Hello everyone,

This is my second AceSabo fic, and surely not the last. I just adore the ship so so much and I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

No, it's not incest, they are not related, they do not share DNA and they are aware they are not related. In this setting, they're two normal adults.

Special thanks to:

xTheCherryx - thank you so much for helping with the story and your motivation and inspiration! It really helped talking about the idea and I hope you enjoy it!

d-op - thank you for your help, I hope you enjoy it!

I don't own One Piece nor any of the characters.

"The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again" – Charles Dickens

Ace

The conductor passes Ace a sceptical glance when he moves through the warm, thankfully nearly empty waggon toward the exit. The man's bushy brows are drawn together and he looks both irritated and concerned. Ace can't blame him, to be honest. The station is in the middle of nowhere and the day draws to a close.

"Sir, will you be alright?" the conductor even asks as he's about to step down the few stairs onto the platform. Ace glances up and down the completely empty station. Only a few pigeons coo reassuringly at the far end. There's no one to pick him up, and a lonely, cold breeze tugs at his hair, pushing him back to go inside. He's of half a heart to do so.

"Ah yes, I'll be fine," Ace says with a fleeting smile.

"Well, have a pleasant evening," the conductor says with a snort and Ace nods politely and steps onto the platform. The icy air hits him like a slap in the face. The doors close behind him and he feels queasy when he watches the train gain pace and soon he can hardly see nor hear it anymore.

And he's alone.

He rubs his chest and takes a deep breath. His hands are sweaty and he grips the strap of his bag a little tighter. The air smells like cold rain and wood and earth. No wonder – he's surrounded by fields and shitty roads, woods and meadows. He can dimly see cows and sheep black against the dirty blue night sky and weak stars are blinking down at him through thickening clouds.

It's a mellow atmosphere, quiet, perhaps a little suspicious, but the only suspicious thing here is Ace himself, and he knows that. It's mid-November and the dropping temperatures sting Ace's weary consciousness, it's only barely above zero. He blows into his uncovered hands. They look unhealthily waxen and he curses himself. He should've brought gloves. His phone tells him that they will get biting minus degrees tonight, reaching late into the next morning.

He starts walking. Slowly, reluctantly even, and inside his chest his heart speeds up painfully.

The damn, silly, old thing.

It's been troubling him for way too long now.

He sighs, taking out his phone to type a few quick responses, more to distract himself than to communicate with his friends, but it's futile, anyways – his heart is one persistent piece of shit.

It hasn't stopped aching since he stepped out of the train, onto the empty, forgotten train station scratching at the outskirts of their city. In fact, his heart has been aching since he got into that godforsaken train more than an hour ago, at the central train station, close to his old university campus.

No, actually his stupid heart hasn't stopped aching for almost two years.

A terribly long time to suffer from heartache, truly. Everyone says that.

Like it's so easy to get rid of. To heal.

Ace smiles sadly to himself, his feet starting to freeze uncomfortably in his thin shoes. He's so unprepared, isn't he? He always is.

It's almost 8 pm. Not a reasonable time to be out alone, so far away from any civilization, on a Friday evening in mid-November. Without a car.

But Ace is known to be reckless. And moronic. And impulsive.

And unable to move on.

He sighs and throws his bag over his shoulder, ignoring the growing pain inside his chest. It's nothing new, though, and it certainly doesn't have a physical source, because if it had, he would've done something about it already a long time ago.

But like this… it's not really easy to treat.

His heart hasn't stopped aching for twenty months, which seems like a terribly long time, and it is, in a way, and yet…it really isn't.

At least, for Ace, it was by far not enough time to treat the pain inside his chest. And so he's been carrying it around with him, and in an ironic, twisted way it almost became an accessory, a steady dark shade beneath his eyes and cheeks, the constant sharp line of his mouth even when smiling, the ever-lasting dull gleam in his pupils that were ones so bright and fiery. But alas, his friends had gotten used to it. And so, Ace did too.

Twenty months, huh?

