Ace and I sat on his bed, gazing dreamily at each other as if the whole world had ended and we were the only ones who survived. The silence was welcomed by both of us, it wasn't awkward at all. His breathing was uneven at best because, I assume, I was his first kiss. He was so warm and comfortable, I didn't want to leave his side, but I knew I had to be back in time for dinner.

"Hey, would you like to stay for dinner?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"I'd love to, but my mom wants me home for dinner," I quietly replied.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Silence. It became quiet again and I could feel him tightening his arms around me. We both hated saying good bye to each other, even when we were kids we hated them. But this good bye was...different. There was a tenderness to it and something else I couldn't put my finger on. But I kind of liked it, not knowing the other feeling in it.

Zzz zzz zzz z-

"Hello?"

Hey sweetheart, it's dad.

"Oh, hey dad. What's up?"

Your mom and I are going out for dinner. Your brother is at home, so we'll need you to be home now.

"Ugh, fine."

Thank you Annalin.

"Yeah."

Love you.

"Love you too, dad."

I hung up, groaning as I tossed it on the bed beside me. I slid out of Ace's arms, reluctantly as ever, and grabbed the car keys.

"You're leaving?" Asked Ace as he handed me my phone.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Parents are going out for dinner and my brother is home alone."

"Oh. Maybe I can go with you."

"No, I'd rather not get yelled at and never be able to see you again."

He fell silent and hugged me from behind, letting me know that he understood why I had to say no. It felt like my heart was being torn out of my chest, leaving me to suffer. I walked out of his room after lightly kissing his cheek and went to the front door, letting myself out without another word. I felt empty without Ace.

The drive home I listened to music of some sort without enthusiasm. My world had been crushed and all hopes destroyed because I had to watch my brother. Yuck. He's 12, almost 13, and is capable of taking care of himself. It's not like he doesn't know how to cook, and even if he didn't know how he still knows how to use a microwave. I swear sometimes he says things just to cut my hang out time with Ace and my other friends short.

"I'm home loser!" I called into the quiet house known as my home.

"Hi Annie!" Replied my brother.

"Don't call me Annie! You know I hate that nickname!" I grumbled as I stormed up stairs to my room.

"Sorry sis."

I slammed my door shut, dead bolting it so no one could come in uninvited. My blank walls stared at me with menacing eyes and a gapping mouth that was ready to consume me whole. I slammed a pillow over my face and screamed as loud as I could, not caring if my brother could hear me. Jason was different. I could tell he had some kind of ability due to my soul perception that I recently gained as a meister, but couldn't pick out any major details that told me what exactly he was.

"Ugh, why?! Why is my life so difficult?! It's been ruined!" I screamed into my pillow.

Nothing had been going right for me the past few days since I started school at the DWMA. I miss my old friends from home, my old room, and my best friend Holly. She was really chill and laid back. Not very out going, but could carry on a conversation if it was about something she was passionate about, like music and Viking stuff.

I sat up on my bed, swiping my phone from my night stand, and text my mom asking if Ace could come over for dinner. The conversation went like this:

Me: Mom, can Ace come over for dinner? His parents are talking about boring stuff and he doesn't want to be around them when they do.

Mom: Is it only for dinner? I don't want to find out that the two of you did something that doesn't follow the rules.

Me: Yes mom, just for dinner...and maybe a movie.

Mom: Okay, that's fine. Dinner and a movie, nothing more.

Me: Yay! Thanks mom!

Mom: You're welcome sweetheart.

XXX

After dinner, I sat down on the couch curled up in a blanket with Ace and flicked on Netflix. I scrolled through the list of movies and eventually found one that was your typical boy meets girl kind. Jason had gone up to his room to play his video games because he didn't want to see Ace and I getting all cuddlie and cute. Judging by his eyes, he knew what Ace and now were.

"...lin."

Pandas are fluffy.

"Annalin."

"Huh? What? I'm awake," I mumbled as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"Honey, you fell asleep halfway through the movie," replied Ace as he kissed my forehead.

"Oh. Oops. Was the movie good though?"

"It was okay. It would have been better if you stayed awake."

