My Ace

5. Secrets and sunrises

The next morning i woke up surrounded by a million fluffy pillows. This bed is unreal and i just want it to swallow me up. I rubbed my eyes before sitting up and seeing that the sun was about to rise. Gasping with excitement, i quickly put on some shorts and a vest top before running off to my favorite place. 

I walked down the little path towards my tree and hurriedly climbed up. On the edge of the cliffs is this gorgeous tree that has a perfect branch to sit on and look across the ocean. Soon enough i was comfortably sat with my back leaning against the trunk and i sighed, finally feeling at peace. it feels as though the past few years have been nothing but chaos and now i can finally relax before heading of to college in a few months time. 

However, my peace was short lived as i heard footsteps behind me.

"Layla?" i heard before snapping my head towards the familiar voice.

"Ace" i breathed, happy to see him.

hang on. why am i happy to see him when i've only just met him?

"the one and only" he replied, coming to stand under the tree and smiling when he see's how i'm sat. "what are you doing?"

"i'm watching the sunrise" i point out obviously , pointing to the horizon. 

"ah, mind if i join?" he asks, yet already climbing up the tree.

"i suppose not Hunter" 

"wow" he said softly, taking in the view. "how did you find out about this place"

i stopped momentarily, wondering whether to share my little secret. It wasn't anything big but it was personal to me i suppose. In the back of my head it made me seem weak and i hate that feeling. Yet for some strange reason, one look at this man i knew i didn't care about any of that. How is he can make me feel so comfortable when some of my own friends struggle too? That though alone scared me more than telling him. I take a deep breath before speaking again. 

"when i was 14, i had like a summer fling with this guy here. We were super close and then one day he just completely turned and was so rude to me. He erm- he nearly hit me so i just ran and ran until i accidentally fell over the tree root. and then i looked up and saw this branch. i think i sat up here all day just watching the world go by" i shared, slowly leaning back into the trunk. Ace just looked at me for a few second before looking back out on the horizon. His jaw tensing and an emotion covering his eyes but i couldn't quite figure out what that was yet. I could however tell that he was angry.

"you're angry"

"i am, no one should ever hit a woman" he spoke harshly looking back at me and i swear i saw his eyes soften slightly. 

i bit my lip before continuing. "you're the only person i've told about that"

"you mean no one else knows about this place?" he exclaimed, surprised. 

"Only Gray knows about the tree as he found me up here once but he hates heights so doesn't come here at all."  

Ace just shook his head. We sat that for a good 5 minutes just watching the sun come up before he spoke again.

"you're secret is safe with me"

i turned back to him and our eyes met and for the first time in my life i felt something. i wasn't quite sure what i felt but it caused my cheeks to turn a light pink. 

"thank you"

Ace just nodded before looking out again. The sun was still rising and i think neither of us wanted to leave. 

"so that was a pretty intense game of monopoly i walked in on last night" he started smirking as i huffed. 

"yeah. Grayson always takes them so seriously. like it's just a game dude chill"

"do you argue a lot?"

"i mean, we argue like siblings would i suppose"

"he seems to care about you a lot" Ace noted, thinking about how Gray reacted on the plane.

"yeah. we're twins so he's like my best friend deep down. despite how much he torments me"

"do you mind me asking why he was so protective over you? a normal person wouldn't react like that"

"Grayson is anything but normal" i scoff, thinking about how i want to answer his question.  "i went through something a couple of years back and i suppose ever since then he's felt like it's his responsibility to look out for me" i decided to say, my answer satisfying him.

"it's nice to see. him caring about his sister" Ace mentioned, having a sad glint in his eyes.

"do you have siblings?" i ask

"if you can call them that" he whispers before speaking louder. "i have 2 brothers and a sister. both my brothers are older. my brothers and i don't speak anymore" he said gruffly, clearing upset about it all.

"you still speak to your sister?"

"yeah, as much as i can anyway" 

i can tell there's so much more to the story but its obvious he isn't wanting to discuss it.

"i couldn't imagine life without my brother. I suppose it's different when your twins though"

"yeah" he just said, still not looking at me. I immediately hating the feeling of him being sad. Without even thinking, i lay my hand on is to grab his attention. He quickly whips his head around and his once dark eyes soften and turn back to the glistening green.

"it's their loss" i say, causing him to smile. 

"thank you chambers. i appreciate that"

We sat in silence for another moment before a question suddenly came to my mind.

"why did you buy me that drink"

He laughed almost shyly before speaking.

"you want the honest answer?" 

i nodded my head eagerly. 

"i thought you were the most beautiful girl i'd ever seen but your eyes, they were missing something. I'm yet to figure out what they're missing but i thought the least i could do was buy you a drink" he answered, smiling at my extremely flushed face. i coughed quickly before looking away.

why am i reacting like this?

"that might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me"

"well your very welcome"

"how old actually are you?" i blurt, realising i don't even know how old he is.

"i'm 21" he answered, making me sigh happily. why? i have no idea. but then again i have no idea why i am the way i am around him. i barely even know him yet he's making me feel things i haven't felt for a very long time. 

i simply nodded whilst smiling before realising that the sun had finally fully risen.

"well, i best be getting to work. can't be late on my first day" Ace spoke, getting ready to jump off the branch "see you around chambers" 

"back at you Hunter" i replied before smiling giddily as he walked away. What is he doing to me. i shook my head at my thoughts before happily sighing. What are you doing to me Ace?