In a white bed a blond skinny guy starts crying silently due to having ruined his savior's life. "I'm sorry" he murmurs between sobs. "I'm so, so sorry Zoro". How had it ended up like this? Why does all the soap opera stuff happen to him? He hates himself, he hates being the cause of hurting Zoro. Why did that mossy dumbass fall for him? What the hell does he see in Sanji? Nothing probably, just a reverse hero complex or whatever. He feels relieve just thinking about how nobody will ever see something in him. It's fucked up, he knows, but he has made himself believe that so he won't ever feel upset because of not being loved in the future. He's always liked to prevent that kind of stuff from happening. Without even noticing he drifts to sleep again.

Sunlight hits him when he rolls onto his side and makes him wake up slowly, closing his eyes a couple times in the process. Anxiety strikes again like a lightning bolt and he becomes more and more nervous as seconds pass.

He has to talk to Zoro. The thing is, he doesn't want to,but he must. Sanji only hopes that the green-haired man doesn't visit him anytime soon so he can prepare himself to getting exposed. Shit.

He had managed to get a bit more physically stronger and in a couple days he was allowed to walk freely around the place, what he was grateful about. Seriously, boredom laid next to him in that room.

Sanji has finally got to know the hospital a bit better and whenever he gets lost he just keeps going until he finds himself somewhere he recognizes. Actually, getting lost is the best part of his tours. He concentrates so much on moving forward and trying to situate himself he just lets go of everything else for the moment.

He's in the middle of figuring out where the hell he is when sees the current center of his anxiousness. Zoro is closing the door of his room from the outside. He doesn't know what to do nor can he think, either. Sanji wants to get this over with, but is so scared. Since that time, whenever Zoro visited, he'd just pretend to be asleep, but now he couldn't, obviously. His knees feel weak and he's already shaking, his breath ragged, even though Zoro hasn't faced him yet. Sanji closes his eyes and wishes for Zoro to go the other way, but, of course, it doesn't work.

Zoro turns around and sees the blond. He looks like he's going to faint anytime soon, trembling and having trouble breathing. He doesn't need to be told twice and in a second he's right in front of him.

"Sanji, react. Are you ok?" he asks, but the blue eyed just keeps staring, incapable of calming down. "Hey, look at me" Zoro demands softly, but the other man doesn't obey. He looks as if he's not even there, and Zoro goes for a different strategy. He takes one of Sanji's hands and walks a little, and seeing the other follow, the green-haired continues until they get to his room. He's decided to do this because he knows there are visitors and Sanji doesn't need other people seeing him in the middle of a breakdown. Zoro closes the door and turns on one of the lights. He moves Sanji to the bed and they both sit on it. The blonde looks at him with such hurt in his eyes that he feels his chest tighten. Zoro doesn't let go of his hands before speaking.

"Sanji, talk to me, what's wrong?" he asks with a huge lot of concern in his voice. Sanji's trying so hard not to cry again, and Zoro notices. "Do you want me to leave for a second?" he suggests, but feels how Sanji tightly grips his hands. The blonde takes in a couple deep breaths and tries to talk.

"It's because of you, I… I wasn't asleep, I heard it and I'm just…" and he starts crying. Zoro stares at him. He now feels empty, Sanji is rejecting him. He should have known, and even if he was the first one he'd ever liked that much, it hurt anyways.

"I'm so sorry Zoro, it's all my fault" Sanji sobs. Well, that was unexpected.

"What?" Zoro is fucking confused. "What are you so sorry about? I'm… I don't get you".

"I made you doubt and I, I know how terrifying it is, not understanding your sexuality and I'm just sorry for making you go through all of this, and making you suffer and-" he gets cut mid-sentence.

"Sanji" Zoro looks at him and moves one of his hands to the other's face. "I apologize for making you worry but, I'm gay, and I've known for a pretty long time, actually" he softly laughs and tears begin pouring from Sanji's eyes again. Zoro gets a bit closer and hugs him slightly, caressing his hair and trying to soothe him down.

"I don't quite know why, but I'm so glad" Sanji laughs quietly making Zoro melt with the sound.

"Hey, I really, really like you, so please let me stay with you, ok? No more fake sleeping and stuff like that, please" Zoro almost begs. Sanji looks up at him, feeling both surprised and kind of guilty.

"Sorry, I just couldn't face you at the moment" he mumbles. Zoro smiles and hugs him again.

"It´s fine, I understand" he whispers.

They stay like that for a moment, enjoying each other's warmth and both knowing they're able to trust each other completely. Zoro has the feeling that he could do anything now, but still, he's aware of the time and place.

"Sanji, even though I'd love to stay here forever, we should get going. It's almost lunchtime and Robin usually patrols the dining room to make sure everyone eats. And also, I'm starving".

"Yeah, I'm kinda hungry too" Sanji yawns. Zoro stares at him startled.

"Are, are you eating again?" he asks hopefully.

"I've been doing so since I got here" Sanji answers flatly, as if he'd never been on the verge of death due to self-starvation. Zoro looks at him in awe, takes his face in his hands and kisses him on the forehead.

"I'm so proud".

"Me too" he laughs. "Let's get going".

They head to the dining room and chat all the way there. Not a very long way, but still, it's nice. Zoro tells him that the clinic is the only place where he doesn't get lost because it has been his home for a very long time, although he doesn't live there anymore. Sanji's rather quiet, but tells him about his dream of living near the ocean because he remembers only seeing it once when he was a kid and he loved it.

For the first time in a very long while, Sanji feels happy and is not sure he wants to leave just yet.