"Thank God." I mutter as I begin to set the empty plates into the tub to carry back to the kitchen. I felt so much better in the long sleeve shirt and black pants of the waitress attire. The ceremony was only a total of fifteen minutes where the bride and groom had walked down the aisle, stood at the alter, spoke their vows, and then kissed. I had tried to ignore the fiery glare that Mr. Walters had been giving me all day.
It was creepy.
Made my spine crawl and my stomach turn knots. I had dashed a couple times to the bathroom for a quick breather.
So far no one seems to catch his looks in my direction and it only made me feel smaller and weaker.
"It's already 1 in the morning." Marco groaned as he set down his tub and stretched his back, relaxing at the satisfying crack from his popping spine. "I think we are just about done with clean up." I smile at him, "Thanks for the extra hands." Marco wasn't used to running over twelve hours on his feet because he worked as a vet's assistant to a very rare bird. Usually after his hours, he was home babysitting Ace, Sabo, and Luffy, who would return home from their job/schooling. "It's no problem." He gave me a gentle yet tired smile as he picked up his tub and slowly made his way to the kitchen. "So," I match his pace, "How's work at the clinic?" I was trying to take his mind off of the super busy day we had. "It's the best honestly," His tired look slowly morphing into a happy one as he thought about his day job. "I love watching over Torch." "What kind of bird is he anyway? I keep forgetting to ask." I hum as we set the tubs down next to the rest of the dishes before joining Thatch and Sanji at the sinks. "Well honestly no one is really sure but they keep talking about how he resembles the old pictures of phoenixes." Marco dumped some dishes in the sink and I began to immediately wash them. "Wouldn't that be amazing if he really was one?" "It would make him even more endangered." Sanji chimed in from across the counter, "If people found it to be true, they would probably kidnap and sell him for lots of money."

~flashback~
"...lots of money for her." I glance over at the two men standing in the living room. They towered over Nala.
Despite the fact that she was quite skinny, her black skin was flawless and had a slight glow. Her blue eyes had to have been hand crafted from sapphires by the gods themselves. She stared at the floor, only once glancing in my direction and the fear drown out any dullness. I stood up and made my way over to the men, "Let me fight for her!" "Did I say you could talk?" Walters jerked his hand back to slap me but was halted by the other man, "Wait a minute." He turned to me, "You'd fight for this little girl?" "Yes." I mustered all my confidence in my voice to keep it from shaking and the grin that spread across his face made me sick to my stomach. "I would like to see you try." A darkness settled into his eyes and I gulped slightly. What was I getting myself into?
They dragged me down several sets of stairs until we reached the basement of the building that we had been trapped in. The cool air made a shiver travel down my spine and my skin broke out into goosebumps as we walked forward through the darken room. "Here." Walters shoved me towards a new man. He was of Asian descendant and gave Walters a confused look. "Pad her hands, she's the new fighter." Walters took a seat, crossing on leg over the other. "But sir, he'll kill her." The Asian man spoke with concern. "Did I stutter?" Walters growled out with a hooded look of anger. The Asian man pulled me over to him and began to wrapped my hands. My eyes slowly scanned his body, taking in his form. He looked pretty fit and his skin was glistened with a slight layer of sweat despite the cold air in the room. His green eyes flicked up to mine a couple of times before he spoke in a soft whisper, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" "No." I reply in the same whisper, "It's fight or they'll sell the little girl." I jerk my head slightly in her direction. They had brought her downstairs to watch as well. "Why do you care?" He frowned, "Just fighting for one girl isn't going to change anything." "It gives her hope." I mutter, "Hope that someone cares and that she'll live." He pauses before letting out a heavy sigh. Clearly my words hit him in some way. "You're crazy." He finished my hands, "Those men will eat you alive." He gave me a warning before turning to Walters, "She's ready sir." Walters smiled as he stood and shoved me over towards the giant chain link fence that acted as a boxing ring. "Remember you lose, she dies." He uttered lowly, pushing me through the large crowd that cheered loudly for the man standing inside the ring and then began to laugh at me when I stepped inside. "What the hell is this?" The man in the ring frowned as he gestured to my smaller form, "This some kind of joke??" I could detect a Russian accent. He seemed angry that I was the one fighting him. "This is just a warm up." Walters patted his beefy shoulder. "Just knock her on her ass and I will bring you a proper fighter." He gave Walters an annoyed look before looking at me, "If you are certain." I gave him a nod and held up my fists, ready for a fight. Walters stepped out of the way and the sudden chime of the bell threw off my senses.
Fiery white pain engulfed the left side of my face and I stumbled to the side. My vision blurred and my ears began to ring. I let out a loud gasp as I blinked rapidly to retain my senses. Blood and saliva dripped from my open mouth and onto the concrete below us. I let out a slight cough. The white pain flared as I moved my jaw and quickly accessed that the hit taken from the Russian bruised my face, and possibly fractured my nose. Through the quietening ring in my ears, I could hear the crowd laughing loudly. "Stupid bitch got way in over her head." The Russian grumbled as he stepped back and paced around the ring as I gathered myself. My gaze scanned the crowd until it landed on Nala and I got a sudden surge of adrenaline through my body. I clenched my fists and rush the giant of a man I was fighting.
~end~

