kurb!

(girls and gays, monarchs and theys, this is my take on rodrick x regina in the form of gaalee. inspired by the artwork of the wonderful @apopeakitty. ever since seeing alternative gaara and lee in a juicy jumpsuit, my life has changed. i needed this to be a fic and they have granted me permission. if you like this (and even if you don’t), please show them love. i have a playlist with more songs that embody gaara’s vibe in this fic. i hope you enjoy. please let me know your thoughts in the comments!!)

“Oh my goodness! I totally didn’t see you!”

It took some time for Gaara’s eyes to finally readjust, focusing on the solid wall he collided with that sent him flying on his ass. And fuck did it hurt.

It was Tuesday. Tuesdays for Gaara meant that the night prior offered a pathetic 4 hours of inconsistent sleep. Then, the following mornings allowed barely any time to rot in bed before breakfast. After 9 hours of grueling school lectures, he rushes to an after school band practice session that lasts until the evening. Exhausted was an understatement.

So it made sense that Gaara, while trying to shove his beat-up calculus notebook in his book bag, wasn’t paying attention as he was walking down the hall moments before his crash. After finally pushing aside enough empty peanut butter cracker wrappers and potentially important loose-leaf papers from the bottom of his bag for his notebook to sit, Gaara’s body collided with some unknown, hard surface.

He would’ve ripped the person a new one if he had known it was a human and not a solid concrete wall that he’d collided with. What he did know, was that his head throbbed after its contact with the ground. Gaara looked around aimlessly until he could finally make sense of his newfound inanimate bully.

Except, the wall was a forest green two piece jumpsuit? Its soft fabric clung tight against the owner’s legs, showcasing the wonderfully firm muscle underneath. Whatever. Hot or not, he’d still tell her off.

Gaara’s eyes traveled up to her hips. His gaze lingered longer than most would consider appropriate. They filled out the tracksuit well, was it wrong to notice that? The area right above her hips offered a teasing view of a bare and incredibly toned tan midsection.

“Hello?” The voice called.

It was kind of deep for a woman, not that Gaara necessarily cared, but it was overwhelmingly filled with worry. Gaara’s indecent gaze shot to the dark eyes staring back at him.

The bright smile stole his attention first. Her lips were coated in a baby pink gloss. Then his gaze shifted to the thick, glossy and meticulously smoothed out eyebrows that were raised with concern. Just above her brows was a sharp line of hair, evenly cut around the perimeter of the entire head. The small blush on their cheeks pulled Gaara’s gaze to search the face as a whole to discover she was in fact—

“Gaara! It’s me, Lee! Are you okay?” He tilted his head curiously, the soft black hair shifting to one side.

“I-I’m fine.” Gaara shuffled to sit up but Lee’s hand reached out, fingers splaying across Gaara’s chest to keep him in place.

“No!” She- no, he shrieked. How is he so pretty? “Let me help!” Lee was suddenly on his knees as he reached over Gaara’s body to collect his thrown belongings.

Lee was so close. Almost too close. Close enough to feel the heat of his body, the soft velvet texture of his Juicy Couture bodysuit and the medicinal smell of eucalyptus. Lee leaning over Gaara was bordering on inappropriate and, despite being the least effective way to help him, Gaara also couldn’t find anything wrong with their closeness. Every rude word he had mapped out for the mystery wall-woman dissipated into thin air.

“I can’t believe I did that!” Lee’s frantic gathering of scattered items jostled Gaara’s body around.

“It’s okay, really.” Gaara tried to maneuver himself out of Lee’s seemingly accidental enclosure. Lee’s thigh pressed against Gaara’s crotch in such a way that made him freeze. Lee was none the wiser as he finally gathered all of Gaara’s misplaced things.

Lee sat on his heels, facing Gaara with his long forgotten calculus notebook, one beaten up drumstick and an ipod touch all in his grasp.

“Wait, Gaara! Are you in a band?” Lee asked as he shoved the contents from his arms into Gaara’s lap. Lee sat up and leaned forward, too close into Gaara’s bubble.

“Uh, y-yeah.” Gaara tried to avoid Lee’s piercing gaze. He quickly snatched his book bag and shoved his belongings in. He wouldn’t have had Lee almost in his lap if he had done this at his locker just moments before.

Maybe it wasn’t too much of an issue. Gaara wasn’t much of a flirt. In fact, his siblings were concerned with his lack of connection with humans. Gaara was still human though. Lee was a nice, pretty boy in his lap. He was actually quite intrigued with this scenario. His cheeks were on fire and his hands were drenched with sweat, but that’s normal, right?

Lee gasped loudly, snatching Gaara’s attention back. “Really? What is it called?” Goodness, he was so warm and close and smelled so good.

“Of The Sand.” Gaara mumbled. “It’s just me and my siblings.”

Lee beamed. “Your siblings? That’s so cool! Oh! Would you please invite me to a show or something? I love live music!”

Gaara could only focus on the lowered zipper of Lee’s jumpsuit. Lee shook excitedly as he spoke. Gaara’s eyes watched as Lee’s pecs peeked out and jumped with each jolt.

“Of course.” Gaara only realized his response due to Lee’s cheerful squeal.

Did he just say ‘of course’? What was he thinking? He never invites people. He hates performing for friends!

Was Lee even a friend?

Sure, they’ve been going to school together since elementary school. But they certainly weren’t hanging out with each other. They had totally separate friend groups. Except for the fact that they shared one mutual friend, Naruto, but that was because he could make friends with practically anyone. In fact, Lee was similar to Naruto in that way but not everyone could get behind Lee’s never-ending excitement and passion. Gaara once believed he was included in that group.

Now, all of those infamous squeals and dramatic gestures went right to his crotch and made his jeans feel like a restrictive denim jail cell.

What the hell is happening right now?

“So cool!” Gaara’s attention was pulled back to Lee as he shuffled in his small brown crossbody purse. Could a textbook even fit in there? He pulled out a stick of gum, swiftly unwrapping it and placing the stick on his tongue. With a laser focus, he held the wrapper in one hand and dug around in his bag until his hand came out with a pen. The stick of gum stayed halfway out of his mouth, his lips salivated as he kept the stick in place and wrote down something on the wrapper.

Just eat the damn stick. Or eat me, even.

Just as the stick disappeared into his mouth, Lee shoved the wrapper at Gaara. “Text me the deets, okay?” Before Gaara could reply, Lee stood up and dusted off his pants. He turned around and picked up his bag. Gaara watched with a dazed expression as Lee’s ass neared his face. The bedazzled juicy logo stretched around the surface, the center dipping at the crease of Lee’s incredible rear.

Lee spun on his heels and waved his fingers. “See ya!”

Gaara watched as Lee walked down the hall. There was a gentle sway of his hips. His hair softly swayed as he walked. It was hypnotizing.

Gaara pushed himself off of the ground and leaned against the nearby lockers on the wall.

(~10k words. pls enjoy. one more chapter until this is completed! also note, all characters are consenting adults. i realized that i never specified what type of school they’re in, therefore there’s probably a question of their age? my use of words like professors and campus don’t indicate the same schooling levels for our international friends as it does in the US. i’m in my mid 20’s and i still say im going to school when i mean i’m going to my college lectures. anyway, sorry for the wait. ALSO THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SMUT!!)

(MATURE CONTENT) (18+, MDNI)

(pt.1) (pt. 2) (pt.3)

“He’s not a fucking martial arts protege. He wears bedazzled bottoms.” Kankuro dug his fork further into his Chinese takeout. Rice flung from the white box with every sentence.

“There’s no correlation between the two, idiot.” Gaara mumbled, mouth full of eggroll.

Temari grimaced from her spot on the bench. She always made sure to sit a couple of inches away to steer clear of her brothers’ messy eating. “It’s a little hard to believe, Gaara. I mean he looks so delicate.”

“He is.” Gaara kept his head low to hide his growing blush. His siblings on either side of him comfortingly knocked their knees into his. Gaara gazed up to find matching smirks of amusement on their faces.

“You guys are becoming quite the duo, aren’t you?” Temari asked.

Gaara looked up into the sky. His eyes squinted reflexively from the blaze of the sun, yet his gaze persisted, only to gawk at the moving clouds. He didn’t mind the discomfort, he was used to staring into bright lights now. Most times the aforementioned bright light was his computer monitor glowing brilliantly against the darkness of his room in the latest hours of the night. Other times it was the unsightly fluorescent lights that dotted the ceiling of his physics lecture hall— a course he didn’t even remember signing up for. He found himself counting each one in an attempt to stay awake as his professor droned on and on about circuits and force.

Recently, though, it was the sunshine within Lee himself. His shining teeth with each apologetic smile, cheeky grin or proud beam. Lee had an unusual knack of pleasantly getting under anyone’s skin and past their protective walls—no matter if it's made of brick, steel, sand or stone. Lee was a peculiar thing that Gaara wanted to dissect and discover. And it was fine that way, but the problem arose when Lee wanted to dissect and discover him in return.

Weeks have gone by where Lee has begged Gaara to open up to him. It began with simple questions about Gaara’s favorite color, his favorite food, favorite song. He never had an answer for Lee. Then he began to ask about Gaara’s social life. The raven haired boy was not particularly content with Gaara’s answer of ‘nonexistent’.

Lee tried to unearth the unknown parts of Gaara in other ways. First, a handwritten letter, detailing how much Lee cherished their budding friendship. Gaara returned the gesture in the form of a crinkled chewing up wrapper that had ‘Thanks.’ messily written on it. Then, Lee tried with matching charm chains for their phones. Gaara thought it was a necklace and tried to force the band over his obtuse head, ultimately snapping the rope that held the beads together. Gaara promptly apologized upon seeing Lee’s face become redder than his own hair.

Lee’s final attempt was his most foolproof plan. A gift that couldn’t be broken, didn’t need to be returned.

‘Hit me, baby, one more time! My loneliness is killing me, and I, I must confess I still believe-“

Music blasted next to Gaara’s head in the dead of the night. Gaara stirred in his bed, trying his hardest to stay asleep. Dream Lee’s hands were just starting to rub sunscreen into his pale back as they sunbathed on the soft sand of the beach. Meanwhile dream Lee number two ran off to chase the receding tide. It was almost perfect if it weren’t for Britney singing one of her top hits while riding the largest wave Gaara had ever seen. He was wildly curious about her ability to project her voice so far, until even dream Gaara came to the conclusion that it was too good to be true, and that the impromptu personal beach-themed concert was in fact his phone ringing. The week prior, Lee demanded that that specific song be his ringtone and Gaara was nothing but subservient to the supreme Juicy Couture jumpsuit-wearing being. Gaara lifted his head from his makeup stained pillow, wiping the eyeliner-crusted sleep from his eyes.

His hand searched for his phone, eyes refusing to open completely. After a few seconds of patting around, he forced his heavy eyelids open enough to answer the call.

“Hello?” Gaara mumbled groggily.

Lee usually rambled at intense volumes once answering the phone. Sometimes he wouldn’t even wait for the other person to begin talking once the dial stopped.

Now, there was only silence on the other end. Gaara checked his phone to make sure that he’d actually answered the call. He did, yet the infamously loud boy was worryingly quiet. Gaara’s mind quickly flooded with devastating thoughts of Lee being hurt.

“Lee?”

He heard a shuffle and the sound of Lee clearing his throat. “Hi Gaara.” He said softly.

“What’s wrong, Lee?” Gaara asked. He tried to clear his throat and offset the low sleepy rasp that worsened his already deep tone.

“Wrong?” Lee squeaked. “Nothing’s wrong, Gar. Did I wake you?”

Gaara pulled the phone away enough to check the time. 3:22 AM. “Not at all, babe.”

Lee’s muffled giggle sounded from the other side.. Gaara recalled the way Lee covered his mouth with his hand when he laughed, or sometimes even went as far as hiding his blushing face behind the soft folds of his jumpsuit hoodie. Gaara’s lips curled into a soft smile at the thought.

“I have something to show you.” Lee said, his voice getting even softer.

Gaara sat up in bed, motivated by the heat coiling in his lower half. “Show me..?”

He felt his phone vibrate.

“Check your phone, Gar’.”

The speed at which Gaara opened his messaging app almost made him ashamed. The way his heart raced seeing ‘Attachment’ next to Lee’s name made his mind fog and no longer harbor the ability to determine whether or not heaven or hell would be his final resting place. He quickly opened the text chat to see it was a link instead of the sweaty, bronze and nude full body picture he had imagined in his head.

The link directed Gaara to a music playlist. At first glance, Gaara didn’t recognize any of the songs or artists. It definitely wasn’t the genre he typically had playing through his headphones. ‘I Really Like You’ by Carly Rae Jepsen and ‘And I’ by Ciara. At first glance of each album cover, the music seemed right up Lee’s alley.

He clicked the first song and shimmied his way back down onto his pillow.

“Did you get it?” Lee’s voice temporarily interrupted the song, not that Gaara really cared to intuitively listen. He’d rather listen to Lee over his favorite album.

“I did. It’s interesting. Not something I’d imagine you liking.” Gaara admitted.

“Hey! ‘I Really Like You’ was a summer classic!” Lee shrieked. Gaara imagined the way Lee’s face probably twisted up in frustration and chuckled softly against his pillow. There was a long beat before Lee replied. “Tell me when you listen to it completely. I want to know what you think of it.”

“You got it, babe.”

He heard a small sigh before Lee continued. “Goodnight, Gaara.” His voice held a hint of disappointment.

Gaara sat up, quickly pausing the song. Lee’s response was exactly as Gaara expected, still his heart raced within its bony cage. His tone was off. Lee hated saying goodnight but his tone was different in a way that the sleep-deprived boy couldn’t put his finger on. “Goodnight, Lee. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Lee hummed in agreement. “Tomorrow. Sleep tight, handsome.” A loud kissing noise graced Gaara’s ears before the solemn sound of the call ending.

***

It wasn’t until the next morning when the siblings piled into the car that Gaara, or rather Kankuro, figured out Lee’s riddle of a gift.

“What the hell is this song?” Kankuro picked Gaara’s phone from its place in the cup holder.

Driver had full control of the aux, and Gaara was only two more songs away from finishing the playlist that Lee had sent him the night prior. So, naturally, with Gaara driving, the siblings listened to the concluding songs of his newly curated album.

“Lee recommended it. It’s… odd.” Gaara mumbled, shifting the car into reverse.

“Doesn’t really seem like his vibe.” Temari said as she fiddled with her seatbelt in the backseat.

“It doesn’t.” Gaara admitted. He was laser focused on the road, trying to find a reason to enjoy the odd songs on the playlist that Lee handcrafted him. Lee had grown to be an important person in Gaara’s life. The least he could do was pretend that he enjoyed the music that Lee believed the drummer would enjoy as well.

“Yeah, definitely doesn’t scream glitter and gloss,” Kankuro continued to scroll through the playlist.

Gaara opened up his mouth to defend his raven haired boy but fell short when trying to find anything to actually defend. Lee did like glitter and gloss. Maybe more than he liked Gaara. Still, the playlist reminded Gaara nothing of Lee’s cherry flavored lip glosses and his note-taking pastel glitter pens.

“Oh, no wonder it’s shit.”

Alright, that was too far.

“Kank, ease up man. I don’t like it either but it’s sweet. The thought that counts, or whatever.” Temari argued. A thud sounded from next to Gaara, as he caught the flash of Temari’s hand in his peripheral, reaching over the back seat to smack Kankuro in the head.

“No, look! The playlist. It spells out a sentence. I don’t think Lee actually likes this garbage.” Kankuro defended, ducking his head away from Temari’s incoming hand.

“What?” Gaara's eyes tried to peek at the phone but returned to the road once he sensed Temari’s hand lifting and aiming for his own head. He only slightly swerved. “What does it spell out, Kankuro?” His voice was tense, almost akin to shouting.

“I really like you and I want you to be my boyfriend.”

Gaara slammed on the brakes. Both of his siblings lurched forward out of their seats, Kankuro hitting the dashboard of the car.

“Fuck! What are you doing?” Kankuro shouted, pushing himself back into his seat.

“That’s why you should always wear your seatbelt, idiot.” Temari muttered from the back seat, still adjusting herself from the sudden jerk.

