Ace Merrill x female!Chambers!reader - Tell Me
Summary: When your brother's best friend wants to know what's gotten you so upset you have no choice but reveal what the girls that keep giving your trouble have found out about. Ace's reaction to your crush is not what you expected.
Warnings: Small injury, it's kinda implied that reader gets bullied, language
"What did you do to your hand?"
You glanced at your brother who stood beside you, smoking, and quickly pulled down your sleeve to hide the injury.
The knuckle of your little finger was badly swollen, and when you opened your palm with the fingers stretched, it stood out white against your bruised flesh, much further back than it should have been compared to your other hand. If it hadn't been for the fact that it barely hurt you would have thought your knuckle was dislocated.
"Nothin'."
Eyeball saw right through your lie. "Please tell me you didn't punch a wall again," he groaned.
"I'm afraid I cannot tell you that."
An exasperated sigh from your twin caused you to add, "In my defense, it was an accident this time. I was aiming for a cheerleader's face, but she ducked away faster than I thought."
You almost wished you'd punched the wall out of anger as you sometimes did. If you had you wouldn't have struck it at such an unfortunate angle, and your knuckle would be fine. Well... maybe. After all the wall was rather hard either way.
"What is it with you and those cheerleaders? What did this one do now?!"
"She was making fun of me!"
"Great, and now she can make fun of you for managing to hit the wall instead of her. Good job!"
You crossed your arms over your chest and pouted. "She'll want to think twice about that. I broke her nose with the second punch, and if she keeps talking shit I'll gladly make it worse."
"What did she make fun of you for, anyway?"
You sighed. "The usual. Except worse cause those bitches somehow found out about my crush on Ace. Or maybe it was just a shot in the dark to see how I'd react, but..."
"...but now they definitely know for sure," Eyeball finished your sentence. He sighed. "Are you gonna tell him now, before he finds out from them?"
"I dunno, Richie. He probably doesn't feel the same, and it would just make things awkward between us. It's not like he'd believe them if they start spreading rumors."
They were probably doing so at this very moment, sitting at lunch with their little friends and pretentious boyfriends.
You wondered where Ace might be. Not in the cafeteria, that was for sure, so you didn't have to worry about him finding out just yet.
"You sure about that?" Richie asked, and for a second you wondered if he'd read your mind. Then you remembered what you'd said.
"What, do you think he'd believe them over me if I deny it?!"
Eyeball shrugged. "I dunno. I'm just saying you're not exactly a good liar when it comes to stuff you're emotional about. And a crush is like the very definition of emotional."
You stopped pacing back and forth—when had you started doing that, anyway? You couldn't recall—, and sat down in the grass, burying your face in your hands with a frustrated sigh. "I know. God, this is so fucking stupid!"
"What is?"
Your head snapped up, your eyes meeting those of the person responsible for your current dilemma.
"Hi Ace."
You awkwardly smiled up at him.
How long had he been there? Had he heard what you and Richie had been talking about?
"Hey. What's got you so upset?"
Seemed like he hadn't. Thank god.
"'m not upset."
He crouched down next to you, and scoffed. "Sure you ain't. Is it those stupid cheerleaders again?"
You nodded and hoped that would be the end of it, but Ace reached for your hand, inspecting your injury.
"Got you pretty riled up this time, huh? You punch a wall or one of them?"
You couldn't answer at first, too focused on the fact that he was holding your hand. His skin was pleasantly warm against your own—your hands were cold, as usually, except for your swollen knuckle, which was sickly hot—and you felt the rough calluses on them.
"Both, actually," you finally managed. "First the wall, then the cheerleader."
Ace laughed and finally let go of your hand. "Damn. What did she say to make you that angry?"
You shook your head. "Never mind."
"C'mon."
"No, never mind. It's nothin', Ace. Just let it go."
"Yeah, I don't think so. If it got you this upset it clearly isn't nothing. C'mon, if you tell me what it is I'll help you beat her up some more."
Despite everything he got a little smile out of you with that. "Tempting, but I already handled her."
"Ah. So there is something you could tell me. I wanna know what that bitch said to you, Y/N, and I won't leave you alone until you tell me."
Damn it, why did he have to be so fucking stubborn?!
You looked to your brother for help, but instead of helping you he gave you a look that screamed Tell him! and walked away without a word. Fucking traitor.
Ace put a hand under your chin, making you look back at him.
"What did she say to you?"
"The usual shit 'bout my family."
"You're used to that, doll. Those bitches don't know shit, and you know it. There must have been something else that's bothering you so much. Isn't there?"
"Maybe..."
