Chapter 7

A few hours later, Itachi woke up, feeling sore and sick to his stomach. He immediately knew what was going on: he had gotten emotional again and had overdosed with anti stress pills. Within a second, everything that had happened flashed back in front of his eyes. He frowned as he opened his eyes and then blinked to keep them open.

When Itachi was finally having his eyes open, he could hear sobbing coming from his right. When he looked in that direction, he saw Deidara sitting on a chair, his face eyes and nose red and with tears streaming down his face. Deidara was looking to the side, not having realised Itachi had woken up.

Itachi frowned a little as he sat up, ignoring his headache.

"...Deidara.." He then said. What was going on? Why was Deidara crying this badly?

Deidara looked at Itachi now and quickly wiped his tears away with his already wet sleeves. It didn't do much good, but he didn't want to cry in front of Itachi.

"...You're awake.." Deidara said, his voice hoarse.

"...Why are you crying?" Itachi asked, frowning even deeper.

"It's nothing.." Deidara answered, shaking his head. He looked away from Itachi after that.

"You're not crying without a reason." Itachi said.

"I just hate that I hurt you this much un.." Deidara softly said, not meeting Itachi's eyes.

"I know you didn't do it on purpose." Itachi said, shrugging.

"I still did it." Deidara said. "... I just wanted you to love me un..." He was once again almost whispering.

Itachi sighed now.

"If you still don't understand how much I love you, you can leave." He then said.

"..That's not it.. I know you loved me.." Deidara muttered. ".. I just wanted you to myself.. I wanted us to be together all the time un.."

"...You should know that's just not possible." Itachi said.

"I still wanted it.." Deidara softly said. ".. I just wanted the person I love with me all the time.."

Itachi sighed a little now.

"...Why?" He asked.

"Because the persons I loved before you weren't around for very long un..." Deidara said, wiping another escaping tear away.

"...Are you talking about your parents now?" Itachi asked, frowning.

Deidara fidgeted with his fingers now. He barely ever talked about his parents. It was still too hard, even after all those years. And that was probably because he never talked about it. After a while, he nodded.

"I knew it." Itachi said, letting out another sigh. "..You need the attention you never got because your parents were gone."

Deidara was silent now and then got up, getting his bag. He then walked to the hallway. The last thing Deidara wanted was to make excuses for hurting Itachi. He had been wrong and stupid and horrible and Itachi would only tell him that he couldn't give him what he needed. And that might be true, but Itachi could still give him more than anyone else would ever be able to.

"Deidara get back here." Itachi said. "I explained my behaviour, and it would only be fair if you explain it too."

"I just told you. It's not an excuse un." Deidara said, pulling on his jacket.

"It may be a reason." Itachi said, as he followed Deidara. "Deidara please. Tell me why you did this."

"I already said it un.." Deidara softly said. "I needed you too much.. You never 'really' showed me how much you loved me. At least that's how I felt, but you made it clear to me.. that I was just being stupid."

"Deidara I never said that you were being stupid, I said you were overreacting." Itachi said. "This explains a lot of why you acted the way you did."

"Can I go now..?" Deidara asked, clenching his bag in his arms tightly. He couldn't bear to be this close to Itachi anymore when they were like this.

Itachi was silent for some time, before looking away.

"...If you want." He then muttered.

Deidara let out some breath, but it came out shaky.

"... I just can't do this.. I broke your heart, it's fine if you never wanna see me again Itachi.." He said.

"I would have shown you the door already if I didn't want to see you anymore." Itachi softly said. "...I never wanted our relationship to end Deidara."

"... Well neither did I, but you don't understand why I had to get out.. And then you started drinking and using pills and I completely ruined you.." Deidara said, taking in more breaths as he felt tears falling down his cheeks once again.

"Then explain to me why you had to get out." Itachi said, frowning.

Deidara was silent as he looked at the floor. He didn't know what to do anymore. He had told Itachi that he felt like he wasn't on first place before. He had told him that he needed Itachi there and that that wasn't what he was getting. He told Itachi that he felt like Itachi didn't show him he loved him enough and still Itachi wasn't getting it. But Deidara was afraid to ruin even more.

"...I just don't understand why you chose to break up with me instead of talking it out." Itachi muttered.

