I tried my best to hold in my laughter as I took in his bewildered expression. He'd apparently caught the pillow when it tumbled out of my window. As I continued looking at him, he turned the pillow in his hand, and seemed mesmerized by it. I couldn't help it. A giggle escaped my lips.

I slapped a hand over my mouth, and quickly pulled my head in before he saw me. I slowly walked back to my bed, slumped down next to Beth, who was staring at me in confusion, and burst into full-fledged laughter. Now it was my turn to roll over in my bed, still laughing my ass off.

"His....face.." I gasped out between my hysterical laughs. "You should've...seen his...face...Beth!" I fell into a fit of laughter again, his mesmerized face still in my mind.

"What are you talking about, El? Who's face?" Beth asked, confusion clear in her voice. I couldn't reply to her because of my laughter, so I simply pointed at the window. She frowned, but got up and walked to the window and stuck her head out. She turned to look at me after a few seconds, with a raised eyebrow. I calmed down enough to ask her what she saw.

"Uh..nothing? Was I supposed to see something?" she raised her eyebrow again.

Now it was my turn to be confused. "You didn't see Ace down there?" I asked, getting up to go see for myself. She was right, there was no one standing outside my window. Huh? Where did he go? He can't have taken my pillow with him, right?

Beth let out an incredulous laugh. "You okay there Ellie? You just said Ace. Why would I see Ace down there?"

I turned away from the window after a few more seconds of looking around. "Oh, sorry. Did I ever tell you, that Ace lives next door?" I said sheepishly. Beth's eyes widened in astonishment. Then she narrowed her eyes at me. "Haha...ha. I forgot to tell you. I've even been in his house before...once. Wait, no. Twice, I think," I pulled on a thoughtful expression, trying to pretend that I was lost in thought.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Beth walked to me with a 'now you tell me?' look on her face. I fiddled a little, still trying to keep up my act of being lost in thought. That is, until Beth smacked me on the head. "OW!" I yelled out, touching my head where she smacked me. "You crazy woman! I could've gotten a concussion!"

"Shut up, before I smack you again." I shut up. "Why the hell did you not tell me about Ace? Is there anything else that you haven't told me?" She glared at me, making me squirm a little. I shrugged in a nonchalant way, and walked to my bed, slumping down on it.

"Don't you trust me anymore?" She walked over to me, and tried to act playful. But...I could see the slight hurt in her eyes. My eyes widened, and I rushed to explain to her that that wasn't the case.

"No Beth! Of course I trust you, you idiot! If I didn't trust you, do you really think I would've told you everything about..Luke? I just... I don't know. I've kind of been busy, and so have you. It just slipped out of my mind," I told her truthfully.

"What did you forget to tell me? That the guy that you like lives next door, or the fact that you liked that guy?" She asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"That he lives next door...."

Heavy silence fell in the room.

"WHAT!" I exclaimed, sitting upright on my bed, staring at Beth, realizing what she had just said. "I....." I trailed off, Beth's words from earlier flashing into my mind. Don't you trust me anymore.

I hadn't told Beth about what I had realized that one night; that I really liked Ace. If I told Beth, she would probably make fun of me. But.. she's my best friend. And I should trust her. I decided then that I would tell her. But not so easily.

"What makes you think that I like him?" I asked, raising my eyebrows for effect. She seemed a little surprise. She was probably expecting me to deny what she said. Ha! In your face, I thought triumphantly.

"Well...you seem to be talking to him a lot, and you also said that you've already been to his house twice. And you know his friends," she paused for a moment, and then with a shrug, she said, "And he's pretty hot, too."

I sighed. I guess I was going to have to tell her. "I swear....if you tell anyone. Especially Ace, about it, then I will murder you with my own hands, best friend or not," I narrowed my eyes at her.

She let out a delighted squeal, and grasped my shoulders, pulling me into a hug. "Oh. My. GOD!" You actually admitted it!" her eyes were twinkling with delight. "You really do like A-"

A knock sounded at the door.

I snapped my head towards the door. I sighed in relief when I saw it was only Ulises. I don't know why, but it had felt like Ace was there, not Ulises.

