A/N: Another busy week, but I got some written! Enjoy.

Sanji has been impatiently awaiting Zoro's pending promise to talk. He's been silent for what seems like the longest two days of Sanji's life. Sanji has been using all of his willpower not to pick up his phone and call the idiot; he has to wait for Zoro to contact him, he doesn't want to be pushy. If he wants to be sure to get him back, he needs to at least keep the illusion of patience.

But it's really fucking hard.

He checks his phone nearly every five minutes, sometimes more, making sure he hasn't missed anything from the marimo. He busies himself with work. Even though the kitchen seems to not need him, he makes room for himself since he is the owner and technically the head chef. He's allowed to do what he pleases in his own damn restaurant.

He feels a buzz in his pants' pocket and flinches so hard he almost knocks over the pan he was using. He frantically digs into his pocket and pulls his phone out. To his dismay it is not Zoro. But his mood lightens slightly when he realizes he has a text from Nami.

What are you doing tonight?

She has been trying to get him to see everyone for the past few days. He has politely refused every time, but he thinks maybe tonight he should just go. He could use a distraction from the hell of anticipation. And maybe a night with friends will distract him enough to keep him from checking his phone constantly. He could really use a night to see everyone, too.

He decides to give in. He texts her that he is free for the night which receives a reply inviting him over to Luffy and Ace's where Sanji is sure all of their friends will be with the exception of Zoro. His affirmation that he will be there is met with many emojis and unnecessary capitalization.

He leaves the restaurant earlier than he had for the past week to make it over to Ace and Luffy's at a reasonable hour. Well, maybe a little earlier than reasonable since he knows he will most likely be asked to cook something and he wants to give himself plenty of time.

And he was correct. The moment he enters the apartment he is greeted with enthusiasm and then shoved into the kitchen at the request of Luffy. He doesn't mind it one bit; he does miss cooking for his friends and he never misses an opportunity to show off his kitchen skills no matter how many times his friends have tried his food.

As he prepares dinner in the kitchen his friends filter in and out of the room to grab snacks and drinks. Most all of them linger momentarily to catch up quickly, and all of them question him on the still bruised mess that is his nose. It's at least straight now. He had almost forgotten it was there since the kitchen staff have started to ignore it at this point knowing they may get fired because Sanji lost his temper over all the questioning and threatened to throw out the next person to ask him about it.

They all thankfully stay off the topic of Zoro. Nami probably prompted everyone before hand not to say anything. He can see the strain in some of their faces as they try their best to hold back the questions.

He finishes up his masterpiece of a meal and enlists Usopp and Brook to help bring the food out to everyone knowing they might be the least likely to steal food from the trays. Usopp is too afraid that Sanji might hurt him for it, and he probably would.

The meal is obviously loved by all. Sanji expected no less, but he still enjoys watching his friends enjoy his meticulously crafted food. It's what he lives for. Zoro was kind of right, he did really miss cooking as much as he used to. He hasn't gotten to indulge himself or others this way for a while. And he's really missed being around everyone.

He's been so busy with everyone else that he nearly forgot he's supposed to be waiting to hear from the moss head. Why did he have to start thinking about him? Now he's just going to be in anticipation hell once again. Great.

He rolls his eyes at himself and steps out onto the fire escape for a quick smoke. Usopp appears next to him after a moment to his surprise.

"Have you taken up smoking since I last saw you, Usopp?"

He lets out a nervous sounding laugh and tries his best to steel himself as he prepares what he's going to say. Sanji mentally prepares as well, he knows what's probably coming. "So, did Zoro give you that broken nose? Is that why you aren't together anymore?"

There it is. The question he has been hoping would be ignored all night. "Something like that." He inhales deeply on his cigarette and blows the smoke out deliberately in Usopp's direction. Usopp coughs and waves the smoke away. "Sorry." He's not.

"What happened?"

"This is not something I really want to talk about tonight, Usopp."

"I know, I'm sorry I'm just-" When he feels the buzz of his phone in his pocket, Sanji tunes out Usopp's voice immediately. There are really only two possible callers right now since all of his friends are at the same place as he is: the restaurant to tell him the kitchen is on fire, or Zoro.

He really hopes his kitchen is not on fire.

He quickly pulls the phone out and his heart stops momentarily. It's Zoro. Ignoring Usopp, he'll apologize later, he presses answer and holds the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Where are you?"

"Uh, Ace and Luffy's." This not quite how he had expected his conversation to go, though he really didn't know what he had thought he would say. He sounds a little odd though.

"Ok."

