WARNING: Mentions of self-harm.
Changes: Genre changed from Friendship & Drama to Friendship & Hurt and Comfort
Nami woke before dawn to use the restroom. She blinked at her surroundings and remembered right away how she had fallen asleep and dreaded the thought of moving.
His hold on her was a light one and Nami used it to her advantage to sneak away, half expecting the headache that followed.
She groaned and brewed a cup of coffee afterwards, gulping it in seconds to slip beside Luffy once more. Unfortunately, he was awake. Stirred by the strong smell of coffee no doubt.
"You're up."
"Sorry to wake you, Luffy."
She wished he would wrap his arms around her just the same but Luffy had brighter ideas.
"Morning," he said, rubbing his eyes and he stopped upon seeing that it was still pitch dark outside.
"What time is it?" he asked.
The digital clock marked 4:50 am and Luffy moved to stand.
Nami made a face and huffed to herself wishing he'd come back.
"Let's go," he said and before Nami could question it, a couple of minutes after, they found themselves on the beach.
"You wanted to watch the sunrise, didn't you?"
Nami, still hungover was battling to keep alert. She did want to but not like this with the headache and all, but decided to make the most out of it. It was sweet alone that Luffy remembered.
"Are you okay?"
"Trying to be. But I'll be okay."
Luffy found a spot and together they sat and waited in silence. She rested her head on his arm and closed her eyes when his head came to rest on hers.
It was almost romantic. Almost.
Minus the growls in both their bellies that made them giggle and groan. Not to mention the itchy sand beneath them. They regretted not bringing some snacks and a blanket.
When it happened, it wasn't as exciting as they thought but it did turn out beautiful.
"Let's go swimming."
Nami laughed at the supposed joke but shut away her giggles when Luffy discarded his shirt and bottoms and she blushed at the sight of him standing like an idiot in just his boxer shorts.
"You can't be serious."
He took off without her and without thinking, Nami stripped down to her bra and underwear and plunged into the water's blue.
When she resurfaced, it didn't take long to spot Luffy drowning some distance away and like some sick joke, his hand was the last to sink and she swam over and grabbed him by the arms and steadied them both on their feet.
The water was shallow. Met them both barely above their shoulders.
"Idiot."
He may have ventured farther than he usually would have. All in the name of impressing her, no doubt but failed miserably.
Luffy grinned wide and bright, competing with the overhanging sun now above them.
Smitten, Nami caressed his face and her heart fluttered gently when he leaned his head in her palm with a snicker.
"What am I going to do with you, Luffy?"
He shrugged eliciting a smile from his best friend and Nami wrapped arms around him and closed her eyes at the feel of his arms surrounding her.
"So dating, huh?"
With furrowed brows, Nami stared back at the object of her desires. Arms never leaving his shoulders.
"I want more than anything to see you happy, Nami. To see you taken care of."
"So what do you think I should do? What will you do?
"I don't just want anyone."
"Exactly. So remember what we agreed on?"
"No jerks?"
"No jerks. Okay?"
"...Okay."
Nami swallowed a lump in her throat.
"And as for what I'll do... I'll be there for you like always, Nami. As long as you need me to."
Nami sucked in her bottom lip to stop its quivering.
"Okay. Thanks, Luffy."
"Any time."
Nami then stepped away and Luffy reached for her hand only to grasp at nothing.
A swim. Before she took off, she drove a wave of water in his face and playfully laughed it off but her smile didn't reach her eyes.
She swam on but no matter how hard he called out to her, she kept on going farther and farther away not turning around once to look at him.
In an instant, Luffy saw a glimpse of his future and he hated every bit of it but it was what he allowed based on his self-limited abilities. If he could swim, he could easily go after her. If he was in a better place, he could well take care of her and give her everything she wanted and more. And he allowed it.
He allowed it.
When he saw her again, he was on the shore sitting in wait, long dressed and watched her come out of the water and with eyes straight ahead, waited for her to get dressed with reddened eyes which she blamed easily on the salt.
When she suggested they start heading back, she didn't reach for his hand and he didn't reach for hers.
