꧁ Is it wrong for me to love her? ꧂

To say he was in a foul mood that morning would be an understatement, and the poor alarm clock that was now laying broken on the floor could confirm it. With a resigned sight and after only two hours of sleep, Marco dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, hoping it'd help him regain some sort of sanity.

The man leaned with his arms against the wall, letting the icy water run through his hair and down his back, like a river in flood that he was unable to stop. The same way thoughts flowed through his mind all night. Nothing Marco had tried had, in fact, succeeded in giving his mind a break, the sensation of Hazel's lips on his skin still fresh. He had not yet managed to rationalize the events that took place the night before. But perhaps even more terrifying of the facts was the effect they had had on him. His heart began to run wild every time the image of the woman appeared in his mind — which had happened way too often during the night —, his body temperature had constant spikes and the redness on his cheeks showed no sign of disappearing. How could such a simple and innocent gesture cause such a reaction in him? It certainly wasn't the first kiss he had received from her, so why was this time so different from the others? Perhaps because of the mistletoe, or for the exaggerated efforts of his brothers. Or perhaps because of the way her eyes had begun to shine as she had leaned towards him and her lips had felt so soft and delicate only a few millimetres from his own.

Marco groaned, giving a punch to the wall, before finally deciding to get ready for the day.

✵✵✵✵

Walking into the living room, the first voice he heard was, of course, hers — fate seemed to be determined to torture him.

"Luffy, exactly what part of 'no' is not clear to you?" the woman said in a calm but authoritarian way.

Marco frowned. What did he do now? It was the natural question that came to his mind as he entered the kitchen.

"But I want to play in the snow," the brother complained, giving her the best puppy eyes he could master. "Come on, please, it'll be fun!"

Of course, he wants to go and play with the snow, the blond thought, shaking his head.

The woman let out a long sigh, "Luffy, please, it's too early for this. It's too cold to be outside in pyjamas."

He did not reply, he merely snorted and left the room, presumably to go back to bed or to bother another of his brothers.

"No one else is up yet?" Marco asked, making his presence known.

Hazel smiled and shook her head. "Coffee?" she added.

"Yes, please."

After pouring him a cup, the two sat quietly. The man wondered whether he should bring up the kiss, almost desperate to know if she had also spent a sleepless night — or if she gave any thought to it at all.

Unbeknownst to him, Hazel was convinced she'd made a mistake the previous night, but she didn't know what could have been the right way to apologize. Her feelings for James had been dead for a while now and there was nothing wrong with an innocent flirtation, of course, but Marco wasn't exactly the flirting type, as his reaction had expressly shown. There was also the fact that, although the two were not related by blood, they had grown up as siblings. Her actions had clearly put him in a difficult position, thus the woman was afraid of having again jeopardised their relationship. A tiny, hidden part of her heart, however, could only hope that she had finally managed to get the blond to start seeing her as a woman and not just a sister — something she had desperately wanted but miserably failed to achieve in recent years. Could it have been possible that Marco had reacted that way out of surprise and not shock?

Her train of thought was abruptly interrupted by the warm feeling of Marco's hand on her arm. The woman did not dare to look at him, fearing that her eyes would betray her, and simply listened to what he had to say.

"Listen, Hazel, I-"

"Luffy! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ace's scream from the living room interrupted him abruptly, causing both of them to turn their heads.

"Hazel said I can't play with the snow outside because it's too cold, so I'm bringing the snow inside," her brother simply replied.

"What?" Marco and Hazel exclaimed in unison, snapping to their feet and darting into the other room.

"I had no idea we were planning to host penguins in the house," Thatch commented from the stairs, not yet fully aware of what was going on. 

In an automatic movement, Hazel turned around and leaned her forehead on Marco's chest as a resigned sigh left her lips. Despite the circumstances, the blond couldn't help but smile at the gesture, stroking her back to comfort her.

"You're dealing with this, yoi," he then said, turning to the only other 'responsible' adult in the room.

Ace's eyes widened and he was about to protest when Marco's icy glare made the words die in his throat. He thus nodded resignedly, looking first at his sister and then at his younger brother.

"Luffy, you have exactly three minutes to get all that snow back into the garden and clean the living room," he said in a firm tone.

"But-"

"No buts, do it. And as punishment, I'll have to destroy you in a snowball fight later," he added with a smirk, knowing that those words would convince him.

"You're on!" Luffy beamed, immediately starting to fix his mess.

"Well said, Ace," Thatch joked, patting him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, nice work," Sabo added as he joined them in the living room, "too bad you'll be the one to have his ass handed to him."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ace replied defiantly. "And Hazel, when do you start today?" he asked.

