Ace sat on his couch in his lonely new apartment. There were boxes all over the place, and all he'd unpacked was the TV and some of his books. The apartment was nice. He didn't want to live somewhere noisy, so it was a nice secluded apartment. Two bedrooms even though it was only him in it. He needed to get a pet. The therapist told him that was a good idea.

He had nice furniture here. Well, he could afford it. He had all of the fortune from his family. All of it was now his, passed down after his mother's death. He got up and stretched before he began to unpack. He spent all night on it, lost in his thoughts as he unpacked his old life and more of his new life.

He didn't sleep, just continued to unpack. His nice kitchen with the stainless steel appliances was unpacked and soon, full of everything except food. He hung photos up on the walls, mostly of his family. None of the photos he'd had with Marco. He wanted to move on from him. He left when Ace was dead to the world. Even changed his phone number.

Ace came to the conclusion that Marco had never actually loved him. Maybe he was just a project for the older man. Breaking down his walls and making his way deep into Ace's heart only to abandon him with no note. No nothing. But he would move on. He wouldn't trust anyone to love him again.

There was no such thing as true love. His relationship with Marco had meant nothing in the long run. Well, it did to Ace, but clearly not Marco. The freckled man moved to unpack his bedroom. He had almost a new everything. New furniture, new books. He kept all of the furtniure from his old home and it was all in the storage unit he rented in the complex. Having it around him was too much, but if he got rid of all of it, he'd have nothing left.

The unit was on the third floor, so he opened the windows for the night. Back at his old home, they had to keep the windows closed and locked. It had been a nice house, homey, but one story so the windows stayed closed.

It was too late, and he needed to wake up in the morning, so he took his antidepressants medication for his agoraphobia and headed to his new bedroom to collapse onto the bed. He was too numb still, to cry. It had been over three months since he woke up, but he still didn't cry. He couldn't or he would break apart into little pieces, and he no longer had anyone to help him put them back together again.

Unable to sleep, he took a xanax and was able to sleep. It was a nice, dreamless sleep. When he woke up, he pulled himself out of bed and headed to the one bathroom to take a shower. He was still pretty skinny and pale. He used to be a nice warm honey color, but now he was just pale. His freckles stood out on his face, so he'd bought makeup to cover them up so he didn't see them in the mirror anymore and be reminded of his mother.

It was unnecessary to see that now. Maybe in the future, maybe never. But not right now. He dried his hair and body before he put the concealer on. There. He didn't look like his mom anymore. When he left the bathroom, he put the towel in the hamper next to the laundry closet. He walked around in his underwear and unpacked more, folding boxes up once they were empty and shoving them in the closet on the back patio.

After his new home was clean and organized, he took out his new laptop and went online to order groceries and have them delivered. He didn't know when he would leave the house or get a job. He lived in a different city now, and had enough money to be comfortable for some years. But, he didn't want to waste away locked in his house forever.

He didn't like going out in public much, but he lived next to a park now, so that was good enough. But he still had to go to the pharmacy for refills. He could go outside on walks. He had a car he could drive anywhere, but had no place he wanted to go.

Moving away from home when it was no longer there had been a good thing. There were no painful memories of him or his family. No memories of the places he'd gone with Marco.

He ordered a lot of groceries so he didn't need to go for awhile. Toilet paper and detergent were in need, so he put those on the list as well. He placed the order and then sat at the stool at the bar counter part of the kitchen, staring out the window near the kitchen sink. It was a nice view of the city. It would look nice at night with all the city lights. After he was situated and used to living someplace that wasn't home or the hospital, he'd make a schedule on when to go and visit the graves. If he could bring himself to go there. They were empty lots. There was no one and nothing to visit. He needed structure, like his therapist said. He would also be driving there, too. So the only places he needed to go was the therapist, the pharmacy, and out for walks like he was supposed to. Other than that, he could just order groceries.

He remembered when Marco had made a date of them going grocery shopping together. Before the accident, Marco had hinted at wanting to move in together. Ace hadn't denied or accepted, just sort of got uncomfortable, so Marco dropped it. He seemed so understanding then. They had gone to a dinky market and shopped for candy and popcorn for having a movie night at Ace's place.

It hadn't been fun for Marco. Ace had liked it, but Marco was probably annoyed. Ace was the one to pay at the register, but there was a line behind him and he kept dropping the money, growing more and more uncomfortable. Marco had taken the money from Ace and paid for him. He had smiled like it didn't bother him.

