Ace did get some sleep. He slept right through until the next morning. When he woke up again Laura was entering the room with a bag full of his clothes.
"Where did you get those?" he asked her.
"I went over to your house this morning to get you some clean clothes," she said, "your mother let me in. I told her I'd left a textbook in your car and you had told me you put it in your room."
"Very devious," he said, "did she ask where I was?"
"Yeah, I told her I'd seen you yesterday and you told me you were going fishing," she smiled a little, this wouldn't be the first time he had used that as an excuse. She put the bag on the floor and started to dress him.
"What's the hurry," he said, "I don't mind staying this way."
"My mother will mind," she said teasingly, "she'll be back this afternoon."
Ace was surprised, he must have lost track of the days of the week again, he had no idea today was Friday. "What are you going to tell her?" he asked, "about me."
"I'm going to tell her I found you this way," she shrugged, "it's not a lie. Ah, here it is," she said victoriously pulling something out of her bag, "I was afraid I dropped it."
Ace looked at what she was holding, it was his toothbrush.
"How did you know which one was mine?" he asked her.
"It was the only one on the window sill, not in the glass next to the sink," she said, "and I didn't think your mother or father would melt the bottom of theirs."
"Oh right," he said looking at the warped bubbly bit at the end of it.
She left him for a bit and came back with a bowl of the same mush as before.
"Can you get me something else, I feel pretty hungry babe."
"Just eat this first?" she asked him reaching out to hold his hand. "If you keep it down again I'll make you whatever you want."
Truth was she wanted to start force feeding him immediately. It was scaring her how thin he was.
"Come lay down again," he said after he had finished.
"Brush our teeth first?" Laura asked.
Ace ran his tongue around his teeth they were feeling pretty rank so he allowed her to pull him to the bathroom. He was still having trouble standing so Laura got him a chair to sit on whilst he brushed his teeth. It was surprisingly exhausting. Laura handed him a glass of water so he could rinse and kissed him before walking him back to the bedroom.
"All clean," he asked her at the door before sticking his tongue in her mouth again.
"Yeah," she said, "you usually taste like cigarettes."
That reminded him, he hadn't had one in a while and now that she said it he was getting a craving.
"Go get me one? There in my pocket," he said pointing to the pile on the floor where his clothes were.
"I shouldn't let you smoke in bed," she said as he began puffing, "you'll set the place on fire."
"I smoke in bed all the time," he said dismissively but this only made her look more concerned.
"Hey, stop worrying so much," he said pulling her in for a hug. He was starting to feel a little jumpy, he hadn't had any of his pills for a while. "Hey babe can you go get me my pills?" he asked her.
"What," she said, why was he taking pills? Was it because he was sick? She reached down and following his direction got them out of the same pocket she had found the cigarettes. She recognised them as the same pills he had taken on Halloween. Had he been taking them all this time? She tried to remember what he had said they were for.
"What are these for again?" she asked him nervously.
"They help me stay awake, here pass them over," he reached out for them.
"I'll give you one in a minute," she said her voice starting to falter a little. "You can have them after you eat some more breakfast, didn't you say you were still hungry?"
"Yeah I am," he said, "but I'll take those now, give them to me."
"I can't," she said starting to feel very shaky, "they're making you sick."
"They'll make me feel better," he said a certain hardness in his voice.
"Please don't take anymore," she begged, backing away from him.
"Laura," he growled at her, "what the hell's the problem, give me my fucking pills."
She went through his clothes again until she found his switchblade. Ace wondered what the hell she was doing until she closed her door, locking it behind her. She was making sure he couldn't pick the lock he realised.
"Hey," he said as he started banging on the door, "what's your fucking problem?"
Laura ran to the other end of the house and shut her mother's bedroom door behind her. It helped block him out a little but she could still hear him as he pounded on the door.
She looked down at the pills. They were the reason he had scared her, they were the things that were keeping them apart. They were the things that looked like they were killing him.
Laura lay down and put a pillow over her head until the house was silent again. Cautiously she walked back to her room and unlocked her door. He was laying asleep on the ground, overcome with exhaustion. Laura looked at the clock, it was noon. He had been banging on her door for three hours. He remained asleep as she managed to drag him back into her bed. She refilled his glass of water and locked the door behind her again.
She fidgeted around the house until Caroline arrived home, she was surprised to see Laura at home.
"Shouldn't you still be at school honey?" she asked, checking the time on her watch.
"Ace is sick mom," Laura said, finally going to pieces, "he's been taking these," she said putting the canister into her mother's hand.
"Dextroamphetamine," Caroline murmured as she read off the label. "Do you know what he's taking them for?"
"He said they help him stay awake, but when I wouldn't give him one he got really angry."
"How long has he been taking them?" she asked, "do you know that?"
"At least since Halloween," Laura sniffed, "I've only seen him with them once before."
Caroline scratched her head, she was no pharmacist, she didn't know anything specific about this drug but she did know what addiction looked like. She thought back over his behaviour the past few month. He was aggressive but that wasn't new, he had fought with Laura though which was new. He looked fatigued for months now and he always seemed busy somewhere else. It wasn't anything concrete but all her instincts told her to keep him away from these pills.