***Ace's POV***

I laid back on my bed, the phone held to my ear as it rang. I was wearing nothing but shorts right now, home alone since the others had left for work. They'd all been holed up in their rooms when I'd gotten home from work last night.

"Hello?"

"Hey Delaney," I said, propping myself up against my pillows. "Want to come over?"

"I can't, I'm sorry Ace," he said with a sigh.

Delaney had been coming over every day hanging out with me. I was pulling him in more and more, getting him to open up about himself and telling him just enough to make him think I was opening up too.

"Sorry Ace, some friends need my help for the day. Jack was supposed to help them, but he has some papers to write," he said apologetically. "But I'll text you when I'm done!"

"Yea, sure Delaney," I said.

"I have to go, though. I'll text you later, Ace," he said and hung up.

I set my phone down next to me and looked around my bedroom. What the hell was I supposed to do until it was time for me to work?

I hated having all this time on my hands. If I couldn't find something to keep me occupied, then I was going to start getting into trouble. Delaney was only a temporary distraction.

Sitting up, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. I left my room, heading to the bathroom and stripping. I stepped into the shower, relaxing against the warm water.

I really had to find something to occupy my time with. I never thought I'd actually miss having to babysit Micah.

Not that it mattered. Alexis had abandoned us and taken the kid with him when he left. Now our family was falling apart.

But that was how families went. They fell apart piece by piece, and you found out that you could only rely on yourself.

Still, whatever happened to the blood of the covenant was thicker than the water of the womb?

I shut the water off, stepping out and wrapping a towel around my waist. I went back to my bedroom and pulled on clothes. I went downstairs, letting myself out onto the back porch.

I hopped down and laid in the grass, folding my hands behind my head and squinting up at the sky. It was warm out today, which meant that biking to work would be a pain in the ass. I hated showing up to work sweaty.

I closed my eyes, slinging an arm over my eyes. The warmth helped ease my anxiety about all this free time. I could worry about it later.

***

"Ace."

Someone nudged me with their foot. I pulled my arm away from my eyes, rubbing them and squinting up.

"Ike?" I said, my voice thick with sleep. "Shit, did I miss work?"

"No. I came home from work early. I had something to do," Ike said. "But you should start getting ready for work."

I splayed my arms out, closing my eyes again. "In a few minutes."

Ike bent down and pulled me to my feet. "Go get ready for work. If you miss it, you're going to piss us all off."

"You're like an annoying mom," I said with a sigh, running a hand through my hair.

"I am an annoying mom. I had to raise my brother," he reminded.

"Well, I'm not your brother," I said, heading into the house.

Ike followed after me. "You're right. Joshie never caused the trouble that you do."

I shot him a dangerous grin. He was not going to act like I had done anything wrong lately. I was keeping myself out of trouble. Jack and Delaney weren't trouble.

Ike met my eyes, but it wasn't the same as Alexis. Alexis's gaze had always been firm and commanding, but with a backdrop of kindness and an honest caring.

Ike wasn't Alexis. He could never be Alexis. None of them could ever be Alexis.

I stepped forward, looking down on Ike since I was taller than him. He didn't back away, simply continued to meet my gaze.

It was a tense silence, but neither of us wanted to back down. I still had the dangerous grin on my face. Ike was nearly emotionless.

Ike finally let out a sigh. "This is stupid. I'm not playing your domination games, Ace. So I'll feed into your ego for now. I have things to do."

He walked away from me and I smirked before heading upstairs. I got changed, checking the time before leaving the house and pulling my bike out of the garage.

Although, I couldn't stop wondering about what Ike had to do at home. If he was taking time off of work when we were this broke, it had to be pretty important.

Shrugging it off, I biked my way to work. I went inside, greeting Ryan before clocking in and starting my shift.

The restaurant was fairly busy tonight, which was a fantastic thing. It meant I wouldn't have time to think. I didn't want to think right now. I wanted to work mindlessly and get through the day.

I moved around from table to table, taking and serving orders, processing checks, throwing up a charming façade to get as much tip money as possible.