"I was afraid you would yell at me.. just like you did in the kitchen just now un.." Deidara softly said. "You always think everything I say is just drama anyway.. I figured you would feel that way with this too.."

"Don't be like this now Deidara." Itachi warned.

Deidara put his bag in front of his face, letting out a weak cry. It was like Itachi never took things serious with him.

Itachi sighed as he looked away.

"...Deidara please." He then said, feeling the pain in his heart getting more and more heavy.

"I don't get what you want from me anymore.. Everything I say is w-wrong.." Deidara sobbed.

"That's not true." Itachi said. "But when I ask you to explain then you immediately start saying 'you don't want me anyway' and 'everything is drama anyway' and that is not really a good way to explain stuff to me."

"I never said you don't want me anyway." Deidara said. "And you said so yourself that I make drama out of everything, so everything is just drama to you.. when I'm angry with you, you just wave it away and you don't even stop to think that maybe that's my way of showing you what bothers me un."

"You make a drama when you can't find your hairbrush." Itachi commented. "At some point I don't take you serious anymore."

"Well you should know that a hairbrush is not a real drama, but me yelling at you over and over again that I want you to pick me is." Deidara said. He really felt like jumping out of a ten story high building. Itachi would never take him serious and would always blame him for breaking up. It was like every flaw in their relationship was pushed over to him.

"And that's what I apologize for, I can't tell those things apart." Itachi said. "When you are screaming and it's about nothing, I link you screaming to nothing. When you are crying and something really bad is going on, I will know that you feel really bad when I see you crying next time. The same reason why I panic when I hear Sasuke crying."

"Well I'm sorry I was never clear about it..." Deidara softly said, putting his bag down, but still not looking at Itachi. His face was completely red by now.

"It was probably a combination of facts." Itachi said. "But another time, I had no idea you felt this way."

"I should've told you un.." Deidara said, wiping one of the last escaping tears away. "...You always said you would make it up to me, I thought you realised it hurt me and just didn't care."

"No matter how much I thought it was all rubbish, I still didn't like seeing you upset and wanted to make up for that." Itachi said. "It sounds horrible, but I guess I haven't taken you serious for quite some time now."

"I guess that's just my own fault for always overreacting.." Deidara said and sniffed. He couldn't say he was feeling a lot better right now.

"...I have to learn how to separate real problems from daily issues." Itachi corrected Deidara.

Deidara looked at Itachi for a while and then started crying again. He hated himself for suddenly being an emotional wreck.

Itachi bit his lip now, feeling guilt taking over.

"Now I am the one who feels like a total jerk." He then said.

Deidara shook his head.

"I d-don't know why I'm crying un.." He told Itachi. He really had no clue.

"I know why, I'm being harsh and blaming it on you." Itachi said.

"W-well I am the one who broke our relationship." Deidara said.

"Yes, and that was what you did wrong." Itachi said. "That's all that went wrong. And the fact that you have to accept that you're not the only person in my life. You 'are' the most important person in my life though. I just have some kind of fatherly role over Sasuke. He's more like my child then like my brother."

".. Well then it's still my fault right." Deidara said shrugging. "It's not you, it's me.."

"It's both of us Dei." Itachi said, as he shook his head. "I should be able to tell situations apart and I shouldn't react this heavily on our break up."

".. I'm sorry un.." Deidara said, wiping his tears away. He could honestly say that this day, he had cried more than in his entire life.

"I'm sorry too." Itachi said, nodding.

"... Can't you just take me back?" Deidara asked, not looking at Itachi. He was scared, because what if Itachi said no.

Itachi looked at Deidara for some time, before bringing him close.

"Of course I can." He then said.

Deidara grabbed Itachi tightly, burying his face in Itachi's chest, not able to reach any higher. He cried, but this time it was just relief and happiness.

"..Thank you.." He softly said.

"Thank you too, for still wanting me after all." Itachi said, stroking over Deidara's back. He was relieved Deidara wanted him back after all.

"I always wanted you.." Deidara said. "I was just stupid, I really was un."

Itachi was silent as he gave Deidara a kiss in his neck and then closed his eyes, holding Deidara close to his chest. He was immensely glad he had Deidara back.

Deidara was happy to be in Itachi's arms again and then pulled back just slightly, pulling Itachi down a little as he got on his toes and gave Itachi a soft kiss on the lips. He had missed those lips.

