Tuesday at around 6:00am. Sanji was currently in the restaurant he inherited from his grandfather Zeff, trying some new recipes in the back of the kitchen, when suddenly he received a call from Zoro.
" What is it Marimo? I'm busy you know", the cook complained right after picking up the phone.
" Come here. Now." Roronoa's voice sounded calm but also quite stern.
" What are you talking about idiot? I'm at the restaurant right now and we are opening soon I can't just-"
" Luffy is here goddamn crying, so if you aren't here in the next 30 minutes I'm going to kick your ass", Zoro simply stated and hanged up the phone.
"Luffy was crying?", Sanji thought and then quickly grabbed his stuff and headed to the exit.
" Where are you going boss?", one of his employees screamed after him. Hearing the confused voice behind him he paused his steps and abruptly turned around.
" None of your business.", Sanji plainly answered and wanted to start walking again but then remembered something, "Oh. I'm also leaving the restaurant in your care for now so good luck" ,the blonde man replied and thus continued walking to his car again.
" Ah ok you're leaving the... wait WHAT?!"
Sanji couldn't care less about the perplexed voice shouting after him. There was no time to waste. Luffy wasn't a person who cried easily. Luffy was the ever present sunshine in their group of friends, was always the person who cheered you up again, always that guy whom you could ask for any kind of help and never receive a 'no' for an answer. The boy's cheerful and caring character was undeniably a true blessing to all the people that surrounded him, be it family, friends or even just acquaintances. He was their little sunshine whom they all felt obliged to protect. And now that the time has come were Zoro and Sanji could finally repay the normally cheerful and often kind of stupid acting, strawhat wearing boy, for all the kindness he has shown to them, the two of them were going to make sure that Luffy understood that he wasn't alone and that, just like him, his friends were more than willing to support him.
While Sanji was on his way to his friends, Zoro was desperately trying to convince a crying Luffy to give an explanation for all the tears he was currently shedding. The raven haired boy was practically clinging to the the green haired man's shirt and hasn't yet calmed down enough to get any comprehensible words out of his mouth.
" tora..o... a-and ...t-then Bonney ..I-I just-"
" Oy Luffy I couldn't understand a word you just said...how about you calm down a bit first ok? No matter what just happened it's alright now", Roronoa assured soothingly and patted the raven haired boy on his head in order to make him feel a little bit more at ease. The lights were all turned off, it was still dark outside and the rain that had started yesterday night still hasn't stopped pouring down upon the buildings and the streets of the city. Luffy's clothes were completely drenched from the rain, the smaller boy's head was resting on the left shoulder of his best friend, both of them sitting on the floor in the living room with the taller male's back against the couch and Luffy clutching the blue shirt of Zoro with both of his hands as if his life depended on it, while his body was shivering from the cold.
" Nothing is going to be alright...I-I can't believe Law d-did that again" , the younger boy mumbled.
" What? Did that Idiot say something mean to you again? Don't worry I'm sure he didn't mea-"
" He FUCKING SLEPT with Bonney again Zoro!", the raven haired male looked up from Roronoa's shoulder, looked him directly into his eyes and tightened his grip on his friend's shirt,
" WHY IS IT THAT I HAVE TO LOVE A JERK LIKE HIM?!", Luffy felt so pathetic screaming like that. He really didn't want to burden his friends with his problems, but the thought of being alone in this state scared him even more. No matter how much he tried he couldn't stop the tears from falling. That night was awful, he couldn't think, couldn't scream, couldn't breath and only dark, depressing thoughts kept crossing his mind while he quietly cried to himself.
Zoro's eyes narrowed, realizing why Luffy was here, not at his home sleeping soundly beside his lover, not laughing at something stupid on TV, not eating an abnormal amount of food out of the refrigerator, but here, kneeling on the floor of his living room, reduced to a sorrowful heartbroken being. Indescribable rage started building inside of the taller male. He always knew there was something off about their relationship, about Law. The surgeon always seemed like he was cautious about something as soon as they were at a restaurant or in a club. Always keeping a certain distance from the brunette he was supposedly dating, but as soon as the two of them are alone that tattooed guy would get so possessive and cunning that it sometimes got a little scary.
" I'm going to kill that son of a bitch", Zoro suddenly stood up and stormed to the door, one hand already on the door handle. The smaller male realizing what his friend was about to do quickly rushed after him and grabbed his friend's arm.
" W-wait there is seriously no need for you to go to him! I can handle that myself!"
