Sudden Complications of Life

3.

The birds twittered, the sun shone bright upon their faces, and created a steamy atmosphere that Bartolomeo would've liked to avoid.

Ah, oh well, it was only in his dream anyway.

Waking up, Bartolomeo sat up and stretched, yawning. He looked around him; no sign of Luffy. He raised an eyebrow in confusion and scratched his chest as he got off the couch and walked to the kitchen; Luffy wasn't there either, despite her love for food. Bartolomeo furrowed his brows.

Soon, it was an all-out hunt for his new friend, checking everywhere that a 16-year-old girl could fit into, but no luck.

After making his rounds, Bartolomeo wandered back to the living room, and, found a note on the front door. He stooped over and read it carefully, and yes, Luffy had written it.

Forgot I made a promise to Shanks to take care of his garden in the backyard! Sorry!

- Luffy~

Bartolomeo frowned; "she just had to leave early in the morning, didn- oh, it's noon."

Standing up again, Bartolomeo decided to call up Kidd, Killer and Ace. Maybe they could provide him with some ample entertainment till Luffy wandered back to him, if she didn't get lost or, in worst case scenario, forget about him.


It was 9 A.M. in the morning and the morning sun was shining bright upon the earth. A gentle summer breeze swept through the trees, and the sounds of an awakening town met with Luffy's ear as she happily walked down the street to her real destination. She didn't want to make Bartolomeo mad by telling him that she was really going to see Nami, so, she made up a simple lie to hold him over. It would work for sure!

Nami had texted Luffy early in the morning, surprisingly not waking Bartolomeo up, and Nami asked what Luffy was doing.

Luffy responded in truth; Im just at Bartolomeo's house~

Nami then went into a fiery burning rage against Bartolomeo, and she demanded that Luffy get away from him and come spend some quality girlfriend time with her at the park. Luffy didn't want to leave, and sent her friend a few regretful looks, but she figured Nami would be more willing to hurt her than Bartolomeo would.

So, walking down the sidewalk with new sketchbook and pencil in hand, and changed into the previous day's clothes, Luffy was happy to be outside and soaking in Mother Nature's gifts. As she admired some orange and red flowers along the way, the park came into view, with an orange-haired flower standing tall in the entrance.

"What took you so long?" Nami teased, running up to meet Luffy who laughed it off.

"Had to change into my clothes!" Luffy explained simply. Nami froze, horrified.

"WHAT DID HE DO TO YOU?!" Nami screeched, taking Luffy into a bone-breaking hug that made Luffy both very confused and very lightheaded. Luffy shook her head and pulled away, nearly falling over in the process which made both of them laugh. Luffy told her what happened at Bartolomeo's, and Nami was still very.. upset over the matter, as she made known.

"Don't do that! Girls and guys don't just automatically spend the night after 2 days of knowing each other, let alone sleep together!" Nami directed, crossing her arms in a no-buts manner. Luffy pouted.

"But Bartolomeo's my friend!" Luffy protested.

"But he's not a good guy, Luffy.. he hurt people in the past and who's to say that he won't hurt you? I just want to protect you, since you're my new friend, and don't let him push you around anymore!"

Luffy bit her lip and looked away, wondering whether she should protest any further, but decided that Nami needed to know how important Bartolomeo was.

"He didn't push me around.." Luffy mumbled, "he didn't make me do anything, really, except for stand outside his room when he changed into his pajamas.."

Nami was unconvinced.

"Bartolomeo even gave me his sketchbook and pencil!" Luffy explained, shoving the thing into Nami's face. Nami backed up and took the sketchbook, briefly flipping through, nonplussed.

"He didn't draw that. He lied to you," Nami retorted. Luffy blushed red and took the sketchbook back, flipping to her picture of Bartolomeo. Once she found it, she turned it for Nami to see. Nami blinked at it.

"What's this?"

"Can't you tell?" Luffy asked quietly, "I drew Bartolomeo!"

"Looks like a monster to me.."

"You're a meanie, Nami!"

"Don't get mad at me for telling the truth, Luffy!"

Luffy shook her head and closed the sketchbook moodily, running back down the street that had just walked on minutes before.

She was beside herself.. How could Nami not see it? Was she just making another big mistake? Did Bartolomeo lie to her?

No, he couldn't have lied.. Bartolomeo didn't lie.

Luffy wasn't going to let Nami's wrong opinions rub off on her, because she knew when she met Bartolomeo that he was different, besides appearance.

Caught up in thoughts, Luffy ran into something. Something, that is, a person. That person, a tall, slim, navy-haired teen who gracefully caught Luffy by the waist before she fell. Luffy blinked up at the person through on-the-verge-of-crying brown eyes and was met with a pair of golden eyes and a smile.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Luffy nodded slowly, standing up straight on her own. He frowned.

