Aah, trying to spit out updates is hard =/
-:-
It was the 31th of December, and Deidara was inwardly panicking as to what he should do with Hinata come New Year's. Should he try cooking for her as they watched the fireworks? No, he couldn't cook to save his life. Or should he go to his parent's house, which was only in the next town? Nah, they'd probably get the wrong idea and start to freak out…
Deidara sat at his kitchen table, early in the morning, writing a list of things he could do. He was debating in his head, but he often found himself muttering and talking as he wrote.
I've pretty much exhausted all my options except… Then it hit him. Why didn't I think of that?
Deidara lived in a small town just outside of Seattle. His apartment happened to be in the perfect location to view the fireworks of the biggest tower in town. Not many people in the entire building came up to the roof to see (which was quite a waste, if you asked him) except for Pein, the landlord and his wife, Konan.
It sounded perfect.
-:-
Neji woke up in the morning, feeling weird. It was the good kind of weird, but the same kind of weird that was still… weird. Other people could call it being content.
Yes, he diligently followed Deidara and Hinata on their lunches out. However, each time they did, it became more of a chore. And the same thing happened every time. They'd go out, order food, eat, talk, laugh without a care in the world, then walk the long way home just to play in the snow longer. Sometimes a red haired guy followed them around, too, but he didn't seem like much of a threat.
I guess… I'm… fine. With Deidara. With everything…
-:-
Deidara spent most of the day setting the roof up for his special dinner with Hinata. He had borrowed a heater and a gazebo that had solid walls to protect from the wind from a neighbor. He took a table and tablecloth and set it up. He set up a table for two, candlelit and nice food (from the take-out menu, lamely).
He made sure everything was perfect, and then joined Hinata and Sasori back in the apartments to relax.
-:-
It was late on New Year's Eve, and Deidara and Hinata sat together on the bed, talking and talking about their lives and past stories. Both were dressed very nicely, Hinata in a deep red sweater-turtleneck and Deidara in an oddly colored dress shirt with black pants. They drank something a little different – apple cider.
Both had just finished another bout of laughter as the happiness factor from the cider sunk in. Deidara wrapped an arm around Hinata's shoulders, and she blushed, though grinning widely.
"You know, Hinata?"
"Hm?"
"I'm sure you've heard from Sasori that I'm not the most popular guy around… right?" Deidara swished his drink around in his cup. "Well… I just wanted to say… that these past few days have been the best I've ever had. Like, ever." He looked at Hinata and smiled, blushing a little. "And it's all thanks to you." He dared to give her a small kiss to the cheek. She hugged him tightly,
"I'll admit, I'm not the most social person out there either…" She thought – for the first time in a while – of her life back at home. How her family was probably the only group of friends she really had. It made her sad to think that she couldn't make friends. She didn't even have a best outsider friend like Deidara had in Sasori. It was amazing to her how she even managed to fall in love with someone…
Blushing furiously, she pulled away and leaned back on the pillows behind her. "I'm so excited for 2010… It's going to be so great." She sighed. Deidara looked at her and smiled. "Yeah…" He looked at his watch, then, alarmed, he jumped up. "H-Hinata! We gotta go! Now!" He grabbed her hand and led her up to the stairs. "Wh-Where are we going?" Hinata gasped as he ran up, skipping a step or two sometimes.
"It's… Uh… Well, I… It's something for New Year's… I… prepared something for you. Something… special." Hinata spied the blush on his cheeks, and she got suddenly excited to see what it was.
You see, Deidara had a plan. It was a rather big plan, though very last minute. He was going to try and… well, ask Hinata to be his girlfriend. He played this plan over and over again, trying not to get his hopes up but being optimistic as well. He noticed from the day he first saw her in person that he was especially attracted to her. All other girls didn't seem to matter, since Hinata was pretty much the only important woman in his life (Other than his mom, but who wants to admit that?).
Earlier that week, he consulted Sasori about it.
"What do you mean, 'I think I love Hinata'?" Sasori looked at him skeptically. Deidara, confused, began to ask him, "What do you mean by that?" Sasori shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, of course you love her. She loves you, too!" Suddenly, Deidara blushed. "What? Really? She told you that?" He got excited, and those famous butterflies began to flutter in his stomach. Sasori suddenly turned away from him. "No. Shut up. I didn't say anything."
Deidara left Sasori feeling (oddly) encouraged about him and Hinata.
It was 11:50, ten minutes until the New Year. He had led Hinata up to the roof (via the elevator, to his slight discomfort), which was covered in a light layer of snow. There were another set of footprints before theirs, and looking around they found Pein, the landlord, and his wife Konan hugging each other and laughing at the unfortunate others down below. The thing that made them both get along was their shared love of the suffering of others. Especially during the holidays.
Deidara smiled a little at them, then led Hinata to the other corner where he set everything up. He blushed a little, wondering if he should have hid it better than he had.
Hinata walked to the edge of the roof, resting her elbows on the ledge. "It's so nice up here… And the sky's so clear." She looked up, then looked at him, her cheeks tinted a light pink. Deidara smiled back at her.
11:55 pm, 2009. Deidara reached for Hinata's hand and held it tight.
11:56 pm, 2009. Hinata blushes, glances at him, then looks away.
11:57 pm, 2009. Deidara slips his arm around her waist, Hinata responds cutely – by hugging him back.
11:58 pm, 2009. Hinata watches the people in the streets, he gazes at her.
11:59 pm, 2009. Deidara (in a very manly manner) turns her attention to him by tilting her chin up to him. The crowd begins to count down.
5.
