Chapter 6

The next morning Itachi did his usual ritual of showering and preparing his stuff for school. Before going downstairs to eat breakfast with his family, he decided to wake Deidara. He pushed the door open softly, and walked over to the side of the bed.

Deidara was curled up on his side, the sheets reaching his hips, and revealing that he was only wearing his black boxer briefs. The rest of his clothes were tossed in a pile on the floor. His hair was all loose and messy, sprawled on the dark sheets. He was even more beautiful shirtless than Itachi could have imagined. He had already seen the tattoo of the word "metal" in gothic letters, but what he hadn't known was that Deidara also had a nipple piercing on the left side. Itachi decided it looked hot.

What troubled him were Deidara's arms, of course. This was definitely worst than what he had imagined. He frowned as he looked more closely at his bare arms. The insides were covered with cuts, literally. There wasn't much sane skin left there… At that moment, Itachi decided he would get him to stop, no matter what.

But now wasn't a good time. So he grabbed the sheets and pulled them all the way up to Deidara's shoulders, his fingers brushing his soft skin in the process. After that he shook him softly to wake him up, and pulled away. Sleepy blue eyes opened and immediately glanced around in confusion. But then his eyes met Itachi's and he seemed to remember where he was.

"Hey," he whispered in a sleepy voice.

"Hey, did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," he answered, and then frowned slightly, as if he was surprised, "Yeah actually I did…"

"What," Itachi said teasingly, "shocked you didn't make any nightmares after all?"

But Deidara was serious as he answered. "I guess, yeah, you could say that."

"Okay, um, cool." He chuckled, "I guess I'll let you get dressed."

He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He definitely needed to get Deidara to open up more.

When Deidara was ready they made their way downstairs, and to the dining room. Sasuke and Naruto looked like zombies as they ate their cereals. Minato was sitting at the table, but he was twisting his body to be able to watch the news on the television in the other room as he drank his coffee. Mikoto was eating some kind of mixture of cereals, yogurt and fruits.

"Good morning," she smiled when she saw them.

"Hey," Itachi smiled back.

"Deidara! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, his face suddenly looking a little less like a zombie.

Deidara scratched his hair nervously. "Well…"

But Sasuke answered for him, actually. "Don't ask stupid questions Naruto, he's here cause my brother invited him obviously."

"Shut up bastard…" Naruto said tiredly.

Clearly he didn't have enough energy to argue properly.

"What time did you two get back home, anyway?" Itachi asked.

"Like 3 am…" Sasuke sighed.

"Oh, wow, on a school night, really," Mikoto shook her head in disbelief.

"What do you wanna eat?" Itachi turned to ask Deidara.

"I don't know…"

Itachi went to the kitchen and the blonde followed him, hands in his pockets, looking uncomfortable. Again, damn it…

Suddenly Itachi turned around and grabbed his wrists, pulling his hands out of his pockets.

"Stop being so nervous all the time."

"I'm not nervous," Deidara muttered, stepping back.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not," he insisted, putting his hands back in his pockets and looking down.

"You're not helping your case right now," Itachi said. "You know what? Next time I see you, and that will be soon, I swear, I won't let you ignore me for weeks like last time, anyway, next time I'll give you a massage. It's decided."

"What?" Deidara laughed, surprised.

"You heard me. Anyway… do you want some coffee?"

"Uh… sure."

Minato always made more coffee than necessary, even though he was the only one who drank it. Well for once it was useful. He poured it in a mug and gave it to Deidara.

"There's milk, cream or sugar if you want…"

"No it's fine just like that," Deidara shrugged.

"All right…"

He opened the fridge and the cupboard, but nothing really appealed to him. Glancing back at the dining table he saw that Sasuke had finished his favorite cereals. Childish thought, really – which is why he didn't share it with Deidara.

"I think I'll just buy something to eat at the cafeteria later…" He said instead.

Mikoto walked across the kitchen to rinse her bowl and put it in the dishwasher, smiling at them.

"You know Deidara, I'm so glad Itachi finally made a friend…"

Itachi face palmed. "Mom please. I'm not twelve."

Deidara laughed lightly. Well at least it was good to see him smile like that, even if it was at his expanse.

"It's true!" She continued, crossing her arms and leaning back onto the kitchen counter. "You were always so lonely… Friends are very important. Even Sasuke has some friends!"

"They're Naruto's friends," Itachi corrected, "And he thinks they're all idiots."

