꧁ Movie Night ꧂

It was now evening when Hazel finally decided to stop wallowing in her self-pity and instead listen to the loud and desperate cry for food from her stomach. With the little strength she had, therefore, the woman got herself decent and went downstairs.
Lost in her thoughts and accustomed to the chaos that had always reigned supreme in that house, Hazel failed to notice the presence of guests. This backfired as an indomitable mass of long red hair entered her view just a few seconds before she risked ending up on the ground trapped in an iron grip.

"Oh my god! I can't believe you're finally home!" Nami exclaimed, unable to contain her excitement. "You have no idea how much I missed you! How dare you leave me alone among these animals for so long?"

Hazel chuckled softly, surprised but happy to see her friend again. Before she had a chance to answer, however, their attention was drawn to the loud conversation that was happening on the other side of the living room.

"Admit it, you're an alcoholic!" shouted a familiar voice.

"For the last time, damn cook, I'm not an alcoholic!" retorted a second familiar voice.

"Then why the hell did you bring alcohol to a movie night?"

"Because I thought it was a party!"

"The party is on Friday, you imbecile! Do you have an issue with dates as well as directions now?"

The two women sighed and shook their heads, now too accustomed to that kind of spat: it was inevitable when Zoro and Sanji were together in the same room.

"Oi," Ace finally intervened, stepping in before the two started tearing each other into pieces. "Stop it. Alcohol is always welcome in this house, regardless of the occasion."

"Now you sound like an alcoholic," Sabo added sarcastically as he picked up everyone's jackets and hung them at the entrance. The brother decided it would be best to simply ignore the comment.

Before dog and cat could jump down each other's throats again, the blond finally noticed Hazel's presence in the room, and his reaction provided to make it known to everyone else. Sanji, in fact, sprinted forward as he yelled the woman's name, with all the intention of rushing into her arms — and in between her breasts. However, his plan fell apart when Luffy jumped in front of him, cutting him off.

"Stop right there," the boy barked at him. He normally had no problem with his friend's unhealthy obsession with beautiful women, but his sister was off-limits.

The blond gave him a surprised look and, for a moment, he thought to just push him to the side and keep going, but then decided against it. With a resigned sigh, he settled for giving Hazel his brightest smile followed by a long list of compliments and appreciations.

The woman was saved from embarrassment by Izo, who decided that he had had enough fun and it was the case to intervene. "Can I get a hug from my favourite person?" he asked, addressing her overprotective younger brother.

Luffy smiled at him and nodded, before heading into the kitchen for food and forgetting about everything else.

"Izo!" Hazel beamed, rushing into his arms.

The man chuckled and happily returned the embrace. "I missed you too, girl," he then told her, letting her go.

"How have you been?"

"Not too bad. I have news by the way, not sure if good or bad yet though."

"A new boyfriend?"

"It's complicated."

Hazel nodded in understanding, "then we'll need alcohol."

"Don't worry, I brought plenty," Zoro said, passing an arm around her waist and leaving a quick peck on her cheek, before going into the kitchen to start opening a few bottles.

"I had no doubt," she muttered, getting another laugh from Izou.

"Okay, people, I ordered pizza for everyone," Thatch announced, entering the living room and drawing the attention of everyone present — particularly Luffy, who was following him around like a puppy just waiting to be fed.

"Time to pick the movie then," Sabo said as everyone was taking their seats on the couches.

Nami immediately seized the armchair on which Pops usually sat, in a desperate attempt to be left alone by Sanji. The blond, however, although disappointed that he could not sit next to her, did not lose heart and decided to stay on the floor in front of her. The woman snorted but did not move.

Meanwhile, Sabo sat on the small couch on the opposite side, soon followed by Marco, who had finally decided to make an appearance that night. Hazel couldn't help but to notice the annoyed expression on his face, probably due to the constant whining of a hungry Luffy, but at the same it was possible that she was the cause of it instead. Suddenly, the woman lost her appetite altogether. Her stomach suddenly seemed to have become an expert contortionist.

"You okay?" Izo asked, immediately sensing her sudden discomfort.

