Chapter Fourteen:

I'm already running around looking for Sasuke Uchiha's fucking bedroom.

Oh. My. God! I need to see it!

Inner Sakura runs in place and squeals her excitement.

The first room is a large living area, with a brick fireplace in the middle of a large room, surrounded by a massive set of tan leather couches and chairs. I assume they're real because I can smell the leather from across the room… also I doubt he would buy anything less if he can afford the good stuff anyway. I race to the left and find a huge kitchen area, which is taken up by a large rectangular island topped with a polished black and white marble. There are two sinks on the island and another on the counters lining the walls. There's another fireplace behind a small, round mahogany table for four. It seems out-of-place, being so small and ordinary, but I figure if it's only him here, he doesn't need a huge dining table. I race back into the large living room and skip my way across it to the other side.

Wait!

I stop in my tracks.

What if he wanted you to take off your shoes?

I look down at the off-white carpeting and hold my breath. I slowly turn around and exhale a sigh when I don't find a trail of mud. Then I take off my shoes and quickly place them in front of the entrance. Then I skip back to where I was going. The carpet feels soft through my socks and I smile.

This place is fucking huge! I love it!

I suddenly want to dance. I want to turn on the giant stereo system in the corner of the living room and listen to the walls shake and the paintings and pictures and hanging plates shake with it. I want to get up on the coffee table and spin around until I'm dizzy. I want to jump up and down on the soft carpet and slide on the tiled floors in the kitchen. I have to laugh. I can't help it. This place is amazing. But I keep my smile on and examine the rest of the house. After all, Sasuke could come back any second and I really want to see his bed…

There a medium-length hallway, with a couple paintings on each side, all of which I've never seen before. There's also a small table with a vase and fake flowers in it on the right side. There are three doors, all closed. Two on my right, one on my left. I start with the first on my right and find a completely empty room, save for two closed doors, and a large window, looking out over the sidewalk. Big, thick, burgundy curtains hang from it, but they're open, so I leave them like that. It's also the same carpeting as the living room and hallway. I walk into the room and I have to jump and spin around just once at the enormity of it and the rarity of being in an empty room like this. I open the first door and find a walk-in closet. I frown at what's inside, though—all women's clothes…

Has he had a woman stay in his house before? And if so, why would she just leave all of her things left in the closet? Or why would he? Especially if he took the time to clean out the rest of the room…

I walk over to the other closed door and open it. It's a bathroom, complete with a large counter, two sinks, a Jacuzzi, a walk-in shower with an intricately designed glass door and a separate room for the toilet. Mirrors cover the walls over the counters, and I get the feeling that a girl had been in here, too. There's a slight scent of perfume in the air, and the decorations are feminine. There are bars of soap shaped like flowers, and a gold stool with a white pillow on top sits in front of the counter. There's a single magnifying mirror in front of it, but no makeup lying around. It looks like this room was cleaned out as well, except for a few magazines on the floor and the half-empty bottles of soap and shampoo along the sides of the Jacuzzi.

I open a door to my right and realize that this bathroom is also the second door on the right side of the hallway. I cross and enter what I know must be Sasuke's bedroom. I jiggle the knob to make sure he doesn't keep it locked, and then, with anticipation, I slowly open the door. The first thing I notice is that it smells slightly like cigarettes—like sometimes he opens a window to air the place out, and other times he doesn't give a damn. I close the door behind me and step forward. The shades are drawn so I search for a light switch with the little light coming in through the cracks in the curtains by the window. I find a switch and flip it. A tall lamp in the corner comes on and a small lamp on his nightstand comes on as well. I look over the king-size bed and a smile spreads on my face.

But then it goes away. I don't feel like rolling around in his bed anymore. The thrill is gone, especially after seeing the other empty bedroom and bathroom. Who lived in there… with him? What woman did he let into his home? What did he do with her? Was she special to him? Were they… involved? If she lived in his home, they must have been involved… And then what did that make me…?

