They ended up going to the same taco truck.
The two friends, Shino and Chouji, they were meant to meet at the party skipped it entirely and met them for food instead.
With tacos in hand, the group decided to enjoy their feast at the nearby park. This way they could just drape Naruto over a table and leave him be without having to stop him from continually trying to order irresponsible quantities of tacos – since that seemed to be his plan.
Gaara was going to sit with his inebriated friend, but Lee went and sat down on a swing.
And Gaara also wanted to sit next to Lee…
His feet made the decision for him, and once they were lifted a few inches off the ground and his bottom was resting on a thin strip of rubber he turned and saw Lee smiling at him.
"Did you already finish your tacos?" Lee asked, seeing that Gaara wasn't holding any.
He shook his head. "I didn't get any."
Lee looked horrified by such a statement. "Oh goodness! Here! Please have some of mine!" he said quickly – holding out the three tacos he'd got.
Gaara looked down at the offering and then up at Lee. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Wouldn't you like even one bite?" Lee asked, eyes wide.
"We had tacos earlier. I'm still full."
Lee deflated a bit and took his arms back. "Well if you change your mind please tell me! I would be happy to share."
Gaara nodded and lightly kicked out to move his swing a bit before ceasing his motions completely.
"I'll have to run these off tomorrow. I had a big lunch today as well," Lee said after swallowing a mouthful of Mexican food.
Gaara turned and looked at him. "What did you have for lunch?"
Lee wiped something from the corner of his mouth. "My dad and I got curry. Since he dropped me off today we were having a good luck this semester feast," he answered.
"You made a feast out of curry?"
"Oh we ate a lot of curry," Lee said seriously before taking another bite.
The familiar unwelcome tug at the corner of his lips was itching again.
Sitting here on the swings and watching Lee eat would have been fine to Gaara, but he didn't want Lee to think he had lost interest in their conversation, so he forged on.
"How long will you have to run after the tacos?"
Lee laughed and nearly choked. "I'll just add three miles to my regular training."
"What's your regular training?"
"Between five and eight miles."
That sounded horrible. Gaara wasn't interested in running in any capacity, but eight miles? Had no one told Lee about walking? Or sitting still? It's great.
"That's a lot."
Lee smiled. "It's not so bad! I love running. I actually prefer sprinting, I'm trying to make myself go faster, but stamina is important. And I have an important meet coming up in two weeks so I need to be training hard!"
"Why is it important?" Gaara asked, getting much better at this 'conversation' business.
"I'm competing in a new bracket this year, and if I place at this meet then I have a chance to qualify for regionals!" Lee said proudly, turning and beaming at Gaara.
It was dark, but Lee was shining.
"And I want to make my dad proud so I must qualify!"
Gaara new nothing about track, and had no idea if Lee was fast enough to place, but with the determination and ferocity coming out of this man beside him – Gaara knew which horse he'd bet on.
"Are you sure you don't want a bite before I finish this?" Lee asked, holding up the last taco.
He wasn't hungry, and really he didn't need a bite – but the same thought about the water bottle occurred to Gaara once more.
Lee's lips have touched this.
Perhaps for the rest of the evening he should just abandon trying to figure out why he was have such bizarre thoughts and physiological reactions to Lee and the things he said and did and he should just embrace tonight as a folly of sorts. He would return to normal in the morning.
But for now, with only a few bites of a taco left, when Lee's mouth had already been wrapped around it…
Gaara nodded.
Lee smiled and reached forward, possibly intending to hand the taco to Gaara, but he moved to quickly and too far and held it up to Gaara's mouth instead.
Gaara reflexively put his hands on top of Lee's to steady (and possibly stop him from smacking Gaara in the face with the taco), and felt warmth bloom low in his belly.
Lee didn't take his hands off the taco, and Gaara didn't take his hands off of Lee's.
He probably didn't need to make eye contact with Lee while he took a bite of it, and Lee didn't need to linger there and watched him chew and swallow it with parted lips – but this was folly night, after all.
Gaara was done questioning. So he paid no mind to the way his heart hammered away in his chest, or how lovely and warm Lee's hands had felt.
He focused on the taco.
oooooo
The groups split up after the park when it became clear that Naruto really needed to get to bed.
Neji, Tenten, and Lee lived on the opposite side of campus and would have been out of the way for everyone else.
Gaara would have been content to take the long way home if that meant he could spend more time with Lee, but he certainly wasn't going to put Naruto out when he seemed so desperate to get home.
It seemed like Kiba had a good hold on Naruto, but Gaara walked beside him for moral support.
"That was fun," Naruto murmured.
Kiba snorted and shifted to keep his grip on his friend. "I think you had a little too much fun, man."
"No such thing, Kiba!"
"Don't get worked up, Naruto. We're almost home," Shikamaru warned with a grin.
"Gaara!" a voice called out.