Gaara’s eyes were wide, knuckles white on the steering wheel. His chest heaved with each breath as his mind raced. Was that why Lee sounded so disappointed? Did he inadvertently reject Lee?

“Squirt?”

“He wants to be my boyfriend.” Gaara whispered.

“He does.” Temari answered.

“Boyfriends. With me.”

The words seemed to fall strangely from his lips. He’d never toyed with the idea of being someone- anyone’s boyfriend. He always figured he’d pair up with whatever alternative chick asked him for his number. He never imagined himself with someone like Lee. Lee was a character in a movie that the audience rooted for until they got their happily ever after. Gaara was the character who crossed the street two minutes into the movie never to be seen again. He never considered himself to be the happily ever after of the main character. Did Lee really want him as his happily ever after? Could he even be that for Lee?

Kankuro angrily shook his head as he yanked the seatbelt over his body. “Hope he knows you're a shit driver.”

“I can’t.”

“Yeah, can't drive for shit. Now take us to school.” Kankuro hissed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Kankuro, I can’t be his boyfriend. Temari, I can’t-“

Temari leaned forward into the space between the driver and passenger seat. “Gaara, breathe. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

Gaara turned to Temari. His eyes were filled with worry, an expression that concerned both siblings. “I want to. I just… can’t.”

Temari’s gaze softened. She squeezed Gaara’s arm before sitting back in her seat. “I get it. Don’t think too much about it right now. Let’s just get to school and we can all talk later. Sounds good?”

“Sounds good.” Both of the boys replied.

Gaara shakily exhaled and took his foot off of its cemented place on the brake.

He’d see Lee soon. Lee would want an explanation. He needed a distraction. He needed a reason to not answer Lee.

Gaara had never been a boyfriend. He wasn’t necessarily even liked up until a few years prior when he’d become friends with Naruto, and even then, people didn’t naturally gravitate towards Gaara.

Lee made him feel like he was someone that could be gravitated to. He made Gaara feel like he was someone. A good someone, too. He did it in ways that weren’t flashy or attention-grabbing, either. It was the small moments; the shared eye contact, the brushing of fingertips and honest smiles from Lee. It made him feel. The feelings that Lee gave him ranged from a woozy, light-headed rush all the way down to toe-curling, heated euphoric moments in dark closets. Without a doubt, at the end of every night, Gaara would receive a text from Lee, describing how happy their shared day together made him. Gaara never believed he was good before then.

Suddenly, it all struck at once. The letters, the persistent and prodding questions, the matching phone charms. Lee liked Gaara. Lee wanted to be more than friends. With. Gaara.

Gaara took a deep breath as he pulled into the parking lot. Lee typically waited for Gaara’s late arrival, leaning up against the neighboring car next to Gaara’s assigned parking spot. That day, Lee was nowhere to be found. Gaara sighed, shutting his eyes tight and pressing his forehead to the wheel.

Temari patted his back before sliding her way out of the car. “Don’t stress, squirt. You’ll both understand each other in time. Get to class.” She said before shutting the car door.

‘You’ll both understand each other in time.’

Gaara didn't want time. He wanted Lee. He wanted Lee without saying it, without other people being able to see him say it. He didn't want people to point and laugh at them hand in hand. Why wouldn’t they? Lee next to Gaara? Together, they looked like a trope from a bad rom-com, Gaara thought. Lee didn't deserve that. Lee seemed to be happy without Gaara, before they met, anyway. Besides, Lee deserved more than what Gaara could ever offer.

“Lee is… He’s different. I like him.” Gaara glanced back down into his takeout container.

He was fairly disinterested in the food now that it had gone cold. His mind continuously wandered to the playlist debacle that occurred the week prior. Lee had seemingly forgiven him, clinging back to Gaara’s side after a few days of the silent treatment, without any resolving discussion. Gaara needed to tell Lee that he was wrong. That he wanted Lee to be his boyfriend. He just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Even though he knew Lee would happily agree, his heart raced just thinking about how he’d ask Lee.

“Yeah, that’s obvious enough.” Kankuro said flatly. “But there’s no way he’s beating me up.”

“He’s quite strong.” Gaara said matter-of-factly.

“Does he have a sleeper build or something? I’ve seen those jumpsuits. They don’t really hide much.” Temari pointed out, waving her fork around as she spoke.

“Hm… Yes. I guess he does.” Gaara said, almost lost in thought.

“I’m not buying it.” Kankuro said, shaking his head.

“Do you want him to beat you up, Kank?” Temari asked.

“I’d like to see the little squirt try!”

A grunt was forced out of Kankuro as his back made contact with the ground. The audience roared with exhilarated shouts and sympathetic groans. Lee hopped to his feet and stuck a hand out to Kankuro.

“Wonderful attempt, Kankuro! Next time, plant your back foot for additional stability!” Lee said, his bright smile calming all of the retaliatory fire within Kankuro.

Kankuro shook his head and shakily pushed himself to his feet. “Nah, one more try, Lee.”

Lee nodded, quickly returning to his beginning signature stance. One arm tucked behind his lower back, his other arm in front of him, palm to the ceiling.

“And why the hell do you stand like that?” Kankuro asked as he moved to his beginning position. Slightly crouched with arms steady in front of him.

“My father taught me before I began lessons at his dojo. It’s his stance and he passed it down to me. Any other questions?” Lee’s focused, expressionless face contrasted the genuine tone of his voice.

“Hell no. Let’s go.”

Both boys reached their right hand out to touch, indicating the start of their spar.

Within seconds, Lee’s leg swiped the back of Kankuro’s, knocking him to the ground. Lee followed Kankuro down, straddling and pinning him to the mat.

“This was a horrible idea.” Gaara muttered.

He sat between Temari and Tenten, both girls watching his reaction for their own personal enjoyment. The crowd consisted of both Gaara and Lee’s respective friend groups, totaling a crowd of over a dozen. Gaara was begrudgingly introduced by Tenten to all of the people that Naruto could round up in the short span of an hour. Once Naruto caught wind of ‘Lee’ and ‘fighting’ in the same sentence, he spent the entire day telling anyone he could about the planned spar.

Gaara scanned the crowd of people. The few faces that were recognizable to him were already sitting around Naruto, scoffing or laughing at his explicit storytelling of the day he met Lee. Gaara’s mind started to wander as he thought about a little Lee in elementary school. He would’ve paid thousands to see a photo of baby Lee. Tragically, his attention was pulled back to the group when the words ‘adorable’, ‘kind’, and ‘surprisingly attractive’ were thrown around. Were they still talking about his Lee? His mind raced with ideas on how to politely ask them to stop discussing Lee. At least, not without him in the conversation.

“Want to try again, Kankuro?” Lee smiled sweetly above the pinned boy.

Kankuro shook his head wildly. “No, I can get out of this!” He thrashed his body around to no avail under the strong grip Lee had on him.

“Kank, buddy, I think you’re fucked. You’ve been pinned for way over three seconds man.” Shikamaru, one of Naruto’s friends, lazily called out.

“Fine. You win again, Lee.” Kankuro muttered, flushed red with embarrassment.

Lee threw his hands in the air, bouncing happily as he cheered for himself. “I did it! Gaara, look! I got Kankuro!”

Kankuro’s body thrashed around with each of Lee’s energetic bounces. Gaara had to physically cover his eyes with both of his hands to not feel both awkward and turned on. Never in his life had he ever wanted to be Kankuro, until now.

Temari and Tenten, from either side of Gaara, pried his hands off of his face.

“Take it all in, Gaara. This is Lee and all of his himbo glory.” Tenten sighed with contentment. “You’re doing great, Lee!” She shouted.

Lee’s hands clutched his chest, his eyes immediately beginning to water. “Thank you, Tenten!” He shouted back.

“I’m next Bushy-Brows!” Naruto jumped up from his seat and raced down to the mat.

The bleachers croaked with every heavy step Naruto took until he was in front of Lee. The raven haired boy stood up, fixing his gi and bowed to Kankuro. “Excellent fight, Kankuro. Thank you for sparring with me.” Lee’s bow was so low that his hair brushed the top of Kankuro’s nose.

Kankuro let out a chuckle, pushing Lee’s face away from him. “Dude, you’re freaking tickling me. Get off!” He whined while choking down his laughs.

“Kankuro! Are you ticklish? How cute!” Lee beamed. He smiled as if he had just discovered one of life’s greatest mysteries.

Gaara wanted to smile. He was so hopeful that Lee would stop looking at Kankuro with those eyes that he’d become so possessive over. Gaara didn’t think of himself to be a possessive man, but those eyes were the reason for his unraveling in their shared moments under soft blankets and beneath the dark veil of night. Those large brown eyes made his knees buckle involuntarily whenever they locked onto his own face, while slowly moving down his entire frame. Although those eyes were the cause of many embarrassing blushes and fumbling over words, they were for Gaara. Certainly not for display for all of their friends and especially not for his brother.

Gaara bit his tongue as he watched Lee drop to his knees over Kankuro and dig his fingers into his sides, forcing uncharacteristic squeals out of Kankuro.

“L-Lee! Stop it!” He shrieked, trying to squat at Lee’s persistent hands.

“Kankuro! Just tickle him back!” Tenten shouted from beside Gaara.

Lee froze, head snapping to Tenten, then back to Kankuro. “Kankuro, don’t.” He pleaded under his breath.

Kankuro, don’t. Please, gods above, listen to this one humble request. Save me from this hell.

Gaara knew Kankuro wouldn’t listen. It was in his big brother nature to be a bully. Gaara would rather pay money to swap places with Lee than watch this go down.

Kankuro’s hands darted up to Lee’s sides without hesitation. “Oh, you have requests after that?”

Gaara’s stomach lurched, twisted and clenched as if he were the one being tickled. He recalled reading online that tickling was a medieval torturing method, and that moment felt nothing short of torment as he watched Lee’s airless and strained giggles.

Lee writhed around on top of Kankuro, his face burning red as he gasped for air. “Stop it!” He whined breathlessly.

Gaara’s nails dug into their spot on his forearm. His teeth were already sunk deep into his bottom lip. He used every bit of concentration he could to stop the tremors from soaring throughout his body.

“What are we even doing? Why do I have to see this?” The words quickly stumbled from his tightly wound lips.

Neji stood up from his seat on the bleachers. He crossed his arms over his chest, jutting his hip out on one side. The crowd’s volume seemed to automatically dim with his presence. “The red-head is right. Can we see some more fighting?”

“Yeah, right! It’s my turn, bushy-brows!” Naruto shouted, pushing his sleeves up past his elbows and nudging off his shoes.

“Alright, get off, squirt. You won. You can put up one hell of a fight.” Kankuro gently shoved Lee off of him as he made his way up. He stuck out a hand for the spar winner, who was still red-faced and panting.

Lee grabbed Kankuro’s hand and jumped to his feet. His hands slapped to his sides and he bowed deeply. “Thank you, big brother Kankuro! It was an honor!”

Kankuro nodded and shoved at Lee’s shoulder, sending Lee stumbling slightly. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll catch you later, dork.” He shot a half smile at Lee before limping towards the group.

Kiba was still keeled over with laughter with tears falling from eyes by the time Kankuro made his way back to him. The man desperately tried suppressing his chuckles as he pecked Kankuro’s cheek, only failing and spraying the bruised boy with his spit.

Gaara watched the exchange with an embarrassed knot in his stomach. All of the jealousy he previously felt melted away and understanding washed over him like a humbling baptism. He considered the way Lee playfully fought with his brother, Kankuro and his teasing nicknames. The look of mutual admiration in their eyes. Kankuro would never admit to it, but their bond grew as Gaara and Lee got closer. Temari even began including Lee’s order in their pre-rehearsal coffee run. The glittery and vibrant boy had truly become a part of Gaara’s life. No longer was it jealousy that made him feel uncomfortably mushy watching Kankuro and Lee’s spar. It was the realization that Lee was now, without a doubt, an integral part of Gaara. Even the moments where Lee wasn’t present revolved around him in some way.

His daydreams were cut short by the pained sound that was expelled from Naruto, very similar to the many Lee pulled from Kankuro. The only difference was the amount of time it took to get Naruto down. Their hands and feet shuffled in and out of each other’s grasps wildly until Lee finally caught Naruto’s leg and swept him onto the ground.

“Damn it, Bushy Brow! If I just had three more of me pining you down, I’d be slapping the hell out of you!” Naruto grunted, words muffled by the sweat stained mat.

Lee smiled his signature stupidly bright smile. “What a wonderful match, Naruto. Maybe if you come to practice more often, you’d be able to overtake me.”

“Oh, whatever. I wanna see you try to take Neji down. Good luck with that!”

Lee’s demeanor shifted instantly. His grip loosened on Naruto and his smile fell. “Spar with Neji?”

A few whoops and hollers erupted from the crowd. “Neji, get out there!”

“Naruto, get up already! We want to see an actual spar!”

Naruto shook his head in disbelief as he weakly pushed himself up. “No love, I’m telling you.” He mumbled under his breath, making his way back over to the awaiting dark-haired and moody personality named Sasuke, who had his signature disappointed grimace on his face. “Oh, don’t give me that look. I sure as shit didn’t say anything when Lee beat your ass in the 7th grade!”

Lee quickly stood to his feet. “O-okay. Sure!”

With a bored sigh, Neji made his way from the bleachers down to the mat. He tossed his hair over his shoulder before sliding into his beginning stance. “Cmon, Lee. Make daddy proud.”

Lee’s face flushed red, his eyes refusing to shift anywhere near Gaara. He shifted into his stance and with one quick nod between the two, they began.

Their forearms collided, blocking each strike sent towards one another. Neji attacked with full power, punches that could break bones if they landed, yet Lee blocked each jab carefully. They fought with a fast and familiar grace, like a well known tango between the two. Their eyes never left each other. Their breaths matched each lunge and kick. They continued sending deadly strikes to each other to no avail, until one fraction, one split second glimpse caught Lee’s attention.

Neji’s fist collided with Lee’s jaw. The wind was knocked from his lungs, sending him backwards only a few steps. Loud gasps emerged from the crowd. Gaara stood to his feet, watching. Waiting.

“What’s got you so distracted, Lee? Scared to mess up in front of your boyfriend?" Neji taunted.

Lee let out a weak chuckle, wiping the sweat and saliva from his mouth. “Do you want to spar or talk about boys?”

Neji’s fist came in again fast towards Lee’s face. Lee ducked just in time, rushing into Neji’s waist with his shoulder and tackling them both to the ground.

Neji landed with a forceful grunt. Lee stood up, eyes wide and mouth again in shock. His head snapped towards the stands to see the look on Gaara’s face. Lee had spent so many late night phone calls talking about how badly Neji annoyed him with his taunting and pranks. Tackling Neji in front of a group of peers was exactly the payback Lee was looking for.

Instead of a proud smirk as Lee expected, Gaara’s gaze was locked onto his phone screen, fingers hurriedly typing away.

Lee’s world flipped before he could get a grasp of what happened. Before he knew it, Neji’s legs wrapped around Lee’s torso and flipped them both over. Neji firmly straddled Lee, his hand shoving Lee’s face into the mat.

“Still can’t beat me, Lee.” Neji didn’t even sound like he was out of breath.

Lee stuttered against the mat, words came out like choking sounds. “Ne-ji! Stop!” He gasped, tears threatening to fall. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, as if he were pursuing a lung-full of air that he couldn’t catch. His face reddened deeper with each moment he stayed pinned to the mat. His frantically hand slapped against the mat in forfeit and Neji’s grip suspended.

The crowd fell into a quiet hush. Lee’s frantic and hyperventilated breathing being the only audible sound.

“Neji, knock it off!” Tenten called out,

Neji rolled his eyes before he stood to his feet, wiping off his pants and straightening his hair. He leaned down, lips brushing the shell of Lee’s ear. “Hope I didn’t embarrass you too much in front of your little boyfriend.” He whispered. “Come on, Tenten.”

Tenten let out a frustrated sigh before rushing over to Neji’s side. “Didn’t have to be such an asshole.” She mumbled.

Soft sniffles came from Lee, face red with embarrassment.

“For fucks sake.” Kankuro mumbled before running over to help Lee up.

