Bend The Rules , Stiles Stilinski ² ✓

[ 53 ] do you trust him?

"I just came to say that..." Ace said with an awkward wince, his eyes flicking from Stiles to Scott, now realising he couldn't say exactly what he had come here for—it wasn't his place to say it in front of Scott.

"You came to say...?" Stiles' voice came out hoarse and quiet, like it was tainted in defeat like he'd already given up.

Ace pursed his lips together, looking at the teenage boy solemnly. Many years ago, when he and his sister were close, before their lives got flipped upside down—back when they were normal, he remembered how Aspen would go on and on about all of Stiles' amazing qualities and how much she liked about him. As the protective older brother, he was back then, he would always roll his eyes and reject all the boy talk.

Back then, all Stiles was to him was some hyperactive little boy who rocked a buzzcut and happened to be friends with his sister. He wouldn't admit this to Aspen, because any negative connotations to the boy would send her in a spiral that she'd refuse to hear, but Ace always wondered if Stiles would be the kind of boy to step up when necessary.

He wondered if all he was is the boy that Aspen developed her first crush on, whether he'd be in it for the long haul, or bail when things got hard.

Then, although it wasn't the nicest way to find out, it was revealed to him that it was he who nearly drove his sister to ending her own life. It was he who drove her to that ledge. Ace hated himself more than ever, he knew he was cruel when he gave Aspen that ultimatum, but he didn't care, not back then. He'd gone so many years of learning how to eliminate all his weaknesses—and in his eyes, his compassion was one of them. So he rid himself of it. He became a shell of the person he once was, empty on the inside. He became cruel and merciless, as Aspen had seen with her own eyes many times now.

Finding out that this very boy in front of him, the boy he had spent hours of his life listening to his sister go on and on about, the boy who his sister has only ever had eyes for, was the reason Aspen got off that ledge alive—he felt an almost pride-like feeling about it. Proud that his sister had someone like that, someone who would put everything on the line for, someone who valued her more than life itself.

Ace let out a sigh as he looked at Stiles, trying to find the best way to simply say thank you. A thank you for being there for his sister when he drove her to such a dark place. A thank you for being on that ledge that night, so she wasn't there alone. A thank you for saving her life.

But Ace wasn't sure he could say all of that—at least not here and now anyway. As far as he knew, Scott didn't know about the events of that night. And Ace knew it wasn't down to him to go blabbing the details.

"I came to say thank you, Stiles." Ace finally said in a low and broken voice, briefly nodding his head at Stiles. The Stilinski boy's face first contorted to a small look of confusion, wondering what it was that Ace was thanking him for.

"Thank you for what?" Stiles asked, looking up at the Carter man.

"For saving my sister when I couldn't."

A few seconds of silence washed over, and Stiles felt as if Ace was trying to speak to him through his eyes. Ace looked at him with a serious and grateful gaze, and it may have taken a few moments, but eventually Stiles got it. The realisation was all over his face, and he dipped his head down to stare at his hands in his lap.

The recollection of that night was never a nice one to think about. It was hard enough his subconscious tortured him with dreams about it for the months after Aspen left. The dreams were torturous, worse than the real moment. In those dreams, it would consist of him failing to save her. He would watch her jump off that ledge, night after night.