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Sitting on an old stone bench, lazily swaying your legs back and forth, you caught sight of Gaara hurrying in your direction. He was supposed to meet you here almost a half hour ago, but he was only now showing up. Even though he was still quite a ways away, you could see the concern on his face. Slightly out of breath, as if he had run all the way to you, Gaara immediately began apologizing for being so late. “Sorry, I really didn't mean to keep you waiting.”

“Don't worry about it. I haven't been here all that long. You know I'm never anywhere when I'm supposed to be.” Honestly, you had shown up late yourself, so him being as late as he was really hadn't been that big of a deal.

Obviously relieved, a tiny smile appeared on his face. “I'm glad.”

“So, what did you want to see me about?” Eager to do whatever it was he had planned on doing, you jumped out of your seat and brushed off your clothes. “It's not a meeting or something is it? It's way too late to have a meeting.”

Gaara only shook his head. “No, it's nothing like that.”

“Good.” Placing your hand over your heart, you let out a loud sigh. To have waited that long just to do something work related would have been more than a little disappointing. Especially since you had already spent the majority of the day doing other work related things. “I don't think I could have paid attention for something like that.” Once the relief wore off, you realized that you till had no idea what you were doing. “So, what's the plan boss?”

“I thought we could go get something to eat.” He paused, remembering how late it was. “Unless you've already eaten that is.”

“I haven't eaten yet, but even if I had I'd be okay with eating again.” Grinning happily, you took his hand in yours and wrapped your free arm around his. “Lead the way.”

As always, Gaara's cheeks heated up when you took his hand. The fact that you were walking so close wasn't helping any either. Already sure you had noticed this, he didn't even attempt to hide the fact that he was blushing. Instead, he gave your hand a little squeeze before starting towards the restaurant. “Right.” The short walk from where the two of you met, to the restaurant was a quiet one, but my no means unpleasant. Had you been walking in silence with anyone other than Gaara, things would have gotten terribly awkward within a minute. When you were with him, however, the silence was actually really nice. It was calming, making you feel safe somehow.

Still quiet, even after the two of you had entered the restaurant, Gaara pulled out a seat for you and helped you sit down. The polite gesture wasn't anything new, but it still prompted a reaction from your heart. “Thank you.” Now seated, you noticed that the restaurant seemed to be almost completely empty, minus the staff. It was a little odd sure, but not so odd that you felt the need to bring it up. Shrugging it off, you chalked the emptiness up to the late hour. “Everything on the menu looks so good. Why have I never come here before?”

Paying little attention to his own menu, almost all of Gaara's focus seemed to be on you. “I don't know. But you can get whatever you like.”

“Whatever I like huh?” Snuggling yourself even closer to him, you wiggled your eyebrows. “Are you trying to butter me up or something? Because it's working.”

Having just gotten over his blushing a moment ago, Gaara tried and failed to keep his composure. “No. It's nothing like that.”

“Calm down.” It was getting harder and harder not to giggle at him, especially when he couldn't tell the difference between a joke and you being serious, but you managed. “I'm just teasing you. That's all.”

“Oh.” Burying his face in the menu in an attempt to hide his embarrassment, he nodded. “Right.”

It had always been easy for you to make Gaara blush, but something seemed off. Every little thing you did seemed to be enough to fluster him. This was awkwardly adorable sure, but it also worried you a bit. Maybe it was just your imagination, but you had to be sure. “So, is everything alright? You seem a little stiff.”

“Everything's fine. I'm just trying to get out of work mode still.” The excuse didn't ring true, but if Gaara didn't want to tell you what was going on, you weren't going to press him. At least, not yet. If he didn't tell you before too long, the curiosity would eat you alive and you would have no choice but to force it out of him. For now though, you would play along with his lie.

“Oh I see.” Standing from your seat, you stepped behind Gaara and placed your hands on his shoulders. “You've got to learn to relax and not care about things so much. Stress isn't good for your heart, or your complexion.” Very gently, you began massaging away the tension. “Maybe you should take a day off and just goof around the whole day. It would probably do you some good.”

