This is the second to last chapter

Thanks MyLadyDay for beta'ing and approving

Also, happy birthday, Marco :D

When the Student Becomes the Master

When Ace agreed and moved off Marco, Marco rose to get his jacket, while Stefan was already waiting by the door.

As they left Marco's apartment, the outside door of the building opened and Luffy appeared. "Stefan!' he called out excitedly and dove towards him to pet him. "Oh, hi Ace," Luffy added as if he only then noticed them. "Are you gonna walk Stefan? Can I come with you?"

Marco looked at Ace, who shrugged. Marco had already seen Luffy's puppy eyes at work once, and if Luffy had been able to convince Ace when he still thought Marco was a stalker, he would probably agree now too.

"Sure," Ace finally said, as expected, rolling his eyes when Luffy cheered.

The leash was out of Marco's hand before either of them could even blink, and Luffy had already ran off with Stefan while they were still recovering.

Ace sighed. "I'm sorry, he can be a handful."

"It's fine," Marco said with a smile. "So, do you still want to go for a walk or should we leave it to Luffy?"

"Perhaps it's best to follow him, in case he's making plans to kidnap Stefan for real," Ace said with a chuckle.

Marco laughed as well as they left the building.

Outside, Ace took Marco's hand in his hesitantly, but when Marco smiled reassuringly at him, he smiled as well.

Things seemed to have worked out well. Marco managed to get through to Ace that he wasn't mad at him, nor did he blame him, and they were officially together now. True, the way it had happened was slightly unfortunate, but despite losing his job, Marco was happy.

Ace, on the other hand, looked far from happy at the moment.

"Are you okay?" Marco inquired.

"Sure." Ace smiled in what he probably thought was a reassuring way, but the worry was still visible in his eyes.

Marco raised an eyebrow. Ace wasn't fooling anyone. "What were you thinking about?"

Ace sighed. "Nothing. Just that I would feel a whole lot better if you found a job again."

Yeah, Marco had figured as much. "I told you, I'll be fine," he said."You didn't do anything stupid, by the way, right?"

"No. I was tempted to punch Sakazuki in the face, but I figured you'd think that was 'stupid'," Ace replied, pouting.

Marco chuckled. "Yes, I'm old-fashioned that way. But I'm proud of you for restraining yourself."

Ace hummed, but he did squeeze Marco's hand a little. Suddenly, he seemed to get an idea. "You know, with a body like yours, you could ask Shanks for a job in the strip club," he said, half-jokingly. "You two go way back, right?"

"I'm not gonna work in a strip club." Marco sighed. "Not… again."

Ace stopped in his tracks. "What?"

Marco came to a halt as well, scratching the back of his head as he turned to Ace. Telling him was long overdue. "When I was studying, I paid for my tuition by stripping as well. That's actually how I know Shanks."

"No. Freaking. Way!" Ace exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? You have to show me!"

"I haven't done it in years," Marco protested. "I've considered telling you, but very few people know about it. Not even my brothers know."

"Still, I can't believe you stripped as well!" Ace was actually beaming for some reason, but then his face turned pensive."But I thought it was your first time in a strip club when we met?"

"It was my first time as client," Marco explained. "And like I said, Izo and Thatch don't know I have worked there." Then his face turned serious. "I've dealt with the same creeps as you are dealing with now, that's why I tried to keep my distance when you thought I was stalking you."

"Did you have a stalker as well?" Ace asked softly.

"Not as such, but there are always people trying to claim you."

Ace nodded, but then a smirk appeared on his face again. "Still, I want to see you pole dance!"

"Does it have to be now?" Marco protested.

"Sure! The club is closed, but I have the key. Come on!" He started to drag Marco along.

"What about Luffy and Stefan?" Marco tried.

Ace shrugged and placed his hands around his mouth. "Oi, Luffy!" he called to the small dot in the distance.

Luffy stopped and turned around.

"When you're done walking Stefan, take him to our place. Marco and I have to do something."

"Okay!" Luffy called back.

Ace grabbed Marco's hand again and started dragging him in the direction of the strip club. Marco sighed. It didn't seem like he had a choice in the matter.

When they arrived at the back entrance of the club, Ace fished the keys out of his pocket and let them inside. The club was dark and empty, but nothing that Marco hadn't seen before. Since Shanks had taken over the club, though, he had made many improvements, and not just the interior design.

They were the only ones present, as expected since the club was closed.

Without hesitation, Ace made his way over to the control panel, which controlled the music and light. "Come on, time to shake that thing," he said, grinning broadly.

With a smile, Marco shook his took off his jacket, glasses, shoes and socks, as it was easier to dance with bare feet. "Fine, but like I said, it's been a few years. I might be a little rusty."

Ace just grinned and turned on some music and the spotlight as soon as Marco stood ready next to the pole on the stage.

Marco turned his back to Ace, one hand on the pole. He remembered his moves from a few years ago perfectly, but he wondered if he could still pull them off.

In time with the music, he rotated his hips slowly. When the vocals started, he hooked one leg around the pole and used the momentum to twist around it.

Ace had taken a seat, his eyes wide in awe.

