A/N: A very sweet update for y'all!

Happy reading ;)
_______________________
Chapter 40

Chloe was putting her sneakers on when a knock on the door was heard. She quickly tied her shoelaces, grabbed her purse and keys by the centre table before jogging to the front door. She opened it and was greeted by Ace's handsome figure.

He was wearing a plain white shirt with black jeans and white sneakers. He looked good even in the simplest clothing. She glanced at his face and found him smirking down at her.

"Are you done checking me out?" He playfully asked, raising a mocking brow at her. She only scowled at his cockiness before closing the door behind her.

She was about to walk towards the elevator when she felt his arm wrap around her waist, pulling her to his side. "You look beautiful." He muttered, placing a kiss on the side of her head. She was wearing a summery-short jumpsuit. Very simple and cute, and Ace couldn't help but stare at her flawless legs.

She smiled at the gesture before glancing at him. "Let's go, my love." She said, emphasizing the words 'my love' as if mocking him.

He was astounded that she had used his pet name for her back to him. Chloe took this opportunity to untangle herself from his embrace and headed towards the elevator. Ace was quickly snapped out of his trance when he heard the ping of the elevator, indicating that it had arrived.

"Coming?" She questioned him before entering the elevator. He hurried inside before the doors started to close.

He stared intently at her but she kept her gaze forward. He was confused as to why she was acting so strange towards him. It was as if she was playing a game with him.

"Did something happen?" He asked.

"No, let's go." She said as soon as the elevator doors opened. He guided her towards his car, still unsure what she was doing and what type of game she was playing.

"You're acting weird." He started once they were inside the car.

"Me? I don't think so." She nonchalantly shrugged, keeping her eyes out the window. She knew he was probably starting to grow frustrated of her because of her strangeness today. But she wanted to see how far she could go with finding the truth about that drunken night. She was purposely sending hints here and there because she wanted him to tell her directly of what really happened that night since he didn't even bother on telling her the next morning when he had visited and asked about the bachelorette party for Jane.

Ace sent her a curious glance once again before sighing and pulling out of the parking lot. He had the perfect idea for their first date and he really hoped that she'd like it.

It took them half an hour to get to where they were going. Chloe gawked at the place in awe and excitement. "The amusement park, really?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him in amusement.

Ace only smiled and hopped out of the car to open the door for her. She bid a quick thank you and chuckled. "I haven't been here since Mason and Kelsey brought me when I was little. I can barely even remember anything." She commented.

"I thought it would be fun. We seem to always go to the beach so I thought, 'why not a new scenery for a change'." He shrugged as he locked the car.

"I know what I wanna ride first." She wiggles her eyebrows at him, with devilish glint in her eyes. Ace shot her a scrutinizing look, not liking the scheme she was plotting in her head. "Let's go!" She excitedly screamed as she pulled onto his arm, dragging him towards the entrance.

~ * ~ * ~

"Uh-uh, no way!" Ace refuses as he stared at the beast of a ride in front of him. He heard the faint screams of the people on the ride as it dropped from the top in an eighty-degree-angle.

"C'mon, don't be such a baby. We're here to have fun!" She said, pulling him towards the line while he resisted as much as he could.

"Exactly, we're here to have fun, not die!" He protested.

Chloe chuckled at the thought that a macho man like him was afraid of a roller coaster ride. It was quite amusing. "Please, please, please! I promise I'll hold your hand until the end of the ride."

"Not good enough." He declined her offer.

"I'll hold your hand for the rest of the day?" She bid to which he only shook his head to.

"You can kiss me whenever you want." She suggested, knowing that he wouldn't be able to refuse her offer now.

"Where's the line?" He muttered, now pulling her towards the ride. She couldn't help but laugh at how easy he caved in. What he didn't realize was he was in for quite a ride.

~ * ~ * ~

Chloe felt guilty after going on the ride and seeing Ace's dishevelled and distressed appearance. His blonde hair was messy and his face looked a little pale.

"Ace, are you okay?" She worriedly asked. "Let's go find somewhere to sit." She said while ushering him towards a table. She gently pushed him down the chair, his body seemed to be in a frozen state. "Ace, Ace!" She called out as she shook his shoulder to earn his attention.

"I feel like my breakfast just came right back up." He murmured, leaning his head against the chair.

