Chapter Eleven

"Say that about him one more time and you will regret it." He growled and his father looked at him with shock evident on his face. "Why do you care all of a sudden? You always come to me when I do something wrong, don't you?" He snapped, getting off the bed angrily.

Luffy mumbled something and his eyes opened slowly as he heard a familiar voice, but laced with so much hate that he shuddered involuntarily. He sat up slowly to see Zoro standing by the bed and a man hovering over him dangerously.

"Don't you dare talking to me that way." The man said, gritting his teeth.

"Fuck you." Zoro replied with so much venom in his voice that Luffy's eye widened in disbelief and shock, but it didn't last long as anger flared through him instead when the man punched Zoro in the face.

"What do you think you're doing?" He screamed out and the man glared at him just now noticing that he was awake.

"Don't get involved in this, Luffy." Zoro warned him and Luffy glued his big eyes on the green haired teen, staring as the blood made its way down his chin. Luffy gripped the covers tightly, already hating the man that hit his friend. He got up and started to walk towards him with anger flowing through his veins, making his head throb with a dull headache, but he was stopped by Zoro who gripped his wrist tightly, pulling him towards himself.

"This is not what you think it is." He growled at the man, trying to calm himself down. His father stared at him for some time and it seemed that the anger started to leave him slowly. But then he noticed the bracelet on Luffy's wrist, the one that Zoro was still gripping so tightly that it started to feel numb. Zoro followed his stare and then looked at the man again with a smirk on his face.

"Problem, father?" He asked and the man's eyes narrowed dangerously but you could see the disgust in them, too.

"Get out of my house." He growled directing his hateful stare towards Luffy, who flinched at the intensity of it. He looked at Zoro who grimaced and this time Luffy stared back at the man and then suddenly smiled that famous smile, which made the man disoriented.

"Don't get so worked up, sir." He said lightly, but something stung at his chest painfully as he said the next words. "Your son is straight, you don't gave to worry, I'm just a little fag that runs around him the whole time. But we're just friends, so you don't have to worry that I will turn your son into a faggot." He said in icy cold voice, before pulling his pants on, grabbing his hoodie and walking out of the room quickly, past the stunned man.

"Luffy." He heard Zoro gasp in disbelief, but he didn't stop as he walked out of the house and made his way towards his own home. He felt tears stung at his eyes at the reality of his words and he sucked in a sharp breath, rubbing at his eyes angrily.

Zoro stood in the same place by his bed with eyes wide open, still staring at the door where Luffy disappeared just few minutes ago. It was silent the whole time, making him cringe and he finally looked at his father.

"I hope you're happy now." He snapped at the man before he brushed past him and walked towards the front door of the house, slamming them shut forcefully. He got into his car, starting it and driving as far away from that place as he could. He always hated it there. He stared at the road in front of him, holding the wheel so hard that his knuckles had turned white. He didn't care where he was going as he thought about Luffy's words. He didn't know why, but they had hurt him. Not only because the younger teen used the offensive word himself, but more when he said that they were just friends and nothing else. Part of him wanted to scream as his gut twisted in uneasiness and the other part felt relieved; he was not gay and he was not supposed to be thinking that way about a guy. He realised that he had school in less than an hour, but he shrugged it off. He can skip for once. He wasn't in the mood to deal with all of those annoying people and most of all, he didn't want to see Luffy just yet.

Luffy looked at the watch on his wrist and grimaced. He had no time to go home now, so he just made his way towards the school trying to calm himself down and made his face look somehow presentable. When he got there he noticed Anastasia standing by her locker with one of her friends. He walked up to her, took a long breath and smiled.

"Hey, An." He said cheerfully and she turned her head to look at him, but frowned.

"Are you ok, Luffy?"

"Yea, fine." He said and averted his big eyes from her. She sighed and just nodded.

"Where's Zoro?" She asked, looking around and Luffy shrugged.

