... a little out of focus here …
Hinata yawned, trudging into the kitchen. School had depressed her. She wanted to see Neji and knew she couldn't – she'd ended up spending the three classes she had after lunch sulking.
"Hi, Mom." She murmured out, lifting a plastic bag onto the island.
Her mother looked up from her magazine, smiled. "Hey, hun. What do you have there?"
Hinata wrestled a tub of vanilla ice cream from the bag and holding it above her shoulder so her mother could see it, pulled open the freezer to put it away.
Just as she was leaning against the counter to talk to her mom, there was a crash from upstairs, accompanied by a yell, and she jumped up again.
"Is Hanabi home already?"
Her mother grimaced, probably at the realization that whatever mess was just made, she would have to clean it up. "No, it's Neji."
Hinata blinked. "Neji-nii-san's here? I thought he was grounded."
"He is." The elder Hyuuga sipped at a glass of iced tea, turning a page. "He's grounded here. There's no one at his house during the day to make sure he stays in the house. And since I'm home all day, I volunteered." She smiled at her daughter. "He sounds awfully bored. Why don't you go up and keep him company?"
Hinata spun back toward the freezer. "I have to make him something first."
"Why?"
She grinned, setting the ice cream on the counter. "Because he brought me breakfast yesterday."
0
Neji was dying. He had absolutely nothing to do. He had already alphabetized everything from Hinata's CDs – and separated them by genre – and Hanabi's dolls – first by brand, then by name. He had also taken it upon himself to clean the sliding glass door in the kitchen because the one speck had driven him completely crazy. Now he was sitting in an armchair in the second-floor den, throwing a tennis ball at the chair opposite him and praying that it would miss and break something so he'd have something to do in cleaning it up.
His wish had come true and he'd just finished lining up the china figurines on the shelf so that the missing one didn't look so conspicuous, and was settling back to playing catch with a recliner, when a hand slid over his eyes. He vaguely heard the ball thump against the cushion of the chair, but was preoccupied with the warm breath on his ear.
"I have a surprise for you." Hinata's sweet voice said, unaware that it was unendingly seductive. "But you have to keep your eyes closed. Promise?"
"Promise." Neji managed to whisper. The hand fell away and he could hear the rustle of fabric as she hurried around the chair to be in front of him.
"Open your mouth" came as a soft command, and he obeyed, not sure what to expect, considering it was shy Hinata. Something wet and cold and metal touched his tongue and he closed his lips around it. A spoon? Hinata took it away and he realized that the cold wetness was ice cream – vanilla, but it had a strange tanginess to it – strange, but not bad. His cousin giggled. "You can open your eyes." She was kneeling in front of him, holding a large glass out to him. "What do you think?"
He smiled, leaned forward to take it from her. "It's great." He took a huge spoonful of it, throwing it into his mouth. "What is it?" he asked around the huge glob of ice cream freezing his teeth.
She sat down on the couch, curling her legs under her. "Your first root beer float." She patted the seat beside her, smiling shyly.
Blinking in surprise at the invitation, he hopped to his feet and fell on the sofa beside her, tentatively laying his head in her lap. She tensed, then relaxed, and her fingers found their way into his hair, taking out the tie and stroking through it from root to end. It gave him this sleepy pleasant feeling that shivered through his body. It made him wanted to stay like that forever.
"Neji-nii-san?" her whispered breath was soft against his cheek.
He rolled onto his back so he could look at her face, reaching up to run a finger along her neck. "Yeah?"
She closed her eyes like she enjoyed his touch, but her brow furrowed like she was trying to concentrate on what she was saying. "Do you think this is wrong?" she cracked her white eyes open, studying his expression. "Is the way I love you wrong?"
He sat up, turning to her, trying to shake the warm feeling that had been running through him so that he could concentrate on what she'd asked, his dark hair tumbling over his shoulders. Taking her hand, he lifted her chin, looked her in the eye. "Do you think it is?"
She stared at him, a little overwhelmed by the question. Did she? Was that why she was asking him? Did she want him to be in agreement that they shouldn't be doing this – or to tell her he'd love her anyway? A little click went like a trigger in her heart, and she leaned toward him. "I don't want it to be." She whispered against his lips, closing her eyes.
He shifted, moved closer to her, made it a kiss – connected them – and somewhere between his cold mouth on hers, his hair brushing against her shoulders, his fingers nestled in her hairline at the nape of her neck, Hinata lost it a little. She pulled him close, they toppled into a heated pile of messy kisses onto the cushions of the couch. His tongue tasted like ice cream and she played her own against it, gasping into his mouth when she felt his warm hand against the cup of her bra.
She wanted to lose herself in him, give everything she had to offer to him, and she would have – if they hadn't heard a door slam downstairs.
They jerked apart, tangled together, but looking deliberately away from each other – afraid their heated faces and red lips would draw them into one another again.
"Hanabi's home." Hinata whispered, because it was all she could manage.
Neji let his forehead fall against her breastbone, then lifted his head to lay an affectionate kiss on her jaw before pulling himself to his feet and flopping into the chair, his legs over one arm and his head over the other. "I'm glad she slams the door." He said softly.
Hinata, now lying on her side on the couch, had turned the TV on, and now looked over at him. "Why?"
He gave her a pointed look. "Because I wouldn't have made you mine right then" – Her face flushed further. – "and when we do that, I want it to be special – not on the couch in your den."
Hinata felt warm inside. He had said "when" – not "if." It didn't sound like an expectation, but a promise. She was about to respond when Hanabi threw the door open. "So you are here." She accused, glaring playfully at Neji and leaning on the back of his chair.
He blinked up at her, not lifting his head. "Yes. Yes, I am."
She rolled her eyes. "Some punishment this is. I was almost expecting to walk in on you two making out."
Neji and Hinata exchanged a look. Were they that obvious?
Hanabi sighed exasperatedly. "Oh, come on. You guys are always making googly eyes at each other." She shook her head, moving toward the door.
"Hanabi?" her older sister called and she turned to look at her. "You're – you're okay with this?"
She thought about it a moment, leaning on the doorknob. "If it makes you happy," she shrugged. "Oh, and don't worry – the 'rents haven't noticed yet. Grown-ups are stupid like that." She grinned, winking, and shut the door.
There was a long silence – both occupants of the room were staring at the TV, not really seeing what was playing on it – contemplating what her sister had said.
"She didn't say she was okay with it." Hinata whispered suddenly, eyes moving to Neji's.
He reached a hand out to her and she grasped it. "She didn't finish the sentence."
"What?"
He smiled, throwing his legs to the floor, and came back to the couch, lying down beside her and resting his head on her shoulder, lacing his fingers with hers. "She said, 'If it makes you happy,' right?"
She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his breath on her neck and the way her body seemed perfectly molded to his. "Mhm."
"Well, the whole sentence would have been 'If it makes you happy, I'm okay with it.'" He tucked his arms around her, kissing her gently on the cheek. "My question is 'Are you okay with it? Do you think this is wrong?"
Hinata let her lips rest against his forehead. "It probably is wrong." She said softly, running her fingers over his shoulder blades and smiling when he shivered and snuggled closer. "But I don't think I care anymore."