***Ace's POV***

                I cracked my eyes open, taking in Jack's room as last night came back to me. I could feel Jack's arms wrapped loosely around my topless self.

                "Hey," I said, digging my elbow into his chest. "Wake up."

                Jack grunted and pulled his arms away from me to roll over. He yanked the covers over his head and buried his face against his pillow.

                I reached over and grabbed my phone off of the floor, unlocking it. I had messages from Ike, Christian, and Jer demanding to know if I was dead.

                I guess that made sense, though. I'd left for work and never come home without ever telling them where I was going.

                They were worried about me. The realization made my stomach twist into a tight knot. They were bad at showing it, but they did care.

                Without replying to their messages, I locked my phone and tossed it back on the floor. They'd deal with it for a little while longer. It was still early, and I'd probably make it back before they left for work.

                "Jack, get up," I said, yanking the pillow out from under him.

                His head hit the mattress and he raised it, glaring at me through sleepy eyes. "I'm going to give you five seconds to return that pillow to its spot under my head before I strangle you to death, Foley."

                "Just Ace," I said, hitting him with the pillow before tossing it to the other side of the room. "Foley is my mom's last name."

                Jack sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Weren't your parents married? Why do you have your mom's last name?"

                I shrugged. "She kept it when they got married and insisted that I had it."

                My last name was really all my mom ever gave to me. Or maybe she just hadn't wanted the world to know I was my father's son. She was gone though, so it'd forever be a mystery.

                "It's just a last name," I said, noticing that Jack was still silent. "Who cares if it's Brooks like my dad or Foley like my mom? My name is Ace. That's all."

                "Yea, right, whatever. It's too early to deal with your traumatized shit," he said, running a hand through his red mane. He stopped and looked at me. "Ace, you get it, right? You get that you were abused as a kid?"

                I wanted to grin and play it off like I always did. But I also wanted this relationship with Jack to work.

                "Yea," I said quietly, my mind pulling up images of a scared young boy. "Yea, I get it, Jack."

                "Can't recover if you deny there's anything to recover from," Jack said, slapping me on the shoulder. "Let's go eat. I can't be this serious on an empty stomach."

                We crawled out of his bed and went down to the kitchen. The sun was just coming up and I was still tired, but I knew I had to get home before everyone went to work.

                Jack put down bagels for us and I dropped into a chair at the kitchen table as he searched for clean plates. When the bagels popped up, Jack grabbed them and slid a plate to me, passing me butter and a knife as well.

                "I never thought I'd voluntarily hand you a knife," he said as he watched me the spread the butter.

                "Don't be a pussy," I said, holding it out to him. "I'm not a sociopath."

                "That's debatable," he said, taking the knife from me. "It's not a risk I'm willing to take when it comes to you."

                "So, is Delaney going to hide from the apartment every time I come over?" I asked, taking a bite of my bagel.

                Jack shrugged. "Probably not. He'll get over it. I'll actually tell him I'm tonguing you this time."

                "Tonguing me? And here I recall the word 'boyfriend' being used last night."

                "I was delirious."

                "So you take it back?"

                "Nah. Just don't expect me to be a sappy boyfriend."

                "I'd break up with you if you were."

                We finished eating and I stood up. Jack followed me up to his room and I tugged my shirt on, lazily buttoning it up.

                "Leaving?" he said.

                "I have some things to take care of at home," I said.

                He shook his head but led me back downstairs. I opened the door and Jack reached out, grabbing my arm.

                "That's the first time I've heard you call it home," he said.

                I shrugged him off and shut the door. I got on my bike and made my way towards the house, wishing I was wearing more comfortable clothing. But I worked so often that it was easy to ignore the tight wrinkles of my slacks as I biked.

                The house came into view and I ditched my bike in the garage, heading inside. Before I even got the chance to shut the door behind me, Jer had grabbed my shirt and thrown me against the wall.

                "You have a damn phone!" he snapped.

                "Yes, I do," I agreed.

                "Christ, I can't wait for the fucking day we get the call about your strangled body being found under a motel bed. You piss me off," he said, releasing me.

                "Next time you plan to ditch us to go get drunk and laid, at least leave a text," Ike said, coming down the stairs with Christian.

                "I was not out getting drunk and laid. My pants stayed on last night," I said.

                "You have a hickey," Christian said.

                "But alcohol and genitals were not involved," I said. "Lighten up, Christian. Maybe you need to get laid."

                "Not interested," he said, pushing past us and moving towards the kitchen.

                I grabbed Ike's arm before he could follow after Christian. "Joshie," I said. "You gave up Joshie to give him a better life. You separated your family to help him."

                Ike just watched me, knowing that I was well aware of the answer to my own question. Ike had sacrificed his chance at a better life to give Joshie the best life he could.

                "I ran away to give myself a chance. But I don't want to lose another family," I said, forcing the words out, forcing myself to keep eye contact with him, forcing myself to finally speak the truth.

                "Start by texting when you plan to stay out. Funerals are expensive," he said, pulling his arm out of my grip. He eyed me for a minute before reaching out and smacking me in the back of the head. "I used to do that to Joshie when he did something stupid. You're not my kid brother, Ace. You're an adult. Act like it."

                He turned away, but not before I saw the smallest hint of a smile on his face. He disappeared from the hallway, leaving Jer and I alone.

                "We're not the ones you need to fix shit with. Try finding an emotionally disconnected red head," Jer said, shoving me out of the way and yanking the front door open. "We're not staying in this house forever. But we're not leaving anytime soon, either."

                He slammed the door shut once he was outside. I went upstairs, showering quickly and pulling on fresh clothes. Jer was right; I had to talk to Alexis.

