Cure for Insomnia (Zoro x Reader) AU

Nights were long and endless as I could no longer make my eyes close so I can drift off to sleep.  Unfortunately, long hours at work and constant studying was not helping at all.  Insomnia was slowly overtaking me with many sleepless nights.  Being a student and working was not as easy as it seemed, especially when you were out on your own.  Well, almost on my own.

The front door to the apartment opened to my boyfriend who was carrying a plastic bag probably filled with some groceries from the store.  After he locked the door he turned to see me sitting on the couch, textbooks sprawled around, and me restlessly working on the last bit of my essay.

“(Y/N) you’re off early tonight?”

“Oh, hey Zoro yeah my boss scheduled me and Nami at the same time but she needed the hours so I came home.”

He moved my math book then sat next to me wrapping a muscled arm around my shoulders.

“So you came home to do homework instead of relax and get some sleep,” he stated.

“I have to get this essay done by tomorrow, the professor is being unreasonable with the due date but I can’t control what Mr. Crocodile assigns.”

“Yeah well,” Zoro reached out and shut my books.

“Hey!”

“(Y/N) you need to get some rest, you’re walking around here like a zombie and I can’t keep watching you work yourself to death.”

“Zoro I have a lot on my plate and I can’t just stop.”

“Yes you can, and you are.”

He began picking up all of my notes and books taking them into the dining area to keep them out of my reach.

“Zoro,” I groaned while rubbing my eyes and sighing.  “Please don’t do this.”

“Oi.”

He caught my attention and when I looked up at him both of his hands cupped my face then he pressed his chapped lips to mine in a rough kiss.  Zoro was never really subtle or the most gentle person but that’s not something I minded.  Pulling away, he rested his hands on my shoulders rubbing them slightly.

“Wait right here for me will ya?”

I nodded my head still breathless from his kiss.  Instead of trying to sneak to grab my books to get a few more moments to write my essay, I leaned back onto the couch and slung an arm over my eyes.  I didn’t know what Zoro was doing but right now I really wanted to try and catch a few z’s.  Unfortunately, my mind refused to rest; all I could think about was how I had to get my homework done and how I had to get up early in the morning to get to my early shift then head straight to school.  I literally had no time to waste and I knew that I had to get back to work.

I moved to try and get up from the couch when I caught sight of Zoro leaning on the sill of the hallway with a smirk saying I-know-what-you’re-doing.

“Come on, you’re not going to do your homework right now.”

“Zoro—”

“Babe, we can do this the easy way,” he walked over and placed his hands on either side of me, “or the hard way?”

“Please, let me get back—h-hey!”

Zoro lifted me up off of the couch and slung me over his shoulder.

“Hard way it is.”

“Zoro!  Put me down!”

“I will in a minute, settle down before I drop you.”

Groaning I gave up struggling and just hung there on his shoulder until he stopped in our bathroom.

“Huh?”

Zoro set me down on the floor then placed his hands on my shoulders to turn me around to face the tub.  My tired eyes widened when I realized that it was filled, bubbles were everywhere, my favorite soaps were around and a few new bath bombs.  I turned back to look at Zoro and he reached over to set a towel on the rack next to the shower.

“Zoro what is all—”

“I want you to relax, you have been pushing yourself way too much.  Now go ahead and get undressed.”

“Are you going to watch?” I tiredly smirked.

A strong arm grabbed my waist and pulled me into his hard chest.

“Don’t tempt me, I want you to relax, but I can think of another way to put you to sleep.”

“I think I want to try this bath first that you worked so hard on making for me.”

He growled slightly but backed away so that I could get undressed and give me some privacy.  Once I settled into the tub, I leaned back and reveled in the warm water surrounding me.  I took a deep breath and tried to make my body relax so that all the tension could release.  Dipping my head down to wet my hair a weight began to lift from me.  When I came back up I leaned my head against the brim of the tub and closed my eyes.

The smell of something burning filled my nostrils slightly letting me know that Zoro probably messed up whatever he was cooking.  I laughed to myself, Zoro is being really sweet which is out of the ordinary but I wasn’t complaining.  I know deep down past his rough, tough-guy exterior he is really a big softie.