He turned to see his siblings walking toward them.
"Hello," he said once they were close enough that shouting wasn't necessary.
"What are you guys up to?" his older brother asked, taking in the sight of the group before him.
"We are on our way home right now," Gaara answered.
"Is he drunk?" Temari asked, nodding at Naruto.
Gaara nodded.
"We're coming from a party," Kiba explained.
Kankuro turned to look at him and continued to stare at him in a way that suggested such a thing was a family trait he shared with his brother instead of it being a quirk of Gaara's.
"You went to a party?" Temari repeated in disbelief.
"He didn't do anything unsavory," Shikamaru said.
Temari then gave him the same stare.
Maybe it was a family thing.
"But now we need to get him into bed. Shino, you wanna help me out?" Kiba said as he almost lost his grip on Naruto.
His best friend silently took Naruto's other arm and draped it over his shoulders to lighten the load.
"Gaara, we're gonna take him back to his dorm."
Gaara frowned. He would have liked to make sure Naruto returned home safely, but this were his friends and Naruto trusted them.
"He'll be fine, we'll get him to bed," Shikamaru interjected, frowning at his friend and poking Naruto's cheek like he was checking to see if he was still alive.
"Alright then."
As the group dragged Naruto away, Gaara turned back to his siblings.
Temari folded her arms and smirked at her little brother. "Look at that, our little brother is all grown up and going to college parties," she teased.
"I didn't want to go."
His sister laughed and uncrossed her arms. "It's good that you went, Gaara. Parties are generally overrated, but every once in a while it's good to go out."
He nodded once, to show that he was listening, not that he agreed.
"Did you meet anyone cool?" Kankuro asked, playfully elbowing his side the way Naruto had earlier in the evening.
Gaara frowned at the motion. "Yes."
Both his sibling's jaws dropped.
"Like a lady?!" Kankuro pressed.
"No."
That deflated his brother a bit, but Temari was undeterred.
"A handsome man?"
Ohh – that made sense. He thought Lee was handsome. That explained why he thought Lee was pleasing to look at, at least. There was one thing he could cross off his mental checklist of the evening's confusions. Handsome = aesthetically pleasing. It was purely an artistic appreciation of a fine example of the human specimen.
Others might have taken Gaara's silence as an embarrassed confirmation, but Temari and Kankuro knew their little brother well enough to recognize his mental processing for what it was. They waited patiently until Gaara returned to their conversation and nodded.
Kankuro gaped like a fish. "You-!"
"That's great, Gaara. We're really happy for you," Temari interrupted.
Gaara frowned at them. "Why?"
Meeting someone handsome was not an accomplishment. Unless they thought Gaara was, for some reason, unlikely to associate with handsome people; in which case, that's awfully rude, Temari.
His siblings spared a brief glance at each other before turning their own confused frowns to the youngest of their pack.
"Are you not interested in this handsome man?"
Gaara considered this for a moment. "He is an interesting person."
Kankuro exasperatedly pressed his hand to his eyes and sighed as Temari waved a dismissive hand.
"No, we mean – are you interested in dating him?"
This again? Did the few people in Gaara's life get together and have a secret meeting to discuss his need to date someone?
"I'm not interested in dating anyone. I'm focused on photography."
Kankuro looked at him between his fingers. "Gaara, you can enjoy your hobbies and still date someone."
"If he doesn't want to he doesn't have to," Temari countered.
"I never said he had to I'm just telling him that photography and dating aren't mutually exclusive," Kankuro replied, taking a beat between 'mutually' and 'exclusive' to annoy his sister.
Gaara just stared at them.
"It's good that he wants to focus on his studies. There's no need to rush into dating your first week at college," Temari continued, and while the advice sounded like it was meant for Gaara her attention was fixed on her other little brother.
Kankuro folded his arms and smirked in the way that younger siblings do when you've finally said something they've been waiting to hear.
"So then you won't be asking out that Shikamaru kid? You thought he was cute, right?"
Temari made a face Gaara had never seen his sister make before, but immediately he knew two things: she was embarrassed, and Kankuro was right.
"Fuck off, Kankuro."
Gaara had heard them speak to each other this way enough to know that while the words sounded harsh, they weren't meant that way. Although Gaara refrained from such language, and his siblings generally excluded it from their addresses to him, he knew that they weren't actually trying to be ugly to each other when they used it. It was just how siblings spoke.
Or perhaps others didn't. Gaara hadn't observed many other siblings.
"Ha! See? Dating's not such a bad idea, right?"
Temari glared at him. "Look, Gaara," she said, turning her attention back to her other brother. "All I'm saying is that it's perfectly fine if you don't want to date anyone right now. There's no need to listen to Kankuro. He's wrong about most things."
That wasn't true, but Gaara had heard her make this joke before, and after pointing out her mistake the first time he had since learned that she only meant it in jest.
