In Pieces
A/N: Just something that got stuck in my head in the middle of the night while I was enjoying this late night movie and just begged to be written. Unbeta'd
Call it a raw product of sorts.
This is probably the closest I'll ever come to writing cannon in my life.
Also, a first attempt at Hurt/Comfort genre, so please go easy on me.
Once again, I'm playing with the second person format.
Warnings: None, nil, zilch, nada, zero.
Sasuke sleeps with the lights on.
It's been a week since his release from the hospital and it's taken all you've got to keep all the questions swarming in your head at bay. To keep those why's and when's and how's locked behind your lips and instead just respect his private space as a best friend and feed him rice when he's hungry, give him your own bed while you lay out your futon right next to his bed when he's sleepy.
Sasuke sleeps with the lights on. You find it disgruntling, not to mention extremely difficult to fall asleep at night with the light shooting a blazing green laser beam right behind your eyes that refuses to go away regardless of the amount you toss and turn.
Internally, you curse the heat for not being able to seek peace under your thick orange and yellow patchwork quilt you use in winters. The thin cotton sheets do nothing to ward off the light.
Many a times, when Sasuke is asleep on your bed, you glance at him from your futon on the floor and wonder what is it that Sasuke dreams about? Does he have pleasant dreams of a warm and happy family with a mother beckoning him over for lunch? Does he have nightmares? Hours go by with you just gazing at those closed lids and musing on what Sasuke sees behind those lids.
You wish that whatever it is that he dreams about will help him come back to you.
You've spent three hours in a mental debate just thinking about the pros and cons of sleeping in the living room and letting Sasuke sleep by himself in the bedroom with the lights on. The decision hasn't been easy and after fifty tosses and turns you decide that the thought of Sasuke opening his eyes to an empty room is frightening.
Moreover, that green beam of laser light emitting from the bulb wouldn't kill you anyways.
Initially, you waited patiently till he fell asleep and then turned off the lights, but the moment you close your eyes, he turned them back on.
That's when you realized how much your best friend is afraid of the dark.
Once or twice you've heard a whimper escape those lightly closed lips and a frown mar that smooth forehead and wished to hold his hand for comfort; but you know touching Sasuke whilst he is battling his nightmares and inner turmoil would only scare him further. So with a frown deeper than Sasuke's, you turn to the other side and close your eyes tight, summoning the happiest thought you can muster at the moment and pretend to transfer it to his brain via telepathy.
That proud smile on your face when you think the thought sending process in your head is complete could easily outshine the brightness of the night lamp on Sasuke's bedside.
The first time Sasuke speaks to you takes you so much by surprise that you choke on your toast.
He's decided to go back to the Uchiha mansion.
You beat your chest to push down the toast and try to digest the words you've just heard. After a full minute, in which you've carefully thought and analyzed not just Sasuke's words but also his voice which has turned husky and rough from lack of use, reminding you of an old empty house; you nod silently and continue munching on your toast as if the words did not make any difference at all. As if Sasuke's departure from your house wouldn't mean a thing to you. Throughout the meal you avoid looking at him afraid that he might see the doubts shadowing your eyes, the reluctance in them, the stark fear that Sasuke could be scared in that mansion all by himself.
At the end of the meal you finally look at him and you know he knows your fears. The worst part is the fact that his eyes mirror your own fears.
He makes it quicker than you deemed possible. After you're done with the breakfast dishes, you walk in to see him putting on his sandals. You want to tell him that he's leaving too early, that he should stay some more, till his fears are gone and he can face the dark again; but one look at him and you know no matter what you say he isn't going to stay.
Sometimes you wish best friends didn't know each other this well.
So you fold your arms across your chest and walk him out. You know he's against it seeing how the argument is there on the tip of that tongue visible in between the crack of his lips, those smooth dark eyebrows raging a storm of wrinkles on that pale forehead; but you're adamant in your position by the door.
Might as well make it quick
He goes without saying goodbye. He doesn't even bow or wave his hand. But that's okay; you didn't expect him to, anyways.
Climbing the high fence of the Uchiha compound is something that comes easy to you. It's something you've been doing since you were thirteen and now at twenty things aren't going to change much. It's climbing the drain pipe to Sasuke's room that poses as a real challenge. You manage it in the seventh try and reach his window all sweaty and panting.
Your heart stops beating in your chest when you see him lying on the bed with his back to you.
His bedside light is on.
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