***Jack's POV***

                "Don't do it," I said.

                "I'm doing it," Delaney said.

                "Dex," I growled. "Don't you fucking do it. Don't you dar- SHIT YOU DID IT."

                I smashed buttons on my controller like my life depended on it as Delaney's character ran away from me, abandoning me to the hungry zombies. "You Are Dead" flashed across the screen in blood and I sighed, tossing my controller down.

                "I can't believe you left me to die," I said.

                "I was out of bullets. I'm not knifing my way through all those zombies!" he said, turning the PlayStation off. "We need a break from that before our friendship is shattered beyond repair."

                Speaking of which, I found myself looking out of the window. Delaney hadn't asked about Ace and I hadn't said anything. There was no reason for Delaney to know that I had talked to Ace yesterday or that he had showed up here drunk.

                I couldn't stop thinking about his expression last night, though. He'd gone to hit me and then looked so desperate and confused. Was he expecting me to hit him back?

                It's not that I don't defend myself. It was just that, somehow, I knew he wouldn't go through with it. I didn't know how I knew that, though. Ace was an unstable guy; that was easy to tell. I'm sure he had hit plenty of people. But, I don't know, I could just tell he wouldn't go through with it.

                Something about him had changed since I had seen him at the bar the first time. It was like a part of him was steadily becoming more and more unhinged.

                Delaney was caught up with him now. That wasn't safe for him. What if Ace snapped and took it out on Delaney?

                "Hey." Delaney nudged me with his toe. "What's on your mind?"

                "I'm plotting revenge against you. No one leaves me for death in a crowd of zombies and gets away with it," I said.

                Delaney sat down next to me, hugging his knees to his chest. "Hey, Jack..."

                "Hm?" I looked up at him.

                He let out a sigh. "You're doing it again."

                "Doing what again?" I asked.

                "That things where you try to handle everything on your own and start to detach from people," he said.

                "That is an extremely specific thing," I said.

                "You do it from time to time," he said. "You're starting to do it again."

                "I'm full of ego and think I'm too good for everyone," I reminded him.

                "What's up lately?" he asked.

                I pulled my hat off and set it on my lap, running a hand through my hair. "If I tell you, will you promise not to freak out at me?"

                "Yea," he said.

                "No, you have to say 'Jack I promise to hear you out calmly and rationally'," I said.

                "I don't like where this is going."

                "That was not 'Jack I promise to hear you out calmly and rationally'."

                "Fine, fine. Jack I promise to hear you out calmly and rationally."

                I leaned back a little. "Ace," I said. "I don't trust him. I think he's unstable. I don't think it's safe for you to be around him."

                Delaney looked like he was trying to stay calm and rational. "Look Jack, I get that maybe Ace has some issues to work out, but I don't think he's had the easiest life. I don't think he's dangerous."

                "Will you please just stay away from him? Take a step back for a few days, think this over, and go slow," I said.

                "I can watch out for myself," he said, irritation slipping into his voice. "God, why do you always have to act like my mom?"

                "Because your mom had the right idea keeping someone as foolishly impulsive as you on a short leash," I said.

                He stood up and kicked my hat off of my lap. "Man, screw you. I never should've asked. Mind your own damn business."

                He stuffed his hands in his pockets and left the room, slamming his bedroom door a moment later. I rolled onto my side and grabbed my hat, pulling it on.

                "This is going to be such a pain in the ass," I said, sighing and standing up.

                I went to my bedroom and threw myself onto my bed, picking up a book and flipping it open. There wasn't much I could do about Delaney's stupidity right now.

                So instead of worrying about it too much, I let myself get lost in my book. Delaney would calm down and forgive me by tomorrow at the latest and we would be good again until the topic came back up. I knew the drill by now. Delaney had gotten mad at me over similar things in the past.

                After I had been reading for about an hour, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and checked the number, but it was unfamiliar.

                "Hello?" I answered, setting my book down.

                "Jackass." The voice was smug and all too familiar by now.

                "How did you get my number?" I asked.

                "I have my ways," Ace said. "I don't have a car right now. Come pick me up from my house. We need to talk."

                "Wow I definitely can't think of a single way this could backfire," I said.

                "Just do it. It's about Delaney," he said.

                I hesitated and mentally groaned. I was definitely going to regret this.

                "Yea, sure, whatever. I'll be there in a few minutes." I hung up before he could say anything and got off my bed. I grabbed my wallet and my car keys before leaving the apartment, getting into my car and driving towards Ace's house.

                What could he possibly have to say to me about Delaney? Ace knew that I didn't trust him. He knew that I was onto his game.

                Still, curiosity killed the cat. So a few minutes later, I was pulling into his driveway, glancing at Jer as he watched me from the porch with suspicious eyes.

                Ace came out of the front door, ignoring Jer as he tried to talk to him. Jer grabbed his arm and yanked him back roughly, growling out something at him.

