-Tangled Web-
A role-play/joint-fic by Digitaldreamer and Constable Remington
Chapter Eight: Do you think he loves you?
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Wow, not many people read the last chapter. O.o I'm sorry, was it crappy or too late so no one noticed it? Either way I'm sorry! I really hope you guys review for this chapter, I'm pretty proud of this one. It's cute, and I'm very proud of the cameo we stuck in, I do hope you guys enjoy it as much as we enjoyed writing it.

So yeah, enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review! I have finals right now, so your reviews help keep me from losing my mind!

Oh, and many thanks goes to lastannoyer for guest beta-ing this chapter.

The room lay in warm, dim silence for hours until finally Zoro awoke to the sounds of people arriving home from school. He groggily opened his eyes, sitting up in bed and yawning, casting a half-awake glance around the room. His throat felt dry. Deciding he needed a drink, he moved from the bed, out the door, closing it behind him, and down the stairs.

Sanji must have left for work, because his jacket was missing from the hooks beside the front door, which, Zoro decided, was fine. As he went into the kitchen, however, Vivi was already there, sitting at the table and working at homework. Zoro glanced to her as he went to the cupboard, finding a plastic cup and going to the freezer to fill it with ice. She was such a diligent student. He sighed, shrugging some and pouring water from a pitcher in the fridge into his cup.

"How was your day, Roronoa-san?" she asked, finally looking up from her homework, and he took a sip of water before answering.

"Alright," He paused a moment, before adding, "Luffy's a lot better. He got a bath today and even came downstairs to eat lunch." He didn't bother to mention that he had carried him down the stairs.

"That's wonderful!" Vivi said, smiling cheerfully. "He certainly seems determined to heal quickly!"

"Yeah..." Zoro muttered. Again he came to the thoughts of Luffy having to leave. Zoro sighed, downing his water.

"So…I guess this means we'll have to say goodbye to him pretty soon, eh?" Ussop called from the living room, which was across the hall. Even at his age he still watched his afternoon cartoons religiously, as was made obvious by the blaring of the "Teen Titans" theme song.

"Awww, shame," Nami commented from her usual spot on the couch, flipping through her magazine. She was apparently unaware that Zoro had touched it earlier and she seemed genuinely bummed that the kid would probably be leaving soon. "You hogged him up in your room all to yourself Zoro; the rest of us hardly got to see the kid."

Somewhat irritated, Zoro took a few steps further so as to hang in the doorway of the kitchen, so he wouldn't have to shout. "Well, it's not like he was really up to company. I didn't see anyone else offer to keep the kid in their room."

"You certainly didn't seem to mind though." Nami said, glancing up from a glossy page to look at Zoro.

"I am the one that found him," he reminded her with a wary stare. "What's so strange about wanting to help someone out?"

Nami shook her head, smiling. "Nothing, but now you're using wanting to help him as an excuse for keeping him all to yourself." She said as she returned her gaze to her magazine, circling something with a red pen.

He shook his head some, returning to the fridge to pour him self another glass of water, then going back to leaning against the doorframe again. "I don't see why you care. What would you have done with him?"

"Oh, nothing drastic," Nami said, waving her hand. "It just would have been nice to get to know the kid that the great Roronoa Zoro is playing hero for."

Zoro frowned, unsure how to answer. He didn't really think he was being too much of a "hero". True, normally he would have looked the other way, but something about the boy had pulled him forward and made him bring Luffy in. He couldn't really explain it... something above normality, a sort of divine providence, maybe? Zoro snorted into his water. He wasn't sure how much of that he really believed. "Well, he's not leaving yet. Besides, he says he'll come to visit."

Nami quirked an eyebrow, "Oooh really? Come to visit you, I'm assuming, seeing as he hasn't really seen much of us?"

"If you're so insistent about wanting to get to know him," Zoro objected, "you can go shopping with us whenever we take him to get new clothes."

Nami sat up straight the moment Zoro said 'shopping'. "You're taking him shopping? For clothes?" She repeated, her eyes lighting up.

That wary look returning in his eyes, Zoro shifted some, and then nodded. "Yeah... that was the idea. I don't wanna send him home in clothes five sizes too big for him..."

Nami's grin became extremely wide as she circled several things in her magazine with her red pen. "Well, if you're going to buy him clothes I'm definitely coming. You wouldn't know anything fashionable if it came up and hit you in the face."

"He'd probably slice it in half." Ussop commented, eyes glued to the screen.

"That's beside the point. I'm sure the kid would look adorable in whatever I choose for him." Nami said, tucking a lock of orange behind her ear. "I'm sure Vivi would love to come too, she could help pick things out for him."

