When Gaara saw Lee standing in the kitchen waiting for him, he wondered if Lee would bring up the fact that there was another room and what was its purpose. Lee didn't and Gaara didn't know if he was thankful or not. With everything going on still heavy in his mind, he thinks he would've liked someone to talk to about it. However, in the same regard, Gaara didn't like nosiness so he wondered if he would've been put off by Lee's question. Gaara sighed and made his way to Lee. Lee smiled at him warmly.
"Ready to go?" Lee prefaced, and held the kitchen door open for Gaara. Gaara walked through the doors and glanced around at the front of the house and saw Temari and Shikamaru were bickering in the corner and Kankuro was playing on his phone in front of the espresso machine. It was surprisingly dead for a Saturday afternoon.
Kankuro jerked his gaze from his phone long enough to notice Gaara walking towards the exit with Lee.
"Hey! Where ya guys going?" He asked and Gaara stared at him.
"For a walk." He said simply and Lee smiled at him and opened the next door for him too, like a gentleman. Kankuro watched them fall into a steady rhythm walking next to each other and chuckled to himself. He wondered how much longer until one of them said something to the other.
"This is an entrance of the railtrail! It is very cool that it is so close to your family's business because people walking through will be able to see signs for your café and get off the trail to go stop by. It is very good for business, especially in the summer time." Lee explained happily and Gaara nodded at the information.
They walked side by side for a while. Both were completely lost in thought and trying to make conversation by finding it harder than they thought.
What should I say? What is there to talk about? Baking? School? Would Gaara appreciate these topics or is he so bored of them from being around them all day? Should I ask about the other day? No! That is not something to bring up. If he wanted to talk to me about that, he would have already. I just wish I could figure out what he wanted to talk about! Lee thought with a slight frown of his lips.
I've never really had a friend before so I have no idea what I'm doing. What does Lee like to talk about? Well... It's Lee. He'll ramble about anything, really. Why did he invite me on this walk? I don't even know what to say. Is this silence awkward? Am I being awkward? I wish I had any social experience whatsoever. I'll just stay quiet until Lee finds something to ramble about. Gaara silently decided and stared at the ground and watched his feet make each step.
The air was nice on their faces. It was so warm standing in front of the oven all day, it was nice to get out into fresh air. Gaara never sought out to take a walk, but he found it nice walking with Lee. He wondered if they'd do it again after this or if this would be such a failure, they wouldn't want to walk together again.
"Well it's October 15th. Its autumn, my favorite season. When I was seven years old I would wait until autumn came and I would bug my dad and Kakashi to bring me to the farm, in the next town over. They had so much bales of hay, they created tunnels the kids could play in and they decorated it all with pumpkins. I could spend hours crawling through there, I had so much fun! My dad and Kakashi made it a tradition to bring me every year from then on and it was great, until I outgrew it. Sometimes the thought still bums me out. Do you have an autumn tradition?" Lee asked and Gaara absorbed his story and felt the positive energy from it.
"Um..." Gaara narrowed his eyes in thought. Did he have a tradition? "For most of my life, around autumn when the leaves changed color, I would collect the first leaf that I saw fall and I would tape it onto my wall. I had leaves from when I was three." Gaara's story was sweet, but Lee felt weird hearing it. As though it weren't a happy story.
"Do you still do it?" Lee asked and Gaara shook his head. "When did you stop?" Gaara didn't know what he was thinking. How could he talk about his father to someone who was nearly a stranger? But, Lee wasn't a stranger. He was... safe. He was one of the only people Gaara met that he wasn't wary of. Lee couldn't be underhanded if he tried. So Gaara took in a deep breath.
"I moved and they all stayed behind." Gaara told himself if Lee asked for more information he would give it willingly but for whatever reason, he couldn't bring the words out.
"That is so sad, I am so sorry. Why did you not bring them with you?" Lee asked and Gaara's heart thudded in his chest. If he answered that, would Lee have more questions? Would Gaara be able to answer them?
"My... father ripped them off my wall and set them on fire." Gaara said quietly and Lee's steps faltered and he stopped. Gaara stopped to turn to Lee and Lee looked heartbroken.
"Why would he do that? You had them for so long." Lee needed to keep his emotions out of this conversation or it was going to become very passionate.
"I'm honestly not entirely sure myself." Gaara admitted and continued walking. It took a moment for Lee to collect himself but he started walking and caught up to Gaara.
"I am sorry that happened to you. I have never seen your father. Is he here?" Gaara's blood felt like ice in his veins.
