Zoro doesn't so much wake up as he does react to the hangover that slams right into his frontal lobe. He rolls onto his side and he swears that he can feel his brain slap to the side of his skull and punish him with a wave of pain. A warm body comes into contact with his, startling Zoro. He cautiously unglues his eyes and opens them wary of bright lights, thankfully the room is dim in the evening light, but not so dim that he can't see Sanji sleeping next to him.
The blonde's features are relaxed and slack with sleep, his mouth slightly parted and his hair all tousled. He's sleeping on his side facing Zoro. With a wave of shame he remembers that he'd begged Sanji to stay with him and pulled him into bed, it'd seemed like such a good idea at the time, but now it seems pathetically needy.
Sanji sighs softly and his eyes flutter behind closed lids. Zoro feels a wave of something powerful rise in his chest and he realises that this is so very close to the fantasy that he'd had about his best friend. After Daz had fucked his brains out the first time he'd thought of Sanji and instead of his mind sliding to sex he'd imagined something entirely more domestic, he'd imagined waking up with Sanji and kissing him awake. It had been a feeling like love that his brain had conjured instead of one of lust. That feeling hasn't gone anywhere, despite all that he went through with Daz this hasn't left him at all, the whole thing was pointless.
He wants to reach out and touch Sanji, to stroke his cheek, to lean in just so and kiss him awake.
FUCK. He sits up sharply and rests his head in his hands. Sanji is his best friend, what on earth is he thinking?! He's already lost everything professionally, the last thing he needs to do is to make some stupid move on Sanji and lose his best friend too.
Sanji stirs behind him and after a second Zoro feels a warm hand rub the small of his back.
"You feeling okay?" Sanji enquires, his voice deep with sleep and sending electric shivers down Zoro's insides. He grunts in response, not trusting himself to speak. Sanji sighs and rolls over. After a second he sits back up again and leans around Zoro to dangle to sports drink in his face.
"Drink this or so help me I will... ah... drown you in it." Sanji orders him, interrupted part-way through with a yawn. Zoro takes the bottle from the blonde and Sanji rests his head sleepily on the back of Zoro's shoulder.
"Mmm, what time is it? I'm not used to going to sleep and waking up in the night. Once I'm out I'm out." Sanji mumbles. Zoro drinks and doesn't answer, but instead manages to pick Sanji's phone up off of the floor by his feet and pass it to the blonde.
"Half twelve. We've been asleep for three hours. Well, I have. You've been sleeping longer off and on I think." Sanji notes sleepily.
"How do you feel?" Sanji asks, his hand lazily winding around Zoro's side, Zoro isn't even sure that Sanji's awake enough to realise that he's doing it. But damn him to hell he likes this, he wants it.
"Hungover." He says shortly.
Sanji removes himself from Zoro's person and climbs out of his bed. He pauses on the edge of the bed to put his shoes on as there's still a few chunks of broken glass about the place. He then disappears out of the room, only to return shortly after with salvaged painkillers. He drops them into Zoro's hand and then wanders off into the kitchen. Zoro takes his painkillers and get up to follow Sanji.
As he does he notices that the place looks a lot cleaner than it did when he was last awake and sober enough to move about. He's pretty certain that Sanji's been cleaning up after him. A flush of guilt rises on his cheeks, Sanji shouldn't have to deal with this from him.
He spots that awful photo of himself on the kitchen surface, thankfully Sanji isn't looking at it right now, he's opening a new trash bag and plucking other things from Zoro's counter that are either empty or broken and putting them into it. Zoro snarls to himself and screws the photo up, he thought he'd ripped it up, the other letter must have enclosed one of the godawful photos too! Sanji looks up at him with a concerned expression and offers him the trash bag. Zoro throws the photo in there angrily and grits his teeth.
"I don't want to talk about it." He stays abruptly as Sanji looks like he's about to say something. Sanji shrugs and drops the subject.
He hates the idea that Sanji has even seen that fucking photograph but he knows that he has and despite himself and the disgust that he feels both for that picture but also for these... feelings that he's having for Sanji all of a sudden he wants to know how Sanji reacted to seeing it.
A bang on the door startles them both.
"Oi, Zoro, Sanji! Open up!" Nami's voice yells through the door.
Zoro heads over to the door and opens it. He has vague drunken memories of Nami and Robin being there earlier, of Nami stealing his booze off of him and Robin's cold fingers on his skin as she tried to look after him. He opens it and expects to see just Nami, or likely Nami and Robin together. What he doesn't expect to see is Daz behind his door, held in place by either elbow by Robin and Nami.
His jaw drops and he's too hung over and shocked to stop Nami and Robin hauling Daz in.
"Zoro, you're okay." Daz sighs, relieved, reaching out to touch Zoro. He leaps back, suddenly aware enough to really react, Daz's hand just grazes his cheek though.
