Author's Note: Well it hasn't been too terribly long since the last update so I guess there's no need to apologize for the wait. I have plans for my other stories, but I've been putting a lot of thought into the direction of this story and since I had some spare time this evening I thought I'd give it a shot. I was surprised I was able to whip out a chapter in one night though! And I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out.
Hope you all enjoy!
Date: This chapter takes place on Monday, March 28th, 2017. The last chapter took place the day before which was Easter Sunday. There is a little over a month until final exams. Just to give you an idea of when everything is taking place. It's so foreign to write about a month when things are getting warmer as it's getting colder in real life!
"YOUR FROSTY IS MELTING."
Itachi merely glanced at the yellow cup that once housed a semi-solid chocolate milkshake inside. He placed his text on a spot on the bed beside him and pulled his feet out from under him. "Do you mind if I pour it down the sink?"
"You're not going to eat it?"
Itachi stalled. "It's melting."
Kisame quickly peered into the deserted cup that was still half full. "You can still eat it. Want me to get you a spoon?"
"I dipped fries into it." He thought the purpose was to dip fries into it until the treat melted. What more could be done afterwards?
"So? You can still eat it as a regular frosty. I'll got get you a spoon." Kisame offered.
"I dipped salted fries into that. I'm not eating it by itself."
The older man stared at him as though he had sworn at him. The corners of his mouth began to quirk as though he as amused or disgusted. Itachi couldn't determine which emotion he was seeing. "That's what you're worried about?" He smiled. So he was amused. "You won't be able to taste the salt, Itachi!"
He didn't want it. It was childish of him and a waste of good food but he couldn't bring himself to take it back knowing he had dipped fried potatoes seasoned with salt into a chilled dairy product laced with chocolate syrup but if he took it back it would melt and go to waste anyways.
Without a word, Kisame turned to the door and turned the knob.
"Where are you going?"
"To put it in the fridge. I'll eat it later." He explained.
Itachi furrowed his brow but did not argue with him. "Okay."
"It'll be fine!" He assured him and exited the room.
So don't worry about it; it'll be fine.
Although he was starting to come to terms with Shisui's passing little things still caused his chest to constrict. Kisame wasn't aware of it, but the things he said to help put Itachi at ease were similar to the things Shisui told him whenever Itachi was worried or distraught about something.
Sitting back on the bed, he rested his head against the wall, closed his eyes and forced himself to inhale and exhale. Shisui was gone and there was nothing he could do to bring him back to life. Conversely Kisame was here with him and they were having a good time and he should be enjoying himself. This Itachi knew but he was still having a hard time switching to a more positive mindset.
"You okay?" Kisame asked when he returned.
Itachi opened his eyes and straightened his posture. "Yes."
"You look tired."
Kisame and Shisui may have comforted him in similar ways but Kisame was blunter than his cousin was. "I'm fine." He told him and picked up his management text. Even as he pretended to resume his reading, he could still feel the weight of Kisame's stare.
The bed shifted as the athlete adjusted his position so that he was leaning against the wall too. Just when Itachi thought he had dropped the subject, Kisame uttered "My offer still stands. If you want to talk about it, I'll listen. Remember that."
Itachi glanced Kisame's way. The upperclassman wasn't making eye contact with him. Instead, he was flipping through his statistics notes and graded homework assignments.
If it were Shisui, he would've placed a hand on Itachi's shoulder and made eye contact, scrutinizing Itachi's features for anything that would indicate that Itachi wasn't alright. Kisame simply went back to work as if nothing had happened. And Itachi was quite alright with that. Anything more would have been uncomfortable. Maybe Kisame felt the same.
Itachi looked back at his own reading laid out in front of him. About to pick up where he left off he felt as though he should say something to show his appreciation for Kisame's concern. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind." With that said, he continued to read. Kisame's body shifted slightly and if Itachi had to guess, he was smiling back at him, grateful for the response. As much as Itachi wanted to see that friendly smile, he did not look back and focused on the text before him.
"What's your final answer?"
Kisame tightly knitted his brow and tapped the eraser of his pencil against his paper. "Twelve point ninety seven is less than twenty-four which is greater than twenty-six point three."
Itachi glanced up to meet Kisame's eyes, waiting for a response. When Kisame made no move to answer, he prompted "So is it probable that twenty-four of thirty graduates have student loans?" He asked.
He sighed. "No because…twenty-four is more than twelve point ninety-seven and less than twenty-six point three which means it's not unusual…right?"