                But Ace watched him with a smug look and eyes that were a bit terrifying. This kid was definitely unstable. Even Jer backed off of him, watching him leave the porch and head over to my car.

                Ace slid into the passenger seat. "Let's go to the plaza and get food."

                "Thought you were too broke to spend money?" I said.

                "I can buy off a dollar menu," he said. "Drive."

                I backed out of the driveway and took off towards a nearby plaza. There were a few in town, but only two nearby that had fast food places, so I drove us to the closest one. Ace stared out of the window with a laid back expression, as though he had everything under control. I didn't like it at all.

                I parked the car once we were in the plaza and the two of us got out. We went into a fast food place and ordered before sitting down together.

                "Alright, I hate fast food, so this better be worth it," I said, biting into a fry and hoping my stomach was stronger than my willpower.

                "I'm not manipulating Delaney," he said.

                I nearly choked on the fry. I punched at my chest and couldn't help the choked out laugh that emerged from me.

                "Oh, man, that joke was almost worth dying over," I said, taking a sip of my drink.

                "I like him," Ace said, grinning at me. "I want a real relationship with him. And since you're going to try to stop that, I figure I should probably get on good terms with you."

                "Yea, okay, good luck with that," I said dismissively. "You might fool Dex, but I'm not a love-struck moron."

                "I'm not trying to fool anyone," Ace said with a shrug. He bit into his food and watched me.

                "I don't believe you," I said. "Partially because I'm not stupid and partially because you are just not a trustworthy person."

                "I'm new to this, okay? I live with three assholes. I'm trying," he said.

                "I'm not going to trust you," I said. "You would need to earn my trust and you're not going to do that by manipulating my best friend and lying to me."

                "Good thing I'm not doing either of those things anymore," he said.

                "Good thing I wasn't born yesterday," I said.

                We fell into silence, finishing our food. Wordlessly, we stood up and threw out our trash, leaving the fast food place and starting to walk through the plaza.

                I led Ace into one of the stores, which sold various things like CDs, DVDs, and electronics. We wandered down one of the CD aisles.

                "So you'll never trust me?" Ace said.

                "Nope." I picked up a CD, looking at the back of it.

                "Even if I make Delaney happy?" he said.

                "Manipulation isn't happiness," I said, setting the CD down and flicking through a few behind it.

                Ace seemed to gather his confidence up, trying to look bigger than me. "I'm not lying." He seemed to be drawing himself up unconsciously, as if he was used to being the smaller one in an argument.

                I met his eyes with a stern, steady look. "Back down."

                To my surprise, Ace backed off, just a little. He was glaring at me now, looking frustrated and a little confused. Something told me he wasn't used to someone meeting his challenge.

                "I won't trust you with Delaney," I said, since I had his attention now. "Dex is my best friend and I know your type. He might be an idiot, but he's a good guy. I won't let you break that."

                Ace seemed helplessly angry and confused. He was clenching and unclenching his fists, a shocking amount of anger warping his face from playful to frightening. He was a broken mirror; he'd been shattered and put back together so many times that some pieces were in the wrong place. If you looked too close, he'd distort you and you'd see just how scary a reflection could be.

                He was a disturbed kid with no one to reign in his actions or temper. But I didn't feel any pity for him. Maybe he had reasons for what he did, but explanations weren't excuses. Everyone made their own choices and they had to be held accountable for them. I wasn't going to give Ace a free pass just because something haunted his past.

                I reached out and lightly gripped just above his elbow. Ace looked at me, eyes flashing with a warning.

                "Grab a CD," I said. "Don't look. Just pick a random one."

                Ace dropped his gaze to my hand on his arm. He slowly reached out without looking over and plucked a CD off the shelf. Shinedown's "Sound Of Madness" was in his hand.

                I took it from him, keeping my light grip on his arm. I led him over to the checkout and bought the CD before leading him out of the store and back to my car. I put the CD in and played the title track as I began to drive.

                Ace was silent as I drove. My own thoughts were going crazy in my head.

                I didn't want to control Ace. But he was the kind of guy who needed to be put in his place when he got too high and mighty.

                I drove us to a quiet part of town and parked my car, turning the music up. We sat in silence, listening through the CD. Ace seemed to be lost in his own thoughts and I took the time to eye him a little.

                He was an attractive guy, that was for sure. Stylish, natural blond hair. His face was a miraculous combination of sharp and rounded features that left him looking sexy, yet young. Something told me that the guy probably got carded a lot. But his eyes, a piercing combination of bright blue and light green, had an aged look to them.

                I noticed that he had a scar dangerously close to his ear, as though someone had cut him there. Damaged goods. That's all Ace Foley was.

                I stopped staring at him before he could notice. We sat there together in a silence that was easy going, the only noise being the music. When we had played through the whole CD, I started the car up again and drove towards Ace's house.

                I parked the car and grabbed the same spot on his arm before he could get out. When I was sure he wouldn't leave, I released him and opened my glovebox, pulling out a sharpie.

