Beaten Up || Zoro x Sanji

Part 3

Precisely 32 Minutes later, they heard heavy footsteps, caused by a tipsy swordsman tripping over his own feet as he entered the ship.
Sanji immediately wanted to greet him, but stopped halfway through the door.

The cook struggled with his emotions for quite a while.
Maybe Zoro didn't need him right now, maybe he would only overwhelm him with his somewhat hysterical concern.

But what kind of boyfriend wouldn't look after his significant other in such a situation?!
And nonetheless, he needed Zoro and even if Zoro didn't need him, he still needed someone to take care of him in this kind of state.

So  he eventually gave Nami one last relieved, but scared look and then ran to face his boyfriend.

When he saw him, he felt like he was about to faint, his knees weak and his mind completely blank.

The swordsman was limping, blood running from several wounds in his face and who knows where, dripping onto the floor.
His shirt was stained with blood, dirt and probably cheap booze.

"Zoro, baby, what...?"

Sanji's voice was barely more than a whisper and he was fighting back tears, making it nearly impossible to speak anyway.
He felt horribly guilty.

He rushed towards him, pulling out a tissue out of his pocket, very gently cleaning the most severe wounds on his lips and eyebrows.

"I'm...okay. Don't worry."

Zoro hiccuped and flinched at the look the blond was giving him.
He wasn't drunk enough anymore to be too insensitive and rude...
And even whilst being drunk, he never disrespected or hurt him in any way.
But it didn't really matter anymore, he had done all of that without any alcohol whatsoever.

How ironic.

"Shut your mouth, idiot, and let's get you cleaned up."

The cook put one arm around his boyfriend's back to prop him and guided him straight into the bathroom, more or less pushing him into the shower.

Nami was standing in the doorway, peeking at the scene that was befalling in front of her eyes and suddenly, she was really longing for Robin's warm embrace.
She silently left the men to themselves and creeped into her girlfriends room, praying she wouldn't be too angry if she just woke her up now.

-

As the warm and calming water was soaking the couple's clothes, a wave of emotions crashed down on Sanji.
He knew he had to be strong for Zoro and maybe somehow for himself, but all the relieve, anxiety and tension that had been building up over the last hours were breaking his facade.
Eventually, he wasn't able to convince himself that he was that strong anymore.

Tears started rolling down his face.

Of course they weren't visible, his sobs however were clearly audible.

Slowly, the swordsman reached for Sanji, pulling him closer and wrapping his arms around him, as he pressed a kiss on his head.

"I'm sorry.",

Zoro whispered repeatedly as he held the man, who was clinging to him like his life depended on it and listened to the pitter patter of the water against their bodies.

"I'm so sorry."

-

"I screwed up, Zoro. You're the thing I desire most and yet I don't seem to be able to treat you the way you deserve it.",

Sanji whimpered, his face still buried in the green haired man's chest and shaking in
spite of the rather hot water.

"Please forgive me."

Zoro just lifted his boyfriend's head up and pressed their lips together softly. "It's my fault anyway. It's all my fault. I trust you more than anyone, but as soon as someone is talking to you, I want to kiss you all over and let everyone know you're mine. I'm sorry I'm such a jealous ass, I just love you so much, I sometimes feel like it's all overwhelming me."

Sanji sure as hell didn't know how to answer that.
Of course he didn't agree with everything Zoro just had said, but that didn't need to be said right now.

So they just held each other close, partly sobbing, partly smiling.

-

About one hour later, they were laying in Zoro's bed, dry and patched up, only Sanji's hair still slightly damp.
They were so exhausted, but there was so much left to say and do, but neither of them was really ready for it.

It meant having to decide things.
Important things.

Like whether they would still be capable of having a healthy relationship after all this.

"What are we gonna do now?"

It sounded like a normal question, but both of them felt and understood its depth and meaning for them.

The cook felt horrible for bringing up this topic, but he felt way worse about cheating on Zoro anyway.
Thinking about it now, he just couldn't understand what had gotten into him back then...
He knew Nami was in a happy relationship with Robin anyway, that's why both him and her simply knew they would never even just have a chance of getting together, seeing how they both were pretty gay, but he wasn't allowed to tell Zoro.

Or anyone as a matter of fact.
She wanted to keep it private.

He knew Nami had told his boyfriend about the kiss, but he didn't know what he actually thought about it, he didn't know how he had reacted and he didn't know how he was planning to handle it over all.

"I...I have no idea."

Zoro sighed heavily and abstractedly ran his hand through Sanji's blonde hair.
Instead of the pale moonlight, the orange, nearly golden light of the rising sun was illuminating the room and was making him somewhat sentimental for reasons he did not know.
Maybe it was just his tiredness.

"You and Nami should talk things out, I guess. And we probably should, too..."

The blond stiffled a yawn and snuggled deeper into the swordsman's side, clearly tired, but also clearly avoiding the sensitive topic he had just brought up himself.

"But for now, we should just get some sleep."

Hey ^^ it took me quite a while to update, I've just been very busy lately, so I'm sorry about that... buttttt I'm working on it. And as always, thanks for reading ♡