Her room became packed in a matter of minutes, and Gaara simply stood in the back. In a way, he preferred it that way. He had never thought about what to do the moment she would wake up. His mind was focused more on wanting her to wake up; for things to go back to how they were before.

The moment he had walked inside her room, he felt his heart drop with guilt as the memories from their fight went through his mind. Her tired yet beautiful blue eyes stared at him, and he wanted nothing more than to hug her. To hug her and apologize.

Yet, all he had muttered was a 'hey', and her smile got even brighter at that. She knew him so well - she knew that he wasn't outspoken. That he preferred to have these types of conversations in private.

Shortly after he had arrived, the room became more crowded as Temari, Shikamaru, and more of their friends entered. As much as he wanted some privacy with her, he wasn't upset at the fact that it would probably take some time before it would be just the two of them. For her, he would wait.

Standing in the back with his arms crossed in front of his chest, Gaara watched as the females in the room held the majority of the conversations with her.

"Look, I can finally walk in these things!" Tenten exclaimed while walking around the room with high heels on.

Ino watched with an impressed facial expression as her brunette friend did not fall down or slip. "That's awesome! Looks like you did do your homework,"

"Of course I did! I wanted to make you proud!"

Ino awed at her, motioning the girl to give her a hug. After they separated, Ino stared at the rest of her friends.

"Alright, what else happened while I was out?"

"Shika's ankle is healed," Temari said with a smirk, "And he's started practicing for the wedding,"

Shikamaru groaned as he knew that he was about to be the subject of discussion. Ino's mischievous blue eyes met his, and he knew he was about to be in trouble.

"Shika is finally dancing?"

"Oh yeah," Naruto chimed in, "You should've seen how Lee and Temari had to drag him just to get up!"

"Oh, I wish I was there to have seen it," Ino said with a groan.

"It's OK, I recorded it," Sakura said, sitting next to her best friend and holding her smartphone in front of her.

Ino giggled as she watched the video. As everyone centered around the phone and re-watched how Temari and Lee dragged a lazy Shikamaru to the dance floor, Gaara simply stood back and continued to watch her. Although she looked fatigued, his gaze didn't stray away.

"Yo, why are you staring at her like she's some big fat juicy steak?" Naruto whispered to him, and Gaara quickly shook his head at him.

"I was not...staring at her," he whispered back.

Naruto smirked at him, and Gaara knew he was about to be the next topic of conversation.

"Hey Gaara," Naruto said louder, catching everybody else's attention now, "How do you feel now that Roomie is awake?"

Gaara's teal eyes narrowed as his blonde-haired friend wiggled his eyebrows at him. He should have known that telling Naruto about his feelings towards Ino was a bad idea. Had it not been for everyone currently staring at him with a curious expression, he would have put his friend in a chokehold.

"...I'm...glad she's awake," he replied, looking at her face expression and becoming unsure if she was disappointed or not at his response. Even though she wasn't frowning, her smile wasn't as radiant as before. His chest compressed and he knew that he had to tell her how he felt sooner than later. He didn't want her to continue believing that he felt nothing about her.

To his relief, the conversation changed again. It was mostly the females talking again. They showed Ino the dresses they had tried on and told her that so far, they have not made their purchase. They all hoped that she would wake up in order for all of them to buy the dresses together.

It was about another hour until several members began to leave the room. It was getting late and Ino herself had to be re-evaluated by the medical staff.

Gaara purposely stayed behind as Sakura and Tenten were the last ones to leave. With everyone gone, the room was extremely quiet, and the atmosphere quickly turned awkward. Gaara knew that he didn't have enough time to talk to her - the nurses would come back anytime soon.

Sighing, Ino turned her gaze back to him and gave him a shy smile. His heart pounded as he anxiously waited for her to say something.

"I...owe you my portion of rent… and utilities. I already told my dad about it and he's going to bring you a check tomorrow,"

It wasn't what he expected from her, but he quickly shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I paid those bills already,"

Ino frowned at him, "But that's not fair for you! My name is on those bills too. So by default, I have to pay half of everything,"

"Ino," he said, walking over to her, "You got shot. Don't worry about the bills. I already paid this month and can pay next month. It won't be a problem,"

"But-"

"Ino, focus on getting better,"

His roommate stared at him with wide eyes before she gave him a small smile. "You are a great friend,"

Gaara remained silent even though he wanted to disagree with her. She may believe that, but he didn't. Especially after the awkward argument they had before the accident. Every time he thought about it, his guilt grew. And he knew that until they had a conversation and he apologized to her about it, he wouldn't be able to move on. Clearing his throat, Gaara stood closer to her bed and held one of her hands. Ino looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Ino…"

"Y-Yeah?"

"I'm so-"

"Excuse me, sir, but visiting time is over. You can come back tomorrow,"

Gaara mentally cursed as the short nurse walked inside the room. Ino gave him a sad smile upon seeing his irritated facial expression.

"It's OK, we can keep talking tomorrow,"

He nodded at her, giving her hand a slight squeeze before letting go. "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Ino."

