[Modern!GaaraxFEM!Reader] Everyone's beautiful when they smile.

Chapter Twenty

Reader's POV

  The snow crunched under our feet as we stepped out of Neikku's moms car, a Buick Rendezvous. His mom was off work today so Neikku decided to use it.

  We set our things up after pulling them from the trunk. Plastic tarp and a few quilts were laid out under a tree. It's branches gave some kind of coverage from the snow.

  We, Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, Neikku, and I, ate before we arrived but Neikku suggested snacks anyway so we brought some jerky sticks and chips.

  The project is to draw a landscape that captures the snow. Neikku draws one half and I draw the other so it creates an entire image.

  One's drawing style is fairly different from another's but the teacher says there's nothing wrong with that since it makes the image a bit more interesting.

  Niekku and I sat down and started sketching, wanting to get finished as soon as possible before the whether picked up.

The sketch wasn't too difficult. Trying to get both Neikku and I's scale size right was a challenge but only at first.

Temari sat by the lake tapping away at her phone. Kankuro was beside her, throwing rocks at the frozen water. Gaara sat on the other side of me and rested his head on my shoulder. He gave an immense amount of body heat so I wasn't complaining.

  Gaara hasn't mentioned anything about the three special words he said the other day. I'm kinda relieved he didn't say anything though. I wouldn't know how to actually respond to that. I've been stressing over my response ever since.

  The snow picked up a bit after awhile and shading and outlining just needed to be done on the sketch so we decided to leave.

  After restocking the car, we situated inside. Neikku in the driver's seat and Temari in the passengers. Kankuro sat  in the back to the left, I sat in the middle, and Gaara on the right.

The heaters were on full blast but I was still cold so I snuggled into Gaara. He's like a walking heater.

  Gaara looked down at me in the corner of his eye with a smirk and wrapped an arm around my waist. I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder.

  'Love'... I don't know how he loves me but it makes me happy in a way.

  It wasn't that long of a drive. The snow picked up a bit more but not the point where it affected Niekku's driving.

  As we pulled up to the three's house , Gaara turned to me fully and gave me a tight hug. Then he kissed my forehead then my nose and finally my lips.

  "Text me when you get home. Make sure to stay warm too."

  I smiled. "Alright."

  He pressed one last kiss against my forehead before hopping out of the car. I followed after him and got in the front seat.

  The radio was the only sound in the car for awhile. The windshield wipers flicked snow to the side before more appeared.

  "When do you want to finish the shading?" Neikku asked.

  "It don't matter. We have an extra day so we don't necessarily need to rush."

  "Alright. We can finish tomorrow in class then." He pulled up to my house first.

  "Do you want help taking out the tarp?"

  "No, it's fine. I'm going to take it out tomorrow."

  "Okay. See you tomorrow."

  He waved in response before backing into his driveway.

  I walked up the steps and inside. The smell of mom's cooking greeted me first, which I'm happy for.

A/N: It's a short chapter so it's probably not worth the wait. Sorry. The next chapter should be a bit more dramatic and more fluffy.