A/N: So here I am! Finally giving you chapter 24 of this story, after so many months of not being able to write anything. I've been angry at myself for letting you all down and making you wait for so long, but I also feel so very lucky to have you guys as my readers. You've always been so supportive, patient and lovely, and I will never be able to thank you all enough for all the love you give me. I just hope you're going to enjoy this chapter.
Once again, I'm very rarely on tumblr, so you might want to reach me on instagram at cigsandbooze (drop me a message saying you're a SIO reader if you follow me, because the profile is on private)
This being said, on with the show!
CHAPTER 24
Darkness.
Quiet darkness.
A peaceful absence of light, color, of senses.
A small jump every now and then, and a feeble light filtered through thin slits, confused music played in the background before everything went back to black silence.
There was no dream, no nightmare that Sanji could sweat through, waking up with a voiceless scream and tears streaking his cheeks. He had been so completely exhausted that he didn't notice being lifted up and carried from the car all the way to Zoro's bedroom.
"W-where…?" Sanji muttered, his eyes cracking open into the dim light of Zoro's bedside lamp.
"It's my room, Cook…"
Sanji blinked and rubbed his fists against his eyes. He tried to locate the drummer in the room and found him by the foot of the bed as he stripped down to his boxers.
"Am I still dreaming?" Sanji furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Zoro's perfectly sculpted body showered in orange light.
"Nah." Zoro turned to look at him with a crooked smirk, then moved to sit beside Sanji.
Sanji's brain was still hazed by the slumber. There weren't many thoughts going through his mind, nor memories from just a couple hours before. Yet for some horrible reason, the moment in which Zoro moved to zip down Sanji's boots, he automatically flinched, retracting his legs so hard that he nearly toppled off the bed. Mindless panic pervaded him, his heart threatened to rip through his chest as he stared at an horrified Zoro.
"What th-" Zoro furrowed his brows as deeply as humanly possible "I wasn't gonna hurt you!"
Sanji could taste metal in his mouth, the taste of pure terror. His breath hitched in his throat as he stared at Zoro with wide eyes. His mind was all of a sudden alert and vigil, but his body still belonged in the realm of dreams. He could feel a soreness in his muscles, the tension in his nerves barely leaving his lungs enough room to expand.
How could he explain it? How could he tell Zoro the reason why his body had reacted so suddenly? So defensively. It had been automatic, the natural reaction of a traumatized being. The same way an abused dog would shrink back when an helping hand would come to their aid.
He felt so incredibly stupid and ashamed. Zoro could never harm him, he knew that very well, but in that moment of vulnerability his defenses had switched on instinctively.
After nights and nights of endless nightmares of being abused, harassed and taken advantage of, and after feeling Bellamy's hands around his throat and on his thighs, Sanji's body and mind were on edge. Ready to escape.
"I-I know… I-I just…" Sanji stumbled through his words, cheeks flushing red and a knot quickly forming in his throat.
Fuck. Why was he such a lost cause?
"Bellamy's not here, don't worry." Zoro's voice was warm and reassuring, yet Sanji's stomach started cramping.
"Shit…" Sanji muttered through gritted teeth.
It was so humiliating to feel the way he did. Why would his body retract at Zoro's touch, yet freeze when Bellamy's dirty fingers pressed against his skin?
If he closed his eyes he could live it all over again, worse than any replay. He could smell Bellamy's breath, a pungent mixture of beer and tobacco, how cold and rough his palms felt against his bare throat and thighs.
He would have wanted to plant his foot square into his ugly mug with all his strength, but his body had refused to cooperate. It was almost as if he had unwillingly resigned to his faith. He was a whore, someone to be used, misused, abused and thrown away. Nothing more, nothing less. A still doll to Bellamy's petty revenge. To anyone else's will.
"Sanji, you're scaring me."
For how long had he been silently glaring at his lap? By that point Sanji really thought sanity was no longer part of him.
"I'm so sorry…" Sanji whispered, his eyelids fluttering shut as he pressed both hands against his face.
He had dreamed of that moment for so long, he had longed to feel Zoro's lips against his own, his hands on his skin, his arms around his body, and now… Now his mind was betraying him in the worst possible way.
"There's no reason."
Sanji's head snapped in Zoro's direction. A severe expression painted the drummer's features, and a chill ran though Sanji's spine.
"Are you pissed?" Sanji tentatively asked. He was so scared of ruining everything just for being stupid.
Zoro's eyebrow jolted up "What?" he shook his head "Why should I?"
"'Cause I'm a fuckin' idiot?" Sanji huffed, then slowly got to removing his platforms.
"Hey, look at me." Zoro called out.
Sanji tensed up, his fingers still working on the zipper as he turned to look at Zoro.
"You're not an idiot." Zoro slowly shook his head, as to make his point even clearer.
"I am…" Sanji insisted as he finally managed to kick off his boots.
"You're traumatized." Zoro continued.
"I brought it onto myself." Sanji retorted right away.
"Fuck off!" Zoro suddenly bursted, and Sanji widened his eyes at him "Don't you dare saying that kinda shit!"
Sanji's bottom lip worried between his teeth. Zoro's reaction had been harsh, and he should have expected it. Sanji's natural retort would have been to click his tongue and insist on the fact, reminding his boyfriend that he had called him a whore too, once. Yet he managed to hold his tongue, physically biting down on it. That would have been the stupidest move he could have made, especially that particular night.
An awkward, heavy silence settled over the two. Sanji was fairly sure he'd ruined the entire night, as he watched Zoro shuffle back and fumble with the covers until he managed to tug them down to tuck himself in.
"Come here?" Zoro arched an eyebrow as he settled on his side of the bed, his left arm moving to settle between the back of his head and the pillow.
Sanji wanted to melt right against Zoro's body, underneath the weight of one of his arms and the warm comforter. Yet he was still feeling like an idiot, he shouldn't have said the things he had, and he was really scared to have ruined the moment.
"Only if you aren't mad at me." Sanji finally allowed himself to utter. He knew Zoro didn't exactly look like it, but how could Sanji be sure?
Zoro rolled his eyes "I ain't," he sighed "I just hate when you say stupid things about you."
Sanji began to unbutton his jeans, his eyes wandering around the room just to avoid Zoro's gaze "I can't help it…" he tugged them off, then grabbed the hem of his hoodie and t-shirt to tear them off simultaneously.
"I'm the only one who can insult you."
Sanji whipped his head back in Zoro's direction, only to find the drummer staring at him with a smug smirk spread on his lips. It wasn't exactly false, after all they always spent the majority of their time throwing insults at each other.
"So you can call me a whore?" Sanji asked, an half shaved off eyebrow quirking right before his face was momentarily hidden by the clothing he was removing.
"Don't be an idiot," Zoro grumbled "anything but that. And you know it."
He still could remember perfectly the time in which Zoro actually did accuse him of being a slut, but he also remembered how much he had apologized to him. Apart from that one time, though, Zoro had never called him any of those slurs. Only the entire rest of curse words known in the English language. A mutual thing.
"I know…" Sanji spoke softly, then tossed his hoodie and shirt over the back of a chair, and on top of his jeans. While he did so, Sanji saw Zoro standing up to go rummage through his drawers.
There was still a bandage wrapped around Zoro's bicep, definitely the wound that the young doctor had been referring to earlier. Sanji furrowed his eyebrows upon seeing the white cotton band, he had completely forgotten about it. He wondered how deep it had been and how much it had hurt, but he was also sure that Zoro probably hadn't even felt more than a slight burn. Sanji was just about to open his mouth to inquire about it, but the drummer was quicker to speak.
"Here…" Zoro said as he threw a t-shirt at him. Sanji promptly caught it and unfolded it to take a look at it.
It was Zoro's favorite Avenged Sevenfold shirt. An old and slightly torn one. It was plain black, with the deathbat printed on the front and the name of the band surrounding it. It was so old that the black had started fading to a dark shade of blueish grey, but Sanji knew how much Zoro loved it and couldn't help but bite his lower lip as a warm smile curved his mouth.
"What? You want another one?" Zoro asked, sounding slightly disappointed, too.
Sanji looked at him from over the shirt and shook his head "No, no. It's fine…" he brought it closer to his face to examine it "It stinks like you, too." he smirked.
"I never washed it, that'd be why." Zoro replied as he sat back down, ready to slide under the covers again.
"Ewwww!" Sanji whined as he whipped Zoro with the t-shirt.
"I'm kidding!" Zoro laughed as he blocked the stroke with his arm, protecting his face.
Sanji laughed as well, obviously aware of the joke, he shook his head and finally pulled on the t-shirt. No matter what had happened in the several hours prior to that very moment, from the aggression to being irrationally scared of Zoro's touch, Sanji was now finally feeling safe. He was with the man he loved, on the bed they had shared countless times, wearing one of his shirts.
