So... This. Yeah.
Usually I don't pair Denny/Ace, because there's really nothing in the movie that links the two. But why the hell not.
Besides, I read another Denny/Ace story (possibly the only other one on here) entitled Crash and Burn. It's by VulcanCheesecake, and I seriously suggest that you go read it now. It is the only reason I had the idea to write this. Srsly.
Disclaimer: I don't own Stand By Me, Denny, Ace, or any of the characters or settings.
Warnings: If you didn't pick up that this involves a homosexual relationship, then you deserve to be awkwardly startled halfway through. On another note, there's cursing, but not overly horrid words. No sex (sorry, couldn't do it).
Review if you'd like, don't review if you don't want to. Whatevs.
Read on, readers.
It only happened once.
Just that one time, that one stupid, regrettable incident, and Ace had promised himself that he would just erase it from his memory forever. He would forget about the fight, he'd forget about the furious physical contact, and he would forget about ever talking to the older Lachance kid.
Most importantly, he'd forget about how much he wanted it for the rest of his life.
Denny Goody-Two-Shoes Lachance had caught Ace and his gang picking on some middle school kids one Saturday night. Ace, Eyeball, and Charlie were minding their own business and hanging the poor boys by the bands of their whitey-tighties on the metal chain fence behind the old bowling alley. Denny had been walking with a girl- not his girlfriend, mind you, but a fine possibility for the future- when he heard the kids sobbing. Being the noble Good Guy that he was, Denny pardoned himself from the girl, promising to walk her home Monday, and went to investigate. He found Ace and two of his goons giving deadly wedgies to a trio of young kids- younger than Gordie, he'd bet- and immediately stormed over.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, standing at his full height and walking straight up to Ace.
"Christ, it's goody-goody Lachance," Ace growled. He had to shift quickly when Denny scooted past him and reached to unhook the first kid's undies from the fence. Ace immediately grabbed at his wrists, and Eyeball shoved at Denny's chest. "Back the hell off, Lachance."
"Take them down, and I'll back off," Denny countered. Eyeball and Charlie stared at him, but Ace only rolled his eyes. This wouldn't be the first time Ace and Denny had clashed, but every time they argued it was like Denny forgot whom he was talking to.
"How about you get the hell out of here, and we won't peel your face off," Charlie threatened, flicking out his pocketknife. Denny didn't even flinch, but just kept starting straight at Ace.
Ace was getting ticked off. This was the fourth or fifth time Lachance has interrupted his daily tormenting. That really had to stop, once and for all. A town bully couldn't have a half-wit superhero coming to ruin his business every week.
"Alright, here's the deal. I'll let these three homos go," Ace began, ignoring Eyeball and Charlie's protests. "But tonight, you meet me in the woods behind the tire yard. Me against you, to finally end this thing. No weapons, no one else comes along, and we fight until the other man can't stand." He snapped a hand up when Eyeball started on him, and the other boy immediately silenced. Denny glanced between Eyeball and Charlie, and then back to Ace. He considered the proposition for a moment.
He didn't actually want to hurt Ace. He just wanted Ace to stop hurting others. But maybe if he knocked him down a peg or two, just bruised him up a little, the guy would back the hell off and stop trying to be such a badass. Besides, Gordie had confided in him a couple of times that Ace had roughed him and his friends up on more than one occasion. And no one messed with Denny Lachance's brother.
"You're on," he finally decided, thrusting out his hand to shake. Ace sneered at him and gripped the offered hand roughly, squeezing it way too hard to be considered polite. Denny didn't even blink.
"Knew you had balls, Lachance. Meet me at eleven, woods behind the tire yard. Got it?" Ace released his hand, turning and nodding so that Eyeball and Charlie finally freed the tortured kids. Without glancing back at Denny, the three Cobras strutted away, glaring down everyone who looked at them funny.
Denny sighed, wishing that Ace would just realize that this whole thing was stupid and stopped acting like a world-class asshole. But he wasn't stupid, and knew that it would take a few knocks in the head to get him to understand anything. "Got it," he muttered to no one.
Ace wasn't hiding. He wasn't! He was just… disguising himself behind a tree just in case Lachance decided not to show. Because then Ace would look like an idiot who got stood up and ended up just standing there by himself, no Cobras with him or nothing.
Although, he really didn't need to hide. Lachance had the conscience of a saint, and not going somewhere when he shook on it would go against his absurdly high morals.
So it was both no surprise and a slight relief when he saw Lachance stroll calmly into the small opening of the woods, quickly becoming visible in the moonlight.
