~ The Things We Do for Love ~

CECILY

I talked.

I told her everything that had happened, without mentioning Ace's past. It was something too private and although he didn't trust me completely, I would neither tell anyone nor use that information against him. I was not like him.

I saw Alex's facial expression change from frowning to biting her nails and then looking utterly sad.

"Wow… I had no idea…", she said when I finished.

"I don't know what to do, Alex. I'm just so confused. He's not the guy I thought he was."

And Aro's words were like a dagger inside my heart, giving me the rest.

Alex got up and held her hand in front of my face. "Stand up, Cecily."

I hesitated a moment but obeyed. She pulled me to my mirror and stood behind me, grabbing my lipstick from my table.

"Stay there", she said and went with my lipstick to my mirror, drawing seven arrows pointing in the mirror at the reflection-me. She started writing words next to each arrow.

Beautiful. Strong. Creative. Kind. Worthy. Compassionate. Selfless.

And at the bottom, she wrote:

I love you, Cecily Martesse

I blinked several times and let my eyes rest on each word.

"What–"

"You are Cecily Martesse!", Alex said and grabbed my hands. "Remember when Andrew Finch hit you in kindergarten? You hit him back and he ran like a crybaby to his Mom with his snot dangling from his nose. Or when you broke your leg? Or when Noah accidentally hit you with a wooden stick in your eye and you had to get some stitches? You survived emotional pain with your brother being in jail. You can survive anything. Because you're strong." She went to the mirror and pointed to each arrow. "You're kind. Selfless. Beautiful and compassionate. And worthy."

She smiled and wiped my tear away.

"Don't let anyone get under your skin. If he doesn't see you like that, he's not worth it."

I hugged her tightly.

This was my Alex. The one who understood me more than anyone else.

And she was right. Since when did I turn into a lovesick whiner?

She clapped her hands. "Okay, I don't know if you're hungry, but I'm starving. Do you have ice cream?", she asked.

"Yeah, sure."

We headed to the fridge and made a medley of almost every flavor we'd found.

With every bite, I felt better.

"Movie?", I suggested and she nodded.

We agreed on an action movie with lots of gunfighting and violence. Seemed suitable. By the time it was somewhere in the middle of the night, we mutually decided to not go to any lectures tomorrow.

"How about shopping?", she proposed.

I thought about it. Summer was coming and I needed some new clothes.

"Sure."

The next day, we drove to the Beverly Center.

As we got inside Forever 21, Alex put her hand on my shoulder. "I've got a surprise for you."

Before I could ask, I heard some familiar voices.

My heart warmed up as I saw Ruby, Cassy, and Anna standing between some hallstands.

"Guys! What are you doing here?", I beamed and then I turned to Alex. "You called them, didn't you?"

She grinned. "Mh-hm."

"Of course she did!", Cassy said and threw her arm around my shoulder. "She told us that you were down – not that we didn't figure that out, Cecy, I mean, come on. Allergy? Lamest excuse ever."

"What Cassy means", Ruby added and bumped her elbow into her ribs. "Is that we sensed that you weren't very happy lately and Alex told us that it had something to do with Ace."

Cassy already opened her mouth, but Anna cut in. "We're not here to ask you about what happened. We're only here as support and shopping advisors."

My friends were the best.

"Thank you. All of you", I choked out, touched by their help.

Once each one of us held at least three bags, we headed to the next lingerie store.

Lingerie that seemed quite uncomfortable.

I walked to the "normal" type of underwear. I should maybe buy a few. The ones I had were comfy but too old.

Cassy sighed next to me. "Urgh! Your taste in underwear is horrible!"

I pssht her when others stared at us.

"What? It's true. Your breast need to be pushed up and your ass is great, but you wear the wrong panties. Don't tell me you still have Snoopy–"

"Okay, okay! I got it!"

She chose a few underwear that were rather thin leaves, barely covering what needed to be covered.

I guess my breasts would look bigger in those push-ups and it would be nice to have matching underwear.

"Don't forget what I said yesterday", Alex whispered to me when I paid. She winked and I smiled at her.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

I knew I would. I needed to be fine.

Pharms and Mi-bio sucked butt nuts the next day.

Some students fired tons of questions since it was the last time before the exam, but most of us weren't paying attention. Cass was on Instagram, Rubes swiping on Tinder and I was trying to keep my mind far way from Ace. Harder than I'd imagined.

Once I was back home, I prepared dinner for my sister and me.

