Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“How do you ask someone to be your boyfriend?”

Zoro asked, all of a sudden, and Sanji spilled out the apple juice that was drinking. 

“How do you ask who, what, sorry?” Sanji wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, staring at Zoro, who was calm as fuck watching the movie that his best friend put on the TV. 

“How do you ask someone to be your boyfriend?” He asked again, his tone casual, as if Zoro had just asked him to pass the remote. Sanji hardly managed to put his words in order before speaking, because his brain was literally melting. 

“You want advice to… ask someone who is a male to be your boyfriend?”

Zoro turned his head and looked Sanji in the eyes. "Yes." He replied, his tone so calm it seemed unnatural. "Is that a problem?"

Sanji swallowed hard, he was about to get a headache. Zoro, the stubborn green haired gorilla who lived off his obsession with swords and exercise, was apparently in love with someone hard enough to ask for advice. Sanji really thought he would see doomsday before he’d Zoro falling for someone. Especially if that someone was a guy.

Sanji cleared his throat and tried to hide his surprise, which obviously didn’t work. “I couldn’t care less if you wanted to date a dog, mosshed”. Sanji paused, seemed to analyze what he said better, and then spoke again. “No, forget that. I’d care, I would report you to the police.”

Zoro laughed and that made the cook feel less awkward. He wasn’t lying, even if he didn’t say it in the best way, he actually meant it. Sanji wouldn’t have imagined his friend’s gay, or bisexual or whatever, but as long as Zoro was happy he had more than enough. 

He’d never say it to the marimo's face, but they were best friends after all and Sanji wanted Zoro to be alright.

“Glad to know, curls.”

Sanji tried to keep his vision focused on the movie, but Zoro distracted him enough to know what was going on. 

“So…” Sanji started after a couple minutes. “Who's the guy? Do I know him?”

Zoro didn't answer the question, and that irritated the blond. What difference did it make whether or not Sanji knew the guy? It took him a couple of kicks and occasional punches to realize that the marimo was embarrassed, then his head began to hurt. 

Sanji straightened up, adjusted his shirt and looked at Zoro with amusement. 

“C’mon, shit head, you’re really not gonna tell me?” 

Sanji received no reply, again. He grimaced and got up to go get more juice, as all the juice he had ended up spilled on the carpet when the marimo decided to open his big mouth. He snorted as he shuffled down the stairs to the kitchen. Sanji could stand that Zoro lived to tease him, and that, as on this occasion, he would never tell him anything. He could put up with a lot of things, but being ignored wasn't one of them.

"That jerk" he muttered to himself as he filled the glass with juice.

Sanji drank in silence. That guy must have had something pretty special to have captivated the marimo in the first place, Zoro's brain had been focused all his life between swords, school and Sanji, in that order. There wasn’t much room for anything else, let alone romance.

Sanji couldn't even get a mental picture of the boy, and that bothered him more than he thought it would. He had no idea what Zoro's type was, and literally anyone he could imagine didn't fit the green-haired guy's beastly facade. He definitely couldn't like someone delicate, that was Sanji's thing, not Zoro's. Someone rough didn't quite fit either, they were sure to end up getting on each other's nerves. 

His head began to hurt worse, and he had to turn away to get a pill. All that thinking was making him sick.

****

They finished the movie and then Sanji left. There wasn’t much talking after the ‘love bomb’, and Sanji felt awkward the whole time. It was not awkwardness because of Zoro liking a boy, but the fact that Sanji couldn’t understand what kind of boy Zoro could like. That had been bothering him all afternoon, and now it was two in the morning and he couldn't sleep because he couldn't stop his mind from trying to create an image of Zoro's crush.

After tossing and turning in bed for the fiftieth time due to lack of sleep, his cell phone vibrated with the tone he set to know exactly when it was Zoro.

Shitty mosshead
You up?

Of course I am, and it’s your fucking fault. He didn’t write that, but he thought it.

Mr. Prince
Yeah, insomnia

Shitty mosshead
Me too

Mr. Prince
What do you want?

Shitty mosshead
Srry about earlier

Mr. Prince
I already told you, couldn’t care
less who tf you date, shit head

Shitty mosshead
I'm just not used to talking about this
kind of stuff 

Finding out was weird 

Telling you was even weirder

Sorry

Mr. Prince
It’s fine, i don’t care anyways

Shitty mosshead
You’re lying

Mr. Prince
I’m not, asshole

Shitty mosshead
You. are. curly. brow.

Mr. Prince
Fuck you.

Shitty mosshead
Fuck you too.

You want to know who it is?

Mr. Prince
??????

Now you’re telling me???

Wtf marimo??

Shitty mosshead
Doing it by text is less embarrassing 

Do you want to know or not?

Mr. Prince
I guess?

Shitty mosshead
Just

DON’T FREAK OUT

Mr. Prince
I’d only freak out if you liked
my sister and you don’t

Spit it out, mosshead

Shitty mosshead
PROMISE IT SANJI

Mr. Prince
DON’T CALL ME SANJI I FEEL
WEIRD

JUST TELL ME

Shitty mosshead
PROMISE IT

Mr. Prince
OKAY GEEZ I PROMISE

Shitty mosshead
Ok.

It’s Luffy

Mr. Prince
Who??

Usopp’s friend?

Shitty mosshead
Yeah

Mr. Prince
Ohh, got it

Shitty mosshead
You’re not going to freak out?

Mr. Prince
Should i?

Shitty mosshead
Just thought you were gonna massive freak out

Mr. Prince
Nah, all good

I’m gonna sleep now, see you 
tomorrow shit head

Shitty mosshead
See you tomorrow curls

Sanji blocked his phone and put it on the nightstand. He had to admit it, he would never have guessed. Luffy’s a great guy, they have gone out a couple of times with Usopp (Sanji’s second best friend) and he has always considered Luffy a good friend. But Zoro liking him? That was a surprise. Sanji couldn’t even imagine his type, but Luffy wasn’t even in the million opposite options. 

His head started to hurt again.

Zoro, a tough man who hardly showed human feelings, was in love with a boy who radiated energy and happiness? It didn't make sense that it was Luffy of all people.

Sanji ended up taking his phone, he needed answers, and he wouldn’t be able to sleep without getting them.

Mr. Prince
ALRIGHT MARIMO

WHAT THE FUCK?

MONKEY D. LUFFY????

Shitty mosshead
YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T
FREAK OUT ASSHOLE

Sanji wasn’t freaking out, he was blowing his fucking mind.

Chapter Text

Sanji hated that goddamn marimo with all his soul. Zoro’s been messing with his hair the whole class, although it’s not something that usually gets Sanji distracted, his mind has been swirling around Zoro all day. 

He never imagined that Zoro could be interested in something as crass as teenage crushes, quite the opposite of himself, who always annoyed his friend with his weekly crushes. Sanji firmly believed that the best image of love Zoro could have was him, and since he always seemed disgusted or disinterested, he guessed that wasn't his thing.

And he definitely couldn’t imagine Zoro being in love, much less to the point of wanting a serious relationship (as serious as it was possible for a teenager). Smiling like stupid when talking about that person or seeing that person, holding hands, going on dates, saying romantic things and giving gifts was Sanji's thing, that shit he loved and had always loved. Who dreamed of falling in love and having his happily ever after was absolutely Sanji's thing, not Zoro's.

Zoro pulled a strand of his hair and Sanji had to hold back the urge to kick his grass head.

“Cut it out, idiot” Sanji snapped, slapping Zoro’s hand away from his hair. Didn’t last two damn seconds before the neanderthal was touching him again.

“Let’s skip the last period, I wanna go get ramen.”

Sanji didn’t like skipping class, his grandpa used to beat his ass every time he did it in middle school. Of course, the school wasn’t gonna call him this time, teachers didn’t give a crap about their students. He turned to Zoro, and while he had filled three pages, the idiot hadn't even written the date.

In normal circumstances, he would have scolded him for being so irresponsible, Zoro already had enough problems with his grades at the point his dad threatened him to take him out of school and homeschool him if he did not improve. Sanji had been making sure that the marimo attended his classes, did his homework everyday and even helped him study for his exams the whole year, and it’s been months since the last time Zoro skipped a class.

“Why do you want to skip so suddenly?” 

Zoro played with Sanji's hair again, this time with the locks that covered half of his face. He didn't over lift it, just tangled his finger through the strands, Sanji would kick him to death if his eyebrow came into view. Zoro used to do that a lot when they were kids, sometimes to calm down Sanji, sometimes to calm himself down. 

“Seriously, what’s up with you?” Sanji asked again, his voice quieter this time, almost gentle.

Zoro sighed, still picking at the blond hair. “I want to ask you something.” Sanji didn’t like that tone, he felt strange every time his friend spoke to him in any way other than to tease him or looking for a fight. Zoro sounded insecure, almost ashamed. 

“What? You wanna break up with me?” He tried to joke, cause he was starting to feel fucking uncomfortable. Zoro still had his fingers on his hair.

“Funny bastard.” Zoro muttered, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “I really want to ask you something, are you skipping with me or not?”

“Why do we have to skip? I’m literally in your stupid face, just spit it out.”

“Because I don't want anyone but you to hear it.” Sanji gave up. Zoro was stubborn, arguing with him was a waste of time and the idiot wouldn't tell him whatever he wanted to tell him if he refused to go with him.

“Alright” He snorted and turned away to finish his work. Zoro finally let go of his tresses. "But you're paying, shit head." 

“Deal.” 

****

“YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT!?” Sanji shouted, his voice echoing throughout the place. He didn't care if the whole fucking restaurant heard him.

Zoro kept eating, unconcerned like the brainless bastard he was, while the blond felt the oxygen leaking from his lungs. “You heard me, curls. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Sanji’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. “Not that big of a—! Do you even understand what you just asked?”

Zoro paused mid-bite, looking up at Sanji with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah, I do. That’s why I’m asking you.”

“Alright, alright, let me get this straight!” Sanji straightened up in his chair, put his elbows on the table and looked directly at his idiot best friend. “You want me to ‘teach’ you how to… be a boyfriend?” 

Zoro nodded like it was nothing. “I mean, you know a lot about this kind of stuff, and it would be weird if I asked anyone else.”

Sanji’s brain was melting. Again. He thought that after the Zoro being gay thing and then the Zoro in love thing, and then the Zoro in love with Luffy thing, nothing about the marimo could surprise him anymore. Turns out he could.

“You’re insane. What the fuck am I suppose to teach you?”

Zoro took a sip of the sake that they weren't supposed to have served him because he was underage, but in that place they never asked teenagers for identification and gave them all the alcohol they wanted regardless of whether they were wearing school uniforms.

“You know, all the romantic shit” He said. “Saying cheesy things, going on dates, giving kisses…”

Sanji's eyes widened in horror and he almost choked on his own saliva. “YOU WANT ME TO KISS YOU!?”

Zoro did choke with the sake. “Of course not, dumbass! I want you to teach me so I can do it with Luffy!”

“And how the fuck do you expect me to do that!? Making you a powerpoint presentation!?”

Zoro grabbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. Then he reached out and pulled Sanji by the arm to sit him back down, normally he didn't care if people saw the scenes he made with his best friend (because the embarrassed one was always Vinsmoke, not him) but he didn't love the idea of the whole restaurant finding out about his romantic inexperience. 

“Okay, okay, first of all, how are you so sure Luffy will accept?” Sanji asked, trying to keep his composure. Now that his friend was calm, Roronoa continued eating. 

“He doesn’t have reasons to reject me.” Vinsmoke looked at him skeptically. Zoro couldn’t be for fucking real.

This idiot…

“It doesn’t work like that, moron. Does he even know who you are?”

“Obviously. We’re good friends”

“When did you even meet?” Sanji barely knew Luffy, he recognized him from the couple of times he joined him and Usopp at video game nights.

“I needed someone to hang out with while you were wasting time with your girlfriends.” Zoro replied casually, taking another bite of his food.

Sanji hadn't touched his food in a while, so he pushed aside his mental storm and kept eating. “Alright, I guess that makes sense. But seriously, why are you so sure? aren’t you afraid everything’s on your head and he ends up rejecting you? What if he’s not gay?”

“I don’t gain anything by scaring myself. I will confess to him, I want you to help me with this to be prepared if he accepts me. If he doesn’t, at least I’ll know what to do if I ever like someone again.”

The image he had of Zoro didn't add up. Less than one hour ago, he’d seen him embarrass himself beyond measure just by mentioning Luffy's name, and now he was saying he didn't care if he was rejected? Sanji was beginning to feel that everything he thought he knew about the marimo was wrong. He took the bottle of sake and finished what was left in one gulp.

“I never thought you'd ask for help with stuff like this, specially from me.”

“You’re my best friend, who else was I supposed to ask?” Sanji liked when Roronoa called him ‘his best friend’, neither of them mentions it really often, but they know they are each other’s best friend even if they never agreed on it. The request was still one of the stupidest things Zoro had ever asked him to do, but…

“The hell… alright! I’ll help you, but get it into that thick head of yours that I’ve only dated girls, Luffy’s not a girl, so not all my experience will be useful.”

“Okay.”

“So your plan if he rejects you is just, what, ignore it?

“Well, yeah. I don’t intend crying for hours and choke on ice cream like you every time your girlfriends dump you.” 

“You—!”

Chapter Text

Zoro has always hated exam season, Sanji’s on his back all the time to make him study. When Mihawk threatened to pull his son out of school, Zoro realized that he was not lazy (well, not that much), even if he made an effort, some subjects were too difficult for him. Sanji offered to tutor him during the summer, and the marimo's dad paid him twenty bucks an hour. 

Mihwak no longer paid him, but Vinsmoke wouldn't even let his friend breathe during evaluations, and that day was a good example. They had a history test the next day, and Zoro already felt his brain hurting from cramming so much information into it.

Thinking about his headache distracted him right at the moment Sanji asked him something, when the cook didn’t get an answer, he punched Zoro with a ruler in the head. “Focus, stupid marimo, I'm gonna kick you to death if you fail.”

“I’m trying, damn cook.” Zoro dropped the pencil and rubbed his face in frustration. They'd been studying for four fucking hours and still hadn't finished the curriculum. He was having a hard time concentrating and Sanji had probably already noticed, because he'd already hit him six times with his ruler. “Let’s take a break, I feel like my head is about to explode.”

Sanji sighed, then looked at the time on his phone and yawned. “Fine, twenty minutes, no more.”

Zoro got up from the desk and lay on his back on the bed, the covers always felt extra soft after torture sessions with Sanji. He closed his eyes as he listened to his friend stretch out in the chair.

As soon as Roronoa started to feel sleepy, he called Sanji. If he falled asleep, his friend would beat him with the ruler.

“Oi, cook.”

“What?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to confess?” Sanji got up from the desk and went to lie down next to Zoro, both of them staring at the ceiling.  

“You asked me to teach you how to be a good boyfriend and you don’t even know how you’re going to confess? You suck, marimo.”

“I’ve never done it before. Didn’t think I’d ever do it.”

“I didn’t think you’d ever do it either” Sanji said. “It’s not that hard, just be honest and tell him your feelings.”

“I don’t know how to.” 

Sanji turned his head to glance at Zoro. “Don’t you know what you feel?”

“I know what I feel, but I don’t know how to say it. That’s like the whole point of this.”

Sanji ran a hand through his hair and snorted. No one knew better than him how difficult it was for the marimo to express himself, not just romantically, but with the world in general, his father and sister included. It took Zoro a long time to get comfortable with Sanji, even after so many years of friendship there were still things he didn't tell him, Luffy being the perfect example of that.

Sanji took a deep breath and then sat on the bed. “Alright, do it. Confess to me.”

“What?”

“Confess to me. This is about practicing, your stupid moss brain will stop working if you do it without a plan. If you find a way to say it to me, it’ll be a lot easier when you do it for real. Just pretend I’m Luffy.”

Zoro also sat down, looking at Sanji quizzically. He twisted his mouth and analyzed him up and down. “Yeah, there’s no fucking way I can see you as Luffy.”

This bastard . Sanji thought.

“The point of this is that you learn how to use your goddamn words! You don’t even say ‘I love you’ to your dad, how do you expect to do it with Luffy if you don’t practice?” 

Zoro grimaced as he scratched the back of his neck. He knew the Sanji was right, but saying it to him was so fucking awkward he felt like throwing up.

“I’ll… try, I guess” Sanji nodded in silence and waited. Zoro looked at him, rifling through his mind for the right words, or any words at all, because he had no idea what to say. “Luffy, I…”

But he couldn’t find the way, because he was looking at Sanji’s blonde hair, at Sanji’s blue eyes, at Sanji’s shitty eyebrows, everything he could see was Sanji, not Luffy, Sanji, Sanji, Sanji.

“I can’t do this shit. You’re too much… you.”

Sanji laughed with an odd mixture of amusement and offense. “Well, I’m sorry for being too much me, shit head.” He sighed, it was impossible to get more out of Zoro. Sanji got up and went to sit back down at the desk. “Let’s keep going with this before I have to remind you again how much of an idiot you are.” 

Zoro reluctantly followed him, seeing the tiny letters and dozens of dates again made his head start to hurt. “Fuck you.” 

“Fuck you too.”

Chapter Text

Sanji doesn’t like saturdays. Those are the days his dad is allowed to visit him and his siblings, and the air always seems to get heavy when Judge Vinsmoke walks through the door. His brothers don’t hate him that much, but Sanji always had the worst of his father when he was a kid, now he couldn’t stand being in the same room with him. 

When Zeff got custody of their grandchildren, Sanji begged him not to force him to see his dad on visitation days, so he practically hadn't seen Judge in years. That Saturday wasn’t an exception, Vinsmoke stayed at Zoro’s house since friday's night, and now he was comfortably having breakfast with his friend and Perona, Zoro’s sister. Breakfast that Sanji made, obviously. 

Perona was yelling at her brother to stop eating like a savage, making it look like he hadn't eaten in days. Sanji laughed under his breath as he finished decorating the girl's pancakes with teddy bear faces.

“Here you go, Perona-chan, please enjoy it!” Sanji placed the plate in front of her next to a strawberry milkshake.

She squealed excitedly and pulled out her phone to take a picture of the food. “These are so cute, Sanji-kun! Thank you!”

Vinsmoke smiled, he loved how Perona could change from wanting to beat up his brother for eating like an ape to jumping for joy over a plate of pancakes. “Anything for you, darling.”

Zoro, with his mouth full, muttered something about not getting special treatment and Sanji rolled his eyes. Perona waited until she finished chewing her food to speak (because she did learn to eat like a civilized person) and then hurled a couple of insults at her brother before smacking him upside the head.

“What are you guys doing today, Sanji-kun?”

Perona asked sweetly, ignoring the annoyed grunt from Zoro as he rubbed his head. Sanji gave her his best smile and said “We’re going on a date.”

Perona spilled her milkshake, and Zoro choked with the freaking rice, coughing violently as he tried to clear his throat.

“A date!?” Perona grabbed a napkin and hurried to clean up the mess without taking her eyes off Sanji. He smiled as the cute bastard he was and made it even harder for Zoro to catch his breath. “You two, a date!?”

“Precisely. Don’t you think we’ll make a cute couple, Perona-chan?”

“Motherfucker I knew it!” She screamed and Zoro nearly smashed her head against the table. 

“What the fuck do you mean you knew it, ghost freak!?” Zoro yelled, his face was burning red. 

Perona wiped her mouth with a napkin, completely oblivious to her brother's exaltation. “I’ve always known he’s into guys, but I was really curious to know what kind of guys he likes, I guess it makes sense.” 

“You two are fucking crazy.” 

“Deny it all you want, Zorocchi, I won’t believe you anyways.”

Sanji was having the time of his life. Laughing with Perona and messing with Zoro were simple things that made his day. They finished breakfast with the siblings fighting like cats and dogs, Zoro being the dog and Perona the cat, obviously.

It was 1:00 pm, Sanji was looking at Zoro’s extremely limited closet while the green haired guy was laying on his bed. 

“You literally have nothing to wear, mosshead.” Sanji complained, as he pulled out a stack of white shirts. “You have ten identical white shirts, seriously, how do you survive without variety?”

Zoro shrugged, looking up at the ceiling as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. “Because unlike you, I don't dress like I'm going to model in a fashion show.”

Sanji threw one of the shirts at him. “Because your seaweed brain doesn't even know how to match clothes, you look like a cartoon always wearing the same thing.”

“A handsome cartoon.” Zoro said with a smirk and Sanji rolled his eyes. 

The stupid swordsman didn’t have anything decent to wear (under the criteria of Sanji's fancy tastes). Of course, Luffy didn’t care about that kind of stuff, the only reason he didn’t dress like a homeless guy was because his older brothers always picked out his outfits. 

“Your shitty closet is stressing me” Sanji gave up, there was literally nothing good in there. 

“Why do I have to dress up? I’m just going out with you like always.”

“Because we’re not going out like always, we’re going on a date.” 