"Thought you wouldn't show," Ace snapped, stepping from behind the tree. Denny turned to look at him.
"Thought you were going to pull one over me and bring your gang."
Ace nearly growled, but that was kind of something he'd really do. "Guess we're both men of our words then." He watched cautiously as Denny stepped forward, coming within two feet of the other boy.
"You know, fighting doesn't have to be the answer to everything," Denny pointed out in a quiet voice. Ace's eyes narrowed. The last thing he needed while he was kicking Lachance's ass was a speech on how hugs will make the world better.
"Are you backing out then?"
"No," Denny began, tilting his head in thought. Now that he was alone with the town's biggest bully, he realized how small and… well, normal the kid looked without his goons behind him and a crying child at his feet. He was actually a few inches shorter than Denny, and only had a small-to-medium build. Alone, without his gang, Ace wasn't all that intimidating. "But I just want you to realize that I'm not doing this because I want to fight you. I'm doing this because I want you to stop picking on people."
"How sweet," Ace hissed sarcastically. Denny frowned. "Are we gonna fight or what?"
"Be my guest. I won't throw the first punch." Denny shifted his weight so that he was mostly leaning on one hip, and crossed his arms. Ace considered that. If he hit the town's Golden Boy first, then even his few connections with a couple store managers and back alley sellers would stop talking to him. But if he could get Lachance to attack him first… well, then Denny's spotless name would be scarred.
So all he had to do was piss him off enough to make him fight. Ace grinned. He was good at that whole pissing off thing.
"Oh, come on Lachance. Don't tell me your heads so fat that you think you'd take me out in one blow," he jabbed. "Bet it's just that you don't even know how to hit. No one ever taught Boy Perfect how to fight?" He stopped when he realized that Lachance's calm expression hadn't changed.
"I'm confident enough in my abilities," Denny said, shrugging casually. Ace bared his teeth. The kid didn't just have a huge ego; he also had a completely indestructible ego. Maybe it was a Lachance thing.
Ace paused. That wasn't right… the younger Lachance kid was quiet as hell and scrawny. He always needed his little bodyguard- Eyeball's little brother… Chris, was it?- to protect him and fight for him.
But when Chris wasn't around, the one who protected little Lachance like a momma bear was…
Ace smirked, taking a half step forward.
"Oh, but you must know how to fight, right? After all, you gotta protect that pussy little brother of yours."
The change was immediate. Where Denny had taken the insults in stride before, he immediately jerked and his fists snapped to his side, clenching until the knuckles were white. His jaw clenched audibly, and even in the moonlight Ace could see his jaw muscles working furiously.
"Leave him out of this, Merrill."
"I've been wondering about that pansy. He's either got you or his little boyfriend Chambers to fight his fights. He's as queer as they come, isn't he?" Ace taunted, leaning in close. He could see how furious Denny was getting; if the clenched fists and flushed face didn't clarify it for him, then the fact that the guy was nearly snarling at him probably would've been a big enough clue.
"I wouldn't talk, Ace. You keep that Eyeball kid pretty close… feeling heartbroken that he's not with you right now? Or did you grow up? Don't need him to hold your hand during fights anymore?"
And whattaya know, Denny could trash talk.
Ace growled, stepping forwards and shoving at Denny's shoulders. He forgot about the idea of making Denny move first, but bringing up Eyeball and him was just too touchy of a subject.
"Don't you dare compare me to your kid brother. I've seen him around town, always just a few inches from Chambers. Practically always touching. Half the town figures them for homos, anyway."
"Funny, everything you said applies to you," Denny remarked, releasing his fists and heaving at Ace's chest. "I guess no one's had the balls to tell you that the town bad boy is under suspicion of liking boys."
"Oh, and I suppose you have the balls?" Ace asked sharply, jabbing at Denny's shoulders with his fist. Denny didn't falter.
"You bet I do," he replied, shoving back especially harshly. Ace pushed back, and they went back and forth a couple of times until Ace finally got fed up and socked the guy in the jaw. Denny stepped back from the force, but immediately whirled back and plowed his fist into Ace's nose. Ace cursed, feeling a light snap, probably fracturing it a little. He ignored the pain as he launched another fist into Denny's cheek, and so the fistfight began.
The two swung at everything and kept punching away even though both had searing pain in their faces. One particular hit sent Ace flying to the ground, and Denny leapt onto him and continued the fight. Ace quickly threw his weight and rolled them so he was on top of Denny, pummeling his fists into the kid's face while Denny blocked and counter-attacked. Even though Ace was sitting on Denny and had a major advantage, he still was getting hit pretty badly and only half of his thrown punches made impact.