I walk over and open the door to a master bedroom. It smells like Sasuke. It also smells like shampoo and more cigarettes. I'm not into it anymore. I walk back out into the living room and sit on one of the couches and wait for Sasuke to come back.

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"Sorry. I had a few things that needed to be taken care of."

I look up when Sasuke closes the door behind him. He's looking at me with an unreadable expression on his face. I've been sitting on the couch for about ten minutes.

"You could have turned on the T.V. or something." He points to the remote on the coffee table and nods toward the seventy-inch flat screen against the wall on a giant entertainment system. I follow where he's pointing with my eyes and use it as an excuse to look away from him.

"I'm fine."

"I didn't ask if you were fine."

I sit there waiting for him to say something else. That last comment seems too cruel to end on.

"Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I even remember what food is here. We may have to go out after all."

"It's okay…" I say, staring at my hands in my lap. I can feel myself shaking. "If you don't want to do this. You can… take me home if you want."

I hear Sasuke sigh and before I know it, he sits down on the couch across from me and leans forward. I can't help but look up at him—at those dark, cryptic eyes as they stare back into mine. What's he thinking?

"What's wrong?" he asks, and I jump at the question. I'm not prepared to play twenty-questions, much less answer just one. I have too much other stuff on my mind. Inner Sakura could spend about half a day answering that question for me, but I don't want to do that.

"Nothing."

"Talk."

"What do you mean?"

He sighs again.

"You don't want to be here?" he asks, tilting his head.

"Do you want me to be here?" I hold my breath for the answer.

"Yes."

Phew. Good.

"It doesn't seem that way…"

"Why? I invited you here." He seems genuinely unaware and it hurts. I feel a twang in my chest. It makes one side of my mouth drop and I hold back a tear or two.

"Maybe you should just take me home…"

"Sakura…"

I look away from him. I pretend to be interested in the painting on the wall.

"Sakura…"

"What?" I snap, but I doubt I'm forceful enough to make myself sound harsh. I can't even look at him.

"What's wrong?"

What the fuck do you think is wrong? You couldn't make it any more obvious that you don't want to be here with me even if you tried! You leave me in here and go have almost a half-hour phone call. You cancel dinner and bring me here and then say that there's no food. I did all the talking in the car. You made me feel awful when I asked about your house. You were in a club last night for god-knows-what. You called me a cab instead of driving me home. You say you were having a meeting but frankly, I don't believe you. My best friend and I are in the middle of a fight and I have no idea how to make it better. A woman was living in your house and I don't know what you did with her or what happened to her. And now you're sitting here, with no clue as to what's wrong. You can't be serious…

"It's… nothing. I'm fine."

"Is it about last night?"

"No."

"You didn't want me to kiss you?"

I look over at him when he says that. "What?"

"Do you love that guy? Your friend from last night?"

"Lee? God, no." I almost laugh. Almost.

"I shouldn't have kissed you after you'd been drinking."

"Sasuke, that's really not—"

"And I should have taken you home myself."

Well, at least he got one thing right.

"What else?" he asks, and I get the feeling that he's going to keep asking until he figures it out.

Should I just tell him… or make him work for it, hmm?

Inner Sakura gives me a smirk, but I shake my head. Maybe I should just try and explain it to him…

"Do you not want to work in my office building anymore?"

"Sasuke… listen."

"It's fine if you don't."

"Just listen to me for a second, okay?"

He sits back slowly. "All right."

"First of all…" I gulp. Here we go. "Did you really have to leave me in here by myself for that long just to make a phone call?"

"It was business."

I decide to just let that one drop. There's really no reason to be mad about that if he had to do it. I don't want to talk about his house anymore, because that ship sailed when we were in the car, and I don't want to make him mad again. Then I realize that I can't bring up the club, either, because he said that he was having a meeting already. I can't just say I don't believe him, because he'll probably just shrug or something. And bringing up dinner and then him having no food in his apartment would just be speculation… And I can't bring up the empty room with women's clothes and bathroom appliances or he'll know I was snooping when he was on the phone.

"Oh…" I lower my head.