Temari slapped the back of Gaara’s head, pointing to his crying companion on the mat.

Gaara had an insult geared up for Temari until he saw Lee, sobbing into Kankuro’s chest. His heart sank and his head whirled with thoughts.

What happened?

Why is Lee crying?

Should I go down there?

What is Kankuro doing down there?

Kankuro shot Gaara a look of pure annoyance, wordlessly saying, ‘What are you doing? Get down here!’

Gaara lifted his shoulders, face contorted with confusion. He wanted to act, he wanted to run down and hold Lee in his arms. But Kankuro was already there. Hushed whispers surrounded the drummer like a mind-altering fog. His body felt as if it were weighed down by the gaze of a dozen eyes on him.

Could going to Lee be a mistake? Is his want to be the one who comforts him just an illusion of his own daydreams? Would Lee even want him in a moment like that?

Kankuro shook his head, returning his attention to soothing Lee.

Gaara tried to stand from his seat. His knees felt so weak, wanting to buckle under the weight of his ignorance. Temari grabbed his arm, stopping him.

“I think it’s a little too late, Gar.” She said flatly.

Gaara sat back down, confused and embarrassed.

“Nice going, squirt. Hope you have a good explanation for Lee.” Temari sighed as she began to pack her bag. Each aggravated shove of her belonging into her overstuffed bag felt like an emotional gut punch.

He remained, stuck in place like a statue built in memorial to a fallen soldier that followed the path to his own destruction. He remained until everyone departed. The weight of his own stupidity held him down like an anchor for many moments. Then, the familiar click of the timer to the automatic lights encased the foolish boy in darkness.

Gaara had no explanation for Lee.

In fact, he struggled to even find Lee to talk to after the incident. Gaara searched endlessly for Lee, only to irritably discover that the most theatrical and brightly dressed boy that he knew could make himself practically disappear if he wanted to. Gaara checked their usual spots to no avail— Lee wasn’t texting away at his locker, he wasn’t taking selfies in the spacious and brightly lit gender fluid bathrooms in the west wing, or on the elliptical at the indoor fitness center. Even the janitor’s closet was empty, where Gaara once found Lee angrily writing down mean comments that formulated in his head throughout the day that he wouldn’t dare say aloud. Gaara raced to Lee’s least favorite class, mathematics, where he’d usually linger to ask his professor for extra assistance with homework. Lee was out of class by the time Gaara could find him, and Tenten’s pitied smile was his sole lead which only served to put him back on his wild-goose hunt.

It wasn’t until Gaara’s feet travelled subconsciously that he struck gold. It was late into the afternoon and his hopes of finding Lee were abysmally low. His body took him to a place of familiarity. He stood outside of the room that used to have no significance to him before dating— meeting Lee. It was a section of the library dedicated to study rooms. Lee would encourage Gaara to follow him into the room after their scheduled shared lunch. Before, Gaara would refuse, trying to pull away from his boyfriend’s— boy friend’s abnormally strong grip. Days later, he stopped rejecting after he realized they could use the room as a makeshift make out designation.

His hand reached for the doorknob, wanting to hide in shame within a place of solitude. At least there he could catch his breath. He needed just a moment to try to conceive more places where he could find the one person who’s been controlling his body and thoughts, both day and night.

A small sniffle from inside caught his attention. Curiously, he pushed the door open.

Lee sat on the table, surrounded by crumpled up, soiled tissues. His face was red and puffy from crying.

“Lee, babe?”

Lee’s eyes shot up excitedly. A sad smile grew on his lips for only a moment until Lee seemed to remember that he was upset. He turned his head and scoffed, arms crossed over his chest. “Don’t you dare ‘babe’ me, Gaara.”

“Lee, I’m sorry.”

“Whatever, Gaara.” His pettiness was uncharacteristic, but the exhausted red-head preferred it over the hide-and-seek game they’ve played all day.

“I really didn’t mean to..” Gaara trailed off.

“To? To what, Gaara?” Lee snapped. After sudden realization, he froze and his mouth fell open. “Do you not even know what you’re apologizing for?”

Gaara could tell he made a huge mistake. “I..” His next words needed to be carefully selected. “Lee, I don’t. I know you’re upset, and I know that I don’t want you to be.”

“Why was Kankuro the one to comfort me? Why would you embarrass me like that?”

Gaara frowned. “You were embarrassed?”

Lee sat up with a renewed vigor. “Neji made me look like a fool in front of all of our friends and your brother was the one who checked on me first. While- while you texted! On your phone!”

“Lee, I didn’t know, it all happened so fast!” Gaara blurted out.

Lee scoffed. “Not too fast for Kankuro and everyone else in the crowd.”

“You know I would’ve gone down had I known.”

“Kankuro knew.”

Gaara felt his left eye begin to twitch. “What’s your deal with Kankuro?!”

“What is your deal with acting like I don’t exist?”

“Don’t exist? Lee, my screen time has gone up by three hours just from us being friends–”

“Friends?!” In times like these, Gaara wondered if Lee kept his eyebrows so thick to emphasize his emotions. They were dark and full, and grumpily down-turned towards his large brown eyes. They were squinted in anger but still Gaara’s knees hinted at buckling. His cheeks burned as pink as the rouge Lee decorated his cheeks with.

Gaara only knew his mouth was agape by the dryness on his tongue as he fought to think of a reply. “Lee I didn’t mean.. Well we haven’t exactly, you know?” He made a vague gesture with his hands.

Lee scoffed, disbelief appearing like a mask over his face. “No, you’re right, Gaara! We haven’t exactly made out in the janitors closet everyday for the past month. We haven’t spent most nights together on the phone, either. That certainly means we have no feelings for each other!”

“Lee, I swear I didn’t mean it like that!” Gaara contended.

“What did you mean, then? What did any of these past months mean to you? Has it meant anything at all?” Lee asked, his voice brimming with dejection.

“Lee, of course! You’ve been my closest fr–”

“Your closest friend.” He spoke quietly, seemingly aware of their situation.

Silence filled within the space between them, like an invisible barricade.

“Are you embarrassed? By me?” Lee asked, voice shrinking.

Gaara felt a pang of discomfort in his chest. “No, never. I promise.”

“Then what is it? The love letters with no response. The personal playlist I made you with no response either. Gaara, I can take rejection. I don’t appreciate being led on.” Lee tried to explain calmly as his voice wavered.

“I had no intentions of leading you on.” He admitted, the embarrassment withering his voice to a whisper.

“Intentional or not, it still happened.”

“Please, don’t be mad, Lee.”

“I’m not.” The raven hissed angrily.

“You’re lying.” Gaara pointed.

“I’m not!”

“You’re not a good liar.”

“And you’re suddenly very observant.”

Gaara’s face burned as red as his permanently dyed hair. “I looked at my phone for two seconds, Lee!”

“Two seconds too long. All it took was two seconds for Neji to shove my face into the mat like a loser.” Lee’s lips wobbled, resisting a pout.

Gaara’s hands frustratedly swiped over his face. “You can’t be seriously upset with me because of a quick text.”

“I’m very serious!” Lee’s eyes seemed to ignite again, his gaze furiously blazing into Gaara.

“No one could’ve predicted Neji to flip you like that after the way you beat Kankuro’s ass!” The drummer threw his hands up in defeat.

Lee’s hands flailed similarly. “That’s not the point! At least Kankuro had the balls to-“

“Can we stop mentioning Kankuro and his balls? Do you think I want to hear my boyfriend talk about my brother's balls?” The words fell from Gaara’s lips before he could even realize the unconscious confession.

“Now I’m your boyfriend, Gaara? To prove your point? Convenient.”

Gaara felt the gears in his head shift one click. Covered in a thick layer of dust, whining an eerie sound as they rotated, but rotated indeed.

The silence was familiar, but it still wrung the room of all comfortability, leaving a dry and tense atmosphere.

“Lee, I’m truly sorry.”

The unforgiving emptiness from before. He nervously wrung his hands as he awaited a response, wanting to rid himself of the metaphorical blood upon them. He had been such a fool, such an assuming yet thoughtless fool. He hadn’t meant for this to happen. He didn’t even intend on even befriending Lee. Even so, it was horribly wrong to have been so oblivious.

“Figure it out, or leave me alone, Gaara.” Gaara’s gaze snapped up to meet the angered look on Lee’s face. “You have two days. I cannot bear to continue on like this.”

“Two days? Or what-“

“Or we’re through! Whatever we means, anyway. I.. I like you, Gaara! Too much! I can’t keep sneaking off with you. I hold my phone close to my heart at night when we fall asleep so you can be close, Gaara! I-" Lee choked on a sob. A few stray tears fell from his eyes, clenched shut tight with fists balled in his lap. He took a deep breath and continued. “Two days.”

Gaara had never needed to think so hard before in his life. He’d never considered anyone so deeply. Before Naruto, he never had a friend that he had to be so concerned with, and Naruto was basically self nurturing. But Lee didn’t feel like Naruto. Personality-wise, Naruto and Lee were very alike— abrasively loud and boisterous. But Lee was exuberant in a way that made Gaara beam as he never had before meeting the raven-haired boy. In a way that felt like a warm hug from even miles away. Lee could be the loudest in the room but had the ability to simultaneously speak so tenderly. Lee was also the strongest person Gaara knew. Without a doubt, Lee could handle himself without issue, but even with that knowledge, the red head had only ever yearned to hold him delicately— as if he were fragile glass, willing to break at any given moment. He wouldn’t dare risk hurting Lee in that instance, so why had he been so simple regarding his feelings?

Gaara could only look to the floor, shame rising in him like a nauseating bubble. The shine of his own shoes caught his attention, allowing him a second of temporary relief from the overwhelming pain of upsetting Lee. Then, he remembered why his shoes shined.

Lee took notice very early in Gaara’s style. Despite their very different tastes in.. everything, Lee loved Gaara’s style. The raven haired boy thought it was the dark, emotionally stunted and realistic yin to his bright, dazzlingly-expressive yang. Except, Gaara’s beaten up converse. Lee was no stranger to a well loved shoe, which is partially why he chose an extra curricular activity that required no shoes. But Gaara’s shoes had holes and explicates written in sharpie that Lee wouldn’t dare say aloud. The following week at school, Lee was practically shaking with excitement. Gaara cautiously approached Lee who waited for him at his locker.

“What are you planning, Lee?”

The smile that grew on Lee’s face warmed Gaara like the bright sun on a winter morning.

“Gaara, how did you know?!” Lee all but shouted in Gaara’s face. The scent of spearmint and vanilla brushed over Gaara’s face. The rumble in his stomach craved more than just his skipped breakfast.

“Guess I’m just a mind reader.” Gaara shrugged. He would never typically partake in such pleasantries with anyone, but Lee brought out something within him that he wasn’t used to.

Lee’s head cocked to the side. “Then, what am I thinking right now?”

Gaara tapped his chin, faking a contemplative moment. Then he raised his hairless eyebrows. “Lee!” He faked a gasp. “That is a dirty thought! You want me to say that out loud?”

Lee gasped, smacking his hand against Gaara’s chest. “You stop it, Gaara! I am not thinking of anything naughty!”

Gaara smirked, tilting his head and raising an expecting brow.

“I wasn’t until you said it..” Lee muttered, lip gutting out in a pout and cheek flushed with what Gaara hoped were thoughts of him.

Gaara smiled, a genuine one that reached his eyeline-bordered eyes. A sincere smile, from pierced ear to pierced ear that made Lee pause.

“What’s on your mind, Gaara?”

Gaara’s gaze grazed over Lee. The raven haired boy blushed and grinned shyly as teal eyes analyzed him.

“Honestly, just you, Lee.” He said softly.

Lee gasped, his eyes widened and the pink on his cheeks reddened to the shade of his bubble gum pink lips. Lee shoved the box from his hands into Gaara’s chest, refusing to look him in the eye.

“Open.” Lee said quickly, under his breath.

Gaara kept his eyes on Lee as he took the box into his hand. His fingers felt around the box for an opening. The irregular texture grabbed his attention, forcing his eyes from Lee and his choice of decorative outfit for the day.

The box was covered with small, handmade drawings. Some were sketches torn from a notebook of nothing particular. Others were drawn directly on the gift box with glittered pens, smeared edges before it could fully dry. In the middle was a stick figure image of the two. Gaara could tell because of the large red heart Lee plastered on Gaara’s figure, and the glittery green bow in his own hair.

It was handmade. And explicitly for Gaara. Not a group gift, not a belated present, but a handmade gift for Gaara on a random school day that started with him gagging on his toothbrush and close to vomiting at seven in the morning.

“Is something wrong? I kinda messed up the drawing- Gar!” Lee nervously babbled until he was pulled into a bone crushing hug that had the same strength that Lee bestowed each of his signature embraces with.

The two boys stayed in their quiet embrace until Gaara pulled away, face red and wet with tears. Lee’s mouth fell open to speak but the panicked expression from Gaara stopped any words from coming out.

Instead, Lee offered a bashful grin, nodding his head towards the present.

Gaara stared at the box in his hands, his trembling fingers awkwardly searched for an opening. He felt warm hands envelop his own.

“Here!” Lee said, his eyes full of excitement and joy.

Gaara’s heart fluttered. He opened the box’s lid with Lee's help, shoving past the protective gift paper. A bright, clean pair of dark red Converse sneakers sat perfectly pristine in the box.

Gaara’s fingers crept over the fresh fabric. It had been years since he’d worn a new pair of sneakers. “Lee.. Why did you..”

“Well, there was a discount at the mall. Neji and Tenten said you could use an upgrade anyway, so here they are!”

Gaara had no capacity to realize the dig from Lee’s friends as his head was filled with nothing but awe at the sincere kindness of Lee’s heart.

Lee reached for a shoe, flipping it upside down to show the bottoms. “Look, I added a little design!”

The two letters of their initials, surrounded by a messy black heart written obviously in permanent marker the way it smudged at the sides of the design.

‘Can you keep up? Baby boy, make me lose my breath. Bring the noise, make me lose my-’

Lee patted his pockets until he found his phone, answering immediately. “Yeah?” Gaara observed Lee as he spoke on the phone. His eyes widened slightly, his whole body stilling momentarily. Lee sighed as the conversation continued and movement returned in the form of Lee’s foot absentmindedly brushing against Gaara’s. “Oh, okay! Sure, I’ll be right there. Don’t move. See ya!”

The decorative boy frowned at Gaara. “That was Tenten. She thinks she sprained her ankle.”

Gaara’s eyes widened with concern. “Is she okay?”

Lee was already shoving his phone into his back pocket, phone chain swinging wildly as he jostled around. “She should be fine, but I’ll check it out. I told her not to wear those ultra platform Mary Jane’s. They didn’t even match her outfit. Pays to be tacky, huh?” Lee rambled. He pressed a soft peck to Gaara’s cheek. “I’ll see you after biology. Put those on, okay? Wouldn’t want you to sprain your ankle too!” Lee pressed one last kiss to Gaara’s nose before skipping away.

Gaara smiled, holding the box closer to his chest.

“Wait, did you just call me tacky?” He called after Lee who pretended not to hear him.

Gaara felt his knees buckle, the weight of his ignorance and his body dragging him to the ground. Lee had shown him nothing but absolute kindness since the day of their fortunate collision. Every day since had gifted Gaara with a new experience, a new memory of Lee that he held so close to his heart. His previously angsty journal had never been so full before with electrifying, crush-filled entries. His knees started to ache against the floor but nothing compared to the ache plaguing his head with the intense swarm of thoughts.

Lee watched over Gaara worriedly. Even with the tension and the frustration between them, Lee’s eyes still searched for Gaara’s. Gaara’s heart ached even more. He crawled toward Lee as if he were a stream of freshwater in the middle of a desert and he himself as the parched man he’d always been. He placed his hands on Lee’s legs, fingers splayed tight around Lee’s calves. His head laid against the soft suede fabric that hugged his warm thighs. Gaara’s face nuzzled into Lee, desperate for his warmth and scent to engulf the mentally flustered man.

“Lee.” He rasped out.

“Gaara?” His voice was soft, overflowing with concern. His face flickered from worried to annoyed, wanting to be angry but couldn’t help but wonder about Gaara’s wellbeing.

