Flower Boy {Shikadai X Inojin}

Chapter Seven

It didn't take long to get to the shop and twenty minutes later and 35 dollars poorer, the group sat at the table with their food. Shikadai remained quiet most of the time, just listening to his friends catch up with each other. While they see each other at school a lot, it's been a while since all of them hung around like this. It was actually kind of nice. 

Of course, Shikadai had to ruin the moment by asking the stupidest question ever. 

"How do you guys feel about Inojin?" The question slips and he isn't too sure why he even asked it. He doesn't care what his friends think about the blonde. He doesn't even know what he thinks about him. Shikadai tries to avoid suspicions by casually looking down, dipping his fries in the ketchup.

"Who?" Boruto asks, his eyebrow raised.

"The blonde boy always at the flower shop," Shikadai explains, a little exasperated. He felt annoyed that Boruto didn't know his name but Shikadai only figured it out yesterday. 

"Oh," Boruto says, nodding. He didn't know that was his name.

"He's a pretty boy." Chocho injects, shrugging. Shikadai knew she wasn't complimenting him but instead insinuating that Inojin thought he was too good for anyone else. That seemed like the opposite of the case though. He seemed shy and selective. 

"Why do you ask?" Well, there it was. It was Sarada who asked, her eyebrow cocked accusingly. Shikadai knew he shouldn't have asked the question. Now his friends are gonna assume he's gay. Is he gay? The question had been lingering in his head for days now and there seemed to be no answer to it. Even if he is gay, there's no reason Sarada's mind would go straight to that idea. Right?

"Nara!" Shikadai snaps out of his thoughts, unaware that he was even zoning out. Now it's gonna look even worse and who knows what kind of assumptions they're gonna think. Shikadai never cared about what others thought about him but suddenly dozens of bad ideas popped into his head.

Shikadai felt something bubble in his stomach and he knew if he opened his mouth to speak, he was gonna cry. Why the fuck was he gonna cry. That was the last thing he wanted so he just left. He just gets up and calmly leaves the restaurant. He was a little hurt that no one tried to follow him but relieved at the same time. He isn't too sure if he could handle communicating with anyone right now. He just needed to enjoy the quiet walk home while trying to push his intrusive thoughts out. Shikadai isn't too sure how he's gonna explain that incident to his friends but he'll figure it out before school tomorrow. 

Shikadai stops in his tracks when he notices his surroundings. He was near the flower shop and right outside of it was Inojin. Because of course, it was Inojin. God hated him. 

Shikadai tries to ignore the blonde, keeping his head down and trying to walk past him, but he was stopped. Inojin had put his hand on his shoulder. The action surprised the Nara, who turns to the blonde, eyes wide in shock.

"Are you alright?" Inojin asks and Shikadai knew it was obvious he was on the verge of tears. Unbeknownst to the blonde, it was because of him. That's a secret that's never gonna get out. Inojin asked if he was okay. He cares if Shikadai is doing fine. And Shikadai isn't sure where his filter was today because he once again randomly blurts a sentence out. 

"Go to the bowling alley with me. Tomorrow at 8." Shikadai demands, his voice stern. He isn't too sure where that came from, especially considering two minutes ago, he was gonna cry if he spoke up. He's just glad he isn't feeling like that anymore. 

"Okay." Inojin stammers, removing his hands from Shikadai's shoulder. The Nara nods his head in surprise and joy, the anxiety will be sure to come later. He didn't think the blonde would say yes. 

"Good, I'll meet you here then." That was the last thing he said before continuing his walk, not turning back to look at the blonde. Shikadai's glad he's back to speaking his mind.