Of course, at first it was…diabolical, a thousand tiny little daggers piercing through him, at every waking second, minute, hour of the day. And only gradually, slowly, it's become a dull, bearable throbbing, a constant companion through his every day work and life, and yet… He can't seem to get rid of it. So he's just gotten used to it. What else should he do, anyways?

Slice his chest open and take out the broken thing and put a new one in?

Well, he would if he could. Yes, he would, he'd do it in an instant.

But he can't.

And that's the reason he's here. That's the reason why, once again, after such a long time, he is being an idiot again and he's about to hurt his already beaten heart even more. Like it hasn't suffered enough yet.

He does it, although his head tells him he should not go, he should not hurt himself like that again, he can't help it. His reason tells him to turn on his heel and walk the way back to the train station, heck, walk the entire way back to the city, but…

There's this evil little demon inside of him, relishing in his inner turmoil, savouring his misery. The small little demon that tells him to keep going, the one that tells him that it's a good idea and that he won't regret it, the one that makes his feet move forward, even when everything else inside him screams to turn around.

Yeah, that fucking little demon called hope.

And Ace…despite what happened twenty months ago…

His hope, although bloody and bent, isn't broken yet.

His demon refuses to die.

Just yet.

The house Sabo now lives in is as far away from the city as can be, without actually leaving the outskirts. So technically he still lives in the city, their city – but it's a sixty-minute train ride away.

Ace was surprised when he looked the address up on Google. He's so way out…it's unlike Sabo. The man is a lecturer now, at least according to their friends. Before they…fell apart, they'd both still been students and living close to their campus. So Ace finds it strange that he lives so far away from his workplace. It's nearly a 40-minute-drive to campus with the car. But who knows, maybe he has generous lecture hours and can avoid the rush hour, Ace has no idea, he can merely speculate.

But Sabo has never been one to purposely avoid the company of others. He used to invite their friends and neighbours over all the time, he loved being close to everyone and be within walking distance to all their favourite places, he also loved being able to just quickly walk down to the street corner and buy groceries or cooking ingredients, because he is a forgetful person.

He loved surrounding himself with people, friends, neighbours, fellow students, working colleagues. He wasn't a loner.

In fact, Sabo didn't like being alone at all.

So him living all on his own now, so far away…is strange. Very odd indeed.

Ace stops walking when he sees the house and against his will, he holds his breath. It's smaller than he thought, more a cottage than anything else and it's situated at the foot of a hill, surrounded by quiet forests and romantic woodlands. Behind the cot, apparently, a pretty vast nature reserve starts, so he doesn't have any neighbours.

Well, he does, but the next neighbour is some weird politician who according to rumours is a regular in several sex clubs in the city and lives fifteen minutes northward from here.

So Sabo is all on his own out here.

Or perhaps he isn't anymore, because Ace heard his friends talk – behind his back of curse, because they know he'd be upset, but he found it out anyways.

His friends had tried to hide the truth to spare him the pain, but there was no helping it, delaying the pain doesn't ease it in the slightest, if anything it makes it worse. And they eventually told him about Sabo's new found love.

Ace still remembers clearly the concern colouring their faces pale, the worried smiles on their lips, as though they wondered if he'd have a breakdown when he'd hear the news.

He didn't have a breakdown, not so long he was surrounded by people that were important to him. Bu then, when he was alone in his flat again... He'd become weak. And then he'd grabbed a bottle of tequila and a few lemons, and then he'd grabbed whiskey and wine and drank himself into a brutal stupor and the next lonely morning he'd woken up with a terrible hangover and a gaping, bleeding hole in his chest that was invisible to everyone else but him.

He has been expecting it. Of course, eventually… He'd expected to eventually hear that Sabo has found someone new. And he'd tried preparing himself for it, although that was not successful at all, as it turned out.

It is still tough on him. He should've expected that, too.

But he handled it. Somehow. By digging himself into his work and assignments, by drowning himself in alcohol, on his own or in the worried company of his friends. He'd distracted himself with punishing workout and miserable one-night-stands with faceless people that left him feeling filthy, empty and wasted.

