He'd been away for an entire year at Sofia. He was always playing the part of perfect middle man, trying to bring their father's wishes closer to the prickly foreign headmistress. The moment he'd returned, he was swept away in his new life as a teacher, an art teacher of all things; following along with the class trying to take apart Van Gogh from Picasso, trying to show how to work with clay without breaking any of his own pieces, and humoring the drama club in getting whatever they supposedly needed for their next play - and trying to deal with their drama on the side. It was exhausting. It was why he hadn't the time to properly visit his brother.
That's what he kept telling himself anyways.
The two had been closer than just about anything before he'd left and now... He wasn't quite sure what Jayden was up to these days. Jace wasn't sure what had hit him that morning, or what suddenly made him decide that enough was enough (besides his mother's bickering maybe), but there he was - standing outside their old dormroom with his fist held up just shy of knocking. He couldn't tell if the pit in his stomach was regret or nostalgia. Fuck. Maybe both?
He put on the best smile he could and rang at the door. "Jaii?" The blonde called, "Open up, man. I got a surprise for you!"
