Crazy In Love | Buggy

t h i r t y e i g h t

The first shop that we went to was bigger than any of the buildings had been in my town. It was incredible. The amount of clothes seemed almost daunting. I wasn't sure where I should start.

I wondered around, feeling Buggy walking close behind me. He wasn't willing to leave my side even for a minute.

"How about this?" Buggy suddenly asked, pulling a dress from the shelf.

It was gorgeous, I couldn't deny that. It was a deep red colour, it looked like it'd come down to my ankles. The thing that put me off of it was the plunging neckline and thin straps.

I smiled at him. "Out of everything, you pick the revealing dress?"

"It's not that revealing," He argued. "You should try it on. I'd like to see you in it at least once."

I could feel myself blush at that. "Okay," I agreed, taking the dress and putting it in my shopping basket. "I need some everyday clothes, too."

We walked around, each grabbing stuff and shoving it into the basket. I could also feel the eyes of the employees on us. They seemed too scared to approach us, though.

Part of me preferred it like this. I didn't know anything about clothes, I'd feel awkward having the shopping assistants follow us about.

After about an hour of digging through clothes, it was time to try some on. The changing rooms were gendered, but we both headed into the women's ones. Nobody else was in here anyway, and the assistants didn't dare argue with us about it.

Buggy sat down on the tiny stool outside of the changing room. He looked a bit ridiculous on it.

"Let me see everything," He told me. "I want to know what I'm buying."

I didn't argue. The first thing I tried on was that red dress that he had picked out for me. The minute I caught my reflection in the mirror, I knew I had to have it.

It hugged me in all the right spots. It made my figure look absolutely amazing. The colour also complimented my skin tone perfectly.

When I pulled back the curtain for Buggy to see, the look that spread his face was priceless. His painted red lips stretched up into a big grin, his eyes glistened. No man had ever looked at me like that before.

"You look..."

I waited for him to finish, but it seemed like he was speechless. "Good?"

"Good doesn't begin to describe what you look like."

It was moments like this that made me second guess my decision to make us just friends. When he was this soft, it was possible to see him as more than friends. I had to remind myself that I was still his hostage and that he was still a killer.

Over the next hour or so, I tried on the rest of the clothes. Some were definite nos, and many were definite yes'.

It was a mixture of fancy clothing, everyday outfits and some pajamas. This shop had almost everything one could dream of in it.

The last dress I tried on, a far less fancy dress, had a zip up the back that I couldn't quite reach. Stepping out of the changing room, I asked Buggy to zip it up for me.

He took off his gloves, saying that it would be easier with them off. When he went to grab the zip, I felt shivers shoot up my spine at the feeling of his skin against mine.

Even such a small touch, made me feel weak. I did my best not to react. The last thing I wanted was for him to know just how badly I wanted him.

"There," He finally said softly.

When I turned around, he took a good look at me. I hoped for some big reaction, but I guess after trying on so many different things, he had nothing left to say.

"Well?"

"I like it. Get it."

I just nodded, asked if he could undo the zip and, once he had, I headed back into the changing room to get back on my original clothes. I say my clothes but they were actually Buggy's. I was going to miss wearing his clothes.

At the shop till, the tension was high. None of the servers dared to look either me or Buggy in the eyes. It felt weird having people be so scared of me. I didn't like it.

When we had first walked up, they seemed to even argue over who would have to serve us. In the end, a young women, maybe around my age, lost, and had to serve us.

Trying to dilute some of the tension, I told the server "I like your necklace."

She finally met my eyes. Hers looked petrified. "Do... d-o you want i-it?"

"What?" I asked, shocked. "No, I just meant that I like it. I was just complimenting you."

"Oh... thank you," she basically whispered.

Damn, so much for diluting the tension.

Buggy smiled at me. "You should take the necklace if you like it."

He was clearly getting some pleasure out of this entire situation. What element was pleading him, I wasn't sure. Was it just him enjoying the fear that these people felt towards us? Or was it the idea that I was somehow more like him now?

"It isn't mine to take."

"Anything can be yours to take," Buggy said through a sigh. "That's how the world works."

"It shouldn't."

"And yet it does."

He was right, of course. Pirates took what they wanted all the time. Our world had become full of them after the announcement of the one piece. I wondered if there were any other nice pirates out there - other than the ones who had used our town as their stronghold.

"That will be one hundred thousand berries," the cashier said nervously. She probably wondered if he'd really pay it or if we'd just end up stealing it.

"That's a lot. We could leave some stuff -"

"-I could ask my manager about a discount."

She sounded scared. I didn't want her thinking that I was trying to force the price lower.

Before I could speak, Buggy did. "It isn't that much. I've spent more on food before."

He was so nonchalant. That amount of Berry was life changing to some and, to him, it was nothing. I didn't complain because he was doing me a favour here.

Buggy took out the bag of Berry, counting it for a moment and then sweetly said to the assistant, "There's a little extra in there, too. Call it a tip."

She smiled genuinely, and clearly she was shocked. A tip was the last thing anyone expected off a pirate. She took the Berry, and Buggy picked up all our bags.

"I could carry some -"

"No," He declared sternly. "I'm a gentleman, Betty."

"Sure," I said, rolling my eyes but smiling to myself like an idiot.

"Thank you for visiting our shop," the server told us suddenly. Then, making direct eye contact with me, said, "I got my necklace from that jewellery shop across the way. If you want to try and find one for yourself."

I gave her my warmest smile. "Thank you. I'll have a look."

With that, we were off.

🤡

hey im curious - what is everyone dressing up as for Halloween? I'm going as a pirate!

I bought the hat and sword today - struggling to find the actual outfit but I'll find something! one piece was definitely an influence in this decision!

reads: 44.2k
published 14th October 2023