Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 3 Ties That Bind ❯ Fifteen ( Chapter 15 )

I moved into Heero’s apartment with Ryu on my heels, noticing that Duo was alone at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. “Morning.”

“Morning,” Duo returned, looking from me to Ryu and nodding slightly. “What’s up?”

“Someone had a long night,” I returned dryly in reference to Jacob. “And Ryu’s got the day off.”

“You know, my wife will start getting confused if you keep following me around,” Duo noted.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t fuck so good,” Ryu snapped irritably.

Duo blinked at him, then frowned. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re also a broken record,” I noted, moving to dig out two more bowls.

“I need to talk to you…alone,” Ryu informed Duo.

“Sorry, kid,” Duo returned, raising an eyebrow. “Something about me and you alone bothers my friends.”

Ryu glared at him.

“What’s wrong?” Duo persisted, sitting forward slightly. “You haven’t been this pissy since you worked for me.”

Ryu glanced at me and shook his head hard, dropping into the seat across from Duo.

“Som…”

Ryu gestured sharply at the man and Duo sat back, looking him over before meeting my eyes.

“He’s been pissy all week,” I noted. “Attitude issues since he talked to his parents.”

“How do you know that?” he demanded, focusing on me.

“We gave you permission to call whoever you wanted, but the vid room is monitored,” I explained, sitting next to him and passing him his implements. “We don’t try to eavesdrop on the recruits or anything, but an eighteen year old kid having problems he won’t admit to his superiors will admit them to his mother.”

“You aren’t going to quit on us, are you?” Duo asked quietly, studying the boy.

Som’s eyes filled with tears remarkably fast whenever Duo started using that tone.

“I…” Duo stopped, then shook his head and focused back on eating.

“You have a town pass, don’t you?” I added curiously. “You’re going into town?”

He smiled wanly at that.

“Where are you going to go?” Duo asked curiously. “I need to run into town to get the last of Lea’s birthday presents.”

“Rendezvous?” I teased.

“Or avoidance,” Duo retorted.

I sniggered at that, pouring my cereal.

“I don’t know town,” Ryu returned quietly, looking down.

“There’s a little strip mall kind of thing off Market street,” he indicated a road in the air in front of him. “I’m going to be in there.”

“Is that a request for me not to go in?” Ryu asked, grinning slightly.

Duo nodded slightly.

“Fine,” he muttered, pouring his own bowl with a sigh. “You realize I could just tell you no if you started shit, don’t you?”

Duo looked up to him, opening his mouth, then met my eyes and fell silent. He focused back on his bowl.

I gave Ryu a look, and went back to eating.

- -

“Your name?” Sunan demanded of me. “You gave him your real name?”

“That’s not my point,” I snapped back. “I can’t do this.”

“Do what? Your job?” he retorted. “What do you think? He’s just gonna accept that you’re done and move on? Are you serious?”

“It’s more complicated than that,” I snapped. “He’s not as big an asshole as Jun thinks he is.”

“Don’t say that name,” he ordered. “And of course he is…”

“Dad, he…he…I can’t press charges anymore.”

“What?” he demanded almost breathlessly.

“I couldn’t do it,” I admitted, feeling small. “I…he was sitting there and the king was watching me…and…and I knew I was being paid to do it, but I couldn’t…I couldn’t bring myself to…”

“You had the chance?” he snapped. “You…you fucked him?”

I nodded, though I knew he couldn’t see it over the phone.

“Som…”

“I can’t do this,” I persisted. “He’s not like Jun says he is…”

“It doesn’t matter what you think,” Sunan snarled. “He’s a manipulative snake!”

“How do you know!?” I shot back.

“Because he fucked me over!”

I froze.

“Before the queen took her throne,” he snarled more. “He was chasing after someone and when he came to buy some vrit off of me…he’s a fucking snake!”

“Vrit?” I asked, remembering him asking me if I’d ever used kaseen.

…and then realized that he’d come across my father.

I stared at the keypad.

“Every time he came around he fucked me over,” Sunan added darkly. “Every single fucking time…”

“It’s not his fault you’re easy,” I noted darkly.

“He pretends he cares but he doesn’t give a damn,” he almost whispered. “Nothing matters to him.”

“I do,” I noted pointedly. “I matter to him. His wife matters to him…his friends.”

“I…”

“I can’t do this,” I persisted.

“You will do it, or he’ll have someone do you. This isn’t a game of tag where you’re it and can stop playing. This is real shit, and you have yourself in over your head. If you back out on this he’ll kill you, your mom, and me.”

I stopped.

“You think about that. You think about your little sister and what might happen to her, and you think about your mother and that little girl Maxwell was so in love with ten years ago. You think it over long and hard and compare that to his fake affection.”

It’s not fake.

I resisted the urge to say it.

“I can’t believe you didn’t press charges against him…what even happened?”

“Nothing,” I responded, starting to hang up.