Perking up, Vivi nodded. "It sounds like fun!" she said happily, and Zoro sighed. Well... at least if two girls were there, it wouldn't be an awkward "two guys going to the mall together" trip.

"Yeah, alright," he said lowly. Pausing for a moment, he shrugged. "He'll probably be fine enough to come down here and eat dinner with everyone, too."

That pulled Usopp's attention from the screen for a moment to look at Zoro. "Really…?"

"Yeah... well, I'll have to ask him." Zoro shrugged. "But I don't see why not. He ate lunch down here with Sanji and me."

"Sweet" Usopp said as he returned his attention to Robin's severe beating of some random bad guy.

Nami grinned. "That's great. Now maybe the rest of us can get to know who the hell this strange kid is that's in our house."

Zoro didn't answer, instead moving to set his cup beside the sink and cross the kitchen to move up the stairs, back into his own room. He sighed, closing the door behind him. He didn't really think that anyone else had cared to see Luffy, but honestly, Nami was probably right in saying that he hadn't really given them a chance to try. Still, Luffy had been sleeping most of the time he had been here, and it wasn't like Zoro thought he had really gotten to know the kid, either...

He ruffled Luffy's hair a bit, boredly sitting on the floor with his back against the side of the bed for support.

A few hours later the sun was setting outside, casting rays of orange and pink into Zoro's room to create the glow that comes with sunset, specks of floating dust becoming visible in the rays. Downstairs things seemed fairly quiet save for the blaring of Nami's beloved reality TV shows and the occasional argument, just the usual chaos, really.

What was different for once was that the argument downstairs was interrupted by the doorbell. Now that was weird, people rarely bothered to knock at the boarding house, let alone use the invention known as the doorbell.

There was silence for a moment, followed the thudding of someone's footsteps and the faint sound of the front door opening. Again there was silence for a bit, which was followed by the door closing and Usopp's cry of "PIZZA! COME AND GET IT!"

Waking from his half-slumber, Zoro's head jerked up and he yawned, stretching and blinking for a few moments before he sighed, looking towards his little roommate. He pulled back the covers a bit, awkwardly shaking Luffy's shoulder. "Time to get up, Luffy, there's food here." He smiled a bit, brushing a hand over the boy's face. "C'mon, wake up."

Luffy stirred, eyes cracking open as he blinked at Zoro. "Hn… food?" He repeated, propping himself up on his elbows.

Zoro nodded. "Yeah, pizza," He stood, sighing. "I was thinking you'd be alright enough to come eat downstairs with everyone. They're all pretty excited to see you."

Luffy's eyes immediately widened and he sat up straight, punching his fists into the air. "Yosh, Pizza!" He cheered, grinning. "And I get to eat with everyone! YOSH!" He cried as he threw back the blankets and jumped out of bed.

Amused, Zoro carefully reached out a hand to place it on Luffy's shoulder in an attempt to keep him steady. "Hey... careful, now, you're not well enough to be jumping around just yet..." At least, he didn't think so. "Think you can manage down the stairs?" The last thing Nami needed to see was Zoro carrying Luffy down to the dinner table. At least she didn't know about that accidental kiss they had shared... damn it, why did he keep thinking of that!

Luffy nodded enthusiastically, shifting from foot to foot. "I can handle the stairs! Now let's get food!" He said with a grin before charging out the door…

Or rather, he tried to, and ended up smacking face first into it.

"O- oi!" Zoro grimaced, lumbering after the boy. "You need to pay attention to doors, you know..." He sighed, prying the boy from the wood and pulling the door open. "You okay?"

Luffy rubbed his face for a moment, laughing. "Yeah, I'm okay!" He said, grinning up at Zoro before vanishing into the hallway. He stopped at the stairs to wait for Zoro, bouncing up and down.

Zoro sighed at the energy, closing the door and traipsing out into the hall, meeting Luffy at the top of the stairs and beginning to head down.

Luffy charged down the stairs past Zoro, skidding to a stop in front of the kitchen and then charging in there with the battle cry of "FOOD!"

Ussop had still been standing in front of the door, rummaging through his wallet for money to pay the blonde pizza guy. His jaw dropped as a black and blue blur rushed past him, and then glanced up at Zoro. "…Was that Luffy?" He asked. Usopp's eyes wide.

Zoro was about to answer with an irritated nod when his eyes grazed the pizza man. He looked scarily like Sanji, and for a minute Zoro was about to ask the man if he had to get another job or something, when he noticed the strange white lollipop stick that stuck from the man's mouth. He shrugged, continuing into the kitchen and taking his seat beside Luffy. Must not be Sanji. Sanji would never trade a cigarette for a piece of candy.

