Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 1 Blood on the Window ❯ New Arrivals ( Chapter 33 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Whoever had the bright idea of having me a home-warming party on my birthday was a genius.

Everyone but Quatre was here, including several of my new neighbors-and Kayla. Of course Kayla would be here, it was our house.

I laughed delightedly as everyone else laughed at whatever one of the neighbors had said. It was late in the day now, we'd started partying at about six. We'd done a supper. Kayla was hosting her first party and had wanted to do it right. Even though it was late, though, we had our back door open. The mid-May weather wasn't as yet scaldingly hot, nor freezing at night.

We'd settled on a luxurious apartment with two rooms and white-carpet. The living room had direct-access to it's own personal balcony. It wasn't a corner apartment, but it was nearly. I was vaguely worried about my white-carpet with all these people drinking, but I also knew that the carpet had stain-stuff put on it, and it wouldn't cost too much to get someone to come clean it. Other than that…

"Okay," Heero muttered, rising to his feet with a smirk, "It's Duo's birthday," Heero went on, gesturing extravagantly at me, "And I haven't seen him get a single present."

"Some presents will be given after hours," Wufei noted suggestively with a smirk.

I laughed at him, looking back to Heero, "I'm having fun. That's all I want."

"But that's not all you get." Heero reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys.

I met his eyes, startled.

"Heero, we were going to do it together!" Relena protested, rising to her feet with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, Love." Heero muttered, kissing her, "I just was getting upset."

"What…" I asked, starting for him.

"I got tired of you borrowing my car without asking," he explained, tossing the things to me with a wink, "That wasn't some rude person parking in your extra spot."

I couldn't help but laugh at that, and by the look on Kayla's face, she'd known ahead of time. The rest of us, however, tore out of the apartment and down the stairs-Heero was laughing behind us.

It was a nondescript black car, much like Heero's own, though it was sportier. I'd actually admired the car when I'd thought it was someone parking in my extra spot.

Heero began rattling stats off at me as I unlocked it, and I couldn't help but beam at him before I slid in and looked to my friends, "I've drank too much tonight." I muttered sadly before offering to take everyone for a spin and climbing out before temptation took me.

"Oh, I dunno." Heero muttered, coming up beside me to lean next to me, "I thought you were plenty sober. I wanted to give it to you earlier, but Relena wanted to wait."

I smiled at him again, hugging him quickly, "Thank you."

"I figure that with all the shit I put you through when you got here, it was the least I could do." he dismissed it with a smile, "Not to mention I have more funds built up…and Relena pays for our house."

I smiled more at him.

"You gonna take us for a ride?" he demanded finally, looking to Trowa, Wufei, and Jesse. I hadn't realized who'd followed me down the stairs. I glanced upwards seeing the people from my party leaning over the railing to watch.

"I think I want to." I muttered, grinning at Heero.

"Then let's go."

.

The house seemed vaguely wrong with Duo gone, and the fact that Wufei, Miguel, and Trowa were all packing up their things was making me nervous. I knew that everyone would live within a mile of my place, but that didn't make it any easier to stomach that in one month they'd all be gone. It had nearly been a year since they'd all moved in suddenly anyway.

Wufei was looking well again. He had finally consented to move out with Miguel. They'd found a similar apartment complex to Duo's, and it was halfway between Duo and I. Hilde's apartment was just a bit further away to the south, and Jesse's house in the north made us in Wufei's four corners, if you will. Quatre had found a place between Duo's and Hilde's, so he would be the first barrier between Jun and all hell breaking loose.

Relena, however, had other matters on her mind. She was overjoyed to see our friends making their ways in life, but she was about to get married. She'd called Zechs and started setting up a very public wedding, and I had a feeling that would be our only wedding.

After work each day she, Hilde, and Kayla would set up a fortress in the kitchen-well, they'd bring all the wedding magazines they could find in triplicate and sit there for two hours or more.

Duo would laugh at me.

Or, he did until I pointed out that he was going to marry Kayla, and his wedding would be just as public as mine with Relena, because he was the head of Relena's security team and a Gundam pilot. These dubious honors would cast all five of us in the spotlight.

For some reason, this information had taken away some of his amusement.

Other than the slow ulcer starting in my stomach, however, things were going well. Duo and I had another job, which we'd been sort of dreading since he'd moved out. We hadn't been sure how we'd work it, and he was slightly worried he'd have to get an actual job. Meeting at Wufei's complex, however, proved to work wonders, because we'd meet, he'd leave his car and we'd take off. As soon as Wufei moved in to his new place, we'd come back and visit with him for a while before heading to whatever else would be on our agenda.

