A/N: Wow. So, after nearly a year, I'm back. To be honest, I started losing interest in this fic, as well as WOTH since I'm not really into One Piece anymore. Still, I have too many fans and readers to ever abandon my stories. I will try to get on a regular update schedule, probably near the beginning of each month.

Anyways, since this particular update has been long overdue, I made this chapter a little longer than usual (nearly 4,000 words!). Also, there are some awkward boners in this chapter. Just a little warning.

As always, I hope you enjoy and leave feedback!

Chapter 9: An Unexpected Visitor

It was now Friday morning, and Garp was thankfully still absent. Luffy hadn't heard anything from his grandfather since he had left so abruptly the week before, and he wasn't really expecting to. Since Garp wasn't there to hurt him anymore, Luffy's wounds were healing well. He still had to go to the restroom to change during gym because of the scars, but at least he wasn't in pain every time he moved.

He could really get used to this.

Work was going well, and his boss had even offered him a raise because of all his hard work, whichever Luffy graciously accepted. He didn't even mind going to work now, since he had Kid to keep him company. Sometimes, Zoro would even show up and order something, just to be near Luffy.

Speaking of Zoro, the two were now officially going out. Luffy had been a little worried about how their friends would react, but they merely congratulated them and said, "It's about time!" At his old school, he never had friends that were so accepting. But here, Luffy they were all so close that Luffy thought of them as his family.

He and Zoro had gone on a dinner and movie date on Sunday, and luckily for Luffy, Zoro paid. Luffy offered to pay his share, but Zoro said it was his treat. They had gone to a pizza place, not the most romantic setting, but it was perfect for Luffy. After that, they went to go see a romantic comedy movie. Luffy hadn't been to the movies in years, so it was really special that he got to go with Zoro. Throughout the movie, their hands had been intertwined on the arm rest.

Smiling, Luffy continued his walk to school as he thought back over their date. He saw Zoro standing a little ways down the road, and Luffy rushed up to meet him.

"Zoro!" he called.

"Hey Luffy," Zoro greeted, pulling his boyfriend in for a quick hug. Luffy giggled, a bit embarrassed, but hugged back nonetheless. Physical contact that wasn't violent was still pretty new to Luffy, but he liked it since it came from Zoro. He pulled out of the hug, but held onto Zoro's hand so the two could walk to school.

"How was your evening?" Zoro asked, giving his hand a little squeeze.

"Great! I didn't have any homework, so I got to watch tv all night!" Luffy exclaimed.

Zoro chuckled, and the two made idle chatter as they continued walking to school. They both had algebra 2 first period, so they made their way to Kuro-sensei's class. Their teacher had been tempted to move their desks apart when he found out that Zoro and Luffy were dating, but he let it be since Luffy was still new at the school. Besides, Zoro hadn't acted out since Luffy was there to keep him in line, for which Kuro-sensei was grateful. Not that he showed it, of course.

Their class passed by pretty quickly, reading a couple pages from the textbook and doing worksheets on them. Luffy was even able to finish his work in class, so he wouldn't have to do it later. He and Zoro had English next, which passed by just as uneventfully quick. Their teacher had them do a writing assignment, which they finished in half an hour. The rest of the class was free time, which he used to catch up with Nami and Vivi. Zoro and Sanji argued for awhile, until Nami violently put and end to it. Luffy looked away while she crashed their heads together, not really wanting to see the violence.

Next they had PE, and Luffy excused himself to the bathroom to go change. It had become the norm for them all, so neither Zoro nor Usopp had questioned Luffy doing it. They stayed inside that day, occupying the weight room to lift weights and use the other exercise equipment, and Luffy was glad for not having to go outside in the heat.

"Woah Zoro! That's awesome!" Luffy exclaimed in awe as he watched his boyfriend lift nearly three hundred pounds of weights.

"This is -hah- nothing," Zoro replied, sweating heavily from his position bench pressing the weights.

"He's right, that's nothing," Usopp butted in. "I once lifted six hundred pounds!"

"Sugoi! Really?!" Luffy questioned with stars in his eyes.

"Pfftt! Of course," Usopp lied with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

Without Luffy's attention on him, Zoro set down the weights to take a breather. Luffy and Usopp continued chatting, Usopp laughing at Luffy for only being able to lift a hundred pounds. Luffy merely laughed it off with him.

When lunchtime rolled around, Luffy brought his lunchbox of pastries from Caffe Bene, and happily ate them. Zoro observed with concern, wondering why Luffy was bringing leftovers from work instead of actual lunch food. He was tempted to comment on it, but knew that Luffy would feel uncomfortable being the center of attention, even in their small group of friends.

So Zoro decided to let it go, and ask Luffy about it later when they were alone.

