Epals

Chapter 17

Marco POV

We walk back to Ace's house, since it's only 2 blocks away. I'm going to have Perona pick me up later. Entering the house, we are greeted by a group of smiling faces and Ace is shoving them back to the front room to sit down.

"So, you're Marco?" A man with short brown hair grinned up at me, laughing slightly. Ace sighed, pulling an extra chair into the room from the dining area.

"Marco, meet my friends. Luffy there is my younger brother. The young lady next to him is his fiancé Nami. The teenager is Chopper, next to him is Franky. The other young lady is Robin. Afro dude is Brooke, sitting next to him would be Usopp. Zoro is the one with green hair and his boyfriend, Sanji, is in the kitchen getting stuff ready for dinner."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Ace has spoken about you a lot." I heard a small snort escape Zoro, and I smiled when Ace glared over at the man.

"The only thing Ace talks about to us lately is you." Nami grins, a rather strange laugh coming from her. I mentally shivered, wondering if it would be best to not get too close to the woman. Ace sighing made me look back over at him, a bright blush covering his face made a smirk emerge from my lips.

"I'm flattered, Ace. I didn't know you thought of me so often." I laughed as he splutters over his words, before Sanji pokes his head into the room to announce food is ready.

We all sit around the table, and I am rather surprised such a large table could fit in the room. I figured the meal would be slightly awkward with a stranger among the group but surprisingly it was still extremely lively. They made sure to keep me included in the conversations, so it was almost like I had been a part of them from the start. My favorite parts were when Ace would look over at me and smile or blush, even sometimes initiating contact through playful swats with his hand or shoulder. I ended up staying until almost 11 pm and Perona was a little irked at being called so late. She still agreed to pick me up though, so she couldn't have been too upset.

I stood outside with Ace, everyone else staying inside.

"Thank you for today, I had a lot of fun." I grinned over at him, earning a small chuckle.

"I should be the one saying thank you. I haven't had that much fun in a long time. I love my friends, but sometimes it's lonely since almost all of them are in a relationship but me. So, it's nice to finally have someone else I can talk to outside the group."

I gave a small hum, his smile having turned a little sad, "well, Ace, you know how to contact me aside from the emails now that you have my number. So, use it as much as you wish." Perona pulls up in her deep red car after I spoke, opening the door to the passenger side.

"Hey, let's go home, I need my beauty sleep!" I noticed she was still in her bunny covered pajamas. I figured she would have changed so no one would see her not at her best. Mentally shrugging, I turn back to Ace.

"I have to go now. I will talk to you later, and I hope we can do this again soon."

"Of course, goodnight Marco." Ace smiled, and I walked down to the car, waving before Perona drove off.

"So?!" I glanced over at Perona's grinning face, confused.

"What?"

"I want details! Details!"

Rolling my eyes, I smiled, "okay well we met at the Café. He's amazing, really. Seeing him took my breath away, his smile and laugh melted my insides every time. He's so adorable when he sleeps too," I chuckled at the memory of his sleeping face.

She glanced over at me with a knowing look before focusing back on the road, "did you ask him to go out with you yet?"

"Of course not, it's a little too soon for that. It would be better to get to know each other in person just as well as we know each other through words."

Perona simply rolls her eyes, and doesn't say anything else the rest of the way to my house. That night I sleep with a smile on my face.