YAY! Another chappy done and dusted! XD This is actually in may ways the last one. (not literally) Since the next one is just one long(and i mean LONG) smut scene and then 25 is a sort of Epilogue. I'm thinking one week later, just to see how the two adjust. X3 AND then...IT'S THE END! Oh gosh, i can hold my end of the promise this time since it's all already written so I KNOW it's the last of it! XD Though i am sort of sad...I grew to really like this fic, and that's why it kept stretching...and stretching...and stretching! Oh well, all good things must come to and end. Sigh...

So as always, THANK YOU so warmly and truly to all those who took a moment of your no doubt busy lives to leave a review. This fast update (i know it's not THAT fast but considering i also have uni, it's pretty damn quick. XD) is for all of you! X3 Of course thank you to all those who follow, favor or simply read this too.

Hope you like and please please leave a review if u can. ENJOY! XD

23

Law looked at Kid but didn't really see him, or anything else for that matter. The same was true for Kid. They were both asking themselves the same question.

Was this real?

'Did that just happen?' Kid felt like he needed a verbal confirmation from someone who he trusted. Law was the only one who could wake him up from this messed up dream or wonderful dream, depending.

'I thing…I think so.' His lips twitched and curved upwards. Upon seeing this, Kid lost all manner of control and burst into a sea of laughter, quickly dragging Law down with him. Not only did he nearly get away with murder, but he had been thanked for it! It was such a ridiculously unexpected turn of events it bordered on comedy. They continued to laugh aware they were attracting attention to themselves. Let them look and envy their mirth. Suddenly an impish, mischievous idea crosses Kid's mind. If they were looking why not offer them a show worth seeing?

'Law?' The raven-head looked up at the mention of his name, his lips slightly parted and stretched into a wide grin due to his paused outburst of glee. His eyes had a few tears welled in their corners, ready to trail sown the slightly reddening cheeks. Law looked curiously at Kid from behind long eyelashes and through eyes strikingly similar to a husky's.

Too late he saw the devilish glint in the other amber, or the smile that rapidly turned into a grin. Before he could question anything Kid reached forwards, across the table, and cupped the other's chin with one hand. The lips met into a heated embrace. Well, one was eager the other was stunned. However Law quickly lost himself into the electrifying kiss and the burning rub of Kid's tongue. It was the most effective way of, once and for all, assuring him that this was reality. Kid was his. Kid was free. Kid loved him.

Kid was the one to pull away and sit back down, though he would have been perfectly happy to continue fornicating in front of the gasping audience. He had a very content grin playing on his lips. 'That's right. Keep on looking good people. This man is mine and all you can do is keep on looking.' At least he had the decency not to shout that. But how could he help it? In his eyes, Law was the most perfect creature alive and he, lucky he, was the one to hold his heart. If that wasn't worth shouting from the top of a cliff then what was?

On his end, Law was trying his best to hide his face behind the menu. The writing across the page didn't register to his mushy brain. A very dangerous blush was blooming across his skin and he ferociously fought with it. The last thing he wanted was to attract yet more attention by looking like a virgin high-school girl. He wanted to scowl and kick Eustass for his 'bright idea' but at the same time his possessiveness was another sign of his affection. Despite his base hatred of standing out in a crowd, Law had to bite his lip to prevent form grinning like a fool.

'Let me see your face.' Kid purred the words. The other restaurant clients had turned back to their tables and their foods. It was just the two of them again.

'No.' Law was adamant in his decision. Not until he got rid of his stupid blush at least. Kid would only make fun of him if he saw the stupid state one kiss had reduced him to. If they were in a private place, well that would have been a different situation.

'Come on.' Kid continued to coax. Law's eyes peaked over the rim of the menu and Kid smiled encouragingly. The battle was nearly his. But then Law looked back down and hid his head. Eustass could only see a tuft of messy pitch black strands, and he wanted to run his hand through them.

'No. You'll laugh.' Kid doubted that highly. Though he did find Law's muttering very cute and amusing.

'Please. Pretty please.' Kid reached over and traced little shapes along the fingers holding the list of foods. He watched with satisfaction as Law's digits started to slightly but visibly twitch. Suddenly, Trafalgar pushed the menu down and faced Kid. It was all Kid could do not to laugh. His lips twitched.