Zoro grimaced at the word, his face scrunching up in discomfort. “Don’t call it a date, it sounds weird.”

“You’re the one who wanted to learn about relationships, shit head. I’m gonna show you what a real date is, you won’t understand unless you have one.”

Zoro complained, and all he got was a kick. Sanji threw the less horrible pants he found and a black shirt to the marimo’s face. He also took off the jacket he was wearing and threw it to Zoro too. It was a leather jacket he stole from Yonji last night. 

“What the hell, curls?” 

“Put that on, I won’t be seen on a date with someone who looks like a bum.”

Zoro looked at the clothes in disgust. He was fine with what he had on, but the idiot cook wasn't going to let him out of there if he didn't change. He reluctantly took off his shirt. “I’m sure Luffy won’t care about my appearance.”

“But you’re with me and I do, now shut up and dress up.”

****

Two o’clock. 

They were now in the mall at a ramen restaurant that Sanji chose. They sat at a table next to a window, to be more specific, the table Sanji always sits at when he goes there. That’s his favorite place, he has taken every girlfriend he's ever had there for a first date.

It was weird as fuck to take Zoro there, but he’d do everything in the name of love. Zoro’s love, to be clear. 

Zoro looked around uncomfortably. He had gone there a couple of times with Perona, never with Sanji. That was the blond's place for dates, one he took quite seriously, the fact that he took Zoro there made the whole dating thing look more serious.

“You look like I'm going to bite you, marimo.” Sanji said with amusement. “Relax, moron.”

Zoro grimaced for the tenth time that day. “Well, excuse me. This”—he made a gesture with his hands—“is weird as fuck.” 

“It’s weird because you’re making it weird, shit head. Besides, you and your shitty marimo brain can be calm, I’m not into guys, and even if I were, you’d be a million light years away from being my type.” After Sanji said that last part he gave Zoro a poke with his finger on the forehead, which made him feel kind of less awkward. “Now focus, idiot. You wanted me to teach you how to be a good boyfriend and that’s what I’m doing.”

“Right…”

They were served the food and Zoro started to eat like a beast (as always), so Sanji hit him in the forehead with a spoon.

“Alright, first rule: you do not eat like that on a date. You look like a starved dog.” 

Zoro rubbed his forehead, formulated half a word with his mouth full and the blond hit him again, so after an insult, he waited to finish chewing. “Have you ever seen Luffy eating? He does it way worse than I do.”

"Then let him be the beast, asshole. One of you has to be civilized, and trust me, Luffy won’t be. Plus, it’s not that damn hard to eat like a normal person, look.” Sanji took a portion of ramen with his chopsticks, and taking care not to spill anything on the table, he brought it to his mouth and chewed silently. “See?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever” Zoro muttered. He took some ramen too, mimicking Sanji's movements with the chopsticks. He wasn’t used to picking up so little at a time, he liked to stuff his cheeks with food. Luffy also loved to do that.

“Much better idiot.” Sanji said with a satisfied smile on his face. “Now, second rule: Once you start talking, don’t stop. If you stay quiet it’ll make both of you uncomfortable, ask him about himself, the whole point of the first date is getting to know each other better. But don’t make it an interrogation, the conversation has to be natural.”

“You’re making a conversation too complicated.” Zoro said,drinking some juice. Sanji hit him again, and he could already see themselves fighting in the middle of the fucking restaurant.

“Shut up and listen! Everything depends on the first date, if you fuck the first date, you fuck everything.”

Zoro sighed, rubbing his forehead where Sanji’s spoon had left a mark. “Alright, alright, got it.”

“Good. Third rule: don’t ask or talk about past love interests, you don’t want to know, he doesn’t want to know. That it’s just gonna make things weird.”

“What if he brings it up?”

“Well, Luffy doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who has a romantic history, but in case he brings it up just try to change the topic.”

“Okay.”

They took a moment to eat in silence, when Sanji spoke again when he was halfway through his plate.

“Alright, do it.” Zoro had his mouth full again, and all he could do was give his friend a weird look.

“Do what?”

“The date.” Sanji smiled, bringing his elbows up to the table resting his chin on his hands. “I already told you what to do and what not to do. You need to practice, do it, ask me something.”

Zoro looked at Sanji, still chewing, and then swallowed before speaking. “I’ve known you since we were four, idiot. What the fuck am I suppose to ask that I don’t know already?”

“It doesn’t matter, just ask something.”

Zoro made a face, thinking. “So… um, how’s everything with your dad?”

Sanji's smile disappeared immediately. His posture changed and he focused his gaze on the plate.

“You sure know how to fuck up a date.”

“You told me to ask anything.”

Sanji sighed, pushing his noodles around his plate. “Well, just so you know, he’s getting married again.”

“Really?”

“ Yup . Some women he met a few months ago, I think she’s something like a coworker, Reiju and Niji already know her.” 

“I never thought your dad would ever get married again, I don’t even understand how your mom wanted him in the first place.”   

Sanji shrugged. “We’ll never know. But what we do know, and thanks to Reiju, is that apparently they’re getting married because the woman is pregnant.” 

Zoro raised an eyebrow, surprised by the news. "Pregnant? Seriously? That old bastard still thinks he can play family man?”

Sanji let out a humorless chuckle. "Yeah, it's ridiculous. Reiju said he's all excited about having another kid, hopefully this one won't have a father who wants to turn him into a mini-soldier.”

Zoro frowned, leaning back in his chair. “Look on the bright side, you're finally going to be the big brother.”

“Yeah, the dream of my life.” Sanji drank some juice and then straightened his posture. “Focus, marimo! We’re supposed to be practicing for your date, not talking about my family.”

“We’re having a conversation, isn’t that what dates are about?” 

Sanji rolled his eyes. “Okay, fourth rule: you do not ask your date about it’s trashy family, you want to be his boyfriend, not his therapist.”

“Because I’m yours, aren’t I?” Sanji smiled. He could say that. 

“Gotcha.” Sanji finished his food, cleaned his mouth with a napkin and then stood up. “Last rule, marimo; you ask him out, you pay.” He didn’t give Zoro a chance to say anything and went straight ahead to the exit. Sanji heard him shouting and all he could do was laugh.

“You’re so fucking funny, aren’t ya, shitty cook?” Zoro said once he caught up to Sanji. They were now both walking in circles through the mall.

“Charming is the word I’d use, and yes, I am.” Sanji smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. “Congratulations, mosshead, you officially had your first date.”

Zoro snorted. “Glad it was with you because it sucked.”

“It did. I would never date you after that.” Zoro poked his waist with his finger, making him jump. He narrowly dodged a kick. 

“Well, I wouldn’t date you even if you were a prince, shitty cook.”

“What a relief, idiot.”

What a relief.

Chapter Text

Zoro has been looking at Sanji a lot for the past few days.

He is the most romantic person Zoro has ever met, and now, with the whole Luffy thing, he’s been paying a lot more attention to the blonde’s behavior. Sanji knows how to flirt, he could have any girl in his bed if he wanted, but he has always chosen romance over everything. He is intense, a lot for the majority of people, but when he is really committed to someone, Sanji can easily be compared with a charming prince. 

Sanji loves love, that’s the big difference between them.

Sanji didn’t question himself the first time he was in love, he just left it be and enjoyed it while it lasted. Zoro wished it had been like that for him; he never got to understand those feelings, he didn’t even know if they were real and asking someone was out of the question. Zoro had always been more comfortable with the concrete—the feeling of his swords, the annoyance of the school and the time with Sanji. His life was simple, oblivious to any complicated feelings because that was his best friend's thing.

Zoro looked at him; he was greeting Nami and Robin, as always. Anyone who didn't know the blond would assume he was in love with one or both of them, but Zoro knew better. Sanji loved them both, but not in the way he would truly like to be the boyfriend of one of them. He did, anyways, mean every compliment or affectionate word he said to them, and that was something Zoro could never understand.

Sanji's words came naturally to him, he didn't take the time to transcribe his thoughts into sentences, fearing they wouldn't make sense or fully express what he really wanted to say. Zoro had always had trouble expressing himself, even being affectionate with his family was difficult for him. Sanji had once told him that his love language was with acts of service, which was true. He had told his best friend that he loved him at most three times, and the last one had been almost ten years ago.

That was a problem if he really wanted to be with Luffy, because he was pretty similar to Sanji, he didn’t hesitate to say what he thought. Of course, Sanji was something more like a poet, and Luffy was dumber with his expressions. 

Zoro looked at Sanji again.He needed to be more open with his thoughts, and he especially needed to stop thinking so much before he spoke. Of course, he would never get to Sanji's level, his brain wasn't smart enough to formulate so much romantic bullshit, but he would be fine as long as he could say what he felt without getting his brain cells burnt out 

“How do you do it?” Zoro asked when he was walking home with Sanji. He was eating a lollipop, in an attempt to keep his mouth busy so he wouldn't smoke. He was trying to reduce his consumption to four a day, which for him was almost like being abstinent.

“Do what?” He gave him his time, twirling the lollipop stick between his fingers. It was still weird as fuck to see Zoro ashamed.

“You know, saying all that crap.” Sanji’s eyes were filled with confusion, and it took Zoro a while to settle the words in his head. “All that bullshit you’re always telling Nami and Robin, how do you do it?” 

“Complementing them?” Zoro nodded. “What do you mean ‘how do I do it’?” 

“I’ve seen you do it so easily. How do you manage to just... say all that crap without it feeling weird?” Sanji grimaced in understanding and smiled haughtily.

“I’m sorry, dear marimo, but this is natural charming. You’d have to be born again to have it.”

Zoro rolled his eyes at Sanji’s smugness. “Then you wonder why I never talk about this shit with you.”

“Alright, alright, sorry.” He chuckled. “I don’t have a technique, shit head, it’s easy for me because it’s part of my personality, I’ve always been like this.” Sanji sensed his friend's disappointment and tapped him gently on the shoulder. Zoro grunted in response, trying to ignore the fact that he already expected such a response. “Why do you ask?”

“You know, I’ve always had trouble with words and… I want to be able to say things I feel without clogging my neurons.”

Sanji fiddled with the lollipop as if it was a cigarette, he had one in the morning and if he wanted to survive until the evening he had to wait a couple more hours to have another one. “You remember that talk we had about love languages? I told you that words are not your thing, moron.”

“I know, I just…” It took Zoro a while to find the right words, and he hated that. He knew what he wanted to say, but everything seemed to mix up in the way from his mind to his mouth.

Sanji became a bit more serious, reducing his usual mocking tone to as little as he could. “Look, if you have a hard time expressing yourself, then start with the basics. You’re not gonna talk like fucking Shakespeare at the first date.”

Zoro sighed. “The problem is that I don't even know how to deal with the basics.”

Sanji nodded thoughtfully, twirling the lollipop stick between his fingers. He suddenly had an idea, one that he hoped would go much better than when he tried to get Zoro to practice his confession on him.  “Alright, I think I know a way to help you with that.”

“How?”

****

“Remind me what we’re doing again.” Zoro asked. His arms were crossed and his gaze was focused on Sanji, who made some sort of sheet fort in the middle of his room.

“I’ll show you how to deal with the basics. Get in here.”

Zoro eyed him warily. “I thought we stopped playing this crap when we were twelve, curls.”

Sanji threw a pillow at him from the inside of the fort. “Just get your stupid ass in here, marimo.” He didn't object, but crawled inside grimly. Sanji was already comfortable, almost hidden among a pile of pillows. “Now, this is our safety-zone, you don’t judge me, I don’t judge you, we just talk.”

“About what?” Zoro also tried to get comfortable with the pillows, Vinsmoke even brought some snacks.

“Anything, the idea is that you get used to talking without overthinking.” Sanji took a chocolate from the bowl and he slowly pulled the wrapper off. “We’ll start simple, tell me something you think about me.”

Zoro looked at Sanji, then at the candy, and then at Sanji again, feeling a bit awkward. “About you?”

“Yeah.” He said, popping the chocolate into his mouth. “It doesn’t have to be anything deep. Just whatever comes to mind.”

Zoro thought about it for a moment. The first thing that came to his mind was a joke about curly eyebrows, but it felt a little weird to say it and he saved it. Sanji didn't push him, didn't tease him either, just waited patiently and silently.

“I um… I think your food is good.” The blond smiled with satisfaction.

“I already knew it but thank you very much.” Sanji leaned back on the pillows. “Now what can I say…”

“You’re doing it too?”

“Well, of course. I want you to stop overthinking, you can’t do that unless you are comfortable, so I’ll do it too” Sanji took another candy, the absence of his cigarettes was starting to be annoying. “Let's see… I actually like your stupid marimo hair.” 

Zoro almost dropped his jaw, but in the end he couldn't help but crack a small smile. “You do?” The cook nodded, and that little compliment felt a lot better than he expected.

“Yeah, I mean, it's ridiculous, but it suits you. I can't imagine you in a different color.”

“I didn’t think you cared about that.”

“You have no idea.” Zoro’s little smile was still there, and Sanji couldn’t help but think it was pretty. “Your turn, marimo-kun.”

Zoro grabbed a spicy candy from the bowl, trying to keep his eyes on anything but the cook. Being able to eventually speak without getting tongue-tied was already an accomplishment, but eye contact was off limits to him.

“I…” Avoiding Sanji didn’t make it easier, his mind went blank. 

“Take your time, marimo.” The blond said. He took a sip of the smoothie he made twenty minutes ago, the green-haired one doesn't like it, so he didn't bring any for him.

“I think… I think that you’re, uh…”

“Hey, it doesn’t have to be about me if it’s costing you that much, I just thought it’d be easier for you.”

Zoro clenched his jaw, he always knew he sucked with words and that was why he never tried to be expressive with anyone, not even Sanji. It was a lot harder than he thought it would be.

“It’s fine, it’s just… kind of hard being honest.” Zoro fiddled with the candy inside his mouth, then took a deep breath and did his best to structure the words in his head. “Alright, something simple. I… I really appreciate that you make study so I don’t fail all my classes.”

Sanji smiled. He didn’t receive compliments from Zoro often (although he wouldn’t categorize that as a compliment), but he really liked it. 

“Don’t thank me, shit head. I do it because I hate everyone in my classroom but you.” Zoro hit him with a pillow, they both laughed. “Alright, glad to know it.”

Sanji looked at his friend, there were some things he had thought about for a while, but he never got the chance to say them. That seemed like a good moment. “Okay, I… I don’t mean to be intense but I’m gonna take advantage of the situation to say something I’ve wanted to say for a long time.”

Zoro didn't question it and took another candy. He was going to make a joke about Sanji confessing to him, but he looked so serious that he kept it to himself. “Alright, spit it out.”

“I just want to say that… you being there for me when the whole thing happened with my mom and... then Judge being a psychopath was... it was very, very helpful. You know, it was nice to have a shoulder to cry on and... a place to go when everything at home was shit. I think I would have gone crazy if you hadn't been there and I think I'm talking too much, but what I'm trying to say is... thank you Zoro.” 

Zoro's breath caught, any response he might have had for Sanji was stuck in his throat and all he could do was stare, as if hoping the blond could read his thoughts.

He still remembered that time, the worst of his life. The image of a little Sanji with a bruised body and bruised face crying hidden in his arms came to his mind all at once and it was horrible. Zoro was only eight years old when he had to see his best friend suffer because of his dead mother and his insane father. It still causes him helplessness not having been able to do anything for him but let him sneak into his room through the window and give him candy behind his dad's back.

Sanji looked at him, feeling a little bit guilty. Of course, he had the worst part of it, but he also gave Zoro a hard time as a kid. He could see in his expression he was trying to find something decent to say, and maybe he did it because he knew Zoro wouldn’t be able to say anything. Sanji gave him a funny look and then drank his smoothie like it was nothing.

“Relax, moron. I just wanted to say thank you. You don’t have to give a depressive speech too, it's okay with simple things.”  

But Zoro didn’t want to be okay with just simple things. He would never be able to express himself with Luffy if he couldn’t even do it with Sanji, his best friend, his favorite person in the world. He also had a lot of things he wanted to say to him, and not being capable of doing it was pissing him off. 

“I mean, I know but… I really want to.”

Sanji could see the frustration in the marimo’s eyes, so he gave him a little squeeze on the shoulder. “Alright, alright. I don’t want to push you, but if you really want to, then do it. I’ll hear you, it doesn’t matter if it sounds stupid, try to say it just as you see it in your mind.”

Zoro took a deep breath. He focused his gaze on the bowl, looking at Sanji was too much, he was already making an inhuman effort.

“I, uh… Well you…” God it was hard. “What I’m trying to say is that… you mean a lot to me. Yeah, that, it was difficult as fuck.”

Sanji smiled, that was a short sentence, but it felt great. “Good job, marimo.”

“I’m not done.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

“I think a lot of things about you, and it’s weird to say it out loud, but I’m gonna try. I think that you’re the smartest person I know, and also the best cook. I think your clothes are ridiculous but also that you always manage to look nice. I hate the smell of cigarettes, but you’re always wearing some shitty perfume that makes it smell kind of good. I also think that… there’s no one who understands me better than you, even if we’re always fighting and messing with each other, you… you’re my favorite person and… I’m trying to say I’m… I’m really grateful that you’re in my life.”

There is no difference between a heart that beats unhinged and one that stops, at least not for Sanji, because he could not define what state his was in.

Zoro spoke too fast, but he heard every word in slow motion and too clear for his poor mind. When the eyes of the swordsman and his met, the time around them seemed to stop. Maybe it influenced that this time Zoro didn't avoid it, he stuck his gaze into Sanji's blue eyes as if nothing else existed. 

Sanji didn't feel what he expected to feel, it was strange, it was... different . A... warmth? in his chest, a very strange one but pleasant at the same time. 

He cleared his throat, but he couldn’t look away from Zoro. “That… didn’t suck.”

“Didn’t it?” Zoro smiled, and that made his stomach churn.

“Yeah, it didn’t.” 

It was too far from having sucked, and that was definitely going to be a problem very soon.

Chapter Text

Things with Sanji have been a bit... peculiar.

They were still fighting, insulting each other and hanging out together, but there was just something that felt different. It was not noticeable to the naked eye, in fact, Zoro was thinking that the conversation had made him paranoid. 

What made him “confirm” his suspicions was too trivial even for him. Sanji always brought lunch for both of them, and Zoro's always had something he didn't like or slightly burnt in it, it was the cook's way of messing with him. But now it has been a week without such details. Not that he liked it, but he was so used to having them that their absence made him feel weird.

Those were minor things, as irrelevant literally no one else noticed, not even Perona. It was so weird that Zoro didn’t even pay attention to Luffy that whole week. They haven’t practiced the being honest thing since the sheets fort night, Zoro didn’t bring it up and Sanji didn’t mention it, like he had suddenly forgotten about it even if he was the most committed to help him.

That moment was a good example. They were in literature class and Sanji was letting him copy his work. Sanji never lets him copy his work, he always says Zoro needs to earn his grades. It wasn’t like the blond gave him his notebook in hand, he just put it on his desk in a way Zoro could easily read everything he wrote.

He touched Sanji’s hair like he always does, and the moment he did it, the cook jumped. Something was fucking wrong . 

“What?” Zoro asked, and the blond turned his head, looking at him like a weirdo.

“What?” Sanji asked in response.

Zoro studied his face, looking for any sign of mockery or the cook’s usual irritation, but he didn’t find anything. Technically, it was the same face as always, but there was something different.

“What’s up with you?” 

“What do you mean what’s up with me?” Sanji made a face, the exact same face he does whenever Zoro says something stupid. 

“You’re being weird.”

“You're the one being weird, shit head.” Sanji replied, turning his head back to his work. It was obvious he wanted the conversation to be over, but Zoro wasn’t having it.

“If something’s wrong, just say it, idiot.” Zoro pushed.

He could almost see the blond's body twitch. Sanji was silent as he wrote, and after a moment he let out a sigh. “It’s nothing, stupid marimo,  just my dad being an asshole as always.”

“Ah…” Fair enough . Zoro thought, but it was still weird. Sanji has had it worse lots of times, and even with that, he’d never been that kind with him.

Zoro watched Sanji’s profile, trying to gauge if there was more to it. Wasn’t lucky, because Vinsmoke then scolded him for taking too long to finish his work. They turned in their assignments and everything was normal the rest of the day (as normal as it could be), but the swordsman still had the feeling that something was wrong.

Zoro had kendo practice after school, usually Sanji would wait for him and cheer him on from time to time, then they would walk home together. It was a routine, and he was so used to it that he never asked Sanji if he would stay to see him, the blond always did anyway.

That day was different. 

They were walking through the halls, and just a couple of steps away from the school gymnasium, Sanji stopped. “Well, good luck. Hope Tashigi-chan doesn’t beat your ass, marimo.” Zoro glanced back at Sanji, with a look of pure confusion “You’re not staying to watch today?”

