Modern AU where Luffy and Ace are real!brothers that were separated pretty young. FamilyFic, kind of. Yeah, probably not too much heavy stuff. I just wanted slow-burn fluff, sue me.

EDIT: I LIED I'M SORRY THINGS GET KINDA HEAVY AND DRAMA HAPPENS

the rating on this fic will go up at some point, due to the fact that they actually get to frick-frack at some point so yes, i will be bumping it up to M when the time comes

general fic warnings: incest, freckle-appreciation, slight underage, luffy being cute and adorable as per usual, EXTREME amounts of cuddling and smooching

Twelve years passed since the divorce. Since his mother took him to Portugal and never looked back. Since he'd heard the sound of his father's voice. Since he'd seen the face of his little brother.

Ace wasn't sure if he missed them or not. All he remembered was the sound of crying, and the fierce determination to somehow get back that burned in him for years after he was taken away. Luffy was a distant memory, a teary eyed, lively little kid who was always hanging off Ace's arm. Not a whole lot more came to mind.

The wait at the airport was slightly awkward to say the least. Ace didn't really want to be there. He had better things to do with his time, and at twenty, he wasn't all that interested in getting to know some long lost family members. Sure, he was happy that his mom was happy, but he wished he could stay out of it. Most of all, he wished his father and brother weren't moving back in.

After relocating back to the States with his mother a few years ago, Ace built a life for himself. Made friends, connections, roots. Now, he'd have to navigate around two more people in the house. Great. It was difficult enough keeping his mom out of his activities, now he'd have two more lives to deal with.

He scowled at the board of incoming flights. According to the flashing red letters, the plane that they were waiting for arrived more than twenty minutes ago. Even his mother was getting anxious, wringing her hands together and shooting Ace tiny little glances.

If the old man didn't show, Ace would track him down and kill him himself. He could see how much Rouge wanted this to work. Despite the split all those years ago, she'd never truly gotten over Roger. Ace didn't fully understand it himself, but wondered sometimes what it would be like to lose both the love of your life and one of your sons in one fell swoop. Ace sometimes wondered why he hadn't ended up with his father instead.

Whatever, not like it mattered. What mattered was that the duo were late, and Ace was tempted to just leave. Just as he was about to pitch his idea to his mom, he heard a loud, excitable voice tossed in their direction.

"Moooooooom! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace! Dad, look, there it's them! Hurry – ow! Hey, that, hurt."

Ace turned to find a boy rubbing the back of his head, frowning at someone who Ace had troubling identifying as his father.

"What have I told you about keeping your voice down?" Roger said. Ace stared at them, gaze drawn to the boy that set off a wave of nostalgia somewhere in his chest. Luffy. He looked, well, normal. A red t-shirt, faded blue jeans, and a worn pair of flip-flops. There wasn't anything overtly striking about him, but Ace had the sudden overpowering urge to do something lame, like ruffle his hair or draw him into a hug.

Instead he turned to Roger, but with a smile on his face, the older man had already set his eyes on his mother. They were talking in hushed tones, hands clutching at one another as they ignored everyone else around them. He didn't have much of a choice in turning back to his brother. Luffy had set down his bag, riffling through it to pull out a half empty bag of chips.

He glanced up though, flashing Ace a broad smile and bounding over to thrust out the bag of snacks. Ace took it without thinking, clutching limply at the offering as Luffy let out a little laugh.

"I'm Luffy, but you know that! Dad said I shouldn't, but I really wanna hug you right now, but you look like you might not be okay with that, so I won't." The boy said cheerfully, quite frankly looking like he was going to burst out of his skin in terms of holding himself back.

Ace sighed lightly, realizing that Luffy was bound to be a huge handful. The kid looked like he had more energy than he knew what to do with.

"You can, if you want," Ace offered, words slipping out of their own accord. He definitely did not want to hug his little brother, but the moment the words were out of his mouth, the younger boy launched himself at him. Ace caught him, dropping the chips to wrap one arm around Luffy and stabilize himself against the wall with the other. Ace wasn't slight by any means, but this kid packed some serious force.

"I missed you!" Luffy murmured into his neck, wrapping himself around Ace like some type of vine. He glanced down, catching sight of a beat-up hat dangling down his brother's back on a ratty length of string.

'You don't even know me.' Ace thought, tasting bitterness sharp on the back of his tongue. He couldn't remember the last time someone had been so delighted to see him. It was ironic it would come from someone he could barely remember. The lanky boy stubbornly holding onto him was a far cry from the snot nosed five year old he'd left twelve years ago, but something about him made Ace ache with familiarity.

"Alright, enough, off. I got work in a couple hours and you two gotta get home and unpacked. Mom'll deal with showing you around." He said, gently easing Luffy off of him with a few gentle shoves to his shoulder. The teen detached himself, landing on the linoleum and smiling up at Ace with a nod.

Ace moved to his parents, tapping his mother lightly on the shoulder to get her attention. "Traffic's going to get worse, we should head out while we still can."

She turned to him, eyes damp but smiling broadly. "Of course! We'll just go to the baggage claim and then we'll head out right away." She turned back to the man Ace had trouble recognizing as his father. "Ace has work later! So it's best we leave now and catch up at home."

Roger nodded, offering Ace a slightly strained smile. It wasn't as genuine as the one Ace had seen when the man had spotted his mother, but he was trying. Luffy was beside them in an instant, both bags in hand and rocking on the balls of his feet.