"Was that it?" He lifts an eyebrow.

"Yea, sorry. I guess just overreacted, then." I force a small smile.

He doesn't believe me and I can see it in his eyes. So I decide to elaborate on what was already said, to get him mind off of it.

"But I don't mind working for you… and I don't mind that you… kissed me." I blush as I say the words.

"I'm glad."

His face doesn't make it seem like he's glad, but I'm happy to hear it from him.

"Would you like to go for dinner now?" he asks, standing up and holding out his hand. I take it and stand with his gentle help.

"Okay. Where are we going?"

"I have a place in mind. It's one of my favorites in town, but you'll need to wear different clothes." He points to me and I jump. "I have some for you in the second bedroom." He starts to walk away and then he pauses and turns he head. "You can come with me if you want. Or you can wait here. If you want to wait, I'll just pick something out."

But… I don't want to go in that's woman's room with you…

Then again, it will give me the opportunity to ask more questions. One way or another, I'll be able to bring up each topic that's been bothering me. And I don't mind waiting to get my answers.

"No, I'll go with you." I walk to follow him, but he waits until I'm next to him. He places his hand on my back again and walks with me to the hall, and then the first door on the right. He opens it and steps inside with me.

"The closet is over there," he says, pointing, and I nod and walk over. I open the door and look at the clothes I already saw. "We're going to a formal diner, so pick out something appropriate."

"Why do you have so many women's clothes?" I ask. I can't help myself. I'm not facing him, so he can't see my expression.

"I used to have someone live here with me."

Just as I thought…

"Was she…" I trail off, expecting a quick "no!" or something along those lines, but it never comes. I need to finish my sentence… "Was she your… girlfriend?"

"Something like that…"

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Yes or no?

"What happened?"

He doesn't answer me right away. I find a simple black, knee-length dress and hold it up. I turn to him and he's staring at me, stoic again. I hold the dress out to show him.

"Will this work?"

"That should be fine."

I pause for a moment. "Is there… somewhere I can change?"

He points to the other door. The bathroom. I nod and force a smile and quickly lock myself in. I change in a matter of half a minute and take one short look in the mirror. I wish I'd worn more makeup if I knew we'd be going somewhere formal. I unlock the door and step out. Sasuke's still standing by the door to the hallway. He's staring at the floor, but he looks up when I step out. He nods his head towards the closet again.

"There are shoes in the back."

"Oh, right," I say, looking down at my white socks. They don't match the dress at all, I laugh. I crawl onto the floor and find a simple pair of silver half-inchers that cover the toes. I pull them out and replace them with my socks. I'm not very graceful, but I stand and turn to Sasuke. "Do I look okay?"

His eyes widen a bit at the question and he doesn't meet my eyes. I frown.

He doesn't like it, does he…?

"You look great. We still have a few minutes. I made a reservation before."

Wait… when he was on the phone… he was calling for us to have dinner? Oh, god, I feel awful… I was actually mad about that… I'm so sorry…

I lower my head.

"You can keep those if you want," he says, motioning for me to get out of the room.

"I don't know. There's something about me wearing your old girlfriend's clothes. I doubt I'd want to keep them."

It takes me a minute to realize that I'd actually said those words. I could've sworn they were just in my head. I look up at Sasuke and he's frowning. It's not an angry frown, but it's still a frown and I shrink back a little.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that…"

"It's all right. I can't say I'm a fan of you wearing her clothes, either."

Her. Not those clothes. Her clothes. Hers. Not yours.

I feel like crying again, but I shove it back before my eyes get all bright red and puffy in preparation for the waterfalls.

"Sakura?"

Damn. Caught.

"I don't mean that they don't fit you well. I'm saying that because… she…" There's that word again… "She and I had a… bumpy separation. It didn't end well. She left… I just don't like bringing up the past."

"Do you still love her?"

"No. In all honesty, I don't think I ever really did."

"Then why were you with her? Why did you let her stay in your house?"

