𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚎 𝚍𝚎.
verb. to dawn on, to realize.
trigger warning! underage alcohol usage. mentions of theft.
𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐔𝐗𝐈𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐀 𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎𝐗𝐈𝐂 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄. Her brother truly believed that she'd never bring a person to meet him and their friends that genuinely had her best interests at heart. That was, until she brought a girl forward who she met at the bathroom of a frat party. Now, granted, Ace didn't think that a girl she'd found wasted on the bathroom would make for a good friend, but he'd been wrong before. He found Kaede high out of his mind at a graveyard, after all.
And as it turned out, he was wrong about the drunk girl from the bathroom.
Rose did turn out to not only have Archer's best interests at heart, but also Ace's, and Jordan's and even Kaede's. She'd be there when Archer got her heartbroken again. She'd be there to patch up Ace's wounds after his foster father got to him again. She'd be there to help Jordan study for his upcoming tests. She'd be there to pull Kaede out of trouble whenever he was about to cause some. Rose was always there for them, and it was safe to say that Ace didn't expect the girl from the bathroom to have such an impact on their life.
He didn't expect himself to be in his current position, either. Sitting on top of a record store, a bottle of cheap tequila in his hand, slightly tipsy while he and the girl from the bathroom were laughing at passersby. "Oh, that outfit is dreadful," he laughed, pointing at a woman wearing a ludicrous pair of pants.
Rose gasped and slapped his hand away, giving the - now pouting - boy a wide-eyed look. She watched as Ace mockingly rubbed his finger from the hit she gave him on it. "Don't point," she scolded him, slurring her words slightly. "That's rude."
"So?" Ace shrugged, taking a swig from the alcohol he'd managed to steal while Rose distracted the cashier. "People are rude all the time." He handed her the bottle, nodding at the glass as she accepted it. "Besides, we just went shoplifting. I think we're way past the line of being rude, Rosie. And," he paused, throwing his arms around to point at the roof they were sitting on. "We're trespassing."
The girl rolled her eyes, giving the boy next to her a mocking look before taking a swing of the alcohol. Her face contorted slightly at the bitter taste of the tequila. She hissed as she took the bottle away from her lips. "You couldn't have stolen a cheaper one, could you?" Rose commented, raising an eyebrow.
Ace gave her a smirk and grabbed the neck of the bottle, but Rose wasn't insistent on giving it up. He raised an eyebrow back, keeping his hand on the bottle. "Stealing something expensive isn't good on my conscience," he pouted, chuckling when he saw Rose giving him a look that called him out on his bullshit.
"Oh, as if." She muttered under her breath, taking the bottle away from Ace's grabby hands and taking another sip from it. This time, she didn't seem to mind the bitter taste as much, and gave it back to the boy after she was done.
Accepting the bottle, Ace let a silence fall over the two of them. It was rare, Rose and Ace hanging out together without anybody else. Normally, it would be all of them, or at least Archer would be added into the mix. But, whenever they felt like venting to someone, they drifted towards the other. Ace didn't want to cry in front of his friends; he was the strong one. He could handle anything. Shattering their perception of him wasn't something he was all too keen on. Rose had found herself in the same boat as the French boy, taking on a mothering role within the group, she never wanted to show any weakness towards them.
So, they vented to each other. On the roof of a record store. Why? Well, because the view from there was the best. You could see all the people walking past, and sometimes, you just need a good judging session of passersby to feel better.
"Oh!" Rose exclaimed and pointed at one of the people on the ground, she tried withholding the laugh at the monstrosity of a dog that was walking beside its owner. She quickly put a hand in front of her mouth, trying to stifle the chuckles - they escaped nonetheless.
Ace raised an eyebrow at her antics. "Who's being rude now?" He taunted, smirking at her and faking a loud 'Ow!' when she jabbed him in the stomach. "Ouch, manners, you deviant." He frowned and rubbed the spot on his stomach mockingly, laughing when he saw the girl roll her eyes at him for the umpteenth time this evening.