They were both getting tired after ten solid minutes of this, and the adrenaline that had been pumping through their veins before died out quickly. After another couple of minutes, Ace actually paused, needing to take a breath, and Denny used the opportunity to shove him off and to the side. Having Ace sit on him didn't really put him at too much of a disadvantage, but the guy had been crushing his lungs and he wanted to breathe again.
Ace toppled off to the side and ended up flat on his back, a foot and a half from Denny. They both lay there, breathing heavily and staring blankly up at the moon. The sky was clear tonight, and countless stars were staring right back down at them, like they had been a form of entertainment.
It felt like thirty minutes had passed until someone spoke.
"I didn't mean it," Denny finally said, not looking away from the sky. Ace turned his face to glare at him, but the effort to glare was just too much at the moment. Besides, he could feel one of his eyes beginning to swell, and narrowing them hurt too much. He settled instead for just looking flatly at him.
"What?"
"About you. And the other Chambers kid. Eyeball. I didn't mean it when I said that the whole town thinks you two are… together," Denny explained softly. Ace stared at him, bewildered. The reason Denny saying that had sparked such anger in him was because… well, he knew how it looked. And they weren't like that, he and Eyeball, but it was the same as Lachance and the younger Chambers kid. That's how people just saw things. You get too close to someone in this town, and everyone thinks something's up.
"It doesn't matter," Ace said briskly, turning to glare back up at the sky. Denny shifted a little.
"Obviously it does. I've heard people trash talk about you before, but you'd either brush it off or get one of your… friends… to beat them up. You only fight when something really makes you mad," Denny commented, as if it was perfectly normal for the two to be talking about what Ace reacted to and what he didn't.
Ace swiveled his head to glare at him. "Have you been observing me or something?" he snapped. Denny gave him a pointed look.
"Of course not. I was just trying to apologize for saying that before. It had nothing to do with you and me, and I had no reason to say it." He paused and stared at Ace. "You could apologize for saying the things about my brother, but I won't feel too disappointed if you don't." There was a brief silence, and for a split second, Denny thought he was actually going to get an apology.
"Get used to disappointment in your life, Lachance. Even the town super star can't get everything he wants," Ace said mockingly. Denny sighed and ran a hand over his forehead, trying to massage the headache away. He'd have multiple bruises painting his face by tomorrow, and probably a thick black eye. His lip was also split, but the sickening stream of blood that had been dripping down his throat had thankfully stopped.
"I've already had disappointment. Lots of it. Parents who can't have anything less than the best from me, girls who want me to be the perfect Prince Charming boyfriend. And you," he added thoughtfully. Ace actually propelled himself up to his elbows, staring down at the other boy.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You said it yourself. I'm the town's Boy Perfect. You don't want to know how many teachers and families have asked me if there was any way I would be able to get through to you. To make you stop being a jackass." He sighed, either ignoring or not noticing Ace's bewildered stare. "And look how well that worked out."
Ace had no idea what to say. Finally, he stood up angrily and stomped over to stand next to Denny. Sensing danger, Denny pushed himself to his feet and met Ace eye to eye.
"People asked you to change me?" he demanded viciously. Denny actually winced at that. "What the hell is wrong with this town? They don't like the way someone is and they send a goddamn teenager to fix it?"
"I'm the same age as you," Denny reminded him flatly. Ace ignored him.
"Don't even get me started on you," Ace snapped. "You have been the bane of my existence since we were little. Even back then, everyone saw you as fricken perfect, a perfect child who would lead our future. Know what? This town has no right to try to fix me now. They didn't even give me a chance back then! I remember being seven years old and being kicked out of class because of who they thought I was going to be. So screw this town! And screw you!" He turned and began to stomp away, leaving Denny standing there, slightly dumbfounded. He watched the other boy walk away, but quickly made the decision to continue the conversation.
"Ace. Merrill, wait!" Denny jogged after him, easily catching up with his higher athletic ability level, and grabbed his shoulder to stop him. This resulted in Ace spinning around and punching him in the jaw again. Recoiling slightly but still holding onto the other boy, Denny rubbed at his face for a moment to ease the sharp pain and glared at Ace.
"Get off, Lachance."
"Stop being an asshole," Denny muttered, trying to squeeze the calm into Ace via his arm. Ace wriggled a little and swung out again, although Denny managed to duck this time.
