Chapter 16

- Mia White -

Glancing at the clock, I looked out the window as I patiently waited for Ace to arrive. I was nervous to say the least. Sarah told me that I should see Ace the next time he asks to hang out, and she was right. Besides, although he messed up, I missed him.

My eyes snapped to the familiar car that was now in view. It parked in front of my house, and I smiled when I saw Ace getting out of the car with a single white rose in his hand. Moving away from the window, I walked to the front door just as the doorbell rang. Putting on my shoes, I opened the door and saw Ace's nervous smile.

"Hey," he greeted.

I inwardly chuckled. "Hi."

"This is for you, but you probably already knew that," he said as he gave me the rose.

Saying a quick thank you, I placed the flower in one of the many flower vases provided by Ace before waking out the door. Locking it behind me, we walked towards his car where he opened the passenger's door for me before I could open it myself.

"I assume we're going to the library?" he said once he got in the car.

I raised a brow. "How'd you know?"

"Why else would you be holding so many books? "

Rolling my eyes, Ace started the engine as we were off to the library. Neither of us said a word as he drove us there, and honestly, I'm starting to get used to the awkward silence after having it happen to me several times.

Other than the silence, I'm glad that I didn't say or do anything to ruin this day. Hopefully, it stays that way until I get back home. Once we were at the library, I told Ace to stay in the car while I returned the books, and as I anticipated, he didn't argue.

Entering the building, I placed the books on the front desk where the librarian was. She gave me a warm smile before taking the books and giving them to one of the volunteers to put away. Just I was about to leave, I was surprised to see Ben looking through the history section. Other than reading stories with guns and mystery murders, Ben doesn't read history since school already provided him with that work.

He seemed to focus on trying to find the book he was looking for that he didn't notice me walking towards him until I tapped his shoulder.

"It's unusual seeing you here."

He snorted. "Yeah, no kidding. The only reason I'm here was because Sarah nagged me until I went and got her a story about Columbus. But I can't remember what it's called."

"Do you know the author?"

"Jack something."

Since the library sorted things by name, it was easy to find Jack D. Forbes and get the book I assumed Sarah wanted. "Columbus and other Cannibals?"

"That's it!" Ben exclaimed, earning him a glare from the librarian and a few shushes from the people around us.

"Oops," he chuckled quietly. "Anyways, why would she want this?"

I shrugged. "It's probably for her dad. He's a history teacher."

"Right. Thanks for the help."

"No problem."

"Oh! Before you leave, Sarah told me that you're spending the day with Ace today. How's it going?" he asked.

"So far, it's going well."

"Will it be bad if I spy on you guys?" he asked, amusement shining in his eyes.

"Yeah, it would be bad," I chuckled. "How about you leave me and Ace alone for the day, and I tell you everything that happens."

Ben smirked. "Deal."

Shaking my head, we said our goodbyes before I headed back to Ace's car.

"What took you so long?" Ace asked once I was in the car.

"Ben was looking for a book so I helped him," I answered.

Ace looked at me, his brows furrowed together. "I didn't know Ben could read," he said, but I knew he was joking. "So, where too?"

"You're the one who invited me to hang out. I thought you had a plan?"

"I do, but I just thought maybe you'd want to go somewhere else," he muttered, turning away.

"Where do you plan on taking me?"

"A place where we can talk, and no one, not even Ben, will bother us," he replied. "I think you know where it is."

I smiled. Although he didn't give me many hits, I knew exactly where we were going. I looked out the window as Ace continued to drive until we were nearing the exit of town. I would glance at him once in a while, but my focus remained looking at our surroundings for most of the drive.

Eventually, we arrived at our destination, and like the first time he brought me here, he got out of the car first and walked to my side. Opening the door, he extended his hand and helped me out of the car. However, unlike last time, he let go of my hand.

I was a little disappointed, but I understood why he did it.

He leads us to the fenced area and helped me get through the fence without any problem. I continued to follow him until I saw the familiar archway covered in thick vines. Leaving Ace behind, I ran through the vines and grinned as I saw the tree fort. They were more flowers than before with some still blooming. Nothing has changed since the last time I've been here.

I'm glad that I was back, but a bit nervous when I remembered why I was here in the first place. Ace wanted to talk, and most likely explain everything that happened back In Greece. I wanted to know why he lied to me, and his reason to do it, but a part of me wasn't sure if I was ready to hear it.

I sat down at the trunk of the tree as I waited for Ace. It didn't take him long to be back in my view. Feeling a little sad that he didn't sit beside me - but across from me - I waited until he said something. Or at least until I knew that I should speak first.

"Sorry I never take you here often," Ace said. "You seem to really love this place."

"That's because I do."

He smiled, looking at the fort. "That's good. If you hated this, then all that hard work and buckets of paint Ben spilled would've been for nothing," he laughed.

Ace sighed before locking his eyes with mine. "Anyways, you probably know why I brought you here, and what I wanted to talk about." I nodded. "So, what do you want to know?"

"Everything," I answered simply. "I want to know everything."

x-X-x

After explaining everything, it all made sense. But I still don't understand why he couldn't just tell me. Whether he wanted to keep me away from this mess or not, I was already involved since the moment I met Zoey.

Ace nervous about my response to all this. While he explained, I did nothing but listen, waiting for him to finish before I wanted to tell him about how I felt about all this. When the time came, I told him that I was upset that he lied and kept this from me, but I forgave him. He did what he thought was best for me, even if it was wrong.

He did this so that I wouldn't get hurt. Ace told me that he wouldn't lie to me again, but although he said that, it was hard to believe. I gave him so many second chances, and every promise he seemed to say was secretly broken.

"Ace, you don't have to hide anything from me."

"I know, but-"

"But nothing," I cut him off. "Ace, whether you like it or not, we're in this together. Through thick and thin. We're a team, remember? You can't just leave me in the dark and expect things will turn out the way you hoped. You have to stop hiding things from me, and start trusting me. Sure, maybe I'll be upset, but at least you won't be going behind my back. I need you to promise to be honest with me. No more lies."

"I promise." I gave him a look.

"I promise Mia, and I won't break it this time," he said before grabbing my hands. "I'm not going to lose you again."

I smiled, giving his hands a small squeeze. "Okay."

"Does this mean we're back together?" he asked with hope.

I gave it a thought. "Maybe," I answered, chuckling when he groaned. "Come on, we should probably get back home."

Standing up, Ace and I headed back towards his car before he drove me back home. The sun was just about to set when I arrived back home since there was a bit of traffic. As always, my parents were at work, and like usual, Ace helped me out the car and walked me to the door.

"Will you at least think about it?" he asked once we reached the front door.

"Think about what?"

"You know, us not being on break anymore," he said as I unlocked the door.

Turning around to face him, I nodded. "I'll think about it."

With that, he gave me that heart-melting smile as he looked at me. "I guess I'll see you later. goodnight," he said, and what I did surprised us both. Before I replied, I quickly stood on the tips of my toes and kissed him gently on the lips.

"Goodnight," I said back before pushing my door open and closing it quickly. With my heart beating rapidly in my chest, I leaned against the door and touched my bottom lip. That lingering feeling was still there as my mind kept replaying the moment.

What I didn't know, was that the person on the other side of the door was doing just the same.

••• - ••• - •••
Do you think Mia should forgive Ace and get back together? Or shall she wait a few more days? 🤔

Thank you @misha.astch & @weak-pullout-game for these covers! ❤️