Chapter 14

The first thing that came to my mind was to close the door in his face. And run. And that's exactly what I tried to do. The key word here; tried. As I proceeded to push the door forward, Luke stuck his leg out and stopped the door from closing shut. I must say, he was strong.

I mean, it must've hurt like hell, having the door pressing on his foot. Especially when I was putting so much pressure on the door. Even if it did hurt, he didn't show it. Instead, he gave me a smile. Not just any smile, mind you. The one that clearly said, 'you can't do anything to stop me, and you know it'.

"Nice to see you again girlfriend."

I flinched involuntarily, thoughts of our relationship barging into my mind. I shook them away, bringing a glare on my face. "I'm not your girlfriend," I spat at him with venom in my voice, putting aside all my fear I felt at the moment. Which was a lot, by the way.

"Oh, com'on Babe, don't be like that," he smirked, even though his eyes held no emotion, just coldness. He pushed the door backward, making me stumble a few steps back, before I regained my balance.

I scowled at him. I wanted to say, 'don't call me that' but thought better of it. I'd just make myself look pathetic. And besides, it's not like he's going to stop anyway.

He entered the house and started looking around. "You've got a nice house. The living room, the kitchen... I bet your bedroom's even more cozy, isn't it?" he took a step closer to me, a half-smile on his face.

And as expected, I took one back. And hit the wall. Fear came back to me full-force. What is he going to do? Am I going to die today? No one would know until someone gets home.......Beth! ..and Ace!

As he took one more step forward, I prepared myself for the loudest scream I've ever uttered. Taking in a deep breath, I opened my mouth, about to scream, when Luke realized what I was doing, and closed the distance between us completely, and clamped a hand over my mouth, muffling my scream. I struggled in his grip, but he used his body to push me against the wall, completely trapping me.

"Now, wouldn't want any neighbors to hear your pretty little scream, would we? I'll advice you to save it for later...if you know what I mean," he let out a low chuckle and winked. My eyes widened of their own in fear and I started struggling even more, but it was of no use. He didn't even budge.

Instead, he pushed me into the wall even harder using his body. I couldn't breathe; he was putting too much pressure on me. And the fact that he was blocking my mouth made it even harder to breathe.

My chest tightened with the lack of breath, and I tried to push him away, my attempts feeble. I felt like I was going to pass out if I didn't get air in my lungs soon.

I made one more attempt at pushing him off by using my body. And he moved.

But not because I pushed him, but because Ace pulled him off of me.

No, that's a wrong word to use. He slammed Luke backwards onto the wall, right next to the door. I gasped in the sudden rush of air into my lungs, feeling grateful that I didn't actually pass out.

But I still felt weak, and slumped down on the floor in a kneeling position. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Beth rushing up to me. And in front of me, I saw Ace...punching Luke senselessly. Literally.

I mustered up some energy and got back on my feet, only to stumble forward into Ace. I grabbed onto his arm to regain my balance, and tried to pull him off Luke, who was now on the floor, trying to land a kick on Ace.

"Ace, stop! He's not worth it", I shouted weakly, still trying to pull him off of Luke. He continued punching as if I hadn't even spoken. "Ace!", I shouted to get his attention.

And I got it. For just a second. He glanced at my weak form, and then went back to Luke with renewed rage in his eyes. Grabbing Luke by the collar, he hauled him onto his feet and pushed him onto the wall roughly. Right then, Beth came to me and stood next to me, watching Ace and Luke with wide eyes.

"You. Will. Stay. Away. From her. Do you understand? Because next time, I won't hesitate to rip your throat out and pound it until there's nothing left," he pushed Luke harder. "Believe me, when I say I won't hesitate, I won't. Not even Ellie can stop me," he growled out, scowling at Luke in hatred. He let go of his collar and pointed to the half-open doorway. "Out."

That's all he said. And that's all it took for Luke to actually get out of the house, wiping the blood off his face. Once he was out, he stopped abruptly and turned to face us, looking me right in the eye. The look he gave me... I stared at him in shock.

Never, ever, in my whole life, have I ever been given a look so full of hatred before. With that look, he turned back around and stumbled a little before regaining his balance and started walking.

Ace stepped forward and slammed the door shut with such force that Beth and I cringed at the sound. I noticed him taking deep breaths, probably trying to calm down. Ace didn't turn to look at any of us, just faced the other side, his hand on the door, clenched in a tight fist.

