Note: Sorry it took so long to update. A lot of stuff's happened in the past month and I've been low on motivation and all that jazz (you can tell by reading the chapter), but yeah, here's the chapter, finally.

Chapter 21: Something to Hide

Some time in the middle of the movie, they'd both dozed off, though he'd been woken a couple hours later when the door to Nami's bedroom opened and her sister emerged. She'd given him a sly smile before leaving the apartment. He'd completely forgotten she was there.

Now that he was awake, he was finding it difficult to fall back asleep. With a tired sigh, he buried his face in her neck once more and breathed in her scent. It was calming, even if he'd never really been fond of the smell of tangerines. Over the past couple months, however, it had quickly become one of his favorites, whether he was willing to admit it or not. The smell was, theoretically, ingrained into his memory as it still lingered on his sheets after the last time she'd spent the night with him.

He lifted his head to look at her.

Her brows were furrowed sharply and the corner of her lips turned down in a slight frown. She bit down on her lip and shifted. Her breathing was becoming heavier and more erratic. "Mom..."

Without thinking, Law reached up and pushed a chunk of her hair from her face. She tensed at his touch, her face twisting into a grimace, but her reaction did nothing to deter him as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Nami-ya, wake up."

She didn't respond at first.

"Nami-ya." He said a bit more forcefully.

She bit into her lip again, this time hard enough to draw blood. She was shaking and one of her hands gripped the cushion of the couch so tightly her knuckles were turning white. A noise slipped past her lips, something that vaguely sounded like a mix between a strangled sob and a whimper.

Law heaved a sigh and pinched her cheek.

The action was enough to cause her to jump, her eyes flying open. She'd almost swung at him out of pure instinct, but he caught her wrist easily. His grip was gentle, yet strong as he lowered her arm away from his face.

His method probably wasn't the most courteous way of waking someone up, but it had done the trick.

She met his gaze. She was unsettled, that much was obvious by the frantic look in her eyes, and a bit surprised, if the rise in her brows was anything to go by. Her breathing was beginning to settle, though it was still labored at times. Turning her gaze away from him, she unclasped her other hand from the couch and pushed it through her dampened hair. She swallowed hard and took several deep breaths to calm herself.

"Did I wake you?"

"No," he replied. He pushed himself up so that he was sitting at her feet. She followed in suit, thoroughly surprising him when she leaned against him and buried her face in his chest.

He wasn't sure what to do about that. Comforting people wasn't his strong suit, she knew as much from the few times she'd been in the hospital, but he couldn't walk away from it this time, not like he usually tried to. He didn't want to. With a small sigh, he wrapped his arm around her waist while his other wrapped around her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, though it was barely audible as it was muffled by his jacket.

"What are you apologizing for?" He knit his brows.

Gently, he pushed her away from him and grasped her chin, forcing her to look at him. There were tears at the corner of her eyes and she was biting into her lower lip again. The look in her eyes told him she knew damn well he knew what she was apologizing about, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You've seen me nearly break down how many times? Do you really think I'm bothered by this?"

She averted her gaze and her grip on his jacket tightened. She knew he was right, but she couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed, not with the way she was clinging to him right now. If anything, he was the only thing keeping her from completely breaking down as it was. She just wasn't used to being like this around people; her sister and Vivi were the only two who'd ever seen her in such a state and even then the times were sparing.

Luffy and them had seen it once, but that was completely different story.

"Nami-ya," he sighed.

"I know, I know," she mumbled.

She let her head fall against his chest again and took another deep breath. "I'll be fine."

He didn't fully believe her, but he wasn't going to push the matter.

Just as he leaned down to kiss her temple, a gesture he wasn't even aware of until after the fact, the door to Nami's apartment opened and Nojiko stepped in. She gave him the same sly look she had when she left. At first he'd thought it was because of his current position, though his gaze quickly turned into a glare when Shachi and Penguin stepped in behind her.

Neither one made an attempt to hide the looks that had twisted their face, though he noted that while Shachi seemed completely surprised, Penguin's expression was annoyingly smug.

"What are you two doing here?"

"You weren't answering your phone," Penguin shrugged. "And after what happened yesterday..."

"We were worried," Shachi finished.

Nami gave Law a pointed glare. She'd caught the way Penguin's words trailed off, and she'd learned in the months that she'd known them that they often avoided stating things other people weren't supposed to know.

Law's glare hardened. It didn't soften when he glanced down at Nami, who was looking like she was ready to start questioning him. Before she could, he adverted his attention to Nojiko. "Why didn't you tell them I was busy?"

She shrugged. "I wasn't aware that I needed to cover for you or that you were hiding anything."

He was about to say that there was nothing to hide, but the fact that Nami was still practically sitting in his lap told otherwise.

"Although," her tone sounded thoughtful, but he didn't miss the hard undertone, "I wasn't expecting to come back to find my sister practically straddling you."

"I had a nightmare," Nami said flatly as she finally untangled herself from Law and settled onto the couch next to him.

Nojiko's expression softened a bit. She smiled then, and pulled an orange from her purse. "It's from the grove," she said simply. "I meant to give it to you sooner, but I forgot I'd left it in my car."

Nami cracked a smile and caught the fruit effortlessly. "Thanks."

"Oh, before I forget, Robin said she and the others were leaving for Alabasta in a couple days. They told me to let you know when I got home."