Kankuro slung an arm around his sister's shoulders and grinned. "I'm just messing with you, Tem. I think it's great that you want to help out a freshman like that. He's probably never had someone this old think he was hot."
Temari swatted him off and scowled. "I do not think he's hot! Shut your mouth."
Her words may as well have been spoken in another language for all the attention Kankuro was paying them. He was doubled over laughing at her expression.
"Gaara. Why don't the three of us, or maybe just the two of us, have dinner tomorrow night? There are some great restaurants around campus and I want to hear more about this party," Temari suggested, punching her laughing brother when he wouldn't stop.
"Sure."
Kankuro swung out of the way to avoid another smack and finally caught his breath. "Yeah, I want to hear more about this handsome man you don't want to date."
"Great! Then it's Kankuro's treat. I'll text you tomorrow okay?" she said, ignoring Kankuro's 'hey what'.
Gaara nodded at her.
"Okay, see you tomorrow, Gaara. Get some sleep," Temari advised sagely.
"See you, buddy," Kankuro added, holding up his hand for a high five.
Gaara wasn't sure why his brother did this, but he appreciated it every time.
"Bye, guys," he said.
He wasn't sure what else he could tell them about the party that they hadn't already heard from Naruto and his friends, and he really had no idea what to say about Lee. It didn't make sense for Kankuro to be interested in someone he had never met and probably would never meet.
But perhaps they would meet.
Maybe one day the four of them could have dinner together. That would be nice.
This happy thought distracted Gaara from the time he left to head to his dorm to the time he got under his covers with his pj's on and his teeth brushed.
He went to sleep with a smile.
oooooo
"That was fun, but man Naruto is terrible at beer pong," Tenten grumbled as she collapsed on their couch.
Neji sat down in the chair in a much more elegant, composed manner and nodded. "At least he didn't get sick on anyone."
Tenten turned her head and raised an eyebrow. "Did you think that was a possibility?"
"It occurred to me, yes."
Lee emerged from his bedroom wearing his pajamas and leapt over the back of the couch to see on the end opposite Tenten, grinning like a fool.
"You look happy," Neji pointed out.
Lee gave a coy shrug and reached over the edge of the cushion he was sitting on to play with some frayed strings. "I just had a good night, that's all."
Tenten kicked him playfully. "I'll say – you spent the entire evening talking to that guy."
"What guy?"
Tenten sighed and gave her other roommate a look. Honestly, boys were so clueless.
"Neji. Who was Lee sitting next to – the entire night."
"Ah, yes. Gaara."
They both turned their attention to Lee and finally noticed that he was blushing furiously.
"Well would you look at this smitten kitten?" Tenten teased, lightly kicking her friend again.
There was no point in denying this, since Lee was smiling so stupidly and blushing so hard, but he did hide his face.
"I'm just teasing you, Lee," Tenten laughed. "It's perfectly fine to think someone's cute."
Cute seemed like a very aggressive understatement in Lee's opinion, and he was about to correct his roommate on this egregious miscalculation on her part when his other roommate piped up.
"As long as you aren't planning on doing anything about it."
Lee's face abandoned it's childish blushing and switched to a wide-eyed blink. "Huh?"
Neji leaned forward and brought his hands together the way he sometimes did when he was about to say something serious.
"Lee, he's a freshman, and you're a sophomore. It wouldn't be right."
Oh dear, Lee hadn't considered that.
Tenten turned around to scowl at Neji. "That doesn't matter! There are plenty of freshman who date sophomores – it's only a year age gap," she insisted.
"A year gap is less noticeable when it concerns two upperclassmen, but Gaara has only been in college for one day. It would be wrong to take advantage of his naïveté," Neji countered.
Tenten didn't give Lee a chance to say anything. "Lee isn't taking advantage of anyone – and he's equally naïve."
Did they forget he was sitting right here?
"If anything, they shouldn't date because they've only known each other for one night and we don't want a repeat of what happened last year," she continued.
"I won't make the same mistakes again!" Lee protested.
"Good. Then you agree that it would be wrong to date him," Neji said with a nod.
That's not exactly –
Tenten sighed again. "Lee, I don't think it's wrong to date him, I just think you need to wait. Probably a long time."
Lee pouted and his expression softened. "How long is a long time?"
"At least a year," Neji answered without missing a beat.
"A year?!"
"Ignore him," Tenten interrupted. "But, I don't know probably at least a month. I mean – I think Neji's acting like a conservative grandpa over here, but he does have a point that Gaara is new to college and he probably has a lot to figure out without adding a boyfriend into the mix."
Although what she was saying was technically not good news, hearing Gaara described as his possible 'boyfriend' did make Lee flush.
"And besides," she continued, "You remember how skeevy upperclassman can be. Maybe he already has reservations about it. You should take extra time so he can see you aren't like that."
