*Chapter Ten. Locked Tight*

After an hour Fang starts navigating out of the woods until she gets to the house. She gazes up at it sadly, remembering that Snow had the key and that the house was locked tight. She sighs deeply as she reaches up and climbs the tree quietly. She tries to open her window, then remembers that she locked that too. "...Dammit..." The brunette waits for a few minutes before sighing in defeat, climbing over to Gaara's window and taps lightly on the glass.

Gaara sighs when he hears a light tapping on his window, already knowing who it is. He walks over and opens his window, stepping aside he holds the curtain back for her. She quickly climbs in, not looking at him. Gaara shuts the curtains and walks over; turning the music he was listening to up as he plops down at his desk.

Fang sits down on his bed, looking up at the ceiling as silence settles between them again, but not as awkward as it was. Blinking a few times, she tilts her head. "...Are those footprints?"

"Yep."

"How?"

Gaara sighs, standing up. He quickly walks up the wall and onto the ceiling, crossing his arms as he looks at the girl upside down.

Fang blinks up at him and stands. She looks around and bounces a little, checking gravity. "...That's weird..." Gaara rolls his eyes, dropping back to the floor as she sighs. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. Can we just...forget it ever happened?"

He shrugs. "Fine by me."

She nods and sits back down on his bed. "Okay." Fang rolls over onto her stomach and reaches under his bed, grabbing the M&m's. The red head sits back down at his desk, pulling out a book. He rolls his eyes and starts to read. The girl pops a few candies into her mouth and looks around. She sees his closet door slightly open and blinks. Fang gets up and nudges the door open. "...You have a vegetable in your closet?"

He blinks, setting his book down. "What?"

She picks up his gourd and shows him. "This."

"... It's my gourd… Not a vegetable."

"...A gourd is technically a vegetable, Gaara."

"It holds sand; therefore, it is not."

"...Really?" She takes the cork out and peers inside of it. "...I don't see anything..." A cloud of sand explodes in her face and Gaara smiles slightly, amused. Fang pulls back and drops the gourd carefully. She sneezes repeatedly, wrinkling her nose. He shakes his head, sending the sand back into the gourd and sealing it with the cork. "...You did that on purpose," she says, glaring at him balefully.

"I did not."

"Did too," Fang accuses him, rubbing her nose softly. He rolls his eyes slightly, hiding a small smile before going back to his book. Fang twitches her nose and puts the gourd back. She looks inside the closet and 'aws' softly. He ignores her, turning a page. She walks further into his closet before walking back out with a teddy bear.

Gaara glances up and shakes his head. "Why do you have that?"

"Because it was in your closet and it's incredibly adorable. And that is saying something coming from me."

He sighs. "Put it back please."

"Sentimental value of someone?" she asks, her eyebrow raising when he goes back to his book.

"Nope."

She sighs and puts the bear back. "I really wish you'd stop lying to me," Sshe says quietly, flopping onto his bed.

"It doesn't have any value. It's nothing more than a reminder," Gaara says, forgetting about the book in his hands.

"Of someone that you cared about. It's still sentimental. And you still lied to me," Sshe points out, closing her eyes.

"It has nothing to do with anyone," he says even more quietly, but she can hear the forced nature of his words.

Fang sighs. "Keep on trying to push people away; it's not going to help." He shrugs, returning to his book again.

A couple minutes pass before Fang looks over at him. "...What time is it?"

Gaara looks over at the clock. "Almost one."

"That's it?" She asks, sitting up and pulling out a deck of cards from her pocket. "It's going to be a long night..." she mumbles, shuffling them as he continues reading. She looks over at him as she bridges the deck. "Wanna play?"

Gaara blinks and looks up at her. "...You'd have better luck with Naruto."

She shrugs. "You're closer and I don't feel like dealing with The Energizer Bunny right now."

He sighs, closing his book. "Fine."

"You know poker?"

"A little."

Fang scoots over. "It's simple. Number cards are face value. Jack through King are worth ten and Aces can be eleven or one, your choice depending on your hand." He nods as she deals the cards.