Chapter 18

I stayed the night at Ace's house for the next week, but now, in separate rooms. Anna only had one rule for us while I stayed there and it was, "no sleeping in the same bed as your girlfriend Ace James Craige." He had nodded, a little scared and I agreed to it quickly, not wanting to upset her.

A week after the final family barbeque, I woke up to someone nudging my arm repeatedly. I let it go on for awhile, not wanting to wake up. But eventually, the incessant poking got to be too much for me. "I'm up," I groaned. 

"I was beginning to think you were dead," Ace whispered into my ear, making me jerk away.

I opened my eyes slowly and saw his face directly above mine. I wanted to reach up and kiss him but remembered the fact that morning breath was a thing. "Have you got a spare toothbrush for me yet?" Even after a week of me staying there, Ace still made me use his toothbrush. I truly wanted to die.

He smirked down at me. "Sweetheart, you can always use-"

"I'm going to hit you."

He laughed and pulled away from my face. I sat up in the large spare bed and tried to smooth down my hair, which was surely a mess. I was in his hoodie and had thrown on a pair of sleep shorts before climbing into bed the night before. 

"Did you sleep well without me there?" Ace asked with confidence.

I shoved him aside when he leaned in again and chuckled. "I went a whole seventeen years without sleeping in the same bed as you. I'm pretty sure I can do it for one week without feeling deprived."

He lay a hand against his chest. "Are you telling me that without my presence, you are able to function? Properly?"

"Get out of my way, I need to get ready. What time is it?" I asked him. But he had already turned my usually bad morning, better.

The corners of his eyes crinkled in the corners when he looked at me. "It's 7:30."

"School starts in 20 minutes Ace!" I shot up out of the warm bed and ran into the hallway, into his bedroom. My things were still in there; I had been too lazy to move them.

I grabbed a pair of jeans and a long sleeved red sweater. I went into his bathroom and took the quickest shower known to man, brushed my teeth and then dressed. I pulled on my pair of converse and combed through my hair simultaneously. I guess my hair would have to be wet today.

Ace sat on his bed, on his phone the entire time, already dressed and ready to go. This had practically been the routine since I started staying with Ace's family.  He didn't even look at me when I stood in front of him with my hands on my hips. "I'm ready to go now. Thank you so much for waking me," I practically growled.

He glanced up quickly. "Well don't you look cute? What took you so long?"

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to tear my hair out," I told him, grabbing my backpack and went into the hallway. 

He followed me downstairs and into the kitchen where Anna was handing Noah a plate of waffles. Ace grabbed one from his plate and shoved it into his mouth. "Hey!" Noah whined at his older brother. 

I smacked Ace on the arm quickly and glared at him. "Don't take your brother's food Ace. It's not nice."

"I'll take it into consideration mom," he teased me, his eyes sparkling.

Anna took this as the perfect opportunity to hit her oldest son in the back of the head. "Listen to your girlfriend and your mother then. Don't be mean to your brother."

Ace rolled his eyes, still chewing on the waffle. I stuck my tongue out at him and he rolled his eyes again, with way more drama. Anna handed Noah a new plate to replace the sad, stolen waffle off his old plate.

My so called "boyfriend" handed me a waffle from the stack on the counter and we were out. I get into the passenger seat of his car and turn the music up as loud as I can, just to irritate him. "Damn, what is your issue this morning?"

"You woke me up late," I huffed, crossing my arms.

Ace reached over and patted my knee. "You're lucky I woke you up at all. You looked all cute, snoring up a storm."

"I don't snore," I fake pouted, my arms still crossed over my chest.

He started driving and since school started in five minutes, there were no empty parking spaces. I kept mumbling how it was his fault the entire time but he just chuckled, amused. 

We were 5 minutes late and the teacher gave us a glare, probably blaming our tardy on something other than parking spaces. Kimmy just smirked and winked, earning an eye roll from the both of us. Whatever she was thinking was incorrect. Ace hadn't kissed me since last Sunday morning and I hadn't tried to make the next move yet.

Ace didn't talk to me after class; it probably had to do with the fact that I wouldn't stop kicking his chair all throughout class. I tried tugging on his arm, backpack and belt loops. He just ignored me. 

So there we were few hours later, silently walking side by side to the cafeteria. "Do we have to sit with Raze and his girlfriend and Loki?" Ace said nothing. "All Daniela and Raze do is make out. And Loki just glares at me constantly. Why would you subject me to that? You're the worst fake boyfriend on this planet."

"Would you stop calling me your fake boyfriend?" Ace finally sighed.

Warning bells rang in my mind. "That's what you are. I don't remember establishing a fake breakup."

"What we are is anything but fake Mad."

So, we were going to have that talk.

"Once again, I don't remember us doing the whole breakup thing," I repeated, not knowing what else to tell him.

We walked through the cafeteria doors and I spotted our usual table. And I had been right. Daniela and Raze were close to ripping each other's clothes off, Loki looked like he wanted to rip off his own skin and Kimmy just looked bored, eating her lunch.

