Someone cleared their throat. I cocked my head sideways, letting Ace know I was listening. My elbow was growing numb. I wondered if that's a good thing or bad, since the pain was gone; but I couldn't feel it at all.

"Let's go inside. It's getting cold out here."

My head snapped towards him so fast, I accidentally cracked my bone.

"What do you mean? I-I mean, aren't you going to go to your own house?"

My heart started racing when I heard him say we should go inside. We were standing in front of my house. Did he really mean that we should go together inside my house?

The smirk was back on his face. "I don't trust you enough to address your wounds properly. You're too careless," he drawled lazily.

I blushed, knowing it was true. I was careless. I wasn't going to admit it to him, though. I glared at him defiantly.

"What? Are you going to make us wait out here and freeze to death?" He asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"No one asked you to wait!" I snapped. "And besides, I-I don't...havethekeyswithme," I mumbled so fast, I was unsure whether he heard me or not.

He gave me blank stare.

"Who the hell forgets to keep their house keys with them?" He asked incredulously. I tried hard to fight the blush starting to spread onto my face, but failed miserably.

"Apparently, I do, so get over it," I huffed, annoyed. I mean, he should know by now that I don't really have a great memory, and I'm only human. Humans have a tendency to forget stuff once in a while.

Ace ran a hand through his wet hair, making it look like he put gel on it. He looked so adorable doing it. Get over yourself, Ellie!

He looked at me for a moment, then to his house, and back to me.

Sighing, he said, "Com'on, you can stay at my house until your brother or your Mom comes back."

I gaped at him. Did he just ask me to come into his house with him? The words 'he's never been seen with a girl before' rang in my head. I stared at him with my mouth hanging open, probably looking like a fish. He put his finger under my chin, pushing my jaw up and effectively shutting my mouth.

"We don't want a fly going into that pretty mouth of yours, now do we?" He smirked.

"Actually, I don't think there would be any flies around in this kind of weather, when it's pouring buckets of water all around and on us," I retorted.

He looked at me in amusement. Shaking his head, he started walking towards his house.

I stared at his back, where the T-shirt clung to his back, exposing the muscles underneath. His arm muscles flexed as he inserted the key into the lock and opened the door.

He stopped and abruptly turned around. I quickly looked away so he couldn't catch me staring. "Are you coming or what?" He arched his eyebrow.

Feeling stupid, I hurried across the lawn and into his house. He closed the door behind me, shaking his hair like a dog, splashing me with bits of water. He looked like a little kid doing that. I smiled, and my eyes flicked to his chest, where I could see the muscles through his wet shirt.

I sucked in a breath when my eyes landed on his eight-pack. I've seen a six-pack before, but this, just took my breath away. In short He. Was. Hot.

"Done checking me out, Princess?"

My head snapped up to his, and I quickly turned my face to the side to hide my red face. "I-I-I wasn't..."

Suddenly, he was right in front of me, leaving only a few inches of space between us. I had this strong urge to cover up the space completely. Instead, I took a step back. He only stepped forward.

He kept advancing as I backed away, my back finally hitting the wall. He closed the distance between us, gazing at me with an emotion I couldn't quite place my hands on. His arms rested on the wall, both on either side of my head, trapping me.

You're a terrible liar, Ellie. His breath fanned across my face, and I shivered in anticipation.

He leaned in closer, his chest pressing up against mine. Instantly, I felt sparks igniting in my whole body at our contact. He brought his head closer to mine, and for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me.

Instead, he rested his forehead against mine, our breaths mixing together, our noses almost touching. It was like if I moved even an inch, our lips would be touching each others.

Admit it, Princess, you were totally checking me out, he smirked, and my breath hitched in my throat. It seemed as if he kept getting hotter by the moment.

The moment was broken as I whipped my head down, accidentally hitting his nose with my forehead, and sneezed.

Curse you, sneeze.

I looked up at Ace, who was currently holding his nose with his hand, while his eyes watered slightly.

"Oh my God Ace! I'm so, so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you! It was an accident-"

"Shut up, Ellie. It's okay. Let's get you changed, I don't want you catching a cold now." He turned and walked up the stairs, and I tagged along, repeatedly cursing myself for breaking the moment.