"Ace Auxier scolding me on my manners," she mumbled under her breath, grinning while stealing the bottle of tequila from Ace's hands. He tried blabbering in protest, but it fell on deaf ears. Rose put the bottle against her lips, the grin still where it was before. "Thought I'd die before seeing the day." She laughed at his offended look and took a sip of the alcohol.
"Contrary to popular belief, I have exquisite manner-" Halfway through defending himself, the boy suddenly stopped his sentence.
He watched as his sister walked out of the movie theater, her boyfriend following shortly after. It looked like they were yelling at each other. He frowned, looking behind him and at the ladder that could get him of the roof quickest. "Do you think they're fighting?" Rose whispered softly from beside him.
"I don't know," he answered, his voice strained. Ace straightened his position on the edge, turning his head to the side to get a better view from Archer and Noah - no, Nicholas, or was it Nathan? Whatever, that wasn't important right now. What was, is seeing if this guy was going to hurt his sister. "He better not try anything, though."
Rose cooed. "Look at you," she smiled, nudging his side. "Playing her guardian angel."
Ace brushed her comment off for now, frowning while he focused on his sister and her latest boyfriend. He'd met Nathan - he decided that this guy must be Nathan - only once before, and he didn't really give him the best vibes. Then again, none of Archer's boyfriends did. He watched while Archer and Nathan yelled at each other for a few seconds, but they calmed down soon after. His sister sighed and muttered something under her breath before the couple smiled at each other and continued walking down the sidewalk, hand in hand. Ace let out a breath of relief.
"See," he heard from the girl sitting next to him. "She's okay." Rose smiled as the couple continued on their way, tilting her head to the side as she let out a hum. "I've got a good feeling about Nathan. Maybe their relationship will work out."
Ace didn't comment. It wouldn't work out, and he knew that. Voicing his dismay for his sister's escapades was the last thing he'd do, though. It was none of his business, as long as she stayed safe and didn't get hurt physically, he'd keep himself out of it. He wasn't keen on her getting her heart broken time and time again, but somewhere, deep down, Ace envied her for the courage she possessed to try and try and try again.
"I envy her sometimes," he voiced his concerns out loud, watching as his sister disappeared behind the corner of a café with her boyfriend.
Rose frowned, pointing the tequila bottle she'd grabbed from him back towards his hands. "Why?" She asked, urging him to take the bottle.
Ace let out a humorless chuckle before accepting it, knowing she wasn't offering him a drink but she just didn't want to hold the bottle any longer. "Even after getting her heart broken so many times, after getting hurt so many times, she still tries and searches for love." He shrugged and took another sip of the alcohol. "It takes a lot of strength."
His friend didn't respond for a few seconds, and he refused to look in her direction. Not wanting to be met with a face full of pity, he decided it was best not to make any eye contact at the moment. "Yeah," she said eventually, and Ace could see her looking down at her lap from the corner of his eye. "I guess it does."
He turned to look at her briefly, and saw her fiddling with her bracelets. Something was on her mind, and he was about to ask what if she didn't spoke up. "We kind of have to, right?" She smiled at him. "A life without love is no life at all."
Ace snorted at her cheesy quote and took another sip of the tequila, a big one this time. "Which of your fancy artist said that one?" He asked, raising an eyebrow when she started sputtering in protest. "Rosie." He deadpanned, smirking when the girl finally let out a sigh.
"Leonardo da Vinci," she mumbled under her breath.
"Ah, see," Ace hissed, pointing at her with the glass bottle. His previous smirk widened as he looked at the girl next to him. The wind around them started picking up a bit and he blew a few of his curls out of his face before continuing. "That's where you went wrong. If you'd said Leonardo DiCaprio, I might've listened."
"Alright, alright," Rose groaned, pushing him away from her slightly. He laughed at her annoyance, and she roughly grabbed the tequila bottle from his hands. Shooting him a slight glare, she started talking again. "Fine, Mr. I-Have-No-Feelings, what's your stance on love, then?"
"Easy," he shrugged. "I don't believe in love."
Rose let out a fake gasp, the tequila definitely speaking for her now. "You can't not believe in love." She exclaimed slightly, holding the bottle of alcohol in front of her mouth in shock. "It's one of the best things ever."
