It was Tuesday night, and the Uchiha residence seemed to be in its own little bubble. Itachi watched fondly as Shisui playfully shoved Sasuke while the two of them laughed about a joke Sasuke had heard at school earlier that day. The image seemed to be filtered by a Sepia kind of gentleness.

"Itachi," Shisui called, "Are you okay?"

Itachi snapped out of his stupor, "Yeah, just zoned out a little", Itachi smiled. Shisui smiled back and continued eating the macaroni and cheese Itachi had made for dinner. Truthfully, cheese seemed to be the staple ingredient in their household.

"Sakura won the writing prize - they usually only hand it out at the end of the school year but her essay was so amazing that she was given the prize earlier", Sasuke gushed.

"That's amazing!" Itachi commented, taking a sip of water.

"What did she write about?" Shisui asked.

"It was a story set a long time ago about a man and a woman who fall in love with each other, then they get separated by circumstances. They accidentally bump into each other after twenty years and the spark is still there. They get married, I don't know... You have to read it to see how amazing it is", Sasuke finished his plate of food.

He wasn't thinking, he wasn't focused so he just spoke what was on his mind, "Marriage is a piece of paper that officiates the funeral of a relationship. People will prattle on about how it's the ultimate 'commitment', but there's no guarantee of that. Overall the institution of marriage is a failure", Itachi said nonchalantly, taking another bite of his food.

Shisui stared at Itachi strongly, trying to keep the joyous atmosphere alive, "My parents' marriage is still strong."

Itachi picked up his glass of water, "Do they fight?"

"All couples fight, married or not. Marriage isn't the elimination of problems - it's the promise of dealing with problems as a team."

Itachi's shoulders tensed and his posture straightened slightly.

"It looks like a murder-suicide", the officer's voice emerged from Itachi's deepest memories.

He slyly looked at Sasuke, he didn't seem to notice Itachi's tension. Itachi didn't respond to Shisui and instead started collecting the used plates from the kitchen table.

There was slight music coming from Sasuke's room, "That's probably her! I'll see you guys tomorrow", Sasuke bid good night excitedly and went to his room.

The atmosphere had now changed. It was thick - an anxious fog in the air. Itachi opened the dishwasher and started loading in the plates.

"I'm sorry if I upset you", Shisui spoke up.

Itachi's hands started shaking and a plate slipped out of his grasp, shattering onto the ground. Itachi held out his shaking hand, looking at it in surprise. His eyesight was going blurry; there was liquid running down from his eyes.

Why am I crying? Itachi asked himself.

Itachi bent down to pick up the shards of the broken plate, Shisui pulled him back up, "Itachi, hey, calm down. I'm sorry", Shisui pulled Itachi into a hug. Itachi buried his head into the all too familiar chest, allowing Shisui's heartbeat to sing to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry", Shisui whispered solemnly.

"It's not you", Itachi whispered, bathing in Shisui's comforting scent, "It's them...Marriage is supposed to be a happy thing - something that people celebrate. The start of a life together, or whatever. Instead, now it just scares me - it frightens me..."

"It's okay to feel like that - what happened...it was awful. It wasn't marriage that caused the tragedy between your parents, it was their choices..." Shisui whispered, pressing his nose to Itachi's hair and taking a whiff of the gentle lavender scent.

They stood in each other's arms, Shisui was too scared to let Itachi out of his arms, afraid the Uchiha would shatter into a million pieces. Itachi felt right at home in Shisui's arms. It was warm, he was safe - and that's what he needed. He dried his tears and stepped out of the hug.

"I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from", Itachi whispered, looking down at the shattered plate.

"Don't apologise, I'll clean this up", Shisui smiled his toothy smile and Itachi felt completely at ease again as Shisui got the broom. Itachi continued loading the dishwasher as Shisui threw the shattered pieces of the plate into the garbage.

"Let's go on a date", Shisui blurted out, "Not that I mind our amazing sex."

Itachi closed the dishwasher and it began its cycle, "I haven't been on a date in four years, the last one I had was with you." Fondness manifested in Shisui's eyes at Itachi's words. Itachi realised what he said and blushed slightly.

"I mean - sure. When?" Itachi recovered his composure.

"Right now", Shisui grabbed the car keys off the counter.

"Wha- we can't just go now! We just ate and Sasuke will be home alone, it's also nearly 9p.m!" Itachi responded to Shisui's spontaneity.

Shisui walked into the hall and then re-emerged moments later, "Sasuke knows now, let's go."

Itachi's mouth fell open, "I-I need to get changed! Where are we going? Let's just make it for tomorrow."

Shisui grabbed Itachi's shoulders, "Itachi, you look perfect - you always look perfect, c'mon!" Shisui grabbed the smaller ones wrist and rushed out of the apartment.