Lee nodded and frowned.
Tenten was right, and for other people perhaps they wouldn't even need this council and wouldn't consider asking someone to be their boyfriend after just a few hours of conversation.
But Rock Lee was not other people!
He dove into things head first and usually without checking the temperature of the water before hand. It was the same passion that made him so fun to be around and such a devoted friend, but it went hand in hand with recklessness that aided in Lee getting his heart hurt last year – and neither Neji nor Tenten wanted to see that again.
"I am not a grandpa."
Lee smiled and looked up at his offended friend.
"I don't know, Neji – you do eat a lot of fiber," Tenten muttered.
"Fiber is good for you! It's necessary for healthy digestion!" Lee added helpfully with a laugh.
"Not the amount he eats."
Neji took a very long time in the bathroom to punish Tenten for her rudeness, or possibly because of the fiber. But after everyone was cleaned up and ready for bed, Lee laid down and immediately began fantasizing.
He was going to be so respectful and cool-headed and not at all spazzy – he would absolutely prove himself worthy to Gaara!
Tomorrow he would have to call his dad and get his advice as well. His dad was the smartest and coolest person he knew – he would surely know what to do!
Lee wrapped his arms around in pillow and squeezed it in the way people who really really want someone to spoon with do.
He would be a gentleman for Gaara. He would prove himself. He would listen to his wise, helpful friends who loved him and he would fight his natural instincts and not call Gaara at one in the morning and ask him if he would like to get breakfast tomorrow and possibly go to the park to hold hands afterwards.
He dreamed that he did it anyway.
oooooo
One of Gaara's favorite things about photography was that it allowed him to work mostly alone. Shooting, editing, developing, printing – these were all lovely, solitary activities. He could use that time to sort through information at his own pace, with no distractions, and then return to the horrible world above when he was ready.
So he was downright salty like a potato chip when the head of the art department sent him an e-mail stating that the privilege of being granted studio space and placement in advanced classes also came with the requirement of assisting the school newspaper with their photography needs.
Gaara wasn't happy about that.
But he wasn't willing to give up the things he had worked so hard for and risk losing them in the future as well; so on the first day of the new semester he reluctantly made his way to the necessary classroom to meet the newspaper staff and receive an assignment.
He had wrongly assumed that they would be kind enough to hand the photographers their homework and then dismiss them so as not to waste anyone's time. But no. No, the editor thought it would be best to have a discussion so that everyone could get to know each other and get a feel for the kind of things the different photographers would be best suited for.
It had already been an hour and Gaara hadn't spoken once.
He'd also declined to take a seat at one of the desks in the center of the room that had been arranged into a large, open circle that encouraged talking and open communication.
Gaara wasn't feeling any of that.
Instead he sat in a chair with the back to the wall and listened with an unintentionally unfriendly look on his face.
It was this look that kept the editor from pestering him to join in their jovial chitchat fest.
Once they finally got into assignments, Gaara was relieved to find that it was mostly done on a volunteer basis. He was the only freshman photographer, and the others already had events or programs they liked shooting or had an idea in mind already of what they wanted. He was just going to sit back and wait until everything was finished and dolled out and just take whatever was left and then leave with no fuss.
Until they mentioned sports.
A clench he hadn't expected seized his body and he found himself getting more and more nervous as they moved through the different sports teams and announced the dates of the first games.
If someone else was already assigned to this…
It wouldn't matter, per se, Gaara just wouldn't like it. It hadn't occurred to him before today that he might like shooting any kind of athletic event but now that he was sitting here and the topic was up of course he wanted that to be his assignment.
He certainly didn't want it to be someone else's.
"Okay! That finishes up our athletic department, for now anyway. We'll talk about the seasonal events in next month's meeting. Moving on to our fundraising-"
"What about the track team?"
Even the breeze that was about to come in through the window paused in shock.
Gaara was surprised himself. He hadn't planned on speaking, and couldn't remember making the conscious decision to let audible words exit his mouth and attempt to make communication with the people sitting around him – but if the surprised faces now staring at him were any indication then he certainly had.
"We-well," the editor answered after taking, what Gaara considered to be an unnecessary, moment to catch herself, "there is no track team this year."
Gaara never knew he did this, until his brother pointed it out one day, but he had a way of looking at people without moving his head that had a tendency to scare others once they realized his eyes were actually looking at them.
It was sometimes scarier if they saw his eyes snap over to them while his head remained perfectly still.
Well Gaara done spooked the editor.
"Rock Lee is on the team, and he has a meet in two weeks."
There were a few snickers and mumbles that almost had Gaara's eyes flicking over in their direction, but instead he kept his stare fixed pointedly on the editor.
"We don't typically send photographers out for just one student," the editor answered calmly, looking uncomfortable like she knew how uncool this sounded.
