The Bad Things (Book 5)

Chapter 5. Drop Her

            The fire in the fireplace in the living room flickered. The flames danced across the wall and my face. Bourbon burned my throat as it went down. At this point, I would probably just crash on the couch—it was easier than having to crawl upstairs. I laid down on the couch and watched the ceiling spin like a merry-go-round.

"Boy, what are you doing down here?" Ace asked.

"You know, you guys don't have to stay here," I slurred. "You said you had your own place."

"Eh, Angel doesn't care. This house is too damn big for just his family," Ace said and chuckled. Ace tapped my leg.

I bent my legs up so he could sit down. "Do you stay a lot?"

"Not usually, but we are here a lot," Ace said. "Your mother and I said we would retire, but we haven't been doing a good job about that. Carlos didn't either. He continued to help your mother. He's still in pretty good shape, too, for his age."

I snorted. "So are you and Aria," I said. I hadn't gotten used to calling them, Mom or Dad. I hadn't called either of them that.

"We take care of ourselves," he said.

I sighed and sat up. I reached for the bottle of bourbon on the coffee table, but Ace swiped it from me and my glass. He poured bourbon into the glass and took a sip.

Ace looked at me and smirked. "You're cut off. Do you need help to bed or what?"

"Nah. I'm going to kick it down here."

"You've been sleeping down here every night since Abigail left. I wasn't very good about sleeping in bed without your mother either."

I tilted my head. "Did you two split up at one time? That's hard to believe."

Ace chuckled and shook his head. "No, we didn't. Well, not exactly. At one point, she lost her memory, though. She didn't remember being with me. She didn't lose nearly as much of her memory as I did. We both got it back, though. We were back together before either of us got it back."

"You two remind me of a fairy tale. That kind of shit doesn't exist," I said. "I mean, you two make it seem like that's what it is. I've seen that portrayed in books and movies, but not real life."

"Hm," Ace hummed. "Well, I don't know about fairy tales. We're not exactly a normal couple, are we? Your mother and I have had our fair share of fights, grief, and mistakes, but we came out stronger. Not a fairy tale, but we love each other very much."

"Do you ever wish you could go back and do something different?"

"Like regrets?"

I nodded and pursed my lips.

Ace shook his head. "No. Life is too short to regret things. Sometimes life knows what you need better than you do. I can't bring myself to regret anything. I wouldn't want to do things differently because it wouldn't have gotten me here, and I'm happy with where I am."

"What about me?"

"You turned out just fine, Andrew."

"Then why do I feel so fucked up?"

Ace sighed. "We never wanted to lose you. Until a couple of months ago, we thought you were dead. But we love how you turned out. You don't realize this, but you're so much like your mother. You treat everyone as if you're no better than they are. You work hard. You're strong, smart, brave, and respectful."