Chapter 9

Lee hadn’t set his alarm, so when he woke up and the sun was already bright in his room he immediately sat up, feeling like he was late for something. He remembered he didn’t have practice. He also noted that the television in his room was on and the top of a very read head was just visible on his couch. He turned towards the clock so he could see what time it was. It was only seven. Their school didn’t start until eight thirty.

“Good morning.” Lee said to the person who was obviously Gaara. Only Gaara had hair that red and only Gaara would come into his room while he was asleep to sit on his couch and watch TV.

“Morning.” Gaara greeted, his usual response. He didn’t feel the need to add the ‘good’ because the morning was always good for him. He had always liked how quiet it was. He realized this made him a morning person. An unusual trait for and insomniac. But if one thought about it, the early morning and the late night were surprisingly similar.

Ever since he’d gone through his ‘change’ Gaara had grown accustomed to doing more ‘normal’ things. Like listening to music, he particularly liked some of it. A lot of the popular songs ate away at his brain cells, but he’d found music he liked after awhile. He’d also started watching television. He hadn’t liked it before, even as a kid. He still didn’t enjoy it very much. He thought it might be like music, he just had to find something he enjoyed.

“Channel surfing again?” Lee prompted, noticing the flicker of the screen after every couple of minutes. Lee was busy putting on a shirt. Sometime during the night he’d removed his shirt and had been sleeping in just his sweatpants. He felt a little embarrassed that Gaara must have seen him sleeping sprawled out like that with no shirt on. He hoped he hadn’t been paying attention when he came in. Though he knew Gaara was always paying attention. Gaara was almost too perceptive.

“Yes.” Gaara finally answered after flipping the channel for the umpteenth time. He still had trouble with deciphering a lot of the television lingo. He wasn’t surfing at all, he had told Lee the first time he’d asked. Lee explained that it was used when someone wasn’t watching anything in particular but was watching a little bit of something then changing the channel to something else. He also told him that this term was used with the internet. Surfing the web, to be precise. Even though there were no webs or surfboards involved.

After finding his plain white shirt he’d gone to bed in and putting it back on Lee looked for an outfit for today. He always took a quick shower in the morning, sometimes two, since he almost always showed before and after training. Lee grabbed a shirt and pants before walking over to sit on the other side of the couch, his clothes in his lap.

“Find anything good?” Lee asked as he sat down. The couch wasn’t that big, it could probably fit three people at most. Only two cushions. Did that make it a love seat? Lee didn’t know. It was a couch to him.

“Not really.” Gaara answered as he changed the channel once more. “Everything on this morning has been particularly boring.”

“Probably all Valentines Day specials.” Lee offered, knowing that most shows would be about love being in the air and all that. Lee knew any of them would be hard for Gaara to bear.

“I already took a shower, so you can go ahead and use it.” Gaara stated after another minute. He’d noticed Lee’s clothes the instant he’d sat down. Gaara was pretty much ready for school. Of course, he’d been up for awhile now. He’d actually come into Lee’s room because he liked knowing that he was in the same room as him. Gaara had gotten so used to being so entirely alone that it was odd for him to feel lonely. So he couldn’t say it was because he was lonely. It just felt right. He liked just having someone else around. Though, he doubted he could have put up with anyone besides Lee.

“Ah, thank you.” Lee remembered to say as he got up to go to the bathroom. “I won’t be long” He assured Gaara. Their time together would start now. They’d never actually gone to school together. Come to think of it, Lee didn’t even know how Gaara got to school. He probably had a chauffer or something. Did Gaara have his license? Lee hadn’t known he knew so very little about Gaara. He just knew the unusual information; he didn’t know the things people normally knew about the person they lived with. Lee was ready to learn, though. Eager, even, to learn all he could about Gaara.

Lee made sure to take a quick and cold shower. He had quick showers down to an art. He was out, dry, dressed, with hair and teeth brushed all in under fifteen minutes.

“That looks good on you.” Gaara commented from the couch as soon as Lee emerged from the bathroom. He’d given up on television for the time being and had shut it off.

Lee blushed in response. “Thanks.” He muttered, Gaara didn’t scold him but Lee knew he wanted to. Lee didn’t think he looked good in anything, really. He had barely even looked at the clothes when he picked them out. He wore a striped brown, white, and blue shirt with brown cargo pants. He usually wore his shirts loose but this shirt was fitted. Maybe that’s what looked good? He was reminded that he hadn’t been the one to pick out any of these clothes.

“We should go eat breakfast now.” Lee stated as he walked towards Gaara. Gaara didn’t even nod in reply but got up from the couch and headed towards the door.

Slowly the house was becoming familiar to Lee. At least, the way from Gaara’s room to the kitchen or the front door was. He’d finally completed the map a couple of days ago but that didn’t mean he was confident enough to try and find things on his own. The map was a bit hard to read for him. He could follow it, but he didn’t like the idea of taking a wrong turn and being lost. It was also a good excuse to ask Gaara to come along with him whenever he wanted to wander around. He almost dreaded the day he would memorize the layout well enough so that Gaara would leave him to go on his own. Though, thinking of it that way made him seem like a baby bird leaving the nest. And that was all kinds of awkward when thought about with him and Gaara in that context.

