Love Is Blind | ZoLu

17

Walking blindly around the ship made the Captain feel insecure. He wasn't sure of what he could bump into along the way to his room.

At least... He had hoped that's what his destination would have been. But surprisingly, it wasn't.

"Hey, Luffy! Wanna join us in the living room?"

Usopp asked, jogging up behind the boy, feeling optimistic.

When hearing his voice, Luffy followed it in order to find his way to Usopp's face, shrugging at him after giving him a polite smile.

"The living room?"

He questioned, wondering why his friends were hosting a gathering at the living room.

His friend gave him a proper explanation to why they were all gathered there, letting him know that they would be watching a movie together.

"Come on!"

His buddy was so excited in knowing that Luffy would finally be able to interact with them in a family-friendly activity.

But unfortunately, it was easier said than done, in the back of Luffy's overly active mind that was going through many new emotions because of Usopp's positive attitude towards him.

"Go where?"

The Captain felt his friend grab onto his arm, pulling his weight where the living room area would lead him towards.

"Oi, Luffy! To see the movie, where else!" Usopp stood impatiently in a sprinting stance.

But soon, he began realizing that Luffy was preventing him from going any further. The vision he had of seeing Luffy interacting with everyone had faded away.

And as did part of the hope he had left in his Captain when he spoke to him.

"To 'see' the movie, Usopp?"

At first, there was a slight hint of sarcasm in his speech, but his friend didn't think much of it.

"Well, yeah." He vaguely responded to Luffy with a lighter tone of voice.

Usopp hadn't understood the meaning behind the words Luffy was trying to get say, so he made it more clear to him.

"What's there for me to see..."

Cracking a smile throughout his pride that was broken beyond repair, Luffy found it harder to breathe.

Usopp quickly tried to make things up by rephrasing himself.

"You could still hear it, o-of course!" And word by word...

"We have tasty snacks and drinks."

Usopp's voice was fading away in the back of the other boy's mind.

All he could hear was the sound of laughter coming from his friends who appeared to be having a good time.

"Luffy, the movie is actually better to watch with your eyes closed either ways, so you could-"

His crew mate jolted when hearing the sudden change in Luffy's voice after he grew frustrated.

"So I could what, Usopp? So I could make everyone laugh at me more than they already are?"

The Captain rudely retorted to the Sniper, without a single ounce of regret in the back of his mind.

After catching onto the laughter that resonated  from the others from nearby, Usopp quickly tried to justify their actions.

"We're watching a comedy movie, that's why they were laughing." He defended on their behalf to make Luffy feel less uncomfortable.

It was then that Usopp wondered if it was a good idea to keep on trying to convince his friend in tagging along with him, when knowing how tense he had gotten.

And he wasn't too far from being right. Luffy's replies continued to turn against him.

"Don't make things up!" Luffy started pointing his finger around the empty hallway.

"All of you are laughing at me. Even you, Usopp."

Usopp felt nervous around his Captain by now, seeing the many scenarios he was making up in his head that could leave him in a dangerous situation.

"We would never do that to you, Luffy!! We're your friends!" And Luffy knew that all too well.

"Then why can't I-"

The Captain paused for a brief moment, letting the rest of his friend's dialogues overlap his own, so that he could reframe his thoughts.

In his heart, there was a rupture of emotions that needed to be urgently released or it would cause him a significant amount of damage, mentally and physically.

Because of this, Luffy gave Usopp a silent ''I know'' as his way of thanking the boy, only to walk away from him, searching desperately for his room.

When he guided his hand towards the doorknob, Luffy remembered how different his was to the ones everyone else had in their doors, so he entered the room and silently closed the door behind him.

Being alone in the room, his discouraging thoughts turned torturous towards his damaged mind that was slowly shutting down on him.

It was then that he finished saying what he never told Usopp.

"If they weren't laughing at me, If you guys really are here for me, then... Why can't I.. Why can't I see you.."

Dropping down to the hardwood floor, the torn young man fell over to his side and coiled himself up into a ball, hugging his knees as his chest tightened.

Unlike before, the tightness Luffy felt wasn't just bothersome to him, but worrisome as well due to the amount of oxygen he was losing.

What started off as an unsettling breathing pattern, slowly transitioned into a major hyperventilating for Luffy and resulted in him getting a panic attack.

He attempted to suppress his nerve-wracking voice to not cause a scene if anyone were to hear him from nearby, however, all didn't go as planned for him.

The disturbing sound of his door creaking open lead Luffy to breaking down, furthermore.

"Luffy?!"

~~~