The darkness pressed into him from all sides. Ace stared at his surroundings blankly, not quite sure whether he was floating or standing on solid ground.
Wake up Ace
Who? His head swiveled, attempting to determine the source of the voice.
Wake up
Who are you?
He felt a warm presence. He whirled around. A blurred face. Two small hands reached out to gently brush his hair back.
You do not belong in this world quite yet
What world?
The world of the dead. He felt the presence smile. How this was possible, he did not know. You are still needed amongst the living Arms wrapped around his waist. I love you my son.
Mom?!
Go.
Wait!
You are needed. We will meet again.
Blinding light flooded his vision. Ace suddenly felt heavy, disoriented by the sudden weight of his existence. He blinked twice, trying to clear his head, as he tried to place where he was and what he was doing.
His vision caught a sport of red. He narrowed his eyes, trying to focus his blurry vision.
"Hey there," Shanks greeted him with a smile, "welcome back."
"Oh…Hi."
"Feeling okay?"
Ace groaned unintelligibly in response, suddenly aware of the throbbing pain throughout his entire body. A thick cast encased both his left leg and arm.
"A bit sore?"
"A bit."
Ace fell back onto his pillows, bits of his memories returning to him. He recalled Luffy, frozen in the headlights of an oncoming car. His body had moved on its own after that.
"Where's Luffy?" Ace asked, suddenly wanting to see his little brother very badly.
"School. He left as soon as he heard your condition stabilized," Shanks said gently.
"Oh." Ace tried to keep the disappointment and hurt from his voice.
Shanks heard it anyway. He sighed and dragged a chair beside the hospital bed.
"Ace," he asked seriously, "is there something going on between you two?"
Ace shrugged as best as he could with his arm cast, stretching all the way to his shoulder. "He's been acting cold nowadays. Law says its puberty or something."
Shanks chuckled. "Luffy is still so young…I still remember him as a five year old clinging to you like glue. He kept glaring at me like I did something wrong."
Ace recalled a five year version of Luffy on the doorstep of Fusha orphanage. His small arms had been crossed tightly over his scrawny chest, one of Ace's old baseball caps falling over his eyes. He had been trying to act tough despite the fact his lips were trembling, standing just a little bit behind his eight year old brother as they both faced their new red-haired guardian.
"You mean when our fathers abandoned us?" Ace's asked humorlessly, his eyes darkening.
"They did not abandon you," Shanks said sharply, "they had their own reasons and did it out of a desire to protect you."
"That doesn't change the fact they left. No matter how dangerous it is, a kid needs parents. You're a great dad, but…" Ace trailed off uncertainly. He had never his father who had died when he was only a couple of months old. Luffy's father was supposedly still alive, although his whereabouts remained completely unknown. Shanks had found both of them at Fusha, claiming to be acquainted with both their fathers.
"I know," Shanks sighed. "I know. But we are a family."
"We're a family," Ace agreed. He was blessed to have Shanks and Luffy. He didn't want his biological father.
The two fell into companionable silence. Ace stared up at the plain white ceiling of the hospital room, wondering what Luffy was doing at the moment. Was he thinking of him? Was he worried?
"So, Luffy," Shanks said as if reading Ace's mind, "puberty, huh. Our Luffy is finally growing up. He always had the maturity of a seven year old."
Ace thought back to the moody teenager in his room. Dark eyes, sensual lips, hair swept across his slim neck. His tough body, growing more adult-like each day...Luffy no longer acted close to seven.
"Yeah, he's growing," Ace said unhappily.
"Why so glum? Aren't you always complaining about him following you around everywhere, even to the bathroom sometimes at night?"
"You know about that," Ace gasped, horrified.
"Oh yeah. I can hear you yelling at him not to fall asleep in the bathtub."
Ace stared at the unremarkable ceiling again. "I don't know…I guess it's just strange not to be needed."
"It's lonely isn't it?" Shanks laughed. "It's parental anxiety. It's probably because you two are so close…but Ace, don't ever think you're not needed. Luffy will always need his brother no matter what age he is."
"Sure," Ace said skeptically.
"If it's any comfort, he wouldn't quit bawling his head off until they wheeled you out of the room and assured him you wouldn't die. Actually, weren't even close to dying. The doctors asked if you were even human."
"I'm just tough." Ace finally cracked a smile.
"You got away with broken bones and a mild concussion after being run over. That's beyond tough. You must have the luck of the devil."
Ace laughed.
"So when do I get out of here?" he asked.
"Next Friday."
"Seriously? That's almost two weeks! I feel fine."
Shanks shook his head. "Don't even think about it. A normal person would have had to stay in the hospital for a month at least. Don't get ahead of yourself and rest." Shanks stood up, the chair squeaking against the linoleum floor. "I'll call Luffy and tell him to bring your stuff over after school. You're fine alone?"
"Of course. I'm legally an adult."
"Okay. I'll try to come back later tonight or tomorrow morning if my Boss will let me off." Shanks rolled his eyes. "Mihawk is one damn tough employer."
