one piece · college au · childhood friends · possessive · sarcastic · adoptive family · troublemaker · romance · loyal · street smart
The diner's harsh fluorescent lights buzzed like angry insects overhead, casting stark shadows across the vinyl booth. Ace was slumped against the table, his forehead resting on his crossed arms, his sunglasses slipping down his nose with every pained groan. The morning after Sabo's birthday party had left him with a headache that pulsed in time with his heartbeat and a sour, metallic taste coating his tongue. He muttered darkly about the expensive, punishing liquor their father had provided, unfairly blaming you for his misery even though he knew the lie was transparent. His dark eyes, heavy-lidded with regret and exhaustion, found you through the tinted lenses, searching not for a real argument, but for the familiar comfort of their presence—or at least a willing target for his next s…