"Maybe I could fall in love with you." ~ Zosan

3 | Insecurities

"I still don't see the damn point behind this. This is just dumb."

Sanji sat down carefully on the edge of Zoros' bed, wondering why on earth he even followed him back here. Maybe for privacy..

Zoro also chose to sit down after Sanji did, leaning back so his back was leaned up against the headboard of his bed.

"I suppose I agree, it is kind of dumb, but it was necessary. I've been putting it off for too damn long, and I'm tired of running around it."

"God, where to start.. this is all because you wanted to know what I meant by the fact that I couldn't date you unless I had a little time to show you I was worth it, right? I've already explained that.. so why are we prolonging this."

Sanji crossed his arms and leaned back as well, his hands almost itching to grab a cigarette, but he knew Zoro would kill him for doing it in his own room

"Yes, that is the original reason we even began this damn conversation. But now there's more to it than that. You're acting different lately, and instead of letting us help you through this like we should, you'd rather run from it completely and refuse to open up to us."

"It's easier than opening up.."

Sanji murmured under his breath, looking away. Sure, the cook was always very openly feeling, until it got to anything negative.. Every damn time, he'd run away and hide, only to come back later and carry on as if he were fine.

"Of course it is. But just because something is easy doesn't make it the right thing to do, dumbass. Now open up. I'm here to listen. And I'm not gonna force you to talk to anyone else here. But you're not gonna run from me."

Sanji slowly brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, resting his head upon them

"Well, where do you want me to start.."

"You tell me."

Zoro kept his cool, not allowing a single ounce of frustration to leak into his voice. While Sanji's stubbornness sometimes infuriated him, he was also rather content with how the conversation was going. While he was slightly frustrated that it was taking so long to actually get to the bottom of this, there would be no rush here. Zoro had all the time in the world to sit here and listen to what his crewmate had to say.

"Ah.. I don't damn well know.. It's always so hard to make a start."

Sanji glanced away, beginning to pick at the skin under his nails out of sheer impulse. The cook always got so fidgety when speaking about these topics..

"Then how bout you start with how your entire demeanour has changed as of late?"

Zoro pointed it out now, figuring he'd start out by talking about the most apparent issue that was bothering him when it came to Sanji's current state. Since he was trying to open up, Zoro didn't see any point in holding back now.

"What the hell is that meant to mean?!"

Sanjis' head immediately span around, his eyes locking on Zoros'.

"What? Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. You're on edge about everything, always tense and acting like you expect an impending disaster all the damn time. It's like you've suddenly stopped trusting us completely, as though you think we're gonna turn on you and try to kill you any day now or something."

Sanji froze, knowing that he couldn't possibly deny it. His gaze quickly drifted away, and he put his head back on his knees

"Well.. maybe it's not just you I need to prove I'm good enough to."