The family he always wanted

17.

Happy New Years Everyone, ☺️❣️

The sun had just went down when they made it to her apartment, she offered him a seat on the couch but he looked around. Admiring her cozy space, it fitted her personality. The vibe of her place yet again reminded him of his mother. For starters, the way it smelled, the fresh air breezing thru after smelling of incense, the scent of a candle that she left lit, cinnamon mixed with honey, fresh roses picked from the garden, neatly tucked in a beautiful glass vase, and the pictures of her family up on the wall.

He frowned when he saw the picture she had of that guy but he'd had to throw that on the back burner... for now.

The wooden table that sat in front of the sofa, was in the shape of a heart with a coaster on top.

His heart ached when he finally sat down looking at the doorway, picturing his mother doting on him, his brother, and his father. Always keeping a hint of a smile on her face, tidying things up around their home, even when his father didn't want her to.

But she was just sweet like that she couldn't help it.

That nostalgic feeling came back...

Him starting to feel a twinge of... Peacefulness.

Her place felt like, how it did when he was a child.

Before that awful tragedy of his...

It felt, it felt like... Home.

He quickly returned his focus to Hinata before he got too deep in thought. She was still standing up, looking away from him, shyly twiddling her two fingers together. "I...m s-sorry for accusing you."

"Hey, can you look at me?" she still kept her eyes away from him, preventing his gaze. So he grabbed her wrists, softly and guided her to him, now standing in front of him and he lifted her chin to look at him. His heart just ached more. Why does she have to look so damn innocent? Ugh so precious!

"It's alright. I'm not mad at you." her demeanor finally relaxed when he said that. "By the way, what is it that you think I did?" her face flushed and her body tensed up again. "I-uh-well-you-I-um-we-well"

He couldn't help but smirk at her nervousness. Teasing her was too easy and it was completely damn fun doing it. "Go ahead and tell me, I won't be mad at you princess."

At this point, she lost her breath.

She wasn't sure when it happened but his hands were holding her hips. "You're blushing hard..."

Her whole face turned red. "Do you like being called princess? Princess." She couldn't take it anymore!

Bringing her hands up to her chest and forcing herself to speak! "You-You gave me a big hug!"

"Why did you point to your so called leggings then?"
Just like that she changed the subject, "d-do you have a place to stay?" Even with that, her face stayed the same, blushing harder than ever. "At the hotel."

She started to relax again. "You... can stay here."
he didn't say anything. "Only if you're comfortable."

Her face frowned at the thought of feeling like she was forcing him, yet again. She yelped when he pulled her closer to him burying his head in his newfound pillows. Being the person that she was, she started to caress his hair, giving him... comfort.

He didn't wanna let her go wanting to hold onto her forever. She was soft and warm, enough for him to forget all of his troubles, his demons, his worries, his nightmares. He felt light, like the weight of the evil world, that haunted him in his sleep, was lifted off his shoulders. He thought that he felt this way with Sakura, but here, with her, right now, in this very moment, just confirmed that, that wasn't even close.

"Sasuke?" His eyes were still tightly shut.

"Let's just stay like this for 5 more minutes, please."