It's Not That Bad
A/N: thank you @austrianmusiclover13 for requesting a fluffy injured sabo story. It's my first time writing Sabo and honestly I had quite some struggle so sorry if he's OOC. Anyways I tried really hard to get it done in time for your big day and i hope you like it. So I wish you a happy happy birthday 🥳🎂
Plot: Sabo returns from a mission and ends up in your infirmary where the medical treatment is almost secondary.
Warnings: none, SFW, mentions of blood and injury, two idiots in love, confessions, not proofread
Characters: Sabo x GnReader
The first thing you noticed was the blood.
Not because there was a lot of it, in fact there wasn't. Sabo had clearly cleaned himself up before returning to headquarters. But the dark stain spreading through the sleeve of his coat was impossible to miss.
"Sabo," you scolded.
The blond man immediately stopped trying to sneak past the infirmary door and looked at you like a child who had been caught stealing cookies. "I can explain," he started but you didn't want to hear another excuse.
Instead crossed your arms and glared at him. "You are bleeding."
"I have noticed that, yes," he said and offered you his brightest smile, the same one that somehow convinced strangers to trust him and revolutionary soldiers to follow him into danger.
Unfortunately for him, it didn't work on you.
"Sit," you commanded, pointing towards one of the beds, refusing to let him get away this time.
He huffed, and tried to downplay it. "Look it really isn't that bad—"
"Sabo," you said not raising your voice but but your tone made it clear you were serious and stepped aside to let him get inside.
A beat of silence followed and, with all the dignity of a man who knew he had already lost the argument, he sighed, dragged himself past you and lowered himself onto the nearest bed.
"You're scarier than Dragon, you know that?" He mumbled as he sat there on the edge of the bed, swinging his legs a bit.
You just gave him a tiny smirk. "Yeah I’ve heard that one before. Now sit still and let me check on your ‘not so bad‘ injury," you said. Your hands automatically went to his top hat carefully taking it off and moving it safely out of the way before you reached for his coat and carefully pulled it from his shoulders.
At first, you thought he might have been telling the truth. The injury couldn't be that bad. Then the coat slid free and your expression immediately flattened.
"Sabo."
"...Yes?"
"The shirt."
His shoulders visibly slumped.
"The shirt?" he repeated, pretending like he didn’t know what you meant.
"The shirt, it needs to go, I still don't have x-ray eyes."
For a second, he considered arguing. You could practically see the thought process happening behind his eyes. Then, deciding his chances of survival were better if he cooperated, he carefully began unbuttoning the bloodstained fabric.
The moment the wound came into view, you felt your jaw tighten and the room went completely still. The easy teasing and the playful glares vanished instantly, replaced by the heavy, sobering reality of what you had been dreading all week. The gash was deep, ugly, and angry-red, a stark reminder of just how close he had come to not walking back through those doors at all. Your chest tightened painfully, the breath completely leaving your lungs as you stared at it, frozen in a sudden wave of quiet, overwhelming dread before it turned into anger.
Sabo noticed the shift immediately. The defensive bravado drained from his shoulders, and he looked down at his own side, suddenly seeming to realize how terrifying it must have looked from your perspective.
You though stared at him and his gaze lifted from his wound to the opposite wall trying to act like he didn’t feel you glaring at him.
"Sabo."
"I know," he said raising his hands in defeat.
"This is your definition of 'not that bad'?" You asked staring at the wound then him a mix of anger, fear and worry overwhelming you.
"In my defense, it looked smaller earlier," he mumbled rubbing the back of his neck. Needing to break the suffocating weight before you burst into tears or screamed at him, he cleared his throat, offering a weak, lopsided little smile. "Okay. So... maybe it’s slightly worse than a papercut."
"An absolute moron. You're an absolute moron, Sabo." You pinched the bridge of your nose letting out a long, long suffering sigh. "I hate you."
"No, you don't." That counter came so quickly that you almost missed it.
When you looked up, he was smiling. Not the charming smile he used on strangers. Not the confident one he wore during meetings. No this one was a softer. One reserved for people he trusted and it made your chest tighten.
Unfortunately, that only made you more determined to be annoyed with him. "You reopened the wound," you scolded trying to hide your blushing face.
"A little."
"A little? You tore half the stitches," you almost shouted at him.
"A little more than a little," he grinned innocently.
You sighed heavily snd Sabo wisely chose not to say anything else. The silence stretched between you as you fetched clean supplies. Despite his attempts to appear relaxed, you noticed the slight stiffness in his movements and the way he occasionally winced when he thought you weren't looking.
Idiot.
He had probably pushed himself far beyond his limits just to finish whatever mission he had been assigned before finally returning home. Typical. Always pushing, always putting others before himself. You knelt beside the bed and carefully began removing the ruined bandages.
