Naghitan: They are :( As the story progresses, the ice slowly melts. But they're so involved with their own situations it's going to take awhile D: oh well more story to write! :D

HS: Brook will be instrumental as time progresses - no matter what Zoro tries to do to keep him out of it D: he's already making an impact! It's definitely unfolding - there will be more Zoro (bc I love him) The more space they invade the more they'll learn of each other :) both of them don't realize that they're starting to do more than invade space (as indicated at the end of this chapter!) and once they start realizing it, well...that'll be for the story to tell!

: : 4

Sanji's life felt like he was riding on a rollercoaster that remained in the upside down position for the whole ride. He could see the world moving on around him but it was at such a distorted angle that he could not see it very well. There were various sights and sounds around him but all were moving too fast for him to sort out. The endless screaming around him seemed to be coming mainly from him.

Everything had been blown into shards that he couldn't catch and repair. So he found himself grasping at the debris and taping what he could back together. All the pieces he'd found did not go together, and did not form into anything he recognized.

Being without his phone was a blessing and a curse – a blessing because there was no one to contact him, and a curse because he could not get into contact with the only one he wanted to. He wanted to see if the other man was doing as badly as he was; but every time he got into contact with him, it sounded like Zoro was doing just fine.

Sanji wanted Zoro to hurt as much as he was, but he was quite aware that it didn't work this way.

So when he broke into their house to take Brook after hearing what Law said, he didn't have a shred of regret. It was a mess – Zoro left things where he dropped them. The kitchen sink was full of dirty dishes. There were empty beer bottles on the counter. The living room had Brook's fur in patches, toys scattered, and the television was on so the dog wouldn't feel so lonely. It smelled like Zoro hadn't cleaned up after him nor emptied the trash. The fridge was empty.

Good, Sanji had thought, rapidly gathering up all of Brook's medication and stuff them into a plastic bag while the dog followed him around. You green bastard. You do feel as shitty as I do.

When he packed Brook into his cozy blanket, Sanji was out the door. Zoro had forgotten to set the alarm so all he had to deal with was the broken lock Sanji had kicked in. He didn't care about the consequences – Brook was in need of care and Sanji could provide it.

It filled him with immense regret to be in this position. He felt like he was stranded on an island far from home, without any communicative devices to use to find any help. Their friends were his friends, now. He couldn't rely on his family – he ran away from home when he was a teenager and never looked back. They didn't bother to look for him. Zoro had been his world, and his world wanted a divorce.

So Sanji was floundering on this island with nothing but an apathic roommate and a dog he was determined to share because he would not give up on him. It was hard to think, sometimes. He hadn't had anything to eat in days because he was overstressed and nothing sounded right. Headaches tore him apart but he'd drink more and forget about it. Sleepless nights had him staring out the window, unable to relax. He hadn't slept alone since he was a child – having no one next to him left him feeling like something was wrong.

He never thought he'd be alone this way. He'd always imagined Zoro at his back and his friends to his side, but now the memories he had of them felt like characters he'd seen in some movie once.

But it made Sanji feel better – Zoro was in pain, too. It made him feel positive Zoro would change his mind. All Sanji had to do was wait. He'd gladly change once they completed therapy and the house was cleaned and their friends talked to him again. He'd put his love on the back shelf and just be in such a way that Zoro could find no fault in it. It gave him some hope to think this way because if he hadn't seen the mess then he'd continue thinking angrily. All he needed was a confirmation of Zoro's battle and life felt hard, but not as difficult.

All he had to do was wait.

But he'd never been a patient man.

: :

He was sitting on the couch with Brook in his lap when Law shuffled in. It surprised Sanji because he wasn't expecting his roommate to come back for another day. The man looked a little upset as he hung his jacket and keys up.

Sanji wondered how the hell the man made it through life like this. Wasn't it painful doing so? He knew the man had a problem – what seemed mystifying to Sanji was that it wasn't getting the attention he obviously needed. Shouldn't he have loved ones posted nearby, begging and pleading for the man to get some type of care? Or was he like Sanji, floundering on some abandoned island?

