Disclaimer: One Piece and all of the characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. I don't profit from this or make any money.
A/N: It's Valentine's Day! I thought I'd just upload a little drabble for you guys~! Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you like it! Please read and review! It'd mean so much to me if you did!
Zoro nervously wiped his sweaty palms on the seat of his pants.
He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was nervous, pretty damn close to sweating bullets actually. But he couldn't let that deter him from what he was about to do.
When Zoro had first met Sanji in middle school, there had been an instant connection. It had been hate at first. They'd beaten the shit out of each other, something Zoro remembered fondly. Sanji's father, Zeff, and Zoro's own father, Koshiro, had been exasperated. It seemed as if they'd been called to the office nearly every day because their boys got into a fight. However, over time, the fights between Sanji and Zoro mellowed out, as they became friends. They still fought daily, but it was more trading insults versus the physical altercations they used to get into when they were younger.
Still, Zoro and Sanji remained good friends even in highschool. Of course for Zoro that had all changed after that party they'd gone to their sophomore year. While Zoro was notoriously good at holding his alcohol, Sanji wasn't. Two beers later and the male was drunk as a skunk, fawning over everything with a face practically. It had been quite funny, especially when Sanji couldn't see straight enough to kick Zoro's ass. Zoro chewed his lip as he fondly remembered sneaking Sanji back to his place so that Sanji could sleep it off. At least, that had been the plan. He'd just dumped Sanji into his bed, when Sanji had, in a moment of drunken clarity, or whatever the fuck it was called, had opened his eyes, and snagged Zoro's shirt with a lightning quick grab. Before Zoro could say anything, Sanji had pulled him down into a kiss.
That had been quite the revelation for Zoro. He'd always assumed he was asexual, but after kissing Sanji, he'd come to realize a couple of things. First, that he was gay, second, that he liked blondes, and third, he was hopelessly, irrevocably in love with Sanji. When the kiss broke, before Zoro could even question Sanji about it, Sanji had passed out, mumbling sweet nothings about his beautiful 'Nami'. Those sweet nothings had cause an ache in Zoro's heart, reminding him that Sanji was forever out of his reach. Sanji was straight and hopelessly, stupidly, in love with women. A woman that Zoro definitely wasn't. He'd then set about moving the garbage can next to his bed for Sanji when the male woke up the next morning. Leaving a glass of water along with two tylenol tablets on the bedside table, Zoro had gone to the living room to crash on the couch. Peeling his shirt off, he'd shimmied out of of his jeans, and wearing only boxers, crashed on the couch, pulling blankets over himself in the process and hid, pushing the sudden revelation of being gay and in love with Sanji from his mind.
After that fateful night, Zoro had spent the rest of sophomore year and beginning of junior year hiding it. It wasn't easy to pretend he was straight and not in love with Sanji, not when the idiot made it so hard. Zoro had to spend his days watching Sanji fawn over women. Zoro had to watch as Sanji discovered dating and heartbreak, all the while, his own heart ached, jealous of what those women had that he didn't. If he had the chance to date Sanji, he'd hold on tight and never let go. He'd cherish Sanji, and love the male like Sanji seemed to so desperately crave from the women he chased after and dated. First had been the money-grubbing witch, Nami. She had pretty much taken advantage of Sanji and his little pocket money, but Sanji never complained. After Nami, had been the mature, wise, and smart senior, Robin. After that, there had been Vivi, Caimie, Charlotte, Bonney, and a bunch of other girls whose names he couldn't be bothered to remember. But, Sanji never looked his way, or seemed so much as the slightest bit interested in men. It hurt, but Zoro found that he could live with that. He just locked those emotions away, and never let them see the light of day, lest he break and lose what he had with Sanji.
However, when February approached, Zoro had intended to avoid Valentine's Day altogether. All the fluttering hearts, the lovey-dovey couples, that shit was definitely not his thing, something the idiot noodle would like. But Zoro wasn't all that surprised really. Sanji had always been about the romance and the love side of things. Still, Zoro had assumed that Sanji would spend Valentine's night, evening, dinner, whatever, with his girlfriend of the moment, some wannabe dancer name Violet. However, Zoro's assumptions had been proven wrong when Sanji, at their customary lunch spot had flopped on the ground next to him, announcing rather sadly "My lovely Violet broke up with. What am I gonna do, Zoro? Valentine's day is Friday! I had all these plans to spend the evening sharing a romantic dinner with my gorgeous, lovely, beautiful Violet! But she broke up with me, and now I have to cancel everything."
