Unofficial Hatred (Ace Merrill - Stand By Me)

Chapter Twenty: There's No Talking To You

The cigarette Rebecca had just lit burned to the core, she had been too shocked to smoke it, it fell out of her opened mouth and on to the floor, burning the ground as it burned away, she stubbed it out with her foot.

"Aren't you going to give your big brother a hug?" Andrew Merrill grinned, how could she have not noticed it, his resemblance to Ace was uncanny, apart from his jet black hair they looked so much alike and not just on appearances.

Ace made a gesture to everyone to go away and they all left, Jack Mudgett looked round his shoulder one last time in disbelief before catching up with the rest of the group.

Rebecca stood and watched as the eldest Merrill made his way closer to them, he walked just like Ace.

"Leave." Ace whispered into her left ear, she shook her head in response, she wouldn't dare leave the two on their own. "Do as I say, Rebecca."

"No." She stubbornly replied.

He shot her a look, that would turn anyone's stomach.

"Why it's the girl with the beer. Should have known you'd be with a guy like him." Andrew stated, studying Rebecca's face and Ace shot him a glare, his nostrils flaring which meant one thing, he was ready for a fight.

Rebecca sensed that, "Don't do it, Ace." She warned him as she could see his hand was in his back pocket. She whispered into his right ear. "He's a cop."

"Ace? Who the fuck is Ace?" Andrew asked, his eyebrows raised and then he proceeded to laugh, "Don't tell me little bro, you're in a gang and you have some silly cool nickname?" He chuckled to himself before spitting. "You faggot." The coldness in his voice was just like Ace's if not worse.

"Just leave, Andrew." Rebecca warned him and his eyebrows raised again, how did she know his name.

"Stay out of this, Rebecca." Ace told her pushing her aside with his right arm.

"Rebecca?" Andrew questioned and then he remembered. "Of course! Why if it isn't little Becca Chambers, I'll be damned, you really grew into those skinny arms, didn't you?" Andrew asked, he wasn't looking at her arms.

She shuddered, he was giving her the creeps. Andrew took a couple of steps forward by now he was reaching distance between them and in Rebecca's personal space.

"Back in the early fifties you and my brother were inseparable, you remember? You were the ass-hole's wet dream for about two years."

"Think she can remember herself, Andy." Ace spat interrupting his brother. His body language had stayed the same, cold and unwelcoming, just like always and Rebecca wondered if he'd ever let his true feelings show, she knew how he felt about his brother deep down.

*Flashback Spring 1953*

It was a chilly April's day and Rebecca and Ace were in his bedroom, doing their homework, his dad was out at work and his brother Andrew was nowhere to be seen, his mom had been gone for over a year now and the place was a dump.

"Why do you read that stuff?" Rebecca questioned, she watched him as he sat reading 'The Way West', he shrugged and smirked at her.

"Nothing better to do." He replied and she rolled her eyes at him. "Besides I like it." His grin never leaving his face as he went on to the next chapter.

"You're too smart you know that?"

"Well maybe if you read, you'd be smart too." He joked, he snatched her homework pages out of her hands and studied it. "Jesus! Think you'll have to read a whole library to get anything but a failure."