“Som.”

“Think small dark room,” I snapped. “I shouldn’t have to tell you any more.”

He fell silent.

“Don’t call me again,” I added. “Winner’s all over me about this shit and he knew the receptionist chick who called Maxwell’s place.”

“You’re still around him? Who knows?”

“He told everyone the day after he fucked me,” I snarled back. “He refuses to be alone with me anymore.”

“Ungrateful bastard,” Sunan growled. “Think about that.”

My stomach twisted slightly. “I’ve got to go,” I added, looking over the strip-mall Duo’d asked me not to go in to.

“You just think of your little sister,” he noted. “You think of how quickly they’ll end your mother’s life if you even hint to them that you’ll defect.”

I swallowed hard…and he hung up.

I set the phone on the receiver, seeing Duo’s SUV pulling into the parking lot. It only took a minute for him to head into the book-store he’d parked near, and I wondered briefly if he’d really meant for me not to come here…

There was only one way to find out.

I checked for traffic, and moved across the street.

- -

I ran my hand along the spines of the books tiredly, wondering if Nira would go into labor before her due date…and how much running around would end up going on if she went into labor during Lea’s birthday party.

“Were you followed?”

I jumped hard, my hand on a knife as I turned to stare up at Som in disbelief. He was leaning against a bookshelf about a foot away from me.

“Were you followed?” he persisted.

“Quatre wouldn’t send his guys after me,” I returned, swallowing slightly as I stared at him. “What are you doing here?” I added, straightening to look around. “I asked you not to do this.”

“I told you I needed to talk to you,” he retorted.

“And?” I snapped.

“My dad said you used him.”

I stopped completely, staring at him. “What?”

“He said that you went to buy vrit off him and you used him.”

Vrit?

I blinked at the kid, starting to shake my head.

“Did you recognize me?” he snapped.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I retorted, turning back to the books. “You need to get out of here.”

“What’s got you so worried?” he asked, moving up beside me to touch my face. “You know I wasn’t the one who talked.”

I moved away from him, frowning at him. “This isn’t some fun little game we’re playing, Som. I messed up and I’m not doing it again.”

He rambled off at me in Thai as he studied my eyes.

“I told you I don’t understand you,” I noted.

He leaned forward…and kissed me.

I pulled away to stare at him in disbelief, noticing that he had tears in his eyes.

“I can’t do this,” I informed him, removing his hands from me. “I know I did it, and that I talked you into doing it, too…but if I want to save my marriage I have to keep away from you alone.”

“You’re still attracted to me,” he noted, rubbing at his eyes.

“No shit?” I asked pointedly. “That’s entirely beside the point, you know. I’m sorry, but choosing between you and my family is simple. I have children, and I can’t live without them. If I choose you, I lose everything, including what’s left of the respect of my brethren…I’m sorry I can’t do more for you.”

He rubbed hard at his eyes again.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, pulling him into a hug. “It’s all I have left to give you…”

“I could have charged you,” he half accused, raising those eyes to me again. “I could have told them you raped me.”

“I would have fought that, because you didn’t tell me no…and I was expecting you to charge me. Don’t play this game.”

“What would you do if I went public?”

“Discredit you,” I shrugged, letting him go. “The king himself swore us to secrecy about this stupid shit. You’d be up against all six of us, plus our women. Come on, Som, they aren’t inviting you to our apartments to make you feel bad. They all genuinely like you. We were all having fun before I got stupid…”

He wiped at his eyes, looking away from me.

“Please understand,” I said quietly, “this isn’t your fault…I’m not trying to punish you. I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got left. I wanna do right by you, but I can’t be with you.”

He nodded, wiping at his eyes again, then smiled at me. “I don’t have to stop talking to you, though.”

“No,” I agreed. “As long as someone is around with us we can hang out all night.”

He laughed a bit, starting to step away, “That could get kinky.”

I laughed, swatting at him as he dodged, then smiled more at me and frowned slightly.

“Go on,” I suggested, pointing at the front of the store. “Come over to the house tonight after Nira gets off…and next time I ask you not to go somewhere, don’t do it.”

“You used my dad,” he retorted. “You fucked my dad.”

“And you have no idea how little that actually means to me,” I tilted my head. “I feel bad, does that count? I didn’t even recognize him on the vid.”

He laughed wickedly at that, covering his mouth with one hand.

“I told you about those two years,” I reminded him. “I told you how I was running around.”

“You didn’t tell me you were chasing anyone, though,” he noted almost quizzically.

“Som,” I said pointedly, “we’re alone here.”

“First a church, now a bookstore?” he retorted, moving toward me and sniggering before ducking my swipe. “Fine…fine. You owe me more than an apology, asshole, but we can talk about that back home.”

“Hey,” I protested lightly.

He smiled, then sighed and kissed the back of my hand…before turning and disappearing. I caught a flash of him once before he was just gone.