" Luffy let me go! You know that asshole deserves it!"
" No Zoro please..."
The two just stood there glaring at each other, neither of them willing to give in. Zoro still couldn't believe it. Why would Luffy even think about defending that guy? Seriously the fact alone that he cheated on him should have been enough of a reason to at least "accidentally" push him down the stairs, so why protect him?... Leaving that aside there was something what the green haired male did know. Due to a lot of past experiences, the older male just knew that there was no use in arguing with the boy. Once he had settled his mind on something he wouldn't budge, like that time when he bought a fucking goldfish...that poor guy couldn't even survive 2 days.
"..."
" Fine", with no other option left Zoro was of course the one to break the silence.
They went back to the living room and Roronoa hugged Luffy tightly. He realized he should really talk to or console the younger boy first of all instead of being mindlessly furious about Trafalgar. He seriously wouldn't mind cutting that jerk into tiny little pieces at this very second, but the shivering of Luffy's body got more and more stronger.
" I...understand. Let's leave it at that for now. I assume you want to crash here for the next days?", a small smile forms itself on the green haired man's face.
" If possible some free food too", Luffy looked at the other and responded with a very quiet chuckle and looked down the floor.
" Heh. Sure I already called the stupid cook over when you were making some ominous noises while crying, so there shouldn't be a problem."
" O-ominous noises? H-hey! I was talking!", the smaller male stuttered, feeling a lot more calm than when he arrived.
" Well I have no idea in which language you were 'talking', but I know for a fact that I didn't speak it. Anyway how about you take a shower now? I don't want you to catch a cold and I'm pretty sure that you are freezing right now."
" Yeah I could use a warm shower "
" Then it's settled. You already know were the bathroom is right?"
" Yes"
" That's good then I'll just go ahead and prepare some dry clothes for you 'kay?
" Thank you so much", Luffy realizes yet again just how lucky he is with his friends and hugged Zoro again, in order to emphasize his words.
" D-don't mention it", Roronoa responded not really used to all that hugging and emotional stuff and awkwardly patted the raven haired boy on the head.
.
.
.
Around 40min later Sanji finally made it to Roronoa's apartment building. As the cook entered the building he was once again reminded of why he hated coming to this place so much after he looked at the "Out of order" sign,which was hanging almost tauntingly in front of the elevator. Sighing deeply, the blond man slowly made his way to the stairs. He breathed heavily as he eventually arrived in front of Zoro's front door, but before his hand could even reach the doorbell the door suddenly opened.
" The fuck took you so long?", Zoro asked annoyed while crossing his arms in front of his chest.
" The traffic...was...just...so.. –", the cook tried to explain his lateness but was still struggling for air.
" Jesus, already out of breath from those little stairs, you're really getting old huh?"
" Shut up, it's your fault for living on the goddamn 11th floor! And do something about that stupid elevator it has been broken for years you know!"
" It's not my fault that your stamina sucks so stop complaining and come in already. "
" What did you say asshole?!",Sanji glared at Roronoa but remembered his main reason for even showing up there, " Hold on where is Luffy?"
" Apparently that idiot hasn't slept one bit tonight. He told me that after the fight with Trafalgar he left their apartment and went to the park to cool his head off."
" In that rain? Is he crazy? No wait you mentioned something about a fight, is that the reason why he cried?"
" I'll explain it to you as soon as we get in so HURRY UP for Christ's sake I don't want to cause a commotion here in the hallway!"
.
.
.
Later that day...
" That BASTARD LAW I swear I'm going to kill him this time!" , a very agitated sounding voice could be heard from the kitchen , " First I'm going to kick his face, rip his FUCKING HEAD AND BALLS OFF, then put them in the oven so that I ca-"
"Enough Sanji", Luffy interrupted his taller friend during his hate speech while giving a soft smile to calm him down a little. He also didn't want to hear that right now. Sanji who noticed the look in Luffy's eyes seems to have noticed that too and gave a quick apology.
" It's okay I kinda understand what you said" , Luffy chuckled, " I'm just not in the mood for talking about...that". The boy had just recently woken up, yesterday's events still very much present in his mind. Insecurity and sadness would both simultaneously course through his stomach every time he thought of it. He realized that he had to think about his relationship with Law sooner or later and that he couldn't keep running away like he always used to do in the past. Not this time that much he knew. Were they even still together? This was after all the first time he stayed away for this long, maybe Law thought of it as an actual breakup...wait did he even want to make up with Law? Oh gosh he felt like crying again...but he couldn't. At least not in front of one of his friends again.
