Chapter Sixteen

If he breaks your heart again, I will make sure he regrets it.

Neji's words rung in Hinata's ears like thunder during a rainstorm. She could not imagine the things he would really do to Gaara if he dared to hurt her again. She knew that her cousin would do anything for her. He cared for her too much to see her sad again.

Maybe she should really stay away from Gaara like what Neji suggested her to do? No, she couldn't do that. They just made up and keeping her distance from him would instead break his heart.

She pressed her hands to her eyes and groaned, What to do?

Then suddenly her phone rang and she checked it to see that it was a message from Gaara. Her heart began to beat rapidly as she read his message. Pale lilac eyes widened and a small smile crept to her pink lips. He had just asked her to meet his family. He would be waiting for her at the train station at five p.m. She glanced at her alarm clock and its hands struck three-thirty-five.

So does this mean…I'm his girlfriend now?

She could not contain the excitement inside her as she stood up from her bed to pick a nice outfit to wear to impress his family. But looking at her wardrobe she was disheartened to see that she had nothing good to wear—although in reality, she had lovely clothes.

After spending almost an eternity mulling over what to wear, she decided to wear a lavender dress that matched her eyes, which fell just below her knees. She looked at her reflection on the mirror and liked what she saw. She looked decent enough to meet a boy's family.

Happy with her decision, she texted Gaara that she was on her way before she rushed out of her room and downstairs towards the front door, telling Neji she was going out along the way.

The train ride took only ten minutes to get there. He lived in a wealthy, sophisticated district. She had been to his district only a couple of times long before they met. It wasn't really a surprise for her to see people dressed in branded, beautiful clothes around her—but it did make her feel slightly self-conscious.

Before she had the chance to open her phone, she felt a firm hand pressed upon her shoulder and she looked up to meet sea foam eyes staring back at her. A wide smile graced her lips, "Gaara-kun!"

"Hi." He greeted her back monotonously, but she swore she could see a small hint of a smile. "I hope you don't mind if we ride my bike to my house."

"It's okay." She said before trailing behind him as he led her out of the train station into the streets. He stood beside a big jet black motorcycle as he fumbled through his pockets looking for something.

"Um…where's your bike?" she asked him meekly.

He looked up at her after he successfully grabbing his keys from his pockets and said, while nodding at the motorcycle, "This is my bike."

Her heart skipped a beat. She had expected to find a normal bike with pedals, but instead a motorcycle was waiting for her. She had never ridden a motorcycle before, and the thought of speeding through the streets frightened her.

He straddled his motorcycle and wore his helmet before starting it up with a rev of the engine. He turned to look at her and noticed how pale she looked.

"I'll drive slowly, I promise." He assured her, giving out his hand for her to take.

She reluctantly took his hand before straddling the motorcycle behind him. She put on the helmet he gave her, and sheepishly wrapped her arms around his waists. She shut her eyes tightly and was already trembling.

"Hold tight." He said before hitting the engine and rode down the streets.

Hinata could feel the cold wind gushing to her face and hair flying, as she held on tight to him. It took a while for her to gather up the courage to open her eyes, and when she did, the wind just blew on her eyes, causing unwanted tears spilling. But it turned out to feel good riding a motorcycle. It was as if she was flying through the streets with incredible speed.

Gaara went through a corner that led to elegant houses. Hinata had never seen such large houses before in her life. Sure, her house was big but it wasn't as big the ones in Gaara's neighborhood.

He stopped his motorcycle in front of a large gate and beeped his motorcycle horn. Shortly, the gate opened and he brought his motorcycle inside the driveway and parked it. They both got off the bike.

"That was…amazing." She breathed when she took off her helmet. "I've never felt so alive."

Gaara could only chuckle at her enthusiasm. "Follow me."

He led her up to the steps, which led to the front door. Behind him, Hinata looked at the well-maintained garden as she walked up the stony steps. He paused by the door and leaned his head closer to hers. She felt the heat rushing up from her neck up to the top of her head.

