"Just a minute!" Temari called as she heard a knock on the door. "Hello!" She smiled, opening the door. Her jaw dropped slightly when she saw Lee smiling back at her and holding her brothers' hand. Gaara was twitching and gripping Lee's hand tightly, like a little kid. She stared at Lee for a moment then gestured for them to come in. She sat down in the living room chair, watching Lee gently push Gaara towards the couch. Gaara sat down slowly, staring blankly at the floor. Lee tried to pull his hand away, but Gaara simply gripped it tighter. Lee winced slightly and sat down beside him. "Um, what…?" Temari started as she stared at her brother and Lee.
Lee reluctantly explained how he had told Gaara about his feelings, how Gaara had started to sort of freak out, and then Lee finally getting him home. Temari nodded slowly as she listened to him, still watching Gaara. Her little brother hated physical contact with anyone; even just shaking hands with someone was like torture to him. And here he was, gripping Lee's hand and refusing to let go. She looked at Lee. Something about him had changed Gaara completely.
"I really should be going." Lee tried to pull his hand away from Gaara again with the same results. His hand was slowly going numb.
"Wait, you're walking home?" Temari asked as she glanced at the clock. It was almost ten o'clock. She shook her head. "Why don't you just spend the night here? It's late and I don't think you're getting your hand back any time soon." She said, looking at her brother. He finally glanced up at her, his eyes still unfocused.
"Yes, you are probably right." Lee nodded. "But I told Guy I would be home as soon as possible." He made a few more attempts at getting Gaara to release his hand.
"Just call him and let him know. You're more than welcome to stay if you don't mind sleeping on the couch downstairs. If you want I'll even talk to him and let him know what happened." She gestured to Lee's hand which now looked slightly purple.
"Oh, alright, thank you very much Temari-san." Lee pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Guys' number before handing it to Temari.
"Hello." Temari leaned back in the chair when Guy answered. "Yes, I'm Gaara's sister, Temari." She motioned for Lee to leave the room for a moment. He stood up, making one last try at prying his hand away from Gaara. After that failed he simply pulled Gaara out of the room with him.
Lee sighed and leaned against the wall in the hallway, closing his eyes. After a few moments he felt the pressure on his hand lessen but he kept his eyes shut. Soon he felt pressure on his other hand as well. What was Gaara doing? Lee wanted to know so badly but he forced himself to remain calm and keep his eyes shut. His hands were pinned to the wall behind him and he felt Gaara's body lean against him slightly.
"Gaara-kun?" Lee asked, opening his eyes. He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Gaara was standing on the tips of his toes to be at eye level with Lee, their faces only a few inches apart. Lee felt himself blush slightly as Gaara stared into his eyes.
"How did you do it?" Gaara whispered. "What kind of trick did you use?"
"W-what are you talking about, Gaara-kun?" Lee asked nervously.
"What have you done to me? Why can't I just ignore you like everyone else?" Gaara leaned back slightly and studied Lee's whole body. "What makes you different?" Lee blushed harder. "What did you do to make me need you so much?" He whispered.
"I have done nothing to you, Gaara-kun." Lee looked away. "But…" Gaara's eyes narrowed.
"What?" He growled slightly, gripping Lee's wrists tightly. Lee was silent. Gaara continued to tighten his grip. Lee winced, feeling Gaara's nails dig into his skin. Soon he could feel his hands slowly numbing. "Answer me, Lee." Gaara hissed.
"No." Lee stared at him defiantly, a slight hitch in his voice from the pain as Gaara's grip tightened further. He forced himself to not flinch, to not look away. Suddenly, Gaara let go and walked off down the hall towards the stairs. Lee watched him silently descend into the basement before looking down at his hands. He could hardly feel his fingers anymore and slight bruises were forming on his wrists. He could still hear Gaara demanding an answer in his head.
"I have done nothing to you," he whispered, "but I hope you will let me love you." He remembered how close their faces had been. It would have been so easy to just… Lee quickly pushed the thoughts away.
"Lee!" Temari called. "Come here and get your phone." He cast a final glance at his hands and reluctantly returned to the living room. "Here y-." Temari froze when she saw the bruises on Lee's hands. "What the hell happened?"
"Huh? Oh, it is nothing!" Lee smiled and shrugged.
"That's a load of crap. Let me see your hands."
"No, really, I will be fine!" Lee held his hands behind his back. Temari glared at him.
"Did I give you an option?" She demanded. "Now come on, let me see."
Gaara sighed before entering his bedroom. He sat down in the chair in front of his desk and glanced around. Lee was stubborn, maybe even more stubborn than Gaara. He rummaged through the cabinets on his desk for a moment. Soon he had an old sketch book and some pencils in front of him. What had Lee been about to say? Gaara began sketching something, but not really caring what it would turn out to be. His mind drifted off, still thinking about Lee. Slowly, a picture began to form on the page, but Gaara made no effort to actually see what it was. He could hear footsteps above him. Temari probably already saw what Gaara had done, which meant he was in for it later. He couldn't care less. Gaara had gotten used to his sisters' rants and scolding's over the years.
