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And knowing, even now, even after everything that had happened today, that I still wasn’t going to get any answers.
I told him I wouldn’t run away from him again, but he still came trampling in here with the intention of making me feel bad for something that I did not do. I had every right to be pissed at him.
“You’re hurt,” Ace said. “My father hurt you. And I wasn’t there to protect you.”
“Maybe we should take Doe to urgent care to get her shoulder checked out,” Madoc suggested from his spot in the doorway.
I hadn’t even noticed him. He must have come with Ace. At least I knew now that he hadn’t been lying about hanging out with him today.
“My shoulder is fine. I just want to go home,” I said, my voice breaking.
“I’ll take you—” Ace started.
“No,” I cut him off. “I want to go home alone. I don’t want to be around you right now.”
Ace made an anguished sound, causing my heart to crack in two.
I looked around, searching for someone else who could give me a ride. I met the eyes of Clara who was still standing silently in the corner, looking at me with so much sympathy and care. No judgment.
I hated that I couldn’t stop myself from resenting her. I was the stereotype: the controlling girlfriend, jealous of another woman who did nothing other than hang out with my boyfriend.
“Do you have your car here?” I asked Madoc. “And would you be willing to drive me to my house?”
Madoc hesitated, looking at Ace for permission. Ace clenched his jaw. Then, with enough stiffness to make anyone want to shrivel up like a raisin, he nodded.
“All right,” Madoc agreed, awkwardly shifting his feet. “Do you want to go now?”
I nodded.
“Hold on,” Ace intervened. “Doe, can we please just talk?” He took several steps forward. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I didn’t know—”
“No, you didn’t know,” I interrupted. “You made assumptions and acted out of anger.
“And then you did the one thing I never thought you were capable of doing. You hurt me.” I held my shoulder tighter. “I need some space. I mean it this time. Leave me alone.”
Ace’s face was pure misery. He was shaking too. For a moment, I hated myself. I hated myself for doing this to him.
But then I remembered none of this was my fault.
Ace did this, not me.
With my head held high and my heart bleeding in my chest, I marched toward the door.
I looked back at him right before exiting. “Oh, and Ace?”
His tortured eyes were already on me.
“Fuck you.”
My family was eating dinner in the dining room when I got home, giving me the perfect opportunity to sneak upstairs and into my room without running into anybody. I just wanted to be alone.
I started to sob the moment my body hit my bed.
I cried for a long while, until I eventually fell asleep, only waking up sometime late in the night when I heard a gentle knock on my door.
My mom stepped into my room. “Dorothy?” she asked. “I didn’t hear you come home.”
I could barely make out her figure in the darkness. She was wearing her pajamas, so I supposed she must have just finished putting my siblings to bed and was preparing to go to sleep herself.
I was a bit disoriented, so it took me a moment to realize where I was and why my body felt like it had been hit by a truck.
To be honest, I was surprised I had been able to sleep at all, especially without Ace by my side. I guess I had just exhausted myself with all my crying.
When I remembered everything that had happened, all I wanted to do was bury myself in my covers and never come back out.
I checked my new phone, expecting to find hundreds of missed calls and texts from Ace. Nothing.
He hadn’t even attempted to come and sleep with me. It wasn’t as if I would have let him—I made sure my window was locked before falling asleep—but it still hurt to know that he didn’t try.
He was giving me space. Just like I asked him to.
So why did it feel like my heart was being ripped out of my chest?
“I didn’t want to talk to anybody when I got home. I had a really long day,” I croaked.
“Okay.” My mom paused. “Well, um, do you want to explain to me why Ace is standing outside our house, looking like a lost puppy?”
That got my attention. “What?” I quickly threw back my covers and ran to my window.
Just like my mom said, Ace was standing in front of our house. He was leaning on his car in the street, arms crossed over his chest, staring up at my window.
I knew the moment he noticed me peering down at him. His shoulders loosened, and he tilted his head to the side, acknowledging that I was looking at him.
I yanked my curtains shut, blocking my view of him.
“We had a fight.” I climbed back into my bed, hating the way my voice wobbled. I didn’t care if he was standing out there. It changed nothing. I didn’t want to talk to him.
“I don’t know what he’s doing out there though. He should just go home.”
My mom approached my bed with a concerned look on her face. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I shook my head. “Not really.” Not at all actually.
My mom nodded. She understood if I was giving Ace the cold shoulder, it was probably for a good reason.
I would tell her eventually. Just not tonight.
“Are you going to sleep in your jeans?”
I looked down. I had totally forgotten to change into my pajamas when I got home.
It took too much energy to get up and change though. “I think I just want to go to sleep.”
“Okay, honey. That sounds like a good idea.” Her eyes strayed to my window again.
“Should I tell Ace to go home?”
I thought about it. I could text him, but I was so not in the mood to deal with that right now. If anything, I was starting to crave him, wishing he was here to wrap his arms around me.
And the more we talked about him standing outside, the worse that craving became.
But it was the opposite of what I needed.
“I really don’t care what Ace does,” I finally responded. “If he wants to stand out there all night, then so be it.”
“I could send your dad out to talk to him,” Mom suggested.
I pulled my covers to my chin. “Ace is going to do whatever he wants no matter what anybody says to him. Trust me, I know.