Chapter 8

When he was woken up by his cell alarm at 8 am, Deidara felt like crying. He was so damn tired… He hadn't slept so well – as usual.

His dreams had been haunted by images of his father beating him up and insulting him this time. Maybe actually telling the whole story to Itachi would help. But at the same time he wasn't so sure it was such a good idea. Deidara didn't want to turn into some whiny emo boy always complaining to Itachi about his tragic life. That would really suck.

He decided to text him, "I have to get up… I hate my life."

Itachi's reply came a few seconds later. "And I'm probably gonna stay in bed til noon."

"Bastard." Deidara answered. But of course a silly smile was spread on his lips. He was forgetting all about his nightmares just thinking about Itachi.

"Come on I know you can do it. Think about all the people coming to see you for a tattoo!"

"I wish…"

"You know what I just decided something. I'll make you a website."

Deidara frowned slightly as he re-read Itachi's text. He replied, "Why?"

"To promote you as a tattoo artist of course."

"I don't know… what if they just steal my designs?"

"I'll come see you at work this afternoon so we can talk about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah sure. Now get up and stop texting me I wanna go back to sleep."

"You're still a bastard."

Itachi didn't reply after that. Deidara growled as he finally managed to get out of bed and stumble his way to the bathroom to take a shower. Itachi was so lucky… he wanted to go back to sleep too damn it. Oh well, at least now he had something to look forward to during his day at work… He bit his lip to repress a smile… Itachi was gonna come see him at work. How come that simple thought made him so happy yet kinda nervous?

After his shower he quickly got dressed in dark skinny jeans, blue tank top, with his black arm warmers of course, and also the necklace and belt Itachi had bought him. He put on his black hoodie, tied his hair, picked up cell, keys, wallet and IPod, and stormed out of his apartment. He selected Nothing else matters by Metallica on his IPod as he walked towards the bus stop, because it reminded him of when Itachi had given him a massage…

He shivered in the cold and foggy November morning, wishing the bus would arrive already. Suddenly he noticed a guy with red hair walking towards the bus stop. It was Sasori. Weird…

Deidara frowned and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Sasori lived a good thirty minutes away, by foot. They had taken the same night bus back home but during the day Sasori could just step out of his apartment building and there was a bus stop right there.

"I decided to walk to take the same bus as you," Sasori explained simply.

Well that was creepy; not only they had seen each other almost all week long at work, but also they'd just spend last night together. Wasn't that more than enough?

Deidara went into quiet antisocial mode with his IPod bursting in his ears. But Sasori didn't quite get the message; he kept clinging to him in the bus, while walking up to the store, and also in the store while working – except when he had customers thankfully. Anyway, it was starting to really get on Deidara's nerves. His flirting was getting a little too intense…

…

Naruto had spontaneously decided he wanted a new piercing in his ear, more precisely a rook piercing. So the blonde teen was tagging along, with Sasuke of course because they couldn't spend even a mere few hours apart. The two boys sat in the back seat of Itachi's car, as he drove toward Deidara's store. This time he explored the streets around it a little, trying to find a free parking spot. It wasn't easy, but eventually he managed, squeezing his car in between two vans in a small street. Itachi turned his head and realized his little brother was making out with Naruto. He rolled his eyes.

"Guys. Seriously."

They pulled away and Naruto casually exclaimed, "Oh we're here! Sweet, I'm getting a new piercing!"

The three males walked on the sidewalk, Naruto and Sasuke leading, and Itachi behind them, hands shoved in his trench coat's pockets and a warm, black scarf tightly wrapped around his neck. It was snowing a little, and the sky was already getting dark. Then again, it hadn't been sunny at all that day. November really was a crappy month, Itachi thought.

When they walked in the store Yahiko was alone behind the counter. He did look a little worn out, just as Deidara and Sasori had predicted last night.

"Oh, hi guys!" He smiled happily nonetheless.

"Hey man what's up?" Naruto smiled back, "I wanna get a rook piercing. Right here," he pointed at the top of his left ear.

The red-head chuckled. "All right! Just fill this up as usual…" He handed Naruto the form.

"Hey, Yahiko, um, I needed to talk to Deidara, actually," Itachi said hesitantly. "Is he here?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, he's in the back store I think. You can go I don't mind."

Itachi thanked him and made his way to the back door, not without noticing Sasuke's mocking glance.