"Dunno. Listen, I have to go now." He said and walked away hurriedly. She stared after him with a worried expression. He was never acting like that.

The day went on slower than usual and Luffy noticed that Zoro wasn't in today when he walked up to their usual table. Everybody looked up at him and he smiled as lightly as he could.

"Hey Luffy, what's up?" Usopp asked when the boy sat heavily next to him.

"Nothing." He started, staring absently at the food on the table. Everyone frowned, shocked that he didn't go to the cafeteria straight away to snatch all of the food.

"Luffy it's you we're talking about, something must have happened, it always does." Nami said, trying to lighten the mood and Luffy looked at her gratefully. He sighed, trying to stop his thoughts from going in the wrong directions.

"Yea, you're right." He said finally, more cheerfully. "Sanji agreed to join our band!" This time he was smiling again, and it wasn't that fake smile anymore, even if it was smaller that usual. Nami breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

"That idiot? He's so annoying, obsessing over me all of the time." She muttered out and Luffy laughed quietly. Everybody seemed to calm down and join in the conversations.

A week have passed and Zoro still was avoiding his over excited friend; now Luffy thought that he might be mad at him, or even hate him because of what happened with his parents. He wasn't sad anymore, at least not because of the reason he was in the first place, but this time he felt uneasy at the prospect of Zoro hating him. True, it wouldn't be possible that the older teen liked him that way, but at least he was his friend. And now he was avoiding him like fire. He walked down the empty hall. The classes had already finished and everyone run out like it was the last day of their life.

"Luffy." He heard his name and jumped looking around. Nami was standing by the door with her hands crossed and looking at him like a worried mother would look at her only child. "I know something's up. And I know it has to do with Zoro. You two haven't talk for a whole week." She said and Luffy flinched looking away. She sighed and walked up to him placing her hand on his shoulder. "Listen, you can tell me, you know." She muttered out and he looked at her eyes full of worry. He tried to smile but failed miserably.

"Yea, something happened and now he hates me." He muttered out and Nami furrowed her brows at his words.

"He would never hate you."

"Well, apparently he does as he's avoiding me like I'm some kind of a plague." He said bitterly and walked past her hurriedly. She stood there with a frown for some time, not really knowing what to do and finally made her way to her house, sighing.

She was about to walk into her house, but shook her head forcefully and glanced at the building next to her. She walked up to the door and rang the doorbell, waiting. After some time a man opened the door looking at her questioningly.

"Hello, I'm Zoro's friend. Uh, is he home?" She asked uneasily as the man stared at her with cold eyes. Suddenly his features brightened and he nodded, letting her inside.

"You are his friend? What's your name? Are you dating him?" He asked and she looked at him strangely.

"I'm Nami. And we're just friends, sir." She said, looking away. This guy was unnerving.

"Oh, ok. Well then, go upstairs, he's in his room." He muttered out and disappeared behind one of the doors. Nami stared after him for some time, then shook her head and made her way to Zoro's room. She knocked and received an annoyed grunt in response. Deciding it was something like 'come in' in Zoro's language she opened the door and stepped inside to see him laying on his bed with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling so hard that he almost burned a hole through it. She cleared her throat and he glared at her.

"What are you doing here?" He snapped and she grimaced but walked further inside putting her hands on her hips and glaring right back at the teen.

"I don't care what you have done to Luffy, but stop avoiding him." She said sharply and Zoro moved on the bed uncomfortable at the mention of the other's name and sat up staring at her.

"I haven't done anything to him." He growled and she snarled in response.

"Yea, right, then why aren't you talking to him?" She asked amusingly and Zoro shrugged nonchalantly.

"None of your business."

