15 | p a c k y o u r t h i n g s

No one said or did anything. Charlie stood there with a bored, expectant look on his face, waiting for Ace to say something to him. I sat on the floor with a hand holding my left cheek, trying to block my pain from the boy at the door. And Ace held his stance outside, staring at me with his jaw slack and lips parted.

It was like a game of who would break first. I almost wanted to get up and run to my bedroom but who knows what Ace would think then.

"What do you want kid?" Charlie asked Ace with a sigh.

Ace's eyes flicked up to Charlie's for a split second but then went back to me. Or more likely, my cheek. "What happened to you?" He whispered to me.

I barely picked up on it, but I heard something in his voice that made me shiver. I don't think anyone has been so scared for me before.

When I didn't answer, Charlie growled, "she's fine. Goodbye." And then he tried to close the front door.

Ace wouldn't let him. He put his arm out, stopping the door. I could see his muscles tensing, his biceps straining with effort to keep it open. In the end, Ace was stronger than Charlie and he burst through the door.

He made his way over to me quickly and knelt down. I backed up a little, scared Charlie would do something to him since he was helping me. Ace slid his thumb across my bruised cheek and I winced. His eyes hardened.

Charlie had obviously decided the scene before him wasn't worth his time because he started walking toward his room. But Ace stood, calmly walked over to him, stopping him, and punched him in the face.

He went down and was out cold. I screamed and he looked back over to me, shaking out his hand. How the hell did he do that?

He went back to me and held his hands out. I took them and he pulled me up and took me to my room. "Pack your things."

"Why?" I asked him, my voice still shaky.

He walked to my closet and opened it, searching for something. A few seconds later, he pulled out a backpack and threw it to me. "You're staying at my house."

"But why?" I asked, starting at the bag like it was a foreign object.

He stepped closer to me until my face was in his hands. "Mel, did your father hurt you?"

I stared at him and the scared expression he wore and tears welled up in my eyes. I nodded. He cursed and pulled me into his chest, holding me.

I let him squeeze the life out of me. It was almost as if he needed it more than me, to make sure I was there and okay. "He's never going to hurt you again sweetheart, I promise."

And if this hadn't been happening my whole life, I would have believed him. But it had, so I didn't. I just held onto him tighter, burying my face into his chest. He smelled good, I realized. He wore cologne but it wasn't too much.

The scent is what kept me sane in that moment. Because it was Ace; and Ace made me feel safe. "Okay, I'll pack some stuff."

But he didn't let go of me. His arms were over my arms and one hand cradled the back of my head. I chuckled lightly, the sound was weird with my cracked voice.

"Ace, I can't breathe," I smiled against his shirt.

He pulled back, holding my upper arms. "Shit! I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," but he knew I wasn't.

We left my apartment, Charlie still passed out on the living room floor. And we made our way down to his car. I had packed a bunch of clothes, just stuffing as much as I could into my bag.

As he drove, a muscle ticked in his jaw every few seconds. I could help but stare at him and tune out the music playing in the background. He really was gorgeous.

"What were you doing back at the apartments? I thought you had already left," I asked.

He smirked a little. "I was. But I realized I forgot something."

"What did you forget?" I asked, confused.

"I wanted to kiss you goodnight but I had wussed out in the car," he smiled but then it dropped. "What if I hadn't come back Mel? What if I had never shown up?"

I sighed and reached over, covering his palm with my own. "Charlie was already done with me. He was back in his room. I couldn't move from the floor to answer the door."

He shook his head. "I was so scared Mel; when you didn't answer. At first I thought you just couldn't hear it so I rang the bell again, and again and then pounded on the door. But no one heard me and it scared me."

"I'm sorry Ace."

He looked over and me and then laced out fingers together. "Don't you fucking dare be sorry Mel. I'm sorry I wasn't there in time to stop it."

"You couldn't have stopped him. He was a man on a mission," I voiced.

We were quiet for the rest of the way to his house. But once he pulled into the driveway, he looked at me seriously. "What do you want me to tell my parents?"

"We're telling your parents?" I squeaked.

He was still holding onto my hand. "Well I can't just say, "'hey guys! So, my girlfriend is going to be staying over here for no reason at all!"' That wouldn't fly with them."

"Do you want to tell them the truth?" I asked him and he nodded, looking slightly ashamed that he would want that. "Then tell them."

"You don't mind me telling my mom about Charlie hurting you?" His was was disbelieving.

