Chapter Twenty:
Lee ran out to start it so it would be warm by the time Gaara was ready to go. When he announced he was turning on the car and he'd be back, Ino looked at Gaara. When they heard the sound of the door shutting Ino made a very girlishly noise.
"Oh honey he likes you so much." Gaara frowned and Ino followed. "What's wrong?"
"How much longer am I going to go through this? How much longer will he be with her?" Ino sighed and hugged her friend.
"I know. Boys can be dumb. Don't look at me like that. I said can be. Obviously not you. You're my perfect little raccoon." She teased and he scowled.
"I am not a raccoon." He argued and she ignored him.
"Anyway, you two should totally make out and then you text me about it later." She winked at Gaara blushed and put his hand to his face and rubbed down. "You love me, it's okay."
"I don't know where you got that inclination but you are sadly mistaken." Ino flicked his forehead and went to the bathroom to put on her coat. Gaara followed. "Don't miss me too much on your ride home."
"Wow Gaara, that was such an Ino thing to say. I love it." She smiled and he sighed.
They both walked towards the exit and Gaara shut off all the lights and they left the building. Gaara walked Ino to her car and she hugged him and kissed his cheek before she climbed in. He waited for her to turn on her car, and she waved at him and he waved back. Gaara turned to walk towards Lee's car and saw him looking at him as if lost in thought. Gaara got to the passenger side and sat down, buckled himself in, took off his shoes, and sat cross-legged.
"Are you okay, Lee?" Gaara asked and Lee nodded slowly.
"Yes, thank you for your concern. Would you like to do something tonight?" Gaara looked at the time.
"What?" Lee shrugged. "Thank you, that's helpful." Lee tried not to smile.
"I just... I do not know. I am just happy to be with you. I know it is late, but still." Gaara's heart thudded in his chest and he looked at Lee.
"We could always watch a movie." Lee looked at him and a grin slowly blossomed on his face. Lee wondered if it was because Gaara wanted to cuddle with him or not. The thought gave him butterflies.
"That sounds wonderful. What would you like to watch?" Gaara shrugged. "I will pick it then. What Disney movies do you like?"
"... I've... I've never watched one." Gaara admitted softly and Lee figured freaking out or being amazed would just make Gaara feel bad so he did neither. He just smiled.
"I would love to show you them all. If you would like me to, that is." Gaara nodded. "Okay! We will start with one of my favorites. Beauty and the Beast."
Gaara loved Beauty and the Beast. He loved it so much that Lee mentioned the new live action movie, Lee bought it online and they watched that too. They were up until nearly 3am watching it and after, Gaara pulled out his phone and looked up "Tale as old as Time" and hummed along to it. When Lee laughed tiredly at him, Gaara shoved him with his shoulder. Lee shoved him back playfully and Gaara narrowed his eyes. He was so tired. Why did he stay up so late?
"You are cute." Lee said randomly and Gaara laid down on the pillows.
"Shut up, Lee. Go to sleep." Lee grinned and laid as close to Gaara as possible but didn't touch him. He watched Gaara's face. With his eyes closed, he saw his eyelashes on his upper cheeks. They were lovely. Lee examined every freckle on Gaara's cheeks and nose until he was staring at Gaara's lips. He's dreamt about those lips for longer than he could admit and with his tired mental state, he was on the verge of kissing them. "What are you doing?" Gaara grumbled and looked at Lee through his lashes. Lee just smiled at him.
"I am not doing anything." Lee whispered and Gaara glared.
"Exactly. Aren't you more... touchy?" Lee's grin was almost devilish.
"Why? Would you like me to be?" Gaara's cheeks warmed and he looked away embarrassed. Before he knew it, Lee wrapped his arms around his hips and pulled him in close. On a cold night like this one, Lee's warmth was much welcomed. Gaara wasn't really used to the cold yet. "You just had to ask." Lee teased softly and Gaara could barely keep his eyes opened anymore.
So he was convinced the soft press of Lee's lips on his forehead and the quiet "I love you" was just a part of a very nice dream.
Despite going to sleep at an ungodly hour, they were both up by 730am. Lee woke up because he wasn't used to sleeping in and Gaara woke up because he wasn't used to sleeping.
