Well holy shit guys, I'm not dead.

I'm going to be real here, I ended having to deal with some more health issues near the end of the summer and that kind of blew a giant hole in my plans to write some more. While I am now 100000% back in my prime, I am also currently in my fourth year of University. This means that all of my time belongs to school. Let me just tell you, reading week is a god send right now...

Well, you've waited long enough, so without further ado here is the next chapter!

Nothing belongs to me except for this piece of shit I call a story!

Lee felt sick.

Of course after everything finally pieced together, it would just as soon tear itself asunder; such was his life apparently.

The startling truth in this moment, that Lee's brain unhelpfully repeated over and over again, was painstakingly clear: Gaara knew.

There was no going back.

Distantly, Lee was aware of Sai and Gaara's voices, the former's bitter and acrid while the latter's remained stoically neutral. What they were saying was beyond the raven haired male, any higher brain function he was once capable of was currently being overwhelmed by the churning mantra of "Gaara knows." His heart beat furiously against his ribcage, pumping sick amounts of adrenaline through him. He was left feeling shaky and ill. Lee jerkingly released his iron grip from his friend's shoulders, forcing himself to turn to face the redhead (a feet that had him teetering precariously on his jellied legs).

Lee opened his mouth uselessly, for no sound was forthcoming. He ran trembling hands roughly over his face, leaving his bangs wild and messy. He inhaled noisily through his mouth and prepared to speak once more.

"G-gaara, p-please…just-t…." He trailed off ineffectually, the rest of his sentence turning to ash on his heavy tongue. Obsidian orbs refused to meet the cerulean gaze he could feel burning into his downturned face. He swallowed loudly in the ensuing silence.

"Now just fucking wait a moment here," Sai hissed between clenched teeth, the profanity harshening his generally mild tone. Lee didn't even jolt when the other raven haired male's hand gripped desperately at his elbow. "I don't know who you are, but you are clearly making Lee uncomfortable. You need to back down."

The obvious threat hung heavily between them.

"I can see there has been a misunderstanding," Gaara finally spoke up, his voice just as calm and unemotional as always. "You appear to be under the impression that there is some sort of hostility I bear towards Lee." the aforementioned teen heard the crunch of gravel as the redhead moved closer to the pair. "There is not."

"That's all fine and well, but does that look like someone who is happy to s—" Sai's abrupt intake of breath snapped Lee out of his daze. When the scene in front of him finally registered, he couldn't believe his eyes.

The hand Sai had been using to grasp Lee's elbow was now being held none too gently between Gaara's own. The redhead's dark rimmed orbs were piercing into Sai's blank face. Lee had never seen such fury in his long time friend's gaze. It left his blood cold.

"Gaara please!" he practically begged as his tanned hands scrambled at Gaara's hoody covered arm.

The younger teen immediately released the offending hand, looking down at his own with a sneer of disgust. "He was hurting you Lee, that's unacceptable."

The elder faintly registered the light throbbing in his elbow at Gaara's words. He hadn't even noticed, and neither had Sai if his pained flinch at Gaara's revelation was anything to go by.

"I am so sorry Lee, I did-"

"We are going," The redhead rudely interrupted, uncaring for what he considered a pathetic excuse from the pale male. Nothing could ever excuse that kind of behaviour towards his best friend.

Gaara turned towards Lee, further dismissing the unfamiliar teen, and placed a hand gently on the taller male's lower back. When he made to leave his hand was met with resistance. Questioningly, he looked to obsidian orbs. Gaara had never felt any sort of fear in his life, but the sheer anger and disappointment on Lee's face had him recoiling, his hand snapping back as if burned. His blue eyes widened slightly as his heart gave a painful thud. He grit his teeth against the unpleasant sensation.

Lee rushed over to Sai the moment Gaara backed down, grabbing his coworker's hands.

"Sai I am so sorry, I know you would never hurt me on purpose. P-please excuse Gaara, he was just concerned," the younger of the two pleaded, eyebrows scrunched as his lips trembled.

Sai's eyes narrowed as he glanced over at the scowling redhead. His glare softened somewhat as he noticed the other's pale hand clenched furiously at the centre of his sweater. Their eyes met and the elder smirked as he purposefully pulled Lee into a hug, noting with delight the other's incensed glower at the action.

