Hiya~!
Omg I'm sooo happy about the reviews I got ;v; The best feeling in the world is when you are excited about a fic and other people appreciates your writing~ Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
Guest: Haha! Omg thank you so much! :') I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for the lovely review!
gdesertsand: Aaa ikr! Cora and Law as daddy and son is just too cute! I'm so happy you like this! ;v; And don't worry, Doffy won't be all too horrible in this fic! Thank you so much for the review! ( - v - )
loogoo: Your poor heart! But fluff is always good! Thank you so much for your kind wirds loogoo-sama! :)
roo17: I'm crying you are way too sweet ;v; Reviews like yours make me so glad! Thanks! ( ^ o ^ )
wren: It'll take a while for Law to grow up, but I'm glad you are looking forward to it. Thanks for the kind review! :)
Oophaki: AAA! Omg your review made me smile so much! :D And haha, I guess Cora will feel a bit protective over his little Law. And you'll meet Doffy in this chappie! Thank you so much for your funny and lovely review! Really made my day! x)
lg . lg . log: I'm glad you wanted to read the next chapter! Here it is! And thanks for the super cute review!
I am a pancake: *blushes* omg you are too kind! Thanks for leaving a review, it means a lot!
viv-heart: They most likely wouldn't, but I just made it happen anyway xD Thanks for the lovely review~!
azora: OMG thank you! And Law will meet Doffy for the first time in this chappie! And well... I guess Cora will feel quite threatened by Kidd since Kidd is a quite bad boy xD And aa~ Thanks for calling me fabulous~! Thank you so much for the super awesome review! :)
THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO LEFT A REVIEW, I LOVE YOU. REVIEWS ARE SO IMPORTANT SERIOUSLY.
Anyway, here's the next chappie!
(CoraBelle coming up!)
~Enjoy~
It was Law's first Christmas without his family and so Roci tried his very best to instead of dwell in the past create new traditions.
Of course, he had still gotten them a Christmas tree and they had decorated it together, even if it was small and pitiful. He had let Law choose decorations in the store and the boy had become teary when he had seen all the Christmas stuff. Roci had tried his best to make Law see new things instead – to make Law forget about his loss for a few minutes. But it was too soon for that and Law still needed time to recover. Therefore, Roci was going to give Law all the time he needed.
For dinner Roci had thought they would eat something else besides the traditional ham. Over their few weeks together, Law had grown to love fish of different kinds, mostly because Roci was pretty much incapable of cooking anything else without ruining it. Law preferred the fish raw and liked fat fish overall, so Roci had bought them that and seasoned it carefully. He had also cooked some prawns and potatoes. Of course, they had had casseroles of different kinds as well.
After the dinner, they watched some movies, played some Trouble and ate loads of candy, chips and popcorn. Law's little, scrawny belly became completely bloated and Roci hoped that the skinny child soon would regain the weight he had lost. It was sometimes disgusting to see how Law's ribs stuck out of his chest when he changed clothes. Or how bony his elbows were.
Law was determined to stay awake until midnight to see Santa, but became sleepy around half past ten. He refused to go to bed until Roci said that he was feeling sleepy himself. So then the two of them – after a few more games of Trouble – went to the bathroom and brushed their faces and teeth diligently.
Roci read Law a bedtime story, even if Law always insisted that he'd read it himself. This night Roci insisted to read instead and halfway through Law sobbed and turned around in his bed, not daring to look at Roci. Despite this, Roci continued to read and by the end of the story the sobs died out and Law fell asleep.
He still missed his family so much it was unbearable.
The next morning the Christmas presents were opened. Roci hadn't afforded very many presents, but Doffy would drop by later that day and bring some more gifts. Roci had told Doffy not to buy something too expensive, since it'd make Law wonder why Roci couldn't buy as fancy stuff and maybe be mad at Roci because of that. Doffy had said not to worry, but soon after their phone call Roci had begun to wonder if Doffy even knew what not-expensive was.
