When the Lights Are Dim

I sighed as I wiped down the bar with the damp dish cloth, clearing away all the crumbs. I didn't really feel like working today. It had just been one of those days. You know? The ones where you just feel like curling up in bed and sleeping? I had to work though, it was a Friday night, and those are our busiest nights. It was the only night we brought in another person to work, and Toni was nice; don't get me wrong. I just... shit was happening in my life and it was getting hard to keep my work life and my personal life separate.
I stifled a yawn and rubbed my eyes. I threw the cloth in the sink and checked on the fridges. We needed more Bundy Rum cans, Jim Beam cans, Jack Daniels cans and XXXX Gold stubbies, as well as more Coke. I grumbled in annoyance at the fridges being seriously understocked and pulled in all the necessary drinks.

I stepped back from the fridge and suddenly my vision went black as hands covered my eyes. I jumped and stifled a shriek while my 'attacker' just laughed.
I knew that laugh. My heart jumped and a smile broke out on my face.
"A-Ace!" I scolded, trying to keep the laughter out of my voice.
"You are so easy to scare!" he laughed loudly.
I peeled his fingers off my skin, ignoring the butterflies in my stomach and the tingling where his hands had been.
"You almost gave me a damn heart attack!" I said, slapping him in the chest.
He barely flinched as his grin widened.
"And what if that was my intention all along?" he asked, teasingly.
I playfully pouted at him, looking up at his playful green eyes.
"Then you're mean!" I laughed.
"Aw, I'm sorry...here!" he said, wrapping his large, tattooed arms around my smaller frame.
I fought to hold back my blush as I hugged him back. I raised on my tip toes slightly and rested my head on his shoulder. His arms tightened around me, drawing me closer to him. I bit back my shit-eating grin and cuddled into his cuddly body. I drew in his scent and my eyes fluttered shut. For one moment I pretended he was mine. I allowed the butterflies to take over and my body to tremble slightly. I let myself feel the tingles where his skin brushed mine and allowed my heart rate to climb.
Within a matter of seconds I had dreamed up my own world where Ace and I were dating and he loved me.
Ace gave me one last squeeze before letting me go, dispelling my dream. He gave me an expectant look and I chuckled.
"Fine. You big wuss, I forgive you," I teased.
He gave me his bright smile and I shook my head laughingly at him. I locked away all my feelings for my 22 year old co-worker and ignored all the signs that I liked him.
"So, when's your mum coming in?" I asked him.
"I dunno, probably around seven-ish. I'm taking her shift though," Ace said, putting his phone, ipod and wallet away.
Fuck. That was just what I needed. Hours of meaningless flirting, teasing touches and conversations and thoughts that continually make me blush. What could possibly go wrong?
I hope you picked up on the sarcasm.

"One lemon, lime and bitters, one Toohey's New schooner, two pots of Gold and a scotch and dry," the man in front of me ordered.
I nodded and gave him a smile.
"Coming right up!" I said cheerfully.
Ace had overheard the order and had already set out helping by pouring the beers. I quickly grabbed a tall glass and a short glass. I tossed the ice into the glass before reaching for the scotch and bitters bottles. With one in each hand I poured the desired amount of each into the glasses. Ace moved onto the schooner as I added lime juice and and lemonade to the tall glass. I then went to grab the ginger ale from the fridge, but was stopped by Ace pouring in the ginger ale and finishing the drink off for me. He gave me a small smirk and I shook my head at him, smiling my thanks.
"That'll be $20.20 all up," I said, ringing it up through the till.
The man nodded and coughed up the correct amount. I took it and gave him a warm smile.
"Thanks," he mumbled, trying to pick up all the glasses.
"Would you like some help?" I offered.
"Nah, she's good," he grunted as presumably his wife helped him with the glasses.
"Alrighty, enjoy!" I said.
"Hey, where's the ginger ale?" Ace asked.
He was a newbie so he didn't know where everything was yet.
"Oh, sorry. Here, I'll show you," I said, checking to make sure there weren't waiting customers.