“ Nope . I’ve got something to do with my siblings, I have to get home early.” That didn’t fit. Sanji didn’t like hanging out with his brothers, they were all still in the ‘recovering from the father who made them compete with each other from birth’ phase, and they couldn’t stand each other for too long. 

“Alright…” Zoro said slowly, not entirely convinced. “Then I’ll see you later.”

“We’re going out, actually. I won’t be home today” What?  

That only got Zoro even more confused. “Since when do you go out with them?”

“Today, I guess. The old man wants us to get along, so we'll start having ‘family evenings’.” Sanji said, like it wasn't a big deal, but he also looked impatient to go, which was weirder than everything. Zoro would have expected the blond to try to make time. 

“You're really going to go?” 

“They're my siblings, dumbass.” Sanji gave him a poke on the forehead, smiling. A weird smile. Every single aspect of Sanji was weird. "Besides, I'm sure you'll survive one evening without me."

Zoro frowned, rubbing the spot where Sanji had poked him. “Sure…”

"See you tomorrow, marimo." Sanji walked away, and all Zoro stared at his back until he was out of his sight.

He didn't have much time to meditate about it until the practice started.

****

Things with Zoro have been a bit... a bit something .

Sanji hadn't been able to stop thinking about what Zoro had said to him the week before, he had replayed it so many times in his head that he could already recite every word by heart. He had known Zoro practically all his life and that wasn't the first deep talk they had had, though it was the first in a long time. He needed a break from Zoro, and he took it from him because he couldn't take it from his own mind. Sanji was Zoro's favorite person. Not his sister, not even Luffy, it was Sanji, and that was killing him slowly.

Sanji felt something that day, something he thought would disappear in a couple of hours. When it didn't, he convinced himself it would fade in a couple of days. Now it's been a week, and it hasn't disappeared. It was a nagging feeling that haunted him all day every day and kept him awake at night. But the worst part was that it made his whole being shake every time he was near Zoro.

Sanji hated that. He hated not being able to control a feeling, especially if that feeling was attached to the marimo.

It wasn't like he didn’t know what was happening, it was more that he didn’t want to accept it. Sanji had always considered himself as a straight guy, he loved girls almost as much as he loved cooking, and he’d never questioned that. The worst part was that he wasn’t even questioning if he could have feelings for a male; he was questioning if he could have feelings for Zoro.  Sanji really hoped he couldn’t, because it was Zoro, his best friend, his favorite person in the world, in whom he trusted more than anyone else, how could he risk all of that? Besides, it all started because Zoro wanted help with Luffy, the boy he was in love with.  If at any time it would have been convenient for him to feel something more than friendship for Zoro (which it wasn't), now it was much less so than ever. Sanji wasn't afraid or ashamed to have feelings for a man, at the end of the day it was love and there was nothing wrong with love, the problem was that man being Zoro.

He grabbed a pillow, smashed it against his face and screamed at the top of his lungs. He had been lying in his bed for two hours, his brothers and grandfather had gone to eat who knows where, so what he told Zoro to avoid him wasn't entirely untrue, Sanji was just hiding from everyone.

“I’m hungry, are you cooking or should I order pizza?” Reiju’s voice appeared out of nowhere, she stayed at home too, apparently.

Sanji lifted his head from the pillow, glancing at his sister who stood casually at the doorway, one hand on her hip, the other holding her phone. He sighed, rolling over to face the ceiling. "Pizza."

"Okay." 

She turned and walked away, again leaving Sanji and his inner dilemma alone. Less than a minute later, Reiju returned with a bottle of sake and one of his curly eyebrows raised. She sat on the bed next to her brother and tugged on a lock of his hair to get his attention, then, she took a giant gulp of the bottle. "Alright, I'm ready. Tell me."

Sanji looked at her, confused. "What?"

"Something’s obviously bothering you, and it has to be really serious if you're here being depressed instead of talking about it with your little marimo friend." She said, taking another gulp. "Talk with me. I'm going to get drunk, I won't remember anything you say."

Sanji smiled, he loved his sister. He took a moment to think, then sat too. "How do you... shit, how do you know when you, um... like someone? Like, really like someone."

Reiju stared at him for like twenty seconds before choking with the sake because of her laugh. "Are you really asking me about liking someone?" 

Sanji’s face turned a deep shade of red as Reiju coughed, trying to regain her composure. He rolled his eyes and lay down again, turning his back to his sister. "You know what, forget it." 

Reiju stopped laughing, cleared her throat and moderated her voice to make it sweeter. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Don't be like that, Jiji, you took me by surprise, that's all.

Sanji peeked over his shoulder, slightly mollified by her softer tone. “Jiji?”

Reiju grinned, giving him a playful nudge. “Yeah, Jiji. Like a grumpy old man. Now, it's not that I don't want to help you, but I'm pretty sure you know a lot more about this than I do."

Sanji buried his face in the pillow again. Of course . He knew a lot more about romance than anyone he'd ever met.

"Let me ask you something." Raiju said. "Is this romantic confusion of yours, by any chance, related to Zoro? Because it's just not a lot like you to be talking about this kind of thing with me than with him."

Sanji groaned into the pillow, his voice muffled. "I... I guess." 

Reiju took another gulp, she was starting to feel dizzy. "I didn't know you were into boys."

"I'm not." Sanji’s response was automatic, and after a moment, he seemed to remember what they were talking about in the first place. "I don't know, fuck. I've never thought about males like that, not even now."

Reiju left the bottle before getting more dizzy and lay down next to her brother. “Okay, I may not know much about relationships, I do know about gay stuff though. So, if you’re disposed, I can help you with that.” 

Sanji turned his face away from the pillow and looked at his sister in a way that almost made his eyes pop out. “Are you…?”

“ Yup .”

Sanji stared at her, processing what she just admitted. “How come you never told me?”

“You never asked.” She said with a smirk. “Besides, it’s not like I was hiding it, I just thought it wasn’t worth saying anything if I didn’t have a girlfriend.”

“I guess it makes sense… So, have you been through whatever this is before?” 

“Not really. I mean, I’ve always known I don’t like boys, like, at all. And I thought it was normal until I grew up and… you know, the real world. It was confusing to fall for the first time though.” 

“So you just knew? Just like that?”

“Yes, I’ve always been pretty sure I like girls, but I wasn’t sure that I liked that girl, which I think is more similar to what is happening to you.” Reiju stroked her little brother's blond hair as she spoke. She pulled him close to her and hugged him. “Because you don’t seem like you mind liking a boy, you seem like you mind liking that boy.”

“I don’t want to like that boy.” Sanji mumbled. Nothing would ever compare to his mother’s arms, but Reiju’s ones felt very much like it at that moment. “He’s my best friend. You’re not supposed to like your fucking best friend, especially if he’s in love with someone else.”

“Well, that sucks, Jiji.” She pulled him closer, wrapping her arm around him in a comforting embrace. “But you’ll get over it. As soon as you accept that feeling, it’ll be a lot easier to get rid of it.”

Sanji buried his face in Reiju’s shoulder, taking solace in her warmth. “I guess.”

They remained silent, Reiju playing with his brother's hair in the same way Zoro does. The doorbell rang, and Sanji didn't even realize how long he spent talking to her until he saw that it was getting dark outside.

“I know you're very comfortable snuggling with me, but I'm starving and the pizza is here, so pull me up Jiji.”

Sanji chuckled softly, reluctantly pulling away from Reiju. “Alright, alright.”

He paid the delivery man and Reiju poured more sake for both of them. They sat eating on the couch with a horror movie on TV. After he finished his first slice, Sanji asked: “Do our brothers know you are gay?”

Reiju stopped chewing, grimaced thoughtfully and then shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea, I don’t think so. I feel that grandpa knows, though.”

“Judge will kill you if he finds out.”

Reiju turned to look at him with an amused smile. “He will kill us both, hun, you’re gay too.”

Sanji nearly choked on his pizza, his eyes wide as he glanced at Reiju. “I’m not!”

She smiled and ruffled her little brother's hair. “You sure aren’t, Jiji.”

He wasn't, but Reiju was going to save the bisexual explanation for another day.

Chapter Text

Monday, new week, new beginning. 

Sanji woke up with a new determination, did all his morning chores and set about preparing lunch for himself and Zoro. Something simple; onigiris filled with seasoned salmon, a side of boiled vegetables, and a few perfectly grilled chicken brochettes, because that’s what was fucking simple for him.

As he molded the rice, he got the idea that it would be much easier to get over the silly marimo than any girl. Being honest, he couldn't imagine himself pampering Zoro like he did his partners. Zoro was too much of a brute to give him flowers, he'd be too lazy to read his letters and he'd surely stare at him like an idiot when Sanji tried to say sweet words. He ended up burning a little bit of the chicken for Zoro’s lunch, and as minimal as that was, it felt like a relief. Reiju was right after all, accept the crush and live with it until it disappears, easy. Sanji has had tons of crushes in the past, how different could it be? Of course none of those was a boy, but seriously, it couldn’t be that different.   Walking to school next to the green gorilla felt no different than any other day, they joked, fought and talked about stupid things all the way. Sanji felt at ease, for a moment he forgot he had a potential crush on his best friend and remained just that, his best friend.

But of course, things could never go well for Sanji. All the calm and peace of mind he had gathered over the weekend crumbled the moment that Zoro took his hand. It was quick, so out of the blue that Sanji didn’t have a chance to react until the stupid marimo interlaced their fingers. His first instinct was wanting to let go, but Zoro didn’t let him. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” Zoro raised his joined hands and stared at them like they were the most interesting thing in the world. It was even funny the contrast between them; while Zoro’s hand was tough and calloused, Sanji’s was paler and thin. 

“Practicing.” He answered. Some girls passed next to them and started mumbling, then Sanji felt his soul leaving his body and his face turning red. They were in the middle of the fucking hallway.

Sanji wanted to scream. Of all places, of all times, Zoro had to pick the middle of the hallway, right in front of everyone, to pull this stunt. He could already hear the whispers spreading like wildfire among the girls who passed by, their giggles only adding fuel to the fire burning under his skin. His hand twitched, and he tried to yank it free, but Zoro’s grip remained unrelenting.

“We’re in public, dumbass!” 

“I don't like holding hands.” Zoro said, all peaceful, but still refusing to let go of Sanji’s hand. 

“Then let go!” 

Zoro shook his head slightly, still staring at their joined hands. “No. I have to get used to it.”

Sanji was picturing himself jumping from the fucking roof. All possible shades of red were mixed in his face. “Why the fuck do you have to do it with me? Zoro, people are staring, let go!” 

“Couples do it, I have to practice if I want to do it with Luffy without feeling weird.” All the embarrassment went away right at the moment he heard Luffy’s name. He stopped trying to let go when he felt a sudden, unpleasant prick of something he could only recognize as jealousy. He wanted to die right then and there. His weekend had been fine, he'd partially accepted the stupid crush, he'd done his best to resign himself to the fact that Zoro would never look back at him even as a joke and that relieved him, but all that calm vanished as soon as he tried to let go for the fifth time and Zoro didn’t let him. 

“Yes, idiot, couples. Not us.”

“What’s the difference?” 

“What's the—!” 

Zoro didn't let him finish, he closed the blond's locker with his free hand and dragged him down the hallway towards his classroom. Sanji was a mess; on the one hand he was screaming with embarrassment at all the stares they were getting, but on the other hand he was really enjoying the contact (although he wasn't about to admit that, no way). After a full minute of walking in silence, Sanji began to wonder if the hallway was always that fucking long. 

“This is actually not as horrible as I thought it’d be.” Zoro said. Sanji looked at him sideways, his face was burning red.

“Really?” 

“Yeah.” Zoro gave him a little smile and the cook felt his legs wavering. How the hell could he get so damn excited for something as simple as holding hands? “I thought it was way worse than this, I guess I won’t have a problem getting used to it.”

Oh my fucking god, you did not just say that. Sanji thought. “That’s the gayest thing I’ve heard you say.” He mocked. Zoro then gave him a weird look.

“Because I am gay.” Oh. Right . Sanji’s smile almost disappeared, he had no other choice but to clear his throat. He felt like an idiot. Of course Zoro was gay. He knew that. It was like the whole point of them holding hands at that moment. 

“Whatever.” He muttered. How long had they been walking? Shouldn't they have arrived by now? It wasn't until Sanji glanced down the hallway that he realized they'd gone past the classroom. “Marimo, class is back there.”

“I know.” 

Sanji blinked, confusion flashing across his face. “What do you mean, you know? Then why the hell are we still walking?”

Zoro shrugged, his hand still firmly clasped around Sanji’s. “Figured we could walk a little longer.”

Sanji was sure his heart was going to jump out of his chest at any moment. “We’re gonna be late, idiot! We had an assignment to turn in today!”

It wasn’t worth insisting, Zoro would only hear what was convenient for him, and Sanji complaining about class wasn’t. They just kept walking, Vinsmoke couldn't help but think how he was enjoying the whole situation.

“You know, this is kind of nice.” Zoro said. “Your hand is soft.

Sanji felt his face flush, and he was grateful they were walking side by side so Zoro couldn’t see how red he’d probably turned. Why did he have to say things like that? “Of course it is, shit head.” It was strange that every time Sanji turned his attention back to where they were walking, they had already moved at least ten meters away. “My hands are my entire life, I have to take good care of them.” 

“Yeah, I can feel that.” Zoro remained silent for a while, when he said something again, his voice was kind of softer. “Maybe that’s why it feels... comfortable.”

Dear God, why are you doing this to me? Sanji swallowed dryly. He wanted to say something, but he didn't want to risk ending up speaking off the cuff and letting the stupid swordsman know how he thought that even though Zoro's hand was much rougher than his, he liked the feel of it. It might sound too corny (even for Sanji) but for a moment the thought of how well their hands fit together crossed his mind.

Sanji forced himself back to reality when he remembered why they were doing that in the first place, he cleared his throat again and tried his best to sound mocking. 

“Hope you think that when you do it with Luffy.” His own words felt bitter, but Sanji needed to get rid of that stupid crush soon and Zoro wasn’t helping.

The swordsman said nothing, in fact he didn't utter a sound for several seconds until he broke the silence with a chuckle.

“I hope so.”

****

Sanji was lucky his mental storm didn’t last long and was able to get used to the stupid marimo refusing to let go of his hand all day. Eventually, the shame of being seen by all the beautiful girls around was worse.  He could practically hear them whispering, probably wondering what the hell two guys like them were doing holding hands. It was humiliating, but at some point, Sanji just stopped caring.

They were together in the cafeteria, eating the lunch Vinsmoke brought for them as always. Zoro ate like an animal, so they usually didn't talk until the marimo was finished as it got on Sanji's nerves when he spit out food. His mind was so focused on deciding what he was gonna prepare for the movie night with his siblings that he almost had a heart attack when Zoro let go of his hand out of nowhere with abruptness. He wanted to ask ‘What the hell?’ but he had his mouth full, so all he did was stare at Zoro in confusion. The green haired gorilla had his eyes fixed on the entrance of the cafeteria, where he spotted Luffy entering with his brother. Sanji bit his tongue, but it was painless compared with the prick of jealousy he felt in the chest. 

He tried to ignore it, but it became more difficult when he noticed how warm the hand Zoro had held was compared to the other one. Sanji obligated himself to eat in silence while his best friend kept looking at Luffy like a stalker. That’s when Ace seemed to realize the intensity of the stare directed to his little brother. His eyes scanned the cafeteria briefly until they landed on Sanji, who looked exactly in that direction at that exact moment. Their eyes met, and Ace smiled at him. Sanji wanted to be swallowed up by the ground. He averted his gaze back to his food, ashamed as if he had committed a crime. Great . He thought. Now Portgas would surely think it was him watching his brother with razor eyes. The worst part was that Zoro didn't even notice, and kept looking at Luffy like a weirdo.

Sanji gave his idiot best friend a pinch, finally getting his attention back. “What?”

“Be a little discreet, mosshead.”

Zoro blinked and shot Sanji a confused look. "Discreet about what?" he asked, clearly not getting the point.

Sanji rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Stop staring at your crush like a stalker, Ace noticed.”

Once again, Zoro looked at Luffy’s table without dissimulation, and his gaze found Ace’s, who hadn’t stopped watching them. They both went back to their own business almost at the same time, the marimo looked away first, and Ace winked at Sanji before turning his head back. The blond thought that was all, but then Luffy turned to look at them and a giant smile appeared on his face as he got up.

“Hi guys!” He practically jumped on top of them, wrapping them both in a hug that made Sanji laugh. Zoro smiled, but it was a rare smile of nervousness that even though he knew how to hide it well, the blond noticed. “What did you prepare? I want some!” Of course, he didn’t wait for an answer and took Zoro’s plate. 

Sanji scolded him for stealing the food, but he was very amused and couldn't even try to get angry. Ace sat down next to his brother, gave him a smack on the head and then turned to Sanji.

“Looks nice, can I try?” The blond smiled, he didn’t know Ace very well, but he could notice from miles afar how different he was from his little brother. 

“If Luffy doesn’t eat it all first.”

Ace chuckled, reaching over to grab a portion of the food with a grin. Luffy mumbled something about it being his, and he only got another punch in the head. 

It was funny how comfortable Sanji was feeling around Luffy. Maybe for other people it would be hard getting along with the crush of their crush, but not for him. He loved Luffy, and liking Zoro wouldn't change that. It also probably didn’t make sense being jealous five minutes ago and fine now, but it was hard having negative feelings about Luffy because it was Luffy , and everyone should be worried if there existed someone who didn’t like Luffy.  

He turned to look at Zoro, his eyes still focused on Luffy, as if they would burn if he stopped looking at him. The discomfort returned, but what was the point of feeling bad? That wasn't going to change anything. 

Zoro was Zoro. And Zoro liked Luffy.

Sanji would have to live with it until the goddamn crush went away, no matter how long that took. He sighed, trying to will the feeling away, but it clung to him like a stubborn weed. Every time Zoro looked at Luffy with that stupid, soft expression, it was like a little stab to his chest. He just had to endure it, wait it out like a storm, and eventually, he’d be free from this ridiculous affection. 

Eventually, the marimo joined the conversation and Sanji stopped paying attention. He still had to decide he was going to prepare for the movie night. Zoro didn't hold his hand again the whole time they were in the cafeteria, he did until they left and Luffy couldn't see him anymore. 

Chapter Text

Things with Sanji were getting weirder everyday.

At a moment everything was fine, then he started acting weird and then came back to normal, but that 'normal' didn't feel quite normal.  It wasn't the fact that Sanji was more distant per se, it was that they didn't spend as much time together as they used to. 

After the holding hands day where Luffy ate with them, Ace asked Sanji for his number and they started hanging out more often. Maybe the blond noticed his discomfort, because he made a joke about sacrificing himself so Zoro could spend more time with Luffy. Needless to say, Zoro didn't like that joke.

He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, and it gnawed at him constantly. Sanji had always been there—his cooking, his constant insults, the way he’d make sure Zoro had food during lunch. It wasn’t just routine, it was comfortable. But now, everything felt off-kilter. 

He tried to convince himself that he was annoyed by the way Sanji had gotten so comfortable around Portgas in just a few days while it took years to Zoro. They met almost a decade ago, and it had always been just the two of them, no one else. Of course, they both had other friends, but they were always each other's priority, at least until now. Zoro never thought that things would be different if it worked out with Luffy, because he was always Sanji's first priority, even when he had a girlfriend.

The worst part was that it wasn’t even a big change, it was just that they no longer spent all day together every day. They still walked to school together every morning, but they no longer went home together every afternoon. They shared all their classes and talked there, but sometimes the blond would stop paying attention to reply to texts that Ace sent him. They ate together during lunch, but now Luffy and Ace often joined them. He shouldn’t have been bothered by it; in fact, he should have been grateful. Luffy talked to him much more than before, and they went out together to hang out whenever his brother went out with Sanji in the afternoons. He was jealous, and that jealousy was ridiculous and selfish.

“Are you staying to watch the practice today?” Zoro asked when they were walking through the halls after the classes finished. Sanji lit a cigarette, his attempts to moderate his consumption had gone out the window after the feelings acceptance talk Reiju gave him.

“ Yup .”

“Wanna go get something to eat after? I’m craving Chinese food.” 

Sanji made a face while exhaling a cloud of smoke. “Shit, you should have told me sooner, dumbass. I’m going to the cinema with Ace.”

Fucking Ace again . He thought. Zoro’s face fell slightly, though he tried to hide it. “Okay. Whatever, curls.”

Sanji draped an arm around the marimo’s shoulders in a teasing manner, and the smoke from his cigarette hit the poor guy right in the face. “Hey, Ace told me Luffy doesn’t have plans for today, so you should ask him out, Romeo.”

Something in the forced smile Zoro had on Sanji felt wrong, and the blond changed the topic immediately. He had to be stupid to not notice how Zoro had been acting the last few days.

Sanji hated how confused everything was. On one hand, he was really enjoying spending time with Ace, they were really good friends and he was helping him in a way to distract himself from the stupid crush, but on the other hand, he missed Zoro. He missed their daily hangouts, their conversations, everything.