"You tell me." Itachi said and straightened his back. In order for him to clearly see the other man's work he had to sit right next to him and look over his shoulder. Their combined weight in the center of the bed caused a dip that had Itachi almost leaning on Kisame's arm.
"I mean, if I did it right then yeah, that's the answer."
Itachi pushed himself back to his original spot and picked up his calculator to check it himself. Kisame handed him the review page and tilted his head back against the wall. "I've always hated probability but this is impossible."
"Not if you know how to do it." Itachi said and handed back the paper.
Kisame chuckled and outstretched his hand. "I hate to break it to you but not everyone is as smart as you are."
"It's a new concept to you and with practice it'll become easier. Trust me."
"So it's right?" He asked, flashing the paper towards him.
Itachi nodded. "It is."
"Thank God." He sighed.
It was clear that he was frustrated but he admitted that probability has never been one of his strengths, even in elementary school. Decades later things were beginning to intensify and he was struggling. If Itachi was in the same predicament he would practice and practice until he saw improvement but Kisame didn't possess the same academic drive as he did. For him, a passing grade would be enough.
"Kisame?"
"What?" He asked, turning his head. His eyes were half lidded and without his usual jubilant smile he liked exhausted.
Itachi didn't want to bother him but at the same time he didn't want to force him to work through another probability problem. If he did, the number of mistakes Kisame made would increase along with his level of frustration. "I need…some advice."
"Some advice?"
He nodded. "I've been meaning…I need to talk to Deidara about what happened last month."
"You still haven't talked to him about that yet?" Kisame asked. He turned his body so that he was facing Itachi and looked at him with curious eyes.
"I've tried but every time I try to make small talk he leaves the room or says something snide." He began to explain. "And I understand. Given the way I treated him I know I deserved it but I want to apologize and I don't know how." As the words left his mouth all Itachi wanted to do was bring his knees up to his chest and close himself off to Kisame and the rest of the outside world. He wasn't used to opening up to people like this and felt the shame of having to ask heat his face.
"I get what you're saying, Itachi." Kisame spoke in a level tone. He wasn't laughing. He was calm and alert. More so than just a minute ago when he was struggling through a math problem. "Deidara's probably still licking his wounds from the fight you two had and it might take time."
Itachi's shoulders slumped. Giving it time wasn't what he wanted to hear.
"But if it's bothering you that much I'd suggest talking to him at night or really early in the morning when he can't escape to class or go somewhere else you know?"
It was a thought. "Deidara comes home late each night. I'm never able to catch him."
"Try the morning then. Not right after he wakes up but before he leaves the room."
Itachi thought about Kisame's words. If he followed through with his advice he would have to wait until the weekend as their class schedules conflicted during the week. Itachi usually departed for class before Deidara was even awake and couldn't afford to wait for the blond to wake. Even then he was always in a rush to make it to his own class on time and wouldn't be in the mood to listen to whatever Itachi had to say. "I guess I could try that."
"Or you could leave a note on his desk or something."
He shook his head. "That wouldn't go over well." After their fight last month Deidara had written him a note of apology and he refused to read it. It would not bode well for him to do the same now that the tables were turned. In fact, it would most likely add fuel to the fire.
"Then try to talk to him in the morning or sometime when he can't escape to class or something. That's probably your best bet." He said and slid off the bed. "Be right back; I gotta take a piss."
Once Kisame left the room, Itachi pondered why he hadn't thought of this before. In all the times he had tried to talk to his roommate he was either packing up his things to disappear to Sasori's apartment or rushing to class. He hadn't thought to try to talk to him when he didn't have class or when he didn't have plans to visit Sasori or wherever he spent his time these days.
His cell phone vibrated within in pocket. Probably a text from student activities. Itachi reasoned. He received five to ten texts on any given day about events being held on campus and typically attended none of them unless he was passing by a table promising free cookies. Other than that he had no interest in karaoke or game nights or choral concerts or anything that required leaving his room and socializing with people he didn't know.
But when he phone continued to vibrate he realized that someone was trying to call him. His mother probably. While he hadn't told her that he was grieving Shisui's death early Easter morning, she knew what he had been up to. She probably saw it in the redness of his eyes and probably wanted to confirm that he was doing alright now that he was back on campus.
When he pulled his phone from his pocket he was surprised not to see his mother's name but Deidara's instead.
