You stared at yourself in the mirror, readjusting the witch's hat for the fifth time, "Stop messing with it, it looks fine," you turn to frown at your aunt in the doorway,

"Maybe I shouldn't go..." you grumble looking back to the mirror and the old black gothic style dress you were wearing. You had acquired it through Zoro of all people, his adoptive sister was more than happy to help you out. Apparently, she owned a lot of this style of clothing.

"You're going, you can't let your friends down, besides, you look adorable as a witch," she chuckles, "don't cast too many spells on those boys," she winks,

"Aunt Shakky..." you groan,

"Sorry, sorry," she comes into the room and wraps and arm around your shoulders, "you don't have to go if you don't want to, but you will be on your own here most of tonight, and I'd rather you be with your friends than alone, especially since Rayleigh is out of town," she frowns a little, your uncle had been having some trouble with the shop and now had had to go on an impromptu trip for supplies to fix the problems,

"I'll go," you give her a small smile, "besides, if I don't turn up, I'm pretty sure Luffy or Nami will come and drag me out anyway,"

"Hmm, or Ace," she gives you squeeze and a teasing smile when you roll your eyes, "have fun, I'm just a call away if you need me,"

"I'll be fine,"

"I mean it, if anything serious comes up, I can leave work, I'll just close early,"

"Don't worry," you shake your head, "I don't want you to have to close the bar because of me, I have the boys next door I'm sure they'll have my back if something, god forbid, does happen, which it won't," she gives you another hug before leaving you to it. You take one last look at your reflection before giving yourself a shake, "Come on (Y/N), it's just a party, a party with all your friends, it will be fun," yeah, you weren't that confident. Slumping you start to reconsider once again when your phone pings, you pick it up, reading the message with a small snicker,

Freckles – Get your cute ass here now! I can feel you trying to chicken out of it from over here.

(Y/N) - Cute ass?

Freckles – Don't make me come and get you, because you know I will.

(Y/N) - Relax, I'm coming now.

You slip your phone into a small black bag and head out. Your nerves forgotten as you find Ace waiting for you, he's leant against the fence that runs between the houses, "About time," he grins, "you look enchanting," he takes your hand as you come around to his side and kisses it while wiggling his eyebrows, you roll your eyes but play along with his silliness,

"Why thankyou good sir," you curtsey a little and he grins wider, you notice the fake fangs, "So, a vampire lord?" you give him a once over as he pulls you closer and links your arm with his,

"Don't worry, I won't bite," a wicked mischievous gleam flashes through his onyx gaze, "unless you want me to," a bubble of laughter rises out of you at that and he guides you towards the house. Your eyes widen as you get inside, you thought you were prepared for the number of people, considering you had helped with writing the invites, "Yeah, we seem to have more every year," Ace chuckles noting your expression,

"Everyone really gets into the whole costume thing, don't they?" you raise a brow at him, he nods with a smile,

"It's fun," suddenly you're spun away from him and twirled up into the air. You yelp and grab onto the shoulders of the person who has effectively picked you up,

"(Y/N) look how much you've grown!" your eyes narrow at the voice and look down with a scowl, "No longer a baby, but a beautiful young lady,"

"Put, me, down, Shanks," you glare at the red head who just decides to hug you instead while turning to Ace,

"Isn't my (Y/N) just the cutest when she's irritated," he hugs you tightly,

"I can kick higher than your shin now," you warn him, Shanks pouts at you,

"You wouldn't do that, you love me, I was your favourite troupe commander," Ace looks very confused but helps you out and pulls you out of Shanks' hug,

"No, you were just the only one who didn't care when I kicked them,"

"They just didn't understand it as affection," Shanks chuckles,

"You're still as stupid as I remember," you shake your head,

"But you love me," he coos, he's then pulled away by his friend Benn,

"Leave the kid alone," Benn gives you a small smile before continuing to pull the red head away,

"I didn't know you knew Shanks," Ace comments, you shrug and respond simply,

"Pirate camp,"

"Okay, what is pirate camp, because Luffy has mentioned that before too," he frowns and you giggle,

"It's a summer camp my uncle runs, although I believe Shanks is running it more these days, I went there every year until I was ten, I met Luffy there because Shanks brought him to it,"

"Ohh, now things make sense."

The night continued on; you were having a lot of fun. Ace stayed close by at all times and you were grateful, you were a little overwhelmed but were handling it well. You got pulled into dancing with Nami and Vivi for a while and even had time to talk with Shachi, you pointed out to him that Law's costume couldn't be classed as a costume in your opinion. He was dressed as a doctor, and as you explained, because he already acts like one it can't be a costume. Said person wasn't amused when you both pointed it out to him. You played some party games with your friends, Ace dragging you away to hide with him when Nami decided everyone should play seven minutes in heaven. You were glad he did so. You also managed to thank Zoro's sister Perona, before being pulled into a conversation with Thatch, Marco and Pops, Newgate had insisted you call him Pops.

"Enjoying the party lass?" Pops asks while patting the seat beside him, you sit down a little nervously but give him a bright smile,

"Yes, I've never experienced anything quite like it,"

"You've been looking after her haven't you Ace?" Thatch asks pulling his brother into a one-armed hug,

"Of course, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't?"

"Sure it was only as a friend?" Marco snickers, "you can barely leave the girl alone yoi,"

"Can you blame him though Marco?" Thatch adds on as Ace glares at his brothers, "Having a cute little thing like (Y/N) on his arm," they continued to tease Ace until he snaps at them. Pops just chuckles merrily,

"Don't mind them none lass, it's just harmless teasing. Though my boy is rather fond of you Gurarararara," you simply turned red as you wanted to hide in embarrassment, Ace meanwhile had gotten into a scuffle with his brothers, that only ended when Luffy spotted it and with a shout of,

"DOG PILE!" he pounced on all three of his brothers.

You stayed late after the party and helped clean up a little, even as the brothers tried to dissuade you, minus Luffy because he was passed out near what remained of a buffet table. Afterwards, Ace watched you as you walked to your door. You smiled brightly as you head to your room, throwing your phone on the dresser, you grab a fresh towel and decide to take a shower, because someone had accidentally spilt their drink on you at some point, not a lot but enough that it was sticky and you didn't want to sleep like that. You kept going over the events of the night in your head, you haven't had that much fun in as long as you can remember, a part of you wondered if it was too good to be true but for once, you didn't want to think negatively. You had fun with your friends, it was a great night and nothing was going to ruin it now. It's as you exit the shower that you hear something out of place in the quiet house, the shatter of glass, frowning a little you creep closer to your bedroom while wrapping the towel tightly around yourself. Voices. You freeze. Your heartrate picks up as multiple voices filter quietly up the stairs, you instantly recognise Grant's voice and dash into your room as quietly as possible. You gulp and try to keep your breathing steady but panic is starting to rise, you grab your phone and hide in your closet. You pull your knees up to your chest as you hear footsteps on the stairs. You fiddle with your phone and call the first person that comes to your mind as your fear rises,

"Hey, did you forget something?" Ace's voice seems so loud and you almost sob as the floorboards at the top of the stairs creak,

"Help..." you croak out in a whisper before holding the phone tightly against you. Hoping and wishing that whoever was on the landing didn't hear you.