Summary: it's your birthday, and you are feeling down. He does something simple but special to cheer you up. Just between the two of you.
Warning: mentions of depressive behavior ? Don't know if that's a warning
You don’t tell anyone it’s your birthday. You turn off your phone that morning and bury yourself under the covers, the weight in your chest too heavy to pretend you’re okay. You’re not. You haven’t been for a few days now—the slow creep of dread and sadness curling around your ribs like vines feels heavy, and today, those vines have finally managed to sink you into your bed. You hate how your birthday always does this to you. It makes you feel alone, like you’re watching your life from the outside. It's a shit show you stopped enjoying a long time ago.
Although everyone always expects smiles and gratitude and joy, and some years you can fake it, this year, you can’t. So you isolate yourself.
You don’t know how, but Sasuke knows. He doesn’t call. Doesn’t text. Just knocks on your door sometime after sunset.
But you drag yourself out of bed, an oversized hoodie swallowing you whole, and shuffle barefoot to the door.
He’s standing there with a brown paper bag in one hand and a candle in the other. A single, tiny candle. The wax is shaped like a star. It's an unusual image, considering it's about Sasuke Uchiha we are talking about.
“I didn’t want to bother you,” he says, voice low and careful, “but I thought maybe you’d let me in.”
You just nod and step aside.
He doesn’t comment on your appearance, doesn’t ask why your eyes are puffy, or why your voice is so small when you offer him tea. He just walks in like he’s done it a hundred times—and he has—and sits on your couch.
From the bag, he pulls out two onigiri he made himself, a small square container of your favorite dango, and something wrapped in cloth.
“You didn’t want a party,” he says. “So this is just us.”
You blink at the food. It’s simple. Thoughtful. Very much like him you'd say.
Then he unwraps the cloth—and it’s a book. An old one. A little battered around the edges but clearly cared for. He sets it down on your lap gently.
“I read it while I was gone,” he mutters. “Made me think of you. So you can keep it if you want to.”
You don’t say anything at first. Your chest tightens, and you feel it. The sting in your eyes, the lump in your throat. You pick up the candle, shaped like a star, and you light it. Just one. And that one candle made your chest warm up.
You sit beside him, your shoulder against his, and lean your head on him. He shifts only slightly so he can press his lips to your hair. For the first time today, you didn't feel quite so heavy.
“Happy birthday,” he murmurs. He doesn’t ask you to smile. He doesn’t push you to say thank you. He just sits with you in the stillness of your apartment, the candle flickering gently on the low table, casting soft shadows across his face.
You’re quiet for a long time, watching the wax melt slowly, the scent of rice and sweet soy sauce curling in the air.
“It’s stupid,” you whisper finally, barely audible. Sasuke looks at you. Just looks. Patient. “I don’t know why it hits me like this. Every year. I just feel… like I didn’t do enough. Like I’m behind everyone else. Like I’m not where I should be.”
He doesn’t dismiss your feelings or try to logic them away. Instead, he says, “You’re here.”
“You’re here,” he repeats, softer, caressing your cheek with his thumb “You’re alive. You kept going for another year. That’s enough.”
The words land like something sacred, and suddenly you’re crying again, not the quiet sadness from earlier but something warmer, but you can't name it. You hide your face in his shoulder, and he lets you. He holds you, arm wrapped around your waist, fingertips rubbing slow circles into your back.
Eventually, he feeds you onigiri, tearing off little pieces with his fingers and coaxing them past your lips.
“You need to eat,” he murmurs. “I didn’t spend twenty minutes getting the rice right for nothing.”
You laugh—wet and shaky, “Since when do you cook?”
His lips tug up, just a little. “Since I started living alone, .” He says as if it's obvious.
He shares the dango with you, giving you the last skewer without hesitation. When you yawn, he doesn’t say anything—just tugs the blanket from the couch and wraps it around both of you. He stretches out behind you, letting you lie between his legs, your back pressed to his chest, his chin resting atop your head.
“Next year,” he murmurs as your breathing evens out, “we’ll go somewhere. Somewhere warm. With stars.”
"Who said you have a choice?"
You don’t answer. Just chuckle. You’re already half-asleep, finally warm, finally at peace, in the only arms that have ever made you feel like you were where you should.