I have updated late again. I deeply apologize. Again. I don't know how you guys put up with me, but I am so very grateful you do. QvQ Sorry guys but this chapter...is kinda sucky. I don't like it all that much. It's probably the worst chapter so far. Sorry. If it's really bad, let me know and I'll try to fix it up.

~ Sweeter ~ Than ~ Sugar ~

Chapter Four: Apologies and Make-It-Up's

Marco wasn't quite sure what to do. He was pretty sure by the way Ace had ran out of the club a few nights ago that the male thought his family was completely insane. He couldn't blame the male; hell, saying the Whitebeard family wasn't insane was, well, insane! Still, he didn't know if he should call the male and apologize for his family's behavior or if he should just give the male some space. Today was the third day and he still hadn't heard from Ace. That worried him.

Had his family been too much for Ace to handle?

He didn't know. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know. "I might message you later." Keyword in that sentence? Might. I might message you later. And that usually meant, "Look, you're a cool guy and all, but you guys are just too weird for me. So goodbye and... yeah."

Marco gave a sigh. He should apologize, he really should. He took out his phone and started a new message.

To: Ace
I want to apologize for my family's behavior. I know they can be eccentric at times, but they're not usually that bad. You kind of caught them on a 'special' day. They always get a little excited when they think a new member is going to join the family. Sorry.

He sent the message and set his phone on the nightstand beside his bed. He continued to lay there in the dark, staring at the ceiling as he ran through his thoughts. He was probably overreacting. Ace was probably busy with all four of his jobs – Marco still couldn't believe the male had that many jobs – and had no time send Marco a message. Just when Marco's eyes were slowly shutting and the thought of a getting a message tonight wouldn't happen, his phone vibrated. Reaching out, he flipped open his phone.

Message from:
Thatch
So? Any word from your lover?

"Tch." The blond gave a scowl before hitting the reply button.

To: Thatch
He is NOT my lover. And no, nothing yet. I just sent him a message a few minutes ago. Now I'm going to bed. Don't text back unless you wish to be strangled.

He put his phone back on his stand, turned over, and fell asleep.

Two days passed and there was still no word from the male. He had tried sending one more message, but he got no reply. He couldn't help but begin to worry. 'Did something happen to Ace? No. No, nothing happened, yoi. He's probably just ignoring you.' Still, worry gnawed at his mind like a starving dog and as soon as his shift ended, he left Sugary Love and began to walk to a restaurant a few miles away. Jessica's Hall was the name of the place. It was said to be one of the top five best restaurants around. It took third, if Marco remembered correctly, only because Sanji had given them a few personal tips about cooking and not wasting any ingredients due to his love for the owner, Jessica. He remembered how depressed Sanji had been when he found out that Jessica was happily married.

When he reached his destination, he stopped at the doors. Ace's shift started about two and a half hours ago. He hoped the male wouldn't mind seeing him, especially unannounced. Taking in a deep breath, he walked in.

The place was nice, though not as nice as the Baratie. The tiled floor beneath him was a deep crimson, one that perfectly matched the dark greenery and the white walls. He searched the floor for that familiar mop of wild black hair but was slightly disappointed when he didn't find it. "My, we haven't had a member of the Whitebeard family come in here for quite some time," a feminine voice reached his ears and he turned to find Jessica. He returned a smile to her. "What brings you here tonight?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to one of your workers, yoi," Marco informed. She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Is one of my employees in trouble?"

He shook his head. "No, not at all. I just wanted to talk to him. His name is Ace."

"Ace?" She looked genuinely surprised. "He didn't show up Tuesday or today. When I tried calling his phone, it said the number was currently disconnected. I hope he's alright," she said, clearly worried. It was obvious Ace never missed worked and, when he did, he always called in to let Jessica know. "I have to go back to the kitchen, but if you see him can you let me know if he's alright? He's one of our best waiters and the customers miss him."

Marco gave a nod. "Of course I will. I'll see you later, yoi." He left the restaurant even more worried. He decided to check the other restaurant Ace worked at to see if he missed work there too.

"No, he didn't show up at all this week," the waitress replied, her eyes filled with concern. "I hope he's alright. He's never missed a day before, and now we can't get ahold of him." She looked up at the blond. "If you see him, tell him to call us, okay? We're all worried about him." Marco said his thanks and left Spider's Bistro. This wasn't looking good at all. The male missed almost an entire week of work without even phoning in. That meant Ace was missing. Or was he? 'You're overreacting, Marco. Cut it out, yoi.' But he had to make absolutely sure Ace was fine, so he checked one last place.

