Back with another fanfiction, only this is my first pairing for Ace and Marco. Also my first story with female!Ace. I'm nervous about posting it because I know it has a weak start, and I hope people will stick with it to see that it gets better. It's pure fluffy romance, but with some emotional angst. It's also my first story that is written purely from ONE person's perspective, which is Marco. Rated M for excessive mentions of suicide and depression. Implied sexual content but so brief it probably doesn't even count.

It's been a long time since I wrote a romance, so I hope I'm not too rusty. I've made this one had less chapters, but longer chapters. Please stick with it, it gets really cute. On the side is also Sabo/Koala and very light Luffy/Law. It's a very modern story, with lots of mention of social media, pop-culture, and such. Ace's narcolepsy has an emotional impact later. Lots of Pudding bashing.

Due to the long chapters, if anyone feels they are too long, I may consider shortening them.

Please enjoy~

Marco wasn't at all looking forward to going to the five year high school reunion with two of his brothers. Now that he was famous, he knew many of his old friends and acquaintances would be after being his best friends. It had happened on Facebook, and he'd gone through his friend list, cleaning out the unwanted gold diggers who wanted to use their shared past to demand money.

The only reason he was even going was because Thatch and Izo wanted him to, and he hadn't gotten out of the apartment in awhile. The press had become frenzied after the announcement of his new movie. So, he wore a normal, casual, outfit as he headed inside the building.

It was Christmas break, so the school was empty from students for the returning ones after five long years. Well, long for some and short for others. His graduating class had been small, only a hundred or so, so he remembered many of them. The good and the bad.

He stood awkwardly near the table with food, Thatch pointing out everyone they used to hang out with, wondering where they were in life now, but not asking. Many of them looked quite different, either from losing or gaining weight, changing clothes, or not wearing the heavy makeup as adults anymore.

They both noticed many of the girls hadn't come. Well, the school had been mostly male, so maybe they just didn't want to deal with it as adults. Maybe they didn't forget the whole clothing debacles. Marco couldn't blame them.

He was surprised to see the Vinsmoke triplets, who were rich and their father was a strong political presence. He had always hated them. They were extremely disrespectful to others, especially women. Marco could remember they roofied drinks at high school parties, but never got caught or in trouble because of it.

Marco really wanted to stay clear of them, but with those crowding around him, it was expected they would come over.

"Hey, it's the big-shot celebrity," Niji teased, acting intoxicated despite the fact no alcohol was being served here. Marco just glared down at him, as he was taller. He said nothing, giving him a disgusted look as his presence shooed all of Marco's old classmates away. The man pushed himself up from the wall and walked away from the triplets and to his two brothers, who were having pleasant conversations with one of the vice principals. Marco approached them, ignoring the jeers from Yonji behind him, laughing at stupid things, like Marco's hair. It had changed from high school, but it helped him get his acting career, as he looked very distinguishable with it, though he had had to wear wigs sometimes, but only for the character.

"I wonder where that fat ass mope is," Marco heard Niji comment. It made Marco frown deeply. He wasn't surprised that girl hadn't shown up. Everyone had made that poor girl's life hell. He'd even heard she'd tried to commit suicide at the end of junior year and had been home schooled for senior year. She hadn't come for graduation, though she had gotten the diploma.

Marco remembered Ace well. She was extremely overweight and had acne, which had earned her bullying. It was a horrible sight, and Marco, the immature brat he'd been, hadn't helped her out at all until once near the end of junior year. They were both in a drama class together, and no one wanted to be her partner when it was their own choice. So, he gave up being Izo's partner and decided to volunteer to be Ace's.

It wasn't long after that that she stopped going to school, and no one had seen her since. It was really too bad, because she was a good actor when it was just her and Marco practicing. She was nice, too, if not terribly shy and riddled with anxiety. Marco hoped she was still alive and maybe having a better life than high school had been.

People had crowded around Marco again, though he didn't pay much attention to who they were, or what they were saying, though he was smiling politely. He looked to Thatch, wondering why he'd stopped talking to his old friend, who was also standing speechless.