Law was still overjoyed over his gifts. He had gotten more stuffed animals, since he had a weak spot for those soft things and also more books to read. Law loved reading and read as much as he could – he could read the same book over and over again. Roci had also gotten Law one of those small, peeping pets – a Tamagotchi. Law had seen it on TV as well and had been determined to get one. He named his pet Bepo and hoped it'd turn into something that would resemble a polar bear. Roci kind of regretted that he had bought that gift whenever he heard it peep and Law asked him to take care of it.
"I can't now! I'm reading! You have to feed it!" he'd say, and Roci would just grudgingly take care of the virtual pet.
Even if Roci hadn't asked for gifts, Law had still somehow managed to make him something. It wasn't much, but it made his heart melt. Law had built a small Lego spaceship of the few Legos he had. He had carefully wrapped it in some drawing paper he had drawn small Christmas trees on and written Mr. Cora on it. Roci hoped that Law soon would grow out of the need to constantly call him mister and instead just call him Cora or Roci or even dad.
Roci thanked Law for the Lego spaceship and put it on his bedside table next to his alarm clock.
Law looked anxious when he saw where Roci had placed it. "Those pieces are the rarest I have", he said, trying to subtly hint Roci not to place it somewhere where it easily could break. This only made Roci pat his head – that now had gotten a small beginning of dark hair, only one millimeter of hair, though – and then put the spaceship in a bookshelf instead.
"Is it okay there?" Roci asked and put some stuff aside to make room for it. It was only some stupid knick-knack so he didn't mind that they got hidden behind the spaceship.
Law nodded and looked up at it. "It's very good", once again using a serious tone, Law furrowed his eyebrows that also were making a slow comeback. He always made such serious and grumpy faces, as if he was a CEO making important decisions for some huge company.
"Good", Roci smiled and patted Law's head again. The two of them were still wearing their pajamas, even if Doffy would come over in about one hour. The three of them would eat lunch together. Or four, if Doffy brought his weird friend Vergo along like he sometimes did without warning anyone. It was an annoying habit he had, to just randomly bring completely peculiar people along. "My big bro is coming over soon, so you should get dressed. He has some more gifts for you."
"Yea, I know", Law said. They had spoken about this a few days ago. Roci had asked if Law was okay with meeting Doffy and Law had said that it was okay – it only meant more presents for him anyway. "Doflamingo, right?"
"Yea, Doflamingo", Roci replied. "He prefers to be called Doffy by family, though."
"But I'm not family", Law remarked and it made Roci remember the cold truth. Law didn't consider himself their family. He was just a random kid living with a hospital clown. Roci wondered if Law thought of this as a temporary way to live.
"Doflamingo will consider you his family, just like I do", he smiled down at the boy.
Law didn't reply and instead pitter-pattered to his room to get dressed. Roci couldn't help but to feel a sensation of worry expand inside of him and wondered if he should talk with Law about it. Law refused to talk about his dead family more than necessary and could even get angry if Roci tried to bring the topic up. He most likely wanted to forget about it all and thought that Roci only was rubbing their deaths in his face.
Now, however, was not a very good time to be dwelling in the past and Roci decided to let it be. He wouldn't force Law to accept him as his new family. He wouldn't force Law to do anything, in fact. He was just overjoyed that he even was able to stay by the boy's side and watch the golden eyes glisten with the glitter of one thousand stars.
Roci heard how Law was completely silent in his room and when he wasn't able to hear any sobs, he took a deep breath and went to the bathroom. There he undressed himself, walked into the shower stall and let warm water fall down on him.
Their past weeks together had been quite ok, better than Roci had anticipated in fact. Law was still a bit timid and shy, but had grown to be much more open in a way shorter time than Roci had imagined. Law could even demand things, which he never had been comfortable doing at the hospital. Back at the hospital, he had somehow been scared of asking for things, while now he quietly could express his distress when his favorite cereal ran out. It wasn't a huge development, but it was a development nevertheless.
Law had still not gone to school, and his first day would be after the Christmas holiday. Even if he had tried to study at the hospital he had been too tired and weak to learn fast enough. Therefore, he had spent many of his days studying to catch up. The problem had been Roci's work, but they had solved it by Roci quitting his job and instead loaning money from Doffy – or in fact receiving money from Doffy. Roci knew his older brother never asked family to pay back. That annoying bastard had more than enough money anyway and could easily share a couple of thousands here and there without it affecting him the slightest. Doffy could probably donate a million or two to Roci and it wouldn't affect his daily life at all. But Roci wouldn't ask for that much and would still pay back the sums he had loaned.
