Chapter Ten
Next day after school Luffy was ridding in Zoro's car again towards the restaurant and telling him everything about the previous day.
"You saying he can play, but he doesn't want to join?" Zoro asked when Luffy stopped, glaring at the glass so hard that Luffy thought he might burn a hole in it if he didn't stop. He nodded and Zoro groaned. "Why do always have to find someone that doesn't want to join your band? Can't you just find someone that would be willing from the start?" He muttered out, massaging his temple with one hand, the other holding the wheel firmly. Luffy sighed but then grinned.
"Yea, but all of you said yes in the end." He stated happily and Zoro rolled his eyes just as he stopped the car in front of the restaurant. Luffy jumped out and headed inside. He walked into the kitchen casually and did, or rather tried to do everything that was asked of him, but failed miserably, irritating almost all of the cooks, beside Sanji, who snickered whenever the other did something wrong. Break rolled around fairly quickly and Luffy found himself outside with the blonde again.
"Seriously, why don't you want to join my band?" Luffy asked out of blue, receiving a glare in response.
"Because I have to stay here." He growled at the younger teen, who was opening his mouth to say something but nothing came out.
"No, you don't have to stay here, you little idiot. It would actually be better if you got out of here." They both turned their heads quickly around to see the owner standing by the door with an angry expression on his face. Then again, when wasn't it angry, Sanji thought, staring at the man.
"Shut up, old geezer." He muttered out and received a kick in the head. The man glared at him and walked back inside. Luffy turned around to the blonde, but was interrupted again.
"Luffy, stop tormenting other people about the band thing already." Nami said as she walked up to the two. Sanji's eyes immediately shone brighter.
"Nami-san! You know him?" He asked suspiciously, glaring at Luffy who was standing beside him with a blank expression.
"Yup. I'm a guitarist in his band." Nami stated with a smirk and Sanji's jaw dropped, almost hitting the ground.
"You play guitar? You are so perfect, Nami-swan!" Sanji shouted, almost melting like a chocolate left in the sun. Luffy still stared at him blankly.
"So you want to join our band now?" He asked finally and Sanji looked at him for a second, but quickly averting his eyes back to Nami.
"This is really tempting, but I cannot do that." He said sadly.
"But the old man said that you can." Luffy replied, looking at the other with innocent eyes.
"The old geezer doesn't know what he's talking about." Sanji snapped, getting up and heading towards the door. Soon Nami was the only one standing beside Luffy in the cold air. The girl sighed and smiled at Luffy reassuringly before going inside herself.
The bell rang loudly, bouncing off the old school walls and Luffy snapped his head up to look around, confusion written all over his face. He was not used to working and all that, so he was really tired now, as school was already tiring for him, now he also had to work his ass off to pay off for the damage in the restaurant. He groaned getting up and Coby looked at him worriedly.
"Are you going there today, too?" He asked and Luffy nodded sleepily, yawing.
"Yea, everyday for the whole month." He replied. "Thank you lord for the life saving lunch hour." Luffy muttered out, walking towards the school's cafeteria to meet with the others. He finally spotted them by one of the tables and walked up to them sitting heavily beside Zoro and resting his head on the older teen's shoulder, who glared at him, but didn't push him off. Luffy sighed contently at the nice feeling. Nami muffled her laugh as she poked Usopp in the ribs, pointing to the two teens. He looked at them with raised eyebrows and grinned back at the girl.
"So Luffy, is Zoro's shoulder as comfy as your pillow?" Nami asked when she saw the younger teen almost drifting off to sleep and Zoro glared and her. Luffy muttered something inaudible, scooting closer to the green haired teen.
"Mm. So much better than that." He muttered out sleepily and Nami grinned. When she saw the faint blush on Zoro's cheeks she laughed loudly, together with Usopp.
"Shut the hell up." Zoro hissed through gritted teeth, glaring daggers at the two, which made Usopp stop with a caught, but it didn't seem to bother Nami as she still laughed.
"Zoro, why is it so loud." Luffy asked and Zoro looked down at him. He had his eyes closed, snuggling to the other's chest now. Zoro noticed that the boy was already unconscious and talking in his sleep. The fact that he said Zoro's name made the other even more uncomfortable and he blushed harder, but he didn't make any attempts at waking and shoving the boy away from himself as he snuggled into his chest comfortably with a dreamy smile. Zoro had to admit that it felt nice to have the other so close to himself. He groaned at the thought and looked away quickly.
