Since Always (Ace x Reader)

Aftermath

Ace stared at you watching the sadness that showed on your features, he grabbed you and pulled you into a tight embrace. He knew the day would come someday soon, but he wasn't prepared to see you looking so sad and broken.

"I'm sorry y/n I would have told you, but I didn't want to see you like this and it was something I felt you needed to see for yourself. I guess I was afraid you wouldn't have believed any of us even if we told you."

Tears started to fall again as Ace held you, "I had a feeling that he was cheating when I kept hearing a female laughing every single time I went to the shop but I didn't want to believe it." You pulled away from Ace and started to wipe away the tears.

You forced a smile onto your face and bitterly laughed at the entire situation, you were hurting and honestly didn't know how to deal with it right now, you just felt so numb. Ace loved someone else, Kid had been cheating on you for the past four years, you were breaking, and you couldn't deal with it. Sabo walked into Ace's room wondering if he ever found you but when he saw you, he froze.

"Ace what happened to her?" he asked concerned.

"She caught Kid cheating then she got caught out in the storm because her phone died and she had left her wallet in my car, then she tried to run from me when I finally found her so I had to chase her down. She had to have been out in that rain for at least thirty minutes before I found her."

Suddenly you fainted and Ace yelled for Marco in a panic as he caught you before you could hit the floor, Marco came quickly after he heard Ace yelling. They gently moved you onto the bed and covered you up with a blanket Marco sent Sabo to go get some water and a washcloth so it could be placed on your head to try to cool your body down a little, he knew that Ace wouldn't leave your side while you were in this state so sending Sabo was his only option while he checked you over. The three of them sat around on the floor watching you to make sure that your condition didn't worsen, Ace made sure to change out the washcloth whenever it was needed, and he would gently caress your head while you slept knowing this was about all he could do for you at this moment.

"I don't think there was anything we could have done to prevent this." Marco finally said after he was sure you were out of the danger zone, "I think her sudden distressed state made it so she just didn't have the energy to fight this off after being out in this rain-yoi."

"She's lucky you found her when you did Ace, it would have been bad had she stayed out there even longer or worse if this fever had spiked before you found her." Sabo commented.

"I didn't protect her like I should have though, I promised I'd be there for her when she needed me and now look at her, she is like this because I couldn't find her fast enough dammit." He slammed his fist against the floor in frustration.

"What happened after you finally left?" Sabo asked.

"Well, you already know that I tried to call her, but all I got was a hello before the phone disconnected and that I kept trying to call her for what ten minutes afterwards." Sabo nodded at the time estimate, "After that I took off to Killer and Kids apartment, I assumed that was where he was, I never imagined he was still at the garage otherwise I would have went straight there. When I got there Killer said she hadn't been there and he couldn't get ahold of her either that was when he told me Kid should still be at their garage and that I should check there." Ace glanced at you before taking the washcloth off your head and rewetting it then gently placing it back across your forehead. "By time I finally got to the garage she had already left, Kid had said she had left a good twenty minutes before I got there and that he had no clue what direction she went in. Of course, I flipped shit on him for not paying better attention but when he said she caught him and ended things I started to panic. I was worried about what she might do after finding all of that out, I headed up and down every road block after block but when it started to rain, I moved to streets that had more coverage to hide under. She wasn't there though, it took me thirty minutes to find her under a tree with barely any shelter after it started to rain Marco, I wasn't fast enough." He started crying, "She ran from me when I called to her, I had to chase her down and even then, she still wanted to get away from me we stood out there in that rain for another ten minutes before I could get her to stop fighting me..." he wiped at his eyes trying to force the tears away, "I told you this would happen Sabo I told you guys that if I didn't explain it things would end up being all fucked up. She thought I was in love with Yamato for fucks sake."