"Listen, I have a knife in my pocket. I didn't want to bring it out, but if you don't let go I will hurt you," Ace stated firmly, and Denny knew he wasn't lying. Sighing, he let go, but immediately opened his mouth.
"Before you run away-" because he knew that would stop Ace "-just… just let me know that at least you won't hurt kids anymore." Ace gave him a dull look. "Fine, then think of it this way: pick on someone your own size."
"Like you?" Ace snapped. Denny frowned.
"I'd rather you fight with me on a daily basis than pick on little kids who couldn't fight off a Chihuahua," he said truthfully, and for once, Ace faltered. He stared at him for a couple of minutes, not quite sure how to react to that.
"You… if I lay off everyone who's younger than me, you'll fight me every single day?" he asked in disbelief. Denny nodded.
"Although I know you don't actually pick on kids every day. Usually you do it … what, three times a week?"
"And you'd fight me three times a week?" Denny nodded again. Ace glared. "What fun would that be? Why would I fight someone who would actually put up a fight?"
"You did it tonight."
"One time deal, Lachance."
"I could make you fight me. Then you wouldn't have the energy to pick on anyone else."
"No," Ace finalized, spinning on his heel and walking off, spitting a little into bushes as he passed.
He was almost out of range, so close to finally getting away from whatever nonsense that had been happening back there, but of course, once more, Lachance had to go and ruin it.
"Homo!"
It was one word, and it didn't even have to necessarily have been yelled at Ace, and it sort of sounded half-hearted, but he knew better. Whirling around immediately, he nearly stampeded back to the other boy, who was just standing there smiling a little, knowing how to get to Ace. And Christ almighty, did Ace hate that.
"What did you say?" he bit out. Denny smirked.
"I win."
And that would be the point where Ace lost it. Letting out a brief battle cry, he grabbed Denny by the shoulders of his shirt and rammed him up against the nearest tree, slamming him as hard as he could and feeling a slight thrill at the flash of pain across Denny's face.
"I. Am. Not. A. Goddamn. Homo." Ace growled, "Stop calling me that, and if you say anything that stupid to anyone in this town, or anywhere else, I will beat the living shit out of you. Got that? I am not queer."
"Says the guy pinning another guy to a tree in the deserted woods in the middle of the night," Denny commented casually. Instead of the immediate attack he had anticipated, Denny watched as Ace froze, staring at him like he had just realized what was going on.
And it was quite the peculiar situation. Ace Merrill, town badass, had Dennis Lachance, who's life was seemingly perfect and couldn't be held in higher regard by the entire town- pressed up against a tree. And they were very physically close. Ace had gotten into Denny's face out of anger, but now that he anger had temporarily rushed out of him, it was awkward and strange and… well, really queer.
"Did you lie?" Denny asked quietly. Ace didn't have to ask what he was referring to.
"Of course not!"
"It's okay if you did."
"I didn't!"
"It's fine if you're just confused," he added, and Ace couldn't reply. He was confused beyond belief. This was supposed to just be a quick fight that would either empower him some more or make him look like a pussy. But now it was completely obscure, completely not according to plan, and Ace had no idea what to do.
He was also confused about this Lachance kid. Ace had more than his fair share of girlfriends, and hadn't been a virgin since he was fourteen. He liked girls, and he liked sex with girls.
But girls didn't strike this flame in him like Lachance did. It was consuming, overwhelming, and Ace could swear he hated it yesterday.
But not right now.
Right now didn't exist, it wasn't part of reality, it wouldn't count tomorrow, and that's why Ace chose to jam his mouth against Denny's as violently as their fight had been.
To his surprise, Denny didn't punch his lights out.
He didn't shove him off, either. He kind of just gripped onto Ace's hips, curling the jean material in his fingers, and tugged on the Cobra encouragingly.
Ace should've pulled away, should've just walked away and never looked back, but the heat rushing though him and the wonderful dizzy feeling sponging through his blood was just too good to give up.
He would never admit to slipping his tongue out to twist and wrestle with Denny's. He also would say that they never started pulling at each other's shirts, clashing their hips together, and rubbing off on each other's legs. None of that happened, says Ace.
But then they heard a voice.
"Ace! Ace, you still out here?" It was Eyeball, they both could tell, and Ace pulled away immediately. Eyeball was probably at the edge of the woods, not wanting to go against Ace's demands and enter the woods, but concerned that the other Cobra didn't return to their hideout thirty minutes ago.
Ace turned to look at Denny, and regretted it immediately.
