LET ME PROTECT YOU [Ace x fem reader]

Chapter 2 // First meeting

You arrive out of breath beside the unconscious man. As you stand over him you look around to get a grasp of the situation. The first thing you notice about him is the giant tattoo on his bare back, facing you. It is a cross made of purple bones with a very familiar white-mustached skull in the middle. You can't really put where you've seen it before, but you know what it symbolizes.

"He's a pirate," you sigh.

The second thing you notice is how badly hurt he is. He has scratches and bruises everywhere, even some deeper cuts around the shoulder area with stiffened blood around it. Those are sword cuts, so he must've been in a recent fight. Contemplating what to do about the mysterious, dark-haired man, you decide you cannot just leave him there to die. He might be a pirate, but he has not done any harm to your village and is currently a person in need. You sigh once more and crouch down beside him.

You see he has a sword on him, so you decide to take some precautions before giving him first aid. Turning him on his back, you take the long blade he has attached to his black cargo shorts and put it on your hip beside your own sword. Then you pat down his pockets searching for any more weapons, but can't find any.

Moving on you to the actual first aid, you put two fingers on his neck to check his pulse. His skin feels cold on your warm hands, but you can feel his heart beating. You breathe out a sigh of relief. He is still alive. That's when you notice some familiar red beads around his neck. You sigh again, this time in disappointment, as you take off your brand new orange hat and put it beside him realizing it must be his.

"I really liked that hat..."

Your gaze wanders up to his face, which is covered by dark, soaked locks reaching down to his chin. You brush them away to reveal two closed eyes and a face filled with freckles and cuts scattered all over. You let your eyes rest on his face for a bit. You tilt your head as you realize you find the man quite handsome for someone who just got lumped onto a beach. Your gaze travels further down to his chapped, blue lips. They were slightly open, allowing room for air to travel through... which it wasn't at the moment. Wide eyed you immediately turn to look at his bare chest only to find out that it is not moving.

Without a second to lose you quickly start doing chest compressions. How didn't you notice he wasn't breathing sooner? You're ashamed to admit it, but you were too busy studying his features to notice his life threatening situation. But to be fair who wouldn't be a bit distracted? If you randomly stumble upon a person washed up onto the shore of your home island, it's only natural to be curious. Right?

With a slightly redder face you continue doing the compressions and to your surprise the man starts coughing and spitting out the seawater in his lungs way sooner than you expected. You stop doing the chest compressions while he slowly sits up, still choking and shivering. Relieved that he is alive, you realize you don't really know what to do next. This is the fastest you've ever seen anyone wake up after drowning... Amid your confusion, you decide that the most natural thing to do, was to pat him on the back. The man, still coughing, slowly turns around to stare at you with his deep brown eyes.

"what the fuck," he says to you in between choking.

Taken aback by his very valid, but still rude, response you can't help but cringe a bit at yourself and feel offended as he continues coughing and spitting out water.

"Not even a thanks..." you mumble back.

Then you hear a bush rustle from the forest behind you. Both you and the man quickly turn around facing the sound.

"Stay back. I got this," you tell him as you stand up in front of him.

"No... *COUGH*, I can- fight..." he says while trying to stand up as well, only to fail and fall down on all four, coughing even harder and spitting out more water. Umm ok. Not removing your eyes from the direction of the rustling sound you shoo him behind you.