A/N: Major OOCness.
Chapter 4: Intrigue
SPOV
It had been almost a week since I'd seen him. He hadn't showed up to class the first scheduled day of the week. I sat there that Tuesday morning with a butterfly the size of Texas floating around my stomach. I was nervous, excited, and anxious all the same. My leg bounced so much to relieve my exasperating tension that I was practically vibrating in my seat. Every so often I would glance at the door hoping that he'd saunter in like one of those high school students who were "too cool" to show up on time for anything. However as time wound down and we only had a half hour left of the 2 hour class, my hopes got weaker and weaker. I watched the clock with each passing minute, wishing he'd walk through the door. He didn't. But what was I supposed to do? I desperately wanted to corner him, question him about the other night and ask why he was so abrupt with me, why he couldn't just let his feelings be known to me, why he stalked me from underneath the tree in my front yard.
Yeah, he's definitely a keeper.
The classroom was dull, barely capturing my attention as usual with its bleak walls and 'iridescent' snake like professor slithering around the room from table to table. Large window panes from floor to ceiling filed along the wall of the west side of the class and portrayed the expectantly oppressive whether outdoors. Dreary clouds gathered in an angry mob above the student parking lot, threatening to leak their contents on the rushing ant size students below.
How I would kill to be out there right now…anywhere away from here and this creep of a teacher.
I focused my attention back to the classroom and the clock fixated on the north end. There was only 10 minutes left of class and he was a no show.
Again.
The bookcase that was precariously placed into a tight corner beside the only exit of the room caught my attention in a desperate attempt to distract my mind from its wandering, and of course anymore thoughts of him. A series of medical textbooks adorned the top 3 shelves of the case and as the levels decreased more personal books could be seen on display. The Catcher in the Rye was the first to catch my attention considering my Professor was … for better lack of words, a creep. A creep who I thought had no sense of appreciation for interesting literature. However my thoughts deviated down a different and slightly amusing path, as my gaze landed on the hardback cover of Jane Eyre. The spine looked extremely worn from use and faded along the sides, yet there wasn't a speck of dust on it, unlike the other books. Not that there was a single thing wrong with the novel, it was just…unusual that my male teacher took such a liking to the book.
A flash of fiery red from the window of the classroom door instantly caught my attention.
His aquamarine eyes slowly trailed up to bore directly into my emerald orbs.
The past few days of worry and dread seemed to lift off my shoulders like a bird flying headstrong into the streaking sun in the sky. I forgot that I was 'upset' with him. I forgot that I desperately wanted to question him about that night underneath my tree and the coffee shop. And even temporarily, I forgot how to breathe. I guess he noticed, perhaps I had started to become blue in the face, because he quickly did a charade on how to successfully intake oxygen and exhale the carbon dioxide that was clouding my flustered brain.
I flushed a brilliant shade of salmon pink from my hairline to my neck, quickly sucking in a deep breath and admiring the slight hint of a smile on his face at my action. I scrambled to grab my notebook and a sharpie out of my bag, holding up a finger as I saw him making fidgety movements as if he was about to leave. I scribbled out a quick note in all capitals large enough for him to see from where I sat.
'CAN I SEE YOU?'
He momentarily stood there while a flood of confusion filled his face. He pointed from himself to me and then to his eyes and mine, miming that clearly I was seeing him now. I rolled my eyes as he gave a satisfied smirk to my obvious annoyance.
'AFTER CLASS. HALLWAY.'
I underlined after class for good effect and turned the sign towards his direction, hoping the class was busy enough not to notice my two way miming session with him at the door.
His eyes quickly scanned the page and he nodded his agreement before quickly disappearing from view. I let out a small breath I hadn't realized I was holding. My palms had started to sweat a crazy frenzied river and I was back to vibrating around in my seat as I had been prior, desperately waiting for the last 2 minutes of class to be done and over with.
It was a peculiar feeling. Having emotions like this course through my veins and ignite a spark within me that I thought long ago had completely short circuited. He was quickly worming his way into my life and my body was responding in a way that my brain didn't quite know if it was ready for yet. Not that it really had a choice.
Class was finally over and I raced down the steps to do an awkward penguin shuffle with the rest of my peers out of the single exit. I stumbled out, my face catching aflame, half expecting to see Gaara casually leaning against a wall chuckling in amusement, but he was nowhere in sight. I was extremely grateful, yet still a little crestfallen and anxious. I gave up looking for him in the throngs of students shuffling around the hall and hoped he was waiting somewhere in the parking lot, preferably by my truck. As I trudged down the hallway, my cell phone started buzzing in my pocket.
