Here goes chapter 5! We find out what happened during that ride home...^_^. I don't own the characters, yadda yadda. regular text is present tense, and is occuring during August 21, 2006. The itacilized part is the car ride home of last chapter, so technically years ago. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: This Afternoon

August 21, 2006


When I look back on those turbulent days directly after the terrorist attacks, I always wonder- and think –of how things could have gone differently. If I had arrived later on the day of the attack, I might not have watched the second plane crash.

Days later, if I hadn't been daydreaming, I wouldn't have been leaving the school an hour later than usual. And if I hadn't been leaving an hour later than usual, I would never have run into Sasuke. If I never ran into Sasuke, then I would never have offered him a ride home. And if I hadn't offered him a ride...I wouldn't know him as well as I do today.

Sometimes I think its funny, really, that what changed the dynamic between Sasuke and I was that simple car ride. I can still remember it clearly.

I was nervous, even more so than I had been back on my first day teaching. I was doing something illegal. If we were to get caught...I couldn't even imagine what would happen to me.

Sasuke was in my car already, sitting in one of the backseats. Aside from giving me his address, he had been silent the whole time. I felt like he was ignoring me-he unfailingly stared out of the window, face remaining blank.

It could have been a peaceful car ride, I thought, if only I wasn't so goddamn worried. Then an idea struck me- since Sasuke wasn't talking, I could actually pretend he wasn't there to calm myself down.

It didn't work. The more I forced my thoughts away from the boy, the more curious I became of him. What was his house like? Did he have any siblings? And most importantly, Who the hell had he been screaming at? I felt like I had to know.

I began driving more slowly as soon as I turned onto Sasuke's street. I scanned the numbers: 108, 110, 112-there! 114, North Compson Avenue.

To say I was astonished would be an understatement. Of all of the kinds of places I'd suspected him to live in, this was not one of them. His house was tiny and ramshackle, and was in much worse condition than the rest of the houses on the street. Two of the windows were shattered and had been taped over, and the house's light blue paint was peeling and wearing away. It also seemed like nothing in the front yard had been watered for years now.

I snapped my attention back to Sasuke, who was about to open the car door.

No, no, no, I thought to myself. I couldn't let him go! At least, I couldn't let him go without knowing what was going on first. And so, against my better judgment, I turned my car's childlock feature on. Sasuke would not be able to open the door from the inside. He tried anyways, of course, but when the door wouldn't budge he finally (finally!) turned his attention to me. Sasuke opened his pretty little mouth-

"If someone walks by," he said sharply, "I'll scream and tell them that I'm being kidnapped."

I had not expected that. But regardless, I knew that I had to forge on.

"Sasuke," I said, sounding a lot calmer than I felt, "What happened this afternoon?"

He refused to answer, and turned to look out the window at his house. I was frustrated already- I needed to get an answer out of him. And there was only one way I could force him to respond.

Physical contact.

I knew this would only make things look worse should I get caught, but I needed to get through to Sasuke.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned to face him. Cautiously, I reached out and placed a hand on his cheek. He shivered and flinched away, and still didn't look at me. I took in a breath. I pulled back a bit, then slowly, slowly, I touched his chin and turned his head away from the window.

"Sasuke," I pleaded, "Tell me whats wrong."

I don't know if it was the tone of my voice, or the desperation in my eyes that caused a change in him. Or, maybe it was because he was tired of hiding things and he needed someone to confide in. More plausibly, maybe it was because he realized I wouldn't let him out of the car until I got an answer. He finally looked me in the eye and began to talk.

"This afternoon...it was my brother, Itachi, that I was talking to," he whispered, eyes burning into mine. "He said that he locked me out of the house, and that he would be out for a few days." Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, then continued, "Itachi said tha-that..I was a sick little fuck...and that it my my fault our parents died." He closed his eyes again and I could feel the radiating anger boiling just beneath his surface.

My heart began beating loudly. So that was why the house was a mess-there was no responsible adult to take care of it. And his brother...how dare he say such a thing to Sasuke!

The boy was taking in deep breaths and trying to calm his shaking.

"It's alright," I said, "It's alright. You're ok now. You can trust me. You can trust me." I smoothed the hair on his forehead. Not knowing what else to do, I turned away to let him have some time to put himself back together. That had been hard for Sasuke to say, I knew. Even though I was still curious, I wasn't going to press him for any more information.

I don't know how long we sat there in silence, but for some reason this time I felt comfortable. It's not like we were any less likely to get caught, but I guess I just cared less about it. I had helped Sasuke out and that was all I had hoped for.

Finally, I heard his meek voice behind me.

"Can you turn off the childlock?" Sasuke questioned softly, not meeting my gaze.

I undid it without hesitation. As soon as the lock clicked open, I expected my student would make a run for it. However, he was hesitating and fidgeting in his seat. Sasuke awkwardly grabbed his backpack and opened the door.

I looked at him intently.

"Th-than-" He tried to force out, but when he couldn't say it, he just settled for a shaky smile. My heart leapt to my throat as he exited my car and took off into the sunset.

"Sasuke, wait!" I called after him, but made no move to get out of my car. He stopped some meters away from the car, and just slightly, turned around. I knew he was listening.

"If you...ever need to talk, don't hesitate to come to me during first period or lunch. I'll be in my classroom."

He nodded, and continued on his way. I watched his form until he was out of sight, my heart still beating erratically.

When I think of what happened that day, I realize that I should have kept myself more in control. I had, in fact, forgotten something important-if he was locked out of his house, where did he head off too? To this day, I still don't know.

But most of all, I know that I had been right to think that Sasuke would break many hearts. Never would I have guessed that one of those hearts would be mine.

Reviews are much appreciated, even to point out errors :D! How was it? I hope I'm not making things too mushy .