"Is everything all right?" When he receives no response he checks his phone and sees that Zoro has disconnected the call. He stares at the phone in confusion until he hears Usopp ask who he was talking to. "Just some of the cooks being idiots. Don't worry about it."

He doesn't feel like explaining that odd sort of conversation. He decides to think on it later and he ushers Usopp back inside with him before he can ask any more questions and they both grab a drink.

The next hour or so is spent with much laughter, loud music, and drinking. This is exactly what Sanji needed; he doesn't know why he took so long to accept Nami's invitation or why he hadn't just shown up at his friend's doors sooner. All thoughts of Zoro and his weird phone call have made their way to the back corner of his mind while he happily catches up with friends and listens to ridiculous stories that don't seem plausible in the least while watching some of his idiot friends over perform renditions of popular songs due to intoxication.

His stress free mind set is shattered the moment he hears the door open and the excited voice of Luffy. "Zoro?!"

All heads turn to the front door where Luffy is attempting to hug the man who is looking more and more uncomfortable by the second. He pries Luffy off of him and scans the room. The moment Sanji locks eyes with him he gets a terrible feeling. He knows that look. Shit.

He makes a beeline over to Sanji and grabs a fistful of his shirt bring him close as speaks low. "Tell me I shouldn't do it."

"Do what? What's going on?"

"Just tell me I shouldn't do it." His other hand moves to Sanji's arm, his nails beginning to dig into his skin.

"Zoro, what are you-"

"Just say it!"

"Don't do it." He looks at the marimo's face and sees his brows knit together and his eye tightly closed. He's starting to get a little worried. "Whatever you're thinking of doing, do not do it." He grunts in response and tightens the grip on his shirt and arm. "Zoro, let go, you're hurting me." He pulls his arm against Zoro's hold when he doesn't release him. "Zoro." He flinches slightly and frees Sanji's arm and now heavily wrinkled shirt. His hands hover for a moment before running through his hair. Sanji glances around the room to see everyone watching the two of them. "Come here."

He needs to get Zoro out of sight. He knows the man doesn't want everyone to see him like that, and he needs to get him out of range of everyone in case he does something. He wants to keep everyone from asking questions, too. Sanji doesn't exactly feel like explaining whats going on here right now. He pulls the moss head out to the fire escape. "Hey, calm down. What happened?"

Zoro tries to start a sentence multiple times, but words seem to be failing him. He takes a few deep breaths and tries again. "I saw him."

"Who?" Sanji is desperately hoping its not who he think it is.

"I almost… but I didn't. Just tell me I shouldn't."

"You shouldn't do it. Don't do it." Did he really walk away from him? Despite Zoro's obviously distressed behavior, Sanji is proud of him for actually walking away without doing anything. Zoro is leaned up against the wall with his head resting on the bricks, his hands hovering in the air as if he doesn't know what to do with them. Sanji can see him trembling slightly. "Zoro, you really need to calm down."

"Does Ace have anything to drink?" He is keeping his eye closed as he speaks.

"Probably, but I don't think-"

"Fuck, Sanji, I haven't had anything to drink in two days, I need it."

Sanji immediately recognizes that he trembling is not due to the loss of control he is currently experiencing, but from alcohol withdrawal. "Ok, just stay here." He doesn't really want to give Zoro alcohol, but he knows adding one stress on top of another is not going to be helping him any. The alcohol is the easier fix right now. He returns with a bottle of whiskey for Zoro who snatches it out of his hand and drinks a fourth of the bottle as if it's water. He sighs deeply after pulling the bottle from his mouth. He cracks his eye open and looks to Sanji, the familiar murderous intent still present. He's not sure what Zoro wants him to do, so he cautiously pulls him into an embrace like he used to when Zoro was in this state. Zoro responds by leaning heavily into Sanji. He can hear the swish of liquid as Zoro continues to drink over his shoulder.

"Can you talk to me?"

Sanji says the first thing that comes to mind.

"You really saw him?"

"Please not that."

"Right." Why would Zoro want to talk about the reason he's lost control? Sanji searches his mind for something else. "Can we talk about what happened last week?"

Zoro lets out a heavy sight. "Not right now."

"I don't know what you want me talk about then. The weather?"

"Fine, then just don't say anything."

He has so many questions for Zoro, but none seem appropriate right now. He wants to ask what exactly happened, why is he like this right now? Where has he been, does he still want to end things? He knows asking any of those will just prolong Zoro reinstating control over his mind. So he does as he requested and doesn't say anything.

