Okay. Don't freak out. You've got this. Your boyfriend who had almost killed you was laying naked in your arms while you both sat in the snow at night. A blizzard was heading your way and he was bleeding out like crazy and unconscious. There was still a hunter in the woods who could or could not be dead and you were the only one who knew.

You sniffled.

Don't. Freak. Out.

Looking down, you placed a shaky hand on Zoro's green hair as he laid face down in your chest, surprised to see drops of water falling on him. Then you realized the water was your tears and you were breathing hard. It was freezing and you were sure Zoro was somehow getting frostbite and no one was around to tell you what to do. 

Just what the hell were you supposed to do?!!

Because right now, you were crying. Crying and staring at Zoro's soft, green hair as he bled in your arms and you were freaking out.

"H-Help..." You blubbered out in a soft voice, looking around with desperate eyes. "H....Help!!"

No one answered. You just sat there sniveling in the snow while your boyfriend was possibly dying and no one was around to help. You were on your own. You could only hug the wolf close and sob into his hair, panicking as you tried to think of a way to fix this. Fuck, you were just some random person who adopted a dog and now you were in such a mess.

You were definitely not adult enough to handle this.

You started to rock back and forth, cradling Zoro as you did so. Nothing was coming to you and you were officially unprepared for this type of situation. Everything was so quiet as you cried, the only thing answering your soft moans for help was the very wind that would possibly mean his death. It wasn't until you noticed how wet and sticky your clothes were that you finally snapped out of your breakdown. 

The sight of Zoro's blood was an unsettling wake up call. His wounds were so horrible looking but it was the slash on his thigh that worried you the most, considering how deep it was. You had to do something, because this was fucking messed up.

"There's no crying in baseball," You muttered, wiping your eyes and snot filled nose before hefting Zoro up. He was so damn heavy. You grunted when you managed to sling his arm over your shoulder before you stumbled into a direction you assumed home was.

You just had to do one thing at a time and right now the first thing to do was to get Zoro some place warm. It felt like forever as you stumbled through the forest with the unconscious man in your arms. You had almost fallen a few times but managed to stand upright, dragging the body over a few fallen trees and dips in the ground you hadn't noticed because of the snow. 

It seemed that the weather was getting worse. Normally you could avoid the ditches, but with the white powder now falling so fast and the wind starting to howl, your eyesight couldn't be completely trusted. Everything was filling up so fast too, the snow that had originally only come up to your ankles was now halfway up your calves and getting taller. It was a relief when you finally saw the lake in the distance and soon the cabin. You realized just how far you had gotten from home and were thankful you had a better sense of direction then Zoro.

Trekking downhill, which was very hard with a man who was a lot heavier then he looked, you made it to the house and dragged Zoro up the front porch. You flipped the light switch to the living room and cursed when nothing happened, remembering that the Hunter had cut the power.

You pulled Zoro's body towards where you remembered the fire place was and laid him down on the ground, thankful there wasn't any broken glass in the space. It took a few moments of fiddling about before you snarled in frustration, wishing you had some form of light to see by. You ran about the cabin for a bit until you found the flashlight you originally had under the couch, having rolled underneath during all the confusion. Taking it back to Zoro, you started to work on bandaging his leg the best you could. You knew there wasn't any kind of first aid in the house so you did what you could, going as far as ripping up some clean clothes and wrapping the wound up tight.

Once you were sure you stopped the blood flow, you grabbed as many blankets as you could and started to wrap him up, knowing you would have to go back out to get some fire wood or else you'd both freeze that night. Once you deemed him a proper burrito, you went to the front door and looked out, biting your lower lip when you saw how heavy the snow was falling now.

No one would know, right? I mean...he had tried to kill Zoro.

But he had also saved you. You scowled and paced in front of the door, eyes not leaving the snowy scene. Surely, he was fine. I mean, that smack to the tree was nothing. It wasn't like you had heard his bones practically snap in half on impact.

It had been your imagination.

Just like the blood he had coughed up when he had told you to run-FUCK!! You zipped up your jacket and pulled up your hood before going outside, yelping when you realized the snow was up to your knees now. But there was no going back as you trudged through the powder and up the hill.

It had taken forever to find the man, his body practically buried in the snow. He looked almost blue when you had dug him out and you had to stop yourself from pulling him out of the rest when you realized his spine might actually be broken. If there was one thing you knew, it was never to move someone who might have a spinal injury. You were ignorant to most medical facts, but that was a big one everyone always said.

Unfortunately, you weren't sure what else you could do. You certainly couldn't leave him out here like this - not unless he would emerge once spring came, all fine and dandy like a blossoming flower. 

You very gently positioned his head to face upwards, flinching when he groaned at the movement. You brushed off more of the building snow while figuring you could drag him back by his arms, as long as you kept his body as straight as possible. You were sure you could do this.

Carefully, you hooked your hands under his shoulders and slowly pulled him out of the snow, frowning when he clenched his teeth but stayed unconscious throughout the ordeal. This took much longer then Zoro; the man was much taller then the wolf and it didn't help that he seemed to refuse to unclench his hand from his large sword. You had given up trying to get him to drop it, knowing you were wasting precious minutes.

You didn't have time to worry if you were doing the right thing in moving him; the snow was falling too fast and you doubted you had a cellphone signal to call for help, they'd probably be unable to come since you were so far from the nearest hospital and the roads were much worse now then they had been earlier.