Temari had forced Lee to tell her exactly what had happened while she was on the phone with Guy. He sighed slightly, thinking back to the little incident. Maybe he should have told Gaara. This could have been avoided. But then again, what other problems would that have caused?
"Guy said that it would be fine if you stayed. I think the couch downstairs actually folds out into a bed." Temari shrugged slightly and motioned for Lee to follow her downstairs. "We haven't had guests in a long time, so I don't remember." She flipped the lights on in the spare room near Gaara's. It looked more like a second living room. Lee glanced around, his eyes drifting to Gaara's bedroom door. It was cracked open slightly and a small sliver of light shone through onto the wall and floor.
"Thank you very much, Temari-san." Lee smiled as he helped her fold out the bed.
"No problem." She threw a few blankets and pillows she found back onto the bed. "It's a pleasure to have you over. After all, you seem to be able to get through Gaara's little shell." Lee looked at her curiously. "He's pretty anti social, so the fact that he's this close to you is impressive. Even after, uh… that." She gestured to Lee's wrists. "He's even talked about you once or twice. There's something special about you, Lee." She said, smiling. "And knowing how you feel towards him," Lee blushed slightly, "I hope it all works out for you two. Gaara needs someone like you in his life. Just give him some time, ok?"
"Of course." Lee smiled, looking at Gaara's door again. "Thank you for everything."
"Don't sweat it, Lee. If you need anything, just holler." Temari waved slightly and walked upstairs again.
Lee yawned and pulled his shoes off before lying down. It was only a few minutes before he quickly succumbed to sleep, unaware of the figure that soon sat beside him.
Lee blinked a few times. The room was dim and silent except for the sound of breathing coming from him and the person next to him. Lee froze, thinking to himself, "What person next to me? I don't remember…" He turned his head slowly to look to his left. Even in the dim light, the red hair was obvious.
"Gah!" Lee fell off the edge of the bed in his effort to move away from the figure. Gaara smirked and laughed quietly. Lee really was an idiot sometimes. "Ow…" Gaara glanced in Lee's direction when he heard the feeble complaint. Lee stood up, his neck aching from landing on it. He sat down on the edge of the bed. He had heard Gaara laugh before, but it was an uncommon event. He had to admit he enjoyed hearing it, though having to be injured to hear it wasn't something to look forward to. Lee felt himself blush slightly as he felt Gaara watching him curiously.
"How long have you been sitting there, Gaara-kun?" Lee asked nervously, fidgeting with the edge of the blankets.
"Since you fell asleep." Gaara had pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on them. Lee's head whipped around to look at him.
"R-really?" Lee felt his face grow warmer as he blushed harder. "May I ask why?" Lee swung his feet back up onto the bed. Gaara made no move to look at him. He just shrugged.
"I don't know really." Gaara's eyes seemed unfocused and hazy. "I just did, so there." Lee stared at Gaara for a moment. He had no reason. Lee felt his pulse quicken. Gaara glanced out of the corner of his eye. Lee was staring at him again, but this time he wasn't annoyed. Lee nodded slightly, unsure of what to say now. Lee thought to himself, "That is just it; there is nothing to say now."
"Well, um, I will be going back to sleep if you do not mind." Lee said nervously. He lied down on his back, still looking at Gaara out of the corner of his eye. Gaara just nodded slowly. Lee closed his eyes, listening to the sound of Gaara's breathing, and slowly slipped back into the clutches of sleep.
Gaara glanced at Lee when he heard the sound of his breathing even out. What had Lee done to him? Gaara wanted to leave, to go sit in his room and just stare at the walls or something. But he couldn't. He was stuck here at Lee's side like some helpless animal. Even if Lee didn't know it, he had Gaara chained to him in some way. Gaara wanted desperately to know what way that was. He wanted to make it disappear.
But if he didn't know what it was, he couldn't get rid of it. It felt like he couldn't leave Lee because that would cause him too much grief. It would be like Yashamaru all over again. So the only other option right now was to keep Lee closer and make sure he wouldn't, or couldn't, leave him. Gaara needed to make Lee stay with him, just to save himself. It made Gaara sick for a moment, feeling this desperate. But there were no other options yet. He looked at Lee again.
"You bastard." He whispered. "You have no idea how much I hate you right now." Gaara rested his chin on his knees again. He could feel his eyelids growing heavy. Why was he so tired? Maybe he hadn't fully recovered from the lack of sleep last time. Oh well. He looked at his bedroom door, debating whether or not he wanted to walk that far. His mind said that would be a better idea, but Gaara didn't care.
He lied back on the bed, remembering the picture he had drawn earlier. For some reason, he had drawn two people. One had short, messy hair, and the other had short hair that looked like it was slicked down. Neither had faces yet, but one person had an arm around the other's shoulders. Gaara frowned slightly before giving in to his fatigue and falling asleep.