Thanks Vergina-spva and Myladyday for beta'ing


Chapter 17

Izo had expected he wouldn't be able to sleep, but it turned out the whole day had exhausted him, especially the worrying. He had fallen asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

After they had talked things out last night – and had kissed for the first time, Izo thought smugly – they had decided to go to bed, each to their own so they could rest. Thatch had looked as exhausted as Izo had felt, so that had probably been a good call. Izo wasn't sure what would have happened if they had shared a bed, but at least it would have taken longer before they went to sleep.

It still felt surreal that last night had actually happened, but Izo wasn't doubting anymore. Thatch had made himself clear and it was obvious he was as committed to this as Izo was.

Izo rose from his bed and after a quick shower, he went back to his room to get dressed. When he was done, he was about to pin up his hair, like he usually did, when he remembered how Thatch had ran his fingers through the strands when they kissed last night, and with a grin, Izo decided to let it hang loose today.

As he came down the stairs, he could hear Thatch from the kitchen, singing some kind of love song, which made Izo smile again. As much as he didn't expect this to happen, he was so happy that it had. They still had to talk some more, but for now, Izo was truly happy.

When Thatch heard him enter, he stopped singing and turned around, a grin stretching across his face. "Good morning," he said. "You're having your hair down today." It was more a statement than a question, as Izo usually only let his fall around his shoulder in the evening or on special occasions.

"Morning," Izo replied. Despite his best efforts, his face mirrored Thatch's. "Yes, I felt like it." He decided not to tell Thatch that it was because he hoped that Thatch would run his fingers through it again, that would only give him weird ideas.

"Did you sleep well?" Thatch put down his spatula and walked over to him, taking his hand and kissing his knuckles.

"I did." Izo bit his lip when Thatch looked up again, the air heavy between them.

"Morning, sons," Pops' voice sounded, bringing down an enormous hand on each of their backs and effectively ruining the moment like a pro. Still, Izo couldn't be upset about it, he was feeling too good for that.

"Morning, Pops."

"Breakfast is almost ready," Thatch said, which Izo and Whitebeard took as their cue to leave.

In the dining room, Izo set the table for the three of them, as Pops' nurse had the day off. He was humming the same song Thatch had been singing before, but even when he caught himself, he didn't feel the need to stop.

"You look happy," Pops noted, sounding fond.

"That's because I am," Izo replied smiling.

"I take it last night's talk went well, then."

"It did." Suddenly, his good mood disappeared as a crippling fear hit him. "That's okay, right?" he stammered. "I mean, we're family and…"

Pops smiled and pulled Izo close. "I want my sons to be happy. You deserve it, my boy, after all these years."

Izo nodded, and his lip started to tremble, suddenly feeling like that eight year old with no one to turn to. Except that he now had a family that accepted him for who he was and who he loved. He wrapped his arms around Pops' neck.

"Breakfast's ready," Thatch's voice sounded as he walked into the room, pushing the door open with his elbow. Izo hastened to help him and took one of the dishes from him. Thatch flashed him a grin.

"So, Thatch, I hear you might get a job at a fancy restaurant?" Pops asked as they were eating.

"Yeah, maybe. The dad of a friend of Ace's owns a restaurant, so he might be able to pull some strings for me," Thatch replied, smiling. Enthusiastically, he started to tell about the previous evening and everything he had cooked.

Izo smiled fondly at him as he leaned with his head on his hand and listened to his story. Pops caught him and winked at him. Izo felt a little silly about feeling so giddy, but he couldn't help it. He was in love.

After breakfast, they brought the dishes to the kitchen, which Pops and Izo would do since Thatch had cooked. Thatch followed them nonetheless and took the dishes from Izo when he had dried them. Izo let him, knowing him well enough to know that Thatch wasn't one to sit still and do nothing while others worked.

"So tell me, sons," Pops said, scrubbing a plate clean, "does anyone else know about you or is it still a secret?"

"Ace knows," Thatch and Izo said simultaneously. They looked at each other confused.

"Wait, you told him?" Izo asked.

Thatch rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly. "Not really. I just had some questions and he guessed."

"What kind of questions?"

"You know, about sexuality and stuff," Thatch muttered. He seemed shy, and it was so adorable that Izo wanted to kiss him. "But wait," he continued, "then he knew about you too?"

