Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Always There For You ❯ 5 ( Chapter 5 )

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

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or it's characters.

Always There For You Chapter 5:

Year A.C. 213, The last school day before summer:

Every student's eyes were on the clock, there were only 3 minutes left until the final bell of the day rang, meaning the start of summer vacation.

When the bell finally rang all the students launched from their seats and started yelling, cheering, and acting crazy. The doors to the school slammed open and students streamed out.

Max, Rain, Chelsea, Katrina, Jack, and Alisa were right in the middle of the people streaming out the doors. They were all chattering happily. Rain and Max started singing "School's Out" by Alice Cooper and the rest of the group joined in after laughing with the two. The song was an ancient classic, but few people knew who had written it.

When their song had ended, the group found themselves standing in the school quad. They all sat down on a bench by the street and waited for their rides to arrive. Max, Jack Chelsea, Katrina, and Alisa all squeezed onto a bench. Rain was standing in front of them all glaring at them. They all laughed at Rain who made a pouting face. The group grinned innocently. Rain grinned evilly and sat on Max and Jack's laps. Max and Jack both grinned.

"Ohh, I like this." Max said with a grin. Everyone else laughed.

"Hmm, me too." Jack said, raising his eyebrows up and down. Rain shook her head in mock dismay and playfully punched them both in the shoulder. Chelsea, Alisa, and Katrina just laughed at the whole situation. Once they had stopped laughing, the group started talking.

"Man it sucks that we won't see you guys next year." Rain said to Jack and Max. Max and Jack were both in Ninth grade so they would be attending high school the following school year.

"Yeah." Katrina, Chels, and Alisa agreed. Max and Jack both shared a look and began sniffling and pretending to cry.

"Oh Jack they love us that much." Max said, putting a hand to his chest.

"Oh, gee do you guys really mean it?" Jack asked, pretending to wipe away a tear. The girls all shared a look. They were trying not to laugh. They all finally cracked up and hugged each other.

Once they had control of their laughter again, the group was quiet for a moment. Rain noticed that they were the only people left at the school, even the teachers were gone.

Alisa noticed her mom's car and she stood up.

"Well my mom's here. I'll see you guys tonight, right?" Alisa asked the group.

"Yeah." Jack answered. The group had planned on eating dinner together at a café to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation. Katrina stood up also and she and Alisa walked to Alisa's mom's car.

"Bye guys." Katrina said with a wave.

"Bye." Alisa echoed. The group all waved goodbye and Alisa and Katrina left.

Rain slid off of Jack and Max's laps and onto the empty space on the bench next to Jack. The remaining four friends talked for a few minutes until Chelsea and Jack's father showed up to take them home. Max started to get up as well. Mr. Wales was supposed to give him a ride home that day. Mr. Wales rolled down his car window and called out to Max.

"Hey Max, your dad called. He said he would pick you up today." Mr. Wales said as Chelsea and Jack got in the car. Max nodded and sat back down.

"Bye Max, Bye Rain see ya tonight!" Chelsea called out the window as the car drove off.

"Bye." Max and Rain both replied, even though the car was already gone. Max took a deep breath. He decided this was the best time to tell Rain that he was moving. She was the only one who didn't already know. The others all thought that she knew also, but she didn't. Max had kept it off; he really didn't want to have to say it for fear that he might lose it. It pained him so much; he'd never come back to Earth after this. His parents were set on staying in L2.

Derek took another deep breath before he spoke.

"Rain, there's something I need to tell you..." Max began. Rain turned to look at him. Rain wondered why Max was using her first name. All of her friends knew her first name but never used it. Rain shrugged it off.

"I didn't want to have to tell you...but there's no time like the present I guess..." Derek said, laughing slightly at the cruelty of those words. A concerned expression crossed Rain's features.

"Max, what's wrong?" Rain asked with a look overflowing with concern. Max looked down at the ground.

"My parents and I are going back to L2..." Max said slowly.

"Well that's not so bad, I mean you go there every summer right? So we'll just hang out right before school starts, like you and Jack used to do every year." Rain said, tilting her head to the side slightly. Max sighed.

"You don't understand...we're moving back to L2, we're not coming back..." Max said softly. Neither of the two said anything for a moment. Rain's face showed mixed emotions. Her features showed a mix between shock
and sadness.

"Are-are you serious?" Rain asked, trying to see Max's eyes. Max didn't say anything. He simply nodded.

"Whe-when are you leaving?" Rain asked, now also looking at the ground.

"In two days..."

"I can't believe this...Do the other's know?"

"Yes, you were the only one I didn't tell..." Max said softly. Rain became confused.

"Why, why didn't you tell me...why was I the last one to find out?" Rain asked, hurt crossing her face.

"It hurt too much to tell you...because I knew it would pain you so much..." Max said, looking up so he could look into her eyes.

"I-I...wha-why?" Rain was confused beyond words, she couldn't think of what to say.

"Why do you have to go...?" Rain asked, finally regaining her ability to think.

"I...I Don't want to leave, but my parents...they said we've been here too long and it's time to go back...I've tried everything to change their minds, but it's no use." Max said, turning away from Rain again. Rain snickered slightly.

"You know I've never even met your parents..." Rain said, more to herself than to Max. Max considered this. Of course she hadn't ever met them, if she had she would have figured out who he was, who his parents were...then
everything would just be that much worse.

