2am and she calls him. He's still awake. Within minutes, she flings herself to him, glasses askew and stained with tears, hands clinging to his black wife-beater tank, sobbing into his chest. His arms snake around her, his blond head drops and his forehead touches the crown of her dark hair. His eyes carefully watch the surroundings. He doesn't spot another blond mop of hair around.
"Can you help me unravel my latest mistake? I don't love him," She says, voice broken and lacking her usual strength. She lacks her emotional distance. She's gone in too deep. He can smell alcohol and pineapple lingering on her breath. She's gone out and shared at least a few shots of pineapple-favored vodka – her favorite kind, SKYY Vodka – with him when all better judgment told her don't go. And arguments occur in public places; he can't help it if other ladies are attracted to him. And she can't help being a bit jealous.
The cards had predicted this.
He knows it and holds her even tighter.
Winter was never her season. And she's freezing, shaking, trembling into his embrace, but she hasn't complained once about it being cold. She's still tipsy. (He's seen her drunk and it's not like this, he reminds himself.) Ace's eyes gaze down into her hair, inhaling her scent, half-wishing she hadn't been with him. It is the same scene replayed in front of his apartment's open door, in which he attempts to comfort his best friend of the opposite gender – who was in an on-and-off relationship with his other best friend.
Ace sighs and lifts his right hand to push his door closed. It is the same and won't change. He's in love with this best friend, but she's in love with someone else.
"And breathe, just breathe." He attempts to soothe her, his voice gentle and loving while his lips frown, "Can you do that for me, Queen?"
She nods against his chest.
"I don't love—" Ace cuts her off with a gentle shush.
She lies. Just because she had alcohol in her system, it didn't mean everything she spoke was the truth. He knew that. The cards predicted it. Ace would always be there to help Queen pick up the pieces, but she'd always turn back around to make the same mistake again. She'd go back to him, back to Nine. And Ace would remain the best friend, never making that leap across the chasm to her potential boyfriend ladder.
"And breathe, just breathe." He repeats softly.
Disclaimer: I don't own the song this was inspired by or the game these characters are from.
Heavily inspired by Breathe (2am) by Anna Nalick, it's just a short little thing I HAD to write when I heard the song. I know it's a bit vague, but that's how I wanted it since the basis of it is cliché – save for the fact that the best friend in this case won't get the girl here. I know, sad day for Ace but I ship Nine/Queen too much. D: Use your imaginations to fill in the blanks of this little love triangle if you'd like. Please let me know if you liked it or not.