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A lot has happened between you and Ace. From the many overblots that has happened in the school and the countless of times this boy impulsively decides that causing trouble and havoc for you would be the best idea in the world. Being a prefect was already a hard job to deal with, only for this boy, along with Grim to mess things up for you. intentionally or not. Ever since landing into this mysterious world, you've been bombarded with many, and I mean MANY, tasks that you would have to deal with yourself requested by the incompetent headmaster.
But now is not the time to be dwelling on future tasks that might speed up the process of the white strands of hair growing on your head or your stress levels. What matters right now is that you invited Ace over to a study session together. Ever since you've received a complaint from Professor Trein and Professor Crewel that Grim's grades have suddenly been decreasing as the months go by. And as the totally professional and responsible prefect that you are, you thought it would be a great idea to try and help the poor cats brain by having a friend over to refresh his memories on the class material.
If you were going to be honest, trying to get Grim to be his usual annoying but cute and cat-like self was kind of difficult. Ever since the incident that happened in STYX, Grim has been trying to find ways to distract himself from what happened that night. Studying was not apart of it apparently. Still, the poor guy has been napping non-stop. However, that doesn't give him a rightful excuse to ditch his schoolwork. He was still your responsibility after all.
Honestly, you would rather pick any other person to help you out with Grim's studies. However, all of the first-years that day coincidentally had other plans. Jack was too busy working out and preferred to study by himself. Sebek thought that hanging out and studying with a human like you wasn't worth any of his time, he also had to escort Malleus outside of the campus that day too. Epel got in trouble and was stuck washing the windows of Pomefiore. Ortho needed to take care of an unwell Idia and Deuce had to go help Trey fetch some ingredients for the next unbirthday party. So that leaves one last first year that was close enough to you to not say no...
Ace Trappola.
Out of anyone else, why did it have to be him?
How would you be able to get any work done with him around.
God, he's so annoying.
This dumb ginger-
You take in a deep breath as you get ready for him to come over. The second he texted that he was going to come over, you immediately started to prepare the materials. Quickly setting up a small desk in preparation. You wait and wait before hearing the ring of the doorbell. You carefully make your way to the front door, and there, you see him. His hair seems slightly messier than usual, and he's wearing a very comfy looking red hoodie. A part of you wants to take a few more glances at his direction but you know that doing that now would cause you to get a grossed out reaction out of him or get him to relentlessly tease you. So, without any further comment on his appearance, you politely lead his around Ramshackle dorm and into your bedroom.
He sets his own studying materials down on the small table in front of the two of you, his attention suddenly fixated on a sleeping Grim, who was quietly snoring on top of the bed you and the cat shared. "Can't you tell the little guy to get up? Aren't you more of his retainer and less than a prefect trying to do their job-" Before he can even finish talking, you promptly shut down his further comments. "Lets get started already". The way you said it made you sound so dismissive and cold. On the outside, this relationship might feel like a one-sided hatred, but truth be told, this was just how the two of you talked as he abruptly chimes in,
"Sure, whatever you say you bossy bitch"
The session was kind of going normal, you soon find out that he was mostly zoned out for the lessons that he deemed "too boring" for him. But any other topic that might of caught his interest in some way went off without a hitch. You attentively took notes of the basics and main points of the topics that needed to improve on. Reminding yourself that you weren't the person that needed studying, this was for Grim and both of your grades. A few short minutes go by without a hitch, but you've caught yourself gazing at him again. Something about him today made you want to stare at him a little more than usual today. Maybe it was how comfy that hoodie looked on him that made you want to get closer to him. Maybe it was the way his orange hair fell perfectly into place. Maybe it was the fact he seemed a lot smarter when he was explaining things to you like this. Whatever it was, you immediately needed to snap out of it.
You thought the next few moments would go by without any problems but, the session drifted from writing notes and detailed explanations to suddenly switching to talking about the most random topics your brains could possibly think of. This changed the direction and the intention of this meeting all together and turning it into some casual get together.
"Seriously, does Crowley have enough funds to fix the chandelier if WE didn't go down into the Dwarf's Mine and get expelled back then? If he can't even bother paying the electricity and water bill in Ramshackle, then where the fuck is he gonna get the money???", Ace momentarily puts his textbooks and papers down, slouching and resting his body on the desk.
"Charity?", you suggested.
"Nah, doubt it", he replies back before another thought popped into his mind, “You know, we should this more often. Not exactly the study date part, but like, the hanging out aspect of this. We should do this more", Ace looks directly into your eyes as he continues. Expectedly waiting for your answer.
