The shrill of Ace's phone interrupted my thoughts. I pulled away from the kiss and dropped my head onto the pillow, sighing.

"I know, I wouldn't want to stop kissing me either," Ace mocked, still hovering over me.

I rolled my eyes and pushed at his chest and pointed to where the sound was blaring from the other end of the bed. "Shut up and answer your phone."

He kissed my nose quickly and then scrambled over to his phone. He frowned slightly but still answered. "Ryder?" I couldn't hear what he was saying but Ace stood up and walked out of my room, going into his.

Uh, okay?

I didn't know whether or not I should've followed him or stayed in bed. So I lingered by the door frame. He was trying to be quiet; trying not to wake his family, or hiding it from me? Flip a coin.

Finally, he hung up and made his way back to me. I stared up at him with a emotionless expression. "I know what you're thinking. Calm down, I'm telling you right now."

The anger slowly faded and I took his hand and sat us down on the bed. "What happened?"

"Kaz was just freaking out, I guess. He wanted to storm over here and so Ryder was warning me ahead of time. But they got him to calm down and go home," Ace looked equally sad and confused.

I leaned forward and dropped a kiss on his temple. "I'm sorry that this all happened tonight. And I'm sorry for getting mad again."

"You're fine sweetheart. I'm just worried about Kaz and our friendship. Him having feelings for me, or other guys in general, is no big deal. I can live with him having feelings for me. But I'm not okay with him hurting you in the process."

I smiled sadly. "I'm okay Ace. Don't worry about me."

"But you're mad at him right? For kissing me?" He asked.

I nodded, "well, of course I am."

"That's what I mean. And trust me, tomorrow I'm gonna let him know how much I didn't appreciate him doing that in front of my girlfriend," he told me, smoothing his thumb across my cheek.

I smiled bashfully and leaned into him. "So is this your way of telling me that if I hadn't been there, you would have appreciated him kissing you?"

"You know what I meant," Ace told me, poking my sides before pulling me into his arms.

I nodded, looking up at him. "I know, but I like watching you get all flustered." For a moment, we just sat on my bed, tangled together in a tight embrace. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

"I want to, but if my mom comes in here..."

I gave him my best puppy dog eyes. "Please. All we'll be doing is sleeping anyway."

"She won't see it that way," he told me gently.

I frowned but nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna go to bed then."

"Right now?" he questioned, his voice going up an octave, still sounding sad.

I nodded, "yep, and you don't even want to stay with me." Ace then tilted my chin up and placed a kiss on my lips that said the exact opposite of that. He pulled away and I whined like a sad puppy.

"Nope, none of that. You're the one going to bed so early." I glanced at the clock that said otherwise and gave him a pointed look. "Okay, maybe it is pretty late. But still. You could have chosen to hang out with me more."

I dramatically yanked myself out of his arms, sighing, and then threw myself back on the bed, laying down on the pillow. Ace chuckled and leaned over, kissing my cheek. I closed my eyes quickly, pretending to go to sleep.

"Goodnight Mel," he whispered before standing up and walking across the room.

I wanted to say nothing and stay "asleep" but I couldn't help myself. "Goodnight Ace."

I woke up in a hot sweat, breathing hard. I hadn't gotten nightmares since I was a kid, but I hadn't forgotten how scary they could be. When you're a child, you dream about monsters and demons. Now, my nightmares were filled with the person who's supposed to comfort you from the monsters.

Charlie.

I glanced at the clock on my phone, 3:12 am. Great. I got less than three hours of peaceful sleep. I was still breathing heavily and my heart was racing. Wordlessly, I got out of bed, suddenly too hot to be underneath the covers.

I quietly walked down the hall and opened Ace's bedroom door with a squeak. I cringed, hoping I didn't wake him. I planned to just crawl next to him and stay there until the weekend was over. But instead, as soon as I sat down on his bed, he stretched out, slowly waking up.

"Mel? What's wrong? Is everything okay?" He asked immediately, before even getting a good look at my tear stained cheeks. Yes, the nightmare was bad enough to make me cry.

I nodded but then shook my head. "Nightmare," I told him before crawling into his arms.

He wrapped his arms around my back, holding me firmly. He kissed my forehead and yawned. "You're okay sweetheart. Just go back to sleep."

I nuzzled into his chest, the fabric of his shirt soft and warm against my cheek. Another tear fell, against my will and soaked into Ace's shirt.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked me after a minute of me sniffling.