"Cecily, don't forget to bring me to the train station tomorrow", she sighed.

Umm…

"Yeah, yeah, I didn't forget."

Okay, I had totally forgotten. Yesterday, Mom had called and told me that her ballet teacher had planned a weekend trip to Oakland to see some ballet performance with the girls.

She eyed me. "Sure thing. I know you. You totally forgot it."

I pinched her cheek lightly. "I didn't, okay?"

Since exams were coming at us like an avalanche, there wasn't even a party after we all passed the first one.

Some girls had a meltdown a few days ago in the middle of a lab course from all that pressure. Rayden wasn't helpful, either. He was getting on our nerves with due dates and reports and tests.

And the most difficult exam would come at the end. Clinical chemistry. Great. At least, there was going to be a party at the beach after that one.

I couldn't wait to get inside my car and drive home to… study. Argh!

When I arrived at the parking lot, I saw someone leaning against my door.

It was Aro.

He wore a pair of blue jeans that fitted his slender body perfectly, a pair of dark leather boots and his usual denim jacket. His straight, dark hair was combed neatly to a small ponytail which I usually didn't like on guys, but it suited him surprisingly well.

He looked very handsome.

He smiled warmly as I made my way to him and unlocked my car.

"Hey", he said, taking a step to me.

For a moment, I froze, but then he brought my hand up to his lips, and I really froze.

He looked up and as his eyes met mine, he smirked.

"I watched that in a movie once."

Despite my shock, I chuckled. "Oh, and that movie doesn't happen to be Titanic, right?"

He laughed. "Yep, I think it was Titanic", he said and opened my front passenger's door.

"Um, where are we going?", I asked.

"Grab a bite." He shrugged one shoulder. "Or have you forgotten about my invitation?"

"Oh… no, I didn't but I thought you were joking."

He tilted his head while mine was debating all the pros and cons of going somewhere with him, especially when I still had study and Zazzy needed to be fed…

"Why would I joke?"

When I didn't answer, he groaned. "Come on. It'll be fun. I'm sure you must be starving", he added.

I sighed. This was not a date. Also, I wanted to repay him for being so nice to me when I had cried.

I got in and handed him the keys.

"You really need another car by the way. This one's shit", he said as we drove.

Ouch.

I knew my Ford was far away from fancy but that didn't hurt me.

It was like this car was tied to Ace. The way we met, the way all that mess in my head started.

"Hey, everything okay?" He put his hand on my thigh.

"Yeah", I lied, and cringed.

He noted it too, and removed his hand. This situation couldn't be any more awkward.

"So, how was your day?", he asked, and my eyebrows nearly met my forehead. He'd never asked me that.

I shrugged. "Same as yours probably."

"Really? You got puked at?"

I snickered. "No. Ew. What happened?"

"I wanted to take impressions and the patient puked over my shirt. Don't worry, I took a shower."

Nice.

I giggled, relaxing a little.

"So, where are we going?", I asked.

"Foxy's. Ever been there before?"

I shook my head, but Ruby told me it was nice there.

He parked my car and as we entered, I mutely agreed with Ruby. It was nothing spectacular, but it was cozy, and right now, I liked cozy.

"Come, I've made a reservation", he said and took my hand.

"What? How did you know I would've said yes?"

Aro shrugged his shoulders as we walked to our table. "Who could resist my charm?", he said and wiggled his eyebrows.

I laughed.

He was charming.

Ace is charming too.

Shit.

I bit my lower lip, trying to focus on anything else.

Huh, speaking of names. "Aro, is your name an abbreviation?"

"Yup. It's Aaron, but I don't like it. Aro's better."

I smiled. "Both are fine."

After ordering our meals, we continued chatting about random things.

Without asking him, he told me about his family. I saw him smiling when he told me he was soon going to visit them.

It was… sweet. I didn't think he could talk so openly about his private life.

We finished our meal and ordered some divine cheesecake before I realized how late it had gotten. And I still needed to study, reality reminded me.

He waved to the waitress.

"You don't need to pay", I said, already taking out my purse.

"'Course. This is a date, after all."

He smirked slyly as I narrowed my eyes on him. "I never told you I would go on a date with you."
"That's why I didn't tell you it was a date."

Against my will, I grinned.

"Then, let me drive you home at least", I suggested when we got inside my car.

"'kay. Garden Grove Street", he said. "Hundred sixteenth."