"People leave, Rosie. It's what they do," Ace responded, giving her a closed mouthed smile. He looked down at his lap, his previous smile disappearing slowly. He played with his fingers and shrugged. "Doesn't matter if they want to or not." He whispered under his breath, forcing on another smile as he reached his hand out for the bottle of tequila, opening and closing it when Rose didn't place it in his immediately. "Might as well make it easy for myself and not get too attached." He added nonchalantly, putting the bottle back against his lips.
A frown settled on top of Rose's forehead, and her bottom lip was slightly puffed out as she took in the harsh words of the boy in front of her. As she took a glance at him, her frown deepened. Ace had kept his eyes on his lap, his fingers twirling around the top of the glass bottle. She felt her heart break at the sight, and then felt it break a second time at the realization. "What was their name?" She said softly, her voice just above a whisper.
Ace smiled fondly, yet, he never looked up from his lap. "His name wa-" At the sudden disturbance of the silence around them, the boy stopped his sentence. His eyes widened at the familiar sound of keys ringing and he had never gotten up on his feet that fast. The alcohol made his head spin at the sudden speed and he had to fight to keep himself upright.
"We have to go." He said urgently, wide-eyes looking between Rose and the back of the roof they were sitting - sorry, trespassing - on. He could hear someone placing a foot on the ladder.
Rose opened her mouth to question his sudden change in demeanor, though, she quickly found herself without the opportunity to do so - the French boy had quickly grabbed her by the arm and hoisted her upright. It was a good thing that he'd grabbed her, Ace realized, because Rose was swinging from side to side in his arms. God, he really regretted getting them that alcohol right now. Nobody could run with that much tequila in their bloodstream.
The girl had let out a small yelp at the sudden movement and she blinked a couple of times, looking up at the boy next to her - who seemed everything but calm right now. It looked like he'd just switched a button and was completely sober again. "Ace, what th-"
The loud "Auxier!" following from under them made the both of them freeze.
"Who was that?" Rose croaked out, leaning into Ace's arms in fear of the very angry voice coming from underneath them. He saw her blink a couple more times and swallow a lump in her throat and all the hope of simply outrunning the store owner vanished. Don't drink when trespassing, noted.
Ace cursed under his breath, licking his lips while he tried figuring a way out of there. He looked next to him, it wasn't that high. Maybe two meters, at best. He could jump two meters. He glanced at Rose. She'll just have to catch up, he figured. Whatever, it'll be fine.
"That," he started, glancing between the ground and the source of the sound. "Is Jerry. He doesn't like me." He cleared his throat and walked closer towards the edge. "Catch you on the way down."
As Ace's arms disappeared from around her frame, so did the boy. Rose watched as he shot her a smirk and a wink before he jumped off of the roof, landing on his feet, albeit struggling a little. "What!" She yelled out loud, eyes wide and Ace smirked at the familiar popping vein in her forehead. "Ace!"
"Come on, I'll catch you!" He tried making up for the fact that he just left her completely stranded on top of a record store. She almost let out a growl at the cocky smirk he wore on his face and if he wasn't already down, she probably would've pushed him off of the roof. He didn't care, it was funny, and he was sure Rose would look back on the night fondly. That is - if they made it out without going to jail. "Just jump, Rosie! I got you."
He watched as Rose sighed and glanced behind her a couple of times before carefully sitting down on top of the ledge again. Her eyes connected to Ace's for a final time as she got ready to jump.
"I swear to God, Ace, if I make it out of this alive, I'm going to kill you."
REGGIE THOUGHT HE'D SEEN IT ALL the day he saw a couple of ducks chase after a dog in the park. Oh, how wrong he was. The day that Ace Auxier offered Luke Patterson his help was one he didn't think he'd live to see. The irony of it all was that he didn't live to see the day, but he liked to pretend. Still, that didn't think away from the fact that Ace had willingly offered to help them out.
After hearing that Julie got grounded for missing the first couple hours of school, they'd almost given up hope of performing tonight - that was, until the French boy barged in with the idea to 'just sneak her out.'
The carelessness in the boy's voice made him worry slightly for him, but then again, he figured that Ace was probably not above breaking the law and he'd probably done worse things than sneak someone out of their bedroom. Which is how they found themselves here, standing in front of Julie's window with the girl in question hesitantly sitting on the ledge.