"They aren't that bad, I mean they felt terrible about us having to move, they knew I would have to leave my friends behind...I think you would have liked them a lot if you'd been able to get to know them..." Max said with a sigh.

"Perhaps..." Rain said while thinking. Suddenly Rain's expression brightened. "Hey what if I came out to L2 to stay with you and your parents for a while? It would give me a chance to get to know them, and I would get to see you." Derek considered this. Maybe, just maybe it would work. Max mentally shook his head. No, it couldn't work, Heero would have to talk to Hilde and Duo at some point and that would just make things more complicated.

"Maybe..." Was Max's only reply. Rain sensed something about her idea was bothering him so she let it drop.

"Well you make sure and write to me. And you better call, or else..." Rain said, giving him a playful threatening look. Max couldn't help but smile.

"Of course." Max replied. At that moment, a car horn beeped. Rain and Max both looked up to see Max's parent's car. Max stood up quickly. Rain saw a confused look on his face. Max's dad's head popped out of the passenger seat window.

"Derek, c'mon, we gotta go!" Max/Derek's dad, Duo, called. Max wondered why both of his parents were in the car. Normally just his dad came to pick him up.

"Dad what's going on? Why are you and Mom *both* here?" Derek asked as he took a few steps towards the car.

Rain was totally awestruck. She was in complete and utter shock. For some reason she could not get her mouth to work, nor could she manage to move. This was Derek, her childhood best friend, and those were his parents in the car. At that moment, everything made sense to her. She understood why she'd never met Max's parents, she would have realized who he was and then Heero would have most likely found out as well. Derek knew who she was, he'd seen her father just a few days ago.

"I'm sorry Derek, but we have to leave today, we're going to the shuttle port right now. You can call all of your friends as soon as we get home, I promise..." Hilde said to her son with a sad look. Derek's heart skipped a
beat. His mind reeled.

"Wha-what? We can't leave today. I-I-I haven't even had the chance to say goodbye." Derek said, glancing frantically behind himself at Rain. She looked dazed. Derek suddenly realized why; she *knew*.

"I'm sorry sweety, but we have to go." Hilde said, feeling deep sympathy for her son. Derek realized if he didn't leave right then and there, then he wouldn't be able to. He couldn't even bear to look back at Rain, couldn't bear to let her see the pained look on his face. Without thinking, Derek quickly jumped into the car.

"*Go*..." Derek said through clenched teeth. Hilde and Duo shared a look. Both of them understood exactly why he wanted to leave, they knew who the girl who was still standing near the bench was. Hilde nodded and pulled the car away from the curb.

Rain shook her head, trying to clear it. Her head was spinning out of control. She quickly regained her thoughts and looked up just in time to see the car leaving. She forced words to sound from her throat.

"Nu-No! Derek, wait! Derek please! Please don't leave me again..." Rain managed to choke out, but it was too late, the car was gone. Rain fell to her knees in anguish. She buried her face in her hands and began to sob.

Rain thought that Derek would be too far away to hear her, but he had heard. He'd just barely heard her cry out to him, and that made his heart ache that much more.

*****

Rain sat there on the ground in the school courtyard for what seemed like hours. In actuality, it had only been about nine minutes since Derek had disappeared from her sight. Disappeared...forever...

When Heero arrived to pick Rain up, he immediately got out of the car and rushed over to her. What he found was a deshelved Rain sitting on her knees with her face buried in her hands. It crushed his heart to see his daughter in such obvious anguish. Heero could hear Rain's quiet sobs and could see her shuddering from her ragged breaths. Heero kneeled in front of her and tried to calm her.

"Rain...Rain? What's wrong?" Heero asked in a gentle voice. Rain answered but with much difficulty.

"D-Derek-Max...G-gone-went b-back to L2..." Rain choked out. Heero looked down at the ground. His face fell. 'So Rain discovered the truth...' Heero thought. Neither Rain nor Heero said anything for a moment. Rain had stopped sobbing and sniffled.

"W-why didn't you tell me it was him...?" Rain said softly. Heero was taken aback. When he didn't answer Rain spoke again.

"I know you knew...If you hadn't you would have had a different reaction to what I've just said..." Rain looked up at Heero with a tear stained face. The look in her eyes was so utterly hopeless that Heero felt his own heart sink.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She repeated. Heero sighed.

"I wanted him to tell you himself. I really thought he would..." Heero said with an exasperated look. Rain shook her head slowly.

"Why didn't he tell me...?" Rain asked. Her gaze fell back to the ground.

"I don't know Rain. Maybe it had something to do with his parents. Or him leaving." Heero said. "I'm so sorry Rain..." Rain shook her head again.

"No, I'm through with being sorry..." Heero raised an eyebrow.

Rain took a deep breath and slowly stood. She straightened out her slightly rumpled clothes and wiped the remaining traces of tears off of her face. She straightened her shoulders and tried to bury the misery she was feeling. Heero stood as well and watched Rain with concern.

Rain sucked in a breath and spoke her thoughts aloud. She had to hear herself say it...
"No. Derek's gone now. And moping about it isn't going to make things any better." Rain said slowly. She shook her head to keep herself from tearing up again. Heero nodded in understanding.

'Now that's the Rain I know-always headstrong... That's right Rain. Keep strong. I know you're tough.' Heero thought.


To be continued...

-End of Chapter 5-

Author's Notes: Ok that was really really really sad! It was so hard to write! Gomen! I'm Sorry! Please review while I go try to keep from sobbing!
-AlyRain