I'll always love you (re-continued)

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Neji sighed, these past few weeks have been stressful, with both his personal and professional life. In the last three weeks, he had gotten a lot of cases to complete, in multiple arguments with his wife that he personally deemed as stupid. She seemed to be getting mad at the small things, such as when she got mad at him for not folding the clothes properly. The behavior change irked him, they had never gotten into arguments over anything so small up until recently. The arguments made the household feel so tense, so much so that he dreaded going back home. He was constantly walking on eggshells, and he hated it, not only was it affecting him, but it was also affecting his daughter, he didn't know why this was suddenly happening, but he was thankful that she wasn't treating their daughter the same way.

He could handle being yelled at, even though it was annoying, he just couldn't handle Yuika being the victim in it. He wiped down the counter and placed a plate of food in the microwave for Tenten for when she got back. That was another thing he noticed, she started coming home late, not that he minded as long as she was safe, still, it concerned him. Whenever she was going to come home late, she would text him, and lately, she hasn't been doing that. From what he's learned, big changes in behavior that happened unprovoked could be concerning, and he was concerned. He went to sit at the dining room table, and as he waited he sipped on a fresh brew of tea.

His daughter was already in bed which meant that she wouldn't have to hear their conversation, though he doubted that she could from where her room was located. He looked at the clock on the stove that read 9:30 pm, it wasn't that late but still late enough for him to know that if this had been a month ago she would've already been back by now. He was halfway through his third cup when he heard the front door open and then close, he glanced over at the clock on the oven, this time it read 11:20 pm. Neji placed his cup down and stood up, walking over to the front door, he crossed his arms and waited until she turned around to see him, when she did, he didn't miss the fact of how she jumped.

"You're awake?" She didn't expect him to be awake at this time, he was usually asleep, and if he wasn't he would be in his room or home office.

"I was waiting for you, I've been worried." He was worried, how could he not be? "You've just seemed stressed and like there's a lot on your mind, and then there's the fact that you've been getting mad at such small things... so yeah, I've been worried."

Tenten crossed her arms, she couldn't look at him right now. How could she? For some reason the guilt was now building up, each time she saw him it reminded her of how she was a liar. She extended her arm out to the wall and took off her shoes, even now she could barely look at him. She was deeply regretting what she had done because of her own jealousy and it was far too late to take it back. How could she? "You don't have to worry about me." Why was it now that the guilt was now getting to her? And not before she ruined something.

Even though she said it, it didn't make him any less worried. He stared at her for what felt like a minute, his mind trying to think of a reason why she had this sudden change.

"What?"

Quite honestly he has never thought of the possibility, nor did he ever think of it, however with these current events the thought did cross his mind. "Are you cheating on me?" Truth be told he didn't know how he would react if she was, he didn't have any romantic feelings towards her, however by law they were still married, and he knew that he would be hurt. If she wasn't interested in their marriage, couldn't she have just told him? That would be a lot more tolerable than being cheated on, then again, perhaps he was being a bit hypocritical.

She went silent. "No." She was telling the truth, she wasn't, but she was slowly falling for someone else, someone that she wished she would've noticed sooner before all of this. Her carelessness, her lies, and her realization were finally catching up to her. She ruined so many lives, it was so easy for her to ignore it at the time, and blame it on someone else, but now, she couldn't. "I think I should stay at my parent's house for a few days." She finally said, "I'll take Yui with me too, it's been a while since she's seen her grandparents." All she needed was a little getaway, visiting her parents might help give her some... clarity.

"I don't think that's a good idea. She still has school and friends, and I think you should talk to her before deciding that she can go with you." He also didn't like the idea of his daughter being so far away.

"We'll talk about this later, I need something to drink." Tenten stood up straight, walking into the kitchen, another lie, why was her life built up of so many lies? She opened up the alcohol cabinet, grabbing a bottle of red wine and a wine glass, it took a small amount of struggle but she managed to take off the corkscrew, before pouring half a glass. "Want some?" She felt eyes on her.

"No thank you." He was concerned by now. "I'll give you a minute, let's talk when you're ready." He didn't wait for her to respond, all he did was turn and walk to his room

She sat at the dining room table, taking a small sip. "We can talk once I'm finished... even though nothing's wrong with me." Although she said it would be once she was done, she planned on drawing out her drink as long as she could.

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Tenten closed her daughter's room door, she opened it and closed it as silently as she could. It was funny how she couldn't even connect with her child, a deep part of her knew why, she didn't want to admit it, but she knew that some parts of it were true. She walked to her own room and closed the door, at times like these she was happy that they had their separate rooms. She walked over to her bed and sat down, grabbing her face with her hands as she sighed.

"Come in!" She didn't even bother going to look at the door when she heard a knock, she heard the door open then close, and felt the bed take a slight dip, indicating that someone was now sitting on it.

"It's not much but I brought tea for you." He had thought about it earlier and he decided that they could talk when she felt ready. "I'm sorry if you felt concerned, but I am worried, if you say you nor cheating then I'll believe that." He had no reason not to, and there was no proof other than the fact she came home late. "When you're ready, we can talk. Whatever is happening, I hope that you are okay." He paused. "Know that I am here for you."

She grabbed the cup from his hands and placed it on the coffee table. "Thank you." She leaned forward and hugged him. Her heart felt heavy, she felt guilty, there was so much she wanted to say, she was scared to say it, and the outcome? She didn't want to think of it. "I just have a lot on my mind, I'll ask Yui if she would want to come with me this weekend, I just need to process." She did have to process, she couldn't stay in this situation anymore, she had to prepare herself and her daughter. She has already done so many things to hurt him, things that he wasn't even aware of, and now she would leave, put an end to this, but in doing so she knew that it would hurt him.

"Do you need anything else?" Just because he said that he was giving her time to explain herself, doesn't mean that he could easily forgive her for her previous actions, although he did hope that they could look past this. He knew that their marriage wasn't the strongest, they were married but never were romantic with each other unless they were out in public. He stood up when she shook her head no, going to leave the room. "Goodnight."

"Night." She stared at the now closed door, alone, with her thoughts keeping her company. She sighed and laid down in her bed, she wasn't tired, and even if she was, her mind was far too active to allow her to sleep.

Her heart felt heavy, and keeping this secret was weighing down on her, it felt suffocating, then again she couldn't complain because this was her doing. Perhaps it was time for her to finally say it and deal with the consequences later, even with the possible outcome it made her feel sad, but still it needed to be done. If the truth always comes to the light. perhaps it was time for her to shine it before someone else did.