The warm rays of sunlight began to shine through her window and she released an airy yawn, slowly blinking away the drowsiness that had yet to escape her. Although she lacked a sufficient amount of sleep, she felt immensely recharged.
Stilly, Nami laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling with a dopey smile etched across her face as she recalled her phone call with Luffy.
They had spoken for hours about literally nothing at all and everything at once and she took full advantage of the phone call to dive deeper into getting to know him. His likes, his dislikes, his favorite color, which she now knew was red. His favorite song, his favorite food.
She giggled softly remembering his answer was "meat". No particular recipe... literally just flat out "meat".
She in turn, now acknowledged how throughout the duration of their phone call, she was thrown completely out of her element. She would squirm this way and that way under her covers, often giggling like a teenage girl from their conversation.
Damnit.
She was apprehensive to admit it, but Luffy was breaking down the emotional walls she had spent so many years trying to keep up. He too now knew her favorite color, her favorite song, her favorite foods, what makes her tick, and what makes her laugh.
She furrowed her brows in thought.
I don't even remember hanging up?
She unplugged her charger from the phone and her jaw dropped open in realization when she eyed the screen to see the call was still connected,
7 hours and 46 minutes later.
Well... I guess that answers my question.
"Luffy?" she questioned in a groggy voice, placing the phone to her ear.
He made a small noise and she could hear slight shuffling. "Good morning, Nami." he replied just as groggily and let out a breathy yawn from the other line.
"Good morning." she smiled warmly.
Anyone who'd saw her right now would undoubtedly be able to tell how infatuated she was. Her cheesy smile threatened to leave her face and her cheeks were tinged pink.
"How'd you sleep?" she asked softly.
"Better than I have in a long time. What about you?"
"I have to agree with you on that."
He laughed lightly. Luffy was on the same boat. Back at home, he was sitting in bed, propped up against his headboard and smiling way wider than usual.
"I guess we should probably get ready for class, huh?" he stated with a hint of amusement in his tone.
Nami stretched her free arm out, humming delightedly as she stood from her bed. She was convinced that absolutely nothing would be able to ruin the remarkable mood she was in, and she had Luffy to thank for that.
"I guess we should." she chuckled.
He was completely enamored.
And so was she.
Thanks to Nami, Luffy was passing Calculus with flying colors and she somehow was even roped into becoming his permanent tutor, not that she was complaining anyway.
It was Luffy after all.
They had been spending a lot more time together too, often marveling in each other's presence in the most simplistic of ways such as doing homework together or conversing for countless hours over the phone. They were inevitably drawn to each other, even within groups of people.
They someway somehow at the end of the night always ended up oblivious to the presence of those surrounding them. The chemistry between the two was undeniable.
And that was the predicament they were now in.
Neither had made a move, but the amorous tension between them was being held by a very thin thread that was on the verge of snapping any moment now.
It was a warm Monday afternoon and the group could be found gathered at their usual spot in the West Garden.
"Man, Iceberg-Sensei's lectures have been a pain in the ass to keep up with lately." Usopp groaned, plopping down on the outstretched blanket to sit crisscrossed.
Vivi's lips fell in distaste. "I hope it's not as bad as my international relations class. We have this new teacher... Crocodile-Sensei I think? He kinda gives me the creeps." She visibility shuddered before taking a comforting bite out of her sandwich.
"You know what? I believe we could all use a break. How about we plan a day trip since midterms wrap up this week?" Robin suggested as she poured herself a steaming cup of tea from her thermos.
Sanji clapped his hands together, gazing at Robin with a visible heart in his eye. "Robin-Chwaaaaan, you always come up with the best ideas."
"Maybe we could go to the beach!" exclaimed Chopper.
Luffy took a pause from devouring the contents of his lunch, now intrigued upon hearing the word 'beach'. "That sounds like a good plan actually. Nami told me she's been wanting to go."
Immediately, all eyes were on the raven-haired man.
Luffy blinked, his brows furrowing in confusion.
"What?" he asked, now casually scratching his cheek.
"So what's up between you guys?" Usopp prodded with a wicked smirk plastered on his face.
"Whaddya mean?" he tilted his head, not understanding what Usopp was referring to.
Vivi deadpanned. "Well let's just say you look at Nami the same exact way you look at food. And we all know how much you love that."
Zoro shrugged. "She's not wrong there."
Luffy opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a soft voice above him.
"Whatcha guys talking about?" Nami approached the group and made her way over to Luffy's side, settling down on the blanket right next to him.
"Oh, Nami! We were just talking about you actually."
