Chapter 19

Hinata woke in a cold sweat in the early morning hours that same night. All the terror she should've felt after nearly being hurt and almost killed had waited for the least opportune moment to finally drill into her mind.

She was scared.

Sobbing quietly, the girl instinctively wandered downstairs to her parent's room, only to freeze when reaching for the doorknob.

'She's not in there anymore.'

As a child, her mother allowed her to sleep in her room whenever she had a nightmare. A similar situation had her body acting on memory because her mental state was too frazzled to make sound choices. Hell, it couldn't even comprehend that Kabuto was dead and never coming back to finish the job.

The door before her suddenly opened, her father looking down at her with a bewildered expression, "What's going on, Hinata?"

More than anything, the girl wished they had a relationship where he might try to comfort her, but that wasn't the case. As fate would have it, her heightened emotions and exhaustion peaked at that moment.

Hinata fainted.

When she awoke next, the air was stagnant. That, plus her dulled emotions, had her eyes creeping open to confirm her suspicion. She was in some sort of hospital or inpatient facility. In the back of her mind, she realized the terror and anxiety were trying to debilitate her again, but something was holding it back for the most part.

Eyes sluggishly moving, Hinata saw an I.V. in the back of her hand and put two and two together. Whoever was caring for her had used a mild sedative. If it'd been a high one, she'd be loopy like she was after Kisame and Konan gave her medicine before.

"Hey, Hina…. How're you feeling?" A familiar voice asked softly from nearby.

Hinata turned her head slowly, finding it hard to make sudden movements, to see Tenten sitting there with watery eyes. She said her best friend's name, voice hoarse.

The brunette nodded, offering a comforting smile while reaching to hold one of her hands, "Your dad called me to wait for you to wake up."

'He really couldn't be bothered even sitting with me for a while? I know he doesn't like me much, but this is borderline negligent.'

Whatever medication she was on evidently wasn't strong enough to mask the hurt because her friend lowered her voice, glancing at the door, "He's trying to find a way to contact Itachi and the others and tell them what happened to you. Last I heard, he was driving to Sasuke's house to talk to their dad."

"...Wh-What?"

'Is he doing it because he's worried, or is there some hidden agenda?' Hinata recalled how hatefully he'd thrown her out of his office during their last big argument and came to a realization, 'No. Whatever his reason, it's definitely for his own sake. If he cared about my mental health, he'd have changed how he treated me months ago.'

A knock softly came at the door as if on some sort of cue. Both girls looked toward it as a nurse poked her head in, "Oh, you're awake! Can your friend come in?"

Hinata carefully moved to sit up, Tenten fluffing the pillow behind her to properly support her back, "F-Friend? Who…?"

The door opened the rest of the way to reveal a tired-looking Sasuke Uchiha. Tears welled in the Hyuuga's eyes as he crossed the room to sit beside Tenten, an unhappy frown on his lips, "M-My dad…." He nodded, confirming her suspicion that Hiashi had told him and his father what had happened.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, so we can talk, alright? Your friends will need to leave for a bit." Hinata nodded silently at the nurse, who smiled and excused herself.

Once the door was shut, the Uchiha boy asked tersely, "What's wrong with you?"

Tenten elbowed his ribs, making him glare, but she spoke softly to the exhausted girl as though trying to make up for how abrupt he'd been, "What he's trying to say is that everyone's been worried. We just didn't know how or even what to ask."

Wiping absently at her tears, the Hyuuga girl sniffled with her eyes sluggishly dancing between her two friends.

"Look, you came to school beat up the same day Itachi and the others disappeared. Something obviously happened between you all," Sasuke grumbled.

Again, Tenten continued for him, "Then Hidan showed up at the game last night, and everyone said you were acting like nothing was wrong. It can't be a coincidence that you're worked up like this right when he gets back, Hinata."

The pair glanced at one another before the brunette lowered her voice with an almost pleading tone, "At least tell us what's going on. Is it Hidan? Did he…?"

Hinata's brow furrowed, and she shook her head, lowering her gaze to her lap, "No. We argued earlier, but that's not what's bothering me."

"Did my brother do something to you? If he did, I swear-" "Itachi almost died trying to help me, Sasuke. He's not the monster you think he is."

Their eyes widened in surprise, making her realize she'd said something she shouldn't have. Cringing, the girl shook her head with a hand to her eyes, "P-P-Please don't tell anyone I said that."