Zoro saw the meaningful look Sanji gave Zoro, as if he were expecting Zoro to say something. If he didn't know any better, Zoro would have guessed that Sanji was expecting Zoro to offer to be his Valentine. Could he? No, Zoro didn't think so. Shaking his head mentally, he instead let a sneer curl his lips as he said "Hou~ and just what did the swirly browed, love-noodle idiot plan to do for Valentine's day?" Zoro luckily was fast to move out of the way before Sanji's kick could connect with his skull. Of course he wasn't so lucky with Sanji's punch to the arm, but that was okay because Sanji's punches weren't nearly as strong as his mule kicks. Zoro smirked at Sanji, watching the male sputter in out rage. Sanji snarled "I'm not a swirly browed, love-noodle idiot, idiot mosshead! I'll have you know I was going to give my sweet Violet roses, and chocolates, then make a delicious dinner for the two of us to share! It was going to be romantic, and beautiful, just for my lovely Violet!" Zoro snorted. He ignored the slight twinge of pain, he was used to it after all, and poking the pain area would only make him feel worse. So, he changed the topic instead. Choosing to distract Sanji from his obvious heartache at breaking up with yet another girlfriend.
The rest of Wednesday, and all of Thursday, whenever Valentine's Day was brought up or mentioned, Sanji would shoot Zoro these small expectant looks, as if he were expecting Zoro to say something. What he expected Zoro to say or do, Zoro couldn't be sure, but Zoro was starting to figure it was a hint for Valentine's Day.
It was when he was grocery shopping for Koshiro that evening that Zoro saw it.
Zoro had been shopping at the local grocery store, trying to pick up eggs for Koshiro, when he'd walked past a gaudy Valentine's Day display and it caught his eye. Sitting on the shelf was a single blonde teddy bear clutching a fake rose. But that's not what caught Zoro's attention. No, it wasn't the teddy bear's blue eyes either. it was the swirly eyebrows that the teddy bear had. Zoro, curiously picked it up, and examined the bear. When he checked the price, Zoro was surprised to see the twenty five dollar bear marked down to ten dollars. Looking at the other teddy bears, he noted that the other teddy bears had rather normal looking eyebrows, and that this one was the only one that had swirly eyebrows. Seeing all the other teddy bears with their perfectly shaped eyebrows, and this one with the swirly brows, Zoro couldn't help but think it was a sign from Cupid, or whatever that he should confess to Sanji. Hell, if the looks were anything to go by, Sanji was expecting it too. Who was Zoro to argue with fate? He sure as hell didn't believe in coincidences. Zoro would take this as a sign from Cupid to confess his feelings to Sanji and ask the male out.
With that decision in mind, he'd put the bear in his cart, and gone to get the eggs. After he'd gone home, clutching the bag with the teddy bear tightly, he'd carried the eggs in his other hand, his grip on the bag just as tight. Explaining the bear to Koshiro had been embarrassing, especially since it was pretty much his "Hey dad, I'm gay for Sanji." coming out talk. But, Koshiro was surprisingly, or perhaps, unsurprisingly, okay with that. Zoro didn't know how, but based on the man's expression, he'd known all along that Zoro was gay, and he'd made his peace with it a long time ago. Zoro had honestly been relieved. Although, he had to clarify that he wasn't exactly sure he was gay either. Besides Sanji, he'd never cared for anyone else in the same way. Still, Koshiro had been reassuring, and comforting, assuring Zoro that he would, he just hadn't found anyone else yet. After that, dinner preparation, and dinner had been relatively peaceful. They hadn't talked about Sanji, or Zoro's plans for tomorrow any more than that.
Friday morning, Zoro had rushed to shower and dress. Instead of throwing on whatever he could find on the floor, Zoro had made the conscious effort to dress nicely. He pulled on a clean, crisp, and new pair of jeans that weren't faded, didn't have holes in the knees, and didn't look ratty. Instead of a t-shirt, he pulled on an emerald green polo shirt, buttoning the three buttons. Making an even more conscious effort to look presentable, he "borrowed", Koshiro's cologne, and sprayed some on himself, doing his best to look nice, and smell nice. The shitty blonde had better appreciate this. With that thought, the butterflies were back in his stomach, if he'd had breakfast, he'd probably have thrown it all back up.
Luckily, or unluckily, Zoro didn't have time for breakfast. Instead, he'd chosen to just rush to school. Slipping on his worn sneakers, he snagged his backpack, along with the bear tucked away safely inside the bag, and hurriedly rushed out of the house, slamming the door shut behind him. Standing on the porch, he happened to see Koshiro in the drive way, about to leave for work in his car. Koshiro rolled down the window and called "I'll give you a ride to school, Zoro. Why don't you get in the car? It'd be a shame if you got to school all sweaty, especially since you put the effort in to look nice today." Dashing to the car, Zoro hopped into the passenger seat next to Koshiro and said "Thanks for the ride." Koshiro simply smiled and said "No problem."
After that the ride to school was quiet, dropping Zoro off in front of the high school with a "Good luck." Koshiro drove away. Zoro waved the man off, and inhaling deeply, Zoro exhaled as he confidently strode into the high school, and then into the classroom, ignoring all the stares and whispers. Taking his customary seat beside Sanji, he ignored the perplexed expression on Sanji's face, resisting the urge to smirk, Zoro turned to Sanji and instead, raised an eyebrow, satisfied when he was rewarded with a flustered Sanji. Sanji snapped irritably "What the hell, mosshead? Why are you dressed up? You hate Valentine's Day!" Before Zoro could respond, the teacher had entered the classroom, and class had begun, thankfully preventing Zoro from responding.
