Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Overboard ❯ Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Duo twisted and turned in front of the upstairs bathroom mirror, eyeing his favourite flowery purple shirt from all angles. Retro. Cool. He loved this shirt, really he did, but something wasn’t quite right… Shirtless, he wandered into Heero’s room and threw open his wardrobe, rifling through the contents, pulling out shirts at random and holding them up against his chest to inspect in the mirror.

A thread of sound wound up the stairs. Trowa’s flute, the melody hauntingly familiar. Duo tilted his head to listen, humming a counterpoint that felt as natural as breathing. He knew that tune from somewhere… Silver notes swooping and soaring in trills and arpeggios, that made Duo think of sea birds, diving into waves like hills of green glass.

His head was aching again, and he rubbed his forehead dismissively, looking back to the cupboard, and shirts.

Work shirts. Blue cotton drill. Khaki, with a cement company logo on the pocket. Ahh… blue silk…better…green cotton…white… No. Definitely not white. A triangle of black cotton caught his eye and he tugged a black T-shirt out of a neatly folded pile.

Slowly, he put on the T-shirt and eyed himself in the mirror, and something inside him unclenched, and nodded its approval.

Better. Much better.



+++



Heero blinked, as Duo bounced down the stairs from the bathroom, taking them two at a time. Duo, a symphony in black. Black jeans hanging from his narrow hips, black T-shirt...his black T-shirt…moulded to Duo’s chest like a second skin, thigh-length black leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up… Against all that unrelieved black Duo’s skin was pale as freckle-dusted cream; the only colour, his hair that gleamed like a rope of burnished fire, his eyes that glowed violet as he caught sight of Heero, and grinned.

“Hey man! You ready? Let’s rock!”

Just at that particular moment, Heero couldn’t remember if he was ready, or not, or even, how to talk. He stared, transfixed, at the vision in black, only to be shoved aside by Tyler and Cody, who barrelled past and leapt on Duo, knocking him back a pace, and clamouring excitedly.

“Duo Duo can we come too? Please please pleeeease?!! We’ll be real good! Promise!!!”

Innocently, they stared up at Duo, as if Heero hadn’t already explained to them, at great length, and with offers of take-away pizza, that they were staying with Trowa, which was a special treat, that they had to be good, and that that was final.

Tyler attempted tears, blue eyes larger than some small lakes. “Ple-e-e-ase Duo? I feel sick. I think I have asthma.” He coughed experimentally, and batted his eyelashes.

Heero abruptly found his voice, and glare. “NO!! Get down now!!!”

“Sorry guys.” Duo peeled them off, arm by octopus arm and deposited them in the hallway. “It’s just Heero and me. We’ll take you some other time okay? And aren’t you guys having pizza?”

“Aww Duo-o-o-…”

“NO!!!!” Galvanised into action, Heero grabbed Duo’s hand and tugged him towards the back door, escaping into the garden, and towards the pickup, before some hideous act of God saw him taking all the boys, and Trowa, and the dog, the ferret and, probably, Mrs Kostiki, out to dinner, while Duo remained at home with gastric flu, or something equally horrible.

Safe beside the pickup, escape but a moment away, Heero stepped forward quickly and opened the door for Duo, still clutching his hand. Duo blinked up at him in surprise. “Heero…I’m not some girl you know.”

“I know that, ” Heero said simply, eyes dark in the gathering dusk. “I just wanted to open the door for you.”

Duo, at that moment, far more beautiful to Heero than any girl.

This was Heero’s chance. His chance to finally show Duo how he felt about him. He was not going to mess this up. He was no good with words. They never seemed to be there when he needed them, but maybe he could show Duo how he felt. He looked hopefully at Duo, holding the door open.

Duo’s mouth slowly closed and he smiled, shaking his head gently, and climbed up into the truck.



+++



Duo turned slightly in his seat, so that he could watch Heero’s profile as he drove into town through the gathering dusk. Watched and wondered.

Heero had held his hand. Held the door for him.

He wasn’t sure what had brought about this sudden surge of affection from Heero, but he knew that he liked it.

Was it possible that, at long last, Heero wanted to be together properly?



+++



Driving into town, Heero put off his confession to Duo, in favour of bickering amicably with him about where they should go for their date.

Duo thought the Gourmet Pizza Bar at The Lansdowne, and shoot some pool, still rather keen on the idea of beer and pizza. Thought that he and Heero might just hold the table all night, because he had a strong feeling that pool was his thing, after a few games with Howard, and Heero was just naturally good at everything.

Heero hadn’t known that The Lansdowne had a Pizza Bar, but thought that it sounded like somewhere that he might go with Trowa, and the rest of his crew, on a night out. Not special enough for his date with Duo. Not even if it was happy hour until seven o’clock. This was his first date with Duo, his first date ever, in fact, and it had to be perfect.



+++



And it was.

Trowa, expert at dates, and nights-out, and the lesser known attractions of Darke’s Cove, had suggested the Fresh Ketch to Heero, downstairs in the kitchen, while Duo had been upstairs, doing whatever it was that Duo had been doing upstairs for fifty-seven and a half minutes.


So, the Fresh Ketch it was, the restaurant, a warm glow at the far end of the marina.

The decking swayed beneath their feet, as they walked along the pier, towards the lights, their footsteps drumming on the hollow planking, to find tables clustered around glowing braziers, sheltered beneath arching sails. Their own table abutted the railing at the very end of the pier, a small, round, island of candlelight, floating above the dark water; the suck and lap of the water, mingling with the gentle hum of conversation and the clink of tableware, the music of food and conviviality, wrapping them warmly around. The golden tongues of candlelight flickered in the glassware that was set on stiff, white linen, with enormous, crimson, damask napkins; one of Rashid’s many cousins smiling at Duo as he flapped Duo’s napkin open with a crack like a sail, flipping it carefully over Duo’s lap with practised ease, and replying that yes, Ruza had had the baby, and it looked exactly like Abdul.