"It's complicated," she answered dismissively, unable to talk about her situation without a decent amount of alcohol in her veins.

The man nodded and sat by her side on the main couch, passing an arm around her shoulder and drawing her to himself. She smiled in return and leaned into him.

"Horror or comedy?" Thatch asked, as he took the remote and plopped down next to Izo, who stiffened slightly. Hazel glanced at him but said nothing.

"Comedy," Ace replied instantaneously, taking his place on the ground, in front of his sister, before Luffy could steal it from him. That place, in fact, was the favourite of all the brothers, especially the youngers: the comfort of the couches could not compete with the wonderful feeling of the scratches that the woman gave to anyone who happened to be in front of her.

"Horror it is," Thatch said, selecting the first film of his favourite horror saga, The Conjuring.

"Then why the hell did you ask?" retorted Ace, looking at him with angry eyes.

"Not my fault you're a pussy, Ace," replied the brunette, eliciting a chorus of laughter.

Before the brother could throw himself at him, however, Hazel started playing with his hair and he decided it wasn't worth it.

"Hey, that's not fair! I wanted to sit there!" Luffy complained at the exact moment he noticed where Ace was sitting.

"First come, first served," he replied proudly, as the boy reluctantly plopped down at his side, followed by Zoro.

In less than an hour from the beginning of the film, everyone was already at the second heart attack and the fourth — or eighth in the case of Luffy — slice of pizza. Feeling their manhood questioned twice already, the boys decided to fight the jump scares with good old liquid courage. Therefore, to Zoro's delight, they started opening several bottles of alcohol.

Hazel had seized the opportunity and had indulged in that sense of illusory happiness that the alcohol gave her, relaxing in the arms of Izou. To avoid terribly regretting her actions the next morning, she had attempted to eat a slice of pizza, but had abandoned the idea at the second bite. Naturally, that hadn't stopped Sanji from continuing to serve her the best drinks he could prepare all evening: a gentleman would never leave a beautiful woman without something to drink.

✵✵✵✵

In the middle of the second film, the situation had become drastic. Luffy and Ace were hiding in a pillow fort to protect themselves from the movie's poltergeist. Zoro had fallen asleep on the ground. Nami had let Sanji sit in the armchair with her and was using him as a human shield to avoid the most frightening scenes. Thatch was snickering at every high-pitched cry from Sabo and Izo, who were almost blocking the circulation of respectively Marco and Hazel. The latter, however, did not complain: the blond was now too immersed in his thoughts to pay attention to the film, while the woman had downed enough alcohol to find the jump scares more funny than scary.

I'm jealous of a gay man, Marco thought, in seeing for the umpteenth time Izo hiding his face in Hazel's belly, while she smiled at his childish behaviour and stroked his hair in an attempt to calm him. I'm jealous of her best friend, who's gay, he repeated to himself, ashamed of how low he had fallen. I need to do something about this.
Marco was only pulled out of his train of thought when he saw Hazel getting up in a very unstable way, dragging herself upstairs. Looking around, he realized that the woman had made a smart decision: those who were not frightened to death were already heavily asleep and, given the number of empty bottles on the table, the others would have collapsed soon too. To avoid getting stuck in an intricate maze of sleeping bodies, Marco decided that it was better to imitate Hazel so, nimbly and silently, he freed himself from Sabo's grasp and headed to his room.

In opening the door, Marco had yet another heart attack that night. Hazel was sleeping quietly in his bed, her clothes disregarded on the floor and one of his t-shirts as pyjamas. It was a wonderful and terrifying sight at the same time. Marco was paralyzed, he had no idea what to do. Was she there intentionally or did the alcohol make her confuse rooms? Would she be shocked if she woke up with him by her side? Finding answers to those questions at 1:00 in the morning and with a decent amount of alcohol in his veins was way too difficult. Therefore, he did the one thing that seemed the most natural to him: he put on a pair of sweatpants and slipped under the covers. In a moment he found himself stuck with Hazel's head on his chest and her arm around his torso. He couldn't help but smile as he kissed her on the head and pressed her to himself.