"You were?" she turned to gaze at him, her lips slowly stretching into a gentle smile.
"Yeah." he replied, meeting her gaze.
Man, she's really pretty.
Luffy was completely captivated by her wavy orange tresses and faint freckles that trickled down the bridge of her nose. Her eyelids were kinda shimmery today too, and she was close enough for him to take in her delicious scent.
Tangerines.
Vivi leaned to the side to rest her chin on Robin's shoulder while eyeing the pair. "They totally dig each other." she whispered softly to her, making the raven-haired woman chuckle in turn.
"Bastard's always getting the girls." Sanji muttered under his breath as he lit up a cigarette.
The atmosphere was suddenly light and feathery, the air surrounding the two culprits seemed to sparkle upon Nami's arrival. And there was that weird look in his eyes again.
They honestly couldn't keep their eyes off one another.
Awareness spread throughout the group through winks and exchanged glances.
"We were also talking about going to the beach this weekend, what do you think, Nami?" Chopper asked enthusiastically, not meaning to break them out of their enthralling trance.
"I think that's a great idea! Could we?" she turned to the group, eyeing them all joyously.
"I don't see why not. We could leave early Saturday morning and take the train from Zou station. It's just an hour long ride from there." Robin smiled.
"It's settled then!" Luffy crossed his arms against his chest triumphantly. "Let's all plan to meet up at the station at 8 am."
Nami could barely contain herself. She felt a bit of pride swell up in her and in that moment, she realized that having friends wasn't such a bad idea after all.
She was hanging out with everyone more, and the effort wasn't going unnoticed either. Nojiko had been bringing it to her attention lately that she seemed different. She seemed... happy.
It felt nice.
"Oh! Why don't we go shopping after classes this afternoon? I could use a new bikini." said Vivi, directing her attention to Nami and Robin.
"Sure. My shift at the bookstore doesn't start until 6 so I should have some time. What do you say, Nami?" Robin inquired.
"Sounds like fun." she smiled.
After her afternoon classes, Nami meandered her way towards the campus parking deck to meet with Vivi and Robin. Vivi had graciously offered to drive them to the mall in hopes of finding a bikini and a few other items before their trip which Nami was thankful for. Her hometown was nowhere near a beach and she rarely swam in general, therefore she lacked anything relatively nice enough to be flaunted in public.
For now anyway.
"Nami! Over here!"
Nami spun towards the source of the echoing voice to see Vivi waving at her from the drivers seat of her car.
She waved back in acknowledgment and scurried towards them, climbing inside the back seat of the sleek black sedan.
"Ready?" Robin turned around to grin at Nami from the front passenger seat.
"Let's do this! " Nami nodded in determination before buckling her seatbelt.
"There's a huge sale at several stores today so I hope I can find something nice enough." Vivi mused, accelerating out of the parking deck.
"Nice enough for who? You? Or a certain someone with blonde hair and curly brows?" Robin teased.
Vivi playfully gasped in an offended fashion. "Robin, can't a girl look good for herself?" she giggled.
Robin crossed her arms across her chest and although Vivi failed to see her due to her focused driving, she could feel the eyes being bored into her along with a raised brow.
"Alright, alright. Leave me alone." Vivi stuck her tongue out in Robin's direction.
Nami laughed softly and chimed in. "You know Vivi, I don't think you have to try too hard to knock Sanji-kun off his feet. Sure, he may have a... slight obsession with women-"
Nami deadpanned, causing Robin to choke back a laugh.
"-but he looks at you differently. I can tell."
Vivi tilted her head, intrigued by Nami's observation. "You think so, Nami?" she asked, taking a peek at her orange-haired friend from the visor mirror.
"I do." she smiled.
"She's not wrong, Vivi. Sanji's extreme swooning is mostly for show when it comes to women in general but with you, it's rather odd. He respects you immensely and rather than impulsive ogling, I can see, dare I say, normal infatuation."
Vivi's lips formed into a face-splitting grin. Nami and Robin had given her just the reassurance she needed to continue her pursuit of the blonde.
"Thanks guys." she mused, her smile unwavering. "Hey Robin, could you please connect my aux cord to my phone?" Vivi asked.
Robin obliged and when she connected the device, the last song Vivi was listening to began to play over the speakers.
"-mo mada minna mune okusoko doko ka zutto taisetsuna takaramono. Osanaki koro no yume monogatari, wasurareji kioku no ito tadori."
All three girls started humming the beat which eventually escalated into them singing every lyric in sync, dancing about in their seats.
