One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney
All OCs belong to me
-Chapter Eight-
If I was being honest, talking with Zoro felt nice and the longer we spoke and got to know a little more about each other, the more I felt myself relax and started to forget all about the stares and whispers that were directed towards our table. I didn't even notice when they stopped or when both of our cups became empty as we continued to speak. We mainly told each other small things about ourselves, like our favorite foods and hobbies. But, anytime a big question was thrown into the mix we both seemed to dance around answering them or gave vague answers. Like how anytime he asked about my family I'd only say I have two brothers and nothing more.
If I asked about what he did for a living—attempting to get him to admit that he was a part of the Straw Hat Mafia, like how that Luffy fellow was the leader of it—he'd just simply move onto the next question. It made me laugh at how he wasn't subtle at all, like he made it obvious he wasn't going to answer the question. By the time we actually left the café and walked back to his car, the sun was already slowly starting to set and the air was getting colder.
"Need a ride?" Zoro asked the moment he noticed that there wasn't a car in sight once we got back to his car at the shelter's parking lot. I nodded, normally I always had Shawn drive me to work whenever I had to work after classes then walk home once I was finished for the day.
"Sure, if it isn't a bother" I shrugged, already walking around the car to the passenger side and climbed in. I was hit by the strong scent of alcohol and leather the minute I sat down and pulled the door shut. Zoro sat down in front of the steering wheel, not at all bothering to put on his seatbelt as I pulled mine across me and buckled up, taking a moment to look into the back seat and noticing the trash and empty bottles that littered it. "Please tell me you don't drive drunk" the words left my mouth before I could stop them as I looked at Zoro who started up the car and was already pulling out of the parking space. His grip tightened on the wheel for a moment before relaxing as he started to drive down the road.
"I don't" he calmly said, his face in a neutral look that I was unable to tell if he was lying or not. Before I could push him, I jumped when my phone started to ring, Cloud's name appearing on the screen as I pulled the phone out of my pocket. I had to stop for a moment and wonder if I truly wanted to answer this call or wait until I got home to suffer his wrath for not calling him and letting him know I was going to be late coming home.
"Hey" I finally said as I decided to answer and get the scowling out of the way.
"Where are you?" was the first thing my older brother asked, no greeting, just a question. He always was good at just getting straight to the point.
"I'm coming home right now" I calmly responded, not daring to tell him I was in the car with a man that was the member of one of the mafia groups that he and the rest of the police force have been trying to track down. Lowering the phone, a little, I pressed it to my shoulder and looked towards Zoro. "Drop me off a block or two from my house" I whispered, knowing that Cloud was probably going to be waiting on the porch when I got home. The moss haired man didn't question me out loud, but he did raise an eyebrow as he slowly nodded his head.
"That's not what I asked" I heard Cloud say when I lifted the phone back up to my ear. "I asked where you are" his voice was just as calm as my own. A trait that only the two of us had gotten from...it was a trait that we both only shared as Sora always made his emotions very clear whenever he was upset and worried about something.
"And I told you that I'm coming home right now, I was just at that local café in town with a friend" I said, spying the smile that pulled at Zoro's lips when he heard that. It was silent on the other end of the phone and all I could hear was the low mumbles of the Tv in the background before hearing a door softly click shut.
"Mom called today" I flinched when he finally spoke up, his words sending a painful jolt through my heart. "Sora said she was asking for you, that she threw a fit when he told her you weren't home" he continued.
"Is that so?" I hummed, shifting around in the leather seat beneath me as Zoro slowly pulled the car to the stop then looked at me, silently asking if this was an okay spot to drop me off. I only nodded, forcing a wide smile as I mouthed a silent "thank you" before gathering up my things and got ready to climb out of the car when he suddenly grabbed my wrist and caused me to look back.
"What's your number? You know, so we can talk some more" his cheeks were stained a light pink color as he said this which caused some of the tension in my body to melt away as my forced smile became more relaxed and natural.
"Skylar?" Cloud questioned on the other end of the phone, but I didn't answer him and instead shuffled around inside my bag for a pen and took Zoro's hand in mine, scribbling down the number to my cell phone before silently bidding him a small "bye" as I exited the car and slammed the car door shut before he could say anything more. I didn't start walking down the sidewalk and the rest of the way home until he drove off and when he finally was out of sight, I felt my smile finally fall and a hard look crossed my eyes.
"What did she want?" I finally asked as I quickly made my way home.
"Sora said she wanted to speak about..." he lowly muttered the last part as if he himself didn't really want to say it, but I still heard, and I felt the way my whole body tensed up as I grounded my teeth together. Lowering the phone for a moment to suck in a sharp breath of air before releasing it all in one big sigh as I had to stop myself from just flinging the phone across the street and instead lifted it once more up to my ear as I continued walking.
