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one-sunny · 2 months ago

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Cabin by the Lake | The Departure

Portgas D Ace x F!Reader, Modern AU series

09- When Luffy’s birthday turns into a group get away to a small cabin by a lake, you cannot deny his own brothers an invitation. Surely the week long get away would leave a lasting impression with his eldest sibling.

Saturday: The Departure

The morning came early following such a restless night.

You were absolutely drained, physically and emotionally. As you carried through the task of packing up your suit case, you felt eyes on you, tracking your every slow move.

Nami and Robin weren’t oblivious to your mood. To your sudden change in demeanor. It was something you undoubtedly would have to explain… eventually. You weren’t quite ready to dive into all of the details.

You weren’t even sure about how you felt to begin with. It was a swirl of negative emotions. Hurt, from being strung along in such a way. Upset, for failing to push him away as you barely tried to do. Stupid, for thinking that you know the man better than that, even though it has only been nine days. Dumb and a little bit delusional for moving so fast.

There was no way to pinpoint just one.

Ignoring the looks, you move out of the room to collect your hygiene items from the bathroom. From there, you catch you reflection in the mirror, the many nights of terrible sleep seemingly catching up to you in the form of heavy eye bags.

Nami and Robin are gone when you return to the room and you almost feel bad for the relief that floods through you. Tossing your items in you your suitcase, you attempt to focus on the menial task of packing. Of fitting all your items into the bag, plus some. As you gather up your things, your eyes catch the green scale pattern and your heart effectively sinks.

That hat. That’s stupid, stupid hat.

You had half a mind to throw it away but you can’t bring yourself to do such a thing. To throw out the memory of that day. Instead, you angrily throw it atop your clothes and slam the thing shut. As you’re zipping up the bag, a knock rings into the air and your muscles tense.

“Hi.” Ace breathes, looking like a deer caught in headlights despite being the one to initiate the conversation. You scramble to stand on your feet, shifting on your weight at his intense focus. The silence drags and your mind runs a mile a second. “We, uh, we’re about to head out.”

“Okay, bye.” You rock on your heels for a moment, unsure of what to even do with yourself and entirely uncomfortable with the situation. Ace has been such a comfort. Calming, yet entirely exciting. Now… your mind is screaming at you to get out. You try to step around him to leave the room but Ace scrambles to block your path.

“I just-“ He stops talking just as abruptly as he started. “Doll, I-“

“Don’t.” The emotions in your voice betray you at the sound of that name. Doll. It made you want to scream. “Don’t do that.” You shake your head, not allowing yourself to look at him and catch the distressed look on his face. “Just-“ A sharp breath through your teeth. “Please.”

And then you’re stepping around him.

You stomp downstairs, gathering up your best smile, and greeting the others. Once you feel Ace’s presence in the room, Luffy hops up from his seat. “Thank you guys for doing all of this. I like having you guys together like this, where one person doesn’t have to leave early for work or something stupid.” You crack a smile. “So, happy birthday me!”

“Your birthday was yesterday.” Sabo laughs.

“Don’t ruin this!” He groans. “Now everyone, come here. My final birthday wish is a group hug.” Some groans ring out through the room, from Zoro in particular, but everyone complies. Arms thrown around each other in a tight squeeze.

And a warm hand falls on your back. Familiar. Almost searingly so. He wasn’t bold enough to join the group hug so close, but Ace’s hand settles on your lower back anyways. Your breath catches.

Then everyone breaks and Luffy is yelling out his goodbyes as he heads out the door with his brothers. Silence fills the room once the door shut. Eerily quiet. You weren’t exactly a silent group, but the three made a lot of noise. That realization settles into the room.

Nami laughs first.

The rest of you follow.

The air is easy.

You don’t feel quite as tense as the guys finish packing up- Sanji and Franky electing to pack Nami’s car for the three of you. More goodbyes shouted out and Nami is locking the door behind her, dropping the key into the metal box hanging just beside the door.

Her hands place on her hips and she lets out a sigh, “I’m actually going to miss this place.”

“Hey, maybe we could stay here instead of heading back home.” You grin at her. “I’m sure you won’t miss the mall too much.”

“Yeah, as if.” She scoffs, strutting off towards the car.

You elect to sit in the back seat this time, settling comfortably and allowing your gaze to fall towards the window. The trees begin to pass by in a blur, a trip reduced to muddied colors when you expected it all to be bright and sunny. And then to top it off, a raindrop hits the window directly in your line of sight. More soon follow as Nami grumbles about driving in the rain.