At the same instant Sasuke walked in the kitchen, saying, "That's because they are all idiots."

"See?" Itachi looked at his mother.

She shook her head in disbelief, "You boys are so antisocial... Just like your father was…" She sighed, and then brushed it off. "Anyway, I have to go to work, and you guys have to go to school! Do keep up your good grades, will you?"

Everyone left at pretty much the same time after that, Naruto and Sasuke by foot to meet up with some friends who lived down the street, and take the bus to school together, Minato and Mikoto in their respective cars, and finally, Itachi and Deidara in the black Honda accord.

"Your family's awesome," Deidara smiled at him.

"It's a little dysfunctional sometimes."

"I'm not an expert but, compared to my family, if you can call it a family, and to Konan's, your family really is great."

"Thanks I guess."

As usual, Deidara turned on the radio, but he lowered the volume a little so they could talk.

"How was he…your father?" Deidara looked at his wrist, more precisely his watch, Itachi supposed.

"He died when I was six, actually," he shrugged, eyes looking at the road.

"How?"

"He was on a business trip and… his plane crashed. I'm a little um… nervous, because of that, every time my parents or the whole family take the plane… I mean I know it's silly, plane crashes are very rare but, I guess I can't help it."

"Yeah that's not your fault," Deidara said softly, "It's totally normal. And, well, do you remember him a little?"

"From what I remember, he was very strict. Growing up with him would've definitely been different than with just my mother, and later with Minato. But there were moments when he showed me that he was proud of me. They were rare but, all the more precious, you know?"

Deidara nodded, smiling sadly.

"What about your father?" The raven asked, "You said you haven't seen him in a while… why is that?"

He glanced out the window, and then he brushed his bangs behind his ears in annoyance.

"He wasn't… uh…" He started fumbling with his ear piercings nervously, "He wasn't a really good father, actually." He squeezed his eyes shut, seemingly trying to calm himself. Then he opened them and glanced back at Itachi. "I'm sorry, it's just that, I never talk about him."

"More like," Itachi replied softly, "you never talk about anything, to anyone, am I right?"

"…Yeah," he admitted.

"You can talk to me." Itachi said simply. When Deidara didn't reply, he added, "Another time. We'll add it to the list. I'll teach you how to drive a manual, and also I'll give you a massage, and then we'll talk."

Deidara smiled as he glanced at him sideways. When Itachi stopped his car in front of his apartment, he looked back at him questioningly.

"What is it?"

The younger male shook his head slightly, a smile lingering on his lips. "How come a guy like you is single?"

He glanced away, chuckled, and looked back at the blonde. "Well… believe it or not, it's by choice."

"I believe you. You could have anyone, Itachi," he said sincerely.

"Well, I happen to not want just anyone, Deidara."

At those words the teen frowned, and he was about to open the car door to leave, when Itachi touched his arm softly.

"Wait. Promise me, when I call you, you'll answer?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I will."

"Good. Cause if you don't I'll just drive here. You're screwed," he shrugged, "I know where you live."

He laughed lightly. "Bye, see you soon then."

"Take care of yourself!" He said, and then watched him walk away.

…

Five days later, on Tuesday morning, Deidara frowned when he was woken up by his cell phone vibrating loudly on his bedside table. He didn't want to wake up… He was still so tired. Work had been rough that week, and he wanted to make the most of his two days off – as in sleeping. Konan was constantly giving him shit. She was frustrated by how their relationship had ended, and not only was she giving him shit at work, but also she kept calling him…

Not only that, but also, Sasori had started flirting with him quite intensely. It was getting on his nerves. So, certain that it was either one of them calling him, he didn't answer. He rolled around in his small bed and tried to find sleep again. But only a few seconds after his cell had stopped vibrating, his blue eyes snapped open, and he turned around again. He picked up his cell and checked his missed calls. What if it was Itachi?

It was him.

Wasn't he at school?

Deidara called him back immediately.

"Hi," Itachi's low, sexy voice said. "Felt guilty for not respecting your promise?"

"I'm sorry, you woke me up, and I thought it was the other two annoying idiots…"

"Two annoying idiots?"

"Never mind. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he laughed, "you really apologize too much. You called back so…"

"But don't you have a class this morning?"

"Yeah but I'm in my break right now, and my afternoon class is cancelled, actually. Well I decided it was cancelled."