"I - I don't know about this, guys." She called out, holding onto the windowsill while she looked down to the four ghosts standing in front of her house. "Maybe I should just stay home."
"It'll be okay, Julie. We promise," Alex called out to her, trying to give her a soothing smile.
Luke nodded along with their friend and took a step forward. "It'll be worth it, that place will be packed with record execs. This is our chance,"
The words of his friends seemed to have somewhat of an effect on the girl, considering she shifted on the windowsill. Just as she was about to jump down, she held herself back again. Reggie shot her a small smile to signal that it was okay if she really didn't want to go, or if she was too scared. He understood, jumping out of a window wasn't exactly his expertise, either. Wanting to give the girl a couple words of comfort himself, he opened his mouth to speak but quickly found himself without words when the boy next to him stepped forward.
Reggie watched as Ace walked closer towards the window, the boy turned to look behind him a couple of times and even took a few steps backwards before he faced upwards to settle his eyes on Julie. "Come on," he said, and opened his arms. "I'll catch you."
The feeling of someone's eyes on him washed over Reggie and he turned to his right, meeting Alex' and Luke's eyes. The latter looked between the two of them with wide eyes, frowning while he pointed at the French boy discreetly. "Why is he helping us?" He whispered; Ace didn't hear him. Or, if he did, he pretended not to.
"I don't know," Reggie whispered back; keeping his eyes glued on Ace and Julie. He could vaguely hear Luke mutter something else towards Alex, but he didn't bother to listen to his friends right now.
Julie looked down at Ace, a slightly scared look on her face as she calculated the height difference between her and the ground. It made her swallow. "You can't promise that," she called out towards the boy standing right underneath her. "What if you don't focus enough? I'll just slap onto the concrete."
Ace shrugged, opening his arms again towards the girl. "What's life without a couple of risks?" He offered, and Reggie had to withhold a chuckle at the nonchalance in his voice. Ace never seemed to care about the consequences of something, and though it was a bit worrying, it was also kind of amusing. Julie didn't seem to think so, and she shot Ace a slight glare.
"It'll be okay, Julie," Alex said as he walked towards Ace, stopping just as he'd gotten to his right. He smiled up at her, his smile filled with almost as much nerves as hers. "Ace'll catch you. Right, Ace?" The blond turned towards Ace, placing one of his hands on his shoulders.
The boy in question nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I worked with a magical lunatic for twenty-five years, so, trust me - I know what I'm doing." The three other boys exchanged a look at the sentence. From the looks of it, Reggie wasn't the only one who'd forgotten that Ace had been working with Caleb for quarter of a century. He quickly glanced at his wrist. If Ace could touch living people...who know what else he could do? Maybe he would be able to help them.
Reggie looked back at the curly-haired boy. He could help. Glancing at Luke and Alex, he knew that they'd come to the same conclusion. Which brought them to their next obstacle. He could help, but that didn't mean he would help. As far as they knew, Ace didn't particularly like any of them. The three tore their eyes away from each other after a few seconds and collectively decided to focus on making it to their performance for now. Asking Ace for help would be a problem for tomorrow.
Reggie watched as Ace adjusted his feet on the pavement and rubbed his hands together to make grabby-hands towards the singer sitting on the windowsill. "Just jump, Julie. I got you." He told her, a small smile on his lips.
There was a small twitch at the corner of his mouth, and Reggie noted how his fingertips shook just the tiniest bit when he went to put his hands up towards the girl. He frowned, and wondered what was going through his head before he reminded himself he shouldn't care. He shouldn't. But he did.
"Okay," Julie breathed. She took a couple of breaths before firmly planting herself on the windowsill, she and Ace exchanged a couple of looks; him nodding at her encouragingly, before she finally pushed herself off the ledge and straight into the arms of the boy waiting for her at the ground. Ace caught her, just like he said he would, and carefully placed her on the ground. "Okay," she said again, this time smiling a little while she stepped out of Ace's arms. She looked around at all of the boys, the smile widening. "Let's go."