"He can't help it if he's the only one on the team," Gaara answered quickly in the same flat tone. He heard a few more snickers and once more resisted the urge to glare at them.
"Yes, I understand that. It's just that it's not the best use of our resources to travel to every single game or meet unless it's a special game- or if it's giving students the opportunity to represent the school," she continued, still sounding unsure of herself.
His eyes narrowed and she gave an almost imperceptible flinch.
"There are three photographers assigned to every single football game this month," he replied coolly.
Although it was clear that he wasn't paying attention to the others, a few of them dropped their jaws in offense at the idea that a fellow student didn't take their precious sport as seriously as they did, and began to mutter to each other.
"We have a regionally ranked football team – our students and faculty have a strong interest in-"
"Lee has the chance to qualify for regionals at this meet," Gaara interrupted. He was downright irritated now. At this point, it couldn't just be a matter of 'policy' or 'interest', for whatever reason these people were actively-
"That guy's a weirdo."
There was no time to resist the urge to turn and glare at the rudest thing Gaara had ever heard because his head moved reflexively of its own volition.
And now he done spooked this guy too.
But this man didn't even have the decency to look remorseful for his statement, and worse, in the split second before Gaara's glare was acknowledged there were a few people who had the audacity to chuckle at this statement.
What was wrong with these people? Was this considered acceptable behavior here? At what point did it make the leap from a harmless statement to bullying? Was a scheduled meeting for an academic program full of students laughing at another who wasn't even there to defend himself not an example of it?
Gaara himself wasn't even sure of what to say other than 'you are', but the rude student spoke first.
"Oh, sorry," though he didn't sound it, "are you two like-"
"No," Gaara answered too quickly, and though he couldn't see his own face, he knew he must have looked exactly like his sister had when Kankuro asked if she thought Shikamaru was cute.
"…friends…?" he finished, raising an eyebrow at Gaara's reaction.
Ah, yes. Now that he'd said it, friends did seem like a more sensible end to that question.
Whoops.
Gaara continued to stare, making the awkward moment even worse.
For everyone else, at least.
"…okay…" the rude boy tried after another tense few seconds. "Then why do you even care if the paper writes about him?"
It was a fair question, probably, Gaara didn't particularly think so. But he was getting awfully worked up and making a bad impression for himself all over someone he'd just claimed he wasn't friends with.
But Lee…
Lee didn't deserve this. He was so kind to Gaara, and so warm and friendly and he'd spoken so passionately about his running and wanting to make his father proud – why wouldn't the paper want to write about someone like him? In fact, why stop at his track meets? They should insist that Gaara photograph Lee in his everyday life as well.
But there were students snickering.
Maybe Lee was a weirdo, Gaara had known him for two days, but weirdo or not, he didn't deserve this.
"It isn't our place to decide which students are worth reporting on," Gaara's brain supplied in lieu of the silence he felt better accompanied his glare. "There's a photographer for every sport. Lee should have one too."
Now they had the decency to look a bit ashamed.
"You're right," the editor interjected. "You're right… okay, Gaara, right? You can cover the track team. Normally we send photographers with teams to their games but I don't think the school is providing transportation for just him, and since you seem to know him – why don't you get in touch with Lee, see how he's getting to his meet and ask if you can just join him that way?"
His glare had softened the second she said he could photograph Lee (at least, that's how he heard it), and his heart began beating very hard again, even though Lee was nowhere in sight.
"Alright," he answered, hoping his voice didn't sound as shaky as it felt.
He stayed silent for the rest of the meeting, and the second the editor dismissed everyone he prepared himself to book it out of the classroom and find Lee when her voice interrupted him once more.
"Hey."
Gaara turned and looked at her with a severe face. She was keeping him from Lee.
"For someone who claims not to be his friend, you really got worked up over Lee."
What's your point.
Fortunately, for her, she didn't wait for an answer (none was forthcoming). "I've seen your work, I know you're a good photographer. But maybe try to relax a little and get along with the rest of the staff?"
He dropped his chin in what could have been the beginnings of a nod, but just turned into a frown.
A second later she was pulled away by another student and Gaara left before she could talk to him again.
oooooo
Gaara was new to this campus and still unsure of where all the buildings and student facilities were. If he should happen to stumble upon one and find someone he knew there, it would be pure coincidence because he couldn't have possibly gone there on purpose when he doesn't know where he's going.
…at least that's what he told himself as he headed toward the track field.
It was almost seven p.m., and Gaara wasn't even sure if Lee would still be out, or if he even had a practice, but technically he had been tasked with asking Lee about his means of transportation to his next game. So really, even if anyone were to call Gaara out on 'coincidence' when he made a beeline for the area, he could always say he was operating under the editor's orders.
Something he never intended to do again.
There were no other teams out, at least none that Gaara could hear, and he didn't realize he was holding his breath as he rounded the corner of the entrance to the stands and stepped out to see the field.
