Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Always There For You ❯ 14 ( Chapter 14 )

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

Cody-7
Luke-6
For Disclaimer, see Ch. 1.

Always There For You Chapter 14

"Cody! Wait!" Rain shouted. Cody, Rain's seven-year-old cousin was half way up one of the grand staircases in the Peacecraft mansion when Rain had rushed into the foyer. Cody froze and looked down at Rain as she walked to the bottom of the staircase. She had left the boys alone for a brief moment while she was in the bathroom. As soon as she'd come back, she found that the boys had disappeared.

"Where's Luke?" Rain asked, referring to Cody's younger brother.

Rain had been there, baby-sitting for over two hours. Cody and Luke had been pretty well behaved for that duration of time. The only mishaps Rain had dealt with since her aunt and uncle had left was when Luke had spilled a carton of Pine-Orange-Banana juice on the kitchen floor a few minutes before. After Rain had helped him clean it up, there hadn't been any other problems.

Cody pointed up the stairs.

"Luke went to look for a movie." Cody said. Rain nodded. She ran up the stairs and walked to the upstairs den with Cody by her side. Since it was close to nine p.m., Rain planned to let the kids watch a movie in their room.

Rain and Cody walked into the den where they found Luke searching through a collection of movie disks in the cabinet.

"Find one yet?" Rain asked. Luke spun around to look at her.

"Yup!" Luke smiled and held up a disk. He ran over to Rain and handed it to her. She glanced down at the title.

"'The Lion King'..." Rain read. She nodded her approval. In the time of After Colony, Disney Classics were ancient classics, but still popular to most children.

"Alright. Let's go guys." Rain shepherded the two boys out the door and down the hall to their room.

The mansion was definitely big enough for the boys to have their own rooms, but they were still little at ages six and seven, so they shared a room to beat loneliness.

Rain, Cody, and Luke entered the boys' room. It was a large room with two twin-sized beds, a large TV, a walk-in closet, two matching nightstands beside the two beds with lamps on each. The walls were painted a soft blue color with white trim. Rain liked the room; she always found it very cozy.

"K, you guys go get your P. Js and brush your teeth. I'll put the movie in." Rain instructed. The two boys dashed into the walk-in closet to get out their pajamas. Rain walked over to the TV stand and put the movie disk into the slot below the screen.

Cody and Luke walked out of the walk-in closet carrying their pajamas. They walked into the bathroom connected to the far side of the room to change and brush their teeth.
When the boys returned, Rain got them tucked in and started the movie. She sat down on a bean bag chair in between the two beds to watch the movie too.

*****

About two hours later, the movie had ended. Rain got up from her seat to check on the two boys. Cody and Luke were both fast asleep. She smiled at them.

"G'night Cody, g'night Luke." Rain whispered. Luke and Cody looked a lot like their parents. They had Milliardo's eyes and Noin's hair color. They had their hair cut short, similar to Quatre's styling.

Rain made sure Cody and Luke's blankets were up high enough, then she went back to her beanbag chair and picked up the TV remote. She decided to watch some late night sitcoms while she waited for Noin and Milliardo to get back from their party. They had said they would return around midnight.

The TV did not really capture Rain's interest. She had too many thoughts bombarding her mind at the time. She was no longer busy watching Luke and Cody, so she was free to think. She thought back to the tickling incident with Jack and their almost "moment".

Rain couldn't get that look on Derek's face out of her mind. She knew how hurt he had been. But she could not really figure out why he had lied about it in the car.

'What am I gonna do?' Rain thought. She really liked Jack; she had had a crush on him since the beginning of the seventh grade. However, Rain had liked Derek since then too.

'Derek's just a friend...right? A friend I've liked since the seventh grade...' Rain let out her breath slowly. 'I like Jack, I really do. And, I like Derek too. But, Derek didn't say anything in the car about why he'd been upset. He tried to cover it up. He-' Rain was suddenly torn from her thoughts as Noin and Milliardo walked into the room.

"Hey Rain. How were they?" Noin asked. Rain smiled at them.

"They were good. We played hide and seek for a while after they ate. Then, they fell asleep watching 'The Lion King'." Rain replied. Noin and Milliardo nodded.

"Good." Noin said.

"How was the party?" Rain asked.

"We had a good time. Thanks for watching the boys for us." Milliardo replied.

"No problem. They're fun." Rain said.

"Well, are you ready to go home?" Milliardo asked, noting the tired expression on Rain's face. Rain nodded. She stood up from the beanbag chair and set the remote on the TV stand before she switched it off. She followed her aunt and uncle out into the hallway.

Noin walked Rain and Milliardo to the garage door. She was going to stay there while Milliardo drove Rain home.

Rain hugged her aunt goodbye and followed Milliardo out to the car.

*****

The following day, Rain got up somewhat late at about 10 a.m. She had not gotten to sleep until about 1 am the previous night. Rain was groggy, but she had things she needed to deal with that day.

