Dirt Tracks And Lilacs [Ace x OC]

People Change

Ace couldn't help but wonder if maybe he should change his ways. Maybe the drinking was getting a little out of hand; and judging by the woman drawing circles on his arm, he had a big problem.

"Get out." He groaned in frustration. His hand was falling asleep where her head lay.

"Huh? I thought we had a good time!" She questioned, confused by Ace's sudden cold Demeanor.

"You heard me!" He scoffed, trying to pull his arm from under her head. He was cautious not to hurt her. For the first time in a long time, Ace felt disappointed in himself. He knew Sabo would be disappointed in him, too. Especially if he had seen the way he had acted the last few weeks.

She scoffed, throwing on her clothes as quickly as she could before throwing the blanket over his exposed body.

"You're a piece of shit!" She yelled before slamming the door behind her.

"I know." He grumbled, reaching for the phone that was placed on the table beside him.

He quickly punched in a phone number and listened to it ring impatiently.

"You need me to bail you out of jail again or something?" A familiar voice joked through the phone.

Ace stayed quiet.

"Wait, is that really why you called me?" The voice panicked. Ace could hear shuffling from the other end.

"No. I just wanted to talk to my brother." Ace tried to act normal.

"No, I know that tone. What's wrong, Ace?" The voice turned serious as they spoke. Ace could feel the tension building when he stayed quiet for what felt like an eternity.

"Sabo... do you think I deserve to live?" It didn't come out the way he wanted it to, but it summed up the way he was feeling. He wished he had said something more along the lines of 'I'm alright. I'm just thinking a lot,' but that didn't happen.

Ace waited impatiently for the answer to his question. "Well?" He asked more forcefully.

"Of course I do." The voice breathed out. He almost sounded hurt by Ace's question. "You're my brother, Ace. Blood or not!" The upset male scolded. "Ace?" He panicked, not hearing a response from his brother. "Ace?!" He yelled through the phone.

"Thanks for loving a good-for-nothing brother like me," Ace stated profoundly.

"Hey man, you aren't thinking of..." Sabo couldn't bear to finish his own sentence.

"No. The opposite." Ace replied, pulling the pack of cigarettes from his nightstand. "I wanna live for once," Ace smirked, tossing his cigarettes into the garbage can.

"Oh?" Sabo questioned, confused by Ace's sudden change of characters.

"Love you bye," Ace added.

"I... love you too?" Sabo whispered, thinking this was a prank call.

With the push of a button, the phone call was over, and Ace was cleaning up his filthy room. After throwing on a quick outfit, he put the dirty dishes in the kitchen and his dirty clothes in the washer.

And just like that, he decided he would change.

"Ace... what are you doing?" Luffy breathed. Panic laced his words as he watched his elder brother dumping out bottles of booze and throwing them away.

Ace couldn't respond. He was on a mission.

"Ace...?" Luffy tried once again to get his brother's attention, but he was unsuccessful.

Bottle after bottle, the older male refused to stop until everything had been poured down the drain.

Ace froze when Luffys arms wrapped around his waist. It made him feel like maybe he was making the right choice. Ace simply patted his back in an attempt at returning the gesture.

"I missed my big bro." He sniffled, wiping his nose on Ace's shirt. Ace simply rolled his eyes.

A gentle smile had made its way onto his face as he looked down at his dimwitted little brother.

"Yeah, yeah. I got shit to do." Ace gestured for luffy to go away, but luffy stayed waiting for his brother to let him help.

"Alright. Go..." He tried to come up with a task for Luffy, "go switch my laundry while I clean out my car.

"Okay!" He chirped, running towards the laundry room.

Ace headed out towards his car and began emptying all of the bottles and throwing away all of the leftovers he had forgotten. He also tossed his half-smoked pack of Marlboros that where nearly smashed into the cup holder.

He hesitated when he saw the pack of cigarettes in his hand. Every ounce of him wanted to smoke one, and his mind was fuzzy with a craving for nicotine, but he gritted his teeth and tossed them into the trash bag beside his truck.

This task was already proving to be more difficult than he had originally anticipated.

He frowned, feeling defeated by his addiction. He couldn't even last a few hours without craving a cigarette, a bottle of beer, or even a woman in his bed.

"You okay?" Luffy asked, sitting on the grass patch across from Ace, who was sat sideways in the backseat of his car.

"No. I'm not." Ace groaned, holding his head. He wasn't sure what he was trying to accomplish anymore.

"I'm proud of you." Luffy smiled, tying off the trash bag full of garbage. "Dadan is going to be home soon. Go on, get out of here. I'll pretend I pranked her and dumped her booze! Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, trying to earn a smile from his elder brother.

"Alright..." Ace felt weak for the first time in a long time, "helped me load up the trash bags." He sighed, forcing himself back up and into the house to grab bags.

Even knowing his brothers supported him unconditionally, he knew it wouldn't be an easy road to take. He understood he would have to fight himself.

Sooooo yeah. He is very OOC, but this is so indescribably fun to write. Hopefully, you like reading it as much as I enjoy creating it.

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Sleep well! Don't forget your medications! Make sure you've had a glass of water and eaten!