Hello, yes, it's me again. Didn't thought you'd see me so soon, did you? Well the motivation to write this story is back, and I intend to keep it locked in my basement so it doesn't go away any time soon! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and don't hesitate to leave a comment to tell me what you think of it, or my story in general!

Love is in the Air?, Chapter Seventeen

Gently, I put down the dress on the guest room and slip back my own clothes far more ordinary. Like a robot, I verified all my things were in my bag before putting it on my shoulder and getting out of the room. My mind was elsewhere, and I was still under shock. The conversation between these two men haunted me, I couldn't get it out of my system. Mister Foxy had been assassinated, just like Usopp said. I always thought my friend had too much of an imagination, but it seemed that this time, he was pretty spot on.

Which meant Mister Doflamingo was behind all this. But why? What did that teacher did that someone had to kill him for it? I quivered. I was in the mansion of an assassin. My throat tightened and my heart did a flip. By instinct, my legs moved faster. Out. I had to get out. That's all that mattered then. I didn't-couldn't stay another second in that place.

Just as I was running around the corner, a body materialized in front of me and I bumped into a tall man. I looked up and saw Doflamingo. I swallowed with difficulty. "Cerys, going so soon?" he smirked. That smile almost looked malicious, now that I saw this man under another angle. "Yes, I.. I'm tired." My mind was going 100 kilometers per hour trying to find an escape. By chance, the blond moved aside to let me pass. I hurried away from him. "See you soon then!" And in disappeared at the next hall.

As soon as he was out of sight, I started to run as fast as I could to get to some fresh air (and freedom, I thought at the same time). It was only once outside that I took the time to take my breath back. I then neared my bicycle, that was right next to Law's car. The said owner was leaning against it, in deep thought. If I didn't know him, I would say he just seemed almost worried. He finally noticed my presence as I was getting on my bike. Without saying a word, he got on board his own vehicle and I got ahead of him. During the entire ride, Law followed me a few meters away. Like he was making sure I wouldn't get lost, or something. Luckily, we didn't encounter other drivers, otherwise they wouldn't have been happy, considering the speed Law was going.

We arrived at the building where our apartment was. I put away my bicycle while Law parked his car in the parking lot behind. Still as silenced as before, we slowly climbed up the stairs to get to the fourth floor. I took out my keys, unlocked the door and entered, Law right behind me. I took out my shoes, went to the kitchen, put my bag on the floor and sat on a chair. Law settled down in front of me and long seconds passed. No one dared to speak. Then, Law opened his mouth.

"Why were you there?" gently asked. I lowered my eyes and played with my fingers. "I met mister Doflamingo not too long ago and since he mentioned you, I was curious and…" I shut up. Quietly, I raised my head and saw him sigh. It was my turn to question him. "What's your link with him?" Law stared at me for a while, and I saw in his eyes he was hesitant to tell me the truth. Nonetheless, he decided to tell me his past still unknown to me, and proceeded to clarify a number of questions I had.

I learned that his parents and him had been a very happy family, until his dad lost everything and was unemployed overnight. No bank wanted to lend them money, his parents were against the wall. That's when Doflamingo appeared and offered them to erase his father's debts. Only, being associated with his kind was a really bad idea and they learned that the hard way. They had to pay an amount of money every month, with heavy interests, without delay. If they only missed one, grave consequences would occur. For a while, everything was swell, until they couldn't pay in time. So Doflamingo warned them he would involve their son, and they sacrificed their own lives to save his. At the time, Law had no idea of what really happened, and it took him years to discover it all.

He paused before continuing his story. I clearly saw it affected him to talk about his past, but he was determined to explain it all.

They told him his parents were victims of a car accident. However, as years passed, less this explanation was plausible. He started to find some clues about the truth. It was hard, but gradually, he could learn, with his instinct and long hours of research concerning Doflamingo and his involvement with his parents' death. How? Why? He didn't know. When he was 17, a strange man came to offer him a job. To "pay back an unpaid debt", he said. Law had refused. The man then told him he would regret it and left. Law was certain it was Doflamingo who was behind all this. So without delay, he moved to a far away city when he just finished high school, leaving his life behind him. He thought that by distancing himself, he would be safe. And he was, for a year. He met Shachi and Penguin who went to the same school he did and he lived quietly in a small apartment. But no one was safe from the rich businessman. He found Law again and "convinced" him to work for him, if he didn't want to end up dead, his body abandoned in a dark alley. During 4 years, he endured that hell. During 4 years, he did things truly horrible that he refused to tell me. And then, when he finally paid back the debt and thought he was free, Doflamingo found another way to manipulate him. That mean? Me. He learnt that we were "close" when we were kids. The blond never said out loud that he would hurt me if he didn't comply, but his intentions were clear as crystal water. So Law came back here to verify I was ok, and that why he decided that he could protect me if we lived together. He found work in the school I attended to make things easier.

Law stopped talking once again and let me some time to absorb everything. Only, my mind was too clouded for me to understand. However, one thing was clear: he came back for me.

"Wow. Just.. Wow." Law lightly smiled at my reaction. Without any valid reasons, I felt my cheeks tint red. I avoided his gaze. "And who was that woman in the corridor…?" I couldn't help but ask. His stare got hard. "She's an assassin working for Doflamingo." "That's all?" "That's all." I doubted his words. "You two seemed close though.." Law raised an eyebrow. "What are you implying?" "I looked everywhere, except in front of me. "I don't know…" Law intensely fixed his eyes on me. I finally gave in. "Was she your girlfriend?" I said, indifferent (or so I told myself). This time, he laughed. "Her and me, together? That's a good one." At last I deigned look at his face. "That's not the impression I had! With her big fat breasts, she was outright rubbing against you! It was like her hormones were over the roof! She talked about your "two bodies intertwined in the night". She was talking about you two playing scrabble, maybe?" Law started to lose his cool. "What do you want to hear, huh? Yes, I slept with her! Happy?"

