Chapter 13

I didn't see Ace for the rest of the day. I wasn't sure if it was purposeful because he didn't want to see me after the kiss or if it was purely accidental. 

All I knew was, I needed a second to clear my head and think. If I were around Ace anymore that day, I'd probably end up kissing him again. And even though I was pretty sure I wanted that, I needed to think this through. 

So I drove myself over to Kimmy's, praying she didn't give me her flu. But I needed to talk to my best friend. 

I didn't even bother knocking on her bedroom door when her mother let me in, it was a best friend kind of thing. 

"Mom, you don't need to keep checking up on me I'm fine," she groaned, her eyes closed. 

"I guess I'll come back later then," I joked, waiting for her shocked expression. 

Aaaaand there it was. 

Her eyes widened and she smiled. "What are you doing here? You'll get sick!"

"There are worse things Kim," I pointed out. 

She scoffed. "Ace would kill you if you missed school. Any chance for you to play his fake little girlfriend."

"That's actually why I'm here." Now or never Madison. 

She looked at me with a confused expression. "About missing school or Ace?"

"Ace," the thought of him and his kiss made me smile a little. She nodded for me to go on. "He kissed me."

"Who did?" She asked without hesitation. 

I narrowed my eyes at her, "Ace."

"Ace Craige?" She asked slowly and I nodded. "Wait what did he do?" 

I rolled my eyes. "He kissed me."

"Ace Craige kissed you?" 

I groaned in frustration. "Yes Kimmy, Ace Craige kissed me."

"Holy moly! Did you kiss him back?" She shouted. I nodded my head. "How come?"

I took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Kims, I think I like him."

She didn't speak for a solid ten seconds. But then she screamed, "you what?!"

"Am I going to have to repeat everything I say today?" I asked her, already exhausted. 

She shook her head, "no, sorry. I'm just so confused. When did you start liking him?"

"I'm not sure. I just started to realize that he wasn't the guy everyone thinks he is. At least not to me. He actually cares about people. He's funny and sweet to me, most of the time when he isn't teasing me. And it doesn't help that he's cute too."

Kimmy smirked at me. "Ace Craige isn't cute Maddie. The boy is Hot with a capital H."

I rolled my eyes, "whatever. I think..." I trailed off and took a breath. "I think I've wanted him to kiss me for a while now."

"I'm happy for you Maddie. But are you sure he has the best intentions when it comes to you? Why did he kiss you?" Kimmy asked me timidly. 

I shrugged. "We were fighting all day. I was pretty damn close to calling the whole fake relationship off. But when I started getting into my car, he kissed me." Her eyebrows furrowed. "What?" I asked her. 

"It's just, what if he only kissed you because he thought you were ending it?" 

No, Ace wouldn't. Would he?

"That's ridiculous Kimmy. Why would he do that? You only kiss people you like," my voice was smaller and less confident. 

She shrugged, "not in his world Maddie. He used to kiss girls all the time before you." I blinked a few times, trying not to show my disappointment. She rushed to continue, "but I'm sure he likes you back! I mean, how could he not?"

I appreciated her trying to raise my spirits again but now I was scared she was right. What if Ace had only kissed me to save our fake relationship until the end of this weekend? I wanted to believe he would never do such a thing to me though.

"Anyway, I just came over to tell you that. I'm just gonna go home now. Are you coming to school tomorrow?" I asked her, shaking off the weird feeling that was beginning to suffocate me. 

Kimmy looked as if she had more to say but she just nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll be back tomorrow." I stood up from her bed and began to move toward her door, ready to just go home and sleep. "Maddie!" She called out to me.

I turned back around, "yeah Kims?"

"Talk to Ace about it. I'm sure he kissed you for the right reasons," she smiled at me sadly.

I returned her smile, "you're sure?"

"I hope," she finished.

I wasn't expecting to find Ace sitting outside my front door when I got back home, but there he was, waiting for me. He sat with his knees up to his chest, still dressed as he had been for school.

"What are you doing here? What if Harry saw you? He'd kill me," I asked him, without saying hello.

He stood up from where he sat and leaned against the door. "He isn't here."

"Not the point," I tried to reason. He shrugged. 

There was the Ace Craige I know. 

"So, why are you here?" I couldn't keep the bitterness out of my voice. I kept thinking about what Kimmy had told me.

"What if he only kissed you because he thought you were ending it?"

