Call me pleasantly surprised when Ace asked me if I wanted to come over on Sunday, since his family were throwing another barbecue. But this time, it was at his aunt and uncle's house. I was excited to see his cousin, Katie and hopefully find out a few embarrassing secrets from Ace's childhood.

I agreed after he dropped me off at my apartment. I refused to let him come inside since the last time Ace was brought up in a conversation between Charlie and me, it didn't end well. I told him to have fun at his little party the next day and he rolled his eyes and waved goodbye. The guy was really growing on me.

Charlie was also in a good mood, making my entrance so much easier. He just grumbled a little about staying out late and sent me off to my room. I fell onto my bed and checked my phone. I had a missed call from Lilli so I called her back.

She answered on the second ring. "How did it go?" She asked me, excitement evident in her voice.

I laughed and covered my giggles with my hand. "It was fun. I'm really gonna miss his parents once this whole thing is over."

"What do you mean, over? You aren't even going to stay friends with Ace after the next two weeks?"

I sighed. I had wanted to avoid this topic with Lilli, knowing she would be upset and confused. "Lil, it's not like he did this to become my friend. This is just a favor and nothing else."

"So you're telling me, you won't be even a little upset if you guys just stop talking?" She asked me, her voice sarcastic.

I groaned and let my face fall into my pillow. "I don't know." My voice was muffled from the cushion but I knew she understood what I had said.

"All I'm saying is, Rose, it's only been like a week and a half and you guys already know so much about each other."

I hated that she was right. Ace didn't know everything about me or my past but he knew a lot. It took me a while to trust people; but Ace had gotten me to trust him within a mere 10 days. What did that say about us?

Lilli must have sensed my change in mood because she changed the subject from Ace to the history homework. I was grateful for Lilli. Everything she did, she did in consideration of other people's feelings. It felt like she could read me better than a book and could see right through me when I lied. At times, it was a curse. Other times, it was a God send.

We talked for the next hour and a half while we both started our homework but Lilli finished before me and decided to retire to bed early. We said our goodnights and I plugged my phone in to charge while I got my towel from its hook for my shower.

I took a nice, long shower that wasted a bunch of water, but I felt like I needed it. This week had been insane and I was glad that it was over. I dried off quickly and returned to my room, dressed in my pajamas. I glanced over at my phone since the screen had lit up. On my phone there was a message from Ace.

    Goodnight Mel. See you Sunday.

I didn't know what to send back. So instead, I went to sleep. But there was a new feeling in my gut that made my heart beat a little faster.

Saturday afternoon consisted of me driving over to Lilli's house because she had the sudden urge to make brownies. Being the good friend that I am, I drove over to the nearest Walmart and bought brownie mix and her favorite icing.

We spent the whole day watching old episodes of The Vampire Diaries while eating our slightly burnt treats. We had just made it to season two when I got a phone call from Ace. I showed Lilli and she gave me a weird look but I shrugged and answered.

"Hello?" It sounded like a question.

I heard some laughter at the other end. It was very loud, wherever he was. The music was pounding into my ears and I wasn't even there. "Mellieeee!"

I jumped when Ace's loud voice blasted through the speaker. "Having fun at the party?"

"Oh yeah! Toooons of fun," he laughed again.

I bit my lip and put him on speaker for Lilli to hear. "Ace, are you drunk?"

He scoffed but it was slurred. "Are you drunk?"

"No?" I told him, barely keeping my laughter in.

"Don't drink and drive Meeeel. It's illegal," his voice was all over the place and he hiccuped in the middle of his sentence.

Lilli literally had to use her hand to cover her mouth from letting out fits of giggles. "I'll keep that in mind. Are you okay?"

He scoffed again until his mouth made some pretty weird noises. "I'm fiiiine. I want to hang out with youuu!" His voice turned whiny.

"You need to go to bed Ace. Your mom is going to kill you. Go drink some water and sober up," I sounded like an old woman, shouting demands to her child.

