Open Your Eyes

Trowa nervously rubbed his palms over his thighs, shifting slightly in his seat before clearing his throat to catch Dorothy’s attention. The girl smiled at him and nodded to let him know that she was listening.

“Dorothy, there’s something I’d like to tell you,” Trowa began hesitantly. “Something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while now in fact.”

“What is it, Trowa?” she asked, her voice concerned. “Is something the matter?”

Trowa stared at her, trying to think of the best way in which to break the news to her. He’d decided to bring her back with him to the church. He wanted to tell her somewhere private and had also chosen his home because of the territorial advantage he would have.

Father Maxwell and Sister Helen had briefly stopped them to say hi to Dorothy, making Trowa feel even guiltier when they announced what a lovely young lady she was.

Presently they were sitting in Trowa’s room and the he was extremely grateful that Duo wasn’t around. The other boy had taken one look at Trowa’s face and had made himself scarce. Trowa made a mental note to thank him later for giving him some space. Well, he thought with a small smile. He wouldn’t have to remind himself to thank Duo. The smaller boy would no doubt bombard him with questions once Dorothy was gone in an effort to find out what had happened.

Trowa reached out and took Dorothy’s hand in his, marvelling momentarily at it. So soft and delicate. So unlike his own.

“Dorothy, I want you to know…” he said slowly before pausing.

“Want me to know what?” she asked, her brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

“I want you to know…”

“Trowa, you said that already,” she reminded him gently. “What is it you want to tell me?”

He looked up from her hand to her face, trying to keep his gaze fixed on hers. “We…we can’t see each other anymore,” he said quickly, almost stammering over his words.

“Why not?” she asked, frowning at him. “Trowa…you said you’ve been wanting to tell me this for a while now…have you been seeing someone else?”

Trowa merely nodded, bowing his head, not daring to meet her eyes anymore.

“Well then, who is it?” Dorothy asked, her voice calm. ‘Too calm,’ Trowa thought to himself.

“I think you already know them,” Trowa muttered, still not looking up.

“I know them?” Dorothy repeated. “Wait…is it Relena?”

Trowa couldn’t help but burst out laughing at that. “Relena?” he echoed between snickers.

“I’m glad you find this so funny,” Dorothy snapped. “So if it isn’t Relena, then who is it?”

“It’s Heero.”

A long silence fell over the room and Trowa suddenly developed an unnatural fascination with his shoes.

“You’re telling me that you’ve been seeing Heero Yuy behind my back,” Dorothy stated. Trowa was surprised how calm she still sounded. He’d have thought she’d have gone mad at the news. He expected screaming, he expected abuse…Hell, he wouldn’t have been all that surprised if she’d decided to slap him in the face.

“Technically no,” he said softly. “I…I kind of had feelings for Heero before I met you.”

“Oh.” Trowa dared to glance up and he was surprised yet again when he saw that Dorothy’s expression was one of sadness. Why wasn’t she behaving like she was supposed to?

“Why aren’t you yelling at me?” he asked suddenly. She arched an eyebrow at him in question and he stumbled on. “I mean you should be pissed as all Hell, right? I’ve been cheating on you…with another man no less…Aren’t you going to slap me? Don’t you think I’m some kind of freak?”

“No, Trowa,” she said softly and his eyes widened in shock.

“You don’t?” he asked, feeling confused. “But…why? Don’t you hate me?”

“No,” she said simply, squeezing his hand. She looked away when she spoke again. “Trowa, I…I should apologise to you.”

“Apologise?” Trowa asked, now feeling even more confused. “For what?”

“For everything,” she told him quietly. “I…I pushed you into going out with me and I shouldn’t have. I knew you were resisting me somewhat, but I thought it was because you were so shy and…you know…you didn’t seem to have much experience with love affairs.”

“I don’t,” Trowa pointed out. Dorothy just smiled.

“I just wouldn’t have thought it was because you weren’t attracted to me,” she continued and he looked away guiltily. “I never would have guessed that you don’t like girls in that way.”

“I’m sorry,” was all Trowa could say.

“Don’t be,” Dorothy told him. “You shouldn’t be sorry for who or what you are.” She shook her head and smiled. “Still…Heero? I wouldn’t have pegged him for that kind of thing either. Although it makes sense considering how he behaves around Relena.”

Trowa nodded again and Dorothy reached out to smooth the hair away from his face. This time, he didn’t mind as much as when she’d done it before. “Do you love him, Trowa?”

“Very much so,” Trowa whispered and Dorothy chuckled softly.

“Well at least that’s something,” she said wryly. “Trowa?”

“Yes, Dorothy?” He allowed her to tip his chin up so that she could see his eyes. He thought about how Heero had done the exact same thing only a couple of days ago and suddenly realised that he was doing the right thing. He couldn’t continue seeing Dorothy; it wouldn’t be fair to anyone. It wouldn’t be fair to her, to Heero, or even him. He couldn’t be with her and compare her with Heero all the time. It wouldn’t be right.