"I missed you so much…" Sanji admitted in a small voice, golden bangs falling over one of his eyes.
The warmest smile spread on Zoro's lips "Missed you, too… Stupid cook…"
Sanji rolled his eyes, a smirk still playing on his mouth.
"C'mhere…" Zoro gently tugged on the short sleeve of Sanji's shirt, pulling him in to lay close to him.
Sanji didn't put up any sort of fight and shuffled underneath the covers, curling up against Zoro and burrowing his face into the crook of his neck. He heard the soft noise of Zoro switching the light off, then felt Zoro's arms loop around him. A smile spread on the blond's lips, and he thought that he had probably never felt that happy in his entire existence.
Sanji splayed one of his hands flat over Zoro's bare chest. He could feel the beat of his heart thud against his palm, and that little feeling made him smile even harder. He didn't have to question anymore what was real and what wasn't, even if he still couldn't quite believe that he was snuggled up to Zoro, that thumping made everything feel very real.
Suddenly a thought ran through his mind, he had seen Zoro's nose bruise throughout the latest hour, yet he had been either too busy sleeping or freaking out to actually check on it. Sanji ran his tongue between his lips, then let out a small breath before speaking.
"How's the nose?"
Zoro hummed, a small shrug serving as a prelude to his answer "I've had worse. It doesn't really feel broken."
"You sure?" Sanji went on, he looked at Zoro's nose in the darkness, even if he couldn't see it. Bellamy had headbutted him pretty hard.
"Yes, I'm sure." Zoro said in a patient, almost sort of yielding tone.
"Shouldn't you get, uh…" Sanji stopped to furrow his eyebrows as he tried to recall the name of the kid from earlier that night "Cha-… Chopper? To, uh… Check it?"
Zoro let out a drawn out sigh, but a small laugh followed right after "Would it make you feel less worried if I did?"
"Definitely, yeah." Sanji was truly worried, and also felt guilty for what had happened. After all, Zoro had gotten injured because he was protecting him.
"Then I will." Zoro assured him, then turned his head just slightly enough for him to press his lips against Sanji's forehead.
"Good." Sanji's eyelids fell shut, and a content little smile curled his lips as soon as Zoro kissed his forehead.
Lying alone in the darkness had been terrifying for Sanji for the past few days. He wasn't afraid of monsters or burglars lurking in the shadows, he was scared of the horror inside his head. Ghouls and ghosts could never be as creepy and terrifying as the humans who had put Sanji through hell.
Lying in the comfortable darkness of Zoro's room, on that small, hard mattress, underneath the comforter and being curled up against Zoro's warm body… It made Sanji feel invincible. Nothing and no one could hurt him there, even the nightmares felt light years away from him. The sound of Zoro's relaxed breathing, of his heartbeat, the few cars speeding by, everything was like a lullaby to Sanji.
"You'd already met him, hadn't you?" Zoro's words broke the peaceful quiet of the room. The phrase weighting like a ton of bricks being unloaded all over Sanji's body.
And to think that he had been convinced Zoro had fallen asleep, already.
Cold suddenly pervaded his body, a sharp pain made his hand fly up to clutch his stomach. He couldn't have wriggled out of this one, couldn't have kept running away from reality, from his past. No matter how great the shame, he couldn't keep doing this alone, couldn't keep Zoro in the dark any longer. Pushing the man he loved away, once again… He couldn't do that anymore.
"Yeah…" Sanji sighed, his eyes wandering around the unlit room, as if that would have made things easier.
Zoro was awfully quiet, and Sanji couldn't help but shift and squirm uncomfortably against the drummer's body. That silence was killing him like the most sadistic murderer, with several, slow stabs to his chest and abdomen.
"I shouldn't have left you." Zoro grumbled, finally.
Sanji's eyebrows shot up, nearly disappearing into his hairline.
"W-what….?" the singer couldn't quite wrap his head around that statement. Or at least why he'd say that after what Sanji had just said.
"I shouldn't have abandoned you, I've always been around. Even just to, you know... Listen to your problems." Zoro went on.
Sanji braced himself on the mattress, using his left elbow as a support as he looked down at Zoro's face in the dark. He couldn't believe he was actually saying that, after everything that had happened, Zoro could still only think about Sanji's safety instead of his own.
"Look… You went away, yes. But… I can't fully blame you." Sanji started, and watched as Zoro shifted slightly backwards to mirror his pose. He couldn't keep lying to himself, nor to Zoro, and everything that had been running through his head for all that time was pushing and pushing against the ruptured dam of Sanji's mind "I wasn't a victim in all this, I did my part. I treated you like shit more than it was acceptable, and instead of talking to you and telling you about how fucking jealous of that Bartolomonster I was, I just... I fucked your brother."
Sanji didn't think he would have been capable of vomiting all of that, he never thought he could have been able to admit everything out loud… But if Zoro could push all the crap aside and confess his love for him, then Sanji could do the same and come clean about his own issues.
Zoro was completely still and quiet, all of his muscles had tensed up and Sanji had a feeling he had stopped breathing, too. The singer sat up, then turned briefly to feel around and find the switch of the other bedside lamp. He needed to look Zoro in the eye, he couldn't keep doing this with the lights turned off.
When he flicked on the switch and turned back to look at Zoro he found him staring up at him with his lips pressed tightly together and his hands balled into fists. Sanji swallowed thickly and shifted slightly in his seat, just to regain his confidence and composure.
"I'm sorry, for everything that I've done…" Sanji shook his head "For being an asshole, for stepping all over you and pushing you away. You've always been my person… You've always been the one I loved, but couldn't see it." he shrugged a shoulder as he kept speaking, not even noticing the way in which his own voice trembled and how tears were welling up in his eyes.
"Sanji…" Zoro's eyebrows drew together and his nostrils flared.
"I… I've been scared of losing you for so long, yet I kept doing everything I could to keep you at a distance. To not-" Sanji furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to give sense to his words "I was so scared of ending up like my father, I just-!" his voice died in his throat, drowned by a sob.
"It's enough, cook. It's enough…" Zoro said as he got up on his knees and cupped Sanji's cheeks with both hands "I know…" he briefly hunched his shoulders as he continued "I've always known."
"There's…" Sanji attempted to speak as another sob broke his voice "There's so much I've done, that you don't know… Things I-I couldn't even r-remember." he shut his eyes, allowing tears to flow past his eyelashes.
Zoro's thumbs promptly wiped them away, and the gentle grip on his cheeks became somewhat firmer "What do you mean? What other things?" he asked, a hint of worry in his tone.
Sanji shook his head "Bellamy… Is just one of many." he blinked his eyes open again, inhaling a sharp breath as he looked at the horror warping Zoro's features.
"What are you-?"
"I haven't slept since the first time I met Bellamy," Sanji sniffled, then tried to wipe his own nose with the back of his hand "I see things, the moment I close my eyes… Things I thought were just nightmares."
Zoro's hands slowly fell from Sanji's face to his shoulders, his jaw was slacked, the look on his eyes was that of a desperate man who couldn't stop the tidal wave that was about to engulf him.
"I was young, Zoro… And naive." Sanji went on "Older guys wanted me to do things I wasn't comfortable with, and… I thought I was just… Not daring enough?"
"Why didn't you tell me any of this?!" Zoro almost shouted out.
"Don't yell!" Sanji placed a hand over Zoro's mouth "What was I supposed to tell you? I was embarrassed! I was… Figuring out my sexuality, I thought it was normal."
Saying all of those things out loud was like removing a massive boulder off of his chest, even if it had probably rolled right onto Zoro's.
"I just…" Zoro opened his mouth only to shut it again, clearly overwhelmed by Sanji's words.
"I'm sorry, Zoro… I'm sorry I dumped all of this on you." Sanji shook his head, and ran a hand through his hair. Only now realizing that if he hadn't ruined the night earlier, he had certainly done it now.
"It's alright… I wanted to know. I didn't think it was so bad, and I kind of-" Zoro scrunched his face as he searched for his words "I feel like shit for never noticing."
Sanji rolled his eyes and shook his head "You're unbelievable."
"What?"
"You can still find a way to blame yourself." Sanji sighed.
"Well, I was your best friend, wasn't I?" Zoro retorted.
"I was the one keeping it from you. I would have never wanted you to find out." Sanji wiped the rest of his tears away with unsteady hands "Stop thinking you did everything wrong."
"I still would have really liked to fuck up the faces of those bastards, the way I did with Bellamy tonight. You're a person, not a fuck doll." Zoro growled out, looking away from Sanji as he gritted his teeth together.