Poor little girl.

Heero wondering bemusedly about the identity of the unfortunate Abdul, while Duo chortled irrepressibly, making faces turn towards them, and smile. Making Heero smile; that rare, sweet smile, that made Duo’s heart turn over.

And smile again, face cupped in his hands, watching Duo wrestle with a scarlet crab claw, from their enormous shared platter of seafood. A gigantic white plate that filled the centre of the table, piled with spidery crabs, oysters, plump and succulent and tasting of the sea, prawns redolent of garlic and flecked with herbs, scallops, grilled and sweet, in enormous, flat, rosy shells, butterflies of sardine, rubbed with garlic and grilled to golden brown, with chilli-spiked salsa nestled atop, crisp, golden curls of whitebait, fat mussels bearing spoonfuls of rich tomato concasse, goujons of a white fish with a sweet, dark dipping sauce, gemmed with coriander and the secret flavours of the Orient and, presiding over all, the dual crescents of lobster tail, grilled and dripping with butter. Crusty bread to catch the juices. Crisp green salad that they picked at with their fingers, dotted with peppery nasturtiums, and violet petals the colour of Duo’s eyes.

Duo’s eyes were bright with candlelight, as he thumped his elbows onto the table, his strong, lean hands busy with the crimson claw. The buttery juices ran over his fingers, as the sweet, white flesh slid smoothly from the shell

Smiling, he held a buttery morsel to Heero’s lips, then discovered that, if he snipped at him with the empty claw, nippers opened wide, Heero would open his mouth. Heero discovered that there were two claws. That if he could bicker with Duo over dinner for the rest of his life then it would probably not be long enough.

“Here. Your turn.”

Quicker to open his mouth than Heero, Duo’s pink tongue teased cheekily at Heero’s own fingers, tasting whitebait, long after the whitebait was officially gone. Loftily, he demanded that Heero dip the tiny fish in the savoury mayonnaise first, then licked Heero’s fingers clean, eyes twinkling, well aware that Heero was squirming beneath the tablecloth

Perfect in every way.



+++



Afterwards, crab claws safely wrapped, and tucked away for Tyler and Cody, Duo dragged his chair around to Heero’s side of the table, and leaned against him, sighing happily. It had been a wonderful evening.

To his immense surprise, Heero jolted upright, eyes darting left and right.

“Duo!”

“Chill Heero.” A hand patted his thigh soothingly. “It’s not like we’re doin’ it on the table or anything. No one cares. Really.”

“They do. You have no idea.” Heero avoided his gaze, staring straight ahead. Eyed the dark water bleakly, as if expecting the worm-ridden corpses of those unwary sailors who had heard the Siren’s call. “People freak out at the thought of two men together.”

Normally Duo would have leapt down Heero’s throat at that ‘You have no idea.’ Now, he stroked Heero’s leg comfortingly, and wondered if this was part of Heero’s strange reluctance to be together. “Did that happen to you Heero?”

Heero’s silence was answer in itself. His rigid back, poker-straight, clearly expecting the worst. But nothing happened. Glasses still clinked, conversation swelled and ebbed around them, and their chatty waiter continued to clear their plates and provide baby-updates, as if young men held hands beneath his tablecloth every day. Slowly, Heero relaxed, his shoulder pushing tentatively into Duo’s.

Duo rested his head contentedly on Heero’s shoulder, his fingers entwined with Heero’s in his lap, curling his leg round Heero’s and looking from brightness out across the dark water, hearing the familiar, arrhythmic chime of halyards against mast.



+++



Duo sighed happily, leaning against his boyfriend.

He wondered if he and Heero had been to this place before. Wandered down to the beach and kissed in the darkness on the sand. Something seemed familiar. Something in the clink of the halyards.

Clink. Clink.

The pier shivered beneath his feet, in time with that musical chiming.

Clink clink.

To and fro.



+++



Refusing coffee, they took the last of their bottled beer, and wandered along the pier, Duo leaping up to prance along the handrail, arms waving wildly, until Heero couldn’t help himself. He had to push him off. Duo landed on the sand, and tumbled into a commando roll, then launched himself at his girlishly-giggling audience and wrestled him to the sand, pinning him there for a breathless moment, before chuckling softly and rolling off him. Breathless, Heero curled onto his side, heart beating erratically, turning his head to watch Duo. Duo gazed back, suddenly solemn.

“Come for a walk with me?”

And silently, Heero nodded.

Moving away from the brightness and conversation, Duo caught Heero’s arm in the crook of his elbow, his hand then shoved deep into the pockets of his jacket, in a move as natural as breathing. Shoulder to shoulder, they meandered along the beach, comfortably silent. The noise of the restaurant, gradually receded, so that they could hear their feet make shussing sounds, dragging against the dry sand.

Duo stopped to take off his boots and Heero eyed him askance.

“Duo it’s cold!”

So?” Duo grinned up at him, from where he knelt on the sand. “It’s the beach Heero. You’ve gotta take off your shoes. It’s the rules!”

His eyes twinkled irresistibly, and, mesmerised, Heero bent to follow suit.

“There! That’s better.” Duo caught Heero around the waist as he straightened, tugging him close as they walked on, shoes dangling from their fingertips. “Mmm. This is nice. We should do this more often.”

“It’s freezing!” Nevertheless, Heero walked, pulled along by Duo’s warmth against his side, every point of contact between them tingling.

By the time the last amber drops of beer were drained, they had reached the steps leading away from the beach, and they turned, as one person, to stare out across the bay, reluctant to take the road home, neither wanting the evening to end.

