"What did you just say?", asked the swordsman, hoping that her shouting had simply distorted the words.

"I cheated on you.", she repeated. "For the past two months.", added the archaeologist quietly. She hadn't meant to confess this way, in middle of an argument about some trivial matter that would be forgotten in the next hour or two when they were a tangled mess in their bed, but she couldn't let another night go by. Sleeping against his chest, letting him hold her and touch her, kiss her thinking she was his alone to do that with when she wasn't, he deserved better than that.

"You cheated on me.", said Zoro, his voice a deadly calm that she expected was a mix of his barely controlled rage and...disbelief. Did he really have that much faith in her after only two years of marriage? Was he really so shocked that she had been unfaithful after knowing how her past relationships had gone before ever trying to pursue her. He should of seen this coming. So why? Why this hurt look and disbelief, almost begging for her to be lying, for her to of just thrown out a false statement to jar him and make him apologize first so that they could move on to the making up part in their bedroom?

"Yes.", she said reluctantly. She had expected a lot of things if Zoro were to ever find out about the sporadic visits she had with the large, blue-haired engineer at her firm, but the utter shock she could hear in his voice now told her that she had miscalculated. Franky didn't mean anything to her, sure he was fun to fool around with, but that was it. She loved Zoro, still did, but the lonely weekends while his stupid swordsman competitions pulled him away from her were starting to wear on their straining relationship, they both knew it. "It didn't mean anything though.", added the raven-haired woman. He's truly baffled at my betrayal. Did he really have that much faith in me, does he truly love me that much? "It was a mistake, I just..."

"How can you just bring this up now?", asked the swordsman, his red face giving away at the anger he was fighting to control.

Good, get angry, lose control. Hurt me like I've hurt you, that way, maybe this guilt will ebb away just a little. " I couldn't let another night go by without telling you, but it's over. I broke it off and it won't happen again."

"Oh, but for the last two months you didn't have a problem coming home and acting like everything was normal. You didn't seem too distraught when we were having sex last night, or when we were eating breakfast, or when I left for work. You really had me fooled, Robin. I never even thought that all those times you were tired and all the weird explanations for what you did when I got back were because you had been banging another guy. Looks like your little mind games actually worked on me, but that's my fault for trusting someone like you in the first place, right?"

"Zoro, I told you I made a mistake.", tried Robin again, reaching out to grab her husband's tense arm.

"Yeah, apparently so did I.", said Zoro, turning his accusing single eye up to stare into her icy blue ones as he wrenched his arm away from her hands. He turned away from her, snatching his keys off the nearby counter, walking towards the door as she called out to him once again.

"Where are you going?"

"Does it matter? Why do you even care, don't you have some other guy to worry about? I'm surprised you even came home today since I'm such a pathetic excuse for a husband that you have to sleep around like a common whore.", spat the green-haired man. "I'm leaving before I end up hurting you which I guess was too much to ask from you." He had to get out of there, he had to keep it together until he was away from her. Far away so that he wouldn't unleash all of his building rage on her even if she deserved to feel every ounce of betrayal that he did, every questioned thought that now raced through his mind, every stab to his heart that she had caused with her confession. She deserved his wrath, his hate, but he couldn't hurt her like that, he never could, not even now. He slammed the door and left, heading for his car with no idea what he was doing. His world was shattered, gone, one of the few constants in his life was no longer that, maybe never would be. He needed to vent, to get this off his chest, to sort this out so that he could gain some sense of control in his now fragmented life. He slid into the car, turning the key and listening as the engines roared to life before speeding out of the driveway a destination now in mind.

Robin watched the plain black car pull out of the drive just as she did every day when Zoro left in the early morning hours for the dojo he taught at before she went to finish getting ready for her own job. She loved staring after him, knowing that at the end of the day that he would come back to her, that they would be together, but the last few months had made her doubt. The fights were far more frequent and seemed less and less relevant, the time they spent alone seemed more like a ceasefire in a never ending war than an inconvenience that kept them apart like it used to. They hadn't been the perfect couple when Zoro proposed, but they loved each other more than anything else and that had been enough for him. Why couldn't it have been enough for her?

