The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows [closed]

Her heart plunged into her stomach. Recognition lit up in her eyes from the Formal, twisting her guts into knots. Evelyn, for one brief flashing moment, wanted to launch herself at the outsider in her fairy tale and pummel those perfect features. Instead she just took in a sharp breath, fluttering her eyes, mouth opening and closing as she fumbled for the right words. "Um, b-but r-really, it's o-o-okay..."

There was that tug in her stomach. What are you doing?! she wanted to scream at herself. Fight for him! Maybe she should tackle her. Or stab her. Or just start screaming. Anything but this.

Elodie's gaze drifted from the new girl to Jason, lost for a moment in silent contemplation, before answering with the lightest flicker of a smile. "Oh, but I insist," she said, and those flowery sweet words punched twice as hard as anything else she could've said. "Please, feel welcome." The woman that shouldn't have been there let the door swing open, like a gaping maw, and maybe it was just raw jealousy, but Evelyn was forcibly reminded of a black widow in the middle of the web, trying her best to meet Elodie in the eyes, but she was forced to focus on her lips instead. Elodie seemed to fade right past her, as if she wasn't there, closing the difference between herself and Jason. "Mon nounours, you are so generous..." He touched her lips to her cheek as he slipped inside, so casual and unthinking, Evelyn was able to tell at a glance that little gestures like that were routine.

Was it too late to leap off the railing here?

He beamed warmth, his body brushing up against hers as she pulled close to him. "We do what we can," Jason mused, leaning in closer to her with a smile, like he might have gone in for a kiss. Teasing her or himself? Maybe he shouldn't have been so affectionate around their guest anyways. "Would you get her settled, please? I'm going to start a lot of tea." He didn't leave much room for an answer, eagerly ushering Evelyn inside and rushing off into the kitchen to be things started.

He might as well have pulled the plug on her, snipped the lifeline, pulled back the life rafts and let her drown. Jace was gone before she could even react, and then she was left alone with the girl with the placid smile. Her sea green eyes regarded her with a barely muted curiosity, and Evelyn . God, she was beautiful. This was the type of girl he'd always imagined him with, the type of girl from her nightmares, the type she'd always feared would steal him away, and now her nightmare had come true. "S'il te plaît, this way..."

More and more, her time with Jace felt like a fluke. If he never remembered, maybe it might as well not have happened.

Evelyn let the stranger shepherd her to the couch. She sat down with her box, clutching it to her chest. "Make yourself comfortable. Je m'appelle Elodie." Elodie made sickeningly cute mock curtsy as she rounded around the couch; her smile remained static. "I work closely with the Headmaster. And of course, you have met Jason. Were you one of his pupils?"

"I—..." Evelyn had to keep herself from choking. "Y-yes. Um. I w-was." She rubbed her knees together, staring at the carpet. "S-sorry. My n-na-name's E-Evelyn."

"Très heureuse."

Her head was spinning. What...? She really needed something stronger than tea. "Ah, y-yeah... Um, m-me too."

He asked him self again what the hell what he was doing as he let her bag slide off bus arm and onto the floor with a damp thud. Jason used what time he had throwing the water on to kill it over. Picking up this random girl on the streets to stay with them, he wouldn't have been surprised if Elodie wanted to tear his hair out then, even as she held her cool composure - as ever. It was always difficult for him to tell what she was thinking, but anyone with half a mind could take a guess.

If you took a step back, it didn't seem all that bad; she was a student who needed temporary housing while she settled on a post-graduation plan. These apartments were for graduate students and guardians, they had an extra empty room - since him and Elodie shared, and as the Headmaster's son, he had some sort of obligation to help. The quick and easy solution... Right?

The kettle went off with a sharp whistle and he was quick to toss the leaves and hot water into a fresh pot, grabbing some cups and only slightly hesitating to make his reappearance, setting it all down atop the coffee table.

"You can set that box down, relax." Jason said lightly, taking a cushion on the love sofa and trying to get comfortable. Trying. "Sorry for the short notice ," He said. "I thought she might stay with us for the night and I'd take her to see my father tomorrow. It's always nice to have company, right?" He smiled up at Elodie, but it was weak, especially for him.

She couldn't help but let her eyes wander to all the homey touches, the unmistakable marks left by a woman, as if to border off her territory. This place was lived in. It was this stranger's home as much as Jace's. Evelyn's mouth opened and closed, and she let the box slide awkwardly to the floor. "Th-thanks."

Elodie evenly matched his smile, leaning in close. "C'est pas grave." Evelyn had no idea what that meant, but she hoped it was good. All she could do was watch, helpless, trying to read the stranger's lips, as if that'd help. "Qu'est-il arrivé avec elle? Qui est-elle?" What was the point? Jace couldn't speak French. Could he?

...Could he?

Evelyn grabbed a cup and brought it to her lips. Peppermint. Was that coincidence?

Jason could have let out a huge sigh of relief than and there, not quite certain he was out of the woods yet, but it was already going far better than he'd anticipated. He hoped. He could have been imagining things for the better. The way she leaned in so was a tad nerve wrecking. Women, man.. His golden eyes shot over to the girl seated with her tea. What could he say?