"...Is it true?"

Hinata dropped her hand and met the Uchiha boy's gaze as firmly as possible, "All I can say is that he and the others are much better people than everyone thinks, genuinely. I wish I could tell you more, b-but I can't."

His jaw flexed as he gritted his teeth, but he didn't offer any further responses and simply searched her face as though trying to determine how truthful she was being.

"So, what I'm understanding is that something did happen with you all. They helped you, you claim, and then left for some reason. It has to be whatever made them leave that's affecting you, right?"

Hinata nodded only once to her best friend's question.

"And you can't tell anyone because, for whatever reason, either you or the others would get into some kind of trouble?"

She nodded again, "Th-That's all I can say. I-I-I'm sorry."

Soon, the nurse returned, so the others had to leave. Both swore not to tell anyone what Hinata'd said.

"I'm saying this because I'm concerned, Hinata, but you should've been brought here months ago to speak to a psychiatrist about your mother's death."

The pretty, polite woman spoke in a warm voice. She'd spent the past half hour asking the Hyuuga girl questions that scaled her emotions from one to ten. Hinata nodded, attempting to swallow the lump in her throat, "I-I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, Honey. Your father should've taken better care of you. Am I correct in assuming he's the reason you haven't sought out help?"

She nodded, lowering her gaze to her trembling hands, "It's not like I've talked to him about it, but I-I don't think it would've mattered even if I did."

The nurse touched her hand, making her look up to see the kind smile she offered, "Why don't I give you our on-call therapist's number? You can call her anytime, any day of the week, and she'll answer. Having someone to talk to about things helps more than you expect."

Hinata accepted the number, listening to the middle-aged woman continue reassuringly, "Now, the doctor wants to start you on some anxiolytics. From what you've told us, anxiety has been a problem for a long time. All these will do is help with the symptoms. Think of them as a preventative measure so you don't have another panic attack, alright? One a day, in the morning, with food."

"Medication? I-I don't want to take those kinds of things…. Aren't they bad for you long-term?"

The nurse shook her head, "Some anti-psychotics can potentially have lasting effects, but that's not the kind this is."

It was like the woman could read Hinata's mind.

She lowered her voice, kneeling near the bed to properly meet her gaze, "I know there's a stigma around this kind of treatment, but I promise it's almost all baseless rumors. Millions of people that suffer from panic and anxiety disorders like yours can live normal day-to-day lives because of medications like these. Try it out for a month, and if you still aren't comfortable, we'll talk about taking a different route, okay?"

'They're medical professionals. If there's anyone I can trust about this kind of thing, it's them. The least I can do is give it a try.' So, Hinata accepted the bottle of pills.

Soon after, Hiashi returned, surprising the poor girl by bringing Fugaku Uchiha into the room, too.

Rather than ask how she was feeling or even address that he hadn't arrived alone, her father hissed quietly as though concerned someone would overhear, "They informed me you've been given a prescription for anxiety medicine. Do you know how bad this makes us look?" His tone was accusatory, as though her plan was to purposefully ruin the Hyuuga image.

Hinata hugged her arms around her middle, having changed into regular clothes and removed from the I.V. "I-I'm sorry about all of this. It won't happen again." Hiashi not offering a single word of comfort only made her low mood fall further. She just wanted to go home and go to bed.

The man seemed taken aback by her response, sharing a glance with his Uchiha friend before changing the subject, "Alright, then. Do you remember Fugaku? Yua used to take you to playdates with his sons."

She got to her feet to properly bow, almost entirely numb to the situation. The nurse assured her the medicine she'd been prescribed wouldn't dull her emotions this much and that it was only a precaution because they weren't sure what her mental state would be upon waking.

"It's nice to see you again, Sir. I wish it were under better circumstances."

To her surprise, the man actually smiled, reminding her of Sasuke when he was a little drunk and grinned more easily at the beach house, "When my youngest said you were hardly recognizable, I thought he was exaggerating, but you really do look different."

Hiashi glanced at him, seeming slightly surprised, too, but didn't say anything.

Fugaku continued without delay, his friendly smile faltering, "I was sad to hear of Yua's passing. My children took Mikoto's loss hard, so I can imagine what you're going through."