Something had unknowingly changed between them and Luffy had a gist of what exactly was going on. This was only the beginning.
"Can I say something, Luffy?"
They stopped walking altogether.
"Sure."
Before a word can be said, an uninvited guest appeared. You guys may remember her from the previous chapter.
"Luffy?"
At the sight of his smile, Nami lost all confidence.
"Carrot! Long time no see!"
"We met only last night, Luffy."
"Oh, right. Anyway, this is Nami- my best friend. Nami, this is Carrot."
Nami turned to the shorter girl with a smile on her face, she wanted to disappear but kept her cool. One thing her mother taught her was to have manners. She ought to do her proud.
Nami held out her hand and Carrot waited a second too long to take it.
"It's nice to meet you."
Carrot blushed and stammered.
"Likewise," she said before pressing Luffy's shoulder down to whisper in his ear.
"She's very pretty."
Luffy snickered and nodded his head in agreement.
Nami for one did not appreciate the contact. Did not hear what was said but Carrot's familiarity was enough to put her on edge. But she shooed those thoughts away.
Luffy was not hers and was never hers, to begin with. She accepted that. Needed to accept that.
"How long have you two known each other?"
Carrot looked back and forth between them blinking when Nami stepped forward to have a word with Luffy. She looked him in the eyes in a way that made Carrot blush. It was like a scene from a movie. A lover's gaze, a tender hold of the eyes.
"Luffy," she began.
"Hm?"
"I'm going back."
"I'll come with you."
"No."
Luffy frowned and Carrot shivered.
The plot thickened.
"I need this time to myself so can you do that for me? Carrot can keep you company."
Hearing her name called, said girl perked up with a smile, liking Nami's idea very much.
"But I-"
Suddenly, Nami hugged Luffy close with one arm around his waist and her eyes shut tight. She smelled the salt mixed in with his natural scent. He always smelled like the ocean, like freedom, like home, and she inhaled deep while bunching the back of his shirt in her fist.
Luffy's arms were firm at his side. Even then it felt like he did not have permission to touch her. It was a hug like any other but this one felt different. With that, she left.
Carrot watched her leave and remembered the chills when Nami glanced at her over Luffy's shoulder. A look promising death but at the same time trust. A baton was passed and Carrot felt a world of unasked-for responsibility placed on her shoulders.
When Nami was out of sight, Carrot jumped when Luffy made a loud sigh and jammed both hands in his pockets.
Then came growls from his stomach which made him frown even more. He was in a sour mood and Carrot knew just the thing, coming up behind him and pushing him forward to the nearest breakfast place.
His appetite matched hers and she found it more and more pleasing that they were so much alike. His energy matched hers.
They were soulmates.
He was such a friendly guy but Carrot couldn't help but notice he was distracted... about his friend no doubt.
"Maybe Nami's going through girl issues. We all have them. Whatever it is, I'm sure she'll be fine so stop looking so worried, Luffy... Is it a breakup?"
"What made you think that?"
Carrot blushed. She may have watched an unhealthy amount of romance movies but she also had a woman's intuition.
Nami looked heartbroken.
"Nami's not seeing anyone."
"Why is that? Girls like her aren't usually single, you know."
"I don't know..." Luffy lied and wilted at the sad truth.
It was because of him. Unlike Nami, his walls had layers. His outer walls had no doors. He always let people walk easily in but the smallest enclosure of them all was around his heart, his innermost feelings. They were the highest of them all. Higher than Nami's. They touched the clouds and danced with the skies.
"Unless she is going through some issues of her own. I wonder what they can be...? She doesn't seem like a bad person though..." Carrot sweat-dropped at the memory of Nami's cold stare and nervously laughed it off. "She seems... nice."
"Nami is an amazing person that's why she is my best friend. We've known each other for over three years. She's always helped people. Always. She sees the inner person for who they are and has so much space in her heart that I can't help but be proud to be her friend."
He recalled the time on their way home at the train station when they found a lost child in the crowd who got separated from her mother. Instead of leaving her with the security guards, Nami stayed with her for hours until her mother showed up even after stating she had a test and a mountain of homework due the following day.
