Spring had quickly turned to summer and before you knew it the heat and humidity you didn't miss while being abroad had crept in.

"Tiiiigerrrrr," you groaned, kicking the sheets off and tugging at your sweat drenched tank top, "when are they going to fix your air-conditioning?"
He turned to watch you, "It's an old building. They said they have to replace the entire thing. It could take another week or so."
Wiping your forehead, you groaned again,"I can't sleep like this."
"Would a shower make you feel better?" he fanned your face with his hand.
"It's 2AM."
"You aren't sleeping anyway." he chuckled sitting up.
"Fine." you sighed looking over at him,"Where are you going?"
He pulled a shirt over his head, "While you're cooling off I'm going to run to Walmart and get a fan. It'll help a little."

You didn't protest, a fan sounded like an amazing idea. After slipping into some shorts and shoes Zoro kissed your nose and left. You shuffled into the bathroom peeling away your damp clothing. He was right, a luke-warm shower was very soothing. When you finished you braided your wet hair and grabbed fresh light clothes from the stash you kept in the top drawer of his dresser. Not long after you'd sprawled back out in the bed, your greenette returned with a box. By almost 4AM the two of you had the fan put together and oscillating between you.

"So much better." you hummed flopping back into his mattress, "Tomorrow we're staying at my place. You can't live like this."
"It doesn't bother me that much." he rested his head on your chest, "Besides, there's too many people at your house."
Your fingers absentmindedly made their way through his hair, "While sweaty Tiger is very attractive, I'd rather not lose my boyfriend to a heatstroke. But that is true."

He chuckled and closed his eyes enjoying your affection.

"When is your lease up?" your question forced him to glance up at you.
"Two months, why?"
You shrugged nonchalantly,"Just thinking we should find a better place than this. Stuff is always breaking and they take forever to fix it."
"We?" he repeated feeling his pulse speed up a bit.
You hummed distracted by the thought of a newer apartment with working heat/air and updated appliances.
"Are…" he shifted to get a better look at you in the moonlight,"Is this some weird way of suggesting we move in together?"
"Well," your stomach plunged to your feet,"I mean… my house is always loud and you deserve a better apartment. Split rent would make it easier to save, right?"
He deadpanned before smirking, "Of course, not because you love me or anything."
"Shut up," you blithely nudged him, "that's a given."

For a moment you thought you'd made a terrible mistake. It had just come out so naturally that you didn't have a chance to run it through the proper filters.

What if he wasn't ready?

Were you ready?

Yes.

The fact that big scary relationship steps felt so easy when it came to Zoro was your glowing neon universal sign.

A soft laugh rumbled through his chest, "This wasn't how I expected we'd tackle this conversation."
You rolled onto your side to face him in the dim moonlit room, "Would you rather I propose?"
He paused stunned for a moment before tossing you an accusatory glance, "You're joking."
"This time, Tiger." you chuckled pulling him in for a sweet kiss, "I'll get you eventually though."
He dropped his head bashfully into your chest, "We'll see about that."

In the coming weeks you began searching for an apartment together. The two of you settled on a one bedroom in a newer complex on the outskirts of the city almost halfway between home and Newgate Industries. You'd be out of the house but still close enough to your boys, and Luffy would probably be over all the time anyway.

You leaned against Zoro on the sofa in the family room scrolling through a furniture website on your phone.

"Should we keep your couch or get something new?"
Your boyfriend hummed in thought, "It was a hand-me-down, but I don't want to spend too much. We already have the deposit and first month's rent."
"A house warming gift then-yoi." Marco joined the conversation taking a seat in the old recliner next to you.
"That's too much." Zoro commented.
"I'll be sure to order a cheap one then." your older brother replied changing the channel on the TV.
"You won't win." you chuckled, not bothering to look up from your scrolling, "I'll send you the link Pineapple."
Zoro glanced between the two of you and shook his head, "Sometimes it's hard to believe you aren't blood related."
"Thank you." You and Marco replied in unison making him chuckle again.
"When's the move in date-yoi?"
"In a couple of weeks." Zoro answered swiping up past a sofa he didn't like on your phone.
"Hey!" you protested.
"Too fancy." he muttered over your shoulder.
"Have you gone over the material for the deposition?"
You glanced over at your brother, "I've looked at it a few times. I'm not sure what else I should be doing."

Over the course of the last month the family was preparing to go in for a deposition, at which point Sabo suspected to be offered a deal to settle outside of court. If a settlement couldn't be reached then the statements would be used in court.

"We'll just answer whatever stupid questions they have-yoi."

Two days before you were to move out of your childhood home you met your brothers downtown outside of the city courthouse. Zoro joined as moral support but stayed out in the lobby. You and your siblings were sent up to the third floor to wait as you were called back individually to answer questions. Sabo was not able to legally represent the family because he was part of the actual case, so when you went in you were met with part of the legal team from your corporate office and Weevil's lawyers.

It was nerve wracking but not incredibly difficult. They asked you questions about your father's relationship to Weevil's mother. About your adoption. How present Pops was in your daily and school life because of his busy job. They asked about The Babies' adoptions and how they were raised. Most were yes or no questions. Occasionally your eyes dropped to the stenographer's quick fingers while you formulated what you thought to be the best response. When you were finished they sent you back out to wait for each of your brother's turns. After a few more hours the six of you were sent home completely mentally exhausted.

___________________

Moving day finally arrived. Fortunately, you had plenty of muscle to help that only required payment in the form of food and beer. You were a little nervous to move in with Zoro knowing your dynamic might change a bit - at the same time you were relieved to have more uninterrupted time with him.
Your two blonde brothers arrived to help later than planned, having spent most of the afternoon tied up in meetings. Both of them looked worn out and defeated.

Marco leaned against the bar that separated the living room and kitchen fiddling with tape on a box of glassware.

"What's the deal? Why are you two moping?"  you poked him.
"We got the offer for the settlement today-yoi"
"Not good I'm guessing?" you asked leaning next to him with a beer.
"Nope." he sighed,"He'll only settle for half of everything."
"Looks like we're going into battle then, huh?" you scoffed,"At least we can still fight."