Chapter Text
Nancy had been tossing and turning in her bed for hours now. It wasn’t particularly late or anything, but Carson had suggested that she take it easy and try to rest.
Rest….
She can’t seem to wrap her head around the fact that she almost died yesterday from the wraith being attached to her for 2 weeks. How did she not notice? The wraith had affected everything that was going on in her life: her decisions, her relationships. Looking back, there were plenty of warning signs that she had ignored.
This is what was keeping her awake.
All of her decisions have led to worse outcomes in some cases. It was all hitting her at once. All of the absent emotions that she should have been feeling: anger, fear, sadness, regret, all were flooding back into her mind as she replayed everything that had happened over 2 weeks.
Nancy could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks as she stared up at her ceiling. What had she done?
Nancy needed to break down and let it all out. She wanted to scream, cry, and throw things but she couldn’t do that. Not with Carson downstairs. Even if she screamed into a pillow, Carson would still hear her and she didn’t have the energy to explain everything that had happened or why she was still feeling like this. Carson had known that there was some other-worldly entity attached to her but that was about the extent of it.
She was still crying over everything that had happened with Gil, Everett, Ace and Grant with the road back leading to Celia’s death…. And then she pulled up short.
Ace.
The one person who kept asking if she was ok. The one person who noticed that she wasn’t acting like herself and called her out on it. He was the only one who noticed.
Nancy knew what she needed to do. She climbed out her bedroom window and got into her car.
____
Ace was tired from the road trip yesterday. That whole ordeal with Nancy wreaked havoc on his emotions. Ace had been so scared of losing Nancy that he was tense the whole drive to New York and then relieved that she was ok. The drive back took the rest out of him. He was now currently in the middle of a lecture from Thom about him just disappearing for a day without a word and showing up late at night last night with no explanation. It’s not like Ace could tell him what really happened. Ace had tried to get a word or two in but Thom wasn’t allowing it. That was when Ace snapped and said that he wasn’t a kid anymore and since Thom doesn’t tell him everything, he doesn’t have to tell him everything.
That was definitely the wrong thing to say…
Ace could barely keep up with signing and the fight was leaving quickly. Thom and Rebecca had dinner plans that night with friends and Ace was really hoping that they would just leave already so that he could crash before getting ready to go on his road trip with Amanda tomorrow.
The fight was winding down when Ace heard the doorbell ring. ‘Great, now what?’ he thinks.
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Nancy had parked across the street from Ace’s house and had sat in her car for a good fifteen minutes before getting the courage to walk up to the front door. It looked like his parents were still home and Nancy didn’t know what to do. Hopefully, they would leave them alone to talk if she asked.
Nancy walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. Before she could turn away, Rebecca opened the door to a crying Nancy in her pajamas and immediately went on alert.
“Nancy, honey is everything ok?”
“Hi Rebecca. Not really…..” Nancy answered.
“Come in, come in” Rebecca said as she pulled her inside. “What can I do to help?”
Nancy seemed to curl into herself when she said, “I know it’s getting late and I’m sorry for showing up like this but is Ace home by chance?”
“Yes, he is. He’s upstairs. Do you want me to get him for you?”
“Would you mind? He once told me if I ever needed someone to talk to that he would be there….I….I need my friend”. Nancy’s voice broke on the last word.
Rebecca nodded and went upstairs to find Ace.
__
Rebecca knocked on Ace’s bedroom door while opening it slightly and Ace couldn’t be happier for the intrusion.
“Ace, honey, Nancy is downstairs”, Rebecca signed while she talked.
“Nancy?”, Ace asked. “Is everything ok?”
“I don’t believe so. She…she’s crying and said she needed you.”
Ace had forgotten the argument with his dad and practically ran down the stairs towards Nancy. There were a million thoughts flying through his head, but when he caught sight of Nancy his heart broke.
She looked….defeated was the only way to put it. She had obviously been crying before she came here and it looked like she was trying to hold it together while standing there. It was tearing at him to see her like that.
“Nancy, hey….” Ace lightly touched her arm. “Is everything ok?”
Nancy just shook her head and folded into his arms. She wrapped her arms around him and clung to his shirt so tightly that he was surprised she didn’t rip it, not that he would mind. She started sobbing in his arms and all Ace could do was wrap his arms tightly around her and hold her while she got it out.
“Shhhh, Nance it’s ok…..I’m here… I got you….”
Thom and Rebecca were watching from the stairs. They shared a knowing glance between them. What Nancy and Ace had was special and they were surprised they couldn’t see it.
Rebecca lightly tapped Ace’s shoulder and told him to take care of Nancy. They would be back later so that they would have privacy to talk. Ace nodded, not wanting to let Nancy go.
After a few minutes Ace felt Nancy pull back a little as her crying slowed. She still had her arms around him as she looked up at him with the saddest eyes and Ace knew he would do anything to wipe that look from her face.
Unable to hold his soft gaze, she looked down and realized that she had soaked through his shirt.
“Crap…” she said, wiping his shirt. “Sorry about that.”
Ace placed his finger under her chin and gently tilted her face up. “You think I care about that? What’s wrong? Are you ok?”
Nancy could see the worry on his face and had a feeling she knew where it was placed.
“Physically, yes. Emotionally, not so much….”
She visibly watched Ace relax a little. He lightly held her arm and pulled her into the sitting room.
“Here, sit down..” He said, guiding her to the couch. He sat on the floor in front of her and held her hands. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“It’s everything, really. I think I needed to crash. I was thinking about the wraith and how long it had been attached to me. Every moment that it had altered how I felt…. It just all came crashing back. Every decision went from bad to worse and I didn’t feel anything….”
“That’s not true and you know it.”
“Celia DIED because of me, Ace”
“No she didn’t. She didn’t have to help you when you asked. She knew what she was doing. This is NOT on you, I promise you.”
“Then why does it feel like it is…”
“Because you are only starting to process what that felt like to lose her. You were still upset when she died which showed that the wraith didn’t have a complete hold on you. You were still you in there..”
“I changed enough that you noticed though…”
Ace didn’t respond right away. He looked down at their hands and a small, sad smile appeared on his face. He looked up at her as he said, “yeah well….. I know you, remember?”
“Better than anyone I know,” Nancy said with a smile. “I don’t think I ever thanked you for that…”
“No need. What do you say we pop on a movie and we just chill out for a bit.”
“That sounds great. What movie are you thinking?”
“Duh, the only movie for a time like this….Clue!”
Nancy’s answering smile is everything that he needed to know.
_________
Thom and Rebecca felt guilty about coming home later than they normally would but they wanted to give Ace and Nancy the time they deserved. When they pulled up to the house and saw Nancy’s car still there, they actually debated on not going back in just yet.
They quietly opened the front door to not disturb them, but were met with silence. Rebecca saw that the TV was still on in the sitting room and decided to peek in. What Rebecca saw melted her heart.
Ace was laying behind Nancy on the couch with one of his arms under her head and the other wrapped around her. Nancy was snuggled up against him, her back to his chest, and both of them were sleeping soundly.
Thom started walking up to her and she held up a hand to tell him to be quiet and pointed at the couch. Thom poked his head around the corner and a small, rare smile graced his lips.
‘They have to realize what they mean to each other’ He signed.
‘I don’t think they do yet…’ Rebecca signed back. ‘I really hope they see it soon though.’
Rebecca crept into the room and grabbed the blanket that was on the chair opposite them. She carefully draped it over them and went upstairs to sleep.