Your heart was racing as you followed the others into the stands, your gaze flicking over the field as players were finishing with warm ups, you barely registered the familiar uniforms of the away team as your feet grind to a halt upon meeting Ace's coal black eyes. Now your heartbeat thudded loudly in your ears and you subconsciously pull the jacket tighter around yourself. You manage to give him a small smile before hurrying to take a seat beside Vivi, she takes your hand and squeezes it. Earlier when you picked her up, she had approved of you wearing Ace's jacket and you had smiled, but then Zoro, who you had also picked up, commented on how it made you look like Ace's girlfriend. Embarrassed you had revealed his crush to Vivi and Usopp, funny thing was, the two of them had already figured it out. You wonder now, what Ace thought of you wearing it,
"(Y/N)?" Vivi shakes you out of your thoughts, "Are you going to be okay?" you frown a little confused exactly why she's asking you that, "they're playing against your old school," she nods over to the field and your eyes sweep over the field until you spot them, The Sabaody Fishmen. You take in a shuddering breath,
"I'll be okay," you mutter, she squeezes your hand again,
"We'll stick together okay?" you give her a thankful smile, she wasn't aware of the details of the incident that happened, only Ace was, but she knew something had happened and she knew of your fear of Grant. You managed to relax though as your friends slowly filed in, the rest of the Newgate boys arrived just before the game started, squeezing in beside you, Thatch eyed your jacket then flashed you a big grin before nudging Marco and getting him to look, they both then grinned at one another. You gave them a disapproving look, all the while blushing to the roots of your hair before focusing on the game.
You had to admit, you were starting to understand why Camie loved this sport, you were enjoying yourself, much more than last time and were really getting into it, cheering on your team with the rest of your friends. By the time half time came, you were completely at ease, if a little leg jittery about talking to Ace later. Vivi drags you off to the toilets with her and you had to admit you really needed it too. Between Sanji and Thatch, you had been supplied with enough food and drinks to last days never mind just the game. As the pair of you left to return to the others, Vivi's phone went off and when she looked at it, she turned bright red, "What is he doing calling me..." you glance at her phone,
"Koza," you read the name flashing on her screen, "who's that?"
"Just an old friend," her gaze hasn't left the phone, "I haven't spoken to them since changing schools..."
"So, talk to him," you nudge her, "I'll tell the others you will be back soon okay," she gapes at you for a moment before smiling thankfully and answering the phone nervously. It was cute. Smiling you make your way back towards the stands entrance.
But then your stopped. Feet stumbling to a halt as your way is blocked by a group of familiar faces, of course they would come, any excuse to come and cause your life hell! Grant grins at you,
"I thought I'd invite them, Pirates verses Fishmen, y'know, and all the fun that comes with it," your gaze roams over the group, a large group, a group of individuals you hadn't seen all together since the last time both schools played off against each other. You try to keep calm even as you feel your blood go cold and your heart stutter in panic,
"I, hope you enjoy the game," you manage to wheeze out,
"Oh no, we're not here for the game pet, at least not the one on the field," Damien's smile grows as dread runs thick through you, "we came here for you, we want to finish the game we started last time," his friends all laugh and giggle as you take a step backwards, away from them, "Yes, that's it (Y/N), run for me, let us chase you. After all, that's all part of the fun!" and you do. You spin around and bolt. The heavy slap of their footfalls behind you sending chills of fear down your spine. You try to focus your breathing, stay from panicking to hard. Trying to get your phone out of your pocket as you slam the doors to the carpark open. You end up bolting past your car, knowing they would have gotten you before you had a chance to get in it. You let out a strangled cry of triumph as you get your phone free and dial the first contact you know can actually answer, Franky. You don't even remember when you got his number, maybe Robin put it in when she put hers in. You start to worry when it keeps ringing but let out a breath as he finally answers,
"Where you at girly, the game is about to start back up and we are SUPER in the lead!"
"Franky, I need help,"
"What's wrong?" you blink, that's not Franky's voice,
"Thatch?" you glance behind you and yelp, they are close, cackling like hyenas, "I... I need help Thatch; they're going to hurt me..."
"Keep your phone on, we're coming," you could hear him organising your friends. Your heart pounded, you should have told more people, maybe if you had you wouldn't be in this situation. Thatch kept encouraging you as you ran. But eventually, your running became unsteady, you trip and take a tumble, your phone flying out of your grasp and skidding along the road,
"Crap..." your quickly roll over knowing they are about to grab you when your vision is blinded with bright blues and yellows. Blinking to regain your vision you look up to find Marco in front of you and gape, his arms are wings of blue and yellow flames, "Marco..."