They were still best friends, but now they both knew there was some kind tension between them, and neither of them understood it enough to talk about it. Sanji didn't want to think, not even for a second, that Zoro could be jealous of him, that'd only make the crush worse and he'd been dealing with it just fine—or so he hoped.

Besides, Sanji’s intentions never were to replace Zoro, it was impossible. The marimo was his best friend, the most important person in his life, how could that even cross his mind?

It wasn’t like he was trying to transfer the crush from Zoro to Ace, either. He literally couldn’t. Sanji didn’t like men, he liked Zoro , and that was something that unfortunately could not change. His intention of spending more time with Portgas was to distract his mind, he was genuinely a really good friend.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't even pay attention to the practice, and every time he came to, he caught Zoro looking at him in a way that turned his stomach. The dark eyes of the marimo made him feel exposed, and with every glance the desire to run away increased. He had to muster a lot of courage to keep his composure when practice ended and Zoro began to say goodbye to his teammates. Sanji stood up, and, while he was packing his stuff, he received a call from Ace. 

“ Hey, do you mind if Yamato joins us? ” 

Sanji almost sighed in relief when Ace’s voice broke the tension, pulling him out of his spiraling thoughts. “Sure, no problem,” he replied, forcing a smile even though Ace couldn’t see him. “See you both at the mall.”

“ See ya! ”

When Sanji turned back to Zoro, he was walking straight to him. He had that something in his eyes that had been getting on his nerves the whole practice. 

“I need help.” Without saying one more word, Zoro grabbed Sanji by the wrist and started pulling him out of the gymnasium. 

“What? Help with wh—? Hey, marimo! Ace is waiting for me!” 

Zoro didn’t stop, his grip on Sanji’s wrist unrelenting as he pushed open the doors of the gym and led him down the quiet hallway. 

“Oi! What the hell are you doing?!” Sanji snapped, half-annoyed, half-confused. “I told you, Ace is—" Zoro suddenly stopped, and the blond almost almost crashed into the marimo’s back. “What!?

“He’s not your fucking best friend, I am. I’m asking you for help, are you gonna put him over me?”

Sanji froze, his breath catching in his throat as Zoro’s words hit him like a punch to the gut. He spent days thinking he was doing Zoro a favor by taking some distance and focusing on his new friend, he thought Zoro was enjoying time with Luffy, but he was now reproaching him?

Sanji didn’t know what to say. Should he get mad too, or should he apologize? Again, he wasn’t trying to replace Zoro, he was just trying to get rid of the fucking crush, but now it seemed like it didn’t work at all. He cleared his throat before speaking.

“I know you’re my best friend, idiot.” Sanji released his grip roughly. “Let me just… call him to cancel.”

He turned away from the marimo, a bit shaken, and pulled out his cell phone to call Ace. As the line connected, he glanced sideways at Zoro a couple of times, who was waiting visibly calmer than before. 

“Hey, Ace.” Sanji said, trying to keep his voice steady. “I’m sorry but I can’t make it today, something came up.”

Portgas sounded surprised, but he understood and they agreed to hang out another time. Once they hung up, Zoro just started walking in silence. Sanji sighed, he caught up to the marimo, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Are you gonna tell me or not?” Sanji finally asked, his tone half-annoyed but mostly curious.

Zoro glanced over at him but kept walking. “Let’s go to my place.”

Sanji raised an eyebrow but nodded, following Zoro as they made their way out of the school grounds and headed toward the marimo’s place. The walk was quiet, with Zoro clearly lost in thought and Sanji trying to piece together what might have triggered this outburst. He finished two cigarettes on the way because of anxiety. 

Perona wasn’t home, nor her dad. They went straight to the marimo’s room, and Sanji started to get nervous while sitting on the bed. “So?”

“Do the sheets fort thing.”

Sanji blinked, momentarily confused. “The what?”

“That bullshit you did the last time, you said it was our safe place. I want to be honest, I need my safe place.”

Sanji looked at him stunned. Of course he remembered, that damn idea he had was the whole reason he’d been having such confusing feelings. If he hadn’t had it, he wouldn’t have that fucking crush, and he could be helping Zoro with Luffy like a good best friend. Sanji sighed.

“Alright, alright. Get your stupid ass up.” Zoro obeyed, and the blond did the job. He arranged the pillows and sheets, motioned for the swordsman to enter once he was ready. Sanji followed him inside, feeling some kind of déjà vú. “So? What did you want to talk about?”

“How do you know if you’re jealous?”

“How do you know if you’re what?” Sanji asked, stunned again. 

“C’mon, you heard me the first time.”

Sanji blinked, and he almost laughed because he genuinely didn’t expect that question. How could someone be jealous of Luffy? He is like a ray of sunshine, everyone loves him. If things worked between Luffy and Zoro, he would have to live cautious of everyone because there is not a single soul on earth who does not love Luffy.

“Okay, sorry. I just… I didn’t think you could be jealous. But I guess nothing about you can surprise me anymore, right?

Zoro huffed, a bit irritated but not denying it. “Whatever you say, curls.”

“Well, jealousy is a really complex feeling, so…” Sanji wanted to have a cigarette, but Zoro hated the smell and he could not escape it under the sheets. “Why don’t you tell me what you feel and then I can tell you if it sounds like jealousy or not.” Sanji finished, folding his arms as he tried to focus on helping Zoro, not on how close they were under the sheets.

“You know I suck with words.”

“Then make an effort, shit head. Otherwise, I can’t help you.”

Zoro gave him a sideways glance before leaning back against the pillows. “I don’t like… not having his attention.” 

“I didn’t know you were the possessive type.” Sanji said with a smirk. 

“I’m not possessive.” Zoro shot him a glare. “I just… I don’t like sharing people.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but Luffy is like a puppy, the kind of puppy everyone wants to pet all the time. You’ll have to get used to it, he has tons of friends.”

“I guess so.”

“Okay, you don’t like sharing him, what else?” Sanji was having it difficult, Zoro being jealous could only mean he cared—because he didn’t want to say ‘love’—Luffy a lot.

“Um… There are some things that… I feel they’re just ours, you know? And when he does those things with someone else I feel… bad.”

Sanji raised an eyebrow. He knew Zoro wasn’t talking about him, but that felt some kind of… personal .

“How bad?”

“Gross.”

Sanji blinked in confusion. "Gross?" He repeated, not quite sure if he understood. "What do you mean, gross?"

“I don’t know, but it is an awful feeling.” Zoro felt he wasn’t being clear enough, so he sat again and Sanji felt his stomach burning. “I’m not saying I’m annoyed because he has friends, but because he has this one specific friend that…”

“That could potentially take your place?” Sanji finished and Zoro nodded. It was not personal, it wasn’t, but why the fuck did it felt so personal? Sanji swallowed hard, trying to push down the knot forming in his throat. He knew Zoro was talking about Luffy and someone else, but the way he described it hit way too close to home. “No one could ever replace you, marimo. your idiocy has no comparison.”

Zoro gave a small, appreciative smile at the comment, and Sanji couldn't help but think how he loved that smile. “Thanks, shitty cook.” 

“Alright, what else do you feel?”

The green haired guy hesitated for a moment, he was trying to put the words in order before talking. He hated how he kept struggling to express himself. At a moment, his eyes landed on Sanji’s hand and he remembered the day he held it, it was soft, and warm, and fit so ridiculously well with his own.

“He has nice hands.” Zoro almost mumbled. “They’re thin, and soft, and I hate imagining them being touched by anyone else. It makes me feel... unsettled, I guess.”

Sanji’s heart skipped a beat. Zoro wasn’t talking about him, he wasn’t! But seriously, why was it feeling so fucking personal? He was gonna go crazy.

“What else?” Zoro looked into his eyes, almost sending a shiver down his spine. He did not look away, and Sanji felt self-conscious. 

“He has a pretty smile. I bet he could light up a whole room just by smiling. I like it when he smiles at me, it feels so... warm.” 

He should feel bad, he should want to run off and lock himself in his room to cry, but he felt no discomfort, quite the opposite. Zoro was supposed to be talking about Luffy, but the dark eyes of the swordsman locked on him made his words feel so... his . 

He wanted to say something, but Zoro wasn’t done. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t thinking before speaking, he was just doing it. He always avoided looking people in the eyes, especially Sanji. There was no need to, at least he felt the connection they shared was enough to be able to spare himself the looks and words, but just then, Sanji's blue eyes simply let him speak, unable to stop looking at them.

“He has… the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen.” Zoro’s voice trembled slightly as he spoke, and he found himself unable to look away from Sanji’s gaze. “They’re pure, and deep, and I feel like I’m looking at the ocean.” Zoro continued, his voice almost a whisper. “Every time I look into them I feel like I’m sinking, but in a way that makes me want to drown. I want those eyes to only look at me.”

Ocean…

The word echoed in Sanji’s mind, resonating in a way that made his chest tighten. Zoro had no idea how much that comparison struck a chord, how personal it felt.

Neither of them said anything in a while, and Sanji wasn't aware of how long they just sat there, looking at each other. They had never done it for so long, and at a certain point, Sanji feared that Zoro might hear the wayward beating of his heart. He cleared his throat, and with some difficulty, managed to tear his eyes away from the swordsman.

“You must love him a lot, right?” Sanji asked, obviously referring to Luffy. Zoro blinked twice, then cleared his throat and looked away too.

Zoro rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable. “Yeah, I… I guess I do.”

Sanji smiled humorlessly at him, and Zoro went back to what he said before; the smile, the hands, the eyes, Luffy, Sanji.... ¿Sanji?

Zoro's thoughts were in disarray. He had been talking about Luffy, hadn’t he? But then, why did Sanji's face keep flashing through his mind? That smile, those hands, those damn blue eyes… Why did it all suddenly feel like he wasn’t describing Luffy at all?

Shit, maybe now Zoro had a problem too.

Chapter Text

Zoro definitely had a problem. 

One huge problem that started in the moment he let himself talk without using his stupid brain. He thought he was sure about his feelings, or at least as sure as he could be being him. 

Zoro always knew he liked men, it was something he just knew and never had the necessity of questioning. When the whole crush thing with Luffy started, it felt simple. Luffy was easy to love; kind, funny, carefree, always smiling. Even Sanji said it, Luffy was the kind of guy everybody loved.

Zoro had never been in love before, so in order to give a name to what he felt for Luffy, he began to compare his feelings and behaviors to what he always saw in Sanji with his girlfriends: the way he changed his tone of voice every time he talked about them, the way he smiled when he saw them even from afar, the warmth he claimed to feel when he had them close. Zoro just assumed that all of that was how love should feel. 

So when he found himself drawn to Luffy's carefree nature, his infectious smile, and his constant need for attention, it seemed like a logical fit. That must be love, right?

The main problem was that before, he could always ask his best friend—his love expert best friend—whom he trusted more than anyone. He couldn’t do it now. It was so fucking serious for him because he couldn’t tell Sanji. For the first time, there was something he couldn’t tell Sanji.

He needed help, but who the fuck was he supposed to ask for help if his best friend was the reason he needed help in the first place? Zoro was on his own to find out whatever was happening to him; forget dating Luffy, he wasn’t even sure if he ever liked him for real. The most important issue now was to figure out if it was possible that he had feelings for his best friend—which he really hoped he didn't.  

Zoro did the only thing he could do in such a situation; he did an internet search. He knew it was a cliché, but in his confusion, he needed to start somewhere.

          How do I know if I like my best friend?

Well, at least it was easy typing it. Not like Sanji, who took twenty minutes to even type it into the search engine. He browsed for a while, skipping over various tests and pages with names so ridiculous that he was embarrassed just reading them.

          Am I in love with my best friend?
            🇭​​​​​🇪​​​​​🇷​​​​​🇪​​​​​ 🇦​​​​​🇷​​​​​🇪​​​​​ 🇹​​​​​🇪​​​​​🇳​​​​​ 🇸​​​​​🇮​​​​​🇬​​​​​🇳​​​​​🇸​​​​​ 🇾​​​​​🇴​​​​​🇺​​​​​ 🇲​​​​​🇮​​​​​🇬​​​​​🇭​​​​​🇹​​​​​ 🇧​​​​​🇪​​​​​ 🇮​​​​​🇳​​​​​ 🇱​​​​​🇴​​​​​🇻​​​​​🇪​​​​​ 🇼​​​​​🇮​​​​​🇹​​​​​🇭​​​​​ 🇾​​​​​🇴​​​​​🇺​​​​​🇷​​​​​ 🇧​​​​​🇪​​​​​🇸​​​​​🇹​​​​​ 🇫​​​​​🇷​​​​​🇮​​​​​🇪​​​​​🇳​​​​​🇩​​​​​!

I feel that I am at the lowest point in my life. Zoro thought.

          ♡ You want to be around them
Well, yeah. They’ve been best friends for a very long time, of course Zoro would want to be around him.

          ♡ You seek attention
Zoro wouldn’t admit it, but he definitely was. He said it, he hated not having his attention, especially if it was because that attention was focused on somebody else. 

          ♡ You think about them all day
He sure was thinking about Sanji more often than he used to, but saying all day was an exaggeration.

          ♡ You feel possessive
I’m not possessive. Zoro tried convincing himself. Yet, every time Sanji was too friendly with someone else, that unsettling feeling stirred inside him. He wanted Sanji’s attention to be his—just his. But no, there was no way he could be possessive.

          ♡ You have funny feelings around them
Zoro would rather call them ‘extremely confusing and terrifying feelings’. 

          ♡ You dress up for them 
Definitely not. Zoro had never cared about his appearance, he wouldn’t do it now. 

          ♡ You feel like kissing them and holding their hands
Kissing was going too far—he wasn’t that messed up. But he couldn't help remembering the day they held hands, the softness of Sanji’s skin, the contrast between his own tough hand and Sanji’s thin and elegant hand. He realized that he’d even memorized the small scars from knife cuts.

          ♡ You would do anything for them
He would. Zoro would do anything for Sanji without thinking, but that was normal, wasn’t it? He was his best friend, his favorite person in the world, whom he trusted more than anyone, and wasn't that how it should be? It didn't mean anything more than that… right?

          ♡ You notice every detail about them
Let’s define ‘details’ . He thought. Because he might not notice if the blond got a haircut or bought a new pair of shoes, but there were other things—important things—that he did notice.

Like the way he twisted his lips when he was upset, how he smoked more when he was stressed, or the bites he used to leave on pencils when he was concentrating. He would notice the scars on his hands and notice when there was a new one. He also noticed that Sanji had different smiles depending on his mood, and perhaps he should worry about how well he knew how to differentiate the happy smile from the 'I'm about to kick you to death' smile.

So, yeah… maybe he did notice some details.

          ♡ You imagine your future with them
That was also going too far. Zoro wouldn’t imagine a future with Sanji in that way , but he definitely couldn't imagine it without him. The idea of Sanji not being there—annoying him, cooking for him, or just being his usual self—felt wrong. He had always assumed that wherever he ended up, Sanji would somehow be a part of it, even if he never thought about it too deeply. 

That was the last point of the list, and Zoro didn’t know anything new. He was just as confused as the beginning. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face with both hands, what the fuck was he doing?

“What the fuck are you doing?” Perona's voice appeared out of nowhere behind him and Zoro's heart almost skipped a beat. His first instinct was to slam the computer shut.

“How many times have I told you to knock on the fucking door!?”

“I did knock, you’re just deaf.” She sat next to her brother, staring at him like a criminal. “So? What were you doing?”

Zoro gave her a poke on the forehead with his finger. “None of your business, ghost freak.”

Perona rubbed her forehead and gave him a mock pout. “You’re so mean." She made a face, and then when she noticed how her brother was clinging to the computer as if his life depended on it, he smiled mischievously. "What do you have there?"

Zoro panicked when Perona tried to take the computer, he almost threw it through the window. "I said nothing of your damn business!"

Perona raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "Is that so?" 

Zoro glared at her, still clutching the computer as if it were his lifeline. "Yeah, that's so," he snapped, trying to calm his racing heart. He knew Perona well enough to realize she wouldn’t drop it easily, and her smug expression only made it worse. “Now get lost.”

“You're more of an idiot than usual, Zorocchi, what’s gotten into you?” No answer was received, so she didn’t even bother to ask again. Her brother was hard-headed enough to get a single word out of him. “Ugh, you’re impossible. Whatever, I just came to tell you to put on some decent clothes, dad wants to eat outside.”

“Tell him I’m not going.” Perona rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, well, dad also said it wasn’t a request, so hurry up and change or I might have to come back up here and drag your ass down myself.” Perona gave him a gentle punch on the arm and walked out of the room, leaving Zoro grumbling, still guarding the computer.

He wished he could tell his sister everything that was going through his head, but his relationship with Perona had always been based on teasing and they rarely talked about serious subjects, surely the girl's first instinct would be to laugh at him, and that would only make his mental storm worse.

“GET YOUR STUPID ASS DOWN HERE BEFORE I GO TO DRAG YOU BY THE EARS!”

Yeah, he loved his sister.

****

He had been thinking about it all night; if he wanted to understand his feelings, he had to keep pretending to be in love with Luffy so that Sanji would keep giving him 'lessons'. Zoro looked at the blond sideways while they were eating lunch, his mouth was crooked as he looked at his food, he must have snuck in something he didn't like when he made it.

“What are you doing today?” He asked with his mouth full and Sanji hit him on the forehead with a spoon.

“How many times do I have to tell you to eat like a civilized person? God.” 

Zoro grunted, rubbing the spot where Sanji had just smacked him with the spoon. "I am civilized. You just can’t appreciate it," he said, still chewing.

Sanji rolled his eyes dramatically. "Civilized my ass. You eat like a wild animal." 

Zoro wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, still smirking. “Whatever, I asked you something.”

“Family evening.” Sanji snorted. “We’re going bowling, can you believe it? I never thought I’d ever go bowling with my siblings.”

Zoro stuffed his mouth with food, but this time he preferred not to speak to avoid another blow with the spoon. “Are you really going?”

“They’re not as terrible as I thought, now Ichiji and I can have a conversation without ending in blows. We’re even watching a show together. Seriously, when would I have thought I could get along so well with him?”

Sanji kept talking about how great his relationship with his siblings was getting, and all Zoro could see was his smile. God, since when did he have such a beautiful smile? Was it always like that? How come he never noticed? And his eyes… his blue eyes sparkled in a way he’d never seen before. He eventually stopped listening, his thoughts went back to the list of signs from his search. 

He needed to clear his mind, otherwise, he was gonna go crazy.

“Curls.” Zoro interrupted the blond, and thank god he did because Sanji was about to ask him something whose answer was in the words he had stopped hearing who knows how long ago. “Don’t go, let’s go eat together.”

Sanji blinked, momentarily taken aback by the sudden change in Zoro’s demeanor. He had been talking animatedly about his plans, and now Zoro was asking him to hang out, which felt oddly out of the blue.

“You want me to drop my family to go eat with you?”

“Yes.” 

Sanji smirked. “And what are we eating?”

Zoro shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “Burgers?”

“Are you paying?”

“Yes.”

“Deal.”

Zoro smiled slightly, but inside he felt as if he had won a war. Sanji texted his sister, she just scoffed and asked him to buy her some fries. When classes were over, Sanji received a text from Ace asking if he wanted to hang out, and Zoro felt like winning a war again when the blond politely declined.

On the way to the mall they talked as they always did, Sanji talked a little more about his brothers and Zoro complained about how nosy Perona was. For a moment, the green-haired boy forgot his mental dilemma and was able to enjoy the time with his best friend, as he had always been. Then, his gaze fell by accident on the blond's hand and he began to feel like grabbing it, just like last time. They were walking close to each other, and Zoro made an inhuman effort to resist the impulse every time their hands were just centimeters apart. 

The fuck?

Just two blocks away from the mall, he took Sanji’s hand. He interlaced his fingers and Sanji jumped just like last time. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” Vinsmoke asked, feeling his face turning red.

“Practicing.” That’s what you call a déjà vú . Of course, Sanji tried to let go, it was a huge difference between holding hands at school than doing it on the street. 

“I thought we were over this! Let go, you moron!” 

Zoro’s grip tightened instinctively as Sanji tried to pull away, feeling the contrast between their hands—one trying to hold on and the other trying to escape. He could also feel the little scars from the knife cuts, and he mentally congratulated himself when he pinpointed the location of each one.

Sanji wanted to throw himself to the highway, why did every fucking time he felt he was getting better with the crush, Zoro suddenly did something to make it ten times worse?

“I have to practice, remember?”

“Why does it have to be with me!? Oi, marimo, we’re in public! What if some homophobe sees us?” Zoro looked at him like he’d just said the dumbest thing in the world. Then, he showed Sanji his other hand. 

“I’ll have one free hand to beat them up.” Zoro smiled, and the poor blond almost had a heart attack.

Oh my fucking god. I feel so fucking gay right fucking now. 

