Yo! Hello my fellow quarantiners; it has been quite a while, but I am keeping my promise of finishing this story. Most people are at home, but I am an essential worker working a ton of extra hours now.

Fret not, more will be coming. Very soon.

Thank you all for being patient! On to the next chapter:

I don't think this is working - Sasuke

That text was what I woke up to on a Saturday morning. Even though it didn't say it verbatim, my heart knew that was a breakup text, as well as a classic deflection of using the words 'break up' to soften the blow. I was scared to respond, so I didn't. Maybe if I never responded to that text and completely blew it off, we could pretend things could go back to normal. How badly did I want that to happen? I already knew it was inevitable since I'd seen the screen. The reason for dragging it was simple; I was too afraid of the followup. I should have seen this coming; he'd been inconsistent on our calls, Skype dates, and he'd ghost my texts for hours.

Hours passed before I finally responded.

What? - Sakura

There. Simple. With a small hope that I could be wrong. I waited; the time stamp from his original text was 1:00am. 'What was he doing so late at night?' Nothing good if I got that text. My heart ached. No; don't think about it.

My phone dinged. The pit in my stomach drilled deeper like a jackhammer.

I'm sorry- Sasuke

Oh. No no no, boy. It's not going to be that easy to get rid of me. He loved me, I knew that he did, so what was going on? He'd been distant, sure, but chemistry still flowed through us like a river. Taking a leap, I called. It only rang once before he picked up.

"That's not the good morning text I expected." I said shakily.

"I know."

"So what's wrong?" I asked softly.

"Just like I said," He replied gruffly. Pausing, he smoothed out his tone. "I thought the distance thing was worth a try, and I tried."

"We knew it was going to be hard. You have to actually give it a chance; it hasn't been that long and it'll get easier. I promise."

"I don't know…" He faltered.

"It will." I insisted, clutching my phone.

"It doesn't feel the same anymore."

"Well, it won't. We knew that going into this."

"...my feelings have changed." He changed tactics, making more excuses. Somehow, I knew he was lying.

"I don't believe you." I blurted, shocking us both. "What's really wrong?"

He hesitated; was he second guessing his decision?

"I love you." I said, almost at a whisper. "You make me happy. To me, you're worth all the work."

For a moment, I thought I had him hooked. Sasuke was such a confident person and I'd never heard him falter, even in his high risk job, until now. He wasn't fully convinced that this was a good idea either. But he reeled back.

"I'm sorry; I don't feel the same." Then he put the nail in the coffin. "I don't love you anymore." He said quietly. The fishing line I'd been tugging on so hard, trying to pull him in, broke. Tears pricked my eyes but weren't ready to fall.

"You'll be fine." He promised, but who was he trying to convince?

I opened my mouth to stop him, say anything to prove how wrong he was, but his mind was made up. I heard a click before any words could come from my lips. Wide eyed, I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at it.

He hung up on me.

XXX

The rest of the day, I felt on autopilot, moving robotically while cleaning everything I could get my hands on. Then, I took a long shower before going to meet Ino for some downtown shopping. She chirped away like a bird, oblivious to my inner turmoil. In her defense, I hid it really well; almost like I was in denial. No tears had shown up. I guess getting dumped hadn't fully sank in yet.

"Sasuke and I broke up." I blurted. Ino tore her eyes off a silky dress to ogle me.

"What!? When?" She demanded.

"Today." I said flatly. Her mouth dropped. Still felt nothing. My heart had hurt so much while trying to save our relationship. Now it just felt hollow. Like it couldn't take the pain anymore and skipped town.

"How are you not holed up at home with a tub of ice cream?!" She asked incredulously. The dress she was looking at was forgotten.

I shrugged. " I dunno." But I knew even as I said it that she wouldn't accept that as an answer. After spilling the beans, it was time to spill my guts. Of course I had to tell her about getting dumped in more detail, so we went to a small sandwich shop to sit down. We ordered and picked a table in the back. I told her everything, and I was grateful that Ino didn't make a huge deal out of it. She read the situation well, staying calm and not asking too many questions or bashing Sasuke. I didn't want to talk shit, I just needed to talk about it. Get it all out. After I was done, she gently asked, "Are you okay?" Concern was buried deep in her sky blue eyes.

"I don't know; I don't think it's really sunk in yet." I admitted.

"You seem to be doing alright." She observed. I chose to bite into my sandwich; I didn't have an answer.

XXX

Ino dropped me off at my apartment with a comforting hug and grocery bag full of 'breakup' goodies. She offered to stay and watch cheesy movies, but I told her I'd be fine. I dumped the bag on the counter and sighed, staring into my empty apartment. Maybe I should've taken her up on the offer.