It was killing Gaara.

“Lee, I-“ His voice croaked and it sounded almost unrecognizable. “Lee, I’m so so sorry.” He whispered. His eyes were shut tight, chest heaving. “I can’t believe I ever treated you that way. I’m disappointed with myself. I-“ He swallowed the lump in his throat that begged him to stop. “Lee, you are everything to me. I will do anything to make this up to you. I don’t need two days, I don’t even need two minutes to consider you.”

Lee cleared his throat. Gaara’s eyes opened and he realized exactly where he was. Crouched like a begging man at the feet of Lee. In a moment of sobriety, he quickly withdrew his hands and held them behind his back. Internally he scolded himself for crowding. Lee was the one who would decide his fate. All he could do was sit back and take whatever he was given. He shuffled backwards and lifted his head to look at Lee.

“Be mad at me, Lee. Hit me if you want. I’ll take it. I’ll take anything if it means you forgive me. I never wanted to hurt you. I was just so confused. You’re everything I’ve never had. You are so you, Lee. I’ve never experienced anything like you. And now, I don’t want it if it’s not you.” His voice reeked of desperation.

That stubborn, abrasive silence returned.

“Please forgive me, baby.” Gaara pleaded, practically whining as his words spilled from his lips.

A grin creeped its way onto Lee’s face. He hummed softly, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands on his hips. His eyes scanned over Gaara. Gaara felt his face flush under the scrutiny of Lee. It felt like the softest clouds that reside in heaven and the sharpest spears that form in hell.

“That’s what I thought, Gaara.” Lee turned on his heels and made his way to the door. He stopped just shy of the doorframe and peaked over his shoulder. “Pick me up for school tomorrow? Don’t be late, you know I hate waiting.”

Gaara nodded furiously from his spot on the floor.

Lee smiled brightly before walking, in fact, skipping out the door.

Gaara let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

That jumpsuit wearing boy would be the death of him. What a kind death that would be.

Gaara was a quiet and simple man. He had almost the same routine each day. He had a phone with only a few contacts and almost no online presence. He had his undeniable love for music and for drumming. His sibling garage band was only meant to be a summer activity, yet it spiraled into a passion and biweekly concert at the local recreational center that he grew incredibly fond of.

He didn’t expect said hobbies to bring him even closer to Lee and put him in undeniably tense situations.

It started with Lee’s pleas to attend one of his performances. Gaara never invited people to his shows. The worry of messing up in front of an invited guest was too much for Gaara, so it made no sense as to why Lee was sitting on the couch in the rec center’s hospitality room that acted as his dressing room.

Gaara couldn’t wrap his head around it. He could only remember inviting Lee to a show after Lee first begged him for hours after class one day. Now, it was Gaara begging Lee to keep him company every other Friday night before his shows. Lee’s presence had grown to be the only comforting aid for Gaara’s pre-show nerves.

“To be quite honest, I’m really nervous.” Gaara stared at himself in the portable vanity mirror he borrowed from Temari.

He could see Lee’s head tilt in thought in the reflection. “Are you worried about messing up? You’ll do wonderfully, Gaara. I know it!” Lee was snuggled into the corner of the couch, nose-deep in his newest book from the campus’ library.

Gaara’s shoulders relaxed just a touch. “It’s hard having someone here who you want to impress. I feel like I can only think about messing up.”

Lee’s head whipped around to look at Gaara. “Who’s here tonight?”

Gaara bit his lip, hiding the smile daring to creep onto his lip.

Gaara wasn’t a religious man. No church gave him the want to return, no scripture struck deep in his heart. Every commandment felt a demand. Every testimony felt like a perfectly crafted fib.

Yet, Gaara now racked his brain for any and every god he’d ever encountered to thank them for the following moments. Gaara definitely couldn’t understand or explain why Lee was on his knees, mouth stuffed full of Gaara’s aching cock and working him like it was the most important thing in the world to him. His mind could only think about the warmth of Lee’s mouth encasing his pathetically weeping shaft.

Gaara had a weak fist full of Lee’s soft hair, gently pulling and pushing, guiding Lee along his cock. He bit back a loud whimper daring to spill as Lee pulled away for air.

He could wait. He could do this. Be a gentleman and don’t embarrass yourself.

An embarrassingly loud groan escaped as the raven’s lips kissed and sucked along his throbbing erection. Lee looked up at Gaara with those big doe-like and wet eyes, lashes dark and heavy. Gaara could feel himself melting into everything that was Lee. Lee’s soft sputters against Gaara’s hardened dick in his mouth only drove him more insane.

“Mmh, Lee.. Lee, I can’t,” Gaara groaned, eyes tightly shut.

Lee pulled back, sucking roughly to catch the excess spit. “Yes, Gaara?” His sweet voice forced Gaara’s eyes open.

Seeing Lee kneeled in front of him, hair tousled and lips pink and puffy made his cock twitch harshly, his tip hitting against Lee’s cheek. Spit and precum smeared against Lee’s smooth skin. Lee was working his own hardened cock through his tracksuit, cheeks burning with arousal.

Gaara inhaled deeply through his nose, willing himself away from climax. He shifted his hips back slightly, even the proximity of his erection near Lee’s face made him liable to explode. His cock throbbed crudely against Lee’s mouth, precum spilling from his red tip onto pink lips. Lee’s tongue darted out, collecting Gaara’s mess and swallowing. He let out a soft, airy moan as he looked up at Gaara with pleading eyes. He lips parted, tongue lazily swirling around the red tip and lapping at any leaking precum.

Before Gaara could stop himself, his orgasm unexpectedly tore through him, drawing loud moans and thick white ropes of cum out of him and all over Lee’s glossy lips.

His fingers entangled deeper into the soft dark locks of Lee’s hair, pulling gently and massaging the pads of his fingers into his scalp as the last of his release twitched out of him. Lee leaned into the gentle hands, his cheek settling against Gaara hip, pressing soft kisses against the pulsing cock.

“Do you have a tissue?” Lee asked plainly, as if it were any regular Tuesday. It was Tuesday but one where Lee made Gaara ejaculate over the raven’s face. Maybe the best Tuesday of his entire existence.

Gaara stared at Lee, mouth agape and eyes dilated but still wide for a few moments before nodding furiously, shoving his spent genitals back in his pants and rushing to get Lee a napkin.

Gaara watched Lee carefully as he pulled out a compact mirror from his fanny pack and started wiping Gaara’s release off of his face.

There was a twang of discomfort in his heart. Moments ago, it felt like he could float. Nothing weighed on him anymore, he felt freer than he’s ever felt before. Was that it?

“Is that it?” Gaara’s voice was small.

Lee peeked from behind his mirror with a lifted eyebrow. “Did.. Did you want more?”

Gaara shook his head, words caught in his throat. It wasn’t direct enough. He knew exactly what he needed to say, but the air in his lungs seemed to evaporate with each attempt.

Lee’s head tilted, trying to consider other possibilities. “No.. I’m going to watch you play?”

“I mean, for us. Will we ever,” Gaara paused, his fist clenched and unclenched at his side.

Just ask him. He forgave you. He clearly likes you. Ask him and make it official.

Lee closed the compact with a sweet smile. “Gaara? Are you trying to ask me something?” His head cocked to the side. He knew. That adorable asshole knew and had no intention of making it easier for him.

God, Gaara wanted to eat him whole.

“Lee, I need to be your boyfriend.”

Lee’s eyes widened, his lips parting slightly in awe. “Need?”

“I-.. Yes, Lee. Need. I need you, Lee.”

Lee stared at Gaara, his face still painted with shock.

Maybe that was too much. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. Maybe they shouldn’t have done that.

Gaara’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted by Lee jumping on top of him, knocking them both onto the floor.

Lee pushed himself up slightly, his arms bracketing Gaara’s head. “GAARA! Are you positive? You want to be with me?” Lee’s volume was a clear indicator of his mood.

Lee was overjoyed.

Gaara could only nod. Dizzy from the fall, dizzier from their proximity. Dizziest by the revelation that Lee was finally his. Irritated with himself with how easy it was to ask and how he could’ve done so months ago. “Lee, I’d want nothing more. I thought it was clear with how often I literally fell for you. You’re a wonderful distraction.” Mostly, he was thankful to be where he was.

Lee’s eyes almost twinkled as he listened to Gaara. “Gaara, no one’s ever said anything like that to me.”

That can’t be true.

“It is! You’re the first. In this and in, uh..” The deep blush on Lee’s neck told more than he could verbally.

Gaara opened his mouth to deliver either a comforting or witty reply, aiming for both, before the dressing room door swung open.

Temari, Kankuro, their friends Shikamaru and Kiba all stood on the other side, varying surprised and amused expressions on their faces.

“Finally! Hopefully he’ll loosen up on stage!” Kankuro rolled his eyes but let his annoying smirk linger.

“Right… See you in five for warmups. Lee, you’re invited too.” Temari offered a small, forced smile before quickly shutting the door.

The two boys shared an awkwardly quiet moment.

“I am so excited to see you and your siblings perform!” Lee’s smile showed no sign of embarrassment.

Gaara on the other hand, hid his face behind his hands and groaned softly. “You’re gonna be the death of me, Lee.”

A loud gasp forced Gaara to pull his hands away. Lee, with extreme worry displayed on his face, stared at Gaara. “You’re going to die?”

The white fluorescent lights shone bright in Gaara’s face. His heart pounded heavily in his chest. His arms ached with every bang on the drum. He had never felt so alive while playing.

It seemed as if his siblings could feel his energy through his drumming, they ramped up their strumming and singing with it.

It was a faint image, but it was certain to Gaara. A mess of black hair flipped wildly from side to side. Hands danced in the air, the owner’s body flowed and gyrated with each beat. For the first time since they’d started dating, way before Gaara had the bright idea that they could even date, he saw Lee move in a way he hadn’t before. Without the worry of his friends or the eyes of anyone, even Gaara’s. It was just Lee, the music, and possibly the supplemental hit of the Sand Siblings traditional pre-show joint that he daringly took the smallest drag from.

Gaara was beyond terrified to call them a couple in the fear of messing up such a beautiful and pure thing. Thinking of holding Lee’s hand made his stomach twist into a knot, not because he didn’t want to publicly be his lover, but because of what could happen if it all went wrong. If. It was then that he finally understood that his fear of something so trivial and so unlikely was stopping him from experiencing something so beautiful. He was in so deep and he had no plans to keep above the vast sea that was Lee.

Gentle Sins

(chap. 4 of cherry lips and juicy couture is coming out soon, i swear! but consider priest gaara x sinner lee??

or you can read this on a03!

and shout out to @somebitchprobably-graphicdump for da epic dividers)

“Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It has been twenty-nine days since my last confessional.”

Gaara’s tongue anxiously swept over his bottom lip. It had been a monotonous day, as usual. His daily bowl of plain Cheerios for breakfast acted as a whole grain crystal ball— a foreshadowing overview for a mundane workday. After hours of confessions, his eyes felt heavy and his legs began to ache. He had always wished for an upgraded seat within the confessional booth, but it was just last week he preached that Jesus wasn’t crucified on a cushioned cross. Still, his back was tense and he wanted to go home to his second bowl of cheerios. He was, however, thankful for the almost complete dark setting of the booth. It didn’t grant complete anonymity unless Gaara chose not to look through the lattice separating him and each penitent. He could close his eyes while he listened. Someone could see him with his eyes shut and dishing out penances as a meditative state of prayer and a direct connection to God. Really, he preferred to not know who exactly did whatever wrongdoings that were confessed, in fear he’d end up subconsciously disliking members of his church. He was forgiving to a fault— he couldn’t quite ever grasp the ability to be as forgiving as their Holy Father.

Then, that newest penitent, frantic and drenched in worry, claimed his attention. There was nothing that particularly stood out for Gaara from this man than his unique voice. Every confessional seemed like a last chance at life for him, for the most innocent of sins. He’d begged for forgiveness for finding a fly annoying, as flies were too God’s creation and therefore, perfect. The indirect examples of his generosity seemed artificial at first. He’d explain how he would become frustrated that his town didn’t have proper crosswalks for elderly or disabled citizens to use. Gaara thought it was performative. Then, he realized that the man maybe deserved the seat across the booth more than he did, as good his gestures never faltered since his first confessional. It had been over four weeks he waited for that voice. Gaara sat up straight, just barely glancing at the man. “Welcome.”

“F-Father... Please…” The man’s voice was different. It wavered with each syllable and was broken up by a sob. His large hands pawed at the barrier between them, fingers slipping through the lattice. “I’ve tried so hard. I prayed, I prayed and I kept praying. It has not stopped.” His words sent an uneasy shiver down the priest’s spine.

Father Gaara watched as the man’s chest heaved with each breath. His heartbeat quickened as he watched the man. He had dark, messy hair that fell just above heavy lidded eyes. His pink lips were parted slightly as he panted. Gaara’s fingers frantically toyed with the rosary in his hand.

“That is not a confession.” Gaara winced at the bluntness of his voice. He wanted nothing more for the man to return, as he wishes for every sinner. However, it would be a lie if he were to say he didn’t await this penitent’s arrival. “Please, continue.”

The man’s head turned, eyes searched through the dark confessional. Only when the light that seeped through the lattice wall reflected on the man’s face, could Gaara see that he was soaked. The man leaned forward, forehead pressed against the barrier between them.

“Father,” he pleaded breathlessly. His long eyelashes fluttered over his wet cheek. “I come to Mass every day, Father.”

Gaara’s eyebrows pressed together, confused. “Yes. But that is not-“

“Every day, Father. I walk in. I sit as close as I can to your altar. I listen to you preach His word every single day.”

Gaara’s leg bounced lightly, undetectable to the man on the other side. The priest wasn’t sure if it was due to anxiety or impatience as he awaited the confession. He was sure that the size of the room felt as if it was shrinking with every passing minute.

“I listen to the scripture as it falls from your tongue, Father, yet I cannot remember a word you say.”

A breathy laugh escaped his lips. Gaara couldn’t even remember what he preached last night. “Is this your confession, my child?”

“I forget because I do not listen.”

Gaara nodded. “I see.”

“Father, I watch the words form on your lips and I cannot remember a thing!” The man’s fingers clutched the lattice fence tighter. “I can only remember..” His words died with a heavy sigh.

“What is it, my child?”

He lifted his head, eyes piercing through the shadows and through Gaara. The eyes shifted around, searching, like a predator for its prey. The man certainly couldn’t see much, but Gaara’s heart raced still.

“I only remember the color of your lips, O Father. I only remember the times your eyes lay upon me, if even for a moment. I remember the times in which you drink from the blood of our Holy Father and how it spills down your chin and neck.”

Gaara stilled, rosary creaking in his tight grip.

“Father, I was raised to not be wasteful. When you sip from the Holy goblet, I can only think about how I’d lick the wine from your neck back to your mouth. My-” The man chuckled, shakily. “My mind often ponders how the blood of Christ tastes from the mouth of the anointed.” His head fell into his hands, wiping over his face as if that solely could wash away his sins. “Would it still be holy, Father Gaara?”

Gaara’s attention was pulled back into the suffocating booth at the mention of his title. His eyes scanned for the man’s dark pupils. “Would what still be holy?”

Lee lifted his head, slotting his fingers back through the lattice. He pulled himself closer, the barricade groaning with the give. “Would the blood of Christ still be holy from your lips to mine?”

His heartbeat pounded loud in ears. Gaara pressed his sweaty palms onto his knee and closed his eyes for one steadying moment. “I-”

“I pray it is, Father. I pray every single day, every morning and night for my sins.”

“That’s.. That’s good, my-” Gaara paused. He couldn’t bring himself to finish.

“Father, I have done my penances. All that you have bestowed.”

“Good.”

“I even do more, Father. I do more in hopes to please you. To please my Lord.”

Gaara further squeezed his eyes shut. He pondered the being of whom the man referenced as his Lord.

“I do push-ups, Father Gaara. Each push up, I ask for forgiveness from you.” The man whispered. “My arms ache and my stomach burns, but I cannot bear the thought of you being disappointed in me.”

Gaara was unsure if this was a prayer to Christ or a confession straight to the priest himself.

