Chapter 7

I tried occupying myself while the blonde slept, however whenever I managed to concentrate on my book and almost forget about him he turned or tossed around in his sleep, reminding me of his presence. It was such an alien feeling to have someone sleep in my proximity. He wasn't a peaceful sleeper though, that's for sure. But I didn't know anyone who would willingly agree to such a thing.

Yet there he was, his blonde spiky hair peeking from under the covers. I glanced at him every once in a while. Okay, truthfully maybe a bit more often than that, but I wasn't eager to admit it to myself. Unidentified emotions circled around my system.

Slowly the sun rose and first rays of sunlight illuminated my room. It felt as if only a couple of minutes have passed, and at the same time as if the time has stopped. I finished making notes from yet another chapter a few minutes after 8am. The room was now filled with daylight, and I realized the boy in my bed might not have joked and may really sleep through anything. For some reason the problem of having to wake him up did not cross my mind until now.

He looked like a heavy sleeper as the brightness of the room did not seem to bother him one bit. How was I going to do it? There was something strangely… personal about waking someone up. Sleep is one of those times when a person is absolutely defenseless vulnerable. I suppose I could have tried shouting to wake him up, although raising my voice wasn't something I did often, especially indoors. People usually react to hearing their own name which is an effective way of waking someone up, but was also out of the question – I never called anyone by their name and I wasn't about to start.

Approaching the bed I decided to give a 'vocal wakeup' a try anyway.

"…Hey. Wake up."

No reaction, unsurprisingly.

"…Wake up. You will be late." I raised my voice a little.

The boy didn't move in the slightest. I sighed. I had a feeling raising my voice further would only result in a sore throat and not a movement from the snoring body in my bed. I considered other options. I could splash him with cold water or perhaps power on my stereo system. There was also the possibility of waking him up by shaking him. I flinched. Was I just considering touching someone when there were other, perfectly viable options?

I studied his sleeping face. The scars on his cheeks were strangely interesting and in a weird way appealing. Were they as soft as the rest of his skin? Was the scar tissue thick, suggesting they were relatively new, or did he have them for a while? My curiosity rose, I wanted to touch them. I considered the idea for a minute, but seeing as he wasn't about to wake up easily I saw no harm in it. By now after spending a considerable amount of time around the blonde I paid no attention to the alarm bells that were going off inside my head.

Slowly my hand rose to his face and I gently stroked one of the scars with my thumb. They were thin and soft, barely detectable by touch alone. Almost like in a trance I run my thumb along the peculiar line a few more times.

"…Gaara?" As a sleepy voice reached my ear I snapped out of it, quickly pulling my hand away. A pair of large blue eyes watched me closely.

"What are you doing?" For someone who supposedly 'can sleep through anything' he woke up surprisingly fast. I looked at him blankly trying to pretend he did not startle me at all.

"…It's 8am, you'll be late for class." I answered him in the most monotone voice I could muster.

"Oh." He looked a bit puzzled, and I was pretty sure it wasn't only because he just woke up.

Apparently he finally comprehended what I just said, stretched a few times, yawned and eventually got out of bed. He didn't display much of that cheerful personality which he typically annoyed me with. The blonde was not a morning person at all.

He attempted to make the bed, leaving it only marginally better than if he just let it be. Collecting his stuff on the way he vanished in the bathroom. It didn't take him long, he probably chose to get just dressed, and shower back in his own dorm. A welcome decision, the sooner he went the better. He entered the room just as I was finishing the bed.

"Thanks a lot again Gaara!" his cheerful mode on again, he grinned at me. "I really owe you for this one!"

I looked back at him. What do people usually say in such situations? 'Great, now leave' did not seem like the appropriate answer.

"…You're welcome."

He smiled at me again, but for some reason his expression quickly changed to a more serious, almost contemplating one. Earlier 'bipolar' diagnosis of the blonde was gaining grounds by the minute. My eyes widened as he slowly walked towards me and stopped only a couple of inches away, too close for comfort by far. I didn't have enough space to step back. I wanted to look away but something made me hold his gaze. I could feel my heart crash against my ribs not understanding what was happening. What was he going to do? A jolt of anticipation run down my spine.

Swiftly, he grabbed my right hand guiding it to his face, making my palm run along his scars. My mouth opened slightly in surprise as he closed his eyes. I swallowed audibly.

"It's fine if you want to touch them you know, they don't hurt." He said softly, his eyes still closed. I noted that he was still holding my hand and now wasn't sure it was me stroking his face, or him feeling my hand with his cheek. My lack of social interactions and inexperience betrayed me again as I tried to figure out what to do. Because, really – how was I supposed to know how to react to this kind of situation? Surely it wasn't a normal thing to happen, especially between two guys. Especially between ME and anyone. I was flabbergasted and overwhelmed. He opened his eyes and…

~ Tooku de kikoeru koe wo hitori / Hitori mata hitori…! ~

He flinched, surprised, and took his mobile out of his pocket. I quickly snapped my hand away from him.

"Hello, Sasuke?" he answered. The voice on the other side seemed to be irritated, although I couldn't make out exactly what was being said. The blonde started pacing around my room.

"Okay, I will be there soon!... Yes, I did sleep tonight inside, no thanks to YOU!" I noticed that whenever he raised his voice he also gesticulated wildly.

"Yes, yes, calm down we won't be late for class. Seriously! And STOP CALLING ME THAT!" He yield into the handset before finishing the call.

He sighed, but turned to me with a grin already back on his face.

"I gotta run! Sasuke just got back and said he made a copy of the key for me, and I need to shower and change before the classes start!" He told me, as if he needed to explain why he was leaving. "Thanks again though, I mean it."

I nodded in response, not trusting myself to not say something that might prompt his weird behavior again.

"See you soon then!" And with that threat he quickly disappeared through the door.

With the blonde out of my room my body suddenly relaxed. I didn't even notice how stiff I became in the past couple of hours, not to mention the last few minutes. Feeling slightly weak I sat on my bed and immediately decided I needed to lie down. I wasn't used to so much human interaction, or so many confusing thoughts and emotions. I looked at my right hand remembering the feel of his skin, letting random thoughts and questions flow through my mind. None of this made any sense. I closed my eyes and pulled my knees to my chest trying to comfort myself. I decided to count down from ten. 10… 9… 8… 7…

What was this odd smell? I stopped counting and focused on sniffing. Scene probably looked ridiculous, but I didn't care. The aroma was strange, but not unpleasant. It vaguely resembled cinnamon mixed with something I couldn't pinpoint. Curiously, it seemed to be concentrated on my pillow…

I stopped abruptly and opened my eyes. This was… the blonde's smell, I realized finally. It shouldn't have taken me this long to figure it out. I stared at the pillow as if it could react in any way. I should wash these sheets, who knows where the boy has been. For all I knew he was a walking colony of bacteria and viruses.

For some reason though I lied back down on the sheets, faint cinnamon aroma gently wrapping around my body. I didn't know why but it made me feel… safe.

I would wash these sheets… Tomorrow.

Hello hello! It's J again. Thank you for following the story until now, I hope you continue to enjoy it!

A very warm thank you to Nala87. Raiye 159 and Haibane for reviewing!

Raiye: Once I finish this story I will most likely write an alternative version from Naruto's point of view! I think it would be nice to show his side as the story progressed.

Nala: Thank you so much for your encouragement as always! I'm happy that you like it. I'm a big fan of letting the characters develop and letting them take their time so I'm trying not to rush it too much. Hopefully though I will not overdo it and make it boring!

TBC