"…What a strange guy…" Ussop murmured as he handed a fifty to the pizza guy.

"'Dank you fer yer cash, crud custamer." The pizza guy said with a slight bow. He had a horribly fake sounding New York accent, and from the sounds of things he should have stayed home tonight and taken some Sudafed for that head cold of his. "Enjoy yer pizza." He said as he turned and walked away.

"You're welcome!" Ussop said as he closed the door, and then afterwards shuddered, thankful that he would hopefully never hear that awful voice again as long as he lived. He headed into the kitchen, where Luffy was inhaling every piece of pizza he could get his hands on, while Nami stared on in plaint horror. Ussop stood in the doorway as he caught a sight of this, eyes wide. Robin sat away from the spectacle, sipping a glass of iced tea.

Zoro, used to this by now, had one hand on Luffy's head to try and push him away from the boxes, his other hand attempting to grab his own slice. "Luffy!" he yelled, thoroughly annoyed. "You have to share with everyone else, damn it!"

Vivi, however, was simply laughing, already safe and secure with her own slice on her plate.

Eventually everyone got over their shock and seemed to figure out that if they didn't fight for it they weren't going to be eating tonight. Soon they were all wrestling to get a slice away from the infinite vacuum that was Luffy's mouth.

"DAMNIT LUFFY, GIVE ME SOME!"

"ACK! LUFFY, THAT WAS MINE!"

"FOOOOOOOOOD!"

These cries continued until at long last Nami and Ussop had managed to hoard a slice for themselves. Finally things got a bit calmer as everyone sat and ate their pizza.

"Well, someone is obviously doing much better if they felt the need to eat four boxes worth of pizza." Nami muttered, glaring at Luffy.

Luffy just laughed as he munched on one of the last slices. "Gee, I wonder who that could be!" He said brightly, oblivious to Nami's glare.

"You stole the Great Captain Usopp-sama's pizza." Usopp sulked, sipping his Mountain Dew.

Luffy burped. "Heh, sorry Ussop!" He said, though he didn't sound sorry at all.

Zoro, having finished, sighed and sat back in his chair, slightly leaning in it and drinking some water. "You're going to be sick. You'd better not puke all over my bed or anything. Because I swear, I'll kill you."

Luffy swallowed the crust of the final slice and gave a pizza sauce covered grin. "I won't get sick!" He said with a laugh. "And if I do I won't puke all over your bed, I promise!"

Vivi grabbed up the empty boxes, standing from the table and taking them to the trash. "Have you had a good stay here?" she asked the guest kindly, returning to her seat. "I hope Roronoa-san has been a good host."

Luffy looked to her and nodded, still grinning. "It's great here! Zoro's been awesome! He's really nice and he gave me clothes and told me that love isn't a fruit and then there was that one time where we kissed on accident…that was kind of weird…" He trailed off, suddenly becoming amazed with the ceiling fan and its spinney-ness.

Everyone's reaction was nearly simultaneous. Usopp's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped along with his empty mountain dew, Nami choked on her Pepsi and sputtered, even Robin's eyes widened a fraction. "You kissed?" Nami shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"..Yeah, it was on accident though." Luffy said in a detached voice, following the spinning blades of the ceiling fan with his eyes.

Zoro's chair completely toppled, sending the swordsman crashing painfully to the floor atop the wooden chair. His hands flung back to catch the kitchen floor, and he blankly stared up at the rest of the occupants of the table, his own eyes wide, face a fraction paler than it had been before.

The first thing he heard was Sanji's laughter. Looking towards the source, Zoro saw the blonde standing in the doorway as he had been earlier that day. Apparently Sanji had arrived just in time to hear the good news. Zoro wished he could have fallen through the floor.

"How can you kiss someone accidentally?" Sanji laughed. "Or is that just what Zoro said it was?" He laughed some more, noting that his seat had been taken by Luffy, and instead resting by leaning against the wall.

"He does have a point." Ussop said, beginning to snicker as well.

Nami had whipped out her magazine and began circling things with her red pen furiously. "Yeah, you can't kiss someone accidentally." She agreed. "That was probably just his excuse to you so he could engage in his creepy fantasies."

Robin said nothing, though her eyes twinkled with amusement.

"No, it was on accident!" Luffy said, retuning his attention to everyone. "I was having a nightmare and Zoro shook me awake! I sat up really fast and since Zoro was already there from trying to wake me up I ended up kissing him on accident." He explained.

Wondering what the hell the deal was with Nami and her damn magazine, Zoro nodded furiously. "I was just trying to wake him up."

"But Luffy was asleep," Sanji pointed out, digging around in his pocket for a cigarette. "So he wouldn't even know if the marimo here had leaned into the kiss, now would he? It must have been pretty damn convenient. Normally, people just would smack heads. Zoro must have moved into it. You wouldn't know, kid, you were just waking up."