"You don't seem like you're alright, with a depressed face like that, Luffy."

Luffy was completely dumbfounded, and watched as he bent down and picked up the sketchbook that she had dropped during her fall. He flipped to one of Luffy's drawings and smiled, handing her the book. Luffy took it, not uttering a word or sound.

"I'm Law. I'm in your Spanish 2 class. How odd that we should meet here on a street corner on the weekend!" Law commented softly, letting his eyes trace every detail of Luffy's body while she looked off to the side. Law noticed that she still had that forlorn look about her, which simply would not do.

"Say, how about we take a walk and see if you'll feel any better?" Law suggested, pointing down the road where Luffy was headed. Luffy didn't see why not, and figured the more friends she had the safer she would feel, sort of, so she followed Law.

Walking down a ways, Law couldn't help but notice that the girl wasn't talking like she normally would around her other friends.

"What's wrong? You don't want to talk to me?" Law asked in his smooth voice, stopping to turn and face Luffy, who just looked at the ground. Law held his smirk and gently lifted Luffy's chin so her eyes met his. Luffy froze. Law was confused with her expression.

"Don't be afraid of me, Luffy, I won't hurt you. You can tell me anything," Law reassured her. Luffy didn't move, but she listened to Law. She new he was telling the truth, because even she could see that he liked her, but she was still afraid. What if he didn't like her enough to be able to backstab her?

Oh well.

Friends they would remain in her mind.

"Okay.." Luffy whispered, trying to put her best smiled on her face for Law. Law smiled back.

The two then began a simple conversation of "what's your favorite _?". Law personally was just amused because of Luffy's answers, containing much more information than the question asked for; oh well. Law didn't particularly feel like blackmailing Luffy due to the scared expressions on her face that didn't make him happy one bit.

"What's your favorite thing to draw?" Law asked Luffy calmly, enjoying the warm, happy atmosphere that Luffy was giving off now that they were on a mostly normal track. Luffy looked up at the nearest tree and watched the birds in it flit from branch to branch and she smiled, looking up at Law.

"People."

"People?"

"Yes, people! I love drawing pretty people most!" Luffy responded, suddenly running off the sidewalk to scale the pine tree she had been observing and sent Law into a mental panic attack. He didn't say anything about it, though, other than continuing the question.

"What does a 'pretty person' look like, then?" Law asked, watching Luffy from the bottom of the tree. Luffy hung upside from a branch and grinned down at Law.

"They're happy!"

Law hummed in thought, climbing up the first few branches of the tree before choosing a seat against the trunk, listening to the branches swaying and cracking from Luffy. The occasional twig of needles would fall down on him, with a few overhead giggles from Luffy.

Luffy popped her head out of the shade of the evergreen-foliage and grinned with a laugh, loving the sight of the park, the neighborhoods, Uncle Shanks' house, and, Bartolomeo's house. She could even see the school! The sun warmed her body and she laughed in happiness, remembering why climbing trees was one of her favorite things. (Drawing while sitting in a tree had to be her favorite, by far.)

"Will you ever come down, or do I need to rescue you from the castle, dear Princess Luffy?" Law called up, listened to Luffy's giggle in reply.

"I don't need rescuing, but you should come up here and see what I see!"

Law rolled his eyes with a smile and began his ascent up to see Luffy and the view.

Yeah, he was pretty glad he did.

"I can see why climbing trees is at the top of your list," Law noted, leaning his upper body on a higher branch as he peered through to the city. Luffy, meanwhile, pointed out all the landmarks that she new of, just for Law. She jumped down to his branch and started pointing.

"See, there's the school over there~ And there's Uncle Shanks' house~ There's the park where I just came from seeing Nami, and then there's Bartolomeo's house!"

Knowing that Luffy was the way she was, Law didn't bother asking if Shanks was really her uncle, but he did end up wondering why in the world she knew where Bartolomeo, that freak, lived?

"How come you know where.. he lives?" Law asked her, resting his head on the branch while Luffy climbed up and hung upside-down from it.

"Because I went there last night," Luffy said simply. Law blinked. Luffy.. went to the freak's house? Why? Why on earth would anyone go there when he could easily just knock you out? Luffy stared Law down till Law sighed and sat down on his branch, eye level with Luffy's eyes.

"Why?" Law asked. Luffy blinked at him and grinned, nearly blinding the man.

"Because Bartolomeo's my friend!"

Law nodded slowly, looking off in the distance; he now knew that he wasn't alone in the hunt for Luffy's heart. Bartolomeo would be easy to beat, at least in charm, but definitely not in a physical fight. Law looked back at Luffy, just taking in the emotion in her eyes.

