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Zoro lay quietly on Sanji's bed as he listened to him arguing on the phone with his girlfriend again.
"No, Pudding that's not what I meant…"
He couldn't make out what she was saying but he could tell she was yelling because he could hear her even though Sanji was across the room.
"I'm sorry babe. It was a bad joke….. I know, I won't do it again…. Yeah…. Ok…. I'll see you tomorrow…. Love you..."
Zoro chewed on his lip, keeping his thoughts to himself as Sanji finished his conversation with Pudding. She never understood Sanji the way he did, always getting upset over the stupidest things, she took everything too seriously.
Sanji sighed as he hung up, collapsing into his desk chair.
"Sorry Mossy, didn't mean to bring down the mood."
"It's ok, Curly." He smiled at Sanji hoping he wouldn't see the hollowness behind it. "Why don't we put on some music and play some video games?"
Zoro grabbed his phone and connected to Sanji's speaker, throwing on one of the playlists Sanji and he had been creating by sharing songs back and forth.
He saw a smile start on Sanji's face as the first song came on before it immediately turned into a frown. "Pudding hates this song."
It took everything in Zoro not to just yell at Sanji that he didn't care one bit about what Pudding liked and didn't like, knowing it would just make Sanji feel worse. Instead, he turned up the volume and flashed a smile. "Well, this is one of my favorites, so we're listening to it anyway."
"Don't turn it up too loud. We have school tomorrow and the old geezer will kick you out earlier if we're too loud."
As if on queue, Zeff yelled up the stairs. "It's too late for all that racket, turn it down. And I know you have school tomorrow so Zoro needs to head home in the next 30 minutes."
"Yes sir!" They called down the stairs in unison.
Zoro sighed as he turned the volume back down a couple of notches.
Sanji got up out of the chair and made his way over to the bed, pushing Zoro over so he could collapse next to him. Zoro tried not to pay attention to the way their shoulders touched since the bed really wasn't made for two people. He only wished the emotional distance was as easy to bridge as the physical one was.
They lay on the bed for the next little bit joking about school and talking about the songs that continued playing. When Zeff yelled up the stairs that it was time for him to go home he rolled off the bed reluctantly and walked back to his house.
When he got to his room he opened his window and looked at the house next door, happy to see Sanji with his light still on waiting for him to get home. They knew it was a little ridiculous, but it had become a habit since they were kids to tell each other goodnight through the window. Holding up a notebook with a hastily written note before they both shut off the lights and climbed into bed.
Zoro looked down at the words he had written many times, but had never had the strength to hold up. 'I love you'. He looked up from the notepad in his hand and watched as Sanji waved to him before closing the curtain to his room.
Zoro sighed as he closed his own curtains and collapsed on his bed, it was still a little bit before he turned off his lights as he lay in bed wishing that Sanji would actually see him. He knew he could make him happy if he would give him a chance, but he also knew he would never say anything, too afraid to ruin what they had.
He finally fell asleep with the same thought he'd had for many nights before running through his head. 'Why can't you see?'
***
The next morning Sanji met Zoro at his door so they could walk to school together like they did every morning. Sanji was dressed down today in a polo and a pair of worn-out jeans. Zoro walked next to him in his normal sneaker jeans and t-shirt.
They stopped at the park just outside the school, sitting on the bench so Sanji could sneak in a smoke before classes. They'd always left for school early so he'd have time to do so.
As Sanji lit up his smoke they chatted about the classes they had today, laughing as they talked about the shenanigans their "captain" had been up to lately. Zoro felt his heart swell at the ease of it all wishing it could always be like this.
They were cut off by a clearing of someone's throat and they turned to see Pudding standing off to the side. Sanji turned to goo at the sight of her, all heart eyes as he complimented her beautiful outfit, telling her how lovely her legs looked in her little skirt and how graceful she walked in her high heels. The whole time he did so Pudding had her eyes locked on Zoro, a glare thrown his way before she turned a fake smile to her boyfriend.
"Walk me to class Sanji."
"Anything for you my dear." Sanji offered his arm and Pudding wrapped herself around it, shooting Zoro a smug look, and off they went. Sanji sent a nod to Zoro as they walked away, his normal plastered smile on his face.