All eyes were glued to Julie Molina, dressed in her performance outfit, smiling widely and ready to go and perform - all eyes, except Reggie's. His were glued to Ace Auxier's frame, his posture that had frozen up the second he'd caught Julie in his arms. The bassist frowned and took a small step forward, his hand reaching out towards the boy who'd appear to have zoned out but just as he was about to tap him on the shoulder, Julie turned towards the (retired?) lead singer.
The two seemed to have a moment in front of them, and Reggie exchanged a couple of questioning looks with his friends for the second time that night. He watched while Ace took a step forward, a small smile on his face while he reached for the jacket Julie was wearing. Brushing his fingers slightly over the material, his smile widened at the sight of the smiley drawn on her right shoulder with a white permanent marker.
"I miss her," he told her. The slight crack in his voice made Reggie's heart feel heavy.
Julie smiled sadly. "I do, too."
Ace averted his eyes from the jacket and pulled his hand away. He looked Julie in the eye, and Reggie stole another glance at Alex and Luke. He kind of felt like he was intruding on something. Since when had Ace and Julie been this close? They just met yesterday! By the looks of it, the other two boys were thinking exactly the same. With Alex awkwardly looking at the ground, and Luke rolling his eyes in annoyance, Reggie couldn't be more grateful for the sudden change in subject Ace turned them towards.
"Anyway, you've got a gig to go to, Molina."
And there it was again, Reggie realized, the casual smirk hanging across his lips, the smug expression across his features, the aura of confidence returning. He honestly had to blink a couple of times to comprehend what he just saw, and when he did, he had to convince himself that it did, in fact, happen and it wasn't his imagination. Ace Auxier had shown vulnerability. Around him. Around Alex. Around Luke. He had never seen him like that; always wearing that smirk, that smug look, and Reggie would lie if he'd say that it didn't suit him. But this, Ace, vulnerable. It was new.
And he was more worried than ever before now. What did he find out these past hours that made him so upset, it would cause him to let his guard down around his so-called enemies?
Reggie wanted to ask, but quickly reminded himself that he was probably the last person Ace would want to talk to about it. Instead, he offered the boy a small smile when their eyes met. He got a smirk in return. Of course, he did.
"Anyway, you PowerPuff girls have fun," he called out towards them, chuckling when he saw the - probably very confused - expression Reggie'd taken on his face. He quickly dropped the expression, and felt the tip of his ears turn slightly red. He still didn't know who the PowerPuff girls were. He cleared his throat and looked up again, praying that Ace had looked away from him; he hadn't. Ace smiled at him, it was a small smile, barely there, but Reggie noticed. Ignoring the feeling in his chest, he attempted to smile back. "And watch over her, make sure she doesn't cause too much trouble." Ace chuckled when Julie scoffed at him. "I'll see you when you get back."
"You're not coming with?"
Realizing that sentence didn't come from his own lips, but form his best friend's made Reggie frown. He turned to look at Alex, the blond's eyes narrowed while his brows were furrowed. Why would Alex care if Ace would come with? Wait. Why would he care if Ace came with? Reggie frowned at his thoughts, looking away from the people in front of him, and down at his fingers as he played with one of his rings. He was about to ask Ace why he wasn't joining them.
"Nah," was the response he got. At the sound of his voice, Reggie looked up again. The French boy shrugged, a couple of his curls falling into his face. Itching to push them aside, he was glad to see Ace doing it himself; he probably would've made a fool out of himself if he'd acted on his impulses. "I've seen you guys play before, pretty boring." Now, he would have been hurt at those words, if it weren't for the giant grin that crawled up Ace's lips after the insult. "No, no, I've got some stuff to do." He nodded towards them. "You guys have fun, though." His eyes landed on Luke shortly after. "Even you."
Luke pointed at himself, mockingly turning around to see if someone was standing behind him that Ace might've been talking to. It made their rival roll his eyes before he started his walk back towards the studio; Ace had shot him a final look before turning his back on them. Reggie kept his eyes on his retreating figure, and could see Julie and Alex starting their walk towards the café they were supposed to play at in a couple of minutes. He didn't move from his spot.
