He gave another sigh. “I tried asking Moira about you two, and she was just as unhelpful. No one wants to tell me what the hell the reason for this borderline blood feud is about."
At that, I laughed a little. “Let me guess, she said there never really was a reason. That we've hated each other from the start, and we've done everything we could to make that hate even stronger."
"Yeah, and Jace said the same thing."
"Because it's the truth."
"See?"
"Okay, no, look. Thatisthe truth. I've tried a couple of times to figure out what our problem was, but it was just...us. We have always been like that with each other. I can't think of one thingin the beginning that made me dislike him. I mean, there are plenty of things I didn't like, but they aren't like...big things. He didn't sleep with my girlfriend, he didn't insult my family, get me in trouble with school or the cops. There's no big event. We have always just hated each other."
Kayden shook his head. “And you?"
"I never did anything like that either."
Kayden thought about that for a moment before nodding. “Alright. So you couldn't stand each other from the start."
"Right."
"And neither of you went out of your way to cause it, no big thing that caused it."
"Yep."
"And the only thing you guys did to fuel that hate was piss each other off, and fight each other?"
"Pretty much."
"So...despite all that supposed hatred you two had, neither of you ever crossed a line?"
"Uh...I guess?" I answered, confused about where he was headed.
"He never slept with your girlfriend or sister to get back at you. Get that look off your face, you can't say their relationship after high school was about you and him."
"Okay, true," I admitted with a snort.
"He didn't set you up or...I don't know, what fucked up things can high school students do to each other?"
"You're asking me? I'd think a cop would have a better idea."
"Ugh, anyway. Point is, despite all that, neither of you went for the throat. You battered and bruised each other, but you never went overboard, you never crossed any real lines."
"Is there a point to all this? We're supposed to be here for Micah, not to talk about Jace and I's respective issues with each other."
"Look, the guy is my best friend, and a damn good man. You know about his parents, and look...I'm sure you've figured out that he doesn't have a whole lot of people in his life other than me. Sure, a big part of that is his choice, but that doesn't change the fact that he doesn't have a lot of people. Now he's...figuring out if he wants to come into this family, which has its pitfalls, and that's not even including the...complication of being around you all the time."
Oh, if only he knew just how complicated things had become between Jace and me. Not that Kayden didn't have a point, but it was so much worse than he thought. There were times when I wondered if Jace and I sleeping together had made things easier for us, or was just setting us up for something worse down the road. Not that it really mattered, at some point, whether it was from the moment we'd discovered our mutual attraction and acted on it, or one of the times we escalated things, we were already too deep to stop. Wherever we were headed, we were going to get there one way or another, and all I could do was hope it didn't explode in all our faces.
"Like I said…" I shrugged, knowing it was more than a little hypocritical to keep whatever was going on between Jace and me a secret while giving Moira and Kayden shit for doing the same thing. Then again, their growing relationship was causing a lot less drama than if everyone figured out there was more than just a low-level feud between Jace and me. And that wasn't even including my sister realizing I was sleeping with her ex, a fact that I worked damn hard not to think about. "We're working on it, and since everyone was thinking about dialing back on watching us so carefully, that clearly means we've been doing a good job for the most part."
"Right, because you didn't look like you were ready to go for round...what round are you up to?"
"I don't even know; there was no point in keeping track. And yeah, we were arguing, and yeah, he pissed me off and I pissed him off. That's going to happen. There was no big scene, there was no big deal, and the only reason you're bringing it up is because you're worried about your friend...and my sister."
"I am, but that doesn't make my worries somehow unimportant."
"Didn't say that, but I'm saying you might be making it a bigger deal than it is. A few months of finding out how to get along with each other doesn't magically make years of hate go away for us. We're getting...somewhere."
"Not hate."
