LET ME PROTECT YOU [Ace X fem! reader]

Chapter 14 // An ordinary day

You're greeted awake by the muttering of strangers outside your window as the morning transitions into noon. A fresh gust of wind — carrying the scent of the remaining herbs and spices still lingering in the air from the festival — flows from the giant hole in your window into the empty apartment, sending a shiver down you spine. You blindly grab after your glass on the rugged nightstand and let the lukewarm water run down your rusty throat while the tired sun peeks through the curtains, forcing your heavy eyes to open. Across the room, past the specs of dust dancing in the bright beams of light, you spot a neatly folded blanket, still smelling like a cozy campfire bristling under the glistening night sky. It's rested on the wooden chair beside the broken window in the stead of the freckled individual who was snoozing there just a few hours ago.

Ace had disappeared into the cold night while you were out, without a word and like he never even was here in the first place. The only thing he left behind of him to welcome you when you silently lurked back from your patrol is the fiery aura embedded onto every thread of fabric he was near and still continuing to gently seep deeper into the walls of the room. Not a single other reminder, proving is existence, is to be seen.

You hate to admit it, but the fact that he's gone bothers you more than you'd like. Even the small remains of him, invisible to the eye, takes up too much space in your mind. If anyone else had left you in the dirt like this, it would've never even crossed your mind to spare them a thought, let alone, worry about them. But for some reason you expected more from him. You thought he would be different than the other pirates you've encountered. 

It's not like you had high expectations it either. You know when to give up lost causes. For example, you knew for a fact that his broke ass was never going to pay back his 'debt' to you. And you've already accepted that there's no way he'll actually ever take you to Wano, whether you wanted it or not. However, after everything you've done, you were under the impression that he would at least have the decency to give you a proper goodbye... Guess you were wrong.

With a heavy sigh, you scramble out of bed and let your eyes wander, deliberately avoiding the corner with the blanket and chair, until they stumble back to a bright red dot on your freshly washed bedspread. You let out another frustrated groan and make your way to the bathroom, dragging the heavy sheets over your shoulder as well as the closest change of clothes you can find within an arms-reach. Despite the inconvenience it brings, you're still taken by surprise each time your period returns. It always comes back when you least expect it — or least need it — and you're never ready to face how another month of your life went by just like that.

Hurling the stained blanket into the slowly expanding hill of laundry, you catch a glimpse of your own reflection in the mirror. You frown upon noticing that the dark bags under your eyes have only grown larger these past days. They make it all too easy to tell how you haven't gotten nearly enough sleep to compensate for all the trouble that's been on your mind recently. You quickly splash away those worries with a wave of ice-cold water and slip into the old, brown, cargo shorts you brought with you and unsuccessfully try to scrub away the stains on the white tank top before accepting your fate and settling on that to be your outfit. 

After refilling your glass with cold water, you slouch down in the chair beside the — still very broken — window and let both your mind and eyes wander outside, past the comfort of your own walls. The warm sun, caressing your face, shines lower than you expected, stretching the shadows of the meandering townspeople as tall as the very houses they live under. Despite your wishes, your gaze does not have the time to reside on its traipsing subjects for too long. It's forced to quickly jump from one human to another, barely managing to scan their character and demeanor before the person forever disappear behind the clamouring horde of ordinary people, continuing with their ordinary day, doing ordinary stuff.