Its Gaara!
Inwardly I hoped it was, but I knew he didn't have my cell number. A text from Kakashi sprang up as I unlocked my phone, asking what I felt like eating for lunch. As I pondered, I didn't watch where I was going and ran headlong into the topic of my obsession in my mind over the last few days.
The first things to drop were the books in my arms as I clutched my cell phone for dear life. I did not want to have to pay for a new one.
"Oh my God, who the hell walks into somebody like that in a nearly empty hallway when there is so much more walking space? Idiot." I continued to mumble to myself as I picked up my things, not bothering to look at who it was I had bumped into.
A grunt came from the other person as they bent down, handing me a book, mumbling in a gravelly voice, "I'm not an idiot Haru-…Sakura."
My head snapped up so fast at the sound of his voice that I knew my neck was going to be paying for it tonight. "Gaara?" I questioned.
"Well who else would it be."
My eyes narrowed at his smart retort. I hadn't seen the bastard for almost a week and before we can even start to have a decent conversation he starts getting all sarcastic over a rhetorical question. Just as I was about to lay into him, he quickly handed me the last book on the ground and stood up.
"Listen," he started scratching the back of his neck, "I have to go. Got a couple errands I need to run and I just meant to stop by to umm…pick up some things."
I looked down at his empty hand and the one still stretched behind his head.
"Pick up…what?" I raised an eyebrow and a faint pink blush dusted his cheeks. I smiled full on and reached out to poke him. "Me?"
"Hey, stop that." He swatted my hand away and hid his eyes behind a small curtain of blood red hair dangling on his forehead. "I gotta go, but we'll catch up later." With that he quickly turned on his heel and strode out of the double doors down the hall.
It was only after he was out of viewing distance I realized I still hadn't yet gotten the chance to corner him and grill him.
-A.o.D-
A gentle breeze swept through the air that felt like my first clear breath of many to come. My hair tangled within the onslaught, fighting to win purchase over my face with the dim sunlight shining from above. It was oddly refreshing feeling the orbs warmth after seeing it hidden away a mere hour ago as if it would never present itself forth again. But a lot of things in my life are turning out to be like that, in the best of ways.
The breeze carried off down the street, fluttering mixed matched hues of rust, vibrant yellow, and the dullest of brown into gutters and yards of my neighbors where children dove and sank into plush pillowed piles of leaves. Their rosy cheeks and runny noses the only indication of the onset of cool air sinking into the crevices and openings of the neighborhood. I smiled as I reminisced on the old days when life was that simple. When the climax of my day was jumping into a bed of leaves and the low of it was bedtime. A simpler time where there weren't as many questions, thoughts, or expectations; it was even a time where 'do you like me' was simply a checked yes or no.
"My oh my, I think I've just seen an angel."
Immediately a warm fuzzy feeling blanketed me with his cheesy line. It was like this with us, and I wouldn't give it up for the world. He stood leaning against the arch of my door, shirtless in the cool air with the sun dazzling off of his broad chest. The slacks he liked to call pants dangling from his narrow hips and pooling around his feet. The way his silver hair fell into his face repeatedly was amusing if not annoying, but those piercing miss matched eyes were the real keepers if any.
"Kakashi, you'll catch a cold if you stand there like that old man." I teased him and his face immediately soured into a comical pout.
"It's not polite to speak to your elders that way after they give you a compliment you know. Now be polite and let's try this again." He arched an eyebrow in a challenge that I couldn't possibly deny.
My eyes rolled as I prepared for the battle. There wasn't a day that went buy where we didn't have a Mexican standoff. That was us, this was us. How much would it change if someone else was thrown into the mix; that is if said someone ever got the balls to man up.
"I said you're old, and if you stand out here then you're gonna catch a-" I was off my feet by the time I got to the end of my sentence, as expected. Maybe it was a manly thing, but guys aren't satisfied until you're hoisted over their shoulder like in the Stone Age. Caveman instinct? Perhaps. Egotistical? Most likely.
"You know you never texted me back." he carried on conversation as he brought me into the house and placed me upright. He gingerly removed my scarf and bonnet while I methodically unbuttoned my jacket and slid off my boots. "I didn't know what you wanted so I made my favorite." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the kitchen, stopping to wave a hand in front of the promised meal. "Miso!"
