Ronnie was still worried about Ace. Fenton was as well, and Ronnie visited to give him updates. Ronnie felt a little weird that he never told Ace that he was telling Fenton what they talked about. Ronnie only talked about the general things instead of specifics to lessen his guilt.
After a few times Ronnie went to visit Ace, he finally was no longer paranoid and agreed to leave his house. Ronnie was more excited than Ace was when he said he was going outside. They went to the outdoor ice skating rink, and Ace was finally happy that his arm had healed.
Every wound of those who had powers healed quickly, and it was possibly the only thing Ace liked about being different.
Ace was sure that he was ready to be around people again, but quickly changed his mind when he saw how many people were at the outdoor ice skating rink.
"I feel sick," he told Ronnie.
"How about we come back when there are fewer people," Ronnie suggested. Ace loved this idea and was more than happy to go back to the car. Ronnie racked his mind, trying to think of places they could go that didn't have a lot of people.
He decided on the movie theatre. It was a Tuesday at 11 AM, and not many people were there. They stood in the almost empty lobby, and Ace's anxiety started to go down.
"Is this okay," Ronnie asked. "It's dark in the movie theatre and you don't have to see people either."
"How are you so good at this," Ace asked. "Figuring out what I don't like?"
"My sister has anxiety," Ronnie explained. "She doesn't like to tell anyone."
"Nia? Really!?"
"She's better. Nia takes medication now."
Ace worried that he would be one of those people that are always sick. He told himself, maybe it's not so bad if Nia takes medication too. Ronnie and Ace choose a random movie to watch, not knowing what was playing, and Ace bought the food. Ronnie protested but Ace assured him it was fine.
"My dad's life insurance left me a lot," Ace said. Ronnie quickly dropped the topic, and they roamed the unfamiliar movie theatre to find their showing.
Ace and Ronnie sat at the middle back, and once the lights dimmed he started to get anxious again. Ace was sure that some monster was going to creep out of the shadows and grab them both. He sipped his ridiculously large soda and tried to focus on the movie, tapped the sides of the cup, trying to find anything to touch, just so he wouldn't run screaming out of the theatre.
The both of them had no idea what the movie was about, so they didn't know what to expect. Twenty minutes in, they realized it was a horror movie. Twenty-two minutes in, it was a horror movie with zombies and Ace started to scream.
At first, people thought he was afraid like the rest of them. The zombie jumped out at them during a cutaway and they all shrieked, but Ace wouldn't stop screaming and Ronnie had to pull him out of the theatre. People were complaining and Ronnie was worried that Ace wasn't afraid of the movie but something else.
Ace was embarrassed as he sat in the backseat of Ronnie's car.
The heat was on high and Ronnie sat with him until he calmed down. "I'm sorry," Ace mumbled. "I don't think I'm over it."
"It's okay," Ronnie assured him. "I don't think you should be. It was recent."
"Let's do something else."
"You don't have to...I think maybe I should just take you home."
"I don't want to go home. It's too quiet now."
He grabbed Ronnie by his sleeve and had a vacant look on his face. Ronnie was now afraid to leave him alone and promised him that they could find something else to do. He hugged Ace and he hugged him back, more than happy for the skin-ship.
It had been so long since Ace had human contact since he lived alone, his father was gone, and he isolated himself from everyone else.
"I've missed hugs," Ace whispered.
He didn't let go and Ronnie looked at the car's ceiling wondering if he was misreading signals over the past few days. Ronnie and Ace held each other and didn't say anything. Ronnie let him lean onto him, his head resting on his shoulder, and told himself that doing anything would be taking advantage of him.
Ace didn't care for a short while about being alone with him. He trusted him again and wanted someone to be around. Ronnie decided that they had been together too long, and started to move, but Ace grabbed him by the shirt.
"Don't leave me," Ace said.
Ace kissed Ronnie and they were both quickly swept up in their emotions.
They made out in the backseat of his car, desperate and aroused after about a week of unspoken attraction. The windows in the car started to fog up, and they continued, groping each other's chest and soon making their way downwards.
Ace moaned when Ronnie stuck his tongue in his mouth, and shuddered as the piercing rubbed up against his tongue. Soon Ronnie was on top of him and Ace was nervous.
Ronnie felt him stiffen up and stopped kissing him.
"Are you nervous," Ronnie whispered in his ear.
"Yeah."
"We can stop anytime."
"Can we just kiss?"
"Hell yes," Ronnie exclaimed. Ace flushed red and Ronnie kissed him again, making good on his promise. Ace no longer was scared and gripped him by the waist. He shivered when Ronnie kissed his neck and they started kissing desperately again as if now was the only time they would ever get to be alone when they had been alone for the past week.
Ace got hard and was embarrassed, but Ronnie didn't say anything about it. He stopped kissing him and told him that it's about time to go before we get in trouble. Ace glanced away and saw the fogged-up windows and remembered that they were in a parking lot and that it was the middle of the day.
The car ride back was very quiet.