Chapter 12

-Hinata's POV-

When Prestige arrived home after filming, I thought Sasuke would jump right into wanting to talk. I wouldn't have been against it, either. Instead, he waited until it was time for bed. Both of us showered, and then I went to his room rather than mine. He'd requested we begin sleeping in the same bed as we had in the past, and I'm glad he did because I missed his presence like crazy.

The Uchiha man surprised me again because I thought there might be some lingering discomfort between us, but he wrapped his arms around my middle and pulled until my back met his front, "We don't have to talk about it. I don't care about anything other than the fact that you're not in danger anymore."

I closed my eyes with a furrowed brow, clutching at the arms around me with my hands, "Sasuke, I know you don't want to, but we should."

There was a long pause before the man buried his face in my hair and grumbled like a spoiled toddler being told no, "Go ahead, then."

Now that the time had come to spill my heart, I wasn't sure how to verbalize the emotions. I still had to try, though. "I-I know apologizing will never make up for what I put you through, but I am sorry."

"Why are you apologizing, Hinata?" His tone was flat and unamused.

I never expected this to be easy. That said, it was as though Sasuke was entirely refusing to let me express my guilt. The long silent moment that followed had to have made him realize I wasn't comfortable with his response because he spoke again, this time more softly, "You went through worse than me. I know you did, so I don't blame you, and I wish you wouldn't blame yourself, either."

Tears overflowed to drip slowly onto the pillow, making me inwardly curse my inability to keep my composure. All of my plans to sincerely apologize further and attempt to find a way to atone for the hurt he experienced faltered as the emotions became hard to withstand.

My voice cracked when I said, "S-Sasuke, I…. I don't want to lose you, but I feel like there's no way for things to go back to how they were."

"You're right."

My breath caught in my throat, eyes widening in shock, "What?"

The Uchiha man's voice had a tug that told me he was a little embarrassed to say this aloud, "Things can't go back to how they were, but I don't want them to, at least not completely."

The surprise kept me quiet. I wasn't sure what he was trying to say but didn't have to wait long for elaboration.

"I wish neither of us had to go through all that, of course, but now everyone knows we're together. Now, I can tell you I love you without worrying if it'll scare you away."

Sniffling, I tried to speak, but he cut me off, "I won't lie and say it didn't bother me; what happened between you two," Sasuke was referring to the fact that I slept with Toneri, "But I've had time to think about it and realized it'd be selfish to hold it against you. You almost died…. Hinata, I don't care about any of it anymore."

Suddenly, I couldn't bear not seeing his face, so I hesitantly turned in his arms, wiping at the tears on my cheeks. His dark eyes were beautiful, even in this lightless room. A stubborn furrow marred his brow with a silent warning that he'd have the last word one way or another.

"How can you get over everything so quickly? You should be angry; everyone would agree with me."

His eyes narrowed, making my mouth clamp shut, "I don't give a damn what everyone else thinks."

Sasuke took a moment before releasing the tension in his expression. He gently cupped my cheek to brush at a stray tear with his thumb. His tone was much calmer, "I don't have to pretend everything's okay because it is, so stop beating yourself up. Just say you love me, and we'll move on together, okay?"

Can it really be as simple as letting all this angst and self-hatred go?

As I searched his handsome face, I didn't sense a single bit of hesitance on his part. Sasuke was sure of his words. Then, I burst into heavier tears and buried my face in his shirt. He held me there, absently smoothing my hair out. I was crying because I realized he must love me a million times more than I thought if he was willing to forget and forgive the trauma he was put through so we could be together again.

"Say it, Hinata."

My fingers curled into handfuls of his shirt, and I sobbed into his chest, "I love you! I-I swear I do. I'm sorry for everything."

It took nearly half an hour for me to completely calm down, leaving us both teetering on the edge of falling asleep. Getting meaningful rest these past weeks has been nearly impossible, but the firm feeling of Sasuke's body, of his arms locked around me like a cage or shield, chased away the fear.