“I hate you.” Sanji muttered, he stopped trying to let go and allowed himself to enjoy the contact. Who knew when it was going to happen again.

“I hate you too.” 

****

How did they always end up in such situations?

Zoro was sitting on a bench waiting for Sanji to come out of the drugstore. They had one plan, one simple, easy and relaxing plan; get some burgers, talk and then go to Vinsmoke’s place to play video games. Obviously, things would never go well for them. 

Sanji wasn’t even surprised, it would have been a miracle that two boys holding hands in public didn’t get some kind of attention, especially the wrong kind. They crossed paths with a group of homophobes as they were about to arrive at the mall, and obviously ignoring the offensive comments was not an option. At the first round of laughter, they looked at each other and made a bet almost by telepathy, punches and kicks flew. Of course they didn't come out unscathed, no matter how much they trained, eight against two was a noticeable difference. The sales clerk looked at Sanji oddly as he paid for the supplements, the boy had a busted lip, disheveled hair and red, bloody knuckles. Zoro had the same injuries, but he also had one on the eyebrow. They looked like they'd just walked out of a brawl—and in truth, they had.

“You know I won, right?” Sanji asked when he was back with his friend. He opened the package of antiseptic wipes under the gaze of the marimo.

“You wish, shitty cook.” He snorted. “I beat five of those bastards.”

“And I had to beat two of them again because you can’t even fight well, so I won.” Sanji quickly cleaned his hands with one of the wipes, grimacing at the sting.

Zoro crossed his arms and leaned back on the bench, unfazed. "You're dreaming. I had them handled just fine, you just got impatient."

Sanji held him by the cheeks to shut him up, squeezed them and thereby teased the injured lip of the green haired guy. Zoro gasped. 

“You’re already ugly enough, now your face looks like shit, you’ll get even uglier.” Sanji took another wipe and began to carefully clean around the eyebrow cut. 

Zoro wanted to protest, but Sanji’s fingers brushed lightly against his skin and his mind blocked. The blond had taken care of his injuries tons of times in the past, why was everything feeling different now? 

“Don’t move, shit head.” Sanji muttered, too focused on cleaning up the dried blood to notice how close they were, or the swordsman's sharp gaze on him.

Had Sanji always been so delicate healing his injuries? Zoro tried to remember, but he couldn’t. He’d never paid attention to that before. The cleaning process felt eternal, although it must hadn’t taken more than five minutes. The blond didn’t let go of his cheeks, he just used his free hand to take the antibiotic ointment.

“You’re gonna have a scar.” he said, as he carefully applied the ointment to the wound. Zoro barely felt the pain, his mind was completely focused on the cook's gentle touch. He couldn’t say anything, he just stared. 

When he finished with the eyebrow, Sanji released his grip on his cheeks and gently held him by the chin to heal the lip wound. Zoro could barely breathe. Sanji took another wipe to clean it.

“This one’s gonna hurt.” Sanji warned as he brought the antiseptic wipe closer to Zoro’s lip. When the wipe touched the wound, a sharp sting jolted through Zoro, but he barely flinched. He was beginning to think he could have a gunshot wound and wouldn't feel it just by looking at Sanji.

It was when Sanji finished cleaning his lip that he realized; his hands were injured. His knuckles were reddened and with some blood already dried. Without thinking, Zoro reached for his hands, gently pulling them closer to examine the damage.

“Oi, I haven’t—" Sanji started, but Zoro cut him off with a firm, yet soft grip.

“This looks like shit.” Zoro muttered, his eyes tracing over the marks on Sanji's hands. 

“It sure does. But I haven’t finished with your shitty face, so—” Zoro didn’t let him finish, he took one of the wipes from the packet and began to wipe Sanji's knuckles with the same gentleness that he had earlier with him.

Sanji was speechless. It was, perhaps, the first time Zoro had been so gentle with him. There must have been more, but he couldn't think of any at the moment. Even the times they held hands, Zoro was rough, brute, that was the way he was and had always been. But now he was treating him with such care, gently wiping knuckle by knuckle, taking care not to leave a single crust of blood behind.

Unlike the blond, Zoro was acutely aware of Sanji's blue eyes locked on him. He was avoiding eye contact all he could, but the blond’s gaze even seemed to make the air feel heavier. 

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Sanji asked, his voice, normally laden with sarcasm, sounded serene.

“I learn by looking.” He had finished with the cleaning before he could notice, and was now applying the ointment. 

Sanji said nothing, but he could feel his heart beating harder than ever. Neither seemed to remember that they were still in public, and that the group of idiots they fought could show up at any moment. 

“Done.” Zoro said, and he finally looked back at Sanji. 

Once again, time seemed to stand still as they looked at each other. Zoro was still holding the blond's hands, and neither of them moved to break the contact. The noise of the world faded away, leaving them, and only them in their own bubble.

Each one saw something different in the other, but the feeling was the same. Sanji saw his best friend. He saw the person he loved the most in the world, yet was terrified of loving more than he should. He looked at Zoro’s injuries, the cut on his eyebrow that was definitely going to leave a scar, the lip that had been busted hundreds of times before and yet, he sure still wasn't used to the pain. He looked at that stupid moss hair, those three earrings Sanji had to disinfect when the marimo had the bright idea to pierce himself with a hot needle and an apple. 

Zoro wasn't perfect in any possible way, and that pissed Sanji the most. He was not a woman, but he didn’t care that much at this point. Zoro was also a brute, an alcoholic, sucked with words, had an awful fashion sense… they were opposites in every sense of the word. 

Zoro, on the other hand, could only see Sanji’s eyes. Those beautiful and deep blue eyes he was sure could see through his soul if they wanted to. Sanji had the prettiest face he’d ever seen, but not pretty in a feminine or delicate way, but in a way that could go from the nicest person in the world to the most flirtatious, and then to the one who could kick someone to death. That same pretty face that was now hurt and still managed to look perfect. 

Even with all those thoughts, Zoro wasn't able to give a name to whatever it was he felt for Sanji.  

He then looked, for less than two seconds, at Sanji’s lips and his mind collapsed. He wasn’t supposed to feel like that, he shouldn’t, even Zoro knew it was a horrible idea to develop feelings for his best friend. Sanji’s mind seemed to react and he looked away to find the antibiotic ointment that Zoro didn't let him apply to his lip earlier. He held him by the chin again, focusing his attention on the wound.

“Don’t move.” That’s all Sanji said, and the poor boy felt breathless again. 

Do you all remember when Zoro said he wasn’t that messed up to think about kissing Sanji? 

Well, Zoro was, in fact, really messed up.

Chapter Text

Sanji learned to climb when he was eight years old. 

His childhood had its good days, but they were mostly bad days. At that time, he used to believe his house was hell. When his dad wasn’t beating him, he was forcing his siblings to do it. When no one was beating him, he would hide under his bed in an attempt to turn down the volume of his parents’ fighting.

He used to leave through the front door the first few times he ran away from home to hide with Zoro, but in one of those times, Judge caught him and locked him in his bedroom for three days. There was an oak tree planted on the space between the Vinsmoke’s house and the Roronoa’s house, and it was so big its branches were practically a bridge between Sanji’s bedroom window and Zoro’s bedroom window.

That wasn’t the first time Judge locked him up, actually, for the entire first year after his mother’s death, Sanji used to spend most of the time in his room. One night, after a beating, Sanji woke up due to small taps on his window. When he came out from his hideout under the blankets, he saw Zoro outside with a little backpack, motioning for Sanji to let him in. 

He’d brought food and some supplies to heal his injuries, but Sanji ended up doing it himself because the little marimo didn’t even know how to open a band-aid.

Zoro jumped into the room and then closed the window behind him. They just stared at each other in the dark. Sanji wanted to ask, but his face hurted too much to speak. Zoro grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the bed, made him sit up and then knelt down in front of him. He opened his backpack and took out an onigiri.

“Eat it.” The little boy said, and Sanji hadn’t realized how hungry he was until the smell hit him.

He bit down with difficulty, his lip was burning and his jaw was throbbing, but hunger overcame him. Zoro took out a roll of bandages, a bottle of alcohol, a pack of band-aids, and as many bottles of pills that he didn't even know what they were for, he just took everything he found in the bathroom and stuffed it in the backpack.

Sanji looked at him curiously as he took small bites of the food. The marimo could barely see his own hands in the dark, and had no idea what medicine he was supposed to give the blond. It wasn't something his eight-year-old brain could know, every time he felt sick, his dad just gave him the pills without telling him what they were or what they were called.

He had to forget about the medicine. Instead of that, he took some band-aids from the pack and, after breaking two while he was discovering how to open them, he managed to put one on Sanji’s knee. He didn’t need it there, he only had a bruise, but according to Zoro’s logic, if it hurted, then it was in the right place.  

“Do you feel better?” He didn’t, but he nodded and gave him something that tried to be a smile. “Perfect.”

Zoro put a band-aid on every wound the blond had, in his knees, arms, hands, face, everywhere. Once he was done, he sat next to Sanji without saying a word. The little boy felt his eyes sting. His face still hurt like hell, but he began to take bigger bites of the onigiri. As he chewed, he tried to swallow the knot in his throat, but soon, treacherous tears began to escape and trickle down his cheeks. 

The more he lost control of his crying, the bigger bites he took of the food until he finished it. Zoro didn't say anything the whole time, and he couldn't understand it at the time, but that was what he needed. Company and silence. 

When only the packaging was left, Sanji began to cry. 

He buried his face in his hands, the remnants of the meal crumpling beneath him. At that time he was too young and too weak to do more than cry and hope that the next day would be less horrible. His whole body ached, but the pain in his little heart was worse. He had lost the only parent who cared about him, he couldn't lean on his siblings, and his grandfather somehow believed all the lies Judge told when he assured him the children were fine. 

Zoro pulled him close and hugged him tightly, letting Sanji collapse in his arms. He couldn't make much noise, he was too afraid Judge would hear him and come, but Zoro could hear him sobbing and eventually felt his shirt getting wet. 

It was like that for many nights, Zoro would wait until all the neighbors' lights went out and then he would sneak out the window, crawl through the branches and sneak into Sanji's room. Every time, he’d bring something—food, candy, more band—aids, and sometimes small toys he thought might cheer Sanji up. They would hug, Sanji would cry and Zoro would hug him and stroke his hair until he calmed down. 

As they grew older, it was no longer enough just to sit together in the dark and it began to be Sanji who would sneak out of the house to see Zoro. He would wait until everything in his house was quiet, then climb up the branches of the oak tree and cross to the other side, just as Zoro had done so many times before. Sanji cried in his arms many times, and Zoro never said a word. Even when things got better and he stopped doing it, they never talked about it. 

***

Seven o'clock on a Friday night.

Zoro was lying on his bed watching videos on his cell phone, he had long since gotten out of the shower and was surely going to fall asleep soon. Just as the weight of his eyes won and he closed them, he heard his room’s window being opened. Sanji walked in with the ease of years of practice and shook out his hair to get rid of the twigs that always got stuck in his locks.

“I thought we stopped doing that years ago, cook.” Zoro said with a smirk.

“Shut up.” Sanji's tone of voice was far from his usual one, sounding listless and without a hint of his usual sarcasm. He shuffled his feet to the bed, where he lay down next to Zoro and covered his face with a pillow. 

Zoro stared at him for a moment, frowning. “Are you okay?” Sanji shook his head. “What’s wrong?”

Sanji, without removing the pillow from his face, asked in a hoarse voice: “Do you know what day it is today?

“Nine?” Zoro answered, but he wasn’t completely sure about it so he checked the date on his phone. “Yeah, nine, why?” 

There was a heavy silence, Zoro began to worry when the blond didn't answer him. He searched the back of his mind, trying to remember any possible important events. It wasn't Sanji's birthday, that was for sure, so what then?

Nine, nine, nine… Oh.

“Your mom…”

“Yeah.” Sanji mumbled. He pulled the pillow away from his face, his gaze focused on the ceiling. “She’d be turning thirty eight today.”

Zoro lay back down again, looking up at the ceiling as well. “Do you want to make her a cake? I think there’s enough in the kitchen for a small one.” 

“I'm not in the mood to bake.” He replied, his voice flat and distant, as if the usual joy he found in cooking had been drained from him. 

Sanji had baked a birthday cake for his mom every year since he’d learned to cook. It started as something simple, hidden from his father, but his siblings loved it. They left the blond deal with the technical part and then they would decorate it together. Then, they would sneak into Sora’s room, sing for her and she would look at her children with all the happiness in the world. Those were the good days, the one’s everyone remembered but never talked about because it was too painful.

When Sora passed, Sanji never stopped making the cake, even if he had to do it alone. When everyone was asleep, he would quietly go downstairs to the kitchen and do his best in the dark. Then he would then he would escape through the window of his room and walk fifteen minutes to the cemetery, where he would leave the cake along with a drawing.

One day, when they were eleven years old, the cake slipped out of his hands as he was climbing down the oak tree. Zoro watched him cry in frustration, climb back up and come out again an hour later with a smaller box. The next year, Zoro snuck in through his window and told him to use his kitchen, then he could take his bike with him so he wouldn't take so long to get there. So he did, the little blond would finish the cake and leave, then come back during the wee hours of the morning to return the bike, climb up the oak tree and hide in his room. 

There hadn't been a single year when Sanji didn't do this. No matter how ugly things were or how depressed he felt, he would always make the cake. So for him to now say that he was 'not in the mood' was very worrying.

Zoro swallowed, not sure how to help but knowing he needed to. “Are you sure?”

“Is it normal to feel worse every year?” Zoro wanted to turn to look at him, but didn't because Sanji didn't like to be seen crying. “Because everybody says it gets better with time but time isn't doing shit, and I just…” Sanji covered his eyes with the palms of his hands. “I miss her so much, it’s not getting fucking better, it’s never getting fucking better.” 

Zoro did the only thing he could do in such a situation; he took Sanji by the shoulders and hugged him. He did it in a way that the blond's face was hidden in his chest, so he could cry without being seen. Zoro tightened his hold, resting his chin lightly on top of Sanji’s head and stroking his hair with one hand. 

“Time never does shit.” He mumbled, feeling the cook tremble in his arms. “Pain is always the same, time just makes you stronger to deal with it.”

Zoro had always sucked with words, but sometimes he could say exactly what Sanji needed to hear. They stayed like that for a long moment, the quiet settling between them. Sanji cried silently, more out of habit than shame, because he had no shame if he was with Zoro. 

At a certain point, when his crying calmed down, the blond wrapped his arms around Zoro's waist. He heard Sanji sigh peacefully, which was a good sign.

“This is nice.” He mumbled. “You’re warm.”

Zoro felt a warmth in his chest quite inappropriate for the situation, but one that he couldn't help. Having Sanji this close was almost electrifying; the warmth of his breath, the way his hands clung to him, the softness of his hair brushing against Zoro’s skin. It was fucking terrifying and amazing at the same time.

“Am I?”

“Mhh.” Sanji shifted a little, his head still resting against Zoro's chest. “We should hug like this more often.”

Zoro felt his heart flip, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from saying something stupid. He’d never worried so much about talking in front of anyone, especially in front of Sanji. Why was he suddenly feeling so anxious? 

He kept stroking Sanji's hair, doing his best not to think about how fucking soft his locks were, how warm his body was and how well it seemed to fit with his own, how smooth his skin was and how tightly his hands clung to his waist. 

Sanji settled his face better against Zoro's chest and the poor marimo felt like his heart was going to skip a beat. Why did he have to snuggle right there? He thought, feeling panic rise in his throat.

He swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. Every little move Sanji made sent shockwaves through him. He couldn’t help but notice how close their faces were now, how if he just tilted his head a little…

Stop it, idiot.

That wasn’t the right moment, actually, it was the worst moment to be thinking about those kinds of things. It’s a sad moment , he reminded himself. Sadness, Zoro. Focus on the sadness .

“Can I ask you something?” Sanji asked after a moment of silence, taking the marimo out of his mental storm.

“Yeah, sure.”

The blond took a moment, like if he was looking for the correct words. “Do you miss your mom?”

That question caught him off guard long enough for him to stop stroking Sanji's hair. It had been many years since he had thought about his mom—really thought about her. Zoro was three years old when she left, so he was practically raised by his dad and Perona, no one in his house ever talked about her. 

“No, not really.” How could he miss someone who was never in his life? Of whom he had no memories at all? “I mean, I was too young when she left, so… I basically never met her. Perona must miss her though.”

Sanji remained in silence, it was the first time they talked about that topic. They had spoken a lot about Vinsmoke’s mom, never about Zoro’s. He was just a couple of years younger than Perona when his mom died, but he had clear memories about Sora—the way he world seemed to shine when she smiled, the warmth of her arms, the softness of her voice; all of that was as fresh as it had happened yesterday. 

For Zoro, his mother was some kind of a ghost, one that was almost forbidden to mention in his home. He didn’t miss her, he didn’t have a single neat memory about her. Sometimes, when he was a kid already old enough to understand some things, he’d hear his sister crying at night when she thought no one was listening. Occasionally, when Zoro would wake up in the middle of the night from some nightmare and go to find his sister to sleep in her bed, he would find his dad holding her while repeating over and over again 'everything is going to be alright'. At that time, he didn't understand why she was crying, but he never asked.  

“It must have been really tough for Perona-chan… Does she ever talk about her?”

Zoro shook his head slowly. “No, never. She only talked about mom when I asked, and it’s been years since the last time I did it.” He could still recall the hesitant look on Perona’s face when he had broached the topic, the way her eyes had shimmered with unshed tears. “I think I just got used to not having my mom, I mean, it's always been my dad, Perona and me. That was always normal for me.” 

The marimo felt Sanji's grip on his waist tighten, and his pulse shot up again. He had almost forgotten the position they were in.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to not having mine.” Sanji mumbled, his voice barely a whisper. The air became heavy again, Zoro pulled the blond tighter against his body, causing Sanji to move his hands from his waist to his back.

“You’re really lucky, curls. You had a mom who loved you.” 

Sanji smiled slightly. “You’re luckier, idiot. You still have the parent who loves you.”

“I guess so.”

The silence returned, but it was a comfortable, warm silence. Sanji, who until then had almost completely forgotten about the whole platonic crush thing, sketched a smile against Zoro's chest. He had never stopped to think about how comfortable the marimo's arms were, how safe they made him feel. He could feel Zoro's heart beating in sync with his own, and all he wished at that moment was that time would stop so he could stay like that forever. 

Nothing could ever make the pain disappear, but having his best friend there made the whole world feel different. For the first time since his feelings started to change, Sanji didn’t feel panic or nervousness, just peace. 

So… is this love? Is it possible to fall this fast?

“You know?” Sanji finally looked up, meeting the dark eyes staring at him with electrifying intensity. “You really are warm.”

Zoro's breathing was cut off. He, unlike the blond, felt his mind about to collapse. He tried to focus on anything else—the sound of the air outside, the feel of Sanji’s hair between his fingers—but all he could think about was how close they were, how natural it felt to hold him, how badly he wanted to close the gap between their lips. His pulse quickened, the tension almost unbearable.

“Am I?” His voice faltered, thank goodness the blond didn't seem to notice.

“Yeah.”

They looked into each other's eyes, and as always seemed to happen, the world around them faded away. It was much like the last time, when Sanji healed her face so gently that she felt her mind melt, but now it felt more... intimate. Their faces were only inches apart, and their hearts were beating so hard it was almost painful.

I want to kiss him so fucking bad right now . Zoro thought. Even if he didn’t know how to, all he could think about was kissing Sanji. 

The way the blond’s lips looked so soft, how easy it would be to close the distance. It was maddening. Sanji’s eyes flickered down to Zoro’s lips for a split second, and Zoro’s breath caught in his throat. Was he thinking the same thing? He couldn’t tell. All he knew was that he wanted it more than anything.

Then, Sanji broke it.

“Do you mind if I borrow your kitchen?” He asked, in a low voice, still looking at him with those eyes that took his breath away.

That question brought Zoro back to reality all at once. Oh, right, the cake . He cleared his throat in an attempt to ease his mind, but he didn't let go of Sanji right away.

“Uh, yeah.” He finally responded, his voice a bit rougher than he intended. “Go ahead.”

Sanji smiled at him and his head short-circuited. Maybe it was just his impression, but the blond also looked reluctant to break free from the embrace. Sanji’s hands slid slowly off Zoro’s waist as he took a step back. Zoro almost stopped him, but he didn’t. He couldn’t.

“Thanks, marimo.”

Once Sanji had left the room, Zoro felt his pulse soar. His heart was beating so hard that it had been a miracle Sanji hadn't noticed. He could still feel the blond locks between his fingers, the warmth of the other's body, the soft hands holding his waist and oh dear God....

Zoro paced the room, running a hand through his own hair in frustration. What the hell just happened? He didn’t think, he hadn’t been thinking the whole fucking time. The warmth of Sanji against him, the way their bodies fit so perfectly, it had all felt so natural, yet now it left him reeling.

