"Yes, I would like that." Gaara let his confused frown drop and softened his features, pulling his scarf tighter around his neck and then balling his cold hands into fists and placing them into his pockets, they turned to leave the bridge.

Lee smiled happily and followed the red headed man that was leading them off the bridge and out of the park. I guess this won't be so awkward as I thought. Just wait until Naruto and Kiba hear about this! Mentally chuckling at how his friends would react, mostly with catcalls and teasing, the young man fell into step with Gaara. "So... How long have you lived with your siblings?"

"Most of my life. For a small period we were separated, but that changed after a few concerning events." Gaara replied, his gaze fixed on the gravel beneath his feet and eyes growing distant.

As Gaara spoke, his voice became more of a monotone once he mentioned events occurring that kept him and his siblings apart. His eyes were more settled than usual as well. "I'm glad that you were able to be with them again. It sounds like you care for them a lot."

Gaara inwardly laughed at the statement, thinking back to a time when he would have lashed out at such a suggestion.
"I suppose so." The redhead shivered and huddled into himself, cursing the bitter cold, "We turn here."

Nodding to his direction, Lee turned at the indicated corner and kept by the other man's side. The night reigned as cat slinked out from behind dumpsters and a few dogs called out in the night. Curtains fluttered as figures quickly disappeared behind the fabric. Some people weren't satisfied with their soaps so they spied on others to get their entertainment. Despicable.

The walk was quiet, silent almost as both young men travelled through town, the quiet sound of their footsteps echoing through primarily empty streets and puffs of moist vapour issuing from their mouths. Gaara shoved his hands, aching from the harsh cold, further into his pockets and shivered, cursing. It wasn't too far now.

His neck lowered as Lee tried to find so warmth in the suddenly harsh cold of the night. Not knowing it, he was inching closer to Gaara's side, his body seeking out the heat. Curse this damned weather…why could it be warmer!

"Here." Gaara stopped at the top of a close and turned to look at Lee. "You don't have to walk me any further."

Regret flashed through Lee as he realized he was being asked to leave. He didn't want to leave the red head's side but being overly clingy too soon wouldn't be a good idea. "I'd rather see you safely to your door but if you want me too leave I will, Gaara." Flashing a smile, he turned to go and began walking down the street.

"Lee." Gaara called back to the retreating form.

Lee stopped and turned to face Gaara. He had only gotten a few steps away before he was called to. "Yes?"

"I'll be blunt," Gaara began, wincing a little as wind blew his red hair into his eyes, "I like you."

"Really?" Lee asked, voice almost incredulous with the implications. "I...I like you, too." To put it lightly.

With a smile and a tilt of the head, Gaara turned down the street, heading off into the orange glow of a streetlamp.

Intrigued, Lee jogged a little to catch up with the red head that was walking toward a streetlamp. Once he caught up with him, he fell into step with the other man.

Gaara took a side long glance at Lee, not all too sure of why he was following. "Is something the matter?"

Lee levelled Gaara with a confuse stare. "Nothing. I was just heading of to my dorm room…" He pointed at the street corner a few feet away. "I turn right from there and keep going."

"Ah..." Damn, Gaara thought, this will be hard to do. Why he didn't want Lee to see his drive away in a car he wasn't sure, but something about the thought left an unsavoury taste in his mouth.

Something about Gaara's body language told him that the other man was uneasy though he didn't have any idea why. "I'll see you tomorrow," Lee said waving and walking past the red head to continue on to the corner of the street he was going to turn on. "Have a nice night, 'kay?" Looking past his shoulder as he said this, he flashed a bright smile to the other before turning and walking towards his dorm.

Gaara stood and looked blankly at the spot where Lee had been standing, the cold protective mask he had created beginning to slip back over him in the orange glow of street lamps. "Huh..." A smile, ever so slight, pulled at the muscles of Gaara's cheeks, his bay leaf green eyes softening momentarily before he turned and crossed the road, pulling his keys from his pocket as he did. The car was rickety, but it was all he needed.

On his way back to his room, he enjoyed the cool night and wondered why Gaara had been acting that way but it wasn't in his nature to pry. He'd let the red head be until he decided to confide in him and become more comfortable around him. He knew his friends would most likely bug him about this evening but Lee really just wanted to flop into bed and sleep. Today had been interesting, more so than most of his young life.

The door closed behind him, the car rocked slightly and the keys slipped into the ignition slot jerkily before turning. The engine sputtered to life, Gaara pulled his seatbelt over his chest to click in place. He headed on home...

Reaching his dorm, he entered and took the rickety elevator up to his floor. Stepping out, he walked down the hall to turn the door knob to his room which he shared with a man named Neji. He was quiet and reserved, but studied most of his time away so they were alike in that aspect. Lee found his roommate nose deep in a book, barely glancing over at him as he entered the room. The med student slipped out of his clothes, climbed into his bed just wearing boxers and settled down to sleep.

