Tea'sing All The Way Through

by Defenestrated-Nutter

The coffee shop that had become Law's second home just closed and he was forced to find another one to survive. In between all the madness that is college, he found himself tangled with his barista's personal life, his dog and his really bad food puns as if he didn't have enough of his own problems already. A journey about self-discovery. Lawlu. Slow-burn. Like, really Slow-burn.

1. Chapter 1

Hey there guys! So, I've been reading fanfics for nearly four years now and it felt like a good damn time to start giving something to the community as well. So, yeah, here it is I guess, my very first attempt to write a fanfic. Hopefully, it's something reasonable.

This story happens in a modern setting, so the characters have normal lives and there are no superpowers.

WARNING: this story will deal with some issues that you might find triggering, such as references to minor character's death, references to grief and mourning, some signs of depression, anxiety and panic attacks, references self-harm and self-induced injuries, graphic descriptions of blood and injuries, injury recovery, nightmares, sexual content. Although I'm by no means expert in any of these matters, please be aware of this.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to One Piece.

Also, please be warned that English is not my first language, so please warn me if there are mistakes.

And without further rambling, I hope you enjoy this first chapter

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The day Law discovered his new favorite coffee shop was a day just like the others.

The sky was a bit cloudy, with the sun already out of sight, and he was making his way towards his apartment building, deciding to make a shortcut that ended up not being a shortcut at all. He grabbed his phone before he could get even more lost, to know where the hell he was, the three years since he moved and started his current college life still not being enough for him to get fully adapted to the town, him still not knowing where he is most of the time. And it's understandable really, considering the fact that he spends his days on the same places, on his own apartment, at college, or inside the coffee shop that had welcomed him since the first day he moved to the town, and he never actually decided to go for a walk spontaneously, to go explore on his own his surroundings without having a specific reason to do so.

That was, however, until that same coffee shop decided to close, without any previous warning, without any kind of signal, and suddenly Law saw himself in the need of finding another one for his sleep-deprived brain to survive, saw himself in the need of finding a new spot with free Wi-Fi, it apparently being an impossible task. Every coffee shop he entered ended up having some sort of problem, the coffee was bad, the place was loud, the baristas were annoying, the internet was shit. Every single one had to have at least one of these flaws, if not more, and it was so fucking annoying and so fucking ridiculous that Law started to think that it was his fault, that he had standards too high despite asking for the bare minimum.

And so the day Law discovered his new favorite coffee shop was a day just like the others, and it was totally unintentional too.

The moment he found he was on Cocoyashi Street was also the moment his phone warned him about a nearby WiFi network named Bell-mere's, ready to be connected, and it was with surprise that he realized it belonged to a coffee shop right in front of him, so discreet and so well integrated into the architecture of the buildings around it that Law could've passed right past it without even acknowledging the place was there. It wasn't with much thought that he decided to enter, just to check, just to have another place crossed from his list, him suddenly realizing how much his system was craving caffeine.

When he opens the door of the place, a small bell jingling just above his head, a few people turn around to acknowledge his presence, although none of them gives him a second look, quickly returning to their own businesses. He was expecting a small and deserted place, but as he looks around he's surprised to see how that's not true at all, how the place is rather spacious on the inside, how it seems clam and silent despite having a considerable amount of people sitting there, and he can't help but be impressed as he walks towards the counter and outs himself behind another customer, being served by a young red-haired woman not older than Law himself.

He doesn't have to wait much before the woman is done with the customer in front of him, smiling politely and giving the man his order before looking at Law with an expectant and curious look, as if trying to remember his face. And it's weird really, but he tries not to get uncomfortable underneath her stare, ordering just an espresso, the strongest that she can manage to make, and then asks for the wifi's password. She looks at him funny then, slightly arching an eyebrow at him and noticing the bag hanging on Law's left shoulder, snorting before turning around to make his order. He tries not to glare at the back of her head too much in response, watching as she deals with the coffee machine quite effortlessly before turning back to him, handing him his coffee without any ceremony along with a small yellow piece of paper with the password written on it, then taking his money avidly.

He gives her a small nod and then walks towards the corner of the place, getting himself installed right next to the big windows, having a perfect view of the whole coffee shop, but also of the street where he was just a few minutes ago, although he doubts he will be looking through it much. Instead, he grabs his computer from his bag and places it on top of the dark wooden table, connecting it to the plug he saw when he was still by the counter, low on the wall behind him. From the corner of his eye, he can sense the woman still staring at him, but he promptly ignores her, deciding that he doesn't care enough to look back at her with one of his glares, to force her to look away, to make her stop and mind her own business, mostly because for the first time since he started looking for a new coffee shop he actually found one that has pleased him well enough, and so he doesn't want to start the relationship with the barista on the wrong foot right away, not on the first day, not before he even tasted the coffee.

And it's weird really, how things turned out for him, but he doesn't dare to complain, doesn't dare to question his luck, because as soon as he drinks the first sip of his coffee he is well beyond impressed, well beyond satisfied with its flavor, it probably being even better than the one he was used to ordering at his last place, and so he calls it a win and doesn't manage to suppress a smirk from occupying his mouth as he looks around once more, trying to get his eyes used to the place where he will for certain spend most of his free time and money, where he will relieve his frustration and stress with work, and where he will probably lose a lot of years of life while doing so.

He ends up declaring himself a regular after two weeks of going there every single day, staying in the corner of the place for some good couple of hours straight each time, his eyes glued to his computer's screen and his table being filled with a pile of papers and books. He finds that the red-haired woman is named Nami on a day where he was unusually chatty and she had no more customers to attend besides him, and ever since then she does her best to chitchat with him whenever he approaches the counter to order, although her attempts never last long to actually becoming annoying, him grabbing his coffee mug and heading to his table as soon as he's done paying, her never once tried to initiate a conversation with him after he settled down, quickly losing interest on him then. Once or twice, she tried to sell him one of the baked goods on display, stating that they were made by her sister and the best ones in town, and he had to admit that they looked good, with bright colors and funny shapes, but he never bought anything aside from his coffee.

"My sister likes to experiment new things," Nami had said once when she caught Law staring at one very good looking muffin, but he didn't buy it, and he's sure that the change of Nami's polite smile to a sulk was probably more worthed it than the amount of sugar in the muffin.

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On the Monday of the third week, the weather was so bad and it was raining so heavily that Law ended up getting soaked to the bones the second he walked out of his class, him not owning a proper umbrella that actually covered at least half of his body and not wanting to enter Shachi's poor excuse of a car to accept his ride.

As he opens the Bell-mere's door with probably more force than necessary, the bell jingling just above him, he heads directly to his table before ordering, opening his bag and taking everything out, praying for his computer to still be working properly and sighing with relief when he sees it turning on, although most of his books didn't have the same luck, being wet in the corners, some of the pages gluing together.

He puts his bag in the back of the chair that he never uses to let it dry a bit before he has to leave, and it's only then that he makes his way to the counter, it's only then that he realizes how Nami and her judging expression badly hidden behind her polite smile aren't anywhere to be seen, how instead there is a guy on the other side of the counter, looking at him funny, trying hard not to laugh right in Law's face but doing a terrible job at doing so. Law has never seen the guy there before, hell he has never seen anyone taking orders other than Nami before, and it makes him wonder if maybe the guy is new, or if perhaps he's just covering Nami's shift, or if maybe he was on vacation, but he quickly realizes that he doesn't really care.

Law tells him his order, his voice rough due to the bad weather, but he decides to ignore it, instead putting the money on top of the counter and waiting for the guy to finish his coffee, watching as he handles the coffee machine a lot differently than Nami, in a much more clumsy way, letting a few coffee grains fall onto the floor as he refills it, Law noticing how his uniform is covered in coffee stains when he turns around to hand Law his order, a big toothy grin covering his face, seeming pleased with his job despite having made a mess in the process. He grabs Law's money from the counter, putting it inside of the register without even counting it to make sure it's enough.

"Would you like something to dry off?" the guy asks before Law has time to turn around to head to his table, his voice so high pitched that Law can't help but to arch an eyebrow at him, surprised at how it doesn't annoy him as much as it should, but the way he clears his throat right after tells Law that's not his usual tone of voice either.

"Yeah, if you might," Law mumbles and glares at the water underneath his feet. "Sorry about the puddle," he adds and scratches the back of his neck with his free hand, noticing the trail of muddy footprints that goes from the door to the table and then to where he's standing, "and about the trail."

"Don't worry about it. Go sit and I will bring you a towel in a minute," the guy says, quickly dismissing it with a hand movement before disappearing into the door that Law supposes leads to the kitchen area, having seen Nami entering there and bringing pastries on a tray right after whenever a variety ran out on display.

Law does what he is told and goes sit, being careful not to make any more mess than what he has already made and thankful that Nami wasn't there, knowing full well that she would give him a lecture and then make him clean everything with his own bare hands or charge him extra for service. Law takes off his soaked hat then, hanging it near his bag before putting his coat in the back of his own chair, his hair dripping wet and soaking his sweater that managed to remain dry, making him uncomfortable and cold despite the warm ambiance inside of the place.