"THE HELL I AM!" He yells, instantly regretting it from the hungover throb behind his eyes.
"I've been calling you and-" Daz starts, reaching for Zoro again. Zoro takes another step back out of the larger man's reach. He's always so fucking touchy and the last thing he wants right now is for Daz to have a hold of him at all.
"And I've not been answering, so you can fuck OFF. Get OUT!" He orders, jabbing a finger at the door.
"Kitten-" Daz begins.
Zoro sees red. The next thing he knows he's punched Daz hard enough for his head to snap sharply to the side and he's kicking and clawing at him as Daz grabs him by the back of the shirt and hauls him back out of range. Fuck Daz and his freakish strength and size!
"ZORO!" Daz barks at him in his best Dom voice, but Zoro isn't his lover anymore, not ever again and he's not going to just do what Daz says. He only ever played along because Daz was great in bed and now that he has no intentions of ever getting in bed with the man ever again he's not going to be agreeable. A flash of black goes by Zoro's eyes and suddenly Daz drops Zoro to the ground. Sanji is suddenly between him and Daz and he realises numbly that somehow Sanji kicked Daz in the arm hard enough to make him let go, he has no idea how on earth Sanji kicked that high!
"I think you'd better leave." Sanji hisses, his body visibly shaking with anger and his voice betraying murderous intent. Something about seeing Sanji trying to stand up for him stills a part of Zoro and he comes to his senses a little more again.
"And who the hell are you?" Daz demands, rounding on Sanji.
"The guy who's going to kick your ass if you don't do what Zoro says and LEAVE." Sanji snarls.
"Hah, you? You're tiny!" Daz laughs and Sanji bristles angrily.
"Then it'll be all the more humiliating for you won't it? Now you can leave through the door or the window, your choice." the blonde growls angry.
Daz seems to decide that Sanji isn't worth the attention that he's giving him so instead focuses on Zoro again.
"What is wrong with you? I just got a whole bunch of drunk, screaming voicemails about how I'd betrayed you and then you never picked up when I tried to call you back. What's wrong?" Daz asks, looking at him.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fucking photograph that your psycho girlfriend sent to my employers which got me fired from both jobs! Maybe THAT. NOW LEAVE." He demands, pointing angrily at the door.
"Wait, girlfriend?" Sanji blinks in confusion.
"Open relationship, or that was the idea. Daz kindly didn't mention that his girlfriend had a problem with me, the kind that leads to me being FIRED!" he explains, flicking the surprised blonde a glance. Sanji shoots Daz the filthiest and most disgusted look that Zoro's ever seen at that explanation.
"What photograph? What are you talking about? Paula would never do something like that." Daz blinks in stupid confusion. Sanji disappears from view and Zoro knows just what he's going to get. Sure enough Sanji reappears with the crumpled photograph in hand and proceeds to shove it in Daz's face, though he nearly has to stand on tiptoes to do so.
"I don't remember anyone else in the room." Zoro growls darkly.
Paula had watched them the entire time and then it'd kind of creeped Zoro out because she didn't seem to be into the whole thing. Daz had pitched it like she wanted to be really voyeuristic but when it was actually happening her gaze was cold and dispassionate. The only way Zoro had been able to enjoy himself at all was just to shut his eyes and pretend that she wasn't there at all, which of course gave her the perfect opportunity to take that kind of a picture.
"Now take your fucking photo and get out!" Sanji snaps. Daz growls and crumples it in his fist, he glares down at Sanji in a way that Zoro can tell means that he's had more than enough talk back out of Sanji.
"You didn't tell me who the fuck you were, pipsqueak." Daz growls menacingly, leaning over Sanji with all his towering height.
"If it's an introduction you want, I can always introduce you to the sole of my shoe again." he threatens, clearly not cowed by Daz's looming size.
Something like recognition flickers across Daz's face and he shoots Zoro a questioning look, with a tilt of his head to the blonde. Zoro doesn't catch on until Daz starts to talk.
"Oh wait, you must be-" Daz starts and Zoro suddenly realises that Daz KNOWS about Sanji. He'd draped himself across Daz's body after sex and told him all about Sanji, about the things he'd been thinking and feeling about him lately, that he'd even started having fantasies about the blonde.
Daz and his fucking girlfriend had taken everything from him, or near enough. If Daz opens his mouth and blabs to Sanji then Zoro really will lose everything. No way will Sanji stick around if he finds out what his best friends has secretly been thinking about him, Sanji would run a mile!
"Sanji! You need to leave, NOW!" Zoro barks.
"Yeah, you heard him you- wait. What?" Sanji blinks, looking over at him having just realised that it was his name that he'd just said, not Daz's.
