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Forbidden Fruits

Chapter 10

The next study period on Friday – which Marco had decided would take place the day after the concert – came too fast for Ace. He was an odd amount of fried nerves, with Izou's encouraging words bouncing around like fleas inside his head.

He sauntered up to Marco's house, as he usually did, noting that the overcast sky was looking to drop some rain sometime today. He could feel the dampness in the air and knew his bones would not like having the rain come down upon them. For some reason or another, he preferred a hot, dry, desert-like climate over a cold, damp, wintry climate. It just seemed to suit him far better.

On the doorstep of the little red brick house, Ace's throat constricting rather painfully, he mused that he felt nauseated. But he wasn't sick or anything of that nature. He was simply a nervous wreck in its most basic teenage form.

When he rang the doorbell, Ace poked his fingers into the sides of his mouth, forcing his lips into a grin. He willed the muscles to hold it in place long enough for Marco to open the door.

That door he stared so fixedly at opened slowly, creaking all the while in protest that Ace felt quite fitting to the situation. While there was a smile on Marco's face as he appeared in the doorway, it was just as forced looking as Ace's own.

"Come in," Marco said, moving aside to let Ace through the threshold. "Ready to study?"

"Yeah," Ace mumbled quietly. He offered up a fist punch to the heavens, but it was painfully half-hearted. "Let's do this."

And do this they did. They went about the usual motley questions quickly and with focus, completely absorbing and applying themselves to their tasks. Both were rather kidding themselves, feigning what was really on their minds.

It only took an hour until Ace found himself growing aggravated with the lack of response from Marco. He checked the clock on the wall, noting both the time that had passed and how the methodical ticking happened to be louder than any conversation they'd engaged in so far.

It was then that Ace decided he would have to take the initiative to start a bit of a chat lest the ticking of the clock drive him up a wall. "Say, Marco…"

"Yes, Ace?" His voice betrayed a hint of discomfort. Nervousness. He could only wonder what might come out of Ace's mouth now, what with the way things had been turning out…

"Don't you think we ought to take a break?" The suggestion bounced off of Marco and immediately the man felt himself loosen up. If Ace were asking for a break he simply wished to go into the kitchen and raid the refrigerator. Nothing Marco couldn't handle.

"Sure," Marco replied. "I'm guessing you want something to eat?"

"Oh, no, I'm not really hungry."

As soon as the words left Ace's mouth, Marco froze, wondering if the apocalypse was about to happen or if hell had really entered into a glacial age. Ace not hungry? The very notion was absurd.

"Y-you sure?" Marco stuttered, unable to believe his eyes when Ace nodded his assent.

"Actually, I'm kind of getting a headache from all this math," Ace said, a little laugh escaping from those rosy lips. Marco noticed it was a shaky laugh, one that reverberated up and down his throat. A laugh like a daring mouse looking to run across the nose of a sleeping cat. "I was hoping we could just sit and…talk."

"Well, what do you want to talk about?"

Ace cocked his head to the side, shifted in his seat, and found he liked to press up to the warmth of Marco's body next to him. "Actually, I don't really want to talk," Ace admitted. He brushed a hand across Marco's arm, fingers smoothing over the invisible little blonde hairs there. He felt the slightest shiver under his fingertips and looked to Marco's apprehensive face.

Then he stood up and moved in front of Marco, wanting to be able to see his every move. After all, that's what Izou had said to do…face everything head on. He had said to just do it and to avoid looking back. That relationships can only move forward if you seize the opportunity to move them forward. Those had been his words, and Ace had taken them to heart.

"But I guess I have to talk to make you understand. Lately I've been trying to get you to notice me," Ace started. He felt his heart begin to quicken as he saw Marco stiffen, lidded eyes lifting. "And I think you've noticed that much."

Marco gulped tensely, hating how his tongue seemed to be suddenly tied up in a knot.