She and the others? "You're not going?"

Nojiko shook her head. "I know she invited me, but I can't afford to leave for a month. I need to get a job and pay my phone bill before it's turned off. Not to mention school and all that."

She was about to protest, but Nojiko cut her off. "Besides, I just got done moving from one place, I'd rather not spend a month in Alabasta so soon. I already spoke to Vivi about it, she understands."

Nami gave her a skeptical look, but didn't push the matter. She was right, after all, and Nojiko was not the type to sit back and relax when she needed to get herself back on her feet again. She knew that all too well.

"I know she invited you too."

Nojiko's gaze was on Law now.

"Can't get out of work," he replied.

Both her and Nami saw the way Penguin and Shachi tensed at the statement.

"Law, can I talk to you for a moment?" Nami's tone was steely, and the look she shot him brokered no argument.

Without another word she pushed herself off the couch and towards the front door.

As soon as they were alone, she turned to him with a sharp frown. "You're not telling me something."

He leaned against the door with his hands shoved in his pockets. His gaze remained impassive as he regarded her. She had her hands on her hips and her entire stance told him she wasn't about to accept excuses. "And what would I not be telling you?"

"Quite a bit, actually," she snorted. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that she was annoyed, the furrow in her brows told him as much. "Let's start with what happened to your leg."

"I told you, I slipped." While he held his expression, there was an edge to his tone.

He was not about to tell her what really happened.

"I hope you know I don't believe you."

She was testing his patience, she knew she was. The hard look in his eyes was a sure indication of that, but she didn't care.

He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "Don't you dare try to tell me it's none of my business either, because it is. It interfered with our date, so therefore it is my business." She waved her hand dismissively then. "Even if you don't tell me, I'll just get it out of Penguin or Shachi."

"I'm not lying to you," he ground out.

She lifted a brow at that. "If you say so. I have one question though, how exactly was there a puddle of blood in the OR? I'm not a doctor, but I've been in the hospital enough times to know that even in a bad accident, that doesn't just happen. My mother was shot in the head and in the chest and she didn't bleed enough to cause a pud-"

The image of her mother's body suddenly presented itself in her mind. She almost lost her composure for a moment, but she shoved the image aside. Now was not the time to be having an episode.

"Just what were you doing in there?"

His lips pressed into a line. He'd known she wasn't going to buy the excuse, she was too smart for that, but she'd let it slide, for the time being. That wasn't going to happen now, but just as she was adamant about digging for answers, he was adamant about keeping her in the dark. The less she knew, the better.

"Answer me."

"You're not wearing a jacket."

Nami's eye twitched. "Don't change the subject."

"You're going to catch a cold out here."

"Trafalgar Law," she hissed. She stepped towards him, her hand balling into a fist. "Answer me, damn it."

Her eyes were narrowed darkly and had he not been on edge he would have noted that she looked surprisingly attractive when she was irate. He wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if she tried to swing at him - in fact, he was expecting her to, especially when he responded.

"No."

She didn't swing at him; she didn't even make an attempt to. Instead, she unclenched her fist and turned away from him, her anger apparent. "Fine."

A loud sigh slipped past his lips. If she went back inside fuming, he was going to get an earful, most likely from both her sister and Penguin - and while he didn't know her sister, just from the few times he'd been around her, he knew she was a lot like Nami. He would definitely get an earful from her. "It's not something I can just tell you, Nami-ya. Trust me when I say it's better you don't know." He hesitated for a moment. "My boss isn't exactly the nicest man around."

She couldn't help the sharp intake of breath as she turned to him, her brows flying into her hairline. "You-"

"You're going to catch a cold." He interjected as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the door. "Back inside, and no, we are not continuing this conversation."

She stared at him for a long moment and he could tell she knew what he'd been hinting at. The thing that caught him off guard, however, was the look of understanding in her gaze - as if she knew exactly what he meant, and that unsettled him.

Almost instantly his gaze snapped to the tattoo on her arm, namely the scar beneath it.

Something that happened when I was younger.

He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but he had a fairly good idea of what that something was. Then again, it was all speculation. He could be entirely wrong, though the look in her eyes was leading him to believe that he wasn't. And for some reason, he didn't like it.

She'd noticed where is attention lay, and a sad smile crossed her lips. "I get it now," she muttered.

Then she shivered. "Okay, it's too cold out here."

"I told you to go back inside," he chided.

Nami couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, move so I can get inside."

Instead of moving out of her way, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers for a brief moment. "Do me a favor and don't ask about it again."

"Will you tell me eventually?"

He refused to meet her eyes. "I meant it when I said it was better you didn't know."

She snorted in response and jabbed her finger into his chest. "Trust me, Torao, it's probably nothing I haven't seen or heard before."

Instead of offering her an answer, he kissed her again. "I'm going home. I've got paperwork I need to finish and work tomorrow morning. Tell Shachi and Penguin come help me down the stairs."

"Come by tomorrow," Nami said. "Since it's probably the only free day I'll have for the next month."

"If I get off work before midnight, I'll try. If not, I'll try to stop by the day after."

She smiled at that. "Good. I'm going in before I end up freezing to death." Before she opened the door, she pushed herself onto the tips of her toes and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. "Night."

"Night, Nami-ya."