"Do not worry Lee, you did nothing wrong," Sai reassured sincerely, his tone gentle, "Your friend, however, has much to be desired."

"Gaara is just…he does not react well to people he does not know," the smaller of the two tried to explain.

"Hmmm, or something like that I suppose," Sai mused cryptically.

Lee cocked his head to the side in confusion. He felt like he had missed out on a chunk of their conversation, or at least whatever had led Sai to his odd conclusion.

"Are you okay to go with him, or do you want to come back to Gai's?" The alabaster teen asked seriously as he leaned into Lee's ear, his voice pitched low so that only they could hear.

"I…I shall go with Gaara. Thank you my friend, but I must talk to him about this…"

"Very well, have a safe night Lee. If anything happens, feel free to call me. If not, text me when you can." With that, the elder male gave the younger one final squeeze, followed by a chaste kiss to Lee's beautifully tanned cheek. He shot the silently fuming Gaara a smug smirk, before leaving the two friends.

Silence once again overwhelmed the pair. The soft echo of Sai's footsteps had faded minutes prior, leaving them tense and awkward.

Lee shuffled nervously. He had never felt this uncomfortable around the redhead before. Lee was used to being everything else around Gaara, but not this. He hated it. He didn't want their friendship to change, but he knew it would. Everything was going to change. He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to stop the sudden onslaught of despair. His emotions had been all over the place today. Leftover adrenaline from both Gai's announcement and Gaara's unexpected visit thrummed unpleasantly in his veins. He had gone from shocked disbelief when the younger male had showed up, to such intense anger when the redhead had slighted Sai, it was dizzying to recall. He had never felt such an intensely negative emotion towards Gaara, or anyone for that matter, but the younger had been so rude, so uncaring towards his coworker that it had truly angered the tanned male. The actual feeling of being truly angry had taken him by surprise. It was a sick feeling, so dark and nauseating in its intensity. He had wanted nothing more than to yell at his good friend, a desire he had never truly experienced before. Lee didn't like it one bit. After the first, horrible surge of molten anger, disappointed and confusion overwhelmed him in its stead. The raven just couldn't decipher the meaning behind his friend's blatant mistreatment of Sai. And then there was the guilt that washed over him in rolling waves of shame and regret. He knew, deep down, that Gaara was not trying to be crude and distasteful, he was probably just as thrown off as Lee was about the predicament they now found themselves in. It is not everyday one learns that one of their closest friends is working at a gay club, Lee mused weakly, his own internal voice sounding both bitter and brittle. Now, however, as his arms hung limply at his sides, he just felt tired.

"Are we going to your house…or mine," Lee inquired in a flat tone, his pitiful voice breaking the standstill.

"Mine," was Gaara's equally unenthusiastic response.

Lee nodded his head jerkingly as he began to walk on auto pilot, the sound of Gaara's footsteps following behind him. The ominous crunching of the other's gate felt like some sort of permanent sentence to the elder, almost as if his past was finally catching up to him. He knew that keeping his work from his friend's would end up disastrously, he just hadn't assumed it would spiral out as fast as it did. Despite it all, Lee couldn't bring himself to regret his choice; he loved Paradise and everyone he had met there. The real question, however, was could he make it through his friend's disapproval without falling apart completely? I guess I will know soon enough, he huffed a humourless laugh as his shoulders slumped further. Lee had been so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn't noticed Gaara slowly catch up to match his pace. A smooth, cold hand slipped into his own, effectively drawing his attention to the shorter male now beside him.

"I did not…" Gaara cleared his throat, clenching his other hand into a tight fist. He let a deep breath fall from his pale lips, the air curling in white puffs through the cold night air, before he spoke again. "I did not mean to upset you."

Lee looked at the redhead for a prolonged time. He noted the guarded look in his friend's eyes, the normal crystalline blue iris dull and morose. The pale teen's jaw was clenched in what must have been a painful manner, and his face was waxy from the intensity of its rigidness. Lee let out a breath of his own and grabbed the other's hand more firmly with his own.

"I know my friend, and I forgive you."

The rest of their walk was filled with silence, save for the soft passing of their footfalls. They soon reached the large pristine doors of Gaara's home, the younger of the two retracting his hand and inviting the elder in. Lee had no sooner made it through the doors before Kankurō's panicked voice filled the room.

