I just thought I'd share with you my goals when I started this story, so you can see how different I thought this story would be. 1. Follow plot line of A Cinderella Story. 2. Write realistic situations. You know stuff that might actually happen in real life. 3. No abusive relationships.

Before writing this I had also never tried boyXboy pairings, but I enjoyed reading them, and since there were not many NejiXGaara fics I decided that if I wanted one so bad I should write one myself.

At the beginning of this chapter, I had already totally ignored 2 of my goals, so I decided to go for the full set. Here we go.

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Neji was trying very hard to resist the urge to check his watch for the sixth time in as many minutes. He had told Naruto to tell Gaara to meet him here for lunch, so the question was, where was Gaara?

Finally.

Gaara arrived two minutes later, and worry soon replaced Neji's relief when he noticed Gaara's freshly wrapped head.

"What happened?" Neji asked while inclining his head towards the wound.

"Nothing. Just a bad fall. Let's eat."

Gaara walked into the restaurant and sat down at a booth next to a window. Neji sat down after him trying to figure out Gaara's sudden coldness towards him.

They sat in a silence interrupted only when the waitress came over to ask for drinks. Both got water.

After that interruption, and one a little later when the waitress asked about food, they remained in silence until Neji managed to finally convince himself to ask a simple question.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just a passing problem."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Eventually."

"You sure?"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about it."

Gaara pasted on a smile. Something that was highly unusual for him to do, and therefore, highly unconvincing, but Neji decided to back off, at least for a while.

"Okay, you can tell me when you're ready."

Neji went back to his food, but found he wasn't really very hungry anymore.

Gaara noticed Neji's unease. He glanced down at his own food.

He had no appetite. The tense mood and unease had killed any desire he had had to eat. He motioned for the waitress to come over.

"We'd like our check please."

"Okay," she began to walk away, but then paused and turned back around. "Would that be separate checks or…?

"Together, please."

"Okay." She smiled happily and walked away.

She returned moments later and Gaara laid the total, tip included, on the table. Then he stood up and grabbed Neji's hand so he would follow.

"Come on, let's go on a walk."

Gaara held on to Neji's hand and began to lead him towards the park. He pulled him along the path till he reached the bench they had shared only hours earlier.

Gaara sat and Neji stood there looking down at him questioningly. Gaara answered with one word.

"Sit."

Neji sat and continued to look at Gaara, puzzled by his actions.

"It's not something I usually talk about. It could take a while," Gaara said with a sigh.

"I have time."

Gaara nodded. He wanted to tell him, he really did, but his fear was holding him back. What if Neji hated him for allowing everything to happen, for doing the things he did? He swallowed nervously and then slowly began.

"It started after my brother and sister left for college. My dad stopped caring about a lot of things, like how much he drank."

Neji inhaled sharply. He could see where this was going and he didn't like the direction very much at all.

Gaara looked at his face to make sure he was okay. Neji nodded at him to say he should continue.

"One night, I was late getting in. I forget why. My dad was more drunk than usual. He hit me."

Gaara saw Neji stiffen, and then Gaara was surprised to feel Neji's warm hand ensnaring his.

"From then on, whenever he was drunk, and I did something wrong, or sometimes for no reason at all, he'd hit me, which led me to coming up with stupid ideas."

Neji's hand squeezed Gaara's lightly, and Gaara's hand held on to it as if it was his last line to life.

"I decided that something must have been wrong with me, and if I could fix that problem, he wouldn't hurt me. I stopped eating for a while. I tried get stronger, to prove I was a son he could be proud of, but nothing worked. Eventually, I started to inflict some of my wounds myself. It gave me control over my pain. I wanted that control. When Naruto found out, he went crazy."

Gaara let a small laugh escape through his lips as remembered Naruto's reaction.

"He practically force fed me until I agreed to eat normal meals. He also personally removed all sharp objects to which I had access, and slowly I began to heal. I realized that the only flawed being in my house was my father. That it wasn't my fault, but I couldn't get out.

My father has complete control over my life. He has the state convinced that I'm a destructive and unstable teen due to his creative lying and my own self-mutilation. Therefore, when I try to leave, I'm just taken back. I'll be taken back until I'm 18, which won't be until January."

Gaara let his final sentence hang in the air. He watched Neji's face as everything slowly sunk in. Suprisingly, or at least, suprising to Gaara, Neji pulled him into a warm embrace.

Gaara tensed, then folded into Neji's body, allowing the tears he'd been holding back to fall.

They sat that way for many minutes. Neji holding Gaara as he cried. Then Neji pulled back a Gaara quieted. Neji raised his hand to Gaara's head.

"So, that's what this is from."

Gaara nodded.

"May I see it?"

Gaara was caught off guard, but he recovered quickly and nodded. He reached up and unwound the bandage.

When the design was revealed, Neji stared at it in disbelief. It stood out sharply on Gaara's pale skin. A look of disgust rose on his face. How could anyone do this to his or her child?

Gaara wanted to run, but Neji's grip on his hand prevented escape. He could see it on his face. Disgust. I knew he would hate me.

"Am I really that disgusting?"

Neji froze. Gaara couldn't possibly think he disgusts me, but his expression clearly says he did.

Neji pulled Gaara forward and kissed the offensive mark on his forward before lowering his lips to Gaara's own. He pulled back moments later.

Gaara's eyes were wide with surprise…shock...and…relief?

Neji puzzled over his friend's expression while Gaara raised a slightly shaking hand to his lips.

"I thought you'd hate me," he said softly.

Neji was surprised. He responded quietly. "Gaara, did that seem like hate to you?"

"No…thankyou…for everything."

Gaara pulled Neji into another hug that ended in a kiss.

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So we've left the realms of reality oh well, I don't really care. Next is some good old SasuNaru; just to keep you poor people satisfied. It's pretty much all written down by hand. I just have to finish up. It should be up today or tomorrow considering I have tests the next two days, and when I finish I write, although recently I've been reading Memoirs of a Geisha instead, which is a great book by the way. Must go find out who's buying whose mizuage (Virginity). Later.

Reviews faster updates. Really they do.