Luffy, Nami, and Usopp all had biology next with Law-sensei, who Luffy promptly ignored the entire period. He knew that Law was observing him for some reason, so he ignored it the best he could. Law-sensei offered to tutor Luffy again at the end of class, but again, Luffy declined. Still, he was surprised that his teacher was taking such an interest in him. The only other teacher that had was Shanks-sensei.

After biology, Luffy and Usopp walked together for sixth period art, and met up with Zoro who had study hall. He had been using his free period to spend more time with Luffy, much to his enjoyment.

"Alright class," Goldenweek-sensei announced, gaining the class' attention. "We're going to pick back up that project from a few weeks ago, you know–" she paused to munch on a cracker, "–the 'paint your feelings' one. We'll be doing that again today."

Grinning, Luffy turned to Usopp. "What are you gonna paint?"

"Hmm, not sure yet." Usopp tapped his chin in thought. "I painted the ocean at sunset last time, so maybe now I'll paint the ocean at sunrise!"

Luffy chuckled. "Should've known it'd be the ocean again."

"Yeah, since that's all he ever paints or draws," Zoro added.

"Shush!" Usopp scolded. "I'm trying to get in the zone."

Luffy and Zoro both rolled their eyes at that. "What are you going to paint, Lu?" Zoro asked, and Luffy blushed slightly from the nickname.

"Uhh, not sure..." he trailed off, remembering his solid black painted canvas from last time. At that time, he wasn't feeling much. He was weighed down with Garp's near daily physical and emotional abuse, and a lifetime of it. But now, he was learning to open up to his friends, and even romantically involved. Such a change in such a short time was quite amazing.

I know what I'll paint. Luffy got up from his chair and went to the back room where all the old canvases were stored, and sifted through them until he found his old one. He grabbed it, asked his teacher for permission with what he was about to do, grabbed some paints, and grabbed Zoro.

"Where are we going?' Zoro questioned as Luffy dragged him by his hand.

"Outside," Luffy replied simply.

They went out one of the side doors, and Luffy laid his canvas on the grass.

"Your old painting?" Zoro asked and Luffy nodded in response. "What are you going to do with it?"

"You'll see," Luffy gave his boyfriend a sly smile as he grabbed two bottles of paint, a neon pink and light green. He then uncapped them, and flicked his wrist to splatter the paint on his canvas.

"Oh I see," Zoro remarked with a smile. "Splatter paint."

"Yep! Wanna help?" Luffy laughed as he offered Zoro another paint bottle.

The two then proceeded to splatter the canvas with an assortment of colors. His picture was no longer a depressing solid black, but a random and happy bright work of art. The paint went everywhere, all over the grass (for which Luffy was glad they were outside) and even on them. Both he and Zoro laughed as the paint splattered a little on their clothes, but they didn't care. They were having fun together and that was what mattered.

Ω Ω Ω

School was almost over, and Luffy and Zoro were together for their last period music theory class. Brook-sensei let the class have free time to play whatever they wanted, so Zoro led Luffy to one of the practice rooms. Zoro grabbed his guitar and began strumming a few tunes, which Luffy nodded his head in time to. This was what they usually did during this class, hang out in a practice room with Zoro's guitar and light tunes in the air.

Zoro glanced over to the piano in the corner, and decided to risk it. "Hey Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

"You said you played the piano before."

"...Yeah, and?" Luffy's voice now had a wary edge to it.

Zoro took a deep breath. "Do you wanna tell me about it?"

Luffy thought for a moment. It wasn't as though he didn't trust Zoro, because he did, but he had never told anyone about this before. But so much had changed since he had moved here. Luffy was finally opening up and letting others help him. "Sure," Luffy finally decided.

Relaxing his posture, Zoro set down his guitar to let Luffy speak. "My mom loved the piano. She played it all the time..." Luffy trailed off and Zoro waited patiently for him to continue. "But that's from what I heard. I never knew her."

Zoro immediately frowned. He knew that this conversation must be difficult for Luffy to have, so he grabbed his boyfriend's hand and squeezed it for support. Luffy hesitantly squeezed back and continued. "She taught my brother how to play, and he taught me. I was about six then, but that was a bad time for my family..." Luffy's grip tightened on Zoro's hand. "So I didn't play much after that."

Zoro was speechless from all this new information. He knew that Luffy didn't have parents since he said that he only had Garp, but to never know your mother? And since when did Luffy have a brother? Where is he now? Why hadn't Luffy mentioned his brother before? He had about a million questions to ask, but Zoro could see the strain in Luffy's face just from talking about this little bit of his past. He knew he could wait awhile to find out more, so he raised Luffy's hand and kissed the back of it.