Itachi smiled as he gave his lover a kiss back. He knew that they would be a little awkward together now, but in the end, they would be fine again.

The next evening, Sasuke, Neji, Kiba and Naruto were sitting in the kitchen, eating their dinner. Much to Neji's disgust, Naruto had baked fries, made some hamburgers and there had been no vegetables on the table. After Neji had insisted, Kiba had gone off to the supermarket to buy some salad. In the end it had been a good decision, because even Naruto was enjoying the salad right now, something that rarely happened.

"We should call the newspaper guys, Naruto is eating something healthy." Kiba said, as he looked at Naruto who was shoving the salad in like mad (after having eaten all of his fries and two hamburgers).

"Could it be Naruto will finally come to his senses and realise you can't live on hamburgers alone?" Sasuke said smirking at Naruto as he ate the last of his fries.

"I think this may be a one time experience." Neji dryly said, while he put his fries onto Kiba's plate, who happily started eating them.

"I eat healthy too. I eat ramen." Naruto commented, his mouth full of salad. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"You do know that ramen is not really 'healthy' right?" He said, getting a look from Naruto.

"Ramen is only filled with carbohydrates, there is nothing healthy about it." Neji said. "The only possibly healthy thing in ramen is the minimum amount of vegetables in it."

"And even those aren't fresh, so the vitamins are probably gone anyway." Sasuke said.

"Yeah yeah, I get it, I don't eat healthy. At least I eat things that taste good." Naruto said annoyed. At that moment, the doorbell rang.

Neji looked at his watch now, frowning a little, and then walked to the door.

"Were you expecting someone Neji?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, but he's early." Neji said, and then opened the door. A huge man was standing in the doorway, with white hair that came until his shoulders, he was wearing a short sleeved shirt so you could see the huge muscles on his arms and he was wearing a smirk on his face.

"Hello Mizuki." Neji said, as he opened the door a little further. "You're early."

"I know, I was near for someone else as well so I figured, what the hell." Mizuki said, walking into the house. "So should we just get started?" Sasuke looked at the guy from the kitchen, not trusting that big guy at all. But he had to let Neji do his job.

"We were just finishing with our dinner, do you want something too while I finish?" Neji asked, as he followed Mizuki. When they arrived in the kitchen, Neji decided to introduce the other.

"Guys, this is Mizuki, he's another fashion designer." He said. "Mizuki, these are my roommates, Naruto, Sasuke and Kiba."

"Well hello." Mizuki said, looking at the three. "I just ate, so I'm fine. We should just get started as soon as possible." Sasuke narrowed his eyes a little, but then got up and started to put the plates and cutlery in the sink.

"Whose turn is it to do the dishes?" He asked.

"Mine, sadly enough." Kiba said, as he stood. Neji took his hamburger from the plate (which only had two bites left), and then turned around to Mizuki.

"Something to drink then?" He asked, and he took a bite from his burger.

"A beer would be nice." Mizuki said and just sat down at the table. Sasuke looked at Neji for a while, then got his glass of milk and went to his own room. If he was gonna stay, he was sure he was gonna ruin another job for Neji.

Neji nodded as he finished his hamburger, while Naruto departed to his room as well. Neji walked to the refrigerator and took some beer out, and put it down in front of Mizuki and sat down across from him. Kiba took the leftovers from the table and started to do the dishes.

"So, you wanted to make an appointment for your new collection." Neji said, obviously going further on an earlier conversation.

"I wanted you to join because I'm sure my clothes will suit you 'very' well." Mizuki said, opened his beer and taking a sip.

"And why is that?" Neji asked. "I saw some of your designs, you specialize in underwear, don't you? I must say your designs look very professional."

"Thank you. Yes I think underwear is great. Especially when put on a hot body." Mizuki said and grinned at Neji.

Kiba frowned a little. Was it just him or was this guy flirting with Neji?

"...So what collection do you need me for?" Neji asked, after he had ignored the 'praise'. "Are you thinking of a fashion show or a photo shoot?"

"I think both. You're the perfect model to show off underwear. I already saw you have a nice little butt." Mizuki said.

Now Neji shot the other a glare.

"I would like to keep this conversation professional." He then said.

"Oh I am very professional right now. But come on, you have a nice ass. How about we go to your bedroom and I'll show you how 'professional' I can be hm." Mizuki said smirking.