Yes, wasted is the right word. He just wasted away, not only after hearing the news about Sabo having found someone new. He's been wasting away from the moment Sabo broke up with him. Ace likes to believe that over the last few months he's been doing better already, that he was somewhat nearing a closure and he'd begun to like his life again…but then he'd heard about the news.

And his whole misery came right back at him to throw him back to the ground and trample on him, harder this time, and with more precision. And Ace wonders what's worse, having someone you loved so deeply und unconditionally break up with you, or to learn the fact that this very person, the person you still love with all your being, has moved on and gave their heart to someone else that isn't you and never will be you again.

And god he hated it, hated to hear about it. Hated it so much, hear their friends talk about him, he hated listening, he hated the way their words pierced his chest, but most of all he hated the fact that he was thirsting for it, longing for any small, insignificant piece of information on Sabo, he was craving to hear about him, although it pained him to no end.

It was so, so bad on his heart.

Hearing about Sabo having moved on. Hearing about Sabo having found someone else. Hearing about Sabo being happy again in a brand new, beautiful relationship. Hearing about Sabo not caring at all anymore about Ace and their shared past.

All these stories about Sabo moving on.

Whilst Ace…

Well, whilst Ace is still stuck in the past. And he's been unable to move forward, even an inch.

He's still stuck in the agony he fell into when Sabo…

When Sabo slapped the ring out of Ace's hand.

He lets out a pained sigh. These old memories never fail to make him hurt all over again. It's like having a wound that's halfway closed again, and he keeps on reopening it, scratching the bloody scab off to feel the burning sting again, it's just like that, just a hundred times, a thousand times worse.

Sabo has been able to move on. Sabo's been able to leave it all behind.

And Ace is stuck in his misery. Like a complete fool he's still stumbling through the dark. And part of him loves it. Loves his agony, loves his grief, loves his pain, because if he's still hung up on it all, it means he doesn't have to move forward at all.

Like that… he can maybe pretend that it's not over yet.

His friends tell him to finally get his head out of his ass and move forward. But he can't, not when there is this terrifyingly large part of him still longing for the one man who caused him all this pain in the first place.

And now Ace is here. He came to this place, despite the fact he told himself he wouldn't. But the demon inside him can be frighteningly convincing.

And in a way, he's glad he listened to the fucking demon. Because you can't simply…shut out a person you've shared your life with, you can't just shut them out and turn your back and never think of them again.

Well, yeah, of course you can, you can be childish and avoid seeing them and talking to them, you can force yourself not to think about them, however successful that is – but you can't just erase their importance in your heart, you can't force your heart not to care about them anymore, although it would be best if you would.

He's been debating this trip for weeks. And now he's here.

He sees several windows enlightened in the small cottage. Sabo's car is parked at the side. The grey bricks are covered with ivy and the wooden door is painted red. There's smoke coming out of the chimney. There're potted plants framing the entrance door, although they look pretty dead in the cold weather. Small candles in jars are illuminating the stairs up to the door.

All in all…it looks dreamy and cosy, a little fairytale-like. Welcoming. And warm.

It suits Sabo, Ace finds.

He looks around. In the dark he believes to see the lawn of a garden stretch in the back of the property, before it ends right before the edge of the forest. He frowns.

Wait, was that…?

He narrows his eyes.

That can't be…

A lantern moving in the woods? Now this is some X-Files shit right there. But he's sure about it, uphill, he is sure to see a shadow moving about; it's clear against the unmoving blackness of the trees. It's like the person is holding a flashlight in their hands. Ace relaxes a little. Maybe it's just a lone wanderer walking in the forest.

But this late?

Ace shrugs. Or maybe it's a ranger just doing his job, who knows.

He takes a deep breath. Sabo would freak out, tough. Both of them aren't exactly fond of horror movies, Sabo les even than Ace. And his ex-boyfriend wouldn't like it at all that a stranger with a torch is wandering around the forest just right behind his garden. But it's not Ace's business anymore, is it? Sabo moved here deliberately. So he must deal with such things… And it's not Ace's job anymore to protect him.

