A new record had been set.

It had been a week since Ace's altercation with Burnwood and he hadn't got himself into any more trouble. I hoped that his good act would continue enough so that I wouldn't have to lecture him on morality and tell him what Burnwood had warned me. 

The next week, however, something happened that made my stomach clench with anxiety again. Ace was absent from classes and despite calling him multiple times, I got no response. Of course, it was possible that he was simply sick. But like the ray of sunshine that I am, I assumed the worse and decided to visit him after school. 

Travelling on public transport was usually a nightmare for me. After missing two buses because they looked a wee bit too crowded to me, I finally decided to board the third and reached the bus stand closest to his home a while later. 

I walked towards the main door and rang the doorbell, waiting for his response and anxiously pulling at the straps of my backpack. The door opened after a while and Miss Wilde stood facing me. 

My heart sunk at her haggard appearance and I felt a slight twinge of anger at Ace. Her light blonde hair, something her daughter had inherited, looked uncared for. Her eyes seemed sunken, the dark circles under them more prominent than I remembered and her arms in her white shirt somehow skinnier. 

"Miles!" She said, flashing me a tired smile.

"Miss Wilde," I said, trying to return her smile. "Uh, is Ace in?"

She nodded. "Come in, honey. He's in his room."

She stepped back to let me in and I thanked her in response. She nodded and made her way towards the kitchen, calling behind her. "Stay for dinner, sweetie. I'm making chicken rice today."

"Thanks, Miss Wilde!" I called back as I made my way up the staircase and towards his room, my heart racing in trepidation. I knocked a few times gently against the door but got no response. Slowly, I opened it and peered into the semi dark room. I could see a lump on the bed, curled up cosily. 

Ace. 

My first instinct was to run up to him and just hug him out of relief, but I mastered it. 

I heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe he had just overslept. But he hardly seemed like the kind of guy who would take an off from his work for two days in a row just because he overslept. I tiptoed over to him, wondering if I should just leave. 

I took a deep breath and decided to just talk to him later. If he was finally sleeping, I wasn't going to be the one to wake him up. Just as I turned to go, however, his drowsy, hoarse voice called, "Not even gonna say 'Hi' to me, Spencer?"

"How did you know it was me?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. 

"Your uncoordinated steps. You walk like a drugged penguin," he spoke, his voice muffled and lazy. 

I felt offended by his words, but being aware of the truth of them, remained quiet. 

I walked over to him. He was almost entirely covered under his blanket, with just his eyes and hair poking out. At that moment, he looked adorable, not like he actively wreaked havoc everywhere he went. My knees seemed to weaken for a fleeting moment.

It was then that I became aware of the strong scent I distinctly recognized. My chest filled with cold dread and I glared at him. "Is this a hangover?"

He groaned and pulled his blanket closer to him. "No," he lied. 

"You smell like vodka," I said, scrunching my nose. "How much did you drink? Where did you even get it?"

"Why's that important?" he asked, his voice hard. A sign of defiance. 

"You're seventeen, Ace-" I began. Although he had never been the one for rules and laws, I felt like this was going a bit too far. 

He pushed his covers away and slowly got to a seating position, not looking at me. 

"I just needed an outlet okay? I worked the entire day yesterday and then my stupid car just bumped-" he stopped talking at once and seemed to chew on his own tongue. 

My heart seized. "Were you drunk driving?"

His jaw clenched and that was enough of an answer for me. An infernal tide of rage rose in my chest. I clenched my fists, struggling to keep my voice even, "Ace, what the fuck were you thinking?"

"I wasn't like drunk drunk," he reasoned, not even sounding remotely guilty. He shrugged. "I was just tipsy. I drank after I was done driving."

"Wow, you're such a responsible citizen," I said, gritting my teeth and mastering the instinct to punch his face. 

"Why thank you," he said.

I turned away from him, seething. I didn't want to yell at him when I already knew how he would respond and decided to showcase my anger by stomping away like a responsible adult. He called after me, but I ignored him, making my way downstairs and into the living room where I switched on the television to drown out the raging thoughts in my head. 

The Wilde family house was much bigger than mine. Ace's dad had been an interior decorator and all the elements of his home were likewise, simplistically but beautifully crafted. Modern ceiling fixtures were aglow with gentle golden light. A huge television sat in the living room, surrounded by large leather couches. The kitchen was nested a little further into the living room. It was open, joined by the dining table. I plopped onto the couch and gazed moodily at the dark television screen. 

Much to my disappointment, he didn't follow me downstairs until at least an hour later. By that time, it was almost dinner time and I wanted to inform him that I was mad at him. However, since he hadn't tried to talk to me, I didn't want to impose myself onto him and decided to leave as soon as I could. 

"Dinner's ready, Miles!" Miss Wilde called from the kitchen and I rose to my feet. I made my way to the neatly set dinner table and sat on it as Ace sat across me, his face impassive. 

"Allie!" she called again as I shot Ace furtive glances which he deftly ignored. Now that I could see him under the bright kitchen lights, I could appreciate how exhausted he looked. His skin seemed impossibly paler, his hair still messy from lying in bed all day and his eyes devoid of any light in them. My heart sunk a little at the way I had gotten angry at him. It was his way of coping with everything, was it maybe better for me to stand beside him instead of rebuking him? But I didn't want him to get hurt and everything he did always scared me. 

Allie ran into the kitchen a while later and gave me a bright smile. "Hello, Miles!"

"Hey!" I grinned at her as she took a chair beside her brother, who was now staring at his plate of rice. 

"It smells delicious, Miss Wilde," I said, taking in the aroma of the chicken and citric rice. She smiled softly at me. 