Sanji can feel Zoro clench and unclench his jaw as he tries to take controlled breaths. He can feel the tension in all of Zoro's muscles across his back. He feels the bottle hit his own back and can tell it's pretty much empty at this point. Zoro takes another sip from the bottle and growls. He shoves Sanji away and looks angrily at the empty bottle. His temper flares and he throws the bottle at the wall where it shatters. He lets out a snarled curse and crouches down with his head bowed and his hands fisting his hair.

"Zoro, you need to calm down."

"I know I need to calm down, but the more you say that, the less it helps."

Sanji bites his tongue.

The two men sit in silence as Zoro wrestles with his mind. He watches the marimo closely. He knows he can do this, he's seen it happen. Sanji isn't sure if Zoro is more out of it than usual or if he's panicked because of why he's in this state. Either way, it's making it harder for him to pull himself together.

Slowly, Sanji can see tension leaving Zoro's shoulders and his hands relax in his hair; he drops one hand and runs the other over his face. He pushes himself into a standing position and stares at the broken bottle in front of him.

"You alright?"

"No."

"Are you… you?"

Zoro gives a small nod. "I'm going to get more to drink." He heads inside without another look towards Sanji. He's not sure if it's because of what just happened or because they apparently broke up and going to your ex for something like that is probably a little awkward. Whatever it is Zoro is thinking, Sanji follows him inside and parks himself on a couch. On his way to sit down, he feels the room staring at him but when he glances around, everyone is finding something very interesting about their cups and a sudden conversation pops up between a few people. Sanji waits for Zoro to return with his usual bottle in hand before heading back into the kitchen for another drink. He thought he'd feel better after seeing Zoro, but that was not how he wanted their encounter to go. He still is unsure of where they stand, or if they can even rectify what happened. He's not even sure Zoro wants to talk to him anymore by the way he's acting.

Gradually, the atmosphere relaxes again and things get back to relative normality in the apartment. Sanji puts up a front making it seem as though everything is fine and plasters a smile on while he speaks with others and drinks slowly. He knows if he drinks too much he runs the risk of losing it on Zoro.

Speaking of Zoro, the marimo seems to be losing himself in the alcohol. He has a growing pile of bottles near him and looks to be slightly swaying in his seat. Sanji takes a deep breath and tries to ignore the obvious signs of Zoro drinking too much. He is not his problem anymore. Zoro didn't want him to worry about him, so he won't.

Zoro has barely spoken to anyone. A few of his friends have tried speaking to him, but he hasn't been too responsive, at least not that Sanji has seen. The others seem to be giving him a lot of space, including Nami. Maybe it was a mistake to tell her everything. If things do go sour for him and Zoro, the moss head could probably use someone to talk to but at this rate, he's not sure there will be anyone for him. He watches him wave off the invitation to join in drinking games while feeling around for his most recently opened bottle. Once he finds it, he leans back in his seat and surveys the room, his eye quickly skipping over Sanji.

Sanji is honestly a little surprised Zoro has stayed as long as he has. From the awkwardness at seeing Sanji and the whole room witnessing an episode, to experiencing withdrawal symptoms, Sanji would have bet that Zoro would have left once he got himself sorted out. The withdrawal symptoms were odd, though. Had he really not drank anything for two days?

He shakes his head and disperses the thoughts about the marimo. He's supposed to be enjoying time with his friends not mulling over the brooding moss in the corner.

He can't ignore him all night though. When his behavior towards others becomes abrasive and he breaks another bottle in what Sanji assumes is self-directed anger, he decides it's time Zoro leaves. He's pretty sure this is not what everyone had in mind whenever they mention that they want to hang out with Zoro. He apologizes in his stead and steers the alcohol soaked moss to his car.

He can't just dump him at home though. What kind of a person would he be if he were to just drop off a highly intoxicated angry marimo to be left to his own devices? That sounds like a terrible idea. So Sanji brings him to his own apartment. Zoro is so out of it he doesn't even seem to realize he is not in his home.

He has to coax him over to the bed, though. He keeps trying to make his way into the kitchen and mumbling about wanting more. That is not something Sanji will be letting happen, he has had entirely too much already. Sanji puts the idiot on his bed and takes his boots off. Why the moss head insists on wearing those all the time he will never know. He manages to wrestle the covers out from under him and throws them on top of the already sleeping Zoro. He pretty much passed out the moment his head hit the pillow.

Sanji settles himself on the couch, unsure if it's appropriate for him to sleep next to Zoro. He'd probably feel a little odd laying in bed knowing Zoro was unresponsive and not necessarily his partner anymore. He lets out a small groan. This is not what he had envisioned when he thought about talking to Zoro. Maybe tomorrow will be more promising, or at least bring the promise of a conversation regarding their split.