“Trowa, do you think things might have worked out between us if you hadn’t been attracted to other boys?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” he replied truthfully. “Maybe. I think I might have liked it to. But you deserve a lot better than me, Dorothy,” he added firmly. “First of all you need someone who’s actually attracted to women.”

“That’d probably help,” she replied and he graced her with a small smile.

Trowa gripped her hand tighter and reached out to gently cup her cheek. “Dorothy, you’re an amazing woman,” he said softly. “You’re beautiful, you’re kind, you’re intelligent…you don’t take crap from anyone…Like I said, you deserve someone who can treat you right. Someone better than me.”

“Know anyone who fits that description?” she asked with a snort. “I don’t know how well you’re familiar with people around here, but none of them are really the type that I’m looking for.”

“You’ll find someone,” Trowa assured her. “There are boys who would give up their left leg for a date with you and you know it.”

“They want to date me for what I have, not who I am,” she said bitterly. “That’s why I liked you so much. You didn’t care that I’m some wealthy grand daughter of a famous Duke. You even paid for tickets to take me to see one of the most expensive shows around. Most other guys would have had me pay for them.”

“Don’t remind me,” Trowa said, wrinkling his nose. “I was broke for a month after that little episode.”

“I know,” Dorothy said with a sad smile. “But you bought them anyway. Dammit, Trowa, why can’t there be more guys like you around?”

“Just be grateful that there aren’t,” he told her with a mock glare. She giggled prettily and he smiled, resting his forehead against hers. “Really, Dorothy. You’ll find someone someday who’ll be willing to do all the things that I did for you and more. Someone who’ll look out for you and tell you how much they care.”

“You mean like Heero is with you?” she asked, smiling when she saw him blush. “I have to admit that I’m envious, Trowa. What you and Heero have is special so don’t forget that. It’s like you’re a different person entirely when you talk about him. Your face lights up and your eyes kind of soften and it makes me feel sad that you have what I don’t…but it also makes me happy as well, because if anyone should have some love in their life, it’s you.”

“The same goes for you,” he told her firmly. “I don’t like to see you sad, Dorothy and I hate to know that I’m the cause of that sadness. I just want you to be as happy as I am, that’s all. And I want to thank you for being so understanding about all this. You’ve helped me out a lot, Dorothy and I just…I…thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she whispered, leaning forward to touch her lips to his. It was a small, chaste kiss and Trowa realised that to Dorothy, this was her way of letting him go, her way of saying goodbye. She pulled back slightly and pressed her lips to his forehead with almost motherly affection and he smiled in response.

“Well, I guess I should be going,” she said eventually, rising to her feet and getting her coat.

“No, wait,” Trowa said suddenly, reaching out and clutching her hand in his. “You like Quatre, right?”

“Where are you going with this, Trowa?” she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly at him.

“Maybe I can talk to him,” he said quickly. “You know, see if he likes you in return?”

“Oh, Trowa,” she said softly, looking away. “You shouldn’t bother yourself with my affairs.”

“But I want to,” he insisted. “And if anyone could understand you, it’s him. You’re both in the same boat, both children from wealthy families who can’t trust the people who want to date them for fear that they’re after your money and not you?”

“Are you saying that you’re going to play matchmaker?” she asked suspiciously. “Because if you are, you’re just wasting your time.”

“You won’t know unless you let me try,” Trowa said stubbornly. “I told you before that I want to see you happy. The least I could do is to try and make this work for you.”

Dorothy shook her head and smiled at him. “You’re crazy, you know that,” she said. “All you blind optimists always are.”

“Now that’s the first time I can safely say that someone has ever called me an optimist,” he told her, feeling pleased when she smiled again. “So, will you let me try?”

She stared at him for a long moment before letting her breath out on a sigh. “Knock yourself out,” she said mildly. “Just don’t get your hopes up too high. Quatre has never taken notice of my advances before.”

“That’s because you did the same thing to him as you did with me,” he said urgently. “Guys don’t like being pushed into a relationship. You just have to let it work out on its own. Maybe he’d feel differently if you used another approach. At least let me help you. Please?”

“All right,” she said finally. “But don’t expect me to get my hopes too much, okay?”

“Okay,” he said, getting up so that he could show her out. “Just you wait. I’ll get things to work out between you guys for sure.” ‘God, now I know I’ve been spending too much time around Duo,’ he thought to himself. ‘Not only am I starting to think like him, I’m even starting to talk like him.’

This was important to him though. He felt sad and guilty for breaking up with Dorothy and he wanted to do everything in his power to fix that, to make her feel happy again.

They stopped outside the door and Trowa helped Dorothy into her coat. “Dorothy?” he asked suddenly. “We can still see each other, right? I’d really like it if we could be friends.”

“I’d like that too,” she told him, reaching up and ruffling his hair. Trowa tried to force away the twinge of annoyance he felt whenever anybody did that to him, but he managed a small smile for her anyway. “You’re such a sweetie,” she added, smoothing his hair back down. “Heero had better make you happy.”

“I hope that he will,” he said. “I’ll see you around, Dorothy.”

“See you, Trowa,” she said softly. “And good luck.”