"It is my business when I see my friend upset!" She snapped and Zoro looked at her with wide eyes. "He's your friend, too! I don't care what you did, just forget it and start talking to him again! You have no idea how sad he is. It's strange for him and we miss his smile and carefree attitude." She said, dropping her voice to almost a whisper and Zoro looked at her uneasily. Then he got up from his bed and brushed past the girl without a word. She stared as he left the room hurriedly. Blinking, she run after him, thinking that now he's ignoring her, too. "Where do you think you're going?" She asked in a raised voice, making Zoro's parents walk into the hall to find out what was happening. Zoro stopped by the door and looked at her for a split second.

"You're right." He said. "I was stupid." Averting his eyes from her confused expression he grabbed his jacket and walked out of the house.

"Uh." Nami looked to the side where a woman was standing, looking at her. The girl shook her head, sighing, but with a small smile on her face.

"It was nothing, don't worry. I will have to go now. Goodbye." She said and walked out and to her own house.

Luffy was in his bed with the music on so loud that his mom was starting to get irritated. Probably the whole street could hear it, she thought and made her way towards his room with the intentions of turning it down, when the doorbell rang. She sighed, curious as to who it may be and opened the door with a smile. She recognised the green haired boy as Luffy's friend and her smile widened.

"Oh, hello Zoro, I'm happy you visited us." She said cheerfully and Zoro tried to smile at her, which wasn't all that hard as her smile was so much similar to Luffy's. "Come in, Luffy's in his room." She waved her hands for him to get inside and he nodded slowly, thanked her and walked to Luffy's room. He sighed before opening the door and when he did, he walked inside spotting his friend on the bed with eyes closed and singing quietly to himself. Zoro smiled involuntarily and made his way to the bed. The younger teen still hasn't noticed him, but when his bed caved in from Zoro's weight he snapped his eyes open, alarmed and stared at his friend with mouth slightly open.

"Don't be so surprised." Zoro said and Luffy closed his mouth clearing his throat.

"What are you doing here?" He asked before looking away. Zoro sighed tiredly.

"I wanted to apologize." He replied and Luffy stared at him in disbelief.

"You? But why, I mean, I should be the one apologizing." Luffy stared to babble and Zoro groaned.

"Shut up, Luffy. Just…never mind, can we just go back to being as we were before?" He asked in annoyance and Luffy stared at him blankly.

Was he really saying that they can be friends again? Luffy couldn't believe his words and just stared at Zoro, who was looking everywhere but at him. He blinked and a small smile crept its way onto his face. So he didn't hate him after all. They can be friends again. Now Luffy was grinning fully, like he did so many times before and Zoro looked at him with a serious expression for a second but then smirked and Luffy was so happy that he started to bounce on his bed.

"Stop doing that, or you're gonna split your head open one day." Zoro groaned, but Luffy just stuck his tongue out at him. He yelped when something caught him by the wrist and he stumbled forward, falling on Zoro. He giggled and pushed himself up resting his hands on the other's chest. Zoro smirked and grabbed him by the waist, flipping him onto the bed and hovering over him. Luffy started at him suspiciously and then started laughing uncontrollably when the older teen tickled him on the ribs.

"Stop! Zoro, stop, I can't breath." He squeaked out, breathing hard, kicking his legs in the air and bumping his fist in the other's chest.

"Oh, Zoro don't kill my son." Zoro stopped harassing Luffy and looked behind himself to see Luffy's mother standing in the doorway and smiling warmly. He smiled back and got off of Luffy who was still sprawled on the bed with a slight blush on his face from all the laughing. "I just came in to ask if you'd like to stay for dinner? It will be ready soon."

"Yea, sure, why not. Thank you." Zoro replied and the woman nodded with a smile and walked out of the room. Luffy sighed contently and Zoro glanced at him.

"I'm happy we're friends, Zoro." He said lightly, grinning and the older teen grinned back.

"Yea, me too."

The next day in school everything was back to normal and Luffy was back to his annoying hyper self. Nami was smiling at him warmly and then looked at Zoro with approval, but he just grunted at her and she grinned. Luffy was talking about something for the whole lunch with excitement and everyone grinned at his story, laughing occasionally.