"What's wrong Thatch?" Marco asked, gently pushing his way through the crowd around him.

"Who is that?" he asked, rudely pointing to the woman who just walked into the room with someone they remembered named Sabo. Marco didn't recognize her at all, though the blond man next to her was indeed familiar. He and Marco had competed with the two highest GPAs in the whole school, though it had been a friendly rivalry.

The woman with shoulder length black hair and splatters of freckles across her nose, cheeks, and shoulders, which were exposed slightly with the wide neck shirt. She and Sabo were at the food table, both going straight for the strawberries, and just standing against it, eating all of them.

The two joked a lot, though Marco didn't catch their conversations. He did see them both glare at the Vinsmokes, though the freckled woman looked at them in cold hate, Sabo was furious, his face bright red as he scowled at them.

The freckled woman looked away from them, as they stared at her like they couldn't tell who she was. She turned to the side, taking a big sip of punch, and then locked eyes with Marco, a grin stretching across her face. Marco's cheeks turned a little red at the smile directed at him. She tapped Sabo's shoulder, probably telling him she'd be right back as she gestured to Marco. Sabo smiled at him, too.

Marco had been friendly with Sabo, but he didn't understand why he would seem so happy to see him. The woman, much shorter than Marco, pushed her way through the crowd until she was standing in front of Marco.

"Hi, Marco. I just wanted to thank you for being nice to me in junior year. It was Mrs. Fennel's drama class, when you were super kind to me. So, thank you for that. And congratulations on your successful career. You always were a good actor," she said with a smile, and turned to walk away.

It took Marco a few seconds to register what she'd said, before he uncharacteristically shouted, "Ace?!" The room went quiet as they all turned to Marco, and then who he was looking at. Ace looked completely different! She'd lost at least 150 pounds, the acne was gone, showing her freckles, and she was wearing flattering clothes instead of the old, cheap stuff she'd wear that was much too big, even for her larger size.

The most different thing, though, was her confidence. She didn't spare a look for anyone as she headed to Sabo, looking like she couldn't feel the weight of everyone's stare. "Alright, I did what I came here for. You in the mood for some chinese food?" Ace asked as she talked with her brother, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they left the room.

"Holy crap, she's hot now," Thatch said in shock. Marco frowned at his words. Thatch had never been mean to Ace, but he had commented on her appearance, and had called her a loser around Marco. Teenagers were stupid, and Marco was sure Thatch wouldn't say things like that anymore. But still, just now talking about her in a nice way only because her appearance had changed?

But, she had become very beautiful. Her braces had made her teeth almost perfect, even if she had a single sharper canine. It was a unique smile, and Marco felt honored she'd given it to him.

-x-

Marco sat at home on his laptop, and typed in "Ace D. Portgas", her full name from the yearbook he'd referenced. He found her on facebook, but also YouTube and Instagram. He checked her Instagram first, and found she had a lot of pictures of her doing what looked like charity work.

She had over fifteen million followers, which impressed Marco. He scrolled down her page and saw some pictures of her, though most were just of her and her dog. It was a small brown terrier and Ace looked like she adored it. There weren't many photos, but she looked genuinely happy in all of them.

He saw in her information that she was a major member of an anti-bullying and mental health support organization, and had also written a best selling children's book. He followed that link and bought it on his kindle to read:

it was about a rose bud that wasn't blooming like all of her fellow rose buds. So it did all I could to make herself bloom, even trying to force the petals open. At the end, the rose was looking in it's reflection and thought that it was beautiful even without being a bloom. they it's petals opened and it was the biggest bloom of all.

Marco smiled at the story. It was a good children's book. He put the device down and turned back to his laptop, following the link to her YouTube channel, under the name FireFistAce. He was surprised by how many subscribers she had, and curiously wandered through her video playlists.

Most of them were her speaking to the camera, with titles like "High School Hell", "Losing Weight Is More Than a Choice", "Suicide", and a handful of light ones, one being titled, "I Swear My Cooking Doesn't Usually Suck Like This".

