Navigating this mess

2

Today is the day, Hinata thought nervously. Today was the day Sasuke would propose and she would act happy. No, not happy. Overjoyed. She was supposed to be a woman over joyed. She was supposed to be letting the public know she was happy with this man. That she loved him. That he loved her. 

Publicly, they had been dating three months. Holding hands. Dates. Kisses. Stuff couples did. It looked better for both companies if they were in love. Not being forced.  That way the marriage looked a little bit more real. 

Even now, they walked hand in hand. Smiling at each other. They were acting. Posting cute pictures on instagram. Tweeting at each other. Loving each other. 

 They were playing the part well. Sometimes it felt real too. Like when they first moved in with each other. His place because Hinata had still lived with her father. (You know because she was fresh out of college at twenty-two.) Sasuke had helped her move her stuff along with his brother. They laughed and smiled along with Itachi who made jokes from no where. 

When Itachi was around, Sasuke was happy. But when he left, Hinata felt the loving atmosphere leave with him. Suddenly, Sasuke was back to being solemn. They shared a bed, but that bed was cold. Sasuke didn't sleep until late and he was always up before her. Sometimes she thought he slept on the couch, just so he wouldn't have to be near her. 

And she understood that. She would hate herself if she was in his spot. She had read up on him after that meeting. He was in a relationship before she came barging in on his happy life. A girl named Karin. They were a power couple. She was a model and him the billionaire. 

And now he was stuck with her. 

Hinata vaguely remembered the first interview they had on their relationship. She had let Sasuke do all of the talking because being manipulative was something he seemed quite good at. 

"When did you two meet?" The smiling reporter questioned them. 

"We met at a business meeting a couple of years ago," he lied. He smiled down on Hinata, making the lie seem more believable. "She was the most beautiful person there. It wasn't hard though. The room was full of old guys."  He chuckled

The reporter laughed, "How long have you two been an item?" The reporter's eyebrows shifted up and down suggestively. 

"Officially? Right after me and Karin broke up. Karin had cheated on me with some Swedish model while she was overseas and I knew then I couldn't stay with her. Then this angel," he buried his nose in her hair as he slung his arm around her, "came in and stole my broken heart. It was like she was a god send. She fixed it right up and now, well, someday I'm going to marry her."

Hinata blushed at the memory. It was mostly a lie sprinkled with truth. He was good at it, she had realized later. Any time she was asked about their relationship she just pulled the lie from that interview. 

Sasuke pulled her from the memory a moment later. She realized she was at the bridge where everything was supposed to happen. He had told her after that meeting that he wanted it to be there, where his father had proposed to his mother. She had told him that was fine and explained her father had also proposed on a bridge before he had made the company. Later, they had realized that it was the exact same bridge. 

She looked around as she took it in. The paparazzi had been tipped off a long time ago that this would be happening and where and when. 

Hinata sighed as she separated herself from her soon to be fiance. She bent over the railing and stared down into the clear water below. She knew the sadness that surrounded her would follow her straight into this marriage. 

Sasuke watched her. She was wearing a nice, white dress and her hair was made up. As she bent over the railing, he couldn't help but think of the rest of his life. This woman would carry his children. She would be the one he would spend most of his life with. She was a sweet girl. Really wasn't his type. She came home from work every day to make dinner and was always cleaning on her days off. On "date" nights, she ordered the cheapest thing even though they were both loaded with money. 

It disgusted him, knowing she was made for this part. She was made for someone's wife. Someone who would love her. He may have been a jerk but even he knew that. He was made for someone like his best friend, Naruto who was always looking for a good girl like her. He would be stealing her away from who she was meant to be. Someone who would love her. Someone who could do everything he couldn't. He sighed and put his hand in his pocket. 

The box. The ring had been his mother's. He had told Itachi he didn't want to use the ring but he had insisted. He said he had a good feeling about this marriage. Sasuke didn't think so and watching this girl he knew. He knew she would be miserable because he would never be able to say those three words and mean them. He would never be her knight in shining armor. Hell, he didn't even have the balls to tell her about his nightmares. 

Her dress slowly moved upward as she moved further over the rail. He was pretty sure eventually she would fall in and for a moment thought that he should tell her to back up. But her voice broke him from his thoughts. 

 "Sasuke! Look!" Hinata called to him. She pointed over the railing. Below Koi fish swam mindlessly and Sasuke smiled. He had heard stories of Koi fish being in the lake and only showing up when something good was about to happen. Of course it was just superstition and he didn't really believe it. 

Hinata, however, believed in the superstition whole-heartily. Her mother had told her stories of the Koi fish being there when she was proposed to.  And when she told her husband she was pregnant. And when her husband told her he wanted to start a business. The Koi were special to her mother and in turn special to Hinata. 

Hinata leaned forward just a little more before she felt her feet leave the ground. Oh no!  Hinata flipped over the railing and fell into the shallow water below. But not before Sasuke attempted to grab her to save her effectively ripping her dress, breaking the zipper, and dragging him in with her. 

With a giant splash and a scattering of fish, Sasuke lay flat on his back in the middle of a shallow lake with Hinata on top of him. Sasuke was stunned. His suit was soaked and his phone was probably ruined. Then a terrifying thought crossed his mind as he slammed his hand down on his pocket. Thank the fucking lord it didn't fall out.  

Hinata felt her dress start to slip off her shoulders before quickly getting off of him. She realized two things as she sat up. 1) Her dress was falling off of her because it was ripped. 2) What was left of her dress was no longer covering her decently. 

She blushed as she used her arms to cover her chest and attempt to keep some of her modesty. Sasuke watched as she quickly started to back up under the bridge where he knew there would be another drop off and she would again fall. 

"Here. Take my jacket and cover yourself," he said as he slipped it off. She nodded and slipped it over her petite frame. 

She didn't do it quick enough, however. Sasuke caught a glimpse of her body under that dress. He tried hard to knock down the growing problem in his pants. All he needed was his engagement photos to be both of them soaked with a bulge in his pants. 

Sasuke laughed at the way she looked at the moment. If he didn't know any better, he'd have sworn she was a child. Or maybe a lake monster. The sleeves dangled off of her hands and the jacket reached almost as low as her dress. Her hair had come out of the ponytail she seemed to always have. Her makeup ran down her face, dripping off of her in black streaks. 

Sasuke knew at that point it was time. If he didn't propose now, the day would have been a bust and someone would have to replan everything. So he got down on one knee as Hinata pushed some of her hair behind her ear and proposed, "Will you marry me?" 

"Yes!" she shouted 'excitedly' and bounced up and down her hair bobbing around her. Out of the corner of her eye she watched cameras flash.