This was going to be the last chapter but of course I decided to add one more lol. So the next chapter will be the last one and you'll all get the resolution you've been looking for. :) Special thanks to Satoorihoya ( ), SpicyWifey, mapplepie, LovelyLori, Angi sleeps, Usa-chan, XxXangelkunouchiXxX, Cookie-chan99, long live marshmallows, ZirconK, NaruHinaRyu, narujordanna, lala1224, and wondxrlust for your amazing reviews! And thank you to everyone who has favorited/followed this story! :)
The Wednesday before the party Hinata avoided the elevator.
She knew she was being a bit childish, dragging her time as she got ready that morning and ate her breakfast extra slowly. She didn't mind if she was a bit late to work, or even if she was written up by her supervisor because of it; Hinata Hyuga did not want to be stuck in a confined space with the elevator guy for any period of time.
It took her five minutes to build the courage to press the button and an agonizingly slow trip past the 7th floor for her to see that he would not be joining her that morning.
Relief and disappointment simultaneously filled her being and she frowned, pausing for a moment before stepping out into the lobby. She tried and failed to make sense of the conflicting emotions inside her, partially happy that he wasn't there yet deeply saddened by it as well. She walked to work while trying to decide if she felt guilty that she was relieved or selfish for unconsciously hoping to see him in the first place. She had an entirely unproductive work day as she wavered between relief, disappointment, and shame. She walked home in silence, and as she entered her apartment for the evening she'd decided.
She was frustratingly disappointed.
The Thursday before the party she decided that she wanted to see him.
She had no idea what she wanted to say, or what she wanted to do. She ate cereal at her dining room table in silence, eyes fixed on the dark blue umbrella learning beside her door and the dry-cleaned suit jacket hanging from her coat rack.
She placed her bowl in the sink and gathered her purse and paperwork before walking assuredly to her door and taking the intrusive items in her hands. Maybe if she got rid of them she'd finally stop thinking of him at all hours of the day and night. Maybe if she returned them to him like she should have days ago she would stop having to resist the urge to run her fingers over the fabric of his coat, and not relive the experience of him placing it over her for the thousandth time. She would give him his things, express her gratitude to him once again, and if he wanted to be her friend then so be it.
And if he wanted to run away with her and leave his fiancé behind then that was fine with her as well.
She called the elevator and stepped inside, her mind set on finding out where they stood (as though their vague, almost laughable excuse of familiarity with one another had any sort of definition in the first place). Her breath hitched as she watched the needle slow to a halt on the 7th floor, the elevator ringing as the doors slid open. Fixing what she hoped didn't look like a forced smile onto her face she looked towards the door and immediately felt her smile droop into a frown as a brown-haired man entered the elevator. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she tried to calm the tension that had so suddenly built inside her only to be fizzled out just as quickly, scooting to the side slightly to make more room for the man as he took the place beside her.
"Is it supposed to rain today or something?" He nodded toward her umbrella and Hinata was sure her smile was more of a grimace as she turned to him.
"Um, no, but you can never be too careful." She lifted the umbrella slightly with a forced laugh before turning her gaze on the wall and feeling absolutely mortified, ignoring the way the man shrugged in response.
She walked straight to work with the coat on her arm and umbrella in her hand both feeling like a hundred pounds, regretting using her time so leisurely the previous morning and giving her no time to head back upstairs to drop them off unless she wanted an actual write-up instead of just another warning that day. She avoided the curious looks she received as she walked past her co-workers offices and desks with an umbrella on a clear day and a man's coat hanging over her arm, swiftly entering her office and closing the door behind her before allowing herself to cover her face with her hands and flush in humiliation.
She arrived home that evening and threw herself onto the couch, finally admitting to herself that the man in the elevator had driven her completely insane.
The Friday before the party she'd had enough.
Was she going to live the rest of her residential life in her building in fear of ever seeing him again? Possibly, but if there was any chance of getting rid of the weighted emotions in her heart then she would take that chance. His presence had becoming recurring and constant over the past few months and it was foolish of her to hope that she would never see him again and just completely ridiculous to keep trying to avoid him in the mornings.
No. Friday was the day that she would settle everything.
And so she woke up early, spent a little more time than usual fixing up her hair and makeup, and grabbed something quick to eat before heading straight down to the lobby with an umbrella in her right hand and a suit jacket in her left. Perhaps she was being silly, she thought as she made her way to a seat close to the elevator and began her wait for the elusive man. It wasn't like she'd had any claim to him that gave her a right to feel jealous of his blonde fiancé for stealing him away from her. If anything, she should have just shrugged the encounter off and moved on with her life.
It wasn't as though she'd never been disappointed in her love life. After all, there'd been many times when a date hadn't worked out like she would have liked and times where she waited too long to confess her feelings toward someone and missed a potential opportunity to love and be loved. But something about this time was…different. Something about this particular man struck her deeply, despite having only had one real conversation with him. Something about him made her hopeful, made her heart quiver when he was near and made her feel like a schoolgirl with a silly crush again.