Ace sighed, still so confused about everything. He... he could have left a note. Or a text or voice mail. Something to tell Ace why when he woke up. He sighed and turned on the TV, flopping down on the couch. The groceries would be there in a couple hours. He was hungry and had no food, but didn't want to go out and buy something.

He'd gone two years without eating, he could go a couple hours. Watching the news was all he had to do. He hadn't set up the wifi yet, and was just using the hotspot on his phone to hook up the computer. He didn't have cable, so he just watched the only channel there was, which was the news.

Detached from any problems but his own, Ace didn't find anything worth watching on the news, and instead went to set things up. The wifi first. He put the router on the bookshelf, setting it up himself. Considering he'd lived at home for all his life before the crash, he felt he was doing alright on his own.

At the hospital, they helped him learn how to use the washing machine and dryer. Then they taught him how to cook simple meals. Rouge had always cooked everything, she enjoyed it. Luffy would eat most of it. Leaving little for Ace. He smiled, tears dripping from his eyes as he thought of his brother. His baby brother, who he remembered carrying at 5 years old.

He braced his arms on the counter top, and hunched his back, gasping sobs, trying to will the tears away. He didn't want to break. Not yet, he had to get his life together first. But he didn't know how or why he should even do that. What was the point in the first place? It's not like he had any bright future to strive for.

Too uncomfortable to go to school or get a real paying job. No dreams anymore. He'd once dreamt of Marco being his happily-ever-after, but that ship had sailed when Ace wasn't there to see it off.

He scratched his arms harshly to think of something other than how much he missed his family. It worked, but it left pink lines across his pale skin. He didn't want to go there. The therapist would worry more. He downed a xanax, breathing deeply to calm himself. The therapist said to think of something happy when he felt hopeless, but there was nothing that was a happy memory that didn't have anything to do with those he'd lost.

After the groceries came, he had already paid online, he thanked the delivery guy, albeit with a shaky voice, and went back inside to put the groceries away. He put everything where it was supposed to go and then just sat on the couch before he decided he didn't want to be alone. He was unpacked already, he could go get a cat.

A cat would be less work, and his family cat had run away when his family died. There was no way to find it now. But this meant he had to go shopping for pet supplies. He weighed the pros and cons, and decided he'd go get an animal tomorrow, and get what he needed near the closing hours so there wouldn't be a lot of people there.

He would do his best to live normally but be around as little as people as he could. He could do this, he could live by himself. After all, it wasn't like he had any other option.

-x-

Marco was sitting on the couch at his brother's house, arms resting on his thighs as he leaned forward. He'd showed up unannounced and looking like he hadn't slept in days. Izo was rightfully worried about him. He brought him some coffee.

"So, what's wrong?" Izo asked carefully, sipping his own tea and sitting on the lounge chair across from his older brother. "Why do you look like shit?" Marco frowned at his choice wording, even though he knew it was true. He had gotten no sleep the night before after driving home from Ace's old house.

All he had been able to think about was Ace all alone somewhere. All alone.

"Ace woke up," Marco said simply. Izo looked overjoyed and then confused. Shouldn't Marco be happy. "He left a couple weeks ago. I don't know where he went or how to reach him. His family is dead, Izo. He woke up with no one. I... I wasn't there for him. He tried calling me, but it didn't go through," he confessed.

Izo had a tragic look on, hand up to his mouth. Marco had told all his brothers about Ace, usually nice things, praising him going out on a date, gushing about how so in love he'd been. Still was. He never stopped loving Ace, but he'd messed up.

"You didn't get any information? Did you ask the hospital? Maybe they know where he went," he offered. None of Marco's brothers had ever actually met Ace. Even after three years of dating, Ace had been afraid to meet Marco's family. Marco had tried so many times that they would all be understanding about his anxiety, and they would have been. The day of the crash was when they were going to meet him.

Thatch and Izo had gone to the hospital with Marco, but Ace was in his coma already. They couldn't do anything to get him out of it, so they were there for Marco through the hard time. Then Marco had "broken up" with Ace from the guilt.

"The nurse hated me. She must have been close to Ace, when I told her my name she glared at me. Ace must have been in so much pain, waking up alone." He downed the rest of his coffee, wishing it was alcohol instead, but he wanted to be thinking clearly. He had to find Ace, make sure he was okay.

