About a week had gone by since Sanji's hangover incident. Zoro and Sanji had both gone back to work, which is where Sanji seemed to catch himself thinking about Zoro more and more, especially after he'd discovered that picture a week before and asked Zoro about it.

"When was this even? Since when do you dance? Almost naked at that?! Did you use to dance on Tuesdays?! God, I wish I could've been there to see this.." Sanji mumbled the last sentence as he gazed at the picture in his hands. After eating some, he'd felt a lot better, but chose to stay lying in bed, questioning Zoro.

"I told you last night that it was a long time ago. Probably right around when I first met Ace. And I've always danced. You just never asked and we never went anywhere that required it. Yes, I did dance there on Tuesdays, but that night was actually a Thursday.. I was pretty far gone that night. You had stayed the night at Cami's and you were so excited, but that- it hurt to know that, so I went down there to relieve some stress. I got really messed up and they asked me to dance on stage, so I did," Zoro finished. He began to play with a loose piece of string on the comforter as he talked.

When he was done, Sanji just stared at him, feeling his heart tightening in his chest. He remembered that night. He was so excited to stay with her that he had even called Zoro and told him he thought he was finally going to lose his virginity. It was the same night he had started to finger Cami. While he was happy and excited to go even that far with her, Zoro was at the bar drinking away his heartbreak. He tried his hardest to change the subject.

"So how did that handprint I saw earlier get on your ass?" he asked, feeling a little upset that someone touched Zoro like that. Zoro smirked.

"Oh don't remember? That was you."

Sanji's face heated up a the memory. Zoro had told him how wasted he'd gotten that night, but the hangover was worth it. He got his hands on that outfit.

Smiling deviously to himself, he finished preparing the meals he was making to be delivered to those in the restaurant. He couldn't wait to convince Zoro to get into that.

After work, Zoro had some free time. He changed into his workout clothes that he had in his locker at the dojo. He was always up for a run. This time, he was hoping to run to the gym.

With his headphones in and music playing, he lost track of time and just began to run. Eventually, he did reach the gym, but it was later than he'd hoped. He got out of work around three, but didn't make it to the gym (which was supposedly 10 minutes away) until around 5:30. He shrugged it off though. More working out never hurt anybody. Well, it probably did somebody, but never him.

He entered the gym and got lost in his working out and music again. Time seemed to fly by. It made him feel all the more at peace. Now, he didn't have as much to stress about. Sanji was his. He didn't have to come here to force stupid ideas or feelings (usually jealousy) out of his own head.

Finally at peace, he hadn't noticed how long he was there until his phone died. He hadn't noticed that the gym was pretty much empty either. Looking outside, the sun had gone down and saw the time on the clock on the wall.

10:23.

The Baratie closes at 10 on the weekdays. Sanji was probably done with work and who knows how many times he's probably tried to call Zoro, but the signal here was shit.

After tucking his phone and headphones into his pocket, he hurried to shower and change. The cook never freaked out before if, on the rare occasion, he lost contact with Zoro, but since they started dating, he wasn't sure how Sanji would react this time. When he was ready to leave, he was about to open the door when he realized, while he was changing, it had started to downpour.

Great.

Just what he needed.

He stood in the doorway trying to pick a direction he thought home was in. He thought he had picked the right way. At least until he ended up in the slums on the other side of town.

Homeless men, women and children huddled together in every alley way, under torn awnings or cardboard boxes, struggling to keep out of the rain. He couldn't help, but think of how Sanji would react to seeing people live like this.

He turned around and went back in the direction he'd come from. When he'd reached some sturdier buildings and cleaner streets, he figured he was getting closer to home. It was still raining, but it was lighter and the hood on his sweatshirt was soaked to the point that there was no reason to keep it up anymore. Zoro hurried along, mumbling to himself about which way to go until he heard a noise. It sounded familiar, but it wasn't something he'd heard very often. Glancing around, he could tell that no one was in sight. However, there was a suspicious looking box sitting under a light post. It came up to about his knee, even caving in a bit from the rain. The lid was shut, but the rain had pushed the lid into the box, making it pointless, like his hood. Shuffling over, he could hear the sounds get a bit louder as he got closer. It sounded like some kind of screeching noise in desperation.

He wasn't scared. Nope. Not scared. Maybe a little tense, but not scared.

He peered into the box and was startled with what he found.

A mother cat and four kittens were in the bottom of the box. All were jet black except for two that had a few small white spots on their tail or toes. All were soaked to their scrawny ribs and bones showing through the little patches of fur that they had where some places were actually bald. The mother was soaked the most, trying to protect them from the rain. All were meowing for help, except one. One stayed where it was, laying in the corner of the box, unmoving. It took Zoro a minute to realize that the kitten was dead.

His heart clenched at the sight. Who could do something like this to helpless little creatures? The box was too tall for them to escape, even with it being warped. If it was small enough that they could get out, they could've at least had a chance at survival, but no. Someone cut them off from everything and left them here to either die or someone else to take responsibility.