Deidara cups one of her cheeks, slowly and cautiously leaning in.
4.
Hinata's blush is felt in his hand – he cherishes the feeling.
3.
Deidara just barely brushes his lips against hers, but not quite.
2.
Hinata closes her eyes.
1.
Deidara closes the gap.
-:-
"Happy New Year!"
12:00 am, 2010. Deidara holds Hinata tightly, she does the same. They kiss for as long as they can before having to breathe.
Deidara kissed her again, this time a little harder. She pulled him closer (if possible) and the tiniest sound came from her. They parted, and, still being the socially awkward adults they were, hugged each other in a way so that they couldn't see each other's faces – Hinata buried her face in his chest while he moved his head to be beside hers.
The fireworks were loud and bright, and the two watched them while enjoying a reheated Chinese Take-Out meal. Despite themselves, each mentally checked themselves to make sure they weren't acting weird.
Is taking a bite like this rude?
Is looking at her while she eats strange?
Is it bad that I don't make eye contact?
Is taking a drink before she does rude?
Is it alright if I look at him… for a second?
Eventually, past all the normalcy checks, their minds were brought back to the subject at hand.
Hey, I just kissed her. What does she think?
Hey, he just kissed me, what do I think?
When they finished, Deidara stood up, making the chair screech behind him. He flinched, embarrassed, then looked up at Hinata, who looked about ready to burst out laughing. Pretty soon, he started to laugh too. He took her hand and they both walked out of the gazebo as the last of the fireworks were set off.
They took the stairs down to the third floor, giggling and joking the whole way. On the last step, Hinata tripped and fell, falling (classically) into Deidara's arms. Their faces ended up close to each other, and both blushed. They didn't know what to do in this situation.
Is it okay that I kiss her again?
Should I lean up and… kiss him?
Hinata decided first, and cutely pecked him on the lips. "Th-Thank you for saving me…" She smiled a little as they walked down the hallway back to Deidara's room.
Sasori saw them and grinned. He quickly noticed that they were holding hands, and that both had small traces of a blush on their cheeks. "Happy New Year, you two!" He greeted. They did the same and laughed. At the same time. Sasori couldn't help but chuckle.
"Are you together? Or are you just holding hands for fun?"
Deidara and Hinata both flinched, but didn't let their hands go. Blushing, Deidara admitted, "Um. I, uh, kinda… asked Hinata to be my girlfriend." Hinata squeezed his hand, looking at Sasori. "Did you two kiss?" he asked.
Keeping true to their socially awkward status, they blushed and froze up, keeping Sasori's question unanswered. He got the picture. "Aah, you two are so adorable. I could hug you guys." In fact, he did. And it was not awkward. Because they were all friends.
Sasori yawned loudly, stretching his arms. "Well, I hope you two had a good one…" he said, not fully getting what he meant by that. "Good night, I'll see you tomorrow… Or, today. January 1st, 2010."
They smiled and left each other, going to their rooms respectively.
Deidara let Hinata walk in first, then followed after her. Realizing that he forgot something important, he reached out – slowly and cautiously – to her arm and pulled her back to him. He held her there for a minute, staring into her eyes.
"Hinata… I, uh… I love you." He said softly. She stayed silent, a small smile twitching onto her face. "I… I know we only met a week or two ago, but you're like, the coolest girl I've ever seen, and I've never felt like this when I see other girls on the street or in stores or other places like that, and I really like having you around and-" Hinata stopped him by placing a nervous hand on his cheek. "We… didn't meet just a week ago. We've known each other for much longer than that…" She looked down. "You… You're the coolest guy I've ever met… and…" She turned a cute shade of red, then said, softly, "I love you, too."
Deidara grinned, leaning down to kiss her again. He held her tighter, an arm around her waist and another against her back. He didn't feel like stopping – he wanted to kiss her and hold her forever and ever. She was just that kissable and huggable.
What made it even better was that she kissed him back.
-:-
It was late (or early, depending on your point of view) so Deidara and Hinata decided to go to bed. When they lay down, there was still a distance between them. Of course, it was still cold, and it took a while for the bed to warm up.
Like love, awkwardness was a force that always prevailed. Which was very frustrating.
For example, Deidara's hand brushed against hers as he adjusted himself into a more comfortable position. He knew that she noticed, and she knew that he noticed that she knew. They didn't know what to do, since neither knew what the other wanted to do.
Mentally sighing, Deidara closed his eyes and thought. Well, I'm obviously the man in this relationship. I should take a kind of leadership position and do what I want. Right? What did he want, exactly? Given the circumstances, a lot of things. But most of all, he just wanted to… hug her. And sleep. It was late.
-:-
Hinata sighed to herself. She closed her eyes and thought. Well, I'm the woman in this relationship. I should be able to do anything I want without feeling uncomfortable, right? What did she want to do, exactly? Given the situation, she wanted to do a lot of things. But right now, she just wanted to… be hugged. And sleep. It was late.
She moved and adjusted herself so that she was facing him. She dared to open one eye, and so did Deidara. They made eye contact, then quickly closed their eyes again.
I can't sleep like this!
Inhaling, Deidara reached out and held Hinata's arms. He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. "G-Good night, Hinata…" he whispered, kissing her on the cheek. He smiled sheepishly, and so did she. Her arms wrapped around him, and their faces were brought close to each other's. "Good night… Deidara…" She could finally sleep easy, warm, in his arms. As she began to doze off, Deidara kissed her head, then lightly on her lips before falling asleep with her.
-:-
AUGHWAH.
Hope you're all having a wonderful day…
Good night.