To his credit, he stayed still. Well mostly. The second antiseptic touched the wound, he hissed.
"Oh, now it hurts?" You asked angry with him because god you were worried, you were worried each damn time he left for a mission.
"That was uncalled for," he pouted but you ignored him.
A few moments later, you felt his gaze lingering on you but you focused on your work. Or at least that was the plan. His gaze remained though and you tried harder to ignore it. Still it remained.
Finally, you looked up. "What?"
Sabo blinked. "Hm?"
"You keep staring."
"Oh," he shrugged and to your annoyance, his smile returned. "I like looking at you."
Your hand slipped, the bandage you just held nearly ended up on the floor. "You can't just say things like that," you panicked.
"Why not?"
"Because normal people don't."
"Good thing neither of us is normal, then," he smiled.
You opened your mouth but then closed it again. There was no winning that argument.
Sabo chuckled quietly. God that sound, it was so warm, so comfortable and yet so dangerous. Not in the bad way but in a way that was dangerous for your sanity and……your heart.
You focused on securing the fresh bandages. "There," you said when you were done, wiping your hands with a clean cloth, trying to regulate your own breathing. But when you looked back up, Sabo wasn't looking at the wall anymore. He was just watching you, really watching you, with a quiet, unfiltered intensity that made your breath catch. All the teasing was gone from his blue eyes, replaced by a sudden, heavy vulnerability as he saw the lingering worry still written across your face.
After some time he glanced down at your work. "Looks professional," he teased.
"I am a professional."
"I know, that’s why I let you patch me up," he said with a cheeky smile. And something about the way he said it made your stomach flutter.
The room suddenly felt much smaller, much quieter. Outside, headquarters continued as usual. Voices echoed faintly through the halls. Someone laughed somewhere in the distance. Yet for some reason, it felt like the world had narrowed to just the two of you.
Sabo's gaze softened as his eyes locked onto yours. "Thank you." He said, the teasing was gone now. His voice carried a sincerity that caught you off guard.
You looked away first. "It's my job," you murmured.
"You sure?" He asked with a grin and you stared at him.
"Excuse me?" You frowned, feeling a tiny bit frustrated now thinking he was referring to your skills. But his gaze softened and you got confused.
"I think you'd take care of me even if it wasn't," he finally mumbled looking anywhere but in your eyes.
Heat immediately rose to your cheeks. Before you could formulate a response, Sabo reached out and gently caught your wrist. The movement was careful, as though he was nervous himself and giving you every opportunity to pull away. You stiffened for a moment because this came so unpredictable, it made your heart slam against your ribs and your stomach flutter yet you didn't pull away. You couldn’t, nor wanted to.
For a moment, neither of you spoke. His thumb brushed lightly across your skin, sending an electric spark thrpugh your nerves.
He took a deep breath and his beautiful face softened even further. "I know I worry you."
"Sabo—" you breathed as your heart skipped a beat.
"I do." His smile turned small, almost vulnerable and guilty. "I always tell myself I'll be more careful next time."
You couldn’t keep the snort from escaping you. "That's a lie."
He tilted his head slightly and then nodded. "It is," he admitted but at least he was honest. The laugh that escaped him afterwards was soft and sending another spark through you. God that disarming laugh and that annoying charm.
Before you knew it his expression settled into something serious. Something that made your pulse quicken. "I don't mean to make you worry," he said his voice now unusually soft and vulnerable making the room feel very still. "You're important to me," Sabo finally confessed with a small tremble in his hands.
You felt dumbstruck, swallowing hard and like breathing normally suddenly seemed to be a very hard thing to do. This was dangerous, really dangerous because he was important to you too. Far more than he probably realized, far more than just a friend.
"You idiot," you huffed before you could stop the words from slipping out.
Sabo blinked confused and surprised. "What?"
"You absolute idiot," you continued, your eyes stinging unexpectedly. "You disappear for weeks, come back bleeding, act like you're invincible and expect me not to worry?"
Understanding slowly dawned on his face and then something warmer followed. A mix of a huge grin and a blush appearing on his handsome face. "I was hoping you worried because you cared."
You laughed shakily. "Of course I care. I always do."
The words hung between you. Neither of you moved, neither of you looked away. The air between you two was electric, full of sparks that had been buried for so long.
Sabo's smile slowly grew. "Good."
Your heart threatened to stop. "Good?" you repeated weakly.
"Because I care about you too."
The confession was so simple. So honest, exactly like him. There was no dramatic speech, no grand declaration. Just the truth and somehow that made it mean even more. For the first time all evening, Sabo looked genuinely nervous, which was actually a rare sight because well, this was Sabo, chief of staff of the Revolutionary Army.
