Sanji breathed a happy sigh as he stood outside his and Zoro's first house for the first time. It had been a long time coming with plenty of hard work but they were finally here, in the neighbourhood he dreamed of living in from a child. Standing in the doorstep, clutching the keys tight in his hands he unlocked the door and threw it open, revealing their empty hallway. He already had so many plans for what he wanted to do, it would be open plan with a brand new, well fitted and stocked kitchen and-
Two muscular arms wrapped around him, disrupting his train of thought.
"Are you going inside?" Zoro asked, placing a light kiss on his neck.
"Aren't you going to carry me over the threshold?" Sanji replied cheekily, laughing merrily as Zoro hoisted him up in his arms and stepped into the house.
"I would carry you straight to bed but all we've got is that blow up mattress in the car until the delivery comes."
"That doesn't matter. You can take me here, right on the floor. All that matters is that we're here together." Sanji said, twisting in Zoro's arms to kiss him.
"Careful, you're gonna make even the neighbours sick with your fucking soppy lines." Despite this he carefully closed the door and made his way back over to Sanji.
"Oh shut up and fuck me." His tone filled with amusement before they descended into a sweaty pile of naked limbs on a bed of their own sloppily discarded clothing.
Sanji had been frantically looking for work for three months now. The Baratie had burned to the ground and Zeff had been unable to get a decent enough insurance payout to start over, leaving all of his staff jobless. This had been six months ago. Sanji had assumed that Zeff would get back on track but alas that was not the case and looking for work had been harder than he anticipated.
He had no formal qualifications but he had experience behind him so he assumed he would get snapped up by a nice restaurant but he was beginning to lose hope as he received rejection after rejection. The longer he was out of work as well the worse his resume looked. He had finally decided to lower himself to look at working in a chain restaurant but that involved so much jumping through hoops for a poorly paid job it was demoralising.
"I'm home!" Zoro called from the front door as he let himself in. Glancing at the clock, Sanji cursed quietly. It was already 8pm and he hadn't even started dinner. Zoro was bound to be starving after all the hours he'd taken on to support them both. It had been just over a year since they'd moved in to this house and after all of their expensive purchases they made at the beginning on top the mortgage, it was a real struggle to keep themselves afloat.
"I'm sorry! I'll make something for you now!" He shouted as he ran downstairs, cigarette hanging from his lips.
"Why are you smoking so much in the house still," Zoro looked less than pleased, "I thought we agreed that you'd take it outside instead of stinking up the whole house. How much did you smoke today?"
"I've been stressed. I've been pretty busy looking for work all day I just wanted something to take the edge off, so back off. Not everyone turns to drink like you." He spat out as he pushed past him to enter the kitchen. He grabbed some ingredients from the fridge and put a frying pan to heat in the hob whilst he chopped the chicken and vegetables.
"Excuse me? I've barely been drinking because we can't afford it and yet you appear to have all the money in the world to be buying packs of fags to feed your disgusting habit which you promised to fucking stop. Maybe when you start earning some of your own money, then you might be able to say something but seen as I'm the only one bringing anything in-"
THWACK!
Sanji swung round the the frying pan, hitting Zoro on the side of the head making him fall to the ground. He was breathing hard as he stood over him, silently fuming whilst looking down at the vulnerable Zoro on the floor. Dropping to his knees he pressed the pan against one of Zoro's arms. It took him a few moments to realise what was happing after the shock of the first hit so he smelt to burning hair before the pain hit him. He cried out and that seemed to snap Sanji out of his rage. Jumping back to his feet, he stared in horror at what he had done to the man he loved.
"Oh God" he sobbed out. Pulling Zoro to his feet, he rushed him to the sink and blasted the cold tap, holding Zoro's arm under it. The tears began to flow freely and he sobbed apologies to his partner. Zoro took some of the blame as well, saying he shouldn't have been so harsh and that they were both at fault but Sanji knew it was all him. He could never do something like that again and he promised as much as they both cried against each other. Never again.
