CHAPTER 6
I realized waking up that I was forever in love with hugging Ace around her waist. She fit in my arms so comfortably, it took a while to realize I wasn't in dreamworld anymore. The back of her shoulders rested against my chest in my embrace. And, well, I could go on and on about how I loved being like this, but it's really obvious from the fact that I stayed awake like this for another hour or so. I don't need to explain much more.
Carefully, I let my fingers wrap around her wrist, my thumb tracing over the small white faint scars. She rustled a bit but was still asleep. I pressed a light, chaste kiss against the side of her neck then unraveled myself from her to sit up against the bed frame. There had been something pushing at the back of my mind lately and I hadn't given it much of a chance to surface— until now.
My mystery girl. I hadn't thought of her in a while. And it had been a very long while. I felt almost guilty for how long it had been since I last thought about her. There had been all sorts of things I'd wondered the weeks following that first meeting with my mystery girl. What she looked like now? If her prettiness endured through the years? How sick she was? Hell, if she even was still alive?
With all those cords and tubes she had to carry around with her and the sickly complexion of her skin-an image I still clearly had in my head- I could tell even with my eleven year old head of knowledge that it was highly unlikely she survived.
I went back once. I know, I wasn't supposed to. That wasn't part of the bet. But, I did anyway.
I was twelve when I went back to that hospital, desperate to know if that girl survived. But of course, I couldn't find out anything since I never really got her name. I know, stupid. But a boy could only wish.
So, likewise, I was miserable for the most of middle and high school that I would probably never see her again even with the best luck a guy like me could get—and I wasn't usually the lucky sort. All the girls I dated in those teenage years never lasted for long before they got bored of my depressing mood swings. I never blamed them.
But, soon, bigger things came into my life, including repaying my full debt to smelly Gabe and making a living between me and Tristan. And my mystery girl got pushed into the back of my mind out of my worries. I don't know why I was thinking about her now of all moments. It seemed weird that I was thinking about her with Ace right next to me. Geez, I didn't want to be thinking about mystery girl when I had the girl I was definitely falling in love with now sleeping in my bed. This was the worst time and yet the image of mystery girl nagged at my mind.
I loved my mystery girl, always have.
But, she was more of a memory, whereas the girl next to me was very much real. And I didn't want her to run away like those other girls did.
I lifted my hand and swept my fingers lightly through her soft bronzey hair, curling my fingers around a lock. I knew nothing about her but the fact that her name was Ace and she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen-and that was putting it mildly. Was that wise of me? It didn't give much of a basis to our relationship other than the fact that I was completely and utterly attracted to her in every way possible.
The smarter Percy would break it off before things got too much to handle. I was setting up myself for disaster. And yet, I didn't care. How pathetic was I? I was completely under this girl's spell. Whatever effect she had on me was absolute.
Ace turned around so that she was lying on her stomach. Her face completely buried in the pillow, I smiled as I watched her wake up.
"Morning." I whispered.
She lifted up her head, her hair mussed and her beautiful eyes squinting a bit from the sleep that was still wearing off, "I'm going to actually knife you this time."
I laughed knowing she was talking about our first meeting where she had a switchblade to my neck.
A smile of her own spread across her face as she laid her head back down on the pillow her face half buried in the pillow. The morning sun rays were shining through the window and cast her in brilliant light as if she seriously did come straight from heaven-a halo running not only at the top of her head but illuminating the sunkissed, smooth skin of her neck and shoulders. Her half asleep smile fell a bit finding my hand still firmly gripping her wrist.
I let go, "Sorry." I said in haste as she lifted herself up, propping her head up onto her elbow.
Instead of closing up like she usually did when I picked on something that could possibly be related to her past, she shook her head with a reassuring smile, "No, it's fine. I'm surprised you caught it. It's pretty hard to see."
Well, she now knows how closely I watch her. I'm such a creep.
Ace lifted her slender arm to inspect her faint scars more closely, as if she just noticed them being there, "I was sick when I was little. Very sick."
My eyes widened a bit, "Sick? How sick?"
"Sick enough my parents were preparing for my funeral."
Ace, sick? She looked as healthy and vibrant as could be.
I couldn't really wrap my head around it.
I shook my head, "Okay, this is way too depressing a topic for a Saturday morning."
She gave me a smile then leaned over, placed her hand to my cheek and placed a kiss on my lips which could be felt all the way to my toes, "I know, I'm sorry."
"Is it okay for me to ask how you survived?"
She let herself fall onto her back onto the bed again, her eyes to the ceiling. There was a history of past pains behind that silver brilliance. I had an urge to heal each and every one of them in however way I could. I laid back down as well, but lay on my side facing her with my head propped up on my hand.
"It was a desperate last attempt at saving my life. One last operation. It was a 20 to 80 percent ratio of me surviving," She reached up a hand to press against her heart—a gesture that looked involuntary, "And it turned out to have worked."
Her eyes fluttered close.
And just like a punch in the face, my eyes widened. I felt like I was hit by something. There was that ... nagging in my head.
It couldn't be, could it?
No, fate was a bitch to me.
