When Love Fades

Chapter 14 - Too little, Too late I

Naruto's phone buzzed as he sat on the train on the way back home. He had e-mailed Jiraiya some of the photos the day before and wondered if the man was getting back to him on what he thought. He was surprised to see a text from Sasuke instead.

What time will you be home tonight?

Naruto's eyebrows raised at the text. It had been a long time since they'd bothered asking each other that. He texted back.

My train gets in around 5 pm. I should be home by 6.

Naruto didn't really expect a reply, but he got one almost immediately.

See you then.

Naruto stared at the message. Sasuke would be home from work by six on a Tuesday? That seemed... highly unlikely. A frisson of nerves went through him. He hadn't really wanted to confront Sasuke as soon as he got home. Honestly, Naruto was completely exhausted from the past week of traveling to different cities and carrying his equipment all over, not to mention the stress of having the weird architect basically following him around looking over his shoulder and offering unwanted advice. All of which Naruto ignored.

He had been looking forward to getting home and having some time to decompress before dealing with the situation with Sasuke. A thought suddenly occurred to him... maybe something was wrong. Had something happened with the project Sasuke was working on? Had Sasuke's parents been assholes again? Naruto bit his lip, and punched out a quick text.

Is everything ok?

Naruto felt on edge as he waited for the reply. He might not be happy in their relationship, but that didn't mean he didn't give a shit about Sasuke anymore. His worries were alleviated when he got a reply.

Yes. Why?

Naruto frowned, reading Sasuke's reply. It would probably come across as Naruto trying to pick a fight again if he wrote back 'because you never text me without a reason' or 'because you never come home this early. He didn't want to come back home and start arguing right away.

Just wondered. See you at six.

Naruto put his phone back in his pocket and went back to looking out the window. He wished he knew how Sasuke felt about the way things were between them. He used to always know. Sasuke never bothered to hide it if he were annoyed about something. And while Sasuke wasn't particularly expressive with his emotions, Naruto had been able to read when Sasuke was sad or content. But they spent so little time together these days that Naruto felt out of sync with his boyfriend. He really had no idea what Sasuke thought about their relationship anymore. If Sasuke thought about it at all, which didn't really seem likely.

It would make the upcoming conversation a lot easier to face if Naruto had some clue, though. Usually, when Naruto was doing a job, Sasuke didn't call him. But this week, Sasuke had called Naruto on Saturday morning wanting to talk.

.
.
.

Naruto was just finishing looking through his photos from the morning's shoot when his phone rang. He was surprised to see Sasuke's number flash up on the screen.

"Hey," Naruto's voice was tinged with the surprise he felt as he answered the call.

"Hey. Are you on a shoot?" Sasuke asked, clearly not wanting to bother Naruto if he was working.

"Nah. Yesterday, the lighting wasn't right, so I got up early this morning to get some of the shots I wanted. I finished up about two hours ago," Naruto said, stretching up in the bed of his hotel room. It had been an early morning for him. "I am going to take a few night shots tonight, then head out to Sapporo in the morning. I should be back home on Tuesday."