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Life had been rough on Ace from a very young age. His formative years had been shaped in the well meaning hands of his mother, while she dodged the blows of her drunken husband. Some of his earliest memories were hazy snapshots of his mother crouched and sobbing in their kitchen while his dad bellowed for her to shut the hell up. As he grew up he looked for solace in his older brother Fred. He got locked up when Ace was eleven, and soon he found himself the main target of his dad's anger.
He remembered the weight that lifted off his chest when he got the call that his old man had kicked the bucket. After surviving a world war Bill Merrill, believed there was little on earth that could defeat him. In the end it was a tree that collided with his bonnet one late friday night. The doctors had joked that he had more rye than blood in his veins, Ace was just glad to see him gone. His mother however didn't take it as well. Despite his abuse he had been the only man she had ever loved, so following his sudden if not expected death Ace watched his mother become more and more withdrawn from life. One day a few weeks before his seventeenth birthday she had found that she had withdrawn herself from his life altogether.
Ace had always had always been a bad kid, but at this age his actions became more reckless and he became known as the bad boy of Castlerock. One day after he and Eyeball had boosted a car from one of the assholes up on the view, they'd decided to cruise round Irby's in the hopes of luring a few broads into the backseat. He and a few of the other boys had been drinking in the parking lot cussing and joking and checking out the girls who passed by hoping to catch their eye. The boys always joked that Ace could have any girl he wanted and they were right. Something drew them to him and he definitely wasn't complaining. As the smashed beer bottles strewn across the parking lot got larger in number, Ace's hankering soon turned to something stronger.
"This beer aint cutting it, I need some whiskey" he drawled his words "anyone coming?" they all shook their heads and Ace shrugged lighting a cigarette and staggering towards the store down the block. His head was swimming with liquor when he turned the corner and saw what looked like a fight in progress. He sniggered when he saw one of the figures involved suddenly hit the ground, but froze when he saw Alex come into view. Ace soon snapped to sobriety, crossing the few strides between them in less than a second before slamming the second attacker against the rough brick wall behind them.
"What the fuck you think you're doing?!" Ace roared tightening his grip on the boy's shirt. The kid only stuttered half of an apology, horrified to be face to face with one of the Cobras. Ace only snarled letting the boy drop to the ground to quickly escape with his accomplice close behind him. He turned to Alex with a half smirk, expecting to see a grateful smiling face looking back at him. Instead he watched as her brows furrowed and a scowl settled on her face.
"I could've sorted that myself, I don't need no babysitter"
"I never said you couldn't, but what kind of guy would I be if I didn't help out?" this response seemed to diffuse her.
"Thanks then, I guess" the two stood awkwardly unable to think what to say next. Ace panicked, he hadn't seen her since the night at Vince's and she had crossed his mind a few times since. Her weight shifted slightly as she began to turn to leave, she had already taken her first fews steps by the time he could find his words.
"Wait!" he called and she quickly turned. He paused again taken aback slightly by her light grey eyes and sharp features. "A few of the guys and I are having a couple drinks down the block⦠and it'd be good to beat your ass at a few drinking games again? Plus Vince isn't there, might get to actually have some fun" Alex smirked tempted by the older boys offer.
"Okay Merrill, but get ready cause by the looks of it I'm already a few behind you" she winked and batted his chest playfully as he swayed on his feet slightly. As soon as he felt her touch Ace's heart jumped in a way he never expected it to. He composed himself quickly and focused his breath as they bought their supplies and headed back to see the gang. Their conversation fast fell into easy banter and they all soon relaxed once the alcohol began to take hold.
"You might wanna slow down girly that's strong stuff you know" Fuzzy sniggered as Alex gulped down another bitter drag of whisky. The burn soon turned into a warming glow across her body.
"Don't worry about me" she smirked back taking another to prove her point before passing it to Ace.
"She can handle it don't worry, in fact I'm pretty sure she outdrank you guys at Vince's that time" Ace shot back tauntingly, causing Fuzzy's ears to glow scarlet.
"I-I was just tired that day" he stuttered continuing to blush "I could outdrink every one of you bitches any day of the week"
As the hours drew on Ace couldn't help but feel his attachment to Alex growing. It began to turn dark and Fuzzy and Alex started flipping for beers. During that quick distraction Ace felt Eyeballs hand grab his shoulder. He motioned for Ace to follow him before mentioning something about them heading for more beers. As soon as they were down the block Eyeball dragged Ace into a side alley.
"What the fuck to playing at man?" Ace pushed Eyeball back from him, getting more agitated by the second. Eyeball began to pace slightly running his hands through his hair.
"What am I playing at?" he scoffed "You not gonna talk about how you're chasing Vince's little sister?!"
Ace tried to keep his cool "We're just friends man why you making a big deal?" he lied as best he could but he knew Eyeball had seen right through him.
"She's too young for you for a start! Not to mention she's your friend's kid sister!" Ace's chest dropped as he heard his words. He had already known Vince would never be okay with this but to hear the words out of someone else's mouth nailed the coffin shut. Ace focused his breath trying to level his voice a much as possible.
"She's a cool kid, I just wanna be pals is that so bad?" he tried to his best to sound convincing and if anyone but Eyeball had heard it they may have believed it. Instead he only sighed rubbing the back of his neck.
"Ain't nothing wrong with being friends".