The streetlights, from the esplanade behind them, made wavering columns of light across the black, glassy water, reaching for the horizon.

“Cool huh?” Duo regarded the sea dreamily, as if he hadn’t once been lost, and tumbled within the glassy, obsidian depths.

“Mm hmm.”

“Let’s not go home yet.” Flopping down onto the sand, Duo dragged Heero with him, in a tangle of long legs, and arms, and a braid that suddenly seemed to be everywhere, including Heero’s mouth, then snuggled up against him. He shuddered dramatically.

“Here…” Tentatively, Heero hugged him against him, with an arm around his shoulders.

“Mmm…” Duo drew his knees up closer to his body and rested them against Heero’s thigh, so that he was curled up in a ball under Heero’s arm. Sighed contentedly, and wriggled his feet, burying them into the loose sand.

Heero sat unmoving, frightened to break the spell that had brought Duo to rest against him, unbearably conscious of Duo’s warm weight against him, of stray tendrils of Duo’s hair tickling his nose, of the sound of his breathing, mixed with the deep, slow heartbeat of the sea.

Exploring gently beside Heero’s leg, Duo’s toe found something hard and round, and he dug it out, holding it up to the light. A smooth conical shell, dappled with leopard spots, which fit comfortably into the palm of his hand. He held it up to the streetlights, turning it over in his hand. Traced the curves of the spiral with a contemplative finger.

“Fibonacci coils.”

“Hmm?”

Heero dragged himself back from his contemplation of Duo’s pale profile in the starlight.

“Fibonacci’s sequence.” Duo regarded the shell thoughtfully, then pressed it against his ear. “Do you s’pose that’s what gives it the sound of the sea?” He lifted his face enquiringly to Heero, and his warm breath sighed across the bare skin of Heero’s neck, rasing gooseflesh.

“N…no.” Heero shivered helplessly, and struggled to find his voice. “That’s…that’s just ambient sound.”

“Yeah but…” Duo pulled the shell away and considered it. “…the shape of the chambers would effect the volume right? And that’s Fibonacci.”

He grinned, glancing sidelong at Heero, a mischievous Renaissance angel. “Bet you didn’t know that the legs of our console are a Fibonacci spiral.”

“Really?” Heero said absently, admiring the way that little, escapee, tendrils of hair curled around Duo’s ear. Duo’s shell-like ear. Were ears a Fibonacci Spiral?

“Yeah. And the drawers use the Golden Mean for the drawer heights, which is Fibonacci’s sequence again. It’s used a lot in furniture design. Each drawer is two thirds the depth of the one below it.”

“Phi is approximated by… by…1.618034 actually.” Heero was finding it hard to concentrate. Every time Duo moved, little jolts of sensation ran through him, making his heart pound faster.

Duo blinked. “Uhh…right. Phi?” Duo’s enquiringly upturned face almost close enough to kiss…

“Hmm? Oh…the Golden Mean is designated by the Greek letter phi...” His lips, gently parted…

“Ohh. Like pi.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Here. Listen.” Gently, Duo pressed the shell to his ear, and Heero shivered at the touch of his fingers against the sensitive skin of his neck. The shell still held the warmth of Duo’s hand.

“It’s like a magic number. Everything in nature obeys it.” Dreamily, Duo gazed at Heero, admiring the way that the messy spikes of Heero’s dark hair tumbled forward over the strong planes of his face. Damn Heero was gorgeous. “You. Me. Rabbits. Fibonacci measured ’em…”

“He never…never did that you know.” Heero couldn’t help contradicting in the name of accuracy, trying to distract himself from Duo’s free hand, that supported Duo’s weight against his thigh, sending little shivers of sensation through his leg, making the warmth in the pit of his stomach coil tighter.

“What?”

“Never counted them. He just worked it out mathematically.”

“Oh.” Duo’s face fell. “Really? No rabbits?”

“Nuh huh. And not everything obeys Fibonacci’s sequence.” Heero couldn’t help himself. “Sometimes it’s Taylor’s or…”

“Well your fingers do.”

Heero tried to concentrate, through the warm haze that gripped him. Rabbits he remembered, and sneezewort, but fingers… How was it that he didn’t know about fingers?

“Fingers?”

“Mmm hm.” Duo held up his hand for illustration. “The length of your fingertips to your knuckles is the Golden Mean. Same as mine.”

His voice softened, blending into the song of the sea. “Our fingers are related…” He held his hand up to Heero, palm facing outwards, fingers outstretched against the midnight sky, catching the stars like a net. Heero stared at his open hand, and after a moment he brought his own up to meet it, like two halves of the same shell, fingertip to Fibonacci fingertip.

Duo’s fingers were warm.

The universe shrank to their joined hands, the sound of the waves lost in the roaring in his ears. Heero stared at their joined hands transfixed, his heart pounding in his chest. His hand was shaking. Almost of their own accord, his fingers moved, entwining themselves with Duo’s. Duo’s fingers trembled in his.

“Heero…?” Duo smiled shakily at him. His voice a husky murmur.

Heero’s heart was beating way too fast. Mesmerised, hardly daring to breathe, he watched his free hand drift to cup Duo’s cheek, his thumb moving to trace the curve of Duo’s lips, and down, his hand slipping down over Duo’s jaw, his fingers sliding into the soft hair at the nape of his neck, his thumb tracing the hollow of his throat. Duo watched him solemnly, his eyes impossibly wide, his breathing fast and erratic, nostrils flaring. Beneath Heero’s exploring thumb, Duo’s pulse was beating as wildly as his own.

Infinitely careful, Heero urged Duo slowly towards him, reeling him in, Duo’s head tilting into Heero’s hand, long eyelashes trembling, like a butterflies wing, against the smooth curve of his cheek, as his eyes slid closed. Mouth parting trustingly on a soft exhalation of breath.