Well, that someone might as well be him. Taking off his hoodie, he laid it over the top of the box to stop more rain from getting in. He bent down and picked up the box, holding the side with the mother and other kittens towards his now shirtless chest. Hopefully, he could give off some body heat to warm them up.

He hurried down the street, hoping the other three kittens and the mother would survive and hoping Sanji wouldn't kill him when he reached the apartments.

Sanji was on the verge of a mental breakdown. He hadn't heard from Zoro all day. Even before they dated, he would always hear from Zoro somehow once a day.

He'd left plenty of messages and voicemails, demanding to hear from the man, but nothing. Zoro never called or texted and after a while, everything started to go straight to voicemail, which only made his anxiety worse. To make matters worse, he had visited the gym Zoro likes to frequent around 11 at night. It was just like the idiot to lose track of time. It wouldn't be the first time either. Was he overreacting? Was he just paranoid or could something have really happened to Zoro?

A knock on his door startled him from his pacing. The knock was more of a pounding and he rushed to the door, telling himself it was Zoro. It had to be.

Luckily, it was, but he wasn't expecting the man to be holding a giant box in his arms, completely soaked and without a shirt on.

So much for getting him in that outfit tonight.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUTSIDE WITHOUT A SHIRT ON?!" he screamed first. The rain that the man had obviously been stuck in could be detrimental to Zoro's health. "AND AT ONE IN THE MORNING!"

"Shh. Be quiet idiot. You'll scare them even more."

"Wha-" He was cut off by a noise coming from the box Zoro was holding and he stared at it.

Was that..? Meowing?

"Are you just gonna stand there looking retarded or can we come in?" Zoro asked. He hadn't checked on them since he picked them up, but the noises had stopped on the way home. However, he was most worried about them surviving.

"Sure. Where have you been all day? And do you have a cat in there?" Sanji questioned as he moved aside and Zoro came in to set the box on the floor. He grabbed a blanket off the back of Sanji's couch and formed a makeshift bed out of it surrounded by the couch pillows.

"Just lost track of time. Then, I wanted to take the scenic route home," he said, hoping he could lie his way through that particular question. "As for the box, you'll see in a second."

"You've been lost all day?! Well, where the fuck is your phone?"

"Dead. Can you heat up some milk? I don't know what else to give them," Zoro said, finally pulling his hoodie off the top of the box.

Sanji walked over and looked in just as Zoro had a few hours before. He noticed the fur balls curled up by the mother and the one in the opposite corner. Just at the first glance, he could tell that they weren't in good shape.

"I'll get the milk. There should be a box in my bedroom still with some of my shoes in it. Empty it out and put the blanket in there. You don't want any of the kittens to fall off the couch," Sanji said before disappearing to find some milk. On his way, he googled information about what to give them. The first site he found was some certified vet site and said evaporated milk mixed with egg yolk, so that's what he did.

When he brought the mixture back to the living room, Zoro already had the blanket and kittens moved into the new box. On his way out of the kitchen, he'd grabbed some old newspapers and laid them at the opposite end of the box. It was a low edged box, probably only about 2 inches tall, so the mother could get out, but they wouldn't have to worry about the kittens wandering too far. The box was a few feet long. Another box sat off to the side. It was just a simple small shoe box. Sanji assumed that it held the little one that died.

Sanji sat down next to Zoro and the box of kittens, placing the mixture in the bowl in an empty corner of the box. It was small enough to give the cats some room still at least.

Immediately, the mother went over to the bowl to drink.

"I found the mixture online. It's only temporary, not supposed to be used more than a few times, so tomorrow, we're gonna have to pick up some cat food for her. It'd be a good idea to get milk replacer too because I don't know if they're still nursing or not. They don't seemed to be and I would assume that if they aren't nursing, that they could move more though," the cook said.

"They might just be too weak. I don't know how long they were out there," Zoro said sadly. He tried to reach over to the mother, but as soon as he touched her fur, she hissed at him. He didn't move his hand and let her smell him. Eventually, she turned back to her food and Zoro stroked her back.

"You're right. Hopefully they'll get better though. I didn't realize you had such a sweet spot for animals marimo. I have to say.. It's kinda cute," Sanji said as he leaned his head against Zoro's shoulder, watching the kittens meow frantically and hobble around for their mother.

"They didn't even have a chance at surviving. I couldn't just leave them." Sanji closed his eyes.

"I know. Just so you know though, just because you brought them here does not mean they are part my responsibility nor does it mean that I will help with them," Sanji grumbled next to Zoro's ear. It was silent for a moment before Zoro answered.

"Really cook? Look at them one more time and tell me you won't help. We both know you will anyway. There's no point in denying it."

"I can deny it as long as I want. I'm not helping," he said.

"I'll give you the best blowjob of your life if you help," Zoro said. He had no idea where his confidence had come from or why he never decides to think before he opens his mouth.

Sanji let a smirk play on his face. "You mean meow?"

Zoro wanted to smack him for it, but he resisted.

