Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing... although I wish I did because then I could make all the G-boys do naughty things XDD
A/N: I like this story... it's so light it makes me happy to write it.
Posted on 18th Oct. 2007
“Wuffie!! The light of my life!” Duo announced as he bounced into the office the next day.
“I’m broke. Now go away.” Wufei said quickly and turned away from him hoping to discourage the hug that was no doubt coming.
“Oh! You wound me Wuffers. And here I was actually happy to see you.” Duo melodramatically, putting a hand on his forehead in a clichéd tragic pose. “Oh woe is me.”
“You’re pushing it Duo. It’s not funny anymore.” Wufei said and Duo’s hand dropped quickly.
“What do you know?” He said petulantly. “You’re the one with no life.” He collapsed into his chair and booted his computer with one hand.
Wufei didn’t bother answering him. He continued working.
“Hey… Wufei?” Duo asked after about five minutes of silence. “Wuff Wuff?”
“What?!” Wufei said already thoroughly annoyed… and the day hadn’t even properly begun yet.
“Won’t you ask me why I’m happy today?”
“No.”
“Why not?” He said crossing his arms over the cardboard divide and leaning into Wufei’s cubicle.
“I don’t need to know.” He said plainly.
Duo made a face at him and then sat back down.
“Yesterday I met Heero.” He said loudly enough that he knew Wufei could hear him. He heard the constant tap of keystrokes slow a bit so he knew he had Wufei’s attention. “Heero’s the guy I yelled at last week… in the park?” He sighed remembering the feeling of his warm, soft fingers. “I apologized… and he accepted.”
Wufei grunted but kept typing.
“Then I took him out to dinner.” The keystrokes stopped.
“Are you going out with him?” He asked softly.
“Yeah! I got his number and everything.” Duo said proudly.
Wufei got up suddenly, “Keep your volume down! I know you’re excited and honestly, what you do in your free time does not concern me but don’t announce it to the world!” He hissed looking around to see if anyone heard.
“What are you talking about?” Duo asked, confused.
“You’re dating a guy and you know the boss fires anyone who’s gay!” He whispered.
Duo’s eyes widened. “That’s not it! I’m not going out with him! And I’m not gay!” He whispered back fiercely, his face burning at the thought.
Heero and him? Heero really was gorgeous though… and he had a very sweet soft voice… he was a bit shy too which Duo absolutely adored… and he had really soft hands… warm and soft…
Duo jerked back to attention at the sound of Wufei calling his name repeatedly.
“What?” He said somewhat irritated that he was broken out of his train of thought.
“Are you sure?” Wufei asked looking a little worried.
“Sure about what?” Duo snapped at him. His good mood was gone and he was feeling rather frustrated.
“That you’re not… you know… gay.”
“This conversation’s over Wufei.” Duo said coldly and got back to work, turning away from Wufei’s inquiring face. After a moment Wufei returned to work as well. They didn’t speak to each other for the rest of the day.
As was becoming his habit lately, Duo left work and detoured through the park. He walked, his feet leading him subconsciously towards the other end of the park where he’d run into Heero twice.
Duo felt a strange feeling in his chest and stomach… somewhat like his insides were fluttering about. Why would he be anxious to see Heero?
I want to be his friend… He seems interesting…
“Aiko! Here girl!” Duo looked up when he heard the now familiar voice and headed in that direction. Heero was playing a game with Aiko, he had his arms stretched out in front of him as he moved around searching for his dog. Aiko bounced happily around him barking from time to time to let him know where she was. Heero laughed openly when his hand touched her head and she jumped away from him again.
Duo sat down on the grass watching them play for the moment. He watched the way Heero turned his face slightly to the side when he was listening for sounds… how he always put one foot forward when he was about to reach out… the way his hair fell onto his forehead and in front of his glasses…
He pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, resting his chin on them. He watched them run around, the dog jumping and licking at Heero’s hand before running away again, Heero laughing as his hand touched the dog and then moving towards the sound of her voice… they were so full of energy… and Duo felt dull being in their presence… his life felt grey while they were just bursting with life.