"Huh, sounds familiar…", I mumbled.

"Sure, it's the frat house. I live there", he said and leaned back, feet on my dashboard.

I frowned, pinching his thigh. "Feet off the board."

He rolled his eyes but obliged. Quite an improvement. He used to do it all the time, no matter how much I'd yell at him.

"Why do you live there?", I asked, my eyes focused on the road.

"Rents at the dorms are expensive." His voice turned hard and I wanted to slap myself for asking. I knew he didn't come from a rich family. Me, neither, but from what I had heard about Aro, he used to have a hard time. If he hadn't a scholarship, he would never be able to study at all.

When we arrived, it was like last time. Drunk people shouting, red cups scattered on the ground, loud music.

Aro sighed. "Every weekend the same shitty guys. Man, I hate that."

"I'm sorry you have to live here", I said quietly. Although this house was big, I didn't believe it could be calm in there.

"Thanks for dinner", I said as we got out.

"No need to. It had been a pleasure", he said. With a smile on his face, he came closer to me.

And closer.

"I really had a great time with you tonight, Cecily." His voice was low.

"Me too–"

Without hesitation, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to my lips.

When he placed his hand on my back, my eyes closed. I focused on his lips and his hand making its way around my waist.

Heat was rising inside my stomach.

But I broke away.

"Sorry…", I gasped.

"It's okay", he said as if he just read my mind. "We can take it slow." His tone was gentle.

I nodded and watched his tongue running along his bottom lip.

"Good night", he said before he headed to the door and disappeared inside the house.

I started the engine and found myself touching my lips, trying vainly not to picture a pair of ice blue eyes.

Back at home, I spent the rest of my evening reviewing the last tutorials in my textbook.

My thoughts were drifting. I sighed for the umpteenth time and focused once again on the chapter I was reading – in vain. Maybe I should just go to sleep.

One last time, I went downstairs to check if I had locked all the doors when I heard a thud against the door.

"Cecily!", someone shouted.

My heart sank to my boots as the bang intensified.

"Ceeeeecily!"

Before he started yelling, I knew who it was.

"CEC!"

I reached for the knob and as soon as the door flung open, I saw Ace leaning against the frame, a bag with a bottle of liquor in his hand.

"Cec", he repeated and touched my cheek.

"What–?"

I couldn't finish the sentence when he stepped in and threw his arms around me. He buried his head into the crook of my neck, his cold breath tickling me.

"I missed you, baby. God, I missed you so much…", he mumbled. I pushed him off by his shoulders and forced him to look me in the eyes.

He grinned and by the look of his eyes he sure had more than just this bottle.

"What are you–"

Again, I couldn't finish the sentence. He leaned forward and placed his lips on mine.

It was like an explosion.

His lips the dynamite and mine the match that caused the blast.

His strong hand wrapped around my waist and the other cupped my cheek. His lips were cold from the liquor and the taste stinging, but I didn't mind. The sky could crumble, and I wouldn't mind.

I missed him too, I realized.

The thought struck my mind like a flash, but I had never been that sure. I didn't care about definitions or rationality.

His hand wandered to my neck, and I craved to feel him nearer. My arms moved to his shoulder, feeling every square inch of his muscles contracting.

His mouth was hungry and kisses thirsty as he walked backward with our lips still attached. With one hand still on my waist and the other on my back, Ace guided me to our living room where he stumbled over my feet, making me fall backwards on the couch.

"No… we can't…", I moaned but my lips betrayed me when they found their way back on his.

He groaned my name. In pleasure or frustration, I didn't know.

I wish I could just stop time. To be here in his arms and touching him meant more to me than anything else right now.

"Cec… baby…", he said and looked me in the eyes. Eyes that were pleading me, eyes that were looking at me so affectionately it made me almost think there was… more.

It's not real.

My mind was getting clearer and my reasonable voice louder.

He leaned forward to kiss me again but I placed my fingers on his mouth, forcing myself to sit.

"Ace, what are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"I took the subway", he slurred.

I couldn't believe he even managed to walk from the subway station to our house.

He screwed his eyes shut, his fingers running along his temples. He wanted to get up but lost his balance and fell on the floor.

I'd never seen Ace moving ungracefully.

"Ace!" I tried to lift him up, but he was heavy as hell.

"Ace, wake up! Ace!"

"Don't yell… I'm awake…", he muttered.

