Naruto POV
Jumping out of the street, I managed to jog another block before collapsing on a bench, lungs on fire, thighs aching. God it'd been almost a week since my last run and the air was hot and stuffy in my jacket, as I let my head tilt back, breath pumping in madly.
Kiba and Kamurou had made me promise to be back before 9:30 pm because we had to go shopping for souvenirs and stuff to bring back home. We had to get food, for one, since we had no faith in airplane food anymore. I haven't slept since midnight, and I gasp, sharp morning air racing in a cooling my thrumming heart before it overheats.
Digging in the long-strapped bag I'd worn, I pulled out my Gatorade and chugged the blue stuff down. Juura had bought it inAmerica, and the crap tasted like melted Jell-o! It was awesome! Putting the now empty bottle in the trash, I stretched a little before sprinting off down the street, rounding the corner onto Stone's music shop road, glaring at the little bell as it rang.
"Hey Naruto~" Hinata sang and tossed me a CD with a dark blue ribbon tied around it.
She was wearing a semi-tight T-shirt, a jacket with black and green on it, skinny jeans, and grey Vans. Her long purple-black hair was clipped in a white octopus hair-clip and she had sparkly white mascara and shadow, light lavender earrings swinging from her ear, three in a row. (A/N: think Zoro's gold ones in One Piece^-^)
Working in a music shop seemed to be benefiting her overall confidence after just the one day.
Interesting.
That and the fact that Sakura had done her clothes, seeking white mascara and shadow from Temari, who graciously tackled the 'Hinata Experiment'.
Grinning at her, I caught it right before it smacked into my face and looked it over. It was un-labeled and she confided, "Mix CD. Stone made it last night, since he'll be gone all today with Noir~" she made a mock-googly-eyes face and puckered her lips.
"So he's not coming to see us off?" I frowned as I thought about the dark-haired man. He wasn't very social, and reminded me of Shika, but I knew I'd still miss him. Even though most of the time he'd spent with me was as Kage, he was still a close friend. But Hinata didn't give me any time to think about it, pulling me over to the back and loading more CDs into a bag, shoving it into my arms. Suddenly she went all shy, and I half-smiled, my hands brushing hers. That's right. She used to have a mondo freaking crush on me.
I didn't realize she did though, and quit torturing her, taking the bag and moving a bit away, since her face was cherry red.
"E-employee d-discount! Here! I picked o-out all these f-for you guys! The one i-i-in the bottom is m-mine. Yours are t-the ones with t-the ribbons. A-already paid for. S-Stone gave them to us. C-Cool of him, huh?" She blushed hard and pushed me out to the front again, smiling under her thick bangs. (A/N: nobody panic. I'm not a type who likes Naru/Hina ewww!)
Thanking her, I ran out before the inevitable awkward silence could happen. She didn't deserve it, and I ran down the street before I had to put a fake smile on, plugging in my ear buds and turning up the music. Even though I couldn't talk to Kyuubi, I found out that I still had his reflexes and short temper.
Sprinting up a slow incline, I rounded almost three more blocks before I hit the huge construction site. Now that I saw it, I could feel the vibration of the jackhammers and the rumble of the cranes going up and down my spine, thrumming through my bones.
Skidding to a stop, I looked at the load of giant titanium pipes swinging my way, up on their way to the big wooden platform they were intended for. My muscles coiled and I ended up crouched on the uppermost pipe, nails sunk into its steel surface.
Staring at my fingers, touching the cold metal, I pried my nails out one at a time, looking up and down the almost curved, wicked point shooting from the clean white beds, the end clinging to pieces of metal shavings. My legs were burning and the wind whipped at me from the empty space around me.
Men were yelling at me, but that boundless energy was only barely touching me, and I calmly stood and walked onto a landing, where a guy grabbed me and tried to ask if I was okay.
Instead, I swung down the seven stories and kept jogging,
Glancing at my hands, I saw normal, bitten nails, carved down to regular size, paler white on the edges of tan. Flexing a few fingers experimentally, I couldn't feel the energy anymore. Huh. Alright...
Speeding up, I sprinted down the street and wound up back by Juura's cafe somehow, the neon light blinking OPEN in blue letters. Kiba waved from inside, and Juura nodded a Sup from behind the counter, yelling something that looked a lot like, "That was only that one biscuit!"
