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" you ever wonder why we do this?" jace rests his back against the exterior of the pool and stays there, looking at their room that they can see clearly from where they are in the water.
riele's lazily kicking her feet as she floats on her back in the clear blue water, eyes set on the starry night sky above them.
the sign that stands at the gates states that the pool closes at eleven, but jace's smile pulled riele out of her room and in to the cool water at 3:27AM.
theyre in a motel 6 pool, just trying to get away in the easiest and cheapest way they know how.
they'd been extremely overwhelmed by the whole 'being celebrities' and 'having your every move watched' thing, and felt like this was a good way for two friends to lay low and be free without prying eyes around to watch them.
the 'jaele' rumors were seriously starting to irritate both riele and jace, as they often times got very awkward and uncomfortable when they happened to be in the same proximity whilst hearing things about them.
if a fan gushed to jace about how cute riele looked in his sweatshirt, she'd never be seen wearing it again.
if riele and jace were going to dinner, and saw paparazzi, they'd either immediately call the whole thing off, or invite someone like jace's mother to the event, which was just wrong, even if she was super cool.
it may seem to outsiders looking in that riele and jace are uncomfortable with the idea, and maybe even think that the pair dislikes it, and they do, but only because it always throws off the dynamic of which they operate. theyre closer than people think they are, and both of them happen to be largely afraid of a relationship.
riele's love of herself is not overwhelming or ostentatious in anyway, but she prides herself on how she always loves herself over other people, in fear of loving too hard and getting hurt in the end.
jace is secure within himself, but struggles largely with how he is perceived by others, and he always has since a small child, he's been overly self conscious of his appearance and overall personality and how others take it in, because even if he loves himself, there's no guarantee that anyone else will.
riele raises her eyebrows at the seemingly 'deep' comment and takes a minute to understand what he means.
"enlighten me." is all she says.
she sits upright and then swims a loop around the small pool and jace just watches her, eyes a little steely and intense.
she ignores them in order to swim some more, heart skipping a bit and anxiety swelling slowly in her chest.
after all of the rumors and things started surfacing at one point or another, the two found that they had a shift in the way they saw each other.
jace was at most a 'brother from another mother' to riele, and she never even thought that there could ever be more.
until they filmed that episode where their characters on 'henry danger' had to fake date to protect jace's character, henry's, secret.
there were no rumors until then, and as they've grown, they've found that they are attracted to each other, physically at least.
jace has definitely grown into his features, and they have moments they dont discuss where its late like it is now, and they get wrapped up in each other, and jace looks at riele like she hung each individual star in the sky and she thinks that she could love him.
but she usually just ignores that, simply by the fact that jace doesn't come to mind unless she's alone and bored or when she's around him....
.....well, maybe he comes to mind a little more often, but he's her best friend, and thats all she likes to say he is.
theyre so different its like they were made to be the opposite of one another. theyre both incredibly chill, but jace is a little more welcoming and carefree in his chill while riele is a little more standoffish. jace genuinely doesnt see himself doing anything other than this acting thing for the rest of his life, but riele wants to go to college abroad and doesn't genuinely enjoy acting as much as she thought she would. she has much more of a passion for fashion.
jace is completely comfortable with staying in california and living with his dog, alone. riele wants a big family, and she wants to travel the world before settling in new york. not to mention she loves canada and would honestly love to go back home, even if just for a break.
"well, its just acting is a fun outlet to creatively express, but if id known i would've been on henry danger for six years of my life i would've considered a little more. i love acting, sure, and henry danger was fun, yeah, but i just wonder how my life could've gone otherwise sometimes, you know?"
oh. he's just talking about acting. not about the weird tension they've had for the past few years or so. maybe its only her.
"but i'm glad i met the guys, and you, obviously." jace murmurs, and riele swims up to him so she's right beside him, smiling softly.
"yeah, henry danger lasted forever. i get what you're saying, and i wonder all the time too."
she ignores his last comment not to be mean or weird, but because she doesn't feel the need to acknowledge it, they tell each other they care for one another all the time.
jace sucks his teeth and laughs, staring at riele all hard again.
"what?" she says, turning fully towards him in the corner of the exterior.
"you're gonna slide past how i just said i care about you like i didn't say it." jace looks from riele to anywhere but her, eyes calmly searching around him.
riele forces a laugh.
"i know you love me, how could you not?" she jokes, and tries her hardest to avoid jace's eye when they revert to her.
"yeah, i do. and you love me too." he responds, and he's closer than he was before but riele chooses not to panic and instead feigns indifference and nonchalance.
"i guess." she chuckles, eyes on a pimple on jace's forehead.
he smiles.
"why do we do this?" jace repeats, and riele starts to get warm in the chilly water.
"because we need money." riele relaxes her body completely against the exterior as jace gets closer.
"i'm not talking about that anymore, ri." jace rolls his eyes, mildly irritated because he thought riele would've let him in and stopped avoiding their truth by now.
he knows she just afraid, though.
jace wont let her leave him alone just because she's afraid.
"then what are you talking about?" she mumbles, watching as jace quickly scoots into her personal space, body now almost completely flush against hers.
she cant deny that she's enjoying it, even if its making her heart shake and her tummy hurt.
"stop playing and let me kiss you." jace whispers, before starting to lean in.
warning bells are literally screeching in riele's ears and she fights the urge to lean in, hands finding their way to jace's chest so she can stop him.
when she looks him in the eyes, he looks emotionally mute, but she knows he's just prepared himself for the worst because riele's genuinely bad at giving cues.
"are you sure you wanna take this step? because its all downhill from here...." she starts, before she's on a tangent of how things could go impossibly wrong.
the paparazzi and fans could break them up, their differences could break them up, life itself could break them up....the list goes on and on!
jace backs up and distances himself until he's a few feet away, discouraged by her words and hoping that she doesn't see it in his eyes.
but she does, and it only makes her want him, want this, more.
"jace?"
the blonde is still facing away from her, but he hums to let her know he's listening.
its quiet for all of ten seconds before riele is literally fighting the water to close the space in between them.
when she finally gets jace in her arms, she kisses him with vigor, wanting to never stop feeling as good as she did in his arms.
he kisses back almost instantly, and their lips battle and chase one another until one of them cant breathe.
jace grabs riele's thighs and lifts her, releasing a moan from the latter as he sets her down on top of the exterior of the pool.
she attaches their lips again, arms moving to wrap around his neck as he spreads her legs and slides in between them, pulling her closer by her thighs.
they kiss for what feels like hours before jace pulls away to suck at her neck, smelling the light scent of cocoa butter and chlorine, tasting them when he puts his lips to her skin.
she lightly scratches at the wet hairs on the back of his neck and moans a bit louder, temporarily forgetting where they are.
jace pulls her impossibly closer and sucks hickeys into her neck and chest area, rubbing her thighs and grinding his hardening penis against her wet front.
"jace, room." riele stutters out, and jace whines into her neck at the thought of having to leave her body, even if only for a moment.
"do we really have to get out?" jace mutters, biting at her earlobe and rubbing her thighs once more.
"yes, im afraid its time to get out."
ice cold fear shoots through the veins of both parties as they hear a man's voice from behind the gate.
"fuck." the two quietly curse, in unison.