Marco clicked on that one first, not ready to hear about what she went through during high school through her point of view.

"Hi, everyone. So, last week I posted my confession about my attempt at suicide, so I thought I'd do a happier one this week. By the way, the feedback was amazing, and I'm glad my story helped some of you out. If you ever want to talk about your own problems, feel free to message me on Twitter and we can have a private talk. So, this was a request from my younger brother. He loves food, mostly meat, but he wanted a cake. For no reason, there is no celebration, but I'm going to try. So, if it sets the house on fire, blame my brother." Marco chuckled as she awkwardly made the cake.

"Is it supposed to be this color? Should I add more milk?" Ace wondered aloud, chocolate cake mix on her nose from wiping her face with her arm. "Nah, it'll be fine," she decided, and continued to bake the cake.

"Alright, time to bake it," she said as she put it in the oven. Her kitchen was really nice; Thatch would definitely approve. The video skipped to her pulling cake pans out and just staring at the burned cake.

"...It's not that bad. Besides, Luffy will eat anything." She very clearly was inexperienced with baking, as the frosting on the cake was just horrible. She had collapsed a side of the cake by accident, but just tried using the frosting as glue, which worked a bit.

"Okay, before I show the result, I'd like to show everyone some pictures," she said with a smile as he pulled up Pinterest photos of the worst decorated cakes Marco, and the audience, had ever seen. "Okay, now we can look at mine," Ace mumbled and brought the camera to her disaster. "So, it's not that bad. I really don't want this video to show me as horrible inept at cooking anything. I can make a mean microwaved canned soup. No, I'm just kidding, I cook my own food. You've seen my other videos." Marco chuckled.

She then cut a small piece of the cake out and looked uneasy as she tasted it in front of the camera. She grimaced. Apparently it didn't taste good at all. "Luffy! Your turn!" she shouted. A few seconds later a young man bounded into the room and sat where Ace sat, and inhaled the cake at an alarming pace. "How was it?"

"It was good!" Luffy cheered. Ace sighed and looked at the camera. "Told you he'd eat anything. Wanna do the outro?" she asked her brother, who Marco didn't know existed as he hadn't gone to their high school. Well, at least not when Marco was attending.

"Don't forget to like and subscribe. We really appreciate the feedback given to Ace's videos, and it means a lot to her. If you want, PM me and we can chat one-on-one, anytime. Bye!" and the video stopped.

Marco immediately sent it to Thatch, who would no doubt get a laugh at it. Marco scrolled to her other videos, and clicked on the one called "Suicide". It was a very recent video. He watched nervously, not knowing how he'd feel after watching it.

"Hey, everybody. So, I've talked about my bullying before, in detail, in my video called 'High School Hell'. You don't need to watch it to understand this video, as it is directly related. So, a brief recap: I was obese in high school, and my face was so littered with acne that you couldn't even see my freckles.

"High school has assholes, we all know that. But, in my high school, it was worse. I went to a small high school, on the outskirts of town, so my graduating class was very small, and had shared through junior high, though the bullying really started in high school. A lot of the kids in my class were rich, and my family was not. There were three guys, the meanest people you could ever think of, that mostly made my life hell.

"Because they were the popular kids, and had influence by their father's career status, no one stuck up for me. I was teased a lot for my weight, called a whale a lot. I had guys tease me about being pregnant because I was so fat, but then they added that no, I couldn't be pregnant because no one would have sex with someone as fat as me.

"I wasn't interested in or ready for any sort of relationship, but it did hurt. It was the end of junior year when things hit rock bottom. And I hit rock bottom hard," she said. "There was one guy who was nice to me, in my drama class. He's famous now, but I'm not gonna say his name for privacy reasons. He was nice to me, though it was probably pity, but I was grateful for it." Marco smiled sadly. He hadn't been nice to her out of pity, he'd been nice to her because she deserved it, and was a nice girl.