"He figured it out." The fact that Ace had apparently known about them both and had not said a word made Izo wonder if he should punch him or bake him a cake, because he had obviously been pushing them in the right direction and had managed to be subtle about it, which was an impressive feat in itself, seeing how badly he wanted them to get together.

"When?"

Izo thought back to his birthday last October, when Thatch had been bragging about Nojiko. Izo had broken down on Marco's shoulder and Ace had caught him. "A while back," he replied. "It's not important."

Thatch looked at him, a sad look in his eyes, as if he knew what Izo was thinking.

"Anyway," Izo hastily said, "Marco knew about me too, but I take it that Ace has brought him up to speed as well. I went by Marco's house last night before coming here," he confessed. "Fossa might have his suspicions because of the photo, if he hasn't forgotten by now."

Thatch put down the dish he was holding on the counter and wrapped his arms around Izo, pulling him close. Izo knew what he was doing, as it felt like a silent apology, but he was having none of that. If they were going to work out as a couple – it still felt weird thinking that – Thatch couldn't keep feeling guilty for not noticing Izo's feelings. When they were alone again, Izo would address it, but for now, he decided to distract Thatch.

"Come, these dishes aren't going to clean away themselves," he said and pushed the dish in Thatch's hands again.

"So are we telling people then?" Thatch asked as he did as he was told.

Izo shrugged. "I don't see why not. Unless you prefer not to."

A grin broke through on Thatch's face. "I'd like to, otherwise they'll never believe I'm dating someone so hot."

Izo snorted and rolled his eyes, but he couldn't prevent a smile from creeping up his face. Smooth bastard.

"We could tell everyone at the party," Thatch suggested.

Izo raised an eyebrow as he took a clean, wet plate from Pops. "What party?"

"You don't think I'd move in with you without having a party, did you?" Thatch asked with a frown.

Izo let out a laugh. "Of course, what was I thinking?" Their family really took any excuse to throw a party, so how it had slipped his mind was beyond him.

"Yes, what were you thinking," Thatch asked mock-indignantly. "It's been way too long since we had a party, anyway."


They ended up staying for the most part of the day, doing odd chores around the house and talking to Pops. After dinner, they went back to Izo's home, with the promise that they would send an invitation once they had set a date for the party.

When they were inside, Thatch let himself fall on the couch with a pleased sigh. "I don't know why, but it feels like I've been away for longer than I have."

"Perhaps because so much has changed since you left?" Izo asked, taking Thatch's invitingly outstretched hands before he was pulled on the couch.

Thatch hummed in agreement and cupped Izo's cheek. His eyes softened. "I'm really sorry it took me so long," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I've played a large part in my own misery, Thatch. I could have told you sooner."

"Why didn't you?" he asked.

Izo sat up. "Because you're my brother and my best friend. Because you were supposed to be straight."

"Yeah, I guess I can understand that. It came as a bit of a surprise for me as well that I wasn't." Thatch smiled sheepishly.

"Does that mean you're really okay with me being a man?" Izo asked.

Thatch wrapped his arms around Izo's waist and pulled him close. "You're Izo, that's the only thing that matters to me." Their lips met again, as chaste as last night at first, before Izo decided to take a bold step and deepened the kiss. Thatch let out a surprised noise, which soon turned into a pleased moan, and his hands guided Izo back until he was lying flat on the couch.

Thatch's beard felt rough against his chin, but Izo decided he could get used to that, as Thatch's fingers ran through his hair. Izo had never felt this happy.

Eventually, Thatch pulled back, but remained lying in his position on top of Izo as he leaned with his head on his hand. "I don't think I've seen you from this angle before," he said, amused.

"Same here," Izo said and pulled Thatch forward by his shirt for a quick kiss.

Instead of returning to his former position, however, Thatch stayed close to Izo, his nose hovering over Izo's. "I could kiss you all day," he said softly.

"Who's stopping you?" Izo asked, his eyes shining.

Thatch laughed and leaned down again as Izo wrapped his arms around his neck. He couldn't run his fingers through Thatch's hair as it was stiff with hair gel to keep his pompadour intact, so he had to make do with caressing the short hairs in the back.

Of course, he had imagined many times what it would be like to kiss Thatch, but nothing beat the real thing. He agreed with Thatch's sentiment that he could do this all day. However, there was something on his mind.

