AN: Okay so I realize I have not updated this since 2008 and it's been almost 8 years since I wrote the first half of this chapter and I just wrote the second half. I wanted to go through and re-write a lot of this fic because there are a lot of errors but I'm not going to do that. Hopefully someone out there will enjoy this VERY LATE update. And I am writing the next chapter, already have it started. A lot has changed since 2008 so I'm going to write as if this is modern. Also it feels weird to write this because I was in high school when I first wrote this and now I teach... Anyway here it is.

Chapter 10

"We must practice twice as hard for the upcoming track meet!" Mr. Gai shouted to the world.

"Yes!" Lee shouted in reply, already running laps around the track.

"We will spend day and night striving towards our goal!" Gai shouted again, earning another 'yes' from Lee.

Then Mr. Gai looked around, and after seeing that the coast was clear, motioned for Lee to come towards him. Lee finished up the lap he was on and leaned in close.

"My star pupil, you seem very distracted these days. If there's anything you need to tell me, please do so. Being number one isn't what's important. It's living with a bright and passionate flame of youth!" Mr. Gai had tried to stay quiet, but by the end he was shouting again.

"I am fine, Mr. Gai, I assure you! I am just alive with the glory of love!" Lee responded enthusiastically, his eyes burning with the passion only found in a youth in love. Seeing this, tears readily came to Gai's eyes.

"You're growing up right before my eyes, Lee. I'm so proud." Gai sobbed, crying manly tears of happiness. "I'm so glad you found someone wonderful to love!"

Lee couldn't help but turn red at this remark. It had been a little more than two weeks since Valentine's Day. And Lee still didn't have the courage to tell his beloved teacher that he was in love with another man.

"You'll have to bring her by sometime, so I can meet this wonderful lady of yours!" Gai commented, giving Lee a manly shoulder hug, shaking him a bit.

"Of course, Mr. Gai, one of these days." Lee replied, smiling the best he could without it seeming forced. He knew he would never get Gaara to dress in drag for him, but that could have been a great plan. He had never once lied to Mr. Gai, he just hadn't corrected him when he assumed Lee had fallen for a female.

"You're always here or at work, when do you have time to see her?" Mr. Gai asked, his arm still around Lee's shoulders as he gazed heroically into the distance.

"…We make time." Lee finally responded. He really only saw Gaara when he came home to eat, and on some nights he had been late for dinner so he had cooked for Gaara again. He still hadn't found something he made that Gaara didn't like.

"That's wonderful! I bet you two eat lunch together every day and talk of the beauty of your love, sit in class and pass notes! How great it is to be a student in love!" Mr. Gai remarked merrily. He was kind of right, Lee thought, though they barely ever talked about their relationship. And they didn't do anything in public yet. Their relationship was just… there.

"All right, let's get back to practice!" Mr. Gai announced, and Lee knew his legs were moving, but his mind was elsewhere.

A casual brush of their hands would lead to holding hands, and that usually lead to Gaara stopping him in the hall to pin him to the wall for a moment. It seemed unlikely, but it was usually Gaara who initiated the kiss. Lee would think about it, but he didn't act half as often as Gaara. Though, he would hold Gaara often. Lee admitted that he was afraid to kiss too much, get too deep, and do something stupid to scare off Gaara. Gaara had told him not to hold back, but he had to. He knew how attracted he was to Gaara, and knew he would be in a lot of trouble in a short amount of time if things got too passionate. Already he was finding that he had to take more and more cold showers. And of course, since they shared a bathroom, Gaara knew about every one of those showers.

Lee remembered how 'fun' it had been proving Kankuro and Temari right, the evening after Valentine's Day.

"So, how was it?" Temari asked slyly as they sat down to eat. Lee had made it on time to dinner, but that would be the only time that whole week.

"How was what?" Gaara asked bluntly, taking a bite of the food and instantly thinking it was bland. He thought about firing the chef and having Lee make dinner every evening. But Lee was overworked as it was. Gaara could already see how tired he was from his 'extreme training' as he had put it.

