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Thatch wasn’t a morning person, not by any means necessary. He was much more lively and cheery during the second shift in the afternoon to night, but they were short staffed for the morning shift, so here he was dragging his half asleep ass to the local cafe an entire two hours before his shift actually started for some much needed caffeine and proper wake up time.
He’d forgone breakfast in order to make it to the cafe and had decided to get something to snack on while he mentally woke up and prepared for the day. As he entered the cafe, the little bell alerting the workers of his appearance, he heard a cheerful voice yell out to him. “Welcome!”
He grunted a, hopefully, legible reply as he made his way to the counter. The smell of coffee in the air drew him in like a moth to a flame as he paused in front. Tiredly, he scanned the menu above, finally settling on a hot latte for the nippy fall air outside.
“Good morning, welcome to Cafe Raftiel,” The barista greeted, voice cheerful, but not in the fake way he was used to from some places where they did it for the tips. The other sounded genuinely happy to be there. “How can I help you?”
Thatch blinked and looked down at the barista, brain kick starting instantly at the person before him. Black messy hair brushing his shoulders, big gray eyes and a youthful face with freckles sprinkled all over, adding to the young look the other had. “Uh…I’ll have a hot caramel latte, extra cream and sugar please.” The man nodded, tapping it into the cash register, glancing back at the brunette with a beaming ‘D’ shaped grin.
“Will that be all?” Thatch almost instinctively said no, but his stomach decided to growl loudly in complaint and he winced when the freckled cashier chuckled a bit. “So…food?”
“Yeah, anything you recommend, cutie?” Thatch blinked at his own words as the barista flushed deeply, pale skin turning a dark red as his freckles seemed to blend in more with the look, almost impersonating a strawberry.
“Er, uh, I usually love the breakfast croissant sandwich,” the shorter stuttered, eyes focused on the register. “If that’s what you want?”
“I’ll take it.” grinned Thatch, reaching into his wallet and pulling out his card. The cute barista quickly put the order in and moved the payment pad closer to the brunette as he pulled out a small cup. The chef easily swiped his card and waited for the little noise to signify he was done, before looking back at the counter and finding a small tip jar.
He rummaged around in his pockets for some bills and change, dropping it all into the little container and quickly focusing back on the freckled barista, who was mumbling under his breath and looking for something at the moment.
As he did, Thatch took in more of his profile. He seemed to be taller and older than the young man who had been arranging the tables earlier, but was still shorter than himself by a good bit. His shoulders were broad and his arms were toned, Thatch could even see the way his waist seemed to be cinched.
Ace.
Thatch blinked, knocking himself from his stupor as he finally saw the name tag dangling hazardously on the green apron. ‘I forgot to ask for his name…’ He grimaced, thankful for the nametag. ‘Hopefully, he’ll just think I saw it earlier.’
“So, do I get a name for the latte’s cup or do I just call you handsome?” The cheeky smirk sent his way made the brunette grin back. So the kid wanted to play?
“Well, I respond to many names…” He leaned as close as he could to Ace’s ear. “Luckily, most of them are publicly approved, the others, well…you’d learn later if you dropped your number.”
A small squeak left the other’s mouth and he gripped the paper cup in his hands tightly. “J-Just give me a name or I’ll write stupid on it instead!” Thatch couldn’t help the laugh that tumbled out of his mouth at the silly threat.
“Alright, alright.” He held his hands up in the universal sign for peace. “My name is Newgate Thatch, nice to meet you, Ace.”
Ace mumbled under his breath, cheeks still a blazing red, before turning and heading to the back. When the barista returned and handed the brunette a hot bag with his food, he grinned brightly at the younger, who looked down, a small grin of his own stretched on his red face.
Thatch would later admit, he was only slightly disappointed that when his name was called to get his latte, he was met by a glaring blond with curly hair. “Thank you,” He bowed slightly and moved to a table to eat peacefully, eyes occasionally trailing over to where Ace worked and interacted with other customers.
He opened the lid of his cup and grinned widely upon noticing the latte art that he’d gotten were actually words. ‘Call me.’ Carefully, so as not to spill the coffee inside, he tilted the cup and his grin turned smug at the sight of a phone number scrawled on the side and a letter ‘A’ underneath it.