The Baratie was busier than when he had come with Ace. Nearly all the tables were full with customers and the waiters were running to and fro to make sure each customer was attended to. Behind the cash register was Sanji. Since he wasn't in the kitchen, Marco went out on a limb and guessed he got in trouble with one of the customers again and this was Zeff's punishment. He thought back to a time when he saw Sanji beat up a customer because the man had the audacity to call the Baratie's food trash and then proceeded to throw his food on the floor. The blond wasn't allowed in the kitchen for a month. Marco made his way to the counter. When Sanji looked up, his eyes narrowed. "Marco."

Marco distantly remembered why Sanji was always so cross with him. A few years ago, Whitebeard had visited the Baratie to see his old friend Zeff. Marco and Sanji had tagged along, and the two blonds sat at a table drinking and swapping stories. When Sanji had drank a liiiitle too much, he brought up the subject of mustaches. And that's where all the trouble began.

Sanji thought Zeff's mustache was better than Whitebeard's.

Marco thought otherwise.

They got into a heated argument before their adopted fathers had to come in and settle them down. After that, then the subject of birds came up.

Sanji made fun of Marco's last name, Phoenix.

Marco announced that Sanji looked like a duck.

Things quickly turned sour between the two after that. Then the subject of who's better came up.

Of course, Sanji insisted Zeff was better than Whitebeard.

Marco declared that Whitebeard would always be greater than Zeff.

That turned into a brawl with Marco coming out as the winner.

Needless to say, even after Marco apologized, Sanji never forgot the incident.

"Look, I'm not here to fight," Marco said. "I was wondering if you saw Ace within the last week, yoi. He hasn't shown up to any of his jobs and his phone is disconnected."

"No, I haven't seen him. In fact, I haven't seen Luffy either," Sanji added, rubbing his chin. "That goofball always stops by at least once a day to say hi. But he hasn't."

"Oh." In truth, that wasn't exactly what Marco wanted to hear. It really wasn't. He wanted to hear something along the lines of, 'Ace? Oh yeah, he's fine. He came in here the other day and ordered some food for lunch.' Sanji, seeing how worried the blond before him suddenly looked, took out a piece of paper and scribbled something down.

"Here's his address. Check up on them for me. If you could." Taking the paper, Marco gave a nod and began to turn around when he stopped. He remembered his lunch with Ace. When Ace had put the bill on his tab, he hadn't exactly looked happy at the price. 'I have to make it up to him for how my family creeped him out...' Turning back to the register Marco cleared his throat.

"How much is Ace's tab?" The other blond raised an eyebrow before pulling out a pad of paper.

"One-eighty-three," was his reply. That...that was a big tab. Another restaurant would have stopped serving someone with a tab over fifty dollars. ...Then again, almost every restaurant Marco across didn't allow people to have tabs. "He usually has me put Luffy's lunches on his tab. He's been putting down money when he can, but lately he hasn't had much to spare." Marco pulled out his wallet and handed the male a hundred, a fifty, a twenty, and a ten. Sanji was stared at it, then looked up at the blond. "You must really care for him. You do anything to hurt him, I'll kick your ass." Silence. Then, "Or, at least attempt to try and kick your ass," he mumbled, obviously annoyed with the fact that he couldn't beat the blond in a fight. Marco gave a smirk.

"Don't worry, if I do anything to hurt him, I won't raise a finger to stop you when you come after me."

He wasted no time going over to the address written down on the piece of paper. Taking in a deep breath, he walked up to the door of the house. It seemed quiet inside, no lights were on and he couldn't any voices at all. Raising his hand, he knocked on the door. He waited a moment. "Hello? Anyone home, yoi?" He knocked again and this time he heard several loud crashes.

"Dammit, I– No no no–! Ah, shit, he's going to kill me for breaking that." Marco raised an eyebrow at the commotion. He heard someone running towards the door and the sound of several locks being tampered with reached his ears. The door flew open and he came face to face with a male around the age of seventeen. He saw a small scar under the male's left eye and instantly knew this was Ace's younger brother, Luffy. The younger male held up a finger to his mouth. "Shhhh! Don't be so loud!"

'You're the one being loud,' Marco thought dryly. "Sorry. I was just wondering if Ace was home, yoi."

"Huh? Are you a friend of Ace's?"

