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Neji can't think of anything to tell her, so he watches the sky. The clouds are thick and low, barely drifting with the wind, no stars piercing through.
He stands in the middle of her garden, his head tilted up, his palms moist. His gaze shifts from the pitch-black sky to her window when an uneven movement catches his attention.
She has the stars and he has the birds, he once told her and she laughed, her whole body shaking as she rolled away from him. 'Cheesy much, Hyuuga?'
Neji grimaces, sticking his hands in his pockets, his fingers toying with his keys and cellphone. 'Why is she taking so long?' he wonders.
The curtains move again.
Neji stills, part of his mind paralyzed, rehearsing the same endless stream of sentences he could say but knew she would laugh off.
Tenten finally leans over the window sill, her hair untied, her eyes sparkling with amusement. She wears a hoodie over a simple t-shirt, her mouth stretched in a vague smile.
Neji gulps with difficulty, dry-mouthed, the tightness in his chest increasing.
"Shouldn't you be holding a radio above your head?" Tenten whispers and props her chin up in her hand. "I think I deserve at least one serenade."
Neji smirks, but his fingers grow rigid in his pockets. He thought of it. 'Cheesy much, Hyuuga?'
"You want me to wake up your father?"
Tenten exhales softly, as if disappointed, but there is the same spark in her eyes, the same hidden smile curving her mouth. She turns awayfrom the window, reaching past her for something Neji can't see.
"Actually, I want you to catch this."
Tenten throws a bag over her window, and Neji catches it swiftly. The content of the bag is soft and light, but they tense, holding their breath, locking eyes.
"Are we pushing it?" Neji asks softly after a while.
Tenten licks her lips, her head tilted back, straining to hear movement from her parents' bedroom. Her hair moves in the breeze and her eyes appear darker in the purplish shadows.
"Probably," her smile stretches, daring and toothy, and his heart hammers faster and louder.
"Okay," Neji breathes out as she throws a leg over her window sill.
In stiff silence, he watches her as Tenten climbs down the façade of the house. She has done it so many times, but he still pinches his lips, tensed and terrified. She could fall. She could break bones. She could, she could... But Tenten is never worried about "could be's" the way he is.
"Okay," she says when she stands in front of him, dusting her hands, and he forces his body to relax.
Tenten reaches for her bag Neji is still holding, but he steps back toward the hedge. She frowns, then pouts, always more fluid with emotions than he is.
"Let's go," Neji says over his shoulder, even if she's already following him closely.
They run to the street, crouched low, and he lets her run past him.
Tranquility settles in as he watches her, her body bent, one of her arm rigid, the other one held in front of her to catch her laugh. Tenten glances back, her hair whipping around her, and he smiles back her, small, always restrained.
His new car in the only one parked on the street.
Tenten stops, surprise and shock weighing her down. She searches for his eyes, her fingertips hesitantly brushing the car door handle.
"Is this real?"
Neji unlocks the door for her.
He can't talk.
They drive with the windows down through empty streets.
Tenten waits until they leave town before she turns toward him, her eyes piercing.
"Whose car is this, Hyuuga?"
Neji briefly glances at her, then changes lane, smirking, when she shifts impatiently in her seat.
"Oh god, just answer! It's killing me!" she whines.
"It's mine."
"No..."
"Yes."
"No!" Tenten punches his arm.
"I'm driving, careful," Neji hiccups and readjusts his grip on the steering wheel, but his stern face is slipping.
Her face is close, her hands even closer, and he wishes he had the courage to stop the car by the side of the road and draw her to him. She pounces.
"You got the scholarship."
"I did," he says quietly, terrified his voice would break.
I'm staying. I'm staying. I'm staying.
Tenten punches his arm again, squealing with delight for the both of them. She falls back on her seat, her chest heaving, her smile wider, and his whole body burns from her touch.
"I deserved that serenade even more than I thought," Tenten smiled widely and combs her hair back with her fingers.
Awkwardly, Neji reaches for the radio and turns it on.
He clears his throat, avoiding looking at her, as the music starts, an old song that Tenten likes.
"You prepped this," she smirks. "Bet it was killing you."
"You think I'd leave anything to fate?"
