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“You hate the cold,” Sanji said with a frown. “Why are you waiting for me?”
It had been a long week at Baratie leading up to Christmas. Clientele this time of the year can be more insane than they usually are, and the pick up catering orders were keeping the kitchen even busier than they usually do. So when Sanji bid adieu to the final customers of the night just after 10PM, and then finished closing the restaurant a little under an hour later, the only thing he wanted was to get home and enjoy the one day they had off before work resumed.
What he neither wanted nor expected was to see his ex standing outside, waiting around despite the snow which was just beginning to fall.
“Who said I was waiting here for you?” Zoro huffed.
“Did you get lost and ended up here randomly then?” Sanji asked and lit up a cigarette. “When did you come back to town?”
It’s not like it was a bad breakup. Well, it was bad for Sanji, it wrecked his heart for sure, but they were just kids. Barely out of high school, and both with lofty goals ahead of them. They had to focus, and they had to go their separate ways, even though it meant their relationship no longer made any sense. Zoro had left to train, and Sanji had stayed behind to develop his skills at Baratie. It paid off great for both of them. Sanji was a confident sous chef now, and Zoro had many medals under his belt. The cost was not that high. Some awkwardness at Luffy’s parties when Zoro was back in town and a heartache anytime Sanji thought about the whole thing too much was perfectly manageable.
“Just this morning,” Zoro said. “Luffy is having a thing for Christmas right now. Are you going?”
Sanji sighed and shook his head. “No, I’m beat and Luffy lives all the way across the bridge. It’s straight to bed for me.”
Zoro frowned. “At Christmas?”
“It’s Christmas Eve,” Sanji corrected. “What about you? Are you not on your way there?”
Zoro pursed his lips. “Uh.”
Sanji took a drag of his cigarette. “Do you know where the party is?”
“Shut up,” Zoro said with a frown. “I’ll just walk you home.”
“I thought you weren’t waiting for me?”
Zoro shrugged. “I got cold,” he just said. Sanji took a better look at him in the dim street light and could see a red sheen on the man’s cheeks and nose. He shook his head in defeat.
“Sure, Marimo,” he said. “I’ll get some hot chocolate in you.”
“Don’t you have wine or something?” Zoro whined. Sanji just raised a brow. “Or tea,” Zoro tried again.
“Whatever it is, you’re getting a hot drink,” Sanji said and began walking. He lived only a few minutes away from Baratie, making it a good pit stop for Zoro before he continued his journey to the party, especially with the snowfall slowly picking up. Sanji wondered if the party would even still be going by the time Zoro reached it at this pace.
The walk through the snowy night was quiet and awkward, and Sanji began regretting his decision by the time they began climbing the steps to his apartment. He hadn’t spent time alone with Zoro since the break-up, really, and the night after a hell week at work did not seem like a good time to restart the friendship properly. Sanji would have to put up a happy face, and on any other day it would not be an issue with how used to it he was, but tonight all he really wanted was to relax.
“How long are you staying?” Sanji asked, putting his key in the lock of his door after what felt like an eternity of silence.
“Uh, until you kick me out?” Zoro said, visibly confused, which just made Sanji groan. So much for a happy face.
“I meant in town,” Sanji rolled his eyes and let Zoro through the door. He did a quick scan of the studio apartment as they entered, trying to figure out if he left it presentable. It wasn’t bad, he decided once he flicked on the light. Only a few items out of place, including his bed in the corner being made less neatly than he enjoyed and his pajama hanging over the back of a dining chair. He quickly grabbed it and tossed it into his wardrobe.
“Probably a while,” Zoro said. “I found a trainer here.”
That gave Sanji pause. “So you’re moving back?”
“Yeah,” Zoro said. “I didn’t tell you?”
Sanji made a strangled sound, something between a scoff, a huff, and a laugh. “No, you didn’t. When would you have told me?”
Zoro frowned, seemingly giving it a serious consideration. “I don’t know. It’s not like I’ve been hiding it. Pretty sure the rest of the crew knows.”
