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fandomfablesunleashed · 23 hours ago

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“Just roommates”

Ace x reader (she/her)

Chapter 15 of And they were roommates - Modern AU series

warning: alcohol consumption

@captainportgasdace 🫶🫶

As you wove through the crowd, your heart still raced, replaying the memory of that charged moment over and over, feeling raw and exposed. The sweet scent of him lingered in the air, mixing with the vibrant atmosphere of the party, but all you wanted now was space to collect your thoughts and calm the storm of emotions swirling inside you.

You found an empty corner in the room, somewhere you could take a break to catch your breath and try to compose yourself. While you stood there, trying to regain your composure, you couldn't help but wonder how he was reacting to the situation. Was he as shaken as you, or had he shrugged it off and returned to enjoying the party?

“You're okay?” You heard Zoro's voice break through the haze of your thoughts, and you realized you hadn't even noticed him standing there. You glanced over at him, a little envious of his calm demeanor. How did he stay so composed? You couldn't imagine what that must have felt like—like there was nothing rattling around in his head, no emotions to drown in, no confusion to navigate.

You let out a soft sigh, leaning your shoulder against the wall next to him. As you did, you heard the pop of a bottle opening, and you rolled your eyes. He really could drink a lot. Before you could comment on it, he handed you a bottle. You looked at him, surprised, but then noticed the second one clutched in his other hand, just waiting for its turn.

“Um, thanks,” you said, grabbing the bottle and immediately taking a big swig. The cool burn of alcohol hit your throat, and you swallowed, hoping the liquid might smooth over the mess inside you.

Zoro shrugged, his gaze still locked on the crowd, as he continued drinking in silence. The silence between you was oddly comforting, and you appreciated his quiet nature more than usual.

The music pulsed in the background, voices and laughter mingling, but it all felt distant. Every time you tried to pull yourself out of your head, it felt like your mind stubbornly circled back to the same image—the way Ace’s gaze had held yours earlier, another near-kiss that now seemed both too close and impossibly far away.

“You're awfully quiet,” Zoro commented, not even looking at you. “Something on your mind?”

For a second, you were taken aback. You hadn’t expected him to notice, much less ask. He wasn’t the type to pry, but there was something about his steady gaze that made you feel like he actually understood without needing words.

“I… I’m fine,” you replied quickly, though the lie tasted bitter on your tongue. “Just… trying to shake off the night.”

The surrounding music grew louder, and you closed your eyes, trying to focus on something—anything—other than the feelings swirling around in your chest. But then, just as your mind began to drift away from Ace, you felt it—a presence, a sudden pull. You opened your eyes to find him across the room, his back to you as he talked to Sabo.

Your heart stuttered in your chest. There he was. His voice was low, too far for you to hear, but it didn’t matter. You could feel the space between you, the invisible thread that drew your attention to him, no matter how much you tried to look away.

Zoro seemed to sense the change, his eyes flicking toward you and then back to the crowd. “He’s not gonna make it easier, you know,” Zoro muttered, and you almost laughed at how blunt he was.

You looked back at Zoro, his face unreadable, as always. “Yeah,” you replied softly, shaking your head. “I know.”

Zoro didn’t speak again, and you found that you didn’t need him to. The two of you stood there, leaning against the wall, the noise of the party swirling around you. And yet, your mind wouldn’t shut off, even with more alcohol running through your veins. It wandered back to Ace.

Ace was standing in a dark corner of the room, trying to keep his cool. His heart was still thudding loudly in his chest, his skin still tingling from the proximity to you. He could feel the eyes of others on him, curious and perhaps even amused, but he ignored them; all his focus was on you and what had just happened.

He had replayed the moments before the abrupt music change in his mind over and over again: the feel of your body against his, the scent of your hair, the taste of your breath on his lips. His thoughts kept going back to that split second before it all ended, when it had felt like the world had narrowed down to just the two of you.

He was both frustrated and relieved that the moment ended when it did. Frustrated because he wanted more; he wanted to know what your lips felt like on his, desired to find out if kissing you would be as incredible as he suspected it would be. Relieved because there was no way you felt for him what he felt for you.

He looked across the room, seeking you out. He saw you standing in an isolated corner, next to Zoro. He wanted to cross the room, to talk to you, to see how you were reacting, but he was paralyzed with a combination of fear and doubt. What if you hated him now? What if this had pushed you further away from him?

“You okay, man?” Sabo asked, giving Ace a light pat on the shoulder.

Ace jumped slightly, momentarily caught off guard, but quickly regained his composure, plastering a dismissive smirk on his face. “I'm fine. Why do you ask?”

