10: Courting

It was only ten by the time she got into bed. She had just reached home at nine, and ate something small before she ran herself a bath. She really wasn't one for baths (she hated the idea of stewing in her own dirt and sweat) but Shikamaru had recently got her into them. He had even given her some weird muscle-relaxing bath mix to use after he realised how tense every muscle in her body was. He wasn't sure she'd ever relaxed before in her life.

She felt at ease but still exhausted when she got out and quickly moved to put on her baggy t-shirt and knee-length leggings that she slept in. She scooped her hair up into a bun but a few curly strands escaped from the front. All ready to hit the sack, she turned off the lights in her living room and kitchen.

Suddenly, her ears perked up. She heard a tapping noise coming from her bedroom. Immediately, she thudded across to her room and realised the noise was coming from behind her curtain. She pulled the patterned curtain open and saw the stones periodically hitting her window. Confused, she opened the window latch and peered her head outside, just as another stone came flying.

"Ow!" she shouted rubbing her forehead.

"Sorry!" Shikamaru shouted from the street below.

"What are you doing here?" she scowled at him, her head still aching from the hit.

"Can I come up?" He was trying to whisper but failing dramatically as her window was on the first floor. She just waved her hand at him, their usual signal for him to climb up the drainpipe outside her apartment. Things between them were fairly new and they didn't want the hassle of explaining their situation to people, especially to Temari's neighbours. They already had their suspicions seeing Shikamaru around her apartment all the time and seeing him sneaking in during the night and out in the mornings wouldn't leave much to the imagination.

He clambered up gracefully, making full use of his long limbs and slender body, and hoisted himself onto her window ledge. Like a practised act, he swung his legs into her room and dropped down onto her carpet.

"What's with the stone throwing, Nara?" She reverted back to her old name for him, back when they used to tease and insult each other, and Shikamaru knew he was going to have to fix her bad mood.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to hit you I was just trying to be romantic... failed as usual I guess?" He gave her a sheepish smile and saw one creep onto her face.

"What do you want? It's late and I'm tired, and you know I'm not fun when I'm tired." she said, still rubbing her forehead.

"I really just wanted to see you. You look beautiful, by the way."

"Thank you..?" she said confused, looking down at her old pyjamas and messy hair.

"Here, let me take a look at that," he said, stepping in towards her and moving her hand aside to inspect the damage he'd done.

"I'm fine, Shikamaru." She felt her pulse quicken as he came close and held her face in his hands. There was only a small, red spot where the stone had hit her and he placed his lips over it.

"There, all better." He felt his breathing get heavy just from being around her and took a step away to clear the tense air around them. He broke the silence by clearing his throat.

"I just... I wanted to tell you something." He'd been building up the courage all day to tell her he loved her, only to realise he didn't have it in him. Not yet. There was too much that could go wrong; even though he knew exactly where his heart was he had no idea what she felt for him right now. She could break up with him and get scared off, or worse laugh at him in the process. No. It was too risky, he decided at the end of the day, but he still wanted to see her. He wanted to tell her something, he just didn't know what yet. He had hoped it would come to him on the way to her house but sadly, as he stood in front of her, he still had no idea what to say.

"Which is..." she prompted bluntly, feeling the exhaustion of the day straining on her patience. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and shifted his feet, which only added to Temari's frustration. "For God's sake, would you just say it?" she snapped at him.

"I wanted to say I like you, okay?" he snapped back. He sighed and looked down at the ground, embarrassed. "I wanted to see your face because I've been thinking about it all day. I can't stop thinking about you, even when it's annoying and I really want to. Whenever I can't sleep or get bored or even when I'm just walking you're the first thing that comes into my head. I've fallen for you. Big time."

Temari's eyes widened and mouth opened a little from the admissions. She'd never thought Shikamaru would ever get this serious about their relationship, and she'd never realised how much her cared about her either. She'd always prided herself on being able to read people but clearly she was worse than she thought.

"I don't know whether you feel the same way or not, and I'm not asking you to say that you do, I just thought you should know. And I'm not going to say the word right now but," he smiled, "I'm very very very fond of you, Temari. And I'll wait however long it takes for you to feel the same way about me." That was the perfect place for him to end his speech she thought, but she could see he was about to keep going with a lot of unnecessary additions that would embarrass her even more. She quickly pecked him on the lips to stop him.

"I'm not used to this many compliments in one day. You're going to make me big-headed if you keep going."

"Even more than usual?" he replied mockingly, and she smacked him on the arm. He scooped her face up in his hand and snaked the other around her waist. Effortlessly, he pulled her towards him and she felt herself sink into his strong hands as she kissed him. The taste of him filled her mind with energy, and she felt alive and awake again. She held onto his jaw with one hand and ran the other into his hair while she tugged on his lower lip with her teeth. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and ran it along her soft lips, feeling his chest swell as he kissed her.

He slipped one hand under her t-shirt and gently ran it along her spine earning a moan of appreciation from her. He felt her soft skin as he moved his hand along her waist, her stomach and finally up to her breast. Cold hands squeezed hard as her hand clamped into his hair and pulled, and her head fell backward away from his mouth. He moved his lips to her neck and sucked gently on it as he squeezed that same spot again, knowing what she wanted. Again, her body writhed under his touch.

She reclaimed his lips with hers and pulled his hand out from under her shirt, interlacing her fingers with his. She tugged at his t-shirt hem, and pulled it off swiftly, wanting to feel his skin. She undid the button of his pants and started to pull the zipper down when he pulled away and caught her wrists in his hands.

"What's wrong?" she questioned, in no state for him to leave now.

"I have to go see my mom," he said, eyes closed and fighting of the pulsations where her hands had been.

"That's what you're thinking about right now?" Temari breathed in disbelief. And here he'd been telling her how he couldn't stop thinking about her.

"No, I know, it's just... I don't think I can stop if we go any further. And I told her I'd stop by."

"Shikamaru," Temari sighed, "It's half past ten. You can see her after." She ran a hand up his toned chest. "Don't leave me now."

As he looked into her teal eyes he felt his lust returning and he knew he wanted to give in.

So he did.

After he gave her a kiss goodnight and climbed down the drainpipe, he turned to walk back to the Nara compound.

"Shikamaru?" he heard her call from the window. He turned back to her.

"Yeah?"

She was the one looking down sheepishly now, as she said, "Whenever you want to say that thing that you didn't say before," She cleared her throat, "I'll say it right back. Because I'm very very very fond of you too."