He pushed the door opened, and stepped in a small hallway. There was a bathroom and the employees' room was just a little further. He could hear voices coming from it as he approached slowly.

"…I can't be with a guy anyway!" Deidara's voice said.

"But Konan told me you were gay! She said that's why you guys broke up!" Sasori replied on an insisting tone.

Itachi frowned as he stood near the closed door. He was conflicted; he wanted to stop this right now but at the same time, he couldn't help being curious...

"I don't want a relationship anyway, so don't lose your time!"

"Who said anything about a relationship?" Sasori's voice became urgent. "I just want you… so bad…"

"Don't touch me!" Deidara sounded panicked. "Don't! Stop!"

Itachi burst in the room; he'd heard enough. "What the hell's going on here?"

Sasori stopped his movements to glare at the newcomer, but he was still pinning Deidara to the wall, his thigh forced in between the small blonde's legs. Poor guy was totally freaking out.

"Get off him!" Itachi quickly grabbed Sasori's shoulder and yanked him away roughly.

Deidara was breathing hard, and looked like he was hyperventilating or something. Itachi frowned, worried. But before he could say anything, Sasori snorted.

"Okay fine, I'm sorry! Jeez Dei stop dressing like a whore if you don't want this to happen…"

What a lame excuse; Deidara was dressed in skinny jeans and a tank top. Besides, his black hoodie was thrown on the floor, so Itachi suspected Sasori had forced him to take it off.

"Just get the hell out!" He shouted angrily at the red-head.

Sasori was fuming, but apparently Itachi was intimidating enough, because he stormed out of the room the next instant.

The raven hurried to Deidara's side. The latter was still kinda shaky, blue eyes frightened, hugging himself. Itachi carefully wrapped his arms around him, and Deidara broke down. He pressed himself against Itachi, barely standing, and they held each other tight. Deidara buried his face in his chest, quiet sobs racking his body. Itachi rubbed his back soothingly, and caressed his messy blonde hair. The younger male eventually calmed down a little.

They pulled away slowly and Deidara looked up, "Sorry… I really thought…" he took a deep breath, "I thought he was gonna…" He couldn't finish, but Itachi had a pretty good idea what he was trying to say. And he felt like punching Sasori's brains out right now.

He kept a comforting hand on Deidara's arm, while leading him to the table. They sat and Deidara rested his head in his hands.

"He was really intense all day…" he whispered. Itachi moved his chair closer. "But I didn't think…" Deidara's voice broke. "I didn't think he'd actually try to…"

"Deidara," Itachi sighed, "this is sexual harassment. You need to tell Yahiko about this as soon as possible, and he'll have no choice but to fire him."

"You think?" Deidara asked in a little voice, turning his head slightly to glance at him.

"Yeah."

"You… you really had good timing there…" He chuckled sadly, "And I cried in front of you again. Just great."

The raven sighed, and shook his head in disbelief. "Damn it, Deidara what the hell? I really don't care." As if to prove his point he wrapped his arms around him again, and held him tight.

Deidara returned the hug this time, and they stayed like this for a few seconds. It felt so right to be holding him and Itachi wanted to stay like this forever, but eventually Deidara was calmer so they decided to return to the store. Itachi picked up his hoodie on the way.

"Thanks," Deidara whispered as he took it and put it on.

When they passed Sasori, who was now busy with a customer at his tattoo station, Deidara tensed, and Itachi shifted closer to him protectively. Sasori just glared.

"So what took you so long?" Sasuke asked in a mocking tone. But then he met Itachi's eyes and his expression changed. He immediately knew something was off. He changed the subject quickly, "Um, Naruto's done with his piercing so…"

"Look!" Naruto pulled at his hair to show his ear, which was red, a little swollen, with a new piercing in the cartilage and a little spot of dried blood around it.

"Very sexy," Itachi said.

"Maybe not now," Naruto admitted, "but when it heals it'll be sexy. And I always heal super fast so…" He shrugged.

"That's great and all but… I think we should go," Itachi said. "Yahiko, Deidara's not feeling well, so I'll bring him back home, is that okay?"

Yahiko glanced at the blonde, and nodded. "Sure, no problem."

"Thanks," Deidara muttered and led the way out. Itachi guessed he wanted to be away from Sasori as soon as possible.

So the four of them left, and started walking outside, Naruto and Sasuke leading the way and Itachi and Deidara a little further behind.

"I'm gonna tell Yahiko on Wednesday. It's Sasori's day off, so…" Deidara glanced down, shivering.