But I didn't want this to become my life. I had seen Alexis back when all he had was work. He would go from work to home, living just to get his paycheck so he could afford the things he needed to get by. He'd been emotionless, just a shell of a man.

I never wanted to become that. I would not lose myself the way everyone around me had. I wouldn't let the life I had been forced into break me.

My shift went by fairly quick, with a good amount of tip money piling up for me. I clocked out and left the restaurant, getting on my bike.

The others would be home by now, and I wasn't sure I was in the mood to deal with them. But Delaney still hadn't texted me back, which meant I really had no other choice right now.

I made my way home, tossing the bike into the garage. Jer's car was parked in the driveway, which meant that all of them were probably home. Great.

I pushed open the front door, kicking my shoes off as I stepped inside. I went out to the living room, looked up, and froze.

"Ace." Alexis watched me carefully.

"Alexis," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. "Why are you here?"

Sure, he showed up to the house from time to time. But I could instantly tell that he was here just to talk to me. Something in his usually expressionless eyes announced that.

We stared each other down. Alexis had cut his hair to a short, neat length for his new job. His hair was an impossibly natural red color. His eyes looked gray right now, holding my gaze the way he always had.

He got up, moving towards me. I kept the eye contact, determined not to back down from him this time. He had no right to be here. He had abandoned us.

Alexis stepped up to me, reaching out and flicking my ear. I pushed his hand away, glaring.

"You're getting into trouble again," he said calmly.

"I am not!" I said, clenching my fists, my words sharp. "Those bastards called you in here, didn't they? They told you to come here."

"They're worried about you, Ace. They said your job is being threatened," Alexis said, taking a step back from me so that he wasn't right in my face. "They said some guy claims you owe him money and he's threatening your job because of it."

"Jack won't get me fired. I have it under control," I said tightly.

"Ace, you need to swallow your pride. Just pay this guy back and this will all go away. I'll pay him back for you if that's what I need to do. But I know you, and you've dragged this out into new territory. What else are you up to?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"Then who's the guy that Ike told me has been hanging around the house all of a sudden? The one who's friends with the guy threatening your job?" Alexis raised an eyebrow.

"I can have friends too, you know," I said.

"Suspicious timing. Don't treat me like an idiot." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked aged and exhausted as always. "You're using him to get back at this Jack guy."

"He called me a mutt." I flashed Alexis a dangerous smile. "He stole my beanie, called me a mutt, and tried to take my money."

Faint surprised entered his eyes at the mention of the beanie, but like all of his other emotions, it quickly dissolved into exhaustion. "Ace, let this go now, before it goes too far and you have to pay serious consequences."

"I don't need to listen to you. What the hell would you know? You abandoned us and now you're off with your rich bitch of a boyfriend," I said. "You picked him over us. So what if I do have to pay consequences and I end up back on the streets? At least I never abandoned anyone."

He held his arms out. "Do I look like I've abandoned you?"

I smirked. "Go check the room that used to be yours."

Alexis let his hands fall back to his sides. "Ace, you manipulated a five year old boy. A five year old boy who's already traumatized from the abuse his father inflicted on him." He ran a hand through his hair again, looking into my eyes. "Ace, you need to face it. You are becoming your father."

I felt my blood chill in my veins. "I am nothing like my father," I hissed.

"You emotionally manipulated Micah to ruin my relationship with Jonas. Now you're emotionally manipulating Jack's friend to get back at him. You're using the same methods that your father used on you for 16 years," he said, his eyes honest.

I didn't want to see that honesty. I didn't want to hear these things. Not from Alexis. Not from the only person who could've ever possibly understood what I had been through. He knew me better than anyone. But he was wrong about this. He had to be. I was not becoming my father.

Rage pumped through me and I stepped forward, shoving Alexis so hard that he stumbled backwards and fell onto the couch. He watched me carefully, not moving to fight back against me.

"Fuck you!" I spat.