Sabo didn’t seem fooled by the nonchalant tone, his sharp gaze narrowing as he took in Ace’s stiff posture. “You've been standing here for a while, staring off into space. That's not how you are usually at parties.”

“I'm just taking a breather,” Ace muttered, running a hand through his tousled hair, trying to downplay the growing unease gnawing at him. “It's a bit crowded in here.”

Sabo rolled his eyes, clearly seeing through the lie. “You were fine until you were dancing with a certain girl. Now you're standing here like a statue, brooding.”

Ace’s jaw clenched, and his throat went dry as Sabo’s words hit a nerve. His frustration surged, making his stomach churn, and for a moment, he wished he could just vanish into the walls.

“I'm not brooding,” Ace scowled, annoyed that Sabo had seen through him so easily. “Just… thinking, that's all.”

“Yeah, thinking about your roommate,” Sabo said, a sly smile on his face. “You went from practically eating her face to–”

Ace’s face burned at the bluntness, and he felt a sharp pang of embarrassment. He tried to keep it together, but the heat spreading across his face betrayed him. He quickly tried to brush it off with a weak chuckle, interrupting his brother quickly, though his voice came out strained. “I wasn’t eating her face,” he protested, the words feeling hollow even as they left his mouth. “We were just dancing. Having a good time. Nothing weird, alright?”

“Sure,” Sabo said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Nothing weird at all about the two of you getting so close. You were practically glued together. And the look on your faces? Totally normal for just friends and roommates.”

Ace let out a heavy sigh, the weight of Sabo’s words sinking into him. He wanted to deny it, wanted to brush it off as nothing, but he couldn’t. Not with the overwhelming flood of emotions crashing through him. He swallowed, knowing there was no real point in fighting it anymore.

“Fine. We were dancing, and maybe we were a bit too close,” he admitted. “But nothing happened, alright? The music changed, and we broke apart. End of story.”

“Yeah, sure, 'nothing happened,' just like nothing happened during your last game session, right?”

Ace winced as the memory surfaced, his face heating up once again. He instantly regretted telling Sabo about the near kiss, knowing he was going to milk the situation for all it was worth. “I told you that in confidence, you know,” he muttered sullenly, shooting Sabo a look.

Sabo’s smirk never wavered. “Uh-huh,” he said, clearly enjoying this far too much. “And yet, here we are. You and a certain someone, getting all cozy again, but never doing anything substantial.”

Ace glared at him, but he couldn't deny that Sabo had a point. The frustration in his chest was starting to burn hotter, and he was getting so damn tired of dancing around these almost-kisses and almost-moments with you. It felt like you were stuck in a never-ending loop of what-ifs, and it was driving him crazy.

“You know it's not that simple,” he snapped. “She's my roommate; it's difficult.”

The words felt weak even as he said them. He wanted to believe they were enough to explain everything, but inside, it felt like a flimsy excuse. His mind raced, knowing that deep down, he was scared. Scared of the consequences, scared of making things awkward, scared of ruining everything.

“What's so difficult? You like her; she clearly likes you. Just pull your head out of your ass, stop being a coward, and kiss her. You know you both want to.”

Ace felt his blood boil at Sabo’s blunt words. It was infuriating how easily Sabo laid everything out. Just kiss her. As if it were that simple. As if his feelings weren’t tangled up in so much more.

“You make it sound so damn easy,” Ace grunted. “But she's not just some random girl; she's my roommate. If things go wrong, it could get really complicated.”

Before Sabo had a chance to respond, Ace let out a long sigh and muttered, “I'm not even sure she feels the same way about me. I might just be imagining things.”

Sabo rolled his eyes again, clearly growing frustrated. “You're kidding, right? I swear, sometimes you're so blind it's ridiculous. Do you really think she was leaning in to kiss you because she didn't feel the same? People don't do that, Ace.”

He thought back to the moment—how your breath had been so close to his, how your lips had hovered there for just a fraction of a second. It was hard to dismiss that feeling, hard to ignore the small flicker of hope that it might have been real. But then, doubt crept back in.

“Maybe she's just lonely,” Ace insisted, grasping at straws. “It's been a while since she's had a boyfriend, and I'm the one guy always nearby, so maybe…”

Sabo looked at him as though he'd lost his mind. “That's your reasoning? That she's lonely? You really think she would throw herself at the nearest person just because she's lonely?” Sabo’s tone was almost incredulous, as if Ace’s explanation was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard.

And for a moment, Ace felt like a fool. His stomach twisted in knots as Sabo’s words cut through his mind. The idea that he might have been the one misreading everything made his head spin.

Sabo let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head, clearly fed up. “You know what? I can't keep having this conversation with you. You're being irrational and stubborn. I'm going to go dance with Koala.”