Besides the bloodied lip and the slowly forming bruises, Lachance looked… well, like he had just been sucking face with someone who knew how to do it. He was dazing at him through half-closed eyes, and his lips were parted slightly. Ace felt a rush of need, but pushed it away roughly when Eyeball called out for him again.
"Lachance, you tell anyone about this… about anything tonight, and-"
"I know, I know, you'll have me killed," Denny finished blankly. He nearly smiled. "I'll take it to my grave."
Ace nodded once, letting himself have one more look at the other boy, and then turned his back and sprinted out of the woods. Denny stood there, confused and happy and miserable and kind of in some odd dream world for another hour, gazing up at the moon occasionally.
They never spoke of it again. Ace ignored Denny and pretty much acted like he didn't even exist, and Denny only let a few curious glances slip the other boy's way before giving up and pretending that night hadn't happened.
And then there was the accident, and Denny kept his promise and took their secret to his grave.
Ace never visited the grave until a decade after the accident. He was twenty-eight. Denny was still seventeen.
He never planned on visiting Denny's grave, but he kind of accidently ended up there one night after his latest girlfriend broke up with him. He hadn't been drinking (yet) but he stumbled through the graveyard and tripped over pebbles and thatches of weeds, eventually seeing a small, rounded headstone that had LACHANCE carved into it. He walked closer, stomach shivering when he saw the name underneath. It was Denny's, and the rush of mixed emotions nearly made Ace vomit all over the place. But he swallowed and clumsily knelt to the ground, sitting beside the strip of land where the coffin would be six feet beneath him. He hesitated, but reached out and brushed the grass growing above Denny with his fingers.
And that would be when it hit him. Everything at once, from his crappy childhood and unstable life as a gang member, to being the town's most hated and not knowing what he wanted in life. Everything came, including the vivid and heartbreaking memory from that night nearly eleven years ago. Ace sobbed into the grass, slumping sideways so he curled up next to Denny.
"I'm sorry, you perfect jackass," he muttered. "I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry I was a dumbass teenager who didn't know what he wanted in life, and I'm sorry it ended up like this."
He let himself cry his heart out, not having cried since he was about six years old. It hurt, but it felt like a half-ton weight had been lifted from him. For an entire two hours, Ace stayed in a small ball next to the one boy who made him question everything.
When he couldn't cry anymore, he sat up and sniffled, feeling immensely better. Not just about that night and how his girlfriend had split, but about his life. It was still far from perfect, and he hadn't really been much more successful than he was as a teenager, but right about then he was feeling pretty okay.
"I probably won't come visit again," he admitted. "This kind of just… happened."
He was tempted to trace his fingers in the stone-carved letters that spelled out Denny's name. But he was still Ace Merrill, well-known badass and not at all a sentimental sissy. At least, he had thought he wasn't. Even so, crying in a heap on a boy's grave who he made out with once was pretty goddamn girly, even if slightly twisted. So instead he clenched his fingers and let himself move around until he found a comfortable lying position, and slowly drifted to sleep.
The next morning would be the closest he'd ever get to waking up next to Denny, and just thinking about that almost made him start crying again. But he took a shaky breath and slowly stood, wincing as multiple joints gave a good-morning crack. He brushed the bits of dirt off of his clothes and shifted his jacket, looking down at the headstone.
"I won't…" he had to clear his throat, as his voice had come out surprisingly scratchy. "I won't come back here. There's no point." He prodded the headstone lightly with the toe of his shoe. "I guess I'll see you on the other side though, right? My life's crazy enough that I might be up there sooner than you think." He frowned. "Although I might not make it to Heaven with you. I'm not exactly a saint like you were." He almost laughed, but it came out as a trembling smile instead. "But maybe you can come visit me in Hell. Just for a day. I… I'd like that," he said softly. Shaking his head suddenly and instinctively putting on a sneer, he spun on his heel and took a few steps away, but something held him back. He glanced back at the grave, and then up to the bright morning sky.
"I can try to be better for the rest of my life, if it means I could get up there with you. Just to fight with you again, so don't get any ideas," he added hastily, but he knew it was a lie. He sighed and stared back down at the headstone, smiling faintly. Finally, after running through the thoughts in his head and making sure he said everything he had wanted to, Ace took a deep breath and walked off, head held high.
"I miss you, you stupid, prissy, perfect boy," he called out, ignoring the other few civilians who had taken a moment from mourning to stare at him. He grinned at the sky, mentally laughing at how his boisterous antics still made people stare. And he strolled out of the graveyard without ever looking back.