I turned and stormed into the kitchen, pulling open one of the cupboards. I yanked out the money jar, pulling out a handful of cash and tossing the jar onto the floor. Alexis appeared in the doorway, watching me.

"Don't do this," he said. "Ace, stop it. There's no going back if you do this."

"I'm not listening to you! I am done listening to you!" Fury colored my words. He had made me believe he cared about me and then abandoned me. Everyone always did. Everyone always would. I was finally getting that lesson through my head. I didn't need him. I didn't need any of the damn people in this house. I was dependent only on myself.

I stuffed the cash into my pocket, moving to leave the house. Alexis caught my arm, trying to stop me.

"Ace, you're going to regret this. Calm down," he said.

I shoved him off of me, pushing him against the wall hard enough to shake the house. I didn't know where the others were and I didn't care anymore.

"I could be dead and none of you would even know," I snarled. "None of you ever cared. It was always pity, wasn't it? Well, fuck your pity."

I slammed him against the wall again before storming out of the house. I took off running down the street, feeling full of energy and hatred and thoughts I didn't want to think.

I made it to the bar and went inside. I began to order drinks, looking around. I didn't know what I wanted. Did I want to go home with someone? Did I want to start a fight?

Drink after drink was slid to me, the money in my pocket steadily decreasing as I pounded the drinks down. Thoughts blurred in my mind, feelings swirling around in confusing mumbles and whispers. Memories flickered in and out. But I couldn't seem to drink enough to bury this damn anger and hatred.

And Alexis's words. The more I drank, the louder they seemed to get.

I was not my father. I would never be my father.

I got up, stumbling clumsily away from the bar. I wasn't sure how long I had been there or how much I had drank. But the world tilted dangerously before me and I had to catch myself on the wall a few times as I left.

I made my way down the street, the opposite way of the house I lived in. It wasn't a home. I didn't have a home. I'd never had a home.

But I didn't need one. Home? Family? I didn't need them. Didn't want them. It was best not to care about things. If you didn't care, you couldn't get hurt. If you never owned something, then you could never lose it.

I was nothing new. Just another sob story boy who had run away and faded from the memory of a dying town. There were hundreds, probably thousands, of stories exactly like mine. Mom ditched me young, dad fucked with my mind.

But I was not my past. I had built myself up from my ashes when I ran away. I'd made a place for myself. Maybe it wasn't a home, but it was a place.

I wasn't my father. He was Alan Brooks. I was Ace Foley. We were two different people. I was so much better than he could ever hope to be. I had bled him from my veins as I clawed my way to where I was today. I had shed myself of being his son. I was no one's son, no one's brother, no one's friend.

My fists were pounding on a door and I couldn't remember how I got there. But the door opened and I nearly fell on Jack.

He caught me, looking surprised. "I'm not used to men falling into my arms like this."

I grabbed at Jack's shirt, my body trembling with anger. "He's wrong," I said, my words horribly slurred. "He's fucking wrong."

"Sure. Do you mind stumbling away to someone else's porch to slur incoherently? I'm busy," Jack said.

I pulled myself away from him, sliding down against the wall and closing my eyes. "He's wrong."

Jack let out a long sigh. "Sweet lord, Delaney owes me so much for getting me tangled in with you."

Jack bent down and pulled me to my feet. He pulled my arm across his shoulders, putting his arm around my waist to support me. He helped me up the stairs and through the kitchen. He helped me up to his bedroom, lying me on his bed, rolling me onto my side.

"If you throw up on my bed, I'm really going to hate you," he warned. "I'm only helping you because my mother would be ashamed if I ever left a guy in your condition out on the streets."

He knelt down and pulled a water bottle out from under his bed. He shifted me so that I was propped against his pillows, uncapping the water and helping me drink some.

My mind was a mess of tangled thoughts and emotions. "Alexis. They called Alexis," I said, rubbing my eyes. I was so tired.

"I bet it was a lovely phone chat," Jack said, setting the water down on his nightstand. "Can you please pass out already?"

"He's wrong. He..." I lost my train of thought, tugging at my hair. I wasn't wearing my beanie. Why wasn't I wearing my beanie?

