Hinata held her phone up to her ear as she raced behind the director to keep up with him. "No, you will not put me on hold." She politely demanded. "If he's not available, he will find himself talking to our lawyers. This is a courtesy that I should not be giving him."

Fugaku stopped in front of the elevator. Hinata stepped past him to hit the button.

"Then give me his personal cell. This can't wait. We are on our way to a press conference. If we can not resolve this by the time we get there, it will be in the news by dinner." Hinata warned.

They stepped into the elevator as it came.

"Yes, that is a threat." Hinata snapped.

Fugaku held his hand up, showing one finger.

"He has one hour." Hinata hung up the phone and let out a heavy, frustrated breath.

Fugaku smiled.

Hinata gave him a look of disbelief. "Why are you happy?"

"You know, sometimes I think about moving you to be a department head, but I don't get to watch you bite off some secretaries head for me." Fugaku flattened his face as they stepped into the lobby and made their way to the car.

"We are in the middle of a PR and legal nightmare, but if it lightens your mood." Hinata huffed as she got in the car ahead of him.

"I think it's cute," Fugaku followed her.

"You sound like Itachi-sama." Hinata lamented as she shifted to typing on her phone.

"Your new mother-in-law wants to arrange an engagement party," Fugaku added.

Hinata froze, turning to gap at him. "What?"

"She's not happy that I won't tell her which of her sons you're engaged to, so don't tell her yet. She needs to squirm." Fugaku pointed back at her phone.

Hinata flicked her head back and forth between her phone and him. "You told her already?"

"Of course." Fugaku shifted back.

"Why would you tell me now?" Hinata shook her phone at him.

"You work best under pressure," Fugaku told her.

"If I don't stoke first," Hinata returned to putting out the fire with her phone.

Hinata finally took off her shoes and set down her bag. She pulled down her hair as she walked barefoot to her kitchen and took out a wine glass. She was not in the habit of drinking alone, but it was this or focusing on the fact that she had three texts from her 'new mother-in-law' that were too kindly worded.

And that this whole engagement ruse didn't sit right with her.

She wanted to celebrate the win of making a deal five minutes before the press release and avoiding a very messy lawsuit.

She undid the neck of her blouse, poured herself a glass, and sat down. She leaned back with her glass of wine and phone to scroll through the comments on the press release.

Before she could take a sip, she was interrupted by her phone ringing. Sasuke's ID.

Hinata took a deep breath. She didn't have the emotional capacity to argue with him. But after another ring, she answered it. "Hello?"

"Uh, ma'am, do you know a… Sasuke Uchiha?" A man on the other end of the phone asked.

Hinata's heart lurched into her throat, putting down her glass. "Yes, is he okay?"

"If you can get someone to come to pick him up, he should be fine." The man told her. "He's too drunk to drive, and I can't get him to call a cab."

Hinata got up, picked up her bag, and quickly put her shoes back on. "Where?"

It was still early in the night, and the bar was packed. She walked up to the bar. "I was called about Sasuke Uchiha?"

"He's been here since noon. I got his name from his credit card. He's plastered. I took his keys." The bartender turned around to hand her both his card and keys.

"Why did you call me?" Hinata wondered.

"Your contact was open on his phone." The bartender shrugged. "Just get him out of here, I cut him off an hour ago, but he's not getting the idea. Are you his wife?"

What about her made him think that? "No…?"

"Girlfriend?" The bartender tried.

"No." Hinata denied. "Why do you ask?"

"Don't see a lot of guys staring at a contact debating to call unless it's along that line." He struggled.

"I work for his father," Hinata told him, though she didn't see much need to explain. Sasuke must have been thinking about calling her to pick him up. "Thank you for calling."

Hinata moved down to the Sasuke-shaped heap and slid a hand across his shoulder, lowering her head to his level.

"I told you to piss off. I'm not interested." Sasuke slurred.

Hinata wasn't going to look too far into that. "Sasuke-sama, I'm here to take you home."

Sasuke's squinted at her. "Why are you here?"

"Sasuke-sama, let's go." Hinata put a hand on the side of his face. It was flush, and he was warm. He was going to be miserable in the morning.

Sasuke's lip twitched dismissively, and he sat up. "Bottle of sake." He called down the bar.

Hinata waved the bartender off. "No more. You need to go home."

"I am not going home," Sasuke grumbled at her, swaying his chair.

Hinata grabbed his elbow to keep him there. "Why not?"

"I live with that bastard." Sasuke spat back.

Hinata felt a wave of sympathy. "I know it was a surprise, but you can't avoid your brother forever."

"If I see him, I'm going to kill him." Sasuke reasoned.

"Sasuke-sama…" Hinata tried to pull him up, but jerked his arm away.

"You are no better." Sasuke accused. "You didn't tell me either."

What did she say to that? "I didn't really think you would care."

Sasuke glared at her.