"But anyway, guys, it's finally Friday! Do you want to meet up tomorrow for practice?" He asked happily and everyone nodded.

"I will call Sanji and ask him." Nami said, taking her phone out.

"You have his number? Since when?" Usopp asked and she just sighed dramatically.

"Well, he wouldn't stop asking me about it so I gave him mine, since he's in our band now and all." She muttered out dialling the number. "Sanji, practice, tomorrow, at Zoro's" She said and ended the call before the other could say anything. Everyone stared at her and she just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Right. Ask him." Sam said sarcastically and she snapped him over the head. "Ow! First it's Zoro and now I have to deal with both of you. You should get yourself some anger management lessons, or something." He muttered out, rubbing his throbbing head and looking at the two accusingly.

"Guys," Coby started and looked around and stopping the argument that was about to unfold itself. "In the summer I'm going on a music camp." He said proudly and Luffy grinned at him.

"Cool! How did you get your dad to agree to that?" He asked excitedly.

"Well I just told him that I'm going and he was surprised that I didn't listen to him this time so he finally gave in." He replied with a smile and Luffy patted his friend on the back, congratulating him.

The next day Luffy was walking down the street happily towards Zoro's house. It was warmer now, as the spring came around not long ago and Luffy was happy that the sun was shinning brighter every day. He got to Zoro's but stopped immediately. He grimaced and fished into his pocket for his phone. He dialled one of the numbers and waited.

"Zoro, uh, your parents aren't in, right?" He asked uneasily, scratching at the back of his head. On the other side Zoro grunted with irritation.

"No, they're out again."

"How long?" Luffy asked cautiously and heard the other's muffled voice.

"Maybe a week, maybe a month." He muttered out and Luffy furrowed his brows.

"Um, right, okay." He replied quietly, but grinned when the doors opened and Zoro grabbed his hand pulling him inside.

"You're always first." Zoro said with a smirk as he pulled Luffy down to the basement and Luffy smiled at him.

"So what? You don't want me to?" He asked lightly and sat down on the old couch grinning.

"I don't. Now go away." He teased and Luffy pouted, pretending to be offended. The doorbell rang and Zoro sighed, going upstairs. Nami and Sanji walked in and soon after Usopp appeared and so they started. After few hours Usopp started to complain that he's tired and hungry so they made their way to the kitchen. Zoro threw them each a can of coke and looked around for something to eat.

"I've got some good news for you." Sanji said casually and everyone looked at him interested.

"What news?" Luffy asked immediately, being the most interested of all.

"I got us to play in a music camp near our town this summer. They're going to throw a party or something for the teens there the first night to make them more comfortable and shit like that." He said and Luffy almost fell off his chair when he started to jump on it excitedly. Then he stopped as to think about something.

"You mean, the one where Coby's going?"

"And who's Coby?" The blonde asked confused and Nami sighed.

"He's a friend of ours." She started and immediately got Sanji's attention on herself. "Anyway, how did you do it? You are helpful after all. Not like those idiots, who can't even get their lazy asses off the couch." She said with a smile and Sanji straightened himself proudly.

"I have my ways. Anything for my lovely Nami-san!" He said and Zoro grunted something inaudible and everyone laughed lightly. They stayed in the kitchen for some more as Zoro made some noodles because Luffy stated that he's so hungry that he will die if he won't eat anything right this instant. Nami stared at the two teens with a smirk on her face as she observed them laughing. She had never seen Zoro even smile in her whole life and now this kid was able to make him laugh so hard that he was almost crying. She poked Usopp in the ribs to get his attention on the teens. The long nosed teen raised his brow at the sight; Zoro grabbed Luffy by the waist from behind, making the younger teen yelp and turn around quickly. Then he started to tickle him so hard that Luffy was crying from the laughing and trying to get away, pushing at the other's chest, but it didn't seem to help much.

"Ah, why are they so oblivious." Name groaned, sighing with desperation and Usopp nodded, still staring at them.