You drop onto your bed with a sigh and stare up at the ceiling, "I wonder if Uncle Rayleigh will let me paint it..." you wonder out loud, that's when you realise, you're starting to like it here. Your phone pings and you shuffle awkwardly to get it out of the back pocket of your jeans, really not wanting to get up, you blink at the notification, one new message from Trafalgar D. Water Law. "Did he seriously save his number with his full name... what the hell," you snort out a laugh and open the message, it's his address and a reminder to arrive at six am, no later. You roll onto your stomach and type out a reply,

(Y/N) - Your full name is Trafalgar D. Water Law?

Law – Are you still willing to look after Bepo?

You giggle at his response, clearly, he's ignoring your question.

(Y/N) - Why wouldn't I be?

Law – Your shoulder.

(Y/N) - It's not hurting anymore, it's fine. I'll be there at 6am, prompt, maybe even earlier!

Law – Just on time will do.

(Y/N) - Yes Captain Trafalgar D. Water Law 😜

You chuckle, thinking you might just have to be early now just to see his reaction, your phone pings again,

Law – You have a beautiful singing voice by the way.

You scowl at the phone, an embarrassed flush rising, before another message pops up,

Law - Goodnight (Y/N).

You throw your phone to the side and roll back onto your back. Today had been a rollercoaster of emotions, you should ring Camie, but for now, just a little nap. You close your eyes and it only feels like moments later that you hear your phone ringing, your favourite song blaring loudly. You frown, the lighting is different... "Crap!" you bolt upwards and grab at your phone answering before checking who's ringing, "Hello?" you glance at your clock, it flashes 5:45am at you, "crap," you mutter under your breath scrambling off the bed,

"(Y/N)?" Shachi's voice comes softly through the phone, you switch it to loud-speaker and drop it on your desk, "you okay...?"

"Yeah!" you shout scrambling to change clothes and spray yourself profusely in deodorant, you will just have to have a shower when you get back, hopefully you don't smell, snickering can be heard, "don't laugh at me, I fell asleep without setting an alarm!" you ram your feet into a pair of boots and snatch up your phone and run out of your room, you dodge past a confused Shakky, "Sorry aunt Shakky, gotta run I'm late!" and then slide down the banister,

"You're not late, you still have ten minutes," Shachi teases,

"I wouldn't have that at all if you hadn't rung," you sigh, snatch a slice of toast off your surprised Uncle and stuff it in your mouth as you dash outside and to your car, unlocking the door,

"Ah, so you could say I'm your hero?" he jests, you choke on the toast as you start laughing, throwing the crusts of it out the window for the birds you clear your throat,

"Sure, let's go with that you weirdo," you pull up the navigation app on your phone and take a quick look at the route before starting the car and heading out. Maybe a little over the speed limit,

"Do drive carefully please? I'd like to see you arrive in one piece," Shachi chuckles,

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. I'll be there in a moment," you pull onto Law's street, he actually didn't live all that far from you, "I could have probably walked... if I got up on time, ah I see you!" up ahead Shachi is waving, beside him is Penguin also waving, "You both look like loons, hang up." He's grinning as you pull up, "Seriously... surprised you didn't have a flag too,"

"Maybe next time," he teases opening your car door. You slip out noting the time is six exact, Law steps out the house tugging gently on a leash,

"Shachi, I owe you; I get the feeling Law doesn't like tardiness,"

"Oh, you'd be right there," He chuckles. Law heads over to you, a pure white Samoyed trotting beside him, you refrain from squealing at how beautiful he is, but you do crouch down as they reach you,

"Well aren't you a handsome man," you scratch Bepo behind the ear, his tail wagging,

"Shachi-Ya, Penguin-Ya, could you get Bepo's food before Cora-san attempts it, I don't have time to clean up a mess," the two frown, probably because surely it doesn't take two to get some dog food, but they both do as he asks, "I see you're already making friends with Bepo," Law smirks down at you as your making smushy faces with the dog. Glancing up you see his smirk deepen and turn a little red. Clearing your throat you stand up,

"I like dogs," you shrug,

"I see that, how is your shoulder this morning?" his question makes you sigh,

"It's fine, I'm getting fed up of repeating myself," he's silent for a moment,

"Did you sleep well?" he asks while handing over Bepo's leash,

"Surprisingly," you shrug once again,

"You have trouble sleeping other times?" you narrow your eyes at him,

"Why are you quizzing me, I get you want to be a doctor but..."

