hopes up

“You got someone looking for ya’,” Kakashi told Obito when they met on the staircase.

Baffled, Obito stopped with a foot above the next stair.

“Did you leave someone alone in our apartment?”

“Chill out, she’s a common friend. Besides, I saw you from the balcony entering the building,” Kakashi justified and got out of his friend’s sight.

A “she” common friend? If it was Rin, he would’ve said so, Obito thought to himself as he arrived by the door. He left the surfboard in the hallway and advanced, searching for the guest.

“Hello?” He announced his presence.

“Obito, hi!”

You never liked Obito. Not once. Well, maybe he scared you a little – the way he looked, especially. You didn’t hate him per se, but you did reject him when he tried to ask for your number once at a party. Some time later, you befriended Kakashi and only after, you learned Obito was not only one of his best friends, but a surfer as well and his flat mate.

“Hi? Kakashi just left, saying you were waiting for me. What do you want?”

“I just came by to say hi,” you lied.

“Sure,” he passed by you as if you weren’t even in his house.

On his way to wash his hands, he shouted.

“Come on, I have other things to do. Say what you want or need from me.”

It sounded like he was kicking you out of the house, but the purpose of your little visit was more important than keeping your decency untouched.

“I need your help with something, please,” you admitted, leaning against the bathroom door, hearing him take off the surfing suit.

“What is it? Stop stalling.”

Obito hoped that his antipathy towards you was clear, even though he was faking it. Yes, you hurt his feelings when you rejected him, but he couldn’t really blame you for the way he looked and for his reputation. The way you continued to ignore him, though, that’s what got him to feel awkward in your presence. And now, you were in his house, asking for his help in that voice he couldn’t push out of his mind. Once more, he left you in the hallway and disappeared into the kitchen. You followed suit, tried to ignore staring at his naked chest, and finally spoke your mind.

“Could you please come with me to a beach party and pretend you’re my boyfriend?”

Obito froze in front of the open fridge. He peeked over his shoulder at you, then continued his search for sandwich ingredients.

“No.”

Your worst fear just came to life. You chewed on your bottom lip waiting for him to turn around so you could use the puppy eyes. However, he avoided interacting with you further.

“I’m sorry, Obito, for our first meeting. I shouldn’t have been that harsh. You’re a nice guy,” you whispered, fidgeting.

“Hm, you think so?” He asked, with no eye contact as he assembled a sandwich on the kitchen counter.

He was a hundred percent sarcastic, but you couldn’t back away. You needed him.

“I do… I do, it was wrong of me. I just really need someone to come with me.”

“Did Kakashi refuse you or what?”

“I didn’t ask him.”

“Why not? You’re friends.”

“That’s exactly why. Nobody would believe Kakashi and I are dating.”

“M, so you decided to ask the weird looking guy who nobody likes and a lot fear. What for?”

“You’re not weird looking…”

“Cut the crap, I don’t need your compliment, nor your pity. Just tell me the real reason.”

This time, he sounded angrier. He even looked angrier when he snapped his head at you. You sighed and kept your head low, not sure what to do not to upset him more. Maybe if you worked your charms on him, he would fall prey like that time when he came to you on his own. Carefully, you closed the distance between the two of you and traced a finger on his triceps. Obito’s eyes shot spears, but he didn’t say anything.

“You look good, Obito, and people don’t only fear you, they respect you for your talent. And I… I like you,” you whispered.

It wasn’t a total lie, you did start to like him so-so. Especially after witnessing him win surf contest after surf contest. You wouldn’t date him for real, but his face didn’t bother you anymore. Actually, if you gave it a little more thought, he might be out of your league, not the other way around. Maybe you should’ve thought twice before turning him down. Now, it was too late for that. Now, you simply needed his bad boy attitude on your side.

Your affectionate gesture made him take a step back. You watched his arm stretch towards the sandwich and then him leaving your side.

“That’s harassment,” he said as he sat at the table and dived into his sandwich.

“I didn’t mean it like that. Look, Obito,” you sighed again, annoyed by the fact that this man had a spine and wasn’t just another horny hound for you as the others were, “I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend because my ex is there and I don’t want him to hit on me.”

“How is that my problem?”

“It is not, but he fears you and he’d never try anything if he sees me under your arm.”

