If there was one thing Gaara wasn't used to, it was kindness. Despite everything you had done to him to show him that you genuinely had no bad intentions, he never believed it.
Even so, he agreed to watch the clouds with you anyway. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. While Kankurō and Temari weren't necessarily bad people, they were his siblings, and sometimes, he needed a break from the pair.
You enjoyed his company. You felt all warm on the inside when you were with him. You hadn't known what to think about the situation, so you had asked your friend.
⠀
"I feel all warm when I'm with him, and I just... I don't know. I have the temptation to hug him, I guess?"
Your friend had laughed at you when you had told her this. "Y/N," she said with a smile on her face, "you're in love."
After thinking about it for a while, you had concluded that she was right. You were in love. In love with the boy that didn't know what love felt like because he had never experienced it in the way that most others had.
You loving him wasn't the only reason you were kind to him, but you had to admit it was a factor. If you hated someone, why would you be as kind to someone as you were to Gaara? The shinobi of Suna weren't exactly the nicest people. You knew this from witnessing every other child shunning Gaara by either bullying him or pretending he wasn't there.
⠀
You remember it as clear as day. You had seen Gaara, he was sitting alone, and both of you couldn't have been more than eleven or twelve.
"Hello," you greeted, sitting next to him. "Don't you have lunch?"
He shook his head. Despite his refusal to say a word, you smiled. "That's okay. You can have mine. I'm not that hungry."
You handed him the lunch and watched as he took it and began to eat slowly. "My name is Y/N, and I'd like to be your friend? Is that alright with you?
After a few minutes, the boy nodded his head. And ever since that day, the two of you had befriended one another.
Eventually, Gaara began to open up to you. Not necessarily about his past, but he talked more and more with every day you spent together.
⠀
As of now, though, he was utterly silent. As if he had something on his mind, perhaps. You knew better than to push it, though. If he wanted to say something, he knew you well enough that he would do so. However, you knew that he didn't entirely trust you.
You had overheard it in a conversation between him and his brother. "Your friend is here," he had said after he had answered the door to see you standing there.
"She's not my friend," he grumbled, not knowing you could hear him.
"Then why has she come here specifically asking for you?" He teased, although you could sense the intimidated tone of his voice.
"She's a nice girl. I just don't entirely trust her motives." And that had been the end of the conversation.
The conversation had taken place a few years after you two became friends. You were hurt, but you weren't surprised. Gaara just didn't trust people.
"Why are you so nice to me?" Gaara said to you, finally speaking, as the two of you watched the clouds.
You looked at him. "Because you're my friend, Gaara. I care about you as a person, and I want to show you kindness."
He shook his head. "No, that's... that's not what I mean. You're always standing up for me, and I don't get it."
You sighed. It was now or never, you supposed. "Gaara, do you... Do you know what love is?"
He stared at you for what felt like the longest time. But then, he nodded. "I do."
"Good, that's... a start. My friend told me that because I have a desire to be nice to you and give you, well... love and feel all warm inside when I'm around you, I'm in love with you. I guess that's a factor in the matter, anyway. You don't have to feel the same. I just wanted to let you know, since you asked and all."
For what felt like the longest time, both of you were silent. It was neither a comfortable nor an uncomfortable silence. It was right in the middle, a level of comfort you never wanted to experience in your life another time if you could help it.
"Stay with me," Gaara then said. "Stay with me. Just stay, alright? I'm not sure if I feel the same, but... if you stay with me, then I could very well learn to love you. Learn how to love in general."
You smiled and nodded. "I will, Gaara. I promise. I'll stay with you as long as you want me to."