I nodded, "I trust you Ace. Whatever you need to do."

He smiled at me and then kissed the back of my hand. "I'm sorry Mel. You are literally the last person on this planet who deserves a father like him. You don't have to ever see him again if you don't want to."

"Ace, we both know that it's unlikely. Even if we somehow get him out of my life, he'd come back. He'd always find me." I was blushing from when his lips had touched my skin.

"I just want you to be happy Mel. You deserve so much better than living with that piece of trash. Can't you go live with your mom?"

I shook my head, "I told you, she left us when I was 14. I haven't spoken to her for three years. I don't even know where she is."

"God, this is so shitty." He sat there for a second, thinking things over. "Okay, we don't need to go over this right now. Let's just go in and you can get some rest."

I said nothing and we climbed out of the car, grabbing my bags from the back. We went inside and he yelled to his parents, letting them know he was home. They called him into the living room and he latched onto my hand and pulled me along with him.

Ace's parents' eyes widened when I walked in. I wasn't sure if they had seen the bruise forming on my cheek or if they were just shocked to see me. I wave them both a half hearted wave and they both did the same back, confused.

Ace swallowed and his grip tightened on my hand. "Mel is staying here for a few days."

Anna's eyes glanced back over to me and her gaze traveled over my features. A frown appeared when she saw my cheek. "What's going on Ace?"

I thought back to earlier that night, Charlie screaming at me and hitting me over and over. I couldn't stop the tears from welling in my eyes. Ace glanced over at me and must have seen the look on my face.

"Baby, go upstairs and get some rest, okay?" I had never heard his voice so soft before. It was soothing and stopped the memories immediately. I nodded, dazed and went back into the entryway.

Grabbing my bags on the way, I went up the stairs and to Ace's room. It was the same as the last two times, with a few items of clothing spread along the floor. I set my things down on his bed and rifled through them. I picked out a pair of sleep shorts and a tee-shirt and threw them on, my gaze on his door the whole time.

I walked into his attached bathroom and looked at myself for the first time in his mirror. The sight was not pretty; my face was pale and my eyes looked sunken in as if I hadn't gotten enough sleep.

There was indeed a bruise forming on my cheek and just the sight of it made me turn away in displeasure. I washed my face and put my hair up before going back into his bedroom. I crawled in his bed, needing to be wrapped in the warmth of the blankets.

It was a while before I heard his door crack open, revealing Ace. He wore a small smile and he crept over to me. I blinked my eyes at him, sleepily, since I had almost been asleep. "Mel, my parents said you can stay here as long as you need, okay?"

I nodded and pulled his face down to me by his hand. I moved my lips until they were by his ear. "Thank you," I whispered.

"Please don't thank me Mel. I'm not doing this because I have to. I want to make sure you're okay," he sat on the bed next to my body.

I nodded, "thank you anyway; for

caring about me."

Ace ran his hand through my hair a few times and leaned down to kiss my forehead. "Get some sleep sweetheart. I'll see you in the morning."

But before he could leave, I grabbed his hand. "Where are you going?"

He blinked, "to the guest room."

"Stay here, with me," I asked him, pleaded him.

He stared at me for a few seconds before nodding and going to his closet. He picked out a pair of pajamas and went into the bathroom.

He came out in a pair of blue sleep pants and a white shirt. He went to the other side of his bed and climbed in next to me. I had shared a bed with him once before but it was still weird to think I was in bed with a boy.

Even if it was completely for comfort and not for anything sexual, it was weird. I flipped over until I faced him and then scooted closer. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me even closer.

My head eventually rested on his chest, one of my arms thrown across his abdomen, the other curled to my chest. His arms protectively held my waist and stroked the back of my hair, playing with strands of brown hair.

"Goodnight Ace," I whispered to him, tightening my hold on his body.

He kissed the crown of my head and then pulled back. "Sleep well sweetheart."

Okay so this chapter was pretty short, only 1900 ish words. But it's kind of a filler chapter. There's some important stuff In here but it's mostly just to help with the plot a little.

Also I wish Ace had done more than just punch Charlie because he deserves so much worse. But hey, who's to say there isn't more to come.

I can't believe I'm already at chapter 15! This is officially the longest story I've ever written. It had almost 38,000 words and before this, my longest was 33,000. That's so crazy to me.

Anyway, see you guys in my next chapter! Don't forget to vote and follow me if you want! 💞