"You can't go around murdering people who think I'm a fuck doll, anyway." Sanji said as he placed his hand over the fist in Zoro's lap.
"They'd deserve it." Zoro kept on, as he looked back at Sanji, his fist loosening to take Sanji's hand into it.
"I can't believe I nearly lost you forever." Sanji commented softly, as Zoro's murderous desires brought a tiny smile to his lips.
"Good thing I stopped being a stubborn fuck." Zoro shrugged a shoulder, and in that moment Sanji wrapped his arms around his neck to plant a kiss to his lips.
Sanji felt Zoro's arms moving to snake around his waist as he was pulled into Zoro's lap. The kiss deepened naturally, as Sanji tipped his head to the left to gain more access to Zoro's mouth. All the awful feelings from a few moments before were gone, erased from the warmth irradiated from Zoro's body, and the taste of his kiss. When did the mossbrain brush his teeth, anyway? He certainly wasn't going to break that perfect moment by asking, but Zoro himself, did.
"Ow, ow, shit…" Zoro whined as he pulled back and held his nose with both hands.
"See? You need to get it checked." Sanji groaned as he curled his lips, watching his boyfriend squeeze his eyes shut.
"Mihawk can fix this. He knows how." Zoro said in a nasal voice, eyes still screwed shut.
"Mihawk is no doctor, babe." Sanji rolled his eyes.
"What did you call me?" Zoro furrowed his eyebrows, the nasal voice forgotten as he stopped feeling his nose to stare at the singer.
Sanji blinked several times, not fully realizing what had just happened, nor why Zoro was gawking at him like he'd just seen a ghost.
"Huh? What-?"
"You just called me babe…" Zoro snorted, then muttered out a long string of curses, when the harsh breath made his nose hurt worse.
"I did?" Sanji arched an eyebrow. He hadn't even really noticed it slipping, it had felt so natural that he couldn't see the reason why Zoro would make such a big deal out of it. Or maybe he did, but he didn't care. "So what? Aren't you my babe, now?" a mischievous grin quickly spread on his lips.
"My nose can't take this, at the moment. Have mercy." Zoro closed his eyes, clearly trying his hardest to suppress the laugh that would probably make him pass out from pain.
"What a weakling." Sanji commented as he pressed a kiss to Zoro's forehead, avoiding the lips in order to spare him any further nose pain.
"Fuck off…" Zoro grumbled as he watched Sanji sliding off of him.
"Let's sleep, and tomorrow Mihawk can chop off your nose." Sanji said as he took Zoro's hand and tugged on it to make him lie back under the covers with him.
"He'd totally do that." Zoro sighed and slid back underneath the covers.
Sanji wrapped himself tight around Zoro's figure, relishing the contact with his warm skin and firm muscles "Don't worry, big boy. I'll protect you." he purred against Zoro's neck.
"Goodness… You'll just get me killed." Zoro whined in a shaky breath, making Sanji burst into a cackling fit.
He knew that Zoro was probably referring to more than just unleashing Mihawk's rage, especially by the way in which Zoro's crotch area had grown harder against the leg that Sanji had thrown over him. A smirk of pride curled Sanji's lips, even as he finally drifted off to sleep.
His chest felt so incredibly lighter, his mind almost hollow as he felt Zoro's lips press against his forehead one last time. So much had happened in just one night, probably a week worth of events all crammed up in the space of a handful of hours. Yet Sanji had let go of so much fear and pain, that he could have probably started floating in the air. He felt at peace, he felt like he was finally where he belonged, he felt mended, he felt blissful.
Perhaps the nightmares weren't going to reach him, that time.
An incessant growling resonated in the back of Sanji's head. Or was it the sound of the room shaking all around him?
The blond woke up abruptly from his dreamless sleep, startled by the sudden noise. His breath itched in his throat, his heart pounding furiously as he sat up and frantically gazed around the room. He was mildly disoriented, but he could still remember he was in Zoro's room, especially since the drummer was snoring at his left.
Once his senses were almost completely back to their normal function, Sanji finally figured out what had startled him awake like that.
His fucking phone, vibrating angrily on the bedside table.
Sanji groaned, rolling his eyes at the offending object and nearly flopping back onto the mattress when his father's name flashed on the screen of his phone.
Shit.
He hadn't said anything to Zeff.
Hadn't told him that he wouldn't have gone back home.
SHIT!
Sanji reached for his phone so quickly that he knocked it off of the nightstand "Fuck!" he murmured as he stretched towards the floor to pick up the cell and read the two digits number of calls he hadn't picked up. All from his father.
He threw Zoro a quick glance, making sure that he was still sound asleep. He actually looked dead, in that moment, so Sanji checked if he was still breathing by placing his hand underneath his nostrils. Yeah, he was still alive.
Sanji stood up, trying to make as less noise as he could, then cautiously opened the door, hoping to everything sacred that it wouldn't creak like a motherfucker and wake the entire household up. He didn't even know what was the time, he'd been more concerned about the number of times Zeff had tried to reach out to him.
10:03, on a Saturday. Perhaps Mihawk and Shanks were still in bed, and he didn't risk running into either one of them alone. He definitely wasn't looking forward to that, because he had absolutely no idea what Zoro and his brothers could have told them. Sanji could have been killed a lot more easily than Zoro.
He quickly scanned the corridor, then tiptoed to the bathroom. He had to walk to the opposite end of the hallway, and it felt miles away. His bare feet didn't make that much of a noise on the parquet, and for extra precaution he also held his breath until he was safe inside the bathroom. Sanji locked the door behind him, then rested against it, finally heaving out a relieved breath.
Sanji looked back down at the phone and tapped the call button on Zeff's number. He screwed his eyes shut even before he heard his father's voice, knowing all too well that he was going to be yelled at.
"What the fuck, you idiot?! I was gonna call the fucking police!"
Yep. He was shouting.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I should have told you I wasn't gonna come home, last night!" Sanji sighed, trying to keep his voice down.
"You were supposed to come into work, too! I was worried sick!"
Sanji scrunched his face and pulled the phone away from his ear, fearing that his father's voice could pierce his eardrum.
"Dad, would you stop fucking yelling?!" Sanji groaned, rolling his eyes.
"I'll fucking scream your stupid ears off, you shitty Eggplant! You weren't murdered, so I'll just kill you myself!"
Sanji sighed, yet he couldn't help but crack a small smile and shake his head at his father's words. Harsh, yes, but that was his way of showing that he cared.
"I'm at Zoro's." Sanji said in a quiet tone, then tucked his bottom lip between his teeth.
There was a long pause, Sanji knew that Zeff was probably processing the information he'd just received. Sanji could imagine the look of surprise on his face, the creases of his brow and the line between his eyebrows suddenly softening as his expression relaxed.
"Oh…" Zeff finally managed "Well… You can take the day off, I guess." he muttered in a grumpy, but clearly loving way.
The smile on Sanji's face blossomed into a grin "Yeah, that'd be nice…"
"You're working two shifts tomorrow."
"No, no!" Sanji suddenly remembered about the date they were supposed to go on, and Sanji couldn't boycott his own slice of heaven like that "I'm… Busy, sort of. Tomorrow…"
"Well, you got a job, Sanji, you can't-" Zeff tried to protest, but was promptly cut off.
"I'll work today's dinner shift, yeah? And I'll take morning and lunch, tomorrow!" Sanji tried to bargain. He waited for an answer with his lower lip still worried between his teeth.
"Okay, that sounds fair…" Zeff agreed to the proposition "But I'll make you work your ass off." he added, so that he wouldn't sound too accommodating.
"That's alright…" Sanji nodded. The warmth in his chest from the night before slowly making its way back.
"You still should have told me." Zeff repeated.
"Yes, I'm sorry, dad. I should have." Sanji ran his fingers lazily through his hair, eyelids falling shut as he rested his head back against the door.
"Well… I'll see you later."
"Yeah, later." another content sigh left Sanji's lips as he heard the beep of the call being ended, then he moved the phone away from his ear.
He stayed still against the door for a few more minutes, staring down at the floor, a blissful smirk still playing on his lips. Zeff was happy for him, even if it wouldn't have sounded like it to most people. Sanji knew it, especially after the talk about love that Zeff had given to him. His father was probably smiling just like Sanji was, with a mug of coffee in his hand and a crumpled newspaper sitting on the table right before him.
Sanji checked the time again, it was almost 11 and he could have definitely used at least one extra hour of sleep, especially in Zoro's bed. Since he was still in the bathroom, Sanji decided to quickly use the toilet before cautiously unlocking the door, and pad his way back to Zoro's room. He could hear some noises coming from one of the four rooms, yet he couldn't tell which one it was exactly, so he ridiculously started running with his heart in his throat, and nearly tripped inside the room in the exact moment in which Shanks and Mihawk's door cracked open.