I opened my mouth, closed it. Opened it. Closed it again. I felt my throat tightening up. My eyes were watering up. "I…" My voice trembled. "I need to go sleep…" I hurried to my room and closed the door behind me. I felt my tears slip down my cheeks and fall on the ground. My heart was hurting so much. It was the first time I felt so wrecked.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"You love him." I froze and stared at my sister like a second head grown out of her. "You don't know what you're saying!" Leïla smiled. "Haa, denying.. An important step when someone fall in love with a person they don't want to love." I shook my head. Me, in love with Law? Ri. Di. Cu. Lous! "Look the truth in the eyes! You blush when you're near him." "I'm hot." "You feel butterflies in the pit of your stomach-" "It's hurting! It's a stomach ache!" "You can't go a single day without him." "That, is false!" She raised an eyebrow, amused. "So, you're not really in love with him?" I shook my head.

"You don't want to kiss him? To hug him? You don't want him to tell you he loves you? You don't go nuts at the idea something could happen to him? Or if he goes away with another woman?" My heart clenched at the thought. But that was impossible! Why would I love a man so… him? I hated him all those years, and now it was the contrary? This is nonsense!

As if my sister read my thoughts, she smiled at me. "Hate can become love. The other way around can happen too." Her words engraved themselves in my mind and I surprised myself by considering she might be right. It would explain a lot of things. Now that I think about it, I was extremely embarrassed that I kissed him like that…

"Let's say I really am… in love with him, it's not like I could tell him that." "Why not?" I sighed. "First of all, I'm a minor and he's 23. Second of all, he's a teach at my school and I'm his student, I don't want a million rumors going around about us. And even if I forget all that, and I don't know why I should, he doesn't feel the same." Leïla smiled maliciously. "You just admitted you were in love with him!" She did a little happy victory dance before going serious again. "And what tells you he doesn't love you back?" I opened my mouth to give her a ton of examples to justify myself, but none came at this exact moment. I was remembering my kiss from before, or even the warmth of his body when he took me in his arms so Luffy wouldn't recognize me.

"See?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

From the corner of my eyes, I observed Law who was watching TV while I was organizing my photos on my computer. My sister's speech was playing in repeat in my head. You love him. You love him. I love him…

I still had difficulties believing it, but slowly, the reality was getting accepted by my stubborn mind. Now that I realized my feelings, I saw some situations as obvious and was asking myself how I didn't recognize the symptoms earlier. Was I plain stupid? Some would say yes. As for me, I think I was just not considering that as an option, which explained my reluctant realization. Someone would have told me one month prior that I would fall in love with Law and I would have told them to screw off.

My mind wandered from Law to the woman of yesterday. I didn't even know her name and I hated her already. With her boobs as big as watermelons and her perfect hair! Pffff!

…Maybe Law preferred girls like her? Unconsciously, my eyes drifted down at my chest. They weren't small per say, but they weren't big either. They were.. normal. Would Law mind such a thing?

"What are you looking at?" I looked up to see Law staring at me, a smirk on his lips. He just caught me glaring at my breasts? Dig me an hole so I can jump in it… "N-nothing at all!" I stuttered. I was now as red as a tomato. "It's true that it's a nice view." "Law!" He gently laughed and I was even more embarrassed.

I once again immerged myself with my photo classification while he turned back his attention to the news. After a few minutes, I turned off my computer and sighed. My gaze went back to the teacher. "Law…" I whispered despite myself. He heard me even with my voice so low. "Hmm?" Do you love me? "Never mind…" He raised an eyebrow, but continued to stare right ahead. The words wanted to come out, but I dreaded his reaction. He would surely dismiss my confession. Maybe even make fun of me. Better if I just keep my mouth shut…

I took my computer under my arm and was about to go beyond the door frame when Law called me. "What do you want for your birthday?" I froze up. It's true that my birthday was less than two weeks away. And I didn't even find an Halloween costume… I know what I will do this next weekend. "A tripod."

xXxXxXxXxXx

Brutal refusal

Law winced while cleaning up all the blood on his face. As time passed, we could see the multiple wounds. His lips were cut in a few places, his nose didn't have a usual form, his right eye was purplish and swollen, and that was without counting all the ecchymoses over his entire body. It was really painful to see him like that. Even so, he was feeling well, better than these last years. He finally had the courage to disobey Doflamingo. He ordered him to kill someone, and when it was time to do it, he refused and let the person leave with his life, in tears, thanking him before fleeing. Law came back to headquarters to fill in his report, and of course, Doflamingo wasn't happy about all this. He told his men to teach him a lesson, which they hurriedly did, those bastards. Law hurt everywhere, but he still had a smile on his lips.

He put down the bloody cloth on the sink and washed it. He then looked one last time in the mirror before leaving the bathroom and entering the living room. Penguin sat in the sofa while Shachi tried to plug in multiple cables behind the TV. Penguin turned to his friend as Law was walking in. The old console of the Nintendo 64 was on the ground. "A match of Super Smash Bros, you in?" Law smirked maliciously. "You're gonna regret this."