The guy doesn't take long to come back, but he does take some time to stare at Law's messy hair before handing him a small towel, then turning around to start cleaning the floor with a mop. For a moment, Law almost feels bad for him, almost feels bad for the extra work that he's giving him, but then he notices the smirk splashed across the his face as he cleans all the mess on the floor, obviously amused by Law current state and misery, him talking to a few people while mopping and not seeming too bothered.

Law tries not to stare too much at the guy, instead averting his eyes and looking around the place, it being more crowded than usual and having a few customers resembling Law, with small towels on top of their shoulders and just trying to dry their things, although Law's sure that he looks a lot worse than any of them, a lot more miserable. And yet Law finds himself wondering how many times the guy had to clean the floor that day already, how many times that floor has seen a muddy foot trail, looking at his back once more and just watching him work without being able to bring himself to stop, to bring himself to look away and do something else, and Law only stops when the guy returns to his place behind the counter and catches his stare, returning it with a lopsided smile that takes Law off guard.

Frowning, Law redirects his stare to his computer screen in front of him, telling himself that it's time to get his work done and quickly focusing on an important essay that he still needs to finish and to revise, so much so that he gets absorbed into it, almost as if he's in a bubble, separated from the world. He sits there for a long while, in his peaceful corner, occasionally looking at the rain that hits the big window next to him, the noise it makes being surprisingly relaxing and helping him get focused, and he avoids looking in the guy's direction every time he hears the bell tingle, every time he sees him move from the corner of his eye, every time he hears him talk to someone, and soon enough Law forgets about his existence altogether, forgets that there were other people around him.

The heat of the place helps him get dry in no time, him no longer needing the towel but not bother taking it off from his shoulders. He's can see how messy his hair is in the reflection on his computer's screen every time it gets darker, his clothes feel weird against his skin, making it hitch, and he's sure that his hat and his bag in front of him are still quite wet, although he doesn't manage to regain enough energy to check in them. He feels exhausted, fatigued, and his eyes start to hurt by the time he's halfway through his essay, the words getting misled together and him having to read the same phrase multiple times to retain information, to fully comprehend it. As he looks at the now empty coffee mug on top of one of his anatomy books, he considers ordering another one, considers getting another shot of energy and caffeine, but he reluctantly decides against it, having already pushed his luck during the previous night, having taken too many coffees in a row to stay away until late and then ending up not managing to sleep at all.

Law doesn't hear the guy coming in his direction, doesn't see or acknowledge his presence, doesn't sense him getting closer. In fact, Law only snaps out of his bubble when he hears him laughing with two other customers in the table right beside him and by that time a sweet smell fills his nostrils. When he looks to the place where is empty coffee mug was supposed to be, he's surprised to see how it was replaced with a small blue plate and another mug, and he can't help but to glare at the brown waffle and at the coffee that he's sure contains more milk than anything else for some good two minutes before looking in the counter's direction, noticing how by then the guy had already returned and how he was surely avoiding Law's eyes on him, pretending to be busy cleaning the coffee machines, it being quite obvious really.

And so Law glares at the food in front of him again, terribly confused, and just wonders why it's there in the first place, him not having ordered anything and knowing that the guy could not be as incompetent to have mistaken him with another customer. It's only then that he sees a small yellow paper near his waffle plate, the same kind of paper as the one Nami used to write the WiFi's password the first time Law entered through Bell-mere's door, and he stares at it before grabbing it to read, suddenly not knowing what to make out of it, not knowing what he's supposed to do with it or with the information written with an ugly and childish handwriting.

I know youve just ordered a coffee but that was two hours ago and you look pretty waffle.

Law looks at the guy again, but he's still shamelessly ignoring him. He decides then that he prefers Nami as his barista, since at least she knows how to respect the boundaries he has made and knows when to stop pushing him to eat. In fact, in protest, he refuses to eat or to drink what the guys as brought him, deciding to ignore the food completely, and just starts working again, typing angrily on his keyboard until he's not able to resist the delicious smell of chocolate any longer, until his mouth suddenly gets dry, and he eats the goddamn waffle like a caveman that hasn't seen food for days, not knowing if he should be angry at the guy or at himself for having given in so easily.

By the time he's half way done with his coffee, he feels the guy finally looking at him, craving holes on his face, and as Law turns around to glare at him he's met with a grin, shinny and big, cutting the guy's face in half, and Law feels stupid then, childish even, drinking the rest of the coffee in one go and deciding that it's time for him to go, that it's time for him to sleep and clean his goddamn mind. He packs then, with more force than necessary, shoving everything inside of his backpack without really caring if his papers get misled and folded against each other, everything being more or less dry by now. He didn't realize it had stopped raining until then, so it was safe for him to go and only come back when he sees a red-head instead of a brunette on the other side of the counter.

Law brings the plate and the mug with him to the counter, putting both things on top of it and ignoring when the guy asks if Law liked it or not, him instead asking how much it is for him to pay and taking his wallet out of his pocket.

"On the house," the guy says, and it really shouldn't make the guy's grin grow bigger as it did, "you didn't order it after all."

Law stares at him for a bit and suppresses the then why did you put it on my table that wants to get out of his mouth, mostly because he's sure as hell he would just receive an if you didn't want it why did you eat it? kind of response. When the guy looks unfazed by Law's stare, he decides to look for the price tag of the damn pastry on display, leaving enough money to pay the way too fancy Chocolate-Hazelnut Waffle with Frangelico brown butter syrup and the coffee inside of the tip jar before leaving.

He decides then that he likes Nami the best for sure, she would never give him free food, insist on him buying something other than his usual coffee sure, but free food? Never.

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A week passes by before Law sees the guy again but, unfortunately, he sees him two days in a row. The weather is reasonably good enough but Law couldn't be more stressed with all the college shit that he still needed to get done due that week. He has a headache by the time he stands in the surprisingly long line to the counter and the backpack that he brought along with his usual computer bag adds a lot more weight to his back than what he's used to.

Law looks around while waiting, keeping his mind occupied and noticing how the place is crowded and has more people than what he has ever seen since he started going there, even his table being occupied by an elderly couple, making him not being able to throw all of his shit to his usual corner before ordering like he normally does. He couldn't be more pissed off but, by the time he leaves the line with his coffee on his hand, the table is already empty and so he doesn't waste time, making his way towards it before anyone else can.

And it happens again. Two hours after he starts working, his empty mug is replaced by another one and a plate, the only difference being that, this time, Law catches the guy doing it.

"I didn't order anything," Law tells, looking away from the words on his computer and doing his best for his voice to sound annoyed.

"I know," the guy just simply responds, giving him a quick smile and walking away before Law can say anything else, leaving the plate and the coffee behind as if Law didn't just complain about them, as if he didn't just confront him, and Law can't help but to sigh in defeat, not having enough will power to fucking throw the plate right to the guys face, feeling a headache building up at the back of his head.

He stares at his table for a little while, then bringing the mug and tasting the coffee, the flavor being good but not being as strong in caffeine as he would like it to be, although he guesses it's for the best really, it helping him get a bit more awake but not sending him to the grave earlier. He ignores the plate for longer, trying to get his focus back on his computer screen but no managing to do so for more than a few minutes, him then turning his face towards it, noticing how contains a small square piece of cake instead of a waffle, brown with white cream and what seems to be diced walnuts on top. It looks good, Law admits, but he still tries to resist the urge to eat it, despite the temptation, despite his hunger, but once again he's not able to do so for much time, the only difference being that now Law doesn't look in the guy's direction as he gives a bite on the cake, feeling the carrot flavor and what appears to be raisins inside of his mouth, the cream tasting like some sort of cheese and the whole combination being moist and surprisingly good.

By the time he has to leave, he packs everything inside of his bag and backpack, including the guy's note that just simply says, I know I'm not your friend or anything, but as the good employee as I am I carrot about my customers and you look like hell. He takes the plate and mug with him again and then puts enough money to pay the coffee and the carrot cake inside the tip jar before he leaves, the bell jingling above his head.

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The next day, when he enters through the Bell-mere's door again, he isn't surprised to see the guy at the counter again instead of Nami. He may be a bit annoyed, but he's not at all surprised by the fact the guy is there anymore.

Law hasn't brought his computer this time, and instead his backpack is full of books and notes that he has written during his morning classes, lose sheets full of loose information, confusing sentences in a handwriting that even him has an hard time to read. He has no exact reason to be there, as he doesn't need internet for the work that he needs to get done and his apartment is sure as hell quieter and more comfortable, and yet he's still there, sat on his own and private corner with his coffee mug already half drank, carefully positioned in between two piles of notes of medical genetics. Law could hear the guy in the background, going in and out of the kitchen every five minutes, sometimes being quick and bringing new pastries to put on display while others he ends up taking more time, coming back still chewing something, his cheeks and hair white with flour, the coffee shop being quiet and without having customers to attend and so the guy only needing to come out from the kitchen whenever the bell tingled and occasionally to make sure everything was alright.