"Law?"

"Yes?" Law thought he was caught in the act of dazing off.

"Do you know where my sketchbook went?"

Law sweatdropped..


AND SO...

"What'd you do last night?" Kidd asked.

"Videogames," Ace replied.

"Your mom," Killer joked.

"Oi... Bart?"

"Uh... not much, I mean.. Luffy was over.."

The other three nearly spit out what they were drinking and were soon clobbering Bartolomeo with a barrage of questions concerning anything and everything.

"How far did you go?!" Kidd burst out.

"I can't believe you'd do that to her, being the way she is.." Killer mused.

"Fuckin' lucky, man.. you beat me to her!" Ace pouted.

The room went silent and they all stared down Ace who sheepishly laughed and shut up. Bartolomeo eyed him carefully. The last thing he wanted was for someone like Ace to go and take advantage of Luffy and hurt her even more. Kidd and Killer knew it, too, and glanced to Bartolomeo and back to Ace.

"Don't even think about 'getting to her', because she won't like it one bit, and furthermore, I'd make sure that you wouldn't ever be able to have children," Bartolomeo whispered to Ace, nearly pushing their noses together. Ace gave Bartolomeo an odd glare.

"What's she to you, man? Do you want her for yourself?" Ace countered, pushing all of Bartolomeo's buttons.

"A. Luffy spent the night and we didn't do anything but talk and draw, and B. you don't deserve Luffy. She's way too good and fragile for you and your pig-like fantasies," Bartolomeo hissed, taking Ace's collar in his hand and dragging the guy to the front door, pushing him out of his house.

Kidd and Killer gave him a silent round of applause as Bartolomeo came back and sat down on the couch between Kidd and Killer.

"Awkward.." Kidd said. Killer nodded. Bartolomeo looked down at the floor.

"Yeah. He's not my friend if he's not a friend to Luffy. Even if he doesn't know her story, that's no excuse not to be respectful," Bartolomeo explained, never taking his eyes off the ground. Kidd and Killer agreed, even though they weren't as close to Luffy, they weren't going to leave Bartolomeo hanging when he was doing something good for once.

"I think you just had Sanji moment," Kidd teased, elbowing Bartolomeo who frowned and began a wrestling match with Kidd right then and there while Killer just laughed.

After settling down again, with only minor injuries, Killer had to bring up Luffy again.

"So.. was talking and drawing really all that happened?" Killer asked in all seriousness.

So Bartolomeo took a deep breath, and explained.

"Well, yesterday, Luffy insisted that I go to the cheerleading tryouts with her, so I did. I nearly died, but I'm glad I went, because afterwards we talked for a long time in the gym till we got kicked out by the fuckin' janitor.. didn't know he was interrupting.. and so then we talked outside for a while. Then, the wind picked up and so Luffy got all happy and she started dancing down the sidewalk while laughing. I followed her, and then saved her from falling and cracking her skull in two. I'll honestly say that I thought she was dead for a second when I held her.. then she blinked, so I knew everything was fine."

Kidd and Killer looked at each other as Bartolomeo continued.

"So then I saw this awesome lookin' house farther up the way, and then Luffy says we should go inside it! And I'm like 'No!', but, it turns out her uncle is Shanks, and that house was Shank's summer house that he was letting Luffy stay in. So, we went inside, and it was awesome.. and then she talked me into helping her with homework. So, we did that, and then we walked over to my house after I convinced her to, which took a while of odd luring techniques. Don't take that weirdly. So we ate dinner with Mom, and after Mom kinda asked 'well why can't she eat with her own family?' and Luffy responded 'I don't have one!', she felt bad and told Luffy she could have anything she wanted. Pretty muc-"

Killer put up his hand and stood up, walking away silently to the bathroom, leaving Kidd and Bartolomeo silently watching him leave, and then turn back to laugh.

Upon the return of the blonde, Bartolomeo cleared his throat and continued.

"So.. where was I... oh yeah. So, Luffy decided to take Mom's offer to stay the night. And that was a nice idea and all until the question "where's she gonna sleep?' came up. She ended up taking my bed, and I was banished to wherever I went besides there. Yeah, I was a little hurt by that, hahaha, but whatever. So then she started looking through everything in the dining room, for paper and a pencil as I figured out, and so then we went to my bedroom an-"

"Oooooo," Kidd teased, receiving an elbow-to-the-diaphragm in response.

"Shut up.." Bartolomeo muttered, blushing a bit as he continued, again.

"I gave her my sketchbook, and a pencil, to draw with and then she was 'amazed and astounded by my Leonardo da Vinci-like skill'. So, then, she started drawing something, and I didn't know what, and then when she showed me, I was looking at a perfect reflection of myself. It was amazing. In fact, I copied it, so hold on!"