The rain is a steady beat in your mind, soothing down your thoughts and allowing a distraction. Your eyes fall to a fat raindrop near the top of the window, slowly inching down, with another close by its side. You track their race until they disappear into the seal to slide down the side of the car. Then, you do the whole thing over with a new set of raindrops. And again.

It’s mindless. Distracting. Exactly the type of thing that you needed. Your eyes droop and you’re falling asleep against that very same window before you even realize it.

As sleep takes over, you don’t notice the concerned look Nami is throwing into the rear view mirror. “I’m worried about her.” Nami murmurs to Robin.

She hums in thought, “Don’t be. She will be okay, it’s not like you can die of a broken heart.” Robin pauses, head tipping. “Well, I suppose the stress and psychological affects can negatively impact her health, but it shouldn’t kill her.”

“Not helpful.” Nami sighs, shaking her head at the woman. “Do you really think that’s what this is? A broken heart?”

“I’m not sure. The only one that could answer that is her.” Robin takes a peak back at you, your face finally peaceful and body fully slumped into the door.

Nami nods in agreement, “We should talk to her, ya know, when we get home.” Robin agrees and silence falls over the car, only a low hum of what ever was playing on the radio. Neither woman attempted conversation. This week was draining with all the social interaction no matter how much they adored their friends.

You don’t wake again until a car door slams to shake the vehicle. Jolting up, you notice Robin slipping outside too. Blinking bleary eyes, you try to catch up to the present, finding yourself in the parking lot of Nami’s apartment complex.

Tired hands fumble with the door, nearly stumbling over in your haste to follow the pair over to the trunk. “ ‘S you just weren’t gonna wake me up?” You pout.

Nami offers a bright laugh, “We would have.”

“Yeah right.” You grumble with arms crossing over your chest. With a soured expression, you move to grab your bags, stepping off to the side to wait for Nami to close up her car. Waking so abruptly certainly had worsened your mood, but your friends were well aware of the true source. They didn’t pester you thus far and that only meant that you were in for it now.

Your tired mind is on autopilot as you follow them into the building, to the elevator, and all the way to Nami’s apartment. She throws the door open and it seems that relief washes over her. To be home. To be in civilization.

“How about we order something to eat?” Nami suggests with a bright grin. “For delivery.” She sighs dreamily at the idea.

“Sounds good, but I do believe I will miss Sanji’s cooking.” Robin sparks a chorus of sighs at this.

The three of you scatter about the living room furniture to discuss what you all want to eat, only mildly annoyed by the fact that it wouldn’t be catered to you by the chef who loved you all dearly. With an order finally placed, Nami sets down her phone, and suddenly all eyes are on you. You attempt to evade the attention but they simply were not having any of it.

“So, can we talk about the elephant in the room?” Nami is glaring at you as she speaks.

“Elephant? Your place is certainly too small for one of those, Nami, and we really need to discuss your spending habits.” The deflection earns a roll of the eyes and a shake of the head in turn.

“Avoiding it will just make things harder on you.” Robin crosses her legs to settle further into her seat. You follow her movements but they are jerky and akin to a child throwing a tantrum.

“What happened?” Nami leans forward in her seat. You blow out a breath and throw your hands in a frustrated half shrug, indicating that you don’t even know for yourself. “So that whole time, you guys never even kissed?”

“No.” Your head falls back.

“I’m not gonna lie, I bet Ussop twenty berry that Ace kissed you when you guys snuck out to go for a drive.” Nami sighs, looking between the two of you. “Don’t remind him of that, please.”

“But you wanted to?” Robin prompts, ignoring the red head.

“That obvious?” You cringe at yourself. For the way you had been acting that entire vacation. For the way you spent so much time with him instead of the others. Wasted.

“Very much so.” She nods in confirmation, reaching over to pat your leg as you let out a long groan.

“There’s obviously more to it though. I can’t see you getting this upset with the guy just because he didn’t make a move.” Nami reasons, eyes watching you close. Then her lips part and her eyes widen. “Unless you tried to kiss him and he-“

You groan loudly to cut her off. She had already connected the dots, you didn’t need to hear it spoken aloud. This leads to much, much further prompting. “He, ugh, he almost kissed me during the fireworks. And last second he- he just…” You dramatically jerk your head to look away from them. Then your eyes are back on them and you throw your hands up for emphasis.

“He turned his head?”

“He turned his head.” You fall back against the seat. “And it just, ugh!” Palms press to your face to yell into your hands. “I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted it so bad and it’s so embarrassing now because he just-“ Your hands throw up into the air for what seems like millionth time as you apparently forget how to express your emotions.

“I just don’t understand. He just seems like he’s so into you.” Nami ponders, sharing a look with Robin. As if the dots would be connected in their silent conversation.