"I'm gonna go grab you something to drink, okay?" She said before heading towards one of the food booths. She bought a bottle of water for Ace and some lemonade for herself. She came back to the table and settled the drinks down. "Here, drink some water." She ordered as she opened the lid and handed him the bottle.

Ace took a swig and sighed afterwards. "Are you feeling better?" She questioned in concern, worry etched on her face.

"I think a kiss would make me feel better."

Chloe narrowed her eyes but obliged anyway by placing a quick peck on his lips. "Maybe a little more?" He pleaded to which Chloe chuckled to. She once again kissed him briefly on the lips and saw the toothy grin on his face as she pulled away. "Just a little more." He persisted, making her laugh. She kissed him again, but this time, taking a little more time before pulling away. "More." He whispered.

"I think you've had enough." Chloe stated before sitting on the chair across from him and took a sip of her lemonade.

"Was worth a shot." He mumbled under his breath. "No more roller coaster rides, okay?"

Chloe snickered and nodded her head in agreement. "Alright, we'll just play some games then. I had no idea that the great Ace Parker is afraid of roller coasters." She teased.

"For your information, I am not afraid. I just...easily get dizzy." He embarrassingly stated, making Chloe grin at his cuteness. "Stop it, it's not funny." He groaned as he stared at her beautiful smile. He wasn't quite sure if he should be happy that he was the cause of her smile or be embarrass because she was making fun of him and it was hurting his ego.

Chloe pursed her lips to prevent herself from from laughing, but she just couldn't seem to wipe the smile off of her face. Ace sighed defeatedly and beamed at her. She looked incredibly beautiful and he couldn't believe that he was actually on a date with the Chloe Montenegro. He was the luckiest man alive on Earth.

"What?" Chloe curiously asked when he didn't say anything for a while and just stared intently at her. "Is there something on my face?" She suddenly became conscious and started wiping her face.

"No, no, there's nothing on your face." He informed her, pulling her arms away from her face and holding her hands in his. He looked down at her tiny fingers and played with them. He was fascinated by everything about her.

Chloe allowed him to play with her fingers, biting the corner of her bottom lip to stop herself from squealing due to the excitement she was feeling inside her chest. She felt like a high school girl who was only experiencing what being liked by someone felt like. Well, technically, it was her first time going out on a date. She was so focused on loving Ace that she became too busy to even consider others around her. Even when he left, he was the only person she could ever love.

She heard him sighed in delight before he stood up, not letting go of her left hand that was intertwined with his right one. "Let's go. What do you wanna play first?" He asked, pulling her up from her chair.

They spent the entire day in the amusement park, playing games, eating some hamburger, corndogs, cotton candy, and funnel cakes, and Chloe was able to persuade Ace into riding a couple of small roller coasters. He had won her a couple of bears as well and it was a challenge to carry them to the car.

They were driving back home and Chloe had fallen asleep on the way. She was exhausted but it was worth it because she had so much fun with Ace. She stirred in her sleep and felt that the car had stopped moving. She heard the door shutting closed, making her open her eyes to see if they were already home.

She looked around and it was already dark outside. She thought that they were already home but was confused when she came face-to-face with a familiar neighbourhood. Ace opened the door for her and saw that she was awake.

"Where are we?" She groggily asked.

He beckoned his head to the side, encouraging her to get out of the car to find out where they were. She unfastened her seat belt and got out. He held her hand and led her to a path that she recognized all too well. A smile travelled its way onto her lips when she saw the playground before her.

"Do you remember this place?" He questioned, leading her to sit on one of the benches that faced the playscape.

"How can I forget? We would always come here when we were little even though we have our own playscape at the backyard."

"That was because you always wanted to play with that kid, Jeremiah." He bitterly muttered.

"Jeremiah? Oh gosh, I completely forgot about him. I wonder how he is now." She said before she felt a stinging sensation on her forehead after he had flicked her. "Ow, what was that for?" She asked, rubbing the spot furiously.

"Stop thinking about him." He commanded.

"Are you jealous?" She chuckled but was halted by his reply.

"Yes, yes I am." He sternly responded.

"Ace, we were kids. I can barely even remember what he looked like."

Ace placed his arms across his chest and glared at her. She had no idea that he had been jealous of Jeremiah ever since they were little. Chloe sighed when she noticed his sullen face. She leaned towards him and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"You don't have to be jealous of anyone. You know it's always been you." She reassured him, making him smile at her sweet words. He couldn't stay mad at her for too long. He couldn't believe how weak she made him. "Why'd you bring me here anyway?"