"Thanks for telling me," Zoro nearly whispered.

Luffy let out a breath, and gave Zoro a relieved smile. "You know, I actually feel a little better."

Zoro smiled to match Luffy, and the tense atmosphere evaporated immediately. They were back to chatting and Zoro playing his guitar.

But Zoro didn't miss the way Luffy gazed at the piano longingly.

Ω Ω Ω

School was finally over, the new couple walking together to hang out at Zoro's house. Luffy had the day off, so they decided to celebrate by playing video games and ordering pizza.

"What kind of pizza do you want, Lu?" Zoro asked as he swung their intertwined hands between them.

"Hmm... One with lots of meat!" Luffy cheered.

Zoro chuckled and the two finally reached Zoro's apartment. He lived on the first floor, so they didn't have to walk up any stairs. Zoro detached his hand from Luffy's so he could grab his key, and unlocked the door. Luffy had been over many times, and knew the place quite well. As such, Luffy had no problem making himself at home by launching himself on the sofa and stretching out all over it.

Zoro merely rolled his eyes at his adorably ridiculous boyfriend and grabbed the phone to place their order. After calling the pizza place, Zoro turned to Luffy. "What do you want to do until the pizza gets here?"

"Let's play some Call of Duty or something," Luffy replied. He didn't know how to play very well–since he had never played any form of video game before–but Luffy did know that Zoro enjoyed it, so he wanted to play for him.

"Alright," Zoro said, moving to turn on his flatscreen tv.

Luffy idly wondered if he could ever afford something like that, but then realized that Garp would either break it or sell it to make some quick cash. Besides, by paying for all their bills, Luffy barely had enough money to pay for Garp's cigarettes and liquor, even though it was the cheap kind.

"What's wrong?"

Luffy snapped out of his thoughts, and realised that he had been frowning. "What?"

Zoro furrowed his brows. "You were frowning."

"Oh... I– I guess I was thinking about bills or something," Luffy replied uneasily. He couldn't quite tell Zoro about his money troubles, especially how Garp was the cause of it.

Zoro put the game in his Xbox and shut the cartridge. This was a conversation that he had been wanting to have with Luffy, and it looked like now was the perfect opportunity. "Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

"You know, if you ever have money problems, you can always come to me for help," Zoro stated earnestly.

Luffy blinked. "What?"

"Well, if you're behind on bills, then I can help you out." He turned to face Luffy, to show him how serious he was. "You mean a lot to me, so if there's anything I can do, just let me know."

"Oh, I, uh–" Luffy stammered. Zoro had said something similar to this the first time he went over to Luffy's apartment, but having him say it like this... it showed how much he cared about Luffy. "Um– thanks, Zoro." Luffy wasn't quite sure what else to say. Sure, he was behind on several payments, but he couldn't just take Zoro's money, even if his boyfriend was offering it.

"Please, Lu. I want to be there to help you." Zoro's eyes shone with an intensity that Luffy hadn't seen there before.

"...Alright…" he agreed hesitantly. "Actually, I need to pay off last month's rent…"

"Done," Zoro said, leaning back with a determined smile. "Just let me know how much."

Luffy blinked. "Seriously?"

"What?"

He couldn't believe it. Ever since Garp had retired from the police department, Luffy had been the one to handle all the expenses. It had been hard, juggling school and long hours at work, only to come back to that stinky apartment and have Garp waste the rest of their money on drugs and alcohol. Before he knew it, a tear slid down his cheek.

"Luffy?" Zoro questioned in concern.

"Eh? Uh, I–" Luffy stumbled over his words as he quickly wiped away the tears. "Sorry," he sniffled, "I just felt so relieved that I can depend on someone."

Ω Ω Ω

When their pizza arrived, Zoro and Luffy settled down on the couch with some random movie on Netflix playing. Luffy wasn't paying much attention to the movie, still too caught up in their earlier conversation. So much had happened that day, and it exhausted Luffy just to think about it. He had confided in Zoro a little about his past, and made the hard decision to accept some of Zoro's money to pay the bills.

"You alright?"

Zoro's whispered voice sounded from beside him. Luffy nodded with a smile, and snuggled even closer to the other. A protective arm was wrapped around Luffy's shoulders, drawing him into Zoro's side.

With relaxed sigh, Luffy leaned his head on Zoro. He couldn't have asked for a better boyfriend.

He idly nibbled on a piece of sausage pizza as he turned his attention back to the film. Luffy had no idea what was happening, since he wasn't exactly paying attention from the beginning, but he didn't care. As long as he was with Zoro, he was happy. He was safe. Zoro would never hurt him like his grandfather… or even his brother.