She had let the kind words and playful flirting with Franky during her work days lull her into a false sense of peace with him that her and Zoro had been lacking. She hadn't sought out a lover, the thought of cheating hadn't even crossed her mind until the flamboyant engineer had started making his advances far more frequent. The first time had been when he offered to drive her to his home to get some jumper cables to start her car when she couldn't get a hold of her husband. They had arrived at his apartment, a place more suited for a hoard of intoxicated college students than a grown man in his mid- thirties, but that just fascinated her all the more. Franky intrigued her, was different than Zoro in the fact that they were nothing alike, had no similar traits yet somehow managed to get along quite well. He had touched her for far too long and when he leaned down pressing her against the bed as their lips connected she didn't resist, not that time or any time after that until recently. She loved the swordsman, wanted to spend everyday of her life as his, but her mind wouldn't let her be at peace with that. She was selfish, she knew that, had tried to convince the younger man of that when he persisted with trying to be with her, and look at where they were. She was the adulterous wife and him the angry, confused husband that had every right to hate her and still couldn't manage that. She had been with the swordsman long enough to understand his behavior and what it meant, he wasn't that complicated to begin with and unlike her, he didn't hide things from her. He was angry, the bloodthirsty competitor coming out of him just like it did during all those tournaments he fought in against her wishes, but more than anything he was, beyond all understanding sad. She had broken the strongest man she had ever known, hurt him in a way she knew he had never allowed himself to experience before her. I did this to him.

Robin dropped to her knees, the tears she shouldn't be allowed to shed dripping down her cheeks as she clutched the curtains. This is my fault, I have no right to be upset about him leaving. This is why I did it right, I thought he didn't want me anymore, so I tried to gain the upper hand before he had the chance, but I was wrong. He didn't want this, he didn't want to leave me. Why, why do I always do this? "Zoro, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.", she sobbed over and over again, but it was too late. She was alone, had ruined the only chance at true happiness she had ever known, and for what a cheap fling with a man that told her he only wanted her for sex. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She collapsed onto the carpet, opting to sleep on the floor rather than crawl into a cold, empty bed. He probably never wants to see me again., thought the historian as she curled her knees up to her chest. This is what I deserve, I'm a traitor, he could never trust me again after what I told him, but still...I want this to get better. I'm still so selfish. I've just done something unforgivable to the man that I claim to love and can only think of a way to get him to forgive me even after causing him so much pain just so that I'll be happy again. I should of stopped it before it ever led to this, I shouldn't have let him get close enough that I could hurt him.

Zoro pulled into the apartment complex, rubbing at his face before exiting the car and heading for the stairs that led to the second story. His poor directional skills being over-ridden by the rage and grief swirling inside him, dulling all his other emotions until he wondered if he had ever felt anything else to begin with. He banged on the door, number four hundred and twenty-one, continuously until in swung inward, the occupant giving him the normal scowl in greeting.

"Geez, what's the emergency, Moss Head? All the pounding's given me a headache, idiot.", huffed Sanji as he pushed his hair back in irritation.

"Robin cheated on me.", said Zoro plainly, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. "I don't know what to do, so I came here. Can I crash on your couch, Love Cook?", asked the swordsman, the insult to the blonde coming out of habit more than the usually playful atmosphere their rivalry created.

"Get in here.", said the chef.

A/N: So chapter one of the cheating fic that martin. tyler. 16. requested. As I've stated previously, this is way out of my wheelhouse in not only content, but also in the writing style I've had to use to make the story flow right. Just in case you didn't read the summary, this story is a modern au, but uses aspects the character canon pasts like Robin being on the streets until she met Luffy and the gang.