It was dawn when Lee woke, sleepily blinking awake. It took him a moment to register why there was another person beside him, the smaller form curled against him, seemingly drawn towards any warmth. The previous night came back to Lee in a flash. Gaara sobbing brokenly, his face buried in Lee's neck, his history pouring out between bursts of crying. The young man eventually fading into something like sleep- Lee assumed that it was a form of meditation, designed to rest the mind, but not render one into the defenselessness of slumber. Lee had stroked the younger man's hair until he had calmed and fallen into this state, whispering calming words to him.
Gaara had held onto him throughout the night, for many hours before Lee had managed to get to sleep, which in its own sense, was restless. He had woken again after a short period of rest to Gaara crying once more, this time his face buried in the pillow, trying to muffle his sobs. Lee had gently gathered him into his arms, holding him close, as his own sensei did when he was overcome with disappointment, or sorrow or hurt. But this was different.
Even Lee could feel that this was different. It hurt him, even bringing tears to his own eyes when he saw Gaara cry. Perhaps it was because he was so used to seeing stoic strength in the youth. He managed to come to the decision that he cared for Gaara, in the sense that one teammate cares for another.
That decision was proved to be futile when he woke in the morning. The light of dawn filtering in through the curtains of his room, playing across Gaara's pale skin; he had lost his shirt sometime in the night- Lee vaguely recalled the sand shinobi taking it off just before falling into his uneasy state of rest. Lee couldn't help but let his eyes wander over the smooth skin, eyes tracing the slim and linear muscles of his arms, the way that Gaara's chest rose and fell with each breath. The younger man shifted slightly under Lee's gaze, his breathing changing from slow, restful breaths to a steady tempo of wakefulness, his jade eyes opening with startling clarity.
"Hey…" Lee's voice was careful, the tone rising and falling over the momentary waves of silence, "are you…."
"alright?" Gaara interrupted him, his voice softer than normal, edges of the word seeming to blend into the space between them, an attempt at being gentle, "Yeah….I'm okay."
Lee smiled, "I'm glad….but Gaara, we need-
"to talk." Gaara cut him off once more, "I know."
Lee started slightly when Gaara tipped his head forward, resting his forehead against his chest, auburn hair in contrast to his somewhat-pale skin. Lee found that his hand wandered to Gaara's hair, discovering the texture to be silken against his fingertips. Gaara sighed, his breath hot, warming Lee's collarbone and sending a slight shiver down his spine.
"I feel attracted to you." Gaara's voice was barely above a whisper, almost lost against Lee's chest. "I can't say why it is—mother told me that it was right. Everything says that it's alright."
Lee's breath caught in his throat, and the hand that was in Gaara's hair tightened slightly, "Gaara, I…I don't know what to-
"you make my heart ache." Gaara's voice held a sob, "I don't feel anything, except around you. You make everything hurt and heal at the same time."
Gaara slipped his hand between the two of them, his palm against his chest, over his heart. Lee felt the younger man's shoulder's twitch- and tears dampen his skin.
Gaara was crying.
In an instant, Lee had wrapped his arms around Gaara's slim form, and pulled him even closer, burying his face in tousled red hair.
"Don't cry, Gaara. Please, don't cry." Lee whispered, "please, don't hurt like this."
Gaara choked back a sob, muffled by the curve of Lee's neck, which he had turned his face into.
"Gaara, I love you. Don't cry." Lee's statement surprised even him, not expecting the words to slip past his lips like that, so soon. And so honest. It seemed that desperation way to such truth.
It was a silence that followed Lee's words, one that was broken by the subject of his affection. Gaara slowly turned his head from Lee's shoulder, moving just enough to look Lee in the eye.
Lee could all but see the spark of hope that had blazed in Gaara's eyes.
"Is that….true?" Gaara asked; he said it with a shaking voice, wanting so badly to believe the older man, but…having been betrayed in love before.
"yes." Lee whispered, "I have no reason to withhold the truth from you."
"you love me…" Gaara murmured, a breathless statement of awe rather than a question. For the first time since his childhood, Gaara smiled, an expression of blissful, peaceful happiness rather than what had inspired previous happiness.
Lee didn't reply to this, not with words. He replied with a gentle kiss, an action that startled the future Kazekage; Lee felt his muscles tense for a moment before the young man relaxed. With a gentle look, the leaf-nin smoothed his hand over Gaara's cheek, a soft touch that the younger man would learn to love, learn to get used to after a lifetime of its absence.
"Yes. I love you."