Ulises raised his eyebrows suspiciously. "Where you guys gossiping about guys?" he looked at me. "Did I hear something about someone admitting their feelings for someone?" His voice was stern.

I couldn't blame him. Ever since that incident with Luke, Jason and Ulises both have been extremely overprotective over me. They felt responsible for not being there for me that night when...that thing happened.

"Oh my God! Yes, I was telling Ellie how hot that guy in my Physics class looks without his shirt-"

"Save me the details Beth," Ulises grimaced at the details Beth had started to give. I mentally grinned at her for helping me out of this situation. "By the way, I came here to let you know that someone's waiting for you downstairs."

I frowned. Was someone else supposed to come to my house today? "But-"

"Oh, just send them in here," Beth rolled her eyes.

"What's the magic word?" Ulises smirked at her.

"Oh you better go downstairs right now, unless you want to hear more details about that hot guy in my Physics class," she glared at him. I looked at the both of them in solace. Beth was one girl you could not mess with, I thought with a smile.

Ulises's expression turned into one of mock horror, and he backed away, muttering about 'crazy girls these days'. He shook his head, and walked out of my room.

He poked his head inside 2 seconds later, and said, "You guys, I'm leaving for work right now, so you three better not do something you're not supposed to. You can go out, Ellie, as long as someone's with you."

He paused. "Be careful both of you," he added sternly, and then left.

"Did he just call me crazy?!" Beth looked at me in bewilderment.

"Aren't you?" I asked innocently, battling my eyelashes.

"Oh, you did not just say that!" she flashed me a wicked grin, and before I knew it, I was being assailed by my own pillows. "Now you pay!" she let out an evil laugh, and kept hitting me with the pillows.

I grabbed two for myself, and started attacking her as well. "Bring it on!" I yelled, laughing hysterically, as I tried to hit her, but it flew out of my hand and onto the floor.

That made me laugh even harder, and I dropped the other pillow on the bed, and flopped down on it, clutching my stomach. There should be a term for rolling on the bed laughing. Because that's exactly what I was doing right now.

Beth took one look at my position, and started snickering, which soon turned into full-fledged laughter. She'd dropped her pillows as well, and like me, was rolling on my bed, laughing.

Suddenly, something soft hit my face, and since I was laughing with my mouth wide open, I got a mouthful of the soft material.

I bolted upright, yanking the thing out of my mouth, and throwing it on the floor. I looked over at Beth, ready to give her my evil look....but she was still in the same position as before, facing the other way, her back to me.

I crunched my eyebrows in confusion, and leaned over the bed to glance at the soft thing that was in my mouth, and...my jaw dropped open.

The bunny pillow that Beth had thrown out the window earlier, and which Ace had caught in his hand, was lying there on the floor. I gaped at it for several seconds, Beth's laughter still ringing in the room, and then turned to look at the door. There was no one there.

Frowning, I crawled to the edge of the bed on my knees, and stopped. I looked over at Beth in annoyance, and nudged her with my elbow. Unfortunately, I nudged her on her ticklish spot, and instead of making her stop, I made her laugh even harder.

I groaned in frustration, and looked back at the pillow on the floor. How did it get here? Ace had it with him, so unless he's in here -which I doubt he is- then there must be a ghost in here somewhere that brought it in.

My heart skipped a beat at that thought, even though it was utterly ridiculous. There were no gho--

"Elora," a voice whispered right next to me ear.

"AAHHH," I let out a high pitched scream, and before I could stop myself, tumbled down from the bed, and onto the floor. "OHMYGOD!" I backed away in fear, until my back touched the wall, and closed my eyes shut.

My heart thudded in my chest, and my breaths came out in short pants, as if I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. My eyes still shut tightly, I kept muttering, "Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmy-"

"Ellie!" a shocked voice called out to me. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think...I only....are you..okay?" The voice continued, now filled with guilt. I felt a presence near me, and I stiffened, still not wanting to take my hands off of my face.

"Ellie, it's me, Ace," he murmured softly, trying to get me to uncover my eyes. I didn't take my hands off, but I felt myself relaxing considerably as his voice floated up to me.

