Chapter 5: Equal Exchange
[Author's note- Hello Dear readers!
Author here.
This chapter is going to be a little OOC and might seem a little forced on Betty's part (it's nothing major), and for that I apologise.
The thing is, I don't know Betty's character well enough to write her correct personality and some of you guys seemed upset by the previous chapter.
I am not going to lie and say this one is any better, because I am posting this at 12:05 am and I have school tomorrow so I didn't do any changes in this chapter at all.
But I can still assure you that all the emotional shit is over after this chapter and Our MC is finally going to start training after this.
And the story will finally start then.
I just hope you guys don't hate this chapter that much....
Peace.]
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[Betty's POV]
It has already been a month since I thanked Jason for saving my brother....
During this time, I kept visiting him with my brother whenever I got free time.
He was a nice person to spend time with.
Talking with him seem to do wonders, and I found myself getting comfortable around him.
Comfortable enough to call him Jace.
I even told him to call me Betty which doesn't seem to matter to him as no matter what, he always seem to forget my name somehow.
I didn't get offended by that as I knew he didn't mean anything bad by it.
He was just a bit on the dumb side.
After talking to him for a few days, I was confident enough to say that we became friends.
Meeting him also seemed to lighten my heart a little bit after what happened with Bruce, and I found myself enjoying our time together.
It was not like he talked much, rather he just listened to me speaking; which I am sure he was getting bored of really quickly.....
He didn't say it though.
I know that I was using him to take my mind off of Bruce's leaving, but I knew he was also using me.
He was using me to cure his boredom.
Which was kind of funny in my opinion.
His company was giving me some kind of comfort, that I couldn't quite place.....but it felt nice.
I felt like if I were to stay with him, then nothing can hurt me.
I felt safe with him....
I felt protected....
Which was funny considering he had to use a stretcher to walk.
He just had that sort of effect, I guess.
If you are with him; then you will forget all the problems you were having.
That was one of the reasons why I told him about me....
About my problems.
I told him about Bruce, and the day he left.
I couldn't help it....
I needed someone to hear me out!
And he seemed to be the perfect (and only) candidate for that.
Jace was the only person that I knew who wouldn't even care about Bruce being his other-self.
I didn't tell him about my problems because I was expecting him to console me.....
Rather; it was the opposite.
I told him about my problems because I knew he would not console me.
Knowing him for the past month, I kind of got the picture about what kind of person he actually was.
He was a kind person. But he was not someone very emotional.
Atleast, that's what I thought....
That's why when he heard my story; the response he gave me took me by surprise
"Well, he left because he was worried about you wasn't he? I actually kind of respect this dude to be able to do that."
After hearing his words, I was surprised...
I didn't tell him the full picture about my situation.
The only thing that I told him was that Bruce was someone important to me and he had to leave me because authorities were after his other-self.
Yes, I told him about Bruce's other-self (as he was also involved in the last incident).
The response I got from him after I told him that, was also bland as he only said a small "cool" and that's it.
No further questions whatsoever!!
And right now what he told me, also took me by surprise.
In my heart, I knew that Bruce left because he was worried that he would hurt me....
But I didn't want to believe it.
But right now when Jace was telling me the same thing, I actually started believing it a little.
And he was not finished
"Giving up what you want to do for another person, is not easy. Hell; it is the hardest thing that you can ever do! Him giving up staying here with you, just proves that how much that guy actually cares for you. It proves that the dude was completely head over heels for you." he said all these things with a smile on his face.
How can he know what Bruce was thinking?
How can he know that Bruce did that because he loves me?
Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to insult him; but he doesn't seem like someone who would actually care about love.
It just doesn't fit him.
"Don't look at me like that. I know what you are thinking."
Huh?
"If I am correct, then you must be thinking that how could someone like me, who doesn't look like someone to be having any experience in love, know about what that other guy must be thinking right? Well, you are right. I have no Idea."
If he doesn't have any idea, then why wa-
"But there was someone who loved me too."
Hm?
"That someone being my mother" he said that with a smile on his face while looking at me and continued.
"She was a strong woman, I must say. Strong enough to take care of me all alone without a man in her life. She was always trying to make me do things that I didn't like; like studies for example. She stopped when I grew up a bit though." He continued with a smile on his face...
This is the first time I actually saw him smile so genuinely.
"Even though I didn't like it, I still tried to do the things that I don't like, thinking that it would make her happy. Well, The prize/bribe she used to give me was always enough to motivate me." He said the last part with a light chuckle.
He really loves his mother huh....
"What did she bribe you with? Meat?" I asked him fully knowing how much he loves meat.
"Huh, how do you know that?!" he asked me surprised as to how I knew that.
"Well, Your earlier actions of bugging the staff to provide you with meat exposed you. Now please continue." I said with a smile on my face while urging him to continue as I was curious where he was going with this.
