I've contemplated a million different ways that this non-date could go this morning. Literally a million. We could get caught, we could like each other, we could hate each other, I could tell him right then and there the reason I'm agreeing to meet him, I could even kick his ass myself; but no matter which scenario each one makes me nervous. I know it's not a real date or anything, but I haven't hung out with a guy that wasn't Henry since long before the club incident. I still don't think I have the courage to tell him about that yet, and I'm praying he doesn't ask about my meltdown at the club.

For a non-date I really have gone all out. I've got about five different outfits sprawled out across my bed, and have gone through my makeup bag more than twice to find the right tone for my face. I mean what outfit and makeup says; I'm only "dating" you for revenge?

I decide on my black high rise skinny jeans, and a black off the shoulder sweater, and what better way to complete the outfit than with my black doc martins. I chose a simple smoky eye for my makeup and when I check myself in the mirror I'm happy with my work. The whole point is to get his attention right? I love the way wearing black makes my fiery red hair pop.

I step out of my room and the sound of giggles startle me. I look over at the couch where Henry and Nicole are wrapped in a blanket together. I look at the blanket in hopes they aren't destroying my favorite Doctor Who blanket. They are both staring at me with smirks on their faces.

"What?"

"Is that the new thing?" Nicole snickers.

"Is what the new thing?" I question looking down at my choice of clothing.

"Dressing like a funeral for a date," she says cackling like a witch.

Henry smirks from behind her and if I wasn't running late as it is I probably would have gone over there and smacked them both. I walk over to the coat hanger to get my black pea coat, which makes her laugh even harder. I turn back to the two of them.

"Don't you two have work or something today?" I question.

They look at each other and shake their heads still laughing.

"We are going to see where the day takes us," she says like everything is magical. I sure hope that if they do anything magical they remove the blanket, I need to make a mental note to wash that thing later.

"Can you find a different blanket to do magical things with?" I question. "Please don't make me put a black light up to David Tenants face to see if there has been any evidence left behind," I warn.

Both of their faces drop and now it's my turn to laugh.

"See ya later kids," I say grabbing my messenger bag I left on the floor under the coat rack. I wave at them and slide out the door before they start doing it right in front of me.

It's so cold today, the sun is shining but there are random grey clouds dropping snow in random spots. The Galaxy staff is just arriving as I walk by, it's an early day for them I think there's a concert later. I cross right in the center of the block not even caring that cars are stopped in bumper to bumper traffic along the street. A yellow cab honks at me and I throw up my finger. New Yorkers are so damn angry.

"Is that a New York thing?" I hear a familiar voice call to me as I step onto the sidewalk.

I look up and see Jace leaning against the wall of the diner. He's got that smug look on his face, although it's a little less asshole-like today. I feel a little less bad about my outfit choice, because Jace is all in black too. From his boots to his leather jacket.

"Giving the finger to everyone, what they don't do that in Seattle or wherever you're from?" I question.

"I'm talking about crossing the street anywhere you please, or before that little white man pops up on the screen. You people are nuts," he says. "And we give more than a finger in Seattle," he barks.

"Hmm," I reply.

"You ready?" he questions holding his arm out waiting for me to take it.

I stare at his arm and then up at him. His eyes have softened a bit since I first met him, I'm not sure if he's walking on egg shells around me because of what happened the other night or maybe something else has changed. Whatever it is, I'm hoping it means that my plan is working.

I slip my arm into his and he pulls me into his side. We walk into the diner like that arm in arm like a couple from a movie. The girl at the desk looks between the two of us and her expression changes from greeting us with a smile to a frown. She looks at Jace with a sour face and I'm certain that he's been one of her many conquests. Damn he works fast, he's only been here a couple of weeks.

She takes us to our table and attempts to get Jace's attention. First she nearly smacks him in the head with the ginormous menus, and then she tries to get his attention by bending over a little too far when she puts them on the table. Jace hasn't taken his eyes off of me, and I can't tell if it's because he wants her to go away, or because he's actually a real human with feelings. She finally leaves to go back to her post and Jace lets out a breath I didn't even know he was holding in. I laugh and shake my head.

"What?"

"Let me guess you slept with her she told you she loved you and you ran," I say rubbing my chin.

I lean forward and wait for his response. He chuckles.

"Something like that," he says opening up the menu like it's nothing.

I pull the menu down so I can see his face, now the evil snake like smirk is back. I roll my eyes he's such an asshole, what did my cousin ever see in him anyway?

"What?" he questions his eyes never leaving the menu.

"Nothing," I say letting go and grabbing the one in front of me.

"Have you eaten here before?" he questions breaking our two minutes of silence.

"Have you ever been so high that you've craved random things from a diner menu?" I question.

He pulls the menu down and stares at me with a look of confusion. I shrug and look back at the menu. The answer was I'd spent many nights here since moving close by, which included the nights I'd been high. In High School you'd never catch me doing anything like that, but between the last year of college and incident last year I'd been living on the edge trying to escape from the perfect image my parents created for me.

"You're acting strange today," he says.

"I could say the same thing about you, your being nice," I say.

He laughs, "And how am I supposed to be?" he questions.

"I didn't peg you as a nice guy," I tell him setting the menu flat on the table.

A car honks outside and distracts me. I look out the window as a shadow appears over our table. A girl around our age as well is standing with her eyes on Jace just like the other one. I look at her and her glare could literally kill someone, I'm pretty sure those are her thoughts about Jace right now. She takes our order quickly not even pausing long enough to take away the menus. I look at him and he seems oblivious again.