“Even then, I think of you. I think of you as a sinner, like me. And I-..” He hesitated.

Gaara’s heart pounded harder in his chest. He was both thankful and terrified of the pause. If only he could have just a moment to wrap his head around this-

“I think of you without your robes, Father.”

Suddenly the heat from his many layers felt unbearable. He forced himself as still as an inanimate object. A tight, tugging feeling washed over his core. He refused to even engage in conceptualizing it.

“I think of you when I kneel. I think of how badly my knees ache after Mass. I think of you kneeling, Father. I wonder if your knees would ache. I wonder if they’d burn red and bruise.” The man said in all sincerity and without a lick of embarrassment. He spoke as freely as one would when sharing their favorite food.

Gaara’s palms roughly squeezed his kneecaps in an attempt to ground himself, while his stomach felt as if it were caving in and tying itself into a darling bow.

“If I were your God, I would never make you kneel, Father. Anything you’d do would please me.” The man expelled a deep breath. “For these, and all my sins, I am sorry.”

“Your penance.” Gaara rushed, speaking at a level unnaturally loud for him. He had no desire to grant this man any scripture to back his decision or any aid in helping the immoralist. “Say the Lord’s prayer and ten Hail Marys. Say your Act of Contrition.”

“Yes, Father Gaara.”

The man pushed himself forward off of the seat, coming uncomfortably close to the lattice separating them. His face pressed against it, his soft lips slightly spilling around each grid.

“My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things.”

Gaara watched as the man mouthed each word against the barricade, his lips scraping with each syllable. The man’s dark lashes fluttered as they struggled to remain shut as if it took immense effort to contain the sin within him. The man’s legs bounced furiously and his eyebrows furrowed deeper with lines engraving themselves onto his forehead. Gaara couldn’t look away.

It was all but alluring.

That couldn’t be it. That man was a sinner who needed to be saved. That was what Gaara wanted.

“I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us, In his name, my God, have mercy. Amen.” He prayed under a whisper.

With every labored breath that punctuated the man’s sentences, Gaara inched closer to the lattice barrier. During bible studies, Gaara would have the group join hands in prayer. To ground one around and feel the spirit of their prayer and of Christ flowing between them. Perhaps that was the reason why the priest slowly advanced forward, until his lips gazed against the soft flesh of the penitent before him. He observed as the man’s eyes quickly blinked open. He expected the man to be scared and pull away; they were close enough that eye contact became difficult and dizzying, but not impossible. Instead, the large, doe-like eyes of the penitent stared back into Gaara’s, unbothered and possibly even pleased.

They stayed there, frozen in time, with warm lips against warm lips. Breath fanning across one another’s mouths. Gaara was the first to move, a minute amount, only to start the prayer absolution.

“God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his son has reconciled the world to himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins.” Gaara muttered against the shield that separated the holy from the sinners. He pressed further in, seeking the man’s warm and plush lips against his own.

The man hummed softly, sighing against Gaara’s lips.

“Through the ministry of the church, may God grant you pardon and peace.” His mouth ran drier with each sacred word as they transitioned into blasphemy amidst their lips.

Gaara’s tongue darted out instinctively to wet his drying lips. His tongue met his own skin and the lips of penitent. The man let out a quiet, but eager and wanting groan. His own tongue chased the fleeting priest’s, licking and caressing any reachable flesh. His tongue naturally danced with the sinner’s like it was a routine act during their shared confessionals. The penitent tasted of the sweetest wine, more addicting and mind-altering than anything Gaara had ever experienced. It was intoxicating. Gaara’s eyes fluttered shut as his mind raced with scriptures that could steer him to right and from wrong. The soft whimpers and wet, gentle sucking on his bottom lip were his only anchor to the real world.

Gaara pulled back harshly, yet barely out of reach from the other man. His whole body heaved with every breath, drinking in the sacrilegious atmosphere within the tainted confessional. Dark brown eyes stalked him, waiting.

“I.. I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” He spat out as if his words were a curse daring to crawl on his tongue.

The man sat back with one deep breath. A look of pure relief washed over him. Once a starving man, finally full and satiated. He dragged his tongue along his lips while Gaara’s eyes followed, entranced.

literally had to make a twitter account to see it, i have no clue how to work it and if i will use it anymore after this (i’m actively praying on elon’s downfall) but this is such an honor!

i make mediocre yaoi but i made mediocre yaoi FROM THE HEART.. and no one can ever take that away from me.

i’m so up like

i am so lucky. i think i reached enlightenment.

(i took a 15mg edible and heard masayoshi takanaka play ‘you can never come to this place’)

(did someone say they want a 7.5k chapter? feeling = electric. once again, lyrics at the top do not coincide with the the attached song! enjoy!)

(pt. 1) (pt. 2)

—————————————————————————

Lee’s behavior was getting out of hand.

There was simply no way he could see how inappropriate he was being! Gaara was almost appalled by it, actually.

Almost.

Lee’s tight bottom-bedazzled outfits, thick pink gloss covering his already tempting lips, dark black hair pinned up with those girly dainty hairclips, thick eyelashes batting sinfully… it was all too much!

Gaara wouldn’t put up with it any longer.

Gaara tried to ignore Lee and his obliviously sexual nature. He had perfected a simple sidestep into a nearby empty classroom as Lee and his new pair of low cut jeans blissfully trotted down the hallway. It had gotten to the point where Naruto had stopped questioning why Gaara would duck behind him when he realized Lee was nearby. It’s not like Lee tried to be so alluring, he just was.

Maybe Gaara should’ve realized that trying to ignore Lee was not a great choice.

Lee hated not seeing his friends, and Lee had made it very clear that they were friends. With loud greetings in the morning of the school courtyard and text messages sent at the late hours of the night, Lee had adopted Gaara into his realm.

The weekend prior, Kankuro suggested a sibling outing. What Gaara and Temari didn’t expect was a group appointment for matching facial piercings. After ten minutes of Temari scolding Kankuro and deadly glares from Gaara, the trio walked out with new jewelry and sore faces for the upcoming week.

Kankuro’s initial plan of them all having the same matching cheek piercings was quickly rejected, but in Kankuro’s defense, he had only been acting upon his siblings’ recent behavior. The mumbles of Temari wanting to upgrade her stage look and Gaara contemplatively whispering about how he wondered what a lip piercing felt like.

In the end, they all enjoyed their respective piercings. The coming days were filled with Temari posting more selfies than ever on her private story showing off her new industrial, conch and tragus piercings along her ears, Kankuro attempting (and failing) to put contacts to not to disturb his new nose bridge piercing and Gaara abstaining from licking his dry lips as his snake bites healed.

So, Gaara really truly couldn’t afford falling face first onto the ground again, which made avoiding Lee imperative to his piercing’s healing period. Lee, however, was as determined as he was pretty, and Gaara thought he was the prettiest thing he’d ever laid his eyes on.

“GAARA!” Lee’s shout was muffled by the rock music blaring from Gaara’s headphones, but still somehow loud enough to draw his attention.

Gaara sighed, pushing one headphone off of his ear, looking up for the source of his next headache and boner combination.

“Where have you been, Gar’?” Lee’s bright smile rivaled the afternoon sun. Lee took a seat next to Gaara on the bench, scooting close until their sides met. “Have you been avoiding me?” Instantly Gaara could see the tears welling up in Lee’s eyes.

The whiplash Lee gave Gaara was mesmerizing. He knew it was no good for him but it was still so addicting.

Gaara turned his head to fully face Lee, “No, Lee. You know I couldn’t do that if I tried.” The small smile on Gaara’s lips drew Lee’s attention.

Gaara knew he had only seconds until-

“GAARA!” Lee gasped loudly. Lee took Gaara’s face into his hands and pulled him close, noses brushing against each other. “YOU’RE PIECERED?”

Gaara’s eyes pinched shut as Lee yelled in his face. Lee’s breath smelled of spearmint chewing gum and a cherry scented gloss. He wondered what those would taste like together.

“I am, babe. What about it?” Gaara opened one eye once he felt the warmth of Lee’s hands leave his face.

Lee pulled away with a faint blush dusting his cheeks. He played with his fingers in his lap, a small smile creeping on his lips. “I-I didn’t know!” His eyes shifted between his lap and Gaara’s lips.

Gaara sat up fully, finally recovering from Lee’s greeting. Over the weeks of their awkward conversations, Gaara had learned a thing or two about Lee.

No matter how loud and confident he seemed, Lee could be left a stuttering mess with a well placed pet name.

For all the times Lee had unintentionally left Gaara frozen from feelings too embarrassing to name, Gaara’s realization of his ability to do it back was game-changing.

Over the weeks of their budding friendship, Gaara also inadvertently learned of Lee’s self awareness– which was minimal. If anything, it helped Gaara greatly. He would never intentionally manipulate Lee but he was alright with leveling the playing field.

“Do you like it?” Gaara asked, watching Lee’s steady gaze on his lips. He swiped his tongue over his bottom lip, forcing Lee’s eyes back up to his awaiting ones. Lee’s cheeks darkened even more.

“I really like it.” Lee’s voice was small and his eyes refused to meet Gaara’s.

Gaara nodded. Unlike Lee, he wasn’t able to keep this act going.

Lee captured Gaara’s attention like never before. His nights were spent wondering about Lee’s favorite foods, his preferences in songs and what Lee looked like on his knees. He wondered why Lee was so toned, why Lee always had his arm around the one Hyuga kid or matches hair ties with Tenten. What was Lee like academically? Did Lee even like boys? Had Lee ever sworn?

Lee consumed his thoughts more often than not. It wasn’t just an encounter between acquaintances anymore, Gaara needed it to be something more.

With all the boldness and strength he could muster, Gaara hooked his arm around Lee’s waist, hand sitting on Lee’s hip.

Lee sat up straight with a gasp. His eyes darted to find Gaara’s.

“Want to touch them? I won’t bite.”

Lee leaned in, his curiosity filled eyes widening as he neared. He glanced up at Gaara. It took everything within Gaara not to eat him whole as Lee stared at him like a lost puppy. “With my fingers?”

Gaara hadn’t ever been so close to Lee, he could almost taste his cherry mint treat. His lips pulled into a satisfied smile, “If that’s what you want.”

“… What I want..” Lee wasn’t listening as much as he was staring.

If Gaara had to guess, Lee wanted the same thing he did–to know what the other’s lips felt like. Something to supplement the thoughts that have plagued his mind for days.

Lee’s fingers reached out to touch Gaara’s bottom lip. He chewed his own bottom lip between his teeth as focused on Gaara’s piercing. His pointer finger gently tapped the point of the silver piercing. Gaara’s eyes watched Lee’s fixed gaze on his lip. It boldened him. He knew Lee would like his new accessory, but having Lee in the literal palm of his hand drove him mad. There were times where he was confident that he held the power in their unspoken tango, but Lee’s grip had never once faltered on Gaara’s leash. As metaphorically as it was, he still felt his throat tight and unable to breathe when Lee looked at him like this.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore?” Lee’s voice was delicate, as if speaking could hurt Gaara.

“It’s been fine while eating and brushing. I haven’t done much of anything else.” Gaara’s voice was naturally low and deep, but he’d be lying if he were to say he wasn’t intentionally trying to deepen his tone. Lee seemed to love it.

A blush spread across Lee’s cheeks. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. His bottom lip was puffy and glistened with spit. Would it be wrong to taste him?

“Can you still kiss?”

Gaara's eyes met Lee’s. He was staring back at Gaara, his own gaze unfaltering.

“I can.”

Lee didn’t move. He glanced down at Gaara’s lips, then back at his eyes as if he were awaiting permission. Gaara had almost forgotten about his hand pressing firmly against Lee’s hip. The world around him was drowned out by the beating from his heart filling his eardrums. He felt sweat heading at his hairline, heat flushing his entire body. It was only him, his sweat and Lee. Nothing else existed at that moment. With one final squeeze, he closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against Lee’s.

Lee’s gasp was caught between their lips. He wasted no time in returning the kiss, pressing harder onto Gaara. He wrapped his arms around Gaara’s shoulders, one hand finding its way into the tangled mess of hair at the nape of Gaara’s neck.

It was in fact, everything that Gaara imagined and more. Lee tasted like mint and fake cherries. His skin was the softest thing that Gaara had ever felt. His fingers rubbed circles into the fabric of Lee’s jumpsuit, the stimulation pulling a soft moan from Lee. His grip tightened on Lee’s hip. He desperately wanted to hear him again.

Lee could hear the music blaring from Gaara’s forgotten head buds dangling around his neck. Lee pulled away, far enough to where Gaara couldn’t continue leaning in to keep their lips together.

“What are you listening to?” Lee asked.

Gaara was panting slightly, eyes dilated and his hair messy from where Lee’s fingers played. “Huh- What?”

Lee took one earbud and put it to his ear. “Is this Fall Out Boy? I love them!” Lee’s hands clutched the front of Gaara’s hoodie.

“Oh fuck.”

Lee’s eyebrows raised slightly while his lips pursed, readying to question Gaara’s profanity. Lee probably didn’t like profanity. Gaara definitely liked Lee. The love-struck boy decided he would never swear again, if he could help it.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” Gaara asked quickly, his voice cracking slightly. His knee bounced at a speed that had Lee’s head tilting in confusion. Gaara’s knee bounced faster.

“For..” Lee questioned.

“More.”

Lee’s eyes widened. “More?”

Gaara nodded. He wanted to say more, he wanted to confess to Lee right then and there. He wasn’t a man of confessions. He wrote in his mangled diary once every few months and screamed into his pillow nightly. He placed his hand on his thigh, palm facing up and awaiting Lee’s.

Lee stared at Gaara for only a beat longer, took one quick glance at Gaara’s hand and placed his own in Gaara’s grasp. Gaara sprung to his feet, he gripped his book bag with one hand and pulled Lee towards their secret destination. Lee’s squeals and the sound of his feet scraping the ground as he struggled to keep up made Gaara smile.

He had no clue what he was doing, but all those coming of age movies Kankuro forced the siblings to watch on movie nights and all of the angsty songs Gaara blared through his speakers on the weekends finally made sense.

Gaara’s instinct led the two down a hall that students rarely visited. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but it was mostly untouched by most students and faculty. After the school’s renovation of the auditorium in the west wing, the east wing’s gym and hallway were left abandoned and operated as additional storage.

“Gaara, where are we?” Lee asked.

Gaara turned around, his attention stolen by the look of awe on Lee’s face. His mouth was agape, eyes twinkling as he looked around. Lee made anything look interesting and important, and Gaara was delighted to be a part of that anything.

Gaara stopped in front of a door. Its previous label was missing, only a tinted outline proving its existence. Gaara knocked four times on the door and waited.

No response. Perfect.

He twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open. It was a small, slightly dusty closet. Abandoned cleaning supplies sat on shelves towards the top of the room. In the corner was an old, dark blue throw blanket and one singular brown decorative pillow.

“Before we go in,” Gaara mumbled as his left hand rummaged around in his jean pocket. He fished out a cheap plastic beaded bracelet and placed it on the doorknob. “Just a precaution.” He shot Lee a quick wink before stepping out of the way to lead Lee in.

Lee ducked his head in an attempt to hide his blush, hesitantly stepping into the make-shift room. “Gaara, are we allowed to be in here?”

A small chuckle escaped Gaara’s lips. He placed one hand on Lee’s lower back, gently ushering him in. “I’d never put you in harm's way, baby.” He said, willing his voice not to shake and reveal just how nervous he truly was. Lee, thankfully oblivious to Gaara’s state, spun around to face him with an adorably shocked expression.

“What do you do in here?”

Gaara’s eyes widened, thankfully not by much with his typical lack of dramatic expressions. He was amazed that Lee didn’t instantly clock the old smell of marijuana soaked into the deteriorating wood. “Uh, pray?”

Lee chuckled nervously. “Gaara, I don’t want to get in trouble-”

Gaara stepped into the room behind Lee and gently shut the door. “Do you want to leave?” He asked sincerely. The light from the hallway faded as the doorknob clicked into the latch. Darkness washed over the small closet.

Lee’s eyes softened. “No.”

Gaara stepped closer to Lee. He reached out to find Lee’s side, earning a small gasp once his fingers made contact on some part of Lee. Gaara pulled Lee against his body. “Is this okay, Lee?”