He kept walking and stopped once he reached a bedroom- undoubtedly his - and turned to face me. His room was spotless.

I was expecting something like Jason's room, which is always messy, but Ace's room was not at all like Jason's. He had a queen-sized bed in the middle, and two nightstands on either side of it. The bed sheets were a midnight blue with swirling designs on them. It was, all in all, beautiful and cozy.

His window was open, and a slight breeze flitted through the window, making me shiver. Ace noticed, and reached out for my hand. He led me to the drawer where he drew out a pair of shorts and a plain black T-shirt along with a towel. He handed them to me.

"There's the bathroom," he pointed towards the door at the end of the bedroom. "Go take a hot shower. I'll use the one in the hall. I'll wait for you out here, then we'll do something about your elbow." His voice sounded genuine and caring, and my heart melted right there.

Of course, he had to ruin it by adding "Don't take too long, or I might have to come inside and check on you."

I rolled my eyes. "Jerk"

"Ouch! You hurt me, Princess," he feigned hurt, placing his hand on his chest.

"Idiot," I muttered, and walked past him to the bathroom. He chuckled.

I shut and locked the door, and practically jumped in the warm, inviting shower. (Not before taking my clothes off, of course). The feeling in my right elbow returned a little, and I tried my best not to wet it. When I finished, I dried myself off and slipped on Ace's clothes.

The shorts came down below my knees, covering most of my legs, and the shirt was so long that it looked like a dress. His clothes smelt really good, and I tried not to sniff them like a dog. The shorts were a bit loose so I took my hair tie and tied a knot on the shorts. I didn't have another one so I had to leave my hair down for now.

I exited his bathroom and saw him sitting on the bed, leaning on the headboard with his arms folded behind his head. In front him him sat a little white box with a red + sign on the lid.

As soon as his eyes landed on me, he did a double-take. I felt self-conscious all of a sudden and squirmed a little as he stared at me.

"I've never seen you with your hair down before," he said, and then looked me up and down. Then - you guessed it - he smirked. "My clothes suit you."

A heavy blush dusted on my cheeks at his comment. He chuckled. "It's so easy to make you blush, Princess. It's like you save it for whatever I have to say, and then you release it on your face." My blush deepened, and I shook my hair to hide my cheeks.

"Well, I don't. Get over yourself."

He suddenly looked at my hands, making me glance down at them as well. I looked back at him, confused, when I didn't notice anything wrong. He just patted the bed, saying "Com'ere," and grabbed the box in front of him. Realization dawned on my face as I proceeded to sit in front of him.

I sat Indian-style on his bed and waited for him to do whatever it was that he wanted to. He opened the box, revealing band-aids and other antiseptic liquids.

"How and why do you have all this stuff in your house?" I frowned.

"My mother's a doctor." He gave me a 'duh' look.

Of course! Sarah and my mother worked in the same hospital. I smacked my forehead.

"Don't tell me you forgot that as well," he said, amused. He pulled out a small bottle with 'alcohol' labeled on it.

"Shut up," I mumbled, embarrassed at my stupid memory.

Suddenly, he took my right hand in one of his. I noticed how big his hand was, it could almost cover both of my hands with one. His hand was so warm that I wanted to put it on my cheek and snuggle into it. I was shaken out of my thoughts as I felt gentle dabbing motions on my elbow.

Ace had folded my arm so that he could have access to my elbow, and was gently dabbing it with a cotton ball covered in alcohol. The alcohol bottle rested on the nightstand on his right. His movements were so gentle, almost as if he thought I was fragile.

This gentle and caring side of him was so sweet, that I felt butterflies in my stomach. I stared at him as his brows wrinkled in concentration, making him look like a 5 year old intent on coloring a drawing. I wanted to 'Aww' right there, but I held it in, a small smile tugging at my lips.

The alcohol was having it's effect already, and I could feel the numbness fading, bringing back the pain again. I sucked in a breath as he swiped it once again, because this time I felt the pain, whereas in the beginning I'd felt nothing.

He glanced at me, his face contorting into one of concern as he took in my pained expression. I closed my eyes shut, and waited as he finished wiping any dried blood.

Ace started speaking without pausing his actions. "By the way...I was waiting for you to finish your detention. I started following you when I saw you leave the school," he admitted. "And I...I wanted to say sorry. For getting you in trouble," he added softly, and a bit reluctantly.