Bartolomeo got up and ran upstairs to his room where he left the copy the night before and ran back downstairs, making the other two turn their heads to see if Bartolomeo would trip or not, which he did not.

"Here, look!"

The two took the picture and looked at it, up at Bartolomeo, and then back at the picture all while looking pretty impressed.

"Looks just like you," Killer noted, putting the drawing right next to Bartolomeo's face. Kidd nodded with a smirk.

"Well anyways, I got ready for bed, but she needed something to wear, so..."

"So..?"

"I literally threw a pair of boxers at her face."

"Yeah, that's how you do it," Kidd mumbled, grinning all the way.

"That's all I had!" Bartolomeo protested, sitting back down on the couch again, "so then she got changed and... left her bra off.."

Kidd had to laugh while Killer licked his lips.

"So, that was awkward... but I just had to ignore it for her, so then we sat down on the floor and she started drawing like crazyyy! But, after a while, she fell asleep on my shoulder. So I put her in bed and then went down and slept on the couch."

"You're no fun."

"Shut up, Kidd."

"Then...? Did anything else happen?"

Bartolomeo scratched his neck, considering whether to tell them about the middle-of-the-night encounter or not. But, he decided that it really couldn't hurt..

"I'm guessing Luffy had a bad dream or something because at like 4 or something in the morning she came downstairs and snuggled up to me on the couch, and I woke up as she put her arm around my side, so.. I did the natural thing an-"

"Pushed her off?"

"Freaked out?"

"God damnit, I held her close till she fell asleep!" Bartolomeo finished, crossing his arms whilst blushing profusely. Maybe he shouldn't have told them after al-

Bartolomeo's thought were abruptly interrupted by loud footsteps on the front porch and then the front door swinging open.

"I'm back~!" Luffy announced, leaping through the door with a grin before rushing up to Bartolomeo as he stood up from the couch to see her.

"Luffy!"

"Bartolomeo, I met this one weird guy on the way home! His name was Law, and he had the prettiest golden eyes! But anyway, he was kinda weird but he cheered me up, and then we climbed a pine tree and I could see your house from it! But.. then I lost your sketchbook.. so Law and I looked all around the tree to find it, and then we found it at the very bottom on the ground. So, then we walked a little ways longer before I turned to come here!" Luffy explained, clutching Bartolomeo's arm as if to keep his focus on her.

Kidd and Killer watched with wide eyes as they listened to Luffy quickly rattle off what she had been doing, while Bartolomeo took careful note of everything said, knowing there could be subtle hints to fear or emotion of sorts in any word.

"Cheered you up from what?" Bartolomeo asked softly, watching Luffy freeze and cover her mouth in shock.

"Uh, um, oh nothing!"

"Oh I think it's something. Luffy, you can tell me."

"Hmm... um, okay. I wasn't going to tell you, but I really went to see Nami at the park, and then she yelled at me for being over here with you, so then I got kinda upset and ran away from her, and that's when I ran into Law and almost fell over," Luffy mumbled, holding onto Bartolomeo's arm tightly with her free hand, "are you mad at me?"

Killer began to pretend to eat popcorn as if sitting at a dramatic movie when Kidd elbowed him in the gut.

"Why would I be mad at you?" Bartolomeo asked outright, waiting patiently for an answer from Luffy, who took her time.

"Well, because I lied to you in my note," Luffy answered, holding the sketchbook with both hands as she looked down at the floor. Bartolomeo frowned. Rather than touch her to get her attention, he stooped down and looked up at Luffy, catching her eyes. He smiled.

"I don't care. Just feel free to tell me anything, alright?" Bartolomeo asked, standing back up again. Luffy blinked, thinking, and then nodded happily with her usual grin, dropping the sketchbook to hug Bartolomeo tightly. He put his hand gently on her back, not wanting to invoke anything bad from her mind.

Meanwhile, the blonde pretended to cry and clap, causing another silent beating to occur in the peanut gallery.

"Bartolomeo?"

Bartolomeo looked down at Luffy, who blinked back up at him.

"I'm hungry."

"Bartolomeo, I'm hungry, too~" Killer groaned teasingly, holding his stomach. Kidd glared at Killer and looked up at Bartolomeo with a shrug.

"Food couldn't hurt," Kidd added, breaking into a grin.

"When did you get here?" Luffy asked the two from her hug, looking rather confused. The others sweatdropped.

"They've been here, Luffy," Bartolomeo stated, patting her shoulder softly. Luffy looked up at him in mild shock.

"Oh! Well, whatever, let's eat!"


~ + Thanks for reading~ :D + ~