"If you want it now, then sure. Fuckin' idiot," he answered, but they both still laughed.

"No thanks. It went away when I couldn't get ahold of you and then, walked in with a box of half dead kittens."

"It went away?" Zoro questioned with a raised eyebrow, causing a blush to spread across the cook's pale cheeks.

"Finding out my boyfriend has a secret stripper life, hell yeah I'm gonna be hard a lot. I missed out on so much," he pouted honestly. No point in lying. Plus, he had no reason to hide it anyway.

Zoro simply laughed. "You did miss out on a lot, but a lot of the reasons why I did that stuff back then was because of you too," he said, his voice trailing off and getting softer near the end of his sentence.

The mood of the room changed, filled with guilt and pain.

"I know.. I hate that I made you wait so long to say anything. If only I hadn't been so oblivious. We could've-" Sanji said sitting up, berating himself.

"Stop it cook. That doesn't matter anymore. What matters is us now. I finally have you," Zoro said, wrapping his arms around the blonde and bringing him close. He kissed the blonde on the head as they cuddled and watched the mother trot back her kittens before laying down near them again. They meowed loudly before falling against her belly, trying to nurse.

Sanji stood up. "I don't want one of us to wake up in the morning and step on a strong, but little wandering kitten or their mother, so I think it'd be better if we put them in the kitchen. I'd rather not put them in the bathroom for the same reason. Hopefully, they'll use the newspaper if they have to go to the bathroom at night." While he talked, Zoro had stood up too.

"You have a point. Let's get them to the kitchen then," Zoro said as he moved to one end of the box and bent to pick it up. Sanji did the same at his end and they carefully lifted the box and carried it to the kitchen.

After setting it down, they both headed towards the bedroom. Sanji casually slipped his fingers in between Zoro's. Talking a bit earlier made him feel guilty, but Zoro was right. Now they were together and he wanted to show Zoro how much he appreciated him.

Eagerly, he sped up and pulled Zoro behind him towards the bedroom.

"What's the rush for cook? It's just sleep. Calm down." He let out a light laugh.

"You'll see," Sanji said as he pulled Zoro into the bedroom, dragging him over next to the bed before kissing his surprised boyfriend with fervor. Slowly, he eased Zoro back onto the bed throughout the kiss, running his tongue along every crevice of Zoro's mouth, feeling his strong pectoral muscles as his tanned back made contact with the blankets. Their kiss broke as Zoro let his head fall back against the bed, breathing deeply.

Sanji slid onto the bed, straddling his boyfriend and Zoro's hands began to run up and down the cook's sides, still too hesitant about something like grabbing the cook's ass, as much as he wanted to.

Sanji bit his lip lightly. Being like this with Zoro, turned him on like nothing he's ever felt before. All the possibilities made it feel like the pleasure was coursing through his veins instead of blood. Slowing, he placed his hands on Zoro's biceps, feeling the bulging muscles there. He slid his hand along the muscle, caressing Zoro's skin. He continued, sliding his fingertips along his prominent collar bones. All he wanted to do was just feel right now. Both hands advanced back to his pectorals. His right hand met the marred flesh of Zoro's scar. The man shuddered underneath him as he ran his fingertips along the scar, his left hand still in place on Zoro's chest. When he shook, Sanji felt just how excited it had gotten Zoro.

When he reached Zoro's rain dampened sweats at the bottom of the scar, he began to play with the edge of Zoro's pants. Looking up at Zoro and biting his lip again, he moved both hands down to the swordsman's bottoms, ready to pull them off. As soon as he got the edge up the slightest bit, Zoro froze and his hands shot out to Sanji's wrists, stopping all movement. They stared at each other, one with a look of confusion and one looking scared.

"I need to go home," he said, pulling the cook's hands away from himself.

"Wha-what? Why?! Zo-"

"S-sanji. I ca-can't," Zoro said. He lifted the cook by his hips and slid out from underneath him before rushing out. He forgot that he hadn't planned on seeing the cook today.

Fuck, that was close, he thought.

He heard Sanji yelling at him faintly as he shut the apartment door behind himself.

"I'M SUPPOSED TO BE THE BUMBLING BISEXUAL IN DENIAL! WHAT THE FUCK MARIMO!"

A/N - This was sorta another filler chapter.. xD I'm sorry! I need some time to pass in their relationship before things get too dramatic xD and smutty.. xD Any suggestions are happily accepted!

Pajamaz- Yeah. I kinda felt bad for Ace, but I also felt like I didn't make it emotional enough. Was it?

cassy1994- xD Thank you! I try lol. Honestly, even I was excited when I had the idea xD

Agentsofshield35- Lol you're welcome! It's what I'm here for xD I'm glad you like chapter 10. I hope you like this one just as much! :)

Subaru's dreams- Yay! I was hoping it was funny and that it wasn't just me that thought it was funny and cute lol

GaLemarouRinkA- Thank you! I'm so glad you like it! I'm not sure this update was necessarily "soon" though... Sorry Dx