Coffee Beans || Sasuke Uchiha X Reader

.:Chapter Thirty-Four:.

    Sasuke was having a house party - or should you say penthouse party - to celebrate his partnership with Espress. When he broke the news to his friends and colleagues, they were all pretty shocked that Sasuke wouldn't now just be the CEO of a tech company, but the partner of a cafe business. They all found it a little strange but accepted it nonetheless, and now they were coming over to celebrate.

You didn't get to talk to Sasuke alone for much of the evening. Everyone wanted to have a conversation with him; his coworkers, who were interested in his new plans for running a second business, your friends, who wanted to know how he planned to improve the cafe, and Naruto, who just wanted to ask Sasuke about every cool new gadget he had in his penthouse.

You were busy mingling, feeling a bit anxious as you tried to become familiar with Sasuke's colleagues. You'd spoken to them before, at other office or house parties you'd been invited to, but this time was different. This time there was a certain level of judgement as you made small talk with Sasuke's employees who you weren't familiar with. You knew what the gossip around the office was, and you'd seen the tabloids. You read an article about Sasuke just the other day. The Big CEO of a Super Successful Computer Company Buys Local Cafe so Broke Girlfriend Won't Be Out of a Job! Ok, so that wasn't what it was actually called. But it's what they were implying, and you knew that was what everyone else thought. Sasuke explained to everyone why he was doing it right after he announced he would be partnering with Sora and Kou, and while many people accepted it, others made their own assumptions.

"Don't let it bother you," Sasuke had told you the night before when he caught you reading a trashy article on a gossip website.

"How could I not?" you asked and gestured to the screen. Sasuke rolled closer to you in the bed and leaned his head on you as you sat up, your laptop sitting on your lap and the screen dimly lighting your faces. "According to this, I manipulated you into buying Espress so I wouldn't have to go out and look for a 'real' job," you said, using air quotes when he said the word 'real'. "It sounds like you're my sugar daddy or something."

"But that isn't what happened," he said tiredly.

"I know."

"So why are you letting it get to you. You know it isn't true, I know it isn't, everyone relevant to us knows it isn't, so who cares."

You sighed. "That's easy for you to say. You have no feelings."

"Ouch," he said, then closed your laptop briskly with one hand, sat up, and tossed your laptop harshly onto the pile of dirty laundry on the floor. It made a thud as it landed, but Sasuke ignored it and slunk down back into the sheets, bringing you with him and wrapping his arm around you.

"Hey! You might've broken that," you said, trying to squirm out of his grasp to check on your laptop.

"Then I'll just buy you a new one. I'm your sugar daddy, remember?" he asked. "Now shut up and sleep."

You looked across the room now at him, remembering that conversation from last night. You knew, as always, that he was right.

About an hour into the party, while everyone was distracted by the caterer serving dinner, you snuck into Sasuke's room. You picked your laptop off of the floor and sat on the edge of the bed with it. You closed the window with the trashy article on it and opened a new one. It was in your history from yesterday; you'd been looking at it before reading the article. It was the official website of the college you went to. You remembered looking at it when you were just a senior in high school. You were so excited then to move out of your parents house and start your own independent life. You felt excited this time looking at it, but it wasn't the same excitement, and it was mixed with anxiousness. This time you were excited to try and get your life together, and finally follow through with what you've always wanted to do. You just had to gain enough nerve to actually reapply.

"Not hungry?" Sasuke asked in the doorway. His arms were crossed and he leaned against the frame of the door, a blank expression on his face. "Or is there something on your mind?" he asked.

You didn't answer and just looked back to the laptop screen. "You're not looking at that stupid news article again, are you?" he asked and walked over to the bed. He sat down beside you and peered at the screen. "So you really want to go back," he said.

"I've been thinking about it a lot recently. With all that's happened, everything just seems to bring me back to the idea that I should at least try again."

Sasuke kissed the side of your head. "I'd support whatever you chose to do. But I know that this is what's best for you." He stood up, closed you laptop and threw it back into the laundry pile, then grabbed your hands and pulled you to your feet. "I'll help you with your application later. For now, let's finish suffering through this party."

You laughed, and let him drag you back into the living room where the party was still going on. You couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the night. Smiling because you were excited for your future for the first time, smiling because you were around people you cared about, and smiling because you were with the man who you loved and who loved you the most. You smiled because you remembered all you had been through with him. You made it past serving him at Espress, having petty fights with him about his job, and learning how to have complete faith in him. You knew he'd be there to support you no matter what, and you trusted him completely. That's what made you love him the most.