"Surgeon actually," he disrupts, you blink up at him, "I want to be a surgeon,"

"That's still a doctor..." you point out making him chuckle, "shouldn't they have come out by now?"

"Cora-san probably got to the food before them, so it's most likely all over the place now, and there's probably a fire too," he shrugs, your eyes widen in shock then narrow,

"Is that why you sent them both in?" your question brings a small almost sadistic smile to his face and you shake your head, a bubble of laughter rising out of you.

Eventually the boys came out with the food, followed by Cora-san. And just as Law had predicted, he had spilt all the food, and set fire to himself, somehow. He asked how you were feeling today, making you pout and glare at Law, "I'm blaming you for people asking me that all the time now,"

"You can't blame me for that," he frowns,

"Well too late, I am," you stick your tongue out at him then get Bepo into the car, securing him in the back while Shachi places the bag of dry dog food in the back, "When do you want me to bring him back?"

"Don't worry, I'll come get him," Law informs,

"Alright then," you look over the three boys with a smile, "have fun with your trip,"

"I'll send you pictures," Shachi promises making you chuckle when Law sighs,

"It's not a field trip Shachi-ya." After a few brief instructions on how to care for Bepo, which had you reminding him you had looked after dogs before. You waved goodbye to the boys and Cora-san and headed back home. It was now seven o'clock.

"I was there pretty long huh Bepo? Considering I was just picking you up," you chuckle when the dog barks in response and turn onto your drive. Getting out you spot Ace out the front of his doing stretches, and you get distracted for a moment before shaking your head and opening up the back to let Bepo out,

"You're up early today," Ace's voice suddenly comes from beside you causing you to yelp and jump slightly, "sorry, didn't mean to startle you," hand on your heart you turn to him,

"N,no it's fine," you take a calming breath, "I could ask you the same, I pictured you being one of those guys who likes to sleep in at the weekends," he chuckles,

"Usually am, but Coach has been pushing us hard. He really wants to make sure we win our homecoming game. So, figured I'd do a bit of training," his gaze drops down to Bepo who's sniffing his shoe, "you have a dog?"

"No," you laugh, "this is Bepo, Law's dog, I'm dog sitting for the weekend," he snaps his onyx eyes back up,

"Was that what you guys were talking about during lunch yesterday?"

"Yeah, apparently Shachi suggested it," you shrug and crouch down to scratch Bepo's ear, completely missing the relief on Ace's face,

"Does Luffy know?" you look up at Ace's question,

"I don't think so, I've not really mentioned it... why?" you frown,

"Because he really likes dogs, and I'm pretty sure he's cornered Law in the park before," he laughs and you join in,

"Maybe I should invite him out with me later then, I'll need to walk this guy and I'll need to figure out where the park is... where anything is really,"

"We can show you around easy," Ace suggests, you smile amused a little as Ace just invites himself along,

"I'd like that, when will you be free?" he checks his watch and thinks over your question,

"Give me about an hour, I'm just going on a run, wait... I'll come get you once I'm back and I've showered," that reminds you that you also still need a shower, "I'll also need to wake Luffy up, but if I mention you and Bepo he should spring to action," he chuckles,

"You guys will probably want to eat breakfast too," you suggest while moving to grab the dog food out the back of your car, Ace however notices this and grabs it for you,

"Well actually, I'm thinking we can grab breakfast while being out? There're a few places that don't mind dogs and some that also have outdoor seating," he starts walking up to your front door, you frown slightly and follow, Bepo moving with you like a good boy,

"I can carry that myself you know?"

"Probably," he throws you a cheeky grin that makes you feel warm, "but what kind of neighbour or friend would I be if I left you to it, especially after yesterday,"

"What about yesterday?" you both look to find Rayleigh at the door, about to leave for work, he raises a brow at you both,

"Nothing, absolutely nothing happened yesterday," you say quickly, clearly your uncle not believing you turns on Ace and stares, Ace gulps, you sigh and step closer to Ace, "Uncle stop silently interrogating him, it was nothing, just got hit by a dodgeball and it's totally being thrown out of proportion," his eyes return to you and Ace relaxes. Rayleigh frowning at you his gaze slides to your shoulder then back to your eyes and raises a brow questioningly, "It's fine," you insist with a tone that shows you're not willing to talk on the subject,

"We'll discuss it later," he says before heading to his car, "Enjoy your day, and Portgas, you behave with my neice,"

"Oh my god! Seriously!" you scowl at your now chuckling uncle as your face heats up, you turn back to find a flustered Ace, "Sorry, just ignore him, he's an idiot,"

"Y,yeah, it's fine," he gives you a crooked smile, "l,let's get this inside then I can go do my run so we can head out sooner rather than later. OR else it will be lunch we eat instead of breakfast," you nod and open the door. Ace places the bag of dog food in the kitchen, says a polite hello to Shakky before giving you one last smile and heading out, "I'll see you in a little while!" he calls as he leaves. You unclip Bepo's leash and turn to your aunt finding her watching you,

"What?" you frown not liking the teasing look on her face,

"Going on a date?"