"Yeah, I–"

"Wait a minute, are you the friend?!" Marco was taken back by the question. He went to ask what that meant when he was suddenly pulled into the house; the door being shut and locked behind him. When he turned to face the other male, he found Luffy grinning from ear to ear. Something in the teen's eyes made Marco take several steps back and he had second thoughts about coming to the D Brother residence. 'Maybe coming here was a bad idea, yoi.' He gave a small smile. "So you're– wait, I know your name." The raven-haired male thought hard – and Marco meant hard – for a second before snapping his fingers. "Marco! You're name is Marco, right?"

"Yeah, that's me, yoi."

"Ace told me all about you. Well, not really. I kinda had to force it out of him because he can be so stubborn at times. But, anyway–"

"L-Look," Marco injected. "We can talk in a bit. I came here to check on Ace, yoi. Apparently he's been missing work and his phone's disconnected."

"That's because I'm sick," Ace answered from the doorway. Marco spun around to see those storm-gray eyes he missed so much. He also didn't fail to notice Ace was in nothing but his boxers and a very wet t-shirt. His usually wild hair was wet with sweat and clung to his forehead. His body was also covered in a sweat and he had to lean against the door frame for support. His breaths came out in small pants, as if had just run a marathon, and his eyelids drooped a little. The skin under his eyes were dark and he saw the male was shivering lightly.

"Ace, you shouldn't be out of bed!" Luffy huffed.

"I was calling to see if you were okay when I heard some shatt– You broke the china plate Makino gave us?!" The younger male flinched at being scolded. But that little outburst made Ace dizzy and he began to lose his balance. Luffy and Marco rushed to his side, holding him up so he wouldn't fall.

"Let's get you back into bed, yoi," Marco suggested. Ace gave a nod and the two males guided Ace back to the bedroom. The sick male slumped onto the bed. "Wait, keep him sitting up a moment." Turning, the blond opened the first drawer a dresser and pulled out a clean shirt. Handing it to Ace, he politely looked away as the sick male changed shirts. Luffy gently lowered Ace down onto the bed and pulled the covers up to his shoulders. The brotherly love made Marco give a soft smile as he remembered doing the same thing to Haruta when he was sick. "I'll go make you some soup."

"I'll get the soup," said Luffy. "It's alright, I got it. You two need to talk anyway." The young teen was out the door before an argument could even be made. The blond gave another soft smile and shook his head. Luffy was as energetic as ever. Turning his attention from the door, he focused on the sick male beside him.

"Sorry for showing up uninvited, yoi," Marco started. Ace waved off the apology.

"It's fine. I was going to message you earlier but I got sick and couldn't go out to buy more minutes for my phone. Luffy insists on staying by my side so he won't leave the house to buy it for me." He gave a small chuckle before giving several coughs. "He's a good brother, Luffy. He can be a big trouble maker at times, but he means well."

"Sounds nice to have a brother like that," Marco answered. Ace smiled in return. "May I take a seat?"

"Sure, but I don't want to get you sick." It was Marco's turn to wave Ace off.

"It's fine. I hardly ever get sick, yoi. What did you catch, anyway? The flu?"

"A cold," Ace answered.

There was a moment of silence.

"A common cold? You look like you have the flu."

"I don't get sick very often, but when I do, a simple cold can kick my ass. I can only imagine what would happen to me if I got the flu." Ace shivered, and this time it wasn't from being sick. "I don't think I ever want to find out. Anyway, what–" A sudden sneeze left him and he covered his head under the covers as to not spray it all over Marco. Several more sneezes followed before he finally brought his head out. "Sorry." He was waved off again. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

"I got worried, yoi," Marco answered. "You said you were going to message me. When you didn't, I sent you a few texts apologizing about my family's behavior. I thought maybe they scared you away or something, yoi. When you didn't answer, I went to the restaurants you work at. Both said you never showed up. They're all pretty worried about you, too."

Ace gave a soft chuckle. "If you wouldn't mind, could you call them for me and let them know I'm sick? I told Luffy to call them but I guess he forgot to. And there's no way your family could scare me away. I was just so surprised to find out some of the strongest men in the city were completely insane. But then again, I guess I don't have the right to talk," he quietly laughed. "Our grandfather is Monkey D Garp and our caretaker for when we were younger was Dadan, the leader of a group of bandits."

