A/N: 'Delilah' means amorous and temptress.
Also, I recommend listening to "#Icanteven" by The Neighbourhood ft. French Montana while reading this. For the best effect, start playing this right after it says "...could only mean that bad news were to come."
It was so different with Sanji. He was so sweet, so gentle; he took his time to caress every single piece of her skin. And she loved that. She loved how soft his hands were when they ran across her back; she loved how the stubble of his goatee felt when it ran across her stomach; she loved how he seemed to relish in every single moan, every single sound that came out of her mouth—she loved it all. She did. But it was so different from him.
Zoro was so rough, so aggressive; he made sure that she knew that she was his. And she loved that. She loved how rough his hands were when they gripped onto her thighs; she loved the way he pulled her hair when he ran his lips across her neck; she loved the bite marks that he left all across her body—she loved it all. She did. But it was so—
Sanji made her feel loved, but Zoro made her feel desired; and she needed to feel both of these things so she needed to have both of them. She knew that she was being selfish, but she couldn't help herself. She was addicted. And it was a bad addiction. Because she knew that she wouldn't be the only one left harmed in the end, but—
It was an addiction nevertheless. She didn't know how to stop. How could anyone expect her to stop? The high was just too damn strong.
It had to end though. She knew it did. Everything had to. And it wouldn't be pretty. No. It would be a fucking trainwreck with an inconceivable amount of collateral damage.
Sanji lay on his back on the bed while Delilah hovered over him; she was on her knees with her legs on either side of his hips and her hands on either side of his head. His left hand softly caressed her thigh while his right lay against her cheek. Their faces were so close to one another that they could feel the others' breaths against their skin.
Delilah loved these moments.
"Sanji, I—," she began, but she stopped, freezing upon the sound of her friend's, Nami's, voice calling out Sanji's name.
Said man's eyes widened and he cursed under his breath. He sat up, causing Delilah to fall onto her butt on his lap. Delilah quickly scrambled around to face the door as she heard the knob jiggle. Her eyes were wide; she was like a deer caught in headlights. She knew that this day would come, but that didn't mean that she wanted it to happen nor that she was prepared for it.
"Sanji, do you—," they both heard as the knob turned and the door was pushed open, "know where…" Nami's voice trailed off and she gasped as her eyes took in the sight before her. "Please tell me this isn't what it looks like," she said in a pleading tone as she noted that both of them were naked.
Delilah bit her lip and looked away from the ginger. There was no way that she could lie to her now.
Nami's surprise was quickly replaced by anger.
"Does Zoro know about this?!" She questioned. Delilah opened her mouth to say something, but she quickly closed it right back. What was she supposed to say in this situation?
"I'll take that as a no then," Nami said. "I can't believe this. I can't believe you'd do something like this. I thought you loved him!"
"I do love him!" Delilah shouted.
"Really? Then tell me why the hell I just found you in bed with Sanji!"
"I—," she began to reply, but Nami didn't let her.
"And you, Sanji!" Nami continued to shout, now addressing the blond man. "I don't care how much you and Zoro annoy each other, but he is still your friend! How could you betray him like this?" Sanji kept his gaze down on the bed sheet that covered his lower half. There was no way that he could look Nami in the eye.
"God, I can't—," began Nami as she started to pace back and forth. "This isn't the first time is it?" She was met with silence. She stopped pacing to stare at the pair disapprovingly again. "How long has this been going on then?" Neither of them looked up at her. "You know what? No. Don't answer that question. I don't even want to know. I feel like I'm really not going to like the answer." Delilah frowned, finally looking up at the girl.
"Nami, please," she began. "You have to understand."
"What is there to understand?! That you've been cheating on Zoro with Sanji? Because I understand that perfectly fine."
"Look, it's not like that."
"Then what's it like?" Nami questioned while glaring at the other woman. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, her foot tapping against the floor.
"It's—I—." Delilah gripped onto the skin of her thighs; she was starting to get frustrated. How could she explain this? She cared for both of them; she wanted both of them—that's why she decided to have both of them. It was selfish, yes, but was being selfish such a bad thing? Everyone does selfish things sometimes, right? What makes this any different?