"But, that didn't stop the oncoming storm after my dog died. He was an unofficial anxiety support dog, since I had crippling anxiety since a young age, and I hadn't been taking medication at that time due to my parents' religious beliefs," Ace said harshly, obviously not having a good relationship with them.

"When ChouChou died, I spiraled out of control. I felt there was nothing to live for, and I turned to alcohol, though that didn't last long. Even if I wanted to drown myself in booze, it just didn't taste good, and I hated the throwing up. Now, I know that depression and alcohol are a deadly mix, and will never be a heavy drinker again, except for wine sometimes. I know, sounds stupid I'd only drink wine, but whatever.

"Anyways, my parents didn't help me much, but my brothers did try. Love you guys. Even so, I decided I'd end it, and kill myself. I was dead serious about it, too. I formed a plan, a stupid one for multiple reasons. I didn't want to hurt, so I couldn't cut myself, but I didn't have access to a gun and I chickened out with the pills. It was a good thing I didn't go that way, because I have no doubt I'd be dead by now.

"I decided to hang myself. I had a ladder, and my house at the time had high rafters, that I tied the rope around. So, I learned how to make the noose knot, but when I was about to do it, I slipped off the ladder at the wrong moment, and landed on the ground, shattering my knee. Obviously, I was unable to get back on the ladder to do what I had wanted to," Ace explained calmly, though she had a sad look on her face. Marco was horrified by the story, but there was more.

"My brother found me then, and knew just by the scene what I was doing. I got rushed to a hospital for my knee and then a mental institution, as in the regular hospital I grabbed a pair of scissors and almost cut my throat. After all, I wanted to die as soon as possible." Marco had trouble continuing watching and listening to her story, but she was brave enough to post it, so he wasn't going to stop watching right in the middle.

"Going to the mental hospital saved me, as I met other people with the same problems, many who had worse lives than I did. I lost my dog and was bullied, but I shouldn't have wanted to die from just that. So, I missed all of senior year, which was good for me, as I didn't get bullied anymore.

"I had no friends to miss, and my brother opted to be homeschooled with me. That year was the year my parents stepped up, so my mom adjusted her job so she could take care of me. Falling off that damn ladder and breaking my leg was what saved me. I even still have the cast. I know that's kind of silly.

"After I got better and graduated, without attending graduation, I started taking better care of myself. I had already lost some weight at the facility, but I dropped seventy more pounds, the healthy way, and my acne cleared up once I finally started washing my face. I became much more confident in myself, and college is honestly so much better than high school, if you focus on the school itself and not partying. Though, to each her own. So, now I'm happy. Sorry it was a downer, but I did put a warning in the beginning. If anyone wants to talk with me in private, find me on Twitter.

"Well, that's all folks. Thanks for watching, and make sure to like and subscribe, as it makes me happy and helps pays the bills and such. Have a nice day!" and she blew a kiss to the camera before turning it off.

Marco was lost in his thoughts for a long time, and going to bed wasn't easy. He hadn't known what Ace was going through, and he wished he had so he could have been her friend, insted of just a classmate he was nice to fucking ONCE.

Ace seemed like a really nice woman. She seemed like she wasn't shallow, was successful and charismatic, along with the fact she had a sense of humor. He wished he could have talked to her more at the reunion, but could see why she had wanted to leave early. After all, people gave her hell those years ago.

-x-

The next morning, Marco had a phone notification from YouTube, as he had subscribed to Ace's channel. Watching it was the first thing he'd done that day, as it was the weekend and he had just finished shooting his newest movie. He was glad to have a break until the talk shows and red carpet screenings came up after the movie was released.

The video was called "High School Reunion". It was relatively short, but then Ace hadn't been there long. Just to thank Marco, eat some strawberries and then leave.

"Hey everybody, so I did it. I went to my high school reunion. People mostly seemed the same to me. Same assholes, same nice guy, same gossipy girls, though this time they were swarming the poor celebrity who just wanted to see his old friends. I talked to him and thanked him for being nice that time. Me and Sabo ate almost all of the strawberries. Such public menaces." Marco chuckled.