“Right,” Sanji said and moved to his kitchenette to put a kettle on. “It’s not like we’re that close nowadays, anyway.”
“Right,” Zoro echoed and sat down on the sofa. “I guess we’re not, are we? I haven’t even been here yet.”
“To be fair, I don’t invite people over a lot,” Sanji shrugged. “There’s no room.”
“I always thought you’d live in a place with a bigger kitchen.”
Sanji blushed. “I mostly come here to crash after work,” he said. “I don’t need a lot of space.”
“A shame. This place hardly feels like you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sanji frowned.
“I mean, you always used to decorate your room like crazy for Christmas. I thought you’d have a tree and shit. But there’s not even mistletoe hanging around.”
Sanji blushed, thinking of the lonely bunch of mistletoe he tucked away in his bag earlier this week and didn’t have the heart to hang yet. “No point in mistletoe if there;s nobody to kiss underneath,” he shrugged, trying to sound like he didn’t care. He wasn’t sure it was a successful attempt.
“Right,” Zoro said and Sanji was not sure if he sounded convinced. “I’d have also thought you’d enjoy cooking in your off time,” he continued. “You’ve always talked about the dishes you wanted to try out and shit like that.”
“Well, work keeps me busy,” Sanji mumbled. “And this is more than enough for when I feel like doing something.”
“I’ve heard,” Zoro said. Sanji frowned.
“You’ve heard about my culinary experiments?...”
“I’ve heard you’ve been too busy with work for much,” he said instead, making Sanji blush harder, like a child caught doing something wrong. “You’re even working Christmas Eve?”
“Somebody has to,” Sanji protested and turned his back to Zoro, focusing on the tea.
“You have to work through all holidays and weekends?” Zoro asked. Sanji didn’t see him but could positively hear the man frowning. “Luffy says it’s a miracle if they manage to drag your skinny ass over there anymore.”
“Luffy is dramatic when I don’t feed him seven days a week,” Sanji mumbled. “Don’t act like you don’t know that.”
“Is he, though?” Zoro asked. “Or are you just being taken advantage of?”
“Being taken advantage of?” Sanji echoed, perplexed. “By Zeff? Have you hit your head recently, Mosshead?”
“He is making you work all the time, isn’t he?” Zoro frowned.
“He isn't making me do shit!” Sanji huffed. “Somebody has to work all these hours!”
“And it has to be you? To the point where you don’t even see your friends anymore?”
“Yes,” Sanji huffed. The kettle started whistling as the water boiled and Sanji took it off the stove to let the water cool a few degrees before he would make the tea. “What do you care, anyway?”
“I don’t,” Zoro huffed. “I just know what Luffy told me.”
“Then maybe shut your mouth,” Sanji huffed. “Zeff is not making me do shit. I work because there’s work to be done, and that’s all there is to it.”
“Is it?” Zoro said. “So you’d rather work than spend time with your friends?”
“You skipped town rather than spend time with them,” Sanji snapped at him. Zoro frowned.
“That’s not the same,” Zoro argued.
“Like hell it isn’t,” Sanji said and handed Zoro a cup of tea. “Drink it and catch a ride to get to Luffy’s. I’m tired.”
“You won’t drop by?” Zoro asked, visibly surprised. Sanji groaned.
“I just told you that I was tired,” he said and sat down with his own cup of tea. “Now drink up and try to find your ride.”
Zoro made an annoyed noise but shut up. They sat in silence, Sanji looking out the window at the snow falling harder and harder, and Zoro tapping on his phone.
Sanji wished it could have been a nice moment. He remembered the nights spent together back when they were dating, sometimes in Sanji’s room above Baratie, and sometimes at Zoro’s place. Sanji would cook, Zoro would train, they would bicker, and then sit in silence. Sometimes Sanji would look at the snow falling, just like he was now, but Zoro’s arms would be around him. It made Sanji’s chest ache to know nothing like that would ever happen. But he’d learn to be just friends. It couldn’t have been that difficult, could it?
“There’s no cabs,” Zoro said, interrupting Sanji’s thought. Sanji turned to look at him with a frown.
