Your nerves were all over the place the next day. You were somewhat thankful for it being the weekend but you woke up horribly early. You spent as much time as you could making sure you had everything laid out ready for getting ready for tonight but you found you did that all far too quickly. Luckily for you though, around lunch rapid knocking came to your door, you were in the kitchen going through the fridge for something to make to eat while your aunt answered the door, "Oh, hello there, I don't think she was expecting you," your aunt's voice reaches your ears and you poke your head around the doorway finding a group of your friends being let in,

"We figured we could spend some time together before the game," Nami smiles at Shakky,

"Can I borrow your kitchen?" Sanji enquires and you aunt just waves him on ahead towards you, "(Y/N)-chan you look beautiful today," he grins as he practically prances towards you,

"Don't weird her out dart-brow," Zoro groans, the pair of them coming into the kitchen shortly followed by the rest, Luffy hugging you,

"So, uh... Hey," you absently give Luffy a one-armed hug as the others spread out,

"(Y/N) I have to head to the bar early; will you be okay today?" you aunt asks from the entrance, she's giving you a pointed look,

"Ah, yeah. I'm sure I'll be okay, I'll call you if anything happens," you promise,

"Alright, have fun you guys and don't make too much mess," she waves and leaves,

"I hope it's okay we're here without letting you know," Usopp says standing beside you,

"I don't mind, just surprised,"

"Sabo and Ace would have come too, but Ace has to be at school early to get ready and Sabo has to help set up the dance," Luffy pouts,

"Koala is with him," Robin informs you, "But Vivi should turn up soon,"

"In the meantime, I'm going to make everyone lunch," Sanji announces, you smile then glance at Luffy who has his chin resting on your shoulder,

"Wanna play some games while we wait?" you ask, bringing a grin to his face,

"Yosh!" he springs away, knowing exactly where to go, you chuckle and head to the living room followed by most of the others. Over the next few hours, you play various games with mainly Luffy, Usopp, Chopper and Franky. You manage to get Zoro on at least once and even go off against Brook in a rhythm game. Robin set herself down in a chair reading one of your aunts' books and Nami and Vivi spent a lot of time discussing makeup once she had arrived. Sanji made an amazing lunch and you had a great time, forgetting your morning nerves. You helped clean up the kitchen with Sanji despite his protests before you all piled out of the house and split into three groups, Robin and Franky having brought their cars. You grabbed Ace's jacket to wear before getting in your own car, Luffy and Usopp were messing around with your radio. By the time you got to school they had somehow got your radio stuck on some classical station, "I think your radio is broken (Y/N)," Luffy decides as you get out the car,

"You think so huh," you snort out a laugh,

"You should get a new one, a fancy one, oooooh I know, let's get Franky to make you a new radio," Luffy nods as if that's the plan suddenly making you laugh again and Usopp chuckle,

"It's not a bad idea mind, Franky likes to tinker and create things," he tells you, but you've stopped walking and it takes them a moment to realise you have, when they do they both turn to what or rather who has caused you to stop. Leaning on the bumper of his car is Grant, he throws you a sly grin,

"Hey (Y/N), I didn't get a chance to catch up with you since I started, some might think you ran away at the mere sight of me, but that can't be true can it?" he pushes off the car and walks towards you, "You look like you've been doing well," he glances at your two friends, "you even upped your friend count, I'm so proud of you," you tremble a little at how close he is,

"Who are you?" Luffy demands while frowning, Usopp glances between you and Grant,

"Oh, I'm an old... friend of (Y/N)'s, we both went to Saboady High together," he wraps an arm over your shoulder and gives you a squeeze, making you tense up, Luffy's arm stretches out and he grabs your arm pulling you away from Grant and towards him. You stumble to his side, "Hmm... you always did make friends with the weird ones," he says eyeing Luffy,

"What's that supposed to mean?" Luffy glares, Grant only smiles,

"Luffy lets go, the others are waiting," you plead quietly, he turns his gaze on you before sending another glare at Grant before turning towards the school and pulling you along with him as you walk,

"Who was that? I don't like him," Luffy grumbles,

"Did you really go school with him?" Usopp asks from your other side,

"Have fun watching the game (Y/N)!" Grant calls behind you making you shudder a little,

"He's just someone who went to my old school, just ignore him," you mutter to them both.

"Everything alright?" Franky asks as the three of you get close, "the others went in to grab seats,"

"Yeah, everything is fine," you throw on your best smile, he doesn't seem to buy it but your thankful he doesn't push it. You follow the boys and take a seat between Vivi and Brook, you're relieved when Luffy is instantly distracted by snacks Sanji brought,

"They're not for you!" Sanji holds the food away from Luffy, not that it really helps, "these are for the ladies only,"

"He can have mine Sanji, I don't mind, I don't think I could eat anything more right now after your wonderful food before," you tell him,

"Aww, thankyou (Y/N)-chan, if you ever want me to cook for you again just call me!" he gushes and Zoro yanks him down into his seat making him almost drop the food, Luffy snaps it out of his grip anyhow as the two friends get into it with throwing insults at one another.

