You tried to shoot your shot with Ace. Okay, maybe you did annoy the crap out of him when you first joined the crew. Some girl who thinks she can play pirate; Ace didn’t know what Whitebeard was thinking when he let you officially join. You knew what he thought about you, mostly because everyone thought the same thing, but he just made it much more apparent. Being Whitebeard’s daughter wasn’t the easiest title, but you could grin and bear it.

But Ace was just so dreamy. You could stare at him for hours just to watch how his muscles flexed and how his hat shaded his eyes so perfectly that his smile stood out in the sun. You didn’t hide how you felt, but after months of trying, you decided to move on.

A seaside village that allied with Whitebeard let the crew rest in their city for a couple months. You met a guy, seemed sweet and funny, and you actually considered something with him.

The first time you brought him to the ship was enough of a cause for celebration. With his hand around your waist, you introduced him to everyone with a giddy smile, happy to show off the man you were seeing.

Eventually, you had to face your fears of introducing him to the same group Ace was in. The whole time you were with this guy, You could sense eyes on you, and it happened to be the same ones beneath the hat.

But Ace shook his hand nonetheless, giving him a forced smile before slipping away to grab another drink. You didn’t think anything of it. After all, Ace made it clear he wasn’t interested, and never will be.

As the night went on, you were quick to mingle, more than tipsy as you sloppily kissed your guy before making a beeline straight to the finger foods. In the mean time, this guy must’ve thought he was hot shit, because he actually struck up a conversation with Ace.

Now, Ace knew you were dumb, but this guy made him wonder if you were a literal idiot. He was smug, cocky, clearly lacked any character other than talking about how cool he was.

“Well, ain’t I lucky, huh?”

Ace peered over at him and straightened out against the ship’s railing, taking a sip of his beer as he hummed. “Lucky’s a strong word.” He quipped, his eyes darting to you across the deck. You migrated to the center of the deck, body swaying to the musicians aboard.

“…God, can’t wait to see that tonight. She won’t even remember what happened.”

For the first time, Ace’s body ran cold as he paused in his movements, slowly turning his head towards him with a disgusted look.

“Hey man, she’s pretty drunk, I doubt she’d—“ Ace tried to shut it down, but he could just see it on this guy’s face. His eyes were glued to you, his legs crossed, and his mouth practically watering. And it clicked in Ace’s head:

This guy was absolute scum.

Ace lifted himself off the railing, scoffing and parting his lips to speak.

“Bangin’ that bitch would be a treat, yeah?”

Ace chuckled, set his beer down on the railing, and wasted no time.

A group of men quickly erupted in shouts as you sobered up in an instant, forcing your way to the center. Immediately, Ace’s eyes met yours, shielded from the ship’s night lights by his hat and his fist clenched around your man’s collar. The damage was already done, and he knocked out after a single punch to the face.

Ace didn’t even give you the chance to speak before he let the guy fall on the ground, and pushed passed you without a word.