"The sex, she's implying you guys did it last night." Kankuro commented gruffly. His hangover was still bothering him. He'd had a killer headache all day and he hadn't even scored last night. The thought of his brother getting more action than him with another male wasn't something he wanted them to be talking about for another thirty minutes. Even though he'd usually be all for letting the two stumble around Temari's innuendo.

Lee's nose bled a little, which caused Temari to laugh hysterically. It only caused Lee to turn redder than a tomato. He quickly excused himself to the bathroom.

"We didn't have sex last night." Gaara responded easily, taking a drink of water. He decided he didn't want to eat any more.

"Oh, how uninteresting." Temari replied. "You realize I could call the cops if he had sex with you, right?" Gaara had known Lee was legally an adult and he wasn't, but he hadn't thought of it in that context until now.

"I'd never forgive you." Gaara retorted in the iciest voice imaginable.

"Of course I never would really call the cops, but it'd be more interesting that way. I'd have something to dangle over your head. A bargaining chip, if you will." Temari said, an evil smirk crossing her face. It was a good thing Lee wasn't there or he'd only be even more afraid of Temari.

Lee, once in the bathroom, waited for his nose to stop bleeding then splashed himself in the face with cold water. He used to have an innocent and untainted mind, for the longest time. But ever since that 'incident' in the hospital with that unforgettable dream… Lee's mind was still very innocent, most of the time. But he was learning he had quite the imagination when it came to Gaara.

"Sorry about that." Lee apologized as he re-entered the room, his cheeks reddening just a bit.

"It's okay, Lee. I understand if you want to bang my little brother. Go right ahead. You have my blessing." Temari replied smoothly, grinning once again.

"W-w-w-what?" Lee replied, stuttering so badly it wasn't even clear what he was saying. He could feel the blood coming out of his nose and had to excuse himself once again. Even after he'd gotten to the bathroom and splashed his face quite a few times he still couldn't get that image out of his head. It was too soon to be thinking about stuff like that… Their clothes tossed aside, Gaara's legs around him as he thrust… And then he was just shoving his whole head under the running water. His imagination had taken those images and was running wild with them. It took him another couple of minutes before he decided he was ready to try and go sit down with Gaara and his siblings.

Though, Lee was kind of freaked out when all was quiet as he entered. "Sorry about that, again." Lee apologized, blushing nervously. Except this time none of the siblings said anything as he took his seat. Which was odd.

"Are they all right?" Lee whispered to Gaara, who smirked in return.

"Of course. I just told them that if they make you leave the room one more time I'd make them regret it." Gaara's tone of voice was light, but there was such menacing promise behind his words…

"Oh, okay." Lee responded, not sure what to say to that.

"You're all wet." Gaara stated after another moment, making it a question with his stare.

"Oh, yes, well…about that…" Lee started, but just laughed nervously.

"I kind of like it." Gaara said, though it was lower than usual. And then Gaara's lips were on Lee's before anyone had the chance to do anything. Kankuro immediately looked away, mentally scarred, and Temari stifled her chuckling. Lee, well he melted into the touch like he always would. This was their first kiss since the evening before, but the first of many. Gaara liked the feel of his hand on the base of Lee's neck, his fingers tangled in Lee's wet hair. He liked pulling Lee towards him because there was no resistance. And he liked kissing Lee, the overall experience. Even though he knew there was something with the tongue he had yet to try…

And if not for the clattering dishes from across the table Gaara might have proceeded to try something with his tongue. But the noise made Lee pull away, breathing heavily. Gaara looked over at his irritated brother with no surprise, knowing exactly what had happened. Kankuro had gotten tired of them and had slammed his chair into the table as he got up to leave.

"I can't take this today. Later." Kankuro huffed before going back towards his room, rubbing his temples.