He grins tiredly to himself.

eah, keep telling yourself that, you fool…

He straightens his shoulder and steps closer to the front door. It really looks pretty, he has to admit. Definitely a home one would decide to stay living for a longer period of time.

To build a home, suiting all of one's personal tastes and wishes. To build a home for a family, perhaps?

And with that thought, his short wonder gets replaced with dread. He wonders if Sabo's new boyfriend is there with him and the thought alone tightens his stomach and a suffocating feeling starts rising in his chest. He internally chides himself for not having thought about that before.

He grits his teeth. He wonders if the guy is at Sabo's side right now, just as Ace used to be. If the new guys makes Sabo smile right in this moment. If he tells Sabo how beautiful he is, the way Ace used to all this time ago.

He wonders if Sabo…if Sabo makes his new boyfriend feel like he's the happiest man in the universe. The happiest and luckiest man.

Because that's how Ace had felt whenever Sabo had been with him. Whenever the man had told him "I love you" in his thousand different ways of saying it.

Sometimes it'd be the quiet "Sleep tight" when they'd go to bed.

Sometimes it'd be "OHMYGOD did you the see shooting star?! No? Ok then let's share a wish, and no, don't look at me like that, it'll work this time!" when they'd be out late and on their way home, walking hand in hand and they'd study different parts of the sky to see as many passing meteors as possible.

Sometimes it'd be "You're gonna fucking break your neck!" when Ace was doing something dangerous and reckless again. Or was planning to do something dangerous and reckless.

Sometimes it'd be "Oh shit yes I totally forgot, thank you!" when Ace had reminded Sabo that he'd forgotten something at home or in the lecture room. Sabo is a very smart man, but he could be terribly forgetful. So Ace always made sure to remember for both of them.

Sometimes it'd be "Better leave me alone, please, I'm in a shit mood right now and I don't wanna let it out on you" when Sabo was agitated and angry when he came home from his workplace. Or when Ace was pissed off from his shift. They could both be hotheads.

But most of the times it was the quiet, cheerful "I love you", said with an adoring smile and Sabo would've searched for Ace's hand and Ace would lace their fingers together and reply: "I love you, too."

And Sabo would smile, would smile such a gorgeous, gorgeous smile.

And Ace's heart would sing and dance with love and joy and admiration.

Yeah, well…But that was all a long, long time ago.

Ace takes a deep breath. Cold, dead fear coils in his stomach and he feels slightly nauseous. He hasn't seen Sabo in a very…very long time. Such a long time, and he still remembers so clearly, the way Sabo used to smile at him, the way Sabo's lips felt when pressed against his own, the way his fingers felt when they held hands, the way his ocean blue eyes would glow whenever Ace told him he loved him, in the thousand different ways they had.

Such a long…long time ago.

And still not enough time to forget.

Ace swallows hard.

Twenty months ago sounds like it's been a terribly long time, but still, whenever Ace recalls what happened that night…

Fuck this…

There used to be fire in Ace. Passion. Strength and faith. He'd loved his life, he'd loved the people surrounding him, and he'd loved the man at his side, the love of his life, the one man he wants to stay together with until the end of time.

And then…that evening happened.

And of the man Ace once was, is nothing left.

The fire burned down to ashes.

He'd needed weeks to pluck up his courage, and months to save the money for the ring. He'd been turning it over and over in his head, if it was the right moment to do it, if it was the right time, both of them being twenty-two and together since they were seventeen. They'd already lived together at that time; they'd build a life around each other. It was all so picture-perfect and Ace had thought…

That it was a good idea.

It was April 6, last year. He still remembers that evening so punishingly clearly. It was after they'd had a nice dinner with countless candles illuminating the meal Ace has spent three hours preparing, and Ace remembers how they've both put the dirty dishes into the kitchen, and he'd made a joke and Sabo had been laughing. His blue eyes had been shining softly in the light of the candles in their apartment and he'd looked so unbelievably beautiful and Ace still remembers how his heart had skipped a beat, and then Ace had taken Sabo's hand and led him back to their living room, Sabo had told him once again that he was the cheesiest being on earth, and Ace had laughed and then he'd turned around, with his heart beating so fast he thought it'd be audible across town, and he'd fallen on one knee in front of his boyfriend.