This time Luffy was determined to make Sanji join his band and he thought of a way for the whole day of washing the dishes and cleaning the floors and the cupboards. Now he was standing with Nami in the same place as the other day as the break went on. He looked thoughtful for once and Nami just had to ask him about it.
"What are you thinking so intensely about, Luffy?" He snapped his head to give her a curious stare.
"I wonder," He started somehow shyly and Nami considered the option of the boy being ill or something. "why is Sanji looking at you in that strange way, like, always?" He finally finished and Nami's eyes widen a little bit, then she snickered at the innocence of this boy.
"Well, I think that he likes me."
"But I like you, too and I don't do that." He said confused and Nami laughed lightly.
"I meant that he likes me in that way. You know, like, fancy me." She said amused as the boy's face heated up immediately.
"Uh, okay, never mind." He said quickly and looked away, thoughts flooding his mind. He noticed that Zoro was also staring at him almost all of the time, but he just shook his head quickly, to force the thoughts away. There was no way of Zoro actually liking Luffy, he was straight., Luffy thought desperately. He was sure that the green haired teen was straight. The fact that Luffy might like him that way, didn't immediately make the other like him back. It was impossible and Luffy knew it well enough to stop the stupid thoughts flooding his mind without his agreement. He sighed, forced a smile and looked at Nami, who was staring at him strangely.
"Luffy are you feeling okay?" She asked with a worried expression and Luffy just nodded.
Luffy walked out of the kitchen, ready to go home, but because of the thoughts that still didn't want to leave his head alone, he walked in totally opposite direction than the exit of the restaurant. He was snapped back to reality when he heard a faint sound of guitar and he followed it without second thought. He walked up the stair quickly, concentrating to find the source of the sound. Finally he stopped by one of the doors where the sound was much louder and Luffy knew it was coming from that room. He stood in front of the door listening, forgetting where he was, when something hard slammed into his shoulder and he whirled around to see the owner standing in front of him with his big hand on Luffy's arm. Luffy grinned at him sheepishly, but the man didn't seem angry for once, at least not as much as he always was; this time Luffy noticed something different in his eyes and he furrowed his brows, trying to think. He was about to apologize for coming up here when the man spoke in a quiet voice.
"He's really good, isn't he?" He asked with a distant expression and Luffy nodded. "Get him out of here. I don't now how, but just take him away." The man said with a serious expression on his face.
Just as Sanji stopped playing his guitar, he heard muffled sounds of someone talking behind his door. He got up quietly and walked up to the door, pushing his head on the old wood and squinting hard to hear. He frowned when he heard the owner talk to someone with sorrowful tone in his voice.
"Get him out of here. I don't know how, but just take him away." Sanji curled his hands into fists angrily, but loosened up at the next words he overheard. "He's a good kid. Probably a bit too good. That's why I'm asking you to do it. For him. I know how much he dreamed about this and that was what held me close to him. But he is just too stubborn and can't get it through his thick skull that I didn't save him to keep him in here for the rest of his life, but to give him the chance of accomplishing what he dreamed of in the first place. And I will let you skip the rest of the month if you succeed." The man said tiredly and Sanji stood on the other side of the door with disbelief crossing his features. He sighed heavily and walked slowly back to his guitar, taking it in his hands and staring at it intensely, just as the door opened and Luffy walked inside. Sanji noticed that this time the boy wasn't smiling happily like he always did and his ridiculous hat was down covering his eyes with its shadow. He was about to say something, Sanji knew he was and so he beat him up to it, making the boy's head snap up to revel the shock in his big, dark eyes.
"I will join your band." He said quietly and slowly and there was a silence for some time before Luffy started to bounce in place so happily and lightly that it was almost impossible to believe that just few seconds before the air was thick and heavy. Now it seemed to brighten, Luffy's happy smile making all the rainy and heavy clouds go away, like it was the warm sun shinning through them. It made Sanji grin at the boy.
It was past midnight already when the doorbell rang in the small house. Zoro groaned sleepily, but got up anyway, because he knew that his lazy parents won't bother with checking who it was. If it wasn't anything really important, like, your house is on fire, or something like that, Zoro thought that he will kill anyone who bothered to wake him up. He opened the door forcefully and was about to snap at anyone that was outside, when he noticed the familiar straw hat and his expression softened, showing some worry through his always cold eyes.