Law finds it hard to concentrate on the papers in front of him then, and it doesn't take long for him to start feeling frustrated, it probably being reflected on his face if the sympathetic smiles he keeps receiving from the old lady sat in the table next to him are anything to go by. And so, by the time he sees the guy making coffee when there's no one in line and then choosing something from the display to put on a blue small plate, Law couldn't feel more relieved, him watching as the guy does his way around the counter, Law making space among all of his notes spread on top of the table for him to be able to put the food on, then leaning against his chair and waiting for him to come, his arms crossed him from his chest.

"Taking a break?" the guy asks once he's close enough for Law to be able to hear him, his voice being low to not disturb the other customers.

"Yeah, you can say that," Law says and watches as the guy puts the plate in front of him, switching his empty mug for the full one. "So what am I eating against my will today?"

The guy actually laughs at that, as the fucking audacity to do so. "Well, it's Caramelized Maca - something. It's brand new, just came out of the kitchen and I cannot pronounce its name," he says, holding the empty mug with both of his hands in front of his chest, smiling at him sheepishly. "And I don't remember ever making you eat against your will. I wouldn't do such a thing."

"Don't play dumb," Law tells him, leaning to the table, and the guy just snorts in response. He brings the plate closer to him and takes the yellow paper out so he can eat without dirtying it. He puts it carefully next to the book he was taking notes from, just for the guy not to think he's dismissing it completely, intending on reading it once the guy is back on the other side of the counter. "So, you're telling me I'm the guinea pig?"

"More or less, yeah. Nojiko likes to hear criticism on her food, not the bad ones though," the guy says, frowning momentarily with the last part.

"And doesn't that make my day," Law mutters sarcastically, then proceeding to try what appears to be cheese just in front of him. It's weird if he thinks about it, after all, he was just there, burning his brain off with genetics, and then the barista brings him a well-ornamented plate where the principal ingredient is cheese, but, well, it does taste amazing and the caramel on top gives the cheese a bittersweet flavor that actually works well. "You can tell her it's good."

"Yeah?" the guy basically beams, loudly, making Law want to beat the shit out of him, the headache on the back of his head making itself more noticeable. "Good, okay I will tell her that, hum-" he stops, motioning vaguely with one hand.

"Law," he says before taking one more bite and fighting a smirk from taking over his mouth in the process.

"- you liked, yeah that," the guy says and bites his bottom lip, hard, his eyes being all shiny and his cheeks flushed, and Law finds it weird and mesmerizing at the same time. The guy then takes a few tentative steps back, Law's empty coffee mug still being firmly held in between his hands. "I'm gonna tell her that and- I'm Luffy by the way," he adds, awkwardly.

Law nods and watches as the guy, or Luffy apparently, does his way back to behind the counter where he was supposed to be in the first place, him l then proceeding to enter the kitchen, most likely to tell said sister about Law's opinion. Law finishes his food minutes later and starts working again, deciding to ignore the fact that Luffy only comes out of the kitchen when the sound of another customer entering Bell-mere's can be heard, deciding to ignore how by that time he's even more flushed, how his hair is in such a mess that Law wonders if he and Nami's sister were making out in the kitchen. He doesn't let his mind wander for long though, because it's in that same kitchen where the pastries that he's been eating lately are made, and so he prefers to think that nothing happens there.

He leaves not long after and avoids looking at Luffy's face as he puts the money in the tip jar like he always does, paying for the Caramelized Macadamia Camembert that he didn't manage to name properly. He sticks the piece of paper where it can be read, Hey I camembert the last time I saw someone as focused on something as youre in your papers to be honest, inside of one of his books before shoving it inside of his backpack.

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The next time Law enters the Bell-mere's, it's been three days and he's way more than pissed off with his life and the world in general. He hasn't slept the night before and has already told Shachi and Penguin to go fuck themselves more times than usual. He orders a bottle of water just because he needs to order something if he wants to be sat there and not really because he needs it, and Luffy just looks at him with a weird look because, of course, he's there again, of fucking course.

"So, you don't want anything else?" Luffy asks, confused, after handing him the bottle that Law is almost sure he won't even drink. Law doesn't respond and just hands him the money. "Okay, so we have new things today," he tries again, his voice sounding unsure, "anything you might want in two hours?"

"No, I don't want anything more than this," Law grunts, shaking the water bottle in front of Luffy's face, just to make the guy understand better. He knows he's being a douche, but he doesn't find it in himself to fuckin care. "Not now, and not in two hours, got it?" he snaps before going to his corner, hopefully irradiating enough bad vibes for everyone to stay the hell away from him.

Luffy doesn't say anything more, but Law can feel him staring at him from his place in the corner, and that only pisses him off even more, only makes the guy get even more under his nerves. He contemplates the idea of going somewhere else, another coffee shop where the coffee may not be that good but where the ambiance and internet are tolerable enough. Coffee is not his priority today, not when he already drank way more than what he should've for the day, hell for the whole goddamn week. He knows his bad mood is a combination of the lack of sleep, stress and the coffee addiction that he knows he already has, but there's nothing much he can do right now other than try to resist the urge of ordering a coffee and be stuck with a bad headache for the rest of the day, opening his computer to start doing his researches and taking notes that he can order later on once he gets home.

His bad mood gets better as the times passes by productively and he even drinks a bit of the water he brought, just for the sake of it, and he feels slightly bad then, when his mind reminds him more often than not of how much of a douche he was to Luffy when all he was doing was his job, and so Law decides he will apologize to him when he has to leave.

Only, he doesn't, because Luffy comes to him first, even though Law shook the bottle of water in front of him like a lunatic, even though he stated he did not want anything else other than the fucking water, and once again Law doesn't see him coming, doesn't notice him until the guy is right there, moving away some of the books so he can put a plate and a mug on top of the table without ruining anything. Law stares at him as he does so, without helping him, without telling him to fucking stop, and instead just stares at him some more when he walks away without saying anything, his face black and with no expression for Law to be able to read.

This time there's no coffee inside of the mug, it instead being filled with what Law assumes is tea, something he's actually thankful for, while on the plate there's nothing more than a good looking crepe with a single orange peel for decoration. Law wants to smile then, because Luffy seemed to have ignored all the shit he has said, but he also wants to scream and punch him for the exact same reason.

Law turns his computer into suspension and puts it aside, then grabs the small yellow paper before anything else and reads it, the want to smile what it says then taking over, despite the puns being ridiculous, despite them being childish.

I guess Im doing this is cause Im a crepe. And Im also annoying and insufferable most of the time, but apparently so are you so can we get oolong?

Law eats the crepe and drinks the tea then, without trying to resist the urge to do so, and he looks in Luffy's direction more times than what he wants to admit, but the guy never once looks back in his direction, never once acknowledges his stare on him, him instead being too busy taking orders from a big group of tourists that entered. Law watches as he seems to have some issues understanding their orders, but a huge grin never leaves his mouth and the group formed by a majority of old ladies seem to be delighted with the joy and the energy he's constantly irradiation, a child trapped inside of an adult's body.

When the whole group is served and sat, occupying the opposite corner where Law seats, Luffy has the break he seems to be needing, grinning in the group's direction before turning his head to Law, who has only been looking at him the whole time, even after he finished his crepe and the tea, which is ridiculous really, he has work he needs to get done.

Luffy's grin fades a bit when he catches Law staring at him, only to come again in full force when Law waves at him awkwardly.

Law hopes that counts as some sort of an apology.

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It takes Law a whole week to see Luffy again behind the counter with his stained uniform and a way too big smile on his face to be considered normal, Law still not having figured out if the guy's being overly polite or if that's just the way he is, Law always seeing him talk to everybody as if he's talking to a close friend but being too clumsy, insisting on carrying three or more plates full of pastries on top of his hands despite not being able to balance them properly, Law always seeing him chewing whenever he leaves the kitchen but also when he thinks no one's watching him, picking up pastries every now and then from the display and bending down to pretend to pick up something from the floor.

Plus, he still does that weird thing where he just puts food in front of Law without saying anything, giving Law a pointed look between him and the food before leaving, like some old grandma feeding her skinny little grandchildren, and it happens every time the guy is behind the counter, which has been more often than not, aside from the past week where Law actually had a break and decided to save some money and sleep instead of drugging his sleep-deprived brain with yet more caffeine. And so Law's not entirely sure why he's sitting in his spot at Bell-mere's, him not having a real reason to be there, not having anything to do that would require an internet connection, it probably having been more instinctual than anything else, him being so used to go there almost every day that it became part of his routine, although the headache from being deprived from caffeine for a whole week may as well be the most probable cause of that involuntary act instead of his regularity as a customer.

He didn't brought his computer with him, and he's also not in the mood to grab one of the books from the inside of his backpack, to start writing notes for the college shit that he doesn't want to acknowledge is coming, and so he decides to use his phone and the eighty-five percent of battery it has to occupy his time with, to do some random searches on the internet while trying to not stare at Luffy from his place as the guy fights to remain calm while attending one very rude old lady, her talking nonstop about how the place used to be a good store where she usually bought her favorite fruit before two crazy women decided to turn it into the coffee shop that it is today.