Ace continued his spiel. "Sorry I don't have much tact. Wasn't really born with the powers of seduction."

Marco winced now; there really was no way this was happening to him.

Again, Ace continued, "And I'm sorry that I can't control my feelings, but maybe that's for the best? I mean, you seem to be denying them. Or at least you haven't really acted on them."

"I don't know what kind of craziness Izou has put into your head but I don't–"

Ace felt his indomitable temper flare up like a little flame catching some tinder. "I know you like me too, so come on! I shouldn't have to be the only one making a move! Just admit it!"

Marco found he had nothing to say to that desperate plea, his face whirling into a mix between surprised, horrified and guilty. Admittedly, he couldn't say anything though because Ace was already on the move, swiftly putting his hands on Marco's shoulders. But, just like that, Marco was snapped from his petrified state. He tried to pull away. Ace's hands were firmly clamped on to the folds of his shirt and any twisting Marco did resulted in them lopsided on the couch, rapidly falling into an awkward position. Caught between lying down and sitting up.

Marco found his voice when his parrot cried out at the strange happenings before its birdy eyes. "Lovebirds!" Phoenix squawked.

"Ace! Ace, what are you doing? I-I, no, no, no–!"

Marco's panic escalated as Ace toppled over on top of him and made his objective unashamedly known by twisting his face upwards. Lust, pure adulterated lust, scorched Marco as he looked down into Ace's dark, searing eyes. He knew what was going to happen if he didn't attempt to stop Ace.

Ace, on the other hand, was on an adrenaline rush equivalent to jumping out of a plane ten thousand feet above the ground. With no parachute strapped on.

Much to Ace's horror, however, it quickly became apparent that Marco was much stronger than him. So, Ace did the only thing he could do to avoid being thrown to the ground. He dove, flattening his body against Marco's. Their crotches lined up as Ace struggled to cling to Marco's dress shirt, desperate to go through with 'the Plan'. He wasn't going to live with any damn regrets.

The dive took Marco by surprise and he looked down at Ace, leaving himself open for opportunity.

Ace smashed his lips down on Marco's, who gasped and tried to verbally protest. He was cut off as Ace took his bottom lip between his own, sucking and running a much too greedy tongue along the soft flesh. Not only did Marco taste like surprise, he tasted like what he had for dinner, which must have been delicious in Ace's humble opinion.

Earnestly, Ace thought he had Marco, thought he had won. The other closed his parted mouth, giving Ace access to his upper lip to more properly seal them together. But Ace's hopes were dashed and the fear was returning as Marco resumed his struggling, this time with double the intensity.

Ace could do nothing as his hands were violently ripped from Marco's shoulders. Marco pitched him over the side of the couch, much like a seaman might toss an anchor into the sea. Ace narrowly missed the coffee table as he fell to the carpeted floor, landing awkwardly on his back, the force of the impact leaving him stunned. It didn't hurt much physically, but emotionally it left him feeling pile-drived.

"Ace, how dare you? I don't know what stupid things Izou told you, but I don't reciprocate these childish feelings you have for me! Lessons are over, go home." With that, Marco leapt up from the couch, walked past Ace's defeated and sullen form, and darted into the depths of his home. He knew that even Ace, persistent as he was, wouldn't follow.

Ace lay on the ground, broken and confused. Had he really been wrong about everything? All those hastily hidden signs Marco had been giving him…weren't signs at all?

"Marco loves Ace," the parrot squawked suddenly.

"Apparently he doesn't," Ace muttered, feeling tears well up in the corners of his eyes.

He picked himself up eventually, along with all his books, and headed for the exit, only numbly aware of what had just transpired. He stuffed his feet into his banged up sneakers and shuffled out the door. Dimly he realized it was raining quite heavily. He stood for only a second on the porch, then took off leisurely through the pouring rain, the liquid immediately seeping through his clothing to chill his heated skin. He knew his books, despite being in his backpack, were going to get soaked if he didn't hurry home or find shelter to wait out the storm, but none of that mattered to Ace. Besides, he felt the real storm couldn't get any worse than what it already was.