"I'm ashamed to say I almost didn't go. didn't want to see the assholes that helped ruin teenage me. Luffy and Sabo talked me into it. But, when I was there, I didn't care about the rich assholes. I just ate some food, thanked someone for their kindness, and then left. It went better than I could hope for, and no one recognized me until the end as I was leaving. I didn't really want to hear everyone saying things like, 'Oh wow, she got hot' or some stupid fat 'jokes'. So, right after, me and Sabo went to our favorite Chinese restaurant. And that was it. I'm glad I went, even though nothing really happened.

"You've probably all seen my before and after pics so it's quite understandable that no one recognized me, and maybe that was a good thing. Anyways, I'll be at Barnes and Noble at three doing the book signings. Bring your kids, I'd love to personally leave them some notes if they want signatures on my book. Bye!"

Once the video was over, Marco got a text from Thatch. He had watched the baking video. She baked the cake for too long and didn't mix it properly. Definitely not a baker lol.

I watched some of her other videos. Makes me feel like crap about what she went through during high school.

:( Yeah, it was pretty mean how everyone treated her. And I feel bad about calling her a loser sometimes...

At least she never heard you say it. She wrote a children's book, it was really sweet. Doing a book signing at the bookstore today.

:0 Are you going?

Maybe. Idk.

OOOOOOHHHHHHH.

Shut up.

-x-

Marco pulled into the book store parking lot in his more conspicuous car, wearing a baseball hat and some sunglasses. He didn't want to cause a problem for Ace and have her book signing overrun by the media and fans.

There was a nice amount of people in the store. It was four now, as he didn't want to get there when it would be the busiest. He put his hands in his jacket pockets and walked through the parking lot to the front doors, and tried his best to blend in. but, that didn't work since he was one of the only men in this area of the store. It was mostly girls of every age and appearance.

Ace was sitting at a desk and signing books, though most of those buying them weren't children. Most likely Ace's fans and followers. She had a bright smile on the whole time, with everyone she talked with. Many times, she'd stand up from the table and take a photo with whoever asked.

Marco couldn't help but feel a little jealous. He didn't have fans like all of these girls. Most of his fans were fans because of his appearance. These girls had an emotional tie to Ace, even if many of them had never met.

In each book she signed, she wrote a long paragraph. It was taking a long time for everyone to get to meet her, but no one seemed impatient. It was the weekend, over winter break, too. Marco smiled when he saw three young girls standing at the table, where Ace was teaching them how to make easy origami flowers out of fliers. The girls' mom was watching with a smile.

Marco discreetly passed the flock and headed towards the Starbucks tucked away in the corner of the store. He drank some tea and was on his phone, waiting for the crowd to die down so he could maybe go say hi to her. He didn't know what else he would say, as Ace probably wouldn't appreciate pity after all these years. Maybe he'd assured her he hadn't been kind out of pity.

Eventually, Ace entered the coffee shop area and ordered an espresso, and waited while looking at all of the shelves' products. Marco watched discreetly from under his baseball cap. When she got her drink, she almost walked right past him. But, then she somehow recognized him.

"Marc?" she asked, understanding he was undercover, and was not going to help get it blown. "Fancy seeing you here…" she said, though she sounded like she had a feeling he was there because she was there.

He choked on his tea, and coughed embarrassingly.

"Are you okay?" she asked in amused concern. He nodded his head. "You are here because I'm here, aren't you?" But she didn't sound upset.

"Ah, yeah. I just wanted to tell you that I wasn't nice to you out of pity. Yeah, I watched some of your videos. They're very well shot," Marco said conversationally. Ace's face grew a bit pink at the mention of her videos, but she shook it off.

"I hope you didn't see my cake one," she replied lightly. Marco smiled.

"That was actually the first one I watched," he said with a chuckle. She put her hand to her face.

She asked if she could sit across from him and did so when he said she could. "Well, then I expect I won't be making a cake for you. Your brother liked to cook, didn't he? Bet he would be embarrassed for me. It was a fail, but at least Luffy ate it," Ace commented conversationally, taking a sip of her drink.