You were on your own. Which was probably for the best in the long run, you rather not have to explain how he had gotten hurt.

Luckily, you were much closer to the cabin then you had been when dragging Zoro. Unluckily, you had tripped over something and had managed to drop the man as well. He had woken up instantly, back arching and teeth clenched so tightly that blood trickled out of his mouth before he passed out again. It was definitely not something you wanted to see again.

And of course, the thing you had fallen over had been your own baseball bat. Cursing at it before slipping it under the back of your coat, you started to drag the man down the hill as slowly as possible until you finally made it back to the house and pulled him inside.

You did the same thing for him just as you had for Zoro, clearing enough space to lay him next to the wolf before you started to wrap him up in whatever blankets you could find; making sure to put enough padding around his head so he couldn't move it and make things worse. Once done, you worked on getting more light into the room, grabbing candles and lighters and more flashlights. You placed them around the room and were happy to find that it was just dim enough for you to start on that fire.

~

The room was much cleaner an hour later, the fireplace had brought more light to the room so you had a chance to assess the damage done to the house.

A few things that were unsalvageable were thrown out, a vase or two and a few plates that had fallen in the china cabinet, and unfortunately, the TV. Everything else was in decent shape, the couch had a few tears, but nothing a good needle and thread couldn't fix.

Somehow, during the whole fight, the John Wayne painting hadn't been touched. Everything else around it, hanging and just placed beneath it had been slashed or pushed over, but it was in pristine condition as always. You honestly weren't sure if this was a good thing or not. I mean, what kind of luck did you have to have the only TV in the house get busted open, but the damn John Wayne painting be hanging up in the perfect position like always? 

Life can just suck it for all you cared.

~

Another two hours had passed and still nothing from the two men on the floor. You had spent that time adjusting their blankets and making sure the fire kept going. You were lucky the pipes hadn't frozen over, so you could boil some water for food. 

You had hoped the smell of impromptu spaghetti would have awoken at least one of them, but they kept still while you ate noodles in worry.

~

Okay, you may or may not have spent the last hour in the bathroom crying. The tub had been very comfortable though. Who knew just laying in a porcelain tub without water could be so comforting?

No signs of them waking up.

~

Holy shit, the snow was still coming down. You hoped you had enough food to last this out...

~

Your phone was officially dying. You had about twenty percent battery left and no way of charging it. Even though the wires to the living room had been cut, the rest of the house wasn't working either. You weren't sure if had to do with the hunter or the snow storm.

The last thing you got on the screen before it officially went black was the time. 3:44 AM.

Honestly, you had expected it to be much later. Who knew life or death situations in the snow only lasted about a couple hours?

~

They still weren't awake. Back to the bathtub.

~

You had to resist the urge to angst eat all the spaghetti. There had to be leftovers for the two men, but holy shit were you needing some kind of comfort food.

~

One of them was up. 

You had been crawling under one of the beds in search of more blankets for yourself when you heard a soft grunt. Running to the living room, you were both relieved and upset it wasn't Zoro who was awake. At least you knew the stranger wasn't dead.

The hunter turned his gaze to look at you when you entered, his creepy golden eyes staring right through you.

"Don't move, you may or may not have a spinal injury." You stated, walking over to him and making sure the pillows kept his head in place.

He said nothing, only focused on you while making you feel extra creeped out. You tried to act normal as he kept staring, but those eyes weren't natural and it was officially making you self-conscious. 

"Stop!! It's hard enough to stay calm without some creep glaring at me!"

The man blinked, "I am sorry."

He didn't look fucking sorry. He never looked anything with that blank gaze!!

The hunter turned his gaze to his side, noticing Zoro who was still knocked out. Something flickered in his eyes before he looked back at you. "Why haven't you killed him yet?"

Oh no he didn't. You seethed, "I.Am.Not.Killing.Zoro."

He was now scowling at you, or what you thought was a scowl from the living statue. "He tried to kill you, yet you let him live? Foolish."

"Look here you stalker freak!! I just spent the last few hours dragging your ass out of the snow and keeping you as still as possible!! Not to mention worrying whether or not you were going to die!! Don't make me fucking regret it!!"

He stayed silent now, watching you get up in a huff and go to the couch. You glared at the spot where the tv had been, arms crossed and foot tapping angrily on the floor. This anger session lasted for a few minutes as he continued to stare before finally speaking up.

"Mihawk."

You looked at him, confused frown forming on your face. "What?"

"My name is Dracule Mihawk." He shifted slightly and flinched, the movement making you sit up in worry once more. He looked back at you with a softer gaze now, even curious looking.

"Tell me. Why do you wish to protect him?"

"Why?" You wanted to pull out your hair at this point, becoming frustrated now. "I could write a whole book of reasons."

Mihawk shook his head slightly, regretting the movement, but it didn't seem to hurt him too much. "No. Tell me why. I do not want excuses."

You glared at him, getting back on the floor and leaning over the man who didn't look the least bit intimidated despite not being able to move. You had to take a few deep breaths to calm yourself, ready to tell him off and give him a million reasons why you were protecting Zoro.

But what tumbled out of your mouth was something you hadn't expected to say. You weren't even fully prepared for what you had to say.

"Because I love him."