And it's weird of Law finds the whole scene kind of hilarious to see, considering the old lady barely stands taller than the counter, Luffy having to basically lay on top of it to explain to her how the crazy women are actually the daughters of said store's owner and so they have full permission to do whatever the hell they want to do with the place. The old lady does not look impressed by his explanation and leaves, muttering about how kids these days have too much audacity towards elderly people.

Law doesn't know why, but he feels uncomfortable when Luffy catches him staring at him and just shrugs as if responding to a question that Law didn't ask, as if saying that he also has no idea of what the fuck just happened, and Law feels stupid for it then, he wasn't supposed to be staring, but at the same time it wasn't like everyone else inside the coffee shop wasn't staring either. So he proceeds to focus his attention on the phone he's holding between his hands, proceeds to ignore everyone around him.

Two hours later, Law isn't sure when exactly he had finished drinking his coffee or why he ended up reading some serious philosophical shit about the ethics of organ transplantation and opening a total of sixteen tabs about the subject, but at some point he came back to reality, just in time to catch putting the plate and another coffee mug in front of him without being caught off guard. The guy heads back to his place behind the counter with Law's empty coffee mug before he can try to persuade him to stop and to take the food back with him, although he knows it would've been useless, the guy most likely ignoring him for the fiftieth time, but at least Law could've said he tried.

He grabs the mug and takes a few sips, the coffee being so hot that it would've burned his tongue if only the inside of his mouth wasn't used to it by now. He glares at the two small cake squares with yellow cream and orange sections on top for some good five minutes, hoping the plate could just disappear if he tried hard enough, and then sighs heavily when nothing happens, bringing the plate closer. He swears he's fatter, he feels heavier every time he stands up, and all the goddamn blame is on Luffy, and Law sure as hell will blame him too if he becomes diabetic.

Law realizes that he may be succumbing to insanity then, or maybe is the sugar inside of his system, but he decides to eat whatever the hell Luffy brought him this time before reading his yellow paper, trying to figure out what food was used in the stupid puns of his, wondering how many more Luffy will be able to come up with before he runs out of ideas. The ingredient seems obvious to him then, since the cakes squares practically scream 'orange' from afar, and sure, it could be some hidden ingredient that Law's palate isn't able to pick, but when he grabs the yellow paper he's not surprised to see that he's right.

Orange your eyes like super tired? I mean dont get me wrong but or you stare at your computer or at your phone and you look tired.

But he still stares at it for way longer than what is probably necessary, only this time he isn't trying to make the paper disappear, isn't trying to figure out why it is there, and instead he can't help but to feel terrible confused. He has slept more during the week than what he probably has for two years, he's rested and even his fucking eyes are puffed with the abnormal amount of time he has slept over the past few days. Sure, he still doesn't have proper sleeping levels, hell, he would need to fucking hibernate for that to happen, but still.

If Luffy can't see how well-rested Law is, well then his eyes are the ones that are tired.

He hears the bell jingling then and, as he looks up to see if he knows the face of the customers, him having become quite familiar with a few other regulars like him, he's surprised to see the small old lady back again. As he looks in Luffy's direction once he comes out of the kitchen, he's seems surprised too, him probably wondering why the woman is back, if she wants to argue some more.

Law keeps his eyes on Luffy then, leaning back against his chair, seeing him getting into his position behind the register with a big toothy grin splashed across his face, the old lady making her way towards him slowly, taking her time, but it's not like there's anyone other than her that's going to order. He hears her demanding "surprise me young man", which somehow manages to make Luffy's grin grow brighter before she goes and sits at a nearby empty table right next to the counter where she can observe Luffy doing his job, her judging expression not even slightly hidden under all her wrinkles, although Luffy seems unaffected by it as he proceeds to carefully study the pastries on display, grabbing a purple-colored cream cake and cutting a slice.

Moments later, the old lady has the plate and a teacup in front of her. She glares at it for a couple of minutes until she finally moves closer, as if studying a rare object and then, digging in and looking surprised about the fact that the cake does taste as good as it looks, if not better. For a moment, Law wonders if that was his expression when, just a couple of weeks back, Luffy first put food on top of his table and confused the hell of out him. And the cup of tea, Law knows that cup, has received one himself not long ago. What was the name of the tea again?

She doesn't receive a yellow paper though, which Law is somehow weirdly pleased about, it making him feel important.

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Two days later, it's a good and sunny day outside. He passes by two tourist buses parked in the park right beside the Cocoyashi street and, when he enters through Bell-merè's door, he's surprised to see the ridiculous amount of people that have actually managed to fit inside of the place, the line to the register being the longest Law has ever seen since he started going there.

To make things worse, his little corner is occupied by a green-haired punk and a woman whose face sure as hell seems familiar, Law just doesn't know from where. He decides to stay in line then, waiting for them to leave so he could go and dump all his shit on top of his table as a clear signal of already occupied for anyone that gets the idea to sit there.

However, the line moves forward pretty quickly and they don't seem to be heading out anytime soon, looking like they will probably stay there for a good amount of time even, much to Law's displeasure. He starts glaring at them then, hoping that if he puts enough power into his glare they will turn their attention towards him and maybe get scared and just leave his damn spot, but neither of them even glance in his direction, no matter how hard he glares, no matter how hard he frowns or how hard he hits with his foot on the floor, they just seeming too fucking focused on drooling and gossiping about whoever may be behind the counter, which can only be Nami or Luffy.

He contemplates the idea of just go there and tell them to fuck off, but if Nami is the one behind the counter he doubts she would ever let him in again if he ever does force someone to move from his spot and go sit somewhere else. He wonders how much it would cost him to make a deal with Nami to reserve that spot as his and his only, at least for the two hours that he usually spends there, but then remembers that he's in college and can barely keep afloat with all his life savings and that Nami would probably say yes and ask for a small fortune.

As the absurdly tall guy that stands in front of him decides to give up and go somewhere else, Law finally able to see who's behind the counter properly, without having to make a fool out of himself, and he's surprised to see both Luffy and Nami working together, mostly because it's the first time that he has seen it happen, it actually being the only explanation as to why the line is moving so fast now that Law thinks about it.

At that moment, as Law is barely in the middle of the line, he can almost imagine what had happened, one of them being behind the counter, all alone and without any further customers to attend, then and out of a blue a big wave of people talking in a very angry sounding language just appears and splits itself between the three coffee shops of the street. He can imagine Nami sending text after text to Luffy demanding help as the first customer does their way to the counter, can imagine her rising from her fancy high chair to start doing the orders as fast as it was humanly possible to not lose customers to the competition, and he can also imagine Luffy's case, him coming out from the kitchen with his mouth full as the sound of the door's bell fills the place, only to go back inside and tell Nojiko to call Nami for help. He would harshly swallow whatever was inside of his mouth until he could grin without having cake decorations on his teeth and then proceed to try to figure out the customers' orders, or so Law imagines.

Law is pulled out of his imagination when the chick behind him, probably not older than Luffy, shoves him with her elbow, and as soon a he turns around to glare at her, he receives a few rounds of Oh my god I'm so sorry I didn't mean to!. He rolls his eyes and proceeds to ignore her, looking back at the counter where Nami is taking orders with her polite smile and her perfectly applied makeup, opening

the cash register and taking care of the money like she was born for it, then repeating the orders in her usual demanding tone to a way too busy Luffy so that he can make them in his usual messy way, him contrasting with Nami's perfect figure, his air looking like a dark birds' nest, having coffee stains and what appears to be chocolate covering most of the front part of his uniform.

It's only when he has his back turned that Law can see how tense his shoulders actually are, and it's when he's picking something from the almost empty display that Law can see his small frown and his colored cheeks like he's trying hard to focus and not forget anything from the orders Nami just keeps on demanding. A blue-haired woman then emerges from the kitchen with her arms full of pastries, filling the display once more before returning to the kitchen, Law never having seen her before but guessing she must be Nami's sister, Nojiko. Said sister that prepares the pastries that Law has been forced to eat and that makes out or does what God knows what with Luffy every time the coffee shop is mostly empty.

He then looks at his spot again and dammit, those fuckers are still there, giggling not so discretely and gossiping with one another. He realizes then that they're most likely talking about Luffy, considering that their eyes follow every move of the guy and he wonders if that attention is what is making Luffy uncomfortable and flushed.

In the end, Law's time to order arrives sooner than expected and his spot is still occupied, Nami this time not trying to coerce him into buying a pastry when he orders the strongest coffee to go because they both know it's a lost cause and there are impatient customers behind him that need to be attended. She gives him a sympathetic smile after telling him to step aside and wait for his order, knowing his spot is occupied but not doing anything about said fact.