"Fuck, that was close." Sanji hissed as he bent over, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Zoro grumbled as he lifted his head to look at him with only one eye open.
Sanji perked up and blinked a few times "Uhh… Nothing?"
Zoro grunted, then face planted into the pillow again "Get back here."
Sanji was starting to feel even more like an idiot, but he thanked the stars for blessing him with an equally stupid boyfriend, who'd rather sleep until past noon than ask more questions. He crawled back under the covers, and Zoro immediately wrapped one of his arms around Sanji's mid section and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"Are you alright?" Zoro hummed as he burrowed his face into the crook of Sanji's neck, making him shiver.
"Yeah, I just had to pee." Sanji explained as his fingers absentmindedly went up to card and twirl through green strands of hair. "I nearly ran into your parents."
Zoro snorted "This would explain why your heart is beating so damn fast."
"Oh my God…" Sanji screwed his eyes shut as he let out a laugh "Is it loud?"
"Yeah, sorta…" Zoro sniggered as he looked back at Sanji, eyes nearly shut as a dopey smirk curled his lips "That would be the first time you're actually shy to meet them."
Sanji rolled his eyes "I liked you better when you snored."
Zoro raised his eyebrows "Then you'll like me better pretty soon." he said as he tightened his grip on Sanji's body, yawning against his shoulder.
"You dumbass." Sanji muttered as he felt his ribcage nearly crashing underneath the pressure of Zoro's arms.
"Hmm… I don't know if I'm more hungry or sleepy." Zoro said, unable to bite back another yawn.
Sanji yawned himself, infected by his boyfriend "I could make you some breakfast, if you wanna." he began to trace random patterns over Zoro's bare shoulder. Circles and swirls, and maybe a few little hearts, feeling Zoro shiver ever so slightly underneath his fingertips.
"Fuck, I miss your cooking!" Zoro groaned as he swept a hand across Sanji's hip and moving to grip his shirt on the small of his back.
Sanji felt a fluttering in his chest, not really expecting that kind of response. He knew Zoro liked his cooking, it was clear as day, yet he never usually complimented it out loud. He wasn't as vocal as his brothers about it.
"How couldn't you?" Sanji smirked, softly scratching at the sensitive skin on Zoro's neck "Shanks is a decent cook, but he'll never compare to me."
Zoro hummed at the feeling of Sanji's nails on his neck, a grin playing on his lips "Don't let him hear you." he sniggered as he ducked his head to plant a soft bite on Sanji's neck.
The blond moaned louder than he intended, the bite sending electricity jolting through his entire body. He definitely didn't expect that.
"Shh! I said don't let him hear you!" Zoro laughed, pulling back to look at Sanji.
"You're a shitty bastard!" Sanji whined. His cheeks were starting to feel a little too warm for his taste, so he made sure to burrow his face into the crook of Zoro's neck.
"What are you gonna cook m-… Oh shit!" Zoro moaned, suddenly feeling Sanji's mouth wrapping around the skin where neck and shoulder meet.
Lips and tongue sucking and flicking at the flesh until Sanji was satisfied with his work. Sanji pulled back with a pop, then admired the purple patch of abused flesh with a mischievous grin.
"You fucker…" Zoro breathed out as his fingers brushed against the saliva covered area.
"You didn't like it?" Sanji asked, eyebrows raised and an almost angelic expression on his face.
"Fuck off." Zoro growled as he pushed Sanji into the mattress and kissed the air out of his lungs.
Sanji laughed softly into Zoro's mouth, wrapping both his arms around his neck and pulling him even closer. He parted his lips to welcome Zoro's tongue inside, piercings clicking togerher, Sanji's head tipping slightly to the side as their tongues brushed together and Zoro rolled his hips into his.
Sanji wanted him. He wanted him desperately. Especially as Zoro shifted his entire body over Sanji, elbows resting at each side of Sanji's head, and knees at each sides of his hips. Sanji nearly cried out into Zoro's mouth, biting the drummer's bottom lip and desperately sucking on it.
"I thought you wanted to cook for me…" Zoro blurted out, eyes hazed by desire as he stared at Sanji.
"Shit…" Sanji sucked in a shaky breath as he let his head fall against the pillow again. He scrubbed a hand down his face, eyes screwed shut as he tried to regain his composure. "Yeah…" he swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the way in which Zoro's bulge was pressing down against his own erection. "And you're supposed to take me out to dinner, right?" he managed to say, opening his eyes and cracking a smirk.
Holy shit, why did Zoro have to be such a good kisser? Wasn't he some sort of a virgin? Sanji didn't recall anything that Zoro had told him about kissing other guys, or practicing in any way. He must have been a natural… Born killer. Yes, because Sanji was on the verge of a stroke.
Of course he wanted all of that to happen, but not in that moment. Not when Zoro's family could have blatantly heard them, or worst… Opened the door to check on Zoro and find them going at it. No way, Sanji wanted none of that.
Zoro groaned, resting his forehead against Sanji's chin as he let out a small laugh. "You're right," Zoro said before pulling back to look at Sanji in the eye "you deserve to go on a date."
The sincerity shining in Zoro's eyes, the low tone of voice, the way in which he was smiling down at him nearly made Sanji combust. His entire face flushed in the deepest shade of red, so he had to push Zoro off of him.
"Damn right I do!" the blond arched his eyebrow and sat up "And you've got morning breath, so." he shrugged.
"You asshole!" Zoro growled, slapping Sanji's leg as he started laughing.
"C'mon… I'll make you the best breakfast of your life." Sanji announced as he stood up, trying to cover his absolutely raging hard on by tugging his t-shirt as low as he could.
"Promises, promises." Zoro sighed as he rolled out of bed and went to pick up some clothes from the closet. The massive bulge in his boxers impossible not to be noticed as he strutted towards the piece of furniture.
Sanji let out a shivering breath. He could have definitely used an ice cold shower.
"Hey, look at me." Sanji sighed before starting to chew on his lipring.
Zoro rounded to look at Sanji, a sharp eyebrow cocked as he waited for the singer to actually say something else. This time Sanji was truly looking at his face, instead of letting his eyes wander lower.
"You know that I…" Sanji struggled to get the words out. He felt so embarrassed, and it was the most frustrating feeling ever. He had never been that sheepish about sex, he didn't know what the hell was going on. "Shit…" he gazed up at the ceiling as if he needed guidance from above. He could feel Zoro's confused eyes burning on his skin, and he was sure that even his neck and chest were reddening up.
Zoro folded his arms over his broad chest, patiently waiting for the to actually start working again. The tiniest of smirks was tugging at the corners of Zoro's lips, and once Sanji saw it he had to hold back from commenting on it.
"Look," Sanji groaned, fighting the urge to cover his face with both hands, and just limited himself to scratching the back of his neck "I really wanna do this… With you."
The teeny tiny smirk on Zoro's lips cracked into a full blown grin "I know," he snorted "you think I'm mad at you, or something?"
Zoro had to be thankful that Sanji loved him as much as he did, because he would have kicked that grin right off of his face, otherwise. He was already embarrassed enough, there was no need to make fun of him.
"I don't know?" Sanji said in a frustrated high pitch "I just stopped us from… Wherever we could have ended up doing, and I know this is stupid as fuck coming from me. I don't know what's going on with me!" Sanji bursted, almost hysterically.
"Just chill out!" Zoro groaned, then shook his head before taking a few steps towards Sanji "What you told me last night... I remember all of it. I'll stay true to what I promised you, I won't leave you just because we didn't do it right away!" he grimaced, as if the taste of those words rolling off of his tongue was sour as hell.
Sanji lowered his gaze to the floor. He knew he wasn't being scolded, and he didn't feel like he had been, but Zoro's words hit him like a train. Sanji somehow really feared that not having sex with Zoro right away could have compromised something. As if the only thing that truly mattered was just… That. For all his life Sanji had never wanted Zoro to be tainted, to become just like all the other boys he had slept with. That was the main reason why he'd never even tried seducing him, and Zoro was just proving to him that there was just no way he'd be like everyone else.
"Hey," Zoro softly chucked Sanji underneath his chin, so that he would look up at him "you alright?"
Sanji nodded, yet the same guilty expression stayed plastered on his face "Why did I wait so long for this? For… Us?"
Those words weighed a thousand pounds, and spilling them out made Sanji feel so much lighter. He watched as Zoro's expression turned into something unexplainable, his eyebrows raised and his eyes fell shut as he let out a huff of air.
"It wasn't just your fault." Zoro shrugged a shoulder, and Sanji threw his arms around his neck to pull him into a bone crushing hug.