I don't care that I'm asking him personal questions. I don't care that my face probably shows that I could start balling my eyes out any second now. I just want answers. I need answers. I need to know…

"It's a long story. I… I wanted something from her, and I thought she would give it to me if I took care of her… Turns out I was wrong. She didn't want to have anything to do with me after I…" He trails off and checks his watch. "We should go."

After he… what? What did he do? And what did he want from her? Sex? He could get that from a girl without letting her live in his house, no doubt… But then… what?

I nod and follow him out the door.

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We've been in the car for about ten minutes and I'm not sure how much longer we have until we're out in public, so I just ask the question that's been on my mind since we left his apartment.

"You didn't… hurt her, did you?"

"Hurt who? What?" He looks over at me, confused, and I watch as it clicks in his head. "No, I didn't hurt her, Sakura." He seems upset that I asked, but it was an honest question.

"What did you do to her?"

"Nothing."

"Why don't you want to tell me?"

"It's not important anymore. She's gone. She's been gone. It's been years."

"You haven't seen her?"

"No, Sakura." He's getting annoyed again, so I stop pressing for answers. At least I know he didn't beat her or anything like that… That would've been something, huh?

I roll my eyes at Inner Sakura. If I thought he was capable of that kind of thing, I wouldn't be here with him to begin with.

Or he could be lying and you're just an awful judge of character…

"We're here."

I look at Sasuke and then glance out my window. There's a large, two-story building with lights coming out through small windows. I can't see inside, though because they're hazy. The parking lot isn't packed, but there are a decent number of cars. Sasuke parks, turns off the engine and opens his door. I take one look at him before grabbing my purse and opening my door as well.

I sure hope I can afford this…

I step out and Sasuke comes to stand next to me. I think he's expecting me to start walking so we can walk together, but my legs don't move at first as I stare up at the diner. It looks like a 17th century English home, but modernized with lighting and intricate gardens in the front and a walkway that goes through it, into the back. I want to walk around and look, but I don't want to at the same time in case Sasuke gets annoyed again.

Dinner. We're just here for dinner. And that's it. Then I can go home.

I glance to my right and watch a middle-aged couple laughing together as they walk towards the entrance to the diner, arm-in-arm, and I accidentally glance back at Sasuke with a light smile. When I see that he's looking at me, my face falls. He rolls his eyes and puts out his arm. I can't help but laugh and he smirks. I take his arm.

This is more like it… This feels right.

We walk to the entrance and he opens the door for me. We walk in together and I manage to walk inside without separating from him. He follows and then gentle removes his arm from mine.

Well, it was nice while it lasted…

Sasuke steps forward and says something to the man behind the first counter. He receives a nod and then a waitress gathers up two menus and silverware sets and says, "Follow me, please" before turning and heading into the diner. I smile when Sasuke puts out his arm again and he leads me through the diner, following the waitress as we weave in and out of tables and chairs and conversation chatter.

"Here you are," the waitress says with a smile and I freeze, my eyes widening.

"What…"

Sasuke gives me a little push towards the table and the seat closest to me. I push back and stare down at the two blondes that are already seated there.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, and Ino looks up from her menu. When she sees me she drops it, and then quickly scrambles to pick it up before it falls onto the floor. Then her eyes dart to mine.

She sticks her perfect nose into the air and gives me a dirty look. "I'm having dinner with my…" She then trails off as her eyes move to Sasuke. She glances at Naruto, who's just sitting there with an innocent expression. "What's going on?"

"Well…" Naruto says, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head nervously. "You seemed really upset earlier today, and I kind of told Sasuke that you were with me… and…"

"Sakura was upset as well," Sasuke adds, "So we figured…"

"We should have a double date," Naruto says with an edgy smile.

I look at Ino and she looks back at me for only a second. She turns to Sasuke. "Well, I think you and Naruto should learn to mind your own business."

"Ino…" Naruto says, frowning. He looks worried. "Come on."

Sasuke leans into me and I jump at the closeness. He puts his mouth by my ear and whispers. "Sit down. We're drawing unwanted attention." I can smell his sweet breath. He hasn't smoked in a while.