"Yes." The shortness of the answer told Lee all he needed to know. Don't talk anymore about this subject. Got it. The feeling gave Lee immense sadness. Gaara didn't seem to have a good relationship with his dad. Lee didn't know what he'd do if he didn't have a good relationship with his parents.
"We should give you a new autumn tradition. I think we both need it." Lee said with a smile and Gaara perked a brow and Lee began to walk with more purpose.
"An apple orchard?" Lee nodded enthusiastically. "Why?"
"To go apple picking! Have you ever been? I know you lived in the desert." Gaara shook his head. "I'm so happy to bring you for your first time!"
"Why would people want to walk around and pick apples?" Gaara asked and Lee took it in stride.
"Because it is fun. Let us go!"
Lee brought Gaara to the farm entrance and the wonderful smell of cider filled the air. Lee wanted to show Gaara everything good about the autumn season to try to replace the bad memory with more good ones.
The two walked into the small shop and Lee bought two hot ciders and two apple cider donuts. Gaara tried to chip in some money but Lee pushed his wallet away and paid for everything himself. Gaara pinkened slightly but said nothing. He thanked Lee after receiving the drink and donut and they walked outside to where the wagons were stored. Nearly all of the wagons were rusted and made really annoying squeaking noises when the wheels moved but Lee insisted that was part of the experience of picking your own fruits and vegetables. Gaara shrugged and they dragged it to a nearby table and sat down to eat their donuts. The area was damp because of the rainy weather the past few days but everything was fine.
"They are so warm." Lee sighed happily. "I love fresh donuts." Gaara looked at Lee thoughtfully, but said nothing. "Do you like your donut?" Gaara nodded and took a sip of his cider.
He had to admit he liked the taste. He wondered if he could convince Temari to get some for the shop or if it would be too late in the season. Gaara then remembered the large order of pumpkin spice and pumpkin puree they were waiting on and frowned. He was going to have to make a lot of pumpkin treats in the next few weeks. They'd already been asked about it several times. He didn't see what the big deal was. Apple cider was more to his liking. They should increase their apple pastries.
Once they were done, Lee stood up and picked up his drink and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He grabbed the wagon handle and looked at Gaara.
"Are you ready to go?" Gaara nodded and grabbed his own drink and both of them headed off into the orchards. The wagon was difficult to pull, getting stuck in the thick muddy dirt, but Lee was happy for it anyway.
Gaara didn't realize there would be so many different kinds of apples. Also, there were a lot of fall vegetables and even concord grapes. Gaara wasn't particularly a fan of concord grapes, they were much too sweet, but Lee was thrilled.
They walked through several rows of apple trees and Lee exclaimed in happiness. Gaara glanced at the sign and it read Snapdragon.
"These are amazing!" Lee climbed up the tree and started picking the apples he thought looked the best. Gaara stood at the base of the tree and looked up. Lee dropped a few apples down into Gaara's hands and Gaara began stuffing the bag they got. Lee kept giggling and climbed higher in the tree.
Gaara began to get curious. He'd never climbed up a tree before. Watching Lee do it was fascinating. He was so nimble and he got so high up so quickly. Soon Lee sat at the top of the tree and looked down at Gaara.
"Come up here! It is a nice view!" Gaara pursed his lips to the side in thought and grabbed hold of the lowest branch and began pulling himself up.
It took Gaara longer than Lee to get up the tree. He was very slow and careful with his movements, whereas Lee just essentially sprinted up the tree. Gaara made it halfway and he was able to see Lee more clearly. Lee was beaming down at him with his wonderful grin.
Was it normal for that grin to make Gaara's heart thud heavily in his chest? Or was that just a side effect of tree climbing?
Lee helped Gaara once he could reach him and pulled him up to the top. Gaara hugged the top of the tree more than Lee did, he was just leaning on it slightly. Gaara peeked out of the leaves and they were able to see down the rows of trees into the beautiful lake on property. It sparkled in the sunlight. Despite it not being very bright outside because of the gloominess of the weather lately, the lake looked lovely. The smell in the air was damp wet air and it was such a nice smell. Lee loved the smell of a rainy day. He looked over at Gaara and smiled softly.