"Ace...?" I finally whispered, breaking the thick silence that had fallen in the room. I felt a pang of hurt when he didn't even glance at me. I looked at Beth.

I didn't need to tell her anything. She looked at me sympathetically, and slowly put both of her hands around me, embracing me in a tight but cautious hug.

That was all it took for me to finally lose it. I started sobbing on her shoulder, clutching her tightly, with her running soothing circles on my back. She glanced behind me, but I was too busy sobbing to care about anything.

She led me to the couch in the living room, plopping both of us down on the soft cushions, and held me tight while I let everything out. "Sshh El, it's alright...you're okay, you're safe," Beth kept murmuring soothing words to me, trying to calm me down.

I could hear the worry in her voice as she kept whispering, but the fact that I had been so weak, and that I couldn't even defend myself, kept forming into my head, which made me cry even harder.

I don't know how long it took, but I think it was quite long, to finally stop crying. I felt the couch dip down a little on my left, but I payed no attention. I was numb and embarrassed from all the crying, and all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and sleep everything off.

I wanted to forget Luke. I wanted to forget how Ace hadn't said a word to me. I wanted to forget everything. I did forget them. Because I fell asleep, and don't ask me when, because I've forgotten that as well.

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"Yeah, I'm going to stay here..."

"Okay Mom, I'll call you later. Bye!" click.

I opened my eyes groggily and turned sideways to face...Beth. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my eyes of sleep. Glancing at the clock, I noticed it was 5 p.m. What in the world.... Oh.

Everything came back to me in that instant, and I closed my eyes for a moment as I felt my eyes water again. Taking deep breaths to calm myself down and not start bawling like a baby again, I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder.

I forced my eyes open again, looking at Beth. She looked concerned, and a little relieved that I hadn't started crying. "How're you feeling now? Do you want something to drink...?" she trailed off, waiting for an answer.

I shook my head no. A thought suddenly came to me. "How did I get in my room?" I asked. "Wasn't I on the couch?"

"Ace carried you here," she gave me a 'duh' look. My neck and cheeks started heating up of their own, and I looked away from Beth to hide my face. "Awww, look at you El! Just hearing his name can turn you into a ripe tomato," she cooed, a grin on her face. Well, there goes my cheeks again.

"But.." I cleared my throat, trying to shake the warm feeling away. "I thought Ace left after....after I, you know, uh, started...crying" I stuttered, my cheeks heating up again, but this time, it was out of embarrassment.

Beth's voice was soft when she said, "Ellie, you don't need to be embarrassed because you cried. In fact, it's a good thing that you did, you know? You let everything out, and it's not good to bottle up everything inside yourself. I mean, what you're going through right now...it's reasonable for you to cry," she gave me a small sympathetic smile.

My eyes watered again, but this time, I didn't stop the tears from flowing down my face. I reached over and hugged Beth tightly. "Thank you.... for being here for me Beth. It means a lot to me," I whispered to her.

She returned the hug, then pulled away. "Hey, you're making me all emotional and stuff," she muttered, dabbing the corner of her eyes with the edge of her sleeves. I laughed, wiping my tears away. I got up off my bed, thinking of our conversation.

Ace had carried me here. I felt a tingling sensation course through me, and I shook my head. My crush on him was totally not helping me right now. I walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

I was a complete and total mess. My eyes were puffy and red, my cheeks held weird lines and marks that probably came from my nap, and my shirt was wrinkled. Splashing water on my face, I headed out and changed into a clean shirt, tossing the other into the hamper.

Beth got up when she saw me, and started talking as we walked out of the room. "Ulises called when you were sleeping. He was worried because he said he can't come home, but I told him I'm going to stay here with you," she said casually.

"Oh, and Jason came home," Beth added. I shot a panicked look at Beth. Had he seen me with my swollen eyes and blotchy face? "Don't worry, he just came home to get some clothes so he could stay over at his friend's. He just saw you and shook his head," she grinned. "Ace and I pretended to watch a movie when he came in."

I laughed at that, but abruptly stopped as I reached the bottom of the steps. I stared at the figure sprawled over the couch, watching...Paranormal Activity? on the T.V. Beth followed my gaze towards the couch, and another grin lit up her face.

"Oh, and another thing. Ace is still here," she said, just as Ace turned to look at us. I shot a glare at Beth. Why didn't you tell me before, you idiot? And here I was, thinking he was back at his house.

"Hello ladies," Ace said pleasantly. There was no trace of the earlier anger in his voice. Seems like he's had enough time to calm himself down. "Wanna join? I've never watched this one, but I heard it's a good one," he turned back to the movie.