"Thank you, Miles."

"Yes mommy it looks so yummy!" Allie exclaimed, reaching for a spoon. 

She gently patted her head and then turned to address me. "I'll leave you kids to it then. Just leave the plates, I'll clean up later, okay? Help yourself to more if you want.  Don't be shy."

She turned and started making her way out of the kitchen. I looked at Ace who now seemed to be playing with a piece of chicken aimlessly and then at her receding back before blurting out, "Aren't you gonna join us, Miss Wilde?"

She turned to look at me, a soft light behind her dark eyes. "No honey. I'll eat later. You go ahead." She gave me what I knew she thought was a reassuring smile, but I knew better. The moment she left, Ace sighed and pushed the plate away from him. I decided I had punished him enough with silence and spoke up, "Did you argue with her?" 

"Yeah, she was yelling at me," he answered in a low voice. 

"Why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. This time, however, it was Allie who answered. 

"Aachee broke the car," she giggled as I stared at him, aghast. He averted my gaze, his cheeks burning. 

"You did what?" I whispered in disbelief. 

"Just the bumper kinda broke," he answered in a low voice. A ripple of satisfaction travelled through me when he averted my eyes. He leaned back in his chair, biting his lip as the chicken on his plate bore the brunt of his discomfort by being tossed around mercilessly. 

"Did you have an accident?" I asked, studying him closely but not finding any visible injuries. 

"Not so much an accident as driving into the neighbour's garden instead of our driveway," he answered in a single breath. "I just- I just missed a turn."

I gaped at him as Allie giggled harder. I knew she perhaps didn't understand the seriousness of the issue, but for me, it was a horrifying thought. I lowered  my voice and asked in a scandalized whisper, "While you were drunk?"

"Tipsy," he corrected. 

I knew things with his stepmom and him were always complicated. Even though as far as I knew she had never treated him any different than Allie, it also meant that she didn't hesitate to scold him when he deserved it. The only difference was how he saw it. That she had no right over him, which was unfair. The 'step' feeling was more in his heart than in Celia's. And somehow, it fucked things up worse. 

"Ace, are you out of your fucking mind?" I spoke, resisting the urge to kick him under the table. 

His eyes widened and he glanced at Allie who was staring at us before he glared at me. He lowered his voice as he spoke firmly, "Can you not swear here, Miles?"

I bit my tongue and sighed. "Are you out of your-" the word danced on the tip of my tongue as I struggled to find an alternative word that would sufficiently show my anger. "-heckin' mind, Ace?"

He stared at me for a while before giggling. His eyes twinkled as I seemed to forget my fury momentarily. My neck got hotter and I had to remind myself that Ace wasn't adorable but merely an exceptionally cute person with an unhealthy obsession of edging with death. 

"Nothing happened," he shrugged, tossing the poor piece of chicken around some more on his plate. "I'm okay. It was just a mild inconvenience."

"Yes," I enunciated, "For you. I wonder if your neighbours think the same." 

He shrugged, not meeting my eyes as he spoke, "Shut up, you're not my real dad."

I stared at him, shocked. "That's...dark."

"I know right," he grinned, finally facing me as he shoved a forkful of rice in his mouth. Was this all a joke for him? How could he be so nonchalant? 

I grit my teeth and in an attempt to stop myself from yelling at him, shoved a spoonful of rice into my mouth. We ate in silence for a while before Allie yawned loudly and Ace rose to his feet. "Bed, Allie. Now."

She yawned again and nodded, rising to her feet and giving me a little wave before skipping out of the kitchen. Ace got to his feet, taking his half-eaten plate of food and placing it in the fridge at the back of the kitchen. I got to my feet and collected mine and Allie's plates, placing them in the dishwasher. After I was done, I turned to Ace. 

"Now that she's left, are you out of our fucking mind?"

"Are you free tonight?" he asked, gazing somewhere behind me. 

I blinked, taken aback by the suddenness of his question. "What?"

"The Orionids are the brightest tonight. I wanna watch it." He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms in front of his chest. His eyes finally met mine as my heart skipped a beat. His pupils seemed to focus like he had been in a daze before this. 

A far as my knowledge of astronomy went, I knew that it was one of the two meteor showers peaking around October. "Oh," I responded lamely. 

"You wanna come with me?" he asked, tilting his head slightly in question.

My heart fluttered desperately and I gulped. "Uh, but it's at night."

"Yes, Miller," Ace grinned. "That is in fact when the stars come out. What I mean is after midnight precisely," he said. "We'll probably be out all night."

"I don't think my parents would allow it," I said even as I felt my cheeks warming. I was used to overthinking every little of his actions. 

"You can sneak out or something," he said. "I'll have you back home before they know. I promise."

"Oh. Okay." I managed to answer before I stuttered too embarrassingly. I knew he meant nothing by asking me to accompany him like that. My heart hammered loudly in my throat. "I think I'll just ask them. Tell them the truth."

"Be honest with your parents? Wow. I could never imagine." He shrugged. "Whatever works with you. I'll be at your place to pick you up around eleven. Wear something warmer and I won't mind if you bring some snacks along or something."

I couldn't help smiling at him even as my face burned. "Yeah, alright."

He gave me a soft smile but didn't say anything, leaving me with a million questions in my heart. 

______________________________________________________________________________

Well...something major may or may not be happening soon. Do you think Ace means something by this gesture? Do you think his carelessness and recklessness is just a way to be 'quirky' or actually has some deeper meaning to it? How long till Miles is sick of his antics?

As always, thank you for the constant support!