"My family are a bit…overwhelmed that I'm bringing a girl home." He warned her with a whispered voice. "Ignore them. Especially my sister."

She nodded her head and he opened the front door. She observed the grand entrance of the house from where she stood in the doorway. The entrance led to a spacious living room, where a crystal chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling. A blonde-haired woman sat on the sofa with a glass of wine between her fingers. Her gaze was threatening and slightly frightened Hinata, but she enjoyed looking at her.

"Temari, this is Hinata. Hinata, this is my sister." Gaara introduced them, sounding uninterested.

Temari stood up and the hem of her dress dropped to her ankles. It was slightly parted up to the middle of her thigh. The dress was a velvet dark purple, which elongated her height. She slowly approached Hinata with a small, yet strained smile on her face.

"Lovely to finally meet you." Temari said, her free hand held out.

"Lovely to meet you, too, Temari-san." Hinata managed to say without stuttering, and she shook Temari's hand firmly.

Temari's teal eyes sparkled through the make up she wore. She had as hard a gaze as Gaara's, but there was still kindness behind it—just like his. Hinata supposed the hard look runs in the Sabaku family.

"You're a lot prettier than I remembered," she tilted her head with a small smile gracing her lips.

Hinata's cheeks turned as red as Temari's lips and managed a meek thank you. Temari circled her arm with Hinata's and started to walk around. Hinata glanced behind to see Gaara standing at the entrance with a blank look on his face.

"Will you tell me something, Hinata?" Temari asked as they walked to the backyard.

There was a cherry blossom tree that stood tall in the garden and its branches reaching the now changing orange and pastel purple sky. There was a small bridge above a small pond leading to other side of the garden. Soft orange lanterns illuminated the spacious area, creating a romantic view.

"Anything."

"Did Kankuro pay you to be Gaara's girlfriend?" she leaned her face closer to the shy girl's in a conspiratorial way.

Hinata looked at her in disbelief before breaking into an unsure smile. "No, he didn't, Temari-san."

"So, what do you exactly see in our brother?"

There were a million things that crossed in Hinata's mind in an instant. However, she didn't know where to start. One thing for sure was that Gaara was different from any boys she had ever met. He was calm, cool, and collected, but he could seem like he didn't want to be wherever he was at certain times. He made her feel special just by holding her hand and embracing her as if she was something fragile and needed to be handled with care.

"H-he's very kind to me." Hinata said, silently cursing at herself for stuttering. She took a sideways glance at Temari and she seemed like she wanted to hear more. Hinata collected her breath as they walked through the backyard.

"Gaara-kun seemed unavoidable when I first saw him. He had this certain aura that said he didn't want to be disturbed. It intrigued me, because I've never seen anything like him aside from my father."

Temari smirked and said before taking another sip of her wine, "So he's mysterious?"

"I guess you can say that." Hinata chuckled sheepishly, blushing.

They came to a stop by the pond and Temari leaned her head slightly closer to Hinata.

"Can I tell you a little secret, Hinata?" she said in a whisper.

Hinata gazed into the older woman's dark teal eyes. There was so much depth in them it overwhelmed the girl. "Of course."

"You might know Gaara has had a bad reputation around for being a school delinquent."

Hinata nodded.

"Well, it all stopped in the first year of his high school. He still didn't want to socialize with anybody and basically gave everyone deadly glares that scared the hell out of them. He scared Kankuro and I, as well." A faint smile tugged on Temari's red lips and she had a far away look, as if reliving those terrible memories. "But I guess it all changed after he met you."

Hinata's eyebrows shot up. "M-me?"

A soft chuckle escaped her lips. "Yes, Hinata. You. So on behalf of my two idiot brothers, I would like to say thank you."

"It couldn't possibly just because of me. I mean, he had the strength to change on his own."

"You should also take at least credit for helping him, even just a little bit."

Hinata wanted to deny, but the look Temari gave her made her question herself—maybe she really did help him change.

Before she could say anything, Gaara's voice broke the silence. "Temari, don't scare Hinata."

