'Put that thing back.' I laughed, trying to avoid his hands that were attacking my sides.
'Why? He's so cute.' He held up the little stuffed animal. 'He also likes this game.' He laughed and continued to tickle me.
My stomach and my sides hurt as hell from all the laughing and Ace's strong grip.
'Let me go. Please, Ace.' I begged for him still snickering.
'Nope. You need to talk to my little friend first.' He said.
'Fine!' I squealed.
He let go of me and I was able to sit up finally. I brushed my hair behind my ears and grabbed the stuffed bear from him.
'Hi you weird lookin' bear.' I talked to it.
'Don't insult him!' He took it away and hugged it. 'She didn't mean it.' He whispered into the bear's ear.
I smiled at the sight because this is the exact reason why I fell in love with him.
Back in the days it was his technique to pick up girls. I remember I was walking home from my friend's house when he approached me. I wasn't in a good mood that day so I completely ignored him and went home. Even though I spent that night thinking what he wanted. I didn't know his name back then but I did know that he was kinda a womanizer.
From that day on I tried to avoid him untill one day. My friend and I were outside a club, ready to go somewhere else. That else happened to be a parking lot for some reason. We sat there surrounded by a few friends and beer. It was a usual Saturday night.
But then he came with his friends and everything changed.
'Hi everyone!' They said sitting down in our little circle.
I bowed my head but didn't speak. The beer started to get to my head.
'I know you.' He pushed my shoulder a little.
'Good for you.' I said without even looking at him.
'You're being rude.' He stated. 'My name's Paul but call me Ace.' He added.
'Good. I'm Y/N/N.' I said finally looking at him but I bursted out laughing. 'A teddy bear?' I asked trying really hard not to laugh at him.
'He's my little friend. He wanted to talk to you but you're rude.' He pouted.
'That's sad.' I copied his emotion. 'Why don't he talk to other girls? There's plenty of them.' I suggested.
'Nah. He wanna chat with you.' He winked at me waving the bear's hand.
'Can I punch him if he's too pushy?' I arched a brow.
'He's fragile.' He hugged the stuffed animal.
'You're weird.' I shook my head reaching for a can of beer. He didn't say a thing just grinned.
We went out on Sunday too. Went to the same club then to the same parking lot as the night before. Ace was there too, and he brought his bear again.
'My little friend wants to talk with you.' He shook the teddy bear.
'Fine. What's his name?' I smiled genuinely.
'He doesn't really have a name.' Ace frowned.
'Okay. Let's call him Elbert.' I suggested and he didn't stand against it. 'How are you Elbert?' I asked the teddy bear. I still thought it was kind of weird.
'I'm fine Y/N/N. I heard last night that my friend likes you.' He said in a high pitched voice.
'Oh really, he does? Why didn't he say that yesterday?' I took a sip of my beer.
'Hey!' He changed back to his voice. 'You were being rude, remember?' He put his hands on his hips.
'No I wasn't.' I procrastinated.
'Yes, you were. And you're still are.' He looked at the ground.
'Pardon my friend's behaviour.' My best friend interrupted our conversation. 'Beer does that to her.' She shrugged.
'It's okay.' Ace smiled faintly.
I wasn't in the mood to get hooked up by a womanizer. Mom always taught me to stay away from men like them.
Then came Monday and the whole week went by without seeing Ace and his friends so I thought that he got offended and will never reach out to me. But I was wrong. The weekend arrived and he was the first one to come up to me and ask me to dance with him.
We danced until the party was over and the owner closed the place. We spent the whole night out in an abandoned playground and we went out to our first date the next day.
'I'm sorry Elbert.' I murmured into Ace's chest.
'He's not talking to you right now.' Ace said pulling me closer to him. Now half of my body was laying on top of him.
'Will he forgive me?' I drew circles on his chest.
'I'm pretty sure. He forgave you the first time two years ago, didn't he?' He chuckled.
'Yeah...' I sighed.
'You were the first chick, pardon, girl to call him by a name.' He reached for a pack of cigarettes and the lighter.
'He looked like an Elbert.' I shrugged.
'You want a drag?' He lit the cigarette.
'Make it three.' I chuckled.
We sat up on the bed and talked about how he always used the teddy bear with girls. He said he really liked that I didn't sent him to a warmer place, and he loved that I named his teddy. We kept going on dates and by the time he got into the band we were boyfriend and girlfriend.