“Heero…”

And, at last, their lips met.



+++



Duo was garlic, and beer, and heat, and soft ecstatic noises, and it was the most wonderful thing that Heero had ever known in his life.

Melting against Duo, his body a warm, writhing mass of sensation, Heero struggled to focus. He wanted this more than anything in the world, but…oh god… he still had to tell Duo.

He just couldn’t do it. It was wrong. He had to tell Duo before they went any further. Duo’s fingers slid, and Heero arched up against him.

“Ohhhhhh…ohh…oh hell… oh…Duo wait…I….” He choked on a deep breath of salty air. “Duo there’s something I have to tell you.”

“Hmmm?” Duo lifted his head from Heero’s collarbone, just enough to peer up at him encouragingly. “Yeah Heero?”

Duo’s eyes, the colour of the evening sky, as he smiled trustingly up at Heero.

“I…Duo…I…” Oh God. He couldn’t do it. The moment was finally here, but he couldn’t tell Duo right now. He couldn’t bear to lose this. Just one more night. Please God. Somebody. He’d tell him in the morning.

Maybe he could show him



+++



In the end, the decision was taken from Heero’s hands by a police car with a loud hailer, driving slowly along the esplanade, lights on high beam.

“Shit. Holy freaking shit!” Giggling helplessly, somehow they stumbled and fumbled their way to the truck, arms around each other’s waists, wrestling with buttons and a stubborn belt buckle. Slammed into the side of the truck and sagged breathlessly against the door.

“Quick Yuy! Home.” Duo panted hotly against his ear, tongue tracing toe-tingling patterns around the rim. “Before I get done for indecent exposure.”

Somehow, Duo got his hand behind him to the door handle, fumbled it open, and fell backwards, dragging Heero with him, so that they tumbled like puppies into the front seat, an untidy, breathless, tangle of arms and legs and tongues.

“Ow! Shit! Watch the groin buddy! I’m gonna need that!”

Heero, caught deliciously between Duo’s thighs, feet still dangling into the street, but extremely reluctant to move away. And completely unable to move away, with one of Duo’s legs hooked around his back, Duo’s other foot braced on the dashboard.

“Ohh hell…” Heero buried his face in Duo’s warm neck, and squirmed. “Ohh… ohhhhh… Oh hell! Bloody steering wheel. I can’t…ow! Oh…that’s it. Mmmm… ohh… oooh… Aghh! You licked me! Ohh… mmm…”

“Ooh…ooooh yeahhh… Just like that. Do that ag… Ahh! Shit! Freaking gear stick! Freaking door handle. Shit! It’s stuck in my hair! Gahh!! Christ on crutches!” Duo wriggled violently. “Heero! Home! Now!! I wanna do it with you not the gear stick!” Bucked underneath him and shoved insistently at his chest.

Unable to drag himself away from Duo long enough to walk around the car to the other side, Heero wriggled his way around, and over, and under him, and behind the steering wheel, getting thoroughly groped in the process, and flopped back, eyes closed, against the driver’s seat, panting, open-mouthed.

Squirming beneath the hot, insistent presence on his thigh that was Duo’s hand, fumbling at his open zipper.

“Heero! Quick! Home babe! I’m dying here!”

“You’re dying! Shit!” Heero wriggled and groaned under those persistent fingers, but somehow managed to wrench his eyes open and start the truck, heading for home, doing forty kilometres over the speed limit.

“You’ll get booked Yuy!” Duo sang happily, his head a warm weight on Heero’s shoulder, his hand busy in Heero’s lap.

“Tough shit!” Heero gritted his teeth, clenched every muscle he owned, and drove.

Ten minutes. He could last ten minutes.

Hell. Maybe he couldn’t. Oh God…

“Duo!!!!!!”



+++



It was the longest ten minutes of Heero Yuy’s life, but they arrived home at last, and wrenched themselves apart, to tumble from the truck.

“Race you!” A tug on Heero’s hand, and Duo was gone, like a will o’ th’ wisp, sprinting for the door, his voice, the echo of a siren’s song.

“Last one in goes on the bo-ttom…”

The sudden mental image sent an answering flash of heat to Heero’s groin that was instant and overwhelming, paralysing him for an instant, before he stiffened his knees and bolted after Duo with a hoarse yell.

“Hey!”

Skidding around the fence post, arms windmilling, he caught Duo at the steps, swinging him around with an arm about his waist, and dragging him, stumbling together, across the verandah. “Hurry hurry hurry!”

Slamming into the back door, they tumbled, giggling, into the darkened hall.

“About time!” A dark shadow appeared in the living room doorway. A shadow that convulsed in a spasm of coughing, and then whimpered pitifully. Trowa, cradling Tyler against his shoulder.

“Tyler’s sick. Asthma. I’ve been trying to ring you for ages but your phone was off. ”

Patting Tyler’s back, he blinked at them, as they picked themselves up and untangled themselves. A grin dawned. “Fly’s undone Heero.”



+++



At last, Tyler was asleep, after a lengthy session involving a steamy bathroom, the nebuliser, and a mattress being dragged into his room for Duo.

Particularly unhappy about that last bit, Heero couldn’t really argue, because, after all, as Tyler tearfully pointed out, Duo had slept on a mattress on the floor in Heero’s room, when Heero was sick. Heero argued anyway, but Tyler and Duo were irresistible, Duo, because he was irresistible, at least to Heero, and Tyler, because he was five. And sick.

Exiled to his own room, Heero lay in the darkness, listening to the gentle, creaking, night noises of the old house, as familiar to him as breathing, and feeling Duo’s absence like a physical pain.