'See? I knew you would laugh.' The red crawled all over Law's skin, like a contagion. Someone might think he had a rash or something infectious and they would quarantine him.

'No, I'm not.' Kid coughed not really doing much to disguise the amusement in his voice. He knew Law was cute when he blushed, having seen the relatively rare sight before. But he hadn't seen him break into such a reaction, except during sex. Was this because they were in a public place? Kid vowed to do this again because the tanned, blooming skin with glaring eyes was a delicious combination.

'You look cute.' Okay, he couldn't help the spreading grin. Law's blush deepened another few shades at being called cute. That was too adorable. Kid was curious to see how far he could push Law before he would reach his limit and magically turn into a strawberry, or some other crimson fruit. He opened his mouth to say some other magical incantation when his phone started ringing.

'Sorry. Gimme a sec.' He looked at the caller ID and had another surprise that day. Killer. Killer was calling him? Who died?

'Yeah?' His voice was very hesitant. His best friend barely ever even uses the application of a phone, and certainly not for trivial matters. It made his mind jump to the worst possibilities. Something had to be wrong.

'Hey Kid. Why do you sound so shocked?'

'You do realize you, YOU, are calling me, right?' A short pause on the other end. Across from him, Law was following Kid's end of the conversation with mild interest.

'Good point. I just wanted to congratulate you on dodging jail, you big idiot.' Kid gowned. Killer was still irked about his handling of the Todd situation. Seriously, that man could hold grudges. Wait. Did he congratulate him for dodging jail?

'How do you know that?'

'The hospital has cameras. Hacking them was child's play. Philip Todd is an interesting character.' Killer's voice was so matter of fact Kid was seriously wondering about the blonde's moral values. The notion that Killer had watched them in a some-what private situation didn't really shock him, since it hadn't been the first and he knew it wouldn't be the last. That man had no respect for other people's boundaries, though Kid knew Killer wasn't doing it to purposefully annoy others. It was just his character, precisely why he developed such a love for hacking and for butting his nose in other people's business.

'Right. Of course. I should have known. Well, thanks I guess, but I have to go.' Kid wanted to get back to Law. Killer could wait.

'Yes, Trafalgar Law looks quite eager to have you all to himself. Are you planning on kissing him again?' Kid was so surprised he turned to look behind him, half expecting to see the long blonde messy hair and the almost clownish fashion sense of his best friend.

'Where the fuck are you?!' Law was watching him with growing curiosity.

'At home. The G-8 has cameras too, you know.' He knew Killer was grinning on the other side. Smug son-of-a-.

'Well get off of them!' Kid glared straight into the lens of the nearest recording device, certain that Killer would see him. The camera was fixed dead centre on their table.

'No need to glare. That's rude.'

'Says the peeping tom.'

'Fine, fine. I'm going since Ms Jessica is on her way to your table. She's in a good mood. Oh and order the lobster. It's the best, plus it's not your money so take advantage of it.'

'Goodbye Killer.' But the other was already gone and Kid sighed with exasperation. He noticed the camera twisting around to some other table, sign that Killer had kept true to his word.

'Friend of yours?' Kid glanced at Law who was back to his usual self. Damn Killer and his interruption. Oh well, he planned to pick up the pieces after their meal.

'You could say that. You'll meet him one day and you'll get along just fine.'

'Why do you say that?' Kid smirked. Killer and Law were like two peas in a pod.

'You're both geniuses. You're both loners. You both share a detrimental love for books. I can keep going.' They both shared an interest in slicing the human body. Law with his surgeon dreams and Killer with his warped interest to hack and slash. 'On second thought, maybe you two should never meet.'

'Well, well, well! If it isn't Eustass Kid in my restaurant! What a surprise.' On cue, Jessica's strong voice boomed around them. The other customers chose to ignore their table entirely after all the previous commotions, which was just fine by Kid.

'Hi Jessica.'

'That's Ms Jessica. I'm a married woman now.' Kid raised an eyebrow and she showed the wedding ring around her finger to prove it. She was practically beaming, her red lips and dark green eyes dancing with absolute joy.

'Congrats! When?'

'Jonathan proposed four months back. We just got back from our honeymoon.'