He laughed at me and I could picture the grin he must've been sporting. "Okayyy Mellie. Goodnighhhht."

I hung up the phone and both Lilli and I burst out laughing. I looked at the clock and saw it was only 10:30. "How is he already so drunk?" I asked her.

"Must have started drinking early?" The laughter was still apparent in her voice. We both giggled a little while longer but then continued on our binge session.

It was an hour or so later when my phone rang again. But this time it was a text tone. I looked down at my screen and saw a text from Ace.

Y you're not home?

I rolled my eyes at his very incorrect use of the word, you're and texted back,

I'm at Lilli's. Why are you at my apartment?

It took him a few minutes to reply.

i toLD U I wantted 2 hnG OUT!

Oh god, he was really drunk. I dialled his contact and waited for him to answer. "Mellll. Where are you?"

"I already told you, I'm at Lilli's." It was now almost midnight and I was ready to go to sleep. I didn't want to talk with a barely functioning human being.

He made a few sounds of disappointment before asking me, "well, where does Lilli live?"

"No, Ace! I'm going to sleep. Please get a ride home and go to bed."

He sighed, "you never want to hang out with me."

I groaned loudly, "Ace, we're literally hanging out tomorrow."

"I want to hang out with you nowww. Pleeeeeease, pleasssse?" I had never heard him sound like more of a baby. I hung up the phone. And a few minutes later, he texted me.

Ruode!

I was only 90% sure he meant to say, rude. I didn't let myself worry and I glanced over at Lilli. The girl was already asleep. I sighed and set my phone on her nightstand and let myself fall asleep.

The next morning I woke up to Lilli jumping on top of me. "Wake the fuck up Rosie! It's almost 11! You need to go home and shower."

I groaned, "5 more minutes..." She continued to jump and shake me. "Oh my gosh, okay fine. I'm up Lil."

She looked very pleased with herself and I eyed her suspiciously. "I packed your bag already for you. You are ready to go!"

"What did you do?"

She pursed her lips and looked away, "what are you talking about? I didn't do anything." I gave her the stink eye but didn't say anything more. It took me another few minutes before I was able to drag myself out of her bed and put on my shoes.

Lilli walked me to my car and wished me luck for the barbeque. I drove away and headed toward my apartment.

When I made it there, it was about 11:30. Ace was supposed to pick me up at 1 so I figured I'd have enough time to shower and get ready.

I finished getting ready by 12:45 and I picked up a book to read for the next 15 minutes of waiting. 

When the doorbell rang, I made sure to book it out there before Charlie did and sure enough, he was nowhere to be found. I opened the door to reveal Ace sporting a pair of ray bans.

"Hungover much?" I asked him.

He rubbed his forehead as if my voice was too loud. "Shut up. My head is pounding."

I just laughed a little and pulled him down the hall after locking the door behind me. We made it down to the car before he asked me, "so, I called you last night."

"And texted me," I added.

He paused and sighed, "yeah. Sorry about that. I do weird things when I'm wasted."

"Then why do you get wasted?"

He turned on the ignition and started to drive out of the lot. "It's fun? I don't know. Lots of teenagers drink. They don't have to have a reason."

I shrugged, "I don't drink."

"Yes, but you have a reason not to," he informed me.

He was talking about Charlie. But surprisingly, it wasn't the reason I didn't touch alcohol. I shook my head, "no, I just don't drink because I don't feel like I need to. Who do I have to impress?"

Ace looked sort of, pleased? With my answer. "You have me to impress now darling."

I rolled my eyes, something tended to do more now that I met Ace. "So you aren't already impressed?" My voice held a sarcastic, teasing tone.

"I never said that," he glanced over at me and smirked and it made me smile.
I reached over and shoved his shoulder. "Hey! No hitting the driver. Do want to kill us?"

I just laughed and turned on the radio. My stomach was doing flips and I didn't know how to control it. Once we had both settled on a mutual station, I lay back against the seat and closed my eyes.