You can't quite focus on the game, you're jittery, both Vivi and Brook have noticed this, Vivi asked if you were okay, you insisted you were even though you definitely were not. Being at the school's football field just reminded you of the past, Brook begins to try and distract you, talking about how he had been helping the marching band out. You listened to him as he went in depth about the music and you finally calmed down again enough to watch the game a little. At some point Sabo and Koala joined your group complaining at how long it took them to set up for the dance and then with his help you were able to figure out where Ace was on the field. You let yourself relax more and enjoy your time with your friends and cheer for your schools' team. The game finishes with a win and everyone is talking about the plans to go to the diner and who is going to go in whose car, you pass your keys to Sabo, "I'll meet you at the car," you then slip away needing to nip to the loo. You do your business before stepping out and then freeze. Leaning against the wall opposite you now is Grant. Is he following you now? You clench your fists, "What do you want Grant?" you ask quietly, he pushes off the wall, moving close to you and you find yourself taking a step back. This makes him smirk,

"I'm curious, how did someone like you manage to make so many 'friends' hmm, that is if they are truly your friends," he chuckles, "they could just be stringing you along, or pitying you, you are quite pitiful," you move another step back, your back hitting the door, he steps closer. "How's the shoulder?" he grins as your eyes widen a little, "maybe we can have some more fun, don't worry though, I won't hurt you, much," his hand reaches up to your face. You flinch back, head hitting the door with a quiet thud and squeezing your eyes shut you wait. But nothing happens,

"Back, the fuck, off," Ace's voice has you snapping your eyes open, you find him grasping Grant's wrist, Grant's hand an inch from your face, Ace pushes his hand away and forces Grant to take a step back.

"Easy," Grant raises his hands, "we were just catching up, old friends and all that, right (Y/N)?" they both look to you, Grant gives you a hard look from behind Ace, you gulp and glance up at Ace, he examines your face before turning back to Grant,

"Piss off," he then wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you against his side, now ignoring Grant he leads you away. Your trembling slightly and he rubs your arm, you can tell he wants to ask what that was about but he doesn't bring it up. "So, Luffy somehow convinced everyone to travel to the dance together. I don't know how he did it, most likely pestered them until they agreed. Pops has hired a limo that should effectively fit us all," he starts prattling on as you leave the school and head to the car park, Sabo, Koala and Brook are waiting at your car,

"The others have left already, let's go!" Koala whines, Sabo looks between you and Ace and raises a brow,

"Shotgun!" Ace grins and races around the other side,

"What hey!" Sabo scowls.

The group celebrated at the diner and you tried your best to enjoy it, but in the back of your mind you couldn't shake Grant from your thoughts which left you frowning into space at times. What were you going to do about him? Luffy had mostly everyone distracted as he was animatedly explaining the game to Thatch, everyone else giving input at times so you figured no-one would realise how quiet you were being. How wrong you were, Ace drops into the seat beside you and rests his arm on the back of your chair, "So who was that guy?" he asks quietly while watching his brother bounce around,

"Huh?" you snap out of your thoughts, "Grant? He's someone from my old school,"

"He's the new transfer?" he quirks an eyebrow at you, "What was he saying to you?"

"Nothing important," you mumble looking down,

"You looked scared (Y/N)," Ace's voice is a whisper,

"It was nothing," you peek up at him and know he doesn't believe you, "I don't want to talk about it,"

"If he's giving you problems..."

"I don't want to discuss it Ace, please," you give him a pleading look, you didn't want to bring up the past, you weren't ready to face that yet, you weren't sure you ever would be. He hums a little before letting out a sigh,

"Alright, I'll drop it," you feel like there's a silent 'for now' not being said on the end there, "So, you looking forward to the dance?" you pull a face,

"Sure, I get to torture, I mean enjoy myself in a dress and heels," he snickers at your sarcasm,

"Why not wear flats? Or are you trying for a little height?" he teases, you slap him playfully,

"I'm not that short," you pout, "I would wear flats, but Nami threatened bodily harm if I wore my converse," that makes him laugh, "I'm being serious, she did threaten that,"

"I don't doubt it," he chuckles. Speak of the devil, the red-head in question skips over to the table,

"We need to be leaving," she announces looking directly at you,

"We still have like two hours until the dance..." you say slowly and instantly regret it as Nami goes into a full explanation of exactly how much they need to do to get ready for the dance, and apparently all the girls are getting ready at yours, you look to Ace and hiss at him, "Help me," Nami just chuckles and pulls you out of your seat as Ace mouths a sorry at you,

"Come on, Robin's driving," she drags you towards the door,

"Wait," you manage to force her to stop long enough to pull your car keys out, "Ace!" you throw them at him, "don't wreck it!" you grin at his joking scowl before being yanked out the diner.