"I'm serious Mizuki, stop talking like this." Neji said. "I'm not interested."

"Come on, it's just for fun. I heard you fuck a lot of fashion designers and other models." Mizuki said and licked his lips.

"I'm going for a relationship with someone else now, thank you." Neji bit out. It was that he really needed this job right now, Mizuki was a famous designer and Neji had heard he paid big bucks. But this behaviour.. "Let's just focus on the job now, please." Kiba let the water stream away in the sink, while he dried his hands. If this went worse, he would alert Sasuke, just to be sure. This guy seemed like one who could actually do things instead of just threatening Neji.

"Show me your walk then." Mizuki said, but by the look on his face, he didn't just want to see Neji walk.

Neji doubted for some seconds, before he got up and walked through the kitchen, showing Mizuki how he always did it on fashion shows. Kiba was acting like he had a lot to do in the kitchen now, as he started cleaning the cupboards and the cooking plates.

Mizuki now suddenly got up and pinned Neji between himself and the wall.

"Nice walk. You really like showing off that ass of yours." Mizuki said and let a hand rest on Neji's butt.

"Piss off." Neji snapped, as he pushed Mizuki's hand away. Kiba took his leave now, and walked to Sasuke's room. He knocked onto the door and then walked in, spotting Sasuke doing homework behind his computer.

"Hey, that Mizuki guy is getting a little bold." He then said, sounding a little worried.

Sasuke looked at Kiba and then got up and walked to the kitchen, seeing Mizuki grabbing Neji's ass and squeezing it. Sasuke cleared his throat, making both Mizuki as Neji look in his direction.

"Interesting job." He dryly said.

"Exactly what I thought." Neji snapped to Mizuki, once more trying to get those hands away. "Let go of me." The guy was just too damn strong.

"Dude, you should stay professional." Kiba said with a frown, as he walked to the refrigerator and pulled a beer out.

"This is how the modelling world works. Fuck off pissheads." Mizuki said to Kiba and Sasuke, keeping Neji pressed against the wall.

"It's not how it works. Let go of Neji." Sasuke said. He had to admit that this guy was intimidating. Especially since his own arm was in cast.

"It's not like because 'some' designers harass their models, that that's the way it should work jerk." Neji snapped, feeling himself becoming really angry when he felt that Mizuki squeezed his ass even further.

"Dude." Kiba said, frowning. "I think you should just leave now."

Sasuke just narrowed his eyes now and then walked to Mizuki, grabbing his arm and pulling him just slightly away from Neji. This guy was really tough to move.

"Just go home, we don't want you here." Sasuke said stern.

Mizuki send Sasuke a glare now.

"Mind your own business shrimp." He then said. "I could get you unconscious with just one hit. Don't you dare to stand in my way." While he let go of Neji with one arm, he gave Sasuke a shove which was hard enough to push him onto the ground.

"Now for you, you'd better sign the contract, and we'll make an appointment for the photo shoot." He said to Neji, lifting said person's head up by his chin, making him look at him. Neji just looked away, frowning in worry for Sasuke. Kiba glared at Mizuki, as he helped Sasuke up. How dare that jackass?

Sasuke, who had almost landed on his broken arm, let Kiba help him and then walked to Neji, pulling him away from Mizuki now instead.

"He's not going to sign anything and you are going." Sasuke snapped.

Mizuki just pulled Neji back and held him against his chest, putting his chin onto Neji's head with a smirk.

"What makes you think that?" He asked. "I warn you little boy, if you interfere any longer I'll find you some other day, when your arm is healed, to break it again. Let us do our work, and go back to your room. This is the hard side of the model life, you should not interrupt your friend's business like this. Do you have any idea what I could tell to other fashion designer about little Neji? No one would want him anymore if I published certain rumours about him."

"Fuck off." Sasuke snapped and pulled Neji back once more, glaring at Mizuki. He then wanted to pull Neji along and get out of the kitchen. This guy was seriously crossing a line.

But Mizuki once more pulled Neji back, and this time it was Neji who spoke.

"Mizuki please." He then said, frowning at the other. "Stop it."

"Then sign the paper." Mizuki told Neji as Sasuke kept glaring at Mizuki.

"He's not going to sign it." He snapped.

