It was one of those furnished one bedroom apartments many working students in the city rented. Mainly because they were affordable and hassle-free.

Sakura was overjoyed to see me at her door.

"You're here to stay," she threw her arms around me.

I hugged her back.

She was right. I was staying. I wasn't going back. We no longer had to say goodbye to go home. I had always, always hated that part.

Now, going home meant going back to each other.

I hadn't brought a lot of stuff. Only my books and some clothes. Brimming with enthusiasm, Sakura took it upon herself to put them in their assigned places.

There was a small table in the bedroom. She had moved it to the tiny store room which was otherwise empty. Turning it into my study. She arranged my books there. And I saw a small flower vase on the table.

"I'll bring you flowers. They'll remind you how much I love you and you'll feel motivated to study."

She placed my clothes in the wardrobe. Her pastel coloured outfits combined with my blue and black and grey ones looked to me like the greatest artistic masterpiece ever.

Then we went shopping together. To buy some necessary daily commodities. A toothbrush for me, a peeler for the kitchen, a doormat.

"Wow! They're so pretty," Sakura's eyes found the coffee mugs displayed on a rack. The mugs were simple. Just regular coffee mugs with half a heart printed on them so that if you placed two side by side, you got a full heart.

"Shall we get these? One for me and one for you?"

The mugs were rather cheap and coffee mugs, in my opinion, were necessary. Especially for university students like me. So, we ended up buying two mugs. A blue one for me and a pink one for her. When we returned home, yes, home, our home, she unpacked the mugs and placed them on the small dining table and just sat there for a while. Staring at those plain coffee mugs with a starry look in her eyes and a dreamy smile on her face. That was the thing with her. She, unlike me, was very expressive. Whether she was happy, sad, excited, frustrated, anxious, whatever, she expressed it with every single cell of her body.

That night we had bread and peanut butter for dinner because we were too tired to prepare anything else. We sat down at the small wooden table opposite each other. Romantic candlelight dinner dates, yes, we had had one or two of those but that first dinner with Sakura in that tiny apartment, in our sweatpants and T-shirts, nothing in the world came close to that.

Sleeping was a little… I mean, the bed was small, Sakura was close enough for me to listen to the racing beats of her heart. Was she nervous too?

"I'm a virgin," she suddenly blurted out.

Huh?

What?!

"... Hn… I mean… Me too?..."

What were we trying to do? Announcing the history of our sexual experiences or the lack thereof in our case?

"I'm nervous," she hugged me and buried her face in my chest.

"... I'm not... going to try anything... if that's what you're nervous about..."

It was awkward.

She looked at my face. As if to ask really?

"We'll... have time for that..."

That was just the first day. Our whole life together was still ahead of us.

"I want..." she hid her face again, "My first time to be romantic."

"Point taken," I put my arm around her. I had always been aware that she was shorter than me. But that was the first time I felt she also had a smaller body frame altogether and was surprisingly soft. She was soft. "Now go to sleep."

"I can't," she spoke, her face still tucked in my chest.

"You have work in the morning."

In the end, she fell asleep in my arms. Her breathing got deeper, one of her arms was wrapped around me, her chest rising and falling. She looked very peaceful like that. I felt like I had been given a second chance at life. I felt like a caged bird who had finally managed to escape. I felt free, I felt like I could breathe. My life felt like a dream. I was happy. Way too happy. So happy that I wondered how it was possible for someone to be that happy.

And it was all thanks to her. It was her arrival in my life that had changed everything. She inspired me in a way I never knew was possible. She gave me the courage to break free. She had transformed me. For a moment, I remember thinking of her as the philosophers' stone. Whose one touch was enough to do wonders.

The naïve young boy in love I was!

The next morning, Sakura woke me up with a kiss and we had toasts, omelettes and coffee in our matching-heart coffee mugs for breakfast. She had also packed lunch for both of us and we left home together. We walked to the main road together and then with a goodbye, reluctantly parted ways to head to our destinations.

When I finally returned home that night, I was exhausted after a long day at university and work. I took a shower and had dinner with Sakura. She asked me how my day was and we talked about all sorts of unimportant, mundane happenings of our day. Later, when I went to my study, like she had promised me, I found a single, bright yellow chrysanthemum peeking from the small porcelain flower vase. Whatever exhaustion was still left in my body, disappeared into nothingness.

.

.

.

The first time I made love to her, I made the perfect arrangement. There were roses and candles but no wine because it was a serious matter and I felt like we should be one hundred percent in our senses. Anyway, I was pretty satisfied with my preparations and then, when, I saw Sakura in her dark red lacy lingerie, I felt like the whole point of excluding the wine had turned into a joke. Seeing her like that, there was no way for me to be in my senses. Her face was red like a tomato and thankfully I couldn't see myself but I was equally embarrassed.

I had no experience so all I could do was to ask her every ten seconds if she was okay. Which she kept saying she was. Until I saw the tears in her eyes. I froze right there and panicked. I had hurt Sakura. I had made her cry. I tried to pull back. But she put her arms around me and shook her head. Not letting me.

"But you're crying," I barely managed to speak. My voice was so harsh I almost didn't recognise it.

"I'm okay," she was panting.

"No, you're not."

"I'm..." she looked at me like I meant the world to her, "The first time hurts a little... It's okay."

I didn't know what to do. My body was screaming in protest, urging me to continue but I couldn't stand causing Sakura pain. Then, she pulled me into a deep kiss. As if pouring in all the love she had to offer. I kissed her back. Making sure to let her know that her feelings were reciprocated.

"I love you, Sasuke," she whispered against my lips, out of breath, "I love you so much."

"I love you too," I touched her forehead with mine before kissing her again. She wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled me closer, granting me the permission to continue.

It was far from perfect. It was nothing like those sensual love making scenes in books or films. But when she was lying in my arms, naked and exhausted, her damp hair falling all over her face, the hickeys I gave her a contrast against her skin, I felt like she was born for me. And me, for her.

I kissed her forehead and pulled her closer before draping the blanket over our naked bodies.

I felt like I had finally figured out what 'happy ever after' really meant.

Note: I had thought I'll finish this story in 5-6 chapters lol.

But I'm having the time of my life writing it. I love this time of the year. When winter is leaving and spring is coming. So, maybe I'll remember this spring by this fic. It's also my girl Sakura's birth month. I love her so so so much. I literally became obsessed with everything cherry blossom and pink because of her.

Also, I realised the way I made Sasuke leave home in this story is exactly how my father had left home. Wow.

Anyway, I love you all,

June ❤️🌸

[06.03.2020]