I felt him put my hand down gently on my lap, and opened my eyes. I searched his eyes for...I don't exactly know what, but I knew for a fact that Ace meant everything he said. His apology was sincere. I smiled at him.

"It's okay....I guess I'm just too sensitive sometimes. It's stupid, don't worry about it." He smiled back at me.

"Yeah, it's stupid," he commented with a grin.

My mouth dropped open, but I just shook my head and ignored it. I guess he had a hard time apologizing to someone.

He was now unrolling the gauze, and then he started wrapping it around my elbow.

"Ace, I don't think this is necessary..." I trailed off at the sharp look he gave me.

"Do you know anything about bacteria and germs, Ellie?"

I nodded my head yes.

"Then shut up."

I did.

*******

Ace and I were currently sitting in living room, eating the pizza he ordered, and watching "The Possession" with Jayden, Angelino, and Zachary, Ace's really close 'buddies.' Now, you must be wondering why I was hanging out with Ace's friends. Technically, they were mine too now.

Apparently, those three and Ace had planned on hanging out tonight at his house, and here they were, sitting with us and watching the movie.

All three of them were seniors, and were all tall, and muscular. Not to forget hot as well. At first, they looked intimidating, but as I spent more time with them, I was actually having fun.

Zachary, or Zach, as we called him, was the sweetest of them all, although he did behave mischievously once in a while. He even had the cute boyish look, while the others looked more intimidating than him.

Jayden was the one with the dirtiest mind, but I noticed he had a sweet side to him as well. Angelino...well, let's just say that he's self-centered, funny, and very loud. All in all, they were pretty fun to hang out with. I tried to give Angelino a nickname- Angel- since his name seemed too long for me to say every time.

The nickname didn't suit him at all.. He was anything but angelic. The others had snorted when I called him Angel. Guess they shared the same view as me about him. So I'd decided that that nickname would be too stupid for him.

It was Angelino who I had seen in the field with Ace on the day that I got hit with the ball. He was the one who'd undoubtedly told Ace that I was staring at him at that time. That jerk. I mentally shook my head.

Ace and Jayden were both sitting on the floor, their backs on the couch, while I was sitting-more like laying- on the couch with my feet on Angelino's lap and my head on Zach's. You could say that I'd gotten pretty close to them over the past few hours, and I wasn't the slightest bit uncomfortable with my position.

They'd all been surprised to see me here when they arrived, but the shock was over now, since 'I was cool enough to hang out with' as Angelino had stated.

After a while, my eye lids began to feel heavy, so I was squinting at the T.V. at that moment, not really paying much attention. The movie was close to an end, and I was just watching it without really seeing it, if you know what I mean.

And then suddenly, the demon's face pressed up close to the T.V. screen. I shot up from Zach's lap and let out a shriek.

For God's sake! I was almost half-asleep, and they decide to just throw the dreadful face of the demon right on the T.V. screen; and that too, in full screen! I was sure I was going to have nightmares after this.

Ace and Jayden both snapped their heads towards me, and Zach shot out of the couch so fast that he stumbled and fell in a heap on top of Jayden. I would've laughed my ass off if my heart hadn't been racing 100 miles per second due to the fear, even though it was starting to fade now.

Angelino thought otherwise, and his guffaws echoed in the room. "D-did y-you see h-her f-f-face?" He choked between his laughing fit. Jayden pushed Zach off of him and straightened up.

"Why the hell did you scream, El?" Jayden asked.

"The face! T-the-the demon! She just popped out of nowhere! It scared me so much, that..." I trailed off, feeling stupid now.

There was a moment of silence.

And then all of the boys started roaring with laughter, clutching their stomachs as if it was the most hilarious thing they've ever seen and heard. Angelino's was the loudest. Of course, couldn't have expected less from him.

I huffed in annoyance, waiting for two full minutes until their laughter finally died. I gave all of them a murderous glare.

Zach chuckled and plopped down on the couch. I contemplated for a moment, before finally jumping on both Angelino and Zach's lap again. We all resumed our position and watched the movie. This time, when I felt my heavy lids droop, I closed them entirely.

Soon, I was asleep.