Okay, so maybe mornings weren’t so bad.
⸻
Marco gave a sigh of relief as he exited the hospital and made his way to Cafe Raftiel, one of his usual spots that he went to on his breaks or when he was pulling extra shifts.
The coffee was good and the food was delicious, but there was one other reason he often went to this particular spot, since it was a bit out of the way of the hospital he worked at…
“Welcome to Cafe Raftiel!” A familiar voice called out and Marco’s smile grew bigger at the cheerful sound. “Oh! Marco, hey!” Ace beamed his way and the blond swore the grin healed his tired soul a bit. “Your usual?”
“Yes Ace,” He smiled fondly at the freckled young barista, who instantly began typing it into the register as Sabo poked his head out of the window behind him.
“Welcome back, Marco!” The younger blond greeted, eyes flittering between his eldest brother and the doctor. “Another long day and here on break?”
“You know it already,” laughed Marco as he rolled his shoulders leisurely, ignoring the smug smirk the younger sent him. “How’s the crowd been treating you guys today?”
“Oh, same old, same old.” Ace sighed, holding the pay pad out to him, to which he inserted his card and was quickly given a receipt. “Lu’s friends showed up, caused a ruckus, got kicked out before the cops showed up. The usual.”
Marco felt his face turn a light red as the dark haired male continued to talk about his day, moving behind the counter with a familiarity that came from working there for so long. He may have been harboring a small crush on the younger, but didn’t want to ruin the little friendship they’d made from his constant coffee trips to the little cafe.
“You wouldn’t ruin the friendship by asking me out, stupid.” Ace’s voice snorted and Marco’s eyes widened as he realized that he must’ve said it out loud this time. His blue eyes met Ace’s own gray ones, finding earnest curiosity and a hint of…hope? “I’ve been waiting this entire time, only for you to end up asking me out by accident? That kind of sucks.”
The older man heard Sabo snort from the kitchen and sent the little wall separating the two areas a small glare. Cheeky brat probably knew about his crush the entire time. Shaking his head with a drawn out sight, Marco closed his eyes for a moment before smirking at the barista in front of him. “Sorry for the shit way of asking you out, yoi. Can I make it up to you by taking you out after our shifts?” Ace’s face turned a light red, but his eyes lit up at the proper question.
“Of course you can, handsome.” Ace’s grin nearly split his face in half it seemed. “I hope you’re ready for a good time tonight!”
“Hey, no sex until at least the fifth date!” Sabo yelled as he walked to the front with a bag, most likely filled with Marco’s sandwich and snack. “You know the rules, Ace! You made them!”
“Of course I know them!” The freckled brother’s face flushed deeply as he glared at his brother. “I made them for you and Lu, they don’t apply to me!”
“Then I’ll go and break the rule,” Sabo sneered, glaring back at the barista, who growled warningly. “The rules leave no one out of them, jackass.”
Marco snorted as he took the warm back from the blond brother as Ace huffed under his breath. “Well,” He intercepted the fight before it started. “That wasn’t going to happen yet. I’m a gentleman after all, yoi.” He laughed loudly at Ace’s pout and Sabo’s smug grin as the elder brother threw his hands into the air and stomped off to make his normal coffee.
As he leaned forward to take the cup, his face dusted a blush pink when their fingers brushed and he saw a number hastily scribbled onto the side of the paper mug. His eyes met Ace’s once more and noticed the excited glint in them, a warm feeling entering his chest. “Call me,” The barista smiled, quickly hurrying back to the register as the bell above the door jingled again.
As the doctor made his way to a table further in the back, watching Ace interact with each and every customer with the same enthusiasm akin to the sun, in Marco’s mind at least.
⸻
Thatch was over the moon. He’d been going to Cafe Raftiel for the past week, morning shift or otherwise and getting to know Ace more and more over text. It had been awhile since anyone had caught his attention and the younger man was just so interesting and fun.
It was an amazing feeling.
He was on his way there today to officially ask the barista out on a date, hoping for a positive answer. Especially when Marco told him that he’d finally asked the crush he’d been pining over for the past few months. He was happy for his brother, but it made him feel a little lonely, since he didn’t have anyone like that in his own life at the moment, but maybe this thing with Ace would work out similarly to his older brothers.