"Goodnight, Roomie,"

Next Day…

Even though he left work earlier than usual, Gaara chose to visit the hospital much later. He knew that her parents would be there for many hours. And while he was anxious to see her, he preferred to wait until they had left in order for him to have the privacy he needed.

He stayed at the gym longer than usual in order to kill time. As he lifted and did extraneous strength training, his mind went through the various ways he would tell her how he felt. He would start with apologizing to her about the way he had reacted weeks ago. How he had grabbed her in such a way. He was not going to be like his father.

Upon finishing his workout, Gaara rushed to his apartment and freshened up. Although he was just going to the hospital, he made sure to look sharper than usual. The uncertainty between them bothered him, and he wanted that resolved.

Once finished, he left the apartment and quickly made his way to the hospital. On his way there, he stopped by a flower shop as the owner was about to close for the day.

"Excuse me," he said, grabbing the older woman's attention, "Can I quickly purchase this?"

The woman smiled at him and nodded, grabbing the small stuffed bear and putting it inside a pink bag.

After the purchase, he continued his route towards the hospital. The front-desk receptionist, already knowing him from the previous visits, greeted him while providing a visitor pass. With the pink bag in one hand, Gaara then made his way towards her room. His anticipation grew the closer he got to her door. He saw how it wasn't closed entirely, only leaving a small gap for him to be able to see inside the room. Stopping by the door, he gently pushed it open, ready to call her name to make her aware of his presence. But the sight of her soft cries and trembling shoulders made him stop, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Ino?"

She flinched at the sound of his voice and turned her head towards the door, the back of her hands quickly wiping the tears away.

"...Oh! H-Hey! S-Sorry...I didn't...hear you come in…"

Gaara entered the room, closing the door behind him as his eyes scanned her wet face. She was facing away from him as she continued to wipe the tears away. Pulling the chair next to her bed, he sat down and grabbed one of her hands.

"Why are you crying?"

"Sorry...I was just… It's nothing-"

"No," he said with a shake of his head, "I know you to know that it's not just nothing. Tell me, why are you crying?"

She stared at him for a while, and he quickly guessed what she was thinking about. It was the same question he had asked her shortly before the argument. At that time, he had been too busy digesting the news to actually evaluate what she had been going through. It was a mistake he would always regret. This time though, he would stay and listen. He would do that for her.

"...I...was just thinking about my life… And how it's now going to affect my future moving forward…"

He rubbed her knuckles gently, indicating to her that he was listening. Ino stared at his hand over hers before continuing.

"...I...Before the shooting, there were things I wanted to re-evaluate in my life. I was seeing how everyone else was moving on and doing something with their lives… and I wanted to do the same. I wanted to achieve something...and move on from certain situations…"

Certain situations. He knew what she meant by that, and it killed him to know that he was part of the reason why she was feeling this way. Gaara's grip on her hand tightened a bit, signaling her to continue.

"And then this happened. Now, I need to spend the next couple of weeks in physical therapy instead of living my life the way I wanted. I can't even help my best friend with her wedding plans! I had so many ideas… and instead… some prick ruined my life a-a-and n-now… I-I c-can't…"

Her crying continued and Gaara shifted to sit next to her on the bed. His right arm wrapped around her trembling shoulders as he pulled her closer to him, allowing her to lean against his chest and cry. He felt her hot tears as it smeared through his t-shirt, and he rubbed her arm soothingly. His other arm came around her and he hugged her, his own heart aching for the pain he knew she was feeling. Thinking about how everything happened so quickly, he didn't need her to tell him that everything had gone against her favor. First, he caused her pain and shortly before he wanted to apologize, she was shot.

"...I-I ruined your shirt…" Ino said, pulling away a bit as her wet blue eyes looked at the wetness right by his chest, "Sorry…"

"It's fine," Gaara said, "And don't ever apologize to me, Ino. You've done nothing wrong,"

Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him with a confused expression. "Gaara, I really am sorry for saying those things to you weeks ago… It was inconsiderate,"

He leaned his forehead against hers, lifting his arm so one hand rested on her cheek. He saw how the act surprised her, a light blush appearing on her face as his thumb brushed her lips. He remembered when she had told him how she felt for him; and although he missed his chance back then, he wasn't going to miss the chance this time.

"I reacted terribly to your confession...and even grabbed you out of anger. I caused that pain you've felt… I'm sorry, Ino. I'm sorry for hurting you."

He studied her gaze as her lips trembled into a smile. He smiled back at her as he wiped a few of her remaining tears. Knowing that this was his chance, that for him it was now or never, Gaara leaned in and kissed her.

Her body tensed initially, her arms squished uncomfortably between their bodies. His hand traveled from her cheek to the back of her head as her lips slowly moved to kiss him back. The nervousness and anticipation that he felt before washed away, replaced with a sense of happiness as he pulled her closer. But just as he was ready to deepen the kiss, her shaking hands went to his chest and she gently pushed him back.

"Gaara… no… wait,"

They were both breathless, and he looked at her with a perplexed expression. She bit her bottom lip before meeting his gaze again.