"Je l'ai trouvée sur le toit," his gaze shot back up to Elodie, holding out an open palm as he spoke on. "Elle était seule et ne se sentait pas bien ... Elle est juste une fille."

He could've rattled off the Communist Manifesto for all she knew. Her head span. Maybe she'd just had a stroke, and misheard him, but she was almost certain that he just shot off a volley of French. Jace learned fucking French.

Evelyn sank into the cushions with her tea, doing her best to try and tune them out, her head flooded with Satie and Debussy.

"Je vois." Elodie's eyes locked with Jace's, her expression unchanged. "Jusqu'à quand reste-t-elle?"

"Je ne sais pas -"

He hesitated, returning Elodie's hard stare. Jason really did have no idea, what he was doing or what they were going to do with her; or even if there really was any other place for her to go at all. It made him a bit sick to say it, and he knew it'd haunt him later, but he stood firm. "Aussi longtemps qu'elle le doit."

He did not know? Elodie craned her head. "Compris." It was like she had almost forgotten the girl in her sudden fixation on Jason. Why, she knew he had a loving heart, but she had imagined he was above bringing in un chien errant out of the blue. Had he seen this stranger and not thought at all about the woman already at home? She had to force herself to turn her head to look at her. Her eyes strained, wandering over her choppy brown hair and ruffled school clothes, until she had to glance away into her cup of tea.

This was her home as much as his now, if she had not been mistaken. And her business was sensitive. It was foolhardy enough even playing this game with Jason. "Evelyn," she said, looking up to meet her eyes once again, but she could only focus on the bridge of her nose. "It was such a pleasure to meet you. But I am afraid I was just heading out. I am due for a conference with some associates of the academy in Rhode Island." She moved smoothly to Jason's side, brushing her lips against his cheek. "It had slipped my mind to tell you, mon amour, but I may be absent for two days or more. Je suis désolé. Au revoir."

And she was gone, with long, feline strides out the door, disappearing from that apartment without a second glance back, or to wait for what either of them had to say.

It seemed the matter was settled, for better or worse. Her kiss felt ghostly when it was only when she was halfway out the door that Jason had the heart to try and stop her from leaving, although he knew there wasn't anything he could do to stop her. He didnt want to see her leave, not like this. "Elodie -" He reached his good arm out, as if to grab her,, but she was gone. The flinched at the sound of the door clashing shut, a tired look washing over him.

The blonde sat quiet for a few heartbeats, rubbing away at his guys before he remembered the girl beside him. "I'm sorry about that," he forced a smile. "I don't imagine you happen to speak French?" The young man leaned forward to pour himself some tea.

Oh. Oh. She watched her leave, rooted to the couch, and jumped as the door clicked behind her. This was what she wanted, wasn't it? Evelyn turned her eyes, wide as tea plates, up toward Jace. Even coming out of his mouth, the smalltalk sounded awkward and forced. Sometimes she wondered if her real gift was making her thoughts come true—in her case, that was usually the worst case scenario. So now she was here. Alone. With him.

Was this destiny, or was she getting baited further into the trap? Fate felt like a cruel trickster.

"Um. No. I-I'm fr-from Montana." Some days she felt like she barely spoke English. "My, um, g-great gr-grandma. She was from Fr-France." Some little village in Aquitaine, or something like that. They didn't have much contact with that side of the family anymore.

A weak chuckle escaped him. It was at least of some small relief she was spared having to tune into their awkward argument. "Montana's a nice state." He mused, blowing the steam off his tea. "I was born and raised in Texas. And I don't think I have an ounce of French in me." It had been one of the easier languages he'd picked up. "I bet you could get the language down ... since its in your blood and all." His voice had a light air to it.

She just gave him a long stare, numbly nodding her head. No French in him at all, but he held a conversation just fine with Edith Piaf... "Y-yeah. Right." Evelyn almost choked, fluttering her eyelashes, fingering at the loop in the teacup. "Y-you've been t-t-together awhile, r-right?" she suddenly blurted. At least since the last Formal. At least. "Y-you're pre-pretty lucky."

Jace chuckled with a small shake of his head. "Almost a year now, I think?" Now that he mulled it over, he realized he didn't know exactly when they had first started dating, or when their anniversary was. It'd happened to gradually... Shit. He made a mental note to find out soon, before she had another reason to murder him. "A lot of guys back then had gotten jealous, she's always moving around and hard to get close to. I just happened to be the one who had gotten assigned to work with her." While he had been in Sofia, anyways. In reality there was no more reason for them to be together, but then, that obviously didn't matter.

"She always leaves, sometimes for weeks. C'est la vie."

Jealous. She mulled over splashing a glass of wine over his fancy clothes when she'd seen them together at the Formal. "Ah." Evelyn sipped absently at her tea, any excuse not to talk. How was she supposed to handle this? "That's... w-well, it must be h-hard on you. I d-d-don't know i-if I could handle that." Jace left for Europe and she let herself collapse. It was like she'd built her happiness on pillars of sand. Leaving had ripped out her support structure, her spine, the brace keeping her upright. Up and disappearing out of the blue, for weeks at a time? That'd kill her.

Maybe not kill her as much as Jace bringing some random girl off the street home to bunk with them, but regardless...