Starting from death - Law x Reader (Pt. 45)

NOTE: This story may contain spoilers. You've been warned!





"It's so cold!" You protested, feeling the coldness of the sunscreen as Law spread it through your back. Thankfully, the heat of his hands soon warmed the cream.

It was already your eighth day of holidays, which meant it was your seventh day dating Law. A week already. The previous days, you had followed the same routine: go to the beach in the morning, after lunch you spent some time relaxing and resting at home and then went to the pool until the sun was nearly gone, and took a walk along the promenade every night after dinner too. Sometimes you spent less time at the pool and walked through the streets or visited the near shops instead, and one night it was raining you stayed at home to watch a movie huddled up on the couch.

Today you planned on repeating the same routine, so you were getting ready to head to the beach.

You still felt a little wary about what would come out of this 'being a couple' test, but the truth was that, despite having been Law's girlfriend just for seven days, the possibility of going back to being just friends after these ten days was almost inconceivable. He just made it so easy for you... Being in a relationship with him was simple and so natural... You knew you shouldn't compare Law with your ex, nor you should compare this relationship with the last one, but you couldn't help it. It felt so different... It wasn't only that it felt smoother and more genuine than your previous relationship. It also seemed more mature and balanced. More complete and sincere. Even despite the difficulties you were having to face. Let alone that the way you interacted with Law was totally different from the way you used to interact with your ex. You were realizing just now the many mistakes the both of you had made back then.

With your ex you had always felt as if you were a little under him. You were always almost anxious to please him, always fearing for him to dislike something about you, or accidentally bother him. You never truly dared to be yourself completely and you often found yourself feeling trapped. It was as if you had been with him only because he wanted you to, because he was the first one to see in you what you thought nobody ever would, and you were so thankful you had thought to fall in love. You had been with him because it seemed to be the easiest and also best option for you. You had chained yourself to him and his approval.

With Law, it was totally the opposite. With Law, despite how much you looked up to him, you felt like an equal, and he made you feel truly especial and valued despite the low self-esteem you seemed to have by default. You expected nothing from him, yet he kept surprising you day after day. You kept wanting to do things to take care of him and make him happy, but you didn't do them with worry and anxiousness to make him keep believing you were amazing, you did them with enthusiasm and gladness because you looked forward to his happiness without worrying about him disliking what you did or blaming you for not doing enough, since he had showed you there was no reason to fear such things, he would stay no matter how many mistakes you made or how many flaws you showed. He would be there to help you keep learning and evolving. To do it together. You could talk about literally anything with him, even when you were being silly, immature or repetitive. With Law, you were a hundred percent yourself, and each day it was easier and more natural for you to be yourself, since he had proven to you he truly loved and accepted you just as you were. When your ex had been only your boyfriend, Law was your devoted friend, your confidant and of course, your partner. And if you let him, you had no doubt he would be your life-long companion too.

You trusted Law way more than you had trusted your ex. You somehow trusted him even more than Esther. When you were with him you felt so happy and relaxed that you often found yourself behaving a bit crazily or childishly, not thinking  twice about what you did and just having fun and being happy. And it was clear he felt the same towards you. He always played along with you, sometimes even behaving a little bit goofy, and his laughs had become a frequent sound you enjoyed more and more every time you heard it. He looked like a different person. A happier, healthier version of himself. Even the shadows under his eyes were lightening. And you felt like a different person too. You felt free.

About your feelings, they had started going on rampage nonstop. You kept strongly feeling a lot of things, many of the new feelings you were getting slowly becoming familiar. And you still were wondering what kind of love had you been living with your ex when it was so different from what you were currently feeling. You had loved him, you still did, that was undeniable, but you probably hadn't been in love. Because if you had... Why did Law awake feelings unknown for you until then? It didn't just mean you maybe weren't as in love as you had thought, it also meant what you felt for Law was way stronger than anything you had felt before. And that was scary. If your previous relationship had hurt so much when it ended despite you not being actually in love, how much would this one hurt if that happened? Supposing that you weren't mistaking your feelings again, of course.

However, you were doing your best to express what you felt, as you had promised, even though it was really hard for you to give shape to something that was so new for you and you were still trying to understand. So you often found yourself locked and doing nothing instead, or feeling that what you did wasn't enough to express what was happening in your heart. As a consequence, hugs, kisses and affectionate caresses had become very frequent between Law and you. You were acting pretty clingy and loving, but Law never complained and always welcomed your gestures of love. In fact, you were discovering you were right with something you had started thinking about some time ago: as strong as he seemed to be, his heart could be very frail, and if there was something he lacked and needed, it was someone to show affection towards him and accept his affection back.

