Ace Of Spades (Complete Raw First Draft, Unedited)

Thirty- One: Taken

I greeted Ace at the front door when he came home that night, happy to see him, bouncing on the balls of my feet, unable to stop smiling.

"Hi," he laughed.  "You're in a good mood."

"I made you coffee," I said, skipping back into the kitchen from where I'd just emerged. 

I poured boiling water into the mug and handed it to him.

"I played around with it, today," I explained.  "Like, different ways to make it.  I think I like coffee."

He studied me for a second, his mind ticking over something, and I paused momentarily, worried.

"Is something wrong?"  I wondered.

"How many did you drink today?"

"Four, since this afternoon," I held up four fingers, then bit my lip at the look he gave me, something between alarm and amusement.  "Should I not have?"

"You are so not sleeping tonight," he laughed.

"I'm not?"  I asked, feeling nervous, not sure what he was refering to.

What exactly did he mean I wouldn't sleep?

"You're going to be so buzzed with all that caffeine."  he laughed again, and held up his hand, his palm facing the floor, holding it steady.  "Do this for a second."

I was still confused, but held up my hand, which was trembling much more than normal.  I tried to hold it still, but couldn't.

"Yeah, you're pinging," he confirmed, smirking.

I followed him to the lounge room, settling beside him on the couch, my knee bouncing up and down.

"What else did you get up to today?"  He wondered, sipping the coffee I'd made him.  "Besides overdose on caffeine."

"I vacuumed again," I said, listing things off on my fingers.  "And I did the washing, watched a movie on the TV."

I started telling him about the movie I'd watched, and he smiled, listening.  Since he'd come home, I felt so happy, alive with energy and joy, the paranoia that was always present was dulled, in the back of my mind.

"I missed you, today," I admitted, smiling shyly.

"Really?"  He smiled back, seeming genuinely surprised.

I nodded.

"Usually, I've got the others to keep me company, but today, I didn't and..." I hesitated, looking away.  "I don't know, I just thought about you a lot."

He smiled kindly and pulled me over onto his lap.  I automatically tensed, anticipating what he'd do next, but, I slowly relaxed when he only put his arm around my waist, his other hand resting on my knee, climbing no higher up my leg than that.

I rested my head on his shoulder, breathing in the musky scent of the soap he used, the one that I was growing so used to smelling, mixed with engine oil and something that was just all him.

"I'm sorry that you were lonely today," he said gently, resting his head against mine.  "I'm just not sure, right now, that we can trust Beast, after what Marcus said."

I felt my blood boiling when I remembered, the realization that every horrible thing that had happened to me, and to him, was because of Beast.

"I wasn't lonely," I assured him, squashing down the fury I was feeling.  "I actually enjoyed having some time all to myself.  I was just happy to see you, when you came home."

Ace was smiling again, and I cast my gaze to my lap, embarrassed that I'd started babbling.

Ace's phone started ringing, and he glanced at it where he'd left it on the table, looking annoyed.  I climbed off his lap so he could answer the call.