When he flirted, the other returned the gesture with cocky arrogance, before Thatch found the right words to push out the cute blush and embarrassed squeak that he adored to hear.
As he entered the cafe, the bell signaling his arrival, he instantly looked at the counter and was a little disappointed to not see Ace there at the moment, but instead Luffy, the youngest brother. With a small slump in his shoulders, the brunette made his way over. “Afternoon, Luffy.” The teen blinked, before beaming back.
“Ah! Satchel!” He yelled, having no sense of volume control in the slightest bit. The black haired kid blinked for a moment again, a small pout coming to his face. “Why do you look so sad?”
“Because you're at the register and not Ace,” snickered the smart ass blond as he passed by, holding a tray of freshly baked pastries, his gray-blue eyes looking at Thatch’s scowl. “Don’t worry, Ace is here today. He’s just on a mandatory break.”
“Yeah, nii-chan likes to work too much, so we make him take breaks!” Luffy laughed cheerfully. “You should’ve heard him. He was whining like a baby!” The description brought a small smile to Thatch’s face as he mulled the words over.
It did seem like Ace lived and breathed this cafe. Every time he’d been here the freckled young man, no matter the time or how tired he looked, was behind the counter taking orders with a smile. “Good job then, soldiers.” He joked as the door opened again and he heard small grumbles behind him. “Oh, looks like the baby is back.”
“Who’re you callin’ a baby, old man?” snorted Ace as he walked behind the counter and towards the punch in machine. “And Luffy, if my register comes up short again, I’m punting you straight to the hospital.”
Luffy whined as he moved out of the way, his older brother coming over to reclaim his rightful spot with a smirk. Thatch waited until both Sabo and Luffy had removed themselves from the area, before looking at Ace with a small smile. “Hey, Freckles, can I ask something?”
“You just did, but go on.” joked the younger man as he set about counting the money and comparing it to the order receipts absentmindedly. The cafe was close to closing and he was obviously preparing for that.
“After you close tonight, can I take you on a date?” This caused the barista to pause for a moment, mouth opening slightly in surprise, before a slow, small smile came over his face.
“Yeah, that’d be nice.” Gray eyes met Thatch’s own warm brown ones. “Can’t wait. I get off in about twenty, if Luffy didn’t mess up.” Thatch cracked a smile, leaning in and grabbing a smaller freckled hand within his own cook calloused one.
“Can’t wait either. Been wanting to take you out for weeks.”
“Get a room!” Luffy complained walking back and stacking chairs atop tables, Sabo behind him with a mop. “You’re being gross in front of us, ya know?!”
“Shut it, the drawer is short you little shit!” hissed Ace, shoving the money into a black box as Luffy yelped and ducked from the paper cup thrown his way from the other.
“Ace, stop making a bigger mess!” Sabo cried out, face showing amusement as his two brothers continued to rough house. “If we don’t clean up, you can’t go on your date.” This made the freckled brother pause in his warpath and go back to counting the money, before rushing and beginning to clean up the various items he’d thrown at his youngest brother.
“Fine, only cause I don’t want Thatch waiting all day for me.” snapped Ace as he ignored the teasing looks from his brothers and the excited beam Thatch sent his way, face a dark red. “You all suck.”
⸻
Marco was at his house, waiting for Thatch to come home. It was a weekend that the blond had off, so his adopted brother suggested that they meet up for a little get together to catch up on the things they’d missed, due to conflicting schedules. He couldn’t wait to tell him all about his second date with Ace, he’d gushed over his little crush a few weeks into it and Thatch had supported him, so imagine his surprise when his brother texted him that he managed to get a date as well.
“Yo, Marco!” The door opened with his younger brother’s loud voice and the blond grinned at the sight of his relaxed brother. “I’m glad we get to do these little meetups every couple of weekends or so, I worry about my workaholic big brother, you know?”
Marco snorted. “You didn’t when we were kids and you kept getting yourself stuck in trees,” His snort turned into full blown laughter at the mock offended look on the other man’s face.
“Yeah, yeah laugh it up.” The brunette snickered with him as he began to place some bags down. “I got some snacks that I made and some from my date's cafe when I was on my way over. I’m not one for other people's cooking, since I can do it for myself for free, but these are delicious.”