I walked out from behind the bar and through the back of the pub to where the boxes of soft drink were kept. I unlocked the door and hastily kicked a box to prop the door open and let a bit of light into the room. Ace stepped in carefully over the box...and promptly whacked his head on a shelf. I burst into a fit of giggles as he cursed loudly.
"MEAN!" he declared.
I laughed again and ruffled his hair affectionately.
In return he playfully swatted my hands away and held my wrists away from his hair.
"You're such a girl!" I teased.
He made a face at me and let go of my wrists only to lock me in a loose headlock and ruffle my hair. I grunted but just went with it. He looked slightly disappointed in my lack of reaction to him messing up my hair. I chuckled lowly to myself and broke out of his 'headlock'. I stepped slightly ahead of him and further into the store room.
There were boxes piled five high on the floor and two shelves that were stocked with smaller cartons of soft drink according to how often we used them up. Ginger ale, for example was on the top shelf while creaming soda was on the bottom shelf.
"Of course," I grumbled, seeing the ginger ale right at the back.
I sighed and went up on my tip-toes and reached for it but I couldn't quite reach. I could just touch the box, but I didn't have that extra inch to grab the box.
"Here, I'll grab it," Ace offered, stepping forwards.
I stepped back and watched Ace reach up for the ginger ale. I couldn't help but eye him off, the way the muscles actually stood out against his skin, the tanned skin of the small sliver of back I could see...
"See something you like?" Ace asked with a shit eating grin on his face.
Oh. My. God. He caught me.
My face turned five million shades of red before I casually shrugged.
"I've seen better," I stated simply.
It was a lie of course, no one could get better than this beautiful piece of man-flesh. I sound like an Orc, don't I?
"You just keep telling yourself that," Ace winked.
My heart skipped a beat and I ferociously fought the blush that was trying to rise.
"Don't worry darling, I was checking your ass out too," Ace said carelessly.
My mouth dropped and I stared after him in shock as he trotted towards the door.

In a seriously fucked twist of fate, the lights suddenly flicked off, plunging all of us into darkness. I made a small squeak of surprise and I heard a crash and a bang as the door slammed shut.
"SHIT! FUCK!"
"Ace?" I asked timidly.
"No, it's Freddy Krueger," Ace's sarcastic reply came.
I laughed.
"Good to know you're still alive," I said.
"Of course I am, I'm invincible," Ace snorted derisively.
"How's the ginger ale?" I asked.
"You're asking how the ginger ale is, when I'm the one who tripped?" Ace asked incredulously.
"I know you're okay idiot, you're talking," I laughed tensely.
"I resent that!" Ace said, offended.
I shook my head at him and sat on the ground. The closet was literally pitch black. I hated it, I had a slightridiculously large fear of the dark and being in this closet was making me feel slightly claustrophobic.
"So, once upon a time there was a guy called Freddy Krueger--" Ace started cheerfully
"DON'T. Even. Go there," I threatened.
"Whoa, you okay?" Ace asked, his voice had become concerned.
I swallowed hard.
"Yeah, I'm good," I laughed forcefully.
I would rather die than admit I was afraid of the dark. But it was so scary! The boxes were sliding up the walls and becoming huge monsters. Every crevasse between the boxes was a haven for red-back spiders and Sydney funnel-webs and the like. Each creak I heard was a ghost's hands reaching out for my throat. As if on cue, I felt shivers go up and down my spine and I muffled a small shriek. I pulled my legs up to my chest and clenched my fists in my jeans. I focused on keeping my breathing calm, because right now it was shaky and alarmingly fast.
"Seriously, Rose, are you okay?" Ace asked.
I gulped and nodded fast. I didn't trust myself to speak. I heard shuffling and even though the rational part of my mind knew it was just Ace the irrational part interpreted the sound as Freddy Krueger coming to kill me.