"This is ridiculous!" Zoro yelled, his face going red.

Nami just cackled, continuing to circle things in her magazine. Ussop frowned, scratching his chin. "That's true, that's very true…"

Luffy blinked. "What, really…? So it wasn't on accident?"

"No! It was an accident!" Zoro cried, nearly panicking now. It was... right? He hadn't moved into it subconsciously... had he?

Great, now the damn idiots were even starting to make Zoro believe it!

"You all are taking this way too far!"

"No we're not, you're just in denial!" Ussop declared.

Nami snickered, holding up her magazine. The words "Is your friend GAY?" were printed across the glossy pages. "It's been proven, Zoro! The results are in! According to this quiz, you are so very gay!" She said with a grin.

Zoro stared blankly at the magazine for a moment, before he picked himself up off the ground, silent setting his chair back up and pushing it in. He snatched the magazine from Nami's hands, reading it for a moment. "I haven't done half this shit you say I did." He flipped the page. "And damn it, we were not hugging in bed!"

Nami and Ussop both glanced at each other. "Denial." They both said at the same time.

Luffy didn't seem to be catching any of this; he was completely fixated on the whirling blades of the ceiling fan. Round and round and round…

Vivi seemed to think the entire ordeal was funny, and she giggled at random intervals, reaching up to take the magazine, which Zoro very gladly handed over. Sanji crossed the room, unlit cigarette in his mouth, leaning over Vivi's shoulder to look at it himself.

"You got the highest ranking, practically," Sanji noted, looking up. "Any worse and you might as well be waltzing around in girl's clothes."

Zoro sneered back, his cheeks warm and pink. "Ridiculous," he muttered. "I have homework to do." With that, he turned on his heel, escaping up the stairs.

Luffy remained transfixed with the ceiling fan. Round and round and round….and then he recalled how it had been said that Zoro's kiss hadn't been on accident. Really? Didn't it mean when two people kissed that they loved each other? Love wasn't a fruit, it was a feeling. Did that mean Zoro loved Luffy? Did Luffy love Zoro?

…This love thing was confusing. The fan was more interesting. Spinney blades.

Nami shook her head, taking back her magazine. "He's in denial." She declared again. Ussop nodded in agreement. Robin gave no comment, but her eyes still sparkled with amusement.

Taking the seat left behind by Zoro, Sanji grinned, lifting a hand to knock Luffy playfully on the shoulder. "Well? What do you think, kid?"

"Huh?" Luffy blinked, coming out of his little trance.

Sanji sighed. "You think Zoro loves you or not?"

Nami and Ussop leaned towards Luffy a bit, eagerly awaiting his answer.

Luffy cocked his head to the side and folded his arms, frowning thoughtfully. Then he grinned. "I have no idea!"

Nami and Ussop both face-faulted.

"Oh come on! He kissed you! You guys hug in the bed that you share! He brought you from an alleyway and has been caring for you like you're some kind of little kid! Zoro doesn't like girls! Boobs mean nothing to him! He looks at you, I swear he does! You guys share a bed! He's going to buy clothes for you! He feeds you! He carries you around a lot! He kissed you!" Nami ranted.

Luffy just stared at her blankly.

"Can't you see the signs? Zoro has never loved anyone before, and I can tell he likes you!" Nami cried.

Luffy continued to stare.

"How can you not see it?" Ussop cried, waving his arms.

Luffy suddenly blinked. "Huh? Sorry, I was looking at the wallpaper. It's really cool! What were you all saying?"

Nami and Ussop fell back in their chairs and groaned.

To Be Continued…

Well, did you guys catch the cameo? I'll assume so, seeing as it was pretty hard not to catch. I hope you all liked it. X3 Anyway, reviews!

Mai Hayami: Well, we're trying not to write the romance in too early. Hopefully it will work out. I'm glad this fic makes you smile and giggle, that makes me happy to know we're making someone smile.

poxmaker: Oh, I know! ;.; I wanna watch CCS so badly, no matter how badly dubbed it is! I wonder why Kids WB cut it off… (sigh) Hmmm…now there's an idea…probably won't happen though. Eh, we'll see, ne?

Griever5: o.O Odd, it wasn't "feet" before…Wish must've changed that…(fixes)

KairiQueen: Suuuure you haven't played submarine. Sure. Yes, Nami so would think that. X3 I dunno if Kaya will be in this…probably will. Glad you're addicted!

Katiiey: Actually, the Mercenary thing may or may not come into play soon. We'll see how things go.

REVIEW! It keeps me sane!