After about twenty more minutes of soaking, and no sign of sleep I decided to get out of the bath.  I wrapped a fluffy towel around my form then walked into my bedroom to see that Zoro had laid out some of my comfy sweats and one of his t-shirts that he liked to see me wearing.  Smiling I changed into the clothes that he laid out for me and just towel dried my hair because I didn’t feel like brushing it.  

After throwing everything into the hamper I walked back out into the living room to see Zoro paying for a pizza, well more like arguing and wrestling with the delivery boy who was trying to eat our pizza even though Zoro paid for it.

“Luffy give me the pizza!”

“But I gotta have a piece Zoro, that’s my tip requirement!”

“I’ll give you a tip alright!”

“You have the best toppings!”

“Dammit Luffy!”

“Luffy,” I groaned catching both of their attention, “could you please just this once not try to eat our food?  I just would like to enjoy one pizza without your sticky fingers in the food.”

“Fine,” he groaned and handed the pizza to Zoro, “here.”

“No tip this time either,” Zoro slammed the door in Luffy’s face.

“Be easy on him he doesn’t really know what he does, he acts on impulse.”

“Yeah but it always ends up with half of our pizza gone.”

“True.” 

I slumped on the couch while Zoro put the pizza on the coffee table in front of us.  We ate in a comfortable silence while he flipped through the channels to find a decent channel to watch but nothing seemed to be on.  I ate my pizza while I leaned against Zoro, embracing his warmness.  We didn’t even need to talk, especially since he was a man of few words as it is.

Once the pizza was pretty much gone, I settled in next to Zoro while he wrapped me up in his arms after shutting off the TV.  Leaning back into his chest he brought me closer to where I was using him as an oversized pillow.  He began smoothing my hair back and placing random kisses at the top of my head.

“Okay who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?” I joked.

“Shut up,” he snorted.  “The one time I’m nice to you this is the thanks I get.”

“Oh don’t be dramatic,” I turned and kissed his chin, “but Zoro I appreciate all of it.  I love that you went to all this trouble to help me relax.”

“Is it working?”

“Mostly, I just can’t seem to go to sleep.  It’s like my mind won’t shut off.”

“What can I do to help you?  You need to sleep, even if you sleep for a whole day I don’t care.”

“Oh, are you going to give me some great advice Mr. Naps-a-lot?”

“Hey don’t hate because I have more experience sleeping than you.  I know you’re trying to stall going to sleep, you start making more conversation when you’re trying to stay up.”

“Zoro my homework is due tomorrow.”

Suddenly, Zoro lifted me to set me down on his lap.  Instead of leaning back, I clung to his shirt pulling closer to his warmth while placing my head on his chest.  I could hear his breathing, slow and strong never hitching.  Sighing tiredly, I listened carefully for his heartbeat; focusing on the calm thumping of his heart I closed my eyes and tried to use that as a means to fall asleep.

Zoro’s arms tightened around me cradling me closer to his form.  All of my thoughts seemed to still while I was engulfed in his embrace.  

“How is this?” he asked.

I couldn’t really understand his words, they were muffled almost.

“(Y/N)?”

“Hm?”

“Alright, you’re finally relaxed.”

“Mm…”

I felt myself being lifted up but I remained limp against his chest although I was still aware.  It wasn’t long until I found myself being laid on our bed then being tucked in.  I curled in closer to my pillow but then I stirred because the warmth left me.  Instinctively, I reached out to try and find Zoro.  A kiss was placed on my temple, signaling where he was.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” he whispered.

“Don’t take long,” I muttered without opening my eyes.

He pulled away from me and I turned over then reached for his pillow and cuddled it to my chest trying to get back the warmth I lost.  Taking in the lingering scent of Zoro’s steel musk from his pillow my mind started to calm itself again.

Zoro’s POV

I left the bedroom for a moment so that I could finish up a few things.  I opened (Y/N)’s laptop and opened her school email then typed up a quick email to send to all of her teachers.  I told them that she needs to take the rest of the week off because she was sick.  

After that was sent off, I sent a text to Robin to let their boss know that (Y/N) will be taking the rest of the week off as well so she can get some rest.  Robin returned my message quickly since she knew how mentally exhausted (Y/N) was and understood.  She said that she would take care of it so I left it at that then closed up everything.

