43. I'm In Too Deep Now
"Bam." Ace says dramatically as he perched a large bottle on the side of the truck.
I looked over and laughed at the grin on his face, "Trying to get me drunk?" I teased.
He hoists himself up over the side of the vehicle, landing in the back next to me and settling on top of the fluffy sheets and blankets.
Our night took a drastic turn. I didn't think it would be better than how the night originally started off, but he proved me wrong.
On our way we took some stops. He stopped at a store and came out with a bunch of blankets and even couple pillows and then he stopped again, coming back with two boxes of, what he said was pizza, all the while he ordered me to stay in the truck. I didn't do well with the order but I let him have it this time. I didn't want to spoil anything else.
So now we were somewhere in the woods, his trucked parked at the edge of a cliff as we overlooked the twinkling lights of the city along with the twinkling lights of the stars. It was incredibly soothing and satisfying. It made me relax—want to enjoy the view and the quietness of the moment.
"We can't get drunk," He says and I watched him as he opened the bottle of wine with a loud pop and holding it away from the sheets as the liquid bobbled over, "You can get a little buzzed for a minute or two if you drink enough without stopping," He says with a lopsided grin, "But me on the other hand, I don't. At all."
"Do you wish you could?" I frowned.
He shook his head, "Nah. I like being in control and alcohol wouldn't really help for a person like me." He shrugs.
"A person like you?"
He nods, "Yeah. It's easy for a regular werewolf to get angry—lose it for a bit—but if I lose it..." He trails off, shaking his head, "I, ah, forgot to get cups, so-" He cuts himself off, putting the bottle to his lips and tilting his head back and taking a huge gulp, "I guess this is gonna have to suffice."
I grinned, reaching forward to get rid of the drop of liquid that pooled at the side of his mouth. He chuckled, ducking his head slightly and it was the first time I've ever seen him look remotely shy.
"Ever had pizza before?" He asks, reaching forward and opening one of the boxes in front of us.
I immediately look over and my mouth watered as the scent of cheese got stronger. I shook my head;no.
I pretended to think, humming dramatically, "For most of my life I've only been fed bread and water, if I was lucky enough I'd get one of those bar things," I made a movement with my hands t o describe it, "That's made up of nuts or something. When I was older I got introduced to fruits, but that was around the time I met you. I found them in the woods." I smiled at him widely, but it faltered when I saw that he was staring at me, unamused.
"How can you do that?" He asks.
"Do what?" My smile was slowly dwindling down to nothing.
"Smile like that while talking about... That. What they've done to you." He says softly.
I looked down, "I'm not there anymore. I'm with you," I looked back up at him, "Isn't that enough to smile for?"
His lips twitched, "Well I guess it's your lucky night, 'cause I have two different types of pizza," He reaches forward and opens the other one and my smile came back, "Choose which goodness you want to try first." He says with a grin.
I readjusted myself so that I was sitting on the heels on my feet, my hands clasped beneath my chin as I stared at both deliciously looking pizzas, steaming away with different scents, but one standing out mostly;cheese.
"This is tough," I said lowly to myself.
He lets out a low laugh, "I know how you feel."
I took a deep breath, inhaling the scents and separating them in my mind, "That one has chicken." I said, pointing at the one in front of me.
Ace nods with a grin, "It does."
"Then it's that one." I said, reaching for it, but pulled my hand back, "How do I..."
Ace chuckled and reaches forward, he takes hold of one part of the pizza and lifts it up, taking a triangular shaped piece with him. My lips part and I nodded.
He turns to me, "Open." He says, bringing it up to my lips and I did, taking a small bite to test the waters.
My eye almost widened at the burst of flavor and my head bobbed in satisfaction, "This is good." I said.
"I know." Ace grins before taking a bite off the same slice. I frowned and he chuckled, "What? I made you take the first bite, that's as gentlemanly as I'm gonna get."
I turned to the boxes and took a slice of the other one, taking a large bite this time. I raised a hand to my mouth when the stringy stuff stuck to my lips briefly.
I giggled, "This one has pineapples." I said with my mouthful.
"I was thinking of stop eating meat but I can't when you keep giving it to me!" I groaned. I think I was on my sixth slice of pizza, eating between both boxes.
He chuckled, "Have you?" I nodded, "Okay I'll stop giving you meat. Strictly vegan stuff." He says.
I shook my head, "I'm in too deep now." I said making him laugh loudly, the sound bouncing off the trees and echoing in the woods.
"You didn't tell me exactly what happened today," He says after sobering up, "Why you punched him."
I shrugged, "He doesn't take 'no' very well for someone with a girlfriend."
"Come on now, we can't just assume that's his girlfriend."
I looked over at him with my eyebrows raised, "You can't, but I can." He shook his head at me in amusement, "Who cares anyway. I knew he annoyed me for a reason."
I ate the last of my pizza then stared at the two empty boxes, "It's done." I said blankly, causing Ace to erupt in laughter yet again.
"It was inevitable." He teases lightly, leaning back until he was laying on his back, his head resting on a pillow and letting out a groan and a satisfied sigh, closing his eyes.
I frowned at the sight, only because I wanted to be cozy like that too, so I laid next to him on my side, my arm folded beneath my head and stared at the side of his face.
"You have something you want to say?" He asks, his lips twitching in a smile. He opens his eyes and turns his head in my direction.
"You're very good looking." I said.
He chuckled, "And you're very beautiful." He says.
My heart stuttered and I wanted so desperately to change the conversation, so I said, "Let's have a baby." Without thinking.
Ace choked, then a second later he started coughing violently. He turned over, burying his face in the pillow as he coughed.
It took him a minute to get himself together after he finished coughing, but when he did, he turned me, laying on his side, just like I was.
"I thought we've been over this." He says lowly.
I shrugged, "I saw that in a movie and the guy reacted the same way. With the coughing I mean."
He took a deep breath, shaking his head, but kept quiet.
"Do you remember that one time you walked in on Blue Eyes and I?" I asked.
I expected him to tense up, or his jaw to tick like it usually does when something was brought up that he didn't like. There was no doubt in my mind that he didn't like this but he was surprisingly calm when he responded.
"Yeah?"
"He was showing me how to put a bra on," I told him, "I didn't know how to."
"Yeah, he kinda explained that." He says, clearing his throat.
"I bet you feel like an asshole don't you?" I said.
"I'll always feel like an asshole."
"As you should." He held back a smile at my reply.
"Anyway, there was something else." I told him. He stared at me, waiting for me to continue, "I have scars on my back and he noticed."
He tried really hard to play off his reaction, but I saw the way his face hardened for a second, before he closed his eyes and let out a breath.
"They called me Sylvia," I said, the images flashing in my mind as I remembered, "And I told them not to. I told them my name was Onyx," I swallowed, "So they carved it into my back," His eyes snapped open, "I don't know what was on the knife, but when it heeled, it left the scar."
He was fighting. Fighting with all his might to keep the emotions from surfacing. He knows I'd prefer it if it was that way. And I loved that he was.
I reached out, running my fingers along his newly formed stubble and it's like something in him cracked. Just a bit.
"It was when I first met you," I told him in a whisper, "I wanted no one else but you calling me that name. Because you were the only one who knew me—the only one I wanted to know me."
"And I should've been there for you," He says and his voice cracked, "I should've known and I should've taken you with me. I-I should've-"
I pulled him to me and his face buried in my neck and I tried to sooth him. I hate the way his body shook and how his tears ran down my neck. How he held me as if it was his last time holding me. And I never wanted to see him like this. As long as I'm here, with him, he'll never have to be like this again.