“Heero…” Duo said quietly, wanting to talk to him for some reason. As soon as his name left his mouth Heero stopped and grew quiet. He immediately missed the sound of his laughter even as Heero turned to face him. “It’s Duo…” He called.
“Duo…” He repeated but then looked away. “Aiko, let’s go!” He called and Aiko came running to him, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. Heero quickly grabbed her harness and Aiko started leading him away.
Duo got up in a panic and ran after him. “Heero! What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry!” He said quickly wanting to grab his hand but he didn’t dare.
Heero stopped suddenly and turned to face him. “What do you want from me Duo? You wanted forgiveness, I gave it to you. I even let you take me out to dinner. Now what?”
“I… I don’t know…” Duo said confused. “I just… I want to be your friend… Did I do something wrong?”
Heero sighed. “No… you didn’t do anything wrong.” He reached out hesitantly, putting his hand on Duo’s arm gently. He felt the warmth seep from his hand and into his arm and marveled for the hundredth time on how warm and gentle Heero’s hand was. “Look… I don’t know what’s going on here or even what you want from me.” He pulled his hand away and Duo’s arm suddenly felt cold. “I don’t think I want to meet you again.”
With that Heero turned again and let Aiko lead him away. Duo felt something cold and chilling drive into his chest as Heero’s words repeated in his head.
“Forget last week… this is a bad day.” He said morosely to himself as he watched Heero’s retreating back.
Duo dragged himself home and stared at the post it with Heero’s number on the wall. Between yesterday and today something had gone wrong and changed Heero’s mind. Maybe… maybe if he called Heero? Maybe Heero doesn’t hate him now?
He picked up the phone nervously and dialed the number. One… two… three rings later someone picked up the phone.
“Hello?” It was Heero! Hearing his voice made Duo feel slightly better already.
“Hey Heero…” Duo greeted, realizing that he didn’t really have anything to say.
“Duo?” He heard the confusion in his voice. “Why did you call me?”
“Please don’t hang up.” Duo said quickly. “I don’t know why I called you but I needed to talk to you. Something went wrong and I’m sorry if I did something wrong or said something stupid. I don’t know what happened but I really want to get to know you and I really don’t want you to just disappear.” He listened for a moment to see if Heero was still on the line. Heero grunted slightly and Duo continued. “I don’t know why but… I… Please don’t tell me I can never talk to you again when I didn’t even get a chance to get to know you and…”
There was silence on the other end and Duo felt his hope deflating. “… I guess if you really don’t want to see me again I’ll stay out of your way… I just wanted… to apologize. I’m sorry. Goodnight Heero.”
“No wait.” Heero’s voice stopped him from hanging up. “I always come to the park in the evenings because Aiko likes it there.”
“Okay…” Duo said a little confused.
“So… I’ll be there tomorrow too… goodnight.” He said quickly and hung up.
Duo stared at the phone for a few minutes and then decided that he had been offered a chance to meet Heero again. Feeling slightly better but still confused as to why everything went wrong, he headed to bed.
Duo waited on the bench, looking around to see if Heero was here yet or not. He felt nervous, he wanted to be Heero’s friend so badly that it was making him nervous. Maybe… maybe he was coming off as too needy? Today would be their fourth meeting…actually, four sounds like a good number.
“Do you see anyone with a braid?” He heard Heero’s voice and looked up. Heero was with a tall boy this time. He was lean and graceful. He looked very… acrobatic too… somehow… but the strangest was his hair. He had a massive bang covering the entire right side of his face.
“If you’re talking about the idiot that rudely stares at people with his mouth open then yes, he’s right in front of us.” He said and Duo snapped back to attention, his face burning at the insult.
He cleared his throat and offered his hand out to them, and somewhere deep inside him he felt a deep ache as well as a very strong resentment towards this new guy. “Duo Maxwell.” He introduced himself glaring at the tall boy as best as he could. “And you are…?”
“Trowa Barton.” He said not taking his hand. “I’d say nice to meet you, but I don’t like to lie.”
