an accusatory glare. Cady and Kaelin looked studiously skyward, while Chance, Alex and Callie smirked at each other. Daria patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Who told?" Jonah demanded.

"Aw, it's okay Jonah with the Lena boner," Kaelin said soothingly.

"I hate everything about that," said Jonah obstinately. "You're all snitches."

"It was Jace, actually, who informed me of the intense passion of your love for me. It's all very cute," I said with a grin. I reached over and squished Jonah's cheek. He looked as if he was considering the merits of 25 to life.

Jonah nodded slowly. "It's almost poetic, isn't it? That after all of these years, Jace Hartley finally gets the girl, and will find himself dead before the first date."

I sighed loudly. "God, Jonah. If you'd expressed such violent thoughts before I decided he wasn't so bad, we'd totally be dating right now. We could've been a Bonnie and Clyde murder couple."

Which was only half of a joke. No one had ever expressed any hatred towards Jace Hartley, not really. Cady could be a little snarky, but that wasn't exactly reserved for Jace. And had anyone shared my violent tendencies towards him, I would've proposed on the spot. Probably.

Jonah looked at Daria. "Why did I ever like her?"

"Because of my dazzling personality!" I said in a singsong voice. This did not seem to impress Jonah.

"He is right, though," said Daria with a small smile. "It really is about time. I've had to listen to fifteen years of—" Daria held a dramatic hand up to her forehead "—oh Lena, why must we be enemies? How can I ever expect to move on when I have to see her and hear her, and why does she have to be so funny? Oh, why, why, why?"

"That is not what I sound like," came an amused voice from behind us. I turned around to see Jace, striding down the footpath, shaking his head at Daria.

He was wearing a white top and casual jeans, and if I'd still hated him, I would have thought this was an unfair card he could pull from his arsenal; a ruse of complete and utter beauty that the devil needed to coax innocent girls to the dark side. Now, I would settle for the less colourful description of dashing. Sunlight really did do something to Jace Hartley. And by that, I don't mean crumble him to ash, like the vampire I'd once suggest he could be would react to the rays.

"That is exactly what you sound like," said Alex. "Literally every football game. The locker rooms were practically a poetry session of Lena's stunning face, and her dazzling personality. It was super embarrassing for you." I could tell from the glint in Alex's eyes he was exaggerating, and mostly joking, but Jace blushed slightly all the same.

"And even if you don't say it with words, your eyes spell out the same message," said Callie, shrugging. I was grateful that she hadn't seemed jealous of ill-willed either. I thought about what she'd said, all those weeks ago, I only like guys who can't like me. It seemed like something we would need to unpack, in the future. "It's like a dramatic Romeo and Juliet play on your face constantly. And you did talk about how funny she was, like, all the time."

I smirked at Jace. "Oh?"

"Not true," he grumbled, but when he looked over at me again, he smiled.

"And you think I'm funny?"

He rolled his eyes. "You know you're funny."

I just leaned back against the pillar, nonchalant, cool, collected. My eyes bored into his, and the smile that teased my lips was challenging, subtle. "Well, you make me look good. Comparatively."

"Oh," said Cady, sounding bored. She looked up from her phone with vague disinterest. "I was worried they'd be sappy and gross. Turns out it's just the same regular teasing with a good dash of uncomfortable sexual tension. Good to know that bang or brawl is still definitively on the table."

"Why does everyone think we're always about to bang?" I asked Jace. "We have no track record of doing such a thing."

Chance shrugged. "It's the eyes. You guys do the bang me eyes. Mostly Lena."

I looked at him, aghast. "What? I didn't even like him until recently."

"Thanks, Elle."

Alex chimed in. "Yeah, but like, Hartley's were mostly I-love-you-have-my-children eyes." Jace muttered a protest, but no one else seemed to contradict his statement, so I figured there might be some truth to the idea. It inflated my ego. "But yours were all unresolved sexual tension, my girl."

I still hated my friends a little bit. With a sunny smile, I turned to Jace. "Okay, should we go? I think it's time to end the little parade, because everyone here other than Daria and McKenna is the worst."

"This is blasphemy," Knight muttered. "I'm supposed to be her favourite."

"Go missing again," I said sweetly. "It improves my opinion of you."

"Well, it doesn't improve your face," he shot back, in a childish and garbage retaliation. Chance clapped him on the back sympathetically. Whether he was sorry that Knight wasn't my favourite, or that Knight had embarrassed himself deeply with his comebacks, I was unclear.

Jace clasped my hand in his. "I was just thinking the same thing. Ready to absolutely lose the dating competition? My date is going to kick your date's ass."

Cady threw her hands in the hair. "They can't stop."

Chance climbed unsteadily to his feet. He'd been sitting on the front steps, his long limbs an ungainly collection as he sprawled out along the white marble. "There's something important that I have to do first."

"Which is?

Chance stalked over to Jace in his closest approximation of appearing fearsome and terrifying. So, he kind of resembled a Polly Pocket, but maybe with the scary factor of black lipstick. I don't didn't think he could intimidate a bunny rabbit. He looked down at Jace with furrowed brows. "If you hurt Lena in any way, I will destroy you," Chance threatened. Then he eyed Jace with a critical glance, noting the obvious size difference. "Okay, I probably won't. I'll hire someone to spit on your corpse after Lena kills you. Point is, don't touch her. I don't want to visit her in prison. I like to visit her at her expensive house with a fully stocked fridge, so Knight doesn't complain about being hungry. So, behave. Understand?"

Knight turned to give me a similar lecture. "If you hurt him in any way, Montez, I will overcharge your laptop and destroy its battery." He slapped my wrists. "Keep your hands to yourself."

Chance looked at Knight with bewilderment. "What are you doing?"

"Addressing the real issue here," Knight replied, gesturing at me. "She's made me wingman for her, and I guarantee she's going to be the one initiating any funny business. Hartley's too obsessed with her to risk trying anything."

"I hate you," I said impassively.

"You adopted me," Knight scoffed.

Chance looked back at Jace. "Eh, nah, you're alright. Stay safe, you crazy kids."

As Chance headed back to his spot, Alex clapped him on the back. "Good job, buddy. You really scared him there."

Chance didn't seem to note his brother's obvious sarcasm, because he looked rather pleased with himself.

"Alright, well, we're going to go," I said. "Don't want to cut Jace's date short. He needs all the time in the world to beat me."

"Don't kill each other!" Cady called after us, as we walked, hand in hand, to Jace's car.

"No promises!" I shouted back, as I piled into the passenger seat.

When Jace closed his door behind him, I looked over at him. The afternoon sun was streaming through the window, and for the first time, I allowed myself to shamelessly admire as it coloured his hair with streaks of gold, as if the beams of sunlight itself had been woven through his dark locks and lit his eyes with that golden brightness.

I highly doubted that murder was on the cards for tonight. Although, it would be a rather ambitious bid for the best date category.

"So," said Jace with a smile that was beautiful and devastating and loving and belonged totally and wholly to me. "You ready?"

I fiddled with the clasp of the bracelet on my wrist, the silver band with its tiny charms. It made me think of you. "Yeah, I am."

Jace's car pulled from the driveway; the windows were down and Taylor Swift was blasting, and I threw my hands in the air and I laughed.

And as Jace's car pulled out onto the road, my phone buzzed with a text from Knight. It was a link to an article, from his ridiculous Jace and Lena blog, that featured a large, blown-up picture of Jace and I driving away in the car, my hands flung skyward and Jace's smile directed at me.