Life was better. I had all the force I'd ever need to bare in any circumstance living around me, and if we all had to drop and run, well, we'd be able to do that together. I was engaged to the one woman I wanted to be with always, and my friends were happy. I didn't have to worry that Duo didn't seem to have a phone again, I didn't have to worry that Trowa's quasi brother-in-laws might turn on him and throw him out. Anymore, I relied heavily on Jesse's border security to keep Wufei safe.

The only issue that I could see was the one where I became king.

.

Leaving my friends behind was my one single regret. My daughter did have her friends, but in Deniel, she had her cousin and uncles. I wasn't worried about her making new friends or taking her away from her current friends. She hadn't carried any of her kindergarten friends over to first grade anyway.

My friends had stuck by me through thick and thin. My friends had all watched Maria use me and leave me with a one-year old, they'd all supported me and helped me take care of my daughter through the inevitable depression that follows the sudden realization that the woman you love despises you. They'd lent me money before I'd finally conceded to the allowance my father's estate was pressing on me, a time or two they'd even given me a house to stay in before I gave up the ridiculous notion that I could do everything on my own. I'd been helping them for the last few years as credit bills piled up, and in exchange they'd taken over my house.

Of course, the way they'd taken over my house was simple. Tim always had beer in my fridge and had long gotten over the novelty of leather couches. Jacob had gotten used to borrowing one of my two cars without asking me, and Jenna frequently talked me into buying her clothing. I'd heard enough that they were using me, and knew just as well that they weren't. I had the funds and they didn't, I had the time to watch their kids if they wanted to go out some times. The Rob they'd known had melted from the innocence I'd had when I took the name to the guy I played at with Jun under their guidance. They helped me, I helped them, and in the end, did it matter that I had money? No. What mattered was the fact that they would be there if I needed them, and they knew I'd be there when they needed me.

Tim was a masochist who gloried in cuts and unexpected pain, Jenna was sensuous to a fault, and Jacob was a sadist who could turn your blood to ice with a look-because you could see what he was thinking, or rather, you could see that the he was thinking and that those thoughts were not rated pg-13. I would never claim that my friends were sane, at least, I'd never claim that Jacob was sane. But my friends were as much a part of me as my brethren.

"You look so serious, Quatre." Jenna muttered to me in concern.

I'd never told them exactly who I was, and I figured that I was leaving in a week and it was something I owed them after their outright honesty. All they knew of me was the fact that my father had been rich and his company had taken care of me.

"I'm in a mood." I explained, watching Marlea run from the kitchen and back into the hall with Tim's little girl on her heels, "I've made a few decisions."

"What?" Tim asked, "You chickened out and aren't going to move on us?"

I smiled at him, "No, but they deal directly with the reason I'm moving."

Jacob was studying me with intent eyes as he ran his fingers slowly over the rim of his glass-the crystal of it sang to us, and it was just one more thing that was simply Jacob, subtly wrong. When he stopped suddenly, the silence was as nerve-wracking as the continuous eerie noise.

Jenna sat back in her seat, studying my eyes, "So?"

I took a breath, looking them over, "I am Quatre Winner."

"We know that." Tim muttered with a smirk.

"Heir to the Winner Corporation and Gundam Pilot." I added pointedly.

Jacob started laughing.

Jenna's jaw had dropped and Tim was blinking at me.

"I told you my name and denied my station," I went on, "Because at first I didn't realize you were true friends."

"I can't really say I'm surprised," Jacob muttered, moving to his knees to sit in front of me on them, studying my eyes again, "But I am, all the same."

"Would you stop it, you tweak?" I asked, smacking at him.

He caught my wrist and I met his eyes, knowing he was about to hurt me.

He laughed delightedly.

"What?" I asked, still studying him.

"You like pain, don't you?"

I had to laugh at that, "It took you this long to notice?" I muttered, leaning in close to his face like I'd kiss him.

He froze, staring into my eyes with utter shock, his lips slightly parted.

"I'm disappointed in you." I added in his ear, shocked that the maneuver had worked. I'd seen Heero pull it on Wufei before.

Jacob let out a whoosh of startled laughter, realizing his mistake and punching me in the arm. I avoided his quick follow-up blow to the stomach and forced him physically to the floor, pinning him down as I smirked.

"You can fight?" Jenna asked, her tone astonished.

"I can kill, Jenna." I muttered, grabbing Jacob's throat, "It would be very simple." I added, meeting his eyes again.

"You're turning him on," Tim noted with amusement in his voice.

"I know." I replied, still studying the guy.

Jacob was both amused and more pissed at me than he'd ever been in his life-plus turned on. He was the easiest guy to turn on that I'd ever met…

I felt him move and decided not to fight, allowing him to pin me as he tried to catch his nearly panting breath. I grinned up at him.

"So…" he muttered, touching my face and throat with considerate fingers, "You can really hurt me…but if I can pin you…"

"It does you no good." I returned, "I let you pin me. I'm stronger than you."