A warm, solid arm draped over my shoulder and pulled me into a warm body. My painfully tense muscles relaxed slightly as the smell of Ace washed over me.
"Aww, Rose...you're shaking," Ace said pityingly, pulling me in closer.
Both of his arms circled around my waist as he pulled me into his lap. I threw the rest of my dignity away as I curled into his embrace.
"I'm sorry about the Freddy Krueger thing, I didn't think you'd freak out," Ace apologised.
"No, no, I-I, you didn't know. I..." I sighed, "I'm terrified of the dark."
"Oh, me too, but I'm not afraid when I have others with me. If I were alone I would be crying like a sissy," Ace laughed.
I knew he was lying but it made me feel better all the same. I managed a small laugh and a small smile.
"Ah! There we are, that beautiful laugh we all love," Ace said, hugging me tighter.
"Ace, I'm not four," I laughed.
"I for one, am very glad for that," Ace breathed in my ear.
Shivers went down my spine again--but for a different reason. I suddenly became hyper-aware of where I was, who I was with and what was happening. I swallowed hard and looked down. Ace gave a small sigh and rested his head back.
"So...the door...?" Ace asked.
"Locks from the outside unfortunately," I sighed.
"Soo, when's the light gonna come back on?" he asked.
"Uhh, judging by the fact it's gone several minutes and hasn't come back on...possibly two, maybe three hours?" I guessed.
"Shit... that's a long time to be playing 21 Questions..." Ace remarked.
I laughed absurdly.
"What?" I asked.
"Well we've gotta pass the time somehow," Ace pointed out.
"True, you go first then," I prompted.
"Fine, so what was..."

"So then I lunged at him, trying to get my shit and I conveniently forgot that I was on a boat and I plunged face first into fucking freezing water!" Ace finished.
I laughed heartily with him and shook my head at his antics.
"Oh, God...I can't believe you did that..." I laughed.
"Ugh, it took me weeks to get the scent of filthy pond water and bird shit and rotting crap out of my hair," Ace groaned, running his hands through his beloved hair.
I sighed in contentment and leaned my head on his shoulder. I was completely curled up against Ace now, I had my hands and arms locked around his waist and my knees were tucked underneath me, through his legs. He had his head resting on mine, which was nestled under his chin, and one arm was curled over my side, supporting my back slightly and the other was constantly gently tickling my skin or rubbing my arms to keep me warm or fiddling with my hair. My heart was steaming along like a steam engine and the butterflies were fluttering up a storm in my stomach. I knew he was, to an extent, flirting with me... and had been for awhile, but I didn't want to believe in something that was untrue.
"Rose?" Ace asked.
"Yeah?" I responded.
"Have you ever wanted to do something...but been too afraid to?" Ace asked.
My immediate thought jumped to him and me, but I knew that wasn't it. I knew he liked someone that was perfect for him and incredible and beautiful and funny and sweet, and I wasn't nearly half of those things.
"Plenty of times," I answered, sensing there was more.
"So...what did you end up doing?" Ace asked.
"Doing it. Or get forced into it by friends. Either way, it brought me less regrets," I replied honestly.
Ace hummed in response. He twisted a lock of my hair in his fingers before letting go of it. His hand moved up to my chin and tilted it up, and before I could think his lips were pressed to mine.

In that moment everything stopped. My heart stopped, my breathing stopped, time itself stopped. All I could feel was Ace's soft lips that I had been fantasising about for months, pressed against mine. They were every bit as soft as I'd imagined them. Somewhere, in the back of my mind there was a voice screaming that I was just sixteen and this couldn't happen, but as my heart restarted with a jolt, I ignored it. I felt Ace start to pull away, due to my lack of response and I panicked slightly. I tilted my head up a bit more and gently began to kiss back.

A small sigh escaped from Ace and his hand moved from my chin and to the back of my head. His fingers twisted into my hair and his other arm tightened around my back, drawing me in closer, if that was possible. Our mouths moved together in a desperate but soft way, like we were satiating a need; a need for one another. My hands moved up to twist into his long, multi-coloured hair and his hands travelled down to my hips. They tightened there and he pulled away for a moment just so he could move me. I was now kneeling/sitting on his legs and he was sitting back against the wall. He smirked somewhat and raised his knees, they bumped me gently and I jumped slightly.
Ace's chest rumbled slightly in laughter and I smacked him gently.
"Ass," I murmured to him.
His response was to lean up and kiss me, effectively making me putty in his hands.