Yeah, I could see that. I sighed. He couldn't go anywhere right now. "Come on, you can sleep in the guest room", I said and tried to get him up.

He mumbled something I didn't understand but luckily, he leaned only half of his weight on me.

We arrived upstairs, and I ushered him to Stefan's room. I helped him laying down on the bed and took off his shoes while his eyelids shut.

I watched his breathings slow down and features soften until he seemed completely relaxed.

As I arrived at the door, I turned around one last time to look at his peaceful face. "Cec?", he mumbled and opened his bloodshot eyes.

"Yes?"

He blinked once, his face in a deep frown, before opening his mouth and I wished I hadn't replied.

"I hate you."

With that he turned around and continued sleeping.

I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling for over an hour.

A million questions ran through my mind and I cursed myself for not asking him one of them.

Why was he here? Why was he drunk? Did he really miss me? Did he really sleep with Karen?

Did he really… hate me?

I buried my face into my pillow and prayed for some sleep. Of course, my mind didn't want to shut down. No matter how hard I tried to avoid him those past days, he ended up coming to my house. As if we were two magnets.

Shoving the blanket away from me, I got up. If I was not going to sleep now, then maybe a TV show was going to make me feel tired.

As I passed the guest room, I stopped. Maybe he was already gone?

My fingers moved to the door handle and I found myself inside the room.

It was dark in there, but I saw that he was still sleeping soundly.

I was pathetic in every way.

And probably I was going to hate myself tomorrow, but at this moment, I just wanted to be close to him.

I walked to the bed and laid next to him.

It was quiet and the only thing I focused on was how he breathed. When my eyes began to close, I felt him shifting next to me. A heavy arm moved to my waist and his eyes slowly began to open.

"Sorry, I woke you", he said, his voice raspy.

I shook my head. "No, you didn't."

He mustered me. "Why are you here?", he asked.

Good question. "I can't sleep", I answered honestly.

I rolled to my side, my back facing him. I closed my eyes, praying that he would stop asking me anything.

When he buried his face between my neck and shoulder, time stopped.

"Stay", he whispered in my ear, rubbing the tip of his nose against my skin.

His arm was getting heavier, his breathing deeper, rhythmic. I watched him fall back to sleep.

My body relaxed.

I woke up and found our bodies almost in the same position as when we fell asleep. Except that I wasn't on my side of the bed anymore. In fact, I wasn't on the bed.

My head was laying across his chest, and I could feel his steady heartbeat under my cheek. I looked up to his face and was relieved to see him still being asleep. His hand was around my waist, holding me tight to his body.

A sweet, hot fire washed over my skin and I squeezed my eyes shut, enjoying this for a moment. There was something intimate about being this entangled.

As if we were lovers.

But we weren't, I had to remind myself.

Carefully, I slipped out of his grip, my breath in my throat and closed the door behind me.

It was early, and I didn't know what to do today except studying, and now waiting for Ace to wake up and get out.

I didn't know if it would have been better if he had just left before I woke up or if the heartache of him leaving me would have crushed me. Either way, my fairytale had ended. Last night was like a blur and I still couldn't believe he was standing at my front porch.

I decided to go for a run along the beach, so I slipped in my sportswear and left the house. Maybe when I would come back, he'd be gone.

And once again, I didn't know if this thought was making me happy or sad.

Air filled the depths of my lungs as I started running along the beach. Normally, I would have plugged my earphones and plunged into my music, but this time I wanted to hear the waves.

By the time I arrived at home, my stomach grumbled.

I opened the door and saw Ace sitting at our kitchen table.

He got up. "I know you don't want to talk to me", he started.

"Ace–"

"No, wait. Just let me ask you something first", he cut in. He ran his hands through his hair.

"Did… something happen last night?"

My heart ached. "What do you mean?"

He squeezed his eyes shut. Apparently, he couldn't bear looking at me in the morning without feeling sick. Or disgusted.

"I mean, did I say something last night? Did I do something… to you?", he sighed and finally looked at me. "I just remember waking up in the night and you… you were there."

Seeing his worried look and hearing that our conversation and kiss seemed to have fallen in oblivion made me want to jog until I wouldn't feel my legs anymore.

"No, nothing happened", I lied. "You came and then passed out. You didn't say anything."

Except that you miss me and that you hate me.

He nodded slowly.

"You should go now, Ace."

When he looked at me, his face was callous.

"You were on a date with Aro, right?"

"Wha… how…", I stuttered. "What does that got to do with anything I just said, Ace?"

