Thanks MyLadyDay and Vergina-spva for beta'ing
Chapter 9
The gravel crunched underneath Izo's feet as he unloaded Thatch's new wheelchair from the boot of the car. While Thatch was doing better, he still needed the wheelchair as he got tired of walking soon. Thatch himself was still sitting in the passenger seat, staring at the mansion they grew up in like Izo had the first time he saw it.
Izo opened the door after he had unfolded the wheelchair to help Thatch out.
"It feels like it's been months since I've been here," Thatch said softly. "Which is stupid, 'cause I was here only last month." He batted Izo's hands away when he tried to help Thatch into the chair. "I can do it. Stop fussing."
Izo huffed. "Once they vote for my plan, I'm gonna fuss about you as much as I like. And don't even try to get yourself inside, with your broken arm."
However, Izo didn't get the chance to fuss any more, as several of their brothers stormed outside calling Thatch's name, and heaved him onto their shoulders as they paraded him around. Izo couldn't help but chuckle. When Thatch had been in a coma, Izo hadn't given it a moment's thought that the rest of his family had been just as heartbroken as he was. A party seemed to be just the thing they all needed. However, first, there was a more pressing matter at hand.
Izo locked his car and hastened himself after his brothers. Blenheim had taken the wheelchair with him, and inside the living room, Thatch was placed back in it, laughing loudly.
"I missed you guys too," he said and rubbed his knuckles over Haruta's head, who protested strongly.
Izo chuckled and took a seat on one of the chairs that had been put into a circle. Izo had already given his brothers a head's up about the meeting, just not exactly what it was about. However, despite the fact that the welcome home party hadn't even started yet, it was never too early for booze at the Newgate residence. Beer was handed out generously; nothing stronger yet, as they needed to keep their heads clear, and drinking a bottle of beer would take longer than emptying a glass of something stronger.
"Does someone need to wake Pops?" Thatch inquired as he took a sip from his beer, looking pleased.
"No need for that, son," Pops' warm voice sounded as he entered the room. He also took a beer out of solidarity, despite preferring the stronger stuff, and walked over to Thatch. The excited look in Thatch's eyes warmed Izo's heart. Pops wrapped his arms around Thatch and pulled him close for a moment. His usually booming voice was now soft as he whispered something to Thatch Izo that couldn't hear, but it wasn't meant for his ears anyway.
When Pops let go of Thatch, he straightened and walked over to his chair. It was bigger than the others, but only out of necessity for Pops' large frame. Izo liked how their meetings were always like this, sitting in a circle. They were equals after all. It reminded him of the legends of King Arthur and his Round Table.
"Well then," Pops started after he had finished his beer in one, "it seems like Thatch and Izo have a dispute that they want us to help resolve. So why don't you go ahead?"
Izo cleared his throat and rose from his chair. "Right. I'll start."
"Why do you get to start?" Thatch protested. "I'm older."
"But I'm prettier," Izo flung back. He was surprised when Thatch stopped arguing and just crossed his arms before his chest, but he didn't dwell on it. "Anyway, you all know how Thatch is an idiot, right?"
"Oi!" Thatch called indignantly.
"Is that what this meeting is about? 'Cause I think we established that a long time ago," Jozu said teasingly and attempted to ruffle Thatch's hair.
"Not the hair!" Thatch batted his hands away. His hair was finally back in the pompadour style, and Thatch had been extremely proud of it.
"Anyway," Izo continued when everyone had calmed down again, "yes, it's a fact that Thatch is an idiot. What is also a fact is that he needs to recover. In my own not so humble opinion, he would benefit the greatest by living with me."
"And you disagree?" Pops asked Thatch.
"Yes! I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself."
"In a wheelchair, with a broken arm?" Izo flung back.
"I have to agree with Izo on this one, bro." Rakuyo leaned back in his chair. "Izo has to be the only person alive whom you won't drive crazy within a day."
The whole group snickered.
"Very funny," Thatch huffed.
"I told you they would take my side," Izo said triumphantly.
"That's only because they're more scared of you than of me."
There was a murmur of agreement.
It was Izo's turn to huff. "Be that as it may, I'm the voice of reason here."
"It would be the most sensible solution," Namur mixed into the conversation. "What else do you want to do? Hire a nurse?"
