Laura sat on a bench, trying to catch some of the sun that was peeking through the clouds. It was Thursday afternoon, Ace had been asleep when Laura had stopped by his house to check on him so she let him be and decided to pull out her bicycle and ride it over to Connie's house.

She hadn't ridden it in a while and the road was a little icy but she managed to make it to the Palermo's without falling off. Connie had gotten her own bicycle out and the two had spent some time riding around Castle Rock. Eventually they had grown tired and so they rode back into town to get a bite to eat.

Connie had remembered she promised to pick a prescription up for her mother and was in the drug store now whilst Laura waited outside with the bikes. The streets were fairly deserted for an afternoon, Laura supposed everybody else was keeping out of the cold.

She looked further down the street and spotted a young woman shuffling towards her, as she got closer Laura recognised her as the woman Ace had yelled at on Halloween. She seemed to recognise Laura as well and began walking over to her.

"Look who it is," she slurred slightly, "little miss sunshine."

It didn't take much for Laura to figure out she was drunk. She reeked of alcohol and her clothes looked like they had been put on without much idea of which part of the body they had been designed for.

"Can I help you?" she asked uncertainly, she had no idea why this girl would want to talk to her.

"Has he fucked you yet?" she asked bitterly, steadying herself against the wall.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Laura replied, taken aback by her crass way of speaking.

"Ace," she said emphatically, "that boy's not going to stick around unless you give him some, honey," she said winking shakily, "of course he ain't going to stay around anyhow."

"Can you please leave me alone," she asked, liking this girl less every second.

"What's the matter sugar? Didn't cha know what he was after," she snorted with laughter. "You know he and I got together in high school," she continued, "as soon as I gave it up he never even looked at me again. Treated me like trash ever since."

"What's going on here," Connie scowled, a brown paper bag firmly in her hand.

"Remember what I said darlin'," the girl said as she started walking down the street, "drop that bastard before he drops you."

"Who was that?" Connie asked bewildered.

"That girl from Halloween," Laura said, "she was just drunk," she said mostly to herself.

"Let's get out of here," Connie said as she got back on her bike.

Laura said goodbye to Connie at her house and started to ride back to her own. She remembered what Ace had told her the other day, that he knew a lot of girls, was this what he had meant. As she got closer to her house she noticed his car parked out the front.

"Hey beautiful," he said from where he sat on her couch listening to the radio. He sat up and reached over to turn it down before patting the seat beside him. "You know you left the door wide open?" he said kissing her on the cheek.

"Oh did I," she said, she was sure she had locked the door behind her.

"You should be more careful doll. Hey what's up?" he asked noticing she was looking a little downcast.

"Nothing," she said pulling her legs up to rest them on his lap.

"Liar," he said playfully, sliding he skirts up her legs. He tried to kiss her but her lips remained closed. He let out a sigh of frustration and leaned back in his seat.

"What is it?" he asked her insistently.

"When you said you knew a lot of girls, did you mean you just slept with them once and never spoke to them again?" she asked quietly.

"You don't want to know about this babe," he said running his fingers through his hair. "What even made you think of it?"

"A girl ran into me on the street, she said that you had done it to her."

"Who?"

"The girl from Halloween."

"Vera?" he said surprised, god he couldn't get rid of her.

"Did you sleep with her?" Laura asked.

Ace furrowed his brow and then it hit him, Christ he had forgotten all about it. No wonder she had been bugging him so long. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

"Oh shit," he said putting his hand to his head.

"You did, didn't you," she said, her blood running cold. She moved against his chest and rested her head on his shoulder, "that's horrible."

Ace rested his head against hers, "I don't want you to think about this stuff."

"Why not?" she said softly.

"Because, you don't need to. Why do you want to know all this babe? All it will do is upset you."

"I don't know, I just.."

"Look, you knew when we get together that I had been with other girls right?" he said cutting her off.

"I guess, I mean I thought you probably had," she said uncomfortably.

"I don't know what the matter is?" he said turning her around to face him. "Did you want me to stay with them forever, would you rather I was with one of them now?"

"No," she said shaking her head for emphasis.

He smiled, "I knew you wouldn't like it baby, that's why I never told you. I don't wanna make you upset. You're the only girl I care about, don't you think that's better then me having loved a bunch of other girls before you."

"I suppose you're right," she said. She raised her big blue doe eyes to him, her expression clouded with insecurity. "But would you not like me now if I hadn't slept with you right away?"

She thought of Connie, Billy had broken up with her for exactly that reason.

"Is that what you're worried about?" he asked her. "Laura, I didn't sleep with you right away."

"You know what I mean," she said, "it was before I knew you very well."

"Laura do you remember what happened before then?"

"Yes," she said, "I remember you went to yell at Pe.."

"Yeah that bastard," he said not wanting to hear his name ever again. How could he explain this to her so she would understand? He thought for a moment before continuing, "He wanted you doll, for the exact reason that I wanted you."

"You mean you both wanted to sleep with me?" she asked, feeling creeped out as she remembered Peter and his car.

"No," he said furiously, clearly remembering the same thing. "I mean I did want to sleep with you, why wouldn't I but that wasn't it doll. I wanted you for myself, I wanted you to belong to me and so I made sure that you did."

"But if he wasn't around?"

"I might not have been so quick to act, maybe," he said smiling and tipping her face up so he could kiss her, "but goddamn it babe, if you didn't want to sleep with me I would have been pretty frustrated these past few months."

"Would you have broken up with me?" she asked.

"I don't think so, I'm pretty sure you are worth the wait."