You weren't the only one discovering new things, though. Because, yes; Law tried to restrain himself as to not overwhelm you, but he didn't just enjoy how loving you were acting towards him, but also found out he craved your shows of affection. As simple as they were, he was absolutely addicted to them. He never seemed to have enough, but each one of them made him feel like the happiest and luckiest man of the world. On the other hand, now that he could show his feelings more freely, they were becoming stronger as well. He loved you more than ever, more than what he ever thought he could love another human being. He loved your smile, your laughs, your voice, your frown, your tears, your pouts... He loved your eyes, your mouth, your nose, your hair, your whole body and every single detail he found out about it, like the stretch marks that annoyed you so much. He loved how you could be feeling angry at something, and a second later start squealing because, in your opinion, that car parked near of you seemed to be smiling and to you that was the cutest thing ever. He loved how you could say the craziest things when he asked you something you didn't know how to answer, and then got angry at him because he was laughing at your reply but soon after joined his laughs because you were happy for having said something fun to him. He loved how you blushed when he told you how beautiful you were, because even though you didn't believe him, you knew you were beautiful to him. He loved your crazy mood swings and your sweet naivety. He loved how you saw the good in him and how you showed him the good in everything. He loved you when you were lazy, when you were whinny, when you were cheerful, when you were childish, when you were mature, when you went crazy and when you acted shy or insecure. He loved you. All of you, with no exception. The most he got to know you the most he loved you. And one thing was sure: nothing about you was weird or wrong, as you had said. You were perfect and amazing. And you always would.

And also, he loved how the friendly affection in your eyes slowly escalated into something else. How he would start seeing sparks of love in them, growing more frequent and brilliant as days went by. And he wished, he begged to whatever divine being that could listen to him, that you would accept him and stay with him beyond those ten days he had asked you to give him. Because otherwise, his heart would shatter. And although he had promised you nothing would change between you, he wasn't sure if he himself would be the same after having experienced what it was like to be with you. To be happy. To be loved. To be complete.

You were his girl. He needed you. And he needed to love you as much as he needed you to love him.

He leaned down to press a kiss at the base of your neck, knowing how you would react. You squealed. "Your goatee always tickles me." You giggled.

"I know." He snickered, a satisfied smirk on his face, and you tried to kick him with your bare heel, but he dodged you without problems. "I finished with the cream."

He was ready as well so you linked your hands, an action that was already natural and instinctive for both,  and left the apartment to go to the beach.





You laughed frenetically, bouncing in excitement at the seashore while you waited for Law to join you. "Come on! Come on!" You urged him.

He raised his gaze a moment to smirk at you before finishing extending the towels. He was about to join you when he decided to take the camera. You took some pictures together with the sea at the background before finally getting in the water. In one of them you were with your arms wrapped around Law's neck, pressing a smiling kiss to his cheek as you looked at the camera, and he smiled widely, showing his teeth in pure joy. On the next one you had pressed your cheek to his, joining his smile, and his eyes had averted to the side to look at you from their corners. There were some goofy pictures as well, since you always found time to fool each other so you would look silly in the picture, like placing your hand in the middle at the last second, try to shove each other out of the camera's range or even doing as if you were going to stick your finger in the other's nose. Anything that could ruin the picture was valid.

Unable to wait for any longer, you hurried into the sea until the water reached your neck, and waited for Law randomly swimming here and there. That day the sea was greatly calm and the waves were very gentle, especially at the depths.

When Law finally approached you and bent so the water would reach his neck as well, you swam to him and hanged from him as a koala, wrapping your arms around his neck and your legs around his waist, giggling happily. He returned your smile and held you with his arms as you kissed the tip of his nose and his bearded chin before leaning your head on his shoulder and hugging him tighter. Just because you felt like it.

A content sigh escaped your lips when you felt him gently kissing your shoulder. All of this 'trial' stuff had gotten out of hand. You didn't think it would be fair to keep calling it a 'trial', seeing how serious it was getting. So serious that you were gravelly considering  telling him you wanted it to keep going. To forget about the ten days span and start a solid relationship already. But still... Him accepting you as you were didn't mean you were the right person for him. It didn't mean he would be happy next to you. It didn't mean he couldn't be happier with another person. He could do better. And even though you knew you cared greatly about him... What if this burst of feelings you were experiencing was pure infatuation?

"Hmpf." You contained the laughter when you felt his fingers tickling you. You didn't know how he did it, but he sensed when your thoughts darkened and found a way to stop them before they went too far. "Don't tickle me!" You protested with a smile, sinking a hand to stop his and unwrapping your legs from his waist to put some distance between you. "Ah!" An exclamation left your lips when you tried to step on the sand and lost your balance, your head disappearing under the water.

Law quickly re-floated you and held you with his arms, raising a hand to move away your wet locks from your face as you coughed, and chuckling softly at your adorable clumsiness. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but I swallowed water." You said between coughs. You wrinkled your nose in disgust. "It's so salty. God knows how much stuff I swallowed with it." Another coughing fit silenced you.

"Well, to begin with, sun cream." Law started when your coughs calmed down. He grinned naughtily. "Probably some pieces of seaweed and a couple of dead bugs that were floating around here."

