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Ace knew how relationships were supposed to work.
He had known from a young age, by watching his mother and father. Men and women are supposed to love each other, and never fight, and get married, and have kids. They hug, and they kiss, and they hold hands when they go to the grocery store. Ace knew all of this at a young age.
Sure, some of the rules shifted as he learned more about the world. When his brother brought home a boy his age and introduced him as his ‘boyfriend’, Ace had found out that relationships weren’t solely for a man and a woman. There can be boys with boys, and girls with girls.
Junior High had been where he learned the most. He learned about different genders, and different sexualities, and that relationships didn’t even just have to be two people—it could include multiple people!
Ace knew about relationships. He knew how they worked, how they are developed, and how people fall in love. If there were a class about relationships, Ace would get full scores in every test.
He, briefly, had a girlfriend. It started with them having the same favorite video game, and before he knew it, they were spending more time together. He enjoyed her company, so obviously, the logical next step was to ask her out. So he did.
They dated for the latter half of Junior High. They were in a relationship, which meant that he had to take her on dates, and they would hold hands in school, and they would kiss. They weren’t just friends anymore—they were girlfriend and boyfriend.
…Except suddenly, Ace started to dread the dates that he scheduled with his girlfriend.
Their dates weren’t bad or anything. Ace made sure to take his girlfriend to the nicest restaurants, and the most beautiful sights, and he would tend to her every want and it. On the surface, he had been the perfect boyfriend.
But on the inside? He was starting to hate it.
He missed when they were just friends. When they were friends, they weren’t able to play video games together and just hang out. No; now that they were dating, they had to be all lovey-dovey, and Ace hated it.
So, after finishing Junior High, he cut contact with her. She didn’t do anything wrong, because by all means, she had been the perfect girlfriend. She was attentive, she cared about Ace’s feelings, and she was really good at kissing.
…But Ace didn’t like it. Not at all.
So, off to Night Raven College he went.
The school year at Night Raven College had been…rough, to say the least. With the multiple Overblots and near-death situations, Ace practically had no time to worry about relationships or anything like that.
And then, he found himself falling for Deuce.
Well, no; it wasn’t as if Ace woke up one day and was suddenly in love with Deuce. It was more like him coming to the realization that his feelings for Deuce were wholly unique; Deuce wasn’t someone Ace considered as his ‘friend.’ He was…special.
And then, the cherry on top was Deuce confessing his feelings for Ace. Ace had been overjoyed at the time, and said yes to him. Thus, they were boyfriends.
…Except. Except, except, except.
There was one little problem.
It was one of those days where nothing was really happening. Ace and Deuce’s roommates were visiting home for the weekend, so the two were alone in the dormroom. Ace was on his bed, doomscrolling, while Deuce was struggling with his homework at his desk.
The two had been sitting in an amicable silence for a long time, the setting sun’s orange light peeking in through the window that was open to let in a steady breeze.
Deuce made the nth frustrated sound, and Ace sighed. “Dude, just take a break.”
“Alright…”
Deuce reluctantly stood up from his desk, stretching his arms upwards. Ace grimaced as he heard audible popping coming from Deuce’s back. “Gross.” Deuce shot him a playful glare, and Ace stuck his tongue out in retaliation before he rolled over to his side, facing away from Deuce.
Ace had expected Deuce to go sit in his bed, so when his own bed dipped, he startled slightly, his head whipping around to stare at Deuce, who was now sitting at the edge of his bed.
Ace schooled his shocked expression into a bored one, raising an eyebrow. He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and scooting to where he could sit next to Deuce. “Hey, it’s just schoolwork. What’s up?”
Ah, but it seemed as if Ace misjudged Deuce, now that he was face-to-face with him like this. Deuce didn’t seem stressed anymore; on the contrary, he seemed relaxed now, his mouth settling into a soft smile. Then, he started to lean forward.
Instantly, Ace felt the bored expression plastered onto his face start to crumble. He couldn’t help the way his body involuntary leaned back a smidge—but he managed to yank it back under his control before Deuce could notice.
This wasn’t the first time they had kissed, of course. They’d shared little pecks in the past; pecks that Ace would even initiate sometimes. Small, fleeting gestures that filled Ace’s chest with warm and had him smiling giddily for the rest of the day.
But Deuce’s intent with this kiss was clear; he wanted to kiss Ace. So, Ace had barely managed to open his mouth and close his eyes before Deuce’s lips hit his own, and what followed was a complete mess.
Ace held back a wince as he felt his own chapped lips lock against Deuce’s, and he could barely stop himself from squirming uncomfortably at just how close he was to Deuce.
No, close isn’t the right word; they were connected. And all at once, it was just too much for Ace. There was too much movement, and spit was catching on his lip, and it was too hot, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe, and—
Suddenly, the scolding heat of Deuce’s lips left Ace, and he felt his lungs expand as he gulped down as much air as he physically could.
Ace opened his eyes and peaked at his partner—but at the horrified expression on Deuce’s face, Ace wished he had just kept his eyes closed. He turned away, ashamed, and an awkward silence fell over the room.
Then Deuce softly spoke up, “Ace, take a deep breath.”
Startled, Ace realized that he wasn’t breathing properly. He sucked in a deep breath, did a quick 1-2-3 count in his head, and released the breath as slowly as he could. After a few cycles of this, he finally felt his mind clear up, and his face went red with shame. He didn’t bother to turn back to Deuce; he just kept staring stubbornly at the ground, trying his best to burn a hole into the carpet.
“Ace.” Deuce’s fingers lightly grasped Ace’s elbow, to which Ace leaned into the warm comfort. “Please, look at me.”