"Is that so? Is there anything else she wished to speak about?" I asked voice strained a little as I saw I was now starting to near the house and indeed I was right, Cloud sat there on the porch steps, still dressed in his police uniform. He looked up the second I started to pick up the pace and ran the rest of the way down the sidewalk. Both of us ending the call and putting our phones away.
"No, that's all she wanted to talk to you about" the blond shook his head as he scooted to the side and let me plop down beside him. I was quick to start to cover my face with the palms of my hands while rubbing my eyes and the bridge of my nose.
"She knows she's not supposed to call unless it's to inform us of an upcoming family event and most of the time she just has that monster of a man do that" I bitterly muttered. "This is going against our deal."
"I know" Cloud mumbled as he gently patted my back. "I already told Sora to let it go straight to voicemail next time her or...him calls, and I'll deal with it when I get home" he said, giving my back another comforting pat before rubbing up and down it. "Now, why don't you tell me why you were late coming home" and just like that, he was quick to change the conversation back to what it was before the mention of mom ever came up.
"I told you, I was at that local café near my workplace with a friend, we just lost track of time" I said, keeping a straight face as he squinted his eyes and started to lean closer towards me. Looking for the tiniest hints to tell if I was lying or not.
"With who?"
"Janet" I said a bit too quickly, silently cursing myself when I saw his eyes narrowing in suspicion before he pulled back and stood up.
"Is that so? Well, how is Janet doing?" he asked, climbing up the porch steps as I twisted around in my seat and watched him.
"She's doing well" I muttered, not really having much to say as I watched him only nod his head before he pulled the front door open and disappeared inside, not bothering to ask if I was going to follow or not. I sat there for a couple of seconds in silence, staring at the open door and into the house as my ears perked up to the faint sound of the Tv playing loudly inside before finally I heaved a sigh and picked myself up. Dragging my feet up the steps and into the house where I quietly shut the door behind me. Tonight was going to be a long night.
-Next Day-
I groaned as I heard my phone loudly vibrate against my bedside table, informing me of the text message I had just receive. I didn't bother answering, wishing to sleep a little more since I didn't have any classes for today and I wasn't scheduled to come into work today either. I turned my head in the other direction and pressed myself further against my pillow as I was already preparing to drift back off to sleep before the phone loudly vibrated once more. Again I ignored it, grabbing one of the nearby stuff animals—the one that didn't fall off my bed in the middle of the night—on my bed and pressed it against my ear while pressing the other one even further down against my pillow. It wasn't until the phone itself started ringing did I finally drag myself upwards, irritated and grumbling as I let my head flop to the side and glare at the phone.
Listening to it blare its ring tone loud and clear as Summer's name flashed across it the screen. Looking at the bedside clock, I groaned upon seeing that it was only eight in the morning. But, despite being irritated, I was also curious, wondering what could have happened to get her up this early that she had to call me at this very moment. Tired, I reached for the phone and answered it just as I swung my legs over the side of my bed and prepared to stand.
"Yes, hello?" my voice was slightly slurred due to still being sleepy as I slowly blinked my eyes in hopes of waking myself up.
"Hey!" Summer happily greeted while in the background I could hear the faintest sound of laughter and two people seemingly arguing with one another loudly. "You want to get breakfast with me, Victoria, Janet, and Elizabeth?" she asked.
"Uh..." I didn't have an answer right away, not expecting such a thing as it was rare that all the women in our group of friends actually had free time at the same time. One or two of us were always busy at some point during the day, whether that be with classes or our jobs. "Sure, when—"
"Like right now, we're right outside your house so hurry up" and with that, she hung up as I pulled the phone away and stared at it for a second before processing what she said.
"Outside the house" I muttered, standing and crossing the room to my window where I peered through the blinds to see that she was indeed right, and Victoria's minivan was sitting right outside the house. Victoria hated that car, thinking that it wasn't something someone her age should have to call their first car, but it used to be her mother's car and when her mother bought herself a brand-new car after the second to last of her children had finally moved out and went on with their life. She decided to give Victoria her old minivan as a gift for getting her driver's license. The brunette couldn't really complain though, a car was still a car and it was in good condition, better than getting a hunk of junk that constantly breaks down like Cody and Janet had ended up getting for their first cars. I flinched and drew back away from the window when the horn of the car suddenly blared, warning me that Victoria was becoming impatient.
Turning away from the window, I started to get ready. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited to see Janet and Victoria again as it has been a while since I hung out with those two since they left and got back from their camping trip with Elizabeth. Victoria could be a handful and was the aggressive type, always wanting to pick a fight with someone—the complete opposite of Elizabeth which always caused the two to constantly disagree and argue with one another. Made me wonder how they ended up sharing an apartment together or how they both survived being out in the woods together without one of them killing the other. I would have to assume that would be thanks to Janet—their other roommate who was a very laid back person.