Law hadn't minded studying at all and Roci also found it easy to teach Law, even if Law was very independent and didn't like to be tutored. But it had been a very smooth way for them to communicate. It was probably these endless hours of studying that had made Law way more comfortable. Roci was sure that Law otherwise would have grown bored without anything fun to do and would only have been reminded of his dead family all the time. Instead, he had been occupied with learning, which had emptied his head of sad thoughts.
When Roci was done showering, he quickly dried himself. It was first the hair, then the thighs, then the torso and then the hair again. He always dried himself in that manner, and would afterwards wrap the towel around his hips. Then he'd comb his hair and let it dry on its own, making it look natural yet tidy. The long bangs would cover most of his forehead but he didn't mind. Just like Doffy, he didn't have a very charming forehead at all. Roci's most charming feature was his eyes.
After a few minutes of struggling and tripping over, Roci was done dressing himself. He didn't bother to dress very formally and decided that jeans and a light blue shirt would be good enough for his big brother. It wasn't like they were having some kind of fancy dinner – au contraire; it was more like a sloppy lunch than anything else.
Roci glanced into Law's room and saw how the boy sat on the floor and played with the small Tamagotchi. The device was making small, irritating noises but he couldn't be mad at it because it was making Law happy.
"Is your Tamagotchi happy and full now?" Roci asked Law.
Law nodded. "It likes bread, unlike me."
"Maybe it needs to rest a bit now?" Roci took a step closer and entered Law's room carefully. "You have been playing with it for quite a while. It's still only a child right?"
"Yea", Law agreed. "It will get tired." He put it away and looked at how the small virtual pet danced around on the screen. It was so pixelated yet so cute.
"Do you wanna make lunch with me while it rests?" smiling gently, he leaned against door frame of Law's room.
Law blinked at the inquiry but then stood up. He was wearing black jeans and a knitted sweater. And on his head was a red scarf, hiding his nearly bald head. Even if there now was that thin layer of hair, he felt embarrassed and wanted to hide it.
"Okay", Law said and followed Roci to the kitchen. He stood by the counters that reached his shoulders. "What are we going to make?"
"I'm not quite sure yet…" Roci mumbled and opened the fridge. "Is there something you want?"
"I think that maybe pasta would be ok", Law said, once again being unable to voice his real wish. It was almost as if Law saw himself as selfish for wanting things. He always tried to make it sound as if he didn't mind or didn't care but it was always obvious what he wanted. Sometimes, however, he still voiced his wishes, like with the Christmas presents. During those times, Roci was happy that Law felt comfortable with sharing his wishes and thoughts with him.
"That's not a bad idea at all", grabbing the ingredients he needed, Roci put them all on the counter. The kitchen was quite small, but Law was small too and didn't take a lot of space, so Roci didn't mind that they were two in the tiny kitchen.
"What can I do?" Law asked when Roci started chopping garlic.
"I'd be really happy if you could search for a nice big pot to cook the pasta in", Roci said, hoping that Law would be strong enough to carry it. If not, he could always help him.
Law nodded seriously and started to look for the biggest pot in the kitchen. He managed to zigzag between Roci's legs or walk around Roci without disturbing him at all. Roci just continued to chop garlic and mushrooms while Law busied himself.
"Is this good?" by now, Law had found a big one and was carrying it towards Roci. It didn't look very heavy but it was quite big for little Law to carry.
"Yes, perfect", Roci bent down to receive it, filled it with water, poured a little salt in the water and put it on the stove. "Thanks."
Law flashed a shy smile, obviously happy that he had been able to help Roci. "No problem", he mumbled shyly and curiously looked at how Roci was chopping other vegetables. "Is there anything else I can do?"
"Well, I'll soon fry these veggies and I already have what I need for that but I won't have time to choose good napkins", Roci replied and put a frying pan on the stove. He poured a little olive oil in the frying pan and let it heat up. By now the pasta water had started boiling and the pasta had started to soften in the hot water. "You could choose some nice ones from the box."
