[A/N: To those who don't check story ratings: be aware that this story is rated M, so expect content that may be uncomfortable to those who are sensitive. Besides cursing, dark tones and slight violence-- YES-- there are lemons and limes at some points. But luckily I've cordially directed when to skip on such parts on certain chapters so you keep your conscience? If this is cool with you, then ENJOY and thanks for reading~]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cheering families and close friends filled the baseball stadium; an atmosphere that tingled with joy and excitement. Every single one of your senior classmates wore their caps and gowns proudly, jumping around excitedly ready to walk down the dirt path to graduation.
You, on the other hand, wore a blank expression on your face as you stared down at the tips of your heels that peeked out from the bottom of your gown. You were stuck in your own world, until you were whirled around by your wrist.
Your startled gasp is muted when your lips molded with his. But now that you stared into a pair of gentle dark irises, you pulled back.
"Finally you're here, Itachi!"
Said boy laughed as he fixed your crooked cap, sliding your tassel to the right before leaning down to peck your glossy lips again. "[Name], you don't wear your tassel to the left until after we receive our diplomas." Itachi brushed loose strands of hair away from your face while you stared emotionless, desperate to tell him your unexpected plans after the ceremony.
"Can I tell you something?" you asked, and Itachi nods. Just as you open your mouth, the principal blew his whistle loudly, signaling everyone to take their place.
"Just like we practiced, people!" the principle shouted over the megaphone and everyone jittered around to find their assigned spots.
Seeing you become uneasy, Itachi takes your hand and squeezed it gently as he placed you on his right. "Whatever it is tell me after this is over, [Name]."
An impatient sigh is heaved, although maybe he's right; what you needed to tell him would ruin this celebration. You nod at his suggestion and face forward to the fenced doors where the noise level increased as the graduation song 'Pomp and Circumstance' began to play. The fences swiftly opened and everyone began to march in unison into the sorrounding of people yelling and screaming. Your widened [E/C] eyes scanned the stadium for any familiar faces-- your family.
Every senior gets ten stadium entry tickets, and out of those ten tickets you only used three-- for your dad, step-mother and little sister-- and gave the remaining seven to Itachi to invite more of his large family.
"[Name], look!" Itachi pointed his finger up; you followed his direction and spot his family sitting at the mid section of the stadium being louder than those around. The usual recognizable people were Fugaku, Mikoto and Sasuke while the rest were Itachi's close friends and family you haven't met officially.
They cheered uncontrollably: whistling, waving signs around and squeezing air horns to catch both of your attention. Fugaku wore a proud smile with his hand raised in a thumbs up; next was Mikoto jumping up and down, holding a large sign over her head as she proudly yelled your and Itachi's name over everyone's voices. Sasuke (though you were impressed he even showed up) sat cross-armed flat in his seat, but wore a passing crooked smile on his pale face.
Lazy!
"Why did you invite so many people?"
Itachi smiled and took your hand. "You'll see after the ceremony, [Name]."
***
There were interchanged high fives and hugs after everyone received their diplomas. Cameras were flashing everywhere like paparazzi, and many families were teary in happiness as they hugged their graduates again.
You, however, stood there alone, scanning around the crowd for familiar faces from your household, though you hoped you wouldn't.
A hand clasped at your shoulder, and spun around to find a smiling Itachi, his gown hung over his shoulder. But her eyes drifted to scan his current attire: dark wash jeans and a white buttoned up shirt with the top two buttons loosened to expose his collar bone; his dark tinted hair was pulled back handsomely as always-which was different than what he usually wore.
He wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you in. "I've been looking for you. My family wants to see you." His forehead tapped against yours, but pulled back to notice your attention wandered elsewhere. "[Name], you alright?"
"We need to talk. Now," you said, gently pushing away from him. You quickly turned on your heels and stormed through the crowd, while Itachi dodged many people in his path to reach you. It wasn't your nature to storm off as such that he became suspicious that something was up, so he reached his hand out and caught your hand to stop you once you reached a shady area away from the others.