"Do I need to ask you again, Sanji?" Zoro challenges and Sanji's expression flashes hurt for a moment.
"No... I'll just... call me if you need anything, yeah? Even if it's just to take the trash out." Sanji adds, shooting a venomous glare at Daz.
"I will." Zoro nods.
Sanji chews on his lip for a second, clearly not wanting to go but not wanting to deny the request either. Daz looks smug. Sanji flips Zoro ex-lover off and walks out of Zoro's flat with a concerned look over his shoulder to Zoro.
"I can see why you like the pretty little spitfire, he's got a mouth on him though." Daz notes disapprovingly and Zoro sincerely hopes that Sanji is out of earshot right now. He does notice Robin and Nami's faces show identical smirks though, and he realises that they now know too. Great.
"This isn't a polite chat, fucker and Sanji isn't the topic of conversation. Your psycho girlfriend is." Zoro growls angrily.
"Look, even if Paula did take this photo she wouldn't use it to hurt you. You've got the wrong person." Daz says patronisingly.
Zoro snarls and stomps over to his bed, thankfully his place is small enough that it's not far. He picks his phone up off of the ground and notes with some small displeasure that the screen is slightly cracked in the corner. He turns it on for the first time in days and the screen all but blows up with texts and missed calls.
He slides down the screen and sees all of the messages in his voicemail, he's looking for a particular one but notices that there are a whole bunch there from Sanji. He tries to select the one he's thinking of but instead his finger slips and he hits Sanji's first voicemail.
"Hey, it's me." Sanji's voice is soft and familiar and sends something hot flushing in Zoro's gut.
"Where'd you run off to? I've never seen you haul ass so fast and I see you run every morning. I don't even know which way you went and I can't get back into the movie after chasing you like that. I hope you're not sick or something. Call me I guess? Or you can tell me what was up at breakfast tomorrow. Bye." Sanji's voice comes from the phone.
A flash of guilt shoots through him, he'd run right out of the movie theatre to find Daz, all because he couldn't stop thinking of Sanji like that. All that time his best friend had been worrying about him and he'd not even had the decency to let the man know he was okay.
He shakes it off and selects the next message. This was from the day after he had gone over to Daz's and Paula had watched.
"Stay away from Daz, he's mine. Clearly the two of you haven't gotten the message, so maybe this will get through to you. You'll have lots of time to think about that with all the free time you'll be having now. If you come anywhere near Daz I'll send those photos out to all of those parents regardless of if you get fired. This is your only warning, stay away from my boyfriend." Paula's voice comes from Zoro's phone.
He looks up at the stunned Daz challengingly.
Daz doesn't say a word but his fists tense. Zoro is struck by the idea that Daz really didn't know, didn't know that Paula had done this. Didn't know about the photographs or the blackmail. Zoro however doesn't care. He can't ever trust Daz after this and he wants him gone.
Daz turns on his heel and storms out of Zoro's apartment, finally. Zoro breathes a sigh of relief.
"So... you do like Sanji then." Nami says after a long moment.
"OUT! BOTH OF YOU!" Zoro snaps and shoves the two laughing women out of his flat. He must be looking a little better for them to feel like they can tease him like that.
Nevertheless he shuts the door behind them and walks back to his bed and falls into it. It smells like Sanji's skin. Then, because he apparently hates himself he goes through Sanji's voicemails.
"Oi loser, you didn't show up for breakfast. I better see you later, you owe me for bailing on me last night."
"Hey, if you're sick or something let me know, I can bring food around for you. Let me know before I go, yeah? I can bring you something from the Baratie."
"Okay, I'm starting to think that you're ignoring me. Did I... did I do something to piss you off? I mean I know you're always a surly motherfucker but if you're actually mad at me you should let me know, bastard. Uh. I mean... fuck. Just call me okay? I know this is getting pathetic but I'm actually worried about your dumb ass. Okay. I'm hanging up now before I can say anything else dumb."
"Fuck, just PICK UP ALREADY!"
"Zoro, it's me. Look, I'm kind of worried that I'm gonna find out you slipped in the shower and broke your neck or something so I'm gonna come over to yours and use my key to get in. If you want me to leave you alone or not come over then just call or text me or something. Seriously man, just… fucking get in touch."
Guilt coils hotly in Zoro's stomach, along with a fluttering feeling from the fact that Sanji cared enough to get that worked up for him. There's messages from his other friends as well. Pleas to get in touch and irritable texts at his lack of reply. He throws his phone over the side of the bed and drains the bottle of the drink Sanji gave him before curling into the side of the bed that Sanji had been sleeping in. A blonde hair tickles his nose and Zoro squeezes his eyes shut and feels like shit.
He's hungover, betrayed, unemployed and miserable. He curls up under the duvet and allows himself to imagine that the others had never come over, that Sanji was still here with him in bed. Perhaps even another life where Sanji lived with him because they were together.