“What do you mean? There’s always cabs.”
“Not now,” Zoro shrugged. “You can check if you don’t believe me.”
Sanji groaned and got up to look at Zoro’s phone with a frown. The app he had open was telling him Luffy’s address was unavailable, even though Sanji knew it should be within range. He sighed, took out his own phone, and put in Luffy’s address in his navigation app, groaning when he figured out the problem.
“Looks like maybe the snow cut off the bridge access to Luffy’s spot,” he said. “You’ll have to just go to your own place.”
“Clearly I can’t,” Zoro groaned. Sanji looked at him.
“You moved into Luffy’s neighborhood?”
“No, I moved in with Luffy,” Zoro said. It had Sanji staring at him in disbelief.
“You moved in with Luffy,” he said slowly. “And still got lost on the way to the party?”
Zoro blushed. “So what if I did?”
“So what if you did?” Sanji asked, exasperated. “Mosshead. Luffy lives on the other side of the town. If you were there, you had to cross a bridge to get here! A bridge which is now closed and you won’t be able to get back home!”
“I can get back home,” Zoro shrugged and stood up. “I’ll just walk.”
“You won’t walk anywhere,” Sanji huffed. “Why do you think they closed the goddamn bridge? The snow is too heavy, and I won’t have you freeze out there for Christmas!”
“Like you’d care,” Zoro said and crossed his arm. Sanji wanted to pull on his hair.
“Whatever you may think, I don’t want you to get so lost that you die! It’s bad enough that you somehow got lost so badly already.”
“I didn’t get lost!”
“What, you meant to end up in front of Baratie at eleven at night?”
“Maybe I did!” Zoro argued. Sanji laughed bitterly.
“Please. What possible reason could you have for ending up there of all places, and not at Luffy’s party?”
Zoro opened his mouth, and then pursed his lips and looked away in a way that had Sanji feeling uneasy. Sanji suddenly felt unmoored.
“Marimo,” he said slowly. “Why were you waiting outside Baratie?”
“You weren’t at the party,” Zoro finally admitted. “Which, fine, you don’t have to be at Luffy’s if you have other plans.”
“I had other plans,” Sanji pointed out but Zoro huffed at him.
“Work is not plans. Not on Christmas and not for you. I remember you on Christmas, okay? I remember you excited about making treats for others, tasting all those weird spices, getting cold all the time and drinking mulled wines to warm up. I remember how crazy you went about gifts, and caroling, and decorations, and parties. And look at you now. You’re working through the holidays! On your own! This place doesn’t even have a tree!”
Sanji blushed. He didn’t know why Zoro cared all of a sudden. “So? That’s not your problem.”
“Then whose problem is it, Dartbrow?” Zoro asked and suddenly focused his gaze on Sanji with intensity that made the chef go weak in the knees. “Who is allowed to give a shit about you these days?”
“I don’t know,” Sanji mumbled, wanting to take the step back but unwilling to yield to whatever energy Zoro was giving off right now. “Not my ex, of all the people.”
Zoro made a face at that which Sanji could not decipher. “I thought we were friends, Cook.”
“We are,” Sanji said and reached for his cigarettes, lighting one up to help steady his nerves.
“Could’ve fooled me,” Zoro said. “You never talk to me anymore when I’m in town. I thought you just hated my guts now but it turns out that you’re just not talking to anyone.”
“I’ve been busy,” Sanji tried to defend himself. Zoro’s gaze pierced right through him, though.
“You’ve been keeping busy, more like it,” he said. “You’ve been hiding away from our friends. They notice.”
“You’re being dramatic,” Sanji mumbled and took a drag from his cigarette.
“Am I?” Zoro asked. “When did you last see Luffy? Exactly,” he said when Sanji had to hesitate. “What the fuck is this, Cook? Of all the people, you’re working through the sappiest of holidays?”
“Of all the people, why are you worried about it?”
“Because I know better than the others what these holidays mean to you!” Zoro yelled. “And I wasn’t about to let you go through them alone. And look at you, working the entire Christmas Eve, and coming back to an empty, undecorated house?”