Neither did Luke; not until he suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Ace by the wrist. The boy flinched slightly, ever so slightly. Reggie was surprised he even noticed. It made him frown; it wasn't the first time Ace'd flinched at someone abruptly touching him. At the - by now, familiar - feeling of worry, he cursed at himself again. Since when had he ever been worried about Ace Auxier this many times on one day?
"Why are you helping us?" Luke asked the boy he despised. It made Reggie snap out of his thoughts, and he looked at the two of them expectantly. Why was he helping them?
With his eyes glued to Luke's, Ace took his wrist back out of his hold. "It's not for you," he told him, and Reggie swore he could see him glancing towards Julie, who'd still been walking with Alex. Neither of them seemed to notice their absence. He didn't understand. Since when did Ace care about Julie? They didn't even knew each other for that long! It didn't make sense to him. Why would he eve-
Luke's huff in annoyance snapped him back to reality. "Let's just go." The boy muttered under his breath and walked towards Reggie. Now, it should be known, that Reggie wanted to go - he wanted to sing, to play his bass, to perform, but somehow, not like this. Which is why his feet stayed rooted to the ground. His antics made Luke frown, and he stopped in front of him. "You good?"
"Yeah," Reggie said clearly, he smiled at his friend. "I just realized I forgot my pick in the studio, I'll be right back." He didn't give Luke a chance to respond before teleporting himself towards the studio door.
When he'd arrived there, with the night sky above him and the silence engulfing him; he felt his heart sink to the ground for a second, thinking that he'd missed him. His fears were quickly diminished when he set foot into the wooden building, and he smiled when he saw the boy sitting on the couch, a book in his hands. Reggie could see him mouth the words as he read, and took the sight in for a few seconds before he broke the silence around them.
"Hey," he said softly, giving him a slight wave. He scolded himself for that after. What kind of idiot waves like that, he scoffed in his head. Anyway, he cleared his throat and sat down next to him on the couch.
Ace held up a finger, continuing to mouth along the words as he finished reading his page, before he grabbed a piece of paper from the wooden table and put it in between the pages. He closed the book and turned to look at him. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"Why aren't you joining us?" The question fell of his lips quickly. And he knew, he knew Alex had asked him the same question a couple of minutes earlier and he knew that Ace had told them he had other things to do, but he asked it anyway. Hoping for a different answer. An answer that didn't make the wave of disappointment appear in his stomach.
Ace didn't respond. Instead, he placed the book he'd been holding on the table and looked him in the eye. The dark, mysterious eyes never seemed to tire him. "Why do you care?"
That's a fucking good question. Reggie didn't answer, either. He could feel his hands get a bit sweaty and he frowned, clearing his throat while he brushed them across his jeans in an attempt to get rid of the damp feeling. "I mean, I-" He stopped, trying to figure out what he was going to say, what excuse he was going to come up with.
"Love," the drop of the nickname made him shut up, and he looked at the boy in front of him; begging him to take over the conversation so he didn't have to worry about finding an excuse any longer.
It took him a bit longer than necessary to realize that Ace was waiting for him to acknowledge the nickname. "Ye - yeah?" He cleared his throat again, clenching his fists at the warm feeling in his palms.
Ace smirked slightly, his eyes darting between Reggie's clenched fists and the lump in his throat he quickly swallowed. If he had a teasing comment to make, he chose to ignore it. "Do you want me to come?" He asked instead.
Reggie wanted to be swallowed up by the ground. Why did he think going here was a good idea? What was he thinking? He wasn't. He wasn't thinking, he realized. That was the problem. His intuition led him here. It's safe to say, he'll never follow his intuition again. "Uh, I - I ju-" Fuck, what was he going to say?
Once again, Ace decided to make it easier for him. "Yes or no," he said simply. Reggie opened his mouth to argue, but the French boy shook his head. "Yes or no." He repeated, and Reggie swore that he could see a shimmer of something in his eyes. He couldn't pinpoint what it was. "That's all I need from you, love. No explanation."
No explanation. "Yes." No explanation. That made it easier, he decided. "Yes, I want you to come." He elaborated, and felt himself let out a breath of relief when Ace smiled at him. Not a smirk, not a grin, just a small smile.