"He thought it was funny," Marco replied truthfully. "You seem very different than in high school. And not just because you lost weight," he said quickly, not wanting to sound like that's all that changed. "You just seem a lot more confident and happy."

Ace smiled and nodded. "Growing up did well for me. Gave me perspective. I'm happy your life since I last saw you has been successful. Though, I wouldn't think it'd be very fun to go out in public in disguise," she teased lightheartedly. He had to give her that one. But, other than that, he wasn't bothered much by the paparazzi and usually went out with no disguise.

"I didn't want to mess up your book signing," he told her truthfully. "I wouldn't like it if someone else's fans ruined something of mine."

"Well, thank you. That was very considerate. So, what did you think of the reunion, see anyone you missed?" Ace asked conversationally, taking a sip of her cooling espresso. Marco thought for a moment.

"Well, a lot of people seemed to have changed, while others didn't at all. You weren't there long, but I can just tell you the Vinsmokes didn't change at all. Not that I think anyone expected them to, honestly," he replied. "I noticed how much Thatch had changed though. How his old friends seemed to have gone down in life. Not trying to be judgemental, but they made some mistakes in life and are paying for them. Too bad, since they were nice enough people. Though, almost everyone in high school is some sort of asshole. Thatch just took his life in a very different direction. He went to college, unlike his friends, and graduated from culinary school."

"I remember he would complain about the food at school being cheap and gross. Don't worry, I wasn't a stalker or anything. When you don't care about yourself, everyone else is much more interesting to pay attention to," Ace assured, not wanting to seem like she watched them all of the time, since Marco knew she didn't.

"Well, you also sat next to him in multiple classes over the years, so I don't think you were a stalker," Marco replied. "He was super surprised by how different you look. Everyone was." Ace shrugged, and said it wasn't surprising.

"I worked hard to change after I was discharged. I don't like my audience thinking they have to be conventionally beautiful to be happy, but I'm not gonna lie and say losing the weight didn't affect me. Especially since I was teased mostly for that, though I wish I hadn't cared so much about what they said, y'know? I'm a bit bummed I didn't get the stereotypical high school experience, with best friend sleepovers and such. But, I have my brothers and a couple good friends I met at the institution. It was a good place to build real friendships," Ace explained. Her drink was soon empty.

Marco admired how truthful and open she was being with her problems. He had thought it was one thing to tell the whole world other than people you know, but Ace seemed unbothered sharing anything about her past issues.

"That's good. Everyone needs friends. Though, my friends were and are mostly my brothers. Izo works with me, making the costumes for my movies," Marco said quietly, so no one would think too hard after hearing that and recognize Marco.

The two talked for over an hour, mostly about things happening in Marco's life, since he had watched videos and was told about Ace's. Marco even openly admitted he was insecure about some of his roles, which surprised both of them, and his face turned red after that.

"Don't worry, I won't tell your secret," Ace said kindly with a bright smile. It was getting later when they both decided to call it a day, since Ace's signing was done as all of the books like been sold out.

She did get stopped by a few girls on their way out, but didn't seem bothered at all, and just waved goodbye to Marco, saying it was nice talking to him. He blushed at the words and walked back to his car with a flaming face, as he heard Ace offer for the girls to go to the cafe to talk.

-x-

Marco drove home, a smile on his face the whole way. He lived in an apartment in the nicer side of town, the second to top floor, as he hadn't wanted a penthouse, even though it was a very nice one. His apartment was beautiful and perfectly furnished, but it didn't seem very warm. It was lonely, even though he tried his best to give it life. He had framed photos of the walls, trinkets from traveling on bookshelves that were full of all genres of books.

He had a comfy couch, one that didn't look like someone rich would have. He went to his kitchen to prepare some dinner, and grinned at remembering Ace's cooking video. He was sure even he could bake a better cake and not destroy it while decorating.

When he was straining the pasta, he got a message from Thatch. Did you go to the book signing?