"At 2:00," she replied, turning to look at him.

"Great, then-"

"You'll regret it," she flatly cut him off, well aware of where he was going with it, before returning to the kitchen to finish enjoying her cup of coffee.

✵✵✵✵

It was truly a mystery how Hazel still hadn't noticed Marco's piercing gaze upon herself. The man had been staring at her for a good half an hour now, to the point that Thatch started suspecting that the brother had entered some sort of spiritual trance, while the woman, completely disregarding what was happening around her, was giving her all in trying to defeat Ace and Luffy in a snowball fight.

Thatch could only laugh at the annoyed expression Marco'd wear whenever Hazel ended up crushing into Sabo to avoid an imminent snowball. The blond, in fact, had previously decided to help her teach a lesson to the two brothers, suggesting a team battle. Needless to say, the two were losing miserably: beating Luffy's hyperactivity was practically impossible.

Sensing a hand on his shoulder, Marco finally took his eyes off the woman and turned his head towards his brother, taking note only now of his presence at his side.

"It wouldn't be weird, you know?" Thatch told him, removing his hand from his shoulder.

The blond frowned, "what?"

"You and Hazel," he replied in an obvious tone.

"She's my sister, yoi."

Thatch sighed seeing the serious expression on his face. The guilt he was feeling for allowing romantic feelings for the woman to take root in his heart was plainly obvious in his eyes.

"As much as I love to think of us as a family, we are not actually related — except for Hazel and Ace, I mean," he then told him, in an attempt to reassure him. "And I'm pretty sure she doesn't see you as a sibling, either."

"You're talking nonsense, Thatch," the blond replied, his tone seeming more like a rebuke to himself than anything.

Thatch shook his head, "sometimes I wish you'd be bolder, Marco."

Before he had any chance to reply, the brunette had gone back inside. Marco sighed, his gaze returning almost automatically on Hazel. 

"He's not wrong, you know," another voice, a warmer and deeper one, grabbed his attention and made him turn around.

Marco was surprised to see his father still sitting in his usual spot behind him. "What are you talking about, Pops?" he asked hesitantly, a part of him almost ashamed that he could have heard his conversation with Thatch.

"I'm sorry I didn't realise this sooner, lad. I always thought no one would be good enough for my precious daughter," the old man said in a surprisingly kind voice. "But I wouldn't mind if it was you."

And then, just like Thatch, he got up and went back inside, leaving him no chance to speak. Marco sighed and shook his head, as the words of the two people dearest to him settled slowly in his heart.

Is it wrong for me to love her? He finally admitted to himself the question which, for longer than he had realized, he had desperately tried to answer.

As if she could hear his thoughts, a few seconds later Marco found himself with a drenched and trembling Hazel attached to his arm in desperate need of heat.

"Marco," she called, almost in a whisper, "are you alright? You look like you're about to make a life-or-death decision."

The blond chuckled, shaking his head, "I should be asking you that. You seem about to pass out from the cold, yoi."

The man put his arm around her waist and dragged her inside the house, ignoring the protests of his youngest brother, who wanted to continue the fight.

"You shouldn't have let them talk you into this, yoi," he then told her as he helped her take off her coat.

She smiled, "it was fun. And, to be honest, I think I needed it," she replied, in her voice a bitter note that did not go unnoticed.

Marco gently grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around, giving her a worried look. "Hazel, please talk to me," he finally said.

She looked like a dear caught in headlights, but before she could come up with an excuse, he spoke again.

"Don't bother lying. You are not okay," he told her. "And you don't have to go through it alone."

At that moment, Hazel was certain that if she opened her mouth she would have fallen apart, so she did the only thing she felt she could do. In a flash, she hid her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him close. Any doubt she had had about having ruined their relationship earlier that morning was now gone.

Marco was taken aback for a moment, but then he returned the embrace. He closed his eyes, placing his lips on her head, glad that at least she had not tried to hide her pain as she usually did. Unfortunately, however, the intimacy of that moment ended way too soon.

"Family hug!" yelled an overenthusiastic Luffy, jumping on both of them and almost dragging them to the ground.

"Luffy, no!" the brothers unsuccessfully tried to stop him.

Amid Marco's complaints and the reproaches of Sabo and Ace, Hazel let out a small laugh, wiping the only tear that had escaped from her eyes.

"Come here, you," she said softly, opening her arms.

Luffy did not hesitate to pounce on her, holding her tight. The boy had been aware for a while now that — despite her desperate attempts to hide it — something was making her suffer. However, considering himself a terrible listener and an even worse adviser, that was his only way to be close to her and cheer her up. And it had always worked.