Surprise!

The street lights whizzed by, one after the other. Ino kept her gaze fixed her heels. She tried to focus on the smell of the car, something like leaves and fresh grass. But she couldn't keep her mind from going back to that moment. Her, Temari, Sakura. She took it apart and put it back together. Did I kiss well? Did I like it? Did we win?

They'd definitely won. She turned to Sakura and just looked at him for a moment. His jaw was set, eyes focused on road.

"Hey," she said. He seemed not to notice. "Hey!"

He jumped and the care jumped to the right. "You scared me. What is it?"

"Sorry," Ino said. He glanced over at her. Ino heard it too. Some extra quality to her voice. Some note that hadn't been there a couple of hours ago. "I just wanted to say thank you. For tonight. I don't know how you knew what to do or... you know? I just wanted to say thank you. Don't get too excited."

There were a couple of long, quiet moments in the car and Ino shifted in her seat. It was strange. Her friends at school were all rapid-fire conversation and snappy exchanges. It was weird to be with someone who took time to think before he talked. She could almost feel his process going around and around –

"What did I do?" he asked.

"What?"

"What. Did I do?" he repeated. "I had some drinks. I talked about books or plants. Or games. And then I had a cigarette, but it didn't taste like a cigarette and I've been teleporting since then. I have to hold on to the wheel."

"What?"

"I have to hold on to the wheel or I'll disappear again," he explained. The urgency in his voice was ratcheting up bit by bit. "If I'm being honest, I don't know. But I know that your hair smells so good. And it's soft. Like, well like a lot of things. Blankets. Pillows. Other things. I'm a little tired."

Ino saw now how his hands were gripping the wheel so hard that his knuckles were white. How his eyes were so wide open, clearly held by pure force of will. How fast his chest was rising and falling. Jesus.

"Sakura, pull over," she said. She made sure to keep her voice calm and smooth. No need to alarm him.

"What?"

"Pull over you idiot, you're clearly blackout!" she yelled, grabbing the wheel and steering it toward the right. She wasn't known for her patience. "I don't know why I even trusted you to drive when I saw how weird you were acting all night. Hit the brakes. No wonder you were like that! Slowly, you idiot! Now get out."

She could see that the boy was going to have some trouble getting back into the car, and having managed several drunk idiots before, she knew how to give clear, simple instructions. "Put your left foot in. Bend your knee. You're so dumb. Sit. Other leg in. Oh my god, you idiot. Arm in. Put your seatbelt on. It's over there."

Meanwhile, several cars had slowed to a near stop. The last thing that she wanted was to get caught underage drinking by a couple of Good Samaritans who thought they were helping. She reached over to pull the seatbelt over the boy, doing her best to ignore the press of their bodies or the audible sniff as she pulled away.

She clicked on the left turn signal and pulled onto the street. There was a rustle on her right and when she glanced over she noticed that Sakura had relaxed. His elbow was on the armrest and his head was thrown to the side. The sharpness of his jaw and loose way that he held his arms made him seem thinner and smaller than usual. Not in a bad way.

"That shirt really does look good on you," Ino admitted begrudgingly.

"Thanks." He was turned toward the window at an angle where Ino couldn't see his expression. "You look amazing too. That turtleneck crop top is really nice for your shape."

She needed a moment to take that in. "Are you sure you're not gay? Because it would be okay if you were, you know. Obviously I couldn't tell anyone."

"I'm not." He was looking at her now, eyes still somehow bright in the darkness. He'd somehow pulled himself together and was now sitting straight up. "But if I were I would tell you. We're confidantes now, right?"

"Right."

"Right. One day, I want to know about Temari." Strange how her heart still jumped whenever anyone mentioned the girl.

"Okay, okay, slow down drunk boy. Isn't your grandpa going to be mad? He seems strict, so who knows if you'll even be alive tomorrow," she joked. She was met with silence. Then:

"Shit!"

I honestly never expected to come back to this story. Or anything on here, especially after I deleted Afterschool. I've been struggling to write anything lately, so I thought I'd take a look at this and see if anything came to me. I miss writing just for pure fun! Here's to hoping it helps with my other writing as well. If any fans of this story are still out there and still don't mind my mediocre writing, please enjoy!