if the blood pumping through my veins could freeze

one shot/drabble thingy.
i don't own one piece. i wish i did.

author's note: so this is for day 14 of the zosan holiday fanfiction exchange. i when out on a whim and signed up for it and i still am wondering why. this is the first fanfiction i've written in probably 8 years so be gentle with me. this kind of idea came to me from a picture on tumblr and the song forest and sands by camera obscura. if you want mood music for this fic i recommend camera obscura. (but i recommend them for any reason all the time)

second off, a huge thank you to the ENTIRE zosan fandom on tumblr. you guys are all sweethearts and some of the best writers/artists/fans in the one piece fandom. we all ship it so hard and all we ever wanted was smangst and sweet sweet anal.

so here it is. please be gentle with my body.


It was certainly awkward.

He knew walking home with Zoro would be awkward, weird, tense and a whole bunch of other uncomfortable words to describe what had happened between them this morning.

It was the last day of school before winter break started.

Zoro had kissed him.

After his face turned red, seconds before the press of Zoro's soft lips, his heart and body exploded. He didn't even know he had been wanting this until Zoro's suddenly dreamy brown eyes had hypnotized him into believing Zoro was all he ever wanted. He melted into the kiss, hearing Zoro make a soft sound- but then footsteps, from somewhere, and panic overwhelmed him. He yelped; shoved Zoro aside and he ran.

He ran.

And ran.

And ran.

Leaving Zoro alone in the cold hallway, probably frustrated and a whole lot warmer.

Now it's the last class of the day and after chastising himself for the last three classes, he knew he shouldn't have done that to him. Thinking back on all the signs, all the things Zoro has said and done, Sanji doesn't even know why this kiss was a surprise. But now he just felt stupid and kind of lonely inside.

Only a week ago Zoro had confessed to Sanji that he loved him.

Sanji said he didn't feel the same.

At the same time, he wasn't even entirely sure how he felt. It sounded true, in his head. Once the words escaped his lips and changed the look on Zoro's face to an expression he'd never wanted to see, it all seemed like a lie. What was he even saying?

"I mean, I just...Zoro we're like...um," meeting with Zoro s eyes was a bad idea. Sanji was becoming flustered, and starting to ramble. Zoro opened his mouth to say something but that ended up being the first time Sanji ran away from Zoro.

Zoro despite being a stupid moss headed, directionally challenged, kendo obsessed douchenugget, was still his best friend.

So he waited, bundled up in the drizzling snow. Waiting for him so they could walk home together and create some kind of normality out of this situation. Sanji leaned up against the tree by the school gate, in a daydreamy haze of trying to keep his body warm, but his insides cold towards Zoro's feelings. It wasn't working. But he didn't know what to do yet. Saying words was one thing, but the kiss was a different way of getting his feelings across.

"You waited!?" Zoro yelped in surprise. Sanji could see Zoro was not expecting this in the slightest.

Sanji's eyes narrowed to a glare, "Of course I did! Why wouldn't I!?"

Zoro looked like he was about to argue back, walking towards the skinny blonde, but shut his mouth when he got a closer look. Sanji's hair was starting to kink from the moisture of the snow; pink faced from the cold, and furrowed brows. How did this stupid asshole manage to look so cute when he's angry? All of these factors caused Zoro to completely forget what was happening.

"I just- uh, NEVERMIND." Zoro shouted, walking off without Sanji.

For a few minutes all the noise between them was the shuffling of their boots in the snow. Neither of them wanted to speak. Not even school talk or the weather could save this awkward silence. Sanji, seeming to have a much better way with words, and suddenly feeling confident in his barrier against Zoro s feelings decided to bring it up first.

"So, you like me?" he glanced at the green haired boy suspiciously, seriously?"

Zoro didn't even flinch, which made Sanji uncomfortable and suddenly unsure again, "If you had let me finish, I could have explained myself but instead you ran away..." he smiled at Sanji, both times."

"You startled me! What was I supposed to do!?" Sanji yelled, stopping in his tracks to face him. Zoro begrudgingly stopped and rolled his head to face him.

"There are a lot of things you could have done. You could have told me how you felt? You could have given me an answer," Zoro's voice was starting to feel strained, you could have said something or anything or you could have stayed..." Zoro trailed off as his eyes looked at the murky snow beneath them.

Sanji sighed, and smiled a little. "Look, I'm sorry. I just got nervous. I didn't know what to say or what to do." he shuffled, moving his bangs, trying to find somewhere to put his nerves, "I didn't want to answer then because I wasn't sure of what I was going to say."

Now he wasn't sure where the redness on his face was coming from. The cold or his feelings."And then you kissed me today and now-" Sanji, who was adverting Zoro's gaze, finally met eyes with the moss headed idiot. Zoro s face wasn't at all what he thought he'd see. It was soft and sweet and it almost looked as though instead of listening, he was looking at him as if he were the best thing in the world. It hit Sanji that he had caught the tail end of this look many, many times and thought nothing of it.

Now he was thinking everything of it.

So Sanji's legs started to shake. Zoro s expression changed suddenly. He knew what was coming. After telling the stupid love cook how he felt, he had booked it down the hallway. Then after Zoro kissed him, Sanji seemed to reciprocate until he pushed him away and ran.

Sanji turned and started off in a run.

Zoro heaved a heavy sigh, watching as Sanji took off running. Zoro squatted down, this was hard. Constantly having the person you care for so much reject you. Sanji couldn't even tell him honestly how he felt. It was okay, he guessed if it was rejection but he had hoped Sanji could at least tell him himself.

He looked up finally, expecting to see Sanji gone.

But he wasn't gone.

"What the fuck are you doing, dumbass!?" Zoro yelled out to Sanji.

Sanji was jogging in place, about ten yards away. His back to him, the rolls of his steamy breath above him as he just...jogged in place.

"I'm trying not to run away from my feelings! So I'm jogging in place!" Sanji turned, still hopping in place, laughing out at the last words that escaped his lips. I don't want to run away anymore! I think I kind of like you back and it's not fair that I m doing this to you!" Sanji yelled out to him.

"Why don't you come over here!?" Zoro shook his head, you re such an idiot."

"You're the one who says he loves an idiot." Sanji said, running towards Zoro. He breathed out, a little out of breath from the cold and the exercise. He stopped right in front of Zoro, leaving little space between them.

"I do love an idiot then." Zoro smiled.

Sanji caught his breath, and smiled back at Zoro, I think I do too." Sanji leaned forward to plant his lips against Zoro, lacing his mitten covered hands with Zoro's. As soon as they touched, Sanji s cold lips met Zoro's. It was sweet and warming. Zoro tilted his head, deepening the kiss. Sanji relaxed a little, letting Zoro slip his tongue between his teeth, and Sanji could feel Zoro s body twitch. Zoro let out a soft moan, and Sanji did too. The blonde starting to get nervous fought it off by pulling away, breathing heavy again. Zoro was frozen, staring as Sanji, wide-eyed and kind of tense. Sanji looked at him confused. He felt something weird against his leg and everything clicked.

"Um...Zoro. Are you-uhhh...? Sanji glanced down seeing how close they were and what was touching him and then back up at Zoro's face.

"I, uh, yes..." Zoro confirmed.

And Zoro ran.

And ran.

And ran.