Heading back into the bedroom, I noticed that (Y/N) was turned over to face my side of the bed and she was hugging my pillow.  I smirked while going over to the dresser to pull out a pair of sweats to sleep in.  I slipped on the sweats and took off my shirt, then climbed back into bed next to (Y/N).

(Y/N)’s POV

I felt the bed shift letting me know that Zoro climbed into bed with me.  He was pulling his pillow from my grasp and I let him only to cuddle into his warm, bare chest.  I was focused on listening to his heartbeat again so that I could get to that state of rest.

“Missed me much?” he snorted.

“Maybe,” I grumbled tiredly.

“Don’t worry…”

He wrapped both of his arms around me and cradled me on his chest, my head resting comfortably over his heart.

“I’m here now.”

I smiled softly, I can’t believe that he went to all of this trouble to try and make me get some rest.  I opened my eyes then tilted my head up to see Zoro laying there with his eyes closed, but he was not asleep.

“You’re supposed to be sleeping (Y/N).”

“I know, but I can’t help the feeling that I want to thank you for everything.  I mean you went to all of the trouble to—”

He silenced me by kissing me hungrily while pulling me on top of him and entangling one hand in my hair.  This is the Zoro I know, rough and spontaneous.  He kissed me like there was no tomorrow, passionate and wild.  His tongue demanded entrance to my mouth that I denied him.  This made him growl heavily and he rolled me over until he was on top of me trapping me between his strong arms and claiming my mouth as his.  

This is ironic because I’m supposed to try and get some sleep but Zoro is hard to resist.  I realized that he was my cure, everything he’s done for me tonight shows me how much he cares.  He went out of his way to help me try to relax, and I could not thank him enough. 

Zoro slipped his hand under my shirt and traced his calloused hands along the bare skin of my ribcage giving me shivers up my spine.  I ran my fingers through his hair at the nape of his neck while he placed heated kisses along my neck.

“Zoro,” I moaned heavily.

“Relax,” he breathed against my neck then came up to meet my eyes.  “I’m going to help you go to sleep.”

~Timeskip~

Zoro’s POV

(Y/N)’s cell phone began ringing stirring me out of sleep.  Groggily groaning, I rubbed my eyes to wipe the sleep from them and turned to reach for (Y/N)’s phone.  Before I could grab it, I felt (Y/N) stir slightly and I stopped; I did not want to wake her up at all.  She cuddled closer to my chest with her bare chest against mine then settled back down.

The phone began ringing again; sighing I reached again to grab the phone and looked to see that Nami was calling.  I ignored the call, but she called again.  I answered the phone trying to be as quiet as I could be to not wake up (Y/N).

“What do you want?”

“Zoro, where is (Y/N)?”

“She’s unavailable, what is it?”

“I need her to pick up my shift this morning, it’s very important.”

“Nami, didn’t Robin already tell you that (Y/N) is taking the rest of the week off?  So she’s not going to take any more of your shifts this week.”

“Let me talk to her Zoro!”

“No.”

I hung up on her and I switched (Y/N)’s phone to silent.  I’m not going to let Nami try and take advantage of (Y/N) just so she could go out shopping with her boyfriend or do other crap that I don’t care about.

Looking down, (Y/N) was still sound asleep curled up to my chest.  She shivered slightly, so I brought the sheets up a little higher to cover her bare shoulder.  Underneath the blankets I traced circles over her shoulder soothing her to stay asleep as long as she needed.  Closing my eyes I myself tried to catch some more time to sleep myself.

(Y/N)’s POV

I overheard Zoro talking to someone but I refused to open my eyes because I wanted to remain comfortable against him.  When he stopped talking and began breathing evenly again, I whispered.

“Who was that?”

“Don’t worry about it, just go back to sleep.”

“Was it my job?”

“You’re fine, I already told Robin that you are not going to work.  Now let’s just enjoy the peace and quiet.”

“Wait what about my essay?”

“Taken care of.”

I smiled against his chest and placed a kiss on his chin.

“You’ve thought of everything.  I love you Zoro.”

“Love you too.  Now let’s get some sleep, you’ve practically got a vacation.”

“Yeah, all thanks to you.”

He chuckled in response; we both relaxed into a slumber once more and I felt at peace for once in a long while.  I guess Zoro is my cure for insomnia.