“The weather is supposed to be nice today.” Gaara recited at random.

“Did you see a bit of the news?” Lee asked, knowing that must have been the case. What little television Gaara did watch he asked or commented on. Gaara nodded, having stated that just because he could. Was he initiating a conversation? He didn’t quite know. He liked talking about nothing with Lee. Usually he only liked hearing the key points in a conversation but he found himself commenting on unimportant things with Lee. Another thing he assumed came with the whole friendship deal.

“That is good, maybe we will explore the backyard a bit today, then.” Lee commented. Smiling. He only knew the backyard was very large and had a nice pool, from what he could see from the windows of other rooms. They had yet to venture out there yet.

“Great idea.” Gaara replied, but with no real gusto. Though, he had to admit, he did like his backyard for one thing. There were lots of trees, and he could hide away back there when the weather was nice. When he was there he was gone without ever really leaving home.

“I have a feeling that this will be a most splendid day.” Lee chirped, almost too happy. He didn’t know why he was feeling so merry and buoyant all of the sudden, but he was. He really did feel like this would be a most wonderful day. And that wasn’t even because it was Valentines Day. He had never disliked the holiday, but it had never his favorite.

They approached the dinning area and went into the kitchen. Lee was becoming accustomed to preparing his breakfast in the glamorous kitchen. When he set his bowl of cereal on the counter and took the spoon offered to him by Gaara their fingers brushed just a little. Lee’s happiness increased, for reasons unknown, just the simple contact made him tingle with joy. Even in his mind he noted that he sounded a bit too gay, in both senses of the word.

“Why do you feel so strongly that today will be ‘splendid’?” Gaara finally asked after taking his third and final bite from Lee’s cereal.

“I guess I am just looking forward to spending time with you.” Lee replied honestly. Gaara looked at him pensively before throwing his spoon in the sink with innate grace.

“Good. So am I.” Gaara answered, setting his elbows on the table and placing his face on his hands. The view into the backyard from the kitchen was one of the best in the entire house. Gaara knew he was drawn towards more desert type things and had an affinity for sand, but that didn’t stop him from admiring trees. The ones in his backyard in particular.

Lee polished off what was left in the bowl almost too quickly, setting the dirty dishes next to the sink. “It does look very nice out there.” Lee turned towards Gaara. “I do not think there is one flaw in this entire estate.” Lee commented, fully believing in his statement. Gaara shook his head.

“It’s too big. Way too big.” Gaara retorted, knowing this was a major flaw in the house’s design.

“Usually I would have to disagree, but…” Lee paused thoughtfully, “I have to say that this house is much too big for just you and your siblings.”

Lee never liked to think there was anything wrong with something. He liked to think everything was always the best it could possibly be. But he would admit that the Sabaku residence was ornately large, too large for just three, or four counting himself, people to live in. Lee couldn’t imagine how lonely it would be if he didn’t always hang around Gaara in the house. It must have been a terrible loneliness for Gaara. Lee remembered what Gaara had said about providing for him forever. He could finally understand why. He would have done anything to get rid of that loneliness, too. Though, Gaara probably didn’t realize that he had been lonely. He just recognized that it was better now that he wasn’t alone.

Slowly, without talking about it they headed back towards their rooms. They had to get their school things before heading out. The day already seemed longer to Lee. But not in a bad way, in a sort of pleasant easy going fashion. Gaara felt like time was going by faster, since the morning was always long for him when he spent it alone. With Lee there he hadn’t noticed the time slip pass him.

“Gaara.” Lee said, after thinking for a bit.

“Yes?” Gaara replied, finally getting used to Lee addressing him before he spoke even though no one else was there.

“Well, I was thinking about the time you said I could live here with you for a long while…” Lee started, and he couldn’t keep the red off of his face for some unknown reason.

“Ultimately it’s your choice. But it’s always an option.” Gaara interjected during Lee’s nervous pause.

“I know, and I think…” He paused again, blushing a bit more, “I think I would like that, if it is okay with you, of course.” Lee never wanted Gaara to be so terribly lonely again. And if Gaara found someone else he wanted to spend time with Lee would have no problem moving back out with the money he was now saving. But for now he really liked the idea of them living together, as they were now, for at least a few more years. Maybe even through college. Though, Lee doubted Gaara would be able to put up with him for that long.

“It’s all right with me.” Gaara replied. “I’m the one who suggested it.” Gaara paused before adding; “I had thought you’d dismissed the idea already.” After another pause he quickly muttered, “I’m glad you haven’t.”

If there was one thing Gaara was getting worse and worse at while he was around Lee it was articulating himself. He didn’t talk very much to begin with, but he usually found it easy to say what he meant. Except nowadays, when he was around Lee. His sentences came out awkwardly and in the end he was never really sure if he made his point clear or not.