Sanji wasn’t better. He leaned against the wall outside the room, trying to steady his racing heart.

What the fuck was that!? They were so close—too damn close to ruining everything, too close to risking their friendship. The way Zoro had looked at him, the intensity of those dark eyes, sent shivers down his spine. Sanji pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks.

There was no way he could get rid of the crush now. 

Was it even just a crush?

He’d never felt that way about anyone before, Was he not really in love with Zoro? Or was he in love for the first time with Zoro? He couldn’t tell. What the fuck was he supposed to do being in love with his best friend? 

Well, at least now they both were excessively messed up.

Chapter Text

“How do you know when a guy is hitting on you?” 

Reiju, who was lying next to her brother, turned to look at him with a frown. It was Saturday, Judge’s visit day, and as always, they both stayed home while the rest of their siblings went out to spend the day with their father. They were lying on Reiju's bed, drinking chocolate milkshakes that Sanji made.

“What a start for a conversation.” She said. “Why?”

“I asked first.”

Reiju rolled her eyes, setting her glass down on the nightstand. “Ugh. Well, it depends on the guy, I guess. Maybe they treat you nicer, or they make excuses to be near you… I don’t know, why are you asking me?” 

“You’re a girl, a man must’ve hitted on you at least once.”

“I mean, guys who hit on me usually tell me that they’re hitting on me so I don’t have to figure it out.” Sanji sighed in frustration, taking a long gulp of the milkshake. “Alright, what’s going on? Who’s hitting on you? Oh my god, is it Zoro? Is Zoro hitting on you?”

Sanji almost choked on his milkshake, quickly waving his hands in defense. “Wha—? No! I wish, but no, it’s someone else.”

Reiju raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. “Someone else? Spill it! Tell me everything about this guy.” She made a pause to analyze her words, then asked with a low voice: “It is a guy, right?”

“Obviously.” Sanji mumbled, his face a little red. “His name’s Ace, is Luffy’s brother. We’ve been friends for a while and… I mean, flirting is kinda part of our friendship so…”

Reiju’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Ace? Portgas D. Ace? I’ve heard about him! He’s cute! So, he flirts with you? How have you not mentioned this sooner?”

Sanji shrugged, stirring his milkshake again. “Because it’s not a big deal. I flirt all the time with my friends, it’s just… sometimes, when I do it with him, it feels, like, not a joke.”

“I can’t believe you like Ace. He’s, like, so handsome. I don’t even like men but that guy is hot as hell.”

“I don’t like Ace, I just want to know if he’s hitting on me.” 

“Alright, you don’t like Ace, but you like Zoro and he likes Ace’s brother, so what’s the point?”

Sanji opened his mouth to protest, but the truth of her statement hung in the air, making him hesitate. “It’s way more complicated than that. I don’t think I just like him anymore.”

Reiju’s expression shifted from playful to serious. “Oh my God, please don’t tell me you’re falling for that green haired neanderthal.”

Sanji felt his cheeks flush as he tried to defend himself. “I don’t know, maybe I— That was not the point!”

“Then what was the point, Jiji?”

“The point is that I want to know if this guy is hitting on me, that’s all!”

Reiju rolled her eyes and took a sip of her milkshake. “Well, I don’t know. Go ask him.”

“Go ask him?” Sanji echoed incredulously, his eyes wide. “That’s your big advice? Just waltz up to Ace and say, ‘Hey, are you hitting on me?’”

“Then go ask a guy who has a boyfriend as well.”

“Where the fuck am I gonna find someone who’s gay and also has a boyfriend?”

“I have a boyfriend.” They both turned to the door, where Ichiji was leaning against the frame with his arms crossed.

“You what!?” Reiju exclaimed, speechless.

“When the fuck did you arrive?” Sanji asked. His brothers were not supposed to arrive until the next day, they were going to spend the night at their dad’s place.

“A few minutes ago, Judge’s girlfriend is a bitch.” Ichiji made his way into the room and tapped Sanji on the leg to make room for him on the bed. “Move your stupid ass.”

“Since when do you have a boyfriend?” Reiju asked. 

“Over a year. Give me some.” His sister handed him the milkshake and he took a sip, savoring the sweetness as he looked at them with an amused expression.

“How come you never told us?” 

“You never asked.” Sanji made a face, Reiju told him that exact same thing some time ago.

“I can't believe you’re gay.” The blond mumbled, and Ichiji looked at him with reproachful eyes.

“I can’t believe you’re not.” Ichiji shot back, his tone sharp but playful.

Sanji blinked, caught off guard. “Excuse me?”

“Oh come on, you can’t expect us to believe that this”—he made a gesture with his hands, pointing at Sanji—“isn’t a guy gay as fuck.”

Sanji's face turned red, both from frustration and embarrassment. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean!?”

Ichiji rolled his eyes, leaning back against the pillows. “You’ve had more girlfriends than I can count, yet none of them stick around. You’ve known this idiot for over a decade, you two are always sick together. You walk to school together every morning, you have the same classes, you eat lunch together and then walk home together as well. Plus, he’s always here or you’re always at his place, do you really think we haven’t seen him sneak into your room through the window? You two don’t even try to conceal.

“That’s because we’re best friends!”

“Best friends don’t act like they’re glued at the hip,” Reiju chimed in, smirking. “Jiji, there’s no way you don’t like each other. You have been behaving as if you were a married couple since you met.”

“That’s not—!”

“You literally make his lunch every morning.” Ichiji interrupted him.

Sanji’s face flushed a deeper shade of red as he fumbled for words. “That’s because his dad never makes him lunch! If I didn’t do it, he’d starve or eat garbage.”

Reiju laughed, shaking her head. “Sure, Jiji. Because making him heart-shaped sandwiches is totally something friends do.”

Sanji’s jaw dropped. “I do not make heart-shaped sandwiches!”

Ichiji smirked. “You did for his birthday last year. We all saw them.”

Sanji groaned, burying his face in his hands. “It was just a joke!” 

“And let’s not forget!” Ichiji continued. “You broke up with one of your girlfriends because she wanted you to cut Zoro off.”

“That’s different! What kind of partner asks you to choose between them and your best friend?”

Reiju snorted. “One that could notice you were more into your ‘best friend’ than into her.”

Sanji felt as if his cheeks would burst with embarrassment. “Okay, okay! I like him, a lot, actually. But what’s the point? There’s no way he likes me back.”

His siblings made a face like they wanted to fix his brain with their fists.

“There’s no way he doesn’t like you back.”

“No fucking way.”

Sanji could barely meet their eyes, heat flooding his cheeks. “You really think so?”

“Hell yeah! Listen, Jiji, that friend of yours is too dumb to realize how much he likes you, so you gotta give him a little help.”

The blond raised an eyebrow. “How?”

****

Sanji loved his sister, but she was fucking crazy.

What kind of idea was it to put on revealing clothes and seduce him like in the movies? Reiju told him that as if he had the 'attributes' that guys would notice, and even if he did, Zoro was so fucking gay he wouldn't even pay attention to them.

He looked at all the clothes strewn on his bed and wanted to slap himself; he was overthinking it. He had never cared what others thought of his appearance, much less should he care what Zoro thought. Besides, he knew him well enough to know that the silly marimo didn't pay attention to such trivial things as clothes. 

He decided on his usual outfit—a fitted black shirt that showed off his frame and a comfortable pair of jeans. Nothing flashy, but it was classic Sanji, and he knew he looked good in it. He was not a woman, but he didn’t need to be one to get inside a man's head. He’d never tried it before, but it couldn’t be that difficult. 

Zoro still needed to learn how to be a 'good boyfriend', and there was nothing more important to winning someone over than knowing how to flirt. Sanji knew how to do it, in fact he was pretty good at it. It was usually too intense stuff with women, but when he really set out to get one (as he did with all his ex-girlfriends), he could be the most charming man on the planet. With men it was flirting by way of teasing, but either way he was good at it. 

Sanji knew Zoro inside out—his habits, his quirks, and the way he responded to things. This gave him a massive advantage. He could tailor his flirting perfectly, making it feel natural and playful without Zoro suspecting anything. It was the perfect setup, really. 

As they wandered through the mall, Sanji decided to start with his ‘experiment’. Zoro was drinking orange juice, and Vinsmoke saw that as the perfect moment to make a comment.

“Y’know, Marimo, you look good with that outfit.” Sanji began, his voice smooth and just loud enough to catch Zoro’s attention, “But you’d definitely look better without it.”

Zoro spilled the drink and immediately started coughing. His face was red as hell, but Sanji couldn't tell if it was because of the flirting or the juice.

“What the fuck, cook!?”

Sanji laughed softly, lit a cigarette and blew the smoke out of his nose. “It’s called ‘flirting’, marimo. Ever heard of it? Couples do it.”

Zoro's brows knitted together in disbelief as he stared at Sanji, his expression a mix of annoyance and confusion. “Flirting? That’s what this is?”

“Precisely.” Sanji took another puff on the cigarette, filling his mouth slowly and expelling the smoke through a barely visible opening between his lips. He smiled sideways, and almost laughed when he saw Zoro swallow saliva. “And today you will learn how to do it and receive it without… choking.”

Zoro’s eyes narrowed as he shot Sanji a skeptical look, his earlier annoyance creeping back. “I don’t choke, you stupid cook. And how is this supposed to help? Luffy won’t even get it.” 

This isn’t even about Luffy . Sanji thought with a smirk. “Learning won’t hurt.”

Zoro raised an eyebrow, still unconvinced, but Sanji could see the gears turning in his head. He didn’t wait for the marimo’s answer, he held his hand and started dragging him to the first clothing store that seemed good enough to take a look. Sanji heard Zoro complain, but he put up no resistance and followed obediently. All the times they held hands was because Zoro took the initiative, and this time, it was Sanji who reached out first. It felt strange—different from the usual teasing, ‘practice’ holding hands for Luffy.

On Zoro's side, he couldn't stop thinking about how fucking weird Sanji was acting. Sure, Sanji was always a flirt—it was practically his default mode—but this was different. He'd done it with him many times since they'd met, but never something so... direct. He wasn't going to deny it, for a moment he sounded so serious that he believed it and all the colors of the rainbow came up in his face.

“You know I hate clothing shit.” Zoro mumbled, trying to keep his cool. Sanji made them both walk inside after putting out his cigarette.

“To flirt properly, you have to be in an environment that you master. This is mine, dumbass.”

Sanji dragged him between the shelves until at a certain point he let go of his hand to look at garments on his own. Zoro felt a strange mix of relief and disappointment as Sanji released his hand, the warmth of the contact lingering longer than he expected.

“And how you’re buying junk clothes is supposed to help me?” Sanji turned around holding a shirt too small for Zoro's taste and pulled it over his chest. Obviously, it needed to be maybe two or three sizes bigger to fit him.

“Didn’t you say you learn by looking? Look and learn.” They were really close, and that was a very bad time to notice how tight the clothes Sanji always wore were and how they accentuated his physique in ways that were almost distracting.

Focus, motherfucker, eyes are up there.

Sanji kept talking as he looked for a bigger shirt for the marimo. “I’m going to explain it in a way your sorry brain can understand it: the trick with flirting is being incredibly annoying and hot at the same time.”

Zoro snorted at that, finally managing to pull his gaze away from Sanji's physique. “So, you’re saying I should just act like you?”

“No, my charm is natural, you’d look ridiculous imitating me.” Sanji handed him a white shirt that was too elegant in Zoro’s opinion. “C’mon, try this on.”

Zoro took the shirt, eyeing it with skepticism. “Do you really think Luffy will care about stuff like this?”

“No, but I do. You’ll make it easier for me to flirt with you if you look hot.”

Zoro blinked, his brain taking a second too long to process Sanji’s words. “Wait, what?”

The blond waved a hand, brushing it off like it was nothing. “You have to watch how it’s done to learn, and I can’t do it properly unless I like what I see, so put it on.”

He gave Sanji a wary look, holding the shirt like it might explode in his hands. “I feel harassed.”

Sanji grinned and dragged them both to the changing rooms. 

“I’m definitely being harassed.”

Sanji chuckled, flashing him a mischievous smile over his shoulder. “Trust me, you’d know if I was harassing you.”

Zoro rolled his eyes but followed Sanji into the changing rooms. He hated trying clothes on, the only times he did it was when Perona literally forced him to. The blond chose a crisp white button-up, too elegant for his usual laid-back style. With a resigned sigh, he pulled it over his head, feeling the fabric slide against his skin. The moment it settled, he frowned at the snug fit; it clung to his frame in a way that felt foreign and uncomfortable. The collar felt stiff against his neck, and the sleeves hugged his biceps a little too tightly.

How the fuck can he like wearing this shit?

Zoro opened the changing room door, but did not come out. He felt a bit uncomfortable wearing something so different from usual. Sanji, who was leaning against a wall looking at his phone, looked up when he heard the sound of the door and his gaze immediately locked on his friend.

He looked him up and down, not very disguised. Okay, what the fuck? When did romantic tension become so... so sexual!? The cook was practically devouring him with his gaze, and to make matters worse, Sanji literally licked his lips.

Jesus .

Zoro shifted uncomfortably, feeling both exhilarated and exposed. His heart raced, and he fought the urge to cover himself with his arms. “So?”

“You look… Good. Damn good.” Sanji swallowed hard. When his gaze drifted to the collar, he noticed it was misarranged, hanging awkwardly. Without thinking, he stepped into the dressing room, closing the door behind him. Zoro stiffened at his sudden approach, and Sanji couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's reaction. “Relax, moron. It’s not the first time I have to fix your shitty clothes.”

They were so fucking close Zoro was having a hard time keeping his composure, and Sanji’s fingers brushing against the skin of his neck didn't help; it sent an electric current straight to his core, and he could feel his pulse quickening. It was really a bad situation.

Being at such close range, Zoro could better appreciate his friend's face. Sanji was handsome, always had been, but at that very moment he looked too handsome for the poor boy's nerves. If he had to choose what attracted him most to Sanji, he would choose his eyes. The last few times he felt that the blue in Sanji's eyes could see through his soul in a more 'romantic' way so to speak. This time it was a completely different thing, this time he felt that blue wanted to tear his clothes off.

“You stare a lot, you know?” Sanji said suddenly, looking up at Zoro, his hands still gripping the collar of Zoro's shirt.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he stammered, trying to keep his tone steady, but he could feel his heart pounding against his chest.

“Right here, right now,” Sanji replied, his voice a sultry whisper as he leaned in closer, their faces inches apart. The scent of Sanji’s cologne enveloped Zoro, intensifying his senses. “I can feel your eyes all over me.”

Jesus. Christ.

Zoro’s breath hitched, his mind racing. Sanji’s gaze was magnetic, pulling him in like a moth to a flame, and all he could do was stare, wide-eyed and unblinking.

“So?” Sanji mumbled, and that’s where Zoro lost it.

“You’re a motherfucker.” 

He grabbed Sanji by the back of the neck and broke the practically nonexistent space between them, kissing him so intensely that he could feel the air draining from his lungs. Zoro had never kissed anyone before, hell, not at all. But his body moved with instinct, and god—if this wasn’t the best damn feeling he had ever experienced.  

Sanji’s hands shot up to grab at Zoro’s hair, fingers tugging sharply at the green strands, sending shocks of pleasure and pain through Zoro’s scalp. Consumed with emotion, he pushed the blond against the dressing room door, hearing a sound echo through the small space as the blond's back hit the surface. Sanji let out a small gasp, but far from complaining at the brutality, he wrapped his arms tighter around Zoro's neck.

It was not a gentle kiss at all. It was desperate and aggressive, fully intending to make Sanji's lips end up bleeding from his big mouth. 

It was chaos. Pure, unrestrained chaos.

Then, Sanji dragged his mind back to reality. 

“Your face is red as fuck.”

Zoro jolted back to reality, his heart racing as he pulled away slightly, stunned. He blinked at Sanji, who wore a mischievous grin, his eyes sparkling with amusement. Sanji finished with the collar of the shirt—which seemed to take forever—and stepped back a bit to look at the marimo.

“We’re definitely buying that, take it off and meet me at the counter.” Sanji winked at him, opened the door and stepped out.

Zoro just stayed there, breathless. 

OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD.

Chapter Text

How fucking desesperate did Zoro had to be to literally hallucinate with kissing his best friend!? It felt so real, so goddamn real he wanted to scream and throw up and kill himself. The sensation of Sanji's lips on his had been intoxicating, electric, like a bolt of lightning coursing through his veins. He didn’t even know how to kiss! How the fuck had he imagined it so fucking well?

Zoro didn’t like thinking about the possibility of having feelings for his best friend because if he did, he would start wondering every second of the day if it was possible that Sanji felt the same way. And that, for obvious reasons, was impossible. 

Vinsmoke Sanji was the straightest man alive, always chasing girls like a freaking dog. He was obsessed with women, everything about them: their hair, eyes, perfumes, interests—literally everything related with women. Zoro could still remember when Sanji, at the age of fourteen, got his first girlfriend.

She was in the same classroom as them, her name was Machiko and she was really pretty. The kind of pretty girl all boys were in love with. She was tall, thin and had long brown hair. She was very intelligent, always with outstanding grades, but she was also very sweet and modest. Basically a dream girl.

He was head over heels, and everyone knew it. Sanji wouldn’t shut up about her—how she smelled like vanilla and flowers, how her smile lit up the whole room, how he’d do anything to make her happy. It was almost sickening how hard Sanji had fallen, and Zoro, being Sanji's best friend, had to suffer through endless hours of hearing about it.

Sanji always made her little desserts, bought her flowers, and left notes in her locker. He texted her all the time and walked her home after school. But that wasn’t all. When Sanji and Zoro were alone, the blond talked about her in a way that made Zoro want to bang his head against a wall.

He'd go on and on about how perfect she was—how her laugh was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard, how her eyes sparkled in the sunlight, how just holding her hand made him feel like the luckiest guy in the world.

Sanji liked to be the hero, the gentleman, he liked delicate and feminine girls. Even if Zoro was a girl, he wouldn't be any of that.

Zoro was coarse, rude and, on many occasions, brutish. He was not the kind of person who would melt for a nice word, much less a ridiculous bouquet of flowers. He never actually liked the idea of the romance, it seemed like a lot of work.

Sanji, on the other hand, thrived on that kind of thing. He was charming and loved to dote on people, especially the girls he liked. Zoro had always found it a little over the top—the flirting, the sweet-talking, the constant need to play the gentleman. It was just who Sanji was, and it worked for him. But Zoro? He couldn’t picture himself being the kind of person Sanji would ever want, not with how rough around the edges he was.

Sanji didn't like boys, and even if he did, he wouldn't like a boy like Zoro.

Maybe Sanji’s type would be someone more like Ace—cool, charming, that easygoing confidence that made people naturally gravitate toward him. He had a personality much like Sanji’s, radiating an energy that matched the cook’s. Their friendship was based on flirtations that sometimes seemed too serious to be jokes, the kind of banter that made people wonder if there was something more going on between them.

Zoro didn't know if it was sadder that Sanji would never like him because he was a male, or that if Sanji were into males, he still wouldn't like him.

Even in the best-case scenario, where Sanji somehow, miraculously, was into guys, Zoro still wouldn’t be his type. Not in a million years.

He needed to focus on his normal life until those unwanted thoughts faded away. Sanji was his best friend, and that would never change. They had been through so much together, and Zoro valued their friendship more than anything. They’d been through so much together since they were kids, they literally grew up side by side. Zoro’s plans for the future included Sanji. They had talked about going to the same college and even living together until Sanji finally found the definite bride and married her.

A stupid teenage crush was not worth it messing all of that up. It didn’t matter how real the feelings felt right now; they would go away eventually, they had to.

***

Exam season had officially started. 

Those weren’t the final exams before graduation, but they were the last ones before sending in college applications. Many of his classmates had already sent in early applications, but Sanji wanted to try to get his grades up a little higher and, while he was at it, get Zoro a couple of straight A's, which wouldn't hurt.

Roronoa didn't really have much interest in going to college. His plans for the future were simple—he wanted to become a policeman, and as far as he was concerned, he didn’t need a degree for that. Nevertheless, his dad wanted him to study something—anything, really. For a while, he thought about making life easier for himself and choosing the same career as Sanji, but there was no way Zoro would survive a day at a cooking school.

Wednesday afternoon.

They were both at Sanji’s place, studying for their biology test. It was actually a pretty easy topic, but Zoro sucked with all the subjects, so they’d been the last three hours repeating and repeating the same shit until the marimo could remember it. Every time he got it wrong, Sanji would hit him with his ruler in the head—he sure had a ton of bruises covered by his hair.

“Come on, it's not that damn difficult!” Sanji huffed, his voice rising in frustration as he tapped his ruler against the table.

“I'm trying!”

“Then try harder!” Sanji took a deep breath. He already memorized everything because he had to explain it at least fifteen times, but if he started getting frustrated—which he already was—his mind would forget all.