"Oh my god, Lee I am so fucking sorry! I swear to you I didn't mean for Gaara to find out this way. I just, I just keep fucking shit up! God damn it, fucking hell, I SUCK!" the brunette's voice rose until he was near shouting his last sentence at full volume. He jerked his arms frantically as he tried to reassure the raven haired male who stood stock still in their front entrance.

"Where is Kiba?" Gaara questioned instead of acknowledging what his brother had just spouted.

"Wha— excus…WHO FUCKING CARES WHERE HE IS!? I sent him home, OBVIOUSLY, why the FUCK would I keep him around here for?" Kankurō looked about ready to throttle his sibling at his inane query. Before he could go through with said plan, his own words caught up to him. The lightly tanned male's face went from being flushed to ashen, his eyes widening comically. "SHIT!" He shouted as he grabbed his hair in an anguished grip, "FUCK, Lee, K-kiba knows too! I promise you, I only told him because he saw you on your way to paradise. WAIT, fuck, that's even worse of me to say! OH my GOD could I be any more of a human trash can!?"

"Kankurō, it is perfectly alright, p-please do not worry," Lee waved off gently, trying to dispel his friend's panic. "I do not blame you."

"OH MY GOD DON'T JUST FORGIVE ME!" The elder shouted in response. He grabbed Lee's thin shoulders and began to shake him roughly. "I SHOULDN'T HAVE CONFIRMED ANYTHING WITH KIBA, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE AWARE OF WHO WAS LISTENING, I SHOULD HA—"

"Enough," Gaara sighed heavily, pulling the back of his brother's shirt until his grip on Lee let go. "What happened is in the past, it can not be changed so we must accept it and move on."

"But…"

"It is as Gaara says, Kankurō. I am only sorry that I put you in such a tough position, please forgive me." Lee went to bow but was stopped by Kankurō's large hands.

"No, please, Lee this isn't your fault man. Fuck, you should be making me beg for an apology here. Hell, you should just stop talking to me all together at this point. But I know you won't, you're too damn nice for that. Kiba'd be all over the whole begging for forgiveness shit, but hey, you're not him. Don't think this is your fault though Lee, I fucked up. Simple as that. And for that, i'm truly sorry kid."

Lee managed a small smile at Kankurō's words. The older tanned male could be brutally honest as times (which seemed to be a family trait if one knew Gaara and Temari well enough), but he was just as sincerely honest when it came to himself and his misdeeds. While Lee honestly did not find Kankurō at fault, he appreciated the truthful sentiment behind his words.

"You are forgiven Kankurō," The raven haired teen gently replied.

"We shall be retiring to my room, do not attempt to eavesdrop," Gaara smoothly intoned after the conversation had dwindled into silence.

Kankurō looked quickly at Lee, trying to ascertain the younger's emotional state, but the thin male had already turned his gaze back to the redhead.

With a quick goodnight to Kankurō, the pair made their way to Gaara's room. The shorter male pushed open his door, ushering Lee in without a single word. The taller teen made his way over to Gaara's large bed and perched himself awkwardly at its edge. The snick of the door shutting, followed by the distinct click of a lock, had the tanned male tensing. There was no turning back.

"Lee—"

Something in Lee broke in that instance, and before he could stop himself he launched himself off of Gaara's bed and proceeded to pace restlessly as a stream of words flew from his mouth.

"I-I know, it does not seem like a good thing, me and a g-gay club, but I promise you that if only you knew….oh, and please do not hate Sai, he is a good friend, truly! He has supported me so very much in this short time, and he has helped me to realize so many things about myself. That is not to say that the gang is any less helpful, oh no absolutely not! Sai is just, he has gone through similar things and…and…. well Paradise is so very perfect, Gai is so generous and kind and everyone there is, they just are truly good people. A-and it is not Kankurō's fault, he just happened to see me when Gai brought me shopping—which just shows you how kind he is really, because—and then he invited me to dinner. It was so delicious Gaara, can you not see that he is a good person! A-and I know I did not tell you, and I was not being truthful and that makes me a truly t-terrible friend, but I love Paradise and I will not….I refuse to….please do n—"

At some point during Lee's rant Gaara had crossed the room to stand as close to the pacing male as possible. At his last desperately torn utterance, the redhead pulled the other teen into his arms, holding him firmly.

"I do not want you to quit." Gaara's muffled voice spoke into the juncture of Lee's neck and shoulder.