“There is nothing I like more than spending time with you, Gaara.” Lee confessed, smiling a bit too shyly.

It was at this point in time that they both realized that having a conversation like this on Valentines Day was considered romantic. They realized it in their own sort of way, but they both realized it. Had there been any outside listeners they would have thought very incorrect things.

Lee decided to change the subject. “By the way, Gaara, how are we going to get to school?”

“How would you like to arrive at school?” Gaara questioned back, Lee knew he’d asked the question wrong. He still needed some practice at asking the right question to get answers out of Gaara.

“I mean, how do you usually go to school?” Lee tried again.

“Via modern transportation.” Gaara answered. “Sadly I don’t have the stamina to run to school every morning like you do.” Lee had worded the question incorrectly again. Gaara didn’t realize he was being difficult. He answered whatever he thought was best fit for the question asked. Usually the question was such a mess that he didn’t dignify it with a response. People thought he was rude. He thought those people were idiots. On average both assumptions were correct.

“Do you drive?” Lee asked. He thought a simple question might work.

“Yes, and I usually drive myself to school in the morning.” Most people were shocked by this answer, though Gaara didn’t see why. He thought his driving skills were impeccable, especially considering the fact he was technically a teenage driver.

Lee mentally raised his arm in a victory pose for finally getting the correct answer. They were at the end of the hall. Silently they went into their rooms to grab their books and things.

“Do you have your license?” Gaara prompted as soon as they were both walking down the hallway again.

“No,” Lee immediately answered, almost too readily. “I have never needed it. Plus I thought that I would never have the money for a car.” Lee, when he thought about it, knew he had barely been inside a car. It was a bit awkward for him to admit, it being the age of cars and such, but there were about six distinct instances he could recall of ever being in a car. He had a small fear of cars due to his inexperience.

“I don’t think I could imagine you driving, anyway.” Gaara said, smirking a bit to himself.

“Are you saying I am not fit to drive?” Lee asked, always one to rise to the challenge. And it sounded as if Gaara was challenging him.

“No, it’s just hard to picture you behind the wheel of a car.” Gaara answered, that self-satisfied smirk still barely visible on his face. He liked riling up Lee.

“Well, I cannot imagine how you see anything over the dashboard.” Lee retorted, polite by nature but not one to back down from a fight. Even if they were just teasing each other.

“That was a low blow, Lee.” Gaara remarked. “Not everyone can be six foot eleven.”

“Not even I am that tall, Gaara.” Lee commented. He tended to stay in the six-foot area, give or take an inch. Lee was tempted to say ‘You are just that short.’ But he refrained. That’d be too rude, even in a showdown.

“Whatever.” Gaara ended the battle with one word, though it had been fun while it lasted. As they were walking Lee tried to remember where the garage was located. He remembered Gaara pointing it out, though they had never gone inside. It happened to be near the front door.

And it was huge. “Woah…” Lee uttered after Gaara had opened the door. Forget three car garage, this was a five car, three motorcycle garage. And all the spots were filled.

With deft grace and without even looking Gaara picked a set of keys off of the key hook near the door. When Lee looked at the spot where the keys had come from under the empty hook it said ‘Gaara’ in elegant writing. Temari and Kankuro’s keys sat neatly in place.

“Which one?” Gaara asked, with the same inflection that someone would have if they were asking what kind of pizza the person wanted. One can tell how rich someone is by his or her car. All of the cars screamed at the top of their lungs ‘disgustingly rich’. Lee, not used to cars in general, was most definitely not used to fancy expensive cars.

“Which one do you normally drive?” Lee asked, knowing that asking which one was his was the wrong thing to ask. He’d state that they were all his if he wanted them to be.

“This one here.” Gaara replied as he hit a button on the key ring. The lights of a sleek black car with red racing stripes flickered. It was a Camaro, but Lee couldn’t tell. He was still gazing in awe at the tiny device that had controlled the car from a distance. In theory he’d known that was possible, but he’d never witnessed it first hand.

With the click of a hidden handle Gaara had the trunk open and had thrown his stuff in, motioning for Lee to do the same. Lee carefully placed his things beside Gaara’s, who shut the trunk the instant Lee’s hands were out of the way. Gaara was already getting into the car before Lee made his way over to his door. When it came to vehicles Lee felt like a real klutz.

Gaara was seated with the keys in the ignition and the garage opener pressed before Lee opened his door. Lee shut the door and awkwardly began to put on his seat belt when Gaara started the car. Lee jumped a bit at the engine’s roar and let go of the seat belt, which hit his arm on its way back to its original position. Lee quickly recaptured it and shoved it into place.

“You okay?” Gaara asked after witnessing Lee’s blunder. Lee quickly nodded.