The way his shoulders suddenly lowered only made you doubt his earlier claims that much more. He had a habit of letting his shoulders droop when he wasn't being honest with you. “Maybe.”

“Not maybe. For sure.” You scoffed. “And as your secretary I'll make sure you get a day off soon.”

“That really isn't necessary.” Taking one of your hands in his, Gaara gently tugged you back to your seat. There may not have been anyone else there to see it, but this really wasn't the place for you to be rubbing his shoulders. Really, no where even remotely public would have been an appropriate place. “Don't worry about it.”

He could assure you all he wanted to, it wasn't going to change anything. “We'll just have to see about that, won't we?”

Gaara didn't even attempt to respond to that. Instead, he simply changed the subject over and over again until your meals arrived. To him, it didn't seem to matter what the two of you talked about. Every subject you brought up, as long as it wasn't about work, made him smile. The more enthusiastic you were about something, the more content and happy he was. You could have talked for hours about nothing at all and it would have been okay with him. Unfortunately, there simply wasn't time. In what felt like only a matter of moments, the two of you had eaten and were headed out the door.

Stuffed beyond the point of being full, you stepped out into the cool night air. “That was so good I didn't even realize I had eaten way too much until it was gone.”

“I'm glad you liked it.” Though a bit timidly, Gaara laced his fingers with yours and started walking.

It took you less than a second to notice that you were headed in the opposite direction of your house. As late as it had gotten, this fact surprised you a bit. Did he have something else planned? “Where are we going?”

“No where in particular.” His quiet answer confused you, but you didn't want to disturb his smile by asking him to explain.

After a short walk, Gaara stopped on the outskirts of town. From here, there was nothing but hills, sand and desert as far as the eye could see. Though barren, there was something almost romantic about how the moon glittered off of the sand. Suddenly, your heart leapt in your chest. In the blink of an eye, you were holding Gaara's face in your hands, staring at him with wide, unblinking eyes. “Gaara, this is a date, isn't it?”

Red from head to toe, Gaara closed his eyes and sighed. “It was supposed to be, yes.”

“I should have known!” Releasing him from your hold, you threw your arms into the air and scolded yourself. “Our first actual date and I don't even realize we're on a date until it's almost over.” Embarrassed that you hadn't caught on sooner, you wrapped your arms around Gaara and pressed your face against his chest. “Why am I this way?”

“The way you are is fine.” Trying to consoles you, Gaara gently ran his fingers through your hair. “Besides, it doesn't have to be almost over, we can stay out later.”

“You say that, but we both have to be up bright and early.” You sighed. “We'll be dead come work if we don't go to bed before too long.”

You were right, and he knew you were right. It didn't matter though. He was more than willing to give up as much sleep as he needed to in order to spend more time with you. “It'll be okay.”

“Hmm, I don't know about that.” Lifting your face from his chest, you stroked your chin and thought. “Why don't you just come to my house?”

Instantly going stiff, Gaara refused to believe that he'd heard your correctly. “What?”

“We've both got to sleep, but I don't want the date to end yet. So, you might as well just sleep at my house.” In a stark contrast to Gaara's almost flabbergasted state, you were completely calm. Really, you didn't understand why he was making such a big deal about this.

Unable to speak, and struggling just to stay in an upright position, he swallowed hard. “In your bed?”

“No, on the floor. Of course in my bed you goof. Where else would you sleep?” Giggling at his ridiculous question, you grabbed his hand and gave him a tug. “Come on.” No matter how much you pulled at him, Gaara didn't move. Not even a little tiny bit. “Why aren't you moving?”

Still in a state of shock, Gaara awkwardly cleared his throat. “I can't feel my legs.”

Not even attempting to hold back your laughter, you stepped close and gave him a kiss. “You won't be able to feel anything if you stay out here in the cold.” Kissing him again, you gave his shirt a little tug. “Now come on.”

Knowing that you weren't going to change your mind at this point, not that he wanted you to, Gaara finally nodded. “Right.”