'That's right! Mom stopped taking me to play with Sasuke and Itachi because her best friend had died in a car wreck. The Uchiha's requested to be left alone so they could properly mourn, and we just kind of never met up after that.' Hinata bit the inside of her cheek, angry at herself yet again, '…Poor Sasuke and Itachi. I can't believe I forgot.'

"This brings me to my next topic. I hate to jump right into it, but this is obviously a dire situation since it's put you in the hospital like this."

It was clear Fugaku'd come in person to question her about his eldest son since she refused to tell her father anything.

"It's come to my understanding that you've befriended Itachi and some of his friends. If what Hiashi's told me is true, your mental and physical health have been at risk because of them. Tell me what you know about their group, and I promise not to take legal action against anyone. I just want my son to return home where he's safe and away from their influence."

Hinata looked between the two men a few times before shaking her head, keeping her lips sealed as her gaze dropped exhaustedly to the floor, "Please take me home, Dad."

They shared a glance again, Fugaku hesitantly asking, "May I ask why you're refusing, Hinata?"

Though she was drugged and shouldn't have the capability to lose her temper, she still did, but in a more composed manner than she would've if her system had been empty. Sharp pearl-colored eyes locked onto her father's as she spoke to Sasuke's, "I-I don't deserve to be sent off, just like Itachi didn't."

Turning onto Fugaku, her gaze softened slightly when she realized he wasn't defaulting to anger like Hiashi always does, "You've seriously misjudged him, Sir, but it's n-not my place to explain everything. I'm sorry for saying this much. Please understand it's not my intention to disrespect anyone."

'It's so much easier to effectively communicate when I'm not borderline having an anxiety attack. Maybe it's not such a bad idea to try out the medication.'

"I see…. Well, it can't be helped, then. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, especially in your condition. If you change your mind, I'm sure you'll be able to reach me."

Hinata was relieved beyond belief because she fully expected the Uchiha patriarch to have a personality similar to the Hyuuga one.

'Hopefully, he's not just pretending to be polite.'

The rest of the weekend passed in a blur because the girl could finally sleep. Hiashi was halfway through a speech about respecting her elders and doing as he says when he realized she was struggling to remain conscious. So he sent her to bed, and she slept for nearly twenty hours.

Naturally, she felt a little out of it come Monday morning. While eating a small breakfast after getting dressed, Hinata turned her phone back on because it'd been powered off to avoid being woken by any calls or texts.

Dozens of messages and missed call notifications immediately overwhelmed the screen. Just scrolling through them without clicking one made it evident that either Tenten, Sasuke, or both had let it spill that she'd passed out and ended up in the hospital because everyone from the lunch table, even Sai and Kiba, tried to reach her at least once. Sakura and Naruto still made up more than half of the attempts, though.

While responding to each person, asking them not to speak about it at school, thanking them for their concern, and assuring them she was alright, Hinata finished her meal.

Then she drove to school, visited her locker, and wandered into her science class. Only a handful of other students were there, most taking advantage of the quiet and sleeping while waiting for the bell to ring.

Since Orochimaru was killed, they were assigned a new teacher. She's a pretty, thirty-something-year-old woman named Ms. Mitarashi. Her hair was purple, eyes a warm brown, and personality a little scary. Though she looks kind, she's actually quite strict and has a zero-tolerance policy for slacking off or goofing around in her classes.

'I think focusing on my studies today will help distract me from what happened over the weekend. Then, if I'm feeling up to it, I'll call Hidan later, and we can talk. That is if he isn't too pissed off.'

Thinking back to Friday night, when they argued in her room, she recognized what'd set Hidan off and understood why he became angry with her. His rough handling of the situation wasn't the correct response, but still. The pair shared the blame. Neither was wholly right or wrong.

'I don't know…. Sometimes Hidan can be stubborn about admitting he'd been wrong. He probably won't see things the same way as me, or at least won't admit to it. That man's pride is his biggest asset and downfall.'

"How are you?"

Hinata squeaked, nearly jumping out of her seat in fright when a familiar voice came softly from her left. Turning her head slowly, she made a disbelieving sound when her eyes landed on Itachi Uchiha.

A blush warmed her face, and she averted her gaze to her hands on the table, entirely surprised by his sudden appearance, "I-I'm alright. You? How's the…?" The girl suddenly realized the back of her hand was bruised and dark from the I.V. and swiftly slid it under the table on her lap so he wouldn't see.

