Lee guessed it was about six o'clock p.m. by the time he began to walk home. The air was humid and lightning rolled aross the sky, far off in the distance. He left earlier than ussual for more reason then to escape the upcoming storm. His dear friend had come to visit him in Konoha and Lee was anxious to see him.
Gaara of the desert and Rock Lee hadn't been lovers for too long. Lee had bashfully confessed his strong feelings for Gaara nearly a month prior, while Gaara indirectly admitted his feelings for Lee as well. But even though they knew of their more-than-friendly feelings for each other, they didn't often kiss or touch each other affectionately. Rather, they'd carry out their lives like they had before for however long they had been friends. Once in a while, Lee would subconciously skim his fingers over Gaara's hands and arms but Gaara never made mention or complained about it.
Lee picked up his pace so that he come to a jog as he traveled through the Konoha streets. After a while, Lee found himself at his fammiliar steps before his appartment door. He twisted the handle, there was a click and the door opened. Lee found it impossible to surpress his blinding grin when his eyes met with a lovely sight. As expected, Gaara of the Desert sat on Lee's couch, arms crossed, looking like he always does. His gourd was leaned against the back of the couch with care. As he heard the click of the door, he stood to greet the leaf ninja.
"Gaara-kun!" Lee exclaimed maybe too loudly, "It's been too long!" he moved forward to give his friend a hug.
Gaara kept his arms folded as Lee engulfed him in a friendly embrace. "It's only been three days," he said cooly.
Lee stepped back, "Please resume sitting! May I get you something to drink? Have you eaten today, too? When did you get her--"
"Water's fine," Gaara interupted, sitting down on the couch again.
"Ah--of course," Lee murmured, feeling his ears become hot.
Lee politely retreived a glass of water for him, and sat next to him on the couch. Gaara sipped from the glass gingerly. "How did your last mission go?" he asked, breaking ther silence.
Lee poured out with enthusiasm, "It was engaging! Would you like to hear about it?"
Gaara sipped from the cup again, nodding his head gently.
The hours rolled by. It was nearly ten o'clock P.M. and Gaara had already made the executive desicion to stay the night. The two sat quitely and relaxed on Lee's couch, reading and listening to the strong pitter patter of rain outside. Lee wore a loose tank-top and baggy lounge pants while Gaara was allowed (and nearly forced) to wear Lee's green pajama's. The pajama's looked utterly silly on Gaara considering the bright color and how the legs of the pants were way too long. But Gaara would never admit how indredbly confortable they were.
Lee noticed, however, that whenever thunder would rumble outside, Gaara's eyes seemed to flinch. This worried Lee significantly, being how Gaara remained virtally expressionless most of the time. After watching Gaara for some time he spoke, "Are you alright, Gaara-kun?"
Gaara did'nt look away from the text he was reading, "...The thunder." he muttered.
Lee folded his book and set it aside. "The thunder?" he asked.
Gaara folded his book as well and curled his arms around his knees, "I'm not really...used to it..."
Lee couldn't help but admire Gaara's beauty. His skin was milky pale, even though he lived in the desert. His hair was crimson red and looked so soft Lee wanted to touch it, but whenever the thought crossed his mind, he decided not to.
The thunder rumbled again, but it was much lounder then it had previously been. Gaara shut his dark eyelids as if to hide himself from the noises.
Lee offered a suggestion, "I know, you can go lay down in my bed and get some rest. You don't have to sleep or anything...Maybe it'll help calm you down," Lee gripped Gaara's upper arm gently. Another unnoticed affentionate action.
Gaara has never experienced a heavy thunder shower such as this one, so he was not sure how to react. Living in the desert for his whole life never dawned the opportunity to witness one. He hated the loud and sudden noises that it created, though, and decided that if Lee thought laying down would help, he'd go lay down.
"...Alright." he said softly, and stood up. With his arms crossed more then ussual, Gaara shuffled away to the back bed-room and to Lee's bed.
Lee, having trained all day, splayed his sore body across his sofa and closed his tired eyes. As long as Gaara was resting, he might as well catch some 'z's as well. It didn't take long for him to fall into deep sleep.
Lee was awaken sometime later by the sound of heavy thunder and the wieght of something on top of him. He fluttered his eyes and squinted through the darkness. As his eyes focused, he noticed a blob of red and green laying on his chest. He blinked a few more times taking in the sight of Gaara nervously clinging to Lee, his face buried in his chest.
"Mmn...Gaara-kun?" Lee croaked. Gaara lifted his head and eyelids so that he looked straight into Lee's face. His turqouise eyes shone so bright Lee would swear he could luminate the dark room.
"Sorry..." Gaara began softly, "It's...gotten louder...Laying down did'nt help much..." he muttered with a mixture of his ussual unchangeing tone and the slightest nervousness.
Lee became more aware of his surroundings and proped himself onto his elbows. Another loud thunder rumbled his appartment. Gaara clug harder to him.
Lee smiled compassionatly and used a hand to rub Gaara's back to ease him. "It's okay, the thunder won't hurt you! Sure it's loud, but it'll go away soon, no worries," he reassured him. Gaara remainded buried in his chest.
If there was ever a time Lee wanted to enbrace and hold Gaara the most, this was the time. Lee always strove to make Gaara feel the most comfort and security because he cared for him. Now seeing the man he loved in such a condition made Lee feel helpless.
"Hey hey now Gaara-kun," Lee coaxed. "Come on, I'll go lay in bed with you. We can talk together and drown out the sounds,"
What seemed like minutes passed before Gaara let out a weak, "Okay."
Lee got up and shuffled his way to his bed-room and lit a candle. The dimly lit room was bare; wooden floors and walls, a solitary dresser drawr and nightstand, along with the bed with overturned covers.
Gaara shuffled into the room close behind Lee, but stopped when he came to the doorway. Lee crawled into the bed on the left side. Useing an arm to lift the blankets up on the right side, he coaxed Gaara to lay down next to him. Gaara embarassedly hesitated but was soon thrown into the bed at the sound of the cracking of another thunder bolt.
Lee cheerily put the covers over Gaara, as Gaara looked in the other direction. Sharing the bed of the man he had deep feelings for made his stomach churn and flip. But no word could describe what Gaara's stomach did when Lee used his arm to scoop Gaara close to him, mushing their bodies together in an embrace. Lee nuzzled Gaara affectionatly, hoping it would take his mind off the thunder.
Gaara's mind was racing with so many other things that the thunder was pushed out of his thoughts. Lee's remedy worked.
"When I was younger," Lee broke the akward silence.
Gaara shifted inbetween Lee's strong arms to become more comfortable. His face layed pressed against Lee's collar bone and he could feel the heat of his skin upon his face. It was the most comforting feeling he had ever experienced.
"I used to be afraid of thunder, too," Lee said. "But I learned that if I kept my mind on other things and ignored the sounds, they didn't bother me,"
Gaara pulled his hands up and pressed them against Lee's robust chest. He could feel the indents of scars. The feeling of Lee's body heat mingleing with his own left him breathless. His heart pounded and his face was certainly cherry red by now. (But Lee wasn't experiencing disimmilar factors)
Lee could feel Gaara's voice vibrate against his skin, "Thank you."
And withing seconds, the violent rain and thunder could be heard no longer, only the tiny pitter patter's of remaining droplets from the clouds. The candle went out, dimming the room again. Lee bend his head down and kissed Gaara's forhead. "Mmm hm."