Marco grinned. His body facing the pole, he rolled towards it, bringing his hips close for a moment and throwing his head back. He kept one hand on the pole as he swayed his hips some more, but when the music intensified, he suddenly grabbed it with both hands and threw his legs up, so he was hanging upside down. He was asking a lot from his arms, but fortunately, they held him, and he hooked one foot around the pole as he let himself slide down a little.

He flipped himself back on his feet again, leaning backwards in Ace's direction. He had to smirk when he noticed how affected Ace was by his movements. Ace was still seated, and moved his shorts a bit, which were getting tight around the crotch.

Marco was definitely pleased about that, but he wasn't done yet.

He turned around the pole, holding it with one hand, before pressing his back against it and sliding down, with his other hand gripping at his hair and his eyes closed. When he was in a crouching position, he opened his legs. He then rose again, pulling himself up on the pole, one leg hooked around it. Slowly, he slid down again, letting the pole go with his hands as he leaned backwards.

When he was standing on the floor again, he threw his legs up again, making cartwheel while holding on to the pole.

His feet on the ground, he faced his audience – Ace – his back against the pole as he rolled his hips, holding on to the pole with both hands above his head. He then let go of one, leaning backwards so his hips were thrust forward. Turning, he placed both hands on the pole again, a bit apart, as he lifted his body from the ground until it was parallel with the ground.

He wouldn't be able to hold this position for long, so he let himself slide down again until he was on his knees on the ground in front of the pole as the last notes of the song died away.

Applause arose, though sounding a bit muffled, and when Marco looked up, he saw Ace was still too stunned to react. The sound was coming from somewhere else, and it wasn't hard to guess who it was.

Shanks stood in the corner of the room, a shit-eating grin on his face as he slapped his hand against his leg in a one-handed applause. "I didn't know you still had it in you."

Marco rose and dusted off his clothes. "Well, I used to be able to do more."

"Of course, but you've been out of it for several years. If you're ever in need of a job, I could use a veteran like you." Shanks waggled his eyebrows.

Marco eyed Ace, who still hadn't said a word, but nodded fervently. He sighed. "Actually, I lost my job today…"

"Really? I was just kidding, but if you're serious, I'll sign you up right away," Shanks said, a little too eagerly.

Marco shrugged. "Why the hell not?"

"Marvellous!" Shanks grinned again. "Ace, could you grab a contract from my office? It should be on my desk."

As Ace nodded and scurried off, Marco raised an eyebrow. "Something happened to your legs too?"

"I just needed him to leave for a moment." Shanks' face was uncharacteristically serious. "Look, there is another reason I want you here, aside from you being hot and good at this. These boys…" He sighed. "I try to protect them, by having meetings about clients they have a bad feeling about, but they need to tell me in order for me to do something about it. I found out too late about Ace's stalker. Something like that can never happen again."

Marco nodded.

"I try to run a good place, but I can't help them if they don't tell me. That's why I need you to find out these things and report them to me. So I can take care of them," Shanks concluded grimly.

Marco placed a hand on his shoulder. "I wouldn't have agreed to work here if I didn't think you changed a lot. I know you're a good boss, and I will try my best to protect them too."

Shanks sighed in relief and smiled. "Thanks."

Ace returned with the contract, and despite Shanks being his friend, Marco put on his glasses again and read it through carefully. It was a contract for a year, and that sounded fine to him. He wasn't sure how long he wanted to work as a stripper, but if it was with Ace, it should be fun.

Ace had sat down next to him and read along, grinning as Marco signed.

"So, you want to go back to your old routine or—" Shanks stopped talking abruptly and an unsettling grin appeared on his face. "You know, you two would look great together."

Marco sighed. "I knew I was going to regret this. It seems I woke the pervert inside of him."

"The pervert in him is never far," Ace said with a chuckle and kissed Marco on the lips. "You looked amazing up there, by the way."

"If you were gonna do that on stage, you'd make me a very rich man," Shanks said with a grin.

Marco shot him an unamused look, and Shanks pouted.

"Fine. But I was serious about putting you two together. We could do something with fire, how about that?"

"I'm not sure if the fire department would agree with that," Marco started to protest, but Ace's eyes were shining and he looked at Marco pleadingly.

"See? Ace agrees with me."

Marco shook his head as Shanks and Ace started to plan the whole thing, and wondered how his life had changed so drastically in just one day.

He had kissed Ace, the man he had had a crush on for a long time now, for the first time and started dating him, lost his old job and started working as a stripper in the strip club he had worked in when he was going to university himself, now owned by one of his former fellow strippers.

Still, he wasn't upset about it. He had enjoyed his former job, sure. He had loved helping students out, but his boss had been a nightmare. Shanks was a good boss, albeit an annoying one. And if he was honest, Marco looked forward to work with Ace.

It was going to be complicated, Marco didn't doubt that. Both Ace's as well as his own brothers didn't know about the strip club, and while Marco had kept it a secret while he was going to university, he wasn't so sure he still wanted that. But he would have to discuss that with Ace.

For now, though, as he looked at the excited look on Ace's face, one that he not that long ago thought he would never see, Marco decided his life had actually made a turn for the better.