"So, what should I expect out of today?" I asked him, referring to his family.

He sighed and turned the music down a nudge. "Not sure. Probably the same as last weekend."

I nodded and let him drive. We arrived at Katie's house about 15 minutes later. She lived further away from town and in one of the fancier neighborhoods. I glanced around at the view, which was gorgeous. "Wow," I voiced.

Ace chuckled at my wide eyes and he rolled the window down for me, even though I could have done it myself. I stared out the window entire time and enjoyed the breeze that blew against my face.

We pulled into the very large driveway where most of his family was already parked. I was surprised that that many cars could fit.

I stepped out of Ace's car and he met me on my side, taking my hand. Cold heat rushed down to my stomach and my eyes glanced down to our intertwined fingers. I looked up at Ace and he smiled at me and led me to the front door.

It was sort of just like last week, walking up with our hands connected. It was comforting. The door opened before we even got to it and Katie rushed out, looking enthusiastic.

"Thank god you guys are here! Get inside please! Save me from my insane family," she pleaded, pulling on both our free hands.

The way she yanked us into the living room, caused our hands to lose their grip and Ace's hand slipped from mine. We stopped in front of the tv, where a bunch of their family was having a heated argument.

"Oh look guys, Ace and Mel are here!" Katie shouted, getting her family's attention.

One of their aunts asked, "who's better, the Packers or the Steelers?"

Oh no. Sports. This was going to go downhill. Fast.

Ace rolled his eyes but answered first. "Packers, duh." Half his family groaned but I raised an eyebrow.

"The packers suck. Steelers all the way," I told him. My family had been big fans of football back in the day.

Ace swung toward me, "you watch football?"

My cheeks heated, "I used to."

"Well, your team sucks sweetheart," Ace informed me.

My heart skipped when he called me sweetheart since he hadn't done that in a few days. "I think this is the break moment of our relationship. I can't date a Packer fan."

"Of all the teams, you had to be a Steelers fan? Wow, I really know how to choose em'."

Our banter was easy and I could see Ace's family eyeing us back and forth. "Whatever, nemesis. Now if you'll excuse me," I pushed him away from me and sat on the couch next to Austin, who was a Steelers fan, based on his clothing choice.

The game was already on its 3rd quarter when we arrived so Ace went and sat down with the Packers side of the family and glared playfully at me.

The Steelers were ahead by a few points and every time they scored, we would jump up and celebrate.

Finally, the game ended with the Steelers taking the win and I jumped up from the couch and high fived the ones who were next to me. I made my way over to a grumpy Ace and patted him on the shoulder. "Awe, don't cry! It's just a game."

Ace smacked my hand away from him stood up, towering over me. "You're lame," he told me as he swung an arm around my shoulder. The rest of his family was already making their way into the kitchen or the backyard so we followed them.

Once we were all outside, standing around by the bbq, Katie pulled up some chairs for us to sit in. "So, are you guys excited to graduate this year?" She asked us.

We both let out a heavy sigh and Ace answered first. "I don't even know what I want to do, or where I want to go. Maybe something here in California"

He looked over at me, waiting for me to answer. "I want to go to Emerson College. It's in Boston."

"What do you want to study?" Katie asked me.

I looked down at my lap and smiled, "journalism or some sort of writing major."

"You write?" Ace seemed interested.

I nodded at the two of them. "Yeah, all the time. English is my best subject. It's crazy to think that in just 3 months or so, we have to start applying. It used to seem so far away."

"Yeah," Ace agreed and it went quiet.

Katie cleared her throat, "thank god I still have like 3 years to go."

Aye! Chapter 9 is up!!! This part has over 2,500 words in it!

What college do you guys want to go to?

Sorry this update took a week or so. I had most of it completed a few days ago but I didn't know how to end it.

There's almost 25,000 words in this story already and I literally find that insane!

I'll see you guys when Chapter 10 is up! See ya!
-Haley