“Yeah that’s what I thought too.” You reply bitterly, arms crossing over your chest. “Now i’m in a worse mood, can we talk about literally anything other than Ace?” The name is grit through your teeth. With hurt and a whole lot of swirling emotions. The pair reluctantly agree.

As the night carries on, you’re not sure if anything can pull you from the slump…

…And Ace doesn’t seem to be fairing much better.

He has been in a sour mood since last night. Since pulling his stupid, idiotic move. Ace barely got any sleep but he was lucky enough to knock out in the car ride back to Luffy’s place.

But the brothers had unfortunately decided to spend the night at the youngest’s apartment following the longest week of Ace’s life. So he was stuck. Watching some horrible comedy movie and eating even worse wings. Perhaps it was all just because he was in such a terrible mood.

Sabo and Luffy’s laughs ring through the air at a particularly scene and Ace finds himself scoffing. So with a huff, Sabo presses pause and all of the attention falls on him. “Why are you in such a bad mood?”

Ace says nothing, plucking a chip from the bag and taking a sudden interest in the shape.

“Is it because of Y/N?” Luffy leans in close and Ace grits his teeth. “I’ve been meaning to ask,” His brother watches his every move. “Why didn’t you kiss her?”

His head whips around to glare at Luffy, mouth dropped open. “What?”

But his little brother presses on. “I thought you were gonna during the fireworks but you chickened out.

“I did not chicken out!” Ace booms defensively.

“Then why not?” Sabo prompts.

“Because-“

“Because you were afraid?” Sabo pushes.

“No, because-“

“Because you’re a big ole baby?” Luffy snickers.

Anger flares in Ace’s stomach. “No! Because-“ Ace gapes for a moment as his brothers stare him down, egging each other on in effort to get the truth. “Because of you Luffy!” He finally explodes to silence them.

They both fall silent for a long moment…

Until Luffy laughs.

“Oh ho, no way. You’re not blaming me for this.” Luffy shakes his head defiantly as Sabo laughs aloud. “I didn’t stop you from finally making a move.”

Ace groans, head thrown back against the couch as he slumps further down. “Not exactly,” He mutters. “But I overhead your conversation with her before the fireworks.”

“And?”

“And she said she would do anything for you. That you guys are best friends and you mean so much to each other.” Ace rubs the heels of his palms into his eyes. “I’d never forgive myself for messing something like that up for you. I know how it feels to lose a best friend and, man, I can’t do that to you.”

Luffy pauses in thought for a moment, before decisively declaring, “That’s stupid.”

“What?” Ace sputters.

His brother laughs as he sits ups. “Ace, I chose you. I didn’t have to share that Sake with you.” He shakes his head. “And I chose her too, I didn’t have to drag her along with me, but I did.” A bright grin splits his face. “I love both of you. There’s nothing either of you can do to make me stop loving the other. You’re my brother and she’s one of my best friends.”

“Lu, you don’t know that-“

“Who do you think I am?” Luffy crosses his arms incredulously. “When have I ever turned my back on a friend?” The two state each other down for a long moment, but Ace ultimately knew that his brother was right. He would ride and die for his friends. He had little care if one friend disliked another or if two were fighting. Monkey D. Luffy loved anyone deemed his friend and it would take a nuclear bomb to even make him consider changing that.

“So,” Ace pauses. “You wouldn’t care?”

“I want to see you both happy, idiot.” He rolls his eyes. “And I may be dumb, but i’m not stupid. We all could see how happy you two were together.”

“Besides,” Sabo grins. “Wouldn’t you want to date someone who knows how to put up with our punk little brother?” He shoves Ace’s arm and the man grins.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Ace runs a hand down his face, sighing slowly. “I have to go see her.”

“Dude, it’s two in the morning.”

“Maybe she’s awake.” Ace considers, but with the long glare from Sabo, he relents. “Fine. I’ll go in the morning- first thing.” Ace taps his fingers nervously. The anxious energy about him was more than obvious and a pit opens d up in his stomach. It has been driving him crazy. His thoughts were plagued by you and you alone.

Oh, what he would give to go back and just kiss you. To know what it feels like to pull you into his arms. To know what your lips tasted like- probably the strawberry chapstick you use. He felt like a love sick child in pondering such a thing.

But that was the very thing that stuck with him until his head hit the pillow.

Series Masterlist | Chapter 10

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#two idiots in love is my favorite #we’re approaching the end everybody #only one more chapter!!!!#looks like i need a new ace series idea #portgas ace x reader #portgas d ace x reader #portgas d ace x you #portgas ace x you #portgas d ace #one-fics

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