“Oh, you did tell me you had a date, yoi.” Marco hummed, leaning down and taking one of the proffered bags, his eyes widened when he saw the name on the plastic bag. “Cafe Raftiel?”
“Yeah, it’s a nice little place,” started Thatch, not noticing his brother’s frown. “A little far from the hospital, but close to the restaurant I work at. My date works there full time with his brothers and they’re such a lively bunch. Makes my morning shift a little easier and—,”
“Your date was with Sabo or Luffy?” The doctor cut in seriously. He knew the cafe very well, went there everyday just to see Ace, there was no way the other would be cheating on him with his own brother, right? Not the brother that he told him about on their date and even before that, his best friend, essentially.
“You know the place, huh?” Thatch saw the serious look on his brother’s face and frowned back. “Sabo seems like a great guy, but not really my type and Luffy’s definitely too young. Ace has been my date, he’s not only my type, but also a really great guy and over the age of eighteen. Why?”
Marco swallowed thickly, tongue feeling heavy and useless in his mouth as his worst dream was confirmed. “I’ve also been taking Ace out on dates…he didn’t tell me that he was seeing you too, yoi.” The blond saw Thatch’s look of confusion morph into one of understanding, then mounting horror and finally anger.
“He’s been playing us?” He growled, fists clenching on his lap. “Knew there had to be something wrong. No guy hits all the check marks and still makes the landing for us after all, huh?”
A bitter laugh escaped Marco as he leaned back against the couch. “You’ve never said anything truer.” They sat there, minds reeling as they tried to figure out what to do about this. “We should confront him, yoi.” When Thatch glanced at him, Marco smirked. “I have an idea too.”
Thatch blinked, before a smirk of his own came across his face. There was a reason you never crossed two brothers, they’d always choose each other over someone else.
It was a family thing.
⸻
Ace was relaxing at home, face smooshed into Sabo’s chest and Luffy’s comforting weight on his back as they watched a movie, all three entranced by it, until his phone vibrated in his pocket. He groaned as he tried to move his arm, which had fallen asleep, to get the stupid thing. Sabo and Luffy both groaned as well as their brother jostled them around on the couch for a moment.
Finally managing to snag the stupid device from his pocket, he turned the screen on with a muted hiss at the brightness, since the brothers decided to sit and watch the movie in pure darkness, before reading the message and a grin came to his face. “Lu, off, I have to get ready for a date!” His little brother rolled off and straight to the floor as Sabo raised an eyebrow.
“Which one?” The blond felt like something was off about this, considering neither Thatch nor Marco were the type of men to randomly invite their boyfriend out at this time of hour.
“It’s Marco this time!” His elder brother beamed as he stood and stretched. “I always wanted us all to go on a date, but they never seem to invite each other, so maybe next time I’ll invite Thatch!”
“I don’t know, nii-chan.” Luffy’s lips pursed as he hugged a pillow to his chest and settled back onto Sabo’s lap. “You said they only talk about each other, but they’ve never both been on a date with you before…isn’t that weird?”
Ace paused, a small frown finally crossing his features as he clenched his hands into fists. “...I’m trying to think positively for once, since you guys always say I’m a pessimist…” His smile came back, a tad more strained than prior. “But if anything goes wrong, I’ll call on my way back.”
Sabo and Luffy watched their brother head upstairs to get ready and soon enough, he was out the door, nervousness and excitement radiating off of his entire being.
⸻
Marco and Thatch stood in front of a little restaurant, not really planning on going in, but needing a spot that Ace would come to for their ‘date’. The blond looked around, before noticing a familiar head of dark wave hair weaving through the little bit of people scattered around. “Ace, yoi!” He waited until the younger saw him, eyes lighting up, until he noticed Thatch as well. If Marco was honest, he was expecting the freckled young man to try and leave after that, but instead he seemed to hurry up.
“Thatch, Marco! You’re both here!” He beamed at them, the familiar ‘D’ shaped grin making an appearance.
The older men exchanged a look, before Thatch decided to speak first, usually cheerful features pulled into a glare. “Yeah, we’re both here, you two timer!”
“Two timer…?” Ace’s face finally fell into a small frown, eyebrows knitting in confusion. “But I didn’t two time anyone, I always told you guys about my other date, just without names since you two are brothers and I thought you told each other already.”
