Once Bitten, Twice Shy [[Kid X Reader X Ace]]

Time Marches On

Two months passed by since that night. Nothing was really the same anymore.

He didn't stay.

Flashback:

"Stay"

"What?," he blurted

You looked up at him for a brief moment then quickly burrowed your face into his chest before almost pleadingly saying, "Stay. Please." You tugged on his shirt with your small hands. There was silence throughout the living room for what seemed like forever, until you felt his hand lightly grab your chin, pulling your eyes to meet his. His eyes had a glow to them that made you somewhat nervous, but not in a bad way. You quickly averted your gaze when you felt a tear slide down your cheek.

You pushed yourself back from him and wiped your face with the back of our hand. "Are you not going to answer me?" You asked.

Kid just stood there, looking at you, attitude completely changed from when he had first gotten there and couldn't keep his hands off of you. Now, he was just standing there looking confused over one word.

"Kid?"

Hearing his name seemed to snap him out of it as he blinked a few times, eyes no longer glowing. Then he said the words that made your heart fall out your asshole. "I need to go think about this." Was all he said as he backed toward the door and let himself out. You just stood there in shock.

End flashback

You'd really become quite the shut in. You travelled more for work to try and get your mind off of everything, but once you were home, you ducked and dodged everyone. It had gotten to the point where you were contemplating moving away, but that would be taking your self-loathing to the extreme. You couldn't punish them like that. You were feeling about as big as a dust mite.

"You did it to yourself" was almost a daily mantra. Your lust got the better of you and made you into a fucking fool, then you fucking cried. IN. FRONT. OF. HIM! You facepalmed yourself just thinking about it. You've always felt crying is weakness and Kid is definitely a dominating alpha, surely he thought you weak now because you couldn't recall ever letting him see you cry while you were together. And now you were begging and crying in front of him? "I'd ditch me too."

Your phone began vibrating. You sighed and pulled the device closer to you to reject the call when you caught a glimpse of the caller ID. It was him. You immediately dropped your phone and stood up trying to make space between you and the call. You waited for the buzzing to stop before you decided to get closer and pick it up. It buzzed once more in your hand. A text message?

Kid: Time to talk. Meet me at 10pm at Dragon's Head.

'What the fuck am I supposed to do now?' You thought to yourself. It was almost seven now. You could go and see what all he had to say, you didn't know what you could say. He was the one who said he had to go think about it or whatever. Ugh, okay, fine. Get it together, y/n. You can do this. You were nervous as hell, but fuck it, if this was the only way that you could feel better about things, then so be it. Closure is a vey real thing.

You got to the Dragon's Head by 9:30...early as usual, but you had gotten ready in record time and were too anxious to actually stay at home and wait so you decided to get there sooner, find a dark booth and order a drink or three before he got there. You left your hair down but added some product for flexible styling, then you put on a white t-shirt with your favorite black leather jacket that had a a hoodie built in (it was late January and still cold), your favorite black skinny jeans and your black leather booties.

The moment you stepped your foot in the door it was awkward. You pulled your hood down further and made a quick side step to one of the booths. Why did he have to pick Dragon's Head? This is Sabo's bar. Fuckin' twit. Soon enough a waitress came by and you ordered three shots of whisky. You paid up front and a few minutes later she was back. After she left, you downed the first shot and scanned the room. You saw a familiar blue across the bustling the room, and when you stared a bit harder you nearly hurled. You curled your lip and looked away while taking the second shot of whisky after realizing what you had just seen. Ace devouring Vivi's face...'dear Lord, that's not PDA that's just plain indecent.' You thought to yourself as you continued to scan the room.

As you were picking up the third shot and bringing it to your lips you locked eyes with someone in a booth directly across the room from you. They were gold. You squinted harder to get better definition because they were pretty well shadowed. You could've sworn their eyes let off a glow but that could've been the haze from the bar itself. As you continued to stare, your view became blocked when a familiar redhead walked through the door with a blonde in tow. You got your phone out and texted the redhead.

YOU: booth on left. In the back.

You saw him look at his phone then look in your direction. You held up your shot as acknowledgement before taking it back and waving the waitress down.

As they walked over to you, you placed the orders for all three of you and paid upfront again. Kid sat down across from you and Killer right beside him. A minute or two later the waitress stopped by and dropped off the drinks and then handed you your money back. For both orders. "Wait, why are you giving me my money back?" You questioned. She smiled sweetly and leaned a hand onto yours, "Sabo said its on the house and that he's glad you're at least out of your house now." You looked back over to the bar and saw the dapper blonde smile at you and wink. You raised a shot to him and took it back. "Then consider it a tip from me to you. And no arguments." You said while putting the money back in the girls hands. She blushed and walked away silently tucking the money away in her apron.

You turned back towards Kid and Killer, pushing the two mugs of beer towards them and keeping your two shots to yourself. You still felt those eyes on you but you needed to focus on the present situation at hand. You felt like the four shots prior had loosened you up a bit, so you were the one to break the tension while the other two were taking swigs.

"So. Let's talk."

Pic source:     Eustass Captain Kid
https://uhdpixel.com/wall/eustass-captain-kid-one-piece-4k-b2356/