"What! No!" you turn red again, "We're going to the park and some other stuff, and Luffy will be with us," you huff, "don't suggest ridiculous stuff," Shakky sips her coffee before commenting,

"Would it really be that ridiculous to go on a date with our little Ace?"

"He's not exactly little..." he was taller than you, your words make your aunt raise an amused brow, "Oh god, no, stop," you shake your head and march out the room, "you and Uncle Rayleigh are the worst!" It feels like your face is on fire as you drop onto your bed, your shortly followed by a big fluffy weight. Giggling you turn to Bepo and snuggle with him letting your thoughts wonder, "me and Ace are just friends," you say confidently, Bepo just licks your face, "you're right, I need a shower," you chuckle, ruffle his fur and jump off the bed.

Just over an hour later, Luffy comes bouncing into the house without knocking and being scolded by Ace who also apologises profusely to Shakky. The three of you then head out and proceed to spend pretty much the whole day together, mostly at the local park where you and Ace laughed at Luffy rolling around on the grass with Bepo. You had a lot of fun and were quite sad when it started to get late since you had to head back home, Luffy had hold of the leash as you walked back, you smiled amused at a message Shachi had sent, he had been sending you messages all day, you pretty much knew exactly what the three of them were doing at any given moment, you had sent a picture to him of Luffy and Bepo playing earlier. "They look they're having fun," Ace says looking over your shoulder at the phone,

"Yeah," you snicker, "they even managed to get Law to smile," you move the phone so he can see better,

"You and Shachi are pretty close huh, after a week..." Ace comments,

"I suppose, he's my friend, like you all are. That's still weird to think about," you frown,

"You seriously only had to one friend in Sabaody?" Ace questions, he finds this unbelievable,

"Yeah, I'm awkward and don't really know how to talk to people half the time," you shrug. You had made it to the house and Luffy had let himself and Bepo in, the pair of you paused outside the door though,

"You're doing just fine here," he points out,

"I think it's more you guys than me, or maybe it's Luffy," you chuckle, he smiles amused,

"Maybe, but don't put yourself down, you're pretty cute and cool," you both go quiet as his face flushes a little,

"Cute huh?" you raise a brow, "Hmm, maybe you've been outside for too long," you laugh, he frowns a little,

"(Y/N)… you need to have more confidence," he leans down a little so your eyes are level, making your laugh stop almost instantly as you blush a little at how close you are, "You are a beautiful person, inside and out," you just stare into his eyes, a little lost for thought. The sound of a car door slamming shut startles you both and he quickly stands up straight,

"Yo Ace, is that your girlfriend Thatch was telling us about yoi?" a voice calls over, Ace turns a deep shade of red and glares over at the voice's owner, a dark blush also spreads over your face too,

"She's not my girlfriend! Will you and Thatch stop saying that!?" Ace shouts, you glance over to find a grinning blonde leaning on the fence between both properties, you blink, recognising him from somewhere, this must be the final brother,

"Say that to your red faces yoi," he snickers, both you and Ace look at one another automatically, turn an even darker shade of red and look away again,

"Shut up Marco," Ace huffs,

"Shishishi, you guys are really red," Luffy is back at the door, "can I come play with Bepo tomorrow (Y/N)?"

"Ah, y,yeah of course. I'm not sure what time Law is picking him up..." you stutter,

"Yay! I'll be back tomorrow!" he jumps down the steps and races over to where Marco is who lurches out of the way when Luffy jumps over to fence at him, Marco starts yelling at him only making Luffy laugh,

"Sorry about Marco," Ace mutters rubbing the back of his neck,

"Oh, no problem," you mumble back, you both share a nervous embarrassed glance, "I uh, should get in and feed Bepo..."

"Y,yeah... I'll speak to you later..." you both share and awkward wave before you dash into the house. Leaning against the door you slowly slip down to the floor, face burning hot you cover it with your hands,

"God's that was so embarrassing..." you are soon distracted by a very needy and hungry Bepo, "alright, alright, let's get you some food mister."