Once again, Law nodded and sped off to the box where Roci kept napkins and other kinds of decorations. The key was to keep Law busy with things that were meaningful for making the lunch work but that wouldn't hurt him. He couldn't ask for too much from a six-year-old after all. If he'd ask for too little, however, Law would notice it and feel underestimated.
This went on for the entire time Roci was cooking food. He'd busy Law with something and Law would concentrate hard on finding whatever Roci had asked him to find. He asked Law to choose which ice cream they would use for dessert and which sprinkles they would combine the ice cream with. He'd set the table together with Law while the pasta was boiling and he was done with frying the veggies and making an easy salad. They'd both think of seating arrangements and ponder on what kinds of glasses to use.
After a while, the doorbell rang. Admittedly, Roci was a bit nervous of how Law was going to react. Doffy was a very eccentric man with very eccentric habits. In worst case scenario it could scare Law. In best case scenario Law wouldn't mind him very much. When Roci looked down at the tanned child, he noticed how Law also seemed quite nervous. Of course he was; he was always utterly timid when it came to new people. But it was good for him to get used to meeting new people. He would meet a lot of new people at once when starting school.
"Merry Christmas!" Doffy chuckled and gave Roci a happy hug. Roci was not able to spot any weird Vergo over Doffy's shoulder when they hugged each other and he was quite happy about that. Vergo was quite intimidating – especially for children.
"Merry Christmas", Roci replied and patted his older brother's shoulder lazily. They hadn't gotten along very well ever since Doffy had started bullying Roci in school. Or Doffy thought they got along, but Roci didn't. The bullying had really torn him apart as a person after all. And Doffy had never even apologized for it.
Law blinked up at Doffy and took a careful step backwards.
"This is Law", Roci said as soon as their awkward hug ended. He patted Law's head again. It had become a habit of theirs – a way to show affection.
"Hello", Law said awkwardly and gave Doffy a timid, shy glance.
"Hi", chuckling in his characteristic way, Doffy kneeled down by Law. "I'm uncle Doffy. Roci has told me a lot about you."
"Roci?" Law asked, utterly confused. Roci nearly started laughing when he realized that he never had told Law his real name. He had been completely happy with being called Mr. Cora, even if it was a bit formal.
"Don't tell me that this kid doesn't even know your name", Doffy chuckled again, his chuckle as dark and enigmatic as ever. He patted Law's head as well. His pat was just a bit rougher and more distant than Roci's. A little less affectionate. "His real name is Rocinante, not Corazon."
Law blinked at Roci and then at Doffy and then back at Roci again. "I think Mr. Cora suits him more", Law replied, not even upset over the fact that Roci's real name wasn't Corazon. This relieved Roci quite a lot, to be completely honest. He was glad that Law didn't show any sign of sensation of betrayal. He had kind of feared that Law would feel as if he had been lied to.
Doflamingo burst out in laughter and stood up again. "I like this brat!"
To this, Law expressed a certain amount of displeasure. He furrowed his pale eyebrows deeply and pouted. "I'm not a brat", he said with a hard voice.
Unlike Doffy who only chuckled again, Roci mentally squealed at the serious expression. But Roci also knew that Law hated to be called cute or funny whenever he was angry – calling him cute or funny would underestimate his emotions and make him feel as if they only were ridiculous. And that would be a cruel thing to do and would probably provoke him even more. It would confuse him and make him feel as if his emotions weren't valid.
"Sorry", Doffy said before Roci had to chip in and tell Doffy to stop teasing little Law. "You're not a brat."
"No he isn't", saying it with a defensive tone, Roci gave his older brother a quick, cold glare. It was obvious that Doffy had no idea of how to treat children. But then again, Law didn't seem very scared of Doffy. Mostly he seemed confused over the way Doffy acted.