"Won't you tell me? Please?"
"I don't know, Ace... It's not... She– She just took a guess at something and happened to be right. It's not something I wanna talk about."
"No? Then you can be sure she is gonna talk about it."
"I know..."
"Then why don't you just tell me? I don't wanna be the last one to find out."
Good point. At this time tomorrow the whole school would know about your crush on Ace thanks to those cheerleaders...
"I guess I should..."
"Go on then. It can't be that bad."
"Okay. But– But you have to promise me you won't laugh."
"Of course not. I'd never laugh at you, doll."
"Okay. Okay, so, the thing is... I, uh... I might have a bit of a crush on you. Perhaps." You paused, and decided you shouldn't downplay it like that. As far as the cheerleaders were concerned, and everyone they would doubtlessly be spreading rumors to, it wasn't more than that—couldn't possibly be more than that, because people like you had black holes for hearts and didn't even know how to spell 'love', let alone how it felt,—but Ace deserved to know the truth, even if you weren't sure if he'd appreciate it. "No, actually– actually it's more than just a bit of a crush. I love you. And– and I don't expect– You– You don't have to say anything..."
You couldn't stand to look him in the face, so you didn't know what Ace was thinking, but at least he wasn't laughing at you.
The silence seemed to stretch forever, until Ace finally spoke.
"Wow. That's not what I was expecting when you told me not to laugh."
You shrugged, still looking at the ground instead of at him.
You heard him sigh, and prepared for the rejection that was sure to follow. You were sure he was just trying to find the right words to turn you down without hurting your feelings too much. You were friends. You couldn't possibly hope for more than that. Ace didn't do love, only one night stands, and that was the last thing you wanted. Rejection was inevitable.
"Listen, doll, I'm not exactly the relationship type–"
"I know. That's why I didn't say anything. I don't expect you to feel the same. You don't do feelings. That's fine. Please just forget it, okay? I just told you so you wouldn't have to find out from those fucking cheerleaders."
"Would you please let me finish my sentence, Sweetheart?" His voice lacked the sarcasm it usually held when he called you that, and though the annoyance was there, it was softened by a fondness you'd never heard from him before. "I ain't never gone steady with a girl, but you're special. I like you, Y/N, and I wanna give it a try. Give us a try. I don't know if it's love, but–" He shrugged. "There's something about you. I think it'd be nice if you were my girl. If you'll give me a chance."
If you would give him a chance? Good god, he made it sound as if you hadn't just confessed your love to him, as if he was the one whose heart was beating so fast it surely was going to leap out of their chest any second.
"Of course I'll give you a chance you dork. There's nothing I'd love more than to be your girl."
Your eyes met his, and despite the always-present confident smirk you noticed the vulnerability hidden just underneath. He'd said he didn't know if it was love, but there were feelings between you, that was for sure.
"Are you sure? I certainly ain't the ideal boyfriend. I'll try my best, but..." Again he trailed off and shrugged.
You knew what he meant.
Having known Ace pretty much your whole life you knew him in and out, knew all about his many escapades with various girls—all of which ended up heartbroken because unlike them, Ace hadn't been looking for love, but only a good fuck. You knew he could be difficult. Arrogant. Reckless. Mean.
But you'd also seen his good sides, and in your eyes those outweighed the bad by far.
He was loyal, to his friends, his gang—including you—,and you believed he was capable of being a faithful boyfriend if he bothered to try. He could be caring when he wanted to, you'd seen it when Eyeball or you were hurt. Protective, too. And, maybe the most important of all, he never ever got violet with the people he cared about, no matter how angry he was.
So no, Ace was by no means perfect, but maybe that very fact made him the perfect match for you, because neither were you.
You smiled at him. "Don't worry, I wouldn't expect you to change. I love you just the way you are, crimes, flaws and all. Well... there is one thing. If you really want me there can't be any other girls."
Ace chuckled. "Yeah, I figured. I'd never cheat on you, don't worry. If, uh, if you catch me flirting with someone, out of habit, you know, you have my permission to punch my shoulder."
"Deal. Now... Can I get a kiss?"
Ace pulled you close with arm around your waist. "Mhm. You're my girl now; you can have all the kisses you want."
"–but not when I'm watching!"
Richie. Of course that asshole had to come back at the most inconvenient moment possible.
"Look away then!" you said, and pressed your lip's against Ace's without waiting to see if your brother would comply.
At this time tomorrow the whole school would know about your crush on Ace. But they could gossip all they wanted to. Ace was your boyfriend now, not just your crush, and you would make sure everyone learned about that, too. Then they'd really have something to talk about.