Till Death Unites Us

Chapter 26

Hey everyone!! New chapter is up!! *drumroll* New characters are introduced in this chapter. Tell us what you think!! Don't forget to vote and comment! -M&N

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“And then his hands brushed mine when he handed me my frappe,” Ivy squeals as Ace and I look at her, amusement evident in our expressions. “And, then he started stuttering, and my face reddened.”

“Sounds like a mess to me,” Ace chuckles.

Ivy glares at him playfully and says, “You have Miss Shyness herself in your company all day long, so stop it!”

“What? When did I get dragged at this showdown?” I laugh and look up from my donut.

“You know you’ll get dragged into everything with me,” Ace smirks and wiggles his eyebrows at me.

I punch him playfully.

“Aww! You know you two should double date with Oliver and me! We’re going out tonight to the movies.”

Ace answers for me, “Uuh, I’m gonna have to call a rain check. See, I have to meet with some friends from my old school. Do you wanna come, E?”

Ivy looks at the both of us with an entertained look in her eyes. She might as well bring a bowl of popcorn and start munching away.

“Uh, sure, my parents are probably on their way to the airport now, so I have no one to go home to.” Ace nods and whispers in my ear, “You can always come home to me.” My eyes dart at Ivy’s direction to ensure that she didn’t hear what he just said. Thankfully, she didn’t. I look into Ace’s blue orbs and whisper, “You wish.” He huffs a small breath and says, “I had to try.”

“You had to try what?” Ivy questions with a frown plastered on her face.

“Nothing, just having an inner monologue.” He shrugs.

Ivy shakes her head and look at me, mentally saying, “You’re dating a freak”. So, I laugh anyway. “Are you two making fun of me?” Ace points a finger at us accusingly. “You, Eternity, shouldn’t try to mess with me.” He smirks and I blush. “Ew! Okay you two look cute, but please don’t go too far with it, not with me around at least.”

“Leave then,” Ace says and sticks a tongue at her childishly only to be met with Ivy’s famous scowl.

“Okay! That’s enough!” I say raising my hands to stop them. “Ace, when are we going?”

“After school.” He leans into his chair.

“Okay then.” I say and turn my attention to Ivy. “You have fun with your date and be sure to call me when you get home.” She nods as I stand up and grab my things; Ace does the same. Then we both wave goodbye to Ivy and head to our Calculus class. “Are you sure you’d be comfortable meeting my friends?” He says as he holds my hand in his. “Yes, sure. You met my parents; the least I can do is meet your friends.” I point out and give him a light peck on the cheek before we enter the class room.

***  

As we make our way to Ace’s car, I start to feel a lot more insecure about the whole ordeal. Ace’s friends must mean a lot to him; what if they don’t like me? What if I just don’t fit in? What if I turn into the gaping idiot I was when I first met Ace?

“Ace…” I say, planting my foot in place to stop us both from walking. I know I couldn’t have really stopped him, given his rock-hard body (And I know from up close experience), so he must have sensed the hesitation in my voice. “I don’t know about this…”

“What is it?”

 “Are you sure you want me coming with you? Don’t you want to spend some time with the guys? What if they don’t want me there? I mean, just letting you know, I’m not going to get mad if you wanna go there alone; we’re not turning into one of those couples who have to do everything together, and the girl goes all detective on the guy, so the guy has to be all sneaky because—“

 He cuts me off by pressing his lips to mine, “For once, Eternity, just stop over thinking and do what your heart tells you.” Stop over thinking? Heck, I’m a girl, I live to over think. My life is an endless cycle of turmoil and internal monologues. “I don’t have much family anymore, Eternity, and those guys are the closest thing to that. That’s why I want you to meet them, and don’t worry you won’t be the only girl there.”

“I won’t?”

He grins, “They will love you.”

 I only spend half the ride wondering what kind of girls they would be, and then have a minor panic attack realizing they could be Chloe incarnates. Not because I would be scared. I just didn’t want any drama that could ruin this chance of meeting Ace’s family for me. God. Guys were much easier to befriend. They were laidback, didn’t over think or judge, and were much, much easier to talk to. The other half I spend thinking about Ace’s secret again, which did not help at all. After everything we discovered about each other, for him not to want to tell me like this, it had to be something pretty damn terrible. What could expose your soul to the darkness? The ride goes smoothly and Ace pulls up in front of a building. Meanwhile, I try to channel the old me. Come on, Eternity! You’ve never been afraid of meeting people. It’s about time that girl comes out again. With Ace’s hand in mine, I can’t help but feel even more secure. I could do this. I am Eternity Hayes; I was a royal once. Don’t you just hate it when someone takes too long to answer the door bell? As we wait outside the door for a few minutes, my nerves start getting to me again. I’m in the middle of another internal encouraging speech, the door flies open. A guy with messy dirty blonde hair steps out, shouting manly greetings that I don’t understand (I don’t speak the lingo) before pulling Ace in for one of those man hugs.

 “It’s good to see you, man,” Well, finally a sentence I understand. “You must be Eternity. This guy here wouldn’t stop talking about you.” He winks at Ace, who rolls his eyes and looks away. He smirks, “Now I see why.”

Yupp, he was definitely Ace’s friend.

“Eternity,” Ace says, shooting the guy a flat un-amused look, “Meet Nolan.”