“Yes, I am f-fine.” Lee answered, though he hadn’t meant to stutter. Gaara had heard his stuttering. Lee knew he shouldn’t be nervous in cars, they were a lot like buses. He’d taken buses plenty of times before. And as he had remembered earlier, he’d been in a few cars before. Though, it’s always been a bigger and older sort of junky car. Gaara could be socially inept while Lee was technologically inept. That’s just the way things had to be.

“Relax.” Gaara said quietly as he reached for his sunglasses on the dashboard. He was almost exuberant to have found one more thing he could help Lee with. Or, he might go as far to say that, he’d found something that Lee feared.

Lee’s idea of relaxing was grabbing tightly onto the door’s armrest. Which only made him accidentally hold down the window button. This resulted in the window rolling down on what seemed like it’s own accord. Lee let go of the door and scooted a bit away from the window. Gaara sighed as he rolled up the window with the controls on his side while putting the car in drive, since the garage was finally open.

With his sunglasses on Lee thought Gaara looked almost seductive. Though he knew he shouldn’t use words like that to describe Gaara. But he drove so easily, with grace, class, and a certain charm. Lee could see why he had all those fangirls. Though, Lee wasn’t much better nowadays. He often daydreamed about Gaara, which wasn’t good. And in a way all that he really was, was Gaara’s biggest fangirl. Without the being female part.

Lee wanted to say something, to start a bit of conversation, to break the silence and stop himself from day dreaming about Gaara again. But he could not think of a single thing to say. Well, he could think of things to say but none of them were any good. ‘This sure is a nice car’ was one of them. All Gaara would say to that is ‘Yes, yes indeed it is’ or something of that sort.

Plus, Lee didn’t want to start a conversation with Gaara only to learn that Gaara was one of those people who couldn’t talk and drive at the same time. Lee doubted that this was the case but it stopped him from asking any stupid, pointless questions nonetheless.

The school was close, but the drive was unbearably long. With stop lights and such impeding them Lee felt as if he should get out and just run to school. But he wanted to spend this time with Gaara, even if he was afraid of cars.

“Are you afraid of cars?” Gaara asked, and Lee felt that Gaara must have smelled his fear or something.

“I do not like to admit it but y-yes.” Lee stuttered on the last word, turning crimson with embarrassment.

“It’s not that uncommon.” Gaara replied, and it was almost as if he were trying to comfort Lee. But of course, Gaara would never do that. He was just stating the facts.

“So you do not think that is weird?” Lee asked, his smile returning. He would have put it on full wattage but the car still made him nervous.

“No.” Gaara said, and after another minute he added. “Cars kill and injure people. Often. I think that it’s a very rational fear.”

Even though Gaara thought this might support Lee’s standing and confidence in himself it just reminded Lee that he was in a metal death machine. His breathing became irregular. And now he was sweating. He felt sick and wondered if he could be carsick. He knew the car was definitely the source of his ill feeling.

“Calm down.” Gaara said, surprised that he’d actually said it. He wasn’t usually the one to help others. Though, he did make a mental note to find a way to make Lee less wary of cars. It’d cause him problems in the future if he didn’t.

“Ok.” Lee replied, regulating his breath first. It wasn’t hard once he thought about it. He was so glad Gaara was helping him. He would have been hyperventilating by now if Gaara hadn’t interrupted his train of thought with reason. Lee closed his eyes to focus.

Lee was surprised to find that they were in the school parking lot by the time he opened his eyes and Gaara was pulled into his parking spot already. Lee felt his body become less tense as Gaara shut off the car. His smile easily came back to him.

“It is not so bad.” Lee commented, unbuckling his seat belt.

“Yes, but I still can’t imagine you ever behind the wheel.” Gaara replied, smirking as he put the sunglasses away.

Lee just nodded, knowing that he’d probably never get a drivers license, and if he did it wouldn’t be for a long time. He opened his door and got out of the car, waiting at the trunk for Gaara. Lee didn’t know how to open it and he didn’t feel the urge to try and learn.

Gaara locked the car after they’d gotten their things and he’d shut the trunk. After shoving the keys into his pocket they made their way towards the school’s entrance. The people that saw them arrive together did not help quieting the rumors about them. Even though those rumors are true it is still gossip and gossip is wrong.

“I am sorry if I am a burden.” Lee said nervously, still feeling rather embarrassed of his tiny episode.

“No, not at all. You’re… interesting. That’s the best way to put it.” Gaara replied. He wasn’t one to be supportive, yet here he found himself supporting. But wasn’t that his secret goal, to help Lee? He was doing it, and he suddenly felt a bit proud of himself.

Suddenly Lee was tackled from the side by an orange, black, and blonde blur. “Lee! You can’t just go around coming to school in the same car as Gaara! People are so suspicious already!” Naruto said in a hurried and rather loud whisper.

“Good morning to you, too, Naruto.” Lee replied after they’d both righted themselves.

“Morning.” Gaara greeted, though he was a bit confused by Naruto’s sudden entry.