Lee’s earrings jingled as he nodded.

“I need your words, Lee.” Gaara said softly. He wrapped his other arm around Lee, letting his hands meet behind Lee’s back. Lee’s arms automatically raised themselves up on Gaara’s shoulders.

“Yes, this is okay Gaara.”

Gaara allowed himself to smile wide under the cover of the dark closet, “Can I kiss you?”

Lee nodded, his soft exhale brushed against Gaara’s lips,“Please.”

Gaara reached one hand up to find and cup the side of Lee’s face. He guided the other boy’s lips to his own, slotting his lips between Lee’s.

Lee’s hands raked down to Gaara’s chest, his fingers gripping gently at the red-haired boy’s shirt. He whimpered weakly into Gaara’s mouth.

Gaara mustered up all the strength that he could to pull away, only an inch. Lee’s lips quickly chased after, succeeding in claiming a few more wet and whiny pecks.

“What do you want, babe?” Gaara searched for Lee’s begging look in the darkness.

Lee clutched onto Gaara's shirt tighter. “Gaaraaa!” He whined.

Wow. Gaara needed more. His head spun listening to the raven-haired boy’s wails. Each squeeze, every moan left Lee a panting mess. It’s not that the drummer was more experienced, that wasn’t the case at all. He thought about his elderly physics professor’s horrid drawl to try to steady himself. He wanted to hold onto any semblance of control.

“Yes, babe?”

Lee’s feet shuffled momentarily and he let out a small huff. “I want more..” He said, just under a whisper.

“I know you can be louder than that.”

Lee’s fist pulled Gaara’s shirt taught in his grasp and yanked him close. Gaara’s eyes slightly adjusted to the frustrated look on Lee’s face. “Just fucking kiss me, Gaara!”

Oh!

Gaara grabbed Lee by the hips and walked him back against the wall. His right hand found the back of Lee’s head before he pressed his weight against Lee, smashing his lips against Lee’s.

Soft moans spilled from Lee’s lips as Gaara kissed him ravenously. Gaara’s hands traveled up and down Lee’s sides, gripping and squeezing wherever he could. His hands lowered themselves to Lee’s ass. He suddenly halted, pausing both his kiss and his touch.

He couldn’t rush this. He wouldn’t ever forgive himself if he made Lee uncomfortable.

Maybe this was too much. Maybe they were moving way too fast. He was more than happy to be tangled with the esteemed scholar in the small closet, but Lee was a straight A student. He never missed class and certainly wasn’t the type to ditch for a makeout session in an old janitors closet.

Was he becoming a bad influence for Lee?

He swore to himself he only wanted to be a good person to Lee. A beneficial addition to his life. Not a dent in his perfect school record.

“My goodness, Gaara! Stop teasing!” Lee gently swatted at Gaara’s chest.

Gaara blinked his internal conflict away. “I just don’t want to rush you, Lee. I can’t.”

Lee’s arms wrapped around Gaara’s neck. His fingers played with the short hair at the nape of Gaara’s neck,“Thank you Gaara, really. But I really want this.”

Lee’s words were slightly muffled as his lips attached to the side of Gaara’s neck. He sucked gently on the thin skin.

Gaara’s hands instinctively squeezed at Lee’s ass, which he didn’t even realize he was still holding onto. His hips bucked forward as Lee continued, forcing their bulges to rub against each other.

Lee whimpered a broken version of Gaara’s name and it took everything in Gaara not to finish in his pants.

Lee’s hands pushed Gaara’s grip off of him. His eyes locked onto Gaara’s before he slowly started to sink down.

Oh god.

Lee’s fingers dragged down his abdomen, gently skating across the tent in his jeans. Gaara’s hand flew to his mouth to hide his shuttering breaths.

“Lee-”

“Can I, Gaara?” Lee's eyes sparked even in the darkness. Like a sweet angel begging to commit its first sin.

Before Gaara could stutter out a response, a sharp blaring alarm rang through the halls. The boys stared at each other before Lee smiled and stood to his feet. “It’s time for environmental biology, Gar’! I can’t be late!”

Lee corrected his clothing and smoothed down his hair, all while Gaara stood frozen, his manhood twitching wildly in its confines. Lee pressed a quick peck to Gaara’s lips. “I’ll see you soon, mister!”

Gaara was brought back to earth by the sound of the closet door along with the sliver of daylight that seeped in with it as it opened and closed. He ran his hands over his face and sighed. The whiplash Lee gave him needed to be clinically studied. Gaara would happily participate in whatever they just did daily to get the data needed. It was scientific. Maybe Lee was rubbing off on Gaara and making him a better student. Yes, that was it.

Gaara grabbed his backpack from the floor before opening the closet door, shortly blinding himself with the afternoon sun, and grabbing his plastic bracelet from the knob before closing the door and heading to class. He wasn’t even sure what class he had next or if he had class next period. He couldn’t think about anything, only the way Lee felt throbbing against him as he whined for more. That was a beautiful memory that he would repeat for his entire life. He even considered writing in his diary when he got home.

Wait a minute.

Did Lee curse? And it was because of him?

More importantly, could he do it again?

—————————————————————————

Lee was in his room. Lee was in his room. Lee was on Gaara’s bed in Gaara’s room. Lee was in Gaara’s room, in his bed, a book open across his lap, pen clacking against his teeth and eyebrows furrowed together in concentration.

Lee was in Gaara’s room.

“Gaara?” Lee’s soft voice pulled Gaara back to reality.

Gaara blinked a couple of times, looking into the deep brown sea of pupils staring back at him.

“So, I used this formula since I’m calculating monthly investments. Is this right?”

Gaara glanced down at the paper. It was not right, and from the mess of equations on the scratch sheet in no particular order, he couldn’t even determine which homework problem Lee was currently on.

“Uh, let’s see. Since you’re doing monthly investments, we would use this formula. Type the total price in the calculator and multiply that by the down payment in decimal form.” Gaara’s finger pointed at each part of the problem that he mentioned.

Lee sighed, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout. “I thought I did that already!”

Gaara shook his head. “No, you multiplied by the percentage. You have to change it into a decimal.”

Lee’s head fell into his hands. “Gaaraaa!” He whined.

Gaara watched Lee’s cheeks redden, the parts that he could see that weren’t obstructed by his hands. His eyes scanned over the whole of Lee. His hair was pushed back by a dark green headband. He wore a thin black tank top that squeezed tight in all the right places, which for Lee was everywhere. His loose sweat shorts rid up with every dramatasized frustrated groan.

“Come on, Lee, you know how to do this. Remember the steps from the problem before.” Gaara said calmly.

Well to himself it seemed calm. Lee’s face scrunched in an emotion that Gaara realized as annoyance way too late.

“Gaara, I would’ve done it that way if I already knew to do so.” Lee’s voice was tense and sharp. Fierce in a way that Gaara had never heard from Lee before.

“You do know. You did it before without any instruction. You can do it again.” Gaara explained.

Lee shot Gaara with an irritated glare. “Gaara, don’t talk to me as if I’m a child!”

Gaara froze. Suddenly he felt his heart thump against his chest. No, that’s not what he meant at all.

“Lee-”

“Everyone always does that!” Lee whined, crossing his arms over his chest. “I am not stupid! Everyone treats me like I’m stupid. I am an honor roll student!”

Do not make this worse. “You are.”

“I only need help with math. Calculating mortgage should be the realtor’s responsibility! Why am I doing it for them?”

Gaara had a few responses but quickly ruled out each one based on Lee’s emotional state. Gaara was learning. Instead, he opted for a nod.

“And Neji always makes fun of how long it takes me to complete tests, even though we get the same score! He’s only three points ahead of me overall.”

Was there a school wide competition Gaara was missing? “Overall?”

Lee’s face scrunched together even harder. He was turning a shade of red that seemed unnatural.

“Yes overall, Gaara! Our whole life he’s pulled ahead. I am his rival and I will catch up to him!” He cried. His pencil became trapped in his balled up fists. His face crimsoned and his chest began to heave.

Gaara was already so confused but what he was sure of was asking for clarification now was not a great move. Lee was only becoming more frantic.

“Lee.” He said sternly.

“Gaara, everyone treats me like I’m some type of pretty idiot. How come Neji can be pretty and smart? I have a brain, too!” Gaara watched as a few tears slipped down the length of Lee’s cheek.

He considered how tortuously sightly it was the way his raven boy cried.

“You do, Lee.”

Lee’s hands trembled at his sides. It was agonizing for Gaara seeing Lee like that. In his mind, Lee had no rival. He was kind and gentle. He was so fascinated by the little things that Gaara barely had to offer. Lee was patient and incredibly intelligent, Gaara couldn’t listen to it anymore.

Gaara hurriedly cleared the bed of the forgotten notebooks and pencils. He scooted in closer to Lee, positioning himself behind Lee. His legs bracketed Lee’s as he wrapped his arms around Lee’s waist and pulled him in close until Lee’s back met his chest.

Lee tensed up momentarily, only to fully relax against Gaara. He sank himself into Gaara, sliding down until the back of his head laid against Gaara’s shoulder. Lee let out a shaky breath while Gaara’s fingertips rubbed soft shapes against his thigh.

The two stayed glued against each other for what felt like hours. The shared heat between them shifted from an unbearable, nervous sweat to a warm magnetic field that neither boy wanted to move from. Lee’s hair tickled Gaara’s shoulder with every exhale. Gaara’s soft circles turned into the rhythm of a song he couldn’t get out of his head.

“Gar’?” Lee called out quietly.

It felt like Lee grasped Gaara’s beating heart in his palm. Their proximity, the gentle touches, it was all so soft. Gentler than Gaara has ever had to be.

“Yes Lee?”

“Do you think I’m smart?”

“Lee, I think you’re more than smart.”

No, that’s not what Lee asked. Lee knows he’s beautiful, he knows he’s kind. He’s also-

“You might not remember, but we had the same English course in tenth grade. You wrote a paper about implicit biases and how we can correct them. I’ve thought about it a lot since then.”

“Are you serious?” He met Gaara’s gaze with sheepish eyes.

“Entirely. Your storytelling capabilities are unmatched. I could listen to you all day.” Teal eyes stared into dark brown ones with a look of sincerity that hadn’t ever been yielded before. Nothing had ever meant so much to him before, he supposed.

The look in Lee’s eyes quickly shifted from admiration to something more. Something hungrier.

Lee sat up on his knees and turned to face Gaara. He hesitated shortly before he climbed onto Gaara’s lap, wrapping his arms around the drummer’s neck for support. Gaara’s hands spontaneously fell to Lee’s hips, pulling him securely onto his lap.

Lee’s eyes could practically talk then, and they were begging for a kiss.

Was this a thing that they could do? Was this normal before friends? Friends who like to kiss and flirt and hang out as much as they can?

He was pulled from his thoughts by the feeling of soft, sticky lips against his own. Gaara’s mouth parted slightly to deepen the kiss, only for Lee’s tongue to push past and explore his mouth. An involuntary moan slipped from Gaara, only motivating Lee’s efforts more.

Gaara’s hands found their way to Lee’s back, holding him in place as Gaara leaned back against the bed. Lee’s hands moved to bracket Gaara’s head, leaning down to continue to kiss his tutor. His hips gently shift against Gaara’s, pulling soft identical moans from both boys.

Lee pulled away, lips shiny and panting slightly.

“Gar’?”

Yes, I love you too. Yes, you’re perfect. Yes, I want you to be my boyfriend. Yes, I need to be your boyfriend. Yes, I want to be yours forever. Yes, Lee. Yes yes yes.

“Want to get some boba?”

Gaara blinked. “Yeah. I’ll drive.”

Lee excitedly hopped off of Gaara and onto the floor, scrambling to find his shoes.

What was this boy doing to him?

“We’re finishing your homework when we get back.”

Lee groaned dramatically as he tossed on one of Gaara’s hoodies. He didn’t ask and Gaara was more than happy to know that he didn’t need to.

And why did he love it so much?

—————————————————————————

Gaara was in way over his head. A couple of glances, he could do. A wink stopped his heartbeat momentarily, but nothing he couldn’t recover from. But these fleeting moments of intimacy, soft kisses and gentle touches, were too much. It was surpassing the already limited knowledge Gaara had about relationships. All of this, and Lee hadn’t even hinted at wanting to be in a relationship.

Gaara never claimed to be a genius, but he was almost certain that there was something going on between them.

Lee was the smart one. Lee was the one who had lots of friends and thriving relationships. Can’t Lee see what he’s doing to Gaara? Is he purposely playing Gaara?

That was it. A line needed to be drawn.

Lee shouldn’t be on Gaara’s mind as much as he is. He shouldn’t have so much control over the poor boy. Enough was enough.

All of Gaara’s nights were spent staring at the ceiling, analyzing the way Lee smiled at him. He questioned if Lee would even proudly date someone so different from himself. Visually, they were incompatible. Gaara looked like he rolled out of bed at any given moment. No one could tell if he wore the same outfit each day because his closet consisted of mostly black and grey. His piercings and bright red hair were the only accessory he ever cared to adorn his body with.

Lee, on the other hand, looked masterfully decorated every single day. Each day was a different jumpsuit. Bold bright colors that hurt to look at. Lee’s hair was cut flawlessly straight and was always shiny, even if it was styled in a stupid bowlcut. It was the stupidest-hottest bowlcut Gaara had ever seen. His eyebrows were even trimmed perfectly, and they were huge! Stupidly large eyebrows that pressed together whenever Lee concentrated on his homework or leaning in to kiss Gaara.

Gaara could never rid his mind of Lee. He wasn’t even sure if he was giving it an earnest try.

The latest attempt at clearing his mind of his newest obsession was a walk in the park. The weekend always brought the park to life. Children raced to follow their parents home as the sun began to set. Couples walked slower on the trail, some occasionally stopping for photos of the orange sky. A group of teenagers ran to the freshly abandoned swingset, jumping on the seat and twisting themselves around as much as they could before letting go. Laughs and playful shouts faded to and from as Gaara walked the length of the park’s trail.

“Ladies, we’re returning to our warrior pose two.”

Further away, a group of women moved in unison to a position Gaara could only assume had something to do with yoga. His attention lingered on the group as they continued through their workout. There was something so mesmerizing about a group moving so uniformly, he had to admit.

“In three, two, and one more push, we will begin pulsing.” The instructor directed. Her voice was astonishingly controlled for how intense their movements were.

“Two more pulses. Beautiful, one more. Don’t forget to take a sip of air, breathe out on your movement.” Gaara thought her voice sounded almost too animated, but her muscles made his thoughts fade away. She could beat him to a pulp and would be entirely in the right. “Great job ladies… And Lee.”

Gaara’s heartbeat quickened at the sound of that name. He strained his eyes and neck to scan over the small crowd. Now that he was actually focused, he began to recognize a few of the faces. Ino, Sakura and the reason he started to wear more loose sweatpants instead of his usual skinny jeans. His one and only, infuriatingly bewitching Lee.

His gaze lingered on Yamanaka Ino first. The blonde beauty of the school. She was even more of a gossiper than Neji, if that was even possible. Her father was a well known government official for the state. Every smirk from her felt like an investigation of your entire being. She was scary in a mind-bending way.

Haruno Sakura, on the other hand, was a strong woman. Strong willed, mentally stout and just out right brawny. She never ran into any problems around school, almost solely due to her muscular build and academic record. It was honestly impressive. Her strength looked natural to her too. She wasn’t of a bodybuilding physique but scrawny was far from an accurate description. She was fucking strong.

Then there was Lee. He wore dark green yoga pants that had wide legs which rippled in the gentle breeze. He also wore a bright orange cropped tank top with no erotic wording decorating his chest.

That could work. Gaara could handle plain clothing in a public setting.

The red-haired beau meant to keep walking. He would surely see Lee soon. Mentally, he still hadn’t recovered from their more intimate moments that seemed to occur daily, so he had no interest in running into Lee and his brainwashing yoga outfits. The issue was, he hadn’t quite figured out how to avoid Lee. He was the infamous cousin of a butterfly and Lee was his magnetic flame. In fact, the only thing Gaara had learned from his month of Lee torture was to plan his outfit accordingly.