'And I wasn't invited to the wedding?' Jessica smirked and Kid chuckled.

'Yes, Kid. If I want to have a wedding destroyed you're the top of my list. But anyway, what can I get you boys?' She was the head chef but having seen Kid's unmistakable hair in the crown she decided to waiter just this once. She was still wearing her chef garbs though, and her blonde hair was tucked back under her chef's hat. It really made Kid and Law seem quite important, being served by the head of the G-8 Base.

'We'll both have the lobster. And work fast, we're hungry.' Law didn't object at Kid ordering for him. He was actually thinking of the same thing. Jessica on the other hand peered at Kid with her sharp emerald eyes as if to say, 'You do know that's expensive right?'. In response Kid showed off all his white teeth in a toothy grin as if to answer, 'Yep I do and I have the dough right here.'

'Okay than. Two lobsters it is. Anything else?' Kid looked over at Law who shook his head.

'No, it's fine. Thanks.'

'Well then, I'll see you in a moment.' She left, her fingers knotting her red neck-chief around her neck. Jessica wouldn't be Jessica without her neck-chief.

'I'm impressed.' Kid looked back at Law.

'About?'

'You seem to know everyone around here.' Kid scoffed. Though it was sort of true, in a way. It wasn't so much that he knew them, but that they knew him. His reputation stretched far and wide.

'It's not impressive. I know Jessica because Sanji works here part-time sometimes. She offered me a job too at one point but it didn't work out all that well.'

'Really? What was it?' Law wanted to find out as much as he could about Kid. He knew he had plenty of time but he was eager to start as soon as possible.

'Waiter. Some customers were just asking to be punched in the face though.' Law looked shocked.

'You hit the customers?'

'No, but I did insult them.' Kid smirked as Trafalgar's shoulders started shaking with laughter.

'How long did you last?' Kid seemed to ponder this for a second.

'Two-' Months? Weeks? '-days.'

'My, that's…short.'

'Jessica doesn't tolerate staff that doesn't work. All that sweetness can turn sour pretty damn quick. Trust me, I know.'

'I'm sure you do. Then what about the hospital staff? How do you know them?' Kid was wondering when that would come up. Someone as curious as Law wasn't about to let that slide.

'That's even less impressing. I get into a lot of fights. Sometimes I'm the one who's in hospital.' Law didn't miss the usage of the present tense. However he had no illusion about changing Kid's wild attitude. It would be near damn impossible. It was sort of sad, that others didn't see Kid for the kind man that he truly was. He knew personally how attentive and caring the red-head could be. Maybe he was just an exception to the rule? He didn't mind that. He was more than happy to be the special one in Kid's eyes.

'So you and, um, that doctor lady are friends?' Kid chuckled heartedly.

'You mean Doctorine? The woman that looked like a witch?'

'Yes.'

'Yeah. She's a weird woman but she can hold her liquor. And she's inhumanly strong. I know because, she kicked my ass a few times.'

'You got beaten by an elderly lady?'

'Lady? Yeah right. And yeah, I did. Not ashamed to say, the woman's crazy.'

'She does seem like the strangest doctor I've ever seen.'

'Then you haven' met Hiluluk. That guy could take a page out of Doctorine's book.'

'Another doctor?' Kid smirked.

'Another madman, maybe. The amount of times he mixes up prescription or pills is terrifying.' Kid shivered as he remembered a particular incident where the kind doctor gave him a small white pill supposedly for headaches. He ended up being interned for an entire week with pains shooting through his whole system. Another hard learned lesson at the Grand Line Hospital. Never ever accept medicine form Doctor Hiluluk.

'But the Grand Line has such a good record of saved patients and recuperating patients.'

'Oh don't get me wrong. The two are good doctors. Especially Doctorine. It's just their personalities that are messed up.'

The two shared another round of hearty laughter, their hunger again forgotten. They felt like they didn't have a care in the world.

I simply love Jessica and i just had to give her A role. XD Well hope you liked and like i keep saying, again and again and again, please leave a review if u can. O-O I'm seriously co-dependent on them! I think i should get that checked out...XD

Oh yes, I'll update again on Saturday or Sunday. I already have the chapter done so u can be certain it will be out on time. Most likely Saturday...XD Until then, have a most pleasant week! X3