"Oh, relax, little brother," Temari waved her free hand at him casually. "Hinata and I were just having a little tête-à-tête." She turned to Hinata with a play along smile. "Weren't we?"

Unsure of what tête-à-tête meant, Hinata played along, facing Gaara with a broad smile. "Yes, we were."

He seemed suspicious of the two of them, but quickly dismissed it and announced dinner was ready. The two girls followed him inside, Gaara casting a look on Hinata's face as she went.

Dinner was pleasantly not awkward, which Hinata silently thanked god for. Food of the Sabaku household was delicious and exotic. Kankuro had explained that it was their traditional food from where they came from. Hinata couldn't help but have two servings since it was so delicious.

Conversations at the dinner table were lively while Hinata tried to keep up with it. Meanwhile, Gaara reserved his words unless it was necessary. He watched her silently as she conversed with his older siblings and she always had a broad smile gracing her lips. Seeing her smile warmed his heart.

Gaara took her on a walk around the neighborhood right after dinner, leaving Temari with her alcohol and Kankuro with his cartoons.

Silence passed between the two as they walked down the empty streets illuminated with the orange lamps hanging tall over their heads. He lit a cigarette between his lips, causing a surprised look from the girl.

He turned to her with an eyebrow raised. "What?"

"You do know that smoking kills you, don't you, Gaara-kun?" she reminded.

He shrugged. "Well, I don't smoke as much as I used to when I was in middle school."

"You should try to stop."

"It's quite hard."

She didn't say anything after that. She kept her hands behind her back and her gaze straight before her.

He took a drag on his cigarette and exhaled the smoke through parted lips. His head felt slightly dizzy from the nicotine, but it felt good.

"I'm sorry if my siblings kept prying on you." He said to break the silence.

"It's alright. People don't pry on me all the time, but their attention made me feel good."

"Well," he sighed. "You deserve to be pried, because people should know how interesting you really are."

She chuckled heartily in disbelief and looked at him softly. "Thank you, Gaara-kun."

They were closing in to a park located between a house and the street. Hinata's heart grew rapid as they approached it, and she took his arm in her hands.

"Let's go to the park!" she said excitedly, slightly dragging him towards it.

He didn't need to say anything so he willingly complied and allowed her to lead the way towards the park. He would do anything to make her happy.

"Do you go here often?" she asked him as she walked towards the swing set.

He thought about it for a moment, watching her seating herself on the swing. "Not that often. I take walks late at night when I can't sleep, but I only pass this park and then back to my house."

He walked behind her and lightly pushed her back for her to swing. He took a step back as he watched her swing up, swing down, and up again with his help. A giggle erupted from her mouth like a little child. Her long midnight locks flew against the wind. He looked at her and noted how magnificent she looked—just like a goddess he often read on books when he was nothing but a small child.

She stopped it from swinging with her legs dragging on the ground. Some of her hair had gotten to her face and mouth, and she took her time wiping them away with her hands.

Gaara walked to her front and held the handles in his palms while he stared down into Hinata's face. She looked up to meet his gaze, causing her cheeks to turn a bright shade of red. He couldn't help but think how beautiful she was.

He brushed her bangs to the other side of her forehead before planting a soft kiss on it. Her whole face grew warm, but she remained still with her eyes wide open. She felt empty when he pulled away, their gazes on each other never leaving.

It felt like the right time to tell her how he felt about her. The evening breeze was blowing gently, and they could her the haunting chirping of the crickets. He had never seen such beauty basking beneath the pale moonlight.

"I think I'm in love with you."

Her eyes widened in shock. She did not expect for him to directly say those words to her. She had been longing to hear those words from him. Yet, she had no idea that it would make her head spin like a wheel. Her heart beat wildly against her ribcage, and she hoped he could hear it beating just for him.

A smile graced her lips and she looked at him through glassy eyes. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear that."

Author's Note: Hi, everyone! This is the end of the story and I want to thank all of you for sticking around and reading this fanfic. I'm thinking of making a sequel of this, but we'll see ;)

Again, thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review! I'm sending you cookies!