                Once I was dressed and had my beanie on over my still-damp hair, I left the house. I grabbed my bike and hurried my way towards Alexis's apartment. If I was fast enough, I'd catch him a fair time before he had to get to work.

                I wanted closure with Alexis. I wanted to be able to move forward in my life without constantly worrying that every relationship I had would end like the one with Alexis. I was pitifully self-destructive, but that didn't mean I couldn't learn from my mistakes.

                Ditching my bike on the yard, I went up the steps of the front porch and rang Alexis's doorbell. I heard shuffling inside the apartment and then Jonas opened the door, Micah in his arms.

                "Ace," Micah said, waving.

                "Hey, kid. Where's Alexis?" I asked.

                "He's getting ready for work. He's in the bathroom," Jonas said, stepping aside. He eyed me nervously like he always did, and I grinned at him.

                "Don't look so nervous," I said, despite the fact that he knew I didn't like him.

                I stepped inside and ignored Jonas and Micah, heading to the bathroom and knocking on the door. It opened, revealing Alexis, his hair wet and wearing just his work pants.

                "Ace, poor timing as always," he said. "I have to leave for work in a little."

                "I'm dating Jack," I said. "I don't want to fuck up again."

                He shrugged. "Then don't get so jealous and paranoid. Not everyone is going to leave you."

                "You did." The words left my mouth before I could stop them.

                Alexis pulled me into the bathroom and shut the door. "You were hurting Micah. I wasn't going to let you do to him what your family did to you. You weren't trying to get better. Now I can tell you are. It's too late for us to move back in. But you won't drive everyone away if you're thinking rationally."

                "How encouraging," I said.

                Alexis looked at me with a blank politeness. "Ace, you're broken. You'll never be the same after what you've gone through. But that doesn't mean you can't salvage yourself into something just as good. Maybe even better."

                "You were always sappy," I said, and reached out, hugging him.

                Alexis was surprised for a moment before he hugged me back. "And you were always a pain in the ass."

                We pulled away from each other and he gave me one of his rare, genuine smiles. He'd dragged himself through his own hell and carefully put his torn pieces back together into something admirable. I could, too.

                "Go on, before I'm late for work," he said, shooing me out of the bathroom. "And Ace?"

                "Yes, Alexis?"

                "I was just protecting Micah. I forgave you a long time ago."

                I nodded at him and walked towards the door to leave. Micah peeked out at me from where he was standing, holding a stuffed dog Alexis must've given him.

                "Well, you just going to stand there and be rude?" I asked, holding my arm out.

                Micah stepped forward and put his arms around me. I hugged him back, wishing I could be as forgiving and trusting as this little boy. How nice it must be to be able to forgive someone who had hurt you.

                "I miss you, Ace! You were fun. And I can't beat Jonas at tic-tac-toe," he said, pouting.

                I ruffled his hair. "Maybe sometime we'll get a rematch."

                He beamed at me, a boy that I'd treated the way my father treated me. But Alexis had protected him the way no one had ever protected me, and now Micah could still smile and trust. He was still innocent. I felt jealous and relieved all at once.

                "See you later, kid," I said, leaving the apartment.

                I got back on my bike and took myself to Jack's. I let myself inside and up to the kitchen, where Jack and Delaney were sitting.

                "Way to knock. I didn't give you permission to just barge in to our apartment," Jack said.

                "I gave myself permission," I said, joining them at the table.

                "Jack already told me that you two are dating," Delaney said. He and Jack each had a beer in front of them, and Delaney picked his up, tapping his thumb against it. "Good for you guys. Just keep it down when I'm trying to sleep."

                "Says the sex banshee," Jack said, wincing when Delaney punched him.

                Jack got up and grabbed a beer out of the fridge, handing it to me and sitting back down. I opened the beer and took a swig of it, realizing how normal this was. Three guys sitting together drinking beer and hanging out. It felt nice to have my life easing into normalcy.

                "So is Ace going to take Nico's place here?" Delaney asked.

                "Never planned on moving out of my house," I said.

                "Never planned on inviting you to move into my place," Jack said. "This relationship will not work out if I have to spend all day every day with you."

                "Say it again for the people in the back," I said, grinning.

                Delaney watched us and smiled a little, dropping his gaze to his beer. As long as he and Jack were still on good terms, I could relax and feel better about this whole relationship. No more worrying about their friendship being on the rocks over this.

                I was on good terms with Alexis and Micah. My friends and I were opening up just the tiniest amount, but it was enough to pull us back together after so long of fighting and being on edge around each other. I was accepting my past instead of running from it. Things were turning around and I was confident that I could make this relationship with Jack work out.

                "Hey, Jack," I said.

                He turned to me and I grabbed his shirt, yanking him closer and kissing him quick. I released his shirt and leaned back in my chair easily.

                Jack smoothed down his shirt, rolling his eyes and fighting off a grin. "God, you're annoying and eager. Don't get clingy, Ace."

                "Wouldn't dream of it, Jackass," I said.

                So this was what it felt like to have a real relationship. I'd wondered how Alexis could do it, could trust his heart into someone else's hands after protecting it for so long. But now I was starting to understand.

                The three of us shifted into the living room with more beer. Jack put on a movie and sat next to me on the couch.

                He reached out and held my hand, never taking his eyes off of the TV screen. Delaney glanced at us and shrugged at me, offering me a reassuring smile. He was going to be supportive instead of jealous from now on.

                I looked down at our hands, clasped together with fingers intertwined. I'd never dreamt this kind of life for myself, not after everything I had been through.

                But now I was living it, and I was going to fight to never let it go. With that in mind, I tightened my hold on Jack's hand.