When Luffy turns around to give Law his order, his face changes into an expression of recognition of Law's pissed off face, because he's sure as hell pissed off, and then he looks between Law and his coffee to go and he pouts slightly, his face turning into a confused one and Law responding with a head movement towards his occupied spot like the pissed off Neanderthal that he is, Luffy following him immediately looking away, giving Law his order with his cheeks way redder than before, moving to the care of the next order as Law is practically shoved aside by the guy that was apparently behind him in line, the other girl must having given up too.

Law leaves then and for the first time since Luffy started taking his order, he exits the Bell-mere's door with an empty stomach, craving for sugar and without a yellow paper between the sheets of one of his books. He walks down the Cocoyashi street and then randomly chooses between the two coffee shops at the end of it, mostly because he has work that he needs to get done. He ends up entering a weird looking one and goes put all is shit in a nearby table before he heading towards the counter to order something to eat.

The place has a few tourists too, but nothing compared to Bell-mere's and Law is immediately attended without having to wait in any line. He receives an unimpressed stare from the barista, looking annoyed about the fact Law just brought a coffee from the competition, and Law glares back at him, despite not having a reason to, despite the guy in front of not having any fault of Law's bad luck, ando so Law orders a blue cupcake from the display and asks for the WiFi password, watching as the unimpressed face from the barista turns even more unimpressed, it not suiting his face one slight bit and instead making him look way uglier and unwelcoming, it not being surprising as to why the place only has a few customers.

He sits and works for two hours, as usual, drinks his coffee and eats half of the cupcake because it wasn't anything near Bell-mere's quality ones and he tells himself that he doesn't feel guilty for ordering a pastry in another coffee shop.

It's only when he's about to leave that he realizes how rudely he demanded the cupcake he didn't even completely eat in the end, and that he must've been that customer that releases all the frustration, anger and stress in the poor barrister that, even though wasn't the nicest person either, had nothing to do with Law's problems.

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The next day, Law is back, both Luffy and Nami being behind the counter again, and even though there wasn't no line forming the wall of China today he didn't think twice before he dumped all of his shit on top of his table, on his spot, not wanting to risk it this time, although he would have to be pretty unlucky if anyone actually sat there while he was ordering, considering most of the tables are empty. When he's making his way to the register, he notices Nami staring at him funny and Luffy looking like he's trying hard to suppress a grin, and so he glares at them both, only because they're traitors, even if he keeps on choosing them over all the other baristas.

"Hello there my dear happy customer, what can I sell you today?" Nami asks from her place by the register, her voice filled with sarcasm, hitting the top of the counter with her nails.

"You know what I want," Law responds simply, making her sigh dramatically and roll her eyes at him, Luffy snickering next to her.

"Oh, come on! Don't you want anything with your coffee? We have new things today, delicious things may I add," Nami says and points to the display that Law still refuses to look at in her presence, him instead crossing his arms in front of his chest, refusing to break eye contact with her until she sighs again, this time in defeat. "Do you know how bad it is for you to drink coffee this strong without any food along with it?"

"Don't care," Law responds before ignoring her, turning his attention to Luffy instead, "just make me the damn coffee, will ya?"

"Still don't know what's with your attitude," he hears Nami mutter, her polite smile and friendly expression suddenly being gone.

"Still don't know why you keep trying to make me buy your damn cupcakes," he says in the same bitter tone, Luffy then handing him his coffee and he takes it, feeling pleased with himself as he starts doing his way to his table.

"Still don't know why you insist on using that uggly hat either," Nami says, loudly enough for everyone inside the Bell-mere's to hear, although no one seems to really care.

Law doesn't respond, him instead turning his computer on and starting to do the work he didn't manage to finish the previous day. He types fast and writes notes, trying to stay focused on the words on his computer screen and not on the conversation that is being held between Luffy and Nami not far away from him, although he still happens to hear most of it anyway still ends up learning that Nami and Luffy are childhood friends, that a guy named Zoro got drunk the other night and that it apparently happens quite often, that one Sanji guy keeps flirting with Nami even though she isn't and never will be into him, and that Luffy apparently has a dog named Chopper that lives with him and his brother Ace, who just destroyed their new microwave again while trying to make popcorn.

When Law finishes his work and closes his computer, he intends on leaving right away so he can at least try to fix the mess he lives in, but then he sees his empty and alone coffee mug and he knows he's craving for something sweet, craving for the pasties on the display, looking delicious from his place despite him being far away. So he looks in Luffy's direction and tries to subtly catch his attention without catching Nami's instead since he should've brought a pastry and another mug by now, two hours having already passed. Law stares and stares even harder, but the power of his eyes seems to be fading away, now every time he stares or glares at someone they just seem unaffected by it, sometimes not even noticing it to begin with, and he wonders if that's is due to the ridiculous amount of sugar in his system.

Nami is sat near the register, in the high chair that Luffy certainly doesn't have available when he's alone behind the counter, and Luffy is in front of her, talking excitedly and with a lot of hand movements. Bringing one arm up, Law starts waving at him, slowly, barely even moving his arm, trying to catch only Luffy's attention and not the whole place's, and that actually does the trick as Luffy's eyes connect with his, although he doesn't stop talking, making Law wonder if Nami knows what her only employee is been doing lately, wondering if she knows Luffy is been giving him free food, even though Law always puts enough money to pay for everything inside of the tip jar. It takes him a while for Luffy to understand what Law wants, and by the time that happens Nami is already looking between them, seeming confused and annoyed for being interrupted, for not knowing what's happening when Luffy goes inside the kitchen and comes back with a blue plate, grabbing something yellow-colored from the display and then starting to make Law's coffee.

Nami keeps his eyes glued to his employee the whole time, during the whole process, and her head turns to follow him when Luffy starts doing his way towards, looking nothing more than purely confused and maybe slightly offended too.

"You must be suicidal," Law mutters as soon as Luffy is close enough, receiving a grin in response that makes Law almost laughs then, seeing Nami in the background.

"Well, these macaroons sure are to die for," Luffy responds, the grin never leaving his face, putting the plate on top of Law's closed computer, right in front of him. He switches the empty mug for a full one again and stands there, awkwardly, pretending to not be feeling Nami's stare in the back of his head. "But you did order this time."

"I don't remember saying a word," Law teases because why not really, if the guy is going to get murdered once he goes back behind the counter, Law may as well have some fun with his still living body, as weird as that may sound.

"But you did hand gestures, the same thing for me," Luffy says and winks dramatically, his face then changing, bending down slightly and coming closer, his left hand cupping his mouth, "and since you ordered it, you'll have to pay for it this time. You know, not in the tip jar but at the register, yeah?"

"And why should I do that again?" Law asks, shoving all of his books inside of his backpack so he can have some more clean space. He was never a fan of disorganization, mostly because it makes him more stressed, which is ironic considering hoe everything in his life always is a messy pile of shit.

"Because I'm a wonderful person and I do like living."

Yes, I bet you do, Law thinks. "I'll think about it," he says instead.

Luffy nods in response and gives him one final smile before starting to do his way back towards Nami, already standing on her feet, arms crossed firmly underneath her breasts. Luffy continues to walk to the counter, but his last steps are cautious, Nami grabbing his arm and practically dragging him inside of the kitchen, Law not knowing how the mug Luffy was holding didn't fall in the process.

He waits for them to come out again but, after three minutes of weird noises and hissed voices that Law can't understand coming from the kitchen, he gets tired and decides to focus on his macaroons instead. He's sure Luffy will be alright, maybe a bit traumatized, but he will most likely survive.

The macaroons look funny, but delicious, having a vibrant shade of yellow and small bits of popcorn on top. When he bites one, the flavor of popcorn and butter fills his mouth and it's surprisingly good, considering the whole idea behind it. He guesses the word may be popcorn or corn, but as he checks the yellow paper he finds that he's wrong, although close enough.

Dont listen to Namis fashion advices, I think your hat is a-maize-ing.

As if Law would ever follow or be affected by them really.

In the end, and after ten or so minutes, he gets tired of waiting and pays to a shocked looking Nojiko that looks at him and waits for him to order, only he's there to pay. She then looks at him funny when he just gives her enough money to pay the Buttered Popcorn Macaroons and the coffee Luffy had brought him, her look getting under his nerves, she knowing something he doesn't and it being the same fucking look Shachi and Nami have constantly splashed across their faces.

He tells her that her food is delicious before leaving, and all of it is awkward, terribly so. She has no fault really, she was forced to come out of the kitchen because since someone has to take care of the customers, Nami and Luffy certainly not doing their job properly.

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As the finals come closer and closer, the tenser, sleepier and in a worse bad mood Law gets, but it's not like it's his fault really. The fault instead being on the lack of sleep, on the bad fast food that he's been eating because it saves him a lot of time if he just buys it, but also on the way his brain is constantly working, constantly having to assimilate things, new information, but in two weeks it will be all over, for a little while at least, during the few days of spring break that could be actually considered breaks. And so he's tense and tired and he sure misses that amazing week he just had where he could actually sleep and eat well and just be productive without having to kill his brain cells, it seeming like it's been ages since then.