“Why would we tell each other that we’re dating the same guy, yoi?” snapped Marco, hands clenched into fists at the innocent act. “Just fess up and stop acting like you didn’t do anything wrong!”
Ace blinked, eyes glinting suspiciously for a moment, before they hardened and he bared his teeth in a snarl. “I told you both that my past relationships fell through because I loved too hard, but it was also because I’m poly. I always end up loving two people, who usually end up loving each other more than me. I’ve been telling you guys let’s double date these past few dates and you always said next time! It’s not my fault you didn’t talk to each other or confirm with me my romantic identity, but fine. Whatever, I’ll leave you alone.”
With those scathing words of ‘wisdom’, Ace turned on his heel and made his way back into the crowd, leaving Thatch and Marco only in front of the restaurant. The brunette blinked, lips pursing for a moment. “Did he ever mention what kind of relationship he was looking for to you?”
“He always just said he was looking for something serious,” admitted Marco, running a hand across his face. “I knew that he wanted to double date with you, but I assumed that it was because you two met and made friends with each other, yoi.”
“On our dates, we ended up shitting on our ex’s constantly.” Thatch started, arms crossing over his chest. “Often spoke about how they didn’t really understand what they were getting into and…holy shit…”
“We just made the same mistake, didn’t we?” Marco’s hands reached up to cover his face as Thatch groaned loudly, head falling back. “We jumped ahead and made our own conclusions and now may have lost one of the best things we’ve had before.”
“Think we can win him back?” Thatch grabbed his wrist and began to walk them towards the car they arrived in.
“You think his brother’s will let him see us, yoi?” The blond was being tugged behind Thatch, but he spoke loud enough to be heard. “I’m sure Ace has told you about what they do to people who hurt him, right?”
That seemed to finally remind the brunette of the one they ended up hurting. “Fuck…” He ran a hand through his hair momentarily, before sighing. “I don’t want to lose him, Marco…”
“Neither do I,” Marco leaned forward and hugged his brother briefly before they made their way to the car. “We’ll try again tomorrow, but first let’s get home and talk about this. I don’t want to go back into this blindly and we end up messing up without a second chance, yoi.”
Thatch silently agreed as they drove off to their family home.
⸻
Sabo frowned as Ace laid in his bed, back facing the door and curtains drawn closed. His brother came home last night, angry and heartbroken, telling him about the situation with Thatch and Marco, before crying himself out and going to sleep. The blond hoped he hadn’t fallen for the two guys so badly that he’d end up like this again, but it turned out that Ace had and this was the outcome.
“Why does he like these kinds of people, Sabo-nii?” Luffy asked as the blond placed a large and hearty breakfast in front of him. “They never end up staying with him and if they do, they end up hurting him more and more. Why does he like them then?”
“Well Lu, it’s hard to explain, but some people are drawn to some looks and personality types.” stated the blond as he placed his own plate down and slowly prodded at his food. “And our dear older brother just so happens to either fall for idiots who can’t communicate or assholes who want to control his every move.”
It was true. Ace had always had bad luck finding a partner, or more, that simply wanted him for him. It caused many issues for his self esteem, but he tried not to let it get him down, continuously looking for someone who would accept him aside from his brothers.
“Well, I hope I don’t see them again,” His younger brother scowled, though it would have looked like his normal one, but his eyes held a glint that Sabo only saw whenever someone he cherished was hurt.
“Same, Luffy, same.” Sabo grinned, ruffling short, messy locks as Luffy laughed brightly. “How about we make Ace's favorite for dinner tonight, since he’s so down?”
“Yeah!” His energetic brother grinned broadly, beginning to inhale his food. Sabo chuckled and followed after, at a slower pace, pausing when he heard a knock on the front door.
“I’ll be there in a sec, Lu!” He called, making his way to the front door in the living room with a small frown of confusion. “Who could be here this early?” As he peeked through the peephole, his gray blue eyes narrowed in anger. “Luffy, come here. We might have a small problem.” Luffy came bounding into the living room and Sabo was glad since outside their front door were the people they wanted to see the least, Marco and Thatch.