Neji briefly looks away from the road, seeking her glance. Reassurance. Are we okay? Is this okay? She leans back in her seat. She hesitates, then shifts again, propping her heels up on the console. Her elbow thuds on the window, her fists digging into her cheek.
"Are we there yet?" she whines, but there was no edge to her voice.
The fingers of her other hand drum the tune on the armrest.
"You don't know where we are going."
"The fields."
His lips quirk up.
"No."
Tenten frowns, half-rising. She cocks her head, her dark eyes gazing across the extinguished sky.
"We can't see the stars today," she murmurs.
"We will."
She leans her head back on the window, her hand still cupping her cheek. There's a tension in her now.
Neji nudges her leg. She doesn't react. He nudges her again. She catches his hand. He squeezes. A heart beat later, Tenten slips out of his grip.
He clears his throat, readjusting his grip around the wheel again.
"It's a brand new car, Ten. Legs down."
Tenten only smiles wanly in answer. Her legs settle back on the floor, then curl up under her.
"Alright, Hyuuga, I'm intrigued by all this secrecy."
Neji clenches his jaw.
Once the song finishes, Tenten turns off the radio.
Silence is always more comfortable to them.
They walk across tall and dry hay, meters apart, and for the first time, Neji wonders if Tenten is truly as terrified as he is.
If her heart threatens to burst when they are together, like his does.
If her head instinctively tilts up out of embarrassment every time their hands brush.
Now that Neji is staying, they can think of their future. He thought it would come naturally, like everything else between them; it would flow because there was always an underlying understanding. You and I, this is real.
Neji grimaces, focusing on the hay cracking under his feet.
They have spent the last year, stopping over half-uttered sentences, and they all feel insurmountable now. They have pushed back too many conversations. He doesn't know where to start. And she doesn't seem to want to talk at all.
Neji walks behind her. Her shoulders are tensed and her gait at once stiff and hesitant. For the nth time, he opens his mouth, but he can't think of anything that doesn't reveal too much of his own doubts. Or anything that doesn't sound like a cheesy rehearsed pick-up line.
Tenten stops abruptly, her hands on her hips, and sighs dramatically. She walks back toward him, and he almost sighs in relief. Then, she is leaning to close, her eyes narrowed into slits, and he can't think of anything.
"It's a field," Tenten says flatly, and she crosses more of the distance between them. "You said no field."
"We're only passing through," Neji replies quietly, his gaze never leaving her face.
Stiffly, his arm designates the black horizon ahead of them.
She nods and her face is once more alit.
"Like ships in the sky?"
Neji begins walking again.
"Awful pun," he says over his shoulder when her giggles turn uncontrollable.
After a while, she jogs up to him, and the weight in his chest loosens. They walk side-by-side, her humming and bouncing.
"I know you're a cheesy man who likes outdated clichés. I just thought maybe..."
Neji stops walking, his lips in an unwavering line. She raises an eyebrow at him, but she can't keep the amusement from her face.
His glare intensifies.
"I'd have never picked that song."
Tenten mocks shock, a hand on her chest, her mouth rounding.
"But you're obsessed with the sky."
"You're the one..." Neji pursues his lips and stops. "I still wouldn't-"
"And Hinata picks your music."
The muscle of his jaw twitches, and he walks past her.
"Stop going through my phone," Neji replies coldly.
"I last did ages ago," Tenten shrugs, her smile playful, "but it's good to know there're still pop songs that belong to your cousin on there."
They both stop, matching breath, their gazes daring, but revealing nothing.
"Tenten," he says with irritation.
"Neji," she replies.
His skin prickles with her proximity. He pecks her lips.
"I'm not that predictable," Neji breathes out.
Tenten pats his chest, brushing past him.
She didn't melt against him.
He gulps with difficulty.
She didn't react.
He can't move.
Tenten stretches her arms above her head.
Neji watches with too much dread, too much doubt. She is never still, he knows. She is an ocean, a tempest, but she wasn't loud. She was quietly destructive, quietly capable of the worst. One look, one smile, one word.
Now, watching her, his heart, his mind frozen, Neji waits for a life sentence.
"I think if you were less predictable," Tenten sighs and pushes forward. "My father would have already killed you."
"Hn."
'Is this all?'
Tenten looks over at him, amused, her whole face ignited.
"Don't look so mortified."
"Hn."
He starts walking again slowly, but he startles almost immediately when she stops again.