Marco sighed. If he told Thatch the truth, that he'd talked with Ace for over an hour, he'd be teased mercilessly for liking her, even if they only just talked like old friends. But, he couldn't lie and say he didn't really enjoy it, and was a bit weirded out with how open and honest he was about himself with her, who was really a near stranger, despite going to school together for a couple years.

He would message Thatch back after he ate. Before he messaged his brother back, who was no doubt getting impatient, he went on Twitter to Ace's page, and immediately followed her. She had made a tweet asking for some questions that her fans might want her to address in her next video. Soon, it was bombarded with replies and comments. Ace would be doing a long video tomorrow.

Yeah. She has a lot of fans, Marco messaged back to Thatch. He wasn't surprised when he got a suggestive emoji.

Ooooo. Did you talk to her at all?

Yeah. For a long time. She's really nice. I'm bummed we couldn't have been friends in high school, though she's completely different now. She congratulated you on your success as a cook, and even remembered how much you used to complain about the food back at school.

Oooo… Do you like her?

Shut up. Just because I talk friendly with a woman doesn't mean I instantly like her like that.

Sorry, sorry.

-x-

Marco hadn't really thought about the fact that he suddenly following a new account on Twitter would cause everyone to check her out. He just wanted to follow her stuff, but him doing that had her trending on Twitter the very next day. Marco was glad that, so far, it hadn't gotten her negative attention, like some of his crazy girl fans went after any woman Marco interacted with.

But, as far as Marco knew, no one had recognized him at the bookstore the day before, sitting with Ace and having coffee with her, which he was glad of. She had made a tweet, which he read.

Wow, thank you for the attention everyone. Anyways, if you want to check out more of my videos on YouTube, you can see why MarcoNewgate followed me. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. For this week's video, I'll be taking questions and concerns anyone wants me to talk about. So, leave a question on Twitter and I'll address it in my next video. 3

Marco hoped she could sift easily since she might get a lot of questions about why Marco followed her, who she was, what she "wanted with him". He assumed that wasn't the kinds of questions she welcomed.

It was no longer the weekend, so he went to work, which was just cleaning out set since the movie was done shooting. He was to go vacate his trailer, with the help of Thatch and Izo. When he met up with them at the place, he was prepared for the teasing. Izo eyed him with a knowing face the moment he arrived, which made him frown, but say nothing. Thatch, however, didn't beat around the bush and immediately asked him if he had a date with Ace.

"No, Thatch, I don't have a date with Ace. It wasn't like that, okay? I was curious, so I went to her book signing and we ended up talking for awhile," Marco said with a sigh, knowing Thatch wouldn't drop it, and would most likely pester him about it for awhile and get all of his siblings in on it, too.

"But, you followed her on Twitter," Izo pointed out as he folded clothes from Marco's small closet and put them in bags. Thatch was cleaning out the kitchen nook while Marco was gathering trash and old scripts that were laying across the table.

"And?" he prompted with a sigh.

"You barely follow anyone on Twitter," Izo replied immediately. Marco said nothing, as that was true. "Well, you haven't dated anyone in a long time, so maybe you just don't want anymore relationships," the crossdresser reasoned.

"Relationships with famous people cause drama, and a relationship with someone not famous will ruin their life," Marco replied as he tied a trash bag and set it outside the steps of the trailer. His brothers looked at him sadly. "Don't give me looks of pity, I like my career and life. Just wish I could have some more privacy, also people I like having more privacy."

He was silent the rest of the time, and the trailer was soon spotless and looked like no one had ever had any resident in it. The three then went to lunch, thankfully Thatch and Izo talking about other things. Mostly the reunion and their old friends. Marco tried to pay attention to the conversation, but was more distracted with everything they had said.

Despite having women throw themselves at him for being famous, he hadn't been in a relationship in over two years. His last break up had developed trust issues in him. She had destroyed his life for months after the break up. It had been inevitable, but the fall out had been explosive to say the least.