"What is the matter with you?" Itachi spun you around to cup your chin gently, assuming you were upset because none of your family showed up. "You know that my family is yours too, so don't worry..."
"It's not that! I-I just really need to tell you something." Biting your lips, your eyes darted elsewhere and his hand dropped from your chin.
"What is it?"
"I never told you, and this might be the worst time to tell you this, but..." your voice trailed off as your emotions started to collapse...
"Tell me, it's okay." He tucked a lock of [H/C] hair behind your ear. Butterflies swarmed all over the pit of your belly as your lips opened and closed constantly, not sure what to start with, because nothing will make sense to Itachi.
"We..." you huffed, covering your mouth to hide your quivering lips. Just say it already!
"We need to break up!" You instantly bit down on your lip, already regretting those sharp words that might've came out too soon. You dared to glimpse at Itachi, finding nothing but a head tilt, and quickly look away away.
"What? Are you kidding?" Itachi ripped though the silence.
"Well... No, I'm not," you muttered. "You know how my life with my family has been...so-so my intentions after graduation were that... I-I'd run away from home--"
Itachi's low chuckling cuts you off. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with an amused smile on his lips."C'mon, [Name]..."
"I'm serious, Itachi," you snap and his expression turned bitter; the pinch of his eyebrows caused his eyes to pierce.
"[Name]-
Both your hands raised to stop him. "You were never a part of that plan, Itachi, nor did I plan on...falling...in love with you." You paused to control your voice that wanted to crack. "I couldn't think of a way to tell you all this before-- and I don't know why I waited until now!" --little by little, your voice raised-- "I don't plan on dragging you away from a great life I know you will have."
Your last statement left Itachi in awe. He kept quiet for a moment and glanced to the side, sighing in disappointment.
"So, these four years meant nothing to you as much as it did to me?" His arms crossed as he glared down at you now. "Was this relationship only an outlet from your problems? Shit, [Name]..."
Taken aback by his tone, you cringe in shame. That wasn't true but there weren't any words to counter, until you realize that most of the area had gotten quieter with only the school staff conversing about summer plans.
"These four years..." you sigh out and turned back to him. "They were beautiful, Itachi. Every moment I spent with you-- and every beat of my heart, every laughter shared with you-- those were always sincere for you."
"Understand this though," you added. "My plane ticket out of here has been reserved for a while-- even before I met you!" You stepped back, balling the courage into your hands. "Itachi, everything was planned before you, and I just... I can't.
You ran out of words as tears began to cloud your sight, but after drying them with a quick wipe of your sleeve, you re-gained your courage to look at him in the eye. "I'm leaving tonight."
The grim tone had in your voice had no effect on Itachi as he only shook his head in disbelief.
"[Name], you have no idea what my intentions were either." His right hand drops at his pant pocket.
"Itachi, don't try to convince me to stay."
"Then I'm going with you," he demanded, taking a step closer and you stepped back.
"No! You don't deserve that!"
"So I don't deserve you?"
"I..." your lips pursed, "I don't mean it like that."
Itachi didn't know whether to be mad or disappointed with the vagueness you spluttered. His hand slid behind his neck, not knowing how to express himself by this turn of events; meanwhile you stood frozen, avoiding his gaze. An awkward silence engulfed the space in between until Itachi shifts, grasping your attention. You watch as his hand reached down into his pocket, keeping it there for a few seconds before pulling out his hand and balled it into a fist.
"Here." Itachi takes your hand, placing a small glistening object in the middle of your palm before wrapping your fingers around it so your hand became a fist.
After Itachi stepped back, you begin opening your hand. "What is..." and regret doing it.
A ring.
You were shocked. This clearly wasn't an act anymore, and it only escalated your guilt enough to engulf every other negative emotion.
"Please, Itachi, don't do this," you begged.
"I want to marry you, [Name]," he said nonchalantly, yet soothing. "That has been my intention for you; to free you from all that misery and just live happily with me." Itachi stopped briefly to check his surroundings, hoping his family weren't watching this broken scene. "To others, this may seem too soon because they see us as kids-- and maybe we still are-- but I'm certain about this decision... I've waited this long just so you'd be at the legal age, and also so my father would support me in this. It wasn't easy."