"Okay," the boy nodded. He groaned slightly as he pushed himself up from the couch, he glanced at his book for just a few seconds before his dark eyes found Reggie's light ones again. "We better get going, then."
Mumbling a soft "Right" under his breath, Reggie got up from the couch. Both him and Ace walked back towards the others; he suddenly felt a rush of anxiety flow through him at the realization that he'd have to explain why he'd gone back to convince Ace. It left just as fast as it came, considering Ace shrugged Luke's questions off with a simple "I changed my mind."
Grateful that he covered for him, he shot the boy a small smile. "Thanks," he whispered towards him, leaning slightly into his side to make sure the others - who were walking a couple of steps ahead - didn't hear.
The corner of Ace's lips curled upwards, and Reggie felt the comforting feeling of normality wash over him at the sight. "No explanation, remember?" He whispered back, and the smirk on his face disappeared again.
No explanation, Reggie repeated in his head. He could do that. No explanation, just doing what he wants. No explanation towards his friends, or to himself. Just - no explanation.
He was starting to get a headache from all that thinking, anyway.
HAVING ACE WITH THEM WASN'T JUST FOR REGGIE. Though, he'll admit that it was nice seeing the boy standing there, among the others, the same careless smirk on his face while he leaned on the bar - it felt normal. As if, maybe, they didn't die at age seventeen before they could really live their life, as if they were still running around Los Angeles with their friends, getting into silly fights with one another. Somehow, having Ace around made Reggie feel more at ease.
It wasn't just Reggie that was affected by Ace's presence; the same could be said for Luke. Whenever Ace was around, the boy would pour more of himself into his music, into the song he was playing, into the lyrics he was singing - whether it was out of spite or out of determination to show him that he was better than him, Reggie didn't know. He just knew that having Ace around calmed him down, and fired Luke up; which resulted in the lead singer performing like his life depended on it.
Which brought them to where they are now; with Luke singing into the mic with Julie at the other side of the stage, singing like he'd never sung before. With the emotion from today, of his birthday, the frustration and usual annoyance whenever Ace was around, and now, the added determination to prove himself towards the boy he hated; Luke was performing unlike anything before. Reggie felt proud of his best friend, and turned his head to look at them. He smiled at the brunette, happy that he'd found his flow again after such a heavy moment with his parents earlier today.
The fact that they were performing at their absolute best while the place was full with important people in the music business, only added as a bonus.
As he focused his eyes back towards his bass, making sure he struck the right chords, Reggie could feel someone's eyes on him as he played. Besides the obvious eyes of the audience, he found himself instantly recognizing the heavy gaze that settled on his figure. He walked towards Luke, ignoring the familiar stare on him, and shot his friend a smile as they sang together. With the lights shining on them and Ace standing at the bar, watching them perform - Reggie felt happy. He always did when he was performing.
He laughed before parting ways with Luke again, returning back to his side of the stage and he could hear Julie and Luke starting to sing together. Completely missing the moment, the two of them were sharing, he decided to finally meet the gaze of Ace Auxier who'd never lifted his eyes from his during the entire performance. Not one second. His expression was unreadable, and Reggie would lie if he said that he wasn't surprised at the lack of a smirk on his face. No matter, he could pull one of them out of him on his own.
The bassist smirked towards the rival lead singer, shooting him a wink as he continued playing his bass. He could see a girl standing behind Ace widening her eyes and squealing to her friends, thinking the wink was meant for her. It wasn't. Though, she didn't know that.
But Ace did. And Reggie fully expected him to show him that smirk he'd secretly come to love. So, when Ace instead settled on giving him a small, adoring smile; he didn't know what to do. The look on the boy's face made him lose focus for just a few seconds, and he sighed in relief when he still managed to hit all the chords he needed to. Blinking fast, Reggie looked back at Ace.
It was still there. That smile. A smile of adoration, soft eyes that shone proudly, a knowing look shining within them. His head slightly tilted to the side, his dark brown curls falling onto his forehead. That smile. His posture relaxed, the lights from the café hitting his cheekbones. That smile. The tattoos and rings on his hands as he brushed them through his hair, trying to get it out of his face. That smile. The lighting making his dark eyes look like a strong tea in the sunlight, dark eyes you can't help but get lost in. That smile.