I take a quick glance around and notice one woman whispering to her friend and pointing at Sasuke and my heart races. The last thing I want is to have a bunch of girls realize who's here. Especially when I'm with him and we're cornered in a diner…

I quickly take my seat and Ino gawks at me for a second before her face returns to housing a deep frown.

"All I wanted was to have a nice night out with my boyfriend and you have to come over here and ruin it," she says to me. "What's this all about anyway?" She glances at Sasuke again. "Did she tell you about our fight? You feel bad? You want to help you're little girlfriend feel better about being a bitch?"

"Ino!" Naruto shouts under his breath, giving her a quick nudge. She whirls on him next.

"And what about you? You thought that what I needed was some good girl time? You think I tell you about my life so you can try to get involved in everything? You're a great guy, Naruto, but you can't help me with everything. This is between me and Sakura, and to be honest, you shouldn't be getting involved." She looks at Sasuke again and narrows her eyes. "Neither should you."

"I'm not involved." Sasuke turns away from her and opens his menu. Ino just makes a noise like she's disgusted and shakes her head. Then her attention turns back to me. A moment of silence passes. I don't know what to say.

"I didn't know this was going to happen, either."

"Yea, I know. I could tell by that stupid expression you had when you saw me."

Since we fought, my entire day has been hell, save for a few nice moments with Sasuke. But all-in-all, my bad mood has come from the fact that we both said hurtful things, and we didn't settle any of it. We just walked away from each other. And I feel sorry. I am sorry. But I don't want to say it…

"I know you were just trying to help," I say.

"What?" she snaps.

"I shouldn't have… called you a slut."

"Wow. Is that your apology?"

"I'm not apologizing!"

"Oh, okay then. If you're not going to apologize, then you should leave and let me have dinner with my fucking boyfriend. And what's with you and him?" She points to Sasuke and I look over. I know he's listening but he's very calm as he looks over his menu. "I thought you said you hated him now. I thought you said he was some bigshot playboy who has twenty girlfriends and sells drugs and shit. Not that I'm one to judge but, you know…"

I notice Sasuke shoot me an expression out of the corner of my eye, but I ignore him. If he has something to say, he can say it later.

"This isn't about me and him," I say. "I get it. I get why they wanted to meet here." I motion to Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto took a hint from his buddy and had picked up his menu a minute ago. "It's because I had an awful day. And you had an awful day. And they saw that. I felt like shit because I hurt you, and it screwed everything up because I don't like it when you're hurt. When someone hurts my best friend, it's my job to go beat that person up, isn't it? So what the hell am I supposed to do when it's me that did the hurting?"

Ino stares at me, her expression still angry and her arms crossed over her chest, but she doesn't respond.

"Ino, I'm sorry for everything I said. I can't stay mad at you. I'm sorry I said those things about you. It was because I was upset about stupid stuff that was going on at work and with Sasuke and I didn't know what to do, and your advice… no offense, but it pissed me off a little bit."

"Is that your apology, then?" She looks away and starts playing with the corner of her napkin.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Yea, I'm listening."

"You don't have anything to say?"

"No…" I give her a minute. "I don't know. I guess I said some awful stuff, too, and I'm sorry."

I have to smile. "It's okay… I'm okay if you're okay."

She looks up at me.

"Yea."

"We're good?" I ask with a bigger smile.

"Yea. We're good… But you're paying."

"Deal."

Naruto puts down his menu as if on cue and sighs with relief. He looks over at Ino with a smile and she rolls her eyes at him with a smile of her own.

"Sorry I yelled at you," she says, and gives him a quick kiss.

"No problem. I'm happy you're okay."

I smile at the two of them and turn to Sasuke. He's still looking at his menu.

"Hey," I whisper, and he looks at me without turning his head. "Thanks."

"Yup." He puts down the menu and looks at it flat on the table. Then he turns his head to me. "You're not paying."

I smile at him and laugh.

No… This is more like it… This feels right.