At the same time, Law's Tamagotchi peeped and he sped off to see how the virtual pet was doing. Roci only smiled after Law and then helped Doffy with his coat. It was a big, expensive coat and looked misplaced next to the scraggy and dirty coat Roci himself used. This made him remember how amazingly big the gap between them was. Doffy was 21 and already a millionaire. He had merely done it with investing his money correctly. After gaining enough money by investing, he had started companies while he still was studying economy. He was a genius when it came to business, even if Roci thought of him as a quite unpleasant person.
"You have a cozy place", Doffy commented when he had taken off his wet and snowy shoes. Roci knew that Doffy was confused over how Roci still hadn't decided what to do with his life. Doffy thought that Roci only was slacking around. But he at least had the decency not to say it out loud, especially not on Christmas day. "And the boy seems nice. Law was it? I like him. He has a good, peppery attitude."
"Yea", Roci smiled at this comment and walked to the kitchen. It was good that Law was becoming more crackling and peppery; it meant that he was comfortable. To be completely honest, Law was his pride. Law was what he had been fighting for. And Law was something Doffy never could get. Law was unique. "He's a fighter."
"Yea, so I heard. But he's healthy now right?"
"Yup. Will start school after the holidays."
"That's good. He's probably excited."
"He is."
X
In the end, Doffy had still gotten Law quite fancy presents. He had bought him a Nintendo along with the newest games. When Roci had asked about it later, Doffy had replied that he had thought he had been modest with the gifts, since it only had been one expensive gift.
Well, in the end Law had only been happy about his Nintendo and hadn't asked about why Roci hadn't bought him a Nintendo as well. In fact, Law was spending equally much time playing Super Mario Bros as he was taking care of his little Tamagotchi. He also arranged his new stuffed animals and named them all. He liked to sleep with all of them surrounding him and would hug the big Bepo bear if he felt lonely.
When Roci had asked about Law's opinion on Doffy, Law had only replied that he was okay but weird. The reply had been quite expected, especially since Doffy had spent a lot of the lunch talking about women and night clubs he wanted to bring Roci to. And then he'd stop for a moment, think of his words and say that he'd bring Law along when he was a little older. But then he had gotten the brilliant idea to bring Law along anyway, because single fathers apparently attracted women. Law hadn't quite understood the whole conversation while Roci had kicked Doffy underneath the table.
It was quite delightful that Law hadn't become all too upset over meeting Doffy. Even if the two of them hadn't talked very much and Doffy's attempts to talk had all been a bit clumsy, they hadn't seemed annoyed at each other, the only exception being the moment Doffy had called Law a brat.
The rest of the Christmas holiday had been spent by lot of activities, one of them being to beat Super Mario Bros and another to make the Tamagotchi grow big and strong. But they had also spent a lot of time studying and Law had almost caught up in school. He still had a little left. The main point was that he'd understand the material he was learning and it seemed like Law had no problem with understanding theoretical things. Whenever Law immediately hadn't been able to understand something, though, he had become very frustrated and refused to learn anything else until he understood that particular thing. He hadn't wanted Roci to explain it to him – he had wanted to understand it himself.
One day they had been outside riding sleighs down a hill. Roci was still careful not to let Law get too cold and could sometimes even be a bit overprotective over Law. He was just terrified that Law would get sick and be sent back to the hospital where he would suffer. The doctors had warned him after all; even the smallest of flus could be pernicious for little Law in his weak state.
Unfortunately, they had been forced to go to the hospital for a checkup once and Law had been shaking of fear. The poor thing was endlessly terrified of hospitals and whenever he saw a syringe he'd start crying. It was only natural. He most likely associated the syringe with the chemotherapy he had gotten. It had therefore been incredibly hard for the doctors to get any blood tests from Law. It had been completely impossible for them to even get close to Law unless Law had been sitting in Roci's lap. Even if it had felt quite selfish to feel like that, Roci still had felt enormously happy to see how much he meant to Law. Law had only felt safe in his lap.
After their rather depressing visit to the hospital, Roci had brought Law to a café and had bought him the biggest pastry with loads of whipped cream and strawberries. Law hadn't been able to finish it but had happily drunk the hot chocolate he had gotten. They had celebrated that there hadn't been anything wrong with Law. The next checkup would be in a few months and after that the checkups would be done yearly.