A weird feeling welled up in your stomach. It seemed like nothing at first but you immediately realize that the sudden but small shockwave that went through your body was from the fact that he called your meeting with him today a "study date". In some way, he counts this as a date. Not wanting to seem flustered or embarrassed at such a comment, you stare back at him, refusing to look away from him to seem less suspicious. Your eyes stay focused on him as you thought of a response to satisfy his response. A few long seconds go by before you finally say something. "So, are you trying to get me to go on a date with you?"
Without a second thought, he immediately raises his arms in a denying motion. His face going from its normal color to becoming a little pink in the cheeks.
"W-WHAT?! Hell no! What would make you think of that?? I meant it PLATONICALLY...!"
"A date can be platonic too but I didn't mean it like that, you fucker!"
The little argument died down at some point and that quickly turned the conversation into a few more random topics. The two of you unintentionally disregarding the fact he was here in Ramshackle to help Grim get some notes for his grades. It has really been a while since you've talked to him like this. Not with other people around, not even with Grim around either. Just the two of you. Having the chance to be together and alone like this was kind of refreshing in a weird way. Not to say that the others and their presence were bad or anything like that. You couldn't describe it into words, you just really really loved liked staying by his side, even if you told the world that you and him hated each other's guts.
Noticing that the study session has lead to nowhere and derail the meeting, you suggested to leave for a few minutes to go fetch him some water and some snacks to get his mind out of all the things you talked about with him, as well as get him a little break from the studying. Even if the "studying" only lasted for ten minutes at least. You swiftly left the room, only leaving him and the still sleeping Grim. Ace promptly got out his phone and started scrolling on it, trying to find ways to pass the time while you were away. He glanced a bit at your notebook. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it. Just a few colorful sticky tabs poking out of the pages. The realization hitting that his notebook is much messier than yours.
However, there was one thing that caught his eye. There was a small piece of paper that was sticking out of one of the pages of the book. It wasn't a sticky tab or anything of the sorts, so that being there seemed a little suspicious to him. It immediately caught his interest enough to put his phone down to take a quick peek at it. He flipped the notebook to where the mysterious paper was and took it out of its page. The paper looked like half of it was torn from another paper and turned into a much smaller and crumpled one.
Without any hesitation, he immediately started to read its contents, only expected to find nothing important of value and is using this as a way to entertain himself. However, what he found was something he would never expect someone like you to write. His eyes start gliding at the words. All of the focus that he hasn't been using on his studying session with you is now being used on analyzing on all of he words and text. Ace's eyes widen when he soon realizes what this piece of paper was, who this was supposed to be written to.
This was a draft for a love letter...
A love letter that was made for him...
Ace stared off into a nearby wall. The same person who swore up and down and straight up think he's a jerk and a prick. The same person who would playfully fight and swear him out on a daily basis. The same person who was his best friend, wrote him a letter confessing their feelings for him. What caught his eye the most was that a part of the love letter confesses that out of all the friends they've made while landing here in Twisted Wonderland, they would miss him the most. Despite reading all of the heartfelt words that were on the paper, that one tugged on his heartstrings the hardest.
Ace didn't know what to feel. He placed the paper back at its proper place proceeding to stare at the desk in front of him. His mind going absolutely haywire at this revelation. His best friend likes him. His best friend loves him. They were able to hide it from him for this long without him knowing. Ace felt slightly dumb at the fact he wasn't able to pick up the really small signs. He suddenly feels his face get hot and red from all of his thoughts from the letter. He thought he was above the sappy and cringy thing called love, his experience with his ex-girlfriend was an example of that. There was a small part of him that saw you as a potential romantic love interest, but he knew he couldn't do that. Other than not wanting to make the friendship awkward for the both of you, he knew you had to leave to back to your own world at some point. Getting too attached to someone that was going to leave him one day was something he doesn't want to go through.
Despite his mind telling him all of the problems that might occur if he were to go through with dating you, he still wants to do it. In all honesty, with how much his feelings have grew overtime the more he stayed by your side, he kind of wanted you all to himself. He doesn't care that you might leave him one day, his ego and confidence making him think that you would find your back to him if you were to go back to your own world.
Before he could start overthinking a little more, you came back with two glasses of water and a couple of snacks as you gently kick the door open. You go back to your normal sitting position, sitting in front of the desk and sitting opposite of him. You have absolutely no idea what happened in this room when you left him here. No idea that one of your deepest darkest secret has been exposed without your knowledge. Before you could get a word out for him to get a drink or even a small bite from the snack, he cuts you off. A small smirk appears on his face.