Neither of them made any movements signaling the other that they were awake and alert. Why? Lee was super embarrassed of the erection he had and Gaara just felt warm and lazy. Lee was spooning him from behind and it was just a nice, safe feeling.
Lee reprimanded himself even though he knew he couldn't control an erection in the morning. It didn't happen that often, in fact it hadn't been a problem in quite a while so it was inconvenient that it had to happen now.
Gaara knew he should get up and get ready so he could spend some time doing leisure activities before selling his soul to the café, so he shifted in the bed and turned to face Lee. Gaara was surprised to see Lee was more alert than just waking up. He wondered how long Lee had been up for.
"Good morning." Gaara said with a smile and Lee bit his lip at the sight. Gaara's bedhead was possibly cuter than his normal messy hair look, his eyes were half lidded and sleepy, there was an adorable flush to his cheeks and just the fact that Lee was waking up to Gaara cuddling into his arms was everything he wanted.
Lee suddenly had the strongest urge to roll on top of Gaara and press their lips together and let his hands feel all over Gaara's body... His cheeks brightened.
"G-good morning Gaara. I'll be back." Lee was out of the bed and in the bathroom at record time leaving Gaara confused in the bed. After a second of processing what happened, Gaara checked his breath to see if it was so terrible it would cause Lee to run away. How odd.
"Lee! Are you going to be training at the dojo this fine morning?!" Guy asked with excitement and Lee smiled sheepishly.
"No, dad. I actually was going to help Gaara at the café today since he is very busy with thanksgiving work. Maybe later?" Guy gave him a thumbs up and whispered something to Kakashi and Kakashi rolled his eyes.
"Yeah as if that happened..." Kakashi muttered and picked up his book and ignored everyone at the table.
Gaara finally came downstairs, fresh from a shower and with his hair flat against his face; it made his beautiful eyes pop even more. Lee couldn't do anything but stare. Gaara was gorgeous. How had anyone been created to look this perfect?
"Good morning Gaara!" Lee chirped happily, as if they hadn't already said their good mornings earlier. Gaara gave Lee a soft smile and Lee chugged his juice. "Would you like to do something before we go to work?"
"You're coming with me again today?" Gaara asked, walked over to the counter, Guy passed him a mug of coffee and Gaara took it gratefully and sat down. He didn't know when he started drinking coffee... Yes he did. Oddly enough, it was after he started sleeping more. He became more tired, if that was a thing. His body wasn't used to this much rest. Sometimes, he didn't like it.
"Oh yes. You said there was much to do and I do not want you to be overwhelmed. Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what you have and I do not think you can do that after working so hard with no one to help you." Gaara nodded slowly and sipped his coffee.
"Thank you, Lee. As for your question before, I honestly have no idea what to do this early." Lee thought for a moment.
"I think I have an idea." Lee said and jumped out of his seat and ran upstairs to grab a sweater. He noticed Gaara wasn't wearing one so grabbed two of them. He pulled on some socks and jogged down the stairs, tossing the sweater at Gaara and then putting his on. "Dad, would you mind if I borrowed one of the cars?" He asked and Guy smiled and shook his head.
"Not at all, Lee. Take mine, Kakashi may need his later." Lee smiled thankfully and dragged Gaara out of the house. Guy looked over at Kakashi. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Trust me. I can tell." Kakashi insisted and Guy pointed up the stairs.
"But Gaara wasn't in his room last night but clearly slept here." Kakashi put his book down and looked levelly at Guy.
"I am aware. Did you also notice this is not the first time it happened? They seem to like sharing a bed but trust me, I would be able to tell if they weren't virgins anymore." He went back to reading his book and Kakashi stared at the door.
"They remind me of us when we were that age." Kakashi smirked and put his book down again.
"Yeah but if I remember correctly neither of us had a girlfriend, you kept asking me out, and I kept saying no." Guy frowned at him.
"You wound me, rival." Kakashi just laughed.
Lee brought them to a plaza where he bought breakfast sandwiches and Gaara some coffee. From there, Lee loaded them up into the car again and began to drive. It was a 15 minute car ride that was taken in silence, and oddly comforting.
