Rating: T
Characters: Marco/Ace
TW: Kissing
Notes: Request for lip kiss. (More notes/plot explanation at the bottom)

Also, hella sorry for the sudden chapter-spam! I'd been uploading these on ao3 but forgetting to do it here /sweats. Sorry!

Ace ducked beneath Marco's punch, his lithe body darting forwards, and Marco barely managed to get out of the way, dancing backwards on light feet and kicking out. Ace merely grinned at him, moving past Marco's guard with ease and latching onto Marco's forearms so they were grappling.

Ace would do anything to win, even switch the rules so they were wrestling instead of practicing hand-to-hand. Then again, the only purpose of their fight was to win.

As Ace's upper body strength managed to surpass Marco's, he soon found himself twisted around, and barely managed to hook his leg around the back of Ace's knee, pulling Ace down on top of him. Marco hit the ground with a grunt of pain but quickly rolled over, the plastic mats squishing beneath his shoulder. Ace, however, refused to let himself be pinned and they writhed on the ground for a minute, neither gaining the other hand.

Finally, Marco managed to pin Ace's legs down, leaning on Ace's left arm with his elbow and twisting the other over and down Ace's body. Ace struggled, panting, but couldn't manage to wriggle free again, shoulder pinned awkwardly in a way that wouldn't let him roll over.

"Give up, yoi?" Marco asked, unable to help the smirk that flickered across his lips.

Ace's chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, and he glared at Marco for his tease. "I still- have some tricks up my sleeve," he panted, his own devilish grin pulling up the corner of his lips.

Marco's eyes flicked to Ace's smile for a second, heat rushing through blood, but he firmly told his stupid heart to stop pounding like a drum; Ace's words had been a taunt, not a flirt.

Ace bucked beneath him, surprising Marco with the sudden movement, and Ace managed to swing his right arm free, unbalancing Marco's legs and sending him arching lower. Ace latched his elbow behind Marco's neck, pulling himself up and Marco closer, and then kissed him.

Marco's heart stopped.

Ace's lips pressed forcefully against his own, short stealings of Marco's breath, and Marco's heart leapt from stillness to frantic, elated thumping. He kissed back eagerly, eyes fluttering closed as he slipped his left hand up to Ace's hair, tangling his fingers in the short strands and making Ace grin against his mouth, biting at his bottom lip.

Then, the world twisted.

Marco found himself pressed to the mat, Ace's elbows locking his arms down, and stared at Ace in undisguised surprise. "Gotcha." Ace whispered, eyes dancing, tongue tracing his teeth, and Marco felt the surprise melt off his face, replaced by a heart breaking realisation.

Ace would do anything to win.

AN: thiiiis is from another gangster/fight au but pretty much the basis is that Ace falls in love w/ Marco bc of Marco's fighting style? But then Sabo likes him a lot too so they're like let's have a bet and see which one can win him over ( s) and Ace's idea is SURPRISE KISSES! ONLY MARCO THOUGHT IT WAS A DISTRACTION DUE TO THE FIGHT AND NEITHER OF THEM TALKED ABOUT IT BC THEY'RE IDIOTS

SO THEN EVERYONE PINES.