The warmth that bloomed in his heart when he saw the unmistakable black of Lee's hair streaking down the red track was downright indecent. Gaara ignored it in favor of resisting a tiny smile and the urge to pick up his camera and start snapping away.
Lee's back was to him. He didn't know Gaara was there… Gaara could grab his camera and quickly take just one or two shots…
But no. Consent was important – especially to Gaara – and especially if it concerned Lee. Even though it was just him, and he had no intention of sharing any ill-gotten photos of this man, Gaara felt a protective urge strike him.
No, Lee would only be photographed when he'd given explicit permission for it, Gaara would be certain of that.
He stepped forward, spotting Lee's gym bag and moving toward it.
Once Lee had come to the turn in the track, he was able to spot Gaara, and even from fifty feet away Gaara could see the way his face lit up as he beamed.
"Hi, Gaara!" Lee yelled, excitedly waving one arm. It looked as though he had sped up, too.
Gaara had to avert his eyes and look down at the ground as his mouth twisted uncomfortably again.
Why was his heart beating so hard? Why did he feel so excited for Lee to get over to him?
And curse his mouth for its senseless determination to smile stupidly and make him look like a fool.
The sound of panting reached Gaara before Lee did, and Gaara was left feeling even more confused that such a thing should be contributing to his heart palpitations.
He looked up as the slap of Lee's shoes on the track slowed and finally came to a halt a few feet from him.
"Hi, Gaara!" Lee said again, just as brightly as before.
If it were anyone else, the flushed cheeks, the deep heavy breaths making the chest rise and fall dramatically, and the light sheen of sweat covering their body would have made Gaara back away.
But instead this made him blush.
He felt like he shouldn't be looking directly at Lee – like it was the indecent thing to be staring so hungrily.
Not that such an awareness made Gaara look away.
Oh, and yes. Lee had said hello to him. Gaara would do well to respond.
"Hi, Lee," he answered quietly, horrified at how strange his voice sounded.
"This is such a pleasant surprise! And great timing too, I just finished my timed run – although I think I sped up a bit at the end there and skewed my time… that's alright! I can just run another one later tonight!"
He was talking to Gaara, but it looked as though Lee was spacing out and speaking to himself in front of an audience.
"So how are you? How was your first day of classes?" Lee asked brightly, looking up at Gaara and properly giving him undivided attention once more.
"They were fine."
"What did you have today?" Lee pressed, still grinning as he knelt down and into his bag.
Gaara forgot to answer as he watched Lee retrieve a small towel and began to wipe his face and neck.
Oh no.
"I – uh," Gaara started, after Lee looked back up at him expectantly.
Great – on top of everything else Lee did to him, now Gaara forgot how to speak English?
He cleared his throat and looked in the opposite direction.
"I had photography and-" he answered.
Beside him, Gaara heard Lee stand back up and then the small 'pop' he knew to be the sound Lee's water bottle made when it opened.
Oh well it would be rude to continue looking away from Lee. Purely for politeness sake, and because this was his academically assigned photography subject – Gaara ought to be thoughtful and direct his focus to Lee.
He absolutely did not whip his head around to stare at Lee gulping down water because he wanted to.
…
"- and chemistry…" he finished.
Lee's magnificent eyebrows rose in surprise and he put down his bottle. "Chemistry?" he asked after wiping his mouth off with the same towel. "Oh gosh that's impressive! I was never any good at chemistry. I'm taking environmental sciences for my science requirement. Do you enjoy it?"
Gaara gave a noncommittal shrug. "I'm taking it because I work with chemical solutions when I develop prints. It had the most to do with something I'm actually interested in."
As Lee opened his mouth to respond his stomach interrupted and did so for him.
Two sets of eyes immediately dropped to look at the noisy thing and Lee closed his eyes, looking bashful, as he placed one of his hands on it.
"Sorry about that. I came straight out here after class, so I haven't eaten yet," Lee explained.
"I haven't either," Gaara replied immediately.
Lee's eyes lit up. "Oh! Well, the cafeteria is closed by now, but would you like to go grab dinner together?"
Yes!
"That sounds fine," Gaara answered, trying to sound calmer than he felt.
And then there was that wonderful smile again.
"Wonderful! I should probably change then…" Lee murmured, looking down into his gym bag where Gaara suspected the clothes he'd worn to class earlier that day were stashed.
"I don't mind if you're dressed like that."
Lee looked up at him and blinked his owlishly large eyes. "Are you sure, Gaara? It's really no trouble at all to change. My clothes are right here-"
"No, it's fine. I'm hungry and don't want to wait," he replied.
That was true, too. It just wasn't the whole truth.
Lee smiled again. "Okay! Then let's go find some food!"
