"Ace!"
Silence.
"Ace! Wake up!"
Ace shot upright and almost bumped his head straight into Angel's as she flinched back, almost falling over. The sun had slowly started sinking lower as Ace felt his stomach growl. Looking down he realised Angel's had too as she gave him a small smile.
"I'm hungry." She grumbled as she held onto her stomach.
Ace nodded in agreement. "Me too. Grubs up." He mumbled as he rose to his feet, offering her a hand.
Reaching up she let his larger hand envelope hers as he gently pulled her up before picking up her sketchpad and pencils. Tucking the pad under one arm he carried the case in his hand. Angel fell in sync with his walk as he led the way back.
"Hey Ace..." she spoke quietly as she moved a branch out of her way.
He mumbled something in front as she reached out and held onto his free arm to guide herself under a branch.
"About why we moved here..."
Ace stopped as he turned to face her. "Forget about it, you can tell me another time."
Angel gave him a small grateful smile as he turned and the pair carried on walking. By the time they reached the town again Angel's stomach was coming out with the strangest noises she'd ever heard.
"Accccceeeeeeee!!!!" She groaned out exaggerating his name as she kept the grip on his shirt.
"We're almost back! Will you just moaning?" He groaned in response, having been slightly fed up of her constant 'are we there yet?' lines the whole way back.
"But I'm hungry!" She pouted out as they began walking along the street.
"Really? I couldn't fucking tell." He snapped sarcastically as he nodded down towards her stomach.
Angel glared at him. He raised his eyebrow and smirked at her as he continued walking along, letting Angel drag her feet along behind him.
The second they reached their street they saw both the cobras and constrictors in the middle of the road, in what looked to be an argument.
Ace and Angel gave each other a blank look as they moved a little quicker toward both groups. Bullet was first to see them as he nudged the others. Chains and Knuckles instantly rushed over to her as Chains pulled her away from Ace and into the arms of Knuckles.
"Where the fuck have you been?! We looked everywhere for you!" Chains shouted as he glared down at his sister before turning back to Ace, who was now being held back by Eyeball and the others.
"I thought we had an agreement Merrill." Chains spat out as he stepped closer.
Bullet and Razor placed their hands on Chains's shoulders and tried to hold him back.
"We did. I didn't fucking touch her." Ace snapped back as he took a step closer to him.
"He didn't!" Angel shouted from Knuckles' hold on her.
Chains snapped his head around to face her.
"He showed me around the forest and that, different places I could draw." Angel mumbled as she looked down at the sketch pad in Ace's hands.
Chains turned to him slowly as he stepped closer and took them from Ace's grip.
"Make sure it stays that way." He snarled out as he turned and nodded at the others.
Knuckles tried pulling Angel away as she attempted to fight it but was soon led back into her own home as the cobras watched her helpless.
Eyeball placed a hand on Ace's shoulder. "You good?" He mumbled as the others all turned to him expectantly.
He nodded slowly as he, too, turned and went inside his own house, the others quietly following, giving Angel's house one last sad look as her front door was slammed shut by Sniper.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Chains shouted at his little sister as she was made to sit on the sofa as the rest towered over her. "Anything could have fucking happened to you!"
"But it didn't!" She shouted back before slinking back into the sofa.
"Angel we don't fucking know or trust the guy and neither should you!" Bullet snapped down at her.
"He's clearly more than capable of hurting someone!" Sniper snapped as he looked out the front window at the house opposite.
Angel stared up at them all blankly. "I thought you were getting on with them all just fine!"
Razor grumbled out as he sat on the armchair near her. "They're a different kind of gang to us Angel and we were trying to make things easier here."
"He's nice to me!" Angel shouted back defensively.
Knuckles scoffed from his spot on the sofa, next to her. "All cobras seem nice to start with love, that's their game. All nice till they bite you."
Angel scoffed as she stood up. "Better than having the life crushed out of me by a constrictor." She grumbled as she turned and stormed upstairs to her room.
She slammed her door shut as she huffed over to her bed and flopped down, letting out a big sigh. Feeling her stomach growl once more she ignored it as she sat up and once more pulled the notebook out from under her pillow.
'Though he was evil,
Blacker than black itself,
She saw something new,
His secret true self.
This Ace was now a John,
He changed with her,
She wanted him to know her life,
So she told him of her father's poor wife.
She wanted more,
Craved him completely,
Yet, as her brother disagreed,
She knew of this gang life, she would never be freed.
Angel closed up the book as she returned it to it's spot under her pillow. It didn't take her long to find one of her dad's old tops and shorts as she went for a shower. Feeling the hot water burning over her skin she scrubbed at herself. Clawing at her skin she so desperately tried to remove all feelings of her brother, Knuckles and the rest of them.
As she was leaving the bathroom Knuckles stood in the hallway, holding a plate with her dinner. Giving him a cold glare she walked over, took it and went straight into her room, refusing to utter a word. Kicking the door shut with her foot she dumped her clothes on the floor as she walked over to her window.
Looking over at Ace's she felt her stomach ache once more. Sighing she gave up as she sat down on the floor, leaning her back against the window and eventually began eating.