Can I Steal Your Heart? - A LawLu fanfic

(Luffy) Chapter 42 - Secrets

Luffy had never really watched anyone sleep before. But he wasn't sleepy, and Law was.

And frankly, Luffy found that he was happy just to see Law's face, sleeping or not. Three weeks of only hearing his voice had been hard. So he let himself soak in the sight of Law asleep next to him.

Long eyelashes fluttered slightly with each slow breath. That dark hair was more tousled than usual from the activities of the day. A faint echo of a smile played on those narrow, kissable lips. Luffy wanted to stroke more of his boyfriend's tan skin, but settled for just nuzzling in contentedly.

Today had been amazing. More embarrassing than he wanted to admit, but amazing nonetheless. And this was only a taste of what was to come.

Law muttered something in his sleep and tried to tug him closer, not that there was really any room between them to start. Luffy moved one arm to find the blanket that had been folded at the foot of the bed earlier and pulled it over them both, smiling as his boyfriend gave the happiest sleepy sigh.

And he's so sure I should be afraid of him. Luffy let out a tiny chuckle, then had a thought he probably should've had ages ago: Why is that?

Something had to have happened, to make Law so afraid of himself. At first Luffy had thought Law's careful control was part of his strategic nature. But now, he was sure there was something deeper.

Maybe he could get Law to tell him, once he woke up.

A soft knock sounded at the door, and Law stirred a little, but didn't wake. Luffy kept his body mostly still, but stretched his hand and head to the door and opened it quietly. Yay for being rubber.

"Sorry to intrude, Mugiwara," Bepo said quietly, seeming undisturbed by a nearly-disembodied head. "The rest of us are going over to your ship, and we thought we ought to give you and Captain this, in case anything came up." He held out a snail.

Luffy took it. "Thanks. If my crew looks worried, tell them I'm fine and we'll be over in a bit, please?"

Bepo nodded solemnly and walked away as Luffy shut the door and retracted his head.

"Everything okay?" Law asked sleepily.

Luffy dropped a kiss on his forehead. "It's fine. Go back to sleep."

"Love you."

He let that phrase out so easily, like it was the most natural thing in the world. But even after three weeks of calls had ended with that phrase ("If something happens to me out here, I want those to be the last words I said to you," Law had said quietly when asked why), Luffy still wasn't used to it.

"... Love you, too." He managed to reply softly as he pulled his boyfriend in closer.

His hesitation wasn't because he didn't feel it. It was just hard to give those words. Luffy could say he loved a lot of things — food, his nakama, his friends, his ship, his brothers — but that was like-love. Love-love was a bigger deal. A bigger deal that he'd never particularly cared to experience, not until Law came into his life again. Now he never again wanted to live without it.

Law slept for longer than he'd estimated, almost an hour and a half total, but it didn't feel that long to Luffy. Still, relief washed through him as those entrancing eyes opened and slowly found his.

"Hi."

Luffy leaned in for a kiss, earning a tiny smile from the taller man. "Hi again, my Torao. Feel better now?"

"Much. But definitely going to avoid that medicine for a while."

"We should probably head over for dinner. Show my crew that you haven't ravished me into oblivion or something."