"Is that the sound of the ocean?"
"Yes."
Tenten cocks her head to the side, her smile sharp.
"Race you."
Then, she runs, pushing through the hay.
They lie on the sand, out of breath, their hearts, deafening, but in sync. Their heads spin, their vision split over the sky.
'You've the stars, I've the birds,' Neji almost says again, his fingers twitching to grab her hand.
"I don't know why, I keep imagining you coming here with someone. Who could it be," Tenten taps her chin, then rolls up on her elbows. She leaned over him, holding her hair out of his face. "Someone like one of your cousins, maybe?"
"I was jogging, actually," Neji clears his throat, his gaze purposely avoiding her.
His hands sink in the sand.
'Now it's your turn.'
"Nuh uh, Hyuuga, I'm not duped," Tenten clicks her tongue. "We're kilometres away from home."
"Hinata likes a coffee shop in the area," Neji reluctantly admits.
"And?"
"It's too... pink for me. I came out here."
"And?"
"And I thought of you," Neji says quietly and touches her cheek.
She leans closer.
She pecks his lips.
He gives her one of his rare smile, his cheeks, his chin, tickling with the strands of her hair. He holds up his hands to cradle her face.
"I'm staying," he finally says aloud.
She kisses his palm.
"Race you to the sea?"
She takes off again, each step splattering sand and laughter around her.
The water is calm, a black mirror of the sky above.
"You knew," Neji says abruptly and glares at her.
"What? You don't like my bikini?"
Tenten throws herself back on the water, floating away from him. She speaks to the faint lights above, drifting, smiling to herself. She moves her legs, spraying water on him. He catches her ankle, hissing, pulling her toward him.
"Hn."
Tenten easily slips out of his grip, giggling, and Neji glares more intensely at her.
"How?" he asks, his eyes narrowed.
"Aw, Hyuuga," Tenten smiles and pats his wet cheek. "I know you didn't lose the race because you were surprised I've once more outsmarted you."
She spreads her fingers, her palm now cupping fully his cheek.
"Hn."
Tenten cocks her head to the side, her fingers lighting moving to his wet hair. She throws her head back as if in deep thought. Her hair parts easily, floating around her in the water.
"You know what I like about you, Neji?" Tenten straightens her head. "It's very easy to surprise you."
His breath hitches in his throat. He covers her hand with his.
"I wanted to surprise you," Neji replies quietly, stubbornly.
"Neji," she laughs, and slid her arms around his neck. "I'm happy with the waves and the sky and you." She pressed her forehead to his neck. "You're staying."
He runs his hands up her back, hugging her back, tasting salt on her skin.
"I am."
She looks up at him, through strands of her, and flesh, and smile. His arms tighten around her.
'You're beautiful,' Neji wants to say. 'You belong here. I belong here. We belong together.' All clichés. She probably already knows what he wants to say next. Like she always does.
"It's a nice car."
He relaxes and closes his eyes.
"I'm the prettiest ride of the two, though?" Neji can hear the smirk in her voice.
He blushes.
"I-I..."
She laughs, her mouth over his ear, his cheek. Her mouth on the corner of his mouth, she laughs again.
"I like making you blush."
"One more year of this, then..." he smirks, and she splashes water on him in response.
"Hush, you like it."
"Hn."
"You like me."
"Do you?" Neji asks quickly, and he pulls away a bit to watch her face. "Do you like me?"
"Neji, you know everything about me. You read me like those... colour coded notes of yours. You bring me ice cream before I know I'm sad. You show up under my window when I'm mad and let me rant even if you my dad could kill you. Don't you know?"
'Sometimes, you move too quickly, I can't tell whether you're running next to me, far ahead, or away from me. Sometimes, I don't want to read you because I'm terrified of what I may see.'
"Please," he says instead, his cheek on her shoulder.
"You're the biggest, cheesiest man who likes outdated clichés, and I like you."
"You like clichés," he smirks and kisses her shoulder, his fingers carefully threading through her wet hair.
"I didn't say that," Tenten huffs and grows rigid in his arms.
"You would have loved if I showed up with a radio," Neji laughs quietly.
"We'll never know."
"Is that so?" he says quietly against her lips.
They kiss slowly, finally, wrapped in each other. Wrapped in the waves as the ascending starlight.