"Gaara, please, listen to me," [Name] says softly, holding her cell to her ear. Back and forth, she paces the kitchen, her feet softly padding against the floor. After many call attempts, Gaara calls [Name] back, but immediately they start an argument. She leans away from the phone, and Neji can hear Gaara bellow from the receiver.
"No! Why is he still there?! Tell him to take a fucking hike and walk his ass home! Or I don't know! Tell him to call his cousin to pick him up!"
[Name] hums, pressing the phone back to her ear. "Gaara, it's not that serious."
"Why are you taking his side?!"
"There are no sides! I'm just being a good host and an even better friend!" She huffs. Gaara scoffs at her words. "I'm not just going to send him out to the wolves."
"Fine, then I'm coming over!" He declares.
[Name] shakes her head even though he can't see it. "No."
"Why not?! You getting cozy with him now?"
"How dare you," she seethes. "I'm only telling you no cause you're angry with me. I don't want you over here if you're mad at me."
There's silence on both ends. Every second he doesn't speak feels like an hour. Her heart drops cause right now, this argument makes her feel like shit.
Finally, his voice comes out softly, sweetly, "I'm not mad at you. I'm just... I'm sorry. I'm sorry, baby."
He sighs, and she stays silent. "Please say something."
She still doesn't answer cause she doesn't know how to answer, what to answer. She just wants this all to be over. They were so happy a few days ago, and she wants to return to that.
With a final sigh, Gaara says, "I'll call you later, okay?"
The call goes dead, and her hand falls limp to her side. She wants to cry, but she holds it all back.
"Why is dating so hard?" She grumbles to herself. "Can't even have guy friends, or else your boyfriend goes fucking apeshit."
[Name] turns around, smiling at Neji, who sits cross-legged on the couch. "What should we get for dinner? I could order something."
Neji honestly couldn't stomach anything, especially after hearing how Gaara spoke to [Name] like that. It makes him sick.
He shrugs. "Doesn't really matter to me."
[Name] comes to sit next to him, pulling out her phone to order delivery. Neji looks at her. He wonders how she can push aside that argument as if it were nothing. No tears, not even the sound of disappointment in her voice---just a smile.
Does Gaara's jealousy mean nothing to her? He questions.
A burst of confidence and bravery rushes through Neji's body. He grabs her wrist. [Name] expresses her bewilderment.
"Ah! What? Do you not like Korean barbeq-"
He yanks her into a hug, squeezing tightly to show his support and to savor this fleeting touch. She feels the softness of his hair, the warmth of his skin, and feels this heat all over her body. Her heart flutters.
"Ah, Neji?" [Name] says meekly.
"He should never yell at you like that." The voice he uses holds such sincerity, such tenderness that it shocks [Name] into place. She squeezes his shirt.
Although she bottles it up well, [Name] wants to cry on Neji's shoulder. Ever since that party, the emotions inside her affect her more than usual. She wants to be numb again; she wants to be happy, oblivious to the pain she keeps pushing inside her glass heart.
"Neji," she mumbles his name, her voice shaking. "Would it be weird to ask you to keep holding me like this? I just need-"
"I will gladly be your comfort." He doesn't hesitate. "I will always be here for you."
...
They decide on bento from a small business for dinner instead. Neji doesn't want to eat so much meat that he'll pass out from the meat sweats---his words.
"The meat sweats?" [Name] questions with a giggle.
"You've never had the meat sweats? Oh my gosh, it's awful," Neji says, astonishingly. "It's when you eat so much meat, and you get so full, you start to sweat because of it. Happens to me all the time at a family gathering."
She laughs at his explanation. "I can say right now that I don't ever want to experience that." She takes her chopsticks and breaks them apart. Neji does the same.
Sushi, rice, fried meat, salad, and pickled vegetables adorn the little box. [Name] tries the rice first, then the sushi. "Mmm. Delicious."
Neji follows suit, tasting the sushi first. He's glad to have chosen the bento box. Korean barbeque is spicy sometimes, and Neji can't handle even the slightest spice. He even thinks that soda with too much carbonation burns.
Unfortunately for him, the yellowfin tuna sushi had a dab of wasabi underneath it. The moment he scarfs down the piece, his entire mouth catches fire.