Warm hands gently grabbed mine, and pulled them away from my face. "Open your eyes Ellie," he ordered me quietly. I opened them slowly, and peered at him through narrowed eyes.

I noticed how his big hands were still holding mine, their warmth comforting. It was then that my eyes flickered past Ace, and I noticed Beth standing by my bed, staring at us with wide eyes. Me, specifically.

Ace followed my gaze over to Beth, and she seemed to come to her senses then. She blinked, and then slowly took a step forward. "Are you okay now, El?", she asked me cautiously.

I nodded my head. It felt like Beth thought I would explode any moment now. I thought so too. I mean, the nerve of that guy! I almost died right there because of him.

I turned back to face Ace. He looked back at me as well, guilt flashing through his eyes. Yeah, you better be feeling guilty. Even when I thought that, I couldn't help but feel a little..weak, you know?

I mean, I'm pretty sure no one would've been scared that bad as to do what I'd done a few minutes ago. I get scared too easily. It's totally not fair.

Ace quickly stood up, holding his hand out to me. I took it without hesitation, and he pulled me up in a standing position. Aww, what a gentleman, like always. First, he scares the hell out of me, and now he helps me up. I smiled sweetly at him, and said, "Thank you, Ace."

He looked confused at my behavior at first, and then, like Beth, his expression turned cautious as well. He took a step back, probably expecting me to explode any minute now.

I did.

I flew at him, pounding my fists on his chest. "You idiot! You scared me half to death, you moron! I could've had a heart attack for all I know! You-you baboon!", I screeched at him. I'm pretty sure that my hands were suffering more pain than his hard chest was.

And, to my dismay, as I continued yelling at him, he burst out laughing. So did Beth. I started hitting him harder, but he only grabbed both of my hands in one of his large ones. Struggle as hard as I might, I couldn't break away from his grasp.

Damn him and his well-muscled, and strong arms. Even though I was struggling to get my hands out of his grip, my attempts to do so were done half-heartedly.

I don't know why, but the way only one of his hand could cover both of mine, felt so...safe. I wanted him to hold them like that forever. I was so small compared to him; I was probably half his size, a little bit more, possibly, width wise.

"Bab-Baboon?" He asked me once they were done laughing. Beth started into another fit of laughter at that, and Ace grinned at me with amusement in his eyes. "Did you seriously just say baboon?" He asked me, trying to hold in his laughter.

To be honest, I wanted to laugh right then and there, now that I realized how childish I must've sounded. I was actually trying to avoid cursing out loud, and so I yelled out the first things that came to my mind that were as close to insulting someone in a situation like this.

I tried to cross my arms defiantly, but forgot that Ace was gripping onto them. It was too late when I remembered that, as he jerked forward by my sudden movement. Unfortunately, forward meant towards me.

Or, more specifically, on me. His body pushed mine back, until it hit the wall. His other hand, which wasn't holding mine, shot out to brace on the wall, so as not to put all his weight on me. Damn, he was heavy!

Warmth flooded throughout my body, as his muscled body pressed into mine, causing my skin to tingle everywhere. His right hand now held only my left hand, his elbow splayed across my collar bone. He'd dropped my other hand when he'd tried to brace himself.

Our eyes met, and we stared at each other for what seemed like forever. My heart rate increased as he leaned a little closer to my face. I wondered whether he could feel my heart beating rapidly against his hand.

"Ahem."

Both Ace and I jerked away from each other, snapping our heads towards Beth. "Umm..should I leave?" she asked, shifting uncomfortably.

Before any of us could reply, the door bell rang. I quickly excused myself to get the door, walking away from the uncomfortable situation as quickly as possible. I smiled once I was out, thinking of the way Ace had held me, our bodies pressing together.

The bell rang again, interrupting my thoughts. "Coming! Have some patience!" I muttered, and quickened my pace. Once I reached the door, I unlocked it, and opened the door.

"Wha--" I stopped. It felt as if everything else stopped. He could not be here! This is not possible! I thought, as fear coursed through me. It's a dream, I thought desperately.

Because surely, surely, Luke wouldn't be standing outside my house. Would he?