Harper
After that sappy conversation we had earlier, the car ran out of gas.
Ace pulled up to the nearest gas station and parked the car. We got out. While he went to fill up the gas tank, I told him I wanted to get something to eat since I hadn't eaten breakfast.
He gave me a twenty dollar bill and when I refused, he gave me that look.
"You can't always pay for me." I said.
"Yes I can."
"I don't need you to. I have my own money, you know." his lips formed into a smirk.
"Do you really?" I frowned and went to grab my wallet from my bag to show him that I did. But it wasn't there. I gasped.
I forgot it at home.
"Just take my money, Harper." I sighed and took it from him.
"Thank you." he nodded.
I went inside the convienne store and headed to the kiosk that had pasties and smoothies. I chose two smoothies and two boxes of cinnamon rolls.
I paid and walked back to the car. Ace was leaning against the hood with his shades on.
I handed him the food I got. I knew that he probably didn't eat either. He seemed surprised.
"You got something for me?"
"Come on. I'm not that bad." he chuckled and opened the door for me. I got in. He drove off again.
I took a sip of my smoothie but since he was driving it was hard to eat the cinnamon bun.
"We should pull over somewhere and eat." I suggested.
"Do you have a place in mind?" I nodded and told him the place.
A while back I found this really nice field by the river with lots of flowers and there was a huge tree that you could climb up and sit on. The branches were huge and sturdy.
I remember going there a lot as a kid.
I turned on the radio and plugged in my phone to the aux cord. I selected my favourite playlist and pressed play. Sofia by Clairo started playing.
I hummed the lyrics then that turned into full on singing and he just listened.
I could tell he liked the song.
Man of taste.
When we arrived to the spot, only then did I realize that I didn't give him directions. Which is strange because it's a hard place to find.
I didn't question him though as he seemed to be in a pensive state of mind.
We got out and he took out a picnic blanket from the trunk and I grabbed our food and my bag and led him over to my spot.
He set the blanket down and I put our food on that. It looked so aesthetic and I needed to take a picture.
I pulled out my phone and snapped a few photos while he watched me. Then I got an idea.
"Take a picture of me!" he grabbed my phone and took a lot of them.
"Wait do you want to be in one?" he nodded and fixed his hair.
I kissed his cheek for the first one and he had a small smirk while he looked at me for he first one, I wrapped my arms around him for the second and for the last one I smiled and he just stared down at me with a ghost smile on his beautiful face.
They turned out really well.
I put my phone away and opened the box of cinnamon rolls.
I felt his stare on me and met his gaze.
"What?" he didn't answer but leaned over and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.
"You're so beautiful."
"You said that earlier." he raised an eyebrow at me.
"So? I'll keep saying it." I laughed.
"Well I think you're handsome."
"You think?" I smiled.
"Fine, you are handsome. Very handsome. I would even say gorgeous." he chuckled under his breath.
"Thank you sweet cheeks."
"I don't understand why you keep calling me that."
"It's funny and it suits you."
"How?" I mused.
"Don't know." I rolled my eyes and took a bite of my cinnamon roll.
"It's so good." I told him.
"You really have an obsession with desserts."
"Yes. What about it?"
"That's why I call you that." I poked his cheek.
"But why cheeks."
"No idea." I shook my head.
"Okay now eat your cinnamon bun or I will." I threatened.
"You can have it if you want."
"No I got if for you so you can eat it."
"With my money."
"But I still got it for you. Now eat some. At least one bite."
"Yes ma'am."
I laughed and continued eating. The cold breeze blew passed us and I shivered slightly. Noticing this, he shrugged off his jacket and put it around me.
"No. What about you?"
"I'll be fine." I frowned and pulled him closer to me. I wrapped my arms around him and he got comfortable.
"This is way better." I laughed.
"Yes."
I took the book I had brought out of my bag, it was the one we were reading together the other night, and started reading out loud to him.
I sat legs crossed and he laid down on me on his back so his head was resting against my chest. He fiddled with the hem of my dress and traced the stretch marks on my thigh while he listened to me read.
It felt oddly comforting.