"But it's always been you," Sanji spoke against Zoro's earlobe "I just couldn't see it."
Zoro's arms went to loop tightly around Sanji's waist "Stop. Don't you dare making me fucking cry."
Sanji bursted out laughing and pulled back to look at Zoro as he too laughed, but his eyes were glistening with the tears he didn't allow to come out.
"You fucking dork." Sanji shook his head before planting a hard and long kiss on Zoro's lips "C'mon, give me a pair of pants so we can go downstairs."
"I was gonna do that, but you wanted to get emotional!" Zoro shrugged.
"Shut the fuck up." Sanji shoved him away and slapped his ass once he turned around to start again in the direction of his closet. "Your nose is still bruised, by the way." he added while Zoro rummaged through his stuff.
"Yeah, it feels bruised, but I'll be fine." he didn't even turn around as he threw a pair of sweatpants at Sanji.
"You promised you'd get it checked." Sanji reminded him as he effortlessly caught the pants with one hand.
"And I will, as promised." Zoro's voice came muffled, as he was just in the process of tugging on a t-shirt. "Ow! Shit!"
"Did you poke your nose?" Sanji asked, a knowing smirk curling his lips as he slipped on the sweatpants.
The only answer he received was a groan, and Sanji could only respond with a laugh.
Never had Zoro thought that so much could happen overnight. The whirlwind of emotions and events had been absolutely insane, there was no better word to describe it. He didn't think he would have fought off a maniac in the hour that followed the most anticipated moment of his life. Nor did he expect to hear such an unexpected and serious confession, like the one that Sanji had made once they were into Zoro's bedroom.
Zoro and Sanji usually spoke about everything, or almost everything. Tipically, the blond would actually overshare, especially when it came to his sexual adventures and experimenting. Zoro would always be the one to beg him to stop being gross, and basically stop reminding him that too many people had laid their hands, bodies and mouths on the one he loved.
Coming to know about people abusing of Sanji in such an awful way had awaken a rage and disgust that Zoro had to fight back as hard as he could. He would have wanted to explode and break the bones of all the disgusting beings who had made Sanji suffer… Who had made Sanji hide and bottle up all of that pain inside of him.
Zoro always knew that Sanji was really tough, he had survived so many awful things, fought against life and tried to pursue his dreams no matter the obstacles. He knew that there was something broken inside of him, something that kept him from being the happy, kind kid he used to be, yet he never expected the damage to be so dramatic. Sanji was so much stronger than anyone could think or know, but even the strongest wall can fall apart when the bricks are too consumed.
Zoro wanted to take it all away, all that pain and suffering, inhale it through his kisses, absorb it through his caresses. He would have wanted to bear that pain if it meant that Sanji could be happy again, if it meant that the gorgeous smile on his face would always reach his beautiful blue eyes. But he didn't have to... He didn't have to be a hero, didn't have to wage war on anyone, all he had to do was being there and letting Sanji love him, and his smile was now shining brighter than any star.
As they made their way downstairs, their bare feet making soft noises and their fingers entwining like they had been made to fit together, as Zoro watched Sanji's hair fall over his eye, he couldn't stop smirking. He felt stupidly happy and grateful, to just being able to reach a hand out and touch Sanji again was a blessing. To be able to call him his boyfriend was even more incredible.
He gave Sanji's hand a squeeze, making the blond look up at him with a raised eyebrow and a quizzical smirk. He couldn't get enough of the way in which his blue eyes stared into his, the curl of his full lips, the deep voice that said things he'd ever only just dreamed of.
"What's so funny?" Sanji asked after a few moments of Zoro just staring at him.
"Life, I guess." Zoro shrugged.
"Hmm…" Sanji hummed, shrugging a shoulder himself "I guess so, too." a sheepish smile tugged at the corner of the blond's mouth.
Zoro was still absorbed in his own musings and reverence of the gorgeous human being that was standing right next to him, when Sanji abruptly came to a halt, face warped with shock.
Zoro's eyebrows drew together impossibly close "What the-?" he began to mutter as he too turned his head to look in the same direction, and the sight made him freeze just like Sanji.
Mihawk and Shanks were there. Of course they would be up at that time of the morning, how couldn't Zoro think of that? Not that they could have avoided them forever, especially since they were in the same house, but Zoro wasn't particularly looking forward to the teasing that was going to follow. By the way in which Sanji's face was rapidly turning a dark shade of red, he wasn't ready either.
Mihawk was staring at them, his stoic expression was slightly more surprised than usual, one of his sharp eyebrows raised as he sat in his usual spot by the kitchen table, steamy mug of coffee in hand. Shanks was standing right next to him, a hand still placed on the back of his husband's neck and the other holding a matching mug of americano, his expression was that of a deer caught in the headlights.
Zoro didn't know what to do, nor say, so he kept quiet and still, as if that lack of action would make him invisible to his parents. Sanji was as still as a statue, and Zoro had begun to wonder whether he had forgotten to breathe or not.
It wasn't like they had been caught by a couple of parents that would have been hateful towards them being both guys. It wasn't like they had been caught doing something despicable, illegal or disgusting. Yet all the things that had happened hadn't just washed away, nor disappeared into thin air, it was something that Sanji clearly was ashamed of, and something that could have made Zoro's parents dislike him. Zoro on the other hand, was just not ready to all the questions, the comments and remarks that would have followed. It felt like it was definitely too soon for that, not even the couple had completely processed everything yet.
"What did you put in this coffee?" Mihawk asked as he stared down into his mug. Surprisingly enough, he'd been the first one to break the ice. No one would have expected it, especially not Zoro who was staring at him wide eyed.
Shanks slowly shook his head "No idea, didn't think you could hallucinate with a morning coffee."
"Why do you still own the dojo when you could do stand-up comedy, I wonder." Zoro commented with a roll of his eyes.
He couldn't deny that the tension had slightly given in, but he still couldn't help his reactions towards his parents being sarcastic.
"Because of how much of a kill joy you are." Shanks commented as he cocked an eyebrow in Zoro's direction.
"Uh... Morning, I guess?" Sanji attempted to open his mouth, the phrase coming out shaky and unsure.
There was a slight curl in Mihawk's lips as he brought his mug to his mouth to take a long sip of his coffee, and a huge grin threatened to split his face in a half.
"Welcome back, Sanji." Shanks said with a nod "There's still some coffee left, if you'd like."
A trembling sigh left Zoro's lips, his eyes falling shut for just a few moments as he felt like a huge boulder had been lifted off of his chest. Those were probably the best words Shanks could have used in that moment, and it made Zoro feel warm and fuzzy inside.
"Yeah…" Sanji huffed out a sound between a laugh and a sob, tears were suddenly streaming down his face when Zoro turned to look at him, but he quickly rubbed them off as he nodded "I'd like that, thanks."
Shanks placed the mug down on the table and in a few quick strides cleared the distance between he and Sanji, only to wrap his arms around the blond and hold him into a fatherly embrace. Zoro couldn't hear the words that were being whispered between the two, but recognized more sobbing mixed with laughter as he watched his father and boyfriend sharing a moment that made his throat knot up.
"Should we hug?" Mihawk asked with an arched brow, which made Zoro laugh out harder than he had intended.
"Shut up, dad." Zoro shook his head, then wiped off a tear that had escaped his control.
"I'm so happy that you two are together," Shanks said as he pulled back from the hug, and placed both hands on Sanji's cheeks "so happy to see you here again, I've missed you." he went on as he thumbed Sanji's tears away.
"Please," Sanji cried out, closing his eyes for a moment "stop making me cry!"
Everyone laughed at that, and Shanks let go of Sanji's face to shake his head and move to brew some more coffee.
"You alright?" Zoro asked, placing a hand on Sanji's arm and squeezing it softly.
"Yeah," Sanji smiled at him, furiously wiping at his face.
"He threatened you, didn't he?" Mihawk chimed in "He told you not to go near the kitchen, right? He's too possessive."
"What the fuck has gotten into you, this morning?" Shanks bursted all of a sudden "Did Louis C.K. bite you, or something?"
"Loius C.K. is funny, at least." Zoro commented with a quirked eyebrow.
"Oh my god…" Sanji had to cover his face with both hands, and Shanks let out a laugh that was definitely louder than necessary.
"First I get accused of being too serious, and now this," Mihawk groaned "there's absolutely no way of winning with this family."
"Aww, my poor baby." Shanks cooed as he bent over slightly to press a kiss to Mihawk's temple.
"He's still a better cook than you." Mihawk commented.
"Oh shit!" Zoro covered his mouth, and Sanji let out a loud gasp.
"Good!" Shanks looked up at Sanji "Looks like you won't be leaving this house ever again, I quit my position!"