"Because I wanted to bring you to the place where I first realized that I like you."

Chloe stared at him while he kept his eyes fixed on the sandbox next to the seesaw. He remembered that day.

"Chloe! Chloe! Come play with me." Little Ace urged her as he sat on one side of the seesaw. They were only eight years old then.

"Later. Jeremiah and I are still building a castle." She waved him off.

"You've been playing with him the whole time. Come on!" He persisted.

"I said later!" She impatiently screamed and ignored him.

Ace pouted and sulked the entire day. He sat on the bench with his arms crossed on his chest while he sent daggers at Jeremiah with his fiery eyes. Jeremiah and Chloe played with each other so Ace decided to play by himself, keeping watch of the two.

They were running around when Chloe had suddenly tripped, her knees landing on the concrete ground. Ace was quick on his feet and sprinted towards Chloe. She was crying and he pulled her into a hug for comfort.

"Shh, don't cry." Ace told her as he wiped her tears away. "Let me see your knees."

She repositioned herself so that he could see her wounds. Both of her knees were slightly bleeding but it wasn't too bad. He helped her up on her feet and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, you're gonna be okay. Let's go home." He assured her.

That was the moment that Ace knew he liked her. He couldn't bare to see her with another guy nor could he bare to see her cry. He just wanted to make everything better for her. He wanted to tell her that he liked her but his family would always remind him that they were brothers and sisters. He knew they weren't related since their parents had made them understand the situation as they were growing up. But it still felt wrong for Ace to grow feelings for his sister. That was why he pushed her away when he read an entry on her diary about her liking him.

"So when you told me that you like me before I did-"

"I was telling you the truth." He cut her off.

"Then why did you push me away when you found out that the feeling was mutual?"

"Because I didn't wanna hurt our family. We owe that much to them, don't we? They've always reminded us that we're siblings, that we should treat and love each other as brothers and sisters. I didn't have the heart to do that them. I didn't want to be the reason as to why our family has fallen apart." He paused for a while before proceeding. "That's why I went to look for my biological parents even though I didn't want to." He declared, making her whip her head towards him. She was surprised by the news and she didn't know how to react. 

"My intentions of looking for my biological parents weren't good, I know. I did it for my own selfish reasons." He added.

"So if you didn't want to meet your real parents, why did you?" She asked, trying to prevent herself from asking a million questions that were running through her head.

"Because I wanted to be with you." He announced with no hesitation.

"Ace..." She started, uncertain of how to proceed.

"I know, I know. I'm a terrible person." He murmured. "I admit that at first, I wanted to meet them, hoping that they would take me in so that I can finally be with you. I was thinking that maybe, if people knew that we weren't related and that we live in different households, then maybe they'll accept our relationship." He explained.

"But when I met my mom and came to know the whole story about what really happened back then, everything changed. That's why when she asked me to live with her and her family, I didn't accept thinking that we could finally be together, but I accepted because I wanted to get to know more of my mother. And when I was going to tell you about what I really felt the night of the music festival before I left, that was when the whole 'Jared thing' happened. So I thought, maybe you and me just weren't meant to be."

"What changed your mind?" She whispered. She didn't know why but she felt that tears were starting to pool in the corner of her eyes.

"These past four years." He humourlessly chuckled. "It's been hell not being able to see you. I tried going out, dating, joining every club in school so that my mind would always be occupied. But everywhere I looked, everything reminded me of you."

"Chloe." He started as he faced her and cupped her cheek. "Almost everything I've done, I did them because of you. I love you." He confessed, shooting her the sweetest smile he could muster. A tear had escaped her eye in happiness and he quickly wiped it away with his thumb.

"This is the second time you've told me you love me."

Ace pulled back a little and watched her with scrutinizing eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Stop playing. I remember everything that happened the night that I got drunk." She informed him, making him snicker at the memory. "Why didn't you tell me?" She pouted.

"Because I wanted to be the first one to tell you that I love you. But then you beat me to it."

Chloe laughed and pulled him into an embrace. He lifted her up, making her sit on his lap as she wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head against his chest. "I love you." She declared as she looked up at him.

He leaned down and planted a sweet, unforgettable kiss on her lips. "And I love you." He whispered.
__________________________
A/N: What if I tell you that this was all a dream? Would you kill me? Hahahaha!

Or is this ship really sailing? ;)