We sat together like this for hours and I finished the book.
"Oh my gosh that's so sad." I mumbled as I read that last part where the main character watched the love of her life get hurt.
I wanted to cry.
This book is unnecessarily sad.
"It's okay Harper. You can let it out. I'm here." that's all it took for me to start crying. Like full on sobbing. He sat up and held me as I cried.
"It's not real baby." I sniffled.
"Yes it is." he rubbed my back soothingly.
"Whatever you say." I managed to laugh through my tears.
"You have to agree that it was sad."
"A little bit." I glared at him. He kissed my head and tightened his grip on me.
"Idiot."
"Mean." I sweetly smiled up at him.
"Only to you."
"You wound me."
"That's the point Acey." he groaned at the nickname.
Then all of a sudden, the temperature dropped and it began raining.
I instantly put my book back in my bag to keep it from getting ruined.
"We should go." I nodded and helped him take everything back to the car.
We got in and I let out a heavy breath and crossed my arms over my chest as I was a little cold due to the rain.
At least we got inside before it started pouring so our clothes aren't soaking wet. Thank god.
He turned on the heat and I felt a bit better. Glancing at me, he started the car and asked if I was alright.
I was about to respond when I sneezed, three times.
"Shit. Let's get you home." I shook my head.
"I'll be fine. I want to spend the day with you." he sighed and drove off.
"I don't want you to get sick." I rolled my eyes.
"I get sick easily. It's not that big of a deal." he chuckled lowly.
"It is." I smiled at his thoughtfulness.
"I'll be fine Ace. I promise. Now let's do something fun." I exclaimed as another idea popped into my mind.
"You got something in mind?"
"We should go shopping!"
"Okay." he made a turn in the direction towards the mall. I grinned and leaned against the seat, staring out the window as the raindrops fell. It was satisfying, listening to that sound.
I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment.
"Harper we're here." I looked around. He parked the car and got out. Opening the door for me. I stepped out.
I looped my arm in his and led him to the entrance.
Walking to the first store caught my attention, I dragged him but he didn't really seem to mind.
Good.
"We should get matching earrings or something." I proposed.
His ears are actually pierced and he usually wears only one earring of a cross on the left side. I thought it'd be cool if we got something matching.
"Sure." He pointed to the jewelry section.
I looked through the first section and none of the earring sets enthralled me.
Then I spotted one that had a chain that you could loop through your earring hole and attach to the upper part of your ear, kind of like a chain.
It was perfect for him.
I showed it to him and he held it up, observing it.
"Do you like it?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure. It's okay if you don't, I can find1-" he cut off my rambling.
"Harper, I like it." I smiled and kept on looking for one that I'd want.
I found one that had the same design as his but it had a small butterfly.
Okay this one is the one for me.
"That one is nice." he said.
"Should I get it?"
"Yes."
"Would it look good on me?" he nodded.
I checked the price tag and luckily it was a good price.
We were about to head over to the cashier when I caught sight of a two ring set. One of them had yet again a butterfly on it and the other had the shape of a butterfly carved into a bigger sized ring. I gasped and pointed to it.
"You want it?"
"Obviously." he took it from my hand and guided me to the front so we could pay.
"What's with me and butterflies?" I mumbled
"They're pretty like you."
"No, like you." his lips twitched upwards forming into a deep smirk.
He handed the cashier our stuff and paid quickly before I could.
"I wanted to pay."
"Too bad."
"I'm paying next time."
"Okay." I groaned and he gave me the bag.
We walked out of the store and passed by the food court and I was hungry again.
"Can we get something to eat?"
"What do you want?"
"Chicken nuggets." I gestured to the fast food place that was next to us.
"Let's go." Yes!
I hurried over to the cashier and ordered two ten piece chicken nugget meals with fries and drinks and he laid again. I don't even have my wallet.
He found a table for us. Once I got the food, I headed over and sat down across from him.
He eyed the food suspiciously. I rolled my eyes and held up a chicken nugget in front of his face.
"I promise it's good." Rolling his eyes, he took a bite and stared at me dead in the eye as he did so.
Why is that hot?