There was another round of laughs, and then Shanks picked up his apron from the small rack it was hanging from, and handed it to Sanji.
"I'm too tired to give a damn about making breakfast for these monsters, anyway." Shanks shrugged, and Zoro saw the way in which Sanji's nostrils trembled and his lips twitched.
Zoro looked down, a sheepish smile grazing his lips as he thought to himself that all was well now. Every piece of the puzzle had fallen into place, and all of a sudden he couldn't even believe how rough things had actually been just twenty four hours earlier.
Sanji gently plucked the apron from Shanks' fingers and mouthed a 'thank you', to which Shanks replied with a deep nod and a smile. Sanji wore the apron and Zoro's heart skipped a beat, all the small things he had found himself missing with his whole heart were finally taking place again. Shanks bantering with Mihawk over Sanji cooking, Sanji adjusting the strap of the apron as he began to gather all the ingredients to make breakfast. Zoro made his way to take his usual seat by the table, right across from Mihawk who had resumed his reading. The smile from a few moments before was still plastered on Zoro's lips. The only thing that was missing in that perfect scenario was…
"Holy fucking shit!"
Mihawk and Shanks simultaneously turned their heads to glare at the kitchen door, where the imprecation had been shouted from. Zoro furrowed his brows and turned to look in that same direction, only to find the missing pieces he'd just been thinking about.
"Sorry… I know. No shouting," a sheepish Luffy whined as he grimaced at his parents, Usopp stood beside him with his eyes glued to the person standing by the stove, "but Sanji is here! Making breakfast! This is the best thing that has happened in such a long time!" Luffy shouted again, throwing both hands in the air and launching himself at Sanji.
"Whoa! Easy!" Sanji was holding a pan in one hand and a spatula in the other, so he just froze with his arms in the air as he was nearly squeezed to death by his own bassist.
"It's not like you didn't drive him here, last night?" Zoro asked, scowling at the loud pair.
"Well, I forgot about it!" Luffy shouted, probably causing a permanent damage to Sanji's ear.
"I did remember it, but it was just so good to see him here! This is really the best day ever!" Usopp laughed out excitedly, and went to hug Sanji while Luffy was still all looped around him.
Everyone laughed, and Sanji just shook his head and hugged those dummies even if he was still holding the pan and the spatula in his hands. Zoro turned to look at Shanks and found him beaming at him, yet he didn't find it creepy nor awkward, he was too happy to think that.
"Am I awake? Like... Is this just a dream? Will I wake up to being miserable as shit, or…?" Zoro asked his father with a shrug.
Shanks shook his head "I promise you this is very real."
To make the point clearer, Mihawk rolled up the newspaper and swatted Zoro across the head as hard as possible.
"Ow! What the fuck?!" Zoro cried out, pressing a hand down on his head and glaring daggers at Mihawk.
"You're awake, see?"
"Fuck off…" Zoro muttered, and his parents kept laughing at him.
The late breakfast turned into an actual feast, as it bloomed into a full blown brunch and Shanks began to help Sanji in the kitchen, even if the majority of the cooking was all done by the blond. The meal, as delicious as it was, was more of an excuse to celebrate Zoro and Sanji's reunion, than anything else. Not even Mihawk could help but smile (even if it was very subtle and almost imperceptible, because he still needed to be as stoic as humanly possible) all the time, because it was probably the merriest day ever in a long while.
Luffy commented on Sabo's absence, since he had clearly forgotten quite a few details from the night before, and Sanji had just smirked to himself when Zoro had explained that he had probably spent the night somewhere else. Luffy still failed to remember what had happened the night before and everyone but Mihawk laughed at how clueless he was.
Shanks hadn't passed on the opportunity to tell Sanji about the accident that caused Zoro to get his arm wounded, making his husband mutter curses underneath his breath, Zoro roll his eyes into the back of his skull, and Sanji shake his head. Usopp and Luffy stuffed themselves stupidly full of food, and passed out on the kitchen floor while everyone was still chatting and sipping coffee or a little booze. They only woke up when Ace made his entrance and loudly expressed his joy of seeing Sanji and Zoro together again, and Shanks' eyes were frantically moving from Ace to Zoro, still trying to figure out if everything had truly been put behind.
"You're back!" Luffy shrieked out, rubbing one of his eyes and standing up from the floor. Usopp shouted in pain when Luffy accidentally stepped on his hand in the process of sitting back in his chair.
"What the hell is even going on, here?!" Ace laughed, shaking his head.
"Celebrating Zoro and Sanji, pretty much." Shanks filled his oldest son in.
"Oh! That's cool!" Ace grinned "I didn't wanna interrupt, I just need some rest." he explained vaguely, long fingers running through his dark hair.
"Yeah, I can imagine." Sanji smiked knowingly, Zoro shot him a glance to see if he was going to make some embarrassing remark, but was surprised to see that he had just limited himself to lighting up another cigarette.
"Yeah, so…" Ace jabbed his thumb back in the general direction of the stairs, his cheekbones pinking up because of Sanji's words.
Despite his father's worry, Zoro didn't hold that big of a grudge against his brother any longer. Though what had happened between Sanji and Ace wasn't erasable, it had been water under a bridge and he perfectly knew now that Sanji wasn't in love with the brunet. Zoro stood up to get an extra glass from the cupboard behind him, poured some rum into it, and handed it to Ace. Sure they had sort of celebrated the night before, and he and Ace had made up a while ago, yet Zoro felt like that moment held a deeper meaning.
"Care to join us, just for a second?" the drummer asked.
Ace's eyes went from Zoro's gaze to the glass, then back to his brother's eyes "Sure… Why not?" he smirked, and took the glass from Zoro's hand.
"I guess your boyfriend kept you up all night?" Mihawk asked, making everyone gasp in surprise and Ace choke on the first sip of rum.
"Mihawk!" Shanks groaned, slapping him on the shoulder.
"What?" Mihawk asked, sharp eyebrows furrowed together "Why do we gotta tiptoe around this, still?"
"I-it's fine…" Ace tried to answer as he kept on coughing. "I was, uh… I was at his workplace, actually."
Zoro tensed up all of a sudden, and so did Sanji as he sat beside him. He glanced at his boyfriend and saw that he was now staring down at his knees, fists tightened into his lap. It wasn't a good idea to talk about what had happened the night before, not while Shanks and Mihawk were there. Not even Luffy and Usopp knew what had actually happened.
"What? Why?" Shanks asked, frowning in confusion "He's a cop, right?"
"Yeah, he is. There was just some commotion yesterday, after the-" Ace tried to explain, but was briskly interrupted by Sanji standing up.
"Uh, I think I drank too much rum or something, I- uh… I don't feel very good, excuse me." the blond stammered as he exited the kitchen in a hurry.
"Yeah, I don't feel great either. I ate too much." Usopp commented right away, and Zoro couldn't tell if it was genuine, or just a way to help Sanji out with masking his discomfort. The drummer was thankful, one way or another.
"You guys are exaggerated." Shanks shook his head.
"I'll go check on him…" Zoro announced as he too stood up, and shot Ace a meaningful glare.
"I won't tell…" Ace mouthed with a small shake of the head, to which Zoro replied with a curt nod.
"Hey, Zoro…" Mihawk grabbed him by the wrist on his way out, making him stop and look down at him "What's wrong with your nose?"
Zoro's blood froze in his veins.
"The idiot ran into a freaking door, last night. He was so wasted!" Ace replied with a snort and a shake of his head.
Zoro sighed and rolled his eyes, pretending to be embarrassed by what Ace had said. "It happens even to me, at times."
Mihawk didn't look completely sold, but Shanks was definitely more worried about Zoro's nose than anything else.
"Let me see, c'mon." Shanks said as he stood up from his seat to check on Zoro's nose.
"I'm fine, don't sweat it." Zoro groaned.
"Shut up." Shanks hushed him and began to touch and feel Zoro's nose, making him squirm "See? It's slightly broken."
"One hell of a tough door, huh?" Mihawk commented.
"I gotta go, dad…" Zoro protested, but to no avail, because Shanks had already placed his hands on each side of Zoro's nose.
"It'll only be a minute, breathe in."
"Fuck…" Zoro knew what was coming, so he quickly did as told and Shanks snapped his nose back into place. "Fucking shit!" Zoro cried out, one single tear escaping his control.
"Here…" Ace handed Zoro an ice pack wrapped in a clean rag, that he had promptly prepared for him as soon as he understood what Shanks was about to do.
"Thanks…" Zoro grabbed the ice pack and glared at Shanks before pressing it against his throbbing nose and leaving the kitchen.