"Sorry, Kankuro." Lee whispered, and it was obvious that Kankuro didn't hear him.

"Oh man, you guys are so gay." Temari said between laughs. Lee's face tried to turn more red, but it was hard.

"I think that's kind of obvious." Gaara retorted. Well, it was pretty damn obvious. It's not like they were trying to convince anyone they were straight.

"Oh whatever. I'll see you guys later." Temari said as she stood to leave the room, still smirking at them. She was actually happy for her younger brother. She could see the positive affect all this change was having on him. If making out with that weird Lee kid made Gaara look more alive than he ever had before she was perfectly fine with it. Though, she still wondered if she should take pictures and sell them… Luckily for Gaara and Lee she really wasn't in need of any sort of income. She might have done it for the entertainment factor, though.

"Good, they're finally gone." Gaara smirked at Lee, and Lee tried his best not to imagine anything else utterly inappropriate. But of course, with Gaara smirking at him like that, Lee couldn't help but want something inappropriate to happen…

"I like it a lot better when it's just you and me here." Gaara commented to Lee, grasping Lee's hand under the table. Lee quickly let his hand tighten around Gaara's, smiling.

"It is not so bad, we only see them at dinner, really…" Lee replied. He was all for trying to get Gaara to have a closer bond with his siblings.

"But you're only ever home to eat these days. Eat and sleep. So in fact they're taking away what little time I have with you." Gaara gave him a look that could have almost been mistaken for a pout. Almost, if one looked at it at just the right angle, which Lee currently was. Lee thought it was adorable.

"I will try to be here more often for you, Gaara." Lee replied.

But that wasn't working out so well. In the past two weeks Lee hadn't really been there very much at all. And he felt horrible about it. Lee didn't like making promises he couldn't keep, but, well, he really couldn't keep this one. Unless he quit practicing, or quit his job…

"Have you told your boss that you're quitting yet? Put in your two weeks or whatever?" Gaara asked one evening as they walked back towards their rooms after dinner.

"No, I have not…" Lee replied nervously. Gaara had mentioned it before, after Lee first moved in, that he could quit his job, that Gaara was willing to support him. But Lee would feel like he was using Gaara, and he didn't want that.

"Well, you should. You could call them right now." Gaara retorted, talking too quickly, his words were almost angry. Emotions were tricky, and only getting trickier.

"It is kind of late." Lee really didn't know what to do, he could tell Gaara was getting frustrated.

"Then tomorrow. Or even Saturday, when you go into work." Gaara stopped walking, they were already to their rooms.

"…Gaara, why are you so determined to make me quit my job?" Lee finally mustered up the courage to ask.

"There are two reasons, the first of which is obvious; so we have more time together. The second is because you are stretching yourself thin. You are trying to do too much all at once." Gaara was looking towards the wall, but the force of his words still fully impacted Lee.

"I have been doing this routine for years, Gaara, and I assure you…"

"That's why I'm worried." Gaara interrupted. "…I'm worried about you, Lee."

Lee was glad he didn't have to stop himself from hugging Gaara anymore. He held him tight, hoping he wasn't holding him too tightly. "Okay, I will stop working, Gaara." Lee pulled away a little so that he could give Gaara a reassuring smile, but Gaara took it as an invitation to kiss him. It was chaste, but Lee's body warmed in response, just as it always did.

"Call them tomorrow." Lee nodded and with one more kiss they went their separate ways.

That had been two days ago and Lee still hadn't called. He would call tonight, he told himself. But that is also what he had told himself last night. He'd just have to build up his resolve. He was doing this out of his love for Gaara. And he didn't need to have a job right now, he'd saved up some money and he should probably focus more on training anyway. But above all else he would do it out of his love for Gaara.

