Chapter Twenty-One: Bent But Not Broken

LuffyGirl here.

I don't have much to say here but this chapter turned out the way it is. I tried writing it different ways but this one was the winner.

I guess the only warning here is arguing. And… Yeah, I'm not good with trigger warnings but proceed with caution I guess? There's nothing serious but still.

With that being said…

Enjoy?

Summary: Marco tries to talk to Thatch but it's not going to be easy.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda :)

"…and that's when I called you." Marco explained to Whitebeard. "I… I shouldn't have done that." He became teary-eyed. "I'm such an idiot! I… I messed up so bad!"

Marco left the car and ran inside the house. He closed the door and looked around.

It was dark.

But he didn't care.

Right now he just wanted to talk to Thatch.

Marco went upstairs to there room but it was locked.

"Thatch, I know you're in there. Please let me in. I… I just wanna talk." Marco said even though he could open the door anyway. "I…" His voice cracked and he finally began to cry. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry I did that! I…!" Marco cried and leaned on the door. "Thatch, please. I really am sorry. Please let me in."

Marco sat on the floor as he cried to himself and thought about what he did. He didn't realize how embarrassing his actions were in the spur of the moment. The day was just so perfect. They were happy. They were enjoying each other's company. It's like they were in love all over again.

Marco rubbed his eyes as he thought about what Thatch told him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Thatch said as he pushed Marco's hand away. "I thought we were going to wait until tomorrow to talk about that?! What you just did was seriously the most embarrassing thing you've ever done! What the hell were you thinking?!"

What was he thinking?

Minutes earlier…

Thatch entered the house and was glad no one was there. All he wanted to do was to get out of this damn suit, lay on the bed and cry.

And he did exactly that.

Thatch made his way to the room and locked the door. He practically tore the suit off him and immediately gave up on the tie, grabbed a pair of scissors and just cut it off and threw it on the floor. He threw the scissors back where they were and then changed into something much more comfortable and just tossed himself on the bed and laid there and cried.

To think the day was turning out so perfect.

Too perfect.

Thatch should've known better than to think this day would be flawless.

The sad part was that it almost was.

He couldn't believe Marco proposed! Where the hell did he get a ring?! When did he get a ring?! Why didn't he talk about it first?!

But Marco did want to talk about it.

And Thatch always managed to change and avoid the topic.

But when he was finally ready and willing to talk about it, Marco told him to wait.

And stupidly, Thatch did.

Said person jumped out of his thoughts when he heard the doorknob being grabbed.

"Thatch, I know you're in there. Please let me in. I… I just wanna talk. I…"

Thatch just laid on the bed staring at the wall. 'Just go away…'

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry I did that! I…!"

Thatch cried quietly when he heard Marco cry. It was rare to see and hear, but Thatch didn't like it when Marco cried.

'Just go away.'

"Thatch, please. I really am sorry. Please let me in."

It grew quiet as Thatch continued to stare at the wall. He wasn't sure if he wanted Marco to stay by the door or leave. He thought about what Marco said. Thatch knew he meant the apology but why did Marco propose in the first place? He tried to think about their past conversations but nothing came to mind at the moment. Did Thatch tell Marco something without realizing it and forgot? Did Marco trick him into telling him something? Did… Wait…

Did their family even know?

No, there was no way. They would've told Marco to wait and he was sure Oyaji wouldn't let Marco do such a big step without telling him to talk it out first.

Then why the hell did Marco propose?

XXX

Marco wasn't expecting the door behind him to open and almost fell back on the floor. He stood up and both of them stared at each other for a few seconds before Thatch spoke.

"Why did you propose?" He asked although it was more of a demand. "And don't give me any of that 'because I love you' and other cheesy crap. I want to know what the hell you were thinking and how long you were planning that."

Marco would never admit it out loud but he was currently scared of Thatch's tone. He had to be very careful with his wording right now.

"I… I thought about it since our vacation. I tried talking to you about it after that but… you never seemed to want to. So… I dropped the subject for a while. I got the ring a couple years after the vacation. But… I wasn't going to propose until after we talked about it and when the moment was right."

"And that moment just happened to be today?"

'Well, yeah.' Marco wanted to say but didn't. He was starting to get a little frustrated but did his best not to show it. What more could he say? He also noticed how Thatch hasn't acknowledged the fact that he was the one who never wanted to talk about marriage in the first place.

"You didn't exactly answer my first question. Why did you propose?"

"Why did you never want to talk about it?" Marco countered before he could stop himself. "I understood why when you told me you wanted to wait when I proposed to you for the first time. I thought talking about it on vacation was the best time but I was wrong. I waited because you wanted to. I was always waiting for you to bring it up because whenever I did you always managed to change the subject. I was waiting on you. I was waiting for you. I've been waiting for six whole years and you're asking me why I proposed? I proposed because I was tired of waiting! I proposed because YOU are the one I want to marry! I proposed because I LOVE YOU! And yes, I really did think you would say yes if I proposed in front of a crowd but that wasn't what I had in mind, it's just how everything turned out! So don't you stand there asking me a question you already know the answer to when I've been waiting all these years wondering why the hell you've put off talking about marriage for so damn long!"

It grew quiet after Marco's outburst.

They just stood there looking at each other. Marco was upset and angry while Thatch was upset and a little surprised.

Thatch broke eye contact and looked away. "This is one of the reasons." He said barely above a whisper. "I… I didn't want us to end up arguing about it."

"Well, here we are arguing about it. But we don't have to argue about it. We can just talk-"

"Just go away."

Marco blinked. "What?"

"I need time to think." Thatch said as he turned away.

Marco's expression changed to disbelief. "No. I'm not waiting again. Whatever it is you're thinking about, you can tell me about it."

"I said go away."

Marco put a hand on Thatch's shoulder stopping him. "I am not going anywhere! Damnit, Thatch just talk to me about it!"

"I said go AWAY!" Thatch shoved Marco's hand off him and pushed him away. "You wouldn't understand and I don't expect for you to understand!"

Marco stood his ground. "What wouldn't I understand if you don't tell me?!"

"THAT MARRIAGES NEVER WORK OUT!" Thatch yelled making Marco unintentionally flinch. "At least… Not in my old family." Thatch looked away again. "I know it doesn't matter anymore but… I still think about it."

Marco's mood softened a little as he carefully went back up to him. "Thatch. Whatever it is that went on… It won't be like that with us. Please, just… Just try to talk to me about it. Even if I don't understand, I'll try to."

Said person looked Marco in the eyes. "But I wouldn't expect for you to understand since you never grew up with your real parents."

Marco froze as he felt his heart shatter.

"And that's why you wouldn't understand. You didn't get to grow up with real parents like I did! Now LEAVE!" Thatch yelled as he pushed Marco away causing him to snap out of it as he stumbled and then ran to a different room.

As soon as Thatch heard a door slam shut he fell to his knees and cried quietly.

"I'm so sorry, Marco." He said to himself. "Please don't leave…"

Listen, as one who's been through literal hell and back, I can say that talking about traumatic events is NOT easy. I absolutely HATE when certain topics are brought up and I mostly just sit there in silence listening.

So yeah I like I said, I tried to make this different but this is the way it turned out. I kind of know where this is going now but I'm still not quite sure. Gotta see how this writes itself. I do have a set date for when these one-shots finish and hopefully it won't seem too rushed or cheesy or something. Or too dramatic.

Also, I refuse to go into detail about Thatch's used-to-be family so read between the lines. Oh and no Thatch was not adopted when he was a tiny child like Marco was. I want Thatch's story to be different.

Thank You guys for reading and stay safe out there.