The follow-up. . .
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, no rights belong to me.
Neji picks Tenten up at 8 sharp the next evening, and he is certain that he has never been so nervous his entire life. It was bad enough that he had practically embarrassed himself beyond reprieve the previous night; to think that the fiasco waiting to happen would be anything short of miserable was stupid.
Neji exhales slowly as he walks towards her dorm, attempting to not be so pessimistic. He is not successful.
Tenten is already waiting outside for him. Her hair is down and covered by a knit winter cap, one of those girlish ones with the ties with poms at the end. Even though Neji is sure it was made in mind for a five-year-old, it somehow manages to suit her. She's traded her duck boots for sensible leather boots. Her winter coat is a dark purple.
"Hey," she greets, expression unreadable.
Neji nods to her in response. This is what intrigues him about her—unlike other women he knows, Tenten doesn't wear her emotions on her sleeve. She always keeps them hidden behind a carefully placed mask.
"So, where to?" Tenten asks him.
"There's a restaurant a few blocks down I thought we could go to."
He watches as a small smile pulls at the corner of her mouth, and he can tell that she's amused. Neji tries not to panic.
They walk across campus in silence, and Neji is itching to talk to her but he miraculously has nothing to say. However, from the glances that he manages to sneak at Tenten in his peripheral vision, she doesn't seem to mind. She's actually humming a little, softly, under her breath.
"So," Neji begins, trying not to be awkward.
Tenten raises her eyebrows at him. "So," she replies, waiting.
Neji takes in his surroundings, trying to pull something natural to talk about. He gestures to the snow that's lightly falling. "Did you know that the only snowflakes that appear one of a kind are the larger snow crystals? The smaller ones can look the same to our naked eye, even though at a molecular level they differ."
She laughs at him.
Neji tries to suppress the flush rising to his cheeks. Failure, idiot, stupidstupidstupid.
"I actually did know that already," Tenten says, grinning at him. "I'm in microbiology."
Neji stares at her. "You're joking."
Tenten narrows her eyes. "No, I'm serious. Why, you don't think a girl can major in science?"
Privately, Neji is surprised she is pursuing such a career choice, but it is less about her gender, than it is about the fact that she seemed more likely to major in something like medieval literature or military history.
"That's my major, well, sort of," Neji says.
It is Tenten's turn to seem surprised. "Sort of?"
"I'm getting a double major in microbiology and math."
Tenten's eyes bulge out of her head. "Are you insane?"
Neji shakes his head, smirking. "No. Naruto tells me I'm an overachiever."
Tenten rolls her eyes. "Showoff," she mutters.
It falls silent between them again, and Neji inwardly fights back his panic. This date is not starting off well.
However, Neji really shouldn't have fretted over the conversation, because the night only continues to get progressively worse.
"Get down!" Tenten hisses from across the table, deftly flicking her menu up to hide her face.
Neji stares at her, wondering if this is a joke. She steps on his toes rather forcefully under the table, and Neji decides, maybe, she's not kidding. He ducks his head, calmly setting up his menu to face the restaurant, leaving them conspicuously invisible from the rest of the patrons. Neji pulls down Tenten's menu.
Her cheeks are pink, and her forehead has a sheen to it from sweat. Her brown eyes are wild—darting to-and-fro between Neji's face, the menu they're hiding behind, and the slim view of the restaurant she can see behind Neji's shoulder.
"What are you doing?" he asks quietly, puzzled.
Tenten's blush deepens. "My ex-boyfriend is over there."
Neji turns his head to sweep the room, "Where? I don't—"
"Don't look! Are you crazy?!" Tenten whispers harshly. She reaches across to grab the front of his shirt, turning his attention back to her.
Neji is pulled down a little; Tenten's grip is tight. They are practically eye-to-eye.
Neji tries to gauge what the correct course of action should be in this situation. "Do you—do you want to leave?" he asks.
"No!" Tenten says, her hot breath hitting him in the face. "We just—I don't know, we need to just not be seen."
"For how long? We look ridiculous."
"Just until he leaves, okay? I'm sorry, it just—it didn't really end well and I don't know what he would do if he saw me."