Itachi took off his scarf and wrapped it around Deidara's neck instead. The nineteen year old glanced at him sideways with a weak smile.

"You know you're gonna die of hypothermia if you only wear this the whole winter," Itachi said half-teasing, tugging at the thin black hoodie sleeve.

Deidara chuckled, but didn't reply. He breathed in the scent of Itachi's scarf. This made the raven smile. But his smile disappeared when he glanced around and finally noticed they were walking in the wrong direction.

"Hum, guys?"

Sasuke and Naruto turned around, chuckling.

"We were wondering when you were gonna notice," Naruto said.

"Very funny," Itachi said sarcastically.

"What is it…?" Deidara asked, confused.

"My car's kinda the other way…"

"We don't feel like going home just yet," Sasuke shrugged. "Besides, Deidara, if you're not feeling well, you can hang out with us a little. It's better than going back home alone, no?"

Deidara simply nodded, part of his face hidden in the scarf.

"All right… but it's kinda cold to just hang out outside," Itachi said, "Where do you guys wanna go?"

"Right there," Naruto pointed not too far across the street, and Itachi rolled his eyes.

Naruto indicated a restaurant with their own brewery, and their beer was excellent of course. But there was another reason why Naruto liked the place so much; they never carded anyone.

It was only a minute walk away, so they continued at a rather fast pace.

"You should call mom to tell her we won't make it for dinner," Itachi told Sasuke.

"You call her."

"Hey you're the one who doesn't feel like going back home," Itachi replied.

"Fine…" Sasuke gave in, dialling the number on his cell.

After his brief – and rather angry on Mikoto's part – conversation on the phone, they entered the restaurant. It was more like a pub, really. They played dance music, with televisions in the corners showing the videos, and there was a large round bar counter in the middle where people could sit and drink. But there were also tables for people who wanted to eat.

So they followed the waiter to a table by the window giving on the busy street with all its traffic and people walking quickly. They sat on the comfortable benches, Itachi next to Deidara and in front of his brother. They got rid of their extra clothing, Naruto revealing an orange t-shirt, Sasuke a striped black and blue one, and Itachi a long sleeve navy blue shirt. Only Deidara kept his hoodie, but he took off the scarf, putting it aside on the bench with Itachi's coat.

They started by ordering a pitcher of the home made golden ale beer.

"Can I see your new piercing?" Deidara asked Naruto while they waited.

"Sure!" He turned his head to the side to show him his left ear.

"Cool," Deidara smiled, "it's just like mine." He also showed his left ear, where he indeed had the same piercing as Naruto, plus several others of course.

"Are you gonna encourage my brother to get piercings?" Sasuke asked Deidara, amused.

Deidara turned to look at Itachi, thoughtful. "Maybe. We'll see."

"I don't think so," Itachi chuckled, "I like piercings on you, but yeah on me it would look weird."

Deidara made a little smile when he mentioned that he liked his piercings. Then he said, "I think you'd look hot."

Itachi just smiled. After that the waiter arrived with their beer, and poured it in four glasses. He gave them more time to choose their food. Naruto decided they should make a toast to his new piercing, so they did, as if it actually was an important event that needed to be celebrated.

They ended up having a lot of fun. They ordered some all dressed pizza for everyone to share, but mostly they were content just drinking the delicious beer. Even Deidara was drinking quite fast. But Itachi was glad, because he was smiling and laughing with the others, and he seemed relaxed and happy for once.

While they drank their third pitcher of beer – the food was already finished – Naruto was rambling on about some anecdotes from school.

"Girls are always talking about prom! It's so annoying. And you know what? Some girls keep asking Sasuke if he wants to go with them! I mean we've been together what now, like two years?" Naruto said, glancing sideways at his boyfriend. "Anyway," he continued when he got no answer, "Sakura and Ino are the worst man! They ask him every freakin' day! They bring him flowers to school, and love letters! I mean who does that? To a gay dude who's already in a relationship at that!" He shook his head, annoyed at the mere thought of those girls apparently.

Deidara laughed. "Yeah I remember those girls in high school. I think they're like ten years old and already thinking about what dress they'll wear to prom."

"They're insane," Naruto agreed, "So what about you, did you go to your prom?"

"Nope," Deidara drank some more beer. Itachi was starting to get worried. Maybe he'd had enough already.