"Ooh, now I see why Thatch doesn't want to say with Izo. He wants to have a nurse give him a sponge bath, like Pops has," Jiru said teasingly.
Pops grinned around the neck of his freshly opened beer bottle.
"That's not it!" Thatch protested through the whooping sounds and accusations of him being a pervert. "All I'm saying is that it's a bad idea."
"We decided to do this democratically, so let's do that." Izo looked around the room. "All in favour of Thatch living with me, raise your hand."
All hands in the room rose, except for one.
"Traitors," Thatch muttered, until he noticed that Ace's hand wasn't up. "Ace! I knew you'd be on my side!"
Ace was sitting next to Marco, looking around wide-eyed when all eyes were suddenly aimed at him. "Ehm, I didn't know I had a vote in this."
"Of course you do," Marco said, kissing his head. "Everyone with a Division does. And Pops, of course." Ace had taken over the Second Division, one of the orphanages under Pops' care, a little while back from Marco, who had had two until then.
"Well, in that case," Ace turned to Thatch, "I don't think you should live with Izo if you don't want to. Whatever we have to say about it." He looked around slightly nervously, like he feared he had said something wrong.
To Izo, he had. Thatch's protests had seemed to be about being in the way, not about not wanting to. Izo's jaw tightened.
"That's not it," Thatch hastily protested. "It's just…" He sighed and looked at the floor. "Everything's a mess and it's all my fault. You all have worried about me for a week, and I…" He rubbed his temples. "I just don't want to be a burden."
Izo knelt in front of him. "I told you, you're never a burden. What do I need to do to get that through your thick skull, hm?"
"Izo does tend to forget to eat when he's in the zone with his painting or drawing," Marco offered. "You could make sure that he does."
Thatch's face brightened visibly.
"See? You feed me and are blessed with being near me at the same time," Izo said.
Thatch snorted and pulled Izo into a hug. When he let go, he said, "What do you say we get this party started?"
The party was smaller than usual at the Newgate residence, as birthdays were planned more in advance, and a lot of people couldn't make it. Shanks, however, was not one of those people. The day Shanks missed a party was the day he died.
"Am I late?" he asked with a grin as Izo opened the door.
"Fashionably, as always." Izo allowed himself to be pulled into a one armed hug. Shanks was of course carrying a bottle of rum. "I see you've brought your posse too."
Behind Shanks, Roo, Benn Beckman and Yasopp were standing, all carrying crates of booze.
Shanks smirked. "It ain't a party without them."
"The guys or the bottles?" Izo asked teasingly, and Shanks only grinned sheepishly. Shaking his head, Izo led them to the living room, where they soon mixed with the other guests. Aside from Shanks, several of their other old friends were there, including Whitey Bay, Jinbe and Squard, and people who had grown up in one of the orphanages. Izo had been right, a party had been just what they needed. Everyone seemed happy, most of all Thatch.
As always, booze flowed richly, and Izo was starting to feel the effects soon enough. He had danced with Jinbe for a while and with some other people too, before he made his way over to Thatch, who was drinking beer in the corner.
"Enjoying yourself?" he asked with a smile.
Thatch grinned back. "Yeah. It's too bad I can't walk for long. I'd have loved to dance with you."
Izo laughed. "You wouldn't think Jinbe is such a good dancer, but he is."
"That's just because you haven't danced with me yet." Shanks appeared out of nowhere and twirled Izo around before wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"You think you're in my league, darlin'?" Izo asked teasingly. Obviously, he was; Shanks was one of the most handsome men Izo had ever met. Not that he was attracted to him in any way, though.
Shanks just laughed.
Something changed in Thatch's face, and it worried Izo.
"Are you okay, honey?" he asked as he knelt down next to him. "You're not in pain, are you?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Thatch said. "Stop worrying about me, it's so unlike you. You're supposed to yell at me when I'm doing something stupid."
"Well, do something stupid and maybe I'll yell at you," Izo said jokingly.
"Maybe I will." Thatch eyed Shanks for a moment, before, out of the blue, he threw the content of his glass into Shanks' face.
"Thatch! What the hell!" Izo yelled.
The room had suddenly become eerie quiet, as all eyes were on them. Shanks stood still, blinking his eyes to get the beer out, and his hair dripping with liquid. Nobody moved, but Izo knew that Benn, Yasopp and Roo stood ready to pummel Thatch at the slightest indication that Shanks wanted that. Thatch just looked at Shanks challengingly.