Lee really did want to spend more time with Gaara. Maybe if they spent more time together their relationship would progress… Right now they were at a sort of stalemate in their relationship, mostly due to lack of time spent together. Lee knew he shouldn't think about it too much, but he really wanted to make-out with Gaara. His face reddened just thinking about it. Lee couldn't think about it too much, though. If he imagined it too vividly he would be in trouble…

Lee decided to think about something else. He'd make the call to his work from phone in the locker room, Mr. Gai wouldn't mind. If he waited until he got back to Gaara's house he might lose his resolve, so he would do it as soon as possible. Plus, if he went home first he would find some excuse to not call, find something else to do.

They questioned his motives when he called to give them his two weeks, but he gave them answers that were vague yet satisfactory. So in two weeks he wouldn't work at the ramen shop anymore… it was a weird thought. Lee tried to focus on how it would free up time. Time that then could be spent with Gaara. Lee had been working for so long, though, so it still felt weird, not having to work. Not having to support himself, not being alone anymore…

Because he'd been alone. He'd isolated himself, not like Gaara had, but he'd isolated himself nonetheless. He'd never accepted help, or let people get too close, not for the same reason Gaara had, but for his own reasons. People thought Lee was outgoing, but really he wasn't. He was alone, and hadn't realized it until he started living with Gaara. In a way, he was building his first really personal relationship. Lee and Gaara had more in common than they thought.

When Lee got home he decided to share the news with Gaara that he had quit his job.

"You should've done it sooner, but better late than never." Gaara smirked.

Lee pouted in response. He was about to make a comment on it but Gaara beat him to it. "It must have been hard; you've been working there for so long…" Gaara looked up at him and Lee smiled.

"Anything for you. Besides, I promised to spend more time with you." Lee completed this statement with a quick kiss.

Lee started thinking about how he was going to fulfill that promise. His last two weeks working at Ichiraku and then Track Regionals in Mid-March. Then Track Nationals at the end of March. Then it would be April, but that always meant state-mandated testing and after that would be finals for school… And then finally it would be summer! That seemed very close and very far away at the same time.

"Don't wear yourself out on my account." Gaara said, almost as if he could read Lee's mind.

It was then that Lee noticed Gaara was wearing the necklace he'd given him for Valentine's Day.

"You are wearing the necklace." Lee commented, seemingly out of nowhere, with a dopey grin on his face.

Gaara reached up to touch it as he responded, "Yeah, I found it today while looking for some old notes."

"It looks good on you." Lee moved his hand to cover Gaara's, also softly touching the necklace. The look in Lee's eyes, the compliment, and most importantly the soft pressure of Lee's calloused fingers on Gaara's sensitive neck overwhelmed Gaara and his face suddenly flushed.

"If I'd found it sooner," Gaara started, moving his hand away as Lee fiddled with the silver chain, he paused when Lee moved to place a kiss right above where the pendant sat on his collarbone. Gaara responded with a small involuntarily noise.

Lee pulled away quickly, but instantly noticed how red Gaara had become and that the noise was most definitely from pleasure and not pain. Lee ran his thumb tentatively over Gaara's neck, "Is your neck very sensitive, Gaara?"

Gaara gave Lee a glare in response, "Obviously."

"May I?" Lee asked, placing his thumb over a spot on the side of Gaara's neck. Gaara had no idea what he was asking for but nodded anyway, and was very pleased to see Lee move in to kiss the spot where his thumb had just been. Gaara was delighted further when Lee began to lightly bite and suck at the delicate spot. One of Gaara's hands went into Lee's hair to keep him right there, where he wanted him, while Gaara's other hand death-gripped Lee's shirt. Lee almost couldn't take the lewd noises escaping from Gaara, and was going to pull away but Gaara's grip on him was strong.

They were interrupted by Kankuro swearing. "Fuck! I knew I should've made Temari come get you two herself."

Lee broke out of Gaara's grip but Gaara was reluctant to let him go. Lee began to stutter out an apology but Kankuro waved it away. "Whatever, let's just get to the dining room, Temari has something she wants to tell us. Says it's important"

Lee followed Kankuro silently, mortified to have been found like that with Gaara. On the other hand Gaara followed Kankuro silently because he was sending death glares to the back of his brother's head. The saliva on Gaara's neck had dried quickly but there was a still a ghost of the feeling lingering on his skin.