"Ima da mune wo kogasu nokori hi wo keshite shimawanai youni. Minareta harewataru kono sora ni, nakama to tomo ni omoi wo takushi. Utsurikawaru jidai wo koe-
TOWA NI, TOWA NI!" they shouted, before erupting into a fit of giggles.
So is this what having friends feels like?
In the past, she would often eat lunch with her classmates in the cafeteria and make small talk out of common curtesy or would recall a time where she had no choice but to go over a classmate's house to work on a project.
Now, if you asked her in this moment to mention an old classmate's name, she couldn't tell you.
And it's not that she had no interest in them... it just never felt like this. She'd always feel this disconnect between her and everyone else, often times not even bothering getting to know them due to immediate rejection of the idea of having friends, but right now, she felt content.
Even though she hadn't known the entire group very long, they always went out of their way to make sure she was comfortable and felt included, something she'd never want to take for granted.
She wanted to savor these moments forever.
After checking out a few stores, they entered a boutique known for their trendy collection of swimwear. Nami perused through the different sections, carefully weighing her options. She stumbled across plenty of lacy and frilly bikinis, some a lot sexier than others, but ultimately settled on trying out a one piece.
Robin and Vivi had already snagged their items and only Nami remained. Now, in the dressing room of the boutique, she stood in front of the full length mirror, carefully eyeing her appearance.
Her lips formed a tight line.
"How does it look, Nami?" Vivi questioned from the other side of the curtain.
She hummed in contemplation, twisting her body to view the bathing suit from different angles. "I dunno, I'm not really feeling it."
"Come out so we can see." Robin suggested.
Nami turned and pushed the velvet curtains aside, revealing an awkward lopsided smile.
Both girls facepalmed.
"What?" Nami's brows furrowed.
"We'll be right back." Vivi announced.
Immediately they simultaneously stood from the plush ottoman and sauntered back towards the swimwear section leaving behind a very confused Nami.
Shortly after, they returned with a pile of racy bikinis and handed them off to her. Once she saw just how little material there was, heat rose to her cheeks.
"Nami. You have a body that was sculpted by the gods themselves so unfortunately, a one piece won't do." Robin smiled coyly.
What Nami wasn't aware of was the fact that Vivi and Robin hardcore shipped her with Luffy, and as her friends, they wanted to do everything in their power to ensure Nami left him speechless.
That included him getting an eyeful of her in a provocative two piece.
"B-but-" she stammered.
"Ah ah, no buts!" Vivi scolded, cutting her off. "Try them on and show us your favorite."
Nami sighed defeatedly. It's not that she was ashamed of anything nor was she shy. Far from it. She was fully aware of the lingering glances from men directed towards her when she was often out and about. She knew how to dress to accentuate her curves and she knew she had an amazing body, but...
Luffy made her feel extremely self conscious.
After trying on the variety presented to her, she settled on a stringy red bikini that hugged her in all the right places.
Red...
He likes red.
She liked dressing for herself but she just couldn't help it.
She pushed the curtains aside once more, a bit more confidently this time, and the women before her began to squeal.
"Geez, Nami. You look hot!" Vivi praised, clapping her hands together in admiration.
"I agree. It's perfect." Robin chimed in.
"Thanks." she mumbled shyly, a small grin playing on her lips.
She stepped back inside and took in her appearance in the mirror once more, smiling triumphantly to herself.
After a successful shopping trip, Vivi dropped Nami off at her flat. She had promised Luffy a study session before his last big midterm and they agreed on meeting at her house after she was finished.
She had sent him a text letting him know she was on her way home but found it unusual that he never answered her back. She eyed her screen again but saw nothing so she shrugged it off, assuming he most likely forget to reply but hoped he was at least on his way.
She missed him.
Nami kicked her shoes off at the front entrance and trailed to her door. And when she swung it open, she was immediately met with onyx eyes which caused her to jolt, dropping her shopping bag in the process.
"L-Luffy?! How'd you get in here?" she squawked.
He was sitting hunched over on her carpeted floor with a bored expression, and his arms were crossed atop her coffee table with his chin nestled in the middle.
"Nami!" he perked up looking at her. "Nojiko let me in before she left."
"Of course she did." Nami playfully rolled her eyes and set her bag down before taking a seat next to Luffy on the floor.
"How was shopping?" he smiled.
"It went very well."
"You found what you were looking for?" he said, now stretching his neck to try and eye the contents of the small frosted bag beside her.
"Yup." she spat dismissively, going through his pile of books and notes in attempts to tamper down the red haze on her cheeks.
"What'd you buy?" he grinned, fully aware of the fact that she was on the hunt for a new bathing suit.
"It's a surprise."