Suddenly, Shanks started laughing, soon followed by his friends.
"Shanks, you look ridiculous!" Roo called out.
Slowly, the tension drained from the room, and everyone started doing what they had been doing before. Izo, however, was fuming. Thatch must have realised that, because he didn't even try to stop Izo when he pushed Thatch's wheelchair out to the garden, after apologising to Shanks, who just brushed it off.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Izo started his rant as soon as they were alone. He passed up and down. "Shanks is your friend, isn't he?"
"Yeah, I know." Thatch rubbed at his face. He suddenly looked very tired.
"Then what the hell?!"
"I just…" Thatch started and he sighed. "I'm just so angry, and I don't know how to let it out. Picking a fight with Shanks is obviously not the way…"
"Obviously," Izo huffed, but then he too sighed and sat down next to Thatch. "But I guess I can understand the anger."
"You can?"
"Well, yeah. You were in a coma, Thatch, and you never got to face the guy responsible for it." Izo stared into space. "I think he got what he deserved, but I doubt you do. And not just because you'd probably forgiven him on the spot, but because we did it for you. You've lost a week of your life, and you feel like everything's a mess."
"I'm definitely a mess," Thatch mumbled.
"Things will get better, you'll see. Go talk to Whitey. Not tonight… Just make an appointment, okay? She's pretty much our family psychologist, after all." Izo caressed Thatch's face. "And stop doing stupid things."
Thatch smirked. "I never stopped before, why change that now?"
Izo squeezed his cheek and shook his head with a smile. That smile disappeared, however, when he saw Shanks had entered the garden. Hastily, he rose and walked over to him, so they were just out of earshot from Thatch. Shanks had put on a clean shirt, no doubt borrowed from one of the brothers. "Don't be too hard on him, okay? He's still not completely himself since the coma."
"Don't worry about it, I'm not mad," Shanks reassured him. "I mean, it was a waste of good booze, but fortunately, there is more where that came from." He slapped Izo jovially on the shoulder. "I've known Thatch for years. I won't claim I know him as well as you do, but I know when he's out of sorts. Besides," he added with a grin, "even I am not as stupid as to pick a fight with the Whitebeard brothers."
Slightly reassured, Izo watched as Shanks walked over to Thatch and sat down next to him. However, he couldn't resist peeking through the kitchen window once he had moved back inside. Shanks and Thatch seemed to be talking, and no fights had broken out.
"He's not going to hurt him," a deep voice suddenly said behind him.
Izo grabbed at his heart and whipped around. "Dear God, Benn! You startled me."
Benn smirked and took a sip from his drink. "Bad conscience?"
Izo huffed, but then eyed the window again. "I know he's not angry. I'm just worried about Thatch. He told me he is mad." Izo let out a humourless laugh. "Thatch doesn't get mad. I mean, it's understandable in his situation, but… It's still Thatch."
"You're worried the coma has changed him?" Benn asked.
Covering his mouth with one hand, Izo shook his head. "I'm afraid he'll let it change him."
There was a knock on his door when Izo was changing in his room. Most of the brothers had decided to stay the night, since a lot of them were fairly drunk. Izo put on his robe and moved to the door.
Thatch was standing in the hallway, holding himself up against the doorpost, his wheelchair nowhere to be seen.
"Did you get up the stairs by yourself?" Izo asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.
"Nah, Fossa slung me over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes." Thatch huffed indignantly. "I'm too drunk to walk straight anyway."
Izo just nodded.
"Anyway," Thatch scratched the back of his head, "I came to apologise to you too."
Izo crossed his arms before his chest. "You didn't do anything to me."
"I behaved like an ass. And you're right, I'm an idiot."
Izo smiled. "Now I'm starting to get worried. The Thatch I know would never admit to that." His smile disappeared when Thatch's face turned sad.
"I don't know if I'm still that Thatch," he said softly.
Izo took his hand. "You'll always be my Thatch."
Thatch nodded and buried his face in the crook of Izo's neck. "Can I sleep here tonight?" he asked, sounding muffled. He pulled back a little. "I gave my bed to Ace so he can sleep in the same room as Marco, and yeah…"
Izo smiled again. Whether it was just an excuse or not, he was glad to have Thatch close to him again. Pulling him gently inside by his hand, Izo closed the door of his bedroom behind them.