He chain smokes until he falls asleep on the limited space of the couch.

-:-

Zoro wakes up to someone shaking him. Ugh, why can't he just be left alone? He's exhausted and his head hurts. He can hear the distinct sound of Sanji's voice and smell of smoke on him. He does the bare minimum and grunts at him, he's not quite awake enough for words.

"Marimo, get up."

"Let me sleep." When Sanji continues to shake him he speaks up again. "Go back to sleep Sanji." He reaches out for the blonde and pulls him close snuggling up to what feels like his hip.

"Zoro."

"What?" Why can't he just let him sleep in? He doesn't have anything to do today.

"You do realize you broke up with me a week ago, right?"

Oh. Right. "I did, didn't I?" He slowly unwraps himself from Sanji and rolls away from him slightly. "Sorry." He's not sure if he's apologizing for ending things or for forgetting that he did. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

Zoro opens his eye for the first time since he woke up and looks around at… Sanji's room. "What am I doing here?"

"Being an angry drunk moss." He gives Sanji a confused look. "You got a little too drunk last night, it didn't feel right to just leave you at home alone."

Bits and pieces of the previous night enter Zoro's mind. He remembers being at Luffy and Ace's looking for Sanji. He needed the cook, he wasn't sure what else to do. He had managed to walk away, but that was the extent of his control. He feels stupid for seeking the cook out now. Zoro is not his problem anymore.

"You didn't have to do that."

"I know, but I did. I didn't want to make everyone else have to figure out what to do with you." He feels bad that he had forced Sanji into taking care of him once again. This is why he left him in the first place. "Can we talk?"

"What is there to talk about?"

"Can we talk about us?"

He really doesn't want to do this right now. He can tell he over drank last night, and he could really use some more right now. He could also use a nap, but he can't exactly do that here. He figures if he wants to do any of that he's going to have to talk to Sanji first. He sighs and looks to the blonde. "I still stand by what I did."

"Why?"

"Because, Sanji, you aren't happy and-"

"I was happy, I never said I wasn't."

"Let me finish. You weren't. You never did what you wanted to do. That's not how you should have to live. You didn't even feel like my partner anymore, you were more like my caretaker who I happened to sleep with sometimes. It's not right keeping you in a relationship that's tearing us both apart. It's not healthy."

"And you trying to manage on your own is?"

"It's better than bringing you into it. I shouldn't have let that happen. I was stupid to think this was going to work. I shouldn't have done this."

"Are you regretting this?" Zoro looks up at Sanji and sees the hurt plain on his features.

"No. I don't regret being with you at all. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. But I should have known this wouldn't work and I shouldn't have even let it get this far. I'm not good for you. And I'm not in any place to be in a relationship. I never have been." Sanji doesn't seem to know what to say. He's staring off to the side in silence. "I need to get myself under control, Sanji, and I'm not going to be able to like this. Not when I'm worrying about you. I appreciate you; I appreciate everything you've done for me, but I'm not getting any better."

"Yes you are. I've been watching you for over a year, you're getting better. You walked away last night from whatever set you off, you wouldn't have been able to do that before."

"That's not enough. I'm sick of feeling like this all the time. And I can't get myself in a better place here."

"What are you saying? Are you leaving again?"

Zoro nods slightly. "I've been thinking about it."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know. I just know I can't stay here, not while he's here." He knows he won't get any better being near his father. Just knowing that he is in the same city as him is enough to set him off. He needs to get as far away as he can or he will do something that will get him in a lot of trouble.

Sanji looks devastated; it's really hitting him that Zoro is ending this.

"How long will you be gone?"

"As long as it takes." Zoro reaches out to Sanji's hand. "Hey, I'll tell you what. If I get better-"

"When you get better." Sanji has too much faith in him.

"I'll come find you. And we can try again. Ok?"

"I guess that's the best I'm going to get isn't it?"

"I'm sorry."

Silence falls between them for a few moments before Sanji speaks up again. "When are you leaving?"

"Soon." He's not exactly sure, he does have to empty out his apartment and figure out what to do with it and telling everyone else his plan to leave. But after that he plans on heading out of the city.

"Can you stay for today?"

"You know that's only going to make this harder."

"I don't care."

Zoro lets out a small smile. "Come here."

Sanji situates himself half on top of Zoro as Zoro wraps his arms around him. He will gladly ignore the need for alcohol he feels if it means he gets to spend one last day with Sanji in his arms. He doesn't know if he'll ever see him again.