Kam appeared in the kitchen door as I went in, leaning over the main A/C vent and heaving in huge gulps of freezing air. My thighs ached but in a good way, and sweat trickled down my forehead, cooling at the air hit it. Tongue lolling out, I gasped and unplugged my earphones, jazz music reaching me from behind the counter.
Low and sad, it made me smile unexpectedly.
Kiba grinned and laughed, agreeing with something Juura said. The redhead's face matched his hair and he retreated, complaining to Kao. Next they both came out and started berating both the other two, who were still laughing at Kam. The door rang and we all froze, staring at the middle-aged woman with her two little girls.
She didn't seem to notice, and ordered two junior burgers and one Caesar salad, Italian dressing on the side. To go. We were all quiet, and amazed as the first customer I'd ever actually witnessed come through those doors was quiet and looked around at the black and white tiles, old posters of bands on the walls, and the surprisingly nice countertop, complete with gourmet salad bar, glass protecting the components from the kids.
The kids were scary silent, and watched us watch them, big blue and brown eyes owlish and non-blinking.
It must have been like the miracle of34th street, only I'm not Natalie Wood and this woman probably wouldn't like being called Santa Claus, much less performing much more of a miracle than this.
The second they walked out we all cracked up, and I forgot that He wasn't there to make some sarcastic remark, instead just looking around at the other four, laughing our asses off.
God I wish he was here.
But I slam the door to that thought and led Kiba back to Juura's apartment, having gotten very well acquainted in the four hours I'd been jogging. I'd gone completely around at least eighteen blocks and circled back twice. I knew where it was. So we headed up and I thought about telling him about what had happened and how I still had some of Kyu's powers, but a pull in my gut warned me off, and I realized a few seconds later that mentioning it would inevitably lead to Him and how he wasn't with us. It would lead to me having to put my mask back on today.
As it was, I'd found that if I just barely let a frown show, it would only show that I missed him. Not that I knew. Sakura had stared at me and freaked me out this morning when she thought I was still asleep. When I'd asked her what the hell she was looking at, she'd jumped about a foot high and flushed, muttering 'nothing'. Almost running out of the room, she'd left Kankuro to explain.
He and Temari had decided to visit Gaara for a week while winter holidays approached. They had promised not to hit on our classmates, and in return Gaara had to spend time with them.
Hahaha. What a joke. No-Gaara would ever keep his end of this. I could just see him sending Temari a pack of beer and Kankuro a cupcake with a non-sincere apology, skipping the week with Neji and taking the classes online instead.
"Start loading," Kakashi orders, and I groaned, turning right back around and grabbing several of the six duffels we'd brought up last night. No time to shower or change, I swore, and sighed, tossing them down to Kankuro and Neji, waiting till they waved for me to toss the others down. Gaara was packing everything down for a last ride to the airport and Shika was complaining about having to pack lunches and snacks for everyone, loading up sweet rolls and cookies. Then, shoving the big backpacks at Sakura, he collapsed, exhausted, on the La-Z-Boy he'd fallen in love with while we'd been here.
"I'm getting three of these," he kept telling Kiba, who just nodded reassuringly and promised they'd talk later about it. I personally didn't believe they were getting more than one, seeing as Kiba would say that and Shikamaru would inevitably be too lazy to argue much. Grumbling and grabbing a raspberry NutriBar, I hauled the last duffels to the balcony and tossed them to Neji, who jumped and let one bowl him into the huge pile in the backseat, Kankuro making a dive for the others. It wasn't my best toss, okay?
"So I guess you've still got some of that strength, huh?" Iruka asked, making sure he had everyone's tickets and passports in his long-strapped bag, snapping it shut and tying it in place. Stiffening slightly, I shrugged and muttered curtly, "I guess. How come?''
Unruffled despite my snapping at him, he just smiled and said, "I'm just glad you're still able to talk with Kyuubi. I thought you might've lost him or something. Not an expert, so..." he flushed at the tips of his ears and I was saved by Neji asking for help downstairs.
Jogging down and feeling a twinge come back in my legs, complaining that they'd had enough with this running around for no reason nonsense, I helped him out of the backseat and rearranged the bags so Gaara and Kankuro could tie them down.
Soon everyone was loaded and getting cars started.
"Stone and Noir are gonna meet us there," Juura calls from the front car, Sakura nodding at us and heading over from the bike she was having shipped by Juura's connections to home. They'd decided a few days wouldn't hurt since it was much better than the airport maybe losing it between here and the two stops we needed to make via connecting flights. Since theOsakaair-station was being renovated, we'd had to get a roundabout throughHokkaidoand back to Konoha.