"You're related to Garp?" Wow, that was definitely a surprise. No wonder the D Brothers were kinda nuts. Garp was... well, to put it simply, Garp was eccentric and wild and even Sengoku had moments of wondering why he even allowed Garp such a high status in the marines. The male could be so carefree and, well, crazy.

"Well, not by blood, no. Luffy is, though. Garp took me in when I was a baby."

"Ah. Oh, about Luffy... What exactly did he mean when he asked me if I was the friend, yoi?" Ace was glad his cheeks were slightly flushed from being sick, otherwise he was sure Marco would have seen him blush.

"Uh, oh, yeah, about that..."

Flashback:
The morning after Ace came home from New World Nightclub

Ace was afraid this would happen. Well, he knew it would happen, it was unavoidable. He just hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

Luffy found out he had a crush on someone.

And now...

Now he wouldn't leave Ace alone.

And the questions, they were never-ending.

It was eight in the morning and already the older male could feel the familiar symptoms of an oncoming headache. He popped a Tylenol into his mouth and took a sip of his freshly made coffee as the questions kept pouring out of Luffy. "What's he like? What's his name again? What's he look like? Is he nice? Are you going to tell him how you feel? When did you meet him? Were you ever going to tell me about this guy? How old is he? What's he smell like? What's his job? Are you thinking about him right now?"

"No, but right now I'm thinking of strangling you," Ace grit out. Luffy pouted, scratching at a miniscule hole in the table as he waited for breakfast to finish cooking.

"Come on, Ace. Tell me about him." Ace turned around to look at his brother, his dark gray bathrobe slipping a little. "Please?" Ace gave a sigh, taking a seat across from Luffy at the kitchen table. He couldn't resist Luffy's little 'please', his brother didn't really say that word. And when he did, he said it so sincerely that there was no one in the world who said say no to him. 'I must be getting soft,' Ace thought. 'I don't fall for his puppy eyes, but I fall for a simple 'please'.'

"His name is Marco. I met him..." Do not give Luffy any personally information. That was the rule Ace laid down for himself. The last time he had a slight crush on someone he met, Luffy tracked the guy down and asked him a bagillion questions before threatning the guy if he ever hurt Ace. Needless to say, Ace never saw the guy again. Apparently after Luffy's little visit, the guy moved to a different city. "...Going into a store to buy something. I'm not quite sure how old he is, but I think he's in his mid to late thirties or early forties. His hair is blond and is oddly shaped, and he has the lightest blue eyes you've ever seen." Luffy smiled as his brother continued to tell him about Marco, noticing how happy his brother was just talking about the male. Luffy himself had never experienced love yet, but he knew it when he saw it.

Ace was in love.

And like hell he was going to let his brother miss the opportunity of his life.

"You should tell him," Luffy suddenly interupted. Ace blinked.

"What?"

"You should tell him you like him," the younger repeated.

Ace sputtered, "Wha– I'm not– No."

"Why not? It's obvious you like–" Luffy was very careful not to use the word 'love'. He didn't know why, but Ace always sorta freaked when Luffy would say 'You're in love, aren't you?' So he learned that the big 'L' word was off limits in sentences that revolved around Ace. "–him, so just tell him."

"I can't, Lu. He thinks I'm a kid, meaning he won't go out with someone as young as me. Not to mention I don't even know if he's gay or bi or not. Truth be told, he doesn't look like he'd be into guys," Ace looked into his coffee and Luffy didn't fail to notice the worry he saw in his brother's eyes. The fear of rejection. "No, we're just going to stay friends. It's better, and safer, that way."

"But–"

"No, that's the end of the discussion Luffy." Ace stood up to finish cooking breakfast. Later that morning, Ace discovered he was sick and had been bedwridden ever since.

End of flashback

"I mentioned I made a new friend and he got curious. So I told him about you. Hope you don't mind..."

Marco gave a soft smile. "No, it's fine, yoi. I don't mind at all. I–" Marco phone started to go off.

Guess what, guess what, guess what?
Thatch the King has left you a message!
Don't ignore me, Marco, my feathered phoenix friend
Read the message
Reeeaaaad iiiiiiit–

Flipping his phone open, he saw he recieved a text message from Thatch. (Though he already knew that by the ridiculous text tone on his phone.) He closed the phone and put it back in his pocket. Ace raised an eyebrow. "Who was that? Thatch?" Marco nodded. "You're not on speaking terms with him or... is he just bugging you."