Parts of Gaara's face were illuminated by the sun that was able to stream through the holes in the leaves. The foliage behind him was so green it was nearly translucent and made his red hair stand out stunningly. One of his eyes was hit by the sunlight and since Lee was so close to him, he could really see the deep aqua color he loved so much. Lee fumbled with his phone in his pocket discreetly and once his camera was activated, he snapped a candid picture. When he looked at the screen, he couldn't help the smirk on his lips. Gaara looked just as perfect in the picture as he had right in front of him.
Gaara looked at Lee questioningly and Lee grinned widely and showed Gaara the picture he took. Gaara slowly grabbed Lee's phone and stared at the picture in wonder.
"Why did you take this?" Gaara asked after a few moments of contemplation.
"You looked perfect and I had to capture it." Lee admitted and felt embarrassed at his wording. Gaara looked up at him in amazement. Perfect? No one had ever described him that way. He wasn't perfect. Gaara was the most flawed person he knew. It was almost... amazing to think that Lee thought he looked perfect.
Gaara looked back down at the phone and scanned the picture, trying to look at himself through Lee's eyes. When Gaara saw the picture he didn't see perfection. He saw the red hair no one else in the family had. He saw his mother's eye color and his father's eye shape. He saw the flaws of his skin and the scar he had on his jaw from his fight with his dad. He saw the heavy bags under his eyes. Gaara wasn't perfect. Why would Lee think he was?
Without another word, Gaara handed Lee his phone back and he saw Lee smile at the picture before he slid it back into his pocket. Gaara wondered why the action made him feel as warm as it did.
Lee picked another apple and bit into it making a noise of delight. He handed Gaara the same apple and Gaara stared at it for a moment and then grabbed it from Lee's grasp. Gaara took a tentative bite to the other side of the apple, where Lee hadn't bitten and found himself pleasantly surprised at the taste of the apple. It was ridiculously sweet and super crisp. It was delicious. Gaara took another bite and handed it back to a happy looking Lee.
They shared the entire apple sitting up in the tree and Gaara found himself examining Lee more closely now. Lee's hair was always super straight, without blemish, unlike his own. However, now Lee's hair was tousled and there was a twig or two stuck in his hair. He had juice from the apple on the corner of his mouth, and he continued to eat even the core of the apple. Gaara thought that was odd, but didn't say anything. Lee pulled up the hood to his windbreaker and a few strands of his hair curled out of the hood. His jacket wasn't zipped up all the way and Gaara could see the top of his collarbones. His neck wasn't ridiculously skinny, but it was slender. Gaara could see his hair curling around his neck. Lee held the stem of the apple, the only part he didn't eat, and his eyes were filled with mirth. Gaara shook his head with a smile on his lips and took a picture of Lee before Lee could even tell what he was doing.
"You took my picture?" Lee asked and Gaara nodded with a slight smirk. "Why?" He asked and Gaara tapped on the picture icon to show Lee and handed him the phone.
"Because you look perfect." Lee's eyes softened at the statement and he looked at the picture. Lee didn't want to think of any flaws he had, he just wanted to look at a picture that through Gaara's eyes, was perfect.
After picking an obscene amount of apples, the two walked through the muddy path between rows of trees. Gaara was getting annoyed with the bag of apples that kept toppling over and spilling the apples all over the wagon.
"Lee, why did we pick so many apples?" He asked and Lee laughed.
"Because picking apples is fun!" Gaara frowned at the bag but said nothing to object. Lee stopped the wagon and Gaara almost tripped over it, surprised by the sudden stop. Lee picked up the bag of apples that was so full, they couldn't tie it, and motioned for Gaara to sit in the wagon. Gaara went to argue but Lee insisted that he sit down. Gaara quickly sat in the wagon and Lee placed the bag between his legs to prop it up. It was kind of uncomfortable because the sides of the wagon were digging into his legs and he had to hug the big bag of apples to ensure they wouldn't move, but it was a funny sight for Lee and Lee snapped another picture of Gaara sitting in the wagon, hugging a bag of apples. Gaara wasted no time and took a picture of Lee pulling the wagon along in retaliation.
They were almost back to the farm itself to pay for the apples when something caught Lee's sight. Lee held up one finger in a "wait a minute" fashion and walked over a few yards and leaned down and picked something up. He walked back over to Gaara and handed it to him. Gaara looked at it and it was a red leaf, nearly the color of his hair. It was probably an oval shaped leaf originally but it was slightly ripped so it looked like a lopsided heart. Gaara stared up at Lee as he picked up the wagon handle.
"You can start a new wall if you'd like. I just thought that was a nice leaf." Lee grinned at Gaara and Gaara looked down at the leaf again and couldn't help but smile.