Ren Note: I'm pumping out chapters for this like no other. Every time I get a free minute I'm writing and when I don't have a free minute this story is still on my mind. I had planned for this chapter to go differently but I decided it's best not to rush things. R&R, if it's not too much trouble.
Music could be heard before Ren could even see Sasori's house. This party was already beginning to remind her of Kiba's. People were on the front lawn, in the pool, and everywhere in between. Some of the guests seemed old enough to be in college but none of them were as young as Ren. She felt like she was a goldfish in a tank full of sharks.
"Temari," Sasori shouted over the music to Ren's friend. He squeezed through the wave of bodies moving in beat with the music and stopped in front of them. "Thanks for coming Temari, TenTen, and," Sasori's words trailed off as he stared at Ren. "Ren, right?" She nodded. "Well make yourselves at home. As always the second floor is off limits. Drinks are in the kitchen. Have fun."
"I-is it always like this," Ren asked over the music as soon as Sasori had disappeared; her head was pulsating with the bass.
"Sometimes it's better," Temari told her with a laugh.
"Most times it's worse," TenTen countered.
"Let's get a drink and see who's here," Temari shouted over the music.
Ren followed behind the two older girls closely as they headed to the kitchen. Sasori's house was interesting. It wasn't overly furnished and seemed to follow some weird modern house design rules. Most things were straight lines. She hated to admit it, but she liked the style. It felt fresh compared to the house she grew up in.
Ren opened her mouth to ask TenTen if she thought Jia would go with the idea of a modern bedroom but her sister and Temari were gone. She stood up on her tippy toes, trying to see over the swarm of people but she was too short; she couldn't see the girls anywhere.
"Lose someone," a voice she was slowly becoming more familiar with asked. When she turned around she looked straight up into Deidara's eyes. "They're with Jugo and Hidan by the staircase."
"Thank you," Ren told him gently as she turned to leave him standing there.
He gently grabbed her by the arm to keep her in place. "This is the first time I've seen you out of school since your welcome party. All these people around. We should stick together, yeah? It'd help keep up appearances."
Ren bit her lip as she faced him again. "But we aren't really dating," she told him meekly. Deidara wasn't the worst person in the world to hang around with but he was annoyingly bossy sometimes. She hadn't come to spend time with him; to be honest she didn't know why she had come at all.
"They don't know that," Deidara told her with a smirk. "How about a few dances? Then I'll take you back to Temari and TenTen."
Ren wanted to groan at the boy. "I-I don't dance," she stated as her cheeks tinted pink. It wasn't a complete lie; her dance skills were formal not bump and grind like horny animals to music that left you feeling deaf.
"Why not?"
"It's embarrassing," she told him in a huff. It was embarrassing to admit that she found it embarrassing. More heat began to form on her cheeks. She was highly uncomfortable.
"Fine, we don't have to dance," he responded more gently than she thought he even could. "How about we just hang out together then, yeah?"
Ren nearly sighed. He was giving her such a sad smile that she knew she was going to give in. "Alright," she murmured, "but not for too long." She did kind of owe him for saving her at school. What was the worst that could happen?
Deidara grinned at her then grabbed a cup off one of the countertops in the kitchen. He handed her the glass then took one for himself. "To getting to know my fake girlfriend," Deidara chuckled as he held his cup up.
Ren tapped the glass he had handed her against his then took a small sip of the liquid. She almost gagged; quickly she swallowed and asked, "What is this stuff?"
"Hell if I know," Deidara told her with a laugh, "It's a mix of soda and alcohol but I couldn't begin to tell you what kinds."
A drinker Ren was not. She forced a smile and placed her cup back on the counter. Under aged drinking wasn't something she cared to partake in any way. She wasn't that big of a goody-two-shoes but she hadn't acquired a taste for alcohol. "What do you do for fun," she asked.
Deidara wrapped his arm around her shoulders and began leading her out the backdoor that led to the pool all while talking about sculptures and how an art that's fleeting is even more glorious than those that stick around. As soon as they sat down on a poolside bench he finally asked her a question about herself. "Are you a fan of art?"
"I love art," she told him with a smile. "I'm just not very good at it. I used to try to draw anime characters in middle school but anatomy isn't something I mastered. I have a lot of admiration for the people who can actually create beautiful works."