When their awkward caravan arrived at the dining room Temari immediately exploded in a peal of laughter. "You walked in on them, didn't you Kankuro?" Their body language was too obvious and the reactions just solidified her suspicion. Kankuro deeply sighed in response and Lee flushed all the way to his ears.

"Just Lee giving our little brother a hickey, could've lived my whole life without seeing or hearing that." Kankuro huffed as he sank into his chair next to Temari. Lee pulled out a chair for Gaara and himself before taking a seat and awkwardly avoiding eye contact with everyone. As Gaara sat down he touched the spot on his neck, remarking on its sensitivity and wanting to go take a look at the mark immediately. He refrained, though he really didn't see why he should be polite and wait for Temari to share her news. It must have been Lee's presence, was politeness contagious?

"Well, while we wait for dinner I suppose I'll get right down to business." Temari waited until they were all looking at her, though Lee seemed to be looking just to the right of her face and kept glancing downwards.

"So, you know I've been taking care of most of the important Sabaku Industries decisions while also finishing my degree, obviously." Temari waited for nods but when she didn't receive any she just continued, "Well I've decided to take a semester abroad and got accepted into one of the programs yesterday."

"Congratulations!" Lee immediately responded, but looked away when he received a glare from Kankuro.

"So you're going to just up and leave for a semester and you're not telling us until now?" Kankuro was practically pouting.

"Oh shut up, it's just a summer session, I'll only be gone for 6 weeks. And I'm telling you now because I just found out. Besides, it's over two months away." Temari replied, aware of the fact that the only reason Kankuro was throwing a fit was because he hated when any type of responsibilities were placed upon him.

"Where are you going?" Gaara chimed in unexpectedly. He was genuinely curious. A couple months ago Temari could've literally already been abroad and he wouldn't have known but suddenly he actually took an interest in this life they shared.

"Thank you for asking, Gaara. I'm going to study in Italy." Temari responded happily, and her obvious excitement made Kankuro feel guilty for not wanting to help out for a little bit.

"I guess I can manage Sabaku Industries for 6 weeks." Kankuro mumbled, and Temari's smile brightened.

"That's what I like to hear. And Gaara will be on summer vacation, technically he should be helping manage business affairs anyway." Temari pointed to Gaara's neck from across the table, "but you should probably avoid showing off any hickeys if you go to one of the board meetings." Temari almost winked but thought better of it. Gaara was already glaring, though his stare seemed less cold than usual.

Lee felt awkward and wanted to offer his assistance but also knew this was a family matter that he should probably not get involved in, and at the same time he knew that he should do something to help out the people that were putting a roof over his head, yet he didn't know how-

"Lee, you're thinking so loudly even I can hear those wheels turning in your head from over here." Kankuro commented, interrupting Lee's train of thought. Before Lee could begin to apologize Kankuro continued "I'm sure we'll find something for you to help with." Even if it's something as simple as shredding old documents, Kankuro thought to himself.

"Thank you, Kankuro, I-" Lee started but Temari interrupted "No need to thank him, Lee, you'll be regretting your decision to help when he starts making you do all of the work."

Kankuro just rolled his eyes. Dinner went smoothly after that, with less teasing about the hickey than either Gaara or Lee expected. Gaara even asked Temari for some of the details of her study abroad when he realized he didn't even know what she was studying in college. It was business related, as he had assumed, but for some reason if felt good to know for sure. He also found out Kankuro was studying technical theater, which he hadn't known but it didn't come as much of surprise for some reason.

They did get teased on their way out but it wasn't so bad, and Lee remarked on the pleasantness of dinner while they walked back to their rooms.