"You're gonna skip?" Deidara laughed. "Your mother wouldn't be too happy about that."

"But she doesn't know. Besides, it's a review class before the exam, and I don't need it. I'm more skilled than the teacher in that class."

"Well aren't you modest?" Deidara teased.

"Very. So what are you doing for your day off?"

"Well…" He hesitated.

"What, you're trying to find a lame excuse again? You have drawings to do for inexistent customers? Stories to write for inexistent readers?"

"Now you're just being mean." Deidara said, but he wasn't angry. He knew Itachi wanted him to actually have his own customers at the store, and to read his stories.

"Let me make it up to you then. How about spending the day with me? I'll treat you to dinner."

"You don't have to. I'm not that poor…"

"I'll think about it. So my class ends at noon. Can I meet you at your apartment?"

"Yeah sure I'll meet you outside."

"You really don't want me to see your apartment, do you?"

"No."

Itachi chuckled in the phone, "Whatever I have to go back. See ya later."

"Yeah, have fun in class."

After they hung up Deidara forced himself out of bed. He took a long shower, and then returned to his terribly messy bedroom to choose his clothes. He picked up blue skinny jeans and a Metallica t-shirt, with that he wore his grey converse, a silver spiked belt, black arm warmers and his small black hoodie. He brushed his hair quickly, and lazily pulled it back in a folded ponytail.

He almost jumped when his cell phone started vibrating again. He hurried to answer it, thinking that it was probably Itachi again.

It was Sasori. Damn it.

"You finally answered your cell!" Sasori exclaimed.

Unfortunately, Deidara thought.

"Yeah sorry hum, yesterday I was sleeping like, the whole day…"

It wasn't even a lie…

"It's okay, I forgive you. But I wanted to know, do you wanna do something tonight? We could go see a movie... or something."

"I'm sorry I can't today…"

"Why not?"

"I just can't."

"Hum… okay. What about tomorrow, after work?" Sasori asked.

"I don't think so…"

He needed to find a way to hang up…

"Jeez Deidara you never want to do anything!"

"I know, I'm sorry… I'm just boring and antisocial."

Deal with it, he mentally added, but didn't say it.

"But here's something you just gotta come to," Sasori continued, "On Saturday we decided to go out at the usual club, the whole gang's going, even Yahiko. And Konan doesn't mind if you tag along. She said she'd be polite. Anyway, you'll be there right? You told me you loved the music they play on Saturday nights."

"Yeah sure I'll go."

If the whole gang was there, at least he wouldn't be alone with Sasori. Maybe he could even invite Itachi…

"I knew it," Sasori chuckled. "So what are you doing today?"

"Nothing hum… I don't know but I'm sorry I gotta go… I'm out of minutes with my cell. Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow, bye."

He hung up. Finally…

While waiting for Itachi, he applied some black eyeliner, looking at his face in the bathroom mirror until he was satisfied. And then he randomly decided to put on some black nail polish, too. So what if he looked gay and emo? If Itachi didn't like it, he would've stopped seeing him a while ago.

When he was finished he checked the time; 11:55. He picked up his keys, wallet and cell phone, shoved it all in his hoodie pockets, and went to wait for Itachi outside as usual.

But then he had an idea, and he returned inside to pick up his IPod as well. Radio just sucked sometimes, and maybe Itachi wouldn't mind if they listened to his music in the car.

After that he only had to wait five minutes before Itachi parked right in front of him in the street.

"You wanna go shopping?" Itachi asked as soon as he was seated.

"Uh, no, why?" He said just to tease him. He didn't mind, really… as long as he got to spend time with the sexy raven.

"I decided we're going anyway."

"Okay…" He chuckled. Apparently he didn't have a say in this.

Itachi started driving. "I wanna teach you how to drive manual but, I'd rather do it late at night, when the streets are empty, you know? So for this afternoon I thought, why not go shopping downtown? I need a few things, anyway…"

Deidara shrugged and put on his music, and as he expected Itachi had no objection.

The twenty minutes drive was spent mostly with Deidara commenting on his favorite bands and songs, and Itachi seemed interested. If he really didn't like it, Deidara just changed songs. With the impressive amount of music in his IPod, he could easily find something they both liked.

Itachi chose the biggest mall in town. At first they just walked around, not really stopping anywhere. The place was huge; Deidara was looking everywhere, since he hadn't been here in a while. He stopped when they walked in front of a medieval store. He just loved going in those kinds of stores. Not that it would be his style to buy clothes like that, but he still found it cool.

