Physical Education wasn't too bad you decided, you found out Vivi was pretty good at tennis, you weren't terrible but you just didn't get it. You ended up watching Vivi and Koala go all out against each other which was entertaining. After that you had a free period, the others had gone off to the library while you had to go fill in some paperwork at the office. Now you were rushing to your final class for the day, having gotten lost and now you were running late, "what an impression you're making," you scoff to yourself, finally finding the right stairway at last and hurrying towards it. Taking the first few steps you look up to see someone near the top swaying slightly before they suddenly fall backwards. With a startled yelp you dash up the steps three at a time, catching them as they fall, you grunt and have to take one step down as you take their sudden weight, their head lands against your shoulder causing you to wince slightly but any discomfort flees your mind as you quickly realise who you've caught. Your mind goes blank and you feel your face heat up as you gaze at the freckled face. This close you could practically count each freckle. You suck in a breath as his eyes flicker open, those charcoal black orbs darting to meet your (e/c) eyes, he blinks confused for a moment before a rush of red flows across his cheeks and he unsteadily stands up, "Um..." you both avoid gazes for a moment,
"Y,you ah, were falling backwards..." you mumble and bite your lip peeking up at him, he cringes,
"Damn it," he shakes his head, "you caught me? I didn't hurt you, did I?" he reaches out a hand to you but then quickly pulls it back. Shaking your head,
"No, I'm fine, but are you okay... you could have..." you both glance down the stairs,
"Yeah... that could have been really bad..." he frowns and rubs his face, "thanks for the catch," a sheepish smile flows across his face,
"Oh, it's no problem," you wave trying to dispel the nervousness, "I was just on my way to class and saw y... oh crap class!"
"What do you have now?" he asks as you both begin moving up the final few steps,
"Science..." you pull out your crumpled schedule, "in lab three," he suddenly grabs your hand and pulls you into a sprint,
"Don't worry then, I'll explain why we're late," he grins at you, your hearts pounding as you try to keep up with him, your eyes glancing down to your joined hands causing heat to rise to your face again. You get to the classroom and pause, both catching your breath and he lets go of your hand as he pushes into the classroom.
"Your late," the disapproving tones of your teacher reach your ears and you look up,
"Sorry sir," Ace rubs the back of his neck, "I had an episode, (Y/N) kindly helped me out," he gives you a quick smile,
"Is that so," the teacher looks thoughtful, "do you need to go to the nurse's office?"
"No, I'm good,"
"Alright then, both of you take your seats," the teacher then turns back to the rest of the class and Ace tugs you along to an empty desk behind Sabo and Vivi. Sabo takes a chance to turn around once the teacher has left us to our assigned work, giving Ace a look over,
"I'm fine," Ace tells him noticing the look,
"Hmm," the blonde brother frowns but drops it. Vivi raises a brow at you and you shrug slightly before focusing on your work, or at least trying. Having Ace next to you is highly distracting.
At the end of class Sabo pulled Ace to the side as you all walked out and clearly started grilling him for details, Vivi hooks her arm with yours, "So what was all that about?" she asks,
"Oh, nothing really, I just helped Ace out..." you weren't exactly sure how to explain really,
"Uhu... so why were you blushing?" she grins as you gasp and look at her,
"I was not!" you hiss glancing back to make sure the boys haven't heard her, but they are out of sight now, Vivi giggles,
"You definitely were and I want details. But you can tell me later, I'm going to check out the tennis club and see if I can join, you want to come?"
"Ah, nah. I'll leave you to your sports," you chuckle,
"Alright then, can we exchange numbers? Then we can talk later," she grins and wriggles her eyebrows. You shake your head but smile while pulling your phone out. You quickly save her number and you send a quick message, "great, I'll message you later!" she then runs off. You head to your locker, a smile on your face as you stared at your phone, with Vivi's number now saved that brought your contact count up to five. The other four being your mother, Rayleigh, Shakky and Camie, almost to your locker to grab your things someone calls out your name. You slow and glance behind you to find Ace running up to you, he slows to a walk upon getting to you and takes a couple of breaths,
"Do you have any plans for after school?" he asks,
"Um, no...?" you frown,
"Do you like milkshakes?" he readjusts his bag on his shoulder,
"I guess..." you wonder where this is going as you pause at your locker,
"I want to say thanks properly, for before," he grins, "So I was thinking I could get you a milkshake, but not just any milkshake, the best milkshake known to man," you smile amused at how goofy he sounds and try to open your locker, obviously once again you have forgotten this thing is cursed. Without blinking an eye Ace gives it a thump and it opens,
"Does everyone know this locker is cursed?" you question, he chuckles,
"Pretty much, you might be able to get it changed," he shrugs,
"Eh... I'll deal with it somehow," you mutter, not really wanting to cause a fuss over the issue. You quickly grab your books and put them away in your bag,
"So, what do you say?" you blink up at him, momentarily confused, "About going getting that milkshake?"
