Sidewalks
"You didn't have to buy this for me." Hinata said but her companion merely shrugged his shoulders.
"Consider it repayment."
Hinata nodded and stabbed at her half-eaten, partially melted strawberry ice cream. Crickets chirped and frogs croaked into the night providing the only noise on the street. Everyone else was tucked away in their beds, sleeping peacefully until the sun rose over the horizon.
They were together and warm.
She should be doing the same yet she was sitting on a partially crumbled sidewalk eating her second pint of ice cream with a chain smoker. This was not how she'd imagined her life to go. Shaking her head, she placed her pint on the sidewalk and wrapped her arms around her knees.
"Why are you up so late?" she asked the Uchiha and a thick plume of smoke escaped from his lips.
"Why are you?"
"I asked you first."
At her retort, Sasuke smirked and put out his cigarette on the curb.
"You didn't stutter." He said and Hinata looked away from him to stare at the gravel beneath her sandals.
"You said my name earlier."
The words slipped out without her meaning to and the Uchiha's smirk widened a fraction. His eyes were teasing, less tired than they were before. It was only a fleeting expression but enough to almost make her heart skip a beat. Almost.
"You should head home." He said but Hinata shook her head.
"I don't want to be at home."
Her house was silent. Empty. There was nothing to go back to but a cold bed. Surprisingly though, Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back against the convenience store's red brick wall.
"Neither do I."