So, he took a slow walk around the neighborhood park in black loose sweatpants and one of his new punk band shirts. Lee picked it out during their trip to the mall for boba, insisting Gaara wear a band that he liked. The drummer didn’t have the heart to tell him that he already owned the shirt, but it had old bleach stains and fraying edges, so an upgrade didn’t hurt.

He kept his eyes on Lee as he continued his walk on the trail. The both fortunate and unfortunate part of the positioning was that the Pilates in the Park was settled right in the middle of the grassy center within the circular trail . Which meant Gaara could see Lee at almost all parts of the trail (fortunate) and Lee could see Gaara at all parts of the trail (unfortunate).

It was only a matter of time until he heard the loudest, hottest, most confusing-

“Is that Gaara?”

Wait. That wasn’t Lee’s voice. It didn’t shake Gaara to his very core.

A blonde ponytail swayed back and forth as the girl waved. “Gaara, over here!”

Since when did Ino know his name? And why would she want him to come near her? Out of the 6 months of classes together, she had never even batted an eye in his direction. Compelled by the fear of disobeying Ino, his legs begrudgingly walked him over to the group.

Sakura leaned over, whispering something in Ino’s ear. The two girls looked back at Lee and giggled while the dark haired boy turned away with an embarrassed blush spreading on his face.

Why is Lee blushing? What the hell did they say to him?

Gaara stopped in front of Ino, who stood with her arms crossed over her chest–a menacing smirk on her lips. “Funny seeing you here, Gaara.”

“At the local public park? Bland sense of humor, Ino.” Gaara shrugged.

“We have Pilates in the Park every Saturday at seven. I’ve never seen you here before.” The blonde continued, her eyes scanning Gaara from head to toe.

“I’m just taking a walk. Hope that’s okay with you.” Gaara said calmly, although it felt like his blood was boiling. Who on earth was she to interrogate him?

Gaara quickly glanced over at Lee, who was already staring intensely back at him. Ino followed his sharp gaze to find the two boys staring at each other.

“Hey Gaara, we are about to finish up. Sakura and I are already partners but that leaves Lee with no one. Would you mind helping out?” She asked with a smile.

“I don’t really know how to-”

“Great!” Ino took Gaara’s hand and pulled him towards the group. “I’ll teach you!”

Lee stood up as the grouchy red-haired boy was pulled in by Ino. Gaara wiggled his wrist from Ino’s grip and closed the gap between him and Lee.

“Gaara!” Lee’s eyes softened, a small smile appearing on his lips.

“Lee.” Gaara replied with a matching grin.

“I’m really sorry Ino dragged you into this.” Lee explained, his gaze falling to his feet as he continued. “You don’t have to be my partner. We always have the same number of people and I’m usually the one left without a partner. I’m used to it!” Lee tried to flash Gaara a convincing smile.

Gaara wanted to throw up thinking about his poor Lee doing his exercises alone each week. “No, I’m here. I’m doing it.” The words left his mouth before he even fully understood what he was meant to do. There was no way he could allow that sad thought to continue.

“Are you sure? You really don’t need to, Gaara.” Lee said as he kneeled down to sit on his yoga mat.

Gaara followed, sitting next to Lee on the mat. He felt out of place, unsure if he should even be sitting or sharing mats with Lee. Was there an unspoken rule that sharing mats meant you’re suddenly betrothed to one another? If so, he would oblige. Rules were rules and Gaara was not a rule-breaker, starting at that very moment.

“I don’t mind. I get to see what you’re up to when we’re away,” Gaara said, a smirk turning at the corner of his lips.

Lee smiled, his bright white teeth shining beneath his soft pink lips. Gaara couldn’t get enough of it.

“Partner one and partner two, we are starting on our mats, legs spread out. Match your feet to your partners and take turns gently pulling your partner in towards yourself.”

Gaara waited until Lee was in position to copy him. Lee was much much more flexible than Gaara. Lee’s chest practically touched the ground while Gaara struggled to reach out past his toes. Thankfully Lee’s skill made up for Gaara’s stiffness.

Lee reached his hands out and wiggled them at Gaara. “You can pull now!”

Gaara leaned forward as far as he could and threaded his fingers through Lee’s, pulling the boy in towards himself. Lee let out a soft sigh as he stretched forward.

Gaara allowed his eyes to rake over Lee’s form for one second. Just one. Lee’s muscles flexed and relaxed as he settled into position. His tan skin appeared to shine in the glow of the sunset. Lee turned his face to the side, taking a deep breath of the cool breeze that passed over them. He seemed so calm. As if no earthly problems ever truly bothered him. Maybe they never have. If there was one person who could find peace with anything and everything in the world around them, Gaara would bet everything he had that it would be Lee.

Initially, Gaara wanted to reject Ino’s offer to help with pilates as he imagined he wouldn’t be able to keep a straight head and a flaccid dick with Lee in such… unique positions. Yet, the only distraction that he faced was watching Lee’s face as he meditated. No furrowed eyebrows, a gentle breathing exercise that Lee graciously taught him days ago. His mind wandered as he watched Lee. Could he offer Lee a space so peaceful? He wanted nothing more than to see Lee like this all the time.

“Enjoying the view, Gaara?” The taunting voice pulled Gaara from his thoughts. He looked over to see Ino smiling at him. “You know, I asked you to help because I know how close you and Lee are. I didn’t expect you to be such a perv while doing it.” She spoke low enough for only the four to hear, the rest of the participants were oblivious to her banter.

“Partner one, take an inhale and rise on the exhale.”

Lee lifted to a seated position with a scowl on his face. Gaara squeezed Lee’s hand in an attempt to regain his attention. Lee’s eyes were locked onto Ino, who already was leaning down to stretch. Sakura rose with a tranquil look, eyes closed and a small smile as she sat up.

“Hm. Oh, Gaara, it's your turn to stretch.” She said, shooting him a quick wink.

Gaara refrained from rolling his eyes as he leaned forward. About halfway to where the rest of the ladies reached, Gaara felt his back tensing up and his hips begging for relief. He was not made for this. Lee gently tugged Gaara forward, stopping once he felt resistance. Gaara was so thankful for Lee’s hospitable gesture.

Since Gaara couldn’t reach the ground, Lee was still in his field of vision. He watched as Lee studied Ino with a burning look in his eyes. He’d never seen Lee so angry at a person, only at his calculator during class. Ino lifted her head and turned toward the two boys, exhaling deeply with that snarky smile that Gaara feared for. Lee’s grimace quickly turned into a smile that envied Ino’s.

“Lee, I wouldn’t have guessed you had a type.” She calmly commented.

“Hm?”

“Oh you know, red hair. Green eyes. Weird personalities.” Ino ducked her head to miss Sakura's swatting hand.

Lee turned his head away to hide his blush.

“At least he’s not acting like a fool around Gaara like he used to do with me.” Sakura mumbled.

Lee huffed, shutting his eyes tight and tightening his grip on Gaara. “It was third grade.” He mumbled, pulling Gaara deeper into the stretch.

Gaara couldn’t stretch any further.

“Lee.” He rasped.

“He doesn’t have a weird personality, either.”

Lee pulled Gaara even further. Air escaped his lips as he was forced lower.

“Lee, please.”

“Sakura’s hair is pink, not red.”

Gaara was convinced his hips would snap if he were pulled any further. He had no desire to fuel Ino’s gossip and taunts but he also had no desire to visit the emergency room. “Lee, babe. Please let go.”

Lee’s attention snapped back to Gaara. His eyes and mouth widened in shock. “Gaara, I’m sorry!” He quickly let go and guided Gaara up by his shoulders.

Gaara forced himself to ignore the snickers from the two girls nearby. “It’s okay, Lee. Are you okay?” He whispered, putting his hand over Lee’s.

Lee nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry you have to listen to them. They love to pick on me.”

Gaara bit his lip to hide his smile from Lee’s pouting. Even when he was upset, Lee was the cutest little thing.

“Partner two, come up on your exhale. Partner one will lay on their back, bringing your left leg over the right and turn your head and left shoulder to the opposite direction. Partner two, you will guide partner one’s knees and shoulders when we switch sides.”

Gaara leaned in close to Lee. “Was I supposed to remember all of that?”

Lee giggled softly, shaking his head. “I got it. Just stay there.” Gaara watched as Lee got into position effortlessly. He flowed into each stretch like water, the ease of the movement happened as if it were second nature. The only outlier was the small scowl that returned to Lee’s face.

“Are you okay?” Gaara asked.

“It’s just..” Lee huffed, rotating his hips and alternating to the other side. Gaara was probably supposed to help, but Lee moved so flawlessly that any help from Gaara would probably slow him down. “I don’t want to be rude. I was not raised to gossip about my peers.”

“It’s not gossip if you need to get it off your chest. You don’t deserve to harbor those emotions.”

Lee tilted his head to look at Gaara. “You’re right.”

Gaara smiled to himself. Finally, all of those talks from Temari about being kinder to yourself and letting go of negative emotions. He used to hate them, but now it made sense. In fact, he planned on messaging her about-

“She can be such a fucking bitch!” Lee hissed under a whisper.

Gaara's jaw dropped. Lee continued to ramble.

“It is one thing to joke about one’s childhood crush. But to comment on it right in front of them? In front of you, no less. Truly, does she have no shame? She certainly doesn’t have a boyfriend. Maybe that’s why she feels so inclined to discuss the love lives of other people.” Lee said, without any hatred or anger in his voice. He gently rotated his hips again and flipped to the beginning side. “I love this stretch. It really gets the lower back.”

Gaara huffed out a laugh. “You’re really something else, Lee.”

Lee smiled. “What do you mean, Gaara?”

Gaara shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, babe.”

“Partner one, return to neutral position and switch places with partner two!” The instructor’s voice called out.

“Hey, Lee,” Gaara said as he watched Lee sit up. Lee smiled at Gaara, leaning in with bright eyes and full attention. Gaara felt himself unintentionally smiling back at Lee. “I’ll be honest. I’m not doing that stretch. I don’t want to go to the hospital this evening.”

Lee’s loud laughter pulled the attention from all of the stretching ladies. For once, Gaara enjoyed the way people could see how happy Lee was with him. He craved to be seen like this with Lee.

“Want a ride home?” Gaara offered. Lee nodded and leaped to his feet, gathering his mat and duffle bag.

“Leaving so soon?” Ino’s head tilted as she watched Lee hurriedly pack up.

“I’m sorry to have to depart so abruptly. I’m gonna go make out with Gaara in the back of his car!” Lee grabbed Gaara’s hand and started walking off. He waved over his shoulder at the two girls. “See you around, Ino! Bye Sakura!”

Gaara obediently followed behind Lee with a blush spread across his cheeks.

(pt. 1)

(chapter two!! gaara can’t help falling for lee. here’s the fic playlist once again! enjoy!

btw, songs mentioned as the title in bold are not the lyrics to the songs tagged. however, the lyrics are in a song in the playlist. i just choose lyrics that best fit the chapter, then a song that fits the theme)

(edited for errors)

—————————————————————————

Lee’s dark lashes were soaked. His tears reflected the light, appearing glossy and heavy. Indescribably tempting.

He had accidentally, once again, tripped up Gaara. This time, he was merely bending over at the water fountain.

Gaara was skating past on his battered skateboard, his foot pushing off the ground and propelling him forward. It was second nature to him. The board cut through the air and all he had to do was steadily hang on. Until he caught just a passing glance at Lee’s round, plush ass sitting so well in his usual Juicy jumpsuit. That day, Lee wore a burnt orange shade, the gems were this time a deep emerald color. It resembled the looks of a tangerine, and Gaara wanted nothing more than to sink his teeth into its flesh.

Gaara’s typically strict gaze was compromised, he ignored his unknowingly obstructed path for a couple of seconds longer on the view. His wheel caught on an abandoned world history packet, stopping the fluid movement and sending Gaara flying.

Before he could reject or even realize where and how he had landed, Lee’s hands were all over him— gripping, poking and prodding.

“Gaara!” Lee’s voice was drenched in concern. His brows were furrowed together, pressing deeper as he waited for an explanation.

Gaara shook his head. He tried to rid his brain of any particularly vulgar thoughts about the dolled up beauty on top of him, checking him for god knows what. “I’m fine, Lee. Thank you.”

Lee's cheeks reddened immediately. He hid his small smile, ducking his head and hiding behind his hair. “Don’t thank me, Gaara! It was my fault you fell!”

Gaara quickly shot up, closing the gap between them significantly. “It was? H-How’d you know that?” Gaara tried to mask any telling emotion from his voice.

“Tenten told me!” Lee wailed, falling into Gaara’s chest with heavy sobs. “My-my pants! They distracted you! The gems must’ve blinded you, you poor thing!”

Gaara timidly lifted his gaze to meet Tenten’s. A pair of mischievously squinted eyes stared back into Gaara’s.

Gaara’s arms wrapped around Lee, one to break the dominance asserting staring contest with Tenten, but to also truly ease Lee’s nerves. Lee sunk into Gaara’s chest, jostling them both with his loud sniffles.

“It’s not your fault, Lee. Your pants are… gorgeous.” Gaara rubbed his hand up and down Lee’s back stiffly. He wasn’t used to comforting pretty crying boys in his lap.

Lee's head shot up, his wet eyes glistening as they bore into Gaara’s. “Really? Do you truly think so?” His cheeks were red, his body was warm and his voice was loud, excited and hopeful.

It was ruining Gaara.

“I mean it. I’ll pay more attention to what’s in front of me, I promise.” His words were tense but not enough for Lee to sense, or care. Lee’s personality is hard to read in that way. So kind and caring, it was almost suspicious that he wasn’t purposefully playing mind games. At this point, Lee could bark any order and Gaara would dutifully fulfill it.

In some alternate universe, Gaara could see himself being the one barking orders– a highly respected leader, even. Lee would be the obedient, obsessive pet.

Gaara’s pants tightened at this thought. Or maybe it was the reality of Lee blushing on his lap. Though the cause of it was uncertain, the probable culprit stands up and helps Gaara up with a wonderfully strong grip. His full biceps strained under the bright orange jumpsuit. It was hard for Gaara to look away, not that he wanted to.

Lee offered a sweet smile. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay, Gaara! Don’t be a stranger!” Lee leaned in, placing a small kiss on Gaara’s cheek before scooping Tenten’s arm into his and walking off.

Gaara’s eyes followed the origin of his fall, the mounds shifting with each alternating step. Gaara’s eyes trailed up to the bedazzled print. It was surely shiny, but Gaara couldn’t blame his pervy accidents on a brand’s creative liberties.

Gaara’s eyes kept trailing up, finding two dimples on either side of Lee’s lower back, nearing his hips. Gaara thought they were two perfect thumb rests if he could ever get behind Lee. He’d pleasure Lee first, he thought. Maybe Lee first and only him at all. He wouldn’t want Lee to rack his pretty brain trying to reciprocate. He wouldn’t need it anyway.

What was Lee doing to him?

At least, there was no way it could get worse.

Right?

_____________________________________________

It had in fact gotten way, way worse.

The bright fluorescent lighting was already giving Gaara a horribly piercing headache. Seven minutes into a three hour afterschool detention and it already felt like five hours. Kankuro was already having a spitball competition with Kiba. Tenten’s fingers were tangled in Temari’s hair. They were arguing, but every now and then, they’d stop and stare fiercely at each other, then continue bickering. Gaara couldn’t explain it, no matter how hard he tried to listen in and understand if their use of ‘cunt’ was uplifting, insulting or erotic. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to find out, either.

There was absolutely nothing that could salvage the day.

There was a soft knock on the door. The blurred window within the door offered no indication of who was on the other side.

“Uh.. come in?” Tenten called out.

The group looked around at each other, confusion plastered on their faces.

“Who the hell knocks for detention?” Kankuro muttered.

The door opens slightly, a slim figure sliding its way in.

Immediately, the hot pink sweatpants drew Gaara’s attention. Toned legs timidly strutted towards him. Gaara swallowed hard before lifting his gaze.

There was no way.

Gaara was almost scared to look up. Almost…

His eyes excitedly drifted up to find his hips that were more exposed than he’d ever seen.