"I've actually been trying to figure out how to tell you for months," he admitted rubbing the back of his neck.
You stared at him, your heart melting so completely that any lingering frustration evaporated into thin air. A small, affectionate smile finally broke through your expression. "Months, huh? You really kept that quiet for a chief of staff."
Sabo groaned softly, burying his face in his hands with a rare flash of bashfulness. "Hey, facing down admirals is easy. Admitting I was completely gone over someone who patches me up like an angry nurse? Terrifying."
You couldn't help the soft laugh that slipped out, reaching forward to gently pull his hands away from his face so you could look right into his eyes. The teasing warmth was back, but it was laced with a quiet, fierce sincerity of your own.
"For the record," you whispered, your thumb gently tracing his knuckles, "if you had just told me sooner, maybe I wouldn't have had to yell at you quite so much."
His expression softened into something breathtakingly tender, his blue eyes shining with quiet relief. He leaned slightly into your touch, turning his hand to lace his fingers securely with yours. "Noted. I'll stick to verbal confessions from now on instead of getting stabbed to get your attention."
"Good plan." You laughed, a warm and rich laugh. The next thing you knew, Sabo was laughing too. And somehow, somewhere between the laughter and the relief, the distance between you disappeared.
"Do you know how much I hate when you leave?" you suddenly said.
Sabo stared at you caught off guard by your words.
"Every time Dragon sends you somewhere dangerous, I spend the entire time wondering if you'll come back," you mumbled, your voice shaking. "Every time someone walks through those doors injured, my heart stops because I'm terrified it'll be you."
Sabo's expression softened immediately as he leaned forward. His forehead rested lightly against yours. It was so warm and gentle, that you felt like you were engulfed in a bubble where only you two existed. It was exactly what your heart was aching for the most…..love and home.
You felt him tense up a bit, his body slowly succumbing to the exhaustion of the mission, the injury and the rollercoaster of emotions.
"You should rest," you whispered softly, your hands cupping his face.
"Not yet."
"Sabo," you sighed.
"Five more minutes," he murmered.
"You are literally wounded."
"And in love," he countered and you froze. That idiot.
Your touch softened, the smile that spread on your face was reaching a new high. And the flutter in your chest was making your heart melt and your stomach do flips.
"I love you too," you smiled and sat down on the bed next to him.
"Finally," he murmured.
"Finally?"
"Mhm," he hummed, his eyes closed. "Do you have any idea how long I've been in love with you?" A quiet laugh escaped him. "I've been dreaming of this moment for so long, everyone was already onto it and yet I couldn’t find the nerves to tell you. Though i have to admit in my dream we were having dinner together on a balcony watching the sunset not well.....not this." he confessed, voice getting softer and sounding almost a bit nervous and shy which was so cute.
Heat rushed to your face as you looked at him. "You stubborn idiot," you said, with deep affection, making him chuckle slightly.
For a moment neither of you spoke. The world outside continued on as always, voices echoing through headquarters, footsteps passing the infirmary door. Yet somehow everything felt different, better in the best way possible.
Sabo lifted his head and smiled at you, soft and warm and entirely yours. "So…"
"So?" you raised an eyebrow.
"Does this mean I still have to stay in bed?"
You immediately pointed toward the mattress. "Absolutely," you said, trying to sound as strict as possible without laughing.
Sabo sighed dramatically. "Worth it."
You smiled as Sabo shifted on the bed and leaned his head down onto your lap. Your heart doing a frantic flutter while you threaded your fingers through his soft blonde hair.
Within moments, you felt him relax beneath your touch. "Comfortable?" you asked quietly.
"Mhm."
"Good."
A comfortable silence settled between you. Then one of his. beautiful blue eyes cracked open. "You know," Sabo murmured sleepily.
"What?"
"Getting stabbed was probably worth it."
You immediately smacked his shoulder.
"Ow!" he whined rubbing the spot you just smacked.
"Don't say things like that!" you scolded.
His laughter filled the infirmary, warm and bright. For the first time since he had left for that mission you felt yourself relax too. You knew tomorrow there would be more missions, more danger, more goodbyes. But for now, Sabo was here. By your side, held by someone who loved him. For once he was safe and at ease. And as his eyes drifted closed beneath your gentle touch, that was more than enough.
Taglist: @jintaka-hane @fleetadmiralsoffice @hakiofdreams @welcome-to-the-grandline @sailing-to-laugh-tale @legends-of-the-grandline @devilfruitdiaries @waannty @luna-the-moon-guardian @sweetsaltygingerbitch @mapachito (once again I'm just reminding you that if you want me to stop tagging you please tell me or if someone wants to get added)