The difference between them was that Law didn't seem to want help – Sanji did.

Brook greeted Law with a gentle bark before pushing his large head against Sanji's chest with some shyness. The sharp lines of Law's face seemed to tighten under the gentle hallway light as Law shuffled over to the edge of the living room. He looked at Sanji with some consideration before his eyebrows furrowed with mystification.

"You don't have a phone, yet?"

Sanji was surprised that all of this show required such a question to ask. "No. Can't afford one, yet."

Law looked troubled before he said, "Well. It appears you've upset your…ex?"

Sanji frowned, petting Brook roughly to assure him as the dog settled all his weight against his chest, underbite atop of inverted paws. "How would you know about that?"

Sanji wondered why Law didn't want any type of spotlight on him. Why did he choose to 'stay out of the way'? Why was it so uncomfortable to meet people's eyes? Because of what he looked like? Or was he just one of those naturally introverted persons? So closed in on himself that looking up required a pep talk and some bravery?

"I was confronted, today," Law admitted slowly, causing Sanji to tense up as he sat up on his seat, "and was told to tell you to return…Brook…ASAP."

Sanji hadn't asked for details because he knew Law was uncomfortable giving them. So asking anything with that type of matter was pointless. His curiosity raged, but Law wasn't like Luffy or Ussop or Nami – he was reluctant to share because he didn't want the attention, negative or not. Sanji wouldn't get any more details out of him that he wanted.

He ruffled Brook's fur as he stroked him along his sides, Brook nibbling at his chin with affection.

He considered his options. Since his name was on the adoption papers, he couldn't be pinned with any type of crime. Brook belonged to him, too. But he would have to confess to breaking and entering to do so. That could carry some charges.

Zoro was an intimidating man to some. Sanji bet because of the first encounter between the pair – as bewildering as the story was – Zoro might have come to some weird conclusion about Sanji's involvement with Law.

So part of his positivity in being able to return to the man faded a little. Zoro must have come to the assumption that Law was one of Sanji's partners. He doubted Law would defend himself in any way. He couldn't see the man doing so. So he imagined that Zoro threw some threats and upset accusations at the disordered surgeon in order to get his point across and Law ignored him.

"I'll talk to him," Sanji finally said in response, looking at Brook. Brook looked at him with mournful eyes, aware of the tension. "It sucks it happened that way. Sorry about that."

Law stood there for some seconds before turning and heading into his room. He ended up staying in there all night, which added to Sanji's guilt.

After work the next day, he took Brook back to the house. He had to fix this before it could get any worse, and he was going to make Zoro hear him out. The Uber driver pulled away as Sanji told him to leave, heading up to the front steps with Brook wrapped tightly in his arms. The front door opened, and Zoro met him on the front porch.

"It's cold out here," Sanji pointed out crankily, breath coming out in short puffs. "Can we go in to talk?"

"No," Zoro denied firmly, crossing his arms. "You broke into my house to steal off with Brook – he's fucking sick, dumbass."

"Whose fault is that, idiot? How did he get sick?"

"He probably picked up a cold with you doing this shit!"

Sanji couldn't help but say, "You showed no reaction to the shit happening between us, but the moment something happens to Brook, all your emotions come out to play."

Zoro glowered at him.

"I have feelings too," Sanji pointed out, wanting to remind him. "And hearing that he was sick upset me. I couldn't help him, so…I broke into the house to take him and take care of him."

"Who is that person? Was that one of yours - ?"

"It doesn't matter – "

"It matters!" Zoro ended up bellowing, voice ringing out over the quiet street. Sanji inhaled tightly to control his own shouting response. Brook whined from his arms.

He held him out to the man, reluctant to do so. Zoro snatched Brook from him, the dog wiggling mightily, vision obscured by the blanket he was wrapped in. He then turned to the house, Sanji following with some panic that this was all he was going to get from him. But Zoro only put Brook back into the house and closed the door, the dog struggling to get out from the weight of the blanket around him. He turned to face Sanji with a cross look to his face.