He lowered his knees and his hands moved down to the backs of my thighs. Fire raced along down my spine and I trembled. He pulled me closer and I tilted my head down slightly and I smiled slightly as I felt his slight shadow against my skin. His hands skimmed up my back, to the small of my waist and he left his hands there. His thumbs circled slightly in the area and the butterflies kicked up a tornado in my stomach.
"Still an ass?" he mumbled against my lips.
"Very much so," I teased back, taking his lower lip in between my teeth.
He growled softly and his grip tightened slightly on my waist. I was pleasantly surprised to feel a slight tremble in his hands. I tugged very gently on his lip, which was still between my teeth and sucked slightly. A cross between a growl and a groan escaped his mouth and in the blink of an eye he had me leaning back on my elbows with him on his knees over me, kissing me with a fire and intensity I'd never come across before.

Fire boiled through my veins as he quickly took control of the kiss, and consequently, me. One arm circled around my waist and he pulled me against him so that we were flush against one another. I groaned as he nibbled, bit and pulled at my lip. My breathing hadn't been right since Ace had rocked up for work but now I was heaving for breath, pulling it in with huge, ragged gasps. His mouth disconnected from mine and I whimpered slightly as he began to kiss and bite my neck. My hands fisted in his shirt and I tilted my head back, giving him more access.

A buzzing sounded from overhead and suddenly the lights flashed back on, blinding both Ace and I. I made a small sound of discontent as Ace swore and pulled away from my neck, the light successfully breaking the mood. I looked at him. Now that the light was on, I was suddenly afraid. What was going to happen now? What did this mean? Was this an accident? Were we 'something' now?
Ace muttered something under his breath.
"Sorry?" I asked out-of-breath.
He gave me a small grin.
"Cock block," he said quietly.
I grinned and looked at him in the eyes. He stared straight back. There was a depth and an emotion in those green eyes that I hadn't allowed myself to see for months. Ace was just as afraid as I was, but it wasn't an accident. I realised that I was still in his dominating embrace and I blushed. I pushed on Ace's chest so that he was sitting back against the wall and I moved so that I was once again curled up against his chest. His arms circled around me gently and he rested his head on mine again. My eyes slid closed and I listened to Ace's racing heartbeat pound in my ears.
"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that," he mumbled.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure I do," I responded.
"Since we first met?" he asked.
"Damn straight," I laughed.
Ace laughed quietly before pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
"So...where does this leave us?" Ace asked.
I found the insecurity in his voice absolutely adorable.
"Where do you want it to leave us?" I asked.
"I dunno...somewhere... together?" he mumbled.
I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. I raised my head and gently pressed my lips to his.
"Sounds good to me," I mumbled.
"But... we can't let our parents know. They'll flip because well, I'm twenty-two and you're sixteen," Ace sighed.
"My parents don't know jack about my life, but are you okay with yours not knowing?" I asked.
"I want to be with you more than anyone else in the world, I'm fine with it," Ace said softly.
I smiled widely and kissed him again.

We jumped apart as we heard the door unlock and more light filtered through. I squinted up at the person and saw Ace's brother, Cody. He smirked when he saw us and shook his head.
"C'mon, everyone's been really worried about you two," Cody snickered.
Ace glared at him as he stood up and offered me a hand. I took it and Ace pulled me up and slid his arm casually around my shoulder. Cody smirked more.
"And so they should be worried..." he mumbled under his breath.
Ace whacked him on the upside of the head and tossed him the ginger ale.
"Take that to Rob," Ace grumbled.
Cody shook his head and walked off. Ace waited until he was gone and then pulled me closer by my hips before giving me one last breath-taking kiss.
"Sorry, just had to do that," Ace teased.
"It's fine," I whispered.
Ace smiled and wrapped his arm around my waist, before walking off with me in tow.
"I should really rig the lights to go off more often."