꧁ Pastries and Plans ꧂

Hazel woke up with a start, her eyes wide open, her hands clenched tightly around the soft fabric of her sheets. She felt like someone who had just run the New York marathon: her body was drenched in sweat and still shaking with chills as her lungs fought desperately for air. It was just a nightmare, she told herself, I'm okay, I'm home now. A soft sigh left her lips as she ran her hands through her messy hair in an automatic movement.

A high-pitched sound from her computer called her back to reality. Hazel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then crawled out of bed and into the shower, hoping for relief under a jet of cold water. After making herself presentable, she went downstairs, craving coffee.

Although the sun was already high, no noise could be heard in the house. The boys must still be asleep, Hazel thought, realizing only now that she has no idea what time it was. Entering the kitchen, she peered out of the window door opening on the porch, noticing Pops sitting in his usual place, slowly sipping a cup of tea — a strong black tea, with a sugar cube but no milk. The woman smiled, since she had started living in that house, every morning she had found her old man sitting outside, watching the sunrise with a warm cup of tea in his hands. She then finally looked at the phone to check the time — 7.30 am, that silence wouldn't have lasted much longer. Hazel tied her hair and rolled up the sleeves of the hoodie she had stolen from Ace years prior, then started preparing breakfast.

✵✵✵✵

"What's with this amazing smell?" Thatch asked, entering the kitchen. "Did you make breakfast?"

Hazel hummed in response, before taking out the pastries from the oven and placing them on the counter. She smiled observing her brother reaction's, the brunette was eating the sweets with his eyes.

"You're an angel sent from above and we do not deserve you," he told her, going to take one but having his hand slapped away.

"Not yet," Hazel chuckled, knowing he would have just burned his hand if he tried to pick up one now.

"Meanie," he mumbled in response but didn't try again, instead deciding to sit down and wait for the others.

"Morning," Marco greeted them, his usual sleepiness replaced by a brighter mood, something that his older brother didn't fail to notice.

"What's got you so smiley today?" Thatch asked, smirking.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, yoi," the blond replied dismissively, sitting down at the table.

"Sure," the brunette murmured, patting him on the shoulder.

"Are those what I think they are?" Ace suddenly yelled, pointing at the trail on the counter, a big bright smile on his lips.

Hazel laughed at his outburst, but nodded nonetheless, before motioning for him to sit down.

"Luffy! Hazel made pastries!" He shouted before taking a seat next to Marco.

A series of quick steps and heavy leaps followed that statement, and in a moment the youngest of the Newgate boys was at the kitchen door, licking the drool clean from his lips. 

"Wait! Sit down and you'll have them in a second," Hazel was quick to bring her arms up and move in front of the counter. However, her action did not have the desired effect, on the contrary, her brother smirked and made two more steps forward.

"Luffy, I'm warning you. Go sit down or you won't have any," she tried again, this time in a more authoritative voice.

The scene seemed to amuse the three older males, who were trying their best not to burst out laughing, so as to avoid the wrath of the woman.

"Instead of snickering like teenage girls, why don't you three give me a hand here?" asked Hazel, giving them a quick glare.

"Sit your ass down, Luffy," Ace said, immediately turning serious.

"Com'on, just wait a minute, yoi," followed Marco.

"Should I call Pops?" Thatch threatened, seeing how his brothers' attempts had no effect.

At those words, Luffy's eyes before he lowered his head and took a seat next to the oldest, murmuring a "please don't."

"What's all this commotion about?" asked a sleepy Sabo, entering the kitchen at last.

"Your imbecile brother can't contain himself in front of food," Ace replied.

"He's your brother too, you know?" the blond replied with a smile, going to sit next to the boy in question, who was looking at them offended.

"Quiet down guys," Hazel intervened, finally putting the pastries on the table, along with cups of coffee and a carafe of orange juice, then receiving a chorus of "thanks" in response.

"Hey, you're not eating with us?" Ace asked, seeing his sister about to walk out of the room.

"Oh, I-I woke up early so I had something before," she replied with a smile.

It was a lie and Ace knew it, but decided to keep quiet, thinking it would be best to talk to her in private.

"Wait a sec, Hazy," Thatch called her back, his mouth still full of food. "We need to talk about the party."

"What party, yoi?"

"Her homecoming party, of course!"

"Thatch there's really no need to-"

"Don't wanna hear it. We are doing this," the brunette cut her off assertively.

"Finally, we haven't had a party in forever!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly. His enthusiasm was enough to convince the woman, who nodded with a smile.

"If we want to do it before Christmas we should start planning," Ace chimed in.

"You beat me to the punch," said Thatch, "so, who's coming?"

"Everyone is!" Luffy immediately replied, giggling.