He spends most of his time inside of Bell-mere's now, getting fatter and more addicted to caffeine every day that passes. It was supposed to be spring already outside, or at least the start of springtime, with flowers blooming and sunlight warming everyone, but it sure looks more like winter than anything else, with all kinds of humidity and storms that come and go in one day.

His apartment is a mess where he can barely even see the floor with the number of papers and books that are spread over it. He has to do the laundry as soon as he can manage or else he will have to start using dirty clothes, has to take the trash outside, has to change the bedsheets and he basically needs his brain to stop worrying about daily shit so he can fall asleep.

The clock on top of his bedside table tells him it's half past five in the afternoon. If it was any other day, he would be at Bell-mere's, filling his stomach with a combination of caffeine and sugar, burning his eyes with his computer screen and frying his brain with way too much information in one go, but he was too damn tired and couldn't bring himself to make the effort to go and sit for two hours in the same seat until his ass was squared shaped or numb. Instead, he had decided to go to bed and sleep until he had to go for another round of endless classes in the morning, but obviously his brain had decided to make a not so quick checklist of all the things he has to do and Shachi, being the annoying ass that he is, started sending him non-stopping texts that Law didn't read and calling every two minutes because the guy isn't smart enough to realize Law's trying to ignore him. Law had even thrown away his phone after putting it in silent mode didn't resolve the problem and Shachi just kept on insisting. It wasn't vibrated since then though, but that's probably because it broke when it hit the floor and not because Shachi put two and two together and decided to go annoy another person.

He has been having a hard time falling asleep lately and, by the time he actually manages to doze off, it only lasts some good twenty minutes before hard knocks on his front door disturb and wake him up again. He decides to ignore the door the same way he did with his phone because he's sure the person on the other side is no other than fucking Shachi, but after five minutes he's fully awake and in an even worse mood than what he was before he went to sleep. Worst than not let him sleep, is wake him up before he's at least half rested.

"It better fucking be the fucking end of the world," Law mutters under his breath as he makes his way towards his front door, taking heavy and loud steps as he does so and he really hoping that the people living below him were taking a nap too, hoping he just woke them up too, since the fuckers make way too much noise at night and are lucky that Law has never seen them in person, otherwise, they would've been murdered by now.

He opens the door without even checking, that's how sure he is that it's Shachi, and glares at him harder than what he has ever done in his life.

"Yo, Law!" Shachi beams and grins on the other side and God, doesn't he want to punch the hell out of him right now, to break his nose and to throw him down the staircase so he can break his neck too.

"What the fuck do you want?" Law demands, but he sounds way too sleepy even to his own ears, it not having the desired effect, which is to make Shachi go the fuck away and leave him alone.

"Oh, nothing much," he says as he brushes Law aside so he can enter his apartment. He does his way to the couch and lies on it like he fucking owns the place, with his shoes still on his feet and all. Law doesn't remember ever telling him to feel at home, not to him or to anyone for that matter, his apartment is not anyone else's, it's his own and his own only. Law closes the door harder than he should've, and then follows him, but he just stands with his hands grabbing the back of the couch, glaring down at Shachi.

"Just wanted to make sure you were alright since you never texted or called me back, which, by the way, is harsh man," Shachi says, putting his hand on his chest dramatically before turning on the TV with the controller that Law had lost almost two weeks ago. How and where the guy had found it, Law doesn't know.

Law sighs, loudly and heavily, on purpose so Shachi can hear just how annoyed he is right now, but he ignores it the same way he has been ignoring the glares. Not that it would make much of difference if he didn't really, but still, Law doesn't get why Shachi always ignores the fact that he's ignoring him, like he's doing right now, the guy having a hard time realizing when he's unwanted.

"I'm fine so you can get the fuck out of my apartment now."

"Yeah, you're fine, but your mood sure isn't," Shachi says, rolling his eyes. Law wonders exactly how much time it would take for someone to notice the guy is gone if he just killed him right here, right now with his bare hands and then proceeded to get rid of the body with sulfuric acid.

"Look, Shachi, I don't know what the fuck you want, but I'm exhausted and I was sleeping so it would be awesome if you could leave me the fuck alone."

"Oh, did I wake you up?" Shachi says, looking up at him.

Law is having a hard time keeping a straight face and suppressing his anger from building up. "What do you think?"

"Sorry about that," he responds, but he doesn't look sorry at all, which only makes Law sigh and get more frustrated with the kind of friends he's been hanging out with, the reason why he surrounds himself with such stupid people still being a mystery to him. "But it's not like it's my fault! You could've sent a simple text saying 'sleeping' or something, but no. I was worried."

"I was ignoring you, you stupid!" Law says, bitterly, and Shachi looks scandalized for a moment before his attention is turned back to the TV once more. Law decides then that it's pointless to try to make Shachi get out, even if that is what he wants the most.

So instead, he grabs Shachi's legs and takes them off the couch so he can sit next to him. He won't be falling asleep so soon, hell, he probably won't fall asleep at night either because that's just how fucked up his brain is, so he may as well have company, and thank God said company has his mouth shut and is watching a show that Law has never heard about in his life, in a channel he didn't know he even had.

He feels his headache growing in the back of his head when Shachi starts talking about the part he thought was the best in the episode, despite being aware that Law didn't pay any attention to the damned thing, and the conversation somehow turns into a slightly traumatizing dream that Shachi has had in his teenage years, it only being in the end and after a long while that Shachi finally admits what had brought him to Law's apartment in the first place. It took a lot longer than what Law was expected

"So yeah, you're coming with me, and Penguin, and Jean to this party and you're going to relax for the first time in your life and have fun with us."

"First of all," Law starts, putting one lifted finger in front of Shachi's face, him just rolling his eyes, but not interrupting him. "I went to parties before, it isn't going to be the first time in my life, and you know that. And second of all, I'm not going."

Shachi frowns at that and crosses his arms in front of his chest, trying to be somewhat intimidating but failing miserably once his mouth turns into a small pout, like a child. "Oh come on! You're no fun! Why not?"

This can't be his luck, it just can't. Nobody's that stupid. "Did you miss the part where you woke me up because I was exhausted and sleeping?"

"Exactly, you were! You're not anymore, so it's okay! Also, the party is not in five minutes so you still have time to take four naps like the old man you are!" Shachi insists, sitting up with his legs folded underneath him. Law could easily strangle him right now. "Please- Don't make me bring Penguin and Jean here to help me coerce you!"

"I think you fucking mean to force me," Law says, not understanding why Shachi is insisting so much. It's been three goddamn years since he started insisting on bringing Law with him to every single party that always happen to be at very inconvenient times and that Law had no interest whatsoever in going, and this one is no exception. Normally, he gives up after a few nods and glares from Law but today though, he's insisting too much, even for a pushy person like him, and that can only mean one thing.

"You want me to be the driver, don't you?" Law says in the most death tone he can manage at the moment and he hopes that it, along with a hopefully blank expression, will show Shachi just how much he doesn't want to go.

"Yeah?" He asks, uncertain. He better fucking be uncertain right now. "Look, you know Monet? We share a bunch of classes?" Law looks at him, trying to think, but he has no idea who that girl might be, he has never heard her name before, or at least has never paid enough attention to memorize it, but Shachi must've thought his silence meant that he knows her, or it isn't that important, because he just keeps on going. "Well, she's throwing this party, a huge party may I add, and rumors say there will be a good amount of alcohol and drugs. I really want to try those candies out, you know. But I'm not stupid, I want someone responsible for being in charge of me and my car, like you! Jean and Penguin will appreciate that too."

"Then you guys better find another responsible person, because I'm not going," Law says and turns off the TV when the commercials start to annoy him. He stands and opens the front door, holding it open and motioning to Shachi to get out like he should have done a long time ago. "Now leave."

"Don't be like this, Law! You spend all your free time here, closed!" Shachi says, not moving a muscle to stand and get out. He obviously isn't paying much attention to Law's life, otherwise, he would've known that he actually spends most of his free time inside of Bell-mere's rather than inside of his own house, not that Law is going to be the one telling him that, being the weirdo Shachi is, he would probably go there so he can see what has caught Law's attention. "And I'm missing our buddy time! We don't do anything together lately."

"So, me taking care of your drunk and high ass is your idea of buddy time?" Law asks and there's a little change in Shachi's expression that tells him he didn't even think about seeing things from Law's perspective, like he never does really. "Get out."

Shachi stands and starts making his way out. He passes by Law and looks at him with what Law considers a bad attempt of puppy eyes. He closes the door as soon Shachi is outside and then goes take a shower when the guy starts begging on the other side of the door, hoping that he annoys the neighbors just bad enough for them to kick him out of the building.

By the time he gets out of the shower, his headache has lessened, but he doesn't remember ever feeling more awake. He contemplates the idea of going to Bell-mere's now, but then he remembers it's almost eight and that he wouldn't buy a coffee so if Nami is the one behind the counter, she would obviously tease him about finally order something, and it's not like he can be there without ordering anything. If Luffy was the one behind the counter, well it wouldn't really matter.