He really didn't like surprises.
"Can I see?"
She peered up to gawk at him and immediately tossed the bag behind her on the bed, her blush only intensified.
"Absolutely not. Where's your calculus book?"
"Namiii." he whined, playfully bumping into her repeatedly.
A small smile spread on her lips and only grew wider until small giggles of amusement escaped her. He was just so ridiculous. How was it even possible for someone to look that innocent whilst begging to indulge in the sight of a skimpy bikini?
Only Luffy.
"You'll have to wait until Saturday to see."
A childish pout formed on his lips to which she smiled sweetly, feigning ignorance.
Luffy squinted at her but decided to let it go. He's always been an impatient person, but if Nami asked him to wait, he would.
He'd do anything for her at this point.
He then took a moment to glance around her room, realizing this was his first time inside it. Usually whenever they hung out alone, Luffy would just drive her to his place but this was a nice change.
It smelled like her.
Tangerines.
Suddenly a picture frame on the dresser in front of them caught his attention.
"Is that your mom?" he inquired, pointing towards it.
Nami glanced up to eye the picture with a small smile. "Yeah." she propped herself up on her knees from her spot on the floor and reached out to grab the picture frame, handing it to Luffy.
"You and Nojiko look super young here." he let out a breath of a laugh.
"I was 8 and Nojiko was 10."
"You guys look cute. And your mom looks pretty badass." he snickered.
"She was in the military back when she was my age so I guess she never lost her edge." she chuckled.
"You can tell how much she loved you guys." he stated, turning his head to take in her expression.
"Yeah. You can." she replied softly, meeting his gaze.
Luffy was the catalyst to her healing and she owed so much to him. She'd like to believe that if her mother were alive, she would have adored Luffy. They're alike in so many ways after all. Her mother, being the free-spirited soul that she was, lived her life with absolutely zero regrets and she was an incredibly strong-willed person, just like him.
"...I wish she would have been able to meet you."
She really did.
Nami knew that, without a doubt, her mom would have felt nothing but gratitude towards Luffy for helping her daughter discover what it meant to have friends and to enjoy the little things in life.
Honestly, she'd often imagine what would have happened if she never showed up at that party her first night here or if she never bothered showing up to have lunch at the West Garden.
Would they still be the way they are now?
She wasn't sure.
But what she was sure of was that her chest was suddenly feeling extremely fluttery when she noticed his eyes were gleaming with something she couldn't quite place.
"If I had the chance to talk to her, the first thing I'd tell her is how amazing her daughter is… she'd already know that though." he stated, never wavering his eyes from hers.
Her breath hitched. "Luffy." she whispered, unable to shake the feeling of butterflies swarming throughout her stomach, making it very difficult to breathe.
Time seemed to slow down as she was lost in his onyx orbs, and in them, she saw longing. And when he looks at her like that, she loses all her senses. Trailing down his face, her eyes rested upon his lips, studying them carefully. She usually was good at holding herself back.
But now...
Right now, she couldn't think of anything else she'd rather do than kiss him.
She always knew he had deliciously plump lips, but now, as his face neared hers, they began to taunt her, beckoning for her to taste them. She felt the heat of his forehead press against hers and they were close.
Very close.
In fact, he was so close that she could feel his warm breath pleasantly splashing over her parted lips and the tip of his nose grazed hers.
Her lids began to feel droopy and through half-lidded eyes, she gently nuzzled the tip of her nose against his lovingly.
Luffy's hand proceeded to trail up her shoulder, and it rested at the nape of her neck, reminding her that he was real, and his gentle touch made her heart pound furiously against her chest.
The emotions she felt were bubbling inside her and she so desperately needed a way to convey them. She tilted her head slightly and, finding it futile to hold herself back any longer, she moved in to close the space between their lips.
Immediately she felt an electric shock run throughout her body and tingling chills down her spine.
His lips were so soft and the way they eventually molded against her own, made her heart beat so loud that she could hear it thumping away in her ears.
He pulled away momentarily and brought his hand to her cheek, gently cupping it before capturing her lips once more.
Their hearts raced together in unison and Nami felt her chest throb when Luffy began softly stroking her cheek with his thumb.
This felt amazing.
She sighed contently against his tingling lips and could feel him smile into the tender kiss before he pulled away from her.
They gazed at each other through hooded eyes, completely dazed by the swarm of emotions that filled the room.
"Nami." he called to her softly, his eyes completely trapped in the depths of her honey orbs.
She hummed softly in question, bringing her hand up to gently rake her fingers throughout the length of his soft raven locks.
"Be my girlfriend."
To be continued.