"I want to come back," Sanji ended up saying. All of his feelings were in that one sentence.

"I don't want you back," Zoro said tightly. "Every time I look at you, all I can think of you fucking around with other men."

"It shouldn't have happened," Sanji said slowly, every word painful to release, "but you weren't paying any attention to me. It was like you forgot I was even there."

"How can you say shit like that?" Zoro asked incredulously, tightening up. "I knew you were there! There was no way around it! You crowded my space like some – fucking - ! Mist, or fog!"

"I knew - !"

"And how could you think fucking around with other men would be a positive thing?" Zoro asked, voice raising once more. It was filled with more emotion he hadn't shown before, telling Sanji he had been thinking about it as often as Sanji did.

"I didn't think it was a positive thing. It was a temporary thing. I knew the moment I realized you'd stopped looking for me in the stands that you had lost sight of me!"

"…What does that even mean?"

"You never looked for me, not like how you used to," Sanji said quickly. "You never said a thing about what I was doing for you. You just – expected me to be there without - !"

"Because you're fucking reliable! I didn't have to look! What shit is that? What is wrong with me knowing I can rely on you?"

"You didn't touch me anymore, you didn't talk to me, you didn't ask about what I was doing – you just knew I was there, and I became nothing but a – a reliability for you! Some thing around you that you knew was there but didn't have to question! I talked to you, I said these things to you and you dismissed them!"

"So you thought cheating was the answer…?"

"I just wanted you to see me again," Sanji said quietly. "As stupid as that sounds, I just wanted to be someone you could see right in front of you. And you never did. You didn't look up. The only time you did was when you got that phone call."

Zoro looked at him with pure disgust before he looked away. He was standing out there without shoes or a jacket, unmindful of the snow fluttering around them. A car drove by slowly, mindful of the slushy surface.

"It was wrong, I know," Sanji said slowly, crossing his arms, "I know it was all wrong, but you weren't listening to me. I just wanted to feel like someone wanted me."

Zoro looked at him, eyes dark with anger. "We were together for seven years – "

"EIGHT! It was EIGHT years, you fucking moron!" Sanji couldn't help but shout, all his emotions bubbling up with angry force. "Thirteen if you want to count us being kids!"

"It wasn't eight - !"

"It was EIGHT! September 18 was our first date, year after that, October 12 was our wedding!"

Zoro exhaled harshly.

"Our sixth anniversary you wanted to stop celebrating the damn date, and this year, January 27 you kicked me out of our house! Eight years we've been married, thirteen overall that we'd been together!"

"Don't you agree that that's a long time for two kids to be together? Not having a chance to be individuals? When we had this talk, I told you I wanted us to be individuals – grow into who we are but – "

"It's the same thing as telling me you wanted 'space', so what the fuck is the difference between what I did compared to what you wanted? You got your fucking space!"

"Thirteen years is a long fucking time. To expect me to keep looking at you and for you to want me to feel a certain way is impossible."

"If I could keep looking at you," Sanji said slowly, stepping into his space with wildly gesturing hands, "you could do the same. You could actually put some effort into giving me what I wanted from you – all you had to do was look at me."

"You ask for a lot," Zoro muttered bitterly, looking to the snow that collected on the front steps. "You want me to keep looking at you like when we first started out, and how can that happen when all I see is you, every day, in my face day in and day out, chattering from one end to the other…this is actually the first time in a long time I don't have to deal with that. Being able to breathe air that hasn't been breathed by you already makes me feel like I can see."

Sanji exhaled harshly, feeling his face tighten up. His head was swimming with confused thoughts, his lungs slapped of air. He had been right after all. Zoro had fallen out of love with him, and was only with him because of their vows. But he wasn't much of a man if he didn't put any effort into fixing the problem.

His hands returned to his sides. He felt like he was in shock. Zoro looked at him, and for once, Sanji didn't want that.