"I'm sure you didn't miss anything," Sasuke said, "Honestly, I wouldn't go, but Naruto wants to go, and my mom and Minato want me to go… and the whole school… so yeah."

"Sasuke's popular but he pretends he hates it," Naruto explained.

"You're openly gay and you're still popular?" Deidara asked, surprised.

"Yeah well there're some haters, can't be helped but…" Sasuke shrugged, "It's not so bad. It's thanks to our friends, really, they're idiots but I gotta give it to them… they've always been supportive."

Deidara nodded, looking out the window. Itachi wondered what he was thinking about. When he brought his glass to his lips again, Itachi put his hand on his arm softly.

"Maybe you should slow down…"

Deidara raised a delicate blonde eyebrow, "You're the one who told me having a couple drinks was fine…"

"Yeah Itachi," Naruto said, but he seemed quite drunk himself, "don't be a buzz kill man."

"You heard him," Deidara said and he chugged down the rest of his beer.

Itachi face palmed.

Fifteen minutes later they were walking back to the car. Itachi had paid for the meal, and since it was getting late they had left right away. They were all a little tired – in Naruto and Deidara's case, they were also drunk.

At sixteen years old, Naruto was already used to drinking. It was nothing to be proud of, Itachi thought, but at least he knew his limits, and he held his ground, walking straight enough. Deidara… not so much. He was stumbling more than walking, and Itachi had to keep a firm arm around his waist to help him. Also the blonde didn't really feel the cold anymore, and the scarf was loosely around his neck, his hoodie unzipped. He was smiling and leaning on Itachi, a lot more clingy and 'friendly' than usual.

Itachi would've been lying if he said that he didn't enjoy this at all. It was great to see Deidara relaxed like that; he only hoped he wouldn't be too much of an emotional wreck later. Alcohol could be tricky, especially for first time drinkers.

First he drove Sasuke and Naruto back home. When these two had gotten out of the car, he lowered his window to talk to Sasuke. Naruto was clinging to him, obviously even hornier than normal. Sasuke was pushing him away, trying to concentrate on what Itachi was saying.

"Just tell mom I might sleep at Deidara's place, all right? I just don't want her to worry."

"All right," Sasuke nodded. "You two take care."

"Yeah, night," Itachi said before driving away.

After a moment, Deidara turned to him and said, "Hey we didn't end up talking about the website."

"We can talk about it another time."

"Was it just an excuse to see me?" The blonde teased.

"Yes and no," Itachi answered, smiling, "I really do want to make you a website."

"…Why are you being so nice to me?"

The raven glanced at him, "Why do you think?"

Deidara blushed and glanced away. "Hey not cool… you like… answered my question with a question…"

Itachi said nothing. When they arrived to Deidara's apartment building he stopped the car and got out to help him walk and make sure he was okay. He seemed extremely tired and the alcohol in his system probably wasn't helping. So they went inside and Itachi helped him all the way to his bed.

But Deidara sat up and looked at him. "You wanna stay a little?"

Something in the tone of his voice revealed that he was afraid to be alone. And the fact that he longed for Itachi's presence made him happy, because he longed for his just as much; of course he wanted to stay.

"Sure."

He took off his coat and threw it on the back of the chair, and then he sat on the bed with Deidara.

"What do you wanna do?" The blonde asked him shyly. It seemed the alcohol hadn't changed him that much after all.

"I don't know," Itachi shrugged, "we could watch a movie like last time but you're just gonna fall asleep…"

"No," Deidara said defensively, "I'm not that tired. You can choose one…"

Itachi nodded, amused, and got up to look at his impressive collection of movies; mostly comedies, as expected, but also a couple action movies. He picked one up and showed his choice to Deidara.

"I've heard this one was good."

By 'heard' he meant Sasuke had told him it was good.

Deidara looked offended. "You've never seen Inglorious Bastards?"

"No."

"Well of course it's good! It's fuckin' brilliant."

He brought his laptop on the bed and started the movie. They sat really close to watch it – they had no choice since it was a single sized mattress. Not that Itachi was complaining.

Ten minutes later, Deidara fell asleep on his shoulder. Itachi let out a quiet chuckle, and placed his arm around the smaller guy to pull him closer. He watched the first hour of the movie, and actually he was really into it, but he decided to stop it anyway. They could watch the rest together another time, preferably when Deidara wasn't sleeping.

While Itachi turned off the computer, and went to put it back on the desk, Deidara woke up and shivered from the loss of warmth.

