Hinata struggled with her key and the door. Her eyes were filled with tears again, and she couldn't even see the right key. She finally gave up and leaned her head against the door frame. This was the universe telling her to calm down. She needed to pull it together, or she would lose her job in addition to her family.
Maybe he was right. Maybe she shouldn't have been angry with him.
Had she chosen work over family? In all honesty, the day her father slapped her, the last thing she wanted to do was go home to him, but should she have? She didn't even live with him. If she quit, she could just call him, tell him, and start looking for work in the morning. Her father would have been appeased, she would have seen her sister graduate, and she would have never met Sasuke Uchiha.
But she wouldn't have spent the time she had with Fugaku Uchiha either. She wouldn't have heard so much about her mother. So many things her father never told her. She might have never felt what it was like to feel proud of, but was that worth her sister?
She heard the elevator door open, and she just ducked her head more. Maybe her neighbor would just ignore her.
After a moment, she heard footsteps stop in front of her.
She scrunched her face up and tried to wipe her tears before revealing her face.
"Hinata," Sasuke whispered.
Hinata looked up at him with what she was sure an ugly face of confusion. What was he doing here?
"Look, I'm sorry," Sasuke told her, ruffling his hair.
Hinata straightened, wiping her face with her hand the best she could, but the tears kept coming. Why was she like this? She hadn't had much to drink. "For what?"
"Being an ass," Sasuke looked disheveled. His eyes look at her with worry. She must look awful. "I was pissed off about this whole marriage proposal thing my mother cooked up, and you got me out of it. I should be thanking you."
Sasuke avoided her eyes.
"I don't think the director would allow a marriage you weren't happy with." Hinata offered. She didn't know what else to say.
"He came." Sasuke huffed. "He resists, but he always gives in when mom has her mindset on something. He would rather give her what she wants than deal with the consequences. It has always been that way, even since they got divorced."
Hinata pressed her lips together. The director did say he gave in to her to not make her worse, but surely that would not extend to his children's lives. Would he approve of an arranged marriage when he hated his so dearly?
Hinata looked at the door and finally opened it. She took a step in and held the door open.
Sasuke looked at the invitation and rubbed the back of his head as he might decline but looked down the hall and made a noise of frustration, and came into her apartment.
"I'll make tea. You shouldn't try to drive upset." Hinata sat down to take her shoes off.
Sasuke caught sight of the red skin on her foot as she took off her shoe. She sighed and reached back into the shoe to take out the bandage that came off. She took it with her to the trash and washed her hands before she started making tea.
Sasuke felt the wind leave him. She did that a lot, taking care of others before herself.
"Where's your first aid kit?" He called in.
Hinata looked back at him, looking confused. "There's one in that bathroom." She pointed.
Sasuke found it shortly then wet a washcloth.
Hinata set two cups and a pot of tea down on the table and sat down.
Sasuke held out the cloth to her. "For your face."
Hinata hesitantly took it and pressed it to her face, lightly cleaning away the makeup and tears. She held it there enjoying the heat of it for a few moments.
Sasuke sat down on the floor and picked up her foot. She watched him quietly as she redressed the cut on her foot. She didn't stop him, she didn't really thank him either.
It was like neither of them had any more energy to argue with each other.
He closed the kit and looked up at her. She stared at him with eyes he couldn't read. Like she was trying to read him.
They really needed to stop seeing her on her worst days.
Sasuke got up and settled down on the couch taking a cup of tea. "I am sorry, I'm sure you have your reasons for not going home," Sasuke mumbled into his sip. He really didn't want to go home right now. If her father was half as crazy as his mother was, maybe she made the right choice.
Hinata nodded wearily. "I'm not even sure my father would have believed me if I told him I didn't know."
Sasuke wondered if her version of the story was different from what he was told. He got the rumors that were whispered around the building along with Itachi's version, but he was sure both were dramatized. "What actually happened?"
Hinata looked at him with tired disbelief. "Do you care?"
Sasuke shrugged.
Hinata took a sip of her tea and settled back into a cushion, and explained the events.
Honestly, his father's scheming vindictive revenge plot was the only reason this story was believable to him. That was exactly what his father would do, presented the opportunity.
But her father?
What if that day had just been part of the plot that they had cooked up, and it had worked. His father accepted her and was even treating her like one of his own children. It fits with his father's original suspicion. In fact, he was surprised a single confrontation called him off.
But then why was she in the hall crying alone? There was no reason for someone to have come out to find her. Again just now in the hall, she clearly wasn't expecting him to come up after her. Why did no one show up when he took her to the hospital? Who would keep up the act past the point of hospitalization? Or maybe she threw herself down the stairs, and it was part of the plan.
It nagged at his stomach. He could be wrong, but he could be falling into her trap.
Sasuke rubbed his temples and looked down at the table. A picture book was laid open with a picture of Hinata and Itachi and… a picture of Hinata and a younger version of his dad. "What is this?"
Hinata sat up and looked at the page. "Oh, Itachi-sama found those and wanted to recreate them." She pointed to the picture with his dad in it. "That's my mother. The director went to university with her." She flipped the page to a picture of her mother alone. "I haven't finished it yet, but Itachi-sama wanted to give it to him for his birthday."
Sasuke felt conflicted. He could see this as another trick to get closer to his father, but his gut was telling him that the calm look in her tired eyes was innocent.
Hinata sighed beside him, looking at the picture, twirling her necklace between her fingers. "It would have been even nicer if we had Hanabi-chan and you for a few too."
Sasuke felt a kick in the gut. That was probably her sister. "Does she just not pick up?"
Hinata eyed him. "I thought maybe my father just blocked my number on her phone, but after a few weeks of not hearing from me, she should have found a way to call. If my father told her not to, she would have used a friend's phone or messaged me on social media. Radio silence for this long. Maybe you were right. I chose work over family, and she hates me now." Hinata bit down on her lip. "But if that is the case, then I wish she would call just to yell at me just so I could know she's okay."
Sasuke scrunched his face up. Itachi was the same. He didn't care what Sasuke called for as long as he called. She must be the older sibling.
"Have you tried showing up at school?" He wondered.
"I missed her graduation. I don't even know if she got into the university we picked out," Hinata admitted. "Maybe she will go somewhere else out of spite."
Sasuke set down his empty teacup and sat back on the couch. They stared at each other for a few moments. What was he doing here? He wasn't even sure he believed her.
But he felt like she shouldn't be left alone either.
Hinata's phone buzzed, and she leaned over it and started texting back. "The director just got home. He wants to know if you left yet."
Sasuke sighed, laying his head back.
"I'll tell him I kept you." Hinata typed into her phone.
Sasuke hated how she anticipated everything.