When the moment came that the tears had passed, I hesitantly wrapped my arm around the man, holding a handful of his shirt at the middle of his back as I pressed more closely against him. I thought we would simply go to sleep, but I was wrong.

Just before I dozed off completely, more comfortable than I'd been in over two months, Sasuke pressed a kiss into my forehead, speaking in an uncharacteristically soft voice, "Are you really alright? Don't lie."

My eyes crept open to stare at the shirt covering his chest, a heavy feeling returning to my heart. Rather than mask it, I responded honestly, "I'm terrified. I don't know what I'll do if they somehow get out of this, and I'm worried you don't actually mean what you said about wanting to move on so quickly…. Y-You're not lying, right? Please tell me if you are. I promise I won't get upset."

"I'm serious. We should put it behind us."

"I-It just feels, I don't know…weird. Every time we saw each other back then, you were s-so upset, Sasuke. There's no way you're this unaffected. I-I know I'm not," I paused so he could respond, but he didn't, so I continued, "Even now, it feels like I'm taking advantage of you by sleeping here. I-I-I don't feel like I deserve you anymore."

A thick waver muddled my last words, and I swallowed hard to prevent myself from falling into sobs again.

-Sasuke's POV-

The fact that Hinata felt just as guilty as I expected gave me mixed feelings.

I'm relieved she hasn't truly changed as a person. Given how dull-eyed and solemn she's been over the past weeks, I was concerned her personality had been changed indefinitely. The other night, when she surprised me by hugging me, it was like a ton of bricks were removed from my shoulders.

I'm also sad and slightly irritated by her self-blaming response to the situation, even though I knew it was coming.

After all this time, the fact that she could imagine me holding anything against her, in the long run, was unintentionally hurtful. That led to my annoyance because I knew zero negativity was directed at me. Hinata's probably fighting not to completely hate herself.

Feeling incredibly uncomfortable, I bit the bullet and met her halfway to share the guilt, "I was hurt, yes. It was confusing and stressful, and it pissed me off that you refused to tell me anything or let me help."

The girl in my arms sniffled, trembling as she obviously held her breath. It was evident she meant her earlier words that she didn't believe she deserved to be with me anymore.

"If I should be angry with you, then you should be angry with me, too."

Hinata gently pushed back to meet my gaze. Her pearl-colored eyes were teary and full to the brim with emotion.

Temporarily, I was distracted from our conversation by them. Of all her beauty, her eyes are the most unforgettable. No matter how much the girl tries to block me out or put on a mask, she's only ever succeeded once in preventing her eyes from telling me her exact mindset. Right now, she's shocked, plus a tiny bit irritated, at what I said.

"None of it would've happened if I'd swallowed my pride and listened to my brother."

"N-No, that's not-" "It's the truth."

Hinata's mouth shut as her brow furrowed.

I searched her face and continued, "Would I take it back if I could? Yes. Do I wish that you'd never slept with that prick? Hell yes. But we can't go back and change things now, so I'm trying to focus on our future."

A soft blush dusted the girl's cheeks, warming my stomach and chest because it was the first time she'd made a bashful face like that in over two months, "O-Our future?"

Though I wanted to chicken out and simply nod before changing the subject, I knew it was best for us to be completely honest with one another right now, "I have no intention of letting you go, so give up on that idea now."

She was stunned silent but nodded with a more severely reddening face. It was hard not to sigh with relief that she was actually listening rather than continue to insist on punishing herself.

"The way I see it, we can either blame one another until we can't stand to be in the same fucking room," her brow furrowed, but I didn't pause, "Or we can work past this."

"...Can we really do this?" Hinata's voice was thick with anticipation, uncertainty, and hope.

Tears threatened to well in my eyes because it was all over her face how terrified she was of the idea that our relationship had been ruined beyond repair, but I kept them at bay. While trying to calm down so my voice would be steady, I brushed my nose against hers, closing my eyes while breathing slowly.

Without opening them, I responded, "Yes."

~

Sorry for the shorter chapter!

These past few weeks have been HECTIC!

I'll make up for it in the future.

Just a teeny tiny spoiler: a time skip is on the horizon!