He had been working in the kitchens of some shitty restaurant for several months now and he hated it but it was a job, which was all he could hope for at the moment. They treated him like a skivvy, making him stay late to wash everything whilst the other chefs left early and he felt more and more bitter about it everyday.
When he finally pulled up outside the house it was dark inside, meaning Zoro had come in and gone to bed already and it felt like a malevolent force rose up inside him.
Storming upstairs he burst into their bedroom to a confused, half asleep Zoro and climbed on top of him before starting to strip him.
"Wha... wait, I've got work in the morning. I start really early, can we wait? I don't want to do it now." Trying to weakly push Sanji away with his sleep fuddled brain only partially working he was rewarded with a punch across the face making him see stars. As he started to wake up a little more he resisted harder but Sanji changed their position and climbed on top of him, pinning his legs and punching him harder.
"If you just lie there it will be over soon. Just shut up and deal with it." Sanji spat out.
Decided he would rather have less bruises to explain at work, as he coworkers didn't believe that he had suddenly become super clumsy, he stopped fighting and let Sanji do what he wanted. When he finally pulled out ,Zoro curled up in a little ball and sobbed himself back to sleep.
Luffy was frowning as he sat across from Zoro, barely able to drink anything. They didn't meet up much anymore but he had seen more than enough to know that this relationship was toxic.
One side of Zoro's face was covered in blotchy purple and green bruises, which he had badly tried to cover with makeup and Zoro was acting as though nothing was wrong, chatting away about problems at work and some difficult clients he had but Luffy couldn't hear a thing.
"You need to break up. He's gonna hurt you so badly one day that you won't just be able to get up and walk away from it."
Zoro eyes were wide and startled. He'd become so different this past year, Luffy almost couldn't recognise his best friend.
"We... we always used to fight. It's just the same as before." He laughed but there was no humour in it, just desperation. "That's how it all started out in the first place, me and him fighting."
"It was never like this! This is madness!"
"I just wanted to talk but if all you're going to do is attack me theres no reason for me to stick around." He roughly reached into his pocket and grabbed out some change, dashing it on the table in front of them. "Here, I'm going." He said before storming off.
"Zoro, wait!" He jumped up to chase him out, but struggled to find enough money to pay quickly. By the time he ran out of the cafe, there was no sign of Zoro. "SHIT!" He shouted angrily kicking the nearest wall.
Sometimes it seemed like all of their bad times were at an end. Like tonight, when they were curled up in each other's arms watching a movie and afterwards when they gently made love, Sanji moaning sweetly as he rode Zoro and they kissed passionately as moonlight filtered onto the room through their slightly cracked curtains.
As they finished and flopped next to each other after a blissful climax, it felt like none of their problems existed and that they were all but a distant dream until Sanji hit a bruise on Zoro's abdomen which caused him flinch in pain.
Sanji murmured his apologies as he lightly kissed Zoro's injuries, promising he would be better and it would never happen again and Zoro wanted nothing more than to believe him, he truly did, but a voice in the back of his head told him the truth. That he'd been making the same promise of over a year and nothing had changed. He still smiled and kissed Sanji's forehead so he could enjoy this happy moment together.
Sanji cried as he sat alone in his empty house.
Zoro had left him.
He came home one night to see Zoro standing with his bag packed and he knew what was happening. He tried to feign ignorance and begged Zoro to stay when he explained but he wasn't swayed. They fought and Zoro walked out.
It was over. The man he had loved so much for the past 7 years of his life had walked out and left him.
Picking up a picture frame with a photo of the two of them together and threw it at the mirror, smashing the two items at the same time. He spun round to look for something else to throw and soon he was surrounded by broken glass and ornaments. Everything was just as broken as him.
It had been 2 weeks since Zoro had left and Sanji was falling apart. There were signs of him everywhere from the smell of him that lingered throughout the house to to small dent in the passenger side door of his car where Zoro had pushed the door shut a little to forcefully once and it was driving him mad.
He was deep in thought when he stepped out to cross the road and suddenly everything went black.
He awoke to a steady beeping and harsh lights. He groaned and shook his head before blearily opening his eyes.