One day they had attempted to bake cookies together. Roci discovered that even if baking and cooking was immensely difficult for him, he still was able to make cookies if he bought one of those packages with powders you mixed together and put in the oven. They had formed them into polar bears and from that moment on they would be referred as Bepo cookies, even if they only had used a completely normal vanilla cookie mix from the store. One plate of the Bepo cookies had been burnt and they had put a lot of white frosting on them to cover the foul taste while the other plate had ended up quite well.
And before they knew it, the holidays were over and they were packing Law's school bag. They had picked out a cool outfit for Law's first day and Law had neatly arranged his pens into his pen case. The school bag had been packed and was waiting in the corner of Law's room while the clothes had been folded on his desk.
Currently, Law lay in his bed. He had just taken a shower and brushed his teeth. Roci smiled at the nervous expression and knew that no bedtime story would make Law fall asleep. The small boy was all too nervous for sleeping. So instead, they chatted about the big day.
"Are you nervous?" Roci asked while he arranged the stuffed animals around Law. Law liked it when he lay down in the bed and Roci put the animals around his head, as if they were watching over him.
"No", Law replied. "Only a little."
"It's normal. I was super scared when I would start school", flashing a gentle smile, Roci remembered how nervous he had been. "I wasn't as tough as you and was sure that the teachers would be mean and that I'd be completely lonely without any friends."
Law reacted by blinking in a confused manner. He had most likely never imagined that Roci also could feel nervous. "Were the teachers mean then? Did you end up completely lonely?" somewhere in that voice, fear was hidden. The fear of being left alone.
"No", Roci chuckled and stroked Law's head. The short, short hair felt soft and fuzzy. Law still preferred to wear his scarf and would wear it for school until his hair had grown a bit longer. "I was completely wrong. The teachers were all very nice. We had one teacher, who was especially very kind. I bet you'll also have a teacher like that."
"And you got friends right?" Law asked. He was most likely more nervous about getting friends. He hadn't been very social at the hospital and probably thought he looked weird in his super short hair and his scarf.
"Of course I did", Roci smiled. He left out the part with Doffy and the other kids bullying him. There was no point in bringing it up, since he'd make sure that anyone who'd bully his little Law would regret it deeply. "And I also got crushes."
"Crushes… You mean you loved someone?" Law asked.
"Yes. She was a very tough girl and most boys liked her. School is loads of fun, trust me", Roci said. "I bet you'll love it."
"Why aren't you together with her if you love her?" Law asked again. Roci let out a gentle chuckle at this inquiry.
"I used to love her a lot, but I haven't seen her in a long while", giving her a thought, Roci's eyes glistened in a distant way. He had always liked her. Law probably had a point. He should call her at least, and ask her how she was doing. They had gone to the same high school and all after all.
"You should go see her", Law said probably not realizing how deep his remark sounded. "If you love her you should go see her."
"Maybe I will", Roci replied. He hadn't even thought about. When they had graduated, she had still had a thing going on with someone else and he had been smart enough not to ask her out. He regretted that he never had asked her out earlier. He had kind of hoped that she would have done that. She was the tougher one, the braver one.
"Good", Law said.
They stayed up and chatted a while longer until Law became too sleepy to keep the conversation going. So then Roci quietly left the room, silently closed the door and sat down by the kitchen table and wrote yet another job application. While his fingers tapped over the keyboard of his laptop, Law sleepily wondered if one could have crushes on boys too.
X
It was utterly snowy and painfully cold outside. Most people would have frozen their noses by spending more than fifteen minutes outside in that bitingly cold weather. Not only was the air dry and cold, but there was also a mercilessly whippy wind dancing around and catching bits of snow with it.
It was due to the horribly cold weather that the teachers had decided that it'd be unfair to force the children outside during their breaks. Instead, they could spent their breaks inside and do whatever they did for those minutes. Some drew, some played pirates, some exchanged stickers and some played with their Tamagotchi.