Unbeknownst to Ace, he was being watched. Marco could see him from his upstairs bedroom window. He could see the boy ripping angrily at his hair, his drenched clothes, and the rain itself. His insides twisted up at the sight and he forced himself to tear his eyes away. Marco turned, back to the outside world, and slide down his wall below the window until he became a ball of trembling, fearful limbs. If only he weren't so damn afraid. Afraid of what Ace had done to change him. Afraid of what people would think. Afraid of himself for feeling so messed up.

He covered his face in his hands and tried to stop the rainfall from coming to his cloudy eyes too.

The hunt was on.

The rain plastered Eustass' hair to his forehead and no matter what he did to try and remedy this blemish to his appearance, it didn't work. His usual black headband did not do anything to keep either the rain or his hair out of his eyes. He had forgotten how long his hair actually was when it stuck straight up in the air but now with it constantly in his line of sight he was debating whether or not to take some scissors to it.

Ducking under the awning of someone's porch, he wiped the water droplets from his eyes and scanned his surroundings. There was no sign of Killer anywhere. Pretty soon Law would be walking past and Killer would miss him completely.

Though maybe that was for the best. Less people around to worry about. Not because Killer would ever rat him out, but because Law might speak up with some tidbit that Kidd would prefer not to reach any ears, no matter how loyal those ears may be.

He lowered himself into a crouch and waited silently, hearing the trickling of rain running off the roof of the house he sat outside of. From his position he had an excellent view of the street and, sure enough, he saw Law coming in his direction a mile away.

Law was running and Kidd couldn't blame him. The sky was dropping cats and dogs on them today.

Before Law could get too close, Kidd hid himself away against the siding of the house. Then he tensed his muscles, getting ready for a sprint that would end everything. A thought flitted through his mind. Perhaps Killer was here after all, hidden away and ready to pounce at the right moment. They had split back at the school, since Law had been known to take two possible routes from the Grand Line back to the North Blue, depending on whether or not Ace was with him. Apart from that, they still hadn't heard much about where the boy actually lived.

Not that it would matter much after tonight.

Kidd steeled himself as Law passed, running through the puddles without a care for the water springing up all around him. He was drenched anyway.

With a guttural grunt, Kidd jumped over the porch's guardrail and took off after Law, intending to sneak along behind him and run him down when he least expected it. If he had to tackle the boy to the ground, so be it. The mud didn't bother him.

Over the sound of the torrential downpour, Law heard the heavy footfall of his pursuer.

"Oh fuck," he muttered into the rain, swiping at his eyes to clear his vision as he stepped up his speed. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck."

Kidd ground his teeth when he realized Law knew he was there chasing him. All it took was a glance over the shoulder to confirm. Kidd knew, despite his all terrain boots, that catching a frightened Law was probably futile.

They had done something of this nature before, though back then Kidd had never intended to severely hurt anyone. Now was different.

Law dove into one of the Grand Line's many alleyways, hoping to shake Kidd. Unfortunately, he hadn't put enough distance between them yet and Kidd saw through his plan. However, Eustass lost a bit of ground when he slipped in the mud and almost went down, recovering just in time to save his soaking wet clothes from further humiliation.

Where was Killer when he needed him? Only Killer could run fast enough to catch that bastard, and even then he could only catch Law by a hair, if that.

Just then, Trafalgar disappeared completely from his sight around another corner and Kidd screeched his defeat, tacking on a furious last burst of speed. As he spun around that corner he stopped cold, taking in the wide, scared eyes of his prey.

Dead end. Perfect.

Eustass' eyes flicked to the sole piece of property that lay in this alley. A dumpster. Even more perfect.

His usual wicked grin returned to his face as he savoured his triumph, breathing hard. Across from him, eyes roving everywhere for any chance of escape, Law was panting just as hard.