He decides not to go.

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When two in the morning arrives, Law finds himself staring at the ceiling with his eyes fully opened and adapted to the darkness of his room. He was supposed to be asleep hours ago, but no, he's counting the few dark spots on the ceiling caused by the humidity of the springtime that could only be considered spring in Drum Island.

He ends up going to that fucking party, because he's an awesome friend like that, contrary to what popular demand says about him, but it's not like he could fall asleep with the thought of the only three people that had managed to tolerate him in the entire campus dying of overdose or alcohol poisoning because, of course, they went without him and obviously they didn't find another responsible person to go with them, Law being the only one they know.

He dresses some mildly clean clothes, because he's going to babysit and not to impress, and the possibility of ending up with them full of vomit or spilled drinks is not worth the trouble. He calls Shachi to know where the fuck that party is located and the guy beams at him over the phone, talking fast and been barely understandable over the loud music of the place, him having already drunk more than what he should've, the fucking idiot.

He calls a taxi and proceeds to tell the guy behind the wheel what he managed to understand from Shachi's slurred speech. He doesn't ask any questions, just nods like he knows the place already too well, maybe because he has taken there more people than what he can count during that short period of time.

Law pays attention to the roads and takes mental notes from the places they pass along the way, preparing himself to be the one driving Shachi's excuse of a car with three drunk and high idiots in the backseat back to his apartment so they can crash there for the rest of the night, so that Law can keep an eye on them and prevent them from choking on their own vomit. He's really such an amazing friend.

Soon enough, they enter in a weird-looking neighborhood and Law can hear the loud music even before he can see the place. He wonders why the hell the people living there still haven't reported the noise to the authorities, it could've saved Law's time, although he would probably need to go to the police station to pick up the idiots either way, but then he notices that all the houses look inhabited. They look too damn good and showy to be abandoned though, so it probably means they belong to those rich and ridiculous families that have four or five different houses just for vacations.

Then, cars badly parked on top of the sidewalk appear in Law's eyesight and, the last thing he knows, the taxi driver is kicking him out in front of a weird and huge white house that is so illuminated that Law's sure the aliens can see the fucking house from their place in space. He pays and calls Shachi again to know where inside that mansion he is, to save him some time to try to find him, and the guy picks up in the fifth call when Law was seriously ponderating to just go back and leave their sorry asses all by themselves. He can only pick up the word pool from Shachi's speech, but that's probably all he needs really, after all a house just needs one pool, or so he hopes.

He enters through the closed but not locked huge front door that both resembles a castle and a factory, Law not understanding how that can be appealing as a front door to anyone. He finds Shachi and Penguin by the pool, or better, inside the pool, and Law's thankful Shachi answered his phone before throwing himself inside, them seem to be having a great time with some chicks wearing their reduced bikinis, but Law doubts being in a pool fully clothed, drunk and high counts as having a great time, despite them having boobs in their faces.

"Yo, Shachi! Penguin!" Law calls, trying to be louder than the poor excuse of music playing in the background. He manages to catch everyone's attention but he ignores them all when both Shachi and Penguin beam and try to swim towards him, failing miserably and ending up coming towards him by jumping in the water. "Time to get out before you both drown."

They groan but, as Law keeps with his authority and sober figure, soon enough he's helping them both getting out. He gets soaked in the process, but at least he has prevented two drownings, taking them far away from there and into the ridiculously huge garden, the farthest he can manage from all the light, the noise and the people, but since the fucking house is like a crowned power station, the difference isn't much.

"Where's Jean?" Law asks and only Penguin seems to have listened to him, although he apparently has no idea how to form proper words, making Law wonder just exactly how much they had drunk or consumed already. "Okay, I'm going to call him and he better pick up for your own good."

He grabs his phone again and calls Jean, who surprisingly picks up in the second call and sounds way sober than those two soaked idiots. He tells him he needs help to get them into the car, not being able to carry them both at the same time, and Jean actually doesn't sound as annoyed for them to be going so soon as he was expecting. Law guesses he wasn't having the time of his life Shachi as had promised, and he doesn't blame him.

Law helps Penguin and Shachi sit on the lawn because one never knows if their knees may collapse and then waits for Jean to arrive. Law's only mildly pissed with their behavior, one would think two guys studying medicine would be smarter, but no. When Jean arrives and sees his friends sitting and almost falling on top of each other, he seems a bit pissed off too. He's also drunk, Law can see it on the way his eyes are watery and by his questionable walking technique as he does his way towards them, but at least he can still think and talk and be useful.

Law grabs Shachi's left arm and puts it on top of his shoulders, the guy just giggling and burping in Law's ear like the civilized person he is. His breath smells horrible and his soaked clothes feel weird against his side, but Law's a good friend, he just has to remember that until he arrives at the car to prevent dumping Shachi right there in the lawn and cause him a concussion. Jean follows behind him in a not so stable way, grabbing an already passed out Penguin and practically dragging him, his legs brushing against the pavement. Law doesn't exactly know how, but both he and Jean manage to get out of the party in what could be considered record time and without having that many problems to get through all the bodies dancing inside.

"Do you know where Shachi's car is?" Law asks, stopping and looking back at Jean, who looks ready to pass out right there with Penguin on top of him. Law hopes he doesn't, having to carry three bodies is way too much bad luck, even for him.

Jean shakes his head in response as he comes closer to where Law's standing. "I didn't come with them."

Great, Law thinks, fucking great. He shakes Shachi by his shoulders and asks where he has parked his car, but the guy is useless and isn't even able to open his eyes properly. Law sighs out loud and curses before he shoves Shachi against a nearby car and pins him there, then starting to search for the car's keys in all of Shachi's pockets without even bothering with asking in which one they are because he knows Shachi wouldn't remember. He finds his wallet and his now completely useless phone because he and Penguin decided to have a swim fully clothed and with all the things still inside their pockets just because they're geniuses. When Law finally finds the keys he's beyond thankful and surprised that they still work when he lifts his arm in the air and starts clicking the button to open and close the car doors, it not taking long for them to spot a car whose lights keep going on and off down the road and so they start making their way towards it. He lets Jean put Penguin in the backseat first before he puts Shachi, then entering the car and waiting for Jean to crash beside him in the passenger seat before pulling out of this fucking weird neighborhood.

Law tries his best to remember the way he came from just an hour or so ago, not wanting to get lost and have to drive around until he finds the right way. He doesn't have enough patience for that and neither has the car's gas tank enough fuel. Jean falls asleep within five minutes of driving and he really hopes the guy wakes up when they reach his building. There's no way he can put the three of them inside of the elevator all by himself.

He looks through the rearview mirror more times than what he wants to admit, checking if the idiots in the back are still breathing. Law doesn't want to imagine how they would end up if he didn't have shown up to save their drunk asses, knowing full well that they would probably just fall somewhere in the ground and stay there until the morning's daylight woke them up, that is, if they managed to get out of the pool in the first place. Law has such stupid friends, he needs to find new and smarter ones, that's for sure, but at least it's not the backseat of his own car that is getting soaked with alcohol and water with chlorine.

The drive to his apartment takes longer than what he first anticipated and, by the time he tries to wake Jean up, it's already past four am, so he's really glad it's Saturday. Jean does wake up, although he doesn't really do much besides smashing the button to keep the elevator's door open and holding Shachi's arm with more force than what probably was necessary to prevent him from falling, Law going back to the car to drag Penguin with him.

Overall, they all get into Law's apartment in one piece. Jean helps Law getting Shachi and Penguin on the floor and setting the coffee table in a corner where it doesn't bother anyone before he crashes on the couch and passes out, leaving Law all by himself. Law sighs again before he goes to his bedroom and brings everything that could be considered mattress, sheets, quilts or blankets with him, along with all the pillows he owns. He spreads everything on the floor, putting extra pillows near the couch in case Jean rolls out of it and falls on the floor.

He takes off Jean's shoes and jacket before he undresses both Penguin and Shachi from all their soaked clothes that they have glued to their sorry bodies and takes off their shoes too, only leaving their underwear on and hoping it is awfully uncomfortable down there in the morning. He dresses them some old shirts and sweatpants he doesn't use anymore but still has stored, just in case a situation like this happens, his apartment being cold most of the time after all. Then, he drags them both, one by one, to the pile he just made in the middle of his living room and, carefully, puts them in the recovering position, just in case one of them decides to throw up and to prevent them from choking and suffocating on their own vomit and die a horrible death just like the ones from that stupid show Shachi made him watch. He puts blankets behind both of them so they won't roll back onto their backs, and they better not throw up, they better fucking not throw up, for their own good.

He goes to the kitchen and puts Shachi and Penguin's useless phones on top of the counter, considering putting them in a plate full of rice, but deciding it would be useless, if those phones are still alive it's a miracle, so they can decide what to do with them in the morning. He then grabs a bunch of water bottles and forces them to drink a bit before leaving them in convenient places for when they wake up and feel like they have just crossed a desert. He checks them one last time to see if there are any indications of alcohol poisoning, but when he can't see anything he just makes his way towards his own room to see if he can finally get some sleep. He leaves the door open, just in case.