When Lee parked, it was at a parking area on a mountain that overlooked the lands below. It was a beautiful sight, and being late fall, the sun was still low in the sky giving the colors a pink and orange hue before they faded into blue.
"It's very beautiful, Lee." Gaara commented and Lee handed him his sandwich and Lee smiled at him. They ate in a comfortable silence and Lee kept looking at his passenger with a swell of his heart. Looking at Gaara made him feel whole.
"Gaara." He said, barely above a whisper. Gaara looked over. "I have not been the best friend these past few weeks, but I would just like to let you know how grateful I am that you have come into my life. You are such a loyal friend and I would never trade you for anything in the world."
Gaara looked at Lee, dead in his dark black eyes. He wasn't sure what to say. So, Gaara did what he normally did and began to overthink. He thought about Lee's tone. Gentle, loving, full of admiration. He thought of his words. Seemed both thought out, constructed beautifully; yet personal and straight from the heart. He began to think about the happenings of the previous week and felt a sense of guilt for essentially stealing someone's boyfriend's affection, but not enough to stop. Gaara was selfish that way, he wanted to not be, but in his entire life, no one had shown him that type of affection. No one had treated him with that much admiration and love. Gaara wasn't willing to stop that.
So, Gaara stared at Lee for a while and leaned his head to Lee's shoulder. Lee's arms wrapped around Gaara's torso in an embrace. This was comfort. This is what that felt like. Lee always gave him comfort.
"Are you okay?" Lee said quietly and when Gaara blinked a few times, he realized he was crying. Not much, just a few stray tears fell. Gaara wiped the left side of his cheek and before he could get to the right, Lee stopped his hand. Him and Gaara shared eye contact. They both looked at each other for a while with the beautiful sun in the background, lighting up their faces. "You are beautiful, Gaara." Lee wasn't sure if he meant to say that aloud or not, but it didn't change his opinion. Gaara was beautiful, and someone should've told him a while ago.
"You are very handsome, Rock Lee." Gaara responded and Lee's face turned red. "I mean it." Lee could tell in his voice that he really did mean it.
Lee wanted to see himself the way Gaara saw him. All the years of bullying for his strange looks and here Gaara was, telling him without a doubt that he was handsome. Lee just couldn't believe it. Gaara was too pure.
There were more words on the tip of his tongue, more words he needed to convey to Gaara that he couldn't do. Lee just gave Gaara a watery smile and hugged him again, pulling him close. It felt more intimate than any kiss he had with Sakura. Anything he could've ever done with Sakura wouldn't be close to this simple hug he had with Gaara. He was just shaking with emotion, he wanted to tell Gaara how much he was loved but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Lee vowed when he broke up with Sakura, he would show Gaara how he should've been treated his entire life. Lee wiped his eyes and turned his attention to the car.
"It is time we go." He declared, voice wavering. If there was one thing he didn't want to do, it was drive away from this moment. This moment he would hold dear in his mind and his heart for as long as he breathed. Even if Gaara didn't end up with him in the end, this would always be the perfect moment. Nothing was as flawless as sitting on the mountain watching the beautiful sky, sharing the moment with the person Lee held most dear in the world.
Through the day, Gaara stayed quiet. He had his earbuds in and he was listening to something on his phone. Lee watched him mouth words so he could only guess it was a song. Which song, he wasn't sure. Lee didn't mind the lack of attention. Gaara seemed adamant about learning whatever he was mouthing. Lee could tell because if it looked like he messed up, Gaara would frown, pick up his phone, and likely restart the song.
Lee wanted to hear Gaara sing in the worst way. He wondered what Gaara sounded like. Lee bit his lip and a few seconds later, Ino walked into the kitchen. Lee was usually jealous of Ino. He had several reasons to be even though he tried to hide it. Ino was beautiful, she was always with Gaara, they seemed to be developing a friendship quickly and a part of him wondered if Ino had heard Gaara sing. Lee frowned at the thought.
"Hello boys!" She chirped happily and walked to the bathroom. Lee smiled and waved but turned to face Gaara who wasn't paying attention. Typical. Even so, Lee promised he'd get Gaara to sing for him.