Ace

Happiness

Terry dropped me back to Ace's house.

I locked my door and sat in my room watching movies for the rest of the day. It had turned 12 am and Ace still wasn't home; He was probably still mad. I'm not angry at him, I don't think I ever was. I think I was shocked and afraid of him for a moment.

My eyes were struggling to stay open as I watched the movie. I was woken up by a knock on my door before I paused the film and sat in my bed.

"Sofia" Ace muttered sounding like he was almost scared to say my name. I didn't reply. "Can you open the door?" He asked, his tone was softer than usual. I slowly wandered over to the door. I assume he was able to tell I had come over due to my light footsteps approaching the door. "Are you still angry?" I questioned him, probably sounding tired. "No" he mumbled quietly.

I knew that his explosive anger was due to his grief and adrenaline but it wasn't acceptable. I unlocked the door before quickly walking back over to my bed.

Ace entered the room and all you could hear was the creaking of the door since the entire house was silent. Ace came into my room and shut the door behind him.

"Hey" Ace practically whispered, more than likely because of how quiet it was. "Hi" I mumbled standing next to my bed. I only realized now that I was wearing his hoodie. "I'm sorry" he ran his hand through his hair stressfully, taking a seat on my bed. "It's fine" I grumbled restless.

Ace looked at me confused. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly, glancing at my pillow to look for signs of tears. "Yeah" I nodded. He stared at me for a moment before breaking the silence; "I thought you were going to give me a lecture on how badly I treated you back there" he rubbed the back of his neck . "No, I've already accepted that I can't teach you how to be a good man, you'll have to do that on your own" I stated with a stubborn tone. "I was.....emotional, I guess you could put it" Ace admitted, opening up slightly. "It's okay as long as it doesn't happen again and I'm sorry for not supporting you" I glanced at him.

"I got you an apology gift" he stared at me with his innocent eyes. "I had been planning this for a few days now so it's not just because we fought" Ace admitted before taking a rectangular box out of his pocket.

"Remember you said you didn't trust me around me other women" Ace mumbled softly. I nodded confused at what was happening. "Here" he handed me a box while also pulling out another box from his pocket. Inside, there was a bracelet that had a heart in the centre of it, connecting one side of the bracelet, to the other side. The heart had a little key hole in the centre of it.

Ace took the bracelet out and clicked it together on my wrist. "The only way to unlock it, is with this key" he explained, holding my wrist gently.

He grinned at my flushed face. He opened the box and pulled out a chain that was exactly like the bracelet, just in chain form. "Wow" I gasped taking the chain out of his hand. I put the chain around his neck and clipped it together. "So I'm assuming you keep the key?" I grinned happily at the bracelet.

"Yep" he nodded. I could tell that he was happy that I like it.

"Not the Ace Hernandez settling for a woman" he said cheekily. I rolled my eyes in defeat with a small smile on my face. I watched a grin spread across his face.

"Do you want to watch something?" I asked him as I lay on my bed. "Yeah" he climbed onto the bed. He groaned as he let whole body relax. "You should get out of your suit" I suggested. "It probably would be comfier, ok give me a second" he jumped off the bed. He came back in, wearing shorts and a baggy shirt.

I realized that for the first time in years, I was happy, lying beside Ace. Someone I knew who would protect me from anything, including himself.

The truth was that he made me happy and that terrified me.

Ace was staring at the TV but I couldn't watch the movie. He suddenly turned to me and began deciphering the movie piece by piece.

We talked throughout the movie, not even paying attention to it anymore.

"So who's the worst person you have slept with?" I asked him curiously as I rested my chin on my hand for support while smiling at him. "Mm I don't know" Ace shrugged as he tried not to smirk. "How many girls have you slept with?" I raised an eyebrow at him with a smirk. "I don't know that answer either" he couldn't contain his smile. "Give me a rough estimate" I questioned him, not being too forceful. His smirk only grew at my question. He mumbled something but made sure I didn't hear.

"You did that on purpose" I smirked while playfully shoving him. "Ok ok" he replied, sticking his arms up for defence. "Over 100 different girls" he finally spat out. My jaw instantly dropped at his words. "100" my eyes widened. "And you weren't in love with any of them?" I stared at him confused. "None" he made a face as if he didn't care. "No wonder why you've never been hugged" I rolled my eyes at him with a smile.

"Shut up, at least I'm not a virgin" Ace mumbled teasingly with a slight smile. "Leave me alone" I sneered while glaring at him. "I'm just saying, what are you, 17?" He mumbled while licking his lips. "Yeah, almost 18" I grumbled, folding my arms like a child. "I was 13 when I lost mine" he muttered to me. "13! That's so young" I gasped at him. He chuckled lightly. "I know" he shook his head as his smile faded.

"I couldn't risk it, my father probably would've killed me, I couldn't prove him right" my happiness fading slowly from my face as I remembered all the names my father would call me. "I guess that's not your fault then" he gave me a vulnerable glance.

"So tell me, why so young?" I questioned, wanting to know more about him. "My father believed that loosing your virginity made you become a 'man' in some sort of fucked up sense, so as soon as I was old enough, he threw me in a room and that was that" he spoke cautiously, careful not to reveal too much.

"That must've been awful" I shook my head at the thoughts. "No I loved it" he chuckled at the memory; "but i wish I had saved for someone I really cared about" his blue eyes stared intensely at me as he finished his sentence.

"Well it's not that big of deal, only takes seconds to loose right?" I replied, trying to make him feel better. "No, it's a big deal but I didn't know that at the time. I still don't" I could see he regretted saying the last part. "It's something you read about only in book you know, the connection, the bond.... until it's not" he spoke honestly as he stared the blankets on the bed, probably lost in thought.

"You're right" I agreed, watching his subtle actions.

"I like you the most you know, out of all the people I've met" I declared suddenly. He couldn't help but smile at my words. "Yeah" he replied, his eyes lighting up.