Ace stepped a little closer to me but moved out of the way when I went to unlock the front door. "I didn't get to talk to you after school. I thought you'd wait for me or something."

"Why would I do that?" I asked him, sounding like a brat.

He leaned his shoulder against the door frame and stared at me as I fumbled with the house key. "Don't do that."

I opened the door and he followed me through. "Don't do what Craige?"

"Grey," his voice sounded like a warning. "You always close off to me when something happens between us."

I shook my head, not looking at him. "No I don't."

"The first time you met my family, you yelled at me. When I didn't want to stop being your friend, you accused me of using you. And now, you're acting odd again after we kissed," he pointed out.

It was weird, realizing that he really did pay attention to little things like that. "I'm just tired Ace."

"Oh good, another excuse for you to not talk to me." I ignored him. "So are we just not going to talk about it?"

I shrugged, eliciting a frustrated groan from Ace. "Look, there isn't much to talk about. We kissed and it was nice. What about it?" 

But acting like the kiss hadn't meant much to me proved difficult. He had to know that it was my first kiss by now. It had to have meant something, to me at least. He wasn't buying my little act. 

"You aren't the kind of girl who lets a boy kiss her just for the hell of it Mad. So, let's talk about it," Ace followed me into my room as I put down my things.

I sighed, "I may not be the type to kiss someone for no reason but you are Ace."

"What are you talking about?" 

He took a seat on my bed and I stayed standing. "Why did you kiss me? Was it just to keep our reputation?"

Ace screwed his eyes shut and laced his hands over his head. "So that's what this is about? You still don't trust me."

"What do you mean, still?" I asked him, confused.

His eyes opened again. "It's just, Mad, everytime something happens, you think the worst of me. And no matter how many times I try to prove to you that I'm not a bad guy, you find some way to turn me into one."

I clenched my jaw, knowing he was right. "I don't trust people easily Ace. I've only known you for 2 and half weeks. I'm not used to having friends to lean on and to trust."

"What can I do to prove to you that I'm not trying to hurt you? That I'm not just your friend because of that stupid favor?" Ace begged.

I sat next to him on the bed, giving up. "I hate not having an answer for you. I truly don't know what's wrong with me."

"Nothing is wrong with you Mad. You have a hard time trusting people, fine, that's understandable. But why do I have to continuously prove myself to you? I feel like I can never do anything right." 

I shook my head. "That's the thing; you do everything right. You're the only person I know who's ever stuck with me when I get all inside my head. Kimmy has been my best friend since we were little so it's easier to trust her. But you, I just met you. And even when I mess up, you're still there."

Ace swallowed hard. "Do you know why I'm still here Mad?" I shook my head and he continued. "Because you really are special."

I stared at him in awe and confusion. 

Me? Special? 

"Madison Grey, you are the only girl who doesn't put up with my shit. You're so weird and I must be crazy because, I like it," he laughed. "You're strong Mad. Whatever the hell you put up with with your dad and your mom, you don't let it bother you. You're still bright and smart and just impossibly you."

The words coming from his lips were simple but they were beautiful. Everything he said made me weak in the knees with happiness. I never thought anyone would ever think of me in that way. 

"So, what you're saying is, the kiss wasn't for show?" I asked him, a little bit more confident. 

He chuckled and nodded, "the kiss was definitely not for show." He leaned over to me and took my good hand into both of his. He started playing with my fingers as he looked up at me. 

"I want to do it again," I told him, not even thinking about how it sounded. 

But Ace just smiled a little. "You're an eager little thing." I blushed, hard. 

"Which reminds me. That didn't happen to be your first kiss was it?"

Sheepishly, I reminded him, "I told you I've never had a boyfriend before."

"Didn't seem like it was your first kiss," his smug voice pointed out. 

I blushed even more, heat spreading down my neck. "Well, trust me when I say it was."

Ace then stood up and stretched, reaching his arms up above his head. His tee-shirt lifted a little but not enough to get a peak of what's underneath. 

"What time does Harry get home?" He asked me. 

I shrugged and smiled sadly, thinking about my wrist. Without realizing it, I started cradled my still sore arm. 

"Does your wrist hurt still?" Ace asked, concern laced into his smooth voice. 

I nodded, "a little. It's just achey; feels like it's throbbing."

"You really sound like you took a nasty fall," he chuckled. 

I started thinking about Harry, gripping onto my wrist, squeezing it without mercy. "Yeah, real nasty."