"N,now?" you stutter,
"Yeah? If that's alright with you? I won't be free again till Saturday, practice starts back up tomorrow," he shrugs,
"Um, well my Aunt Shakky is supposed to be picking me up..." you respond slowly, he grins and grabs your hand pulling you with him,
"Then let's ask her, I'm sure she won't mind," he says confidently, your refusals dying on your tongue before you can voice them as he gives you another bright smile.
Turned out, your Aunt Shakky was fine with it. She gave you a bright teasing smile and told you both to enjoy yourselves before driving off. Ace then started leading the way. You felt awkward walking beside Ace at first, especially when people watched you, but as you got further away from school you relaxed more, "You don't like crowded places do you?" Ace observes,
"Ah, well it's not that exactly..." although he is kind of right, you don't do well in crowds, "I just don't like being stared at I guess," you shrug, he nods,
"I can understand that, things will calm down though. It's because you're new here is all,"
"Maybe," you frown a little, you can only wish it was that, you've always drawn unwanted attention to yourself, it's not like you try. It just happens,
"If anyone gives you problems though, just come to us, we'll handle it," you raise your brow slightly at him,
"Thanks, but I can fight my own battles should I have to,"
"Yeah but you don't have to," he points out as he stops, "here we are, best place to get milkshakes in town, and as a bonus, we get discount," he chuckles, you glance up at the diner you had stopped in front of,
"Double Dans Diner..." you read and glance at him,
"Yup, it's owned by a married couple, both called Dan," he pulls the door and holds it open for you. You gaze around in wonder at the décor as you step inside,
"Woah..." the whole place was decked out like a retro eighty's diner, jukebox included in the corner,
"Cool huh," Ace tugs you along to a booth while waving to a man behind the counter, "they really like the eighty's theme,"
"It's amazing," you find yourself grinning as you sit down, Ace holds out a menu to you,
"Pick any milkshake you want," you gently take the menu, "do you wanna grab anything to eat while we are here? My treat, I'm starving," his eyes roam over his own menu,
"Y,you don't have to..."
"Considering I could have been at the bottom of those stairs with a broken neck, I don't think this is enough," he says seriously for a moment before giving you a gentle smile, "it's fine, let me treat you, otherwise I'll be doing a whole bunch of stuff to show how thankful I am, and you might just get fed up with me and wish you'd let me fall," he chuckles,
"I'd never wish that..." you suddenly flush red and hide your face with the menu, focusing on the list of items, "O,on anyone that is..." he snickers softly. He goes and makes your order at the counter, getting teased for bringing a girl, he comes back a little red faced making you giggle. He smiles embarrassed and sits back down,
"The owners are practically like family, we come here a lot. My eldest brother also works here," he tells you,
"It must be crazy having so many brothers," you comment, he shrugs,
"They can be hell sometimes, we torment each other," he laughs, "but we also have each other's back when it comes down to it,"
"That must be nice," you hum and glance out the window, "it's always just been me and mother back home, so it's pretty quiet," he leans his chin on his palm watching you,
"You come from Sabaody right?" he questions bringing your gaze back to him, you nod in response, "no offence, because you're one of the nicest people I've met, but everyone else I've met from Sabaody are assholes, they play dirty too," you frown confused, though you won't deny that some people back home are not exactly nice or even friendly for that matter, "Football," a silent oh goes through your mind, "we played against them in the final there last year,"
"You were there?" you sit up,
"Yeah, I'm one on our team's quarterbacks, you went too?" he grins,
"Yeah... I don't usually watch football; I don't really understand all the rules but my best friend Camie loves the sport and made me go to at least the final with her," you find yourself rubbing your shoulder remembering that night,
"Then in a way, we've already met," he shifts as your milkshakes are placed in front of you, "kind of at least,"
"I suppose one could see it that way," you take a sip of your (f/f) milkshake and your eyes widen, "Wow,"
"I know right, told you, The, Best, Milkshake," he drinks some of his own and sighs making you giggle, "so did you enjoy the game at least?"