"Are you trying to get raped?" Tim asked curiously.

I laughed, tilting my head to look at him, "Not particularly."

Jacob blinked down at me in mute astonishment.

"Other than getting back with my brothers," I continued my spiel, shoving Jacob off and moving to sit in my chair again, "One of them has caught the attention of one of the syndicates. You know how Deniel is. They're best friends with one leader and enemies with another without being part of any gang." I was startled to find myself running my fingers through Jacob's hair as he leaned against my legs.

"If you live in sanctuary," Jenna muttered, frowning at us, "With respected borders, then nothing will happen to the guy."

"But when a man is obsessed," I countered, "There's no telling what he'll do next."

Jenna's expression became considerate and she moved to the mantle, picking up the picture of the five of us and looking back to me.

"Yes." I agreed to her unasked question, "That's the five of us."

"Holy hell." she muttered, looking from the picture to me.

"What?" Tim demanded, reaching behind himself to grab the thing from her and stare at it a long moment before meeting my eyes and frowning at me, "You've lied to us this entire time?"

I nodded, not meeting his eyes.

"Anything else?" he asked, looking pointedly to where I was petting Jacob.

I moved my hand away quickly and gave him a look as he laughed.

"Don't stop," Jacob protested, pressing his face into my leg.

I wondered if that was what it was like for Duo and Wufei, that casual exchange of touch. I was fairly certain they never thought about what they were doing until someone else pointed it out to them.

"So…" Jenna muttered, taking the picture and sitting again as she studied it, "What's it like?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, starting to play with Jacob's hair again.

"Growing up like you did," she explained, looking at me.

"Hard." I replied, "I had to make some difficult choices when I was young and follow through on them."

"Which is how you ended up with Maria as long as you were, isn't it?" Tim asked, "You knew you'd chosen that path and wanted to play it out."

"I didn't think about that shit," I replied, looking away from his eyes, "I loved her."

"You thought you loved her." Jenna countered.

"No." I said firmly, meeting her eyes again, "I really loved Maria. It's not hard to hate someone."

She looked away.

Tim sighed, sliding down in his seat as a burst of giggles came from the bedroom area, "I guess…it will be better for you with them."

"To an extent." I agreed, looking down to Jacob and wondering what he was thinking, "There's a certain level of expectance that I have without qualm."

"Like what?" Tim asked, sipping more at his beer.

"Like…I'm their tactician. I say what to do and they do it. If there's a fight, I can hop right in and know they're right behind me…"

"Same here." Jacob snapped as if this were offensive.

I blinked down at him, realizing the truth in that, "Well…"

Jacob's blue eyes narrowed at me.

"I wouldn't expect you lot to follow me into a fight," I explained, "I wouldn't expect you to listen to me if I snapped an order…not because you wouldn't obey, but because you're equals."

Jacob's eyes had lit when I'd said 'obey', which was part of the reasoning behind the particular word choice.

"I'm not saying they aren't my equals, I'm saying on a battlefield they look to me."

"What drawbacks?" Tim asked, smirking slightly.

"Oh, I dunno," I muttered laconically, pretending to think a moment, "I won't have beer in my fridge…my furniture will be respected, my cars will be where I want them to be when I want them there…I won't be expected to baby-sit, and my money stays in my pocket…it's kind of sad, really."

Jenna giggled at me.

I met Tim's eyes again, "But seriously, you three have been here every time I needed you since I came here. I want you to come visit me."

Tim smirked, "I think even without your little speech you'd have been hard-pressed to have a weekend away from us."

I laughed at that, then blinked down at Jacob, who was biting at my fingers.

"You need a roommate?" he asked.

I blinked at him.

"And before it crosses your mind, I know you're straight so don't worry about that. I seriously want to move away from here."

"Why?" Jenna demanded, blinking at him.

He smirked at her, "Too many people know me."

I laughed, wondering about it.

"So which one of us is driving down your second car?" Tim asked, sitting up again.

As I'd hoped, they weren't taking any of my information the wrong way. I ran my hand down my face, thinking it over.

"If I move with you," Jacob muttered, "I'll drive it for you. I can have my job transferred there, and I swear on my life that I won't seduce any of your friends."

I laughed even more at that, leaning against him slightly.

"He left out seducing Quatre," Jenna noted to Tim, "Think we should warn him?"

"Nah," Tim muttered, draining his can, "Quatre can take care of himself."

.

Quatre was yawning widely as he moved across the driveway with a brunette carrying Lea. I blinked at the newcomer, wondering if he were from First-rite. He was wearing a custom-leather black jacket, but I knew Quatre too well to really believe he'd let one of those numb-nuts touch his daughter.