He chokes. "[Name]." He claws at his neck and then urgently taps her shoulder. "[Name], I'm dying."
She gives him an amused look, thinking he's joking. But he's not. His entire face turns red, and he coughs violently. "Seriously. Please help."
Her smile falls. "Oh god. Oh my god!"
"Water."
[Name] shoots up from her seat, running to her kitchenette for a glass and some milk. She hears him violently coughing more, gasping for breath. Quickly, she pours the milk into a glass, spilling some of the contents on the floor and the counter. She rushes back to him, the milk sloshing around and creating a little trail of milk behind her.
Neji snatches it from her hands, chugging the milk like a thirsty baby. It soothes his throat and mouth, but he still hacks up a lung.
"What just happened?! You were laughing one minute, dying the next!" says [Name], exasperated.
"Wasabi." He dry heaves. "I can't handle spice at all."
"You almost died."
"I would've only passed out."
[Name] stands in shock as he hands the cup right back to her. As she walks off to put the cup in the sink, she says, "You say that so casually."
The previous milk puddle that accumulated waits for clean up. Yet, [Name] takes one step into the kitchen and slips on it. She catches herself in the worst way.
Neji hears a crash and rushes to [Name's] aid. He sees her on the floor, legs tangled together, her non-dominant hand holding her up.
Her other hand, well, it folded underneath her weight. "Are you alright?!"
Now it's his turn to come to her rescue. Neji pulls her up, being careful not to slip in the milk that stains the floor.
"Yeah," she hisses in pain, holding her wrist, "I think I just sprained my wrist, though."
He rushes her to the bathroom. She sits on the toilet, and already a bruise runs up her leg. He looks all in her bathroom cabinets for elastic bandages. Finding none, he turns to her, determined.
"I'm gonna go to the store and try to find something for that," he says, pointing to her wrist. She looks at him, holding back her tears. Amongst the pain, she also wonders how she'll be able to work with a sprain. "For the meantime, bear with the pain, please."
He apologizes to her as he quickly leaves.
...
Neji returns with an icepack and many bandages. He sees [Name] moved herself to the couch. Unknown to him, it took her forever to limp over to it. All she felt was pain shooting up her leg.
He flushes at her puffed-out cheeks and her pouting lips. He sits with her, letting her bruised leg rest on his lap, as he takes her hand to bandage her wrist. It's swollen, and as worried as he is, he doesn't peep a word.
[Name] notices his tender touches and how gently he's treating her. Treating her as if she's glass. Porcelain. A flower with such delicate petals.
"Neji," she breathes his name and locks eyes with him. "You don't have to be so...gentle."
He chuckles, looking back at her injury. "Of course I do. You're a lady. A lady that's hurt, by the way." The final touches are put on the wrap, and Neji smiles with satisfaction.
He hands her an icepack for her wrist while he sets the other on her bruise. His palms rest on her ankle and knee, touching her more intimately than she would've liked, but she couldn't complain since he is helping.
Heat rushes to her face and down her neck. She looks away from his face that becomes more charming with every glance. "How will I ever do anything now?"
Seeing as it was her dominant hand she landed on, she can't think of any way she'll do any of her homework or her job. She took so many days off for the party and Neji, which isn't something she'd do regularly.
"I'll help you with school and stuff," Neji says. Her hand falls limp to her side. "I don't know much about your job, though."
Another pout pops up on her face, making Neji the blushy one. "I'll figure it out."
"I'm here if you need me at all. Just call me or something. I'll help with anything."
[Name] stares for a long time. His face is as serious as can be, even with his cheeks slightly tinted pink. She wonders if Tenten knows how lucky she is to have Neji as her boyfriend. So caring, so kind, so sweet. Compared to how Gaara's been acting lately, Neji becomes a knight in shining armor. A beacon of boy charm and gentlemanliness.
Only for a moment, she thinks if she had chosen him instead. Would they'd argue like this? Would the roles be reversed? Would Gaara be the one caring for her injuries while Neji screams at her over the phone?
Maybe in another life, She thinks with a sad smile. We could've been together.
"Tenten is so lucky to have you."