*****

Shisui parked outside a library. He and Itachi were illuminated by the orange streetlight above them.

"A library?" Itachi asked sceptically.

"They have fun classes where people learn new skills, just trust me", Shisui smiled and got out the door.

Itachi sighed dubiously, he will never get used to Shisui's spontaneous outbursts and ideas. He got out of the car and closed the door.

Shisui grabbed Itachi's hand - and even though it was such a small, simple gesture, it still made Itachi's heart speed up.

Outside the library there was a small board littered with all manner of coloured pamphlets. Amongst the maze of colour, Shisui managed to find an extra mural schedule.

"What day is it?" He asked while looking at the schedule.

"Tuesday."

Shisui checked his time, "Okay the painting class just started", he grabbed Itachi's wrist and rushed into the library.

"Wait, Shisui, I don't know how to paint!"

"Perfect! Neither do I, we can learn together!" Shisui spoke excitedly.

He pushed open the doors to one of the rooms within the city library.

"- let your imagination do the work", a small woman with a mane of brown hair and soft voice spoke gently.

Shisui all but forced Itachi down onto a chair and took a seat next to him. The small woman - Itachi assumed her to be the instructor - noticed them and smiled in welcome.

"Shisui, I don't know", Itachi whispered doubtfully.

"Relax, and paint", Shisui whispered back - already going to work on his canvas.

Itachi sighed and picked up a random paintbrush. He didn't know what to paint - he didn't even know how to paint. He tried to peek at what Shisui was doing and the older male covered his painting, "No peeking!"

Itachi bit his bottom lip softly in contemplation. His mind went numb and he just started painting, he grabbed a tube of red and black paint and got started on his painting.

*****

The instructor walked through the rows, looking at each person's painting as the class would end soon, "Remember, don't worry if you don't finish tonight. Take it home with you and you can carry on next Tuesday", she smiled.

She walked by Shisui's painting, and chuckled, "Wonderful - I love the minimalism!"

"Thank you", Shisui smiled, still painting.

She then walked by Itachi's painting, "Impressive, do you have experience painting?"

Itachi looked up at her, her eyes were kind and patient, "Not really, no."

"Well then you have an innate talent for it. Okay people, class is over for tonight - thank you all so much for coming!"

Itachi packed the paint back where he found it and put the brushes in a jar that was provided to all the participants at the start of the class.

"Show me yours and I'll show you mine", Shisui wiggled his eyebrows. His shirt was covered in blotches of paint - Itachi knew eventually they'd have to go buy him more shirts because he keeps tearing them off during sex, or Itachi is cutting them off...during sex and now he's covering them with paint.

Itachi snorted, "Fine", he turned his canvas around to show Shisui. His painting was of a simple heart. It was slightly cracked down the middle until halfway, which is where the thread and needle appeared, seemingly stitching the heart back up. It was by no means a professional painting, but Itachi was content knowing he tried his best.

"Wow, Itachi...that's beautiful! What does it mean?" Shisui asked in interest.

"I don't know", Itachi looked at the canvas again, "I think it means to heal...You're my stitches..." Itachi said softly.

Shisui grabbed Itachi in a suffocating bear hug, "I don't have the words!" Shisui said, trying to express his affection through physical touch and, Itachi felt it. He felt Shisui's flattery and adoration, but he also felt his lack of oxygen - the hug was so tight he couldn't breathe. He also knew that now, his shirt had paint on it.

"Okay p-put me d..." Itachi wheezed.

Shisui released Itachi, "Sorry", Shisui had slight tears in his eyes.

"Oh my God, Shisui are you crying?" Itachi asked frantically in worry.

Shisui quickly wiped his eyes, "N-No! It's just paint fumes. Do you want to see my painting?" Shisui asked quickly - pink dusted across his tan cheeks as he scratched the back of his head.

"I'd love to", Itachi smiled gently.

Shisui revealed his canvas, it was three stick figures, from smallest to biggest. "It's a painting of Sasuke, you and me..." He then pointed to the smallest stick figure with spiky hair, "That's Sasuke", his finger moved to the middle figure with a rough ponytail, "That's you, because you two are shorter than me", he stated proudly.

His finger then moved to the taller stick figure, "And that's me...It's a painting of our- well...family", Shisui stumbled.

Tears pooled in Itachi's eyes.

Family.

"What's wrong? I'm sor-" Shisui began in a worried voice.

"It's perfect", Itachi smiled, a teardrop rolling down his cheek.

"Then why are you crying?" Shisui asked gently.

"Paint fumes", Itachi joked back, wiping his eyes.

"Oh yes, those paint fumes", Shisui smiled in understanding.

A/N: As usual, let me know what you think ❤️ I personally thought this was a little cute lol. I'm curious to hear your theories about how this book will end - if you're brave enough let me know ❤️❤️❤️ Love ya!