I arched an eyebrow and a nervous tick began in my eye. He knows how I feel about these awkward settings he likes to spring on me. I just don't understand why a man in his thirties feels the need to be romantic in one of his most unromantic relationships. Countless times I've told him it's weird and under no circumstances should he do it again lest I beat him until he can't remember his name anymore. Yet here we stand in front of a 'candle lit lunch', lights dimmed, and a vase of white roses as a centerpiece.
He glanced at me and crossed his arms in a defiant manner, smug grin plastered on his face. "Is there something wrong, Sakura?"
Had it been anyone else, anyone else, I would not stand for the constant defiance. I smiled my biggest shit eating grin and turned towards him, "No, no, I'm just so famished after a long day in class. Come here!" I leaned in to hug him, waiting for him to respond. As he uncrossed his arms I punched him swiftly in the gut. "Jackass. Thanks for lunch though." After successfully causing pain, I exuded happiness. He really was a good cook.
He hobbled to the table and glared as he picked up his spoon, "So happy to oblige."
"You know I don't understand you sometimes. You always tell me you do these elaborate things because you have no one else to do them with." I slurped my soup while I thought back to the last couple years of our friendship and the other dozen times he'd whipped out something like this. It always had the same outcome – him getting hurt – but he insisted on doing 'random acts of romance' anyway. Why I had to be his outlet though, I didn't understand.
He continued eating and grumbled the same reply I always received, "Too much effort to go out and find a real relationship."
He was lonely and so was I, but effort wasn't the real reason why he never went to scope out women. He was afraid, that much I had gathered over the years. I was too but wasn't it time to change that? Could we really live off of each other's friendship for the remainder of our lives?
I gave him a small smile while I fiddled with the last of my soup, "You know there's always ."
He flashed me a quick smile and the bird as he gathered our dishes to wash, "Nope. You'll do for now."
Would I? How long could I keep doing this now?
-A.o.D-
I curled up on my bed with a crinkled paper in one hand and my cell phone in the other. It was obvious that if this was going to get anywhere, it would have to be done by me. He was so push and pull all the time that I was experiencing emotional whiplash before we'd even gotten anywhere; if we were going to get anywhere. I glanced at the crinkled paper in my hand, his seemingly elegant scrawl on it with an address and phone number. He said we'd talk later right? A couple hours definitely qualified as later, right? I would just message him and if he didn't answer in 10 minutes I'd never message him again. That was logical, right?
I played around on my phone, scrolling through apps unnecessarily to get to my messages, taking longer than necessary to put in the number. Now what was I going to say?
'Hey, couldn't stop thinking about you after I saw you today." No.
'Hey..cutie?" No, definitely not.
'Hi, I like you and I think its bordering obsession!" Um, definitely not.
Rubbing my temples, I sighed and contemplated a myriad of situations that could follow this message. He could angrily message back and say he only gave me his number strictly for assignment purposes and no personal canoodling. He could just be angry over the fact that I had messaged him period, or worse, he could just not answer. The outcomes were endless. Before I could lose my nerve, I quickly typed out a small message consisting of 'Hey, it's Sakura from Bio' and pressed send.
Was the 'from bio' truly necessary? How many other Sakuras could he possible know that had his number? Why am I so stupid!
I couldn't stand to be near my phone that was radiating my stupidity from the screen so I paced the floor, anticipating his response and responses that I could give to them in return. However what I didn't prepare for was a catchy ringtone to fill the room over my padding footsteps.
No…
He didn't..
I leapt onto my bed from the floor and stared at the screen as his name and number urgently popped up as the phone vibrated. I was stunned into a stupor momentarily until I realized I needed to answer before he reached my voicemail.
I pressed answer and tried to speak but a dry flow of air followed by a hacking cough exuded from my body before I could do much of anything. His chuckling baritone of a voice vibrated in my hand and I glared at the screen before putting it up to my ear, clearing my throat one last time. "H-hello?"
"Hey." His voice was smooth and devoid of nerves .
That butterfly the size of Texas seized my stomach once more as well as a quick shot of adrenaline through my system straight to my core. My body started to heat up of its own accord and a permanent blush from my hairline to my neck took residence.
"Hey," was my dumbly dazzled reply.
He laughed a low hum once again and cleared his throat, "I hope I didn't startle you?" His statement came out as a question and I could almost see the shit eating grin he was wearing on his face right now.
My blush darkened as I glared at a pillow. "Perhaps." A smile slowly traced its way only my features as there was a small lapse in conversation. I was happy he had called; it was a good thing. What other guy would call instead of just messaging back.