He could hear soft breathing from down the hall, and wondered if it was Duo’s, whilst knowing, full well, that it was probably Tyler’s asthma.

After an unknowable length of time, he sighed and rolled out of bed, cat-footing across the hall to Tyler and Cody’s room.

He paused in the doorway, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness, and then felt his way to the mattress, and slid under the quilt with Duo. Shoved the annoying bloody ferret out of the way and pressed his face into the back of Duo’s neck, breathing in his warmth.

Duo sighed in welcome, and wriggled back into his arms, moulding himself to Heero.

“Mmm. Heero…”

And at last, Heero could sleep.



+++



While Heero Yuy slept, there was a change in the weather. A mischievous wind was blowing from upstate, bringing the damp taste of rain in the air and purple clouds boiling on the horizon. It coaxed the last of the yellowing leaves from the oak tree and danced them across the yard in reels and hornpipes, then abandoned them in aromatic drifts against the old tank, save one golden fragment that swept away down the road with the wind, backlit against the lowering sky.

Rain for sure.

As always, Heero woke first.

Awoke to overwhelming joy.

Still curled around Duo, wrapping him in his arms, the weight of Duo’s arm resting over his own, fingers entwined with his, holding him close. He lay for long moments glorying in the warmth of Duo in his arms, every part of him that touched Duo warm and tingling with delight, feeling Duo’s heart beat against him, hearing his sleep-drugged breaths, breathing his Duo-smell. Swam in happiness so intense that tears pricked his eyelids and he buried his face in Duo’s hair.

Duo loved him. And he loved Duo. They were going to be alright.

Eventually, reluctantly, he had to get up.

He untangled himself gently and padded down the hallway to the bathroom. When he came out again, Fez was sitting, sphinx-like, at the door, waiting for him and he let him outside, then thought that he might make tea.

He stood, warming his hands on his mug, his face wreathed in fragrant steam, absently watching the leaves swirl outside the kitchen window.

Duo came up behind him and silently wrapped his arms around his waist, resting his pointy chin on his shoulder and breathing out a contented huff of air. The warm breath whispered over his collarbone and inside the neck of his t-shirt, making him shiver with delight.

Another warm breath. “Missed you.”

Duo’s cheek nuzzled, cat-like, against his.

Cup on the sink, carefully, hopefully, Heero rested his hands over Duo’s where they wrapped around his stomach, entangling his fingers with Duo’s and enfolding himself in Duo like a warm cloak. His entire body spiked with bliss. He wanted to cocoon himself in Duo forever. Duo nodded towards the window with his chin

“Weather’s changing.”

Heero nodded.

“Mm hmm.”

The leaves had all gone. Winter was just around the corner.

Later, they’d take the chainsaw, and the truck, down to the big pile of driftwood caught up against Seal Rocks. They’d saw logs for the fire, Joe ordering the tangled branches into neat piles for the chainsaw to slice, while Zac and Silas fished off the rocks with fierce, twin concentration, and Tyler and Cody fossicked for speckled crabs and little jewel anemones in the rock pools. Then when they were done, the boys would help fill the truck, and they’d come home all glowing from the cold, and have hot chocolate in front of the fire, watching the aromatic flames turn green and listening to the hiss and crackle of the salt-soaked, silver logs.

And they would talk at last.

But for now he just wanted to stay here like this.

With Duo.



+++



Heero was just bending to get milk from the fridge, for Duo’s puppy-dog tea, when he heard the sound of a car pulling up in the back driveway. Damn. He shuffled the orange juice and the celery. Where the heck was the milk? Trowa had buried it somewhere strange.

“Hey!” Duo sounded pleased. “It’s Trowa.”

Heero wasn’t pleased. Heero was pissed off. Heero didn’t want Trowa. Heero wanted Duo. Heero wanted to drag Duo back to bed, his bed, by that useful length of hair if necessary, and shut the door. And, probably, put a chair against it. And what the hell was Trowa doing here so damned early in the morning anyway?

“He’s got someone with him.” Duo called out updates from the kitchen sink. “Some blonde guy. Hey Heero…!” He turned to the fridge. “That must be the boyfriend!” He whirled back to the sink, agog with curiosity.

“Hey!!! It’s Q!!!”

And he was out of the kitchen and scampering towards the back door.

Heero followed Duo more slowly out of the door, contemplating ways to kill Trowa with a carton of milk, and thinking that that would be much more useful information on the side of the carton than the amount of calcium, because who the heck measured their calcium intake anyway, you either needed it or you didn’t, just in time to see Duo skid to a halt at the bottom of the steps, his mouth falling open in a rounded O of surprise.

“Q?”

Eyes wide, he slowly turned to Heero, rubbing his temple. Stared at him blankly, brows slowly meeting in a frown.

“What…? Who…? The carpenter…??? What the FUCK?!!!”



+++



“Damn!”

Hilde missed first gear, and stalled at the lights, struggling with the stick shift of Duo’s Convertible Bentley Coupe. Glared at the back of Relena’s pale pink hatchback, sailing obliviously away down Darke’s Cove Esplanade. Shit. Was Relena turning left? Double shit. Hilde crunched the car into first and bunny hopped forward.

“Gah!”

Dropping the clutch, she spun the wheels away from the intersection, just as the lights turned red again, narrowly avoiding a turning bus, and the wide eyes of the grey-haired driver. Not for the first time, she wished that she’d driven her own trusty Mazda automatic, but Otto was in love with Duo’s black demon, and had leapt at the chance to take it on a long trip. Hilde sulked. Otto should be freaking well driving it, not sitting there enjoying his freaking cappuccino and chocolate-freaking-chip breakfast muffin.

Damn. Where was Relena? Didn’t she know that you were supposed to wait for the person following?