What the hell?

I ran a hand down my face, looking around a moment…then headed for the language section of the store.

He really needed to not know more languages than I did.

- -

“What are you doing?” Relena demanded of me in disbelief as she moved into my office.

“Tempting fate,” I replied, clicking the stop button for the language CD I’d grabbed. “How can I help you, Majesty?”

“Make me not pregnant,” she retorted, moving to drop in the chair across from me.

“I can make you pregnant,” I teased, “but not the other way around.”

She laughed, pulling her feet up into the seat with her.

She really wasn’t bothered.

Wait, her husband had cheated on her almost countless times before they’d gotten married.

“What do you need?”

“A warm bath and a cold beer,” she retorted.

“Relena,” I reprimanded.

She laughed at that, shifting back where she was. “Can we talk?”

“If it’s about Som,” I started, wondering if they’d found out he’d met up with me at the book store.

“No,” she said quietly, “about you. Selena suddenly tearing off to the hospital with Hilde followed by you calmly telling us you fucked some poor boy senseless gives me reason to believe that there’s more going on here than you let on.”

“I was fighting with Selena and acted petty,” I retorted.

“No, that’s what Heero does. You’re not petty like that.”

I stared at her in disbelief.

“I knew why Heero was doing what he was doing, so I did it back to him. Maybe not the best resorts, but his level of emotional functionality wasn’t the highest. You grew up fully emotional. You hit apathy hard, and it had to submit…but you found it again. What’s wrong, Duo? Why did you want to go on a vacation?”

“To get away from Som,” I noted, raising an eyebrow at her.

“No,” she returned. “If it were only about Som you’d have booted him out yourself. You wouldn’t have waited two months before screwing him if you’d ever intended to do it at all. You snapped, and I want to know what in the hell built up enough to make you snap.”

“My wife…”

“Don’t lie to me, Duo,” she ordered darkly. “This isn’t going to get covered up by some band-aid reason. You didn’t screw Som because you were fighting with Nira. You didn’t start fighting with Nira because you were trying to avoid Som. Som was a bit of light entertainment to you that was a nice juicy bit of frustration when he was in your office every day, and you started to act more like yourself while he was there. This goes beyond that.”

“And that’s all you need to know,” I noted, raising an eyebrow at her. “What does it matter as long as I’m doing my job?”

“That’s below you, sir knight,” she growled.

“So was…”

“Duo,” she snapped. “Don’t shut me out.”

I glowered at her.

“You’re my friend,” she informed me. “I walked my fat-ass down here so we could talk, not so you could be an asshole to me.”

“But I am an asshole,” I snapped back.

“Ah…” she gasped, leaning forward with her hands moving to her belly.

I half-jumped to my feet, losing my aggravation instantly.

She looked up to me with narrowed eyes, then smiled slightly. “You’re such an asshole you stop bitching at the hint I might be stressed.”

I tsked at her in disgust as I realized that had been no contraction at all, just her making a point.

“So you prove to me how big an asshole you are now,” she ordered, extending her arms to me. “Help me up.”

I sighed, moving around the desk to pull her to her feet.

“I don’t want to walk back up those stairs,” she informed me pointedly. “Take me to my office.”

“You’re a bitch,” I noted, lifting her from the floor.

“And you love me for it,” she agreed, kissing my chin. “March, or I will have that stupid table be my champion.”

I grinned at that, giving her a look.

In response, she sniffed just below my ear. “You smell good. What is that?”

“Some cologne Nira found for me,” I returned with a sigh, moving out of the office. “You’ll have to ask her.”

“Why do you have it on?” she asked blankly.

“I wear it every day,” I protested, meeting her eyes. “You seriously only just now noticed it? Shit, I guess it’s not as good as you make it out to be.”

She sniggered slightly, resting her head on my shoulder.

“I hope my wife sees this and gets pissed,” I retorted.

“Mm, you wouldn’t cheat on her with another woman, Duo. That’s something we all know.”

…I didn’t really have anything else to say to that.

- -

“Mom?”

“Hey, baby,” my mother returned, startled. “Where are you at?”

“In town,” I replied, sliding down the glass. “Mom?”

“What’s the matter?” she asked. “What went wrong?”

“Everything,” I returned tiredly, leaning forward against my legs. “Everything went wrong.”

“Did he hurt you?” she asked in a tone of voice that meant she was angry at the idea.

“No,” I returned, pressing my eyes into my knees. I swallowed. “He was really nice…still is…”

“What? You can’t stand him?”

“I wish,” I muttered, thinking about that damn smirk he gave me all the time. “That’d make this all easier.”

“So what? What’s gone wrong?”

“Everything,” I replied, shifting slightly where I sat. “I didn’t press charges on him like I should have,” I noted.

“Oh, Som,” she started.

“Can I just talk? Please?”

She hesitated a moment, and I figured she was nodding. “Yeah…go ahead, baby.”