Ace watches her. "It's obviously not fine. But… If you ever need to talk, you're more than welcome to rant." He offers a half smile. Guess I'm alone tonight. Again. He runs a hand through his hair but winces, obvious pain running through him as he looks at his side.
She had no reason to trust him but she was in such a desperate need to talk to someone, it all started spilling out. "My parents divorced when I was 13. My original family was my parents and two sisters with my baby brother. My dad took me and my oldest sister, Kelsie, got remarried and had two boys. Twins, Jack and Tyler. Then there's my mom's new family. She'd taken my other sister Carly and my brother Max. She'd also gotten remarried and had another daughter, Nikki. Now I could deal with the divorce but it was the slow abandonment that hurt the most. Kelsie has been obsessed with her boyfriend ever since they'd started dating. We used to be as close as sisters could be but ever since Derick has come into her life, I've been pushed aside and forgotten. My stepmom hates me for reasons I can't fathom and my spineless father just follows her around like a lovesick puppy. Basically kisses the ground she walks on." Becca was softly panting for air by the end of her mini speech, tired and emotionally vulnerable.
Ace blinks a few time before slowly moving to where she was. He hesitates for a split second before gently hugging her. He understood the pain of abandonment. He went through it himself. His parents had never divorced, but there was threatening of it.
She dropped her head on his shoulder lightly, blinking back tears. I just want someone to want me again…
"I've got you." He says gently, holding her in a gentle but firm grip. His hand ran soothingly up and down her back, just holding her so that she felt safe.
She slowly wrapped her arms around him in return, her tears finally spilling over.
He let's her cry, not saying anything. If she wanted him to say something he would but otherwise he would let her cry and he would hold her.
"Why doesn't anyone want me anymore?" She mumbled softly.
"That's not true. Don't do that to yourself, Becca." He says gently, running a soothing hand through her hair.
She paused her tears, sniffling softly. "Rebecca."
Ace smiled softly. "Rebecca. That's a beautiful name." He says gently, his eyes were full of warmth as he pulled away to tenderly brush away her tears.
"You don't have to do this." She mumbled. "You don't even know me."
"No. I don't. But I want to." He says gently, smiling a little. His hands, warm and gentle pull her back into his safe grasp.
She smiled a little, tears still brimming at her eyes. She hadn't had someone actually care for her in so long.
He held her, running a gentle hand through her hair, his eyes soft as he held her. He had an urge to protect her. To keep her safe and happy. He didn't want to see her sad.
He was warm, his touch genuine and comforting. She so desperately wanted to break down into his arms and relax but something in her heart hesitated. What if he just betrayed her trust like everyone else had?
Ace only stood there, holding her in a warm and soft grip. "I won't ask or pry for information. If you just need someone to vent to or just need a hug, I'm right here." He says after a moment. He was letting down his walls, his tough guy imager for her. Her of all people. He barely knew her. But he wanted to keep her safe.
"I will. Thanks Ace." She smiled. Her phone buzzed and when she saw it was her stepmom calling, her smile dropped. "Hello?" "Where the hell are you?!" "I'm at a friend's house, why?" "You little bitch, don't try to play games with me. You get your ass home right now or so help me God." She sighed. "Whatever." "What was that?" "Yes Monique." "Much better." She hung up and sighed. "Looks like I better get going."
Ace heard the entire conversation. His eyes sadden. "She sounds like a bitch." He rolls his eyes. "Here. If you need someone to talk to to." He pulls a notepad from his pocket and wrote down a few numbers before handing it to her. "You can always text me." He smiled a bit before patting her shoulder. "See you tomorrow, yeah?"
"Actually, can I stay here? Just for a bit longer? I can't stand that woman and if I stay away for long enough, I'll arrived home to see her drunk, which is much easier to handle."
Ace starts bit nods. "Yeah. Of course. Come on in. It's a bit of a mess." He leads her up the steps. No one was home, it was just him. The house was larger, maybe because there was so much open space. It was pretty messy, but not to much. He leads her to his room, where it was spotless, clean and neat. His books, ranging from thick text books, to comics, to manga were sorted neatly on his shelf. He had a simple twin sized bed nuzzled into the corner, a dresser at the end of it. His clothes hung neatly in the closet, a desk sat in another corner. On the wall were tons of pictures with him and his siblings, along with a camera sitting on the desk. There was a guitar resting on his bed. He opens the window beside his bed and hops out onto the roof.
"Hey, wait up!" She laughed, running to catch up with him and hoisting herself up onto the roof like she'd done it a hundred times before.
He chuckles. "Gotta keep up with me, doll. There's no time to waste in this life." He smiles at her.
"Actually, there's plenty of time to waste, you just choose not to." She shrugged and brushed her hair out of her eyes.
He smiles. "I choose to do that so I can prove to people I'm not just a gang leader." He smiles. "I had to learn real fast to fight and claw my way to the top. And then succeed while I keep the head. It's not as easy as it sounds."