“Trowa…” Heero said in a warning tone and Duo shot Trowa a victorious smile. Heero was on his side! What Duo really wanted to do was show him his tongue but something told him that the immature act would count against him. “Duo… this is Trowa. He’s my best friend. He wanted to meet you.”
Duo nodded. “So…” He said not knowing what else to say to the guy, getting unnerved by the piercing green eyed stare the other had.
“Tell me, where do you work?” Trowa asked suddenly.
Duo pointed to the huge building towering over the park across the road. Blue glass reflected the sunset making the building glow. “I’m a software programmer for Altec Lansing (1)”
Trowa nodded. “Why the braid?”
“Sentimental value. Nothing I would tell you.” Duo retorted.
“How many lovers?”
“Excuse me?” Duo’s eyes widened and Heero coughed. Duo saw him nudging Trowa but he ignored the constant jabs.
“I said, how many lovers have you had? Male or female? Why did you break up with them? Or rather… why did they break up with you?" Duo bristled. He felt his hackles rising and he was going into defensive mode. Who did this guy think he was? Interrogating him like he was some criminal!
“I don’t see how that has anything do with…”
“If you lie I’ll know.” Duo swallowed thickly and darted a quick look at Heero. How is it that he got more gorgeous everyday? His eyes followed the line of his jaw, the smooth skin on his neck, the wisp of hair that fell over his ear…
“I haven’t… I’ve never had a lover…” Duo said his face scarlet with embarrassment.
Trowa nodded. “What do you do in your free time?”
Thoroughly resigned to his fate Duo answered. “I usually don’t get much free time. I work overtime a lot. But when I come home I call Wufei, my friend, and bug him until he hangs up on me.”
He looked at Trowa to see his reaction and he was staring at him. Duo didn’t know if that was good or bad.
“Any pets?”
“That’s enough Trowa…” Heero said softly and Trowa nodded.
“No pets. I stay out a lot; I wouldn’t be able to take care of it.” He answered anyway.
Trowa crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave Duo a once-over. “You pass. But if I hear you did something that caused Heero pain…”
Duo shivered. The fact that he had left the sentence incomplete made the threat scarier than if he had actually told him what he would do.
“All right Heero.” Trowa put a hand on Heero’s shoulder. “Have fun. I’ll leave now okay?” Heero nodded and Trowa turned to leave. “Remember, if you hurt Heero, I’ll hurt you ten times over.” He repeated to Duo who nodded vigorously to let him know he understood. Trowa had a dangerous air about him that was not apparent upon first meeting. But when he got that look in his eyes, the look, you just knew that if he didn’t kill you, he’d cripple you for life.
Once he had gone Heero turned to Duo. “I’m sorry… he’s a little protective.”
“I understand.” And he did. Heero was blind which meant he had little way of knowing if something threatening was to happen. It made complete sense that his friends would worry and check to make sure any strangers were not dangerous. “Umm… where’s Aiko?”
“She’s with Trowa.” He answered but didn’t offer any more explanations.
“So… whatever happened yesterday… it’s okay now?” Duo asked nervously.
Again that smile… that tiny smile that lifted just the corners of his plump lips up… Duo’s heart fluttered and his breath stuck in his throat. “Yeah… it’s fine.” Just as Duo was about to reach for Heero’s hand, Heero grabbed his arm. “May I?” He asked smiling a little and Duo laughed.
“Sure.” He started leading him down the trail, just strolling. “What do you want to do today? Grab something to drink? Dinner? Movie?” He smacked himself right after he said that and he sputtered, “I’m s-sorry, I forgot…”
“Don’t worry about it.” He said flippantly. “And a movie sounds great.”
Somewhat surprised Duo led them towards a nearby theatre and chose a movie that had lots of dialogues in it. He was not going to be even more inconsiderate by picking a flick with a lot of action and blowing up and not enough talk.
Duo ended up enjoying the movie a lot. He had to sometimes tell Heero what happened but he even enjoyed that. Heero would touch his hand slightly in a questioning manner when he didn’t understand something and Duo liked those small touches more than he was willing to admit.