"Would it be okay if I invited Koala?" asked Sabo shyly.

"Of course, yoi."

"Wait, are you two an item now?" Ace inquired, leaning towards him with a smirk.

"Yeah, sort of," the blond answered, scratching his neck as a faint blush dusted his cheeks, "it's not official, yet."

"On that note, is that boyfriend of yours gonna show up this time?" Thatch asked cheerfully, however, the smile died on his lips as soon as he noticed the sudden change in his sister's demeanor.

"No," Hazel answered coldly, diverting her eyes from her brothers.

"Why not?" chimed in Luffy, too focused on his food to notice the awkwardness of the moment.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore," she simply answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

That caused the youngest to finally look up from his place and give her an apologetic glance.

"Don't worry, sweetie, it's better this way," she smiled at him, melting before those adorable brown eyes.

"By the way, guys," started Sabo, deciding it would be best to change the subject, "we still need to go Christmas shopping."

"Right, we need new decorations," Ace nodded.

"What happened to the old ones?" Hazel asked curiously.

"Luffy set them on fire," the younger blond simply answered.

"Hey! I didn't do it on purpose!" Luffy tried to defend himself.

Why does that not surprise me? The woman thought, smiling to herself as she shook her head. The smile soon turned into chuckles, before escalating into a burst of hearty laughter. The five males stared at her, totally taken aback by her reaction, before being infected by that beautiful sound.

"Okay, so, what do we need?" Hazel asked, after regaining her composure.

"Everything," replied Ace.

"We can get the tree, yoi," said Marco, referring to Thatch and himself.

"Then we'll get the rest," stated Hazel, nodding to the other three brothers.

"Great," Thatch beamed, "can I start giving you a list of a few things we're gonna need for the party too?"

"Sure," the woman nodded.

"Wait, Thatch, when are we doing this party, yoi?"

"I'd say next Friday."

"Then what do you need us to buy two weeks in advanced?" Sabo voiced everyone's thoughts as he gave Thatch a confused look.

"Yeah, isn't the food gonna go bad?" asked Luffy, evidently worried.

"We're out of booze," the brunette simply replied, causing a chorus of "oh".

"It's nice to know that you ungrateful brats don't even ask my opinion anymore before planning a party," Pops' voice roared from the kitchen entrance, making every single one of them freeze on the spot. "And please make sure to keep that one away from the Christmas decorations this year," he added, nodding towards Luffy, before walking away grinning widely.

"He was joking, right?" asked Ace, trying his best to mask his worry.

"Yeah, he's not actually mad, is he?" followed Sabo, letting out a nervous chuckle.

Luffy didn't say anything, deciding it was best to just stare at the table and wait for the atmosphere to return cheerful. It didn't take long for the two oldest brothers to burst into laughter at the reactions of the younglings.

"Of course, he's joking," Thatch reassured them.

"At the very least, he's glad we don't bother him," Marco added. "Now go get ready, we have plenty of stuff to do today, yoi."

✵✵✵✵

A slight knock on the door caught Hazel's attention. She was quick to retrieve a sweater from the drawer and slip it in, before muttering "come in." The woman closed her eyes for a moment. Although she expected that Ace would not have bought her lie about eating breakfast, she was not at all ready for the conversation that was about to happen. Her eyes widened when, instead of her twin, she saw Marco walk into the room. Ace doesn't knock, she scolded herself mentally.

The blond smiled slightly at her reaction, before handing her a napkin with the only pastries he had managed to save. Marco had to appeal to all his self-control not to crush her in a tight embrace when she looked at him. In her beautiful hazel eyes, he could see a mixture of wonder, confusion, and another feeling that he wasn't exactly able to define, but it seemed like something akin to guilt.

"Just take it, yoi," he told her, diverting his eyes in an attempt to maintain his composure. "I know you didn't eat breakfast."

She smiled and accepted the sweet, not finding in her heart the courage to refuse.

"I don't know what happened between you and James," he then said, "but please don't shut us out. We're here for you, yoi."

I'm here for you, Marco admittedly wanted to say, but decided against it. He couldn't be so selfish to make it about him.
A light sigh left his lips when she didn't reply. He run a hand through his blond locks and turned to leave, not knowing how to interpret her silence.

"The others are waiting for you downstairs," he then added, before going to close the door after him.

"Marco!" Hazel's voice made him stop in his track and quickly spun around to face her.

The woman had no idea what came over her. A year earlier she would have probably cracked a joke or simply hugged him tightly. At that moment, however, she could do nothing but stare at him, without knowing what to say, hoping perhaps that her eyes could speak for her. Would a simple "thanks" suffice?

"Thank you," she eventually said, almost whispering, before the doubt could silence her completely.

He smiled. It was enough.