"That went surprisingly well." Lee smiled, Gaara nodded. As they passed one of the ornate mirrors that hung in the hallway Gaara stopped to inspect the mark on his neck. Lee turned around when he noticed Gaara had stopped and blushed when he saw Gaara admiring the mark in the mirror.

"I am sorry, I did not realize you would bruise so easily and I got carried away in the moment…"

"How long do you think it will last?" Gaara asked, ignoring Lee's unnecessary apology entirely.

"I have no idea." Lee admitted. Of course he'd never given or received a hickey before so he had no frame of reference.

"I don't want to cover it up." Gaara said sternly, as if Lee had asked him to. Lee was going to respond with 'of course you don't have to' but he realized the next day was a school day and there was no way it would be gone before then.

"But, what if people ask-?"

Lee didn't even get to finish his question before Gaara interrupted with, "I'll tell them the truth."

"But-" Lee started, not sure how to continue.

Gaara glared at him and waited until Lee made eye contact with him to ask "Are you embarrassed of me?"

"What? No, I…" Lee's expression melted, and it looked like he might burst into tears at any moment. "I love you, Gaara, and I mean it."

"Then why is it so important to keep our relationship a secret?" This question cut Lee's heart like a knife, and the iciness in Gaara's voice when he said it made Lee feel 2 feet tall.

"It's not, I just…" Gaara waited, Lee obviously had more to say. "What will everyone say?"

"I've told you before that I don't care what other people think." Gaara's tone was growing colder by the minute, and Lee was feeling frozen.

Lee really was frozen, his mind stalled and he could not think of a response. He didn't want to say 'but I do care what others think' because that felt like the wrong thing to say but it was also the truth. So instead Lee thought about why he cared what other people thought. He was in a relationship with another man, so what? It was 2016, gay marriage was legal in all 50 states. But for some reason it still felt like a big deal. Maybe it was because he was in sports, or because he heard the term gay used as an insult for so long. Lee had thought he wouldn't have this personal crisis about being gay but here he was.

"I love you, Gaara." Lee finally muttered before the tears started. Gaara was thoroughly confused.

"Then why are you crying?" Gaara asked, trying to look into Lee's eyes but Lee turned away.

"I wish I were as strong as you, Gaara, but I am not." Lee replied softly, and since he was turned away Gaara couldn't hear him. But Gaara realized that Lee was going through some sort of internal struggle and decided the best thing he could do for Lee right now was give him moral support.

But Gaara had no idea how to do that. Lee seemed to be fond of physical affection in the form of hugs so Gaara decided on that. Lee was surprised to feel Gaara wrap his arms around him from behind, and it should've been awkward with Lee being so much taller than Gaara but it wasn't. Gaara placed an ear to Lee's back and moved his hands over Lee's broad chest, giving his what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze. They remained like that and Lee cried for just a few moments more before wiping his tears off on his sleeve.

"Thank you." Lee said softly as he put his hands over Gaara's.

"I'm still not covering it up." Gaara mentioned, catching their reflection in the mirror. Lee's eyes were red and their eyes met in the mirror.

"I understand." Lee responded, keeping eye contact. Gaara gave him another squeeze.

"But I won't say anything. It's not like I talk to anyone or respond to their questions anyway." Lee smiled at Gaara and turned away from the mirror to face Gaara. Lee scooped Gaara up into an embrace of his own and Gaara knew he'd said the right thing.

"Thank you." Lee gave him a quick kiss and they held hands on their way back to their rooms. Gaara could almost feel himself changing, and while he didn't know if it was a good feeling he realized it was probably for the better.

Once Lee had gone to bed Gaara admired the mark on his neck in the mirror. Gaara didn't know why Lee was struggling with his homosexuality, but he saw how it affected him. Gaara had an easier time accepting his sexuality, but he also had never cared about fitting in. Lee, despite his 'I can do this all on my own' attitude, really did want to fit in. Gaara sighed, but realized he would wait. He'd wait until Lee was ready to come out.