He still remembers Sabo's face so clearly. His eyes, widening with shock, before the ocean blue became so cold and his face turned from surprised to aggressive and angry. The way he'd stumbled backwards against the book shelf with a loud rumble and books had fallen off the shelf and he'd been panting hard like he was fighting the urge to throw up.

"NO! No, no, no, no, no, don't, no!"

And Ace had been shocked and sad that he'd made Sabo so upset and he'd started stuttering an apology: "So-sorry, Sabo, listen, it's ok, I get it, p-please calm down, s-see I'll put the ring away, le-let's talk about this, please Sabo –."

But Sabo had been completely out of his mind, it'd been like he was an entirely different person, the way he'd yelled at him, he'd hurled so many hurtful words at him, he hadn't even bothered listening that's how much he'd soaked in his own anger, his whole body shaking with rage and fury and his hands were clenched to angry fists and his eyes were dark, void of any light, and so so hateful and furious and mean.

"GET THAT FUCKING THING OUT OF MY SIGHT AND WHO THE HELL GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO ASK ME THIS FUCKING QUESTION YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK ME ACE JUST WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME I HATE IT HATE IT I HATE THIS RING PUT THE RING AWAY RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" and Ace had been hurt, so hurt but he'd try to calm him down, but instead Sabo had shoved him away hard and then he'd slapped the ring out of Ace's hand.

"Sabo, c-calm down, please, look, I take it back, please calm down and we'll talk about this –"

"NO WE WONT JUST – JUST LEAVE ME ALONE I REALLY DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE RIGHT NOW ACE YOU KNOW WHAT I NEED TO GET OUTTA HERE I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE YOU DID THIS YOU RUINED EVERYTHING ACE FUCKING EVERYTHING!"

And every word had trampled on Ace's heart; every word was a bullet through his chest. And then, with a heated glance that came close to hatred, Sabo had stormed out of their flat.

Ace still remembers the dull sound when the silver ring with the incorporated sapphire in it hit the carpet of their living room and rolled underneath the sofa. He still remembers the sound of the front door being slammed close so hard the windows clattered.

And Ace was still standing there, frozen, unable to comprehend what just happened. His eyes wide, empty, with two silver streams of tears running down his cheeks. His heart cut open and it hurt so bad, so so bad, like he was torn in halves.

And then, when his voice returned and he croaked another apology –

Of course, Sabo wasn't there anymore to hear it.

He spend days and weeks and months finding out what he did wrong that night. What he had done to make Sabo so upset. What he'd done to make him look at Ace as though Ace was the biggest traitor in the world. But no matter how often Ace had turned the events of that night around in his head; he hadn't been able to come up with an explanation. Well yes, he concluded that he shouldn't have proposed to Sabo. But why…why did it freak Sabo out so much..?

They'd never actually talked about it, but after being together for half a decade, Ace had thought…that from his side, it was all clear. He was ready, so damned ready to tie the knot and spend the rest of his life with Sabo.

Was that what had been so scary for Sabo in the end?

Ace doesn't know the answer to that. And after his failed proposal, he hadn't gotten the chance to actually ask Sabo anymore.

Maybe I shouldn't have brought the flowers…

It's just a tiny bouquet; you can hardly call it one, really. They're forget-me-nots, but due to the long trip and the cold wind, the blue blossoms have started to close and the entire thing does by far not look as cheerful and lively anymore as it looked like when he bought it at noon, during his lunch break.

He sighs, his fragile courage crumbling.