Zoro sat on the bench as he watched them walk away. He could see the slight stiffness in Sanji's posture as they walked out of sight. He didn't even understand why Sanji was with Pudding. He always seemed tense and upright around her, but when Zoro tries to bring it up Sanji always brushes it off saying things are fine, he's just stressed about this or that even knowing Zoro can see right through him. It felt like he hadn't seen Sanji really smile in ages, at least not the smile he usually had, the one that could brighten any room he walked into.
After another couple minutes of sitting around, Zoro got up and resigned himself to walking the remaining block to school alone. He just hoped the classrooms didn't move around like they always seemed to when he didn't have Sanji to walk to class with him.
***
It was Friday night and Zoro sat next to Luffy on the bleachers waiting for the soccer game to start. He and Luffy always came to the game to cheer Sanji on. He was the team captain and one of the most popular strikers in the high school soccer scene. Zoro knew that he had offers from multiple competitive clubs that wanted him to come play for them. He also knew that was the only reason Pudding was dating him.
Speaking of… Zoro glared down at the field where the cheer squad stood, Pudding their captain. When the soccer team came out Sanji immediately made his way over to her where he began his usual fawning and Pudding ate it up, as always, at least when Sanji was looking at her. When Sanji turned away to take the field he saw Pudding roll her eyes as she turned to her friend and they began laughing at Sanji's actions.
They did it almost every time and it made Zoro so mad but he knew Sanji wouldn't believe him or worse, would think he was trying to get between them and would stop talking to him.
The game started and he pulled his eyes away from Pudding and watched the game, cheering with the rest of the crowd as the game progressed.
The game ended 2-1, they won. Sanji had barely snuck in the last shot before the final seconds ticked off the clock. The crowd went wild and Sanji jogged happily to the sidelines where Pudding made a show of throwing herself into his arms and planting a kiss on his lips. Sanji turned to mush, hearts in his eyes again, and the start of a nosebleed.
Zoro felt his heart clench like it did every time. He wished he could just get over this love and let go, but every time he spent time alone with Sanji he just seemed to fall further and further. He stood up and left ignoring Luffy yelling to him, he knew they usually went out for food with the team but Zoro just couldn't do it today. So he chose to walk home alone.
When he got home he sent a text to Sanji and Luffy apologizing that he didn't join them, saying that he wasn't feeling well so he wanted to get home and get some sleep. He turned off his phone and climbed into bed, thoughts of Sanji plaguing his mind until he fell into a restless sleep.
***
He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep when he was woken by someone pounding on his door, but it was still dark outside. He rubbed his eyes and the pounding came again. Mihawk and Perona were out of town so he was the only one home. He carefully made his way downstairs not turning any of the lights on.
He heard the pounding one more time and looked through the peephole, surprised when he saw Sanji. He opened the door and Sanji immediately burst through falling into Zoro. It took a minute for Zoro to realize he was crying.
"Oi! Curly, Sanji, what's wrong?"
Sanji stood back up rubbing his hands over his eyes. "She broke up with me. Pudding dumped me."
Zoro felt guilty about the happiness that ran through him.
"Go upstairs to my room, I'll grab a snack and something to drink and we can hang out."
Sanji just nodded and made his way upstairs.
This wasn't the first time Sanji had shown up in the middle of the night after a heartbreak, Zoro was the only one that knew how to cheer him up afterward, the only one who could make him laugh when all he wanted to do was cry. They'd been best friends since they were kids. So many nights were spent talking together about things as simple as their favorite songs to their hopes and dreams for the future.
Zoro went into the kitchen digging through the cupboards for some snacks and grabbing a couple of beers from the fridge before making his way upstairs.
When he opened the door he felt the whole world stop as he saw Sanji sitting on his bed staring at the notebook, open to the last page he'd been looking at. 'Why can't you see? You belong with me.' He watched quietly as Sanji turned to the next page 'I love you' was written on this one.
Everything suddenly started moving again and Zoro dropped everything to the floor. "Sanji, I'm sorry. Please don't hate me."
Sanji looked over at him, but instead of the disgust he expected, he saw that smile, the one that made even the sun dull in comparison.
"Zoro, why didn't you say anything?"
Zoro shook his head, not sure what to say.
Sanji placed the notebook down next to him and stood up walking over towards Zoro, the smile still on his face. When they were finally face to face Sanji reached up and placed his hand on Zoro's cheek.
"I love you too," Sanji whispered before he leaned forward pressing a kiss to Zoro's lips.
When they pulled apart they both had a smile on their faces and knew that from now on they would be together, right where they belonged.