"He probably dialed by accident." He uttered. Deidara never called him before. This was probably a mistake. Sliding the phone back into his pocket he considered the circumstances that would lead to an accidental phone call. The last time Deidara called him was before the start of the school year to introduce himself so it would be odd for his number to appear in Deidara's recently contacted list. It would also take a considerable amount of button pushing to make a call from the text messaging screen and he hadn't texted him recently either.
In his hesitation, the vibration stopped. If Deidara truly wanted something, he could contact Sasori for it. If it was indeed an accident, he would realize it later and it would be a thing of the past. He was just about to slide the device back into his pocket when two icons appeared on his lock screen: the missed call icon along with the voicemail icon.
"Is everything alright?" Kisame asked when he reappeared.
Still staring at the phone Itachi asked "When you dial someone by accident…is it possible to leave a voicemail by accident as well?"
Kisame stopped dead in his tracks. "When you dial someone by accident…? Oh! You mean when you butt-dial someone!"
"Same thing."
"Yeah I suppose you can leave a voicemail if the person you butt-dialed doesn't answer. Why? Did someone butt-dial you and leave a voicemail?"
"…yeah…"
"Who?" He asked, taking a seat on the bed.
"Deidara."
Kisame's eyes widened. "No way! And we were just talking about him too! What'd he want?"
Itachi stared at the phone as if it were a foreign object. "I don't know. I didn't listen to the voice message."
"You should listen to it and see if he said anything."
He looked in the athlete's direction who provided him with a careless shrug.
"It can't hurt can it? Maybe he called you on purpose. You never know."
"Maybe…" Itachi breathed and opened up his voicemail.
When he put the speaker to his ear he was surprised to hear Deidara's voice shouting into the other end. "Hello? Itachi? It's me, yeah. Deidara. This is gonna sound kinda weird but if you're not busy can you come pick me up? I'm at somebody's house and I don't have a ride."
"You've gotta be kidding me."
"He's at somebody's house?" Kisame asked from behind.
"If you get this message can you call me back, yeah? I can explain just…just…give me a call okay, yeah? I don't know who else to call."
Itachi closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose. When the message ended he pulled the phone away from his face exhaled once more to calm his nerves.
"What was that all about? Is everything okay?" Kisame asked him. "I heard that he was at somebody's house without a ride is that right?"
Itachi glanced at the illuminated phone screen and considered whether or not he wanted to call Deidara back or not. "I don't know." He answered and pressed the call button.
"Hello?"
"You called?" He spoke, trying to mask the frustration that was slowly bubbling within him. He wanted to apologize to Deidara and the last thing he needed was another reason to be angry with him again.
"Yeah. Hi. Um…this is gonna sound really bad but…"
"Deidara? Are you drunk?" Itachi asked. The blond's words were loud and slightly slurred and Itachi had heard what it sounds like when someone has had too much to drink too many times in his life to mistake it.
"No I'm not drunk…I only had one drink but you have to listen to me!"
"Where. Are. You."
"He's drunk?" Kisame whispered from behind him.
"I'm at somebody's house, yeah." Deidara answered. "Some of Sasori's friends invited us out to unwind and work on our art and there was alcohol and I was curious and I swear I only had one drink! I swear Itachi!"
"How far away is this place that you're in?" Itachi needed to know. Deidara was asking him for a ride back to campus and while Itachi didn't want to comply he definitely wanted to know where this place was if he did agree.
"Thirty-five minutes away I think…I don't know, yeah. Sasori drove us here."
"Why can't you ask him to drive you back then?"
"Because he doesn't want to leave yet, yeah and trust me I tried to ask him to take me back to campus but he doesn't want to leave." He whined. "You have to listen to me Itachi, yeah! I have no one else to call, I'm not feeling so hot, I'm not drunk but I just wanna go home and you're the only person I could ask. Please, yeah. I won't ask you for anything for the rest of my life if you do this for me."
"What's going on?" Kisame asked from behind him.
Itachi placed his hand over the speaker. "He's at a house party and wants a ride back because he doesn't feel well."
"Damn! How much did he have to drink? It's not even ten o'clock yet!"
"I don't know." Itachi answered and put the phone back to his ear. "Deidara?"
"Yeah?"
"Text me the address and wait outside. I'll be there in thirty-five minutes and don't make me come in there and find you, do you understand?"
"Got it, yeah! Thanks a bunch! I'll be waiting outside and I'll text you the address yeah!"
"Are you going to get him?" Kisame asked when Itachi rose to his feet and pulled his jacket from where it hung on the back of Kisame's chair.
