Gaara sat motionless at his desk, paper in front of him, head spinning faster than he thought possible. There was no way that writing a letter should be this hard. Though, after what had happened, it made sense. Gaara's hours at work left him drained. When he finally came home, he would ignore Lee completely and go lie down. He shouldn't have been shocked when Lee announced that he was leaving. But it still hurt.
"Gaara, I cannot do this anymore." Lee stated with a hurt tone. "I cannot stand being pushed away constantly. If you cannot change, I am leaving. And I am not changing my mind once I go." Gaara stared in disbelief, his expression blank while his mind reeled, searching for the words to make Lee stay. But they never came. "Fine. Goodbye, Gaara." He turned and left, bag over his shoulder, never looking back. Gaara continued fishing for words long after the door had slammed shut.

Lee fidgeted with his pen cap, watching the paper on his small desk. The soft clicking echoed throughout the empty room. The silence was heavy, but Lee had gotten used to it. He had just left Gaara and Suna about a week ago and was already having second thoughts. But there was no way he could go back now.
"Oh, hello Gaara!" Lee greeted his lover happily as the door opened. Gaara muttered a rushed hello and trudged through the house, falling onto the couch. Lee frowned slightly, waiting for a response or a 'how was your day' even though it was a stretch. "I made dinner." He said, hoping for a reaction. Gaara simply nodded and continued staring at the ceiling.
Dinner was silent, no one spoke, and after was just as quiet. Gaara retreated to the bedroom to change and soon left for the office again. Lee was left alone for a whole night as usual.
He couldn't go back now. Could he?

Gaara frowned and threw his pen down on the desk, cursing under his breath. A simple apology was all he needed. Even that, though, was slipping through his fingers like sand. Everything he thought of was hopeless and desperate, just as most of his thoughts were now. His usual blunt responses and statements had vanished, only to be replaced with complex feelings and hurt. Too much hurt. He had hoped Lee would give up and come back, accept the way things were, even support it. Gaara should have known better.
"I am leaving. And I am not changing my mind once I go."
It was more of a promise than a statement. Gaara knew Lee well enough for that.

Lee looked out the window, sunlight glaring back into his eyes, before wiping the tears off of his face. He couldn't break down now. He couldn't run back and beg for everything to be fixed. Gaara's silence had said more than any words Lee could think of at the moment. He made no effort to stop him and get him back. But no matter how Gaara had taken it, Lee felt as if he had only caused himself pain.
"Gaara, why can you not just stay home? It is just one night." Lee begged.
"Lee, you know I can't do that. I have paperwork I have to sign and missions to hand out to the S-ranks. I'll be back tomorrow." Gaara closed the door swiftly behind himself.

Gaara watched the paper, hoping that his thoughts would miraculously write themselves down. When still nothing happened, he sighed quietly, glancing out the window. Suddenly, he searched the room, recovering the pen he had previously thrown and returned to the paper. A simple apology was the plan. Hopefully, this would work.

Lee sat, arms on the desk and his head pressed against them, tears falling rapidly onto the paper beneath him. He heard the clock ticking, keeping time with his sobs. He couldn't keep this up. He needed to apologize, but how?

"Lord Kazekage, you have a letter." One of the sand shinobi bowed at Gaara's door, holding out a small envelope.
"Thank you. You may go." The shinobi bowed again and left swiftly. He stared at it for a moment before seeing in tiny print on the envelope the name Rock Lee. Gaara opened it quickly, pulling out the paper to read it.
The paper was blank, nothing on its surface but tearstains.

Lee stared at the letter in his hands. It was Gaara's handwriting on the envelope, surely, but it made no sense that Gaara was writing to him at all. He opened it quickly at stared at the paper.
The paper was blank except for the very center where, in shaking handwriting, it read I'm sorry.