"Most likely the latter, yoi. I can't believe he put such a stupid tone on my phone." But the way Thatch had said it, and the music he put with it, it was sorta catchy in a way. Not that Marco'd ever admit that aloud. Looking down at his clock, he gave a quiet curse. "I gotta go, my other job already started fifteen minutes ago. That's probably why Thatch texted me, yoi." He looked up at Ace with an apologetical expression. "Sorry, but I should get going."

"No, no, go! I don't want you to be late for your job." Ace frowned. "Well, more late, anyway." The blood stood and chuckled, ruffling Ace's wet hair.

"You better get better, alright, yoi?"

"Yes, sir," Ace answered, smiling.

"Good. I'll be hearing from you tonight, I hope." Marco was out the door before Ace could even remind him that his phone was currently out of minutes so he couldn't reach the blond. 'Oh well,' Ace thought, smiling brightly to himself. 'He actually came to check up on me...' The thought made him happy, made him think that maybe, just maybe, he could work up the courage to ask the blond out sometime.

"Here's your soup, Ace!" Luffy walked in, seeing his brother's smile, and smiled himself. "You know, I think he's a keeper~"

Ace stilled at those words.

"What did you say?"

"I said he's a keeper," Luffy repeated, setting the hot soup on the nightstand next to Ace's bed. "I mean, he came all the way here to check on you when you found out you hadn't shown up for your jobs. He really cares about you."

"Yeah, I think he's a keeper."

'Does...does that mean Marco... No, not it can't mean that. But...' Thinking back to how Thatch and Izo had acted towards him, it started to make sense.

"Wait a minute... 'Ace'? Hey Marco, isn't that the kid you've been tell–"

The way Marco cut off Thatch, the way he glared at Izo when he called Ace a 'keeper'... No, but there was no way Marco could like him. Right? Ace felt more confused than ever. Turning to his soup, he started to eat but suddenly stopped after three spoonfulls. "Woah, Lu, this is really good! What did you do?"

"I threw in a few ingrediants," Luffy smiled. "I asked Chopper and Sanji about soups a while back and they gave a little list of things to add when someone's sick." Ace's smile softened and he ruffled his brother's hair.

"You're the best brother ever, Lu."

"Shishishi! So are you, Ace."

Eleven p.m.

A knock at his door pulled Ace from his thoughts. Setting down the book he had been reading, he saw Luffy enter his room. "Hey, Lu. What's up?"

"This was at the door," Luffy answered, holding up a small piece of plastic. Ace recognized it as a phone card. "This was also with it." He handed a small piece of paper to Ace who unfolded it and read it aloud. "I told you I'd be hearing from you tonight. Make sure to get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids. If you're still not feeling better, give me a call. Take it easy, -Marco."

"Ace is in love," Luffy singsonged when he saw Ace's cheeks flush. The freckled male threw a mild glare at his brother.

"Sh-Shut up!"

The next day, Ace's cold was gone and the day after that he was back on his feet. Whatever Luffy had thrown into the soup really worked, and he thanked his brother once again for the soup. To make it up to him, he decided to take Luffy out to eat at the Baratie. The moment they walked into the restaurant, Sanji escorted them to a window seat. "Glad to see you guys are doing well. Especially you," Sanji said, looking over at Luffy. "I didn't see or hear from you almost an entire week. Don't worry me like that again or I'll kick you out of this place perminantly." Luffy simply laughed in response and agreed. "Good. Glad to see you, too, Ace. Now, what'll the two of you be having today?"

"Two meat specials, please," Ace answered. "Along with a tea and a milk."

"Coming right up."

After finishing their meals, they headed for the register. Ace's shoulders seemed to fall as they did. 'Crap, I gotta start paying off my tab. What's it at? It's gotta be over $170 dollars by now. Shit, Zeff's gonna kill me if I don't start putting payments down on it again. But I don't have the money for payments. The most I can put down at the moment is maybe five or ten dollars.' Finally reaching the register, Sanji rang up the price. $32 more dollars. Shit. "Tell you what, today your meals are on the house."

Ace could have kissed Sanji right then and there.

"Really? A-Are you sure?" Ace asked. Sanji nodded. "Thanks." Luffy laughed and proceeded to say something about how Sanji was such an awesome cook as he walked for the exit. Before Ace could follow his brother though, he turned to the blond. "Thank you. Really. You have no idea how much that'll help me."

"No problem, Ace. I know you're short on money at the moment." Ace gave a smile.

"Anyway, speaking of money, how much is on my tab?"

