Ace of Spades (BxB)

Chapter Ten

~♤Masons PoV♤~

I woke up and immediately looked at my phone. No new messages. I was expecting Ace to text me back, but maybe he wanted to make up and have nothing to do with me. No, I shouldn't think like that. I'll wait and see if he responds. I thought about what he was doing right now. Probably falling off his bed half asleep. Just the thought of him made me roll my eyes. I couldn't help but think about what Eli was getting up to. It made me uneasy thinking about what he meant when he said he'd 'take' Ace. He may seem cute and fluffy on the outside but Eli is clever and knows exactly what he's doing.

I shook my head and tried to get back to work. By the time I was able to focus my phone buzzed. It was a message from Ace asking if I wanted to get coffee. I grinned and responded with a sure. I was relieved he messaged me back. I will admit, having his irritating self at my house was kind of nice. It got me away from the usual cycle of life. He still annoys me and is definitely a brat but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss his presence.

We set it up and I got ready. I debated getting some more work done before I left, but decided against it. Work could wait and I definitely don't want to irritate Ace again.

I got to the coffee shop we agreed to meet up at and immediately saw Ace on his phone sipping on some sort of dessert coffee.

"Hey." I sat down across from him. He put down his phone and stared at me as he took another sip of his drink.

"Hiya. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well. You?" I felt a little awkward at my own stiffness.

"I'd be better if you relaxed. You don't need to panic, I just wanted to talk." Ace laughed. I was a little surprised. I didn't see him laugh very often. Usually he was in a gloomy mood. Maybe hanging out around Eli was lightening his mood.

"Do you like it at Eli's place?" I smiled softly.

"Yeah. Have you met his roommates? They're pretty cool. Especially Cameron." He looked off to the side for a second then back at me. "Anyways, yeah. It's nice there. Very busy." Ace fiddled with his straw.

I was about to ask him if something was wrong, but someone came up to me asking if I wanted anything. I got a regular black coffee and focused back on Ace.

"Do you want to stay there?" I asked.

He glanced up at me and shrugged. I gave him a look and he sighed. "Eli and everyone there is nice, but I don't exactly feel at home, I guess. It's not... comfy."

"And my house?" I felt my stomach drop a little when he paused. I don't think I'd forgive myself if I made him feel like he was forced to stay with me or if I ever made him uncomfortable.

"Yeah. I liked your house. Not saying I want to go back or anything, I'm just saying it was a pleasant place." Ace rambled. I grinned, knowing exactly what he meant. "Don't look at me like that I, don't like it!" He scowled.

"Well, either way I'm glad I'm safe. And... I'm sorry for being such an asshole." Regret flashed on his face.

"I told you Ace, it's okay. I shouldn't have been so harsh. If you want, you can come back to my house. Maybe I can help you with self-control." I tried to make the last part come off as nice as possible, but I could tell I didn't do well when Ace furrowed his eyebrows.

"What are you talking about? You think I need your help!?" He growled.

"No! That's not what I meant! It came out wrong. I want to help you find outlets so you can move on when something like the encounter with that woman happens. It can help you in the future so if you meet an annoying person you can smile and shrug it off. I know you can do that, I think you just have a low tolerance for it."

Ace stared blankly at me. I was worried I'd lost him completely.

"Outlets like what? My outlet is yelling at incompetent and ignorant people."

I sighed and rubbed my face, "okay, wrong word. I mean a coping skill. Something to help you not yell at people. Hobbies, for example. Some people use drawing, music, even TV as a way to relieve pressure."

"I don't know what to tell you. I don't have hobbies and I watch a lot of TV already so that clearly doesn't do shit." Ace laid back in his chair. Now I remember why I don't have friends like him. Thinking about ways to help him was giving me a headache. Why does Ace always fight me with this?

"Ah shit." I looked up and saw Ace frowning at his phone before standing up. "Well, it's been fun but I forgot I was stepping in for someone at work and my boss is pissed so I'm gonna go."

I felt like everything froze. An idea popped in my head. There's no way he'd do it. There's no way I would do it. I can't help but think that if I don't say something then I never will. All I want to do is help him, right?

"Wait!" I got up to stop him, "I have an idea."

And there's the regret I'm used to.

Ace stared at me like he was telling me to get on with it.

"It's called cg/l and it might help you." That dread kept sinking in my stomach. Ace pulled out his phone, typed something, then walked back to the table and sat down.

"I'm not in the mood for vague descriptions so get to the point." I could feel the change in his tone. I'm always surprised by how quickly he can go from a good mood to a bad mood.

"It means caregiver/little."

Ace made a sour expression and said, "So what, they call you 'daddy' or something?"

"No! It's not about that." I sighed, "the point of cg/l is to help people with childhood trauma or stress or depression by regressing their mental age and giving them the care and love they need." He didn't say anything so I continued.

I explained more in depth and answered any questions he had. After I finished he kept quiet. He looked like he was processing everything so I gave him a moment.

"You think this would help?" He mumbled.

"Possibly. You can try it if you want and if you like it you can continue, but if not that's fine. You should at least try it. It really could help."

"I'll... think about it. It was nice talking. See you." He gave me a half smile and left. I honestly couldn't tell if he wanted to or not. I'll give him time.
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