"Have you slept with this whole diner?" I question.

He looks around the room as two waiters walk around delivering food, and taking orders.

"I didn't sleep with them," he says.

I laugh loud enough for the people three rows over to hear me. Jace arches a brow unsure of what to do. This guy really is something, I can't believe I agreed to go come here today just so that I could prove something. This is becoming more and more of a bad idea with each passing second.

"So tell me why'd you actually come to New York? And how long are you planning on staying? I mean you don't have a job here or anything so how can you afford our non-date and all the nights at the club," I ask.

He folds his arms at his chest to stare at me, his face unreadable at this point. I figured if I'm going to fake date this guy I should probably get to know him.

"The truth?" he questions moving his lips back and forth.

"The truth," I say.

"Well if you must know I almost got busted for possession of drugs, but I outran those fuckers. They had no clue who I was, but I didn't want to take any chances so I called my friend and flew out to New York. I don't know how long I'll be here all I know is that if I want a job I have it," he says with a shrug.

A new waitress comes over, she's a lot older than the other two. She quietly slides our drinks onto the table and drops the straws next to them. She eyes Jace and shakes her head. Without a word she leaves the table and walks back to the kitchen.

"I swear I didn't sleep with her," he says with a serious face.

I try to bite back the laugh that's riding in my throat, but it's nearly impossible. I burst out laughing again, more people look but I don't care. I haven't laughed like this in a while. Jace might be an asshole, but he's an interesting asshole.

"Are you done laughing now?" he questions hiding a smirk.

"No," I say laughing a little lighter now.

"And I do have a job, well just got a job. I'm not sure how long I'm staying, but I want things to cool down at home for a while before going back."

"What kind of a job?"

"A night job," he says shrugging his shoulders.

The same woman who came out to bring our drinks now walks over with our orders. I'm assuming the girl couldn't handle dealing with Jace. I just hoped she wasn't crying in the backroom. She hands him his burger and my chicken fingers and fries.

"Can I get you guys anything else?" she finally asks.

"No thank you," we both tell her at the same time.

"Jinx," he says as she leaves the table.

"What are you twelve?" I question.

"You don't want to know twelve year old me, I think he's worse than mid-twenties me ," he says. "Anyway, I work at night," he says.

"Oh. Stripper?" I question.

Jace almost chokes on his burger, and I can't help but smile as I stick a fry in my mouth. He eyes me amused by our bantering.

"You wish galaxy girl, isn't that your job?" he questions.

"Funny!" I say.

"No, I'm not a stripper," he says taking a bite of his burger. He chews quickly, swallows, and takes a sip of coke. "I bartend with your friend Henry."

I nearly spit out my own coke all over him, but I choke it back. Henry hadn't said a word, I wonder if Jace was there last night for an interview or something.

"Funny story, my step dad is the owner," he says like it's nothing.

"He what? Does Henry know this?" I question.

"I don't think so, but he will. I think I'm working with him tomorrow night," he says.

He shrugs like it's no big deal and continues to eat his burger. We eat in silence for a bit as I contemplate if him being here long term is a good thing. I'm also second guessing this fake dating thing now that he's staying for who knows how long it might be more difficult to hide this from my family.

In the booth I'm facing the door and my eye catches a flash of what looks like Charlene enter the diner. She's with a few friends and laughing. My heart stops in my chest, if she sees me with Jace all of this would be for nothing.

"Shit Charlene is here, get out of here before she sees you!" I yell.

"Where am I supposed to go?" he questions.

"I don't know," I practically yell.

I keep my eyes focused on Charlene, hoping she doesn't hear the commotion. I'm pretty sure she's too busy laughing and acting like she hasn't been pouting for weeks. I feel someone brush against my leg and nearly let out a scream, but I'm distracted by Charlene's eyes on mine. She looks over confused, probably wondering why I'm all by myself. She turns to her friend with black hair and whispers something, she nods and Charlene heads over.

"Keep your mouth shut she's coming over here," I say through gritted teeth.

"Ay, ay captain," he says.

I kick him and he giggles. Ugh. She comes and stands at the side of the table.

"Hey you here by yourself? I didn't see Nicole or Henry?" she questions.

"Yup, by myself just me," I say smiling like an idiot.

She can totally tell something is up, but doesn't say it if she suspects anything. Jace sniffles and suddenly out of nowhere sneezes so loud I think the entire diner heard. I cover my nose a second into the sneeze and smile at her. She's still giving me a look, but one of her friend's call her as a waitress brings over bags of food for them.

"Well I got to go um... you working tomorrow?" she asks.

"Tonight and tomorrow, you?"

"Yeah, my dad says if I don't come in tomorrow he'll make sure I never get another job in this city," she says.

"Harsh," I say.

I jump as I feel Jace's hand rest on my knee. I smile at her like nothing is wrong.

"Well see you then," she says waving as she leaves.

I let out a long breath as her and her friends leave the diner. I kick at Jace.

"Coast is clear," I say.

He crawls out as our original waitress passes by. He's in the middle of wiping his nose with his jacket sleeve and her eyes widen. She stops and looks between the two of us, and it just hit me what she thinks just happened. A disgusted look shades her whole face as she turns with her head up in the air and stomps away. What should be a completely awkward moment turned into probably the funniest moment all day. Jace stands and we look at each other and laugh. He sits down across from me and grabs a napkin from the holder to wipe his face. I'm laughing so hard that tears are falling from my eyes. His whole body shakes and since knowing him only a few short weeks I've never seen him smile so big. It's a genuine smile one that makes my heart do stupid things. Very stupid things.