“Hey, hello Gaara!” Naruto replied, his surprise in being greeted obvious.

They continued their way towards the school, still being somewhat in the parking lot and all. “You guys really don’t try to hide anything, do you?” Naruto sighed as they approached the school.

“Are we supposed to be hiding something?” Gaara finally asked. The way Naruto had been talking to them for a while was confusing Gaara.

Naruto just sighed again before continuing, “And here you both are, acting so suspiciously on Valentines Day. You’re just asking for it.” This wasn’t an answer to Gaara’s question, and when Gaara asked a question he liked it to be answered. So he turned to Lee.

“Are we supposed to be hiding something?” Gaara repeated, tired of the question already. Lee, even though he didn’t know what to say, felt obligated to answer.

“Well, you see Gaara, some of our peers would think that our living arrangements are rather peculiar.” Lee said this quite slowly; he put unneeded emphasis ‘arrangements’ and ‘peculiar’.

“Why do we care what they think?” Gaara questioned immediately.

“I know you do not care, Gaara, but,” Lee paused, “it is not so easy for me.” Lee felt a little ashamed of his answer. If Gaara didn’t care why should he care? But he did care, he tried not to but he did.

“No one else matters.” Gaara said suddenly. “No one else should matter.”

“Of course, Gaara.” Lee replied, not knowing what else to say. Gaara was right, it shouldn’t matter. “I will remember that next time.”

“Uhg,” Naruto finally complained, “You guys really sound serious. Don’t tell me it’s true and you guys are going to spend Valentines together or something.”

“Actually, we are spending today together.” Gaara stated. Naruto gave him a look of disbelief and what Gaara thought was a bit of disgust.

“Say it isn’t so!” Naruto exclaimed. He looked towards Lee to see if he’d disprove this horrible reality. Instead Lee just nodded.

“We decided it would be nice to spend the afternoon together.” Lee replied innocently.

Naruto sighed, again. “Just don’t go around saying things like that, okay you guys?”

“Of course.” Lee replied, Gaara just shrugged. Who was he going to tell? Lee was the only person he talked to and he already knew.

“All right, I’ll see you guys later.” Naruto said before heading off in his own direction.

“I need to go to my gym locker, would you like to come?” Lee asked, knowing he needed to drop off his gym bag first. He felt weird, since he was actually just using the bag for gym class and not practice.

“Sure.” Gaara had nothing better to do, he already had his books and their first hour wasn’t too far away from the gym anyway.

They walked through the halls and across the campus not speaking, but not silently. Because the school was always abuzz with noise, and today particularly, so nothing could be done silently. The faded banners and cliché decorations were already falling down or being torn at by students sick of love. Some students were just plain lovesick and chased around the one they pinned after relentlessly.

It wasn’t until they were almost at the gym that Lee began to notice they were being followed. A couple of shy girls, ducking behind people, trees, or walls whenever Lee casually looked back, were following them. Well, he shouldn’t say ‘them’ he should say ‘Gaara.’ But the girls were too nervous to approach with Lee around, it seemed, though Lee didn’t know why. He liked to think he was a very approachable guy.

“Gaara, I believe some girls are following you.” Lee whispered casually over to Gaara, who shrugged in reply.

“I’m glad you’re here to keep them away.” Gaara replied, and he felt the urge to grab Lee’s hand or link arms with him to scare the girls off. But he didn’t. Just walking next to him seemed to keep them away.

Lee was going to tell him it was his duty as a gentleman to talk to those girls even if he felt nothing towards them but stopped himself. Gaara wouldn’t listen to him and he didn’t want to get on bad terms with Gaara this early in the morning anyway. Hopefully they’d give up and find someone else to give their valentines to. At least, Lee hoped they’d find other people to have crushes on.

They went into the gym and into the boys’ locker room, where the girls most definitely couldn’t follow them. There was little to no one else there, only a few weight lifters getting ready for class after a little morning practice. Lee went to his locker, Gaara trailing behind, and opened it. At the bottom of the locker was a tiny folded note. A Valentine.

“Look, you’ve got a secret admirer.” Gaara teased a bit. What was even funnier was that they were in the boys’ locker room, so it must have been a male.

“No, it is from my coach, Mr. Gai. He gives me one every year.” And sure enough when Lee opened it the note said:

My Dear Student,

Have a most beautiful and youthful Valentines Day this year!
May it be the best one yet.

-Mr. Gai

In the middle of the note a heart was drawn with what was presumed to be a drawing of the coach himself. Gaara smirked at this.

“See? That is the only valentine I get every year. And it always says the same thing.” Lee sighed. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate his coach’s efforts, he did, but he wanted a real valentine, at least once in his life. He didn’t expect it from Gaara and he didn’t expect to fall in love with the person who gave him said valentine. He just wanted to know that other people thought him worthy of a valentine. But it hadn’t happened yet and he doubted that it would ever happen.

