A/N: I'm posting this new chapter anyway to get inspiration to write more.

Deidara sobbed. A lot. "Don't let go, Jack," left him bawling, and he and Itachi had to leave the theater.

As an incentive for Deidara to calm down, Itachi offered to buy ice cream for the two of them. Deidara got a banana sundae, no bananas, with mint chocolate chip instead of vanilla, with chocolate drizzle instead of whipped cream, no cherry on top. Essentially a giant cup of MCC ice cream with chocolate covering. Itachi got a vanilla milkshake.

After Deidara regained his composure, he dragged Itachi to all of the attractions for children, namely the carousel and spider jump.

"Deidara's such a kid," Itachi thought as he let Deidara tug him towards the next attraction. "A really cute kid…"

"Actually I'm only two years younger than you, so I'm not really a kid," Deidara interrupted Itachi's train of thought.

"W-wait, how did you know what I was thinking? How do you know how old I am?!" Itachi was bewildered

"You were mumbling aloud and I heard you," Deidara replied cheerfully, not ever answering the second question. "Ooh, face painting! Let's go there!" And Itachi was dragged.

Deidara got his face painted like a canary, so in the end the yellow in his face blurred with the yellow of his hair and he looked like "a dandelion!" Deidara looked crestfallen at Itachi's remark.

"I mean… A really cute dandelion!" Itachi tried to cover up his mistake, to no avail.

Deidara tried to hide it at first, but pretty soon he burst into tears, crying "it was supposed to be a biiiiird!"

Itachi panicked and almost suggested ice cream again, but he was almost out of money. So he tried to compliment Deidara instead: "Don't cry, Deidara! Y-you look more beautiful than any bird!"

Deidara's sobbing quickly subsided as he took in this compliment. "Thanks!" He beamed. "You can call me Didra if you want."

Relieved that Deidara's latest emotional breakdown had ended, Itachi heaved a sigh of relief.

"Why don't we get something to eat," Itachi suggested, "How about, uh, Food Garden?"

"...You mean Farmers' Basket?"

"Yeah that place."

"Sure! I love Asian food! You know what I love more than Asian food though?"

Itachi blushed. "What?"

"Diet Coke."

"Oh, that's nice…"

"I drink Diet Coke all the time. My blood is like 40% Diet Coke. Once I pulled three all-nighters because I drank so much Diet Coke..." Deidara kept rambling on about his obsession with Diet Coke, which slightly terrified Itachi, but he just kept smiling and nodding.

At the front of the line, Deidara ordered a Diet Coke and said, "Oh, I'll pay for you Itachi. After all, you did buy me that ice cream."

"Aw, you're so sweet Didra. I love you~" The last part slipped out of Itachi's mouth before he could stop himself. "Um, I mean, err…"

"I love you too, Ichi!" Deidara seemed unfazed by Itachi's sudden confession. And despite the fact that they only just met that day, Deidara reciprocated those feelings.

While Deidara stuffed his face with Sauteed Chicken and sipped his Diet Coke, Itachi stared at his food and couldn't stop blushing.

"You gonna eat that?" Deidara pointed to Itachi's tray.

"What? Oh, uh, you can have some if you want," Itachi smiled at Deidara. Deidara quickly shoveled the food into his mouth, but that didn't darken the rose-colored lense through which Itachi viewed him. As Deidara sipped the last of his Diet Coke, Itachi stared dreamily.

"Hey! Let's go in that tornado-hurricane-thingy! It looks really fun!" Deidara's bright voice interrupted Itachi's daydreaming. When they got to the tornado simulator booth, Deidara jumped right in, but Itachi took the time to read the instructions.

"C'mon, Ichi!"

"It says here that only one person can use it-" Deidara grabbed Itachi and dragged him into the booth.

"It'll be fine! I already paid. This'll be fun!..." Deidara said more, but at that moment the wind turned on and his words were lost in screams of excitement.

Deidara's skort blew up, but it was okay because it was a skort! Itachi blushed anyways.

Throughout the minute-long maelstrom, Deidara and Itachi failed to notice that their long, flowing hair was getting tangled together. The mass of black and blond hair was practically a rat's nest by the end of their time in the simulator.

When they tried to leave, they found their hair stuck together, and they couldn't move their heads more than about 6 inches apart. Both Deidara and Itachi blushed at how close their faces were. They resolved the walk to the fountain in front of the mall before untangling their hair.

While they walked through the food court, Itachi slipped his hand into Deidara's. They sat down on the bench facing out towards the setting sun. The sky blazed with a million colors: pink, orange, yellow, red. Itachi fumbled lamely with the giant knot of their hair, while Deidara sat there unusually complacently.

"Hey, Ichi."

"What? Sorry if this hurts. Our hair is really knotted well."

Deidara turned to face Itachi. Itachi looked back. Because they couldn't move but a few inches from each other, their noses practically touched.

There was a silence between them as both their faces grew hot. Neither of them drew away as they stared into each other's eyes. Deidara's eyes sparkled like the ocean. Itachi was a bit startled at the closeness of Deidara's pretty face, but he soon grew relaxed and comfortable.

Closing his eyes, Deidara leaned in.