"Honestly, you think I want all the attention from this?" Hinata asked.

Sasuke called down the bar again. "Sake."

Hinata jerked him out of his chair, he fought her, but he stumbled and had to catch himself against the bar. Hinata tucked herself under his arm. This reminded her of a different time she had a drag an Uchiha home.

Like father, like son.

Hinata stumbled him out of the bar, flagging a taxi, but Sasuke left her to start down the street on his own. Hinata chased him, grabbing his arm to keep him from stumbling into a pole or another person.

"Why are you following me?" Sasuke grumbled, but at least he didn't fight her.

Hinata slowed his pace and resigned to walking down the street with him. "I'm not letting you find another bar."

"What do you care?" Sasuke tried to pull his arm away half-heartedly.

"Sasuke-sama…" Hinata started.

"Stop calling me that," Sasuke whined.

Hinata gave him a confused look. "Your name?"

"-sama -sama," Sasuke grumbled. "You're older than me, aren't you? Your position is higher at the company. Why am I a -sama?"

"I may be older than you by a few months, but my position is not technically higher. My power in the company comes from following your father's orders. And you being an heir to the man that gives me direct orders makes you a superior." Hinata explained.

"I wish you weren't my father's assistant," Sasuke whined, flopping his head to the side, frustrated.

Hinata smiled at his antics. "I'll tell you a secret. I didn't apply for the director's assistant position. I applied for a job as an assistant in the production department."

Sasuke had nothing to say to that. His face fell. Maybe she shouldn't have brought up Itachi's department.

"If I wasn't offered the job, maybe I would have applied to marketing when the listing was made for your assistant." Hinata hoped to at least get him to rant about how much he would hate that, but instead, he kept the same dull look on his face. "How quickly do you think you would have fired me?" Hinata ducked her head to get his attention on her question.

Sasuke looked at her. Hinata was taken aback by the dark look in his eyes. It wasn't irritated like she thought it would be. It was… broken? Crushed?

"Sasuke-sama?" Hinata asked.

Sasuke's eyes flashed with irritation. At least he was still listening.

Hinata twitched a smile. "I would have given myself less than a week. I push all your buttons."

Sasuke lowered his head to growl. "If you listened, you push a lot less."

"Then who would you have to fight with?" Hinata tilted her head.

"Don't do that," Sasuke grumbled, looking away.

"Do what?" Hinata tried to lean far enough to get back in his view.

"Being cute while I'm still mad at you." Sasuke side-eyed her.

Hinata laughed. He was drunker than she thought. "Cute?"

Sasuke turned to her too hard, making them both stumble. "Adorable. It's really irritating, especially when I am trying to be mad at you for sleeping with my brother."

"Woah! I have not slept with your brother." Hinata denied stopping the two of them.

"Yeah? Why did you lie to me with men's shoes at your door?" Sasuke waved his head like he had some kind of point.

"Shoes? What?" Hinata wondered.

"You said you were sick when dad was on the cruise." Sasuke clarified. "But there were men's shoes at your door, and Itachi was never on that cruise."

Hinata pieced together what he meant. Did she tell him the truth, or at least most of it? He deserved to not be constantly lied to. "Itachi-sama was there, but he was sick. With your father out of town, I was taking care of him." Sasuke eyed her, considering her answer. "Really."

Sasuke flicked his head to the side, accepting it.

"Did you feel left out?" Hinata asked.

Sasuke turned his face away, twisting it childishly. That would be a yes.

"Next time you're sick, we won't let Itachi-sama in, hmm?"

Hinata smiled for a moment. Sasuke was an honest drunk. Her smile faltered when she realized just how long ago that was. Had he thought she and Itachi were together this whole time? Oh, she hoped not. How long had that been on his mind?

Maybe… he had a right to be mad. She had told him not to come to her apartment any more during their last fight. Hinata hadn't thought about how long she and Itachi would have theoretically been together before the fake engagement. Should she be validating what he thought was happening, that she and Itachi were sneaking around?

Hinata felt a pit in her stomach. She couldn't do that to him. She couldn't keep up all this lying.

"Don't marry him." Sasuke whimpered.

Hinata turned her attention back to Sasuke to see his face had twisted miserably.

Sasuke's face twisted further as tears started pouring out.

Hinata frantically tried to calm him down. She reached for his face, trying to wipe the tears away. She was used to his moods, but had never seen him break down like this. Sasuke turned his face into her hand as his chest shook with the drunk sobs.

"Sasuke-sama…" What did she say? Did she admit it was all a lie? Did she promise him that she wouldn't? Sasuke's lip quivered, and her heart answered on its own. "I won't."

Sasuke wrapped his arms around her and held her there. It felt desperate, like he couldn't let go.

Hinata closed her eyes and laid her forehead on his shoulder. Her heart pounded in her ears. She curled her arms up to comfort him and, at this point, herself. This fake marriage was causing more pain than it was solving.