Well, whatever. He's always been a clumsy romantic and it's too late now, anyways. It certainly wasn't the reason why Sabo left him, so might as well give him the flowers anyways. It's polite, if anything. And if Sabo wants to look for a deeper meaning, it's quite obvious. They're called forget-me-nots after all. If he's gonna chuck them away immediately, that's fine, too. There's no way his reaction can hurt Ace any more than Ace hurt himself already by coming here in the first place.

He takes a deep breath and his cold fingers clench around the flowers. And then he lifts his free hand to ring the doorbell.

His heart beats so painfully fast and Ace can feel his whole body tremble with fear and anticipation alike. He can hear approaching footsteps and he realises how his whole body is drenched with cold, terrified sweat and his clammy clothes stick to his skin and he thinks he's forgotten to breathe for minutes now and he takes a shaky breath and then he hears the key turn in the lock and –

OhmygodthiswasaterribleideaohmyfuckinggodIshould'vestayedhomewhyamIdoingthiswhyamIherethisishorribleI'mgoingtothrowupIfeelsickohmygodIwanttogohomepleasedon'topenthedoorpleasedon'topenthedoorpleaseforgivemeanddon'topenthedoor…

And then the door swings open and Ace heart stops beating.

Breathe.

Breathe, Ace.

Breathe, c'mon.

And then his heart starts bleeding all over again.

There is…surprise in Sabo's face. Just genuine surprise, nothing…nothing else much, as far as Ace can tell.

Ace has thought about what it would be like to see him again. He's wondered what his own reaction would be if he'd see him again under whatever circumstances. He's wondered if he'd start cursing and yelling and crying. Or if he'd just turn on his heel and walk away as the childish idiot he is.

But now that he stands in front of him again, for the first time since almost two years… Ace is mildly amazed by his own weak reaction.

He just stands there and stares at the man he used to love so, so much, with every fibre of his being. His body is unmoving, frozen still, while on the inside…

The one he still loves more than should be possible for a human heart…

Well, inside Ace… there's just an empty, aching, gaping darkness spreading into the deepest corners of his consciousness and it numbs him and he'd even find it hilarious, his own ridiculous weakness, if there wasn't the man in front of him who'd bear witness once again to how terrible fragile Ace's heart is. And he can't let him see again. His weakness. It has ruined everything, and he doesn't…he doesn't need to experience that a second time.

Sabo lets go of the door handle. And his arms fall to his sides and his fingers start anxiously twisting with the hem of his cardigan.

Ace can feel his heart breaking. Breaking all over again, in all these tiny little bits and pieces that had taken him twenty months to slowly put back together. And now they're all falling apart again.

Ace is… falling apart again. Their gazes meet and Ace's heart jumps painfully, his heartbeat pushes his boiling blood through his body, it's roaring in his ears and he lets out a shaky breath.

Sabo looks…handsome as always. Smart. Casual, but elegant – he was always able to pull that off, no matter what he wears. He's clad in dark blue jeans and a brow cardigan, with a checked dress shirt underneath. Grey socks. His usual attire when he is at uni.

His hair is still as blond as he remembers. Wavy and long, it frames his handsome features and Ace blinks at the familiar sight of the scar on the left side of his face.

Ace used to think that Sabo looks like an angel.

He still thinks that way, he realises.

And then, like he hasn't made a fool of himself enough already by coming here unannounced, he just thrusts the flowers forward, toward Sabo's chest and the man is quick enough to catch the tiny bouquet and his face is now confused…a little concerned maybe, but what does Ace know, he has no idea what's going on inside Sabo's head.

Maybe inside his head, Sabo is laughing at him.

He wouldn't blame him.

"Th-thanks…," Sabo says hesitantly, and a faint blush creeps up Sabo's pale cheeks and it's the first time Ace has heard his voice since such a long time his breath catches in his throat. His voice is the same as before. Melodic, gentle, light – a voice he could listen to for hours and hours and not grow tired of.

"…Look, I-I'm s-sorry I'm – ," Ace starts stuttering but then he hears a new set of feet approaching and suddenly there's a shorter man appearing behind Sabo, and Ace watches with widening eyes in disbelief, with his hands clenched to angry, jealous fists, how the man wraps his arms around Sabo's middle to give him a loving hug from behind.