"Let's see," Sanji searched for Ace's tab. Finding it, he pulled it out. Ace tried to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to hear. "Your tab is at... $3.84." Ace cringed. Yeah, he knew his tab was high–

Wait.

$3.84? Did he hear that right?

"You mean... Three dollars and eighty-four cents is my whole tab?"

"Yep."

"Not a hundred and seventy dollars?"

"Nope."

"...Are you sure you have the right tab."

"I'm positive." Ace was flabbergasted.

"B-But that can't be right! I know for a damn fact my tab wasn't that low. How could it have possibly... Did someone pay it for me?"

"Mmhm. And before you ask, yeah, it was the pineapple phoenix who paid it off."

"Wha– Marco paid it off?! I barely even know the guy! But– Why– I don't under– It makes no sense!"

"Too bad. Now get out of the way, I have other customers who want to pay their bills." Ace numbly moved to the side and headed towards the exit. Marco paid for his tab. Marco paid for his $170 tab. Oh man, now he really had to make it up to the blond. But how? How could he possibly make it up to him?

"I'll just ask," he mused. Exiting the restaurant, he pulled out his phone.

To: Marco
Hey, wanna meet up somewhere today? If you have time.

He sent the message and put his phone back in his pocket. "Alright, Lu. Let's go." When his brother didn't answer, he looked around. "Lu? Oi, Lu, where are you?" At that moment, his phone vibrated. Taking it out, he saw a text on his screen.

Message from:
Luffy
Look up!

"Look...up?" He looked up and there, on top of the restaurant, was Luffy grinning like a mad man. "Luffy? What the hell are you doing up there?" How did he get up there was another thought that crossed his mind.

"I got bored waiting for you," his brother replid in a matter-of-fact way. Ace rolled his eyes.

"Get down from there."

"But–"

"Now, Lu. The last thing we need is you falling and breaking a leg or something," he grumbled the last part. His phone vibrated again. This time it was a message from Marco.

Message from:
Marco
Sure. Sugary Love is currently closed for rennovations. Thank God. Where do you want to meet up?

To: Marco
How about the park? Me and Lu are about five minutes from there.

Message from:
Marco
I'll be there in five or so minutes.

Looking up, he saw Luffy was still on the roof. 'He really is a monkey,' Ace thought, shaking his head. "Come on, Luffy. We're going to meet Marco at the park."

"Marco?!" Well that certainly got his attention. Luffy skillfully climbed down the face of the restaurant – Ace swears that there were times his brother's limbs looked like rubber; stretching to impossible lengths every now and then – and landed on the ground safely. He grabbed Ace's wrist and pulled him along. "Well, come on! Hurry up, slowpoke, or I'm gonna beat you there!"

"One of these days," Ace growled, but his competative side took over and he raced his brother down to the park. Ace won, of course, but he had to admit his brother was getting faster. It wouldn't be long before Luffy would be able to keep up with him. Catching his breath, Ace looked at the time on his phone. "He won't be here for at least a few minutes, Lu. So we might as well find a bench to sit at." He recieved no answer. Turning around, he found Luffy was missing. Again. "I hate it when he does that," he mumbled. He heard the tree behind him rustle and figured that's where his brother was. "You can stay in the tree if you want. I'm going to look for a bench until–"

"Hey," a familiar voice called. Turning around, Ace spotted Marco heading his way. "Glad to see you're doing better."

"Thanks," Ace grinned. "My brother's soup is the reason I'm all good again."

"Speaking of him, where is he? You said you were with him, yoi."

"He's in the tree," Ace thumbed at said tree behind him and Marco raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask. He's got this...this thing for climbing things. I blame his name, Monkey D Luffy." Marco gave a quiet laugh at that. And Ace thought Marco's laugh was the one of the best things he's ever heard. It made him want to blush. 'Don't blush don't blush don't blush don't blush don't blush don't blush don't–'

"Hey, are you alright? Your cheeks are a little red."

Shit.

"Y-Yeah. No, I'm totally fine. We ran here, so...and it's kinda hot."

"Ah, I see." Marco looked around at the park. "I haven't been here in a while. The last time I came, Thatch ended up getting stuck in one of the baby swings." Ace burst into laugher. "It took him over an hour to get out of it, yoi."

"That must have been something to see," the freckled male chuckled. After meeting Thatch, he could totally imagine the event in his mind's eye.

"Yeah, it was. At least the weather's nice today, yoi."

