When Love Fades

Chapter 20 - Just a Towel II

Sasuke groaned slightly as the sound of his alarm going off penetrated his sleep. The pounding in his head reminded him of exactly how much he'd had to drink the night before. And why. He blinked blearily over at the alarm clock before reaching over and slamming his uninjured hand down on it to shut the annoying sound off.

He didn't need to look over at the other side of the bed to know it was empty. And had been empty all night. He squinted as the early morning light seeming to stab directly into his head. He'd forgotten to pull the curtains closed when he'd finally stumbled to bed the night before.

"Fuck," he mumbled, slowly pulling the blankets back and sitting up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. His stomach churned, and he sat completely still for a moment, breathing in slowly through his nose and exhaling through his mouth, closing his eyes until the wave of nausea had passed.

He looked down at his rumpled work clothes. He'd taken off his jacket and tie, but had fallen asleep wearing his shirt and slacks from the day before after drinking nearly half a bottle of Jameson.

Stupid.

He picked up his phone and scrolled through his messages. He tried to tell himself that he wasn't looking to see if Naruto had texted him or tried to call him. The ache in Sasuke's head throbbed, pulsing in time with the beat of his heart. He welcomed it. It kept him from looking back too clearly on the events of the previous night.

He didn't want to think about it.

Before he'd met Naruto, Sasuke had never been interested in relationships. Occasional sex was fine, but anything that even remotely approached emotional intimacy was something he'd spent his life avoiding like the plague. His one-sided affection for his parents had forced him to learn early on that the only one he could really rely on was himself. Itachi did his best to help when he could, but even he couldn't take the place of both mother and father. The last thing Sasuke had ever wanted was one more person he found himself emotionally at risk to.

When he met Naruto, the blond had almost immediately managed to get under Sasuke's skin. Naruto hadn't been intimidated by Sasuke's cold behavior or cutting criticisms, and his brutal honesty had only seemed to draw Naruto closer. In turn, Sasuke had seen straight through Naruto's easy laugh and teasing jokes and recognized them for the front that they were. Naruto managed to make everyone feel like they were his friend without ever actually opening up to any of them, but Sasuke had refused to play the game. They'd hated each other at first, constantly getting in each other's face and provoking each other until...

Sasuke shut down that line of thinking.

It was all irrelevant now, anyway. Naruto had turned out to be just like everyone else. It had simply taken Sasuke longer to realize it. He should have just stuck to his original idea and avoided relationships altogether. Like Itachi did, even though his asshole of a brother would never admit it.

The thought of Itachi had Sasuke's hands clenching. He didn't need to hear his brother say 'I told you so. His brother might not mean to, but there had been so many times in Sasuke's life when Itachi's very existence made him feel like shit. This was simply another tally to add to that count.

Sasuke sighed as he remembered that Itachi was supposed to come by next week for dinner. He wasn't ready to face the interrogation - well-intentioned as it might be - that was guaranteed to occur when Itachi found out that Naruto had walked out. Sasuke grabbed his phone off the nightstand and glared at it. Calling Itachi was out of the question. No one knew him better than his brother, and Itachi would immediately know that something was wrong.

Instead, Sasuke decided on a simple text letting Itachi know that work would be crazy for the next couple of weeks and he wouldn't be able to do dinner. Both statements were true: work was crazy. And Sasuke couldn't do dinner with Itachi. The two statements were not related, but Sasuke had never been able to outright lie to Itachi and he wouldn't start now. Shades of grey were another matter, however. He knew he'd have to deal with Itachi sooner or later, but for now, he chose later.