Can I Steal Your Heart? - A LawLu fanfic

(Luffy) Chapter 26 - Asking

Luffy woke up fairly early, but the other side of the bed was already empty. But as he was debating between finding Law or going back to the Sunny, the door opened to reveal Law carrying a heaping plate of food and a cup of coffee. He silently handed the plate to Luffy, and sat down at the table with the coffee.

"Thanks," he swallowed down the food in a couple big bites. It was alright, but not as good as Sanji's. "Torao, about last night -"

"Don't worry about it," Law interrupted. "We were a little drunk, it was a mistake. It's fine."

"It wasn't a mistake!" Luffy found himself shouting. He managed to lower his voice. "That dream where Akainu was killing everyone? Watching you die hurt the worst! I woke up crying and then I could barely detect your heartbeat because it was so slow and I was worried! Maybe it's not love; I don't know what it is! And I don't know what love is! All I know is I needed to see you!"

Law looked shocked, but Luffy wasn't going to let that stop him.

"I knew what I was doing when I kissed you, okay? If you hated it and don't wanna do it again, fine, but... I wanna try."

Down went the coffee cup onto the table as Law took a shaky breath, lowering his head to hide his face behind that hat. "Wanna try what, exactly, Luffy-ya?"

Luffy set the plate on the floor without moving from his sitting position on the bed. "I want to kiss you again. I want to have sex with you. I wanna... try being loved."

"You don't know what you're asking."

"I do. I'm not a child."

"You might as well be. You're so trusting, so naive. So reckless..." Law wouldn't look at him, but his voice sounded distressed. Why wasn't he happy? If he loved Luffy, like he'd said, why did he look and sound so upset?

"I told you, I'm not. I see more than you think. I know more than most people give me credit for. I know what I'm asking. What I don't know is if you want it too. You said you love me. Doesn't that mean you think about me that way?"

"Stop. Please, Luffy-ya, don't... don't make this harder." He sounded like he was going to cry, which made Luffy's heart twist in his chest.

"I'm not trying to. I thought you'd be happy to hear that, so why are you upset?"

But Law didn't answer, didn't look at him.

"Torao." Luffy softened his voice, hoping to get the other to at least look at him. "Please, explain it to me. I don't understand."

"... you should go back to your ship, Mugiwara-ya."

Luffy finally understood the difference between Law's two names for him, at that moment. He called him Mugiwara-ya to put distance between them. A verbal wall.

Luffy never particularly liked walls.

Making a snap decision, he stood from the bed. But instead of walking to the door, he walked to the chair Law drooped in, and sat carefully on his lap, wrapping his arms around that narrow neck.

"I think you're trying to protect me from things I don't need protection from. You're no danger to me, no matter what you may think." With that he placed a small kiss on Law's cheek, brushing against the edges of his sideburns.

"Dammit, Luffy-ya!"

And suddenly the sides of Luffy's head were grabbed by strong, slender hands and his lips were claimed in a bruising kiss that was different from last night's, but not bad. Luffy tried to keep up, to return the pressure, but then Law was picking him up and practically throwing him onto the bed.

Then Law was over him, over but not touching, and his voice and eyes were dark and dangerous. "How far can you go, Luffy-ya? Are you even attracted to me? Would you be able to get hard, seeing my body over you like this? Would you truly let me touch you everywhere? Kiss you everywhere, until you're moaning my name and unable to think clearly? Or will you get me more riled up than this and then leave me to deal with it? And what about after? Will you be able to face me? Or will you end our friendship, end our alliance? Because of a whim like this?"

Luffy met his eyes, meeting the challenge, but not without a little nervousness. He'd seen Law like this before, but never with that confident, predatory look directed at him. He'd seen Law claiming victory with that look. Seen it when he was plotting new strategies. But directed at him, it was... different. He understood why people feared Law, if that look could make him hesitate. His heart did that twisting thing again.

Then Law was pulling back, standing up again. "Don't push me, Luffy-ya. I'll maintain the line between friendship and what I want, but you can't push me over it like this. Understand?"

"No. I don't," Luffy said simply.

"I don't want your pity! I won't be a pity-fuck for you, or anything else... I knew you could be insensitive, but I never thought you'd be cruel enough to...." Law took a deep breath, all of the seductive confidence gone from his face. "I know you feel bad that you don't return my feelings. That's all this is. And I don't need that. I'm fine to just be your friend. And you need to fully consider the consequences of your actions going forward."

"... you don't believe me...." That realization cut deep into his still-twisting heart. He'd spent so much time thinking this over, but it had never occurred to him that Law might not believe him. But what was so cruel about trying to figure out what love was supposed to be?

"How can I?"

Luffy stood, pushing himself away from the bed, a sudden anger making his chest heavy. "You said once before that you trusted me to say what I mean. Maybe someday you'll learn to trust that I mean what I say, too." He walked out the door without looking back at Law. He wiped away hot, angry tears as he quickly made his way back to his own ship.

Sanji had made his hangover-special breakfast, with plenty of bacon and sausage and eggs, but Luffy couldn't make himself eat more than a few bites. The anger didn't last very long. It rarely ever did, not with the people he cared about. So it was scarcely an hour later that Luffy found himself watching sadly as the Polar Tang separated from the multi-ship-party-line and disappeared into the water - without either crew saying goodbye.

A/N: I'M SORRY DON'T KILL ME!!!! I promise to make it better again soon!