But, he had to admit, being in a good relationship felt good. It had been awhile for him, not since his first year of college, but she had ended up leaving him for someone else. He was on his phone, and noticed there was a notification on Twitter, which he wasn't used to as he didn't follow anyone active on the platform.

For those wondering about MarcoNewgate following me, we met after five years at a high school reunion. I look much different, so he most likely looked me up curiously and followed after seeing my content. I didn't ask him to. Have a nice day.

Marco was starting to feel bad for following her publicly, but he had a feeling it would annoy her if he were to take pity and unfollow her. She had handled much worse and gotten through it. He had no doubt this wouldn't be a big issue for her, but he was still worried it would cause her trouble.

Marco, Thatch and Izo were at a nondescript Chinese restaurant that was usually pretty empty, so they had no one flocking their table for pictures with Marco. His siblings had gotten used to it, and weren't bothered much by it anymore. It was the price to pay for being a successful actor, and the price of being one's brother.

"C'mon, Marco. Join the conversation," Thatch said. Marco looked up at them.

"Why? All you'll talk about is my nonexistent love life," Marco replied, turning his phone over so they wouldn't see he was looking at Ace's Twitter. Thatch frowned.

"You can't help us wanting you to be happy with someone. You're lonely, if you're not gonna be in a relationship, at least get a dog or cat," the cook replied in slight irritation. "We want you to be happy, be with someone good and kind. So far, Ace seems to fit the bill. I'm not gonna pretend I haven't watched some of her videos. Really, she seems like a nice girl," he insisted.

"I don't want to cause drama for someone nice. Ace is… really pretty. I don't want my crazed fans going after her. Besides, don't you think she's had enough drama in her life?" Marco reasoned. Thatch and Izo frowned. That was true.

"Still, I think you'd be a good couple! After all, you were like, the only nice one to her when she was having troubles," Thatch pointed out. Marco frowned at him.

"I wasn't being nice to her just to hold it up to her. 'Hey, I was nice to you once in high school, why don't you go on a date with me?' How does that sound? Think a lady would be happy with that?" Marco asked shortly. Thatch frowned.

"That's not how I meant it, Marco! I was just saying, it's not like she thinks your a bad guy. And you're not, okay? You're a really nice guy, and we know you'd treat her wonderfully, despite her past or anything she's been through. Besides, she could even help you with your self-esteem problems, right? That's like, her career now. Helping people with their secret problems."

Izo nodded in agreement. Marco just looked down. He didn't want to cause her problems, what didn't they understand about that? "You don't even know if she's single," Marco said.

"She is. Nowhere on her Instagram or Twitter does she say she's in a current relationship," Izo answered immediately. He had done his searching. "Please, just try and contact her or something."

"No," Marco refused. "If she contacts me, then fine, but I'm not gonna go after her. She deserves someone who won't bring her drama or privacy issues," he said in finality. Thatch and Izo both scowled, but didn't press it.

They brought Marco's things back to his home, going around the back way so he wasn't seen by a crowd of fans, as his Twitter situation, which really shouldn't be anything, had gotten journalists and fans wanting to ask him about it. He'd already been approached by some online.

He was shocked to see that Ace had messaged him once he got out of the shower and went to the living room to relax and try to take his mind off of her.

Marco, you don't need to unfollow me due to drama with fans. I appreciate that you followed as it's gotten a lot of positive attention from people, and thank you for liking my stuff. I'm glad it didn't scare you off like it does a lot of people. :) Have a nice night.

Marco groaned. Now he'd be thinking about that all night. But he responded, like the gentleman he was. I was worried that some of my more rabid fans would harass you, but you've been through worse and triumphed. So, I won't unfollow you.

He waited nervously for a reply, wondering if he shouldn't have brought up her old personal life.

I'll be fine. Some fangirls won't be my undoing.

Marco smiled. That's good. Have a nice evening.

Likewise.

The children's story part is a story I wrote in fourth grade. I hope someone enjoyed the chapter and will stick with it. I'm not sure if I'll be posting weekly or every two weeks. I guess it will depend on if anyone wants to continue reading it.