“That’s all right. I don’t even read mine.” Gaara replied, and it was true. Usually when he went to his locker on Valentines Day it was full of little folded notes or store bought cards. He wasn’t so heartless as to throw them away right there. He would shove them into his bag so he could recycle them later. Many people would have never guessed that Gaara had a soft spot for the environment.

“But Gaara!” Lee was astonished and he turned to face Gaara after he’d shut his locker back up. “Those girls probably put their hearts into those cards! The least you could do is read them.” Lee looked at Gaara for a second before realizing that he’d been shouting. “I am sorry for shouting.” Lee quickly added, but he didn’t look away. He really believed in love and thought himself a defender of true love and justice.

“All right.” Gaara said after a long moment. “I can see you’re really passionate about this.” Gaara didn’t like using the word ‘passionate’ but it fit.

“What?” Lee responded, surprised to have elicited a response from Gaara.

“We’ll read them. Together.” Gaara stated, determined this was the only solution.

Lee didn’t think that was what the cards were meant for, but at least they would be read instead of just discarded. “Thank you, Gaara.” Lee replied smiling.

“You have no reason to thank me.” Gaara retorted as he turned to leave. Lee was quick to follow and they walked towards their first class together. The first bell rang while they were on their way there, and students slowly but surely started to make their way to their first class of the day.

“Good morning, Lee, Gaara.” Their teacher greeted as the came in. “Nice to see you on time for once.” Mr. Izumo commented to Lee, who gave a shy smile in response.

They sat in the back next to each other in the seats they had grown accustomed to sitting in. But Gaara’s desk was already occupied by a couple of small heart shaped cards. There was no seating chart but Gaara was a creature of habit. He feared that this would happen all day. He didn’t see why it happened to him, but girls would pass out valentines in every class to a select few of students and somehow he always managed to make their list. Remembering the promise he made with Lee he shoved them into his backpack for inspection later on. He promised to read them. He didn’t specify where or when.

“Is it like this every year?” Lee asked.

“Yes, for the past few years.” Gaara answered, almost sighing the answer out.

“I had not noticed it before.” Lee answered, knowing it was because he hadn’t wanted to notice it before. Lee would never let it get out, but when it came to Gaara he was the jealous type. His heart hurt with every valentine given to Gaara, but it helped to know that he was the one Gaara wanted to spend time with. He had succeeded in befriending him. And that’s more than any of those girls could hope to accomplish in their lifetime. Lee’s spirits were brought up by this thought and he knew he could make it through the day with a smile on his face, no matter how many girls gave Gaara their affections.

The late bell rung and Mr. Izumo shut the door to the classroom. “Before study hour begins…” he started and waited until he had everyone’s attention before continuing. “Where are all of my Valentines? My desk is looking a bit lonely.”

At first there was a moment of silence, followed by a few nervous laughs, then a bunch of amused giggles. It was hard to tell if he was kidding or not, but he was smiling so everyone else smiled. After the tiny bit of laughter he went to sit in his desk and type away aimlessly at his computer, signaling for the class to begin.

Gaara finished math homework while Lee worked on a study guide for a test in science. They had both come to enjoy the quite presence of one another in this class. Gaara didn’t like talking where so many people might be listening anyway. Today was no different, though Lee knew he was more aware of Gaara’s presence than ever. But he knew that was a personal thing. Gaara was just going through the day as if it were any other day. Lee kept trying to will himself to forget today was Valentines Day. It was hard, though, with all of the reminders posted around the school.

While thinking about how he was not thinking about Gaara, Lee knew he couldn’t keep stealing glances at Gaara, or anything of the sort. There were only so many ways you could casually and accidentally glance at someone. Lee ran out of ideas after only a short while.

“Do you need something, Lee?” Gaara asked, having noticed every one of Lee’s glances. Lee turned red as soon as the question was asked.

“No, it is nothing.” Lee responded, smiling to cover his nervous embarrassment. He couldn’t help it; he felt each and every one of his urges stronger than before. The urge to just smile at Gaara was the hardest to suppress for him at the moment. Press their hands together, touch his hair, it was getting ridiculous. He was convinced something was in the air, but it felt more like teenage hormones than love.

Lee managed to focus on his packet enough to get it mostly completed by the time the bell rang. Which was remarkable, considering how distracted he was.

“I’ll see you later.” Gaara quietly stated as they made their way out of the classroom.

“As always.” Lee replied smiling as they turned their separate ways in the hallway. Their arms had brushed as they walked out the door and Lee could still feel the tingling sensation through his clothes. He was way too aware of Gaara today, he decided, if their arms brushing up against one another was enough to make him giddy.

Lee, luckily, wasn’t the only student unable to pay attention in class that day. It seemed like it was an epidemic, the kids in the classroom staring off into space with romantic daydreams playing in their head. Some teachers gave up, but most picked on any student who seemed to be uninterested in the slightest. Lee was called on more than a few times, which made him blush and stutter an answer that was only sometimes correct. At other times it was completely off topic.