His mouth spread into a grin first, before opening to speak.

"Alright! Let's gooooooooo!"

The ride home was a little strange to say the least. Ace drove and Luffy, predictably, called shotgun, leaving their parents to sit in the backseat. His mother almost protested, but surprisingly Roger interjected, content to sit in the back with her as she pointed out landmarks they passed on the way.

Luffy wouldn't sit still, and it drew all of Ace's attention. The kid was curled up on the seat, hands fiddling with anything he could reach, ranging from the window, to the radio, to the glove compartment box. He tried to pop the lock, but when he came out unsuccessful, he switched to staring at Ace.

It was almost annoying, really. Ace could feel his gaze, but refused to give in and look back. No matter how much he wanted to, he stayed focused on driving while Luffy grinned at him out of the corner of his eye.

He didn't understand why the kid was so fascinated with him. Sure, it'd been a long time, but they looked similar where it counted, he couldn't figure out what there was to stare at. But somehow, without fail, Luffy looked at him for the whole hour it took to drive home, eyes glued to every inch of Ace like he'd disappear if he looked out the goddamned window for a change.

He was grateful that he'd chosen to wear his hoodie, feeling exposed enough as it was without having Luffy's eyes fixated on his tattoos. Surprisingly enough though, Luffy didn't say much, occasionally answering something Rouge would ask but otherwise content to continue his inspection of Ace.

When they got home, everyone helped with the transfer of things. There was a startlingly small amount of luggage for such a permanent move. Five boxes, tops, and for two grown men it seemed ridiculously under packed. Ace wasn't keen on asking questions though, quick to kiss his mother on the cheek and offer a goodbye.

He didn't have to be at work for another few hours, but figured he'd stop off at Marco's for a bit to kill some time. On his way out, though, Luffy was there, hand skimming Ace's wrist for the barest of moments before resting at his side.

"You'll be back, yeah?" He asked. Ace wanted to tell him it was none of his business, but something in the kid's expression stopped him. It was an expression he recognized, suddenly, from far too many years ago. Something that spoke of loss and fear and a tiny bit of hope.

"Yeah, late though so I'll see you tomorrow." Ace said instead, pulling away before he had to stare at the kid any longer. Something about him made Ace want to pull him in and not let go. Fuck these fraternal feelings, honestly.

"Okay, see ya!" Luffy called after him, waving enthusiastically for Ace to see even though he promised himself he wouldn't turn around. The kid was standing there, vibrant grin on his face and looking for all the world like he wanted nothing more than to see Ace again.

Ah shit, this was going to be so bad.

"So? What's he like? What's he look like? Do you have a picture?"

Ace shot Thatch a sharp look, shrugging before burrowing his face back into the magazine he'd rescued off Marco's shelf. He was seated on the floor, leaning back against the edge of the bed as the crew tossed question after question at him.

"No, idiot, I don't have a picture. He's seventeen, kinda short, thin, tan, can't sit still and has a bad scar right here," Ace said, pointing just under his left eye and lowering the magazine to see Vista smiling at him.

"Is he cute?" Vista asked, because of course that's what he would want to know. Ace couldn't help but scowl, tossing the magazine in the man's direction.

"Dunno, he's got this eager puppy thing going for him. Looks like he might be too much to deal with. Don't want to be around him all that much, to be honest. I get this weird responsibility vibe whenever I look at him, like I gotta be the one to handle him, you know?" Ace answered honestly, knowing the crew would be expecting nothing less from him.

Marco dropped down into the space beside him, offering Ace something of a serene smile. "Being a big brother isn't that hard. We've trained lots of recruits, a lot of the boys here look up to you. I'm sure it'll be the same with him." Marco said, always the most reasonable one of them all.

Ace made a frustrated noise, standing up only to throw himself face down on Marco's bed, narrowly missing Thatch. "I don't want it to be the same with him. I don't want to be a big brother." He mumbled into the pillow, rolling over to stare at the far wall. Marco's head appeared on the edge of the bed, giving him an exasperated look.

"He's your responsibility now, Ace, whether you like it or not." Marco reprimanded.

Ace groaned, shoving the man away and swinging himself upright. "He's seventeen, he doesn't need a big brother and he is not my responsibility." With a look at the clock, Ace began making for the door. It was almost time to start work anyway and he didn't want to be late. Whitebeard was always amused when Ace managed to show up late. Never mad, but always ready to tease him for not being on time.

"And I swear if I find any of you hanging around the house trying to catch sight of him I'll punch your teeth in, got it?" Ace called over his shoulder, earning himself a collection of laughter from the guys scattered around the room. It was hard enough keeping this life separate, it'd be even worse if Luffy caught sight of any of them.

The kid seemed damned curious, and Ace would bet a month's wages that if one of the guys showed up, Luffy wouldn't just pass the whole encounter off.

If anything, Ace might just have to show them a picture so they wouldn't stick their noses where they didn't belong.

Forget it, he'd deal with it when he got home. There's no way he was about to spend an entire night thinking about the kid, especially not while he was working; there were some things in Ace's life that he hated mixing. Family and the Whitebeard gang were definitely two of those things.

i feel bad for ace because he doesn't even realize how hard he's gonna fall for his baby brother
ANYWAY yeah that boy is clearly into some shady as heck business
comments? concerns? expectations? anything is appreciated

-oumriel