"Kay."
Shanks paused at the door and glanced back his older adoptive son. His eyes had reclosed and already, his breathing deepened, indicating sleep. Shanks smiled to himself and quietly shut the door behind him.
…..
When Ace woke up again, he caught Luffy trying to sneak out of the room.
"Luffy?" Ace called sleepily, pulling himself up.
Luffy stiffened at his name. He slowly turned around and managed a strained smile. "Hi, Ace."
"You going already?"
"Um…yeah…I brought your clothes…and I have some stuff I need to get done…" Luffy looked nervously at the door. "Um…I'll see you."
"Wait, Lu—"
The door slammed shut. Luffy had left. Ace fought back a wave of pain that suddenly throbbed in his chest. He glanced over and saw a messily packed overnight bag resting on the chair Shanks had vacated not long ago. The pain worsened. Staring at the bag, Ace fell back into the pillows, no longer very sleepy.
Luffy hadn't looked at him once in the eyes.
….
"Welcome home!" Shanks cheered as Ace ducked through the door. The front hall had been decked out in clashing colors, balloons scattered messily across the floor. In crooked handwriting, somebody had written "WELCOME HOME ACE" on a long banner taped precariously to the wall. It was the epitome of a true all-male party.
Law sat at the kitchen table, looking ridiculous in a blue conical party hat. He waved as Ace entered. Ace was about to wave back when he caught sight of the living room. He stiffened. An unmistakable flame of red hair bobbed next to Luffy's black locks on the couches. Eustass Kidd stood up sheepishly as Ace gaped at him.
"Hey."
"What are you doing here?" Ace almost snapped.
"Um…I don't know. Your dad just kind of dragged me along."
Ace glanced at Luffy. Their eyes locked for a millisecond before the younger boy quickly looked away.
Luffy who had not bothered to visit him once during the duration of his stay in the hospital
Ace looked away as well, feeling sick. Shanks apparently didn't notice.
"The more the merrier right?" he said tactlessly. He was pulling beer cans from the fridge. "C'mon, it's supposed to be a party. I finally managed to get an early day off from work too!"
Ace did his best to lessen the tension by putting his best face forward, laughing at all of Shank's lame jokes and making fun of Law. He even talked a bit with Kidd who wasn't as bad as he thought of him to be. After a while, Ace started to relax, even enjoy himself, despite the fact Luffy hadn't said a single word to him since he got home.
It was around eleven when Luffy spoke for the first time. He stood up, shifting his seat back. The conversation briefly halted as eyes swiveled to him.
"Um…I'm going to sleep," he mumbled awkwardly, not looking at anybody.
"Okay," Shanks said, "night Luffy."
"Night."
Luffy started to make his way past the semi-drunk boys, when foot accidentally caught on the leg of Kidd's chair. Ace caught him before he fell, moving purely out of reflex. His good arm wrapped around Luffy's waist as Luffy's hands grabbed Ace's shirt involuntarily. Luffy instantly let go, his body recoiling from Ace's touch.
"Careful." Ace told him, letting him go. Luffy quickly backed away.
"Sorry," he muttered before turning and running away.
Ace watched him through the alcohol induced haze as he disappeared up the stairs. He felt angry, hurt, betrayed. Now he didn't want Ace to touch him? Was that it?
Ace stood up as well, knocking his chair over.
"Ace?" Shanks asked, not quite sober himself.
"I'll be riiight back," Ace slurred, almost tripping over Law as he stumbled after Luffy.
"You need help man?" Law called, "You're pretty drunk."
"I'm just gonna take a piss."
Ace trudged up the stairs behind Luffy, the alcohol turning his common sense to mush. His emotions took over. He was going to burst into Luffy's room and demand exactly what his problem was. He was tired of this.
Ace halted in front of Luffy's door, hand raised to knock. Then he changed his mind and turned the knob instead, door swinging open silently into darkness.
Lights... Ace fumbled for the switch when a sudden noise stopped him.
"Ha…ah…..ah…."
What the heck?
Suddenly filled with trepidation, Ace drew his hand back and peered around the corner which blocked the door from the rest of the room. Moonlight spilled into the room through the open curtains, illuminating the figure curled up in the middle of the bed.
"Ah…" Luffy breathed. The front of his pants was open, his hand moving just below his shirt.
He's jerking off
Ace stared at Luffy, unable to tear his eyes away. Luffy looked so sexy it was hard to believe it was the Luffy he knew and grew up practically raising. Ace abruptly felt the crotch of his jeans tighten. He looked down in shock. Why? Why the hell was he reacting to his brother masturbating?
"Nngh…Hnn…"
He's nearing climax Ace realized
"Uh…Ace…Ace…uh!"
Luffy fell back, hands slippery with his cum. He lay breathing heavily, his eyes half closed.
Ace stared.
Luffy had called his name.
While masturbating.
Making his way silently back into the hallway, Ace closed the door behind him and slid down onto the floor, leaning his head back, thoughts tangled in his head.
What the hell is going on?