Alone in the corner, Ace felt the weight of his own thoughts crushing him. He knew Sabo had a point—hell, he’d been dancing around it for months. But the nagging sense that this wasn’t as easy as Sabo made it sound refused to leave him. You and him, it couldn't be that simple, could it?

Later, you and Ace found yourselves hanging out with the same group. You both did your best to pretend that everything was normal between you, as you kept drinking and forcing smiles for your friends. But neither of you could shake the charge that still lingered in the air between you.

Despite your best efforts to seem casual, you felt off. You tried hard to focus, engaging in the conversation, laughing, and cracking jokes when appropriate. Every so often, you caught him looking at you, and it made your heart stutter. Each time, it was a fleeting moment, but in that split second, it felt like the rest of the world disappeared.

Just when you found yourself gazing at each other again, one of the guys at the table, Deuce, slurred out. “Hey, I've been meaning to ask you two,” he said, waving a beer bottle back and forth between you and Ace. “Isn't it, like, weird living together? I mean, you're both hot and single, any interesting moments to disclose?”

That question got people's attention and all those nearby turned toward you two, waiting for an answer with big grins.

You glanced over at Ace, not entirely sure how to answer that question. The awkwardness in the air between you two made your throat tighten. But before you could find the words, Ace cut in.

“Nah, it's no big deal,” he said with a shrug. “We've been living together for months now; it's completely normal.”

You forced yourself to smile at his words, trying to play along, but inside, you felt a wave of discomfort. His tone was light, but it felt like a defense mechanism, a way to deflect the unspoken tension that had been growing between you both for days.

“Yeah, totally normal,” Sabo chimed. “No awkward situations whatsoever…” His tone was knowing, and several people around the table snickered at the implication.

Ace rolled his eyes, shooting Sabo a dirty look. “Shut up, Sabo,” he grumbled, trying to shut down the conversation before it got out of hand.

The others at the table, sensing an opportunity for some fun, joined in, ribbing you both with more questions and jokes. “Come on, there must have been at least one awkward moment,” someone teased.

Ace gritted his teeth, growing irked by the constant needling. “Seriously, guys, there's nothing going on,” he insisted. “We're just roommates; it's completely platonic.”

You couldn't help but wince internally at his adamant insistence that there was nothing going on. It wasn’t just the words—it was the way he said them, as if he truly believed it, and that belief made you feel smaller than you cared to admit. You tried to push down the knot in your chest, but it wouldn’t go away.

You forced a smile, joining in with a dismissive, “Yep, just roommates. Nothing more.”

The guys around the table were disappointed, clearly hoping for some kind of juicy revelation, and one of them muttered, “Boring.” Thankfully, the conversation moved on, but the weight of the moment stayed with you, heavy in the pit of your stomach.

You took a sip of your drink, trying to ignore the hurt. You knew it shouldn’t bother you this much, that you shouldn’t let Ace's words get under your skin, but they did. Each of his words felt like a quiet rejection, a reminder that maybe the chemistry you felt, the moments you shared, meant nothing to him.

The memory of those two near-kisses flashed in your mind, each one like a spark, igniting the ache in your chest all over again. You could still feel the heat of him against you, the warmth of his breath on your skin.

The memory contrasted with the sharp reality of the present—his rejection of any deeper connection between you both. It stung more than you wanted to admit, and the alcohol in your system made it all feel rawer, the emotional weight settling deeper in your bones. You took another large gulp of your drink, trying to drown out the confusion and frustration building inside you, but the thoughts kept resurfacing.

Ace, on the other hand, was struggling just as much as you were, though he did his best to hide it. Every time he looked at you, the longing would flare up inside him, followed by a flash of frustration. He was trying to convince himself that there was nothing more to it, that it was all just friendship, but the memory of those almost-kisses—the closeness, the chemistry that was impossible to ignore—kept flooding back. No matter how hard he tried to suppress it, he couldn’t shake the need to be closer.

He kept telling himself everything was fine, that it was just normal, and that he could keep pretending nothing had changed. But with each smile, each laugh you shared, with every touch and passing glance, it took everything he had to keep himself from grabbing you and kissing you senseless.

He was trying to drown out the thoughts with alcohol, with conversation, with anything that could distract him from the constant gnawing feeling of need that was growing inside him. But the alcohol only made his feelings more intense, and the more he attempted to keep his distance, the more aware he became of your presence, your scent, and the way you moved.

And each time he fought it, he found himself sinking deeper into the confusion and longing, unsure how much longer he could hold on before everything he was feeling would come crashing to the surface.

#onepiece #one piece fic #ace d portgas #ace one piece #ace portgas #ace x reader #andtheywererommates

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