A spark of denial flares up in him. That voice that berates him, reminds him that he doesn't do relationships and that even if he did he'd never have one with Sanji. The voice reminds him that he'd never risk all that he has with Sanji for something like that, and that Sanji was probably straight as an arrow. Something in the back of his mind throws doubt on that though, and though he can't remember when that perception of Sanji changed he does wonder if perhaps Sanji might not be straight.
He shakes his head and tries to sleep. It was just wishful thinking. Still, he can wish. He'll let himself wish that things were different, just for tonight.
He wakes up feeling significantly less hungover although a lot hungrier than when he went to sleep. He just has a slight throb behind his eyes that alerts him to the fact that he's hungover at all. It's late in the morning but it doesn't matter as, hey, he doesn't have a job anymore.
He rolls over onto his side and picks up his phone from the floor. There are messages from Nami and Robin, asking if he's okay and that he should call them. Nami also adds that she wants to hear everything about his feeling for Sanji. Fuck.
Speaking of Sanji there aren't any messages from him. He wonders guiltily if he hurt his feelings last night. He has two voicemails though. The first is from Daz.
"Zoro, I know you might not listen to this but I needed to talk to you. I'm so sorry about Paula, really I had no idea that she was this unhappy about our arrangement. It doesn't matter anyway, we're not together anymore, she clearly isn't who I thought she was. Don't worry though, I got all of the copies off of her and the negatives. She can't send that photograph to anyone else. And I told her that if she does have any copies left well... I've got some photos of her that I'm sure her boss wouldn't approve of. I know I can't undo what she did but she can't do it again. I'm sorry."
Zoro sighs, he's never going back to Daz. He's not even going to call him. But he's relieved to know that those photos can't get sent on any more than they have been.
"Mr Roronoa, this is Kalifa." The message starts. Zoro bolts upright in bed, that's the headmistress of his school! "We spoke with your lawyer today and he made a few good points, including a threat of legal action. You are a good teacher and it would be a shame to lose you. So as much as I'd like to see that cute blonde lawyer of yours again, if you call him off I'm sure that we can work something out. The students have missed you, if you come to the school on Monday we can see about getting you re-instated. I'll expect to hear from you before then. Goodbye."
Cute. Blonde. Lawyer.
Zoro throws himself in the shower and gets dressed at the speed of light. He all but sprints to the Baratie and is out of breath when he gets there.
"Zoro." Sanji greets him with a surprised smile. Zoro makes his way over to Sanji's counter and slaps his hand down on the surface before leaning over.
"Cute. Blonde. Lawyer?" He repeats wide eyed.
"I don't have a lawyer, much less a cute blonde one. You're the only- what did you do?" He asks.
"It's amazing the things people will believe you're qualified to do with a little insinuation and a nice suit." Sanji purrs with a smile.
"Tell me she offered you your job back." Sanji adds with a concerned expression.
"Yeah, I have to go in on Monday. What did you do? How did you..." Zoro questions numbly, he might still be too hung over to deal with this.
"I just went in there and pointed out a few legal cases and laws that prohibit people from firing people for things like that. I may have made a few insinuations about expensive lawsuits and the school reputation and the media involvement. She backed down pretty quickly." Sanji shrugged.
"You got me my job back." He remarks in a kind of numb awe as the fact settles in. He's not going to have to leave the kids at school forever! And he's not going to be completely broke and homeless from having no job!
"Yeah, I tried with the scouts but that seems like an organisation wide problem that-ACK!" Sanji yelps as Zoro grabs him into the tightest hug ever. Sanji fixed the apparently unfixable and here he is apologising for not being able to fix every single thing!
"Gah! Zoro! As much as I appreciate the thanks I need to aaagh- breathe!" Sanji squeaks next to Zoro's ear. Zoro reluctantly drops him and notes that the Baratie's patrons are staring at them.
"I don't know how to thank you!" He breathes in awe.
He watches in fascination as Sanji's cheeks flush red and the one visible blue eye darts down out of embarrassment.
"You don't have to. I wanted to help. Besides, you helped me out remember? You gave me the Baratie back. You should have called me, I'd have fixed this sooner." Sanji sighs and he feels like a jerk for leaving Sanji out of the loop for this whole time.
"Still... thank you." Zoro says softly.
Sanji's mouth curves up into a smile and for a split second Zoro has the almost overwhelming urge to kiss him. He shoves it down and ignores it, choosing instead to beam gratefully at his best friend.
"Shit, you're welcome. Now sit your ass down, I'm making you lunch." Sanji declares, apparently deciding that that's the end of it.
Zoro grins and takes his usual seat gratefully as Sanji starts on making him something amazing.