"Yeah." He answered tersely. "I'm sorry Kisame. We can study tomorrow night if that works for you, okay? I don't know when I'll get back to campus once I pick him up."
Kisame hopped off the bed. "I'll come with you."
"That isn't necessary."
The upperclassman shook his head and began to look around the room. "Your car is probably parked on the other side of campus near your dorm isn't it?"
It was. "Yes."
"So it'll be quicker to take my car which is parked right out back." He said and struggled to put his shoes on while standing up. "Besides," he grunted once the foot was finally in, "you're probably not familiar with this area because you're not from here right?"
Itachi hadn't thought of that. "I can manage with the GPS."
The older man approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be quicker if we take my car. That and I've seen the people that guy hangs out with. God knows what you'll find there." He said.
It hadn't crossed his mind that Deidara was at a house with friends who were as old, if not older than Sasori even though Deidara had mentioned it when they were on the phone. Regardless of their strained relationship at the moment Itachi wasn't about to let Deidara find a ride home with a stranger or with a possibly drunken Sasori. He'd dealt with one fatality as a result of alcohol this year, he didn't need to deal with another one. And this time, he'd help prevent it.
"Did he text you the address?" Kisame asked, donning a dark blue sweatshirt with the name of the school swim team printed in white on the front.
Itachi checked his phone. Sure enough there was a street address texted to him from Deidara. "Yeah."
"Then let's go."
The car ride was relatively quiet save for the pop music station playing in the background and the sound of Kisame's turn signal blinking when he merged in an out of lanes. He normally drove faster than Itachi would've liked but in their current situation he didn't care. Kisame tried to make conversation numerous times throughout the trip but Itachi couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. All he could think about was why Deidara had agreed to go on this excursion with Sasori and his friends. How long had he known Sasori's friends for? Were they students at the university, students from another university or graduates? He didn't know. He hoped to God that Deidara knew but that still didn't excuse his reckless behavior.
As frustrated as he was with his roommate he blamed himself. If he hadn't treated Deidara the way he did maybe Deidara wouldn't have gravitated back to Sasori again. Perhaps he wouldn't have agreed to leave campus with him and journey to some random house more than half an hour away. In addition Deidara was drinking. He claimed to have only had one drink but if that was the truth, why was he complaining of this sudden illness?
So many questions were running through Itachi's mind as he watched the headlights of the cars in the lanes beside them pass until they were driving on a two lane street in a suburban neighborhood. If it was brighter outside, Itachi may have been able to tell what kind of residents lived here but it was too dark to make that kind of a call.
When they arrived almost an hour later they found Deidara sitting on the front steps with his arms wrapped tightly around his body.
"Hey Itachi." Deidara quietly greeted him. When he looked up to meet his roommate's steely eyes he caught a glimpse of Kisame right behind. "You're here too?" He asked with narrowed eyes.
"I was helping him study for an exam when you called and he offered to drive." Itachi answered and herded him towards Kisame's car. "Do you have everything you came with? Your cell phone? Your wallet? All of that?"
"Of course, yeah…how do you think I called you if I didn't have my phone?"
Itachi looked over his shoulder and glared at him. "Just get in the car."
"Okay."
Once they pulled away from the curb and started to drive, Kisame looked into the rearview mirror where Deidara resting his head against the window. "You okay kid?"
Deidara nodded. "Yeah…"
"That must have been one hell of a drink to make you that sick. Want some water to drink?"
"Sure…"
Kisame reached down to the cup holders to where the bottled water sat. "I'll give it to him." Itachi said. His fingers brushed against Kisame's warm ones to pick up the bottle and hand it back to Deidara.
"Thanks yeah."
"Jesus Itachi! Your hands are freezing! Are you that cold?" Kisame exclaimed and clutched Itachi's hand.
"I'm always cold." Itachi explained.
"Jesus! You should have said something! Here, let me turn the heat up or something."
While Kisame attempted to warm up Itachi's hands using his own, the only noise in the car was that of the music playing and Deidara's quiet breathing and the occasional cough from the back.
"What the hell did you drink while you were there? A fireball? A Jack Daniels?"
Such terminology was lost on Itachi who was only familiar with a handful of alcoholic beverages and beers from when his father used to drink. While Kisame tried to determine what it was that Deidara had consumed at that house, Itachi watched his roommate's behavior. Sure, there were alcoholic beverages with some kick to them that could cause someone to cough, but Deidara it was logical to assume that Deidara had drank whatever it was almost an hour ago when he called Itachi. The effects of such a drink should have passed long ago. Not only that but since they began to drive Itachi could hear the blond's breathing from over the sound of the radio.