The breakup ice cream tub sat in my freezer, taking up space. I didn't bother to contact Sasuke; I refused to embarrass myself by looking desperate. He hadn't bothered to talk to me either, although I did see that he commented on one of my Facebook posts. I didn't read it. I wanted him to miss me. Come running back to me. He didn't need to know that every morning, when I woke up I wished for him to take it all back. And when I knew it wasn't going to happen, I felt the ache. Some days it was so overwhelming that it took a long, long time to get out of bed. Days turned into weeks, and the ache didn't go away.

XXX

On a crisp Tuesday morning, roughly past a month of being single, I broke. There was nothing specific that caused it. The pot had sat for too long, and now it was bubbling over and the lid threatened to pop off. It was by chance that it happened that day, because really anything could have set me off. I could conceal everything under empty smiles, polite hellos, and fork out nice conversations, but pretending was exhausting. How did I feel okay but not okay?

It was a typical day at work, going through the motions and trying to keep busy. I was stapling some papers together and filing them neatly. Waiting until I could leave. For what? So I could wait some more. I packed up my stuff, locked up my office, and walked out. First stop was the grocery store to buy some frozen meals, then home so I could utilize the microwave and TV. Maybe tomorrow I'd try to go on a run, but today I just felt like being lazy. Once at the store (which was not Walmart), I grabbed a cart and strode down the frozen entree aisle. I stocked up on some "healthy" entrees to last me through the week, then grabbed some odds and ends. I was reaching for some eggs when I felt like I was being watched.

The hairs on the back of my neck raised and I paused. I turned, looking both ways down the aisle. This was a popular time to get groceries so there were plenty of shoppers, but none of them were looking at me. Distracted, I placed the eggs in my basket and wheeled my cart towards fresh produce, keeping a watchful eye on everyone I passed. What the hell? I hadn't felt that since being out on Sunny trails.

I went about my business, going for some cucumbers first. Then I grabbed some pre-made salad mixes. Still, I couldn't shake that feeling of being watched. Leaving my cart parked, I walked over to the avocados. Time to cut my trip short, this is all I needed anyways. I grabbed three ripe avocados, then turned to go back to my cart. Someone's shoulder bumped into me, and I dropped the bag holding my avocados.

A man looked down at me and profusely apologized. "I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you get that." He gave me a way too happy smile, then bent down to pick up the avocados. My spidey sense tingled, and I instantly didn't like the guy. Something in his smile didn't look right. Was he the one watching me earlier? 'Stop. Don't start getting paranoid again.'

The man straightened, holding my avocados and broken bag. He still had that big smile on his face, and I realized that it wasn't his smile that didn't look right; it was his eyes. Weirdo was way too happy to bump into me. "Looks like they're alright!" He said, holding the bag out. I slowly reached out, hesitant.

"Thanks." I said. He was standing too close, and he didn't even hide his eyes scanning me. It wasn't a 'I'm checking you out' look; he was studying me. My gut was telling me to get away. Had he blinked at all? "Sorry, I'm in a rush." I told him, then fled to my cart. The man waved, that smile still plastered on his face, and I turned away from him without waving back. Bolting out of the store just because some guy bumped into me was crazy, so I fast walked to checkout. As I waited, I looked out past the candy to see if he really was following me.

Weirdo guy was on the phone now, and he looked upset. A twisted frown marred his face and he didn't look nearly as friendly as he did earlier. He said something on the phone, then looked into the general area I'd walked off. My blood ran cold.

No no no. You don't know he's talking about you. Just in case, I went out the entrance on the other side of the store, circling around to my car. I really wanted to trust my gut, but it was hard when I felt like I was overreacting. That didn't mean I couldn't be extra cautious though. I could only breathe easy once I pulled out of the parking lot and was on my way home.

Still, my hands shook as I reached for the groceries. Trunk up, I leaned against it and took a deep breath. I took my phone out and started to call Sasuke, then stopped the call before it went through. I couldn't call him for comfort anymore. There would be no reassuring, logical words when I couldn't think straight. No warm hugs or encouragement. No one would understand and calm me down without making me feel crazy; not like he could. We had a special bond, and he'd been my rock for so long...It was like someone pulled the rug out from under me.

The anger, sadness, and regret hit all at once, knocking the air out of my lungs. Something inside snapped. Not like a branch snapping, but a lightning bolt cutting the whole damn tree in half. Finally the tears flowed, droplets plopping on frozen pizza.

I broke.

BOOM.

I know this was a quick chapter, but just bear with me.

R&R plz!