"Do you wanna go in there?" Itachi asked, amused.

"Yeah," he smiled.

They looked at the clothes briefly, then moved further in the store to check out the accessories – swords, decorations, and some jewellery, too. Deidara liked the metallic chain necklaces, with skulls, or sword pendants, but they were expensive and he didn't want to spend so much for a necklace.

"I bought a sword like that for Sasuke's birthday last year," Itachi suddenly said, pointing his hand towards the most expensive katana on the wall.

"Ah, yeah, I saw it in his room when you showed me around," Deidara nodded.

"And I also have," Itachi continued, "one of those…" He pointed at the fancy medieval outfits, the ones used for theme weddings, Deidara supposed.

"Did you ever wear it?" He asked, curious.

Itachi made a little smile. "Yeah, for prom."

"Really?"

"Yeah, my class decided to do a special theme."

"Did you go with a girl?" Deidara asked as he looked at the clothes and touched the soft fabric.

"Yeah."

"Was she your girlfriend?"

"No. She wanted to go with me because I was popular," he shrugged, "I agreed mostly for appearances. My mom was happy, you know, she got her cliché pictures…"

Deidara nodded slowly, and returned to the stand with the necklaces.

"Do you want one?" Itachi asked.

"No."

"You keep looking at them."

The sales woman chose this moment to come talk to them, all smiles, and embarrassing Deidara further.

"Would you like to try one on?"

Deidara was about to decline, but Itachi said, "Yeah, sure, this one."

He pointed at the one with a sword pendant with a tiny light blue gem at the hilt. The young woman nodded and gave it to him, but Itachi placed himself behind Deidara to tie it around his neck. Deidara blushed. And it felt so good when Itachi brushed his hand against his neck to place his hair over his shoulder.

"Do you like it?" Itachi asked him, turning him towards the mirror.

"Yeah, but…"

"We'll take it," Itachi told the young woman.

He kept it around his neck while Itachi paid. When they walked out of the store he was still blushing madly.

"Why'd you buy it?"

"Cause I felt like it," Itachi replied casually.

"Thank you…" He said shyly. "But since you bought me this you don't have to treat me to dinner. I'll pay for myself at least."

"We'll see…"

"Itachi!" he whined.

The raven gave him an innocent look, "What?"

He didn't reply. After that Itachi went to a sports store, looking out at some of the new stock, mostly shoes and accessories. But he didn't even buy anything; it seemed he'd really just wanted to take a quick look.

After that Deidara's eyes landed on the music store, and he immediately started walking in its direction, attracted to it like a magnet. Itachi laughed, unsurprised.

Much like Itachi had done in the sports store, Deidara just looked at the new record releases – metal section of course – without the intention of buying anything. Well sometimes he felt old school, and liked to buy records of his favorite bands, but most of the time he downloaded his music. This time it was Itachi's turn to pretty much just follow him around.

Next they went to a pretty cool clothing store – in Deidara's opinion anyway. They had so many great band t-shirts, punk-ish clothes for teenagers and random fun accessories. He set his eyes on a belt with piano notes all around it. He just picked it up to look at it, and immediately Itachi was beside him.

"You like it?"

"Yeah it's pretty cool," the blonde smiled.

Playfully Itachi stole it from him and went at the cash counter.

"Itachi! Stop it…" Deidara whined as he followed him. "It's too expensive..."

But the girl behind the cash register was already doing the transaction. Actually Deidara knew her. She was easy to recognize; one side of her hair was shaved off, a lot of piercings, and she was a regular customer at Silver.

"Hey," she smiled, "what's up Deidara?" She asked while Itachi was paying.

"Day off," he shrugged, "You? Coming for a new piercing soon?"

She leaned forward on the counter. "Actually I was thinking of getting a tattoo, a rose, right here," she indicated her left breast.

"That would be really nice," Deidara said sincerely.

Itachi stepped in, "Deidara's a tattoo artist now."

"Really?" She exclaimed, "That's great!"

"Yeah he did mine," Itachi took off his jacket and lifted his short sleeve to show her.

"It's really nice!" She nodded appreciatively as she looked at his arm. She glanced back at Deidara. "I'll come by tomorrow. You work on Wednesdays, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Maybe you have some time for my tattoo?"