"Deidara?" Itachi spoke.
"Yeah?"
"How much did you have to drink exactly?"
Deidara sighed. "A small sip, yeah. I didn't like the taste of it and didn't pick up another drink for the rest of the time, yeah."
Itachi watched as Deidara wrapped his arms more tightly around his body. He was wearing a sweatshirt as thick as the one Itachi himself wore and Kisame had since turned the heating on. Even for someone with poor circulation such as himself, Itachi wasn't that cold.. "Have you consumed alcohol before tonight?"
"Can we not do this right now? I'm not in the mood for another lecture, yeah. I get it. I'm not legal, I shouldn't have been drinking, it was a stupid decision and I'm sorry for making you and Kisame come all the way out here but I had no other choice, yeah."
"I don't care about any of that, Deidara, just answer my question. Have you ever consumed any alcoholic beverage before tonight?"
Deidara rubbed at his eyes. "No. I haven't. I just wanted to try it and didn't like it. End of story, yeah."
Even after Deidara finished, Itachi continued to stare in his direction.
He studied the way Deidara wrapped his arms around his stomach once he finished rubbing his eyes and the manner in which he bounced his uncrossed legs. If he was cold, it would make more sense to have crossed them one over the other. But his legs were side by side. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel carsick but I normally don't sit in the back seat, yeah."
"Sorry." Kisame apologized and immediately slowed down some.
"Does your stomach hurt?"
Deidara regarded him out of the corner of his eyes. "Kinda but it's probably something I ate, yeah." He said. "Listen, I know you don't approve of my choices Itachi, but I don't need you to interrogate me right now, okay?"
"How does your throat feel?"
"How does my throat feel? It feels like I swallowed a piece of hair or something and why do you keep asking me all of these questions yeah? What are you getting at? Spit it out already!"
Itachi turned around to face forward in his seat and sighed.
"What's the matter?" Kisame asked him.
"Do you know where the nearest hospital is, Kisame?"
"Nearest hospital, yeah?" Came a cry from the backseat. "I ate something I shouldn't have and I'm not used to riding in the back of somebody's car! Why are you suggesting we go to the hospital, yeah!"
"Less than five minutes away from here I think." Kisame supplied. "Why?"
Itachi carefully thought over what he had observed since they picked Deidara up before voicing his thoughts aloud. "I could be wrong but…Deidara, I think you might be having an allergic reaction to something you ingested."
"An allergic reaction, yeah? From what? I'm not allergic to anything!"
"Have you eaten anything tonight that you've never had before?"
"No!"
Itachi sighed. "Well then if that's the case I think you might be allergic to alcoholic beverages."
"You think I'm allergic to alcohol, yeah?!"
"Allergic to alcohol? Is that even a thing?" Kisame voiced.
"Unfortunately, yes." Itachi answered. "Can you take us to the nearest hospital, Kisame?"
"Is it really that bad? What if he's not allergic to alcohol?"
Deidara leaned forward and clutched the back of Itachi's seat. "Yeah! What if I'm not allergic to alcohol? How would you know?"
Itachi turned around to face him. "You've been breathing heavily ever since you got in the car, you've been rubbing at your eyes and you just said your throat itched, Deidara."
"So? It could be anything! I could be getting sick!"
"You called me when you started to feel unwell after you consumed an alcoholic drink." He said, raising his voice slightly. "Do you really want to go into anaphylactic shock when we get back to our dorm, Deidara?" Itachi pressed him. "Or would you rather get treated for whatever you may have at the hospital? It's your choice."
Deidara was silent.
"Better safe than sorry kid." Kisame added.
Deidara looked in Kisame's direction and then back at Itachi. "Fine, yeah."
Cliffhanger. DUN. DUN. DUN!
Anaphylactic shock is no joke. Deidara needs to get that checked out just to be safe if nothing else.
If not this week (because I will be busy working after tomorrow and throughout the weekend), I will most likely update in December or January. I will make no promises because I don't know what I'll be busy doing those months (I have a life outside of writing sadly though if I could write fanfiction all day I probably would lol) but just as a sort of "here's when to expect an update from me."
If you choose to leave a review (and I hope you do!), please tell me what you think of Itachi and Kisame's developing 'relationship.' I'm curious to know what y'all think of their interactions lately.
Until next time!
-Itachi's Husband