Obito looked at you a little differently, as if he was scanning for lies. He chewed his food slowly, nowhere near an intention to reply anything to you. Nevertheless, he wordlessly invited you to sit at the table. You sat, but weren’t sure whether that was a green line to tell the story in more detail.

“I broke up with him because he was abusive. He is obsessed with me and he wouldn’t miss a chance to catch me back. I’m afraid of him. He’s coming to this beach party that I was invited to before I knew he had been invited as well. I don’t want to let down my friend, the birthday girl, yet…” you halted the story and looked away, feeling pathetic, as Obito called you before.

“Did he hurt you?” The dark-haired man asked.

“Not physically, no. But I don’t need you to tell anything to him, anyway. I just need you to fake hold and fake kiss me a few times, so that he knows not to mess with you.”

“What happens after the party? You’ll keep calling me over as a fake boyfriend whenever your ex is around?”

Obito’s words cut like a brand-new blade. You bowed your head, realising you hadn’t thought your request through. He was right, it was awkward and stupid and you should’ve never asked him that. You stood up from the table to head for the exit.

In the span of three seconds, Obito’s hand got a hold of your forearm. You weren’t sure how he sat up that fast, circled the table and caught you before you reached your shoes, but it didn’t matter as much as how your stomach tumbled in the face of a bare chest Obito.

“You have to return the favour,” he said, freeing your limb.

“Sure, do you have something in mind already?”

Obito knew his following words would most certainly overstep the line, but given your recent interaction, he had the upper hand and felt no trace of remorse abusing it.

“Go on a date with me. A real one.”

Nice played, Uchiha, you thought, licking your teeth. It didn’t sound like such a bad idea. Afterall, it was risky to go to the beach party and think your fake dating performance would manage to trick people. Both of you needed to get accustomed to each other’s presence, voice, touch.

“Ok? I don’t see why not.”

The boy’s eyes squinted at you and he scoffed before leaving your side.

“What?” You asked. “Do we have a deal?”

“A deal, of course. When you have something to win, you would date me. That’s nasty, you know? Very non trustworthy and hurtful. So you’re telling me whatever I had asked in return you would’ve accepted, just so that I would be tied to respect my part of the bargain?”

Your silence spoke loudly to Obito and he showed a very disappointed smile. 

“A kiss? Sex? A blowjob? Not ok–.”

“I wouldn’t have done those things, Obito. I’m not stupid, or insensitive, or a “all means to one end” type of girl. It’s just that you were the first person I could think of who would help me for real.”

Finally, he heard you speaking fully true words, in a serious tone, not hiding any ulterior motive or undertone. This time, Obito saw you with different eyes. He retook his place at the table and stuffed his mouth full of sandwich. Frozen in the doorframe, you watched him, annoyed for not receiving any actual answer, be it agreement or rejection, but for some reason, you couldn’t be mad at him.

“When is the beach party?” Obito asked, breaking the unbearable tension and giving you hope.

“In two days time.”

“Let’s go on a date at the amusement park tomorrow. See if you and I can fake it well enough to trick that scumbag of an ex of yours.”

Relief sped through your body and you smiled, rubbing your forehead. He saw the gesture and couldn’t help but worry a bit.

“Frontal lobe headache is usually an effect of stress or dehydration. Have a seat, grab some water and chill. I’m not gonna let you down with this. I just needed to see if you meant it.”

Everything about that boy was surprising, as you came to realise. Doing what he suggested, you found yourself studying him up close. You grew curious about how his skin felt, whether the scar on his lip would taste differently during the kiss, about how raspy his voice could be in the morning. Well, maybe the latter you would never get to experience but the other ones were soon to happen. Maybe you would even grow to like Obito and that fake date would become legit and recurrent. However, it would be only Obito’s decision this time. You had crushed his attempt once and maybe he hated you now – only helped you out of pity or because he was disgusted by assholes who didn’t treat girls properly.

“Thank you for agreeing to help me, Obito.”

He waved his hand in the air instead of an actual answer. You smiled, but it died as soon as Obito pressed a kiss on your head on his way to the other rooms.

“Don’t worry, babe, it’s my pleasure.”

Only after a full second you figured he already started the play-pretend game and man, he got a good game. You felt warm inside, as if you belonged to him for real.