♡

“Maybe it's cause you're ugly,” Haikei jokes, only to give a heavy OOF as you punch him in the stomach. “Okay no, its cause you can't take a fuckin’ joke.”

There's a handful of chuckles as Heat slings an arm over your shoulder and gives you a slight shake. “Why don't you just talk to him? Not like you're scared of him or anything, aye?”

You frown even deeper, nearly pouting at Heat as a heavy sigh escapes your nose. “I think I'd rather throw myself from the top of the mast.”

“Ah, you're just being a pussy! Every time you don't say something, he sleeps with another wench, and then you throw a tantrum that WE have to deal with, and frankly, we are tired of this, grandpa!”

Your gaze turns to the ranting Reck, who unfortunately had a point, as much as it pained you to even think.

“He’s right, peach. You do this to yourself, unfortunately.”

You sigh again, turning your eyes from your teasing and bullying crewmates to the vision across the bar where Kid sits with some beautiful blonde, too busy shoving his tongue down her throat to notice your heartache.

“Want to head back to the ship?”

You glance over your shoulder at Killer, who holds a hand out for you to take. You give one last sigh before nodding and downing the rest of your beer, slamming the glass down and snatching up Killer's hand.

“Yeah, let's get outta here.”

You don't see it, but as you and Killer leave, Kid turns his attention to the door and frowns deeply as he watches you two leave. Unbeknownst to you, or any of them, he'd been keeping a close eye on you the entire time, even while preoccupied.

It was his goddamn birthday, and his two favourite people were leaving the party early?

Not on his watch.

Nearly pushing the blonde off his lap, Eustass Kid makes a beeline for the front door, ignoring the shouts of confusion from his crew as he stomps out of the bar. He's not even outside five minutes when he hears your laughter, the sound only pulling his frown lower as he finally notices you and Killer stepping onto the ship.

He watches as you almost trip and Killer catches you, brushing stray hair from your blushing face that Kid can see, even from where he stands. He watches as Killer leans down a little and says something to you, which pulls another laugh from you as you punch him in the arm. Kid hears Killer laugh too, and wonders to himself when the last time he himself made his second mate and best friend laugh like that.

“You think he actually noticed?” Kid could hear your voice down the hall and stairs as he opens the door leading from the main deck. There was clanging as what sounded like cutlery was being shuffled around from the kitchen a few doors down. “I can't find the damn- ha! Found ‘em!”

“If he didn't notice, then we get to enjoy each other's company instead. Doesn't sound too bad of a plan, does it, peach?” Kid feels his blood boil at Killer's pet name for you. He'd taken to calling you that after Kid had admitted his attraction to you, almost as if goading Kid to finally speak up and make a move lest he do it instead.

“Mm, no. Not a bad plan or a bad way to spend time, either way.” The slightly teasing tone in your words sent a sharp sting up Kids spine. Finally, he used the toe of his boot to kick open the door and glowered through the doorway, seeing you and Killer huddled around the table, now whispering to each other. “Oi. What's the meaning of this shite?”

You peek at him over your shoulder, a cheeky look in your eyes as you pretend to be surprised. “Oh! Captain!” You do a little more shuffling before turning on your spot, still pressed against Killer enough that Kid couldn't see past you two. “I almost didn't think you'd show up.”

“I did, for what it's worth.” Came from Killer before he finally moved away enough from you to showcase a little birthday cake, decorated to high heavens and stacked with the appropriate amount of candles. “You're nosey when it comes to them, even if they're with me. I knew you'd come.”

Killer then leans down slightly to press a masked miss to the top of your head before giving it a few gentle pats. “You two should talk, I think.” He gives Kid a friendly clap on the shoulder, ignoring how his best friend gives him a pointed, curious look. “I'll be up on deck if you guys need me.”

There's a few moments of silence between you and your captain as he awkwardly shuffles in one spot, not sure of what to say. “You… made me a cake.” His voice was almost flat, his words more of a statement than a question.

Your face burned in slight embarrassment, suddenly feeling under pressure from his heavy gaze. “I um. Yeah. Killer and I did. For you. Your birthday.”