He didn't know where Sanji could have gone precisely, but his best guess was the bedroom, so he walked upstairs. Zoro knew he could trust Ace not to tell the truth to their parents, he wasn't worried about that, but he knew how fragile Sanji was, and how embarrassing it had been for him, the night before.
Zoro found the door of his room cracked slightly open, so all he had to do was give it a gentle push to reveal Sanji lying spreadeagled on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"Hey…" Zoro called out softly, ice pack still covering half of his face.
"Oh…" Sanji sat halfway up, propping himself up on his elbow as he furrowed his brows at Zoro "The fuck happened?"
Zoro snorted, moving the ice away "What you wanted," he shrugged a shoulder "Shanks fixed my nose."
Sanji let out a small laugh and sat up completely, holding out his arms and wriggling his fingers invitingly "C'mhere, you huge child."
Zoro rolled his eyes "Don't even start."
"C'moooooon…" Sanji whined, tilting his head to the side.
Zoro let out a sigh and walked up to the bed to sit down on the edge, allowing Sanji to grab his face with both hands to inspect his nose from up close.
"Yeah, it was a little crooked before, it's better now," Sanji commented "couldn't have your pretty face ruined, you would be the only ugly one on stage and I can't have that." he shook his head, a small smirk playing on his lips.
"Why don't you go fuck yourself?" Zoro grumbled, while Sanji squished his cheeks with his hands.
Sanji laughed softly, then carefully pecked the point of Zoro's nose, making him groan softly "I'm sorry, babe." he shook his head "It's my fault." he sighed, his smirk fading little by little.
"Don't start again," Zoro chucked him under his chin "that fucking asshole headbutted me, not you."
Sanji pressed his lips together and nodded slowly. No matter what Zoro kept repeating to him, he still couldn't help feeling even just slightly guilty for Zoro getting hurt.
"Did Ace…?" Sanji tentatively asked.
"No," Zoro shook his head "he won't tell, he'll keep it vague."
"Good…" Sanji let out a sigh, then raised an eyebrow as if he had just remembered about something important "Fuck, I gotta go report what happened."
Zoro had nearly forgotten about it, too "Ah shit, you do…"
"I gotta go to work, too! This was supposed to be our quiet day together!" Sanji began to whine, and it sounded to Zoro as if he was about to break down crying.
"Hey, hey! Easy!" Zoro placed his hands on Sanji's shoulders, squeezing them softly "I ain't going nowhere, we can spend tomorrow together, all day long."
Sanji looked as distressed as ever, but Zoro's words seemed to have done the trick "Also… You can't take me on a date like this, your nose looks gross."
Zoro groaned, throwing his head back while Sanji wrapped both arms around his neck and laughed against his skin "Fuck you!"
"After you'll take me out to dinner." Sanji singsonged, lips pressing against the vein of Zoro's neck.
Zoro's eyes widened, and he immediately had to swallow thickly. So… Was it really gonna happen, the next day? Something he had fantasized about for the biggest part of his life… Was it going to become a reality?
"Alright…" was all Zoro could manage to say.
"But… Can I come sleep here, after work?" Sanji asked, innocently and meaning it, as he pulled back "I don't think I'd be able to sleep, alone."
Zoro had to hold back a moan. How could Sanji go from zero to a hundred, and then from a hundred to zero like it was absolutely no big deal? That should have been against the law. Zoro needed his heart to be intact.
"Of course, you can." Zoro sighed.
"Thank you…" Sanji whispered as he pressed his lips against Zoro's.
"Whoa! Shit!"
A voice made both of them jump in surprise and stare at the doorway in bewilderment, just when the kiss was about to get a lot more heated.
"I'm sorry, but the door was open and-" Ace raised his hands, trying to defend himself.
"What the fuck, Ace?" Sanji cried out "Where you peeping, or something?"
"No!" Ace growled "I was just-" he blushed as he rolled his eyes, as if he couldn't believe the accusations that Sanji had just made "What the hell! I just wanted to remind you about the statement you have to give. Smoker just texted me." he folded his arms across his chest and looked away.
"Yeah we were… Just saying that." Zoro said, then grimaced at how stupid that must have probably sounded. Especially after Ace had just walked in on them making out.
"Right…" Ace stared at his brother, then sucked in a big breath "Uh, look. Our parents know nothing, if you wanna go down to the station Smoker is still on duty. He'll try and make it quick." he nodded.
"Yeah, yeah… Okay." Zoro nodded "Thanks."
Ace hesitated to say or do anything else, then just quickly disappeared, pulling the door shut as he went away.
"What the fuck just happened?" Sanji stared at the now closed door.
"I have no idea…" Zoro shook his head "But we should probably get going."
"Yeah…" Sanji sighed "We should."
And as they fought tooth and nail against the urge to tear each other's lips apart, they managed to get ready as fast as lightning, muttering some dumb excuses as to why they were leaving so suddenly, and they were on the road. By foot. Because of course Zoro didn't have a car, and Sanji's was back at his place.
They decided to take a cab once they were halfway to the police station, because Sanji was stupidly tired and Zoro kept trying to walk off into the dumbest direction, and if they had kept at it they'd probably reach the place in approximately three months.
The place wasn't too busy, probably because of the time of the evening, or who the hell knew. None of them was a police station expert, thankfully. It did feel uncomfortable to walk in there with an healing and slightly purple nose, though, Zoro couldn't lie about that. He sort of felt guilty for fighting Bellamy the way he had, and all of a sudden he remembered that he could have been there with a murder charge… Hadn't Ace and Smoker came on time.
"You alright?" Sanji asked, searching for Zoro's vacant eyes.
"Huh?" the drummer quirked an eyebrow, then nodded in answer "Yeah, sure…"
Sanji didn't seem fully convinced, so he was the one to take it upon himself to ask for Smoker at the reception, since Zoro's mind was still wandering. The drummer nervously touched the bridge of his nose, trying to somehow cover up the bruising area. Yes, maybe it had been self defense, he had been protecting Sanji, but he couldn't shake off the nasty feeling of having to deal with serious accusations.
"Thank goodness, he's still here." Sanji let out a relieved sigh, as the receptionist called Smoker through the intercom.
"Yeah?" Zoro raised both his eyebrows, a relieved breath left his lips, too. "That's great. It feels shitty being here." he confessed, rubbing at his brow in frustration.
"Yeah, police stations are like hospitals," Sanji commented, but then caught up quickly with the distress in Zoro's tone and body language "what's wrong, though? You look like you're about to throw up, or something." he frowned.
Zoro shrugged "I don't know, it's stupid." he tried to dismiss his feelings so that Sanji wouldn't worry.
"C'mon, tell me!" Sanji pressed, but in a lower tone of voice.
"It's nothing, I told you." Zoro went on, between gritted teeth.
"You did nothing bad," Sanji lowered his voice even more, eyes scanning their surroundings to make sure that people weren't staring "you were just helping me."
Zoro remained quiet for a second. Of course Sanji would know exactly what was going through his head in that very moment. He wanted to reply, telling Sanji that he had been an idiot for not controlling himself, and that something serious could have happened, but he didn't get the chance.
"Hey guys," Smoker got their attention "sorry for making you wait. I was a little caught up."
Zoro turned in the direction of the voice, but Sanji was quicker to speak up.
"Oh, don't be. We should have come earlier." the blond apologized with a nod and a small, yet bright smile.
"That's alright, we'll be quick." Smoker motioned for them to follow him, and took off in the direction of his office.
Sanji squeezed Zoro's wrist briefly in encouragement, before they started following him. Zoro found it bizarre, to say the least, that the roles were suddenly reverted. Sanji had been the nervous one back home, and now it was Zoro who couldn't stop thinking about what had happened and how easily he could have ended a life and ruined his own. Not that Bellamy hadn't deserved what he got, because Zoro would have absolutely done it again, if needed, but he only now was realizing how dangerous he could be and how important Mihawk's teachings about control were.
Once they were inside, Smoker asked a series of questions to the couple, he wrote down everything on a computer file, as he smoked one of his huge cigars. Zoro wasn't a fan of smoking in general, but while he had gotten used to the smell of Sanji's cigarettes, cigars were something he truly couldn't stand. That trip to the police station was a complete nightmare.
"Alright, I got everything I need," Smoker started, pulling the cigar out of his lips "I'll file for a restraining order, too, but rest assured that the son of a bitch will serve some serious time in prison."
"Is Zoro safe from any sort of charge?" Sanji asked, before allowing himself to heave out a breath of relief.
Zoro's heart skipped a beat at those words, and his eyebrows drew together as he waited for Smoker to say anything about him.
"Of course he is," Smoker snorted, cigar being shoved back between his teeth "he did what I would have done, too. But next time try to, you know…" he made an eloquent hand gesture towards Zoro.