Neji pries Tenten's hand from his shirt, shooting her a look as he sits up a little, enough to peer over the top of the menu.
"Which one is he?" Neji asks from the corner of his mouth.
He hears Tenten sigh, irritated, but she answers a few seconds later, "The one with the toothpick."
Neji thinks this is a pretty poor description, but nonetheless, the man is easy to find. His hair is a dull brown, his expression fairly sullen, and it is clear that he is nowhere near Tenten's age.
"How old is he?" Neji says, glancing down at her.
Tenten has covered her eyes with her hand, out of embarrassment or shame Neji cannot tell.
"Thirty. I had a lapse in judgment."
"Thirty?" Neji says, eyebrows shooting up.
Tenten groans, her hand falling to reveal her face. She looks positively uncomfortable. She points a finger at him from her lowered position. "Please do not mock me. This is excruciating enough as it is."
"Do you . . . want to talk about it?" he offers lamely a moment later.
Tenten shoots him a glare. "Please stop."
Neji remains silent until their waitress comes by. She glances between them curiously but says nothing as she takes their order, promising that their food will arrive promptly.
"Not soon enough," Tenten mutters to herself.
Neji keeps a keen eye on Tenten's ex-boyfriend. He leaves when Neji and Tenten are ¾ of the way finished eating.
"The coast is clear," Neji says to her. Tenten has managed to eat her food crouched down, her face inches from her plate. As he watched her, Neji thought a lot about the price of dignity.
"Thank God." Tenten sits up, wincing from her cramped muscles. She folds the menu-turned-partition carefully, avoiding Neji's gaze.
"Are you going to explain, or—?"
Tenten pushes her fork around her noodles, but eventually says, "It was only for a few weeks. He's kind of the TA that taught one of my labs last semester. Like I said, lapse in judgment."
As surprised as Neji is, he finds himself smiling, amused. "And you broke up with him?" he inquires.
Tenten nods, still looking anywhere but at his face. "He was kind of controlling. I talked to Sakura and Ino about it and they helped me figure it out."
"Hm." Neji looks back to his plate, intent on finishing his food. He notices Tenten's gaze tentatively lift to study him, and he can tell her eyes are analytical. She wants to know what he thinks of her. But Neji lets her wonder.
The consensus for doing something else is decidedly negative. Their walk back to Tenten's campus is again, silent. The snow is falling heavier now.
As they walk up the steps of her dorm, Tenten says, "Can I be honest with you?"
Neji nods, curious as to what she will say.
"This was kind of the worst date I have ever been on," she continues, shooting him a sideways glance.
Neji attempts not to take that personally, but he is unsuccessful. "Sorry," he says.
"Oh, no!" Tenten shakes her head quickly at him, grasping his arm as they come to stop at her dormitory door. "It's not your fault—well, not entirely, anyway. I kind of made it worse."
Neji really doesn't know what he expected. Sure, he liked her, he thought she was attractive—but meeting someone through a party? Especially a party thrown by mutual friends? Neji didn't do things like this; it was definitely not his style. Dating was not his thing. This had been doomed from the beginning.
He waves her words aside, bowing his head a little. "No, it's my fault. I don't know what I was thinking."
Tenten exhales, looking behind him out to the snow-covered campus. She rests her hand on his shoulder, sharing a small smile with him.
"You were a good sport though," she tells him, and there is kindness in her eyes, and perhaps a little bit of interest as well.
Neji looks back at her, trying to place the expression.
Suddenly, without pause, she leans forward and kisses him, her hands gripping his collar tightly to pull him close. Neji's hand rests on her waist, his other rising to grasp her neck. She shivers under his touch—he isn't wearing gloves.
He kisses her back, reveling in how her mouth is so fast, so much quicker than his. He tries to catch her, make her still as he focuses, but she just nips his bottom lip with her teeth. She presses against his chest, and Neji pulls back, his lip snapping back into place as she releases him.
Her eyes are impossibly dark, illuminated only by the lights inside the lobby. "See you around?" she smirks, winking at him before disappearing inside her dorm. Neji doesn't have a chance to even respond, let alone ask her out again.
Neji turns slowly back to the sidewalk. He decides on his way home that he really likes kissing her.
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