As he came to he saw a worried Zoro standing at the foot of his bed, staring anxiously as Sanji awoke.
"They said you just stepped out in front of a bus." Zoro said, he voice sounded strained, like he had been recently crying. "Was it..."
An accident? Of course but Zoro didn't need to know that.
"I can't live without you. I promise I'll be better, come back to me."
Sanji had lost his job again. He hadn't called in sick after the accident and they immediately fired him. When he tried to argue his case they refused to listen, saying they had plenty of other reasons to tell him to leave as well.
It wouldn't matter soon anyway. Nothing would matter at all. He hummed as he cooked a delicious meal for him and Zoro to share, proud of his work. Serving it up beautifully, he grabbed the plates and Zoro's drink and brought it out to the dining table. They would eat properly, and together, for once.
He smiled broadly as he laid the meal in front of an exhausted looking Zoro and sat opposite with his own meal, being careful to make sure he served the right one.
"You seem happy, did something good happen?" Zoro asked
"I'm just glad to be here with you. Make sure you eat every bite, I worked hard to make it just for you."
"Thanks, Sanji, it tastes great."
Sanji moved the plate away when Zoro's head finally hit the table as the sleeping pills kicked in. Smiling happily he cleaned up their plates before going upstairs to run a bath for the two of them.
Making sure the temperature was just right he went back to pull Zoro upstairs, trying to do it as gently as possible. Luckily, Zoro had lost a lot of weight this past year or two. He hadn't been training as hard or eating as much making it much easier to get him up to the bath.
Stripping the both of them and leaving Zoro gently resting on the floor whilst he made sure that everything was perfect, Sanji continued to hum a little tune. Trying not to bash him too much he pulled Zoro into the bath and climbed in with him. It was a tight fit and he was still a little a disappointed that he would never finish the refurbishments he dreamed of, which included a luxury bath that 2 people could easily enjoy, but it was too late now.
Reaching out to grab the knife he had left ready in the floor he ran the blade down Zoro's forearms and placed them in the water. He started to stir but there was nothing he could do as blood pulsed out of Zoro's arms filling the bath with his blood and covering Sanji. Zoro's eyes had flickered open but soon the light disappeared and and quickly passed.
Tears ran tracks through the blood on his face. Sanji leaned forward a pressed a soft kiss to Zoro's still warm lips.
"I'm sorry. I'll see you soon."
Pulling Zoro round and into his lap he braced himself for what was to come. Pressing the knife against the skin of his wrist and roughly dragged it up leaving a jagged cut behind. It bled heavily and he found he didn't have strength to do the other side so he opted to wrap his arm around Zoro in the water and relax instead.
"I'm coming Zoro." He whispered before he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
Tashigi had been bothering him with the same case all day. Someone had called in a missing person. It had only been 24 hours since they were last seen but he had recently moved back in with his abusive boyfriend. He hadn't come to work that morning and he wasn't answering his phone, which was highly unusual behaviour for him.
As he made his way up the path to the dark house he noticed there were 2 cars parked outside. He knocked on the door once, twice and then, ignoring protocol as an uneasy feeling rose in his stomach he kicked down the door.
A broken mirror hung in the hallway and the house seemed strangely bare. Creeping lightly into the house, he paused at the stairs and looked up onto the landing when he met a pair a blue eyes staring back at him from the darkness. A bloody face suddenly appeared smiling creepily and then as he blinked to vanished.
He rushed to the switch on a light but there was no sign anyone had been standing there at all.
"Smoker?" Tashigi inquired behind him.
"I'm gonna look upstairs you look down here." He ordered gruffly.
Slowly making his way upstairs he saw light pouring from a room with the door cracked open. Making his way over the door creaked open by itself to reveal the same dead lifeless face smiling at him from the bathtub, another man lying in his arms and an awful stench suddenly assaulted his senses.
Turning away noticed a bloody blond head making its way down the stairs and suddenly he couldn't use his voice. He struggled to make his way towards the stairs but his body felt weak and he fell the the ground as he lost consciousness. But not a before he heard a piercing scream.