"Yeah? I'll have to show you some of mine, sometime! I could even teach you, yeah? It'd be a blast," Deidara told her with a grin.
Their conversation dragged on for a while and somewhere along the way Ren had started taking small sips from his cup when he offered it to her. She wasn't fond of the taste but she was slowly becoming used to it. They went through three or four glasses between the two of them; Deidara drank a lot more than she did but she was definitely feeling it.
"Your face is red," he told her when there was a lapse in conversation. It turned out he could talk about art all night if she'd let him.
"I-I know," she admitted with her shoulders slumped. "I get embarrassed easily, I guess."
"Afraid you're messing up, yeah? You're doing fine! We're having fun," he told her with a laugh.
"I know," she told him as she shook her head. A light laugh escaped her lips, "I think it's just from drinking right now. My body feels like it's hotter than normal." The moment the words left her lips she regretted it; she had just shared too much.
"You're a lightweight, yeah?" He chuckled and laced his fingers with hers. "You probably shouldn't share that with ninety percent of the guys here. You're a nice girl. A good girl. They would pounce on you faster than you could say no."
Ren frowned as she stared into Deidara's eyes. His eyes were blue but they were different than Naruto's. Deidara's was an explosion of emotions while Naruto's were calming. It made her heart rate increase to be close to him. He gave her hand a light squeeze and she murmured, "I'm glad you aren't like that then."
"Can't say I didn't think about it," he told her with a laugh, "but I'm supposed to make this fake relationship thing last for a while. I'd rather enjoy it than scare you off before I have the chance to win your heart, yeah."
Ren felt her heart skip a beat and it took everything in her not to look away. "My heart isn't a worthy prize, I assure you. Besides, when you go off to college you'll forget all about me." She was smiling but for some reason, the idea hurt. No one wanted to be tossed aside and forgotten, fake relationship or real.
Maybe it was the sanctuary he offered from the party around them or maybe it was the alcohol in her system; either way when he told her, "You worry too much," and pressed his lips gently against hers she didn't push him away. She let him kiss her and before she knew it, she had wrapped her arms around him and was returning the kiss. "Don't push further than you're willing to go, Princess," Deidara warned her in between kisses.
The words barely registered to Ren as she pulled back enough to look up at him. "I-I won't," she told him with a nod.
Deidara groaned as his hands caressed her sides. "You're killing me." Ren didn't understand what he meant. "You're looking at me with those innocent eyes and swollen lips. It makes me want to devour you," he told her with a forced chuckle. "We'd better find TenTen and Temari. If I stay with you much longer, you'll regret it."
She nodded slowly and released her fake boyfriend from her embrace; suddenly she felt sober. Her blush was there with a vengeance as she replayed the scene over and over again in her head. She had kissed Deidara in a way she hadn't ever kissed Shikamaru; it hadn't been friendly at all. "O-okay," she told him weakly as he helped her up to her feet. She almost swayed as soon as she was on her feet; turned out she was wrong about being sober.
"Let me see your phone," he told her while he looked around trying to find Ren's friends.
"What for," she asked with her brows furrowed as she pulled the phone from her back pocket.
"So that I can give you my number," he told her with a chuckle as he grabbed the phone from her hands. He quickly added in his details then sent a text to his phone from hers. Once he had shown her that he received it he handed the phone back. "Might as well make the most of it, yeah?"
"Y-yeah," she responded meekly. Her life kept getting stranger and stranger.
"There you are," TenTen called to the duo as she came rushing down the stairs. "Sasuke's on his way to get us. We really do not want to break curfew tonight. Thanks for looking out for her, Deidara. C'mon, Temari's waiting outside."
Before TenTen could whisk her away Ren waved awkwardly to Deidara and told him, "Ja ne."
"See you later," he called as TenTen practically dragged her around people and out the front door.
Ren kept her eyes on him until too many people blocked her view. Suddenly realization dawned on her; she actually liked Deidara. That was a frightening thought. One evening of talking had led her to want to be around him instead of needing to be. She would have to fight against her heart if she wanted to keep it intact.
Her phone buzzed in her hand and she saw a message from Deidara. His name had hearts around it and she almost groaned at his cheesiness. "I had fun tonight, Princess," the message said. A small smile formed on her lips before she noticed she was standing in front of the house with Temari and TenTen. She was royally screwed.