"It is. Oh. The reason I wanted to meet up with you is because I wanted to thank you."

"The phone card was nothing," Marco shrugged. "You needed it to call your friends and work, yoi."

"Well, that's one thing I wanted to thank you for. The other thing I wanted to thank you for was for paying my tab at the Baratie. You have no idea how much that helped. I don't have that much money, so I can't do anything expensive, but is there any way I can pay your back?" He really needed to pay the blond back. Because Marco really had saved his ass by paying off that tab.

"No need to pay me back," said Marco. "It was the least I could do for the craziness my family put you through last week."

"No, seriously Marco, I need to do something to make it up to you."

Marco chuckled and smiled. "I'll think about it then, yoi."

Ace smiled back. "Thanks. So, how was work last–"

"Ace, I'm– Woooaaaahh!" The branch that hung out over Ace rustled and Marco looked up just in time to see Luffy slip and fall from the branch. Marco took a step forward to try and catch the falling male, but wasn't fast enough. Instead of hitting the ground though, Luffy fell onto his brother's back at an angle. Ace stumbled forward from the impact. He stumbled into Marco who was still moving forward to try to catch the falling male and the two of them crashed to the ground.

Something soft covered Marco's lips and he looked up to see what it was. Ace opened his eyes with a groan when he felt something flesh-like against his lips and was shocked – and partially terrified – to see his lips were touching Marco's. It wasn't a kiss, but it sure as hell came close to one. Flustered, Ace began to pick himself up, only to have his palm slip on the smooth grass below. He crashed down onto Marco once more, he head landing on the male's chest. For a moment, Ace could hear Marco's erratic heartbeat. He felt so comfortable, felt like he belonged there on Marco's bare chest.

Wait, bare chest?

While he was scrambling to get off the blond, it suddenly dawned on him that Marco was only wearing a purple jacket. And the jacket zipper broke, revealing a sun-kissed torso. Ace finally got off the male started murming and stammering apologies over and over again. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to– I would never– I-I'm sorry, are you okay? Do you need help up? Here let me help you–" The whole time he apologized, Marco remained quiet. Both males' cheeks were flushed red and from the side, Luffy peeked from behind the tree.

"Marco...?" The blond seemed to be in a daze. Either that, or he was thinking about something and didn't hear Ace apologize and call his name. "Marco, are you alright?" He partially leaned over the male and waved his hand in front of his face. He got no response.

Marco was in deep thought. As Luffy was falling, he could have swore he saw the teen smiling. Why was Luffy smiling if he was falling? He didn't know, but it seemed odd. Then again, Ace once said his brother was the 'epitome of weird'. The other thing he couldn't stop thinking about was how close he and Ace had been to kissing. Their lips had touched. It had almost been a kiss. "You deserve to be happy too, you know," Thatch had said once. This was his chance to happy, right? "Tell him how you feel. If you don't do it now, you'll miss the chance and you're going to regret it for the rest of your life. Please, Marco, give yourself a chance to be happy."

"Marco, hey! Are you okay–"

Marco reached up.

'This is my chance...'

He grabbed a fistful of Ace's shirt.

'To be happy...'

He pulled the freckled male down.

'Right...?'

And he kissed Ace.

From the behind the tree, Luffy's smile turned into a cheshire-like grin.

His plan, it seemed, worked out perfectly.

A/N: I have been up since 5:30 in the morning writing. I spent the last three(?) hours working on nothing but this. To me, the first half of the chapter was sorta suckish. It seems like I rushed it (I kinda did) and on other parts it seemed like I dragged it out too long. Oh well. OH MY GODS. GUYS, GUESS WHAT? THIS IS OFFICIALLY THE LONGEST CHAPTER I'VE EVER WRITTEN. OVER 6,400 WORDS. OH YEAH.

I cannot thank you guys enough for all the generous reviews you guys have left. Honestly, I hadn't even realized that this had over 40 reviews! You guys are really too nice! You make me wanna cry with happiness! :'D If you guys could take my poll, that'd be lovely too!

The whole Sanji vs Marco is actually from a picture on Deviantart. It killed me when I first saw it (and read the author's comment about the art and the little fanfiction they made with it XD). It's called OP Duck Duck Phoenix by Nire-chan. Go, friends, look at it! his/her art and humor is AWESOME.

Thank you reading and reviewing! Have a wonderful morning/afternoon/night everyone!

Your ice elemental,
~»roo the psycho«