Stolen

Chapter 4

Ace's pov again :p

   I stayed where I was for a few hours. I didn't really feel like going anywhere right then. My mind felt like it had just done a swan dive off a fucking tilt-a-whirl. About 30 minutes after my talk with the mayor, I had gotten a super unexpected call from someone else back home. I didn't know the number, so I didn't want to answer it. When I listened to the voicemail they had left I felt like an idiot instantly. The sweet black haired girl on the message told me what had happened, and that her and her sisters were going to fix it. They were gonna clear our names. It was reassuring, but it just made the whole situation into a joke. It was like being the victim of a stupid prank the kids would have pulled when I was younger. I knew it could potentially be serious, but the way everything was playing out made it impossible to see it that way anymore. I had been jerked around from thought to thought all day, and I was fucking tired. So I went out for a drink.

   I knew I was being careless by going to a liquor store, but it didn't really matter. Most people around here weren't too worried about anyone but themselves. I noticed that when I first got here. Plus this store was full of shady people, so no one really paid attention to me. But it wasn't like I even cared at this point, I had stopped taking the situation as serious when Buttercup had left that message. I got inside and started looking around. I had a slight internal struggle trying to pick out a drink. I didn't want to get more than one bottle, and I didn't want to spend a lot of money. So I ended up settling on a fifth of cheap vodka. It didn't matter what it tasted like, right? Only how it made me feel, and I really needed a distraction. The entire mess I was in was stupid.

   After I had paid and left the store, I started making my way back home. I took a swig from my bottle every few minutes, enjoying the burning feeling in my stomach and throat. I didn't drink a lot, but some days just called for it. This was definitely one of them. I was going to slam this fucking bottle until I was either stupid or asleep.

   On the walk home, it felt like everyone was staring at me. Almost like I had a fucking sign on my jacket that said, 'Hey, this guy hangs out with a bunch of fuckin' halfwits who dragged him into some unreal bullshit.' But maybe that was just the vodka feeding my paranoia. I finished the last of the bottle around the same time I got back. Lo and behold, I was stupid fucking drunk. When I managed to stumble my way to the door, I stood there for a moment. I thought about what I was going to tell Stu when I went in. How I was going to explain why I hadn't texted him in a while, which was weird for me. Or how I was supposed to explain the childish place I came from. I knew he would see me as less of a man when he found out, and I was dreading that. But I didn't have a choice. So once I thought I had everything straight, I opened the door. The sound of laughter met me inside, and being the curious drunk fuck I was; I followed it.

2D's pov

   Noodle and I sat in the kitchen, playing cards and talking at the table. We were recounting the day's events, laughing about double barrel roll I had done down the stairs earlier. Just as she was about to tell the entire story for a third time, she was interrupted by a thud. I jumped and we both looked over to see our bass player face down on the floor.

   "Ace?" Noodle couldn't stifle her laughter as he looked up at her, grinning.

   "Yup, that's all me." He said. He then started making his way towards the table so he could hold himself up. He looked at me, "Hey, babydoll. How's it hangin'?" He smiled at me. His cheeks were dark, and he smelled like liquor. This was immediately disconcerting.

   "What's wrong?" I said, slightly confused. Ace never drank. I think the realization hit Noodle then, because she put her cards down to look him over.

   "You're drunk? Man, here I was thinking we had a bad day." Even though she was joking I could still hear the slight concern in her voice.