“Maybe that’s why I’m working, okay?!” Sanji laughed. “Maybe working is easier than remembering what I lost and what I can’t have!”
“What have you lost, Cook?” Zoro demanded. “Because you didn’t lose anyone! Everyone at the party was so bummed that you couldn’t be there, everyone there misses you!”
“I lost you!” Sanji said before he could think better of it. He groaned and ran his hand across his face. “Damn, I know you had to go, and I know it was not about me, and that it was the right call, but every time I see the crew, I think about you, okay? And sorry for not getting over you in the past few years, but I didn’t, and it sucks, but it’s my problem and I’ll deal with it!”
Zoro stared at him for a moment in silence and Sanji continued smoking his cigarette, having said his piece, ready for being mocked or pitied. But when Zoro spoke, his tone was softer, confused. “You are not over me?”
“Don’t gloat,” Sanji mumbled. “I just don’t get over people easily.”
“No, Cook,” Zoro said. “I… I’ve been thinking about you every fucking day since I’ve left, okay?”
Sanji blinked and looked at Zoro, barely parsing what he was saying. “You what?...”
“Why do you think I was waiting for you on Christmas?”
“It’s not Christmas yet,” Sanji said, dumbfounded, as if that was the most important part of what Zoro was saying. Zoro just laughed.
“It’s almost Christmas,” he said. “It’s, what, twenty minutes away?”
“Almost Christmas is not Christmas,” Sanji mumbled. Zoro grinned.
“So I still get to make a Christmas wish then?”
“I guess?”
“Will you kiss me on New Year’s Eve, then?”
Sanji blushed. “What the fuck do you mean?”
“If you had some mistletoe around, I’d have asked for the kiss now,” Zoro grinned. Sanji blushed.
“That’s not what I- Since when do you want to kiss me at all?”
“Haven’t I just told you?” Zoro said and came closer. Sanji felt like he couldn’t breathe. “I’ve been thinking about you every day since I’ve left.”
“Bullshit,” Sanji said, staring Zoro down. “You didn’t. You never said anything.”
“And you did?” Zoro asked.
“That’s different!”
“How is it different?” Zoro asked and crossed his arms. Sanji was at a loss for words.
“You’re shitting me,” he said instead of replying to the question.
“Why would I?” Zoro asked.
“Because… I don’t know!” Sanji said. “But it’s not funny!”
“It’s not meant to be funny,” Zoro insisted. “And if there was any mistletoe in your miserable apartment, I’d be kissing you right now.”
“That’s such a bullshit excuse, people can kiss without mistletoe, okay?”
“Would you?” Zoro asked. Sanji felt like his heart might escape his chest. His head was swimming, and when he spoke again, his voice sounded painfully vulnerable.
“Are you really staying?...”
Zoro nodded. “Yeah, Curly. I’m staying.”
“For good?”
“For long enough. And fuck, when I found that trainer here, I thought I’d get to hang out around you as the best case scenario. But I haven’t stopped thinking about you and if you’d have me, I’d be the luckiest bastard in the world.”
“We agree on the bastard part, for sure,” Sanji mumbled. “But. If you’re staying… If this is for real… Because I swear, if this is a joke, I’ll kick your ass so hard, you won’t be able to move for a week, okay?”
“Okay,” Zoro said and gingerly reached out to take Sanji’s hand. Sanji squeezed it back and tried to remember how to breathe.
“Okay,” he replied.
“So I can kiss you now?” Zoro smiled bright, his entire face lighting up. Sanji gave him a small smile in return.
“Yeah. You can,” he replied, and before he knew it, Zoro was holding him tight and kissing him like no time had passed for the two of them. Sanji felt dizzy, felt like life resumed after years. So Christmas miracles do happen, he thought incoherently.
“Merry Christmas, Cook,” Zoro said softly as they parted. Sanji smiled back, softer and more relaxed than he had in a long time. He really got more than he could have asked for, and he was looking forward to Christmas Day once more, if Zoro was by his side.
“Merry Christmas.”