Oh god we were going to die from absolute boredom, now that everyone was parting ways. Tsunade had nobody to fight with since Jiraiya had left that morning, and Anko was staying another night with Juura before heading back to Frisco. Poor Kiba had made such good friends with the Twins and Gaara, Neji and Shika were close with Stone. Not to mention that all the girls were probably going to cry their eyes out parting from Juura and Noir. Me? I liked Juura but ever since I'd woken up it's been like I'm somehow still asleep.
I guess I mean...I feel like I'm standing on the other side of a glass wall, breathing painfully because there's not enough air. Maybe I'll wake up and my oxygen mask will be halfway off, and He'll be walking in, calling me and idiot and we'll both just-
"You there, Uzumaki?" Kamurou poked me and smiled easily, pointing to the side of the road where a fat lady was walking a horrid like hairless, tufts of skin black and pink.
"Yeah-" Kao grinned, poking my other side, "I thought you were gonna talk about how much you'd miss us for sure! Kiba's almost crying over here." they both laughed, and I couldn't help but join in, really not wanting to be a jerk slash douche on top of everything else shitty happening.
Grinning, I started randomly talking about Christmas break and how I was looking forward to them visiting. Maybe this had been going on for a lot longer than just a week.
It felt like I didn't really know any of them anymore.
Kiba and Neji and Shika and the rest, I mean. Maybe we were just growing apart? But I didn't want that to happen. A lump appeared in my throat, and I smiled tightly at Gaara, watching him watch me from across the car. His soft, deep green eyes seemed to be gentle, and he sighed, letting them drop to his legs, where Neji was laying, legs propped on the seat lengthways.
He just smiled sadly and nodded at something, glancing back at me.
He knew. Maybe he didn't know everything that I knew, but he knew that…that I knew something. Or maybe he was just sad about what he thought I didn't know? Sad that he couldn't tell me what he knew? Ugh….my head hurts, and I just wind up with an upset stomach.
Instead of continuing to torture myself, I give in and finally sleep, darkness whooshing in and swirling around me comfortingly. I feel fur, soft and warm between my fingers, flowing and rippling like grass. Lightly holding in, I look up, expecting Kyuubi to be there, but instead there's nothing, and the fur is gone, my hand grasping at something cold but still soft, limp in my grip.
Fear jabs me and I already feel my horror rising as I look down and screech bloody-murder, jerking away and falling into deep water, frantically flailing to get away from Sasuke's dead body. His eyes follow me and I sink, lungs screaming for air and limbs waving in slow-motion through the dark water. Bubbling, he sunk until his face was level with mine and murmured, voice deep and soft and sad, "Why didn't you save me, Naruto? I thought you said you would save me. Where are you now...it's so dark and I'm all alone?"
Now he's close and I can see how his eyes are listless and he's staring through me, mouth almost un-moving, hair floating gently in the still water. Stagnant water. And I'm choking, I realize, waving hugely through the suddenly choppy waves, trying desperately to reach the surface.
"Naruto, wake up." a voice comes through the waves, and I jerk away, paddling around, darkness making it impossible to tell which way is up. Frantic, I hear it again, and a hand grabs my arm. Shivers run up my spine and it shakes me, muttering softly, "Naruto, wake up."
That heaves air into me and I open my eyes to look at Hinata, who's staring at me with dark worried eyes. There's a faint yellow light over us and her deep raven-violet bangs are feathered around her pale face. Suddenly, I'm seeing Sasuke and then I'm back, breathing heavy, tears balled in my stomach, burning to be let out.
But nothing escaped but a relieved smile, shaking my head, "Sorry about that, Hinata. Bad dream is all. No ramen left in the world... BAD...bad DREAM."
Her soft lavender eyes stared at me, disbelieving. Looking away and unable to hold her gaze, my hands felt something rough on the cushion of the armrest. Looking down, I saw the deep puncture holes, carved into half-moons
I knew without even looking back up that my nails had done this.
She'd watched me almost tear the seat up, and been scared to wake me up. Now that I focused, I could faintly feel the air shaking where her skin was cold and goose-bumped.
Across the aisle, Gaara was looking out the black window, stars dimly shining on the other side.
"Careful, Uzumaki. Being alone isn't your strong suit," I can 'almost-but-not-quite-so-I-just-imagine-I-might-be-hearing-things' hear him say. Then his brow less, pale and thin lids shut. He's not asleep, but I can tell he's not going to jump at the chance to talk.