"Why would we "breakup?"' Ace asked me, clearly not giving up on this.

I groaned. "Because Ace. If you don't want the whole fake relationship thing anymore, that's cool. But I don't know what else you could possibly want." 

He opened his mouth so say something else but we had reached the table so I looked away from him. I was being stubborn and I knew it. Raze and Daniela didn't notice us but Kimmy smiled, as if she were grateful we were finally here. I sat next to her and Ace sat next to Loki, opposite me. 

Odd. 

He always sat next to me. Was he actually angry? I said nothing as Lilli leaned over and asked, "what's wrong with your boy?"

"Stop calling him that," I chastised her. "And I don't know. We were kind of talking about our relationship. I really don't know what we are."

She gave a low whistle. "You should really establish that babe."

I rolled my eyes but nodded. "Well aware." 

Ace and I basically had the same lunch everyday now. His mom had started to pack me a lunch and had even gone as far as buying me my own sort of lunch box. It was one of the kindest things anyone had done for me.

I had forgotten to grab my lunch bag that morning and thought Ace had forgotten too; but he pulled both out of his backpack and handed me mine. 

"You forgot this," he whispered to me and I took it from him.

"Thank you," I whispered back with a small smile. 

He leaned forward and tugged lightly on my hair, forcing me to tilt my head to the side. I scowled playfully at him and he smiled. 

I waited in the parking lot next to Kimmy's car, waiting for her to show up. Normally, I'd be going home with a certain green eyed boy, but today I needed my best friend. 

Ever since last week with Harry and me staying with Ace and his family, I felt like Kimmy and I were drifting. And it was all my fault. I had a feeling she was beginning to feel left behind because I spent my time with mostly Ace. 

Kimmy didn't deserve to be left behind. She had been there for me since we were in kindergarten. She knew all about Harry and his disgusting, mean words. She was my best friend and no one could replace her. 

When she saw me, she smiled and practically slipped over to her car. "Hey stranger. To what do I owe this pleasure?" 

"I just wanna hang out with my best friend. I miss you," I rolled my eyes but told her sincerely. 

She unlocked her car and hopped in, starting it up. "So what are we doing today BFF?"

"Well we can start off with you not calling me BFF every two seconds," I told her sarcastically. 

She laughed and turned up the volume on the radio and started singing obnoxiously loud. "Oh my god," I groaned while simultaneously laughing. 

"You love me!" She yelled over the music. 

"Less and less everyday," I yelled back. She let out a snort and turned the volume down; but only a little. 

We decided to get coffee at Lilli's favorite cafe. Back when we were sophomores we used to walk there everyday after school since neither of us could drive. We ordered our coffee and a pastry to share, aka for Kimmy, and we sat down. 

"So, did you talk to Ace?" She asked, probably already knowing my answer.

I took a long sip of coffee. Mmm. "No, but I kind of live with the guy. He's probably sitting by the front door waiting for me to get back just so he can pounce on me with questions."

"I just don't get you Maddie. Ace obviously has a thing for you and you like him back. Why is it such big deal if there's a label on it?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Guys like him don't like girls like me Kims. It's as simple and cliché as that."

She heavily rolled her eyes at me. "I don't believe that and I don't think you do either. I think you've learned by now that Ace is a completely different guy than we thought he was."

And she was right, of course. Ace was the literal opposite of a bad boy if I've ever met one. I wasn't even sure how anyone could misidentify him as a bad kid. He was the sweetest guy I had ever met. 

"I don't know Kimmy. I think I just have an aversion to relationships," I confessed, looking down at the half eaten pastry in front of us.

"Yeah, that's pretty damn obvious Maddie. Listen," she settled in her chair and leaned closer. "I know everything with your mom and Harry but it's not fair to let that dictate how you live your life. What were you planning on doing Maddie? Avoid a relationship your entire life? Never get married or have a family?"

I sighed, feeling my face start to heat. "I don't know Kims. I hadn't planned that far ahead. I always figured I'd fall in love one day and everything with my parents' wouldn't affect me. But it did, it does."

Kimmy pushed the pastry toward me and I shook my head. She gave me an expectant look and I eyed it. And then ate the rest of it. "I'm sorry that this isn't easy for you babe. I just want you to be happy."

"I wish I could just date Ace and be happy without any insecurities but alas, my childhood decided otherwise."

Kimmy eyed me for a few seconds. "Maybe it would be helpful if you talked to him about it, Ace I mean. He's the only other person you really talk to about stuff like this. He listens, he would understand."

"But what if he doesn't?"

"Put it this way Maddie, how do you think he's feeling? You practically reject the kid everytime he mentions anything about relationships or feelings. That's gotta sting," Kimmy made me contemplate. 

I inhaled sharply. "I don't want to think about it. I know it probably hurts his feelings that I'm not as open as he is and that sucks. I don't want to do that at all. But I can't help the uncomfortable weight that comes with the thought of commitment."

"Well, you can't expect him to wait for you to figure yourself out forever babe. Take my advice and talk to him. You never know Rose, maybe he understands you more than you think."