You let out a weak giggle, still dumbfounded. "This is why you invited so many people... Itachi, please-
"Listen!" Your eyes widened as he raised his voice. Never in four years you had seen him this way, but it was only because he was being serious about this. It wasn't just a way on convincing you to stay anymore.
"These past four years were not a game to me," he lectured, and it intimidated you bit. "It was not a 'high-school phase'. It was real to me and you were real to me..." Itachi calmed himself, sighing as he looked at you in a fragile manner. "Until now, apparently."
"Then why do you want to marry me? I practically lied to you."
Itachi chuckled; his eyes softened as he fixed them on yours. "I love you enough to forgive. Can't you see that?"
You swallowed thickly, thinking of what to say or do in order to make him forget you; to make him angry enough into leaving you and move on. But this has been written in stone and you knew he wasn't going to let it go. Defeated, you hugged yourself as you stared at a patch of drying grass next to your heel.
What should you decide? He was offering such a golden offer that he was literally gifting you a life. But that stubborn bone was winning this tug of war, thus after seconds of private pondering, you lips formed a smile and raised your head to look at him.
"Yes, Itachi... You're right, I...wanted this," you uttered, showing him the smile he needed. However, he didn't realize the emphasis on the usage of past tense. "But let's talk about this tomorrow. I'm tired."
Itachi flashed a grin; he was back to his normal self. He took your left hand that held onto the ring, lifting it to his lips in a kiss before opening it to take the ring.
"I was planning to propose in a more...romantic way," he whispered as he closed in the gap. You couldn't help but wince when he slid the glistening ring down your ring finger.
"Well, you know me..." you shrugged, smiling apologetically.
His arms then wrapped around your shoulders as Itachi pulled you into an emotional hug; his cheek rested at the top of your head and you returned the affection by wrapping your arms around his neck, digging your face into his neck to hide the emotionless look on your face.
"I'm glad you changed your mind," he said to your ear.
You nod gently. "Yeah..."
Shame on you [Name], you lying snake!
»»»»»3am»»»»»
The spare key that Itachi gave you in case of emergencies slid it into the lock of his balcony door. Cringing at the low click! the lock made once opened, you checked on Itachi and huffed in relief that he remained asleep. Your luggage waited outside while you quietly tip-toed towards the nightstand next to him.
Before completing your task, you stopped at his side, allured by his serene sleeping expression. Absorbed in the moment, you eyes trailed his bare torso and fantasized about the privilege that you could've had to sleep next to him, and to wake up with him...
Get your shit together, [Name]! You head shook and quickly pulled out a folded note from your pocket. This 'mission' had to be done before finding yourself crawling into his sheets.
Darting back to his nightstand, your hand reached out and to placed the note down, along with the spare key, but froze when you noticed where both items were placed next to: a picture frame of you and Itachi kissing. Your heart melted knowing that, out of all pictures you and he took together, Itachi was the type of man to keep a single picture like this closest to him.
You pouted; it's like he knew you'd be here doing this and placed that picture there on purpose to stop you. Before you made your way out, a flash of light blinds your eyes and look down to see the engagement ring still wrapped on your finger.
How much did this cost? The center stone was large enough to make any bride envy you, yet you frowned, feeling wrong for thinking on keeping the ring. So you slide it off your finger, carefully take one last look at it and set it on top of the note.
Taking one last glance at Itachi, you felt a chord pulling in your heart. Such a kind-hearted man deserved much more-- SHIT!
You ducked your head and froze in place as Itachi rustled around to switch to his side. A bit adrenaline rushed through your body and held your breath when you take a peek. Itachi was still deep asleep.
I better leave now before he catches me... Inwardly sighing, you quietly tip-toe out his room and shut his balcony door behind you.
As you stalked away from the Uchiha property to meet your taxi, every bit guilt stabbed you when warm tears began to roll down your cheeks. You couldn't even imagine what you'd do or feel if Itachi ever saw you again.
"I'm sorry, Itachi."
That's if he ever found you again.
♥