"Fae, you ready to go?" I blink a couple of times before turning to look at Thatch, "Is it time already?" I glance up to the clock to see that it was about 2:30 in the morning and I let out a tired groan, "Thank God we don't have work tomorrow." I pat my body to check for my phone when I remember the text message conversation. "Oh Thatch," I caught up to him as we began to exit the kitchen and make our way outside to Marco's van. "I almost forgot to ask about Friday." "What about Friday?" He asked, opening the side door for me. "Well, I was texting Law earlier and he was asking if I had Friday off. I told him it would depend on what you have to say." I moved over to sit in the middle seat as the two brothers sit up front and Sanji accompanies me in the back. "Well we are definitely not working today." He grumbled as he relaxed in the passenger seat, "It's been such a long day." Marco started up his van, "Everyone have all of their belongings?" I pat my borrowed clothes and then think back if I was missing anything. "I think I'm good." A knock on the driver side window made us all jump and I let out a squeak of fear. Marco rolled down his window to reveal Mr. And Mrs. Walters, with Trudy. "Yes?" Marco cleared his throat as Sanji cracked the window to smoke. "We hate to bother you but we could really use a ride home." Trudy began to explain that their car refused to start, "We live down on Groove St." "Sure, no problem." Marco replied with a tired smile. He didn't want to leave them stranded and nobody was in the mood to jumpstart their car. I rubbed my forehead as I moved seats to get closer to Sanji as the couple and the sister piled in next to us. I cleared my throat softly and pulled out my phone to avoid talking to anyone.  I smiled at the lock screen picture of Law, Bepo, and I. It was taken during our craziest summer vacation where we all had gotten trapped outside during a rainstorm because Luffy accidentally left the cabin keys inside while the door was locked. Sanji leaned over slightly as he noticed the picture and smiled, "Ha, I remember that." He chuckled as he took another drag of his cigarette. "It was quite the trip." I pat the front seat, "Do you guys recall the trip to Paradise Springs?" Marco let out a laugh as Thatch groaned loudly. "That trip was one of the most expensive..." He let out a huff to quiet his rant as Marco just continued to laugh, "That was the best time!" "Getting caught in the storm was not." Thatch grumbled out, fixing his hair. "It was so cold and ruined my hair!" I let out a giggle "It's not like someone took a razor to your hair." Thatch turned back in the seat to look at me, "Might as well!" He frowned, "We were stuck in that storm for over an hour, half of us got sick once we got home." "Yeah, but we had a lot of fun!" I pat the seat, "We got a couple of extra days for free." "True." He let out a sigh before turning around in his seat. I slowly lean back in my seat and unlock my phone to answer some text messages.

Nami: Are you still up for Thursday? I heard you had long hours at a wedding. Received at 5:30 pm.

Me: Yeah, I'm totally down for shopping! What time are we meeting up? Sent at 2:38 am.

I changed to look at my other messages. "Oh, Boa texted me."

Boa: Is it alright if I accompany you on your shopping trip? Received at 12:00 pm.

Me: Sounds quite alright to me Sent at 2:39 am.