                I ejected the CD and wrote the date on the back before putting it back into its case. I handed it to Ace.

                "Congratulations," I said.

                "It's like we're married already," he said, looking down at the CD. "How romantic."

                "It's not romantic. I just already have that CD on my phone," I said, which was a lie, but I didn't want Ace to get the wrong idea here. I was a nice guy, that was all. My mom always said that kindness was the strongest glue when you were trying to put someone back together. I didn't like Ace, not by a longshot. But that didn't mean the guy couldn't use a nice deed in his life every once in a while.

                I found myself wondering about Ace. Had he ever been a nice guy? Had he been raised mean? Or had he been a kid who was twisted beyond repair by his upbringing?

                "Hey, Ace," I said as he pushed open the door of the car.

                "What?" He glanced back at me.

                "What did you want to be when you were growing up?" I asked.

                He smiled, but it was smug. I realized that while his teeth were almost perfectly straight, one of them was noticeably crooked, as though it hadn't been able to grow in right.

                "I wanted to be a good son." He got out of the car. "Now I just want to please myself."

                He shut the door and walked away from the car, the CD in his hands. He let himself into the house, disappearing from sight as the front door shut.

                I left his house and drove back to our apartment. I got out of the car and went into the apartment, heading into the kitchen.

                "Where were you?" Delaney asked. He was sitting at the table with his laptop in front of him and a cup of coffee next to him.

                "Just out." I opened the fridge and pulled out some leftovers, putting them in the microwave. At least Delaney seemed to have calmed down. No need to get him worked up over this.

                When my food was done heating up, I grabbed it out of the microwave and dropped down in the seat across from Delaney. He was typing away at his laptop but he looked up as I sat down.

                "We good?" I asked.

                "Yea," he mumbled, looking back down at his keyboard as he began to type again.

                I kicked him under the table. "Hey, don't mumble at me. I'm your mother, remember?"

                "You're a pain in the ass," he said, kicking me back.

                "How cute, we're flirting," I said.

                He rolled his eyes. "We went down that route, Jack. It ended with you forgetting how to speak English."

                I pointed at him. "Hey, you got a fond nickname out of that incident. Don't complain."

                Man, was I glad I never actually had sex with Delaney. He was attractive and all, but we were definitely better off as friends. Although we'd be even better friends if he would get his head out of his ass and listen to me about Ace.

                My phone buzzed and I checked the I.D. I stood up and left the table, sliding my finger across the phone and holding it to my ear.

                "Hey mom," I said.

                "I should've texted before I called you!" mom said, sounding a little distressed. "I'm sorry Jack!"

                "Mom, we talked about this. You can call me anytime you want to talk to me. Besides, I was just eating in the kitchen. I wasn't doing anything," I said. "What's up?"

                "Well, I talked to your father and he has to check his schedule, but we should be able to come visit you soon. Will you text me a list of anything you and Delaney need?" she said.

                "Sure, thanks ma," I said. I went into my room and shut the door, sitting on my bed. "Hey, mom? Can I ask you something?"

                "Of course, Jack!" she said.

                I laid back on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. I was definitely one of those lame kids who told his mom way too much. But my mom was good with people. She always had good advice.

                "So I met this kid," I said, speaking slowly so I could collect my thoughts. "He's...not very stable. I think he had a bad home life. Delaney got caught up with this kid and I'm worried about him. I mean, this kid is seriously messed up. He's manipulative. And I think he justifies everything he does so that he doesn't have to feel guilty about any of it."

                Mom was silent for a little as she thought. "Well, not everyone comes from a good background," she said at last. "Maybe this kid just needs to be taught that what he's doing is wrong. He might not know any better, Jack. Not if his family didn't teach him. I don't want you getting tangled with someone like that, but if you can't help it, then maybe try to teach him?"

                My mom, man, she loved people. She was confident that even the worst of people could be taught how to be good. She was a compassionate person and it sucked because she had ingrained it in me too. Caring too much sucked.

                "I'll keep that in mind. I hate that you raised me to be a good person," I said, blowing out a breath.

                "You're a very good person," she said, pride in her voice.

                "Well, I'm glad my mom thinks so," I said.

                "I'll let you go now, Jack. I love you," she said.

                "I love you too, mom," I said before hanging up the phone.

                I got off my bed and went back down to my food. Delaney shot me a curious look but I ignored it.

                I knew that someone like Ace could never fully change himself. He had been dealt a shitty hand in life and now he was trying to cheat the deck. But sooner or later, he'd get caught, and in the end, you always had to reap what you sow.

                But I had, unfortunately, been born with a heart. Maybe some good deeds in the kid's life could keep him stable until I could convince Delaney to stay away from him. I guess it wouldn't kill me to just be good to him and cage the lion a little longer.

                Man, this was such a pain. When all this was over, I was never letting Delaney go to a bar again.