"Sasuke you're only making it worse." Kiba hissed to Sasuke now.

"I don't want to sign it if you treat me like this." Neji said, as he shook his head.

Sasuke looked at Kiba and then kept his mouth shut. He did continue to glare at Mizuki though.

"But if you don't sign it, I won't stop threatening." Mizuki told Neji.

Neji pulled his wrist loose.

"What will you do, stalk me forever?" He asked. "You don't have time for that."

"We'll see." Mizuki said. "Now sign the paper or find out how much more threatening I can do."

Neji shook his head now.

"I want you to leave Mizuki." He then said. He didn't want to admit it, but he actually felt a little scared now.

Mizuki glared at Neji for a while, then let go of him completely.

"Fine. But I will come back, you can be sure of that." He said.

"Good riddens." Sasuke muttered.

"And I won't only come back for you pretty, but also to beat up your loud mouthed friend." Mizuki said, as he grabbed his bag.

"Don't you dare hurt Sasuke." Neji snapped.

Sasuke glared back at Mizuki and then just walked to Neji.

"You just leave." He snapped to Mizuki.

Mizuki put his bag around his shoulders, and walked back to the two. He then grabbed Neji's ass firmly one more time and leaned in close.

"See you later, hot stuff." He whispered in his ear, and then he left the kitchen. Within a few seconds, they heard the door shut. It was silent in the kitchen for some time, before Kiba spoke up.

"Man, that dude is crazy." He said, frowning deeply.

"You are not going to work for him." Sasuke said to Neji. "Are you ok?" He then asked.

Neji nodded.

"I didn't expect something like this to happen." He then said. He shook his head. "...If I had been alone.."

"You weren't." Sasuke said. "So don't think about it."

"I know.. thanks for coming to help, both of you." Neji said, nodding to Sasuke and Kiba.

"That's fine Neji." Kiba said. "You know we won't leave you alone with a guy like that." He then left the room, obviously only having stayed in the room to make sure Neji was fine.

"Let's forget about that asshole." Sasuke said to Neji, putting a hand on Neji's hip and pulling him a little closer. "I think Kiba might know about us now."

"You think so?" Neji asked. "Because he went to get you?"

"Yeah." Sasuke said. "I mean, he could have interfered himself as well."

Neji nodded now.

"You're right." He then said. "Kiba is smarter then he seems."

"Yeah he is. Sometimes at least." Sasuke said grinning. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Hoping that he won't bother me anymore and search for another designer." Neji said.

"You'd better search for someone else." Sasuke said and then dragged Neji with him to his room.

Neji slightly frowned.

"Of course I will." He then said. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, I just don't want you hanging around on your own right now, but I need to do some homework." Sasuke said.

"Right." Neji said. "I think I'll just go out tonight with Sai or something."

"You're not going out tonight." Sasuke said. "He could be waiting for you somewhere or something."

"I highly doubt it, he has more to do then wait for me." Neji said. "And even if he is, he won't wait longer than an hour."

"I still don't want you to go out tonight. Especially not with 'Sai'." Sasuke said, sitting down on his bed and grabbing one of his textbooks.

"What's wrong with Sai?" Neji asked, frowning at Sasuke.

"He's stupid." Sasuke answered and started reading.

"It's not like Sai will try something with me or something." Neji said, pulling up an eyebrow. "He's not interested in stuff like that."

"He's still another fashion designer. He probably knows a lot of those assholes." Sasuke said, not looking up from his book.

"That doesn't mean he's friends with them." Neji said. "Would you look at me while we're talking?"

"I'm reading." Sasuke said, still not looking up. "And even if he's not friends with them, he knows them, works with them so whenever he is near you, so are they."

"They're no friends so they won't go out together." Neji said. He then turned around and left the room.

Sasuke threw his book on his bed and followed Neji.

"You're still not going because right now the last thing I have time for is worrying about you." Sasuke snapped.

Neji slightly rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to worry." He said, as he walked into his own room. "It will take up to three hours until I leave anyway. He'll be long gone after that."

"I don't care, he might be going out as well." Sasuke said. "You're not going." He then turned around and walked back into his own room.

Neji ignored Sasuke as he sat down onto his bed and text messaged Sai if he wanted to go out. It was sweet that Sasuke was so worried, but he had no need to.