If only Relena had come in the car with them. It would have made navigating a heck of a lot easier. But Duo’s little beast only seated four and Relena wanted to give some other guy a lift, to pick up his truck from somewhere on the way. Ned, or someone or other. Once they collected Duo, they wouldn’t have enough seats. Hilde frowned thoughtfully, turning into Good Forest Drive. She was sure that Bozo had had some other name…Nero or something. Maybe Nero was a nickname for Ned.

A spattering of rain dotted the windscreen, and she flicked it away with the wipers. Yellow autumn leaves danced in the road before her

Hell! Relena was turning. Didn’t that car have any indicators or something?

Ahh. Thank heavens. At least Relena had brake lights.

They’d arrived.



+++



Detective Constable Chang dodged a thorny rose tentacle, and stepped beneath it, to knock loudly on Trant Clark’s front door. There was no answer. He knocked again, and called out.

“Hello? Any one there?”

Standing on the porch, he looked out across the street, then stared thoughtfully at a scattering of newspaper deliveries, still in their plastic wrappers. Grass was starting to grow up around them, through the deep wheel ruts, where lawn should have been. After a few minutes of waiting, he marched purposefully around the side of the house.

No car in the garage, just a broken milk crate, and a pile of empty VCR boxes. An electric drill, abandoned on the workbench. Commandeering the milk crate, he teetered on it to peer through the greasy kitchen window. Cupboards were empty, the pale-green doors hanging open. Wufei squinted downwards through the smeary glass, at the sink, where a dirty plate had been abandoned with a small saucepan, half-full of some congealed mess covered in grey-green fur.

Hmm. It looked as if Trant Clark had left town in a hurry. He would have to go back to the station for a search warrant. Mueller was being charged, and had cited Clark as an accessory. Even if Clark wasn’t charged, they would need the search to make a case against Mueller.

He stepped down from the crate, narrowly saving himself from falling with a hand on the peeling windowsill.

Ugh. His hand was covered in black gunk. He wiped it fastidiously on a frost-burnt tuft of grass and glanced down at himself in annoyance. His shirt was covered in grease and cobwebs as well. Must have been on the window. With a grimace of disgust, he unbuttoned and stripped off the shirt, gingerly turning it inside out and balling it up. Luckily, he was wearing a T-shirt underneath. Grey marle. Metallica, with a slogan that read ‘And Justice for All’.

Back at his car he flung his abused shirt into the back seat, and put his jacket on over the top, hoping that nobody would notice through the car window. With luck, he had a clean shirt in his locker, back at the station.

Starting the patrol car, he turned off the street into the back lane, driving slowly past the back of Clark’s house. One last check.

Trowa Barton’s blue SUV was parked in Heero Yuy’s back driveway. Wufei frowned at it consideringly. Trowa was supposed to be bowling tonight, but Jay had said that he had a friend staying with him, and might cancel.

Wufei checked his watch. Plenty of time for him to nick in and see Trowa.

Yuy’s driveway was full. Wufei gazed admiringly at the black Bentley coupe, parked behind Trowa’s SUV and that Peacecraft girl’s battered pink Mazda, then parked in the laneway, and wandered towards the house.



+++



A boat. Hilde and her stupid cupboard door…the carpenter…they’d fought…his cross… he’d fallen…no…Heero had fallen...

Drowning in memories, Duo stood paralysed at the bottom of the steps, his gaze unfocussed, while Heero watched in dismay. At his feet, Rex lapped the spilled milk.

This was a nightmare. Duo had remembered and Heero hadn’t told him the truth yet. Duo was going to know that he’d lied. And Duo was going to be furious with him. He had to explain right now.

Tentatively, he stepped forward to touch Duo’s arm, his hand shaking slightly. “Duo? I…”

“Duo!!!”

Startled, Heero saw more cars pulling up behind Trowa’s SUV. Relena. What the hell was she doing here again? And a short-haired girl, who leapt from the car and dashed towards them, calling out excitedly.

Oh God. Heero started to panic, his hand closing on Duo’s arm convulsively. It was that girl. She was here to take Duo away and he hadn’t told him that he loved him yet. Oh God oh God Oh God….please…

“Duo I…”

“Shit!” Duo wrenched his arm away and stumbled back, a chaotic storm of emotions sweeping across his mobile face. “Shit!!!”



+++



“You fucked me!!!”

Taken by surprise, Heero stared, mouth agape, speechless at the injustice of it. No he hadn’t! Couldn’t suppress a traitorous surge of warmth at the memory.

“What? No I didn’t!!” Not for want of trying but… He blushed. “You were going to f…”

“You freaking well did!!! Well…nearly!” Duo’s cheeks, a matching shade of pink. “Shit!!” He flung away from Heero, then turned back to glare at him, fists clenched at his sides. “You used me! How could you take advantage of me like that??! Holy freaking shit! I’m not even freaking-well gay you…you…freak!!!”

Hell and damnation. Heero’s flush deepened, in mortification this time. He didn’t even have a sex life, and now here it was…or wasn’t…being bandied about in front of Trowa, Trowa’s boyfriend, Relena, Ed Walker, Otto Richter for heaven’s sake, that infuriating blue-haired girl and … oh hell… was that Chang coming up the driveway??

Hell and damnation! Why did all the worst moments of his life have to happen in front of an audience?

It was happening again… He was going to be crucified for being gay, for molesting a straight guy, who wasn’t even straight, even if he hadn’t done it. Hell…he couldn’t help being gay. And he hadn’t done anything! Heero had a sudden vision of Mueller, bloody fists upraised, screaming at him in the corridor outside the boy’s change rooms, and his stomach lurched.