Gaara tucked his chin to hide his smile as Lee led them off the field.
oooooo
The pair stopped at the first place they came to. Gaara stayed outside on the patio, securing them a table while Lee went in to order burgers for them. He came back out grinning brightly and holding a white Styrofoam cup in one hand, and his full water bottle in the other. When Lee had politely asked Gaara what he would prefer to drink, Gaara had said he would have whatever Lee was having.
It was only now that he realized that meant water.
"Here you are!" Lee chirped, holding Gaara's cup out to him as he sat down.
Gaara accepted it with both hands and said, "Thank you," quietly.
Lee took a long drink and let out a satisfied 'ahh' when he finished before turning to Gaara. "Please tell me more about your day! I didn't get to hear about your photography class."
Gaara gazed at him as he sucked out of his straw. "It was fine. Since it was the first day of class we spent most of the time going over our assignments this semester,"
"What kinds of things do you have to do?"
He took another sip. "There are three big projects due: one for landscape, one for…models…, and one of our choice," he finished quickly.
There was no reason not to tell Lee the nature of the modeling assignment, but truthfully it was the thing Gaara was least looking forward to this semester and it made him inexplicably uncomfortable to picture Lee knowing that he had to take pictures of someone naked.
Lee didn't catch his companion's momentary discomfort and continued to look at Gaara as though this was the most fascinating thing in the world.
"Do you already know what you will choose?"
Gaara shook his head. "Not yet, but that assignment isn't due until the end of the semester. We will receive more information, including the requirements, as we get closer to the date."
Lee nodded in understanding. "And models – how fun! Like a fashion show?"
It was such a sweet, simple, naïve answer. The corner of Gaara's mouth twitched and he felt his expression soften as he gazed at Lee's face.
"Not exactly," he murmured. Thankfully he was spared from explaining the project in detail by the arrival of the waiter with their burgers and fries.
"Thank you!" Lee said happily to the man before picking his burger up and holding it up. "Cheers!"
It took Gaara a moment, but he held up his own burger and awkwardly tapped it to Lee's before echoing, "Cheers…"
It did the trick, though. Lee smiled at him and then tore into his dinner.
"Oh, man," Lee moaned after he swallowed the first bite of food. "These are so good. My dad and I love this place."
Gaara had been so focused on watching Lee eat that his own burger remained whole in his hands. He snapped out of his trance and took a bite before nodding at Lee in agreement.
They were good. Gaara didn't usually go for burgers, and he'd only come here because Lee seemed so excited about it and he just wanted to eat with Lee – but this was a very good serving of meat.
Lee ate much faster than he did. As Gaara moved to take his second bite, he noticed that Lee's burger was already half gone.
"Lee, you should slow down or you'll get sick."
That's what his sister always told his brother when he ate too enthusiastically. The same sentiment never needed to be directed toward Gaara because he chose to remain human while he ate instead of turning into some kind of starving vacuum cleaner.
"Hm? Oh," Lee said with a small laugh as his hand covered his mouth and he struggled to swallow. "Sorry, sorry. I'm used to eating quickly with my dad and being here with these burgers and you're here –" Lee looked up at him and turned pink. "I'm sorry for being rude! I will eat more slowly!" he finished quickly.
Gaara understood about half of that.
"Why do you and your father eat so fast?" he asked, focusing on the part of Lee's small speech that didn't baffle him.
Lee gave a small laugh again. "There's no special reason. Sometimes we race each other to see who can finish first, but usually we're just very excited about food."
Gaara had never met Lee's father, but he pictured a taller version of Lee sitting at the table with them and grinning just as brightly at his burger before tearing into it the way his son had.
"You eat together here frequently?"
Lee looked thoughtful for a second and shook his head. "Not as frequently as I would like. My dad lives about an hour away, so he only comes up here for my track meets or on parent's day."
He watched Lee's face and frowned. "How often do you see him?"
"Usually at least once a month. If I don't have a meet, then I take a bus and visit home for the weekend," Lee answered before taking another bite, much slower this time.
Once a month seemed frequent to Gaara. Weren't college students supposed to be more independent from their parents? He'd never heard of a university student who was so desperate to spend time with their dad that they would take a bus for an hour just so they wouldn't have to go another month without a visit.
But then again, Lee was sweet. Gaara didn't know a lot of sweet people. Maybe this was just how sweet people were.
Or perhaps that was just how Lee and his father were.
"In fact," Lee added suddenly, perking up and nearly startling Gaara with the speed of it. "He's coming up here to take me to my track meet in two weeks. You could meet him!" he cried, excitedly.
Oh right – the track meet.
"Actually, Lee. I need to ask you about that."
Those magnificent eyebrows rose once more and Lee looked at him expectantly as pink tongue slipped out to lick sauce off of the corner of his mouth.
Alright – Gaara was going to have to visit a cardiologist after this dinner but alright.
"I am required to assist the school newspaper with photography, so I will be covering your track meet," Gaara said, looking down at his burger to avoid making direct eye contact.