“Lee! What did you get as your answer for this equation.” The teacher would suddenly ask.

“Charles Dickens was trying to tell a little bit of his own life story through the main character in Great Expectations.” Lee would reply with a blank but attentive look on his face.

“What? That makes no sense!” The teacher would respond.

“Oh, I am very sorry, I was thinking about the review guide in English. I got seventy-four for number thirty-two.”  Lee would say after shuffling through a couple of papers piled onto his desk.

“Still wrong, but a lot closer than your other answer.” The teacher would remark before calling on a different student.

He gave answers like that more often than he thought he could live through. And this was all before lunch. He didn’t want to think about how disoriented he’d be when he shared a class with Gaara. That was just asking for trouble.

By the time he made it to the table he and Gaara now shared he was completely exhausted. And he usually could run quite a few miles without breaking too much of a sweat.

“You forgot your lunch again.” Gaara stated, smirking as he brandished Lee’s lunch from his backpack. It was more than halfway full of pink and red cards. They threatened to fall out as he took his own lunch out and zipped it back up.

“Thank you! I had completely forgotten.” Lee answered, and it was true. He’d been thinking that at this time he’d get to see Gaara. He had completely forgotten about eating lunch.

“I figured. You seem distracted today.” Gaara replied, absently taking the little bits of food out of his lunch bag.

“To be quite honest, I am.” Lee remarked, knowing he should always respond honestly to Gaara’s statements. Usually Gaara’s statements contained unasked questions.

“Why?” Gaara asked, taking a small bite out of rather large strawberry. Lee had to swallow the first thought that came to mind and his face turned a little pink without his consent.

“I am excited for our afternoon together.” Lee answered. It was the truth, their being together really was why he was distracted. But it was only half true. He wasn’t lying, he just wasn’t telling the whole story.

“So am I. School has been more uninteresting today than usual.” Gaara commented. Lee thought that if anyone else in the world were to have received as many Valentines as Gaara had, they most definitely wouldn’t have called Valentine’s Day boring. Lee just nodded, though, knowing that for Gaara it was probably more problematic than interesting.

Lee quickly ate his lunch, finishing before he had even figured out what it was. He couldn’t even remember what kind of sandwich he’d eaten. He was distracted, and it was bothering him. A lot. Gaara finished what little he’d packed for himself.

“I will throw away the garbage.” Lee said as he gathered the trash from their table to take it to the nearest trashcan. He really had no idea what to do, though he knew he didn’t need to be doing anything. He should be doing what he normally would do. Which was what he was trying to do. It wasn’t supposed to be hard, but it was.

Lee turned around to go back to the table to find his seat occupied. He didn’t know what to do, the girl seemed bent on giving her homemade chocolate to Gaara. He approached, but he stayed a couple of tables away. He could hear a bit of the conversation.

“I worked really hard, and I’d be honored if you just tried it.” He could only see the girl from behind, but with that voice he knew it was Matsuri. He tried to look casual next to the nearest tree. It didn’t work; he looked very much out of place. He thought maybe he should go over there but that would be even more awkward. So he waited where he was.

Gaara finally answered, but Lee couldn’t hear it of course. Gaara talked much too quietly.

“Couldn’t you at least take it with you?” She pleaded, it was obvious Gaara hadn’t shown any interest in trying the chocolate. Lee could hear Gaara’s voice but couldn’t make out the words. Even from here, though, what he said seemed unforgiving. A death sentence for her heart. Lee wanted Gaara to grow a heart and at least take the chocolate. But there was nothing he could do. Luckily Matsuri was a bit stronger than that. Her voice was uneven, but she wasn’t near tears as others might have been.

“It’s okay, I understand…” She said, so quietly Lee barely heard. She didn’t make a move to leave, though.

“Lee!” Lee heard it, but he couldn’t believe it, Gaara had shouted at him. Lee turned to face him, blushing a bit. From the way Gaara was looking at him he knew Gaara wanted him to come over there. Immediately.

“Yes, Gaara?” Lee said, quietly, unsure of what to do. He smiled at Matsuri, who made an effort to smile back.

“Try this.” Gaara ordered, pointing at the chocolate Matsuri had been offering to him.

“I could not, it is a gift from the heart for you, Gaara.” Lee answered, actually disobeying Gaara. He couldn’t, though. Not right in front of Matsuri.

“Matsuri.” Gaara said, which got her attention and brought up her spirits immediately. She could not remember another instant in which he had addressed her by name. It meant he knew her name. “If Lee tries the chocolate for me, won’t that be better than it going to waste?” Gaara questioned, and she nodded. At that point she would have nodded at anything he said. She then broke off a piece of the chocolate heart and handed it to Lee.

Lee looked from Gaara to Matsuri and back to Gaara. Then he nervously grabbed the chocolate and put it into his mouth, aware of both of them watching him intently. It was good, at least as good as expensive store bought chocolate, if not better.

“How is it?” Gaara questioned, though for some reason Lee thought Matsuri should’ve been the one to ask.

