Can I Steal Your Heart? - A LawLu fanfic

(Law) Chapter 17 - Confessions

Why does he have to be so... cute? It was so hard not to lean over and steal a kiss, when Luffy was right next to him, leaning on him, and grinning like that. Law made some excuse to pull away from that friendly arm, that adorable grin, and quickly got back to his cabin on the Polar Tang.

"Why did I have to volunteer to stay with them for a week? This is torture. And I did it to myself...." He groaned, burying his face in his arms as he slumped at his desk.

At least it was Zoro that they were helping out. Chopper had assured him that Zoro's healing ability was far above what might be considered 'normal'. Anyone else would've been down for months after a surgery like that. Although, Law might not have felt as obliged to stay and help if it had been anyone else, either. It was only because it was the second-strongest member of the Strawhats that Law had decided to help out during the hardest part of his recovery.

He glanced up at the calendar. "Five more days... Can I do it?"

The next day was easier than he'd expected, thanks to the Sea Kings that attacked the two ships. Fortunately, the three giant creatures didn't do irreparable damage to either ship, but enough damage was done so that no one, even Luffy, seemed to question it when Law devoted himself to helping with repairs, without even a glimpse of his powers. He was good with his hands, always had been, and sometimes it was nice to have physical labor to do.

Especially when he couldn't keep his thoughts away from the nineteen-year-old captain of the other ship.

But the repairs were easily and obviously finished by the next day, and Law couldn't say that he was terribly surprised when the object of his affection wrapped those stretchy arms around him the moment he stepped onto the deck to get some fresh morning air. He was forcefully pulled across the small gap between the ships onto the other deck.

"OW," he complained loudly, rubbing his side where he'd crashed into the bench around the mast. "Mugiwara-ya, wouldn't it have been easier for both of us to just ASK me to come over?"

"Maybe, but would you have?"

"It's not like I have much reason to refuse. There was no need to try to break my ribs like that!"

"Wasn't trying to break your ribs. It's just that I barely saw you yesterday and you'll be taking off in three more days and who knows when I'll get to see you next after that?! We need to take advantage of this time we're traveling together to hang out!"

Too. Damn. Cute. Law adjusted his hat, hoping to hide the blush he was pretty sure was forming on his face. "So did you just want to catch up, or did you have something specific to talk about?"

Luffy did that adorable head-tilt, like he was trying to remember, then got excited again. "Oh, right! I wanted to show you the new fish I caught for the aquarium yesterday! C'mon!" And with that, Law's hand was grabbed and he was barely able to move fast enough to keep up with the younger man as he was half-dragged to the aquarium.

"Mugiwara-ya, slow down a bit! It'll still be there even if we just walk...."

Fortunately, Law's comment made Luffy slow down.

Unfortunately, it also made Luffy drop his hand in favor of rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, I just got super excited. It's a really cool-looking one."

Law had never regretted a single sentence more. Luffy's hand around his had been warm and dry. A little rough, but... nice. And now it was gone, and Law knew better than to try to grab it back, however much he might want to. "It's okay to be excited, but let's walk instead of you dragging me, hm?"

Luffy gave a little laugh and nodded, leading the way to the aquarium. "It's... that one, there!" He announced, pointing at an orange and yellow fish with long trailing fins. Black specks turned silver and light blue as they caught rays of light from the surface and the ship. As the fish swam around, the orange and yellow scales seemed to flicker...