So casually. So intimate. So close.

And Ace can only stare and god he hopes Sabo doesn't see the tears threatening to fall, god he prays Sabo doesn't see how much it hurts, how much Ace is suffering, how his heart is crying out in despair and longing and jealousy.

He shouldn't have come after all.

Fucking hope. Fucking… Just fuck his weak heart, fuck his nostalgia, fuck his childish, idiotic wish to make things right, to see him again, even for one last time…

Fuck his hope that refuses to die, even now.

And Ace can't believe he actually finds his words and he just looks Sabo in the ocean blue eyes and with a voice heavy with sadness he says: "S-sorry for bothering you. I-I'll get going," but before he can turn around, the young man suddenly interrupts.

"Wait! Wait, Sabo, who's that? He came all the way here; shouldn't we at least let him come inside for a bit? I mean it's your house, but look, it's super cold outside!" and Ace shudders at the cheerful voice that talks to Sabo so easily and trustfully, and the jealousy flares up inside him again, like a poisoned fire it burns through his body.

"Ah…yes, sure, you're right," he hears Sabo say after a moment and Ace wishes the young man hadn't said a word, who the hell even is he, this is none of his business. Sabo looks at Ace and then at the flowers still clasped in his hands. And then, without a word, he turns around to give him space.

"C'mon in!" the young man smiles at Ace. And Ace, internally scolding himself for being so goddamn stupid, he returns the smile faintly and walks up the few stairs warmly illuminated by the candles.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Luffy," the young man grins.

Ace blinks. Although his stomach is still burning with envy, he has to admit that the man is quite pretty; perhaps younger than them. Handsome, young features, large dark eyes and messy hair. Tanned skin. He's shorter than both Sabo and Ace, and he looks slender, but he walks as though he wasn't. He walks with a lot of confidence.

Like he belongs here already.

Ace quickly stops thinking about that.

"Likewise. I'm Ace," Ace says after a moment and he shakes his hand.

"You a friend of Sabo's?" Luffy asks and Ace is surprised. Honestly, he's thought that Luffy would at least know about him. Maybe heard his name somewhere, but apparently…

And Ace never would've thought it would hurt so much to learn that apparently Sabo didn't even bother telling his new boyfriend about him anymore. Ace and Sabo had been together for five years before Sabo broke up with him…but if Sabo hadn't told Luffy about that…

Well, then it means that he really doesn't care at all anymore about the past, right…?

"Yes…yeah, I'm an old friend," Ace hears himself reply hollowly. Even saying it…hurts. He hesitantly takes his shoes and coat off. "I'm sorry if I interrupted you guys or anything."

"Oh no, don't worry about that. I love meeting Sabo's friends!" the boy replies and Ace, despite his pain, can't help but smile at him. The young man is so…unusually nice, Ace really can't stay mad at him all that much. Although he wants to.

Luffy's eyes light up happily and he nods down the short hallway. Even the interior is pretty tasteful; the recurring colours are warm and inviting – yellow, red, orange, brown and beige. The carpet underneath Ace's feet is fluffy and light brown. It's warm in here.

"Just go inside, you wanna have something warm? I'll fix you some tea!" Luffy offers and before Ace can even say no, Luffy already shoves him through the open door into the living room and then disappears through a door to the right into the kitchen, Ace assumes.

And Ace's breathe hitches when he sees Sabo leaning against the back of the sofa, with his arms crossed. Behind him, on the living room table, he's placed the flowers in a tiny vase.

The living room is small and cosy. The carpet is beige and fluffy; there are two dark green sofas, a large TV with all appropriate gadgets, two walls are covered with book shelves. On the right side of the room, there is a small dining area with another door leading to the kitchen, Ace guesses. He can also see a large window front that leads to an outside terrace and the garden.

It looks beautiful in here, light colours, welcoming and warm. Ace understands why Sabo would choose such a place to live, as soon as you step into the house, you just feel at home.

But right now, however…Ace feels nauseous.

To be continued...