Itachi, unfortunately, received the worst injury out of everyone during the fight: a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Kisame said he was fortunate not to have pierced any vital organs. The more significant issue was that he nearly bled out. That being said, such an injury is one of the most painful one can ever experience and could take months to fully recover from.

"Well, it no longer hurts when I'm sitting still, so at least there's that."

The elder Uchiha brother has an incredibly sweet personality though he doesn't talk much and is prone to being a little grumpy and sarcastic in the early morning. Hinata realized that while riding to and from school with him all those days. It was always more likely he'd say something on the way home rather than the opposite.

"Ah, I'm glad. So, um…is everyone…?" Things felt awkward for the Hyuuga because she wasn't sure if Hidan told anyone what happened.

The Akatsuki members likely don't know about her hospital visit because none of them are friends with Sasuke, and Tenten knew better than to betray Hinata's privacy to that extent. She wanted to keep them in the dark, if possible. The last thing she wanted or needed was more people fretting, making her feel weak and like a burden.

"Yes, everyone's here. Yahiko wanted to wait until after Christmas, but Hidan and Deidara wouldn't stop fighting in the house."

"Have you all been staying together, then?"

The attractive man yawned, nodding as he covered his mouth with the back of his hand, shoulders slumping cutely when it passed, "Kakuzu owns a few houses. He's been letting us stay in one."

'When I think of gangsters, I certainly don't picture veterinarians and real estate owners, but apparently, Akatsuki's an exception.'

"Hinata, oh my God! Are you okay? Sasuke told me what happened!"

The pair turned to see Sakura rushing around the row of tables to slide into her chair, green eyes wide and watery as they looked over the shy girl's appearance. Said girl covertly gestured for the pinkette to stop talking about it. She'd obviously not checked her texts this morning, or else she wouldn't have come into the room doing the one thing requested not to.

"Did something bad happen?"

Sakura and Hinata looked at Itachi, who seemed mildly interested, before sharing a look. Then the former expertly lied, "Some guys were hitting on her this morning. Your brother had to scare them off."

'...She's almost too good at that.'

Itachi's lips turned into a soft smile as he rested his chin on his fist with a knowing look, "I wouldn't let the others hear about that if I were you."

The advice was sound.

Class soon began, Ms. Mitarashi arriving and immediately starting the lesson. In art class a couple of hours later, Hinata was jump-scared again when Deidara suddenly hugged her, "Hina! I've missed you!"

Warmth upon her cheeks, she returned the embrace, "I-I'm so happy to see you. Both of you!" The blonde pulled away so Sasori could hug her more calmly.

The redhead mumbled in an irritated voice as they all took their seats, Konan simply smirking as she listened to the others talk, "Can you do us a favor and not disappear off the face of the Earth like you did last week? I thought Itachi, Hidan, and this idiot were going to break into your house to make sure you were alive."

Though it was reassuring to hear the others cared, she only felt guilty for having worried them and nodded with an apology under her breath.

"For real, though. Even Kakuzu asked me about you a couple of times," Konan added in a bored tone.

'I wish they'd change the subject.'

The teacher arrived, and the students quieted down. Halfway through the class, Konan whispered where only Hinata would hear, though her eyes remained on her own work, "By the way, what happened with Hidan on Friday? He said he was gonna stay the night at your place, but the Yahiko said he came home at like midnight. Did you have a fight?"

Hidan and Konan are close friends. If she were more insecure, the fact might've made the Hyuuga girl uneasy, but she's not, so she was just happy they got along well.

Rather than go into detail about the awful evening, Hinata just nodded because it was the simpler route.

The orange-eyed young woman by her side frowned, lips pursing slightly as she appeared to be in deep thought momentarily. "It's his fault, I bet. When I saw him this morning, he was pouting like a toddler." Konan smirked, glancing at Hinata. It was obvious she was trying to lighten the serious mood.

Suddenly, Deidara piped in, smiling wide, "Are you talking about Hidan? Pfft, I never thought I'd see that idiot stress over a girl so much! The dude's been a mess." The blonde's grin faded as though he remembered something out of the blue, "Don't tell him I told you that! He'll try to kill me, seriously!"