Stupid question, Delilah told herself. There were hearts on the line here.
She decided that she shouldn't bother trying to explain. Nami sighed in frustration and shook her head.
"I really can't believe this. I thought I knew you guys, but—I'm disappointed. In both of you."
Sanji's breath caught in his throat at those words. Those words killed him. He didn't want to disappoint Nami. He didn't want to disappoint any woman; but Nami was more than any woman; she was his friend. His friend who he knew no longer believed in him. How could she? He wouldn't if he were in her situation. He felt his heart compress in his chest and his stomach drop.
He knew just as much as Delilah knew that this day would come, but that didn't mean that he wanted it to happen nor that he was prepared for it.
"You need to tell Zoro," Nami told them.
"Wha—no!" Delilah argued. "Why would I do that? That would just hurt him!"
"If you knew that then why the hell did you do this?! If you don't tell him then I will."
Delilah's heart dropped; it was getting harder for her to breathe; she felt tears start to appear at the corner of her eyes. Sanji felt her distress and pressed his hand against her back to give her some form of reassurance and comfort.
"Fine," Delilah said softly. It was almost a whisper. "I'll tell him. It'll be better if I'm the one to do it." Nami nodded.
"Good." She turned around toward the door. "That means you better get dressed." And with that, she left the room. The two sat in a still silence until they heard the apartment door close as well.
"Delilah," Sanji began.
"Yeah," she replied, getting up from the bed. She quietly, but listlessly, grabbed her underwear and started to put it on while Sanji grabbed a cigarette from his nightstand and placed it between his lips, lighting it. Delilah frowned.
"I'm sorry," she said softly as she grabbed her pants and slipped her legs into them. She heard shuffling from behind her and then felt a warmth press against her back. She stopped what she was doing and tilted her head back to look up at the man that she had slept with so many times. He didn't deserve any of this, she thought.
"It's not your fault," he told her. And she knew that she didn't deserve him either.
"It's every bit my fault," she said with tears in her eyes. "You know that." Sanji neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. He simply planted a kiss on her forehead before stepping away from her. She watched him move around to the other side of the bed to grab his boxers.
"I'm going with you," he told her as he started to dress himself.
"What? No! This has nothing to do with you!"
"This has everything to do with me." Delilah shook her head fervently.
"No. I was the one who did this. I started this."
"And I went along with it even though I knew about everything." Delilah pressed her lips into a straight line, but didn't say anything to that. She knew that she couldn't argue that because he was right. She mentally cursed herself and they each silently dressed themselves.
The drive back to the apartment that she shared with Zoro was filled with a tense silence. Delilah's anxiety rose by each second and was almost unbearable by the time that she stood in front of the door.
She heard the sound of something breaking; she knew that it was probably a plate. She couldn't help but smile at how clumsy Zoro could be in the kitchen; it was the complete opposite of how Sanji was. The thought wiped the smile completely off of her face; the thought reminded her of why she was there.
She looked over at the blond man beside her to see him looking at the door of the apartment with a somber expression. She placed her hand on his chest to bring her attention to him.
"Stay here for now," she mumbled to him. He hesitantly nodded and stepped to the side. Delilah took out her keys and opened the door to the apartment, closing it softly behind her.
"Zoro!" She called out. The green-haired man walked out of the kitchen with a guilty look on his face.
"I did not break that plate; it fell on it's own. I swear," he said while pointing behind him at the kitchen. Delilah smiled at the excuse. It was such a typical thing for him to do. She sighed, knowing that this momentary peace between them wouldn't last any longer.
"Zoro," she started. "I need to tell you something." Zoro gave her a curious look. "Um, you might want to sit down for this," she said. Zoro's look changed to one of worry; a phrase like that, he knew, could only mean that bad news were to come.
He sat down on the living room couch, watching her pace back and forth.
"Oh God," Delilah said as she paced. "How do I even say this?"
"Delilah," Zoro said, but she ignored him.
"Okay, I'm just going to go right out and say it." She stopped pacing and locked eyes with Zoro's uninjured one.
"I—," she started. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes; she couldn't look at him while she said it. "I've been sleeping with Sanji."