So far, the day had been quite okay for Law. He had introduced himself in the beginning of the first lesson and the teacher had explained for the other children that he had been sick and therefore hadn't been able to come to school earlier. Law had been seated next to a girl whose name he couldn't remember, and she had been friendly and nice to him
The first lesson had been math, which was the only subject Law wasn't behind in. He hadn't minded it at all, and had in fact liked the way the teacher taught them. He liked her overall. She was very nice, just like Mr. Cora had promised him. He wondered if there would be even nicer teachers.
Now it was the first break of the day and Law was horribly lost with what to do. All the other children knew each other. The girls were too shy to talk to him while the boys were completely occupied with some kind of game they had come up with. No one even noticed how Law sat there alone, looking around himself anxiously and adjusting the red scarf on his head. He was way too shy to just walk over to the other kids and join them, so he just sat there and poked on his pen case.
Just when he was about to give up and continue counting in the math book to entertain himself, a boy walked up to him;
"We're playing pirates", he said bluntly. "You can join us. You look like a cool pirate with that scarf and all."
Law looked at the boy and put his pen case aside. "Okay but I don't know how to play pirates."
"No worries, I'll show you", the boy replied just as bluntly as he had before. Law nodded and followed the boy that randomly had appeared in front of him. Mr. Cora had been completely right – the teachers were nice and you got nice friends. School wasn't very bad at all.
In the end, he played pirates with them every break of that day. And when Roci came to pick him up and the boys said bye to him, Law's eyes glistened as powerfully as ever, with one thousand stars shining through the golden color.
X
It was approximately one week later, when Roci finally had gathered enough courage to call her.
Before the call, he had given the whole thing a lot of thought. The two of them had been very close in high school – some people had even mistaken them for lovers. They had gone to prom together, insisting that they only were friends while they still had shared an endlessly nervous kiss afterwards. She had spent most of her afternoons on the couch at Roci's place where they had played video games hours on end.
They had been best friends, to put it simply. Best friends in love maybe, even if Roci never was one-hundred percent sure that she had liked him back. He had never been one-hundred percent sure, even if she once had mumbled that to him in the dark, when no one was supposed to see or hear them, when it was just the two of them. And he had never dared to say it back. He had never dared to destroy that moment of magic.
But things had changed when she had met someone new. They had quickly found each other and noticed how well they had fit together. Roci had always been too shy and cowardly for her pranks. Therefore, the new guy with his fun and colorful personality fit her way better. The two of them would take her father's car in the middle of the night and drive through the city and paint on the ugliest buildings they could find. They would sit on the rooftops and watch the world sleep and rise while they never even felt a need to blink. They merged to one and became eternal.
Roci had been left behind and soon all of her afternoons had been spent with him. Of course, he had grown jealous and said some things he deeply regretted. Now, he was unable to comprehend why he had been such an asshole and why he just hadn't told her the truth. Why had he never been able to tell her? Not even when they had danced, his hand on her back and her hands around his neck? Not even when she had leaned against his chest and mumbled it to him?
He could still remember the hurt look in her eyes when he had said nothing.
One night, he had gotten enough of the feeling of being replaced. He had told her things he had never wanted to be said. He had accused her for things she never had done. And even if he had apologized and even if she had said that it was okay, it wasn't okay.
And so they had parted ways, with unsaid words floating in the air between them, even if they were miles and miles away from each other. They hadn't been rude to each other ever since that one night. They had only grown terribly distant. He had apologized to her again. But things hadn't returned to normal. She had still been hurt and he had still felt replaced.
In the end, he had never grown to be as brave as he had wished. He had never been brave enough to upright tell her that he loved her. He had loved her for so many years too, even if he had had other crushes in between. And the first years he had loved her, she had barely known about his existence. He had only been the boy with the long blond bangs and the cool big brother. And the last years he had loved her, he had been her everything but had said nothing, fearing that he would ruin their eternity. He had still managed to ruin it, by saying nothing at all.
So when he nervously dialed her number and waited for her to pick up, he counted to ten and wondered if it would be too late to create an eternity with her.
Instead of an answer, he reached the answering machine. The voice on the other line said;
"Hiya! You've reached Bell-mère! I'm unfortunately on my honeymoon right now and will be back by the 14th. Call me later or send me an e-mail if you are a friend. Thanks!"
Some eternities were just not meant to be.
~Thanks for Reading~