Open Your Eyes

“Trowa, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you, man, where’ve you been?”

Duo jogged up to Trowa, tackling the taller boy in his enthusiasm and almost knocking him off his feet. Trowa smiled slightly, feeling better for the first time that day. Duo always managed to cheer him up.

“I was just in the library studying,” he replied, holding out an arm to steady the braided boy.

“Hiding out in the library you mean,” Duo told him sternly, wagging a finger at him. “You only ever do that when you don’t want to talk to people, so who is it you’re avoiding? It’s not me, is it? Ashamed to be seen hanging out with your ever so popular brother?”

Trowa rolled his eyes and gave Duo a good-natured shove. “No, I wasn’t avoiding you,” he said patiently. “I was avoiding…oh, never mind. Forget about it. It wasn’t like it even worked anyway.”

“I see,” the smaller boy said, raising an eyebrow. “You’re pissed off because you’re trying to stay out of the way of someone you don’t like. They found you though, didn’t they? Who are you trying to keep away, Tro? Is someone picking on you?” he added, his expression darkening. “Because if they are, I’ll break their arms and then–”

“No,” Trowa said sharply, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “It isn’t anything like that,” he continued quietly.

“So what’s the big deal then?” Duo asked, looking slightly confused. “Who are you trying to avoid?”

“Two someone’s actually,” Trowa muttered, looking away. Duo frowned and was just about to say something when he was interrupted by the sound of someone calling his name.

Both boys turned to see the source of the yell and Duo brightened when he saw whom it was.

“Oh, hey, Hilde,” he said, giving her a wide grin. “I see you’d like to join our happy little group of gloom.”

Trowa glared at him and Hilde laughed, slinging her bag further over her shoulder.

“Well, Duo, aren’t you going to introduce me to this hottie?” she asked, nudging the braided boy with her elbow.

“This ‘hottie’ as you put it just happens to be my brother, Trowa,” Duo told her with a smirk. “And before you ask, he’s already spoken for. He’s Dorothy Catalonia’s new boy toy.”

Hilde’s eyes widened at that. “You’re dating Dorothy Catalonia?” she asked. “That’s a shame. Well, if you ever break up with her, I’ll be sure to give you my number,” she added with a wink.

“Yeah, whatever,” Duo said, rolling his eyes. “Jeez, what is it with you, Tro? You’re an absolute babe magnet these days. I just don’t get it. How can anyone make so little effort and attract so much attention?”

“Maybe it’s because he’s the tall, handsome and silent type,” Hilde told him with a grin. “Girls really go for that sort of thing, you know.”

“Well I’m the short, cute and noisy type and I seem to be doing just fine,” Duo huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. His frown faded away though and he reached up a hand to ruffle the taller boy’s hair, knowing how much it annoyed him. “Well, aren’t you going to speak, Tro? I know you’re quiet, but this is bordering on bad manners. Just say ‘Hi, Hilde’.”

“Hi, Hilde,” Trowa repeated tonelessly, smoothing down the hair that Duo had messed up.

Hilde smiled up at him. “I would say don’t mind Duo, but I guess you’d know him better than anyone else, right?” Trowa merely nodded and Hilde’s smile brightened. Trowa found himself liking this girl for some reason. Not in a physical way, she just seemed…well, she was like Quatre in that she was so open and friendly. It was hard to dislike a person like that.

She held a hand out to Trowa who shook it, now somewhat used to these kinds of greetings. “Might as well introduce myself properly,” she told him. “Hilde Schbeiker. I live just outside town with my mom. We run a salvage yard.”

“Isn’t that cool, Tro?” Duo chipped in. “Hilde says she’s going to ask see if she can invite me over later this week. I always wanted to see how a salvage yard works.”

Hilde nodded. “You can come too if you like,” she offered. “I don’t often bring friends over so I’m sure my mom would be thrilled to meet you guys.”

“If that’s okay with Duo,” Trowa said uncertainly, looking at the smaller boy for confirmation.

“Sure it is!” Duo said enthusiastically. “Wow, Tro, you’re actually getting something that resembles a life. Isn’t that cool?”

Trowa just grunted, but he was smiling slightly. “It sounds good to me,” he said simply and he was almost knocked off his feet by the force of Duo and Hilde’s beams.

“That’s awesome!” Hilde said, moving between Trowa and Duo and threading her arms through each of theirs. “So, would you two gentlemen care to escort a lady to the front door?”

“There’s a lady? Where?” asked Duo, peering over his shoulder as if he was looking for someone. Hilde glared and thumped him on the arm, but they were both grinning.

“Hey, buster. I’ll have you know that there’s a song written just for me,” she announced, raising her chin so that she was looking down her nose at Duo.

“What’s that?” the braided boy asked with a snicker. “Dancing Queen?”

Hilde thumped him again in response, but she still laughed at the joke. “It’s a much more tasteful song actually and it goes something like this.” She paused to clear her throat before singing in a horribly off-key voice, “I may not be a ladyyy, but I’m alll woman…”

“Oh, my God!” Duo cried, wrenching his arm from Hilde’s and covering his ears. “That’s gotta be the worst rendition of a song I’ve ever heard in my entire life and I live with a tone deaf priest!” He cringed as though he was in agony and bellowed, “My ears! My ears! Dear God, please…no more!”

Hilde glared at him, but Trowa couldn’t hold back his chuckles. Both Hilde and Duo looked up at him in surprise. “Wow,” the braided boy said in awe. “Trowa only ever laughs once in a blue moon and sometimes not even then. I think we’re being a good influence on him, Hilde.”

“I’d definitely say so,” Hilde replied, squeezing Trowa’s arm and holding out her other one for Duo to take. “Hey, Duo, let’s see if we can make him laugh again before we get home,” she suggested and Duo grinned wickedly.

“Oh, I know a sure-fire way of making him laugh,” he said teasingly, making Trowa narrow his eyes. “It just so happens that our Tro-man is ticklish!”

Hilde’s eyes lit up and Trowa disentangled himself from her, backing away slowly. “Oh no,” he said sternly, trying to put as much distance between himself and the other two as he possibly could. “Don’t even think about it guys…”

He had barely finished his sentence before Duo and Hilde pounced on him, mercilessly attacking his ribs, tickling his skin and drawing hysterical laughter from the normally stoic boy. Trowa couldn’t take much more of the torture before he gasped out for them to stop, the muscles in his cheeks aching from smiling so much.

Duo grinned up at him and grabbed his hand, hooking his free arm around Hilde. “You see, Trowa? That’s called letting go and having fun,” he said teasingly. “It’s not such a bad thing now, is it? You look better when you smile as well, less of an old man and more of the kid you really are.”

“Duo,” Trowa said shaking his head, but a small smile still lingered on his lips. “I may end up regretting this later, but what sort of ‘fun’ did you have in mind?”

“Well, how about the three of us go out to the Dairy Queen?” Duo suggested. “We can call Father Maxwell and Sister Helen to tell them we’re going to be late, Hilde can phone her mom and then we’re all set. What do you say?”

“Don’t forget we have homework to do tonight,” Trowa warned him, but he couldn’t resist pleading puppy-eyed expressions to the power of two. “All right,” he sighed. “We’ll go to the Dairy Queen, but promise me we’ll get some work done as well, okay?”

“Whatever you say, Tro,” Duo said cheerfully, dragging him and Hilde out of the school building. “Just be ready to treat me to a triple fudge sundae when we get there.”