"Well, it was entertaining," you shrug, "your right mind, my school has always played dirty. But you guys still managed to win," he pouts at you,
"Nah ah, you're one of us now, one of The Pirates," he informs you, "And yes, we beat their asses into the dirt," warmth spreads across your chest, one of them, it was a nice feeling. You wonder how long it will last. Your food soon came and you were surprised by how much he had ordered for himself, but from the reactions of the staff, this was normal. You found it easier and easier to talk to him as you spent more time with him. Though it may have been to do with the fact there was just the two of you. Groups unnerved you. As you take another sip of your drink a loud thud has you jumping startled and you choke on the milkshake for a brief moment before laying eyes on Ace. Panic rushes over you as you look at him, his face in his plate of food, hands holding a burger still held up in the air,
"A,ace..." your eyes widen and you hope to god he isn't dead, you reach over and nudge his head slightly, "Ace..."
"Don't worry, this is normal," a voice beside you chuckles, you look up worry clearly evident on your face and find a tall brunette wearing an apron, "Ace has narcolepsy,"
"Oh..." you glance at Ace and notice a soft snore come from him, that explains the incident earlier, and the fact he called it an episode, "does this happen a lot?" you ask,
"From time to time yes, if he lets himself get too stressed out it happens more often," he sighs and looks at the boy, "ACE!" he yells making you jump for a second time, Ace snaps his head up,
"W,what?!" he continues to eat as if nothing happened, you cover your mouth trying not to giggle as a fry that had gotten stuck to his chin drops,
"You scared your girlfriend half to death, you're supposed to tell people about your narcolepsy," the man admonishes, both you and Ace turn red, Ace choking on a bite of his burger,
"She's not my girlfriend Thatch!" he takes a quick drink, "This is (Y/N), from next door,"
"Ooooh," Thatch turns to you with a bright smile which turns teasing as he glances at Ace again, "Jeez Ace, the girl just moved in and your already making moves on her," he clucks his tongue, Ace turns even brighter red,
"What! No!" Ace yelps, you start slip down the seat slightly, kind of wishing to disappear,
"Ah, denial," Thatch says, "I'll have to talk to Marco about this,"
"Don't you dare!" Ace growls jumping up out of his seat and trying to swipe at the man, Thatch easily pushes him away and turns to you,
"If this brute causes you any trouble dear, you come tell me, I'll be sure to put my little brother in place," Thatch chuckles. After a few more exchanged words, heated ones from Ace as Thatch continues to tease him, the elder brother heads back into the kitchen and Ace sits down. You're both still blushing slightly as you sit in silence. The silence getting more awkward by the second, you clear your throat,
"So, um... narcolepsy..." you glance up at him making eye contact for a brief moment, he rubs the back of his neck,
"Ah, yeah. I've had it since I was little. Sorry I should have told you, it's just pretty much everyone knows so..."
"No, no it's okay," you wave your hands in front of you pausing him, "you don't need to apologise. It's perfectly normal, I mean I should have asked earlier after the incident on the stairs," he gives you a crooked smile that makes your heart race, you gulp a little,
"Does it not freak you out?" he asks,
"It's a medical condition you don't have much control over," you shrug, "why would it freak me out? I mean, I was scared for a moment when you face planted your food," you giggle a little making him blush again, "But I'd never judge you for it." That brings a wider smile to his face and you feel happy that you brought that about.
A body drops into the booth beside you making you jump a little, "Shishishi, you're jumpy (Y/N)," you give Luffy a small scowl and a shove,
"Announce your presence first," you pout only getting a grin in return, Ace wipes his face with a napkin and looks to Zoro who takes a seat beside him,
"How'd try-outs go?" Ace asks him, you slap Luffy's hand as he tries to steal your fries,
"Danny! MEAT!" Luffy yells over to the guy at the counter, you face palm at his loudness, Zoro and Ace don't even react,
"Coach was impressed, so he got in. We might actually win some games this year if the coach decides to put him on the court. No one will expect his energy," Zoro chuckles, you look confused between them all, Ace notices,
"Zoro is on the basketball team, Luffy went to try-outs," he informs you,
"Oh," you subconsciously slap Luffy's hand again, "you think he'll play in games even as a freshman?" you snap your gaze to Luffy, "Try that one more time and it's my fork coming down on your hand next, wait for your own," he pouts at you as both Ace and Zoro laugh. Food is brought out for both newcomers as the conversation flows. Ace falls asleep at least twice more and loses some of his food to Luffy in the process. Christ this boy can eat. The next hour or so are filled with chatter and laughter before you all head home, Luffy causing both you and Ace to have to run after him.