He didn't know what after that. He had no right to ask to be let back in, but he wanted to be. He wanted to be with Ace again, like how they used to be. But Ace had woken up and knew that Marco had ditched him. Even his phone didn't work out. Marco felt no hope, but he wanted to make sure Ace wasn't doing any self-harm. Maybe they could be friends again, at least, and Marco could help him.

But Marco didn't want to be friends. He wanted things to be like how they used to. Ace would never trust him again. He'd let Marco in, and then left when things got difficult, and not on the part of Ace.

"So what are you going to do?" Izo asked curiously. Marco made eye contact with him, and said, "I want your help to find him. I want everyone's help." Izo looked shocked. Marco never asked for help with things, always the one giving it.

"Do you think that's a good idea? He moved away, didn't he? If... if he wanted to try and rebuild things, he would have gone to your house. He knows where you live," Izo said, trying to be gentle but reasonable.

Marco shook his head. That wasn't what Ace would do. Marco knew what he'd do, just not where he went. "Ace doesn't think like that. He'll think I left him because I got bored of him. That he wasn't enough, or was too much. Even if we do make up, I'll be starting a square one again to regain his trust. I want things to go back to how they were. I love him," he explained quietly.

Izo stood up and walked to sit beside Ace on the couch, and put his hand on Marco's shoulder. "I will help you. But is it really a good idea? Do you think you will hurt him more by going? You abandoned him and he doesn't know why." Marco's face fell. He knew that was the truth. He had done something truly wrong. But he couldn't let Ace spiral into misery all alone.

"I want to at least reassure him that it wasn't that I don't love him anymore. I- I loved him too much for my own good, but that's not on him," Marco said strongly, voice becoming more firm as he spoke. "I know Ace like the back of my hand, and he is miserable and lonely and confused now. And I made it even worse. I wasn't even there when he woke up to find his old life was over."

Izo frowned and sighed. "I promise I will help you, but I don't even know where to start to look. He might have moved to another city, another state. I'm not a detective, you know. Does he have any social media accounts?"

Marco shook his head. Ace was never interested in those. All he had was an email that Marco tried. But the message had been bounced back. He had zero ways of communicating with Ace, letting him know it wasn't him that caused Marco to leave.

He knew he'd lost all of Ace's trust the moment he realized how long it had been since Marco had visited. It was so hard to gain that trust over years of work and now it was gone. Did Ace even want to see Marco? Would he shun him, turn him away even if he needed help?

Ace's agoraphobia made it difficult for him to leave the house, and Marco knew he had no other family here, so how was he living? And where was he getting money? Did he have to get a job to pay for wherever he lives? Marco was so worried about him, but felt if Ace knew how worried he was, he'd be ashamed or even offended. Maybe he was underestimating Ace. But he still needed to know.

"Why don't you ask everyone? To keep their eyes open, we live all over the state, so someone might notice him," Izo offered helpfully. Marco thought that was a good idea. "Send them a photo of him and ask him to keep a look out for him."

Marco thought that plan wouldn't work well since Ace rarely left the house if he could help it. Marco had tried to help him get past that slowly over the years they were together. And the day he finally agreed to go see the family, he ended up in a coma. Bleeding everywhere... no, he didn't want to think of what Ace had looked like then.

"I will, I'll do it now," Marco said, and opened his phone, looking for the best photo of Ace, scrolling through everything before he found a perfect one that looked how he did around anyone other than Marco and his family. He rarely smiled in public, so he chose one of those photos, where Ace was looking down at his face with a small frown. It was his default expression out in public.

Would Marco ever see him smile again? He hoped so. Man, what had he done? To the person he loved. But he would try to do his best to help if Ace accepted it. He sent the photo to all of his brothers, telling them to keep out a lookout for him and to message him if they see him. Most of them sent a confirmation back by the end of the day, where Marco was laying on the couch, looking at the ceiling, throwing a ball up and catching it.

He had a TV show playing in the background, but once again he was more focused on what was going on in his head. All he could think about was the fact Ace had when he felt like Marco was thinking he was too much trouble. The nurse must have seen it, and the aftermath, and that's why she clearly hated Marco for what he'd done to such a pure soul.