Maybe she'd been too hopeful. She'd caught him staring at her more times than she could count and she wanted to believe that he wanted to talk to her, found her interesting, or maybe felt the same way about her. He probably just thought she was strange, as anyone would after taking the elevator with the same person everyday only to have that person never start any form of conversation with them.
She sighed deeply. She was completely hopeless.
"I haven't seen your face in a few days."
Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin, her gaze shooting up to the familiar man standing before her with a small smile on his face. She felt even smaller than usual, staring up at him from her seated position and stood a little more quickly than she meant to, causing him to step back slightly in surprise.
"Sorry!" Hinata didn't know what she was apologizing for, but the word slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. She coughed, smiling slightly as she attempted to regain her composure before him. "I've been, um, sick."
He looked at her curiously, his eyebrow quirked ever so slightly and she thought she saw the corner of his mouth lift the tiniest bit with unspoken amusement. His blue eyes burrowed into her deeply and she felt the familiar flutter of her heart beating erratically in her chest before quickly looking away.
"That's too bad. I hope you're feeling better." She heard him reply after a moment and peeked at him shyly only to find him looking away from her, instead staring down at his feet with a blank look on his face that she couldn't read no matter how desperately she tried.
"I am… thank you…" She replied quietly, speaking barely above a whisper and feeling as though anything louder might break the fragility of the encounter.
He seemed strange that day, she thought as she took in the entirety of his face while his attention was off of her. His eyes seemed a little duller, his smile not painted across his face like she was so used to seeing. She started in surprise as she realized what exactly strange about him.
He was sad.
She felt almost foolish for coming to the conclusion so late, his behavior so opposite as to what she was used to seeing. She was accustomed to the warm smile permanently displayed every time he walked into the elevator, the sparkle in his eye as he greeted her in the morning, and the way he carried himself so confidently as they walked out of the building. In comparison to the man she was used to seeing, he gave off an entirely different impression. The hint of a smirk that she'd thought she had seen completely gone from his face, and he seemed lost in deep thought with unfocused eyes reflecting a hundred different emotions as though he was searching for something inside himself.
She felt the assertiveness that she'd collected to return his items dissipate. How was she supposed to return his items and move on with her life when he was standing before her with such a solemn expression on his face? Rather than give him his belongings and try to forget her feelings for him, she only wanted to take his hand in her own and comfort him. She wanted to take his chin in her hand and lift his gaze to her own, if only to show him the concern in her eyes that she was sure she couldn't express in words without turning into a blubbering mess.
This was going to be much harder than she thought.
"A-Are you…okay?" She stammered hesitantly, cursing herself for sounding so timid but forgetting the thought as his gaze shifted onto her immediately, his blue eyes looking at her with surprise.
"Ah, I'm fine! Just a long night, you know?" He chuckled, running a hand through his hair and leaving Hinata thoroughly unconvinced. Her brow furrowed in concern but she forced herself to leave the subject alone. If he was upset it was none of her business, and if anything she could be bringing up something that he'd rather not talk about. If that were the case, she'd be pushing herself further from developing any sort of friendship with him.
"I was actually waiting for you." She said, holding her breath as she awaited his response.
"You were?" His voice held a hint of disbelief and she smiled at the confused expression on his face.
"Yes, well, I thought it was about time that I returned these to you." She lifted his belongings in her hands and he stared at them blankly for a few moments before he seemed to recall that they were his.
"Oh that's right! I forgot you still had these, thank you." He grinned at her, but instead of warming her heart his smile only served to make it clench. 'He'd already forgotten about giving them to me.' Her smile faltered for a moment. While she had spent the past few days reliving that encounter over and over with happiness and longing, he hadn't given it a second thought.
'He's engaged, what else did I expect?' Her smile slowly fell as she vaguely watched him place the umbrella strap around his wrist and inspect the jacket curiously. She supposed she didn't expect anything, only hoped that he hadn't just given her his umbrella and jacket and paid for her cab out of the kindness of her heart. The smallest, most hopeful part of her was crazy enough the hope that it meant just a little more and that some part of him, even a small part, potentially held any of the same kinds of feelings for her that she held for him.
That smallest part of her felt very foolish.
"Wow, did you get it dry-cleaned? Thanks, you didn't have to!" He smiled at her and she stared at him silently for a moment, allowing that small part to selfishly indulge in his smile one more time.
"It was nothing, thank you for your kindness. Goodbye." She gave him a small smile and bowed her head slightly, turning and walking past him to the lobby doors with her gaze fixed ahead as every inch of her being screamed at her to turn and look back at him.
Naruto stared after her, watching her walk until she had disappeared from his sight before he allowed his smile to fall and be replaced with a wistful expression. He briefly wondered if she smiled like that at her boyfriend all the time, and the thought immediately upset him.
Looking down at his coat and umbrella he suddenly felt very empty; as though she had somehow severed the only thread he had connecting himself to her and removed her from his life.
"Maybe it's for the best." He mumbled as his fist tightened around the cloth of his jacket before he threw it over his arm and walked outside into the cool morning air. He paused, looking down the sidewalk where she had just disappeared into the throng of morning commuters and hoping momentarily that she might come back.
He sighed, turning the opposite way with a shake of his head and heading towards his office with the vague feeling that with she had left something broken behind with her goodbye.