Chapter 2: A Call From the Past

It was an hour before Itachi returned. By then Kyuubi had freshened up and was curled up on the bed with a bowl of popcorn and Netflix on the large screen TV. The tension between them was still high. It only escalated when the couple got into another fight over Kyuubi eating on the bed. Itachi hated when crumbs got on the bed and Kyuubi insisted he was a careful eater.

To keep himself from not saying something he'll later regret, Itachi decided on a long shower. Afterwards, he dressed in silence then left the room to linger downstairs with the maids. This was a normal thing between them. Whenever they fought or had a disagreement, Itachi preferred to remove himself from the situation before things escalated. Usually, Kyuubi would go after him but slowly he was starting to understand distance was the best thing for Itachi.

Some time later, Itachi went back to his bedroom. Kyuubi had finished eating and had cleaned the bed. There wasn't much to clean but one or two crumbs. On the TV was one of his favorite romcoms. He kept his focus on the movie as if his boyfriend wasn't even in the room.

"You've watched this movie a thousand times," Itachi said. "Aren't you bored yet?"

Kyuubi glanced at him. "Oh, now you're talking to me?"

"It's always this attitude with you."

"I wonder why." Kyuubi rolled his eyes. "Leave me alone."

"Why? Messing with you is my favorite part of the day."

"I bet it is."

"It definitely is."

Kyuubi could practically hear the amusement in his voice. He turned and looked at him. "Where did you go?"

Itachi slid his Rolex off his wrist. "Went for a drive."

"A drive where?"

Itachi sighed, the kind that warned Kyuubi to stop talking. He placed the expensive watch back in its case before he rounded the bed. "I don't wanna fight with you, Kyuubi."

"Then stop talking to me like you're crazy."

"How about you stop first?"

Kyuubi felt the bed shift beside him when Itachi crawled on top.

"I'm so tired." Itachi groaned and stretched out his limbs.

Kyuubi sat just a few inches away, his green eyes attentive on the large screen TV. Itachi observed him for a while, lucky to have such a beautiful man to call his lover.

"Come here." He patted the space beside him.

Kyuubi gave him a short glance, saw the playful smirk on his face. "Not in the mood."

"I just wanna cuddle."

"It's never just cuddling with you."

Itachi threw his head back on the soft pillow with a loud frustrated sigh. "Kyuubi..."

His cellphone suddenly rang and he reached over the nightstand and picked it up. It was a short call with his childhood and longtime friend, Hidan. Hidan was throwing one of his wild parties and though Itachi was tired, it just wasn't in him to miss out on the craziness that was these kind of parties.

Kyuubi raised an eyebrow as Itachi hopped off the bed and walked over to the closet at the side of the room.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Let's just say my night's just got a whole lot interesting."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Deidara's getting some friends together. I'm going to check it out."

Kyuubi sat up, now fully intrigued. "You mean a party?"

Itachi examined the black crew neck in his hand. "Yeah, something like that."

Kyuubi eagerly threw the warm comforter off his body. "Sounds fun. I'll come with you."

Itachi laughed. "Sorry, you're not invited."

"Who's gonna be there?"

Itachi dropped his arms and gave Kyuubi a hard look. "I just told you. A few friends."

"Why can't I come?"

"If you honestly think I'm going to be the fucking guy who shows up with his boyfriend everywhere because of some bullshit trust issues, you got another thing coming."

"Bullshit trust issues," Kyuubi repeated. "So that makes you innocent."

"What the fuck do you want from me?"

"Nothing." Kyuubi said, getting off the bed. "Believe me, I don't want anything from you."

"Good." Itachi frowned as Kyuubi left the room. "Yeah, fucking leave."

The door slammed shut. Kyuubi went inside one of the bathrooms on the floor. Alone, he broke down, wiped the tears as they fell down his face. He hated crying, appearing weak. But every time they fought over Itachi's unfaithfulness, it brought back all the hurt and pain he thought he had put away for good. Everyone congratulated him on snatching one of the most wanted bachelors in town. His parents were happy for him. His friends teased him on being able to snag a rich man. But it wasn't roses and peaches like they all thought. Their relationship these days seemed to be more toxic than healthy.

Kyuubi returned back to the bedroom a few minutes later. Itachi was almost done dressing. He looked dashing in his black button up shirt with a pair of casual jeans. His gold Rolex shun on his wrist and he was in the process of fixing his long hair into a ponytail.

"You look nice," Kyuubi complimented him.

"Don't talk to me right now."

"I'm trying to be nice."

"Then stop acting fucking stupid and getting emotional over dumb shit."

"Don't talk to me like that, Itachi."

