"Ace!" I yelled, running through the hallway. His door was shut so without knocking, I burst through. He was still asleep, shirtless, and lying on his stomach, the sheets wrapped around his waist.

I jumped on the bed, landing on his body, effectively waking him up. "Baby, wake up!"

"I'm up, I'm up, geez. What's wrong? Who died?" Ace questioned, his voice husky from sleep.

I settled over him, until I was practically straddling him. I waited until his eyes were on me and he wasn't half asleep to answer him. "I did it. I got in."

His eyes immediately widened and then he sat up, my body moving with his. I fell backwards, sliding off of his lap. I yelped a little and then laughed when Ace cursed and started apologizing.

He lifted me back up, settling me in his lap again. And then he pulled me into his chest into a tight embrace. "You got into Emerson?" I nodded into his chest. "I told you you would!"

"I know, but I didn't want you to jinx it," I told him as I pulled back.

Ace wrapped his arms loosely around my waist and smiled. "I'm so proud of you." There were those words again, the sentence I would never grow tired of hearing, right alongside "I love you."

"I would kiss you, but you haven't brushed your teeth," I whispered, teasing him a little.

He pouted. "That wouldn't stop me, sweetheart." I started to climb off of him to let him brush his teeth if he wanted a kiss so bad. "Where do you think you're going, college girl?"

"Let go of me and brush your teeth so I can kiss you," I batted his hands away and hopped off the bed.

I saw a flirtatious look in his eyes as he rolled off the bed and practically jogged into his bathroom with just a pair of boxers on.

I replaced his spot in bed, climbing under the covers and melting into his sheets. I wasn't expecting it when Ace came back into the room a few minutes later and threw himself on top of me. He kissed me suddenly; his lips sliding over mine roughly. A hand latched onto my side, squeezing my hip, making me squirm.

When I felt his tongue against my teeth, I had to hold back the weird sound that wanted to escape my mouth. I slid my hand from his arm, over to his bare chest. We had made out before, but never both of us without a shirt; granted I was still wearing one. But at this point, I wouldn't be soon. I let my hand wander even further down, feeling the indentations on his abdomen.

Ace's mouth moved from my lips to my neck, kissing all the way down the column of my throat. I let out a shuddering breath, which was slightly embarrassing for me. But Ace didn't comment on it; he just kept laying little kisses on my skin. His hands moved, settling under my shirt, on my waist. He slowly inched the material up, exposing a little skin.

He looked up at me, asking if the movement was okay. I nodded feverishly and he hitched it up higher. I gasped when I felt cold air on my stomach, knowing my shirt was lifted halfway off my body. I sat up and removed it completely, getting less nervous and more bold.

Ace eyed my face before glancing down at my body. His eyes roamed as if my sports bra was the most intricate thing he had ever seen. And then his hands did the same thing. Neither of us were surprised when a content sigh left my lips.

"What about your parents?" I suddenly asked, knowing this wasn't going to lead to nothing.

He glanced back up at me, his hands still on my skin. "They took Noah to go look at christmas trees and then to the zoo. They won't be back for awhile, I promise."

"I love you." It burst out quickly and randomly. It had nothing to do with the conversation but everything to do with our actions. Ace leaned forward again, capturing my lips with his before repeating the words back to me.

And his lips had kept moving.

The amount of times a day Ace said the words, "my girlfriend got into college," was getting a bit unhealthy. He told teachers, his family and people we weren't even friends with. I got it, he was the most supportive boyfriend to ever exist, as he liked to put it.

But what Ace hadn't told many people was that he had gotten into college too. And not only that, but he had also gotten a small scholarship too. But he didn't want to go. Scratch that; he wanted to go. He just didn't want to go somewhere where I wasn't.

But slowly, I was trying to convince him to do what he felt was right, not for me, but for him. He owed it to himself to get what he wanted. And it wasn't like we were going to break up just because we would be across the country from each other.

"Commit," I whispered into Ace's ear from behind him as he sits on his bed. He was staring at the Sacramento State website on his computer.

He smacked the air beside my head and laughed. "Shut up and let me think."

I sat in silence for a few seconds. "Are you don't yet?"

He turned to me and landed a quick kiss on my mouth. "I love you, but you're annoying me."

"I'm sorry. I'll shut up," I promised without actually meaning it. Because a minute or so later, I said, "commit."

"You must really want to get rid of me since you want me to attend a school across the country from you," He pointed out.

I shook my head. "I don't want that. I wish you had applied to a school close to me in Boston. But you didn't want that, so it was okay with me. I know you want to go to Sacramento, Ace. And it's okay."

"I don't want to be away from you."

I sighed. "I feel like we've had this conversation so many times, I've lost count of the words I've said in my head and the ones I've said out loud."

"I know, we have. This is hard for me. I've never had to choose between The girl and the school before," he frowned.

"Well I would hope not," I joked, even though it wasn't the time.

He shut the computer and turned to faced me, pulling me in for a kiss. "So you're telling me that you are 100% okay with me going to a school across the country from you?"

"Well not 100%, more like 78%. But if that's what you want, of course I'd be okay with it," I told him, kissing him again.

He sighed and I leaned into him, wrapping my arms around his torso. "I'm gonna do it," he whispered and then twisted in my grasp but not enough to make me let go.

He opened the laptop again and then, Ace was registered as a student at Sacramento State.

😪 my boy really did that. I can't believe both Mel and Ace got into college! I mean, I can, considering I made that happen. But still, I'm proud of them.

I also got into college a few weeks ago! I got into the college I wanted and thank god for that.

This chapter was exactly 1,200 words! Sorry it took so long to get out. I'm fearing the end of #Mace story.

Thank you for reading and getting the book to 13K! Don't forget to vote and comment!! See you next chapter.