She didn't know the full story, but it wasn't like the truth made him seem good. He rolled over on his side and dropped the ball to the carpet, looking at the drawer in the coffee table he knew housed framed photos of him and Ace in their best days. He walked over, opening the drawer slowly, seeing the frames turned on their fronts so he only saw the back of them.

They had dates on them. Two were anniversary photos. Each time, Ace was shocked they were still together, and Marco did his best to convince him he'd always be there for him. He lied. At the time he never planned on leaving, but he did. If only he'd left a letter. Ace hadn't heard him in his coma. Hadn't heard the tears and apologies.

He had hoped but worried at the same time that Ace could hear him, but was trapped and unable to reply. Would have been in turmoil, trapped in his own head. But Ace hadn't been awake. If he had, hopefully he would have tried harder to contact Marco. Changing his number had been a bad thing, even if he did it for practical purposes.

He pulled out the small and large frames, and saw all of them were Ace smiling. Most were in his house or Marco's house, but that was fine. Only one was one of outside, when they were at the park, Ace was sleeping on a picnic blanket, black hair fanned around his face, light from between the leaves of trees shining across his freckles. He was beautiful.

Marco put some of the frames up on his bookshelf. Looking at them might give him motivation to keep trying. He didn't want to give up. Ace might not want him but he might need him. Or at least someone to help him through the hard times.

It was the next day, Marco having slept on the couch for some reason, when he got a message from Haruta. He didn't know what it was for, but it was early. Well, earlier. 9:00. He pulled the charger out of it and turned the brightness up to see it better, opening the text from his youngest brother. They were all in part of their twenties, but Haruta was the youngest, even younger than Ace was.

There was a photo of him. Ace was wearing a blue jacket, black jeans and some boots. His hair was not longer anymore, so it had been cut since he woke up. He was in line somewhere, looking uncomfortable. Then Marco realized where he was. In a pharmacy. But it made sense he'd be on pills after what happened.

Found him! Haruta showed with thumbs up emojis. Ace didn't look good. He had circles under his eyes, and was pale. Haruta had clearly taken the photo in secret since it was from a low position.

Where is that?

The icon showing Haruta was typing showed up, and Marco stared at it, excited to know where he could find Ace. Seeing him awake, even if he wasn't in good shape, was wonderful. Since the last time he'd seen him, he was asleep and ghaunt.

Downtown Alkine. Near where I live, but he might live in any of the small towns here. I didn't follow him out, but he took the prescription and then stared at a pack of skittles for awhile before deciding to buy it. Then he left.

Marco was shocked that Ace had successfully gone shopping on his own. Though he looked very uncomfortable. Maybe... he didn't need Marco. No, he needed emotional support. Not just help doing regular things. But where did he live? He could live in any of the close knit clusters of towns in that area.

Marco thanked Haruta, feeling hope. It had happened so fast, he'd only messaged everyone the day before! What luck! He immediately got on the computer and searched names in that city, trying to find any new registered properties. But no homes were bought or rented in the last couple months, so he probably chose an apartment complex. That was helpful information.

He didn't know what kind of place he would have gotten. Probably somewhere nicer. He had money, his mother had a lot when she was alive. Not as much as Marco's family, but they still lived very comfortably.

Marco looked up all apartments in the area, and there were too many to search each unit. Go to each door. But if he could get his siblings to help him, then it would be faster. There were fourteen besides him, after all. It could work, and he knew his brothers would help him. They knew how bad off he was when Ace was in the coma, and how happy he was when they were together.

They knew of Ace's agoraphobia, and did not know why Marco was so infatuated with Ace, even though Marco tried to explain. That Ace was kind and innocent and once he was comfortable with someone, he became as bright as a star. He still had anxiety, but he was open with Marco. The man hoped he could get that back some day.

He messaged all of his siblings, asking them for help. More like begging. Only nine of them responded quickly, but by the end of the day, everyone had replied and were caught up with what was going on. Marco was touched that they all easily agreed to look. Not just Izo, who he knew would help from the start. Izo was smart when it came to relationship advice.

A couple days later, everyone met, even those who lived in different cities and they split up where they'd search. It would be every apartment in one city, and then they'd move to another if they couldn't find Ace there. It would take a couple days, but they could do it. Marco was in a hurry and they understood that Ace was fragile and grieving alone.

They'd find him, but would Ace even want to talk to him? God, he hoped so.