'Does he mean over the weekend or the past two months? I want to ask, but it's too embarrassing,' Hinata thought. 'If he's talking about the entire time we've been apart, maybe I misjudged him on Friday. Was he maybe trying to act casual, just like I was?'

The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Hidan's pride gets in the way often. It wouldn't surprise her much if she found out he'd been trying to act nonchalant so she wouldn't catch on to the fact that he missed her just as much as she did him.

'He's kind of…what's the word…? Oh! Tsundere!'

The term fit the silver-haired boy perfectly.

When lunchtime arrived, Hinata felt torn because she'd grown closer to her friends at Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto's table, but now the others were back, too. Everyone couldn't sit together, especially with the Uchiha brothers constantly ready to go for one another's throats.

Luckily, the two groups managed to snag tables beside one another. Though the new medicine seemed to help with her anxiety a bit, it didn't help her appetite return, at least yet. The fact dampened her mood, and she frowned at her tray while poking the rice with her spoon.

Sakura and Ino were casually chatting about some new boyband. Soon, the cafeteria began to fill with more students.

It seemed everyone had read her messages because the incident didn't come up in conversation, though she did catch Kiba and Sasuke glancing at her with poorly masked concern.

Hinata couldn't focus on anything being said because Hidan was at the table beside theirs with his back turned. When she heard his voice coming near, him arguing with Deidara again, her entire body went rigid, and it was impossible to look his way.

'What do I say? Oh, hey, Babe. I have PTSD from almost being raped by a gangster and then murdering him. Sorry for making things weird!' She barely stopped herself from scoffing, eyes glazed over her tray, 'Yeah, right. I don't think there's a good way to tell him, or any of my friends, what's going on with me. I wish there was some way for them to know without me having to actually say it to their faces.'

It was a concern that one or multiple may misunderstand her behavior for something else. "Hinata! Sorry I'm late, the teacher made me stay after. I heard you were in the hospital! What'd the doctors say? Is it something serious?" Naruto's genuinely concerned voice rang out loudly behind her.

Multiple people at the table shushed the breathless boy as he ran up to the table, blue eyes wide with concern and locked onto the actively-paling Hyuuga girl.

'I know he's worried, but would it kill him to read my messages? Oh, God…. They all heard him, didn't they? Them and the rest of the cafeteria!'

It was dead silent at both tables, the rest of the room still noisy but not quite as loud as before while they waited for her response. So many eyes were on her, she could feel them, and it made it harder to breathe. As her pulse quickened with panic, Hinata got to her feet, grabbed her books, and left the room without a word. It was the only thing she could do to not cry in front of everyone.

The dam broke when she turned into the hallway outside the cafeteria. With her books hugged tightly against her, the girl kept her head low and walked briskly toward the stairs.

"Hinata, wait!" It was Naruto.

The Hyuuga frantically wiped the tears with one hand as she heard him approach with haste.

"I am so sorry. I swear I didn't see your text, or I wouldn't have said any of that!"

She shook her head, mumbling, "I-I know you didn't do it on purpose."

"...But what happened? You seemed like you were doing better when we were at the game." His words made it clear that Hidan wasn't the only one that thought she looked unwell.

'Did no one think to snap me out of it? I didn't realize how bad things were until three days ago!'

"I'm fine. There's nothing wrong, so don't worry about it anymore, okay?"

When Hinata tried to disappear up the staircase, she became stunned when Naruto suddenly grabbed her arm and made her stop to face him. "Sasuke said you collapsed, though. People don't pass out for no reason."

Her composure was beginning to crack, but she didn't get a chance to respond because a familiar voice suddenly came beside them both, "Fuck off, Blondie." She cringed, eyes darting to the ground rather than meeting Hidan's.

Naruto hesitated, "Are you okay being alone with him, Hina?" When she nodded, the boy left, though it seemed he didn't want to.

Hinata turned and began climbing the steps again. She wasn't ready to talk to her boyfriend yet. "You don't have to run away, y'know. I'm not gonna…." He sighed, trailing off.

"I-I-I'm sorry, so just f-forget it happened."

'That did not come out how I wanted it to at all.'

"What did you say?"

She frowned, reaching her locker and opening it to trade books for the ones needed in the next class. While kneeling, her hand was grabbed, and she looked over to see the tall man knelt beside her, magenta eyes severe and focused.