Blush flooded to my cheeks, coloring them a bright shade of red. He patted my head and snuck a quick peck on my lips before he got up and headed for the kitchen. I didn't move from where I was because I was comfortable and concentrating on losing the red coloration that had swept over my cheeks. Ace was sweet and a total softy. Whenever someone ends up injured or is feeling like crap he's always there to help them out. I guess that's why I fell for him, beside his good looks and charming smile and laugh. He had me melting when I first met him. After a bit, he strode back into the living room and sat down next to me with a midsize box in his hands. I was fiddling with a piece of hair that was in my face.

"Hey," he gently said. "Uhh, my dad gave this to me when I was little and said that I'll know what to do with it when the time is right. And I feel that this is the right time."

"Ace? Are you sure it's the right time?" I asked uncertain as to what he meant by 'the right time.'

"Yeah, I've never been more sure than I am right now...aside form when I finally accepted my true feelings toward you."

"Okay."

He untied the bow that held it together and opened it, reaching in and grabbing something that looked too small for the box judging by the fist that covered the object. I saw a faint shade of gold flicker in the light before he enclosed it in both of his hands.

He sighed. "Okay. My dad said that this thing has been in the family for 10 generations and has been pasted down from boy to boy in hopes that they would know what to do with it. But none of the boys knew what it was for, let alone what it meant, until now. My dad said that he held onto it for years before he met my mom and married her. He never used it for what it was meant to be used as so he told me to do exactly that."

"Ace? What are you leading up to? We've only just started dating, we can't possibly get engaged just yet."

He looked up at me with his golden eyes and a small smile on his lips. I had seen that smile all too often when we were kids and always knew what it meant. He was a mischevious boy when we were younger, and my mom didn't like that I always wanted to hang out with him and not the little girl that lived down the street from us. To be honest, the little girl was annoying and only wanted to do girly things and refused to even get her hands a little dirty.

"A-Ace..." I stammered.

"Annalin," he said, my name rolling off his tongue. "You're the one thing that means the world to me. You're my best friend and, well, my girlfriend. But," he paused and sat up pin straight. "most of all you're the one thing in my life I never want to leave my side."

"Ace, I told you already it's too soon to become engaged. I mean I'd love to marry you one day, but we can't just prance up to our parents and say oh by the way we're engaged now."

"I know, and I totally understand you. But this, this...thing isn't an engagement ring." He unfurled his fingers from around the object and revieled a type of rung that did t resemble an engagement ring. "It's actually a promise ring. To tell you the truth, it didn't fit and of my ancestors fingers, that is of the ladies. And I have this feeling that it will it yours. I just nee-"

"Try it. See if it fits. And if it does then you can finish your story."

He nodded his head and slipped the ring on my finger. It was a little loose but it looked pretty good on my hand, in fact I liked looking at my hand and seeing a ring on it. I could feel blush sweeping over my cheeks as I looked up at Ace with shock and awe written on my face and swimming in my eyes. He let out a sigh of relief and smiled as he realized that it had slid onto my finger with ease.

"Uhh, I-I need to tell my dad," he stammered.

"No," I gently said, bringing my hand up to carress his cheek. "Let's keep it a secret as long as possible, and if your dad asks where it is just tell him that you hid it in my house for me to find with a note explaining it."

"Okay. But as I was saying that ring didn't fit any of my ancestors fingers. It is said that they married their lover but it ended in a divorce because the ring caused fights to occur. So it has been said that the lady who's finger it fits, yours in this case, shall marry the love of her life and be blessed with good graces and nothing but joy and happiness throughout her entire marriage."

"Haha. Well, I don't think that that'll be a problem. After all, our souls seem to resonante rather well. Maybe we should become partners."

"Umm, I'd usually say yes without hesitation, but I have one thing to tell you before I give you my answer."

"Go on."

"I love you, Annalin Rose Evans."

"And I love you too, Ace Brandon Death."

I placed my head on his legs and smiled up at him.

"So.." I asked.

"What?" he replied.

"What's your answer to becoming partners?"

"Oh, haha, I'm retarded. Yes. My answer is yes."

"You're not retarded. Your just special."

"Only to you though."

I giggled softly before I felt his lips meet with mine, bringing me into a gentle kiss. I really was in love with him. My only fear now was finding out he had to leave me for a long time like my dad did to my mom before they started dating.