Then I hear finally that it's completely quiet, and Hinata catches my eye, whispering over Sakura's shoulder, "We're almost there. It's about 2:24 am and they've been out for an hour."
Nodding, I waited until the flight ended, everyone waking up as we landed with a few bumps, and Tsunade started screaming about death and crashes until she was calmed by Kakashi and Iruka, making her quit making everyone in coach and the attendants freak out. Home sweet freaking home. Yay.
Walking down the road, my two bags in the car driving away, I started to speed up until I was jumping out of cars ways, racing across the street and hurrying to the college before they could check us back in and get there first.
Sprinting almost out of town and across the wide, grass front courtyard, I ran up the first concrete steps and into the cool, air-conditioned building, seeing the car drive past on the way over to the administrations buildings to sort out our various prolonged absences to the attendants. The principal had her game face on, and she was one hell of a gambler.
Now that I was in the space that still smelled like stale coffee and cinnamon toast, I slowed and walked to the elevator, fingering the two sets of silver keys in my pocket. One was worn and scratched, used so often the room number was almost gone entirely. The other was fresh as it had been so long ago when I started to be at His dorm more than mine, occasionally sleeping over and talking for hours just to talk.
To hear him reply. Walking straight out of the double electric doors, I head along the familiar path but swerve away at the last second, unlocking a dark blue metal door and going inside. It's cool and dark, the air sliding crisply on my warm, sweaty face. Not turning the light on, I go and collapse in the bed, the two regular pillows catching me somewhat off-guard even though I'd fully expected it.
I was in my old room, and it smelled like nothing, since it probably just smelled like me. Rolling onto my stomach, I shut my eyes and let myself go to sleep, keeping my mind as blank as I could. Now that I was here, all I needed to do was hold it together, and I murmured, "I'm back, Sasuke.'
His name ripped at my throat as I said it and tore at my stomach, but I needed to get re-used to saying it if I had to pretend I didn't know he was gone, empty.
That I was finally alone. But before I could really get asleep, I felt something crunch under my hand and sighed, opening it and reading in the very dim streetlight coming in through the shades.
'Naruto, you're dinner is in the microwave. Had to stay and do extra work. If you lost your key, like you said, a spare is being made and you can have it later. Hang out till I get back. Dobe.
-Love Sasuke.'
Seizing the anger and hurt, I clamped them down and shoved them into my throat, past the new lump and into the growing pain.
But they defied me and flowed over, dripping onto the note and leaving trails of gloppy ink running down the paper. Sniffing loudly, I laid it down and snuggled into my comforter, curling into a tight little ball and pretending he was just out getting coffee or breakfast. Soon the blanket got heated by my body heat and I snuggled deeper, letting my heavy lids drop lower.
Glancing at the clock, I saw it was 4:19 am. Time for bed, I thought, and let myself go. I was back, but I would never be home. Not ever again.
But I couldn't cry anymore. The tears were cried out. For all that holding, I sure hadn't sobbed for very long. It was weird, but I just shoved myself further into the deep dark of a dreamless sleep, shadows wrapping around me and pulling me closer. Giving in, I sank.
A Day Later
Unpacking was proving to be difficult, but I just lied and said I was of course going to move back into Sasuke's room.
Now that I was back, I had work to do, and I focused purely on that and finding out how far these powers were still here. Sometimes I'd get frustrated with a problem or sink suddenly back into sadness and I'd find myself kneading my palm into a bloody mess, healing quickly from where the steely tips had torn the flesh apart.
Before I'd blinked, a month had passed, and everyone was getting in the Christmas spirit.
Walking up to my room and thinking about (like I'd promised myself I wouldn't) last Christmas and getting ready to get into that depression again, steeling myself up against it, when Sakura tackled me and laughed, wrapping her legs around me as I fell and tickling me till I begged for mercy, shrieking that'd I swear I'd pee all over her. She just chuckled and shook her head, jumping back off and grinning down at me, her feet set steady, a mystery box lying on the carpet.
"Hmm...This can't be good," I mutter and raise a brow, getting stalled from asking what was up by her exclaiming, "I've found the perfect place for us to have the group slumber session-slash-finals-study-group-slash-mystery-slash-par-taaay this year! Come!" she yanks me up and I obediently get yanked along behind her over to Sasuke's black and red door, the paint chipping around the edges.