Eustass gave them both a grace period, holding still as could be until both had caught their breath. Then he said, ominously, "Guess it's the end of the Line. Isn't it?"

"Guess so. How Grand."

Eustass snorted, amused that Law could carry his little joke. As much as he hated Law, at least the man could have a bit of humour in his final hours. "You know, you're lucky it's me you're dealing with. If it had been Killer instead, he'd be ripping you a new asshole by now."

That creepy grin of Law's emerged from its dormant lair. "All the better for you to fuck me with."

Kidd felt himself flush, though from anger or embarrassment even he could not tell. Both, he figured.

The jibe was enough to propel him forward. Catching Law when he had no where to run was easy, a simple feint to the left and then a grab to the right and the boy was up against a wall in no time. Kidd allowed himself the pleasure of being as rough as he wanted, which ended up with Law squirming and gasping for air as Kidd pushed all of the life support out of his lungs.

He eased up for just a moment, wanting to savour being the one to cause so much agony for a while longer. Maybe he'd even call Killer on his cell phone to direct him to the scene to take part. He contemplated this as he squeezed the air out of Law's lungs a second time. Naw, best to just get on with it himself. Law could be too mouthy.

He eased up on Law again, letting the other regain his breath and think he had a chance against him. He liked seeing that ray of hope in Law's eyes, only to be snuffed out a moment later. It was oddly entrancing. Or perhaps it was Law's eyes alone that were oddly entrancing.

He shook that thought from his head with a quick toss of his soaked, stringy hair.

Suddenly, Law spoke up, voice raspy, "This is like a scene right out of a chick flick. Two lovers passionately kissing in the rain and clutching each other tightly. Very romantic."

"We're not kissing," Kidd growled. "I'm slowly killing all of your brain cells by asphyxiation."

"That's too bad. I was going to go on to medical school and become a doctor. Could've perhaps saved your life, or one of your loved ones' lives one day." Law's sparkly dark orbs narrowed as he chuckled darkly. "Oh, I forgot, you don't have loved ones."

Kidd growled as he snuffed Trafalgar once more, the gasps and grunts for air sweet music to his ears. A bit harder and he'd be breaking ribs next. But he liked to prolong the torture. Besides, Law hadn't let out a single whimper yet. He would break Law before he broke ribs. It would be far more entertaining that way.

He let up on the pressure just as Law's eyes started to droop and he started to pass out from a lack of oxygen, letting the other recover enough to raise his head and look him in the eyes once again. When they did gaze defiantly at one another, Kidd half expected a smile to creep onto Law's face again. It didn't.

Instead Law said sadly, "Ever wonder what things could be like if you were born in a different place, to different parents, to different friends?"

"Are those going to be your dying words?" Kidd asked harshly.

"To a different lover?"

"No," Eustass replied hastily, all too ready to crush Law against the concrete with every ounce of strength in his body. The rain was blinding his eyes and all he could really make out was a blur of tanned skin and dark hair with equally dark eyes swimming somewhere in between. Everything glinted a cheerful glint, much too cheerful for Eustass' taste. For some reason it made him angry and he snapped, "I don't wonder useless garbage like that."

With a feral grunt he blinked away the water in his eyes and brought Law to the edge of unconsciousness once more, then relented and hoped that the stupid shinning gleam that lay in Law's sparkling eyes would be gone.

It was still there when Law found the energy to raise his head once more.

"Since it's clear I'm not going to get out of this one," Law muttered, voice barely above the whispering of the rain. "Perhaps you'll do me the honour of fulfilling my dying wish. A final send off from this cold, cruel world."

Kidd watched carefully, waiting for that familiar mocking smile or those shifty eyes. There was nothing familiar in front of his face, just one very tired young man who seemed to be clinging to life most pathetically. He'd always thought Law was easy to exhaust, but until now he hadn't ever realized that a human's life was so easily stamped out.