Ace’s eyebrows furrowed. “Look, I’m sorry that I freaked out—I dunno what happened there.” He forced out a casual chuckle. “Hey, this relationship is already progressing fast enough. Maybe let’s cool it on the PDA, yeah?”
Despite the tense situation, Deuce rolled his eyes minutely. “It isn’t ‘PDA’ if we’re not in public,” he mumbled. His mood then sobered up. “Seriously, Ace. You…if you’re not comfortable with us kissing, then-“
“Deuce, you’re my boyfriend.” Ace finally turned towards Deuce, because the last thing he wanted to do was make Deuce feel bad about his own shortcomings. “If I wasn’t fine with kissing you, I wouldn’t have said yes to your confession. It comes with the territory.” But as he said those words, a bitter pit formed in his stomach. …I just wish it didn’t.
Deuce then snapped. “That face.”
Ace blinked. “Huh?”
Deuce grabbed Ace’s hand - the one without the glove - and held it gently between his own two hands. Holding eye contact, he said quietly, “I don’t like when you make that face. It tells me that you’re thinking something stupid. You know you can tell me anything, right?” His gaze went downwards towards their hands, and he started lacing his fingers with Ace’s. “Plus, we don’t need to kiss to be boyfriends,” he added absentmindedly. “We’re already dating, right? Obviously I’d be fine if you didn’t want to kiss or whatever.” He then snapped as an idea popped into his head. “I think Trey-senpai said he left some sweets in the fridge. Wanna go raid it?”
But even though the conversation had seemingly moved on from the heavy topic, one sentence that Deuce had said made Ace tense up as if he was doused with ice-cold water. ‘Plus, we don’t need to kiss to be boyfriends.’ The sentence echoed throughout Ace’s head.
“You’re wrong,” Ace said faintly.
“-think they have cherry, and- what was that?” Deuce stopped in his rambling. “Sorry, I didn’t-“
“We’re boyfriends,” Ace said, his tone in an uncharacteristically serious tone. “Of course we have to kiss. I signed up for kissing and touching and stuff when I said yes. I’m fine with it.”
“Well, some people think that way, I guess,” Deuce allowed, “but no one has to kiss all the time with their partner to confirm that they’re dating. It depends on the relationship, right?” He said it as if it were the most obvious thing ever.
Those words were like a punch to the gut to Ace. “…No way,” he muttered. “That’s- Deuce, stop lying. Isn’t that just friendship at that point?”
“…No??” Now Deuce was looking outright confused. “There’s a difference between romance and friendship. I’m definitely in love with you, Ace.”
“I love you too,” Ace replied easily, “but, like…couples kiss.”
“Sometimes,” Deuce nodded.
“And- and they touch and stuff.” Ace’s voice was growing noticeably more desperate.
Deuce was now concerned. “Sometimes. But Ace—you know that you don’t have to touch your partner if you don’t want to, right?”
“But isn’t that how people are attracted to others??”
“No,” Deuce shook his head. “Ace, you can love someone without being physically attracted to them.”
“I know that,” Ace replied, now growing a little snappish. “I just…”
Abruptly, Ace remembered how his old friends in junior high would talk about people sometimes. One of them would say something like, “Look at this girl! She’s so hot!” And another would nod and reply, “Yeah, she is!” But every time Ace would look at the pictures of said women, he never felt anything. Sure, he was able to objectively piece together why someone else would think that she’s attractive—but those women would never stir any emotions in him. So naturally, after he broke up with his old girlfriend, he had thought that he was attracted to men.
But now, at this very moment, Ace was coming to a startling realization: he didn’t think men were attractive either.
Sure, he could appreciate a man’s traits. Eric Venue was what Ace wanted to look like when he grew up, Vil Schoenheit was probably the most beautiful person in school, and he could even see why everyone thought Epel was ‘cute’!
But now that he looked at Deuce - Deuce, who was giving Ace such an earnest look that it made Ace sick - Ace realized that he loved Deuce more than words could convey.
He also realized that he was not attracted to Deuce.
“I…” Ace could barely push the words from his throat. “…Are you sure? Couples don’t…have to kiss?”
Deuce nodded vehemently. “Obviously! My mom told me that couples should agree on what they’re comfortable with.” He squeezed Ace’s hand and made a thoughtful noise. “Hey, now that I think about it, we should probably talk this out. Set boundaries and stuff, y’know? Actually, we probably should’ve done that before I tried to kiss you like that. What about right now? Let’s-“
Ace cut Deuce’s rambling off by lunging at him with enough force to tip the two over. Ace wrapped his arms around Deuce’s neck right before they landed on the bed, and Deuce made a surprised noise.
“Ace? You good?”
“Shut up,” Ace mumbled, turning his head to plant his face into Deuce’s chest. “…Thank you.”
“…You’re welcome?”
And right there was another reason why Ace loved Deuce so much; he could be so dumb sometimes.
Deuce then wrapped his arms around Ace in return, interlocking his hands together. Ace sighed in contentment. “You know what? Let’s just go to sleep right now.”
Those words caused Deuce to roll his eyes, and he quickly sat the two of them back up, releasing Ace from his hold. “No. I need to finish my homework.”
“Dude, that’s our third period class. You’ll have time to finish it tomorrow.” Ace shot Deuce a charming grin, to which Deuce snorted, as he recognized said smile as Ace’s ‘I’m-trying-to-lead-you-down-the-road-of-failure’ smile.
“No, Ace.” And with that, the tender moment between the two was broken, and Deuce stood up and walked back over to his desk to continue his homework.
The rest of the evening was spent casually. Deuce eventually finished his homework and the two ended up cuddling in Ace’s bed together—without a hint of a kiss.
And for the first time since Ace had been in this relationship with Deuce, he thought to himself, He really is the one, huh?