"Sure!" He smiled, "I have plenty of designs with roses ready…"

"I'll see you tomorrow then!" She smiled back.

"All right, cool!"

They walked out of the store, and Deidara took the black plastic bag from Itachi.

"At least I'll hold it… Damn it! Why did you buy me something again?"

"I feel like spoiling you a little, is that a crime?" Itachi smiled, "Besides, now I got you a new customer!"

"Yeah… Thanks," he said.

"No problem. And don't be embarrassed because I bought you stuff. I mean, what's your salary?"

"Uh… minimum wage."

"My point exactly. My family's practically rich Dei, and I still live with my parents. So it's my pleasure, all right?"

Deidara said nothing. He just followed Itachi as he walked towards a pricy clothing store for men.

They continued shopping – well Itachi continued shopping, Deidara was afraid that if he so much as looked at something Itachi would instantly buy it for him – and the raven ended up buying a nice navy button down shirt.

"Did you need that for a special event or…?" Deidara asked as they continued walking around the mall.

"No, but my old ones are a little too tight. You know, I was just as skinny as you before I starting training," he added teasingly.

"I'm not that skinny…" he muttered.

They spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the mall, making small talk and commenting on the different stores. Soon, they started getting hungry since they'd both skipped lunch. There were actually a couple of nice restaurants in the mall, but since Deidara didn't know them, Itachi chose where to go. His choice was a fancy French restaurant; Deidara could tell it would be expensive as soon as they stepped in.

They followed the waitress to one of the last booths in the back, and with the dim lights, soft jazz music playing, and elegant decoration, Deidara felt like this was a romantic dinner. It made him feel nervous.

The waitress asked them if they wanted something to drink, and Itachi ordered a half litre of their best red wine. When she was gone he turned to Deidara.

"Are you gonna tell me you never tasted wine either?"

He glanced away and chuckled nervously. "Look, the only thing I did taste is a popper. Konan insisted, at a party… And it was blue, and it was disgusting and made me feel sick."

Itachi's dark eyes widened. "It sure isn't the best thing to drink. But don't tell me you decided not to drink just because of that?"

"No," he whispered, "there's another reason…"

"Can I ask what it is?"

Deidara hesitated for a few moments, and the waitress came back with the wine. She poured it in two cups, and then she saw that they hadn't opened their menus yet, so she said she would come back in a few minutes.

Deidara had never talked about this to anyone. But he decided it wouldn't hurt to just tell Itachi a little. He didn't need to go into details.

"My father was an alcoholic…" He said in a low voice. "Probably still is…"

"Oh… that sucks." Itachi said, "But hey, that doesn't mean you'll become one too. There's nothing wrong with drinking once in a while, the important thing is not to get addicted to it. Like pretty much every other bad habit in life, anyway…"

Deidara made a little smile, and nodded. Itachi raised his glass hesitantly. The blonde rolled his eyes and raised his glass as well.

"Let's drink to hum…" Itachi hesitated, "our… friendship I guess. Corny, huh?"

"Yeah. Your mom would be so proud."

"I know."

They laughed and took a few sips of wine. When Deidara put his cup down and looked back at Itachi, he saw that he was looking at him expectantly.

"It's not bad," Deidara admitted.

The rest of the meal was very nice. Again, they pretty much made small talk. Itachi ate the filet mignon, and Deidara the seafood linguini.

It was good, but way too much, and Deidara didn't finish his meal. He drank his share of wine, though, and it was making him a little bit light-headed since he wasn't used to it.

When they were finished the waitress asked if they wanted one or two bills.

"One, please," Itachi answered.

Deidara put his hand down on the table. "No, two separate bills please," he said.

But Itachi took this opportunity to put his hand on Deidara and squeeze gently. "Just one," he insisted.

The waitress smiled fondly and nodded, before walking away.

The wine not helping, Deidara felt his face heat up intensely. He pulled his hand away and hid his face in it.

"Why'd you do that?"

"I told you before," he shrugged and smiled, "it makes me happy all right?"

Deidara meant the fact that Itachi had taken his hand, not that he was paying for the meal, but he didn't reply.

Later, while they were driving back towards Deidara's place, listening to his IPod again, Itachi suddenly glanced sideways at him with a mischievous smile.

"What?" He asked, a little scared.

"Just wondering if you're ready to learn to drive a manual."

"Oh God…" Deidara face palmed.