"So," he said, aware that his voice trembled a bit, "you don't want to fix that? Because I'm thinking that this is only one of those times where it's for worse, and things like this can be fixed. I've been in that house, moss, you're falling apart as much as I am over this. Once I'm back – "

"I don't want you back. Not after you felt comfortable being with other guys. Like…being touched by you repulses me."

"…I understand, but…"

"How did you even meet them?" Zoro asked incredulously. "Did you download an app, or something? Were you talking or texting them while you were with me?"

"Talking about that stuff isn't going to fix us – "

"You broke it in the first place!" Zoro exploded, face reddening as his voice rung off the street once more. "You went out with five different guys, and I would've never found out if that one didn't call me and brag about it!"

"All you had to do was ask me how my day was," Sanji cut over him, "touch me, tell me you loved me, and, what, that's not very manly so you can't do it anymore? You used to do it!"

"Why?" Zoro exclaimed, hands out in a perplexed gesture. "It did show! All the time! These are your only complaints? That I wasn't some fucking romantic? I was never that person to begin with!"

Brook started barking from behind the door, punctuating through their shouts with mournful howls.

"It didn't have to be romantic, you ass! These little things mattered to me! But you just told me you weren't in love with me anymore, so it all makes sense!"

"I didn't say I didn't - !"

"You just did!"

"You make all these things up! Everything was fine until you started fooling around, and it makes me fucking sick that you did that and it didn't show. You kept doing it, you hid it, you said nothing to me that you were feeling some way - !"

"You just accused me of talking too much – I told you everything, I told you all my thoughts and feelings and – when I made those mistakes - !"

"'Mistakes'," Zoro sneered, glaring at him. "Maybe once was a mistake but you kept on doing it so don't fucking call them 'mistakes'! Maybe I could have forgiven you for one, but not for five! I told you you were greedy, and I was right! You are fucking greedy!"

Sanji exhaled harshly, struggling to get his thoughts together because they seemed to scatter under the weight of this encounter. Brook's barking was turning frantic, his claws sounding out as he scraped at the door.

"'Greedy'?" he repeated slowly, the word difficult to leave his mouth. "All these years I have waited on you, hand and foot. I supported you through all your choices and decisions and have been there for you every time you needed me – even when you didn't ask. I made sure your day to day life was without any interruptions – you didn't have to clean, fold, pick up anything. I know all your sizes and preferences and favorites and all I wanted from you was an 'I love you' or 'thank you' or 'how was your day?'. You were my whole life from start to finish and I made some mistakes that shouldn't be the end of what we made together."

"Well," Zoro muttered, arms crossing over his chest as the cold finally registered, "I didn't ask you to do all that. That's something you chose to do on your own."

Sanji stared at him for several long moments, feeling hot rage build up from the pit of his stomach.

"Plus, I got tired of all that," Zoro admitted. "It felt like you were taking control of my life and wanting me to live the way you wanted. I wanted to step out on my own, do things on my own, make decisions for the both of us, too. You never let me do that. I wanted to do that. I told you this. Then you fucked it up because you felt someway about it. Like you were threatened - !"

"Yeah, you said that, but - !"

"Then you got angry about that! I felt like some kid that couldn't wipe his own fucking nose!"

"Was it so wrong that I loved you so much?"

"Don't fucking say that when you cheated on me five times," Zoro bellowed, erupting with anger that had been building the same way Sanji's had.

"It shouldn't have taken me five times to find what I was asking you for!" Sanji bellowed back, both of them in each other's faces. Brook barked furiously from behind the door.

The tension around them built, the threat of physical retaliation strong. Brook continued to howl and bark, trying to draw their attention. He scraped at the door frantically.

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" Zoro muttered bitterly. "Expecting understanding and forgiveness for something that can't be forgiven."

"I don't expect to be forgiven," Sanji said quietly. "But I do expect some understanding. When I come back - "

"I don't want you back, how many times do I have to say this?"