"Am I pretty to you?”
Your eyes widen, not just from getting cut off by him, but also from the sudden question. It has been so long since you've made the draft for the love letter that any of the remaining contents that were in the letter had left your mind. You were unable to recognize that he was referencing a part of the draft where you called him "handsome but actually really pretty". You tilt your head to the side out of confusion as you squint your eyes at him. Ace follows your body posture and also tilts his head to the side as well. His smile felt more smug and almost a little more teasing than usual. You took a few more seconds to look at him before coming up with a respond.
"E-Eh...? No..?". your voice uncertain and shaken up. How were you able to come up with a proper response to such an unexpected question like that???
"Oh really? Well, out of all the first-years, who would you miss the most if you were to go back?", his voice layered with smugness and mischievousness as he asks the question.
"Uhmmm... probably Grim. He's been with me since practically day one and I've gotten used to talking care of the guy", finally, your answers has some resemblance of confidence in it. You slowly un-tilt you from its side as you watch him follow your movements. "Maybe I'd miss Deuce a lot too."
Ace lets out a small giggle before beginning to speak again. "I see... Well... Do you have something to say to me? Like... Do you have a crush on me?", as those words escape his mouth, he swiftly takes the draft love letter out of the pages that it was stuck between in the notebook and dangles it in front of your face. "Do you understand what I'm trying to get at now?"
You immediately start to panic and without wasting any time, you start reaching over to grab the paper from his hand. With Ace's fast reflexes, he snatches the paper away from your face as he holds back his laughter. "Careful, you might wake up Grim". That smug expression feels like it was made to taunt you at this very moment. You stand up from the ground to try and grab it with the height advantage but he beats you to it, also standing up from his seat on the ground and raising the letter higher than before and failing to hold back his laughter. Your face was almost entirely red and very much flustered as hell. Ace definitely took notice of this.
"Haha! Man, you look a little cuter when you're mad like this. Only a little"
"GIVE IT BACK! WHY DID YOU READ THAT. YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO SEE IT!"
"I know that. I was supposed to wait for the real love letter to be given to me instead of this messy draft"
The pleading and begging for him to just give you back that paper now turning to loud but fake cries and incoherent angry noises gave him fun idea that made him want to tease you more than he already has today. Ace puts his hand up a little higher. His hand not teasingly moving the paper but now putting it out of reach. Ace looks at you, his face inching closer and closer to yours.
"How about this, if you confess right now, I'll give it back. But if you don't tell me what you were trying to tell me with this, I'm going to keep this in my room and tease you all about it later”,
An evil smirk replaces the mischievous smile that was once on his face. As much as you wanted to leave the conversation and predicament in the past and never come back to talking about it ever again, you know at this point the cat was out of the bag. You take a deep sigh as you try and regain some semblance of confidence in your system. Ace notices this and allows you to take your time to process what you're going to say to him next.
"I... I think I like you... a lot than I anticipated...", your voice slowly becomes more quiet and shy. There was a hint frustration in your voice too as you continue to try building up your confidence as you went along. "I didn't say anything since... I didn't want to make the same mistake that you and your ex made-", before you were about to continue with your confession, he immediately cuts you off.
"Mistake? The mistake that I made at the time was dating a girl who didn't share the same interests as me and on a whim. I know you more than I know her. And not to dunk on her after everything but like... you're kind of more understanding than her, honestly”. You knew he was being kind of mean to his ex with that comment. The one in the wrong at that time was definitely him but you know that he was trying to make a small joke to ease off some of the tension you had. You continued,
"Anyway, I wrote this during class one day when no one was looking and... I really wanted to give you a real love letter one day but... I thought it would be too sudden for you..."
Ace suddenly leans in closer to you, his nose almost touching yours as he closes the distance between the two of you. His evil smirk has now changed to a more genuine and happy smile, much different to the other smiles he had before. Ace was about to talk before you suddenly speak up first. "Just reject me already so we're done with this...! Aren't you not interested in dating anymore...?"
He gives you a slightly annoyed look as you cut him off before that expression disappears as he begins to speak. "Okay listen, I may not be the dating type. I mean, my ex and everything- And I may not be the most knowledgable in this sort of thing at all but... you know... I'm willing to try out a lot of things. I think one of those things is you, actually... If I were to put my pride aside for once, I might've caught some feelings for you too". Ace's voice is much softer and sweeter now, this is the most heartfelt and honest you have ever heard him sound. Gently, he holds your chin his fingers. As he continues, he gives you one small wink before adding on,
"Sooo, wanna be my partner?"