SasuHina: Beyond The Camera

Chapter 37-Christmas Part 3

I heard the door to his room open and then he was coming down the steps with a small suitcase in tow.

My teeth grit together when he turned to face me once he reached the front door, "Merry Christmas." He didn't even wait for me to respond before leaving.

A tight feeling rose in my chest like it had earlier in the morning before Sasuke came to cheer me up and I listened as his car pulled out of the garage until I couldn't hear it anymore. And now I'm alone.

The next few days passed and suddenly it was Christmas morning. I texted everyone in my phone to wish them a good holiday before turning off the device and sinking back under the blankets to wallow in self pity. The day trudged on and on as I did my best to keep my mind preoccupied.

Luckily, I managed to get through the entire day without crying even once or turning on my phone to see how the others were doing. The next morning, though, when I turned my phone back on, I felt my heart sink when I realized my messages had never even been sent. Instead, there was an alert stating that the service tower closest to our home had been hit by a car, so my phone wasn't going to have a signal for at least a day or two while it was repaired.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house and practicing the dance steps Sai taught us until late in the night when I was too tired to stay awake any longer. When the next morning came, a depressive lethargy melted my aura the moment I realized I was awake.

It's my birthday. I'm nineteen and my career is thriving, yet here I am: alone.

No one's supposed to get home until at least tomorrow afternoon and that's only if Gaara's siblings weren't able to get additional days off of work. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to go back to sleep, to no avail, so ended up staring at the ceiling in a daze for what could've been anywhere from one to multiple hours.

Eventually I had to get up, though, and trudged into the bathroom with tears already in my eyes. It's already noon.

After showering, I did a face mask and painted my nails, anything to keep myself busy. When both of those were done I blow dried my hair and changed into my most comfortable oversized hoodie and leggings. Maybe I'll just spend the rest of the day curled up on the couch watching movies. That'll be nice and cozy so it might cheer me up a bit.

As I sat on the edge of the bed, pulling some fluffy socks onto my cold feet, the breath in my lungs got caught as I heard the front door downstairs loudly shoot open, followed by the sound of quick and heavy footsteps on the staircase. I got to my feet and faced the door to my bedroom, terrified.

I know for a fact I locked that door before bed last night! Before I could react further by trying to hide or something, the door to my room opened to reveal a red-faced Sasuke panting for breath.

An odd mixture between a scream and a gasp left me in surprise, only for my shock and relief that it wasn't someone trying to come and kill me to overwhelm my senses completely and I broke down into sobs as I covered my face, "W-Why'd you do that? I was s-s-so scared!"

To my surprise, large hands pulled my hands away from my face and I looked up through my tears to see Sasuke pushing my sleeves up slightly to look at my wrists before meeting my gaze, "Why didn't you answer your phone?"

I opened my mouth to respond with the truth, only for the words to get caught in my throat when he gently grabbed my jaw and forced me to arch my neck so he could look at it. My brows furrowed in confusion as I wiped at my slowing tears, "W-W-What's going on? Why are you here?"

The handsome man's dark eyes left my neck to lock onto mine and he repeated his question, "Why didn't you answer, Hinata?"

My fingers trembled as I grasped his hand and pulled it away from my jaw, "T-The tower's down. I don't have any signal. What's wrong, Sasuke?"