If she was who I thought she was—that sort of thing didn't happen to me. Ever. It was just too. Fortunate. And I would never describe anything about me to be -fortunate.
She opened her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair, "It was a miracle really. I was in a coma for weeks after the operation."
I was silent, my eyes on her, not daring to look away.
It wasn't. It wasn't possible.
"You okay?" Her concerned soothing voice interfered my warring thoughts.
I smiled, "Yeah." I said, dispelling all the stupid things in my head.
Ace smiled back, "Sorry, I'm being depressing again."
"No, I like it. I mean, I like you talking about that—you know, being open to me." God, talk about idiotic blabbering.
Her smile reached her eyes in that moment.
I dispelled every conflicting, warring thing in my head and let myself enjoy her loving sweet kisses against my chest and neck.
The chance she was who I thought she was—one in a million.
And I left it at that.
My mystery girl was precious to me. She saved me in a moment of tragedy. She was my inspiration to never give up on life. My mystery girl had a special place in my heart and she always would.
But, I was fast falling for a girl who matched her in mystery.
And God help me if I wasn't already in deep.
"I don't know, Percy. Do you even know where this girl comes from? You don't even know her name."
Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, looking at me with worry and a bit of jealousy written in her eyes. We were in the campus library and she was tutoring me like she usually did. And the conversation had veered inevitably to the party and Ace.
"It doesn't matter to me. As long as she's with me."
Rachel shook her head, "You're smarter than this, Percy."
I let out a sigh, "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
"Percy."
"Rachel, please. Can we get back to this?" I said, pointing down at my notes that were giving me major hand cramps.
"I just, don't want you to get hurt, Percy. She looks too familiar."
Jealous Rachel didn't know how to leave something alone. It was getting irritating. I let out a sigh and leaned back in my chair, running a hand through my hair, "What do you mean she looks familiar?"
"I don't know. Thalia thinks so too."
"You've probably seen her at the club." I said, waving it off.
"I'm being serious, Percy. This girl could be a con artist or something."
I lifted my brow at her, a smirk on my face, "Really? Rachel, come on. Let it go."
"She's your girlfriend and you don't even know her name."
Girlfriend. That sure did sound good. That angelic creature was my girlfriend.
I didn't notice I was smiling til I saw the glare Rachel was giving me.
I shrugged, "What?"
"I just don't want to see you hurt, Percy."
I gave Rachel a smile, "I appreciate it, but your worries are unnecessary, alright?"
"Fine."
"Can we go back to studying now?"
"Yes."
"Thank you."
Rachel still gave me worried glances once in a while that told me she was still thinking about it, but I ignored her the rest of the time.
Classes had been cancelled for the rest of the day so I made my way over again to the club like I usually did now after school. I walked in and found Ace standing with a guy with a clipboard—they looked to be staring at the walls and discussing something.
As I came closer, it became clear that the man was a contractor, seeing other construction workers walking around.
"We could move that over a bit to create a bit more space. I want more lounge rooms on this side."
"Okay, Ace, but I got to tell you it's going to take an additional few weeks charge to get that done."
"Fine, we'll go with that, Tom." She said with a nod.
Tom nodded then left to yell at some workers slacking off in the other corner.
"Hey, what's all this?" I asked from beside her, making her jump.
"Hey." She answered with a smile and a kiss, "Luke put me in charge of remodeling the whole club. Cool, right?"
"Yeah, definitely cool." I said with a smile of my own.
She turned back to the walls, writing something down on a note sheet then looking back to me, "What are you doing here so early?"
"Classes were cancelled and I thought I would surprise you." I said with raised brows trying to be playful. But, Ace seemed to be in business mode at the moment.
"Great, you want to help?" She didn't let me answer before I was handed a measuring tape and a roll of blue tape, "Hand me tape when I need it." Ace stepped up onto a nearby stool and started measuring up the lengths.
"Isn't this the contractor's job? To measure and stuff?" I asked, trying not to stare too hard at her perfect ass.
"Oh, I offered. And Tom obviously doesn't mind that I do this part, especially since I know what I'm doing."
"You've remodeled buildings before? I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if you did."
"No, I read a lot on architecture. It's a strict hobby I have."
"I can see that." I said with a smile. She turned to look down at me and simply stared for a while with her trademark mesmerizing silver gaze.
"What?"
She shook her head, "Nothing, just hand me another piece of tape." She held out her hand and I ripped off another piece of tape for her. This tape giving job of mine went on for a while until I got pretty damn bored. As much as I loved how much she loved this hobby of hers, I wanted Ace out of her business mode.
So, I got an idea and folded the tape into a crude shape of a heart while she wasn't looking. Then when her hand reached back for another piece of tape, I gave her the tape heart. She took it not realizing until she tried placing it on the wall. Ace turned her head to me and I broke out into a chuckle. Her lips were pressed in annoyance though her eyes were radiantly clear with amusement.
God, she was hot and she obviously appreciated my cheesy love trinkets.
I gave her a regular piece of tape this time, but in doing so, my foot jilted the stool leg a bit.
Ace lost her balance and fell against me, toppling both of us over before I knew it.