Nothing. Delilah heard nothing. And that scared her more than anything else. She slowly opened her eyes to see Zoro still sitting on the couch, staring at her wide-eyed. She could see nothing but pain in them.
Zoro felt like—he felt like he had never felt before. His heart felt like it had been stuck with glass shards. Like he had received a punch to the gut. Like he was being choked. His head was starting to hurt at the images that were forming in his head: images of Sanji pressing his lips against hers; of him running his hands all over her body; of him—he was starting to feel sick to his stomach.
"Wha?" He questioned; his voice cracked. And then she saw the fury begin to consume him. His brow furrowed and his mouth set into a scowl. He abruptly stood up from the couch and walked up to her. Delilah started to shake. She knew that Zoro would never hurt her, but—
"Did I hear that right?" He growled out. "Did you just say that you've been having sex with that curly-browed bastard?" Delilah gulped and nodded. Zoro scoffed and took a step back away from her. "Of fucking course," he continued. "So all those times that you told me that you were spending the night with your sister, all those nights that I spent alone missing you, you were actually off in that idiot's bed?!" Delilah looked down at the floor and nodded.
"I'm sorry, I—," she started, but he continued.
"No. No, you're not. This has been going on for months. If you were sorry, you would have stopped this long ago!" Delilah's lip started to quiver. "No. Don't you fucking start that. Don't you start crying as if you're the one who's been hurt here! You have no right to cry." Delilah bit her lip at his words. She tried her best to hold her tears in. "I trusted you! I trusted you more than I've ever trusted anyone before!" Delilah sniffled. "And you just had to go and betray me." Zoro growled. "I thought you loved me."
"I do!" Delilah cried out. "I do love you."
"Bullshit. If you did then we wouldn't be in this situation right now." Delilah shook her head.
"I do love you! But," she hesitated. "I love him too." Zoro gave her a fake laugh. "Please, Zoro. Calm down. Please just try to understand me."
"Are you listening to yourself right now?" He asked her. Delilah pursed her lips.
"I—."
"Stop it. I don't want to listen to any stupid excuses." Zoro paused. "Did you ever even feel bad about this? Every single time this happened, did you ever even think of me?
"Of course I did!" Zoro scoffed.
"For what? The five minutes before you had your hands all over him?" Delilah didn't reply. Her vision was starting to get blurred with tears.
"That's enough," she heard a familiar voice say. She turned to see Sanji walking toward her. Zoro glared at him intensely as he stood in between him and Delilah.
"You're really going to defend her after everything that she did?" Zoro asked him. Sanji replied by blowing out some smoke from his mouth. "You really are a dumbass cook. I don't even care that this has been happening this whole time and you never told me, but you have to be a real idiot to stand there and defend her. Don't you realize that it wasn't just me that she was playing?"
Sanji didn't say anything, but deep down he knew that, for once, the damn moss-headed bastard was right. Sanji may have, unlike Zoro, been aware of the entire situation this whole time, but that didn't mean that it was any better for him. It killed him whenever he had to see her with Zoro; her in his arms; her accepting his kisses. And it killed Sanji more that he couldn't do the same. Any touches that he shared with her had to stay behind closed doors.
But he couldn't help it. He couldn't say no to her. No matter how much she hurt him, he would never be able to bring himself to walk away. No matter how many times she walked all over him, he would never be able to turn her away.
She was perfection to him. He could see no faults. And he knew that that was problematic. He knew that she would be the death of him, but then—could he really blame her?
No. He would never blame her for anything. He could never do that. It was all his own fault. He would be his own destruction. He knew that much.
"Whatever," said Zoro as he stomped away and opened the apartment door. He didn't say anything else to either Delilah or Sanji before stepping out and slamming the door shut behind him. Sanji didn't react to the action, but he could sense that Delilah, who still stood behind him, had jumped at the noise.
Sanji turned around to face her. She had, by then, broken out into full blown sobs. He wrapped her in a tight embrace, rubbing her back with one hand and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
"It's alright," he told her. "It'll be alright. I'll always be here for you."
Delilah's heart clenched at his words. She knew that he wasn't lying. She knew that he would. And that was what made it all worse.