"...I can't do this… It's not fair… to her. I don't want to be that type of woman,"

"...To who?"

"To Fu, Gaara. Despite how I feel about you, I also don't want to be that woman to break a relationship."

Realizing what she meant, Gaara sighed. "Fu and I are no longer together."

"Since when?"

"Few days ago…"

"...M-May I ask why?"

She looked at him while waiting for an answer. "...I… was no longer interested. In fact, I don't think I was fully invested in what she wanted,"

"Then why continue the relationship?"

"...Because I felt bad for hurting her. At first, I thought that she was who I wanted… But after some time, I couldn't get myself to be emotionally involved. And after you told me how you felt, I became even more confused. I wasn't sure how to tell her that I didn't want anything from her…"

"I can understand," she replied lowly, "But it's been a few days…. You need to give yourself time to truly understand what you really want in a relationship…."

Teal eyes narrowed as he disapproved of that. "...I know what I want…" He held her hand again as he continued his response, "I made a mistake not telling you how I felt… And when I did want to tell you, you were hurt. I sat here every day, hoping you would wake up so I could tell you how much I loved you,"

Ino blinked in surprise. Sakura did tell her that he had visited her every day while she was in a coma. That he would come alone and stay for many hours. But never had she figured that he would also feel that way too. Her intuition had always told her that he probably lusted for her, if anything, but never felt anything emotionally. But as stunning as his confession was, things were different now.

"I thought you hated me, Gaara. I felt terrible after all of that. Seeing you with Fu broke my heart. Remember that day when she was with us for that hike? Remember when I left? It was because I couldn't stand the sight of the two of you together. It was too much. And then you would do things that would confuse me. You would get close to me….and touch me. I wasn't sure what to feel,"

"I never hated you. Thinking back, I do realise how all of that has confused you and I'm sorry, Ino. Do you...forgive me?"

"...I do…" she said, closing her eyes, "But...things aren't the same anymore. I need to focus on healing...I have to take things slower… I have to do some physical therapy… I need to take it easy to ensure that my stitches don't come off… As much as I want there to be something between us, I don't know if either of us are ready for...it...yet…"

Gaara felt his heart sink. It was something he was afraid would happen. However, it did not mean that he was going to give up.

"We can take it slow…" he said, giving her a small smile.

"I think it's too...soon. Not for me, but for you. You may be single now, but just a week ago you were still with Fu-"

"I was not with her," he clarified. He did not want her getting the wrong idea. "I didn't even see her until the day I ended things with her…"

Ino raised an eyebrow. "You broke up with her?"

"Yeah… I hadn't seen or spoken to her during the time you were in a coma…"

"Were you purposely ignoring her?"

"Not really. I just wasn't in the mood to explain myself to her. I was more worried about you not waking up that I just forgot about her…"

"Seriously? Gaara, you're joking right?"

He saw how she had an almost amused look on her face, and he smiled at her while ruffling her hair.

"I'm not… She caught me leaving the hospital one day and interrogated me. I told her that I didn't want us forcing something that wasn't there,"

"Wow… I'm honestly surprised that you were the one who broke things off. What was her reaction?"

He gave her a lazy shrug. "She called me a fucking asshole…"

Ino giggled, imagining a cheery Fu suddenly becoming angry and cursing Gaara out. And by his current expression, she knew that he probably didn't care about being titled as such from her.

Gaara turned around to grab something, and Ino looked to see what he was doing. A few seconds later, he pulled out a brown-colored stuffed animal with a pink heart in the front. The words 'I love you' were printed in pink with pictures of small hearts printed all around. Ino awed at it as he placed it in front of her.

"Is this for me?"

"Yeah… I saw it and thought of you…"

Ino grabbed it, tracing her finger over the sentimental words before looking back at him. "This is so cheesy but cute! Oh Gaara, it's adorable! You didn't have to."

"I wanted to," he said, "Ino, I am serious when I said that we could take things slow…"

"But...it's not like we can go on dates...or do anything fun. I can't leave the hospital yet. And even when I do, I will still have to recover,"

"That doesn't matter to me,"

"You'll get bored waiting for me to heal,"

"I won't," he said, "As a matter of fact, I will be right here by your side as you get better. I won't let you do this alone,"

"Even if I'm wheel-chair bound? You know, you may get stuck pushing me around on that for a few days,"

"I'll just carry you around then,"

"Heh, not surprised. You were always flirty with me that way," she teased, giggling as she watched him rub the back of his neck shyly. If there was one thing she missed, it was teasing him and seeing how shy he would get.

Laying back down on the bed, Ino hugged the stuffed animal as Gaara stood up. Visiting hours were about to be over and they both knew that one of the nurses would be coming in soon to remind them.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said with a kiss to her forehead, and she nodded happily at him.

They held hands one more time before he exited the room, their hearts beating rhythmically at the anticipation of a new chapter in their lives.

Author's Note: And that's a wrap (for now)! Please do tell me what you thought about this chapter. I love reading feedback! Thanks!