"Can you promise me, man to man, that you'll at least give me that honour?"

After a slow minute of silence, Kidd finally nodded. He didn't know what made him do it, but it was the same thing inside of him that made him say, "Fine. I promise."

"A kiss, that's all I ask."

Kidd's face crumpled and he almost tossed Law's nearly lifeless body into the mud. "No."

"You promised. Man."

Eustass battled with himself, but found that there was no other way to defend his manhood. With an anguished snarl he pressed his forehead to Law's and placed his lips over the other's, gently and hesitantly, reluctant that he'd let Law lead him into this yet again.

Law kissed him back, with all the vigour of a man living his last breath. As much as Kidd wanted to pull back, he knew if he did he'd be letting his prey go. At least that was his excuse for continuing forward and pressing himself into Law's frail body, already deprived of oxygen.

Besides the obvious discomfort of kissing such cold, rain-soaked lips, Kidd found that an electric shiver worked its way up his back when Law's facial hair once again tickled his skin. It felt even softer than the last time they'd locked together, perhaps an influence of the rain?

At any rate, Kidd kept himself against Law for longer than what could be deemed a final dying wish. When they finally did part, Law heaved air once before throwing the last of his rapidly draining strength into another kiss, this time one that was eagerly received.

Eustass found a tongue smoothing over his lips, insistently delving into the opening. His first instinct, to bit the intruding appendage, was overruled by the sheer curiosity at the tingling feeling that erupted as soon as Law breeched his parted lips. Then he began to taste, for the first time, the foreign saliva as it seeped in with that intrusion and touched his own tongue. It was a sweet flavour, almost as if Law had eaten some candy just before leaving school.

Kidd inhaled sharply through his nose, taking in the scent of Law's skin: water and sweat mixed to make a bizarrely soothing aroma. He allowed his tongue to be prodded insistently, but didn't engage in much more than a bit of movement with his lips.

As Law withdrew the second time, he took Kidd's bottom lip between his and sucked fiercely, pulling it away from Kidd's jaw possessively before letting it snap back into place. That satisfied him, for now.

With a lazy smile, Law met Kidd's uncertain eyes with his own, then allowed himself to droop, resting his head on Eustass' shoulder. He thought it fine, just then, to give his body a little rest.

Kidd didn't know what to think as soon as he realized Law's body had sagged against his without any life left in it. This added weight would bring them both down into the mud if Kidd didn't act fast.

Awkwardly, Kidd moved them off the wall, since Law's head, with eyes closed, was falling all too easily towards the concrete. It wouldn't do them any good if he gave himself brain damage. He'd feel guilty picking on a guy with a mental handicap.

That is, if he hadn't just killed Law.

No, the guy was still breathing. Faintly.

As much as Kidd still had the primal desire to punch Law in the gut and be done with it, he would not raise a hand against someone unconscious. It wasn't the right way to go about doing things. It wasn't the respectable way.

Or at least that's what he convinced himself to think as Law lay comatose in his arms. Kidd found his grip slipping and thrust a hand down under Law's ass, lifting him back up so he rested half over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. His other arm securely fastened Law's upper body to his chest and, just like that, Kidd set off to get out of the rain that made him blind.

He found a dry place beneath an awning of a dilapidated building that hadn't seen business in years. No one could see them from the streets at the angle he was standing at. Slowly, ever so slowly, he positioned Law so he wouldn't drop him on the hard ground by accident. Thankfully it was asphalt as opposed to mud. While water ran off the awning overhead and dripped in a puddle next to them, the asphalt was dry.

After a moment's contemplation, Kidd sat his butt down first, crossing his legs, and then moved Law so he was resting comfortably in his lap, head against his shoulder. He had an arm wrapped securely around Law's upper back, keeping him from flopping around as unconscious people tended to do. There they sat, all exterior sounds droned out by the rain, Kidd looking down into the face of his enemy and feeling a wave of crushing defeat.