Beth walked towards the couches, and I followed. She took the armchair, and I was left with nothing to sit on. Since Ace was sprawled on the big one, completely covering it. I walked towards it, and just stood there waiting with my arms folded for him to move his legs. He just glanced at me, and went back to watching the movie.

Oh no he didn't. Who does he think he is, sitting in my house, on my couch, using my T.V? I cleared my throat, trying to catch his attention. Nope, no response. Only Beth turned to look at us, her face full of amusement. What a great friend I have. I cleared my throat louder this time, staring pointedly at Ace.

This time, he turned to look at me, annoyance on his face. "Do you need a cough drop?"

I gaped at him. "No I don't. I need you to move your hairy legs off the couch so I can sit down."

He raised an eyebrow. "Hairy legs?" he scoffed. After a few seconds, "What's the magic word?" he smirked at me.

"Abracadabra?" I asked innocently. Beth's muffled laughter reached my ears, letting me know that she was paying attention to our conversation, not the movie.

'Nope, wrong word. You've lost your chance Princess, you only get one," he gave me another smirk, and turned his attention back to the movie. I huffed in annoyance and muttered a 'don't call me that'. He ignored me, as usual.

I suddenly noticed something in his hand that looked strangely familiar. I squinted my eyes, trying to figure out what it was, when my eyes popped open again.

"You! What's my phone doing in your hand?!" I asked inquiringly, folding my arms on my chest.

Ace's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh, this."

"Yeah, that," I rolled my eyes. "What's it doing in your hand?"

"Nothing. Just put my number in there." A small smile lit up my face. He gave me his number! That must mean something, right? "Because I know you can't resist me and you want to talk to me 24/7," he ended his sentence.

I frowned at him. "Egocentric bastard," I muttered.

Ace raised an eye brow at me. "Now I'm definitely not moving my "hairy legs" (he said those words in a high-pitched voice, by the way) off the couch," he went back to watching the movie, but not before tossing my phone back to me.

I barely caught it, gaping at him. He should know I'm not good at catching! He was there for dodge ball itself! Another smile lit up my face as I thought about that day and how he'd caught all the dodge balls for me when I wasn't paying attention.

And best of all, he had taken Luke out of the game for me. By the way, Luke hadn't participated in any other dodge ball game after that one when he got out because of Ace.

Now that I noticed him, he was absorbed in the movie again, not even paying attention to me standing there, waiting for him to move his legs off the couch so that I could sit.

I knew for a fact that he was waiting for me to do something to make him move, and I also knew that he knew I wasn't going to say 'please' to him. So I did the only reasonably thing in that situation to do. I grabbed his legs, and tried to pull them off the couch.

I caught him by surprise, because I don't think he was expecting me to do that. I almost giggled at his look, but I didn't, because before I could sit down, he put his feet back up. I let out a frustrated groan, "I give up!"

I stomped angrily to the edge of the couch and propped myself up on the arm. I heard Beth giggle, and Ace smirked at me. Oh, smirk all you want right now Ace, because I'm going to find a way to wipe that smirk off your face.

Right then, an idea formed into my head. I've heard before that if the person isn't ticklish, but you catch them by surprise, it might sometimes work. And I had the perfect opportunity to test if it's true or not.

Please work, please work! I thought as I peeked at Ace out of the corner of my eye. He was absorbed in the movie. I slowly moved my finger down from my thigh, and before he could see what I was doing, I lightly ran my finger down the sole of his foot. What happened next was something I was totally not expecting.

Ace pulled his feet up with a yelp, and sat in a crouching position on the couch. It took a moment for him to realize what happened, and he glared at me. And I burst out laughing. I slid off the arm of the couch, and moved closer to him.

So, he was ticklish, huh? What a discovery. I held my finger out to him, saying "poke, poke". He raised an eyebrow at me, giving me a weird look. I think he thought I was just going to act like an idiot and not do anything.

He thought wrong. Because I moved even closer to him, and started tickling/poking him wherever I could reach. He tried to stop himself from laughing, but failed miserably. Beth's laughter joined both of ours, as she watched me trying to reach him, and him trying to block my fingers from touching him.

Finally, after about a minute, he grabbed my hands to stop me from poking him. I was too busy laughing to notice him staring at me with a strange look on his face. But I did notice the smile on his face, an actual, real smile, while he continued watching me as I laughed.