I laughed and ate some of my fries. These had to be the best.
I dipped them in ketchup and turned my attention back to him again. He was still staring at me.
I gave him a look, telling him to mind his own business. I truly hate it when people watch me eat. It's creepy and awkward.
It makes me a little insecure too.
He chuckled and finished up his food. I took a sip of my drink.
The sound of an older man and his daughter made me look away from Ace. I saw the man and my heart dropped.
It looked like my dad. No it was my dad.
A lump grew in my throat as I watched them find a table, close to us. The little girl saw me looking and smiled.
My stomach churned.
My 'dad' turned his gaze to me and his happy little facade dropped. I'd recognize him anywhere, he looked a lot like Eliot. An older everyone of him.
He never brought me shopping. Not that I remembered much but for sure he never did anything cool like with me before.
It hurts.
It hurts when you see the person that you begged to treat you well is doing that to someone else. All I ever wanted was a good relationship with my dad, obviously that never fucking happened and it made me genuinely sad that he could just move on and start a new life.
I didn't even know he did.
I don't even know why he left in the first place and it made my blood boil that he was here all happy when all he ever caused us was pain.
Why?
I knew that I didn't remember much about him and no good memories resurfaced.
But it still hurt.
"Harper?" I heard Ace say. I turned to him and a tear unwillingly slipped from my eye. He clenched his jaw and looked to where I was looking.
But when I shifted my gaze back to where my 'dad' was, my mind froze. The man at the table wasn't my 'dad' and he gave me a confused look as to why I was staring at him like that.
Oh.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and smiled apologetically.
"What's wrong baby?" I took in a few breaths.
"I thought I saw my..." I trailed off, not really knowing what to say.
What the fuck is going on?
Did I imagine that?
I'm going crazy.
I glanced back at the man. He was now laughing with his daughter and a small ache in my chest formed. I was a little jealous of that little girl.
I knew that their happiness didn't rob me of mine and it had nothing to do with them however it saddened me that I never got to experience that.
It broke my heart that my little brother never got that either.
I felt bad for feeling this way because I shouldn't. I should be happy for them. I should be glad that that little girl doesn't have to go through what I did and in a way I was glad.
Yet I couldn't help it. I couldn't help but envy their relationship.
Does that make me a bad person?
I frowned and looked back at Ace. I felt him hold my hand, giving it a squeeze.
"Hey, talk to me." he said softly. I laughed lightly.
"It's stupid."
"It's not stupid."
"I thought that man was my dad. I am a little tired so... yeah. Stupid I know." he kissed my hands.
"Listen to me Harper, that isn't fucking stupid." I shrugged.
"Thank you."
"You know you can tell me."
"Maybe one day." he smirked at my use of words.
He's a great listener and doesn't have any ignorant opinions to which I was extremely thankful for.
I'll tell him. Another time. When I'm ready.
"What should we do next?" I asked, changing the subject as I chewed a fry.
"You tell me."
"We could go to my place. The mall is going to close soon anyway." he nodded and got up.
I got up too and cleaned the table. Grabbing his hand and the shopping bag, I dragged him back to the exit.
We walked to his car and got in. He reversed out of the mall's parking lot.
I sighed and leaned against the seat.
"Tired?"
"A little."
"I need to go somewhere before we go to your place." he informed me. I tilted my head slightly in curiosity.
"Sure but where?"
"You'll see."
"Give me a hint."
"No." I pursed my lips.
"Are you actually going to kill me this time?"
"Perhaps." I gasped.
"Okay but make sure I have a closed casket funeral." he gave me a look.
"I'm not going to fucking kill you." I laughed loudly.
"That's so reassuring, thank you."
"Idiot." he muttered.
He pulled up to a... wait what? We were at a tattoo parlour.
Oh my gosh.
"You're getting a tattoo!" he nodded, "We should get matching ones!"
"No." I pouted.
"Why not?" he ran his hand down his face, then reality hit me, "Wait actually let's not do that. I don't want to get a tattoo. It's going to hurt."
He chuckled.
"See." I glared.
"Fine." We stepped out of the car and went inside the building.
