Dreamer - Chapter 50

The hospital lights were bright as the doors opened, the cranked-up AC welcoming me inside. Standing by the receptionist desk was T, who had been leaned over the counter with a clipboard in hand before he glanced over and waved for me to come by. "Lex! Hey!" He smiled, "Came to see your dad?"

I shook my head. "No, I-"

"She came to be my escort out of this hellhole." A familiar voice said from behind. I turned to see Ace place his hand on T's shoulder, whispering something into his ear before turning back to the both of us.

"I still don't have a single clue as to why you decided I must be the one to stop everything and come pick you up." I blurted out, not even bothering to hide my inner thoughts at this point.

T let off a slight chuckle, "He's avoiding Rev."

You have got to be kidding me. "You're still on that!?" I grabbed ahold of Ace's forearm to bring him a bit closer towards me, "You do realize I also kissed him, don't you?"

The second the words left my mouth, I couldn't help but notice T turn to face the both of us. Shit. He didn't know. "Wait," He asked, "What happ-"

"You can go now, T." Ace told, more like ordered, him. "Lex arrived. I'm no longer a patient. I'm no longer your problem."

"But she just said-"

"And that is not any of your business." Ace growled at him.

I shot T a quick 'I'm so sorry' look as he walked off. God. If Ace was this pissed off about what Rev had done, I couldn't even imagine what he would do if he ever found out about T asking me out. Well... Trevor asked. T? Trevor? Smh, I'm never going to grasp ahold of this whole circle business am I?

"Why'd you want me to come get you, anyway?" I asked him as I helped him out towards my car.

"You were just the first person I thought of." He replied, "Also, I can't face Rev right now."

"You couldn't just ask for Liam to come? He seems to be-"

"I can't ask for him, Lex."

"He won't come for you, would he?"

"No."

"Well obviously if you can't ask for him to come get you, he-"

"Dammit Lex. I just can't." Ace stormed out the building into the parking lot, searching for the car himself. Bold of him to just search for the car himself but I just walked towards where I had parked, pressing the button to unlock the doors before realizing Ace had already found it; leaned up against the trunk.

"You comfortable?" I asked, walking past towards the driver's side, climbing in just as Ace did the same on the other side.

"Liam would come." Ace told me as I turned the car on.

"Sure." I sighed.

"He would." Ace repeated.

"Then why not just call-"

"Our parents wouldn't allow him." He leaned back in his seat, "The one thing I know of for sure is how they made sure I understood that Liam can never know of what I do."

Is it bad I didn't even realize Ace had parents? Well... obviously he had parents. Somewhere. I just figured he didn't give two shits about them. "Liam can't know?"

"Liam can't know." He spoke outloud, "He can't know. He can't do. He can't even see anything. The one thing my parents knew for sure was that if they were losing one son, they weren't going to lose both."

Shit. My eyes jotted straight ahead. I wonder if Liam knows about Gilbert yet. If Gilbert's parents even know yet. Did they assume he ran away? Went missing? Does Liam realize that Gilbert hung around the wrong crowd? I turned back towards Ace, who still was leaned up against the headrest staring straight ahead, "They didn't have to lose one son."

"They did."

"Ace."

"They knew what they were doing the second they turned on Rev." He quickly turned to me, "Rev didn't have much of a choice in doing what he did but they refused to hear it."

"He had somewhat of a choice."

"Not really." He sighed, "I mean, yes. He could've just walked away but... he couldn't. He couldn't just leave her."

"His mom?" I asked him, "He couldn't just-"

Ace placed his hand over mine, squeezing tightly, "Don't mention her around him."

I couldn't even if I wanted to. "I barely know much about her." I replied, "I know what he did... I just don't have much information about it." My eyes drifted back on the road, but I couldn't help but think about the placement of his hand over mine. It's a gesture that would make any girl feel some kind of way.

"I know he doesn't discuss his past as much." Ace gave my hand another squeeze, "I had the honor of being around when it happened. He had no choice but to tell me and, well... he used that to his advantage."

"He came to my house that night." Ace spoke out.

I turned towards him with a confused look spread across my face. What? "The night it all went down?"

He nodded, "I've never seen him like that. Ever. It was almost as if something just snapped inside him. There was just something about him that night that I never managed to get out of my head, even to this very day. He was just... gone. Forever."

"He did just kill-"

"No." Ace placed his hand to his bottom lip, "I mean, yes. It was his first time but there was just something about him. Something I never saw before that night."

I pulled over to the side of the road before unbuckling my seatbelt and turning towards Ace, who now was leaning up against his window. Something about his posture gave off this vulnerable vibe; I had to take a second look just to make sure I was looking at the same person I originally allowed into my car. "His actions aren't your fault." I found myself rubbing his forearm with my palm, but he shifted it away, "You didn't-"

He turned to me, his big brown eyes looking into mine, "You like him, don't you?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Rev." He clarified, "I don't blame you. He's a great guy. He-"

"A great guy?" I chuckled. He didn't just use that exact description for someone like Rev. "He's more like a stalker, Ace. Don't you remember that first ever night we met? When he-"

"Clearly, you forgot about that night." Ace shrugged.

"Excuse me?"

"You seem to have forgotten about what he had done that very first night; about what he was planning on doing."

"I didn't forget." My mouth had dropped slightly. Where was this conversation going? Was he seriously upset at me for something Rev had originally done? "Of course I didn't forget about that first night."

"You didn't seem to remember who he was when you kissed him."

"Ace."

"I'm sorry." He said, "I know you said you wanted to be your own person but I just can't not think about it."

"Ace, I didn't plan for it." I placed my hand back on his arm, "Neither of us did."

He scoffed.

"Honest."

"Oh, I believe you Lex." He turned towards me, "I know you didn't plan this."

Marie. That's what this is all about. Not me. Her. "I'm sure Rev wasn't planning it with Marie either."

He let off a low chuckle.

"Ace." My voice grew more sterner than before, "Sometimes people can't help who they fall for. Hell. I developed feelings for a couple guys who found me by stalking a house one of the guys used to live inside of. We all do things we never expected for ourselves to do."

The passenger door opened but I grabbed ahold of Ace's sleeve. "Don't go." I found myself pleading in a voice I didn't think I'd hear again since I was a young child.

"I never thought I'd see you protecting him, Lex."

"Ace." I watched as he slammed the car door and walked down the side of the road. You've got to be kidding me. Why am I always put into these situations? Before I could even grasp a proper thought, there I was... opening the car door, and running off to catch up with him.