Itachi instantly faced Kyuubi. He examined Kyuubi's red eyes, the puffiness underneath and he sighed, felt guilty. "You're becoming too sensitive."

"I know," Kyuubi said, pretending not to be bothered. "I know you hate when I cry. I hate it too."

"Yeah, then why do it?" Itachi said, his words harsh and cold. "Fucking crying over such a small thing."

"But it's not a small thing. Cheating on your partner over and over again is not a small thing."

"Don't throw my mistakes in my face, Kyuubi."

"You're not the victim here!"

"And if you can't leave the past in the fucking past then what the fuck are you still doing here?"

Kyuubi glanced down, suddenly ashamed. "I don't know."

"I'm tired of this conversation," Itachi said. "I'm tired of being sorry."

Kyuubi walked over and held Itachi's hands, intertwined their fingers. He smiled even though his eyes appeared sad, and staring into Itachi's eyes, he leaned up and pressed their lips together. "I'm sorry."

Itachi stared at him for a long while but said nothing.

Kyuubi sighed. "I haven't been fair to you these past few days. I'm letting my insecurities get the best of me. I do want to trust you, I really do. But you need to give me time, and you need to understand why I can't. But, like you said, I cant follow you everywhere you go because of it either. Go and have fun and while you're there, do your best to earn back my trust."

The comforting words worked to lighten Itachi's mood. "I love you. You do know that, right?"

Kyuubi leaned forward and kissed him. "I do. I love you too."

Itachi pulled him into another kiss and when he felt Itachi's hands begin to move down his waist with sudden intent to move them closer to the bed, he pulled away.

"You have somewhere to go."

"It can wait."

Kyuubi allowed Itachi to grab him by the wrist and pull him close. He laughed softly feeling soft kisses against his neck. "Stop."

"Ten minutes."

"We have all the time when you get back."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Finally, Itachi calmed down and pulled away. He finished getting ready while Kyuubi went back to his previous position on the bed. Itachi grabbed his car keys from the top of the dresser when he's ready to leave.

"I'm leaving."

"Have fun."

"I'll be home late. Don't wait up for me."

Kyuubi glanced down at his phone. "Yeah."

Suddenly, his eyes caught view of Itachi's phone left behind on the bed. "Babe!"

Itachi was by the door in the next second. "What?"

Kyuubi found the words unable to leave his mouth. Discreetly, he covered the phone with the bed sheets. "I love you."

Itachi sighed. He left without returning the sentiment.

When Kyuubi figured Itachi was far enough away, he grabbed a hold of the forgotten phone. The screen lit on and the selfie of him and Itachi warmed his heart. He still recalled the difficulty it was getting Itachi to take the picture. It was still quite a battle getting him to take selfies. Kyuubi felt the pit of his stomach twist and turn. He rarely ever got a hold of Itachi's phone, not because Itachi was secretive, but because he never had the interest to do so. He had never stooped to that level of distrust.

But for some reason, he felt rather he knew Itachi wasn't being fully honest about where he was going. He was hiding something and past trauma has him in this moment acting out of character. Like now, trying desperately to figure out Itachi's six code password. He tried every combination he could think of. Birthdays, simple number patterns but nothing. Then he tried their anniversary and the phone unlocked.

"Why didn't I think of that from the start?"

Kyuubi investigated every part of the phone. He didn't know what to expect but what he ended up seeing didn't really shock him. It instead made him laugh. Messages were full of mainly business related conversations, emails were all professional and his contacts were strictly business partners and a few names. No emojis, no social media, nothing.

Itachi was only twenty three but sometimes it felt as if he was dating a forty year old man. Frustrated to not have found anything and with guilt now starting to creep up, Kyuubi threw the phone down defeated.

"What am I doing?"

Suddenly something crossed his mind. Itachi mentioned he was going to Deidara's party. But the last person he spoke on the phone with was a contact by the name of Hidan. Something wasn't adding up. Picking up the phone, Kyuubi called Deidara. He's familiar with the man, one of the only friends of Itachi's he knew personally.

After a few rings, the man answered.

"Itachi. This is rare. You never call me." There's amusement with a hint of genuine surprise.

"Hi Dei," Kyuubi answered.

"Kyuubi?" Deidara's even more shocked, then concerned. "What's the matter? Is Itachi okay?"

"No, no. He's alright." Kyuubi assured him. "Um, Itachi forgot his phone at home."

"Where is he?"

Kyuubi clenched his jaw. "I was hoping you would know."

"Did he not tell you where he was going?"

"He said he was going to a party you were having."

"Ah. Hidan's little shindig."

"Hidan?"

"Yeah, he's a close friend of ours. This is kinda like his thing."

Kyuubi could hear the tiredness in his voice. "You don't sound very enthusiastic about it."