Stranger still, he found he didn't really care all that much.

Out of boredom, he brushed a hand through Law's hair, spiking it up. It felt weird, those black, short hairs, running through his fingers. So different from his long, red locks. Foreign.

With a deep sigh, Kidd leaned his head back against the building and laid his hand over Law's chest, feeling his steady breathing. He was abnormally calm for having just set out after school to bash his enemy's brains in. Looking back, Kidd supposed he should have known that with Law in the equation, it wouldn't be easy to simply roughhouse a bit and then throw him into a dumpster.

Sitting there with the rain pouring down, with nothing better to think about, Kidd began to think deeply about the only thing he had with him at the moment. As much as he hated to admit it, he liked the dark circles under Law's eyes. The dark splotches drew his eyes in and that in itself gave Eustass a shudder that crawled from his neck down to his groin. He shut his eyes in an effort to keep from reacting to having a warm body curled in his lap, all too easy to take advantage of.

Dimly, he began to register the slight shifting in his lap and took his head off the wall behind him to investigate. Blinking, looking slightly frazzled, was the strange abomination that had captured his attention from that first moment they'd crossed paths back in their freshman year. Never had Kidd imagined he'd be sitting under a leaky awning in the rain with that same boy, in a most compromising situation.

"Alive I see," Eustass whispered as those sleep-deprived eyelids opened.

"Huh. Seems that way," Law replied shortly, squeezing his eyes shut momentarily to forcibly clear them. "So. I'm not dead."

"Not yet," Kidd warned quietly. He wondered if it would be appropriate to release his grip on Law's body. Then he wondered why he was thinking about what would or wouldn't be appropriate where his enemy was concerned.

"I'm glad…that you obliged me."

"Don't mention it. Seriously," Kidd growled, feeling that familiar hate seep back into his veins. "If you do, I'll kill you for real next time."

"Next time? Does this mean you're letting me go?"

Eustass' brow furrowed as he considered this.

Law bit the inside of his cheek, then said, "I'll never tell a soul. About anything. Not your family issues or the fact that you taste suspiciously like rainbows. I'll keep it all to myself, if we call a truce."

Kidd stared down at those dark eyes, so stupidly intelligent and witty, that searched his own face. Though they were humouring him, they were also sincere.

"Truce," Kidd found himself agreeing.

Trafalgar grinned, only this time Eustass did not find his smile all that creepy. He didn't find it irksome either, which surprised him more.

While Law didn't really want to leave this warm lap he was cradled in, as his body was shivering with cold from being soaked so thoroughly, he knew he had to sooner or later. Kidd would no doubt get aggravated if he did not move.

Carefully, Law slid out of Kidd's grip, the other's hands falling off of his slim body slowly. He got to his feet and backed up, moving to the edge of the awning where dry became wet, very wet. He stared down at Kidd, who remained seated and passive, watching him move. Faintly Law noticed how Kidd's eyes took in the way his wet clothing clung desperately to his skin and how his jeans had moved dangerously low, well below his hips. His smirk grew, and in that moment he decided to expose himself.

"By the way," Law said as he braced himself for his second run of the day, "Just now…I never fainted."

Before Kidd could get to his feet and throttle him, Law began his sprint through the rain, intending to get away quick.

A.N.: Yep, I just did that. Poor Ace and Marco. BUT, Kidd and Law are progressing nicely. Still, I imagine you guys are going to have a love and hate relationship with me. It had to be done though!

Thank you my lovely seven: Rosales, TinkotheWolf, Yujianlong, hilian, Naomi-nami16, Magnetic-Paw, and LittleLunaChan!

I'm thinking of making this weekend a double update weekend, since I'm not sure if this chapter really stands that well on its own…well, at least the first half of this chapter. I imagine you guys are having a hate/love relationship with this chapter, depending on what your favourite pairing is.

~Reiki