Chapter 2

6 years later

*BOOM* the grenade went off. It was an empty building, once a nice barn. Ace stared into the flames of the explosion. He loved fire. It reminded Ace of him. The way the flames were so full of life, reaching to become bigger and bigger, the flames reflected his eyes brimming with ambition. Those same flames destroyed him, the memory of him rolling on the ground screaming-

"Hey"

Ace jumped, startled. But it was only for a second as he recognized the voice. It was his boyfriend's voice; Marco.

"Hey Marco," he replied as he felt a hand on his shoulder

"You ok now?" asked Marco

"Yeah, I'm alright" he replied a second time. If you could call thinking of a horrible memory that opens a hole in your chest alright he thought.

He knew Marco didn't believe him, but he left the topic alone anyway. Marco and Luffy were the only two who could see right through his lies. He had met Marco right after his joined the Whitebeard gang. Yup, he was in a gang. However, the Whitebeards were different. They didn't kill merciless or leave their own to fend for themselves. They liked to think of themselves as family, linked together not by blood but by memories, shared sorrows and shared happiness. If something good happened to one member, it was good news for everyone else. Unlike the some of the gangs.

"We should get going," said Marco, "we have a meeting with Kaido later and we need to be at full strength in case he tries something."

Ace just nods. Marco grabs his hand and leads him over to the car; a beautiful black sports car with flames painted. Marco had the same car, but with blue flames. They bought their cars together as a matching couple thing, as stupid as that sounded. Luffy was waiting in the car, and while he loved Marco, Luffy was the world to him and could always make him smile. Like he was doing right now when he was sticking his out of the window like a dog, his tongue was even lolling out. So cute Ace thought.

"Aww, look at the puppy! I'm so glad we kept it!" mocked Marco

Luffy instantly stopped acting like a dog and started to pout.

"I'm not a puppy! I'm a fierce German Shepard!" claimed Luffy.

When Ace first joined the gang 4 years prior, Luffy wanted to join with him but Ace forbade it. Luffy protested but finally shut up when Ace said he could join with he turned 15 years old. He was 14 now. One year. Ace still didn't want to let Luffy join the gang, he wanted to keep him out of the gang life and safe. Unfortunately, because of this, Luffy thought he was overbearing. He just didn't understand how a big brother feels about their younger siblings. He just felt this urge to protect him, shield him from harsh reality. That was exactly what Luffy didn't want. He got into the car and started the engine as Marco and Luffy were bickering back and forth. Though Luffy wasn't in the gang, everyone knew him due to how much Luffy hung around Ace.

"Hey, Ace"

Ace was jerked out of his thoughts.

"What Luffy?"

"Can Zoro stay the night?"

Oh god. Zoro was Luffy's best friend. Wonder boy Moss head somehow got lost no matter what. You could stand right next to him, give him specific directions, and he would still lose his way.

"I don't Luffy, I have an important meeting later…"

"Awwwww. Please?" begged Luffy. Then he played his trump card, his puppy dog eyes. They were so adorable. Ace just couldn't refuse them.

*sigh* "Fine, Zoro can come over, but you can't leave the house."

"Yay!" that was enough for Luffy.

Marco, who had been listening he whole time, just snickered. Ace just punched him and continued to drive home.

When they got home, Ace called Mihawk and told him if it was alright, to drop Zoro off for the night. It was. Zoro showed up 30 minutes later and he and Luffy went upstairs. Marco gave Ace a peck on the lips.

"We should get ready for the meeting, it'll be in 2 hours." Said Marco

"Yea, let's get ready." He couldn't wait for the meeting, they were going to get a good deal after all.