Sure, he’d imagined them completely bare, bruises blossoming under his grip on them.

Now, his hipbones were so visible, and he didn’t have to squeeze his eyes shut and strain his brain for this image.

A vibrant, dazzling purple shade next caught Gaara’s eye. A thin string sat snug over his hips, dipping into his sweats. It contracted beautifully against his tan skin- wait.

Lee was wearing a thong.

Gaara cleared his throat, eyes desperately jumping up to Lee’s top which was incredibly small. A bright pink crop top with spaghetti straps to match his pants. The dark lettering on his chest spelling out, ‘who’s a good boy?’ He had his usual bubblegum pink gloss on, with his hair pinned up on either side.

He looked so… edible.

“Who’s a good boy?” Kankuro said, stifling a laugh.

Kankuro, Gaara’s brother, was a shit-talking, rage-baiting class clown. Always in detention for making crude, but accurate comments. He was pretty smart academically, but never knew when to shut his mouth. He especially liked to run his mouth around his kinda-not-really-but-most-certainly boyfriend, Kiba. More often than not, they were bickering and roughing each other up. Gaara knew it was just an excuse to have their hands on one another.

Tears quickly started filling Lee’s eyes.

“Woah woah, Lee!” Tenten hopped off of the desk she was lounging on and rushed over to Lee’s side. Her arms wrapped around him and he immediately laid his head on her shoulder, as seamlessly as if it were a routine. Maybe it was. Gaara wished to alleviate Tenten of her Lee-comforting duties.

Tenten was one of Lee’s closest friends. She was a smart-mouthed, hot-tempered and very popular figure among the school. She was one of the three in Lee’s well-known friend group. She wore her long brown hair in her signature double bun style. Gaara had once seen her pull a razor sharp carved chopstick out of the bun while yelling at a random kid who spilled a few drops of his coffee on her shoe.

“What happened Lee? Why are you even here?”

Lee sniffled loudly, gasping and whimpering as he tried to catch his breath.

Gaara needed to not find it attractive.

“I g-got in trouble for m-my outfit!” He wailed between sobs.

Kankuro scoffed. “Yeah, no shit.” Kiba slapped the back of his head, rolling his eyes.

“Why’d you wear this anyway, Lee? It’s not your normal jumpsuit. You love those!” Tenten asked.

“N-Neji told me to! He even g-got me th-this shirt!” Lee stood up tall, yanking on his shirt for emphasis.

His shirt offered very little coverage in the first place. His yanks revealed more skin than Gaara thought he’d see that day.

Wait, who the hell was Neji and why was he dressing Lee like that?

Could Gaara somehow get involved?

Although he wanted to personally thank Neji for this moment, Gaara would be doing no such thing. Neji Hyuga was one of, if not, the most popular kid in school. His family owned a well known business in the sports industry. Neji was loaded and acted like it too. How he ended up being one of Lee’s closest friends, was beyond Gaara. Neji had a sharp tongue and a cunning mind. No one has ever successfully so much as whispered an insult in his direction without ending up as the latest ‘did you hear’ gossip around the school. Neji was feared. Neji’s torment seemed to not be exclusive to weakling peers. Gaara would surely tear Neji a new one for setting Lee up like that. Then maybe shake his hand after.

Tenten sighed and shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and pointer. “He’s such a dick sometimes. Lee, this is a little inappropriate for school, honey.” She explained with a gentle tone.

Lee frowned. “But why? I am a good boy!”

Kiba snorted. “Yeah you are, princess.” This time, Kankuro was the one to smack Kiba upside his head.

Kiba, Kankuro’s not-so-secret play-thing, was actually a friend of Lee. It didn’t calm the fire burning inside Gaara when Kiba casually threw out a pet name to Lee, when Gaara had been working up the courage for days just to talk to Lee. Kiba’s demeanor was very similar to Kankuro’s. He often spoke first then thought later.

“Kiba, this is no time for pleasantries. I have been wrongfully convicted!” Lee cried.

“It’s detention Lee, not jail.” Temari said flatly.

Temari was Gaara and Kankuro’s sister, which meant all three siblings ended up in detention together. There could be some correlation between their extra-long band practice the night prior. Temari’s annoyance, already having the no-bullshit attitude on regular days, only grew in intensity when she was tired. Thankfully, Tenten was there. Gaara wasn’t sure what was going on between the two, but he had a bigger problem growing between his own two legs to worry about.

“Is there a difference?” Lee asked, voice full of genuine concern.

Gaara wanted so badly to join in the conversation with Lee, but his mouth felt drier than ever, his mind foggy and heart racing. Even with all of those symptoms, he wanted to talk to Lee so badly, still.

“You can't wear a thong to school and not expect a write-up.” Kiba explained.

Lee scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Is it really that bad?” He spun around with his arms out, displaying his outfit.

Halfway through his spin, the room collectively and unknowingly, took a glance at Lee’s rear end, which to their surprise also had a phrase on it.

Gaara’s problem twitched in his pants.

“Eat me?” Temari all but yelled.

“What? Eat you?” Lee turned back around with a confused look.

“Lee, your ass says ‘eat me’. You didn’t know?” Tenten asked.

Lee’s mouth fell open as he shook his head. “I didn’t! Why would it say eat me?” Lee turned his head to try and glance at his butt. “Who would want to eat me?”

The room fell quiet, except for a stifled snicker from Kiba or Kankuro. Or both. Gaara felt the burning gaze of eight pupils on him.

“Gaara? What do you think?”

Gaara thought he heard an angelic symphony and almost allowed himself to sit and listen to their songs until the end of detention. Then he realized he wasn’t religious and that Lee was directly in front of him.

“Is it really that bad?”

The scent of bubblegum and cheap strawberry shampoo flooded his senses first. He wearily looked up at Lee practically standing over him.

“I, uh.. Your out- um. You. It’s not, uh, bad?”

Lee’s tense gaze softened. He chuckled lightly. “What? Gaara, are you okay?”

Gaara cleared his throat and sat up straight in his seat, holding his hands over top of his desk. Then he unfolded them. Why would he even fold them in the first place? “I’m great, Lee. You too, um, are great. Y-you look great!” He rushed to spit out.

“See!” Lee thrusted his arms out towards Gaara now that his point was proved. He smiled brightly at the redhead. “I wish you were my professor, instead.”

Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.

Gaara shut his eyes quickly and slowly breathed out through his nose. No. No more thoughts. Even if Lee encouraged them.

“I’m sure Gaara would love that too, Lee. He’d make sure you’re a fine student.” Temari muttered, her focus on the flaking nail polish on her nails.

Gaara couldn’t even glare at her if he wanted. He wasn’t one to share secrets, but his infatuation with Lee wasn’t the most subtle. His siblings have been teasing him since they’ve discovered his crush.

Unfortunately for Gaara, Kankuro caught on to Temari’s banter. Of all the cues Kankuro has missed in his life, this is the one he picked up on? It’s like they were genetically engineered to annoy Gaara.

“Yeah, you know Tem, you’re right.” Gaara cringed at the playful tone in Kankuro’s voice. That tone usually indicated trouble. “Lee, wouldn’t you be a good boy for Gaara?”

Lee, like the sweet, stupid, but oh-so sweet puppy he was, perked up, nodding furiously. “Yes! Gaara, I would be such a good boy for you!”

Gaara held his breath and shoved his face in his hands. There’s no way Lee was saying these things to him.

Gaara's luck seemed to run out before he woke up that day, as Tenten’s eyebrows lifted and a small smirk crawled onto her lips.

Why was everyone out to get him? Gaara wasn’t a mean person. He didn’t deserve this. He kept his mouth shut when he accidentally walked in on Kankuro practically eating Kiba’s face in the siblings’ shared bathroom. Gaara also kept to himself when he heard Tenten’s suggestive whispers to Temari on car rides home. Gaara was a nice person! Why was he the target of their Lee-based attacks?

“You know, Lee, Gaara is pretty good at math. Didn’t you say you could use some help in that area?” She asked, tilting her head as if she genuinely cared about Lee’s mathematics score.

“Yes, Tenten. Thank you for being so proactive about my academic success!” Lee turned to face Gaara. He walked over to Gaara’s side and fell to his knees. “Oh, Gaara, would you please tutor me? I really really really need to pass that class!” Lee begged, tugging on his pant leg. There were genuine tears developing in Lee’s eyes.

That was it. Lee, looking up at Gaara on his knees. His big brown wet eyes pleading. His hair was already conveniently pushed back. Lee tugged and tugged at his pant leg. Lee leaned forward, placing his cheek right above Gaara's knee. This was one of the few sacred imagery he procured by himself, now in real life!

Gaara nodded. “Sure. Why not?”

Lee’s head shot up, but his eyes were squinting. “Are you sure, Gar’? I don’t want to burden you!”

Gaara cleared his throat. “You could never be a bother, babe.”

Lee beamed. His white large teeth shone almost like a ray of light at Gaara. “Thank you, Gaara! Thank you!” Lee squeezed at Gaara’s leg.

Gaara smiled and nodded. That was it. He used up all of his brainpower on the one pet name. It seemed to work, too, as Lee smiled up at him with stars in his eyes.

If Gaara was so smart, why didn’t he realize the mathematical-erotic mess he had just created for himself?

(tap here to read the extended version on ao3!)

Metal was really, really sad.

Which was kind of rare because he was typically a ball of joy. An anxious ball of joy, usually pacing around the house with excitement or nerves, but never sulking in his room for hours.

He was his father’s son, so tears were VERY common in their household.

He normally cried from joy. Or from nerves. It was rare to see him crying because… Well, Shinki had no clue why he was crying this time.

Metal was just as loud as Lee, so the whole house would tend to know the reason for their tears. That day, Shinki, Gaara and Lee stood outside the boys’ shared room with confusion and concern painted over their faces.

Well, Lee looked like he would faint. Gaara looked contemplative. Shinki, although he had on his actual face paint, looked like his usual unphased self. However, he was still concerned for his brother.

Shinki, being the brave and caring brother that he was (he would rudely glare at anyone who dared to say that), went in to the storm that was a Metal breakdown (another phrase that he would send deathly stares at anyone who dared say).

Upon minutes of trying to make sense of Metal’s tearful babbling, it was revealed that Metal was sad because he wasn’t like Gaara at all.

In fact, people even teased that he wasn’t the son of the strong Kazekage while being so weak.

“You are quite literally his son.” Shinki tried to console. His deadpan expression did nothing to soothe Metal’s worries.

Metal fussed even more, wanting to understand Shinki but he still couldn’t help but be upset.

“You have your sand justus like him. You and dad can do the coolest stuff together. Only you two can. Anyone can do taijustu. And I’m not even as good as papa anyway.”

“Well Metal, you have dad’s eyes.” Shinki said softly.

Metal’s whines finally came to a halt as he gawked at Shinki. It was then that Shinki confessed to previously being jealous of Metal for being their birth child. He was scared that he’d never have the same love they had for him. It took him a while, years even, to believe in love they had for their new adoptive son. But what really sold Shinki was the love Metal had for his new brother.

“You know, sand doesn’t make us related. People are stupid in their reasonings. People are stupid for thinking you aren’t my brother.” Shinki shot Metal an annoyed look. Only after years of brotherhood could Metal tell that the annoyance was directed at the rude comments from the village bullies. Ones that would mysteriously have sand in their underwear in the following days (Lee and Metal took it upon themselves to investigate the grainy undergarments, leaving ample time for Gaara to scold and discreetly praise Shinki for his actions).

Metal was left overjoyed by the genuine confession his brother told him.

Gaara and Lee could hear Metal crying even harder from outside the door. Thanks to years of raising Metal, they could tell his happy cries from his frustrated ones.

“Plus, wanna know what else dad and I have in common?”

Metal shook his head no and surprisingly Shinki barked out a short laugh.

“Yes, we can control sand. But we also can manipulate the small granules within it too. Know what it is?”

Metal shook his head again.

“It’s metal, Met.”

Metal wailed at the sound of the family nickname that Shinki almost always refused to use.

It took a couple of minutes and a few awkward back rubs from Shinki, but Metal finally calmed down enough to talk. “You know, you’re like papa too.”

Shinki gave Metal a look. “It’s a stretch to say I am like dad. I am almost nothing like papa.”

“PAPA!” Metal shrieked.

Lee was in the room faster than Metal could finish his name. “Metal? Are you okay?” Lee rushed to the bedside and kneeled to be eye level with Metal.

“Papa, I have a question. And Shinki, I have a question for you too!”

Both Lee and Shinki’s head cocked to the side, a small, questioning sound encouraging Metal to continue.

“See! You guys are the same!” Metal pointed and wiggled his finger between them.

Shinki briefly looked at Lee before quickly turning away, an embarrassed blush decorating his cheeks. Unlike Shinki, Lee couldn’t hide his smile.

From behind, watching over the beautiful collection of people who he proudly called his family, Gaara’s small smile matched Lee’s.

(right, so i said that i would make a sweet and fluffy sequel to my last post… but then i remembered what song i wanted to write about for guy’s perspective…)

“Isn’t it strange? How people can change. From strangers to friends, friends into lovers and strangers again.”

Is the main point I wanted to touch on. That Guy determined their relationship by each visit.

Kakashi didn’t. He either assumed they’re okay or they’re not. Kakashi had never considered them lovers. At least, not outwardly. He never wanted to solidify something so heavy.

The song starts with,

“I tried for you. Tried to see through all the smoke and it wouldn’t move. What could I do?”

That’s all Guy ever did. He tried with all of his might. It was in his name. It was in his blood. That’s all he’s ever known to do, was try.

But Guy has his limits. He does, truly. It doesn’t seem like it, but Guy doesn’t go moving mountains. He scales them, he breaks pieces off with his bare hands, but he doesn’t move them. He probably could, but what good what that do him? To unearth something that doesn’t express any desire to be moved.

So he stopped. And he would be the mountain now.

Well, that was then. Kakashi was an intelligent ninja. He knew Guy better than he’d ever admit. Maybe even better than Guy knew himself.

It’s not that he didn’t care about Guy. Kakashi told himself that he cared too much. They both can’t be the loud and proud, unwavering lover that Guy always was. Kakashi wasn’t even sure he could be the man that Guy was.

What Kakashi failed to realize was Guy’s inability to half-ass something. Especially relationships. From acquaintances to eternal rivals, everyone was deeply loved and thoroughly cherished by Guy.

Guy’s aloofness hit Kakashi harder than any punch from Sakura, post-Tsunade mentorship.

Kakashi couldn’t show up on Guy’s doorstep and let that be their reconciliation. He tried. Guy wouldn’t allow it.

Kakashi wasn’t as headstrong as Guy. Kakashi never went out of his way for much. At times, he felt as if his feet moved without him demanding them and his brain started making plans without purposeful conceptualizing.

Kakashi has been called a lot of things. Intelligent, cunning, extraordinary (he liked those), lazy (mean, but true), perverted (arguable, he says), and a lousy friend (ouch).

It typically wouldn’t hurt. But he studied Guy’s lips as they trembled. He couldn’t bear to look Guy in his eyes. They now, of all times, struggled to hold back tears. There was so much disappointment painted on Guy’s face. And all of it was caused by Kakashi.

Time and time again, Kakashi continued to disappoint people. To his friends for being late to plans. To his students for being late to training. To higher-ups for being late to- Gods, he needs to be better about being late (he won’t).

But this was Guy. Guy was.. He didn’t know! Different? Guy was an enigma! Guy was his own version of human. He was kind through the toughest times. He always had a smile on his face. He never let his determination falter.

So now seeing Guy, giving up, his smile, long gone and now stuck in a grimace…

It was then determined. Kakashi couldn’t be the unbothered, unmoving mountain anymore.

What good would it do him to continue doing so? He once said it was to protect himself and others from being hurt. But now he’s hurt, and others are too.

Damn it, Guy.

Only he could move the once unmoved Kakashi mountain without an ounce of effort. And if there was anyone who could actually move a mountain, it would be Guy.

Now it was up to Kakashi to fix things. What was he to do?

(i recommend reading my last post but now with this song as guy’s internal dialogue.)

(does this count bc i didn’t make it a full and agonizing post and it’ll lead to sweet sugary fluff ❤️)