Kid hums after a few seconds, finally stepping close enough to take in the cake. He makes a point of staring at you for a few moments longer than what you'd assume was necessary when you murmured, “Make a wish. I hope it comes true.”

The corner of his lip twitches in a half smile before he mutters back while leaning closer to the cake, “It will.” He then closes his eyes for exactly 3 seconds before blowing out his candles. As he leans back, he catches that nearly hopeful look that crosses your face before you snatch it off and replace it with a simply content one. “What did you wish for?”

Kid sighs as he crosses his metal and flesh arms over his chest, looking down at you with a look in his eyes you hadn't seen before- or noticed.

“I wished for you to tell me what the fuck's been botherin’ you.”

You grunted and rolled your eyes at his curt reply, grumbling to yourself though he catches, “nothing's bothering me….”

Kid snorts with an eye roll of his own. “Oh, bullshite. You've had your goddamn panties in a fuckin’ twist for weeks. Is it because I've always got pretty whores on my lap?”

He chuckles at the flash in your eyes as you whip around and glare at him, crossing your own arms as you finally bite out, “Well, it's not like you pay any attention to me anyways, so what's the point in speaking up?”

The silence that immediately falls after could have been cut with a spoon. It's thick, anxious and a little awkward as Kid slowly asks a little apprehensively, “You… it truly bothers you, aye?”

You give a heavy sigh, letting your arms fall as you turn and lean on the table slightly. Your hard work, effort and love for Kid sits in your peripheral, a momentary reminder of all the things left unsaid.

“It bothers me, Kid. It bothers me that everyone else on this damn ship sees what I do for you, how I treat you and how I f-feel… about you. Everyone, except for you.” You look at him over your shoulder, your expression tired and a little heartbroken as you add, “I just wish you'd let me down and leave me be, rather than keep stringing me along like this.”

Kid laughs at that, but not in a malicious way. He covers his face for a moment, sighing into his palm before he grins down at you and chuckles out, “Oh, shut the hell up.” The next moment, his soft hand cradles the back of your head and he leans down to capture your lips in a fiery kiss that diminishes all the anger and hurt inside you.

When he finally pulls away, the grin slides back and he admits, “You must think I'm stupid if you think I didn't notice.” He kisses you again. “You think everything you've done, even the small things, went unnoticed?” Another kiss. “I've noticed, I just wanted you to put your big girl panties on and not be such a pussy about it all.”

You pull back slightly when he goes to kiss you again, mostly in shock as you bark out, “You knew?! You did that shit on purpose?!"

Kid gives a deep, cheeky chuckle before kissing you again, marking almost every inch of your lips and face with his signature lipstick. “Yeah, stupid. I loved seeing you get jealous. You can't even imagine what that shit does to my ego.”

You laugh at that, though you slap his chest hard enough the smack echoes in the small kitchen. “You're a rat, you know that? You could have-”

Kid cuts you off with a loud, “Ah, ah! YOU could have said at any fuckin’ time that you wanted me, but you didn't. Can't call you my girl if you don't say you wanna be.”

You immediately pout up at him, sending small shock waves directly to his cock. He wondered if you'd make the same expression while fucking you senseless. “But obviously I want to be!”

Kid grins wickedly down at you, as if he just won the bet of his life. You realize then you finally admitted your feelings and sigh heavily, covering your face with both hands, even as Kid collects you in his arms and presses your front to his in a tight hug.

“See how easy that was, brat? We could have been fucking months ago.”

You only grumble in response, pulling another chuckle from him. “Now can I eat my damn cake? Looks good.”

You pull your face away from your hands and somehow shimmy them down to give him a real hug. Shoving your face onto one of his pecs, you murmur, “Yeah, I guess you can eat it.”

Kid looks down at you and complains, “You make it sound like the cake isn't eatable.”

“You mean edible? Yes, you can eat it, your cake is very much… eatable.”

His flesh hand moves down your back and cups a buttcheek firmly before he jokingly asks, “Is this cake eatable, too?”

You snicker at that and grin up at him, cheeks burning as you tease, “Hell yeah it is.”