“It is very good, Gaara.” Lee answered, not sure if he was addressing the right person. But Matsuri smiled anyway.

“Thank you for the gift, then. If Lee says it’s good, it’s good.” Gaara stated, his voice the same as it ever was, but it still didn’t seem as if he were really talking. Matsuri’s smile brightened and she inclined her head in a formal gesture before leaving their table, butterflies inhabiting her entire body. She felt very happy, even though it had been a little weird as far as gift giving goes. But Gaara had thanked her, complimented her, and remembered her name. She was sure that was more than any of the other girls could’ve hoped to accomplish.

Lee sat down in his now unoccupied seat, still feeling a little out of place. He gave Gaara a warm smile, though, suppressing his urge to lift him up in a bear hug. Gaara had changed so much; Lee wondered if Gaara realized how much he had changed.

“That was very nice of you, Gaara.” Lee commented, unable to stop himself from saying something.

“I guess. It got her to leave.” Gaara said, uninterested.

“But you could have gotten her to leave some other way.” Lee replied, still giving Gaara the warm smile.

“No, not really.” Gaara answered, looking off into the distance.

“What do you mean?” Lee asked, a bit confused.

“That girl…” Gaara paused, finding it hard to articulate himself once again. Only with Lee did this ever happen. “She never leaves, usually. No matter how many times I tell her no.”

“So this happens every year?” Lee questioned.

“Yes. But this year we got her to leave. She’s been doing it for quite a while now.” Gaara answered. Getting her to leave with Lee around had been easier than he had anticipated. And everyone was happy. A beneficial decision for all of them.

“Well, I am glad that-” Lee was cut off by the bell ringing, after it was done he continued, “you did that. She seemed very happy.”

“That doesn’t matter.” Gaara replied as he got up and started towards the school. Lee quickly followed.

“Why does it not matter?” Lee asked, he wasn’t following Gaara’s train of thought.

“She was in your seat. I wanted her to leave. If making her happy makes her leave, so be it. But that doesn’t matter to me.” Gaara stated, and it was the truth. He had changed, but not so much that he wanted to make others happy and what not. He had just begun to say things that weren’t so harsh, not so rough or rude. But it was mostly around Lee.

“Thank you.” Lee said. Smiling. Gaara didn’t know what he was thanking him for, but decided not to question it. He took that smile with him, though, as he turned to go his own way. He liked holding onto Lee’s smiles. Lee smiled all of the time, but Gaara believed the smiles he received from Lee were different somehow. Better. No, the ones he got were the best. And he kept them all for himself.

Lee was glad to have physical education this hour. It didn’t require much thinking. And thinking wasn’t something he thought he could do right now.

“Lee!” Mr. Gai greeted exuberantly, approaching Lee as soon as he had entered the locker room. “Did you miss not having practice this morning? I sure did. Everything is much more boring without my star pupil around.” Gai gave Lee a manly slap to the back, making Lee flinch a little, but his smile was as bright as ever.

“My legs feel anxious since I have yet to run at all today, Mr. Gai. I am very glad to be here now!” Lee replied, hoping to get in as much practice as he could in this one class period.

“All right then, go dress out! Today we’re going to the track!” Gai announced, getting exhausted sighs from most and a gleeful yes from Lee.

Lee went to his locker to grab his uniform to change into when he spotted the present he had bought Gaara and shoved into his bag. ‘I will give it to him after school.’ Lee thought to himself. He wouldn’t bring his bag with him to class so he’d have to remember to come here after class to get it. He might even wait until they got home, where there weren’t so many witnesses.

But it shouldn’t matter, Lee reminded himself, if there are other people around or not. He should give it to Gaara when the time is right. It wasn’t like he was giving him chocolates and roses or anything. It should be easy.

As soon as Lee was on the track, running, he felt at ease again. He paced himself, so he could run the whole hour, but he was still in front of the others. And he felt like there was nothing but him and his thoughts. Running made everything seem easier. Everything felt right. If he just kept running everything would turn out all right. That’s how he felt. It was the closest he’d ever get to flying, and sometimes he felt he might just sprint off into the sky.

It was cut short. Mr. Gai was announcing they had to go back to the locker room sooner than Lee would have liked. Lee lagged behind, finishing the lap around the track he was on before heading out. Gai waited for him.

“So how has your day been going so far, Lee?” Mr. Gai asked, winking at the end of the statement. It took Lee a second to realize he meant how was it going with his ‘special person’ he’d asked the day off for. Mr. Gai did not know it was Gaara. Mr. Gai knew Lee wanted to befriend Gaara, but Lee couldn’t even tell Mr. Gai his true feelings.

“It has been going very well, thank you.” Lee said, smiling as he wiped the sweat off of his face with the back of his hand.

“I’m glad to hear it! I hope it only gets better!” Mr. Gai replied and as Lee went to his locker Mr. Gai gave him one more manly slap to the back before going towards his office.