"It's finished already?" He frowned, confused, while rubbing his eyes.

Itachi returned to sit on the bed, and smiled, "No silly, you fell asleep. I watched it for a while, but we can watch the rest together. It's really great so far."

"Told ya." He smiled but his voice was so sleepy.

"So…" the raven hesitated. "I guess I'll go then. I'll let you sleep…"

The other started fumbling with some loose blonde strands nervously, "Itachi… um… d'you think… Do you wanna stay…?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Deidara bit his lip, "There's not much room though…"

"I don't care," Itachi replied.

He blushed slightly, and then cleared his throat. "Do you need anything? I mean, clothes to sleep, or a towel if you want to shower…?"

"No I'm good. I'll sleep in my boxers if you don't mind."

Deidara's blush deepened. "Yeah sure… I mean, I don't mind."

The raven smirked, and stripped to his black boxer briefs casually. He wasn't intentionally making a show out of it, but he could tell Deidara was enjoying it. Well, that was kinda the point. Itachi wanted to tease him a little, but he wanted to wait for Deidara to make the first moves. Itachi was afraid of his reactions if he pushed things too far, so he was willing to wait.

Besides, he still needed to open up so that Itachi could actually try to help him overcome his issues. Like what he had heard earlier, the conversation between him and Sasori, about the whole being gay but not wanting to be with a guy thing, what the hell was that all about? Itachi needed to know.

He untied his long black hair, ran his fingers through it briefly, and finally sat on the bed again. As for Deidara, he got up and went to turn off the light. Itachi was a little disappointed that he wouldn't get to see him strip. Really, that wasn't fair. But he supposed, all in good time…

Itachi shifted more comfortably in the bed, crawling under the sheets. Deidara quickly took off his jeans and hoodie, keeping his tank top and boxers on, and joined him. He curled up to his side, his back facing Itachi. They weren't touching, but let's just say if Itachi moved one inch towards Deidara he would brush against his body.

"Thanks for staying," Deidara whispered.

"Thanks for letting me stay."

"…Good night."

"Night," Itachi said back, hardly containing all the emotions rushing through his mind and body, and his urge to just reach out and hold him…

Deidara's breathing soon evened. Poor guy was clearly exhausted. It took much longer for Itachi to fall asleep. He couldn't help but caress Deidara's body a little. Just his soft hair, the curve of his waist and hip… But he felt like he was taking advantage, so he forced himself to stop.

He eventually managed to fall asleep, lulled by the sound of the wind outside, and Deidara's breathing.

Itachi's sleep was disturbed a few hours later – he supposed it was about four or five in the morning – when Deidara started getting agitated. He let out moans of pain, and fear. Itachi was about to try to wake him up since he was obviously making a nightmare, but actually Deidara woke up with a start a few seconds later. Panting, he pulled himself up slightly on his elbow, his back still facing Itachi. He probably thought the raven was still asleep. He reached for the sharp scissors on his bedside table with a trembling hand.

"Deidara?" Itachi whispered hesitantly.

The blonde gasped again, dropping the scissors, and turned around. "Itachi… you're awake…" He said and his voice sounded so weak… Itachi just wanted to comfort him so badly.

"Yeah… what's going on? Bad dream?" He asked; he didn't want to talk about the whole cutting issue just yet. Deidara was too vulnerable right now.

Deidara slowly turned to face Itachi, but he averted his eyes.

"Yeah…" He answered.

Itachi whispered, "Come here," and wrapped his arm around the other's thin waist, pulling him slightly closer. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

At least Deidara didn't push him away. Actually he seemed comforted by his touch. But he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"All right," the raven said, again in a low, soft voice. "You can go back to sleep then." He kept his arm around his waist, his hand stroking his long hair gently.

After a moment, Deidara locked lidded blue eyes with Itachi's dark orbs. "I'm sorry I'm always such an emotional wreck…" He whispered in a pained voice. "I… I'll try to fix it."

"I wanna help you." Itachi replied softly.

"But… what if… what if I can't give you… what you want?" Deidara asked hesitantly, in a voice so low Itachi wasn't sure if he heard properly.

Itachi wasn't sure if he was talking about a relationship, or sex, or something else, but he decided to brush it off for now. They were both tired, and it wasn't the best time to talk about those things. Besides, Itachi didn't want to talk about such things. He wanted them to just happen – if they were meant to, that is.

So he simply replied, "Shh… don't worry about that. Go back to sleep."