"Ewwww! Shut up!" You softly pushed his chest as he snickered.

You were so cute, pretending to hit him when you barely used any force. You even placed your palm carefully against his chest before pressing. "How much have you swallowed?" He asked a bit worriedly.

"Just a little, don't worry." You soothed him.

He watched how you turned around inspecting the water, probably in search of any of those things he had mentioned. "The water is very clean today, don't w-." He was trying to soothe you when you suddenly jumped on him.

 "A jellyfish!" You whined, clinging to him in desperation.

He turned around to the area you were looking at and saw the jellyfish that had scared you. It was around fifteen centimeters in diameter, but it wasn't near enough to be a threat. "Don't worry, we're safe. We'll move to another spot."

"No! No way! If there is one I'm sure there will be many more! Take me away from here! She's coming for us!" You moaned nervously.

He chuckled. She? How he loved the way you had to call everything by 'she' or 'he' when it was just an 'it'. "Okay, sunshine. Don't worry. I'll protect you." He soothed you. From his point of view you were exaggerating, but he knew you well enough to know when you were having a hard time. It wasn't your fault, everyone had their own way of seeing the reality. If you needed him to protect you from a jellyfish that was far from being remotely near, then that's what he would do.

He couldn't see your face, since you were peeking behind him from above his shoulder, but he knew your eyes followed closely the white shape of the jellyfish until not a single millimeter of water covered his feet. He walked to your towels, that were extended together, and placed you on them. "You're safe now." He couldn't help but smirk in amusement at your reaction. Not because he found it ridiculous but because he thought you were adorable and loved that you trusted and relied on him to feel safe.

You sat on the towel and he sat next to you in time to see a blush painting your cheeks. You looked down, observing how you scratched the towel with a nail. "Do you think I am stupid for overreacting?" You muttered.

"Of course not." He softly assured. It wasn't the first time you asked him if he thought you were stupid for some silly reason, but you never seemed to believe him completely. He knew you were trying to fulfill your promise of being respectful with yourself but of course it wasn't so easy. At least you had started to ask him for help. You questioning him if he thought you were stupid for this or that was your way of telling him you were waving and needed him to reassure you, something you wouldn't have done a week ago. It was a sign of trust too. And he would gladly repeat you had nothing to worry about as many times as you needed to get your confidence back. He leaned his face closer to yours and caressed your cheek with his knuckles. "You're not stupid, (Y/N). Never."

"Really?" You asked unsure, needing him to insist a little more. Your eyes met his. You knew he didn't think you were, but you still needed to hear it. Feeling stupid and guilty for reacting in some certain ways was almost automatic for you.

"Really. You're scared of jellyfish, so what? Everyone reacts differently to the same situation, all the reactions are equally valid. And let me add that yours is adorable." He swiftly kissed your cheek, and after seeing your thankful smile, he slid behind you and pulled you between his legs, wrapping his arms around your waist and leaning his chin on your shoulder afterwards.

"You know? One time, when I was a child, I thought I saw a jellyfish in the water and ran out of it as fast as I could. In fact, when I reached the sand I tripped and fell face-first. I got covered in sand from head to toe, some of it even got in my mouth. My father wanted to make me go to the seashore again to clean me with the water, but I didn't want to because I had seen the jellyfish and threw a tantrum. And you know what?" You paused to breathe. "It was just a plastic bag floating in the sea." You heard him laughing behind you, the outcome of your story having taken him by surprise. You joined his laughs. "I desperately ran away from a plastic bag. I ate sand because I got scared at a plastic bag."

"Plastic bags are demonic, we should burn them all." He joked, snickering.

"Hm..." You hummed affirmatively, nodding with your head.

You quickly turned your head, wanting to give him a kiss for being so cute, but you moved too quickly and the moment you were about to kiss his cheek, he turned questioningly and you ended up chastely kissing his lips. You paused, staring at him in shock as he blinked at you in equal surprise, and then rapidly turned your head to the sea in front of you and feigned to look at it, your heart bumping in embarrassment.

You felt Law's chest vibrating against your back as he quietly chuckled behind you, but he didn't make any comment, knowing it had been just an innocent accident. "It's okay, sunshine. Relax. Nothing happened." He gently soothed you feeling through your back the way your heart bumped.

You let out the breath you didn't know you were holding, your heartbeat slowing down, but you still were tense between Law's arms, so he decided to rub his goatee on your neck to tickle you. You squirmed and laughed nervously, instinctively trying to escape his hold.

"Law! Don't do that!" You laughed, managing to cover your neck with a hand. He felt you were relaxing again, so he didn't try to keep tickling you.

"We should reapply the sunscreen." He said after a while, reaching for your bag.

You rolled your eyes. "At this rate I'll return paler than when I left."

He handed you the bottle, having squeezed already some cream on his palm. "I give you a massage each time we do this. Quit your whining." He retorted with an amused smirk.

You grinned in satisfaction. "Aye-aye, Captain."