"You didn't answer. Were you?" He narrowed his eyes.

"I don't have to answer you."

For a moment, I thought he would lose it, but he just stood motionless there.

His lips were a hard line.

"Cec, listen to me for once when I tell you to stay away from Aro."

What?

"What?"

"That asshole is not good for you."

Anger pushed down my appetite. "Oh, of course he's not", I snapped. "But you, Ace, aren't you? You are good for me, right?"

He headed to the door. "Where are you going?"

He stormed out without another word.

At the facilities, I met Cassy, Ruby and Anna. They were chatting about college things while I was hearing only half of it. I knew they wouldn't judge me if I'd told them what happened last night, but somehow, I kept my mouth shut.

Last night felt like a relapse.

While the others wanted to hand in their reports, I already made my way to the cafeteria. When I looked around, I spotted Aro and nearly let my plate fall.

His left jaw was purple, and his bottom lip swollen.

"Aro! Oh my God, what happened to your face?!", I said as soon as I sat down at the table next to him.

He looked up and managed to give me a half-smile without twisting his face much.

"Oh, I had a fight with someone", he said casually.

"Oh God", I gasped, grabbing his chin to examine the rest of his face.

"It's not as bad as it looks, really."

What was it with guys not admitting if something was painful?

"It doesn't look like that, though. Did you press charges against your attacker?"

He shook his head. "Nah, it was… personal."

Personal. Oh my…

My eyes snapped.

No, he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't. No.

I was getting too paranoid.

"I need to go now", he said and left his food almost untouched.

"Okay", I mumbled.

"But Cecily", he started and placed a quick kiss on my cheek. Such a small little gesture that left me completely dumbfounded.

"It was nice seeing you again. I hope we can have our next date soon", he said when I stared at his wide grin.

I got up when out of nowhere someone grabbed my arm.

Anger flared in Ace's eyes.

"What the–"

"Come", he ordered.

Not too gently he dragged me to the hallway, all my protest muffled to his ears.

He ushered me to an empty room and spun me around, my back against the wall.

Blazing eyes narrowed down on me.

"Stay away from Aro. I mean it."

I clenched my jaw. "I can spend my time with whoever I want."

Rage tugged at him as I watched him keeping it at bay.

"Believe me, he doesn't have any good intentions."

Now my confusion turned into anger.

"Jealousy doesn't suit you well", I hissed.

He took a step to me. "This is not about me being jealous. Or possessive. Or whatever it is that you're thinking. He's scum."
"He's not!", I snapped. "Why am I even talking to you?"

I tried to walk past him, but he trapped me with his massive body. When I saw his bruised knuckles, it struck me like a bolt of lightning.

"You… You did that to Aro, didn't you!? Oh my God…"

"I did it for you."

"Me?", I hissed. "You don't do anything for me, Ace! You did it for yourself!"

Thank God, we were in this room and far away from uninvited spectators.

He snorted. "You don't know–"

"Yes, you're right, I don't know! I don't know anything about you. You just want to destroy my happiness because… because." I stopped.

"Because what? Finish that sentence", he said, his face in a deep frown.

"Because you're a broken man."

His jaw clenched, the veins on his forehead were visible.

"God, Cec, he just wants to fuck you!"

I felt like fragile glass.

Lightly touched, I might break.

And Ace was not touching me, he was shaking me, he was squeezing me, he was shredding me.

I pushed him away and stormed out.

I wanted to talk to Aro and apologize for Ace's behavior. I felt so guilty.

But I couldn't find him anywhere. Except a few messages, I didn't get to talk to him at all.

I put my pen down and waited for the profs to collect our sheets.

My head was spinning.

Freaking clinical chemistry had blown my mind.

The exam had taken about three hours, the air in the room was too thick and my concentration somewhere in the basement.

"What did you write at the Diabetes question?", Anna asked me once we were outside that damn room. "It was answer C, right? With Type Two, the disease pattern is subtle because the intramolecular structure of Insulin prevents the cell from–"

"No, please Anna! I don't want to hear any of it", I half-shouted, half-pleaded.

Hearing the others talk about that damn exam too, I decided to say goodbye to them and walked away until I found myself at the parking lot.

For a minute, I forgot where I had parked my car. Stupid exam that had melted away my remaining nerves.

I needed sugar. I wandered between the rows until I heard some familiar voices.