How she listened to those in distress and offered help whenever and wherever needed. She was harsh in her speech but hated to see others put themselves down the way she did herself and uplifted them whether they liked it or not.
She put others ahead of herself. Always had. She did not allow herself to be selfish. Every time she did, she always got hurt.
And Luffy wanted to change that. Wanted her to see her value and amazing qualities for herself. That it was okay to be happy on her terms. He wanted her to be selfish for once in her life without care for consequence.
"You two really care about each other, huh? I never had a guy best friend before. It must be nice."
Carrot looked from the sad Luffy and stared at her toes brainstorming a hundred and one ways to cheer him up. She knew Hokkaido like the back of her hand. It was her home. If Luffy and she ended up together, they would have to do long distance. Not that she minded. A good man was hard to come by. Long distance would be the least of her troubles.
"Can I hold your hand?" Carrot asked but Luffy cocked his head with an upturned brow.
"Why?"
"It's okay if you don't want to." Carrot figured it was too early.
Luffy looked at his open hand. The only girl he ever held hands with was Nami. Strangely enough, an act he didn't think was a big deal between friends, became sacred. He couldn't see himself doing it with anyone else.
"I know this cool place we can go..." Carrot rambled on and Luffy followed behind her diligently and loyally just as Nami had asked.
Nami had long showered and changed into clean clothes and went to bed. She had no plans but her eyes did as they shed silent tears, dampening the clean sheets drop by drop. She heaved, got up and dug in her side of the closet for his jacket, jammed her arms through and zipped it all the way up before crashing into bed again. His absence frustrated her but she needed the time alone, wanted so much to be cocooned in his arms but had to learn to do without for even though he said he loved her, it wasn't in the way she wanted to be loved.
How he so easily trusted her with someone else made her do the same. Carrot could have him. They could get married and have a million and one kids and she wouldn't care. She hated Carrot. Hated how she came along and easily took Luffy away from right under her nose.
But Luffy liked Carrot. It wasn't love, not yet. But soon he can love her too. More than he claimed to love her. Every time, every God damn time they got close, it was always Luffy who pushed her away. And Nami hated him for that.
The two of them could go straight to hell for all she cared.
Suddenly, Nami slapped herself and gasped and leaned over on the bed with her head buried in the sheets and bawled for dear life.
She hadn't hurt herself since she left her old school. Hadn't since the day she met Luffy. She always hurt herself then. Digging her nails in her skin till she bled, cutting herself in places no one would see. It took therapy and a change of school for her to be in her right mind again and she would hate more than anything to relapse.
She was a horrible person. No one liked or cared for her and she came to terms with that. Horrible people deserved to be hurt. She didn't deserve to be happy. She hated herself.
A thought came to her and she scrambled through her bag and in the dirty laundry until she found it. Drying her eyes, she left bed to get dressed.
Coincidentally, he was staying in the same hotel. His room was a floor below theirs. He let her in easily and invited her for a cup of coffee.
"You look incredible."
Nami did not appreciate the compliment. Her white tank top and jean shorts were simple but they did the trick showing off her figure in all the right places.
He had said she could call on him just to talk but Nami wasn't here for talking.
"How can I help you?"
Nami spotted a discarded thong on his sofa and noticed the crumpled sheets on his bed and his half-buttoned-down dress shirt.
He was older, a player and had an eye for beautiful women who fell in his lap but Nami was a willing victim. After all, she liked jerks. Jerks were all she deserved. Perhaps this jerk might turn out being nice.
"Law, right?"
"Correct."
"I need you to do me a favour." Nami eyed him from his sight seeing out his window- he had an amazing view but not better than theirs- finished her cup and walked slowly towards him closing the distance between them and with hooded eyes and a smirk on her lips, she said,
"Help me forget."
The surgeon rose an uncomplaining brow.
"You intend to use me?"
"Yes."
Law's hands came to her hips and his breath scorched her neck but Nami was unfazed by it all.
Doctors were supposed to help people.
She came to the right place.
To be continued...