He stumbled into speech, words tumbling out willy-nilly. “But you wanted…you said…we…I…” Abruptly, he remembered that he was supposed to be explaining to Duo. Took a deep breath and desperately tried to choke out words with a tongue that stubbornly refused to work. “Duo I love…”

“You filthy pervert! How dare you! Duo’s not gay! How dare you take advantage of him like that!!! That’s rape!” Panting, Hilde skidded to a halt beside Duo, catching his hand possessively.

Rape?! But … No!!! It wasn’t like that at all! Was it? Suddenly Heero couldn’t think for the roaring in his ears.

“Hilde!!! How can you say that! It’s just not true!!!” Moving to Heero’s side, Relena’s eyes flashed with the martial fire of a trained Animal Activist, rallying to her cause. “Heero’s not a pervert! And he’s not gay. He can’t possibly be. I think that I would know if my boyfriend was gay!!!” Clutching Heero’s arm, she shared her glare equally, between Hilde and Duo. Abandoned Hilde, who was a good friend, even though she had no concept of Animal Rights, to focus on Duo.

Relena? Duo turned to stare at Heero in shocked comprehension. Oh shit… Bozo…??? So it was true. Heero really was Relena’s boyfriend. Heero had lied and lied and lied…

“You lied to me.”

Heero shook himself from his daze at the sound of Duo’s voice, appalled at the devastated whisper.

“What? I didn’t! At least I didn’t mean to! I had no choice! Really!! I was going to tell you! I wanted…”

“Wanted to what Heero??!!” Spinning to face him, Duo jerked his hand roughly from Hilde’s, ignoring her sudden look of hurt. Clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms. “Want to lie to me some more?? Want to use me again?? Want to laugh at me with your little girlfriend?? Poor, stupid Duo!! Too dumb to remember! To dumb to know what an idiot he was being!”

Why did people always have to lie? Always!!! Every single time! And this was the worst ever. Heero had turned his whole life into a lie. He was such an idiot. When would he learn to stop trusting?

Just like when Mom and Dad died all over again. He could almost hear the slimy voices…

…I’ll look after everything Duo… I’ll take care of your money Duo… a good friend of Solo’s Duo and I promised him faithfully… actually your mother promised me that Duo… it’s Auntie Elena Duo. Come and stay with us and you remember your cousin Catherine don’t you?…

Heero stared at him in shock. “No!!! No! I never…”

“You did. You lied. It was all a lie.” Duo’s voice rose alarmingly. “About you. And me. The boys. Everything!! Everything you said was a lie! I was never your boyfriend! You never l…” He choked and turned away, eyes burning.

“It’s not true!! I…”

“Stop it! Don’t fight!”

Oh hell. As one, Heero and Duo turned towards the house, staring in dismay at the boys, hovering uncertainly on the verandah in their pyjamas, bare toes lined up along the step.

Multi-coloured hair rampant, the twins glared at Duo, freckles disappearing against their flushed cheeks. “Don’t yell at Heero! It’s not his fault. Welfare were going to take us away. He couldn’t help it!”

“Well don’t blame Duo!!” Cody turned on them, fists clenched. “He didn’t know!”

“Shut it!!” Joe grabbed the backs of their pyjamas in a vice-like grip, and yanked them back against him, his face white and set. This was all his fault. He should have shown Duo the advertisement. He should never have agreed with Heero. He should’ve…

“How could you!!! This is Duo’s life you were playing with!” Almost spitting, Hilde turned on Heero, hissing like an alley cat protecting its young. “You’re sick! When were you going to tell him??!! When you didn’t need him any more?! When you got tired of your sick, little game??!”

Duo ignored Hilde, staring at Heero in sick comprehension. Well shit. Welfare. So that’s what it was all about. Heero had needed a partner to get Welfare off his back. Heero had just been using him. Hadn’t ever loved him at all. Suddenly he had to get away. He rubbed his temples distractedly, his head pounding.

“I have to go. I can’t stay here.”

“Of course Sweetie. Let’s go home.” Hilde tugged him gently towards the cars.

Climbed into the driver’s seat and turned to look expectantly at him through the open car door.

“Duo?” she asked gently. “Are we going home now?”

Home? His head was filled with an aching chaos of images. Their modern apartment. An enormous house… a woman standing at a… his?… bedroom door…violet eyes and a long chestnut plait… Mom… This house here… Heero… the boys… his family…

“Duo?” Hilde’s fingers, tight on the ignition key.

“Duo please don’t go!!! Please Duo please! Stay! You can have Fez!”

Scrambling down from the verandah, Tyler darted forward to stand before Duo. Fished around under his stripy flannelette pyjama jacket, dragging out the ferret by one leg, and holding it out by the stomach so that it drooped over his hands like a wriggly sack of potatoes. He stared up at Duo hopefully. “Promise!”

Determinedly, Cody stepped up beside him. “And Rex! At least…” Biting his lip. “…we can share…maybe?”

“We’ll do the dishes! And you can have all our pocket money.” Zac gazed up at Duo earnestly. Grimaced as Silas elbowed him in the side. “Oh…um…after we pay Heero back for the window…”

Staring at the boys, Heero’s throat ached. Oh hell. The boys. They loved Duo too. What had he done?!!? Why had he never thought how this would affect the boys?

Stupid. How could he have been so stupid as to think that Duo would stay with them? Duo was bright and beautiful and could have anyone he wanted. Duo had never wanted him. Had been sick, that was all. Hadn’t known what he was doing. And Heero had used him. It was just like that girl had said. Nausea churned in Heero’s gut and he shook with useless adrenalin. Swayed, lurching sickly against the person next to him and swallowed convulsively. Oh God…he was going to be sick…

“..and we’ll be real…”

“…good! Promise!” The twins, nodding vigorously.