"WHA—" Lee squawked awkwardly, still feeling wrong footed from the impromptu embrace.

"Just be truthful and trust me. Start at the beginning." Gaara soothed as he led them back to the bed.

And with a deep breathe, Lee did just that. He told Gaara about his struggle to find employment and how Paradise had been the first, and only, place to take his application seriously. He divulged his own muddled feelings before his first shift, and how torn he had felt to work in such an establishment that had been so vilified to him at the orphanage. Lee relaxed into the embrace as he spoke of Gai's kindness and how the younger male had felt a deep connection to the older man. And how, sometimes late at night, he would silently wish that Gai had been his father growing up. Lee spoke for a long period just on his friendship with Sai, and how grateful he was for his new friend's support in his more troubling times. He even spilled the strange encounter with Sasuke's long lost brother, being sure to emphasize how wrong the assumptions they had were and how most of the information was in fact lies fed to them by Sasuke's less than trustworthy parents. By the time Lee was done, well over an hour had passed. The two men had ended up sitting facing each other on Gaara's large bed, holding each others hands in the small space between them.

"I….I do not know what else to say," Lee confided in a hoarse whisper. "I…I only hope that you can accept….this…me, Paradise, everything….everything that I have said."

Lee hesitated to make eye contact with the other teen, his head jerking several times before their eyes met. The raven haired teen's chest felt lighter and his shoulders less stiff after his grand revelation. However, this new found lightness did nothing to quell his apprehension at his friend's response.

"I find no shame in you working at Paradise," Gaara began smoothly, his voice low and calm. "If it was truly a bad place Kankurō would never have remained at a job affiliated with it, let alone help to keep your secret when he found out."

Lee released the breath he didn't realize he was holding in a long, shaky exhale. His tanned hands squeezed the pale ones held by his own, offering a silent thanks at his friend's acceptance.

"However," Lee tensed at the word, unsure of where the conversation was now going.

"I am ashamed at your lack of faith in me," The redhead averted his gaze at his blatant emotional confession (something he was not used to expressing in words). He clenched his jaw forcefully as he urged himself to continue. "…However, I am even more ashamed at my own actions tonight."

"Gaara, it is alright I have already forgi—"

"No, it is not okay Lee," the pale teen practically growled as his own frustrations bubbled to the surface.

Lee smiled softly at his friend's struggle. Gaara had never been good at expressing himself, something the elder teen knew aggravated the other male to no was so familiar he couldn't help but be happy at seeing his friend act so typically himself, it gave Lee hope that everything would be alright. His smile faltered slightly as he recalled the events that had led up to this encounter.

"I will be honest…" the raven's voice spoke softly, "I was…truly angry at the way you treated Sai. I have never before felt an anger as the one that rose in me at that moment. I was…f-frightened by my own reaction and….and I too was ashamed. But….but mostly I was angry with myself for allowing all of this to happen. I-if I had just told you sooner, we could have avoided everything."

"You always take the blame, even when it is not yours to carry," Gaara scolded mildly as he pulled Lee practically into his lap. "I understand why you kept your secrets Lee, it has been hard for you."

"I….life is, it is difficult at times for everyone...but, I feel, that for me I have been lucky," A small beautiful smile lifted rosey cheeks as Lee looked into Gaara's eyes. "I have so many wonderful friends, and an amazing job, and I am able to eat good food, and go to school. So while I may have struggled at times, I am especially fortunate to have so much love and support in my life now. I can feel myself changing everyday for the better. I can finally say that I actually know who I am and that I am confident in who that person is."

"You…" The redhead trailed off uncharacteristically as his cerulean eyes narrowed heatedly. He took in a stuttering breath as he leaned his forehead against Lee's tanned one. "….amaze me."

Lee felt his skin flush brilliantly as Gaara's sweet breath fanned across his face. His heart kicked into overdrive as it drummed a spectacular rhythm against his ribcage.

"G…Gaara wha—"

Before Lee could finish his sentence, soft warm lips claimed his own.

So are cliffhangers just going to become a trend for me, or what?

Well I hope you guys enjoys this, and I can't thank you enough for the continual support this story has received regardless of my abhorrent updating schedule!

I will apologize in advanced for my lack of updates, but I hope that you'll stick around to see this story through with me!

Comments and reviews as always are so very appreciated!