"Christ, I'm tired." Quatre muttered to me, hugging me briefly, "Sorry I didn't warn you about him." he added, "I just decided to pull a Trowa."

"You can't set him up with Wufei," I countered, smiling at the guy, "He's taken."

Quatre laughed.

The newcomer was studying me intently-it made me slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm Heero," I muttered, extending a hand without looking away from his eyes.

"Jacob." he replied, switching his grip on the six year old so he could shake my hand, "You're a very attractive man, if you don't mind my saying."

I had to grin slightly at this, placing the name as I got the attitude. Quatre'd told us all about his friends several times, and Jacob seemed key to every story where Quatre got in trouble.

I liked the guy.

"You look quite fuckable yourself." I returned with a smirk.

He laughed, dropping his eyes and almost blushing.

"Hm," Quatre noted clinically, "You used to be able to blush. What happened?"

Jacob started laughing, looking between us a moment with those sparkling eyes-before something in them changed. When he met my eyes again I could almost follow his thought-line-not that I wanted to, but it was there plainly as if he were telling me.

"Down, boy!" Quatre muttered, snapping his fingers in the guy's face before laughing and dodging out of arms reach before Jacob could really react.

Jacob was about to follow when he realized he was holding Marlea, looking at her a moment before offering her to me.

"Don't do it," Quatre muttered from just behind me, his voice dancing.

I grinned at the guy-and took Marlea.

.

Being the last to arrive meant knowing looks from my friends, though they'd all noted to me at different points that Quatre had brought one of his buddies and I wasn't fucking Kayla.

"Kayla was heading to work," I explained to everyone as the brunette I didn't know turned to look at me. His eyes were piercingly blue and I could instantly tell that he liked guys. I wasn't close-minded enough to decide he were gay, but there was something about him that suggested his fun varied far and wide.

He blinked almost languidly at me, his eyes seeming startled.

"This is Duo." Quatre muttered-his arm had a dark purpling bruise on it, "He's also straight."

"Damn." the guy muttered, looking slightly disappointed.

"Hi." I muttered, offering my hand to him.

"You may be able to get him to make out with you, though," Heero added helpfully.

"Heero." I protested, blinking up at him.

Heero started laughing.

"I'm Jacob." the guy muttered, rising to his feet and shaking my hand.

"Duo!" I was suddenly attacked by two half-pints, nearly knocking me to the floor as they started chattering about Quatre getting into a little fight with Jacob or something, I'd never been great-shakes at six-year old. Especially the dialect of excited-little-girls.

I gathered, however, that Jacob had chased Quatre around the house before Quatre turned and knocked him over.

I looked up to him, eyeing the bruise on his arm.

Quatre rolled his eyes very slightly.

"Okay…okay," I muttered, cutting off their yammering and leaning down to kiss them both on the cheeks, "Why don't you two go back to whatever you were doing?"

"Okay." they disappeared.

"That was cute." Jacob noted, studying my face, "Those girls really love you."

"It's Duo." Quatre muttered, "Everyone loves Duo."

"It's nice to meet you." I muttered to him, grinning at Quatre slightly.

"Jacob's going to live with me," Quatre explained before I could think of anything else to say, "He's good at begging."

At Wufei's laugh, I realized that something was fairly obvious that I hadn't noticed before. Both Wufei and Miguel were quite taken with our guest.

"Has he ever begged you, Mr. Maxwell?" Jacob asked me sweetly.

I focused on the guy, disbelieving-not that I could help my grin.

"Everyone's begged Duo at one time or another," Wufei noted with his own dirty grin.

"I hate to be left out." the man noted, looking back to me from Wufei as Quatre and Trowa made protesting noises.

Heero was just studying me, though, his eyes shining evilly.

"Something tells me I'll have to learn how to deal with you," I noted clinically as I moved closer to him, taking his face in my hand and tilting it so I was looking into his eyes. I could tell I did not want him to be dominant in our relationship, no matter what that turned out to be.

He shuddered very slightly, looking away from my eyes.

"Now you've gone and turned him on," Quatre said in exasperation, "Duo, he's touchy."

I met Quatre's eyes, startled.

Heero was rubbing his nose, looking highly amused.

"I'd rather not beg in front of everyone." Jacob informed me, suddenly focusing on me, "But if that's what you want…"

I smiled down at him, trying not to smirk, "I think you and I will be friends."

He licked his lips, obviously thinking, "I'll be whatever you want me to be."

I studied him a moment longer, letting him go and turning to hug Quatre, "I'm glad you're back."

"I'm glad to be back." he replied, smiling at me, "I hear you got a new car?"

"Yeah! Come on, I'll take you for a ride."

Quatre flashed a grin at me, then jerked his head as he met Jacob's eyes, "Let's go."


E/N: This is only 36 chapters long.