"When I come back," Sanji insisted forcefully over him, "we can fix this! We can go to counseling, I'll go to counseling – it'll be okay, because marriage is about fixing a problem and repairing the cracks - !"

"You're so fucking stubborn, you don't listen!"

"This can be fixed, because it's for better or for worse, and this is one of those worse moments that can only get better – maybe this had to happen so we can grow together better - !"

Zoro gave a sound of frustration. "Get off my porch!"

"Moss, marimo, please, look at this as a temporary separation so we can both get our heads back, and when I come back here, we can both fix this and it'll be nothing but a bad bump on the road! This is one thing I am positive about, something we can fix together - ! We made this together, it'll take both of us to fix it!" Sanji pleaded with him, grabbing onto his arm as he made to turn away.

"Get your fucking hands off me! I don't know where they've been!' Zoro snapped at him, jerking his arm out of his reach. "They've probably been over that fucking weird guy that our dog obviously knows!"

"He's my roommate, otherwise I'd be living on the fucking streets!" Sanji snapped back at him. Words rushed out of him as Zoro made his way back to the door, bare feet leaving impressions on the snowy porch. "I have nowhere to go, he was the only ad that answered me the day you decided to kick me out. I have nowhere to go, stupid, I don't have a place! You kicked me out when I have nobody, and you have no right to get mad -!"

"Oh, shut up! You knew this would happen once you got found out! I don't feel fucking sorry for you! Stay the fuck out of my house! Leave the dog alone! Stop breaking into my fucking house!"

Sanji caught his breath when the door slammed shut behind Zoro. He felt a whirlwind of emotions, none of them sticking long enough for him to place his mood on. Brook continued barking at the door, scraping at it before Zoro called his name from somewhere within. Sanji could hear the dog moving away, but emitting sharp barks at the same time, as he knew Sanji was still out there.

Crossing his arms self-consciously over his chest, Sanji glanced around the neighbor's houses, wondering who had heard them. Because he didn't know what to think or feel, he left the porch. He felt numb and hot at the same time, previous hope shattered by that conversation. While on one hand he was glad to see that Zoro felt something, he was dismayed to learn that it wasn't going to lessen any time soon.

He looked back at the house, his home for the past seven years. He glanced at all the additions they'd both worked on, agreed upon projects that turned out nicely with their lack of experience. All the memories they made together with their neighbors and friends were in that house. There was too much history between them for Zoro to suddenly discard – they had their share of fights and disagreements, and there were threats of mutual breaking up but nothing to this degree.

Looking at the snowy covered rooftop, he accepted that he made the figurative roof cave in on his own making – he made those choices to search for affection. He knew it would hurt when he was found out.

He knew he fucked up.

: :

He returned home hours later, soaked and exhausted. He didn't feel like talking, he didn't feel like eating, he didn't feel like drinking to forget – he just wanted to lay down and let the haze settle over him. So he went to his room, shut the door and flopped onto the bed. He ended up staring out the window for hours before he realized he had a job to do. His entire body ached as he got up, showered and got ready for work. His mind felt like it had been covered with a numbing fog – overshadowing all his thoughts and feeling and leaving him a zombie.

He somehow got through the eight hours of work at the restaurant without absorbing the chaos of the cooks and owner, then locked himself in his room upon his return home.

This repeated for almost a week until one day a crash of sound caught his attention. He wasn't sure what he had heard, but it had made his blood jump. Slowly pushing himself to a seated position, Sanji waited until all his bearings had come back. His mind registered the sound he'd heard – pots and pans – and he realized he'd forgotten all about his roommate. Sometimes it felt like living with a ghost – he wondered if Law felt the same of him.

He briefly wondered why the sound should even matter – Law was a grown ass man – and then asked himself why even bother investigating when he was told twice recently that he was nothing more than a control freak. Basically.

Then he realized that maybe it wasn't pots and pans at all. Maybe it was a completely different sound. Sluggishly, he pushed himself to his feet. He hadn't even changed out of his work clothes – he had to wonder if he had within the past few days.

