Tick Tock [Portgas D. Ace/Sabo Fan Fic]

Breathless

Disclaimer: I do not own OP or any of the characters involved.

Three months now, the time blurring together like a faded picture, smudged at the edges and worn away. The effects were becoming more noticeable, harder to hide. He had lost weight, and it wasn't for lack of trying. Really, he tired to eat, desperately attempted to meet that same bottomless stomach that his brothers were so capable of. The stench alone often had his stomach churning though, his lack of appetite becoming more and more apparent as their meals together continued. Of course he would pass it off as lingering effects of a cold, or slipping a small lie through the air, acting as if he had already eaten earlier and simply wasn't hungry yet.

It wasn't just that either. Exhaustion dragged at him, a near constant fatigue. It was starting to get in the way of his work, finding himself incapable of focussing for long periods of time. Sleep itself was difficult as it was already, the song of a siren calling him to his demise, a darkness where nightmares lurked and fear ruled with an iron fist. He couldn't avoid it completely. Even with Sabo there most nights, arms wrapping around his waist and his even breathing to aide him, it was becoming more difficult to rest easily and the lack of sleep was beginning to have it's own drain on him.

Luffy never pried and it was a blessing in itself. Even then though, he would occasionally catch the younger boy watching him, hating those rare glimpses of seriousness that would rest in his gaze, questions unvoiced but still there. He could feel the other's eyes on him like a brand against his skin, well aware of how strained some of his younger brother's smiles seemed now and how he wasn't going out as often with his friends, instead making up excuses to linger around the apartment more, around Ace more. Well, at least he was subtle about it.

Sabo was another matter entirely.

It had started off with small things, the blond offering to cook which he never did, and for good reason too. Of course those offers were turned down as soon as they rose, both Ace and Luffy preferring to eat food that didn't appear as if it had rest at the bottom of the over for a month before crawling out and settling onto a plate. The gestures didn't end there though, not that Ace would have even expected them to by this point. No, it was anything from a more expressed interest in his paintings to insisting to go with the raven whenever he went out as well. Sure, he played it off as simple boredom or true interest, but Ace wasn't stupid, not when it came to Sabo.

The more time that passed, the more evident it was that his efforts to keep everything hidden were not going completely unnoticed.

It was, well... terrifying.

And then there were the doctor visits.

Starting in his second month after the initial prognosis, they began requesting that he come in for regular checkups just as a means of tracking the spread of the cancer as best as possible. It was too late for anything to really be done; they all knew that. It still didn't stop the tests though and it was one of the only ways in which Ace could keep tabs as well, always hesitant to ask for a more detailed life expectancy, but asking nonetheless.

He repeatedly told himself that he was going just so that he would have a better awareness, a better estimate of time so that he wouldn't be caught unaware. If he was being completely honest though, a part of the reason was just to escape the apartment a little bit, to get away from the only real family he had and the almost painful expressions of concern that were being shown to him each and every day.

Only problem was, it was becoming increasingly more difficult to get to these checkups.

The first time he had a coughing fit while he was riding his motorcycle he nearly crashed, unable to properly stifle them with a proper helmet on. In the end, he was forced to pull over, not even capable of properly parking his bike before he bent like a bow and leaned against the edge of the interstate. The cars blurred before him for a moment, only keeping himself upright and conscious out of sheer force of will when his hand came back stained in that same damning shade of deep red.