"I'm sorry," he said breaking the silence.
"For what?" Being so confusing? He should be.
"About the coffee shop.." he trailed off at the end, no doubt remembering the spiraling evening.
"Oh, yeah." I sucked in a breath, preparing to lay into him finally, "What was all of that about! And then the whole tree thing, that was you wasn't i-"
"I like you.." he said those three words and all of the air I had puffed out of my lips quickly.
Goosebumps raged over my exposed skin, tingling my body from limb to limb. My breathing started back up again almost in small deliberate gasps. "You what?"
He impatiently sighed and cleared his throat again, "I said I like you."
I fell back onto my pillows with a huff and stared at my ceiling. "Yeah, that's what I thought you said. But why are you telling me this now? Especially after how you acted, I'd never be able to tell. You're so hot and cold with me."
I heard a rhythmic clicking and a horn in the background before he responded, "I know. I guess you could say I'm just not very good with words. Not my thing."
I smiled and laughed a bit. "No, you're not. You had me worried for a while. I kind of put myself out there and you closed up like a clam. And I don't do that often." I heard the low hum of car engines in the street, guessing Kakashi must be going out to do god knows what. I ventured downstairs to an empty house before I heard Gaara speak again.
"I know, and I apologize profusely. This is all kind of…new." I could almost hear the smile in this voice.
"New you say? I'd imagine women are throwing themselves at your feet. It's pretty hard to catch my interest." I saw headlights flash through the front window curtains and figured Kakashi forgot something as usual.
Gaara seemed to be physically struggling with something before he responded, "Are you…calling me attractive?" He joked. He joked. Had someone wacked him across the head with a 'nice' stick?
I openly laughed and blushed brilliantly, flabbergasted as to how to respond before I heard a knock. Why Kakashi would knock, I don't know. At least the idiot saved me from a response. "There's someone at my door, hold that thought." I heard a murmured approval as I made my way towards the door opening it to berate the man behind it. "You know if you weren't so old and forgetful you-" I stopped mid-sentence as I laid eyes on the beautiful arrangement in my eye sight. Red and white lotus flowers smiled invitingly into my face and obscured that of the owners.
"Oh my.." I reached out to touch the soft petals of a white lotus, slowly drawing my hand back, trying to look at the beholders face. "Excuse me. Are you a flower delivery man? I think you've got the wrong house." It definitely wasn't Kakashi holding them and surely he wouldn't have sent me flowers when there was already a bundle of white roses sitting on the dining room table.
I heard the voice out loud before I heard it in the receiver, "No, I'm not a delivery man but I'm sure I have the right house," the flowers slowly started to move away from the owners face and I saw a mop of red, "I've actually upset someone that lives here… Someone I like. So I brought her flowers hoping she would forgive me. It seemed like the nice thing to do." Gaara's face was revealed and I clutched my phone tightly until my knuckles turned a sickly white.
"Gaara?"
He took a step closer towards the door. "You're going to break your phone." He stated simply.
"What? What are you talking about?"
He stepped closer until his Chuck Taylors were flush against my toes. He hung up his phone and deposited it in his pocket before reaching for my own, slowly prying it from my grip as my fingers melted against his touch. He replaced the phone with the bouquet of flowers and reached around my back with both arms, placing my phone into my back pocket. He was so close I could smell the heady scent of his cool mint spiced body wash and aftershave. I decided he was too close as I all but greedily inhaled his scent and my olfactory senses went into full overdrive, clouding my mind and dazing me further.
His hands boldly skimmed from the small of my back to my hips, grazing the skin between my band tee and low rise jeans, rubbing incessantly on the swell of my hips. I squeezed tightly onto the bouquet as I sucked in a breath and my eyes fluttered shut. He pushed against the small of my back until our chests brushed together and he breathed an apology across the top of my head.
"I hope you can forgive me," his lips grazed across my forehead making a path down to my temple and finally my ear, "Can I come in?" His fingers flexed across my back as I opened my eyes to look up into deep teal green eyes.
"Uh huh," Came my idiot reply as I nodded my head. I watched as he slowly smiled and it reached his eyes before he brushed against my body to step by me into my home.
I leaned against the door and watched his retreating form; desperately praying the cool breeze from outside would calm my heated face and restless body. I looked at the flowers clutched desperately in my hand and decided two could play this game. I squared my shoulders and marched down the hall after him, kicking the door shut. Yeah, I could definitely play this game.