Leaving his room, it actually took a few seconds to remember Law's name. He really didn't – Jesus, he was totally not on this planet – and went ahead to investigate. He saw the man standing in the kitchen, looking worried as he stared down at the floor. To Sanji's disbelief, half cooked food – eggs, soup, what looked like toast, a hot pan that was still steaming – was lying in a chaotic splatter on the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked crankily, reaching out to support himself on the counter.

Law's eyes widened comically large for his bony face. "Are you a ghost?"

"Enough. What are you trying to do here?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Law murmured, thin fingers to his chin with contemplation.

Sanji looked from him to the food. The eggs looked suspiciously rotten – the stench was horrendous. The bread had mold on it. The soup was the only thing that looked like it would have been palatable.

"This shit is rotten," he observed crossly. His head pounded with such a headache that he reached up to rub just above his eyebrows. "Why are you even trying?"

Law looked at the fallen food with some silent consideration. "If I don't attempt to…help myself," he said slowly, "I will lose my job."

Sanji looked the man over, as if he were looking at him for the first time. It occurred to him that Law's eyes looked a little manic, a little too tired – like he was seeing too many things and he was in desperate need of a break. He didn't know the man at all – he didn't know what Law was going through. He only knew that Law abided to a strict schedule and planning of his own making. Sanji had never met anyone with an eating disorder, so he didn't understand why the man refused to eat. He only understood through movies that some highly intense trauma happened to make a person want to render their body an enemy after it had been violated.

So somewhere within the crevices of his own burning pain, some sympathy tugged at his conscience.

"That guy mentioned outpatient services," Sanji said clumsily, unsure if he should get that involved.

Law's jaw set stubbornly, so he knew that was a testy subject. After being accused of being an 'invasive person', Sanji really didn't want to get involved.

"I just need…to learn to eat…something that I can cook," Law said slowly. "I thought this would be fine."

"I can show you how," Sanji offered tentatively. "It's not that hard to make."

"But it's something I want to do for myself."

Those words burned at the edge of Sanji's heart. Zoro had accused him of taking over his life, not giving him a chance to handle his own ends. He tried to tell himself that Law and Zoro were completely separate people. But he did not want to be that over excessive burden to someone else.

"Fine," he mumbled, pushing away from the counter. "Figure it out for yourself."

"Admittedly," Law said quickly, with a slight stumble in the single word, "I don't know how. I apologize, Mr Vinsmoke – "

Sanji held a hand up, face twisting with disgust over hearing that name. "Don't call me that. It's like you're addressing my father."

"Then what should I fucking call you?" Law asked impatiently.

"Just call me Sanji, dumb ass."

"Sanji Dumb Ass, as I was saying, it's difficult to ask for help. But I want to keep my job, and I don't want to see some stupid quack to tell me everything that I already know. But, ah…" Law fiddled with his fingers while Sanji frowned at him, sensing a give in the older man, "I know it's asking a lot. I don't want you to do what I should be doing, but…perhaps a gentle reminder here and there should suffice. Maybe…I don't want sympathy, I don't want nagging, I don't want – "

"Then how the fuck am I supposed to help you?"

"Maybe you can make a meal of your own, and I'll surreptitiously watch from a distance and take my own notes and try it on my own when you're gone to avoid any embarrassing judgment from an experienced cook."

Sanji's lips twitched at the image that came to mind. But he recognized that while Law was asking for his help he was indirectly assisting him at the same time. He realized he didn't remember when he'd last ate anything. It could explain the headaches he had. While it was difficult thinking through the fog of his stress and tension, he realized he desperately needed a distraction.

"Deal," he said. "Starting now. Get that shit cleaned up and let me have my space. You can 'surreptitiously' watch me while you're doing those dishes."

Law sighed heavily. "Fine. Will…will Brook be over any time soon?"

Sanji felt the hurt in his chest, but he was surprised to hear that coming from him. "Regretfully no," he muttered, missing the look of disappointment that crossed the older man's face.