"Come on, we can talk in-"
"Here, I can't find that key right now so I'm taking haven in my old room. This way," I cheerfully murmur, and she follows, wary but still oblivious. Going in, I dumped my keys on the table the bed by a small face down photo with withered edges. Seeing it, she dove but was too slow as I scooped it up and put it in a safe-box under my bed, making sure the key to the latch was hanging around my neck securely like always.
Grief flashed into me for a second before dissipating again. She dumped out the box onto my neat bed, and glanced around before continuing.
Bright red and green was sprinkled all over my dark grey spread, glitter spilling onto my laundry. She clicked and shook it off, tossing them back into the basket. I just knew I'd be wearing pink and blue sparkles for days.
Sighing, I muttered, "So what is it, Sakura?"
"You have to keep an open mind, Naruto, but I rented this old warehouse in town and it's great! Old wooden walls with great acoustics and big sliding doors with metal hooks where we can hang lights. It's even empty! Well, there's a few hay bales form back when there was a pasture behind it, but they'll make a perfect platform for the tree, and Tsunade and Kakashi have already said yes and bribed some invites from me. Hinata's on music and Kiba and Iruka are going to be doing decorations. Hinata is actually going to be with Temari, and I thought it'd be great if you would help them pick out the theme of songs."
"But wouldn't regular Christmas songs just be best?" I asked, the pricks of hair on the back of my neck shuddering as I listened. This didn't sound good.
"Yeah but they already shot that idea right out of the sky, and they can't decide what to do now. Neji and Gaara are going with Kankuro to buy the food, and when they get here, me and Shika are taking Juura and her group to go shopping for presents. You're my last hope!" She was begging now, groveling at my socked feet with big sad green eyes staring up at me.
"Oh fine, I'll save your sad attempt at a hopeless party, for without my expertise and faithful aid you would surely fail. Correct?" I gave her the eyebrow and she nodded fast, grabbing at my hand. Grinning, I made her kiss my fake spider ring that I'd gotten at a carnival at the beach last year.
"So you'll be there at six? It's almost two hours after your lab session ends!" she added, rushing to finish now that she'd established I was going to commit. She poured on little tidbits that made me almost pull my offer out. Handing me a scrap of paper, she called once more, "Six, okay? Remember to bring your mixes for extra choosing!"
Ducking out before I could say anything, she let the door swing shut and I realized too late that she had planned all of that, even the box of tree ornaments for me to look over.
She hadn't even really thought of me not doing what she wanted.
For some reason, I knew I should've been upset or something, but instead I just sighed and got dressed for class, packing up a few books and my tattered red spiral in a bag, jogging out the door to the cafeteria for breakfast, leaving all the Christmas there for later musings.
"Hey Naruto!" Gaara waved me over to the back table, sliding over a basket of fries and a coke with no ice. God he knew me too well. Waving back, I headed over. He turned back to his book, a thick black novel with white letters too small for me too read from far away.
I know you must all be thinking, wow no ramen? Ever since He'd left, I just had no appetite for it. I still had a box stuffed with all kinds of ramen in my closet, but I just couldn't stomach it. At first I'd been seriously upset about the limp taste of once delicious food, but it wasn't surprising.
Needless to say, for the first week, everything had tasted like sawdust. But now I could hold most foods and drinks. I just couldn't eat ramen anymore. Nobody asked, and I sometimes wondered if they really didn't notice or if they just thought I wouldn't want them asking.
Letting my bag drop onto the bench, I went over to the bathroom, making sure I looked alright before going into a stall since only the bigger bathrooms had the porcelain hanging urinals. Just as I was zipping up and reaching for the latch when I heard the door open.
"I don't understand why we can't just tell him. I think he could handle it," a voice floated over the stall door, and I recognized Kiba's voice. An exasperated sigh signaled that Shika was with him.
"I know it's troublesome but I think we should wait until they give us a new report. The last one was a little uncertain. They think his brain activity is starting to raise steadily, but there wasn't enough of a spike in the data to tell them for sure. Just learn some patience. Besides, haven't you noticed? He never asks about Sasuke. It's like…"
I held my breath and waited.
"You think he knows?" Kiba's voice was tight and worried.
"Maybe." Shika said slowly, "But even if he does, he's still not saying. If he does, then he doesn't want anyone to know that he does. It would make sense, seeing as this is Naruto we're talking about."
"Should we try and find out, do you think?"
"Pfft," Shika gave a breathy chuckle, "Do you honestly think he'd admit it?"