Thinking of Ace always left a bitter taste in his mouth. He loved his brother, he really did, but Ace had left him his own share of painful memories and scars. Still, Luffy wished that his brother was with him. Then he wouldn't have to deal with Garp on his own. He hoped that wherever Ace was now, he was happy. Just like how Luffy was happy with Zoro.

Luffy let out a sigh of content.

"What is it?" Zoro asked, turning slightly to face him.

"Nothing much," Luffy said with a smile. "Just thinking of you."

And with that, Luffy reached up to press his lips against Zoro's. Zoro met him eagerly, turning fully to grip his head firmly in both. Luffy felt a wet tongue probing his lips, so he opened his mouth with a muffled groan. He could feel his entire face heat, and when Zoro started sucking on his tongue, Luffy let out a small moan of pleasure as he tightly gripped Zoro's arm. The feeling of the heated muscle moving around in his mouth made him breathless, and it took Luffy a little too long to remember to breathe through his nose.

Zoro reluctantly pulled back, a thin band of saliva still connecting them. "Was that okay?"

"Yeah…" Luffy gasped out. He and Zoro hadn't gone farther than gentle pecks and hand holding. This was a whole new experience. And it was nice, though it left Luffy feeling heated in places he hadn't exactly expected to. Glancing down at Zoro's crotch, Luffy could tell that Zoro had felt the same.

Zoro's eyes followed Luffy's gaze until he realised his predicament. "Shit, sorry," Zoro murmured, quickly grabbing a pillow to cover the tent in his pants.

"It's okay," Luffy laughed. "I'm the same."

Once Zoro looked up at Luffy's crotch, he let out a breathless chuckle. They were two horny teenagers in love, what did one expect from that kind of kiss?

"I'll go wash up," Zoro stated, rising from the couch and heading in the direction of the bathroom. Luffy totally didn't watch his ass as he walked out of the room.

Left alone, Luffy paused the movie and got up to stretch, feeling a little stiff from sitting too long. He grabbed the two empty pizza boxes from the coffee table, and took them to the trash. It was then that he saw the time on the stove clock. 10:38 pm. Damn, it got late.

He was putting on his shoes by the time Zoro came out from the bathroom. "Heading home?"

"Yeah," Luffy murmured. "It's getting late."

"Alright. Do you want me to walk you home or anything? You could even stay the night if you wanted," Zoro offered.

Luffy shook his head. "Nah, I'll be fine."

"Okay…" Zoro trailed off, looking like he wanted to say more.

"Yeah?" Luffy prompted when it seemed like he wouldn't continue.

"...You're not... leaving because of what just happened, right?"

Instead of giving a verbal response, Luffy stood up, and pulled Zoro in for a kiss. It was brief, but by the time they pulled away, it was clear that Zoro got the message.

I love you.

"I'll see you later," Luffy said, grabbing his schoolbag with a smile.

His smile was matched on Zoro's face. "See ya."

Leaving it at that, Luffy headed out into the night. It would take awhile to get home from Zoro's, and it was dark, but it was a nice night. The full moon above was bright enough to light the streets for Luffy when streetlights were absent. There was a slight chill in the air, and Luffy shivered. He had left his only jacket, his sweatshirt, at school, so he had to deal with the cold night air in his short sleeved t-shirt.

Luffy stuck his hands in his pockets, and considered pulling out his mp3 player, but decided against it. The last thing Luffy needed at this point was to be mugged from not being able to hear his attacker coming.

Eventually, Luffy reached the run down apartment he had been forced to call home. With a disappointed sigh, Luffy dragged his feet up the creaky stairs to his room. He took out his key and turned, alarm rising within him as he realised that it was unlocked. Surely he hadn't forgotten to lock it before school that morning? That would just be begging to be robbed of his last few possessions.

No, Luffy decided firmly. I locked it this morning. So how did…

He felt his heart beat faster. Did someone break in?

His hand holding his key trembled. But the door looks fine.

His breathing quickened. Maybe they came in through the window and left through the door.

His heartbeat was too loud. What if they're still here?

His heartbeat was deafeningly loud. What if Garp is back...

Slowly removing the key from the door, Luffy turned the knob and gently pushed the door open. It opened with no resistance, swinging freely save for an awful squeak that sounded far too loud in the otherwise silent night.

Inside, the lights were out while the shitty tv was on, volume turned low, spreading coloured, flickering lights across the room. On the couch sat a figure.

Luffy gripped on to the doorknob for support.

It wasn't Garp.

There, sitting on the couch was a familiar mop of curly black hair and freckles.

Ace.

As if he heard his name, his brother turned his head towards where Luffy stood frozen and panicked in the doorway. A smile broke across his freckled face.

"Hey, Lu. Long time no see."