A deep voice that I could always recognize. Yet his tone was different. Colder than ever. "We had a deal", Ace said.

"Yeah, and I didn't come near her. But now I need more", Aro grinned. "Or do you want me to tell her? I think you can't afford any more mistakes."

My heart stopped the moment he and Lucas started laughing. "Although you did pretty well on screwing up everything on your own, man."

I hid behind a car and perked up my ears. This was wrong, but my curiosity was triggered.

"Fuck you. I'll tell her."

My heart was speeding in a blink of an eye. Talk, Ace!

But Lucas kept laughing until Aro replied, his voice so loathing and horrible that it made me want to throw up.

"I wouldn't risk that, dude. She would be devastated if everyone knew about her brother being in jail. Twice."

I didn't know how I got there. I didn't remember how I walked to them. I couldn't think of anything, I didn't see anything or anyone but Aro.

Time stood still. And everything around me felt muffled. The honking cars on the other side of the street, some people's voices in the distance, Lucas' laughs – I didn't hear any of them.

They turned their eyes to me.

"How do you know that?" I was entirely focused on Aro. "How do you know about my brother?" My voice was hoarse and more of a whisper.

Aro shrugged his shoulders, nodding toward Ace. "He told me."

Slowly, my head turned to face a pair of blue eyes.

"You told him", I repeated, realizing what those words meant.

"Yeah, he told me", Aro continued, a poisonous tone in his voice. "I really didn't think your family was that criminal. No wonder he was in jail. Even twice."

He and his friend laughed.

"Oh, isn't your mom working at college? What a scandal", he continued. "Wow, having a criminal son must be hard, huh? Maybe that's in your family. Watch out, maybe you'll find yourself in jail one day too." He couldn't suppress his laughter anymore.

Ace stepped toward me, grabbing my shoulders. I think, he said something but his voice seemed too far away. My gaze was on Aro as he kept making jokes about Noah, about my parents, about me.

"You told him… that", I whispered, my gaze wandering higher to meet Ace's.

Tiny drips dropped from my chin. Tears? I was crying, I noticed by now.

"Cec, listen to me. I did not tell him."

"Oh, come on, Ace! You told me a lot more than that", Aro's mouth twisted to an evil smile. "Did you tell her about Skid–"

I never had the chance to hear what Aro was about to say because Ace whirled, and I started running.

I didn't even know what he was saying, and I didn't care.

I ran along the sidewalk, bumping into a few passengers but didn't bother to apologize. I was running like crazy. My body was pumped with adrenaline and the fresh air around my face wiped away my tears.

"CEC!" I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.

He caught up with me and grabbed my arm, spinning me around.

I wanted to slap him, once again. I had never, never felt the urge to slap someone like Ace right now. But my upper body was numb. And I had no idea when I was going to feel anything. Ever.

"You told him?", I yelled. I didn't care that some passengers were looking at us.

"You fucking told him? Tell me Ace, how was it? Telling secrets about me, about my family, laughing at me behind my back, how was it? Do you hate me that much?"

"I didn't tell him", he repeated. "All I did was protecting you from that asshole."

I was panting from the running, he as well.

"Protect me?", I laughed. This was so ridiculously funny.

"Yes, protect you", he growled.

"Why", I hissed. "Why would you protect me?"

He didn't hesitate for a second. "Because I love you, you stupid baby!"

My heart deflated like a balloon. I must have misheard it.

"I've fallen in love with you in a fucking crazy way I can't even begin to describe", he said, unshaken.

"No, you don't", I whispered, my voice threatening to crash under the tears.

"I had feelings for you and you didn't care. You hurt me. You are hurting me right now."

I didn't know what to believe.

I didn't know anything anymore.

"I can't believe you", I sobbed as the next tear ran down my cheek. "You and Alex were the only ones who knew. How did he find out unless you've told him?"

A muscle in his jaw ticked. "I can't tell you, but you have to believe me–"

"I don't!", I snapped. "I already gave you a chance. I told you things I didn't tell anyone, and you used it against me."

Not waiting for an answer, I took a step back. "Leave me alone."

He matched my step, but this time, I ran like crazy. Until my lungs wanted to burst out.

In an odd way, the running was helpful. I never knew that my heart was capable of feeling that way, but I also never wanted to test it.

I stopped when I knew he wasn't anywhere near. My feet were covered with blisters, my lungs aching and my dress soaked with sweat, but I didn't mind.

Ace didn't follow me.

He was gone.