“That was a good movie.” Heero stated as they left, his hand holding onto Duo's arm letting him lead.
“Yeah! I loved the whole drama in the family, I mean come on! Can’t they just talk it over? No misunderstandings then! But then again, that would make for a very boring movie.” He said animatedly. Heero laughed and Duo reveled in the sound of that deep voice. He had a beautiful laugh, Duo decided. “So where to now?”
“What time is it?”
“It’s a little after eleven.”
“Hmm… I think I should be getting home now. It’s getting late.” He said softly and Duo felt disappointment creeping in. It was true, it was getting late and Heero had to be home… he couldn’t have the gorgeous guy all to himself twenty-four hours a day…
“Yeah… walk you home?” He asked.
“Yes please.” Duo smiled softly and moved his arm away from Heero’s hand. He noticed the sudden panic that flashed across Heero’s features before he schooled them into neutrality and he wondered. He grabbed Heero’s hand tightly in his, reassuring him without words that he was still here, that he just wanted to hold his hand.
“Let’s go then. Which way?” He asked tightening his hold slightly on Heero’s hand.
“I live near Upper James and Queen.” Duo nodded and changed their direction.
“So… do you live alone?” He asked, walking half a step ahead of Heero so he could help him if needed.
Heero nodded. “Just Aiko and me.”
“Any family? Watch the curb.” He warned him.
“Mm… no. I’m an orphan. But I have friends who I consider my family.”
“Like Trowa?”
Heero smiled. “Yeah, like Trowa. Then there’s his boyfriend, Quatre, who is almost like a brother to me.”
“Sounds nice.”
“What about you?” He asked, tilting his head slightly to the side in a gesture that Duo found absolutely adorable.
“I live alone. No pets. No family either. They died when I was younger. I have one friend who I have stuck to since I was very young. His name is Wufei. He pretends that I annoy him but I know that he likes me too.” Duo grinned at him. “So I annoy him even more. It’s my hobby!” Heero smiled. “He’s married so I’m not able to hang out with him as much as I used to… and that sometimes leads to me just being alone at home. I don’t really know what to do then… but I like this, walking through the park and stuff, for the past week I haven’t had to wonder where to go after work.”
"Sounds lonely." Heero commented as he touched a pole and then turned from there. Duo was surprised to see that it seemed he recognized the intersection… from the sounds perhaps? And before they knew it they were heading up a driveway to a small townhouse.
“This is it?” Duo asked and he nodded. He stood there for a moment, knowing that he should let Heero’s hand go but he didn’t want to. “Goodnight.” He said but his hand didn’t leave Heero’s.
Heero smiled. “You’ll have to let my hand go Duo.”
“Mm.” Duo agreed… but he didn’t want to. Moving closer he placed his other hand behind Heero’s neck. Acting entirely on impulse he leaned in and placed his lips on Heero’s. The kiss was short, chaste and barely there but it filled him with such happiness that he felt he could burst.
“Duo…” Heero whispered when Duo moved away.
“Shh… I’ll see you tomorrow?” He asked and Heero nodded quickly, his cheeks dusted with pink in the pale light from the street. “Goodnight.” He finally let go of Heero’s hand and stepped back.
Heero turned to open the door and stepped in. “Night.” He said before closing the door slowly behind him.
Duo felt a smile bloom on his face and it grew until it was a grin so large that it almost divided his face into two. Giving a silent whoop he threw a fisted hand into the air and jumped, filled with energy and happiness he ran down the street towards the subway station.
He kissed Heero! He kissed Heero! He kissed Heero…
Wait… he kissed a guy…. He kissed a guy… he kissed a guy.
He came to a screeching stop and stumbled when he didn’t manage to hold onto his balance fast enough.
Oh crap… he was gay.
1) I couldn't think of a company name and I was staring randomly at my laptop and my laptop speakers were made by 'Altec Lansing' and it seemed to fit.
A/N: I have time to write!!! YESSSSS!!!
So... what do you think?
Persephone