#5 - I'll walk you home.
Sighing from a long day at work, Sasuke locks the door behind him as he makes his way into streets. Though it was after eleven, the streets are still buzzing with people, their voices and laughter filling the air.
Autumn is upon them and the warm breeze of Summer has transitioned into a cool, refreshing breeze. Shoving his hands into his pocket to protect them from the cool air, his left hand brushes against his phone. Pulling it out of his pocket, he presses the home button to illuminate the screen and his lips form a ghost of a frown when he finds that he has no texts.
He finds this odd since his girlfriend would always texts him when she gets home which would have been three hours ago. Unlocking his phone, he opens his messages and texts her: "Did you get home safely?"
Slipping his phone back into his pocket he continues down the street, dodging the incoming traffic of people who refuse to move even in the slightest way for him.
After safely crossing the first intersection he pulls out his phone and finds that she hasn't replied. Unlocking his phone, he opens his messages to text her again, but debates against it opening the phone app and calls her instead.
He holds the phone against his ear as it rings once, twice, three times, and more before it goes straight to voicemail. Her voice chimes from the other end of the line, as she happily tells the person, in her prerecorded message, to leave a message. Sasuke removes the phone from his ear right before it beeps signaling him to leave a message. He tries calling again, but he's met with her same prerecorded message telling him to leave a message.
He sighs again as he runs his right hand through his soft obsidian hair. His dark eyes scan the crowd of people in hopes of spotting her, but no one in the sea of people have her unique hair colour that he never thought he would love so much.
Worry floods his body as he clenches his phone in his left hand. He doesn't know how else to reach her, and she would have told him if she planned on going out. His heart quickens in his chest, but he feels the blood drain from his face.
His legs move on their own as they take down the street, quickly dodging those in his way. His breathing picks up and he's gasping for air as his eyes continue to scan the street for her. Pink hair should be noticeable to pick up from the sea of people with dark hair he tells himself to calm himself down, but it fails.
He passes another intersection and he still doesn't spot her. He stops and twirls around as if she was behind him, but he doesn't see her. He tries to slow his breathing with slow, deep breathes, but his heart is still racing frantically in his chest as if it doesn't want to slow until it finds her.
Speed walking down the street, he notices that he's approaching the bookstore where she works. He was so blinded by worry that he hadn't even thought that she might have been working overtime or that he was even close to her work. He quickens his pace a little and his heart beats wildly with anxiety with hopes that he'll see her.
Passing by the bookstore, he peers into the store and his eyes automatically land on her. She's carrying a large stack of books in her arms as she makes her way into an aisle and out of his sight. Without a second thought, he pulls open the door and the bell chimes above his head.
"Sorry, Sir, we're closing for the night. If you could come back tomorrow that would be great."
He notes how exhausted she sounds as she tries to cover it with a cheery tone. He's guessing she's sighing after she said those words and he walks over to the aisle he saw her walk into.
She's on her knees as she re-sacks books on the shelf. She doesn't even have to turn to him for him to see the tiredness exuding from her. Her eyes lack its usually gleam and her hair which is usually tired into a neat ponytail has pieces hanging freely outside of the ponytail. Hair sticks to the sweat that clads her face. Using her right arm, she whips it off before turning slightly to him, her emerald eyes concentrating on his feet.
"Sorry, but we're closed. If you could-"
She stops mid-sentence when she recognizes his boots and her eyes widen as they run up his body and land on his face.
"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here?" Her voice is soft and tender, but he can still hear her tiredness trickling off it.
"I just finished work and saw you from the window," he nonchalantly says, excluding the parts about him frantically running around the street looking for her. She nods and turns her attention back to re-sacks the shelf. "Why are you working overtime? And where are the other employees?"
Closing her eyes, she sighs as she slips the last book from her pile onto the shelf. "Kiba called in sick today, so it was supposes to me just me and Ino, but apparently she had to leave early because of an 'emergency'." She rolls her eyes as she stands and makes her way back to the cash register with him right behind her. She locks it before she makes her to the staff room.
"You should head home. You live-"
"I'll walk you home," he interjects and he notes a faint blushing making its way onto her cheeks.
"Are you sure? I mean you live-"
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll wait for you."
She smiles the most breathtaking smile he's ever seen grace her lips and he mentally notes that he should get his shifts changed to an earlier time so that he can walk her home everyday.