"Maybe we should let Ace know everything's okay with us," Izo said musing. "I mean, I rang him out of bed and I think he was about to have sex with Marco."

Thatch made a face, and Izo had to laugh. Thatch had always preferred to be kept in the dark about Marco's sex life, as he looked up to his older brother.

"Besides," Izo continued, "he's been trying really hard to get us together, so I guess he deserves to know."

"Fine," Thatch said, "how do you want to tell him? Oh, I know!"

Izo was surprised when Thatch suddenly leaned down again to kiss him, and even more so when he took a picture of it with his phone.

"There," he said, showing the photo triumphantly. "That should convey the message, right?"

Izo let out a laugh. "You're always so subtle."

Thatch shrugged. "Like Ace is ever subtle. Can I send it?"

"Sure."

Thatch pressed a few buttons before putting his phone away, looking pleased with himself. "Now, where was I?"

"I think I remember," Izo replied with a grin and he pulled Thatch close by the front of his shirt. Before their lips could touch, however, the phone in Thatch's pocket started to vibrate, almost causing Thatch to knee Izo in the groin.

Thatch made a displeased noise as he went to retrieve his phone. However, when he saw who was calling, he smiled. "It's Ace."

"Put it on speaker," Izo said.

Thatch pressed the answer button. "Hey A–"

"You guys are finally together!" Ace interrupted them loudly. "I knew you would! All you needed was a push in the right direction." He sounded somewhat smug.

"You knew about us both and you didn't say anything," Izo said accusingly.

It stayed silent at the other end of the line for a moment. "Yeah, well, you both made me promise not to say anything, so don't go blaming this on me," Ace said, miffed. "But you don't have to thank me, your happiness is thanks enough."

Izo snorted, despite the fact that he did, in fact, owe Ace at the very least a huge thank you for all his support. Maybe he would bake him some muffins.

Another voice could be heard in the background, Marco's no doubt, but Izo couldn't understand what he was saying. "I'm not bothering them," Ace replied to him. "And if I did, Izo hardly chose a good time to stop by last night… Oi!"

"Congratulations you two," Marco's voice sounded warmly through the speaker. No doubt he had wormed the phone away from Ace. "I'm sure you have better things on your mind right now, but Ace is just excited, as am I. But I'll get him out of your hair."

"Thanks, Marco," Izo said, both for his congratulation and the fact that he kept Ace at bay. As grateful as Izo was to him, it had been nice to finally have some alone time with Thatch, now that they were officially together.

"Wait!" he heard Ace call before Marco could hang up, and he sounded much closer when he continued, "Before I forget, Thatch, Sanji called today. If you're still up to it, you can do a trial night at the Baratie."

Thatch sat up on the couch, and Izo followed his example. "Really?" he asked, sounding genuinely happy and flashed Izo a grin.

"Yeah, I think he was impressed. So I'll give him your number and you can arrange a date, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Ace."

"You're welcome. So, I'll leave you to your business then." Ace pronounced the word 'business' like it was an innuendo, and Izo wouldn't be surprised if it was. "Congrats again, you guys!" With that, he hang up.

Thatch placed his phone on the window sill and smiled.

"Are you excited about the restaurant?" Izo asked, moving closer to him.

"I am." Thatch grinned again. "It sounds like a challenge."

"Just don't let yourself get punched in the face," Izo said, amused. "But congratulations, you deserve it."

Thatch smiled, but his eyes were sad. "Maybe. I'm not even sure if I deserve you."

Izo moved on the couch, pushing Thatch's legs apart so he could sit between them, and cupped his cheek. "Yes, you do," he said earnestly, because he needed to convey his point. "This is not going to work if you keep feeling guilty, or if we keep wondering what would have happened if I told you earlier. So let's have a fresh start, okay? Just you and me."

Thatch smiled again, and Izo was pleased to see that the sadness had disappeared. "I'd like that."

"Good." With a smile, Izo leaned in and kissed him, still a bit giddy about the fact that he could do that now. He could feel Thatch's heart beat rapidly, making his excitement clear, and suddenly, Izo felt the irresistible urge to convey his feelings into words. His face still close to Thatch's, he finally spoke the words that he had been dying to say since his eighteenth birthday.

"I love you."