" Alright, alright I understand", Sanji sighed, rubbing the back of his head with is hand while leaning against the kitchen counter behind him. The blonde man then pulled a little box of cigarettes out of his pockets, lit one of them up and put it into his mouth inhaling the bitter tasting smoke.
" Why is that stupid green head taking so long to buy the ingredients anyway?" , the taller man asked with an annoyed expression after exhaling the smoke again.
" Shishishi...Zoro probably got lost again", Luffy said in an amused voice, remembering that one situation where they actually couldn't find him anymore in a shopping mall.
It was a little before Christmas so he and his group of friends consisting of Brook, Chopper, Nami, Robin, Franky, Usopp, Sanji and Zoro, who he all knew since High school, wanted to buy some presents. But before they separated to go find something suitable for each other, the chaotic group made up a meeting point where they could gather again after they were done searching. In the end they all agreed to meet up again in front of this new bookstore called 'Sabaody Archipel', though unfortunately forgetting about considering a certain problem or how they like to call it "condition" of a green haired friend of them, who was practically known for losing his orientation. Anyway when all of them reassembled again at the end of the day, they of course noticed someone was surprisingly missing. It wasn't really hard to guess which one of them it was. Since the group was a bit in a rush they quickly decided on asking an employee to call Zoro out at the register and described his appearance as best as they could, just like parents do when they lost their kid. Now you can imagine how embarrassing it must have felt like for an adult to get lost in a mall, but the fact that he even had to be escorted back to his friends and the mocking smirks he received from them when he arrived were probably the worst part of it. It kind of was Zoro's own fault though, since they tried calling him on the phone first, only to find out later that he forgot it at home. Sanji and Luffy still found it fricking hilarious, but if one of them even dared to mention that incident again they received a proper beating from a very pissed off Zoro. Did it stop them from making fun of him? No. Not really. That's just how they were and the enraged yet a little embarrassed expression the green haired man showed each and every time was just too priceless.
" You sure? I mean the grocery store is just around the corner."
" If it's Zoro I bet he could actually pull it off", the raven haired boy said with a grin on his face.
" Well I guess you're right with that", Sanji replied returning the smile to Luffy. To say he is relieved about his friend being a little livelier again after all that had happened would be an understatement. The two of them were still at Zoro's place right now, waiting for the owner of said apartment to return with all the ingredients needed for the curry Luffy wished for. Right now the two older boys would have done about anything to cheer their friend up and... well they both know the easiest way to do that is by giving him food.
" Anyway Luffy I'm going to start preparing for the curry now so you can go watch TV or something ", the blonde man said while putting his cigarette out.
" Already? Ok! I'll help!"
" Hell no. You remember the last time you "helped" me?"
" Noooo..", Luffy lied with his cheeks turning red, trying to look everywhere but into his comrade's eyes. He was never good at lying.
Sanji who could only smirk at the boy's bad attempt of a lie faked an exasperated sigh. "Well I do so get the hell out of the kitchen you brat"
" I'm only 4 months younger than you so don't call me a brat!" , Luffy pouted.
" Yeah, yeah I know now get out.", Sanji repeated with a grin, " Call Marimo and ask him why he is taking so long"
" Yes sir" , the younger boy responded in a joking voice and finally left the kitchen.
Sanji's face turned serious again once Luffy left the room. He knows quite well that his ex-classmate doesn't want his friends to worry about him and is therefore trying to act cheerful again. The cook still doesn't quite know about the full story which caused his friend so much grief for he only received notice of some sort of incident between the strawhat wearing boy and that guy Trafalgar a few hours ago and has yet to ask the heartbroken Luffy about it when he feels that the boy is ready to explain what exactly had happened. All that Roronora told him was that that jackass Law apparently still had something going on with that girl Bonney and cheated on the raven haired boy. If what that green head claimed turned out to be true he, and probably Zoro too, were going to make sure that the next time the surgeon wakes up, it would be in hell.
To be continued...
I hope you are not too much disappointed by my new chapter. (｡･ω･｡)
Always open for constructive criticism so feel free to review or pm me.^^
( Also sorry about the long wait...I'm just really lazy xD. I'll try to update the next chapter sooner?)
P.s I'd like to mention and thank one of my friends here. Like I said english is not my native language so every time I have diffculties while writing I ask her for help.
So thanks 3