The table briefly shunted towards him as Lee leapt up from his seat.
"That is amazing!" he shrieked, clenching his fists and beaming at Gaara so brightly it was like the sun came back out just to backlight Lee.
He hadn't thought to expect any sort of reaction from Lee, but this was sort of… lovely.
"Oh, well, yes," he answered lamely.
"Gaara this is so exciting!" Lee continued to chirp. "I'm so happy you will get to see me run!"
Truthfully, Gaara was too.
He nodded in the affirmative and was so entranced by Lee's genuine pleasure over this small piece of information that he failed to notice the people inside were staring at them, and that he was smiling.
"Ooh, I am fired up! I feel like I should go for my run right now!" Lee said, looking out of the patio like he was considering the street.
"You haven't finished eating," Gaara pointed out, partly because it was true and partly because he wasn't ready to leave yet.
Lee blinked at him and then down at the few bites that remained of his burger. His fries were still untouched.
"You're right! And it is important to finish your food," Lee declared, sitting back down at smiling at his dinner guest before popping the rest of the burger into his mouth.
So much for eating slowly.
"Gaara," Lee said thickly before pausing so he could swallow. "My meet is about an hour away so my dad is coming up here to take me, would you like to ride with us?"
Gaara nodded and took another bite so his mouth couldn't betray him and grin again.
Lee beamed and reached down into his bag. He pulled his phone out and handed it to Gaara who took it with a confused frown.
"Would you please give me your telephone number so that I can text you the time and place of where to meet?" he asked, ever so politely.
Lee was going to have his number.
Gaara tapped his number into the phone and handed it back.
"Thank you!" Lee chirped. "I'll send you a message right now so that you have my number."
Gaara watched Lee's fingers move and then felt a buzz in his pocket a second later. He pulled his phone out and was almost irritated at how warm Lee's 'Hi, Gaara! ^^' made him feel.
No one had ever used a cute eyes emoji and his name in the same message. It had simply never happened. Granted, the only people he ever text were his siblings and Naruto – but still.
He added Lee's name to the contact and put his phone away again. "I got it."
"Awesome. I'm so excited for you to come! I'm so lucky that they assigned you to track!"
Gaara nodded and looked down at his burger again. There was no need to correct Lee and tell him that he'd actually made himself look bad by getting defensive and arguing with the editor and demanding that Lee get the same treatment as the other teams. It was better to let Lee think this was coincidence.
Although he certainly felt lucky.
"I should probably also get some photos of your practice," Gaara heard himself saying.
"Oh wow! That's great! Well I practice every day immediately after class, and tomorrow I finish at noon so I will probably be there from one to six," Lee said happily.
Gaara blinked at him.
"You practice for five hours?" he asked in disbelief.
Lee nodded seriously. "Oh yes, it's important to keep myself in peak physical shape before meets."
"That sounds like too much."
"It's really fine, I assure you. In fact – you could join me sometime! We could go for a run together!"
That wasn't even tempting – just a flat out no.
"I cannot run for five hours," Gaara said flatly.
Lee laughed his delightful laugh again and shook his head. "Oh no not for five hours, but you know, maybe some morning you could join me for my jog! It's usually just four miles-"
Gaara stared at him.
"Or we could do just three?"
Gaara continued to stare.
"Two?"
Someone get Gaara an exercise machine because this guy is the stare-master.
"One?!" Lee tried again, sounding incredulous.
"I will go for a one mile walk with you," Gaara offered.
"Ooh how great! Wait –"
But Gaara nodded to Lee's fries. "Those are going to get cold."
And Lee took the bait.
They walked back to campus together with Lee prattling on excitedly about how wonderful dinner was. He was so passionate – and it was just dinner.
"Thank you so much for joining me tonight, Gaara," Lee beamed when they reached the outside of Gaara's dorm.
There was no need for Lee to thank him, so Gaara just said, 'you're welcome' uncertainly.
"Will I see you tomorrow at practice?" he asked hopefully.
Gaara nodded.
"There's no need to come for the entire time, please don't feel that you have to."
Although watching Lee run around for five hours actually didn't sound like a terrible way to spend an afternoon, he wouldn't be able to anyway.
"My last class ends at two fifty. I will join you after," Gaara replied.
"Great! Well then – I'll see you tomorrow!" Lee said. He paused and looked uncertain of himself before jerking forward a bit with his arms out, and then he seemed to think better of himself and awkwardly moved his arms to wave goodbye instead.
"Goodnight, Gaara!"
"Goodnight, Lee," Gaara echoed, frowning at what had just happened.
Was Lee going to hug him? Is that what that was?
Normally, Gaara would have objected to such a thing on principle. But now, as he gazed at Lee's retreating back, he wished that Lee had.
oooooo
A/N: The next chapter should be up by Nov. 27th! Thank you for reading! ^^