"Do you have to drink that stuff quite so strong?" Gaara gave a deadpan stare at his older brother before raising the mug to his lips and taking a deliberately long gulp. The robust lines of Kankuro's face creased in a wince before hiding back behind the newspaper. Temari eyed her brothers wearily and wondered just how she had ended up with such a strange family. With one who believed his purple lipstick (and the rest of his face paints) were not, in any way, camp, and another who acted almost allergic to general attention, a good reference on his C.V. and sweet food, it was a surprise she had only just escaped with a slightly strange hairstyle and a job painting fans and then selling them for vast amounts of money. She grabbed her keys from the table. "I'm going to the studio. Behave."

He blinked as sunlight assaulted his eyes. Blinking repeatedly until he could see properly, the slim figure next to the window, and who had opened it in the first place, tossed a pillow at Lee. "Get up," Neji said, already dressed and ready to go get breakfast. "Kiba and Naruto are waiting for you and they insisted I get you up." Barely suppressing a groan, the med student clambered out of his bed and dragged himself over to his dresser. Yanking out neatly pressed jeans, a t-shirt, and socks, he put them on while yawning. He wasn't a morning person though as a general rule, he tried to be happy. "Thanks," Lee yawned, yanking on a pair of Vans before walking out of his dorm room and finding his two friends leaning against the wall outside of it.

It was as the door clanked shut behind Temari that a silence lapsed over the two young men at the kitchen table, the clatter of uneven fork teeth against a ceramic plate and the occasional rustle of the newspaper being the two main sounds to reach searching ears. Gaara's mind wandered, his eyes became half lidded and unfocussed. "Do we have enough food in the house?" His brother asked, his crop of brown hair and small beetle black eyes appearing over the rim of the sports pages. A shrug was his less than helpful response.
...Silence...

"How was last night?" Kiba asked, grinning widely and going over to drape an arm over the groggy male's shoulders. "Took a walk and held hands with him," Lee grunted and started walking to the elevator, in effect dragging his friend with him. "Him?" Naruto questioned his grin wider than Kiba's as he followed them. "You didn't say it was a guy," the blonde teased. "Didn't ask," the med student shot back, coherent even though he'd rather not be up. "I'm hungry." And with that, he stepped into the elevator, followed by his friends and they made their way out of the dorm and off to the cafeteria. There wasn't many people since college students often slept in as often as they could unless their best friends dragged them out of their nice, warm beds. Or they were a morning person. Freaks. They grabbed some food and sat down, eating in silence. Well, Lee did while the other two chatted away and threw him grins every now and then.

Gaara tugged at the hem of his trouser legs, placing them forcefully over his shoes. A ramshackle and worn, threading sweater rid up on his otherwise bare back as he straightened up and grabbed his keys. Part of him wanted to curse his brother, the other part wished to bless him. He did, after all, find it hard to get out of the house without an excuse. The excuse of buying more bread was just too good to pass up for lazing around or studying. The sound of him clearing his throat acted as a 'goodbye' to which he received a 'yeah, yeah, get granary.' Eyes flicked out to the narrow living room in which his brother picked at a coil of wire before the fresh air beckoned him all too much from the open door and he took a step out into the cool morning air.

His spoon clattered against the side of his empty cereal bowl and he stood up. "See you guys later," Lee said, yawning and took his dish to the conveyer belt that took the dirty dishes to the back where others would clean them. "Fine grumpy," Naruto called after the retreating to-be-nurse and continued talking to Kiba who had waved their friend off. It didn't do any good trying to argue with Lee this early in the morning, the sun wasn't even past its zenith yet. He squinted his eyes at the bright light that greeted him as he left the building and stretched, his arms skyward. A popping noise caused a satisfied smile on his lips and he stood a bit straighter. Lee knew that his hair was probably a little tousled but he hadn't bothered to comb it. It was the weekend so what did he care. Taking a few steps forward, he decided to let his feet take him wherever they wished.

With his hands tucked securely into warming trouser pockets, Gaara strode his way down the pavement, the houses surrounding blocked together and three stories tall, imposing white figures reflecting the suns rising glare of glassy window eyes. Teeth tugged at a loose string of flesh on Gaara's bottom lip and a tongue came out to swill over the red tender flesh tasting iron and hurt. The shop wasn't too far away.

Barely awake, he didn't notice when he started to leave the campus, instead moving into the city part where stores littered every street along with apartment complexes and houses every now and then. Lee's gaze was trained on the sidewalk, making sure to avoid any dips that might trip him and any other people he passed. He didn't know where he was going but he didn't care. Just being out and about was enough and the fresh air was starting to wake him up.