Hello Gay Man, I'm Gay Too (MarcoxAce)

Breakup AU for Otaku_Girl2176

 Warnings: Mentions of character death. Again. Mention of alcohol. Tortured twisted feelings. Broken Ace. Broken Marco. Everything breaks.

Disclaimer: One Piece, its characters, and its plot, all belong to Eiichiro Oda. I do not own them. 

Notes: Okay, just to clarify and put some background context to this, Ace got into some bad business with Teach. He's been pretending to be someone he's not, and Marco's (understandably) very upset about this. It's basically a reveal and a breakup au, and I'm obsessed with reveals for some reason. So that's a thing. Ace isn't even being entirely truthful when he tells Marco his name, so you know that shit would totally hit the fan if Marco found out :)

—————

Ace finally feels warm again, curled up near Marco's fireplace on the wooden floor. The flames flicker and dance in front of him and Ace avoids the look of betrayal and disappointment in Marco's eyes. He only looks away when Marco pushes a warm mug of cocoa into Ace's hands. The little marshmallows swirl around the cup as Ace swishes it back and forth before taking a long sip.

"Ace?" Marco says abruptly, breaking the silence.

Ace pauses mid-sip. "Yeah."

Ace hears Marco's heavy footsteps somewhere from behind him. Marco eventually settles down on the floor by Ace. For a moment, both of them bask in the warmth of the fire, a welcome change from the blizzard blowing outside.

Ace swallows heavily, his throat bobbing painfully around the soothing liquid pouring down his throat. He finally looks back at Marco. Marco's staring at him, has probably been staring at him for a while now, with a sad glint to his eyes. He doesn't say anything though, and Ace sighs, looking away.

"My name is Portgas D. Ace."

He hears a sharp intake of breath and pauses, unsure if he should continue. Ace's hands shake, and he sets down the cup, trying to steel his resolve into his shoulders. He doesn't look at Marco.

"You said your name was Sabo Outlook," Marco says quietly.

"That was a lie," Ace's voice is wobbling now. He pulls the blanket Marco gave him further around his shoulders, the soft fabric clinging tight to his chest.

"... Was all of it a lie?"

Ace looks away from the fire, and Marco is still staring at him. Ace's eyes grow wide when tears softly drip down Marco's face.

Ace reaches up to wipe them away, but Marco immediately pushes his hands to the side.

"Marco?"

Marco's standing up now, leaving Ace by the fire.

"Wait, Marco!"

Marco pauses, hand on the back of his leather couch.

"I love you," Ace says and means it.

Marco doesn't say anything for a long time. Ace hears the man's quiet sniffles, but Marco doesn't turn around. The fire crackles and dies behind him, and Ace feels a chill run down his spine.

"I don't think I can believe you anymore, yoi."

A blizzard rages outside, but a heavy void of ice and snow are snapping Ace's insides back to his broken self. A reluctant acceptance settles over his heart, and he bows his head, staring at the sickly pale color of his hands.

"You can stay on the couch until the storm calms down," Marco says, and it sounds like he's underwater. "After that... I don't want to see your face ever again."

Ace leaves the next day with a heavy heart. He laughs brokenly in front of someone's grave. "This is all your fault you know? You've made a liar out of me."

His dead brother says nothing back, he never does.

Ace pulls out a bottle of sake he'd bought earlier and unseals it.

"Kampie... after this, I'm not going to let anyone make me a liar anymore." Ace pours it over the stone of Sabo's grave. It looks like he'd been joining him sooner than he thought.