"Start running back for the school yoi," he orders you, "I'll break up the pack here, look for the others," you didn't need telling twice, you jumped back to your feet, phone forgotten you dash off as the flames blaze high from Marco, you needed to find out just how many of those brothers has a devil fruit power. You shake the thought away and keep running. Knowing your still being followed as some got away from Marco. You had to take a long way back towards the school, passing by some of your friends as you went, they would step between you and your chasers each time and encourage you to keep running, but then your luck ran out. You stumble to a stop in a small alleyway. Finding a dead end, you had been so sure you could get through here to the school, you could see the lights from the school field, but the wall in your way was too tall for you to even attempt to climb. You would have to backtrack; you spin around and scramble to a halt once again,
"You're a pretty fast runner, faster than you used to be," Damien notes slowly moving towards, you move backwards until your back hits the wall, "nowhere to run now though," he chuckles, "you know, I got into a lot of trouble last time because of you,"
"Good, you deserved it," you grit out,
"Is that anyway to talk to me," Damien scowls pulling a gun from the back of his waistband, you blank, of course he somehow still had it. He raises it and grins, "I think it's time I finished what I started, what do you think?" you don't get a chance to answer, hell he doesn't get a chance to wait for an answer as he's having to dodge back fast as what you can only describe as a fire ball hits the spot he had been standing in and then Ace is in front of you, his hands gripping your shoulders. He had jumped over the wall, he had come for you,
"Are you okay?" you look up into his eyes, noting the fear and concern in those dark orbs, tears sting your eyes, "don't worry, it's all going to be okay," he glances behind him at Damien, are dark thunderous glare on his face as that gun is raised again,
"You know, I really hate when someone gets in my way. (Y/N) you know what happens to those who get in my way right?" he smiles sadistically as he moves that gun to aim at Ace, Ace quickly shoves you to the side, you land on your hands and knees letting out a scream as the gun goes off three times. All three shots hitting Ace,
"Ace!" your heart is in your throat; it feels almost as if time has stopped. Then flames flicker over Ace's form,
"What the hell..." Damien frowns, then growls and fires the gun three more times, each bullet hitting Ace again and going straight through him to slam into the wall behind him,
"Man, you really need to do your research. Someone like you can't do shit against me," half of Ace's body flares and flickers, as if his form is made up of fire, "You're going to have to try harder than that to make anything hit a logia type," he then starts walking towards Damien, "I should burn you to a crisp, but I'm not about to add more trauma to what (Y/N) already has because of you, so I'll give you one chance, you leave now and you never bother (Y/N) again, she's one of us, under our protection, and when I say us, I don't mean the Pirates, I mean Newgate, I mean Whitebeard, so unless you want to be running for the rest of your life," he nods towards the exit of the alley, "get lost," something about what Ace said put fear into Damien's eyes. The boy you had feared for most of your high school life suddenly turns tail and runs. Once he's out of sight Ace turns to you, "You okay? You're not hurt anywhere are you?" you scramble to your feet and run the short distance over to him, checking over him, but there's no bullet wounds, "physical attacks like that don't work on me, I'm okay, not a scratch ow, you don't have to hit me though," he makes a grab for your wailing fists, "(Y/N) stop please,"
"I was so scared!" you yell at him, "I thought he was going to kill you!" and you of course burst out crying, still trying to hit him,
"(Y/N) please!" he manages to get a hold of your hands and pulls them against his chest, "I'm sorry," he then adds softly, you look up at him through teary eyes and he wipes away those tears while keeping your hands secured by one of his. "I'm sorry I've been an absolute ass, I'm sorry I broke the promise to always be there for you, I'm sorry I scared you..." you could see his own hurt and fear in those coal black eyes,
"Ace..." you half whimper out through your crying, the next moment he's pulled you closer. His lips pressing against yours. Your eyes widen in shock and for a brief moment, you're not sure what to do. Your mind screaming at the fact he's kissing you. He's actually kissing you. And, you feel yourself melt into it, all previous fear and anxiety slipping away as you return that kiss. You don't know how long the kiss lasted; it could have been for a few seconds yet it felt so much longer, but eventually you both needed to breathe. He rests his forehead against yours,
"I don't want you to go back to Sabaody..." he whispers the words out and they make your heart thud hard in your chest, "but I have no right to ask you to stay,"
"Why wouldn't you?" you whisper back,
"Because I'm no good," he closes his eyes and a shudder runs through him, "I'm the child of a monster (Y/N) and you deserve so much better," you frown,
"Are you talking about your biological father?" you ask, it takes a moment but he opens his eyes again and nods, your frown deepens,
"You do realise that that means nothing right?" now it's his turn to frown, "blood only goes so far, you were raised by Pops, you're a Newgate," you then shake your head, "Plus, I know Roger's kind of made a bad name for himself, but from the stories my Mom and Uncle tell me, he wasn't that bad of a person," you watch him process this,
"You knew who my father was already?" you guessed he had tried to cover it up for years, specially taking his mother's name,
"Ace..." you shake your head, "I've always known, my uncle was his best friend you moron," Ace then groans and drops his head onto your shoulder, "Luffy mentioned a while ago you had issues regarding Roger's but I didn't realise it was like this,"
"I'm sorry,"
"Shut up, stop saying sorry." You take a step back from him, "You're just going to have to work for forgiveness," you offer him a smile which he finally returns.
"We should get you back to the school, the others will be worried," he releases your hands so that you can walk side by side, "and I have to prepare for a lecture from coach,"
"Wait, the game, the second half," you jerk your gaze to him, "did you run out?"
"Yes, of course I did. I told you, I wouldn't let anything happen to you again. I'd already broken one promise, I didn't want to break another one and lose you forever," he takes your hand and you continue walking,
"Thank you Ace," he simply squeezes your hand, "Ace, I'm not moving back to Sabaody," he stumbles to a stop and looks at you, you can't help but let out a small giggle, "Rayleigh discussed things with my mom, she's gonna move here instead,"
"So, you're staying?"
"Yeah, I wanted to, but I was just torn because I didn't want to hurt my mom... Ace put me down!" you squeal at the end because he's picked you up and spun you around,
"I can't, I'm too happy right now," he spins you again before pulling you against him and kissing you again, "I want to make you mine," his words and actions make you flush red,
"Let's take one step at a time yeah, I'm gonna make you work for forgiveness first," you both share a smile, "but if it helps, you're halfway there already."
Together you walk back to school, where the police are herding your chasers into cars after being corralled by your friends. Said friends were instantly surrounding you, some crying and some cheering, all trying to hug you. You were crying again, but this time, from the feelings of happiness and feeling safe. This here, with all your friends, with Ace, this was your true home.
The End.
Or is it?