Chapter 13: Where Did The Party Go

"I'm surprised you manage to keep this place so clean." Marco said amusingly as he and Law stood against the wall of the latter's apartment. "What with birthday boy over there here most of the time and all."

Law swirled the ice cubes in his drink and nodded. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm more of a maid than a surgeon." Marco chuckled at the comment. "But he's more responsible than you'd think. He can operate the washing machine too which helps when I can't get the laundry done."

Marco raised both eyebrows. "Impressive. If I allowed Ace near ours he'd break it just by looking at it."

"Can Ace cook though?" Law asked. "Luffy," he nodded to where both of their boyfriends were in the middle of some big card game. "cannot."

"Well, where one brother lacks the other picks up the slack. Makes me wonder what quality Sabo excels at." Marco commented. "Ace can cook. Set the oven on fire once but it's been a year since that incident. He doesn't like to talk about it."

Law blew air quickly out of his nose. "I'd ask Koala but she looks like she's got her hands full trying to help Rouge and Makino round up Dragon and Shanks". Both of whom had a little more than too much to drink. "We really should go help." he took a drink. Marko nodded. Neither of them moved.

"Thanks for inviting us, Captain." Shachi said as he and Penguin headed for the door. "we both have work in the morning so we thought it'd be best to leave."

Beside him, Penguin nodded. "You're the lucky bastard who gets to sleep in."

"Cry me a river." Law said. "I have hyper Luffy and a party mess to clean up tomorrow. I'll trade you." The two shook their heads and took their leave.

Marko smiled and tossed his now empty cup into the trash. "I suppose I should collect Ace and go as well. If he shows up to work hungover again, Whitebeard'll have his ass." Law nodded and bid his farewells. Ace hugged his brother goodbye and they left.

Sanji and Zoro were the next to leave followed by Vivi and a very intoxicated Nami. Koala and Rouge had managed to round their spouses up and with that Sabo and Dragon were gone. Makino had Law help carry Shanks out to the car as he was too out of it to move on his own. Franky and Robin said goodbye to Luffy and so did Garp.

And then there were none.

Law glanced around his used to be clean living room and closed his eyes. Maybe if he kept them closed the mess would clean itself? Unlikely. He opened his eyes and frowned. Still there. He'd clean it tomorrow. He walked over to where Luffy had passed out on the couch and gently scooped him up into his arms. The now 21 year old had taken advantage of the fact he was now legal and had overdone it a bit. Not that he hadn't had alcohol before the fact but now that he was legal it was different. Or so he said.

Law carried him to their bedroom where he laid him on his side of the bed. Brandishing a soft smile, Law tucked some overlong hair out of Luffy's face. "Happy birthday, Lu." he said in a whisper. Then he left the room to take care of the other living things in the household.

He made sure Bepo was walked and brushed before putting him in his bed for the night. The puppy had been tired out from the excitement of the day and fell asleep almost instantly. Law then removed Stu from his hiding place and placed him in his cage. The little chameleon didn't like big noise and lots of people. Luffy was enough excitement for him and he'd gone and hid while Luffy's friends were around. Law didn't blame him.

Finally, Law changed his clothes and laid down next to Luffy in bed. Hopefully tomorrow the cleaning fairies will have done the cleaning in the living room.

No such luck.

Luffy had woken him up around 7 by moaning from a bad headache. Law told him that it was his fault for drinking so much. Luffy huffed and then promptly ran off to the bathroom to bring back his snacks from the night before. Law helped him through the sickness all while taking Bepo out and feeding him and Stu. He also managed to clean up a bit from the night before. He wasn't able to vacuum due to Luffy's migraine but that could wait.

"How's it feel to be twenty one?" Law smirked at Luffy. Luffy just groaned from his position on the couch. He was sprawled out on his stomach, one arm draped over Bepo's body on the ground next to the sofa and the other bent back to drape over his own head as if that would keep out all the noise in the world.

"Everything is so loud." Luffy moaned into the arm of the couch. Law grinned and finished drying a dish. "I have no one to blame but myself."

"That is correct." Law nodded and walked over to sit next to him. Luffy dragged himself up and around so he was facing Law with his head in the elder's lap. "Poor pathetic little Lu." He shook his head mockingly. "The world is so against you."

Luffy nodded slowly and curled more into Law's side. "Hey, Torao?" he asked. Law hummed a response. "How old are you?"

This question was unexpected and Law blinked a few times before he realised it required an answer. "Twenty seven." He said.

"So you did hide your birthday from me." Luffy said. "I thought you did, but I wasn't sure."

"You aren't angry?" Law raised an eyebrow. Was Luffy sick? Law thought Luffy would be pissed when he found out.

"Well there's obviously a reason you did. And considering it is about your birthday it has to be something personal. I'm not going to get mad about you not wanting to tell me your birthday, although I'd love to know the date." He added that last part quietly. "Did you want me to be mad?"

"No, not at all." Law said. "I'm glad you aren't mad. I haven't liked to celebrate my birthday for a long time. Not since I was a little kid. I'll save you the sob story and just say it has something to do with my family and I don't feel comfortable talking about it." Law ran his finger's through Luffy's hair. "But if you must know my birthday is on October the sixth."

"I understand and respect that." Luffy said, his voice vibrating Law's ribcage. "But can I at least throw you a party for just the two of us this year?"

Law grinned. "Sure. As long as it's just the two of us."

"Deal."

A/N: Please review and all that jazz, it really helps me understand how people like(or don't like) my writing! And as always, Thank you for reading!