Sorry this chapter's a little short! I'm working on the next one right now. Hopefully it'll be longer.

--melancholyXdreams

"Hey, baby sister," Billy taunted, walking by and elbowing me in the ribs. I grimaced. I could take Billy's crap, but I didn't want anymore from Ace. So as long as I kept my mouth shut, I would be okay. At least, that's what I thought.

"Now, now, Billy. That's not the way to great your sister, is it, boys?" Ace grinned that same scary, evil grin that he gave me less than an hour before. "Like you would know," Chris interjected. I groaned. "Shut the fuck up, Chris. I don't have enough money to buy you a coffin, alright?" Ace gave Chris the once-over, and I had to wonder if he even remembered pulling a knife on the kid just last year. I admitted to myself thatChris had balls not to even run away at that moment. Gordie wasn't doing so good, however. He was doing a shaky kind of dance, trying to stay as close to me as possible, and keeping the greatest distance between him and the two older boys.

Ace clapped the side of Chris's face non-too-gently. A quick whistle escaped from Chris's clenched teeth that sounded like a teapot about to go off. "What'd you think? I'm gonna hurt you just 'cause you were talking back to me?", Ace asked, that crazy grin getting wider. "Nah, I just need to talk to Alice. Alone." Gordie and Chris exchanged worried looks. Even Billy seemed a little less menacing, especially after he noticed the big bandage on my head, and my swollen eye(why would I tell him it wasn't Ace that had given me the shiner? He didn't need to know, did he?).

I looked defiantly back at Ace, and then at Chris and Gordie. "It's okay, guys," I said, my voice cracking. "No," Chris started to say, but Gordie grabbed his arm, and whispered something urgently in his ear. Chris's face relaxed a little, but he still looked nervous.

"Are you sure, Alice?", he asked, looking right into my eyes. He must've seen the determined look in mine, because he became visibly relaxed, and let out a deep breath. "Alright. We're gonna head over to see Vern. If you need us," he emphasized, more for Ace and Billy's benifit, who were leaning against the brick wall of Jake's, arms crossed, looking like tough twin bouncers at a bar.

"Kay," I said, ready to get on with things. Ace rubbed his hands together, the smile on his face getting more gleeful by the second. "Beat it, guys," he growled. The hair at the base of my neck stood on end. He threw a look at my brother. "You too, Billy." Billy's mouth dropped open. "Ace, man. Come on. What're you gonna do?"

"None of your fucking business," he said, pushing Billy's chest roughly. "Get lost, Billy." Billy now looked as nervous as Chris had. He seemed to be regretting his situation at the moment. It was nice to know that my brother wasn't a complete asshole, even if he was going to turn pussy on me when I really needed him."Alright, man. Chill." Billy put his hands up in defeat, threw me one last pathetic look, and took off down the street in the direction of our house.

The gleeful look almost instantly left Ace's face. In fact, his entire face seemed to have softened. No hard lines, no turned down eyebrows, no perpetual scowl, no wild-eyed stare. His face was still. I was almost fascinated by the complete transformation. So this is what Ace Merrill looked like when he wasn't on a rampage.

"Come on," he said. He didn't even sound like himself anymore; not the least bit threatening. But I still hesitated. I mean, this was Ace we were talking about. He would trip an old lady down the street on purpose, and laugh about it later.

"I just wanna show you something. And I can get you some Asprin for your head. For that ankle too." He looked down at my sore foot. The corner of his mouth twitched. Was I about to set myself up for the biggest fall of all-time? I squared my shoulders, as if ready to go into battle, and looked up at his eyes that were clear of any clouds.

"Okay," I said, and I followed him.