"Oh, okay." He said before continuing
"Well...My mother always seemed to be expecting the best out of me, or at least, that's what I thought. So being the kid I was, I thought I disappointed her. No matter how hard I tried, I just wasn't interested in those things. It was as if I was not made for them....It just didn't feel right!" He said the last part a little louder.
"I was getting really stressed out because of this. So I decided to confront my mother. That was the day my views on my entire life changed." He told me while looking at me as if checking whether I was curious why he said so.
Which I was, so I asked him
"What happened? What did she tell you?"
After hearing my question, he smirked and paused for a dramatic effect before answering
"She told me it's fine if I don't want to do it. Told me that I finally found the first step to be happy." He answered while looking satisfied that I asked.
First step to be happy?
As if sensing my confusion, he continued
"She told me I finally found what 'I didn't want to do'. Now the only thing I need to find is what 'I want to do'. According to her, If I was able to find the thing that I want to do and put my complete focus on doing just that, then that moment will be where I can be truly happy." he said all these things with a big, happy smile on his face.
So, does he finally know what he wants to do then?
I decided to ask what was on my mind after seeing that he was not going to continue
"So, do you finally have something that you want to do?"
After hearing my question he looked at me with a smirk on his face and said
"Yup. You can thank your brother for that."
Before I could ask him what he meant by that I suddenly had a realisation...
Weren't we just talking about something else?!
About Bruce's feelings towards me or something like that?
How come all of this have anything to do with that?
"Wait- What does all of this have to do with Bruce leaving me and you knowing how he felt?" I asked him what was on my mind because I was completely confused how we got so out of topic during our conversation.
When I asked this question, I expected Jace to answer me in a sagely manner, but the look and answer I got from him made my lips twitch upwards in amusement.
Jace was looking at me with a confused expression on his face and asked in a mixture of confused and curious tone of voice
"Well, nothing of course. Didn't I already told you that I have no idea how he felt? I was just sharing my childhood story with you. Isn't that what we were supposed to do?"
I couldn't help it after hearing his words.....
I laughed.
An action that I haven't done in a long time!
It was not a low chuckle or anything like that; no.
It was a full blown laughter!
'This guy....'
'He really is special isn't he...' I thought while laughing.
After controlling my laughter; I looked towards his confused expression and said with a smile on my face
"I am sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. It was just that you looked so innocent while saying that; I just couldn't help myself!" I said all this while looking at his still confused face but then a question appeared on my head.
"Wait, why did you think that we were supposed to share stories with each other? And why did you even share something as personal as that with me? Don't get me wrong! I consider you a friend; but I thought you didn't consider me as such." I asked feeling rather confused why he shared something as personal as that with me.
And the answer came in the most brutal and honest way possible
"Yup. You are right. I don't consider you a friend."
Ouch!
"But I told you that because I thought that you were telling me something really personal to get it off your mind, so I decided to return the favor by telling you something personal about myself." He said while looking at me with a plain face.
"Was that the only reason why you told me that? I don't know but I feel like you are still not telling me everything." I asked because I felt like there was still something he didn't tell me.
"Oh yeah.There was that too."
"hm?"
"I actually don't like to hear something as lengthy as your story, and it felt as if you were torturing me! So I decided to torture you with a lengthy story of mine as a revenge.
Equal exchange if you know what I mean."
"Pft-hehehahahahahaha"
His words....
They made me laugh again!
He was not joking at all about this.
He was really serious....
He was the only person I knew who didn't try to keep up appearances.
He was not like other people; who would try to cheer me up or console me after hearing my story.
He was someone who didn't care about my story at all!
He just heard me for the sake of it and didn't even try to hide his discomfort in the end either.
He was just too honest for crying out loud!
But that was the thing that defines him....
And that was also the biggest reason why I shared my story with him.
Seriously; he is the most interesting person I have ever met in my life.
After getting over my fits of laughter and thoughts, I looked over at him with a smile still etched on my face and said
"Okay. I guess I understand what you did there, my bad." I said with a smile while giving him a mock glare which he didn't seem to notice as he actually believed my apology.
This guy...
After that was done and over with, Jace and I chatted(only I talked while he was dozing off) about mundane things for a while before I noticed that it was getting late and I needed to leave.
"Oh- It's getting dark outside! I guess I should take my leave now. It was nice talking to you Jace." I said with a smile on my face after looking outside the window while standing up.
As I was about to reach the door his voice stopped me on my tracks.
"Hey Betty." He called.
After hearing my name coming out of his mouth, I looked at him with wide eyes and seemed really surprised that he actually got my name correct!
"Take care of yourself and Daniel." He said with a small smile on his face which was reciprocated by me, except my smile was bigger.
"I will." I answered still smiling.
What is this about anyway?
As I was thinking why Jace said something like this, I failed to notice the fire burning inside his eyes before I left his room.
That night,
Jason Andrews ran away from the hospital.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ManofcultureQ_Q
ManofcultureQ_Q I hope you guys liked this chapter.
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