Janet was always someone that took life in strides, but despite how laid back she was, she was also quite smart and could pass all her classes with flying colors despite never looking like she was putting any effort forth. She also served as the voice of reasoning between Elizabeth and Victoria, stepping in and breaking up their arguments with what one would think to be a wave of the hand. If she hadn't had moved in with them to help with rent, one would think the two would have attempted to kill each other in their sleep years ago.
"You heading out?" Sora asked as I came bounding down the steps while he brought the bowl in his hands up, tilting his head back as he downed the milk leftover from his cereal.
"Yeah, Summer and the others asked me to join them for breakfast. Though I didn't expect you to be up so early, you got classes?" I asked, stopping at the front door and slipping on the pair of shoes I had left there.
"Oh, yeah" Sora nodded as he moved around on the couch, leaning forward to place the now empty bowl on the coffee table. "I'm just waiting for Riku to come and get me, I got a test today."
"Okay, well see ya and good luck on your test" I waved bye before slipping out the door, not bothering to wait and hear his farewell as I quickly shut the door behind me and made my way over to the car.
"Finally, I was just about ready to drive off without you" Victoria grumbled as I got in and slammed the car door shut. Summer was seated in the very back and playing on her phone while Elizabeth and I found ourselves in the middle row. Victoria was behind the wheel, her long brown hair pulled up into a messy bun as if she hadn't had time to really brush her hair and just threw it into a bun to make it look somewhat decent. Her skin was quite pale, which made the bags under her green eyes a lot clearer.
"She's lying, we wouldn't have left you" Janet smiled, shifting around to look back at me. Were Victoria was pale, Janet's skin was a beautiful, clear dark color and her short black hair was neatly brushed and straightened. Her eyes were a light brown that always seemed to shine brightly, she was leaned back into her seat and looked quite relaxed despite being up so early in the morning. With Janet, mornings could go either way—she could be fully awaked and relaxed or she could be tired and sometimes even grumpy, though that was rare.
"I figured, she loves me too much to leave me behind" I said, snickering at the eye roll I received from the brunette as she started the car up and took off down the road.
"Keep telling yourself that" she muttered under her breath.
"Don't worry, I will. So, where are we going for breakfast?" I asked.
"This new family-owned restaurant that opened up a few weeks ago. I wanted to check it out and thought that since it's one of those rare occasions were we all have free time, I'd make it sort of a girls outing" Janet explained, already putting her focus on the radio in an attempt to find something of interest to listen to as I nodded my head.
-Everyone's P.O.V-
Zoro felt a bit more irritable than usual that morning as he came down the stairs and made his way to the kitchen, ignoring the blond that moved about preparing breakfast as well as ignoring the lively laughter of Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper as they entertained themselves while waiting for food. Plopping down in his seat at the kitchen table, he immediately let his head drop down onto the table and his one functioning eye slip shut as if he was prepared to fall back asleep.
"Please tell me that you're not about to go straight back to sleep after just getting up" Nami deadpanned, looking up from the newspaper she had sprawled out in front of her.
"Shut it, I didn't get much sleep last night" the moss haired man growled, not bothering to open his eye. It was strange to hear such a thing leave the man's lips as he was famously known around the manor to sleep nonstop. He always had at least five naps throughout the day.
"Was it perhaps because of that young woman—Skylar?" Robin calmly asked, smiling as she peered up from the pages of her book. "If I remember correctly, you said she gave you hear number yesterday" Zoro lifted his head to glare at the raven-haired woman, knowing that she had just admitted to listening in on him and his self-ramblings last night as he complicated in whether to text or call the brunette last night. Would it have been strange or weird to call her not hours after she had given him her number? To wish her good night or to just continue chatting with her...he didn't want to sound pushy or let alone desperate.
"She gave you her number?" Nami perked up at this, a sly grin tugging at her lips as she eyed the light blush that now stained the moss haired man's cheeks. "Look at you, already moving up in the ranks" she lightly snickered as their conversation now caught the attention of the others.
"Oh! Can I have her number too, Zoro?! I want to be able to talk to her as well, maybe we can be great friends!" Luffy happily exclaimed, already stretching his head over towards the older man.
"What about that Summer chick? Don't you want her number?" Usopp raised an eyebrow, remembering that Luffy was already on friendly terms with the other brunette.
"I already have her number though, she gave it to me the night of the party before she left" Luffy said, turning his head to look back at the long-nosed man before looking back at Zoro.
"Ask her yourself for it, I don't want to go getting on her bad side by giving her number to just anyone without her consent!" Zoro snapped.
"Just like how you didn't want to get on her bad side by randomly visiting her house without her consent?" Nami asked.
"Or randomly showing up at her workplace without her consent" Robin piped up, both her and Nami giggling as he grumbled in response before they all flinched as they heard a loud thump, all of them turning to find Sanji on the floor looking dejected.
"I can't believe that cutie gave such an idiot like moss head her number" he seemed to depressingly mutter.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Zoro snapped.
A/N: Enjoy
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