After that, Zoro had quite gleefully spent the rest of the day, changing topics whenever Sanji tried to ask him about his fancier dressing style. Zoro had enjoyed watching Sanji get irritated. Although, he had to admit he was relieved when Sanji finally gave up asking him about it at lunch time. Zoro had debated on when to give Sanji the bear and ask the man out all of that morning, but he'd decided at lunch time that he'd ask Sanji after school since he wanted the chance to walk away in case Sanji said no. Zoro was hoping Sanji had said yes, and if the looks he'd been given these past couple of days were anything to go by, Sanji might just end up saying yes, something Zoro was desperately hoping for.
Finally, classes were over. As was customary, Zoro had gone to wait for Sanji out front under the trees. He'd set his back pack down and unzipped it, in preparation of what was coming. Still, this didn't stop Zoro from being nervous as he found himself repeatedly inhaling and exhaling nervously, as well as wiping sweaty palms on the seat of his jeans.
"Oi! Zoro~!"
Zoro's head whipped up so fast, he was pretty sure he was going to get whip lash. He watched Sanji practically skip up to him, arms laden with chocolates that girls had probably given him. Shit, it was now or never. His mouth went dry, as he felt his heart rate speed up. Shit, he was going to be sick. Zoro vaguely wondered what kind of expression he was making because Sanji was watching him with a particularly concerned expression. "Sanji." Zoro croaked, his voice uncomfortably dry and hoarse from his nerves.
Sanji skidded to a stop in front of Zoro, concern gracing his features. He asked "Oi, shithead, you don't look so good. Maybe you should call Koshiro to come and get you." Sanji really was worried. Zoro looked sick. However, the male seemed to be fine, because Zoro shook his head and croaked "No, I'm fine, asshole." Sanji huffed and sniped back "I'm just asking marimo, you look a little pale is all." Sanji's tone switched to an excited one as he said "Zoro, look at all the chocolates the lovely ladies gave me! Did you get any?"
Zoro shook his head, and watched Sanji frown for a moment, before continuing on to babble about the ladies that had given him the chocolates. It was now or never, god the man looked beautiful, Zoro could only hope that this went well, and if it didn't, that Sanji didn't hate him for it. He leaned down to reach into his back pack, a sweat palm clutching the bear. By this point, Sanji's babbling had fallen silent, as he watched Zoro with a raised eyebrow, wondering what his best friend was doing. Not that Zoro noticed. He was too busy working up the courage to pull the bear out of his backpack. However, at the questioning "Zoro?" from Sanji, Zoro firmed his resolve.
Pulling the teddy bear from his backpack, a light pink tinted his cheeks as he held the bear out to Sanji. Looking away awkwardly, he asked gruffly "Will you be my Valentine?" When he was met by silence, Zoro hesitantly turned to look at Sanji. His stomach plummeted as he took in Sanji's expression. It wasn't pity, Zoro knew that. Zoro wouldn't even describe it as sympathy. Rather, Zoro would describe the expression as one of guilt and sadness. Instead of getting the instantaneous 'No. I'm sorry I don't feel that way.' like Zoro expected, Sanji instead asked "How long?" The hand clutching the bear dropped his side as Zoro said stiffly "Since last year. That party where you got drunk." Zoro knew what Sanji's answer was without even asking.
Sanji, after a few moments of silence said, regret, and pain filling his voice "I'm sorry, Zoro. I don't-"
Zoro held up a hand, cutting the other off, and effectively stopping Sanji from saying what he already knew but still didn't want to hear. He said, voice choked with tears he refused to shed in front of Sanji, "I know." Zoro's pride had already been trampled, and his heart, broken. He wasn't going to take Sanji's pity either. Stiffly, Zoro scooped his backpack up, still clutching the bear in one hand. Turning his back on Sanji, Zoro walked away without another word, heading for home. Maybe on Monday he'd be able to face Sanji, but right now, he couldn't bring himself to face the man. It hurt too much.
As Zoro walked home, he tossed the stupid bear in the first garbage can he saw. Clenching his trembling fist, he didn't make it much farther than a couple of steps from the garbage can. Dropping his backpack on the side walk, he turned to the bushes and vomited. As he did, silent tears streamed down his face. Wiping mouth with the back of his hand, he scrubbed at his eyes, trying to stop the tears. Inhaling, and exhaling a couple of times, he managed to stop the tears for the moment, but he knew it wouldn't be for long. Snatching his back pack up, he grabbed it and booked it, running home as fast as he could. Running up the drive way, he couldn't get the keys into the door fast enough. Practically falling inside the house, Zoro slammed the door shut. Pressing his back against the shut door, he dropped his backpack and slid down to sit on the floor. Resting his arms on top of his knees, Zoro buried his face in his arms and cried in anguish over the rejection and subsequent loss of his first love and best friend.
Zoro fucking hated Valentine's Day.