“Oh guys…” How could he possibly leave them? Hysterical laughter bubbled in Duo’s chest, and despite himself, he glanced up at Heero, biting his lip. Abruptly lost all urge to laugh, as he saw Heero holding onto Relena’s arm. Staring at him blankly, as if he wasn’t even there.

Shit.

He had to go now. Fast. He held out his hand peremptorily.

“Keys!”

Hilde stared up at him from the driver’s seat, gnawing at her lower lip, her large dark eyes concerned.

“Duo…you haven’t been…are you sure you…”

“Out! Now!!! And give me the freaking KEYS!!!”

Lips thinning, Hilde glared at him, clutching the steering wheel. “No need to be rude! I was just worried about you! Anyway. If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have a car at all!!”

“It’s my freaking car and I’m freaking well driving! Freaking well get out of the freaking driver’s seat and GIVE ME THE FREAKING KEYS!!!!” His breath was coming in gasping pants. There was a scream building, somewhere in the nausea churning his gut and he had to get away, before he exploded. He was not going to freaking well cry in front of the whole freaking world because Heero-freaking-Yuy didn’t love him after all. He snatched the door open and dived to drag her out.

“HEY! Cut that out!!” Otto grabbed Duo’s shoulder and jerked him away from the car door. “She’s gone through hell for you and you don’t even appreciate it you little prick!!!”

Duo! Nausea forgotten, Heero’s eyes snapped to Otto, and he lunged forward, but Tyler was quicker, and darted past him, squeezing in between Duo and Otto. Shoved at Otto with two small hands and glared up at him, his face flushed. Tears streamed down his cheeks. “Leave Duo alone!”

Gasping, Duo stared down at him, and his scowl slowly melted. “It’s okay. I’m okay Tyler.” He drew a ragged breath, and another. “Guess I was out of line.” Shakily, he stroked the blonde head against his hip.

Whirling around, Tyler threw his arms around Duo’s thighs, clinging frantically. “Duo don’t go!! You can’t! You have to stay. I’m sick!!” He coughed loudly.

“Ohh… Tyler...”

Peeling Tyler’s arms away from his legs, Duo fell to his knees, and wrapped himself around him, burying his face in Tyler’s hair and letting Tyler burrow into his chest.

“I have to go. I’m sorry. So sorry,” he whispered against him. “I have to buddy. I don’t belong here any more.”

“You do! You do!” Tyler clutched his shirt frantically. “You belong with me! Please don’t go!”

Miserably, Duo kissed the top of his head, and rested his cheek against the blonde hair. Nearly long enough to braid, now. But he supposed that Tyler wouldn’t want that anymore

Throat tight, he rose to his feet. Hilde and Otto were already seated in the car waiting for him, but Tyler refused to let go, releasing his shirt only to wrap his arms tightly around his legs. Clinging like a monkey he slid, to land his bottom on Duo’s feet, hooking his legs around Duo’s ankles and staring up at him stubbornly through his tears.

“No!! I won’t let you!”

Helplessly, Duo stood, anchored to Heero Yuy’s garden by a small, shaking body, that clung determinedly and buried its wet face in his knees.

Appalled, Heero watched Tyler cling to Duo. Oh God. This was a nightmare. Please let him wake up soon. How could he have been so stupid? Not only had he hurt Duo, but he had hurt the boys as well.

Hearing his small sound of anguish, Trowa moved forward and dragged Tyler off Duo, hefting him into the air with an arm around his waist, kicking out frantically and yelling.

“Come on buddy.”

“NO!!! DUO-O-O!!!”

Oh Tyler… Heero’s eyes burned and he turned away, blinking rapidly.

“Th…” Duo’s voice wasn’t working. Hoarsely, he coughed and tried again. “Thanks Trow.” Swallowing hard, he fumbled desperately for the door.

Hand on the door handle, he willed himself not to look back, but his disobedient eyes stubbornly strayed towards the group under the bare oak tree.

Flicked over Q and Wufei, standing behind Heero, to rest on the boys. Joe, white-faced, looking so much like Heero that it made Duo’s heart ache to look at him. Silas and Zac, flushed, and silent for the first time since he’d … met… them. Cody tugging on Heero’s unresponsive hand, urgently whispering. Duo’s eyes slid quickly over Heero to Tyler, his hand locked in Trowa’s. Tyler crying in earnest now, sobs mingled with gasping coughs, still struggling to break free as Trowa hauled him back to Heero.

His family… but he shoved the thought away, yanking the door open roughly. Not any more. It was all a lie. He had no family. Again.

Even so, slowly, irresistibly, his eyes strayed back to Heero.

Heero…

Despite everything, his fingers still itched to smooth Heero’s hair out of his eyes, run his fingers through the silky brown strands. Let Heero’s fierce blue gaze burn him one more time. Shit. Duo Maxwell, total loser.

Heero wasn’t even looking at him.

Couldn’t care less. It was quite obvious. If he did he would be doing something.

For a moment, Duo’s eyes blurred and he blinked savagely, scrubbing his free hand across his face. When he opened them again, Relena was there, taking Tyler’s free hand briskly in hers and leaning across him to pat Heero’s shoulder.

With a gasping breath, Duo dropped into the driver’s seat and slammed the door. Stared straight ahead, both hands on the wheel, starting the engine and pulling out of the driveway. Changed up a gear, and despite himself, his eyes flicked to the mirror.

“DUO! Don’t go! Don’t go!”

Oh God. Cody was running after the car.

With a despairing sound, Duo dragged his eyes away and flattened the accelerator. A throaty growl, and the black car leaped forward, tyres squealing as it spun out of the lane and into Good Forest Drive, Duo gazing straight ahead, knuckles white on the steering wheel.

His shirt was wet.