"Not put people in a coma, yeah." Zoro muttered, looking down at his hands in his lap.
"Yeah, that." Smoker nodded, and Sanji's eyes nearly fell out of his sockets "He's not in a coma, don't worry." he added quickly to reassure the blond.
"Oh, alright!" Sanji let out a nervous chuckle, then allowed himself to breathe for a moment before asking "Can we go, now?"
Smoker stood up, trying to fit his button down shirt back into the waistband of his pants, but failing miserably "Yeah, yeah… I'm gonna go, too. I'm exhausted."
"Ace kept you up all night?" Sanji smirked.
"N-no… No, what?" Smoker fumbled, his cheekbones quickly reddening up, while both Sanji and Zoro failed to hold back their laughter "Get the hell outta here!"
And so they did, trying to hold in their laughter before Smoker sent their asses to jail for making him look like an idiot. They left the police station as quickly as they could manage, not wanting to spend another single moment in there.
"I should go to work." Sanji announced with a sigh, and shoving his hands down his pockets.
Zoro pursed his lips, stoic expression going back to harden his features as he looked at Sanji. He didn't really want to be separated from him, just as much as Sanji didn't want to. It was silly, they both knew it, but after being apart and angry at each other for such a long time, they would have wanted to share every second together.
"Yeah, I guess you should." Zoro commented with a nod.
"Don't give me that look." Sanji sighed, and Zoro raised his eyebrows.
"I'm not giving you a look." Zoro shrugged, he couldn't control the expressions he made, and he didn't even know what his face was truly doing in that moment.
"Let's call a cab, though… I don't want you to end up in an ocean or in another country, just 'cause you're directionally challenged." Sanji suggested, keeping a perfectly straight face.
"That shit's getting real old." Zoro growled, rolling his eyes.
"It might," Sanji shrugged a shoulder "but it ain't getting any less real."
"Fuck right off!" Zoro grumbled as Sanji laughed "But yeah... It'd be a lot less effort." he agreed, nonetheless.
"Good, so I can hold your hand in the cab." Sanji smirked, and Zoro had to look away as his face flushed a deep shade of red.
The blond laughed softly and placed the cigarette between his lips as he fished out his cellphone in order to search for the taxi number he had dialed earlier.
"I think I'm gonna drop by the dojo," Zoro said all of a sudden, while Sanji's call was still on hold "I haven't properly worked out in a while." he pushed his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
Sanji didn't have time to reply right away, because he had finally been redirected to the cab service, and someone had actually answered. Zoro pressed his lips together and watched the way in which Sanji's mouth moved while he spoke, the way his head tilted to the side as he waited for an answer, how his thumb flicked at the cigarette to get rid of the extra ashes. He was so stupidly in love with all of these little details, things others might have found to be the most insignificant things. He had missed them all, and he was completely obsessed with them, now.
"Alright, so the cab will be here in ten minutes," Sanji announced, looking away for just a moment, so that he wouldn't exhale any smoke in Zoro's face "and sure, the dojo is closer to the Baratie, than your house."
Zoro nodded at Sanji's words, then looked down when the blond tried to sneak his hand into Zoro's pocket, tugging on the sleeve of his jacket until Zoro figured out that he wanted to pull his hand out, so that Sanji could hold it. Stupidly romantic.
Was that his life now? Well that was corny as hell, but he couldn't really complain.
"You could come get some food, too…" Sanji started speaking again, his tone vague as he looked down at their entwined fingers "before you go back home."
Zoro arched an eyebrow, and for a very valid reason, an uncomfortable feeling settled into the pit of his stomach "I'd rather not run into Zeff, actually… Just yet, y'know." he tossed, trying to sound as harmless as possible.
Sanji looked up at him, probably not expecting the negative answer "No, that's…" Sanji shrugged his shoulders "You're right. That's fine. I'll just come after work, yeah?" he asked, tentatively.
Sanji might have thought that Zoro could have suddenly changed his mind about the blond sleeping over at his house, but of course that was not the case. He just felt sort of uncomfortable about seeing Zeff, after such a long time, and by the backdoor of the Baratie.
"Yeah, that's cool." Zoro nodded.
"He's not mad at you, you know?" Sanji almost spoke over Zoro "Just saying."
How could he do that? How could Zoro just refuse to meet Sanji's father, when Sanji had just cooked a gigantic meal for his family? That was incredibly unfair on his part. He needed to suck it the hell up.
"Then I'll drop by, if you can take a little break." Zoro said firmly, yet genuinely. It didn't feel as an obligation, he just needed to push any kind of nervousness aside and face the man. If the occasion presented itself, of course.
The smile that appeared on Sanji's face was bright enough to lighten up the sky, his eyes shining with the happiness of a child. Zoro's heart skipped several beats, as he watched a soft shade of red tinting Sanji's cheeks up.
"Sure, I'll need my cigarette break, of course." Sanji said as he remembered about the cigarette that was burning away in his other hand. He gave a nervous chuckle before bringing it to his lips to take a deep drag of tobacco.
"Of course, you will." Zoro smirked, then took the cigarette right out of Sanji's lips, and smothered any of Sanji's protests with a long, deep kiss, that was broken by the loud honking of the taxi driver.
"Rude fuck." Sanji muttered as he pulled away from Zoro, glaring at the cab that had just stopped in front of them.
Zoro just sniggered it off, and climbed into the back seats along with his boyfriend.
The ride was silent, as Sanji played with Zoro's fingers in his lap, tracing random patterns on the back of his hand, and tickling his palm as gently as ever. Zoro could feel weariness creeping up over him, now that they were just sitting inside the car, after all they hadn't really gotten that much sleep.
"Will you be alright at work?" Zoro suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Sanji furrowed his eyebrows "Why shouldn't I?" he asked, puzzled.
"Dunno… We didn't sleep much?" Zoro said with a shrug.
A sarcastic snort found its way out of Sanji's throat "I have slept a total of one… Two and a half hours per night, lately," Sanji arched an eyebrow at Zoro's concern "last night was the best sleep I've gotten in so long, just thanks to your stupid ass being with me." he smiled softly.
Right. Zoro hadn't really thought about that, even if Sanji had told him. He smirked, flattered to know that he had actually been helpful to Sanji "You give the best compliments."
"I sure do." Sanji raised his eyebrows, a cheeky grin threatening to split his face in a half.
Zoro was about to kiss that big, goofy smile off of his face, but the taxi came suddenly to a halt and the driver turned in his seat to look at them, thumb jerking in the direction of the building on his right
"This is it, sirs." the man announced in none too enthusiastic way.
Zoro tried not to think about the fact that he had interrupted them for the second time in a few minutes, or else he would have punched him in the face. The man was just doing his job, after all.
"Uh, yeah!" Sanji said as he looked over at the dojo on their right "I'll just walk from here."
Zoro gave a curt nod, then handed the cab driver the money they owed him and slipped out of the car along with his boyfriend.
"You truly feared I was gonna get lost on my way here, huh?" Zoro asked. He hadn't even tried to protest when Sanji had given the driver the address of the dojo, instead of the Baratie's.
"Yeah, and I don't have time to come find you in a liquor store or a park, or…" Sanji shrugged a shoulder "A jungle, or some shit."
"Fuck you." Zoro said automatically.
"You really can't wait, can you?" Sanji smirked, and Zoro felt his cheeks catch fire.
"Just go the fuck to work, alright?" Zoro muttered, his face was burning up and he was already done with the amount of times his face had flared up that day. He needed an off button for this damn blushing problem.
"Alright, alright," Sanji rolled his eyes, then pecked at Zoro's lips "I'll see you later."
Zoro nodded, then watched Sanji turn around on his heels and start walking in the direction of the Baratie. He stayed there until Sanji disappeared around a corner, lighter being pushed back in his pocket as he had just lit up the umpteenth cigarette of that day, then finally Zoro sucked in a deep breath and unlocked the front door of the dojo.
As he walked through the unlit facility, he couldn't stop wracking his brains about the following day. Where could he take Sanji to dinner? What could they do afterwards? Skipping directly to sex didn't sound that nice. Maybe they should have hit a club, or something?
Goodness, why did it have to be so complicated? Zoro knew jack about all that stuff. He truly just hoped he was going to make Sanji happy and loved, instead of making it look like just another meaningless fuck. That should have been easy, right?
Then why the hell was he freaking out so damn much?!
To Be Continued…
A/N: I'm sorry I had to interrupt the chapter here, but I needed this chapter to be just about the day after the reunion and the Bellamy incident. I might have material for two more chapters, but as usual, we'll see. I'll definitely try not to make you wait a hundred years for the next chapter, but I can't promise anything. Thank you for reading! Let me know what you thought of this chap ;)