"No, I am. Actually, he's hosting the party in my name. You see it's my 23rd birthday today."

"Oh wow, I had no idea. I feel so awful." Kyuubi sat up, running a hand through his hair. "Happy birthday, Deidara."

Deidara chuckled. "No, don't worry about it. I actually would've preferred a quiet dinner with my family but the boys insisted on going all out."

"It's your day. You should be having fun."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." There's a long pause. "Did you need something, Kyuubi?"

"Um," Another long pause. "Can you keep an eye on him for me? Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble."

"Did he do something? Is he not behaving again?"

"No, he is." He sighed. "I know this is unfair of me to ask especially since it's your birthday. I'm way out of line."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'll watch him. I know it must be hard after everything he's put you through. But, try to have a little faith in him. I can see that he's changing."

Kyuubi nodded. "Thank you, Dei."

"Don't mention it." Some shuffling can be heard. "By the way, if you don't mind me asking, where are you?"

"I decided to spend spring break with Itachi. I've been with him since Saturday."

"Oh, okay. Listen, I gotta go. He's safe with me. You got nothing to worry about."

"Thank you. Happy birthday, again."

"I'll catch you later."

"Bye."

Kyuubi hung up. He exhaled, felt the nervousness only get worse. If Itachi ever found out about what he just did, he's done for. Suddenly, he regretted making the call. The knock on the door made him jump, eyes wide in shock. He breathed in deeply, tried to calm his racing heart beat.

"Come in."

The door swung open and Hinata stepped inside. "Kyuubi, dinner's ready."

"Alright, I'll be down soon," he said with a tight-lipped smile.

Hinata noticed it. "Are you alright?"

"Just fine."

When Hinata left, he moved off the bed and switched his robe for an oversized T-shirt. He was about to leave the room when Itachi's cellphone rang. He figured it was Deidara calling back. Kyuubi reached over the bed and grabbed the phone. He stared strangely at the unknown caller badge on the screen. Curiosity got the best of him as his finger swiped over the screen.

"Hello?"

—

Itachi returned home one in the morning. He opened the door of his bedroom, surprised to find Kyuubi awake watching a movie.

"I'm back."

Kyuubi turned to face his boyfriend. He leaned forward when Itachi bent down to kiss him softly.

"What are you doing awake?" Itachi muttered, sounding annoyed. "You hate staying up late."

"I was waiting up for you."

"I thought I told you not to."

"I wanted to make sure you got home safe."

"How very sweet of you," he mumbled as he began stripping out of his clothes.

Kyuubi frowned. "What's wrong? You sound annoyed."

"Well one, I left my fucking phone at home. And two, Deidara had his eyes on me the whole night like a fucking hawk watching my every move. The guy wouldn't leave my fucking side."

Kyuubi swallowed the lump in his throat. "Well he is your friend, Itachi. Maybe, he just likes your company."

Itachi turned to face Kyuubi, his eyes hard and cold as he gazed intently at his boyfriend.

Kyuubi felt unsettled. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Did you call him to keep an eye on me?"

"What?" Kyuubi exclaimed. "Of course not."

Itachi clenched his jaw as his expression hardened. "You did, didn't you?"

"Itachi, why would I do that?"

"You fucking called me when I was about to leave." Itachi shouted, his finger pointing accusingly at Kyuubi as he approached the bed. "You knew I left my phone but you chose not to tell me. Did you look through my phone? Did you call him?"

"Itachi..." Kyuubi muttered softly, his eyes wide with fear.

"Don't fucking lie to me, Kyuubi!"

"Okay," Kyuubi shouted, terrified from the close proximity of Itachi's threatening stance. "I called him."

Itachi stepped back, completely at a loss for words. "Are you crazy?"

Kyuubi could see the betrayal in Itachi's eyes. "Babe, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Itachi muttered. "You made a fucking fool out of me."

"I was scared. I didn't want you to cheat on me."

Itachi walked away, running his hands through his hair. He angrily searched through his dresser for a shirt to wear. "Soon you won't have to worry about me cheating because there won't be any fucking relationship for you to worry about."

Kyuubi panicked hearing this. "Itachi, please, I'm really sorry."

"Shut the fuck up."

Kyuubi got off the bed and ran to grab Itachi's arm just as he was about to leave the room. "Itachi!"

Itachi roughly wrenched his arm away. "Get the fuck away from me before I do something I'll regret."

"You wanna hit me? Go ahead."

"Get out of my way!"

Kyuubi stumbled back from the hard shove. Itachi was one foot out of the door when Kyuubi's next words has his whole body frozen in place.

"Sasuke called."

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Chapter 3 edited and posted soon.