perfection of hope | ✔️

XII

the rest of the day i lounged around and continued watching movies. Ace stayed asleep and his head still rested in my lap as i reached my 5th movie. my phone buzzed beside me and i carefully reached beside me and grabbed it. i opened the chat and download the picture that mama had sent me. it was a crumpled piece of paper that had a small paragraph on it in near cursive writing. it read:
'i know i'm going to pass, i can feel it coming. i love you all, and Gracie i'm watching over you and if that boy hurts you just know that nona will haunt him. x

p.s. throw me a fucking funeral and your all fucked.

love nona xox'

i let out a soft laugh at her silliness. i quickly reply before moving my eyes back to the screen. deciding i'm hungry i softly lift Ace's head up and put a pillow under it. i look at the clock and see it's 9:30pm. god no wonder i'm hungry. i quickly make some 2 minute noodles and pour some food out for Everest and go back to watch my movie. once it's done it's 11:20pm. i go into the kitchen and put my dirty dishes in the sink. i head back into the lounge room and grab a blanket, draping over Ace's body. leaning over i kissing his forehead and head upstairs and into my room. the second my head hits the pillow i'm off to sleep.
---

a light bang followed by what sounded like Ev whimpering pulls me out of my sleep. another small bang echos through the room.

"shh stop it, you'll wake her. down. sit stay," a deep voice whispers. Ace? why is he up?

"good boy, now bed time," he sits on the bed and the weight makes it dip down. there's shuffling and the covers move around until a soft weight falls on my waist and the warmth radiates through my body. i turn around and snuggle into his chest. his arms wrap around me and pull me in tighter. i feel him lightly kiss my temple before the darkness pulls me in again.
---

when i wake up again it's bright outside and there's an empty spot beside me. i sit up straight and look around the room. where'd he go? a loud bark echos through the house followed by speaking. i hop out of bed and look in the mirror quickly fixing up the mess my hair has formed before heading down the stairs. i go into the kitchen and there stands Ace with grey sweats and no shirt, his back muscles flexing everytime he moves the spatula around in the pan. Everest sits at his feet with his tail wagging. i walk over and wrap my arms around his waist hugging him from behind.

"hey sleepy head," i let out a grunt in reply. my head bounces up and down lightly against his back as he laughs.

"what's for-oo," i cut my sentence short when my voice comes out sounding almost as deep as Ace's. i clear my throat and start again.

"what's for breakfast chef," that's better. i let go of him and step back and he moves over to the bench putting some bacon onto two plates.

"bacon and eggs. i went out and bought orange juice as well," he mutters softly. he presses his lips to my forehead before picking up the plates and carrying them to the dining table. god he's just perfect isn't he. i follow him and pull out a seat, sitting down i dig in straight away.

"someone's hungry," i ignore him and keep eating. we eat in silence and one we are done i wash up our dishes. Ace's phone starts going off loudly but he ignores it. i finish the dishes and dry my hands as it goes off again. groaning, he picks it up answers the call.

"qué? [what]" Ace groans into the phone. i can hear a light voice ok the other side before he answers again.

"no puedo venir ahora mismo[i can't come right now]" he pauses, "prometes que es muy importante[you promise it is very important?" he nods.

"Voy a traer a Gracie, no puedo dejarla sola[im going to bring Gracie, i can't leave her alone]" he mutters before hanging up.

"get changed we are going out," he tells me. i don't argue, i just go upstairs and get changed into some presentable clothes. heading back down stairs we head out side and i notice Ace's motorbike sitting in the driveway.