I shifted in my seat and began to scroll through Google looking at dresses to wear for the party coming up next Sunday. "Sanji, do you think this would look good?" I leaned over to the blonde, showing him a picture of a simple dress. "I'm want to find something nice to wear for the party." "I think you look glorious in anything~" He replied with his signature look and I roll my eyes, "Sanji, please." He grinned and took a better look at my phone. "There's a party?" Trudy spoke up reminding me that we weren't the only ones in the van. "Oh uh, yeah." Marco glanced back in the review mirror, "It's for our father's retirement." "Sounds fun." She smiled, clearly trying to make some sort of conversation, "Are you guys having it at a bar?" "No, it's a house party." Marco started to explain as he stopped at the red light. "What is he retiring from?" She asked and I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore her as I was waiting on Sanji to return my phone. "A law firm." Marco took the left turn and slowly started down the road, "Sanji, you're up first." He glanced to the other blonde, who was too busy ogling the pictures in my photo gallery of the girls and I. "Sanji!" I smacked his shoulder, "You know better than that!" His nose already starting to bleed. "You asked me what dress you wanted to wear and I was just trying to find the one that looked really good on you~" I let out an annoyed groan, "Marco! Sanji scrolled through my gallery again!" I couldn't get my phone out of his longer reach. "Give me my phone back!" He kept it out of my reach and stuck his tongue out at me. "Sanji." The older blonde let out a warning growl. "She asked for help and I was helping." He was quick to defend himself and Thatch turned around in his seat, thoroughly annoyed "Don't make me come back there!" "I'm gonna tell Pops your perving on his daughter!" I taunted and he was quick to toss my phone in the backseat behind us. "Sanji! Don't break my phone!" I turn around to see Trudy handing my phone towards me, the gallery promptly on a shirtless picture of a sleepy Law I had taken a couple years ago while he was relaxing on the couch. "Ooh~ He's hot~" she commented and I gave her a slight look, "That's my boyfriend." I swiftly snatch my phone from her and exit the gallery. "Does he have any single friends?" She leaned up to speak with me. "Uh?" I was completely caught off guard. I didn't really want to tell her about my group of friends. "Well..." "I'm single." Sanji turned around in his seat and gave her his heart eye look. Her face changed to one of disgust, "Um, I'm not really into blondes." The van came to a halt and was thrusted into park, "Alright, Sanji." Marco's voice broke through the awkward tension and we both turned back to the front as Sanji opened the side door. "Okay, I will see you later." Sanji gave a small wave as the two brothers waved back. He gave me a tight hug before leaving another rose, "Where do you keep getting these??" "My secret." He grinned before shutting the door and walking over to Thatch's open window. "Thanks for the help." "Anytime." Sanji pulled out another cigarette, "Do we have work tomorrow?" "No. I think we need a couple of days of rest." Thatch explained before Marco put the van in drive. We all waved at Sanji, again, before Marco joined the very limited traffic.
"So we get Friday off?" I leaned forward in my seat to look at Thatch, who nodded. "It's been a long couple of days." "Awesome!" I grin before pulling out my phone to text Law. I clicked on his name and realized that I had somehow missed a text from him.

Law: a sneak peek for Friday
Received at 1:00 am.
Image attached.

I gave my phone a confused look at how I could have possibly missed this message before I clicked on the image to see what he was talking about.
The attachment opened to reveal Law standing shirtless in front of a mirror, his free hand teasing at the hem of his pants.
I let out a small squeak and flipped my phone over. How dare he send me such a picture! I bit at my lip and glance out at the window, trying to calm my virgin heart. He's such a tease!
I glance back at my phone and slowly turn it over to reveal the picture again. I couldn't help but take in the v-line that he was showing off. It was so glorious as I had never seen so much skin before. Is he suggesting sex? He knows that I haven't done that before. He knows that I want a slow relationship? Would this be rushing?? Well, we have been dating for three years, maybe if he is suggesting sex I should give it a shot? He has been ever so patient with me. Maybe I should reward it.
"Alright, here we are." Marco's voice broke through the silence that had settled over everyone in the van. I glance up to see we were at the house that had been up for sell for a long time. "Oh, that's us." Trudy smiles and shakes awake her sister and her husband. "Come on guys, we're here." The sleepy couple quietly made their way out of the van. "Thanks for everything!" Trudy grinned at all of us before she shut the van door and followed the couple inside. The van pulled down a few houses before stopping outside mine.
"Thanks for the ride." I patted Marco's shoulder before turning to Thatch, who looked like he was trying to fight off sleep. "I'll see you later Boss." He gave a little wave as I exited the van and then made my way to my front door. I can't wait to flop down on my soft bed.