Dont Hate Me. {Student!Portgas D. Ace x Teacher!Reader}

Eleven

500+ views! This is crazy! Thank you so much to everyone who has voted, commented, added this story to their ready lists and has generally read this story this far. I really appreciate it and it motivates me to write.

Now that's out of the way, is it OOC? I'll try and fix it more if so. Please enjoy! P.S. now edited.

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When you woke again, you were in West Blue, around five minutes from your home. Yawning, you shifted a little and heard a fuzzy voice talking in the car. It was the radio. You sat up, rubbing your eyes and focused on the man talking, "-further information that people have on this, please ring at XXXX-XXX-XXX."

"Hm? 'Cuse me, Mr Driver, but what was that about?" You asked, looking at the young man beside you. He sighed and clicked the radio off, ruffling his wavy hair. You watched him, feeling a nagging at your hazy mind. "You have really gorgeous hair, Sir. It looks really silky."

The man paused and coughed, scratching his cheek. It looked a little pink. Aw, is he embarrassed? This cute munchkin of a man is blushing! Man, I just want to hug him~.

"U-Uh, th-thank you." He sat up straighter and took a turn, passing a school. "A-Anyway – it seems there was a break in a couple of streets away from here. Apparently, it's been quite frequent in the last couple of days."

"Oh yeah... I think I heard about that from somewhere," you mumbled, in thought.

The male gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, parking in your driveway.

"Well, this is my stop. Thanks for driving me, Sir! How much?" You thanked, unbuckling your seatbelt and grabbing your wallet. He looked wide-eyed at you and shook his hands.

"N-No, no, no! You don't have to pay me! Remember, I offered to drive you home?" You looked confused for a second before clicking your fingers and giving him a knowing look.

"Oh! I remember now. You were a guy I met...somewhere... sorry, I forgot your name. I thought you were a taxi driver there for a second, haha. I might have drunk too much. Funny how I'm really sober now..." He lightly chuckled, getting out of the car and after coming to your side, he opened the door. "Oh, thank you. That's very nice of you to do." You stepped out of the car but faltered, stumbling a bit.

"Careful now. Easy does it." The driver steadied you, allowing you to lean on his arm while he closed the door and locked the car. You sighed in contempt as the scent of cologne and a fancy soap as it filtrated your nose. "What's wrong?" He asked, sensing an annoyance from you.

"You smell artificial." Being blunt, you carelessly said what was on your mind.

"Wha-really?" He queried, helping you to your porch.

"Hm. It smells really good but it's fake. I don't like it." You hummed, reaching for your keys, a little shaky at the knees. For some reason, even though the smell was fake, it was making your body feel heated. It could just be that you're leaning onto a guy of all things but who knows...

"You don't?"

"Nope. I bet that you smell better without such a prominent cologne. Since it covers up all of your smell, it's like you're wearing a mask." The door unlocked, you entered the home, clicking the light on.

"Some say... I smell like burning wood." You paused to think a little but decided that it didn't matter what you say, you probably wouldn't see this guy again.

"I like the smell of burning wood. It's really calming for me. When I was younger, we had a fireplace at my home. My father would always light it every winter and it used to bring me comfort. Nowadays, whenever I smell burning firewood, I feel really calm and warm. It's a nice feeling."