Silence for a moment, and then they both sighed.
"Come on, or Kakashi will start class without us. Let's just get some food and go." They left and I sucked in air, heart surprisingly calm and steady. I knew some part of me was thinking about what they'd said but the Naruto I'd become over the past month just washed his hands quickly and left, scooting in and picking out a fry from the basket.
Gaara barely glanced at me, murmuring, "Naruto."
Nodding at him, I focused on my food, taking it in an a breath and getting another basket from the tray for another dollar, not waiting for the lunch lady to tell me how it wasn't allowed, taking it back to my seat and inhaling that one too.
Crumpling my empty cup once I'd finished, I reached over and poked the redhead across from me, gesturing to the clock that read 9:40am. We had fifteen minutes of pre-class left, and he sighed, dog-earing a corner and pushing the book into his bag.
Silence ruled as we walked down the hall and stopped at our lockers. It used to be that we'd have more people with us, dropping them at their classes on our way, but ever since the silence got awkward, nobody really wanted to be put in that situation and didn't come with us.
Somehow, Gaara hadn't left me, and maybe it's just because he understood the comfort of silence more than others. Even Neji wanted to talk sometimes, and whenever he came with us it was only for breakfast.
Instead, the redhead just let me think, and read as we sat down in first period, high up in the rows above the rest of the clustered whispers; cliques jumbled together as the teacher walked in and started the lecture.
It was half-way through my third class, Advanced Psychology, when Sakura texted me.
RosePunch: dont forgt bout the mixs
ramenking: dont worry i wont
RosePunch: did u read the map
ramenking: wut map
RosePunch: mapquest sheet i gave u
ramenking: oh tht. nu i think i kno where it is
RosePunch: kk jst be there, k?
ramenking: k
Shutting my phone, I shoved it back in my pocket right as the bell rang. The notes on my sheet were half done and everyone filed past me as I finished them up, feeling the flush up the back of my neck, Shika waiting up for me at the door until I gave him the go ahead.
The permanent sub that had taken Asuma's place was tapping her pointed shoe, glaring at me, hand poised with the eraser.
"Sorry," I muttered, closing the notebook and putting it away, hurrying down the steps towards freedom.
Sliding onto the edge of the Science lab bench, I got out my textbook and read through the chapter, just starting on my essay when another buzz made me jump about a foot in the air. Kiba glanced at me strangely and I felt my ears get hot, clenching my fist around the hated piece of technology when I flipped it open and read the single line.
UnkownNumber: are you okay?
Frowning, I looked around, seeing Hinata staring at her thick notebook and glancing up at me through her long purple bangs.
Relieved that it was her, I just shrugged and nodded, texting back.
ramenking: yea i guess
UnknownNumber: ….
ramenking: what
UnknownNumber: do u jst not want 2 say?
ramenking: theres nothing wrong tho
UnknownNumber: stop it, Naruto. if u dont wnt 2 tlk about it thts 1 thng. Lying is anothr
My ears got hotter and an unexpected anger bubbled in my head. Why did she have to be so persistent? Couldn't she just let dead dogs lie? Glaring at the table, I went back to work, scribbling down a few sentences before the phone buzzed again.
Reluctantly, I had to open it and read quickly/
UnknownNumber: I jst dont want u to b so sad
ramenking: but im not sad at all :]
There was no reply, and when I looked up, I saw that the Hyuuga was gone. The teacher was reading a thick packet of papers, having already assigned the work. As far as he was concerned, you didn't even have to show up as long as you turned the work in.
Shaking my head, I sighed and went back to work, firmly holding that there wasn't anything wrong. Not really.
But a tiny, niggling whisper wormed into me and laughed sadistically. No, there wasn't anything wrong. There was everything wrong.
Completely wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG!
Everything from Him not being there in the morning with ruffled hair and a sweet, warm smell that made me think of night. From Him not being able to hold my hand and wrap His arms around me like we're the only ones in the world.
Everything from him not being beside me when I had nightmares, just to hold me and smother me in loving kisses, making me forget why I cried - to him being empty, never smirking or making sarcastic comments or calling people names. Names like 'Dobe'.
To taunting me with his face and hands and shadow and tightly shut eyes with his perfect brows drawn solemn over them.
Sighing again, I shoved the thought deep, deep down, drowning it in equations and numbers. I told myself that it didn't hurt, and I'd be lying if I told you it worked.
DONE! ! *pants* There. All done with that un. REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW!