Chapter 2

Sanji was at the restaurant and it was one of those busy nights, he couldn't even think about resting with so many things to cook. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice.

"Oi Sanji! I'm here!" he turned around to meet Ace stepping inside the kitchen.

"Great! You come at a good hour, this is super busy! Go ask the waiters if they need help. If they don't, I'm pretty sure there's a bunch of stuff you can help with here."

"Okay… Can you believe it? Luffy is on a date! And we're going to meet her!"

"Yeah, it's hard to believe, but not that hard, he's a nice boy" Sanji said smiling.

"I know. By the way, Robin and Franky are coming as well…"

"I know, Luffy told me. I think Franky invited himself, when he heard Luffy was coming here."

"Who would miss a chance to eat your food?" Ace grinned at him and walked away, trying to find where he could be helpful.

Finally the restaurant was getting emptier and calmer and Sanji decided it was time to start preparing the food for his special guests. He had sent Luffy a text with the menu, so he and the girl could chose what they wanted, so Sanji could save them their choice. The stress from the night was already draining out of him as he finally found some time to breathe calmly. He had asked Ace to set their table ready.

"Sanji-bro!" he turned around to see Franky's head popping out of the kitchen's door. "Just to tell you that me and Robin are here."

"Good. Find Ace and he'll tell you the table."

Not much time after that, Ace came in, telling him he was going to wait for Luffy outside. Fifteen minutes after he was there again.

"They're here! Luffy was right, she's very pretty."

"Really? Oi you! Take care of this for a minute while I go outside" the blond man asked the nearest cook. He accompanied Ace to their table where he saw Franky, Robin, Luffy and a beautiful orange-haired girl by his side.

"Ah! Nami, this is Sanji, the one who will be making us dinner tonight. Sanji, this is Nami." The younger boy said with a big smile in his face.

"Nice to meet you, Sanji-san. And sorry for the trouble." Nami said, bowing her head politely.

"Oh no! It's a pleasure to have such a beautiful flower at the restaurant." He said, bowing completely. "Well two beautiful flowers actually" he added, smiling softly at Robin. "Now, if you excuse me I have to go back to the kitchen. Dinner will be ready very soon."

X x X x X

Zoro woke up at the sound of someone hammering at his door. He got up grumbling to himself and he opened the door.

"Alleluia Zoro! I thought you were going to leave me outside."

"Damn it Nami, what do you want? You know I don't work Tuesdays mornings."

"I know, but I think I left a book here, last week. I remembered yesterday night that I need to return it to the library today. I was already in my pajamas, so I thought I should come here in the morning" she informed him, as she started looking for her book.

"I hate you for waking me up. And it's too damn early, even for you to go to classes."

"I'm not sure if it is here, so I need time in case I have to look for it at some other places. Damn it Zoro! This place is mess! How can you find anything here?"

Zoro rolled his eyes "Shut up! It's my place, not yours!"

"Ah! Here it is!"

"So, how was it yesterday?"

Nami widened her eyes "Wow I'm surprised you remember! It was very pleasant. He took me to this restaurant after the movie."

"Oh really? So with him you go to other restaurants that are not fast-food."

"His friend is a cook at the restaurant, the Sous-chef or something like that. So we got a discount."

"Of course, for what other reason would you, money-maniac, accept to go."

"Don't be such an asshole. He wanted to pay me dinner, but I know he doesn't make that much money, so I refused. I'm not a witch as you think I am!"

"My apologies!" he answered a bit sarcastically.

"Anyway, I met his brother and his friend, the cook. They were both very nice. Good people to chat with. I thought it was going to be awkward, but it wasn't, not at all. Robin-sensei and her husband were there too. Having someone I knew and being her a woman made the dinner even more pleasant. And the food was delicious, his friend prepared it for us."

"So your date went well. That's new!"

"What about you? Have you been seeing someone? 'Cause I really have a feeling you have."

"W-what? No! Where did you get that idea from?"

"I don't really know. You have been acting a bit mysterious when we ask you why you are late, or why can't you be with us. So I think you have been meeting someone and you're hiding it from us." She said straight to the point.

"Well it's just your imagination…" Zoro answered, looking away.

"Don't lie to me! You're a bad liar… Is it a she or a he?"

"What?" he yelled, he felt his cheeks heat and he wished very hard he wasn't blushing.

"Come on… The hottest girl in the world could be naked in front of you and you wouldn't even blink. You wouldn't care one bit. It's not like I have seen you checking guys out, because I haven't. But I know you for so long and I still haven't figured it out if you're straight, gay, bisexual or even asexual! Yes I have seen you dating girls, but you never looked that interested…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Zoro didn't like the course of this conversation one bit.

"Zoro…" she said deadly serious, "if you're not telling us because you've been seeing a man, you should know we would never judge you and we would accept it as naturally as if you were seeing a girl. We're your friends and we just want you to be happy."

"Whatever you're talking about, it's just in your head. Anyway, I'm going back to bed, you can stay here until it's time for you to leave." He said turning away.

"What? You're a bad host. That's how you treat a guest? We're not done talking yet."

"Yes, we are. And you're not a guest. You interrupted my sleeping time and invaded my house."

"I'm sorry. But you should know that you already sleep way too many hours more than normal people."

"Whatever!" he said closing his bedroom's door behind him.

X x X x X

That same day, at night, Zoro was leaning against a building, waiting. He looked around, but he didn't see who he was looking for. He started thinking about the conversation he had with Nami in the morning. He hated how the girl could figure things out so easily. He would be better off if she was a bit dumber. He still couldn't believe she had figured that out about him. But he couldn't tell her she was right. Some minutes after he looked again and his face couldn't help but light up a bit when he saw a blond head.

"You're late, stupid cook!"

"Shut up, shitty-marimo! Unlike you, I'm a busy person."

"Is that so? Thank you so much for such a busy person making some time to meet me." He said sarcastically as they both started to walk. "So why was it that you couldn't meet me yesterday?"

"I had some special guests I had to cook for at the restaurant, when it started to get empty."

"Special guests?"

"Yes, one of the boys who I live with was bringing his date, so me and his brother, who also lives with me, could meet her. She was really pretty. That boy sure is lucky!"

Zoro felt like that story sounded familiar for some reason he couldn't really say which, but he decided to ignore it. "Are you jealous of him?"

Sanji laughed out loud "What if I told you I was?"

He rolled his eyes. "I couldn't care less…"

"Yeah right…" the blonde grinned. "A couple friends of ours were there too. Apparently she knows the girl, she's her teacher, I believe."

And then it hit Zoro. He could hear Sanji's and Nami's voices speaking alternatively in his mind.

"I had some special guests I had to cook for at the restaurant…"

"His friend is a cook at the restaurant, the Sous-chef or something like that…"

"… so me and his brother, who also lives with me, could meet her…"

"I met his brother and his friend, the cook…"

"A couple friends of ours were there too. Apparently she knows the girl, she's her teacher, I believe."

"Robin-sensei and her husband were there too."

"Zoro? Are you okay?" Sanji asked worried since the other had stopped walking all of the sudden.

"Was that girl's name Nami?"

Sanji widened his eyes "Yes! How do you know?"

The green-haired man covered his face with his hand and started walking again "She's my friend… I kinda had heard that story before and I was starting to think it was sounding awfully familiar."

"Wow… what a coincidence! My friend and your friend went out on a date."

"Yeah… So your friend just went on his first date with this girl and he already took her to meet his brother and friends…"

"What? Are you jealous?" Sanji smirked as he hit his shoulder against Zoro's.

"I'm not jealous… It was just an observation" he answered looking away.

"Look, I'm not ready yet. They're expecting me to bring a girl to meet them. I have no idea how they would react if I bring… you know… you! I just don't feel ready to tell them, okay?"

"Okay, I couldn't care less about it. Like I said I was just making an observation… Do however you want."

"I know I had asked you not to tell your friends, though it is none of my business, but now, please do not tell Nami!"

"Yeah sure whatever…"

The blonde stopped in front of the other man and gently rested his hand on the other's face. He leaned forward and pressed his lips on Zoro's lips softly trying to show he was grateful without saying those words his pride prevented him from saying. The green-haired man couldn't help but respond and kiss him back.

As they parted, Sanji felt himself shiver and cursed at himself for not bringing a warmer coat. He looked at the man in front of him. That coat looked so warm. He opened his coat zipper in a quick move and slipped his arms under the coat and around the other man.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"It's cold!"

"I know, it's January, what were you expecting?" the swordsman said warping his arms around the shivering man.

"The kitchen is so warm, I sometimes forget it's so cold outside."

"That just proves that you're an idiot."

"Shut up and warm me!" Zoro just smirked and brushed his lips over the blond hair, tightening his grip around the slender man as he tried to transfer the most heat he could to him.

"You know… one of my roommates thinks I have a girlfriend. He's pretty convinced about it and the other one seems to agree with him" the cook said, his head resting on the other's shoulder.

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth…"

"Oh?" the green-haired man raised his eyebrow.

"I told him I don't have a girlfriend" Sanji raised his head and grinned, "It's the truth! You sure have nothing girly like."

"Unlike you!" Zoro said smirking and got a powerful knee through his stomach immediately. "Ouch!"

"Say that again and I'll make you puke your own stomach!" the blonde spoke angrily.

"I was joking!" he said laughing in a mist of amusement and pain, tightening his grip around the other, making sure he wouldn't knee him again. "Did he believe it?"

"Nope… He thinks I'm hiding it from him. I think he's a bit upset about that. I just hope he doesn't start to investigate…"

"I understand you. Nami is also onto me. She put this thought in her head that I'm seeing someone, she probably won't give up on it until she proves it one way or the other" the swordsman sighed.

"Well she's right… "

"I know… and I hate her for being always right!"

"You just have to make her believe she's wrong."

"Oh you say it like that's easy… Anyway are you warm enough now?"

"Yeah… You're like a freaking human radiator! How can you be so warm with this weather?"

"I wear warm clothes, unlike a stupid chef I know…"

This is the second fanfic I write (though my first one is still incomplete). English is not my mother language, so this might have a lot of mistakes. If you spot one, I would appreciate if you could point them out to me. Some of them might be pure distractions, but others could be just ignorance, so if you tell me, I can learn and write correctly next time =) I'm trying the best I can

I hope you enjoy it