An update! Woo! It's a little rushed I'll admit, but I've gotten PM's from a few people reminding me that this unfinished story still exists. I know it is short, but it's the best I was willing to do. I don't write like I used to, and my style is definitely not the same as previous chapters. I apologize in advance, but I hope you enjoy nevertheless.
"Why me?" Zoro muttered to himself. He was caught between the two people he desperately wanted to avoid.
The three of them all looked at each other. Despite the sounds and rush of the party, Zoro felt as though he had been sucked into a void. There was silence and nothing else but the two people staring at him. He felt trapped.
"Zoro. Let's talk."
"I really don't understand this. Are you together or not?" Sanji's face was set in a glare. The way Nami was staring at Zoro made it seem as though they were in a relationship. The expression on Zoro's face said otherwise. He still didn't know what to believe. He looked over at Patty, a chef working the food table with him. Patty nodded at him, and Sanji took that as an okay to leave the table. He approached Zoro and Nami angrily. "Tell me the truth."
"Talk to me!" Sanji and Nami yelled together.
Zoro grunted. "Both of you just stay the hell away from me! Is it really that difficult?" He snarled and gnashed his teeth as he stormed away from them. Running away again. This wasn't like him to run away and avoid his problems but he just didn't want to be bothered and fix things. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?
He did the only thing he could think to do and left the party. He made it all the way to the driveway before someone stopped him.
"Mr. Trainer?"
Recognizing Robin's nickname for him, Zoro sighed. A mixture of annoyance for the hold up and relief that it wasn't Sanji or Nami swirled inside him. "Hm?" He turned towards her as she looked down at him from her front door. Her blue eyes stared at him calmly.
"Not enjoying yourself enough to stay for Mr. Skeleton's performance?"
"Hn," he responded.
She nodded as though she understood. Zoro knew that Robin somehow knew his situation because she had a way of knowing things that he just didn't understand. One thing he was certain about was that she would keep her mouth shut about his disappearance unless she was asked. He could at least trust her to that degree that she wouldn't be sending those two devils chasing after him.
He could feel her watch him go, trying to decipher what had just occurred. Maybe it was a challenge to her to keep her mind sharp or she liked puzzles. She was a history buff, so maybe she was trying to learn his "history." Zoro didn't care. It wasn't like his troubles were a secret. Actually, Nami and Robin were close. Robin probably heard the entire ordeal from Nami, but twisted to Nami's advantage to earn sympathy and make him appear the bad guy. That was the way women worked, Zoro knew. He knew, but he didn't understand.
So he had managed to escape again. This game felt like cat and mouse to him, and he didn't feel as clever as Jerry, especially with two Tom's chasing after him. And that mouse was one clever bastard. He hated to admit it, but the cloud of foreboding over him wouldn't leave him alone. He knew his time was coming.
And it came the next day as a knock on his door. He jumped up from the couch and remained there paralyzed. The knocking continued on in an unsteady rhythm. Either the person was ticked or nervous, maybe both. Zoro got up slowly and opened the door without making a sound.
And there Nami stood, fist poised to knock on the door once more. Before Zoro could even blink he felt Nami's hands cup his cheeks and his head was pulled downward. Lips collided for a moment before Zoro pulled back roughly. Using his arm, he wiped away the feeling of her lips on his.
"What the hell?" He yelled.
"Zoro I like you for God's sake! Are you too much of an idiot to realize that?!" Tears were streaming down her face as she reached out towards him. "I tried everything to get you to notice! I didn't want it to be a fake relationship! With all my heart I wanted it to be real! I know you felt something! That one time I spent the night we..."
"No."
Her eyes widened from his response. "No? What do you mean 'no'? You clearly felt something!"
"I'm a guy. What did you expect? When a woman comes onto a man like that shit happens."
"Shit happens? So you..." She bit her lip in thought. Her eyebrows were creased so much that Zoro thought she looked constipated. Shit happens. He almost smiled to himself at his own thought but he knew Nami wouldn't appreciate it. "All this time you've felt nothing...? No emotional attachment whatsoever?"
His silence was enough for her. "Could you at least think about it, Zoro?"
He remained silent, almost fearful of saying something that wouldn't work in his favor.
"I see. Well if you could at least think about it, even if you think you've made up your mind...I would appreciate that." She paused and seemed to think something over before she continued speaking. "...The reason I wanted to talk to you at the party last night was because…Sanji and I have started dating. And the only reason I agreed to date him was to make you jealous."
Hearing this from Nami sadly did not surprise him in the least, and it only made him more upset with her. "If you honestly believe that that will change my mind then you are out of your mind and—"
"What…?"
The utterance came out so quietly that Zoro almost thought he didn't hear anything. But he knew even before looking up that Sanji was there.
Sanji stood in the hallway of the apartment, red faced and disbelieving. He rushed over to the two of them, angry and sputtering. "You! And...him! Our time together really was just a lie to get his attention?!" He stopped and took a deep breath. "I thought you had changed your mind about me," he said to Nami brokenly. "I thought...that you really started to like me, and you were going to tell that to him yesterday at the party..."
"What are you even doing here?" Nami questioned. She looked scared. Caught in the act.
"What happened yesterday just didn't feel right to me...Nami is what you said true...? You really were going to use me to gain his attention?"
Before Nami could open her mouth Zoro spoke up, his anger getting the better of him. "Screw this messed up soap opera! She lied to you…again! Don't you get it? She doesn't like you!"
Sanji's sad expression turned to one of anger. "I bet you're happy now, you sick bastard. You got the girl! You've probably been laughing to yourself this whole time thinking how pathetic my attempts to win her over were!"
Zoro couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle. "The mere idea of me going out with her after the way she treated you disgusts me! She's a manipulative-"
There was the sound of a door opening, and Zoro cut off his tirade to glare at his neighbor's door. "Get back inside!" Zoro barked. He did not need another person dragged into this situation. And his neighbor Usopp was one to stick his nose where it didn't belong and talk about it later.
There was a shriek. "I'm sorry! I was just getting my I-hear-a-lot-of-yelling-and-I'm-a-nosy-neighbor disease! But I'll leave!" Usopp yelled and slammed his door shut.
There was a long moment of silence, as each of them realized how out of hand their argument had become.
Sanji broke the silence with a sigh. "I get the picture. You don't want me around. I'll get gone."
Neither Zoro nor Nami could muster quick reply. He looked at them both and shook his head. "Goodbye, mosshead…Nami-swan."
"I'm sorry," Nami whispered to Sanji's back.
Zoro watched him go without saying a word. It hurt more to watch Sanji go this time than it did when he first told Sanji about his and Nami's deceit. He felt in his heart that this time he really would never see Sanji again.
Nami sniffled loudly, drawing Zoro's attention.
He didn't want to deal with her anymore. His heart felt too heavy. "Please leave," he told her. "And never come back."
She looked up at him in despair. "Zoro…please…can't we just go back to being friends? I'll forgive all your debts!"
"No."
And with that he took a step back into his apartment and shut the door on Nami and this horrible chapter in his life.
"I'm never agreeing to do something this messed up for beer ever again."
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