"Luffy, what happened?" He asked quietly and Luffy looked up at him with a huge smile on his face.
"He agreed to be in our band! And I don't have to work there anymore!" Luffy said excitedly and Zoro frowned at him, but then understood who the other was talking about and he shook his head hopelessly.
"Couldn't you wait till tomorrow to tell me that? Or text me, or something." He muttered out with a hint of irritation in his voice, but he still smiled at the pout on the other's face.
"I wanted to tell you as quick as possible. And I wanted to see you, anyway." Luffy said sp quietly that Zoro almost didn't hear him, looking away and Zoro snorted.
"Missing me so much already?" He asked, grinning.
"No!" Luffy protested before the older even finished the sentence. "Don't be stupid, why would anyone miss you?" He said as he regained his composure and grinned lightly at Zoro.
"Then go home already." Zoro responded, cocking his brows and Luffy huffed at him.
"You ain't getting rid of me that easily." Luffy sang, brushing past Zoro and directing his footsteps towards the living room. Zoro gritted his teeth and caught the teen by his hood, giving him a rather harsh tug. Luffy stumbled back with a yelp, but quickly found his balance again, turning around and glaring at his friend.
"I'm staying." He said, or rather stated with a grin and Zoro just sighed; why can't he say no to this kid?
"Yea, fine, alright." He growled out, rolling his eyes and Luffy grinned even more. "But you can't sleep on the couch this time, my parents won't be too happy about that." He said and Luffy looked at him strangely.
"Then where am I suppose to sleep?" He finally asked, not mentioning anything about Zoro's relations with his parents. He blinked, when he saw something new in the other's eyes, but couldn't place what it was as it disappeared as quickly as it appeared; Luffy even thought it might be just the light from outside.
"With me." He then said and Luffy choked on his own spit, making the other grin. "Problem?" He asked smugly and Luffy stared at him. Oh, no, he will not back off now, he thought when he heard the mocking tone in the other's voice.
"Non at all." He said and smiled one of his biggest smiles ever. Challenge accepted, he mused and Zoro grinned, motioning for him to follow the older teen up the stairs and to his room as quietly as possible. Zoro closed the door behind him and looked at Luffy who was standing by the bed with a grin, but he still saw how awkward he felt.
"Are you gonna get in, or just stand there the whole night?" Zoro asked, cocking his brow at the younger teen, who huffed loudly. Soon he was taking off his hoodie and jeans, staying in his underwear and a plain t-shirt; he quickly got under the covers and Zoro followed seconds after. When Luffy felt the warmth radiating from the other's body he shivered involuntarily and scooted as far away as it was possible on the small bed, almost squishing himself on the wall. He didn't trust himself to be closer; shutting his eyes tightly, he tried to even his breathing out and fall asleep as quickly as he could.
Zoro laid comfortably in the bed with his hands behind his head as he listened to the other's nervous breathing. He wanted to laugh, but he forced himself not to; sighting he turned onto his side, staring at Luffy's back. All of a sudden he just wanted to grab the boy by the waist and pull him so close to himself, that he would feel his heart beating against his body and his hot breath on his skin. When he realised what he was thinking, he slapped himself on the forehead, turning around hurriedly with his back to the younger teen. He shut his eyes tightly, shaking his head furiously. he was not gay, he repeated in his head over and over again, until he fell asleep from exhaustion.
The next day he woke up to a loud gasp and he opened his eyes slowly. Somehow, today his bed felt so much more comfortable that any other day and he was reluctant to end this nice feeling. But when he realised that the warmth coming from nowhere, was in fact coming from Luffy, who was still sleeping in his arms peacefully with his head on Zoro's chest and his mouth slightly open, his eyes widened. He stared at the sight for a few long seconds, forgetting everything else, when he heard someone clear their throat and his head snapped up to look at his father, who now stood behind his wife. Panic rose in his gut and he moved away from the boy, almost falling off the bed and looking at his father's serious face. Luffy just turned around hugging the pillow instead and murmuring some inaudible words, still in deep sleep.
"What was that suppose to mean, son?" His father snarled at him and Zoro looked away. "I asked you a question!" He roared and the teen winced. "Who is this little piece of shit?" He asked with a disgusted face and something in Zoro snapped.