My head was jarring and Ace's knee was pressing against somewhere private that was giving me legit awful pain.
"Ace! Ow. Pain."
"Oh whoops." She lifted her leg away from me and got off me all together, looking apologetically but also amusedly at me. She touched my head where I hit it against the floor, "You okay?"
"Yeah, just give me a second."
She was trying very hard not to laugh, "It's the universe telling you never to give me another heart made of tape."
I looked at her with an appalled expression, "I made that heart with my very own-hands" I said, dumbly not able to think of anything more amazing.
Ace laughed, naturally making me smile, "Let's go in the back. I have ice."
She helped me up and took me by the arm towards the back. The other construction workers didn't seem to care or notice our fall. People must fall all the time in construction.
"That heart was one of a kind," I said as I followed her. She simply looked back at me with that same smugly amused expression that made my own heart lurch in my chest.
"Right." she said.
"You'll never find anything like it anywhere else in the world,"
"Whatever you say, Percy."
I looked at her endearingly, then took a seat on her bed as she took out an ice pack from the freezer. She took it and tossed it to me, "You need another one?"
"For what?" I asked-then I saw her laughing eyes and I was red full in the face, "Don't mock! My crotch really hurts because of you."
"So you do need one?" She asked with a raised brow.
"NO."
She shut the fridge then went over to where I was holding the ice pack to my head. My eyes widened as she got on the mattress in the hottest way possible and then onto my lap. The same amused smile was on her lips as she pressed a kiss against my cheek then moved achingly down my jaw.
I felt like my chest was never going to beat again.
"You're hot when you blush." She murmured against my neck.
"I'm not the blushing type. It's all your fault." I said, trying to keep my cool.
She pulled away from my neck then smiled beautifully before pressing a kiss against my lips.
"Plus blushing isn't very manly." I said a bit entranced after another kiss.
That made her laugh, "It is on you, don't worry."
"So, I'm only hot when I blush?" I purse my lips into a pout, setting down the ice pack onto the mattress beside me.
"Do you think I would be kissing you if you weren't." The sexiest smirk was on her lips as she looked at me like I was the most interesting thing to look at in the world. Her fingers lightly traced up and down my bicep, setting my nerves on fire.
I laughed, bringing my arms around the back of her thighs to bring her closer, "How shallow of you."
She smiled then pressed her lips against mine again long and satisfying- kissing my bottom lip then moving up to nip at my top lip. Good Lord, she could move her expert lips like a devil.
"Let's go over to my place." I said, pulling away from her lips.
Her smile was the only answer I needed.
Bronzish hair.
Silver Blue eyes.
Beautiful, entrancing smile.
Graceful elegance.
I woke up with a start. Fortunately, I didn't startle Ace awake. The last thing I remember was holding Ace close and playing with her hair as she fell asleep in my arms.
Her cool soft fingers grazed over my bare chest a bit as she stirred. This time, reality was better than any dream.
My heart stirred as her eyes opened as she woke up soundly. She smiled seeing me looking at her then traced her fingers down the ridges of my torso under the sheet covers.
I resisted a groan. I felt the soft pressure of her lips against the middle of my chest where my heart beat like rapid-fire. She looked up at me with another smile of a goddess, "Morning."
"Morning." I said back.
She slid off me and then down from the bed, "Can I use your phone? I have to call Luke that I'm going to be late."
"Yeah, table drawer." I said, not completely coherent to be making full sentences.
I heard her open it as I closed my eyes again to sleep away the remnants of grogginess. After a few moments of silence, I opened my eyes and looked over. I ran a hand through my hair. Then, I waited for her to say something. But her beautiful face was frozen in suspension, her wide eyes locked on something in my drawer.
I sat up, "Hey, you alright?"
She finally blinked and that seemed to get her out of her reverie. Her eyes moved to look at me. She was trying hard to hide what she was feeling, but the emotions were practically warring in her eyes. It was a mixture of disbelief and grief.
"Ace, what's wrong?" I reached out to her, but she took a step back.
"I should go." She said so softly, I barely caught it.
"Ace—seriously, you're scaring me."
"I really need to leave. I'm so sorry." She said breathless—her eyes full of sorrow looking at me, then left. Her words sounded way too final for my comfort.
"Ace!" I tried to follow her, but she'd gone already. I stared at the pavement outside my apartment, hands in my hair, wondering what the hell got her so spooked. Running back up my steps, up to my apartment again. I rushed over to my room again and yanked open the drawer. My cell was there. Nothing out of the ordinary really.
What had got her so-
My eyes then fell to the handkerchief I kept neatly folded in the corner.
Holy ... shit...
Without a second glance, I ran out as if the devil himself was behind me.
a/n:
Oh sheet. I know, I'm terrible for ending it there.
Don't worry too much though the next update is coming up very soon.
Okay, so I've been listening to this one song on repeat: Brandyn Burnette x Win & Woo-Underneath
Imagine Percabeth kissing to this. OHOhoho. The hotness is forreals
And on that note, I'm going to end my fangirling here.
See you guys in the next chapp.