"Listen to me. I'm not pulling one of those fuckin' guilt-trip things when I say this, but if you want to dump me, then say it to my damn face instead of avoiding me."

Every ounce of her discomfort hit the back burner as her eyes widened in surprise, "Wh-What? No! No, I-I-I don't want to-" "Then why the hell won't you talk to me?"

"..."

'He's right. I need to take a deep breath and calm down.'

So, Hinata stopped in her tracks, turned to face her boyfriend, and did her best to reassure him without going too in-depth about what happened, "I was overwhelmed with everything going on, and then w-we fought, and I….I'm alright now."

Hidan frowned, absently stepping closer as he searched her face so her back was to the wall, but it didn't scare her like it would've on Friday night. For a long moment, he didn't say anything. When his gaze dropped to her lips and back up to meet hers, she hesitantly tugged the front of his shirt with one hand.

They kissed slowly, cautiously.

'I feel like he's trying to apologize without actually saying the words.'

It was true. Usually, the young man was quite handsy, but he only wrapped his hand around hers that was gripping his shirt. After a moment, they parted and continued toward the staircase to head back down.

"What d'ya say we sneak you out this weekend?"

A small laugh passed Hinata's lips, "I suppose there's not much else my dad can do to punish me, huh?"

The silver-haired man chuckled, "That's the spirit."

The fact that they were soon going to be forced to part hung heavy in the air but neither brought it up in an attempt to not ruin the fact that things weren't tense between them anymore.

As the days of the week passed, things became smoother all around. The medication did its job and made Hinata's anxiety easier to palate and manage. Any lingering awkwardness between her and Hidan faded. The couple returned to how they were before: arguing, flirting, and sometimes even flirting by arguing.

When the others found out that she intended to sneak out on Friday night, plans began to form to have a small get-together at the house Deidara, Sasori, Itachi, Yahiko, and Hidan have been staying at. It was evident alcohol would be involved, courtesy of Kisame and Kakuzu. Rather than be put off by the fact, the timid girl was a little excited.

From what she recalls, her ability to be forward with Hidan is much stronger when she's tipsy. The things they did together in that hotel room the night before Orochimaru kidnapped her weighed heavily on her mind. That, plus the fact that they'll be separated for multiple months, lit a fire under her. If he was open to it, which she felt he would be, Hinata wanted to go all the way with Hidan.

'God, I'm so nervous.'

It was ten thirty at night, Friday, and she was pacing back and forth in her room, waiting for her friends to text her that they'd arrived. During school earlier, her boyfriend drew a comically awful diagram of the side of the house, explaining how to properly climb down from her bedroom window. They're going to park down the road to minimize the chance of being spotted, whoever was coming.

Finally, Hidan sent a message, giving the go-ahead, and the girl pulled on her winter coat. After ensuring her bedroom door was locked to deter anyone from entering to see she was gone, she opened the window and gritted her teeth. It was heavily snowing. The air was bitingly cold.

'Here goes nothing!'

With an overnight backpack on her shoulder, she slipped out onto the shingled roof, closing the window afterward. A tiny smile met Hinata's lips as she carefully slid her sneakered foot onto a gutter latch. Never in her wildest dreams did she picture herself doing something like this, sneaking out to spend the night with her boyfriend and party with friends. She was a little proud.

Strong wind whipped her hair around, blowing her hat off and making her skin feel like ice, especially her ears and fingers. The Hyuuga didn't wear gloves because they'd make it hard to correctly grip, and she could fall off the side of the house.

It took nearly ten minutes for her to reach the ground because the freezing snow and icy wind kept knocking her off balance, so she'd cling to whatever she could and pray not to fall. Then, Hinata hurried off the property, staying low so she'd be less likely to be spotted. Once she reached the sidewalk, the girl sprinted because it nearly hurt how cold she'd become.

Hidan laughed loudly when she shakily climbed into the back of Kakuzu's car, "I was about to see if you fell and busted your head open."

Yahiko was upfront with the driver, so Hinata bashfully brought her hands to her lips and breathed on them, shivering harshly, "S-S-Sorry! The railing was slick."

She jolted in shock when Hidan suddenly reached over to fix her hat before cupping her hands in his larger ones, a smirk on his handsome face. He didn't say anything. The pair wordlessly communicated, eyes locked.

An embarrassed smile tugged at her lips as she shook her head, 'I hope tonight goes well.'