The blond took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he opened the door, slowly counting to ten in his head. He opened his eyes and glared at the older blond and brunette men in front of him, though he didn’t get any words out, before Luffy had launched forward and his fist clocked the tall chef in the chin, knocking him back a few feet. “Get the hell outta here!” His younger brother snarled, eyes alight with anger.
Thatch winced as Marco’s eyes flickered towards Sabo, who stepped forward calmly, pulling his arm back and doing the same to the older blond. Marco rubbed his jaw, a small bruise already blooming. “You have a lot of nerve showing up here,” growled Sabo, hand clenching again into a fist as he glared at them.
“Please, we just want to talk to Ace.” Thatch pleaded, eyes wide and nervous as he kept his eyes locked on the violent brothers. “We didn’t mean for the situation to turn out like this! We were just upset and hurt thinking he was cheating on us!”
“You asked him out, but didn’t ask any of the proper questions, then just blamed him.” snorted Sabo, rolling his eyes skywards. “Did you really expect to come here and just be allowed to walk inside the house and he’d come and hear you out?”
“No, we didn’t, yoi.” Marco sighed, closing his eyes and bowing his head. “We don’t deserve it, but we do think it’s up to Ace and not you two.” He paused when Luffy growled, but pressed forward. “We just want to try and talk to him, if he tells us to leave, then we’ll leave, but that is up to him. Not you two.”
Luffy growled lowly and Sabo snarled, but they were stopped by the sound of Ace’s voice. “What are you two doing…?” The freckled brother took in the sight of the defensive position of both Luffy and Sabo, before his eyes trailed to Marco and Thatch and his body flinched back, eyes hardening into a sorry excuse of a glare. “What are you doing here?”
“Ace, we just want to talk, please.” Marco took a step forward, his heart cracking at the step back the younger took and from the pained look on Thatch’s face, the sentiment was shared. “Just…a small talk and if you don’t want us to stay, we won’t.” Ace nibbled on his bottom lip for a moment, eyes conflicted, but gave in with a small nod and gestured for Sabo and Luffy to head back inside.
Stepping fully outside the door, he glanced at the two taller men and sighed. “Okay, you have my attention, but it won’t be for long if it’s a half-assed thing.”
Thatch stepped forward first, a sad smile on his face as he grabbed Ace’s smaller hands within his own. “Ace, first and foremost, I’m sorry about becoming the one thing we always told each other we wouldn’t be when we had our dates.” He started, thumb absentmindedly running across freckled skin. “We always said how people never tried to understand you and then I turned and did the same thing, that was terrible of me.”
Ace’s eyes softened and Marco felt hope well up in his chest at the sight, before he stepped forward and grabbed Ace’s other hand. “I also want to apologize, I ended up not even trying to hear you out and getting your point of view, I never even thought about your reasoning.” The blond sighed, eyes sad as he looked at the other. “Please, you’ve been such a good friend and boyfriend to me in my life, I know we don’t deserve it, but can we have another chance together? All three of us, yoi?”
Ace bit his lip, eyes watery and conflicted, before a small shy smile came over his freckled face. “If you’re really sure you want to give this a go again…” His smile grew a little more confident. “I don’t mind…” Marco and Thatch shared a look, grins of their own growing. They hadn’t fucked it all up yet, but Ace’s smile suddenly turned mischievous. “Now, let’s see if you can pass the meddling little brother test again.”
Both men suddenly paled as the object of their affection turned and opened his front door, revealing two younger brothers, feral grins on their faces as they leapt at the duo.
⸻
A month had passed when Ace had decided that they should take a mini vacation. No annoying family members (Thatch and Marco’s nosey family) and no annoying, overprotective little brothers (Ace’s brothers).
So they took a small trip to Sphinx, a rural area where Thatch and Marco’s father had a small villa so that the trio could have some time to themselves. And they had enjoyed themselves…more so than their family would believe. Marco yawned as he sat up, rubbing his eye to get the sleep out of it as he glanced down to his left. Ace was curled into his side, neck bruised from the various hickies and kisses the night before, Thatch’s larger shirtless form draped over his back like a koala, both still peacefully asleep.
Yes, things couldn’t have gone more perfectly after they finally started talking and not assuming.
With a content sigh, he laid back down, arm flying over Ace’s shoulder and some of Thatch’s before going back to sleep. After all, there was no rush, he had his two perfect people at this moment.