Unable to find words right then, I settled for a shake of my head. "Just let me lay here with you."

"Like I would ever deny you anything," he whispered.

I giggled a little bit and looked up at his face to see his eyes already open. "You didn't stay with me tonight. I wanted that."

"Well sweetheart, looks like you got what you wanted in the end now, didn't you?" He pointed out, playfully, making me smile.

I shrugged.

"You've got me wrapped around your finger Melrose King. You have got me so whipped that I don't even mind it."

The next morning, the exact thing happened that Ace was scared of. Anna opened his bedroom door, catching us sleeping together. On top of the blankets and started to yell at her son.

"ACE JAMES CARTER! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SLEEPING IN THE SAME BED AS YOUR GIRLFRIEND UNDER MY ROOF?"

We both startled awake and glanced at each other. Ace's expression said, oh shit.

"Mom-"

Anna silenced him with, "don't you "mom" me mister! We have rules in this house and you are supposed to follow them. As much as I love you Mel, you knew better too."

"Mom! Chill, she came in here at like 3am after a nightmare. We weren't fooling around under your roof," he told her, sounding exasperated.

She just stared at us, seeing as my body was still wrapped around his. Yikes. I untangled myself and sat up. "I'm really sorry Anna. It's not Ace's fault, I swear. I just didn't want to sleep alone."

Anna sighed. "Alright. You aren't in trouble this time. But the rule still stands, okay?"

We both nodded and she gave us one last warning look before walking out. I groaned and flung myself on my stomach, my face smacking the pillow.

Ace rubbed my back. "It's okay, she isn't mad."

"That was embarrassing. I just embarrassed myself in front of your mother," I admitted, my voice muffled through the pillow.

He chuckled. "She loves you, you know."

I glanced up at him from the pillow. "Not after today."

"Shut up," Ace smiled and laid back down beside me.

I turned my body until we faced each other. I lifted my hand and cradled his cheek in my palm. "What are you gonna do after we graduate?"

"Yikes, the after high school talk, huh?" He smirked. "I still don't really know. I know you want to go to Boston; maybe I'll just follow you there," he winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. "You would not."

"I would do a lot of things for you babe," he closed his eyes when I stroked his cheek.

I furrowed my brows. "You would really go to Boston with me?" But before he could answer, I kept talking. "I'm getting ahead of myself. I haven't even gotten into Emerson yet."

"Have you sent in the application?"

I nodded. "I did it as soon as they opened. I just have to wait until December to hear back."

"I'm serious, you know. I want to be with you, and I don't want long distance to be the only option for us," Ace admitted.

I blushed. "It's crazy that just a few months ago, I thought I had you pinned as this bad boy who couldn't give a fuck about anything. Yet, here you are, making plans to fly across the country just to be with me."

"I'd fly across the world Mel."

I smacked his arm and buried my face back into the pillow. "You're cheesy and it's making me feel all weird."

I couldn't see it, but I knew that Ace was smiling at me. He pushed back the strands of hair that covered my face and tucked them behind my ear.

"I think you did have me all figured out, Mel. Pretty sure before I met you, I didn't give a fuck about anything. You changed that," his voice was low.

"Liar. You totally cared about your family and friends before you met me."

He shrugged. "Well, I care more now." Ace rolled over onto his back and pulled me with him so I was half sprawled on top of him.

"I'm glad I miss judged you," I told him, wrapping my arm around his torso.

He laughed and I could feel my entire body move with his. "And why is that?"

"Because if I had thought you were sweet and were going to get me to fall in love with you, I would have stayed far away from you."

I felt his hand run through my hair, catching on a knot or two. "You didn't want to fall in love?"

I shook my head against his chest. "I'm not good with expressing myself, you know that. Plus, I didn't want to have to go through explaining Charlie with someone."

"Yeah, but you're getting better at expressing your emotions and thoughts to me," he reasoned.

"How was I supposed to know that would happen?"

He shrugged. "True." And for a while, we just laid there in silence.

"I just want everything to be okay. I wish I didn't have to worry about Charlie. And I wish I could get out of high school already and spend the rest of my life with you," I whispered, my cheek still pressed again his chest.

Ace tightened his grip. "One day, baby. One day, you won't have to worry about anything, I promise."

THEY'RE SO CUTE I CAN'T DEAL WITH IT ANYMORE

9k!!! You guys are incredible.

This chapter has over 1,800 words!!! I don't want this to ever end:(

I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you next chapter!