A lady at the front desk greeted us. She led us to a room and a guy holding a tattoo gun nodded at Ace, gesturing for him to take a seat.
He noticed me and smirked.
"Girlfriend?" I didn't know how to respond to that. Technically we weren't anything, he hasn't asked me and we haven't talked about it.
I just know that there's an us. Nonetheless, we don't have any labels so I'm not his girlfriend... yet.
Though, If I'm being completely honest, I don't like the idea of being called his 'girlfriend'. It's such a weird word. I'd rather just be his.
"No I'm his fri-" I was cut off.
"Look at her again and I'll shoot you." Ace said darkly. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.
I gave Ace a disapproving look and sat down on a chair by the wall.
I watched as he removed his shirt, letting me get a clear view of his very toned chest and abs, his muscular arms and tattoos. he had so many.
He saw this and shot me a wink.
I only smiled and continued admiring him. The tattoo guy asked him what he wanted. Ace told him something in another language that I couldn't understand and the guy got started on it.
He hovered over Ace's torso and began. I winced every now and then as it looked really painful.
He didn't even flinch. Iron man who?
His eyes were one me the whole time and half and our later, the tattoo was done. He got up and put his shirt back on so I didn't get to see what he got.
Mean.
I offered him a fake pout and got up.
He kissed my head and slung his arm around my waist, pulling me towards him.
The tattoo guy who's name I learnt was Kent, cleared his throat awkwardly. I laughed and moved away from Ace, only to be dragged back.
"You need someone like her, Ace. She's a good one. Don't let her go." Kent said and left, leaving me stunned and Ace not even fazed.
That was nice... but weird. And somehow, I couldn't stop smiling.
We exited the room as well and he went to the front desk, placing a wad of cash down. Then we left the building.
"Can I see your tattoo?" I asked, as he opened the passenger side door.
"No." he replied, getting in on his side. I gave him 'that look'.
"Please?"
"No." I frowned and looked out the window trying to be mad at him. "Fine, later." I grinned.
"Yes! Now let's go to my house." he hummed in response.
We got back to my house in no time. I dragged him up to my room and shut the door. I put my bag down and he sat on my desk chair, knowing that I hate outside germs on my bed.
"I'm going to get changed and take a shower. Wait here."
"Okay." I grabbed a clean set of comfortable clothes and walked into my bathroom. I turned on the shower and stripped.
I washed my hair and scrubbed my body then got out. I wrapped a towel around myself and rinsed my face. Changing quickly, I walked back out.
Ace was now laying on my bed, in a new set of clothes too and I was confused.
"Where did you get those?"
"I left them here yesterday."
"Really? I didn't know that." I said next to him. He shrugged.
"Show me your tattoo." I demanded.
"Alright." he pulled off his shirt and I bit my lip.
I instantly found a fresh looking tattoo on his chest. It was a butterfly with my name engraved onto the side. My eyes widened.
Butterfly...
"Ace." I whispered.
"Harper."
"My name is on your skin."
"Yeah?"
"What if I'm not in your life anymore and you still have that, on you." My mom always told me to never get someone's name tattooed.
"It'll be there forever." he stated.
"One day you're going to regret doing that."
"Never."
"What if I left right now, from your life, forever. You'll never see me again. Don't get me wrong the butterfly is pretty but my name- I don't understand."
"You don't like it?"
"No I do. I really do."
"Then what's the problem?"
"What if I leave?" he pulled me onto him so I straddled him and he laid down. I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks.
Hot.
"You won't."
"How are you so sure?"
"Well, I just know. Why? Planning on leaving already?"
"Not a chance." he seemed satisfied with my response, "But you're definitely going to regret it."
"I won't, I swear it."
"Pinky promise?"
"I promise." he held out his pinky finger. I laughed and linked our fingers.
"If you ever feel like you do, don't blame me. I warned you." I said, giving him a pointed look.
"What was that about you wanting to show me something?" he reminded me of earlier when I told him I wanted to show him the albums of young me.
"Oh yeah! They're downstairs. You want to see them now?" he nodded.
"Let's go."
This is going to be fun. And embarrassing.