#nace week

She had to do it.

That’s what Nancy kept telling herself as she left the prosecutor's office.

It was to save Ace’s life.

That’s what she told herself whenever someone made a snide remark.

There was no other choice. 

That’s what she told herself when she walked out of her house one day to eggs being thrown at the windows. 

I couldn’t lose you. 

That’s what she told Ace as she hugged him tighter than she’d ever had before, her hand entangled in his hair to stop it from shaking.

You made the right choice.

That’s what Ace told her after he caught her crying over the hate emails she’d been receiving.

She sniffed. “I know, but-“

“But nothing,” He said firmly as he sat next to her, the bed bending under his weight. “You saved my life, Nance.” 

“But they don’t know that!” Her hand fell onto the keyboard, a random assortment of letters appearing in the new message box. “They don’t know everything you went through, they don’t know-” 

“They don’t know anything.” Ace cut her off, gently taking her hands away from the laptop and closing it. Nancy gave him a look, which he ignored. “They have no idea what they are talking about, which means their words mean nothing.” 

“They mean something, Ace.” Her hands fidgeted in his, her thumb running over his. Her leg bounced in the crisscrossed position she sat in, shaking her whole body. “Words always mean something- and the stares? You see how they look at us. Everyone hates me, they can’t trust me anymore.” She took a shaky breath in an attempt to calm herself down. “That is the only thing I had, and it’s gone.”

“No, it’s not.” He shook his head, waiting until her eyes met his. “It’s not. You got me.”

She scoffed slightly. “You know what I mean.” Her hands escaped his, opening her laptop once more. She scrolled through her recent email list. “I mean, look at this. There’s no end, every single one of these is hate. It’s not stopping.”

“Nancy, I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but they are just stupid. They’re stupid, middle-aged assholes who have nothing better to do with their lives than send you hate. So you have to just ignore them.”

“How do I do that when people are throwing eggs at my house?” She turned towards him, her lip quivering slightly.

“Well for starters-“ He took the laptop from its spot next to her, moving it to the nightstand. “We stop looking at emails and start focusing on something else.”

“Like what, Ace?” 

He hesitated for a moment, wondering if the idea forming in the back of his mind was worth mentioning or not. “Kittens.” 

Nancy stared at him, the quiver in her lip increasing as she took a breath in. “Please do not have a stroke on me right now, I swear to god-”

“The Kitten Cafe on Johnson.” Ace hid a small smile on his face from her reaction. “We go there for an hour, and if people talk, I’ll be right there. And so will 16 kittens.” 

She had to smile, seeing the joy in his eyes at the idea. “Alright fine.”