Zoro muttered something unintelligible as he rubbed his head, which was already hurting from the blows. Sanji was tense, something that didn't happen much when they studied. Zoro had always been slow at studying, Sanji knew that and he was already used to having to explain the same thing several times so his friend could remember it, however, Zoro wasn't concentrating at all.

He was trying, but just listening to Sanji talk distracted him and he ended up thinking about how soft Sanji’s voice could sound when he wasn’t frustrated, about the way his lips moved when he spoke. Zoro tried to shake the thoughts away, but they kept creeping back in, stronger and more vivid each time.

“For the last fucking time, what’s the first step of cellular respiration?”

He wished he knew.

“Uh… oxygen?”

He waited for another smack, but instead of that, Sanji sighed in despair and dropped the ruler on the table. He stretched, listening to his bones thunder for so long in the same position.

"That’s it, I need coffee.” Sanji just got up and left the room without even asking Zoro if he wanted one.

He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He was frustrated too, it was desperate not being able to focus on something as simple as fucking biology. 

Zoro hated feeling like that. Those stupid thoughts could not only ruin their friendship, but could also potentially ruin his chances of going to college. His grades had improved a lot since his friend was helping him study, it was the only way he could pass his exams. However, these were not the last exams of the year, there were still more to come, and if he continued to be unable to concentrate he would not pass any of them, which would ruin all the effort he had put in over the last few years.

Was that being in love? He couldn't define it, but in a way it made sense. He felt much more of an idiot than usual, and literally couldn't think of anything but Sanji.

That wasn't the kind of love he had heard about—especially from Sanji himself. He always said that everything was easier, clearer, but Zoro wasn't clear about anything. Everything was confusing, even hopeless, he didn't like not being in control of his feelings, especially in something like that. 

Just as he was about to spiral deeper into his confusion, the door creaked open, and Sanji walked back in, holding a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a plate with a slice of cake in the other. 

“Have some sugar, maybe it'll get your stupid brain to think a little more.” Sanji put the plate in front of him, and Zoro had the impression that his voice sounded hoarser. “Let’s take a break, I have a headache.”

Sanji took a long sip of his coffee, then headed straight for the bed, collapsing onto it with a sigh. Zoro felt a pang of guilt. He glanced over at Sanji, he was lying face up with his eyes closed.

“Sorry.” Zoro mumbled. 

“Mmh.”

Zoro got up without even trying the cake and he lay down next to his friend. Sanji turned his head, his eyes now open, to look at the idiot marimo, who did the same. 

“Is everything okay with you? You’re dumber than usual.”

“Yeah, I’m just… distracted, I guess.” 

“Listen, I know you don’t wanna go to college, but if you keep on like this you won’t even pass the exam for the police academy.” Zoro turned his gaze to the ceiling. The blond was right, he was physically incapable of studying by himself, and if he couldn’t do it with Sanji anymore, he was screwed.

“I know.” He did. And even if it didn’t seem like it, he was worried about it. He was also pissed, because that whole situation was fucking ridiculous. 

He could feel those sharp blue eyes staring at him, as if Sanji was trying to read his mind. 

“You’d tell me if something was happening, right?” The blond asked.

Zoro turned to look into his eyes again, and something stirred inside him. Just at that moment he had too many ideas swirling around in his head, he would suddenly think about how much he liked Sanji's eyes and then move on to thinking that it was killing him not being able to tell him what was consuming his mind day and night. 

He didn't like lying to Sanji, he had never felt the need to. His best friend was the one he trusted most in the world and he was the one person he had always felt the freedom to be completely honest with.

“Yeah, sure.”

Sanji didn’t seem satisfied with that answer, but he took it, letting out a weary sigh as he closed his eyes. He didn’t want to fall asleep, but he was really tired, helping Zoro was always exhausting, but this time in particular was harder than usual. 

He heard Roronoa settle into bed and the next thing he felt was the marimo catch him in his arms, just like on his mother's birthday. His face was hidden in his friend's chest, and it didn't take him long to start stroking Sanji’s hair. The cook felt his pulse quicken. They didn't hug often, they did it on special occasions, like a birthday or a sad day. To suddenly have Zoro hug him, and in a way that felt so intimate was overwhelming.

“What are you doing?” He managed to ask.

“You said that we should hug like this more often.” Zoro's voice sent a shiver down his spine. 

Seriously, why did every fucking time Sanji was starting to face resignation, Zoro had to came up with something that made his heart race? It was like the idiot had some kind of sixth sense for knowing when Sanji was about to get a grip on himself. He wanted to let go, but the embrace was comfortable, too grounding, and damn it, too nice.

Sanji settled down, hugging Zoro's waist just like last time. It was a comfortable position, convenient enough so that his friend couldn't see his face bursting red. He buried his face further into Zoro's chest, trying to hide the heat crawling up his neck.

“You sure everything’s okay?” Sanji mumbled. 

“Yes.”

They fell silent again, hearing the sound of rain outside. At a certain point, Sanji's body stopped feeling tense and Zoro thought he had fallen asleep.

“Is it getting better?”

“What?” Sanji murmured, his eyes still closed.

“The headache.”

“It won’t if you keep talking, moron.”

Zoro chuckled. 

Sanji took a deep breath, that’s how it had to be. He was most likely in love with Zoro, and maybe he would have considered telling him someday if he wasn’t his best friend. That ridiculous teenage crush was not worth the risk of losing the most important person in his life. Besides, it would go away with time, it had to. Maybe that was just something he needed to experience to realize he was not as straight as he thought he was, maybe that was just shit that happens to bisexual people to realize they’re bisexuals. Sanji never thought about the possibility of feeling attracted to men, but even if Zoro was the first one, who said he would be the last one?

He would go to college soon, he’d meet tons of new people there, and, maybe, he would have better opportunities to understand his sexuality. Someday he would settle down with a pretty woman or a nice guy, and then, at some weekend dinner, he would tell Zoro about his high school crush and they’d both laugh about it.

That’s how it had to be.

Zoro’s mind was in a completely different situation.

He was not as patient as Sanji to wait until his unwanted thoughts—because there was no way in hell he was calling it love—went away. He didn’t understand anything and that had him frustrated. He’d never fallen in love before, and he didn’t even know if he was in love or he just cared about his best friend—but that sounded like bullshit. It was a literally uncontrollable feeling and that pissed him. Every time he looked at Sanji's damn perfect blue eyes, his stomach churned. Just hearing him speak altered his senses and took away his ability to concentrate. 

Even now, having Sanji in his arms when they were supposed to be studying, and all he could think about was how close they were, how he wanted to stay like that forever. 

“We have to keep studying.” Sanji mumbled, his voice barely audible against Zoro’s chest.

Zoro swallowed hard, knowing Sanji was right, but the last thing he wanted was to move. “I know.”

They stayed like that for a few more minutes before Sanji spoke again. “Are you gonna let me go or what?” 

Zoro smirked lazily. “I was trying to make you sleep so I don’t have to see that biology shit again.”

Sanji let out a small chuckle. “You’re an idiot.” He then tried to let go, but Zoro wouldn’t let him. He was not only too comfortable like that, he also was tired as fuck of studying. “Marimo.”

“Five more minutes.”

“Marimo, seriously.” Sanji called again. “If you fail this test I’m going to kill you!”

Zoro stayed still, his grip tightening slightly around Sanji’s waist. “Five more minutes, curly!”

“You’re such a brat!”

Sanji started to squirm, trying to wriggle free. They were both laughing and trying to knock each other down. As they tussled, their bodies collided, and before they knew it, Sanji found himself on top of Zoro, their faces inches apart. The laughter slowly died down, turning into heavy breaths. During the struggle, Sanji had grabbed Zoro's wrists, pinning them against the mattress. The air suddenly became heavy as they stared into each other's eyes in silence.

Zoro's gaze flickered down to his friend’s lips, and suddenly, he felt a heat rise in his cheeks. The grip Sanji had on his wrists burned. They were close, so fucking close Zoro just had to raise his head a little and he could do what he had been imagining so much. He swallowed hard.

Sanji seemed to realize how dangerously close they were, he cleared his throat and slowly let go of the grip.

“We have to continue, get up.” The blond got up to head back to the desk, leaving Zoro lying there with a near-heart attack. 

Sanji wanted to bury his head in the ground. Stupid fucking teenage crush. Zoro was definitely not better, there was no fucking way he could focus on the goddamn biology now.

And those two idiots could only think of one thing.

Shit .

Chapter Text

Thursday morning. Time for the test.

Sanji had finished the three pages in twenty minutes, which was concerning. He already checked all his answers five times and was now just sitting there, staring at the clock, waiting for the marimo to finish.

Mr. Prince
U missing a lot?

Shitty mosshead
Still on the first page

Mr. Prince
You’re fucking kidding?

Shitty mosshead
🖕🏻

Well, he was going to take the whole two hours and Sanji was definitely not waiting. He put his things away in his backpack and sent another text to him before getting up to turn in his test. 

Mr. Prince
Wait for u outside

Shitty mosshead
👍🏻

Sanji left the living room and sat on the floor leaning against the wall. He had nothing to do until eleven o'clock and it was barely nine-thirty. He was hungry, but he was not allowed to eat in the hallways, so his only option was wait for Zoro to come out. He put his earphones on and scrolled through his playlist, trying to distract himself with music. 

Sanji closed his eyes, letting the music drown out the noise around him. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Sanji pulled out one earphone and looked up to see Ace standing there, his usual carefree smile in place.

“Hey blondie, aren’t you supposed to be in class?” Ace teased, crossing his arms as he leaned casually against the wall next to Sanji. 

Sanji smirked, shrugging. “Finished early. Aren’t you supposed to be in class too?” 

“I am, yes. But I didn’t make it on time.” Ace sat down on the floor next to him, nudging him with his elbow. 

“You’re a lost case.” 

“I sure am, blondie.” 

Sanji rolled his eyes. “We’re in exam season, silly. What kind of college do you expect to go to like that?”

Ace waved a dismissive hand, his grin unwavering. “Let future me worry about that.”

“You say that now, but you’ll regret it when you’re stuck working at some fast-food joint.” He leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, giving Ace a mock-serious look. 

“I won’t because when you have your own restaurant you’ll give me a job there.”

“You’re insane if you think I’d hire you.”

Ace placed a hand over his heart as if deeply wounded. “You’re hurting me, blondie. I’d be the best employee you’d ever have.” Sanji laughed, shaking his head. “Speaking of food, I didn't have time to have breakfast in the morning. Do you want to get something to eat?” 

“Yes, please.” They both got up and Sanji pulled out his cell phone to send a text to Zoro, who was still inside.

Mr. Prince
See u next period

I’m gonna have breakfast
with Ace

Portgas chose a small cafeteria near the school to have time to return to his next class, they only had to walk two blocks. They talked animatedly, until at one point Sanji remembered something he had been wanting to ask for a long time and no one else seemed to have the answer he was looking for.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure blondie.” Ace said, grinning as he pushed open the door to the small café.

“It’s kind of... personal. And kind of weird.”

Ace leaned back in his chair. “I love weird questions, tell me.”

Sanji took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. “Are you, uh… by any chance… have any been interested in someone that was, uh… not a girl?”

He blinked, surprised by the question but not offended. He then asked in an almost mocking tone. “Are you asking me if I’m gay?” 

What a direct guy . Sanji thought, clearing his throat. “Yeah… or kind of gay, or… not gay at all?”  

Ace chuckled, leaning forward with that familiar playful grin. “Well, it is a weird question, I must say. And I’m bi, actually.”

Sanji blinked. He hadn't expected such a simple answer, but he was grateful for it. “You are?”

“Yeah, it's not a big deal. Why do you ask?” 

Sanji hesitated for a moment, unsure how much to reveal. “It’s a little complicated to explain but, um, how did you find out that you were… bi?” 

Ace leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “Well, it wasn't obvious, so I was unsure for a very long time if I was really into guys. I mean, one day I was straight and next thing I know is that I’m developing weird feelings for my best friend.”

Sanji felt a cramp. That was a little... personal. "Your best friend?"

"Yup." Ace said, looking at the menu. "We've known each other since middle school, and I've always been into girls until last year.” 

“So you just realized it out of nowhere?”

“Pretty much,” Ace replied, still focused on the menu. "We were hanging out, like always, and something just changed. I can't tell you what it was or why, I still don't know either, but I could feel something was different."

“Different how?”

"Don't know, blondie. Different." He said with a funny smile. "I just realized I liked him the same way I've liked girls before, it was just kind of strange because he was a guy. It's not that difficult when you see it from afar." 

Sanji grimaced. He couldn't relate with that because he hadn't felt for anyone what he felt for Zoro. Ace chuckled softly seeing his expression.

“What’s with the face, blondie?”

Sanji sighed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I get what you're saying but... how did you know that— that you were, um, specifically... bi?

"Honestly? It wasn’t like some big revelation or anything. I never felt the necessity to put a name on what I was, so for a long time I was just someone who likes guys and girls and that's all. But one day I was bored and I was curious so I made one of those gay tests online and they all said I was bi."

“Seriously? A gay quiz?”

“Hey! Don’t judge me!” Ace laughed. “I didn’t mind giving it a name, and I thought it would be easier if someone asked me.”

Ace did it so he could have a name to explain it to others, but Sanji needed a name to understand it to himself. Just saying he liked Zoro—or liked boys—didn’t sit comfortably. He needed something more concrete, something that fit what he was feeling.

Ace noticed the shift in Sanji’s expression and nudged him playfully. “Don’t sweat it, blondie. It’s really not a big deal, but if you really feel that you need a name, just do some tests too. If they all say the same, then boom—you've got your answer.”

Sanji sighed, focusing his gaze on the menu he hadn’t even touched yet. That didn’t give him the answer he expected, although he wasn’t even sure what kind of answer he expected. He thought he’d just… get something that would solve everything. Like Ace would say the magic words and suddenly, all this confusion would disappear.

“Thanks, I guess.”

“I assume you were expecting something different.”

“Something more… specific, maybe.” 

Ace gave him a couple of soft pats on the shoulder. “Don’t push yourself, blondie. This is not something you have to be sure about in one day, take your time.”

Sanji nodded, appreciating the sentiment but knowing that patience wasn’t exactly his strong suit. “Guess I don’t have another option, do I?”

“ Nope . Now, let’s order before my stomach starts eating itself, shall we?”

Sanji managed a small chuckle, shaking his head as he finally picked up the menu. “Alright, alright. What are you gonna order?”

“It depends, are you paying?”

“You—!”

****

Zoro was doing okay with the test until he received that goddamn text. 

He’d broken his head studying all night without sleeping because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t focus on absolutely nothing but Sanji, Sanji’s voice, Sanji’s eyes, Sanji, Sanji, Sanji . He needed to pass that test, his dad was gonna kill him if he failed before sending in college applications. Besides, Sanji had ended up with migraine because of him and he wanted it to be worth it.

He felt he was doing okay, the questions were not as difficult as he thought. He remembered seeing all that in what he studied and it was just fine. But then, Sanji told him he was hanging out with Ace and all his concentration went straight to hell. It shouldn’t have bothered him because, again, Sanji was straight. There was no possible way he could feel something for Ace or any other guy. And even knowing that, he couldn’t get the image of those two together out of his head.

That fucked it all. 

From there, the rest of the exam felt awful. He knew he had studied it, but could not remember. His mind was blocked and all he could think of was Sanji again. His laugh, his soft blond hair and his blue eyes glistening like the fucking ocean. God, why couldn’t he stop thinking about him?

After twenty minutes of turning the sheet without knowing what to answer, he gave up and turned it in. He was frustrated, he had worked so hard to pass the damn test and ended up leaving half blank. 

Roronoa
Got out early

Where are u?

Zoro stared at his phone, waiting for a response, but Sanji didn’t answer. The hallway was empty and quiet, and he just stood there, waiting. Zoro leaned against the wall, glancing around. Some students passed by, talking and laughing with each other. He checked his phone again, the screen blank and mocking. His fingers itched to send another message, but he stopped himself. He didn’t want to seem desperate—except that’s exactly how he felt.

After another ten minutes of no response, Zoro put his cell phone away. With nothing else to do, he made his way to his next class, arriving a full half-hour early. The classroom door was still closed, and the hallways were mostly empty now. Zoro sighed and sank down onto the floor beside the door, leaning his head back against the wall.

Taking advantage of the silence, his mind began to wander. Whatever he felt for Sanji was too strong to be just a crush, and that had him worried. He didn’t want to be in love with Sanji, it would be really stupid to fall in love with a straight guy, especially if that straight guy was his best friend. Zoro had never experienced such emotions, but even he knew that one-sided love was very painful, and if jealousy already gave him a stomachache, he didn’t want to imagine what it would be like to go through rejection.

He once heard Nami say that confessing her feelings to the girl she liked back then took a big weight off her, and although the rejection was really painful, it helped her to get over it easily. That way, she stopped over thinking every word or action from her. It had been a long time since they had that conversation, Zoro was surprised he even remembered it. He had thought a lot about following his friend’s example and telling Sanji how he felt—or at least what he thought he felt. Maybe that would give him the same relief Nami talked about.

But every time the idea crossed his mind, he sent it back to his mental dump. It was a bad plan, the worst of all plans. What if Sanji stopped talking to him? What if their friendship got weird, or worse, ended? He couldn’t risk it, he wouldn’t risk it. He groaned softly, running a hand over his face. Feeling like that seemed like an endless torture. 

Time passed much faster than he was aware of, by the time he realized, it was only five minutes to eleven and the hall was already open. He got up and entered reluctantly, sat down in his usual place and put his backpack on the chair in front of him to set Sanji’s place aside. Zoro glanced at the door every few seconds, hoping Sanji would walk in any moment. More of his classmates began to arrive, but there was no sign of the blond.

Where the hell is he?

Eleven o’clock and Sanji still hadn't arrived. His friend was a punctuality maniac, and it wasn’t like him to be late—well, not technically late yet, but cutting it this close was unusual for Sanji. At precisely eleven fifteen, their teacher walked in. Alright, now he was late, and he didn’t even answer his texts.

Roronoa
Hey, where the fuck r u?

The teacher is already here

Curls?

No answer. 

Sanji didn’t like skipping classes, he was the reason Zoro was always there, and even scolded him when he wanted to skip. He glanced at the teacher, who had already started the lecture, scribbling notes on the board. 

Roronoa
Are you coming?

You okay?

Eleven twenty five and the blond finally appeared. Sanji opened the door, careful not to make a sound, and slipped between the benches to his place. He sat in front of Zoro as always, the marimo heard him let out a tired sigh. 

"Where the hell were you?" Zoro whispered.

"Lost track of time."

Zoro frowned. "Since when do you lose track of time?"

Sanji turned to look at him and poked him on the forehead. “Relax, moron. It was just twenty minutes.”

"Twenty minutes doing what?" It sounded a lot more aggressive than he intended, and, unfortunately, Sanji noticed too. He gave him a bad look, and it was too late for Zoro to change his tone. 

"Something. What the fuck has gotten into you today?" Zoro stayed quiet, cleared his throat and stopped looking at his friend.

"Nothing."

Sanji turned back without insisting. Zoro focused on taking notes to distract himself, he was uncomfortable. After maybe ten minutes, when he finished transcribing everything on the board, he leaned forward to talk to Sanji, but then he realized that the blond hadn't written anything. He was completely focused on his phone. 

"What the fuck are you doing?" He mumbled, Sanji didn't look at him this time, and the marimo couldn't see what he was doing because the brightness of the device was at minimum. 

"Something." 

Zoro didn't ask anymore, he had a feeling he was pissing him off and at the moment the last thing he needed was to fight with him. 

Sanji, on the other hand, had just finished a gay Internet test. It was the fourth one he had taken, two in Ace's company, and they all said the same thing: he was bisexual without a doubt. The funny thing was that his 'gay percentage' was much higher than he thought. The goddamn screen said he was 68% gay the first time, which sounded ridiculous. Ace laughed right at his face, and Sanji did a different test to prove him wrong, and the result was even worse; it said 79%. The number did not get any lower on the other two tests, 71% and 74%.

Sanji stared at his phone, almost glaring at the numbers as if he could change them. It didn’t make sense—how could he be that gay? He never thought about guys like that before, at least not until… him. 

Well, he was bi, but he didn’t trust that percentage. They all told the same story: bisexual, with a stronger lean toward guys. No way was he more into guys than girls. He had always been into girls—hell, he’d spent half his life drooling over them. The thought that he could be more into guys? It didn’t sit right with him. It wasn’t possible.

Sure, he could potentially be in love with Zoro, but liking both men and women was the whole point of being bisexual. He had an abysmal preference for women, and that was an indisputable fact.

He sighed. I’m bi, he thought . I’m bi, and I like girls more. That’s it.

That was enough at the moment. He blocked his phone and focused on writing everything on the board. 

Chapter Text

Sanji used to be grounded a lot when he was a kid. 