He's such a responsible person.

.

.

.

When Law wakes up again, it's almost eleven in the morning but he still feels deadly tired, although worst than still being tired after waking up is waking up starving, so he gets up and goes to the living room where the idiots are still snoring loudly in the same position Law had put them before going to sleep, and he can't help but hope every muscle of their bodies is too numb to be functional ever again.

He opens the curtains and lets the surprisingly sunny day illuminate the room, the three of them groaning when the unrequited strong light hits their faces, trying to cover themselves with all the blankets available, but Law doesn't let them, doesn't let them fall back into sleep. He cares for their headaches as much as they cared for his own when he had to go drag them out of that fucking party, which is basically saying that he doesn't care at all.

"Rise and shine fuckers," he tells them, loudly, "we're going to get breakfast."

He goes back to his bedroom to get dressed and, when he gets back, they're all still laying in the same position, not having moved a muscle to stand up, and so he starts distributing some kicks. He makes them drink water before he throws their shoes at them, and then pushes them all out of his apartment and inside the elevator, not giving them new clothes and making them go with the very ones they have dressed and slept into for all he cares, since it's not like it's that cold outside. He makes them enter inside Shachi's car before he enters himself, them grunting and groaning with all the noise around them, but he couldn't care less, he's starving and maybe this way, next time, they will remember this painful experience and think twice before they decide to go wild, and it's not like breakfast won't do them any good anyway.

"Where are we going, Law?" Shachi asks from his place in the backseat, making Law look at him from the rearview mirror. Jean is sitting beside him, glaring at Law like all the shit in the world is his fault, and Law just smirks at him and proceeds to honk when a crazy person in a bicycle almost throws himself in front of the car, the action having the exact same results that Law was hoping for, him having too much fun with their misery.

"Get breakfast," he simply responds and, soon enough, he's parking not far away from Bell-mere's. He could've made them walk from his apartment, punish them a bit more, but that would mean he would have to walk along with them too, and the tiny bit of sleep he managed to get the other night between all the times he got up to check if everyone was still breathing or if anyone had thrown up wasn't enough to fill even half of his energy bar.

"Come on, I'm not getting younger here," Law tells them when they take way too much time to get out of the car. He then holds the Bell-mere's door open, since that thing is fucking heavier than what it looks like and closes by itself if no one's holding it. Once they're all in, he motions for them to go sit down on his usual corner and to grab some nearby chairs, since his spot normally only has two. He makes his way towards the counter where an also tired-looking Luffy seems surprised to see Law with company.

"Good morning there!" Luffy greets him as soon as Law is close enough, his face all bright up, "although your friends don't seem like they're having such a good one."

"That's what they get for being annoying pains in the ass," Law mutters, but he's not there to talk about how stupid his friends are, he's there to talk about breakfast. The coffee shop looks calm and that's good, which means no customer will interrupt him or complain about how much time he's taking to order. "I'm going to order big this time," he warns him.

"I'm all ears," Luffy says, grinning and seeming pleased with himself.

"I'll trust Nojiko with my friends' breakfast. Tell her I need food that contains bananas, eggs, every berry that you guys have in the kitchen, dried nuts would be good too. Oh, and tea," Law tells him and rises one finger for each thing he asks for, ending up with his hand in the air like he's expecting a high five, him quickly putting it down before Luffy could have the same idea, since he totally looks like a guy who would give Law a high five just for the sake of it.

Luffy nods a few times like he's trying to process everything and his eyes keep looking straight into Law's. It's weird, but not weird enough for Law to look away. "Okay, gotcha," Luffy says, after a few awkward seconds, looking away, "and for you?"

"Just coffee," Law responds almost instantly, smiling at him.

"You know drinking just coffee alone isn't going to help your hangover much, right?" Luffy asks with a smirk. Yeah, Law knows but he also knows Luffy is going to bring him food either he orders it or not, so what's the point of ordering it in the first place, and this time he can steal bites of the food he just ordered for his friends too.

"I'm not hungover," he ends up saying instead and Luffy huffs and mutters of course you're not in response before he turns away to go inside the kitchen. Law should have felt offended, either because the guy didn't believe he isn't hungover, or the fact that he thinks Law doesn't have the capacity to be hungover, but he doubts Luffy said it with any malice, and he's feeling too tired to be offended anyway.

He turns away when he realizes his order must take a bit too long to be done and goes sit between Shachi and Penguin that are looking at him with weird expressions. "What?" He demands when he catches Jean also looking at him like he's from another planet. He's been receiving that look way too many times lately.

"I didn't know you had other friends aside from us three," Shachi says and he looks a bit pained, pouting slightly and closing his arms in front of his chest like he's sad that Law didn't tell him he made a new friend, which he hasn't, although Law does have more friends other than them.

"Luffy-ya is not my friend," Law tells them.

"Oh, and they're on a first-name basis already," Penguin says and makes an overly surprised expression as he looks at Shachi, whose expression then matches his. "How long did it take us to be on a first-name basis, Shachi?"

"Months," Shachi concludes and then both of them start nodding furiously at one another, their eyes wide open. God, they're so weird, and that only happened because they were too damn annoying for their own good and kept on insisting and getting under Law's nerves instead of acting like normal people. "That can only mean one thing, right Penguin?"

"Yes, indeed, Shachi."

"That is...?" Jean asks after a few moments of silence, sounding annoyed, but looking curious at the same time.

"That Law's finally improving his social skills thanks to our influence, obviously!" Penguin states and then the three of them start laughing hard and annoying everyone inside the place. Law groans and has the sudden desire to hit the wall with his head until he breaks his skull, he should've let them both drown in that fucking pool.

"Oh, don't act like that!" Penguin says and punches him in the arm.

"Yeah! It's great that you have more than just three friends!" Shachi then adds and earns another round of laughter. Law wants to scream near his ear that he fucking has other fucking friends, but even that way he doubts those words would reach his small brain. "Plus, that barista guy seems cool."

"Well, thank you" Luffy says, grinning, suddenly appearing out of nowhere and making them all jump in surprise.

"Oh, speaking of the devil," Penguin says, grinning, leaning a the table and then pointing to the two trays Luffy's holding. "Now gives us the goodies!"

And just like that, their table is full of food that Law sure as hell won't pay for all alone. There is a plate with crepes that contain half of a banana inside and that are covered with whipped cream and a pinch of cinnamon. Right next to it there is a clear glass with strawberries, blueberries, and what appears to be almonds and granola on top of yogurt, along with four bowls and small spoons for them to be able to eat it. A big plate full of brown-colored cookies and two different kinds of muffins occupy the center of the table and, next to it, there's a plate with toast and blueberries on top, that being the only one that Law isn't going to try out.

Luffy leaves after making sure everyone has a cup of green tea in front of them, except for Law that has his usual coffee mug with the yellow paper on the saucer. Law doesn't have time before Shachi picks the paper out of his reach and reads, I hope this breakfast will bring you guys some sort of eggsxcitment for the day! out loud.

"Oh, he's such a cutie!" Penguin says with his mouth already full with one cookie.

"Why haven't you told us about this place before, huh?" Shachi says and shoves a yellow-colored muffin inside his mouth. "I'm totally coming back every day now."

"That's exactly why I didn't," Law mutters, more to himself than to the idiots he calls friends, but they still laugh at him.

In the end, Law finds out that the crepes also have cinnamon and vanilla, and that the cookies have canola, chopped walnuts, and dried apricots. That one kind of muffin tastes like banana and cinnamon while the other has strawberries in the middle, and Jean tells him the toast also has beaten eggs, vanilla extract, and maple syrup.

Law tries to be sneaky as he puts the yellow paper in the pocket of his jacket but he's sure Shachi has seen him, though he doesn't make any sort of comments about the subject. They take the empty plates and cups and Law's mug to the counter like Law told them to, and then they form some sort of circle around the register, trying to split the abnormal big bill between the four of them. There are a bunch of customers behind them that keep on complaining and demanding them to hurry the hell up, but Luffy just laughs when Shachi drops a huge quantity of coins to the floor and when Penguin starts drooling with the pastries on display, so fuck the other customers really. When they finally leave the coffee shop, there is an entire line formed only by angry and impatient customers that glare at them as they make their way out, and Law only feels slightly bad for Luffy that will have to attend them.

Law drives them back to his apartment so they can all grab all the shit they left behind and return the clothes Law has handed them. Law gives Shachi his car keys so he can be the driver from now on and, once everyone is out, Law proceeds to organize all the dirty clothes he has spread around his apartment so he can go to the laundromat just across the street. He skips lunch, but it's not like his stomach has any space left for anything, and spends most of the afternoon surrounded by washing machines doing laundry.

---

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Remember to surround yourself with friends whenever you can. Remember that when you do good things to others you attract good things back to you. Remember to smile every day, at everyone, with and without reason. A smile is the best thing you can put on your face.