Some part of me whispered that I hadn't been wearing it when I got home from work. Right, I was still in my work clothes.

I tugged at my shirt, realizing how uncomfortable it was. Jack sighed and pushed my hands away, unbuttoning the shirt for me and helping me out of it. He let it drop to his floor and grabbed my hand as I reached for my pants.

"No. Absolutely not. Your pants are staying on," he said sternly. He paused. "Jesus, I'm a hypocrite."

He pulled a blanket over me, rolling me back onto my side. I gripped his pillow, my thoughts driving me crazy. I squeezed my eyes shut.

"I'm not like him," I said. "I'm not like my dad. I'm not."

"I believe you." I opened my eyes, looking up at Jack. He was watching me, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"No one believes me," I said. I reached for the water, fumbling to get it uncapped.

Jack took it from me, uncapping it and handing it to me. I drank it, spilling some down my face. I set it down, nearly spilling it.

Jack grabbed a few tissues and wiped the water off of my face for me. "Go to sleep, Ace. You're drunk. You wouldn't say this if you were sober."

"Yes I would!" I said, trying to get up. But then I laid back down, realizing I was only going to upset my stomach if I got up. "I'm not my dad! I am Ace!" I gripped the pillow tighter. "None of them care. They wanna throw me out. Alexis left, just like my mom. Fuck it all." I let my head drop onto the pillow, mumbling something into it that even I didn't understand.

"You're not a good person," Jack said, pushing my head so that it wasn't pressed into the pillow. "But that doesn't mean I want you suffocating to death in my room." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Stop hurting Delaney. If you don't want to be a bad person, then start with Delaney."

"Not a good person," I mumbled.

"You're a bad boy, Ace! This is why your mother never loved you! You're so damn lucky that I'm your father! No other father would put up with you the way I do, you bad, bad boy!"

"Not a good person," I repeated, closing my eyes. "I'm bad. I'll always be a bad boy. I never listened to dad. I was never good. I'll never be..." My voice trailed off and I reached up, tangling my hand into my hair and giving it a hard yank.

Jack caught my hand. "Stop that. I don't want your hair all over my pillow."

"Don't make me go back," I said, opening my eyes and blankly searching his face. "I can't. I can't go back to another broken family. One was enough."

Jack released my hand and fixed the blanket since I had nearly kicked it off. "You're drunk, Ace. Go to sleep."

Some part of my mind was screaming at me to stop talking. My business was my business and no one else's. Jack didn't need to know any of this.

But another part of me realized that it didn't matter anymore. I had stolen money again. I would be kicked out for sure. They wouldn't let me live with them after I had stolen their money just to get shitfaced.

"Homeless," I said, my mouth full of the bitter aftertaste of the alcohol.

"You're not homeless. You still have a job," Jack said.

"They're going to kick me out. I fucked up," I said, closing my eyes again. I couldn't decide whether I wanted them open or shut. Did I was to be awake and live in the nightmare that had become my life, or risk an even worse one inside my head? "I stole their money to get drunk." A slightly hysterical laughter bubbled out of my lips. "Fuck it, them and my dad can hunt me down. Fuck it all."

Jack shook me a little as I started to nod off. "How much money did you steal? Ace, hey, how much did you steal from them?"

I didn't know. It didn't matter, anyways. I had stolen it, and now I would pay for that. Whatever. I knew the warmest abandoned building to stay in when the winter hit. Maybe I could afford a shitty little apartment on my salary. I would continue clawing my way through life. There was nothing to keep going for, no drive to my survival, but I did it anyways. I wanted to live, and that was fuel enough for now.

"Ace!" Jack shook me again. "God, you are a pain in the ass. How much money did you steal?"

"Dunno." My mumbles were getting quieter. I was just so damn tired. I forced myself to look at Jack through half closed lids. "They would've kicked me out if they saw me. No one has treated me like this since Alexis." Some combination of a smile and a bitter grin warped my lips as I shut my eyes and let unconsciousness wrap its chains around me.