When his father got bored of beating him, which was rare but did happen, he would lock him in his room to entertain himself by mistreating his siblings until he got bored of them too and returned to Sanji.

That time, he had been grounded for two days already, and Judge showed no signs of letting him out soon. Sometimes his father would take away the few toys he had so he couldn’t enjoy a second of his time alone, so the most entertaining thing he could do was get under his bed and make shadows with his hands and a flashlight. That day, he was doing that when he suddenly heard his window being opened. He got a little scared, but he knew who it was and didn't make a fuss.

“Where are you?” Zoro's voice sounded genuinely confused, as if he didn't know that Sanji spent all his punishment time hiding in his closet or under his bed.

Sanji turned off the flashlight before getting out from under the bed. There, sitting in the window frame, was his little marimo friend waiting for him. 

“Here.” He whispered.

Zoro smiled at the sight of him, though he couldn't help but grimace when he saw the bruises on the blond's arms. Sanji dusted off his knees. He waited for his friend to enter, but Zoro stood still.

“Aren’t you coming in?” 

“It's boring to always hang out here.” 

Sanji made a face. “I can’t go anywhere else.”

Zoro had always been stubborn, and of course he wasn't going to take no for an answer. He finished entering the room and took Sanji by the hand, the blond hadn't even seen the backpack that Zoro was carrying. 

“Where are we going?”

“Up.”

Without another word, Zoro pulled him back to the window. He climbed out first and settled on the branch before pulling the blond out. With the ease of having done it dozens of times before, they both climbed the rough trunk of the oak tree to the top, where a thick branch served as a bridge to the Vinsmoke's roof. 

"Seriously, where are we going?" He asked, a little bit scared of the high. Zoro, who was just behind him, pushed him softly.

"Just get on the roof, curly"

Sanji obeyed, even though he wasn't fully convinced. He crawled to the end of the branch and then, with a little hop, climbed onto the roof. Zoro followed, grabbed him by the wrist again and dragged him up.

"Zoro." He called him. If his dad noticed he wasn't in his room, he was going to beat him to death.

“Here we are.” The little marimo said, his voice full of pride.

Then Sanji saw it: it was a kind of tent made with sheets. There were a few pillows and toys inside, and Zoro even put up white battery-operated Christmas lights.

“What's all this?”

Zoro dragged him inside the tent and then he took a bag full of chocolates out of his backpack. "I figured we needed a place to chill." He said, giving his friend one of the chocolates. "Besides, if you need to get back to your room quickly, you just go down the tree and ¡boom! You're there in two seconds."

Sanji smiled, picking up a superhero figure. "This is awesome."

Zoro grinned, clearly pleased with Sanji’s reaction. “I knew you’d like it.” He settled down against the pillows, opening the bag of chocolates and offering it to Sanji. “Take as many as you want. They were on sale.”

Sanji’s eyes sparkled as he rummaged through the bag, picking out his favorites.  "Thank you."

"You're welcome, curly."

They ate candy and talked for a while, even played with the superhero figures. They tried not to make too much noise, but had to cover their mouths on several occasions to keep their laughter from sounding too loud.

At a certain point of the night, Sanji asked "Why did you do all this?"

Zoro looked at him as if he asked the dumbest thing in the world, and then simply answered: "I wanted to make you smile."

Sanji felt a warmth on his chest he couldn't fully understand then, so he could only ask why. Zoro looked at him again.

"You never smile, you look pretty when you do it." The boy's cheeks flushed. No one had called him that since his mom died, it was kind of weird, but it felt good.

“I… I guess I just don’t have much to smile about.” He muttered, focusing his gaze on the sky. 

“You have me.”

“Yeah… I guess so.” He said in a low tone of voice, fiddling with his fingers. He couldn't stop his lips from curving into an almost invisible smile. Zoro noticed, and he did smile happily.

“See? Pretty.”

Sanji’s face went redder than ever, and he quickly looked away, hiding behind a curtain of blond hair. “Shut up, marimo.”

****

It was just a few days before college applications officially began. The school was buzzing with people handing out brochures from top colleges across the country. They had already lost a full day of classes to lectures on the selection process, supplemental essays, and options for those who wanted to study abroad. 

Sanji's tongue fiddled with the coffee candy in his mouth as he read the Yale brochure. He and Zoro were sitting in the back row of the lecture hall, the representative not speaking loud enough for them to hear what she was saying, so the two of them had been eating candy and chatting quietly for the last half hour.

“You’re not really thinking of going there, do you?” Zoro mumbled.

“Hell no.” The blond pointed to a picture of the college in the brochure. “Do you see this? It’s too classy for me.”

“I never thought something would be too classy for you.” Sanji nudged him and Zoro held back a giggle. “Well, thank god. I couldn’t handle such a nerdy school.” 

“You don't even want to go to college.” 

Zoro shrugged, tossing the brochure onto the empty seat beside him. “No, but I’d have to pick you up everyday from a school full of stuck-up brats.”

Sanji raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Oh, so you’d pick me up?”

“Duh.”

The blond smiled, focusing his gaze back to the brochure. Zoro sighed bored. “How much longer do you think this is gonna last?”

“No idea.”

Zoro sighed again. He spent maybe five minutes staring at the ceiling, as if he was waiting for superhero cartoons to appear to entertain him.

“Let’s get out of here.” He whispered to Sanji as he despaired that the conference would not end.

Sanji smiled.

“Great idea.” 

Sanji barely waited for Zoro to finish his sentence before slipping his things into his bag, casting a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching. The lecture hall was packed with students, most of them still glued to the presenter up front.

They got up, trying to be as quiet as possible, and slipped out of the conference room. Zoro opened the door carefully, and without even thinking, grabbed Sanji by the hand and pulled him out. They ran down the empty hallway unable to contain their laughter. Zoro’s grip was firm and warm, but Sanji didn’t pay too much attention to it at the moment. Zoro, who was in the lead, could only hear Sanji laughing loudly behind him. He could barely keep up with him.

They finally reached the exit, between the two of them pushed open the glass door and continued running down the sidewalk as they walked away from the school. They really had no need to run, but neither of them seemed to mind. Sanji stopped to catch his breath, leaning against a tree. Zoro also stopped, both breathing heavily.

“We left the fucking school behind like a mile ago.” The blond said, leaning his back on the trunk while he was trying to regulate his breath.

Zoro, who was sitting on the sidewalk, was not much better than his friend. “Ya think?”

“Yes, moron.” Sanji put a hand on his chest, feeling his heart pounding. “God, I'm not doing that ever again.”

Zoro leaned back, resting his arms on his knees as he caught his breath, looking up at Sanji with a teasing grin. “C’mon curls, we both know you were dying of boredom. I did you a favor.”

Sanji leaned over just enough to hit him in the head.

“Geez, violent much?”

Sanji snorted, crossing his arms. “Only when I’m dragged out of a lecture I was actually paying attention to, moss-for-brains.”

"Attention to what? You won't even go to that fancy shitty school."

"Well, maybe now I will!" The blond sat down on the sidewalk next to his friend, nudging him in the process. "Since you're so allergic to civilized people, maybe I'll go there. Wouldn't hurt me to have a break from you." 

"You'd die without me, curly, and you know it."

Sanji didn't respond to that comment, he just stared at Zoro for about five seconds before starting to laugh. It wasn't his usual mocking laughter, it was a soft, genuine laugh that Zoro didn't hear very often. 

"You really are incredible, marimo."

That didn't sound like a mockery, although it most likely was. Zoro couldn't help but smile, Sanji's laugh, the real one, was contagious and cheered him up every time he heard it. Sanji rarely smiled when they were children, especially after his mother's death. He became a quiet and sad child, seeing him barely curve his lips in an attempt to smile was already a victory for the world. 

As they grew up, Sanji eventually adopted the bold and outgoing personality he had in the present, but Zoro always knew there was something softer beneath the surface. Sanji had changed a lot over the years, becoming someone who could joke and tease without hesitation, someone who could even laugh at himself. But Zoro knew—he knew —that underneath all that confidence, Sanji had a quieter side that only a few people ever really got to see.

Zoro felt butterflies in his stomach, though he wouldn't categorize them as butterflies, but more like a swarm of bees squirming in his stomach. He liked Sanji's smile, he liked it a lot, but hearing him laughing like that was another level. He could just stare at his friend, time seemed to slow down as his heart was racing faster than ever.

I'm so fucked up . 

Sanji's laugh soon subsided enough for him to pull the cigarette pack out of his pocket. "And now what?" He asked as he lit one.

Zoro didn't respond right away, his brain almost stopped working as soon as he looked at Sanji's perfect, deep, beautiful blue eyes. Zoro’s breath hitched, and he forced himself to look away, focusing instead on the concrete beneath them, trying to ground himself in the present.

He cleared his throat, trying to sound like his usual, unbothered self. “Now? We can sit here like idiots and wait for the world to stop spinning."

Sanji let out the smoke, looking at Zoro like the big fool he was. "You seriously dragged me out of school without a plan?"

"You wanted to follow me, shitty cook."

"You're unbelievable." Vinsmoke muttered. He put the cigarette in his lips and got up, grabbing Zoro by the hand. "Let's go, I want a milkshake."

The sudden touch surprised Zoro, but he didn't renege and let himself go. At first he thought the blond grabbed him just to make him get up, but the blond kept walking without letting go. Holding hands was becoming one of his favorite things; it was comfortable, soft, and he would always congratulate himself for remembering every single one of the knife scars.

"You're getting too comfortable doing this, aren't you?" Zoro asked, trying to disguise his nervousness. He could see Sanji’s lips curving into a smile.

“Is not as horrible as I thought it’d be.” Zoro didn’t have the best memory, but he did remember saying those exact words a while ago, specifically, the first time they held hands. At the time he was still attracted to Luffy, and Sanji seemed to want to kick him to saturn for refusing to let him go. Zoro dropped the subject, the grip on the cook's hand was soft and fit ridiculously well with his own. 

I never thought I could be so cheesy. Jesus .

“So, milkshakes?”

“Yes, darling, and you’re paying for them.”

 Zoro almost choked on his own saliva. Sanji had never called him like that, literally never. It sounded so natural, as if they'd always talked to each other that way. Sanji didn’t even seem to realize what he said until several seconds later.

Oh fuck . The blond thought. His heartbeat soared. It was a miracle his face didn't paint itself the brightest possible shade of red. 

Zoro took a deep breath. Don’t make it weird, don’t . He repeated to himself. Let’s just act like I didn’t hear anything .

“Why the hell am I paying?”

Sanji cleared his throat, attempting to hide the embarrassment that was definitely creeping up on him. “Because you made me run a fucking mile!”

“It was not a mile, you’re exaggerating!” 

“Well it felt like a mile, moss-for-brains.” 

Zoro scoffed, leaning in just close enough to annoy him. “You’re such a drama queen.”

"Says the guy who dragged me out of school. You’re lucky I’m not charging you for my time."

"You love it when I drag you around, curly. Don’t even act like you don’t." Sanji was about to shoot back with some sarcastic comment, but then he stopped. 

He did love it. He actually loved a lot of things about Zoro. 

Sanji loved spending time with him. He loved talking with him, even when Sanji hated staying up late, he would do it to text him until he fell asleep. He loved the way Zoro always managed to find new nicknames for his eyebrows, he could be creative when it was about messing with Sanji. He loved that he didn’t have to pretend with Zoro, he could be in the worst moment of his life and Zoro was going to be there to give him a shoulder to cry on. He had done it since they were kids, and Sanji could never find the right words to thank him.

He loved that Zoro was the first person he’d ever trusted completely. Zoro knew things about him no one else did—his insecurities, his past, even the dark memories he usually kept buried deep. And no matter what, Zoro never judged him for any of it. He just listened, stayed by his side, and somehow, always knew when Sanji needed someone.

“Yeah, yeah. Shut up, marimo.” Sanji tightened his grip on his friend's hand. He only knew one thing.

There was no point in denying it any longer. He was completely and hopelessly in love with Zoro. 

Chapter Text

Winter prom along with the Christmas vacations are just around the corner.

The entire school is now decorated with blue and white streamers and balloons. There were posters everywhere announcing the date and hour of the event, that was what everyone was talking about in the hallways. Zoro has never understand the school’s necessity of organizing a fucking prom for everything; fall, winter, spring. The only reason there’s no ‘summer prom’ it's because in summer they have graduation prom. It's annoying. 

He doesn’t like going to those events, he’s alone and bored most of the time. Sanji always has a girlfriend or a one night date to go with, so he doesn’t pay much attention to his friend. 

This year didn’t look like it was going to be any different. 

But it definitely would be. 

Zoro was not attending, nuh uh. He liked Sanji too much for his own sake, and he wouldn't stand watching him dancing and flirting (and kissing, in the worst scenario) with some random girl. He couldn’t. 

Of course, trying to invite Luffy was an option, but it wasn’t a good one. 

Luffy was a great guy and they were really good friends, but Zoro was never actually interested in him. He could see it now. What he felt for Luffy was not even remotely similar to whatever he felt for his best friend. Every time he saw Sanji, his stomach churned, his pulse raced and his mind went numb. He’d never wanted to kiss someone as much as he wanted to kiss Sanji. He’d never wanted to hug someone as much as he wanted to hug Sanji.

Sanji, Sanji, Sanji.

Even the goddamn name gave him a stomachache. 

***

Zoro laid on his desk, feeling defeated. 

He wasn’t going to college, he had it decided long ago. Sanji was going to study some shitty art career, since any cooking schools in the country had convinced him. He’d move to New York and go to college there, so Zoro was going with him. They talked about it long ago. Zoro would get into the police academy, they’d both get part-time jobs and share a department until Sanji found a serious girlfriend and moved in with her. Nice plan.

The problem was that before any of that could happen, they had to send the application essays, Sanji had to be accepted in school, and they had to convince Zoro’s dad to let him move almost 5000 kilometers away. So to begin with, they had to send in the application essays. Zoro had agreed with his father to apply to at least two colleges, but they had already been in the stupid room for three hours and he hadn't even written two lines of the first essay. Meanwhile Sanji, pretentious idiot, had already finished three.

“Why can’t you just write it for me? My fucking brain hurts, cook.” 

The blond didn’t even look at him, he just laughed. “I’m not wasting my time writing essays for some shitty schools you aren’t even attending even if you get in, idiot.”

“Then why do I have to waste mine!?”

“Go ask your dad.”

Zoro sighed and stood up from the chair, frustration weighing heavily on his back. He had no energy for this. He made his way to his bed and plopped down on the sheets. Feeling defeated. Again. Sanji looked at him out of the corner of his eye, still writing. About five minutes later, without saying a word, he closed the laptop and went to lie down next to him.

“You know what? Just leave it there, you did enough for the day.”

Zoro let out a dry laugh, turning his head to look at him. “I wrote less than two fucking lines.”

“Yeah, well, that’s a lot if it comes from you.” Sanji gave him a few pats on the shoulder. “Let’s talk about something less overwhelming. What are you wearing for winter prom?”

“What a better topic, shit head.” He grumbled, rolling his eyes but not quite hiding the smirk that tugged at his lips. “I don't know, a suit? A tux? Who cares?”

“What do you mean ‘who cares’!? It’s our last winter prom before college! You have to wear something decent, marimo.”

“You’re acting like it’s a fucking wedding, cook. It’s just prom. Who’s gonna care what I wear?”

“I wil!” That came out of Sanji’s mouth way faster than he could really think about it, so he cleared his throat, looking away. “I mean, Luffy will… Well, maybe not, but, uh, you’ll want to impress him! Right? I mean, you’re inviting him… aren’t you?” 

Zoro looked apart, focusing his gaze on his almost completely empty sheet of his essay. “Uh… Yeah, I… I don’t think so.”

“Why not? I thought you liked him”

“I do, I just…” 

He didn’t. 

He knew it, of course he knew it. He hadn’t liked Luffy in months, maybe longer. Whatever dumb crush he thought he had was long gone, but what could he say?  Besides, he hadn’t even thought about inviting anyone to the stupid prom. But, of course, his stupid best friend smiled, making fun of him.

Sanji’s lips curled into a lopsided smirk, and he leaned in slightly, resting his chin on his palm as if he were genuinely curious. “What? Are you scared of prom night?”

Zoro’s head snapped up immediately. “Why the fuck would I be scared?” 

The blond shrugged, playing with his pencil. “You know, elegant clothes, slow songs, just… romantic teenage bullshit.” Basically everything Zoro didn't like .

Zoro rolled his eyes, scoffing under his breath. “You are overthinking it.”

“It’s just the way it is, dumbass. It’s what everyone does, drinking punch, which is more alcohol than punch, dancing, kissing…”

“You’re going way too far with that.” He muttered, his voice low and flat, hoping it would be enough to shut him up. 

But of course it wasn’t.

“With what? What? The kissing? Don’t you wanna do it? with… with Luffy?” Sanji didn’t feel well asking that, his stupid mouth acting before his brain like always. Please say you don’t, please, please.

“I—” Zoro didn’t know what to say, so he took back his attention to the sheet. “Luffy doesn’t even seem like he knows how to kiss.” Not the best argument. But definitely true.

Sanji made a face. “So what? You don’t know either.” 

“You don’t know that.”

“Of course I do, I know everything about you, idiot. I’m your best friend, in case you forgot it.” 

Zoro’s stomach clenched. Best friend. He didn’t like that term much lately. “I couldn’t forget it even if I wanted to.” He muttered, his voice a bit lower than he intended.  

Sanji took a deep breath, then cleared his throat. Again. “The point is, you haven’t made a lot of progress with him in all this time and… I just think It’d be nice for you to have your first kiss before college. It’s a bit embarrassing arriving there without it.”

Then Roronoa did laugh a bit. Idiot . “Even if I actually planned on doing it, don’t you think it'll be awkward?”

“A good kiss is never awkward, marimo.”

“Right, but if I don’t know, and he definitely doesn’t, there’s no fucking way, cook.”

“I can teach you” Sanji didn’t think, not even for a second, before saying that. And it was already too late when he realized. 

Zoro blinked, caught completely off guard. His breath hitched slightly in his throat. And then he almost choked on his own saliva. 

“What?”

Sanji's heart almost stopped. The blast of heat hit him straight in the face, making him shiver. 

Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK.

“I-I mean—” He cleared his throat, forcing a strained chuckle. He put his hand to his neck, looking everywhere but at his friend. Like it was no big deal. “I, uh…”

“You did not just offer to teach me to kiss.” Zoro muttered slowly, his voice filled with disbelief. 

Jesus. Christ. The blond could feel his heart pounding so fucking fast and so fucking loud he was afraid Zoro could hear it too. He tried, for the love of God, he tried to fix his tone so his voice wouldn’t sound cracked. Didn’t work.

“I… W-well it's not a big deal, right? We’re best friends and I don’t…” Sanji doubted, just for a second about telling him. But maybe it’ll make things worse, so he didn’t, “even like guys, so… It shouldn’t be a big deal.”

Fucking liar.

Zoro’s eyes stayed on him, sharp and unmoving. His lips pressed into a thin line, but he gave a small, slow nod. “Yeah… I guess so.” He wasn’t convinced. At all. “But anyways, wouldn’t it be weird? Or… gross for you? You know, since I’m not… a girl”

Sanji looked at him, really looked at him. As if he wanted to say something, to tell him he was wrong. But he didn't. He looked away and cleared his throat. For the third time. 

“I-I’m not saying we have to do it asshole. It’s just what friends do. Help each other.”

“Help each other,” Zoro repeated slowly, looking straight at him. And Sanji wanted to disappear. Fucking moron .

“Yeah” He croaked out, voice almost too casual, too airy. “Just… helping, marimo. No big deal.”

“Right,” Zoro muttered dryly. “No big deal.”

They remained in silence for a bit. 

Sanji was screaming in his head, cursing his fucking big mouth. Idiot, fucking idiot. Fuck, fuck, FUCK. 

“Well, I…” Sanji muttered suddenly, too fast, too abrupt. He was already pushing himself off the bed, too eager to put space between them, too desperate for air. “I have to go. I promised Nami I’d help her choose her prom dress and I’m already running late, so… See you tomorrow”

“Yeah.”

Zoro didn’t have enough time to even say a proper goodbye, because Sanji was already gone. He sighed. 

Geez .

Meanwhile, Sanji was basically running for his life outside. He made up that thing about Nami and now he couldn’t get back home for, at least, a few hours. Not unless he wanted Zoro to know he was full of shit.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. 

He eventually slowed down, when he felt it was safe enough to stop. He took a long, long breath, then leaned against a wall. Damn. He pulled his cigarette box out of his pocket, he needed one. Too much.

What the hell was all that?

He really had to stop letting his damn big mouth act before his damn brain. Because, rightly so, he'd end up in situations like that. Making them both uncomfortable and then running away from his best friend. 

He should’ve stayed. Should’ve laughed it off. Should’ve played it cool like he always did.

But he didn’t. He fucking bolted.

Sanji took another puff on his cigarette

Geez .