He'd seen that smile before.
Reggie felt himself sway under his feet, and almost stumbled to keep himself upright. Luke and Alex shot him a confused glance, but he didn't feel like meeting their eyes right now. He tried his best to keep playing, his heart going way past the regular number of beats per minute, and swallowed as he looked back into the crowd.
He'd seen that smile before.
On the day he fell for Ace Auxier.
𝙸𝚃 𝙽𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝙾𝙲𝙲𝚄𝚁𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝚁𝙴𝙶𝙶𝙸𝙴 that fixing his amps in the rain might not have been the brightest idea. Still, his parents were fighting and he didn't want to bother Alex, Luke or Bobby right now - he'd been over at their place way too many times this week, and he was convinced their parents were getting tired of him. And, they were planning to go to this party later tonight, where he'd see his friends again. He didn't want to intrude too much. So, out in the rain it was. Besides, what could go wrong? It's just a bit of water.
As he crouched down towards the amp, he reached one of his hands out towards one of the buttons, he stopped himself right before touching it and frowned at the sudden disappearance of rain above him. He frowned and looked up, surprised to see an umbrella hanging above him. Startled just a bit, he jumped up and turned around - blinking a couple of times at the boy standing behind him.
"You know, fixing your amps in the rain isn't the best idea," he told him. Reggie was about to ask him who he was to deliver his critiques upon him, but he found himself withholding the words he wanted to say as soon as he made eye contact with the boy. His eyes were dark, very dark - he felt like he was going to get lost in them if it weren't for the boy bringing his attention back towards the land of the living. "Why are you out here?"
"Uhm," Reggie started, and forced himself to look away from his eyes. They were so dark, he'd never seen such pretty eyes. He'd always loved brown eyes, but this was something entirely different. The boy in front of him raised an eyebrow, and Reggie realized he had asked him a question. "Oh, I just, uh, I had to tune my amps, you know?" He laughed nervously, and the boy gave him a small, amused smirk. It made him a bit queasy. He cleared his throat and shot him a smile.
"In the rain?" He asked him, the amusement basically seeping through his voice. He could see the boy kissing his teeth with his tongue as he chuckled at Reggie's eager nod. Hearing the boy's slight accent, he couldn't help but wonder where it came from.
Reggie found himself letting out a small, nervous chuckle. It almost made him frown, he didn't really know why he was getting nervous. "Yeah," he said, shrugging. "Things are a bit...loud back at home, so I, you know..." He didn't want to elaborate any further about the topic, though, he was surprised at himself for telling a complete and total stranger as much as he did.
Much to his surprise, the boy nodded at him. He sniffed and glanced at the ground before capturing Reggie's eyes with his own again. Reggie felt his breath hitch slightly and honestly wondered what was going on with him. "I understand," he said, and the sincerity in his voice made him want to ask how he understood. Though, it probably wasn't any of his business. "A word of advice, though, love?"
He pretended not to feel anything at the nickname, and nodded at him slowly. "Don't fix your amps in the rain next time," he told him slowly, leaning in just the slightest bit. He didn't move back when he was done speaking, and Reggie assumed it was because they needed to share the umbrella. He just hoped his wet hair didn't ruin the jacket the boy was wearing. It looked expensive.
"Why?" Reggie responded, scrunching his nose up in genuine confusion while a frown now decorated his forehead.
The boy opened his mouth to speak, but found himself letting out a laugh instead. Reggie liked the sound. He smiled. He didn't know what he did to make the boy laugh, but still, he smiled. The boy smiled back, a shimmer in his eye that Reggie couldn't place and if he didn't know any better, he'd say it was made up of adoration.
"You've got a name?" He asked him, and Reggie had to force himself not to overthink the smile he'd just given him.
He nodded rather quickly, clumsily extending a hand towards him. "Uh, yeah, yeah, uh, I'm Reggie." He introduced himself, looking back into the dark eyes of the boy in front of him.
The same smile was still on his face as he accepted his handshake.
"Ace."
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