Rain had had a pretty restless night. Her dreams had been a rehashing of her emotional confusion from the night before. She decided that she would go to the Wales's house and talk to Jack before the Gundam pilots and their kids all went to the Peacecraft mansion for dinner.

*****

Three hours later, at about 1 p.m., Rain was standing on the Wales front porch, reaching for the doorbell. Her father had dropped her off on his way to the Peacecraft mansion. Heero had offered to come early to help cook all the food for dinner that evening. Rain had called the Wales' before she came to make sure Quatre could drive her over there later.

Rain rang the doorbell and waited patiently for someone to answer the door. She leaned against the porch railing while she waited. After a seemingly long time, Ms. Dorothy Wales answered the door.

"Hi, Ms. Wales." Rain greeted. Dorothy smiled at her.

"Hi Rain. Chelsea is not here. She went to the store with Quatre about half an hour ago. She should be back soon though. Jack is still here if you want to hang out with him until she gets back." Dorothy said. Rain nodded and Dorothy let her in.

"He's in his room." Dorothy said, nodding towards the stairs. "Are you hungry? I was just starting a late lunch here."

"A little." Rain replied.

"Ok, well, I should be done in about ten minutes. I will let you guys know when the food is ready." Dorothy said as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Rain walked up the stairs to Jack's room. She knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Jack called. Rain pushed open the door and walked in, closing the door behind herself. Jack looked up from where he was sitting on his bed.

"Rain? Hey, I didn't know you were coming over today." Jack said with a warm smile.

"Neither did I...I called a while ago, and asked if your dad could give me a ride over to Uncle Milli's today. I guess he forgot to tell you I was coming over." Rain said. Jack nodded in agreement.

"What're you up to?" Rain asked.

"Just watching one of those Christmas specials on TV." Jack replied, gesturing towards the TV across the room from his bed.

"Wanna sit down?" Jack asked. Rain walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down, facing Jack.

"Jack, I need to talk to you." Rain began. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"What's up?"

"Well, it's about yesterday..." Rain thought for a moment, trying to decide what to say.

"What about it?" Jack asked. He had a suspicion on what she was talking about. Derek had pretty much interrogated him the previous evening.

"Uhm..." Rain felt very shy at that moment.

"Is it about when we were... I dunno, hugging in the Laser Tag arena?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to know... What you were thinking then." Rain said. Jack thought for a moment.

"I was thinking...that we were hugging...and that was good." Jack replied. "What were you thinking?"

"I...Uhm. Well..." Rain fidgeted a bit.

"Well what?"

"I almost kissed you." Rain blurted out. She looked down at her hands, feeling her face flush.

"I see. Well, why didn't you?" Jack asked.

"I-I don't know. I mean, my first instinct was to just lean up and go with the flow..." Rain had stood up and was pacing slightly around the room.

"And?"

"And...I don't know! It just felt...wrong. I guess I worried that you weren't thinking the same thing as me." Rain replied. She looked back at Jack to see what he thought. Jack furrowed his brow.

"So, what if I told you I was thinking the same thing as you? What would you have done?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure." Rain stopped pacing and looked down at the floor.

"Well, Rain, you felt something. And I did too. So..." Jack trailed off. Rain looked up at Jack.

"So...?" She pressed.

"So. Uhm. Will you go out with me?" Jack asked with a hopeful look. Rain thought for a moment.

"Ok...maybe we can figure out if that was really something, or just...an awkward moment." Rain replied. Jack stood up and walked over to Rain. She smiled at him. He hugged her and grinned.

"Great!"

"Jack! Rain! Lunch is ready!" Dorothy's voice drifted from downstairs.

"Shall we?" Jack asked. Rain nodded. She grabbed his hand and they walked together to the kitchen.

When Rain and Jack arrived in the kitchen, Chelsea and Quatre had just gotten back from the store. Chelsea noted how Jack and Rain were walking hand-in-hand. She gave Rain an "explain later," look. Rain nodded and she and the Wales all sat down at the kitchen table to eat lunch.

*****

That evening, Rain, Chelsea, Derek, Jack, Jason, and Mei Li were all sitting in the upstairs den of the Peacecraft mansion watching a recent remake of "A Christmas Carol". Their parents were all in the downstairs den chatting and playing cards. Cody and Luke were in their room with Chon, Sheri and Tristan, Jason and Mei Li's younger siblings. They were all watching the all-time classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Rain, Derek, and Jack were seated on the smaller couch in the upstairs den and Mei Li, Jason, and Chelsea were all seated on the larger couch beside them. They were not paying much attention to "A Christmas Carol". They were more interested in talking. The topic for discussion at that moment was Rain and Jack. The new couple was snuggled together on the couch, and had been a bit too close since they'd first arrived at the Peacecraft mansion. It raised suspicions among the group of teens.

"So? How long have you two been going out?" Mei Li asked.

"Yeah! When? Where? WHY!?" Chelsea interjected. Rain and Jack both laughed nervously.

"Since today. This afternoon actually. And...because...we like each other, why else?" Jack said with a shrug. He seemed considerably calm. Rain on the other hand, was freaking out. Jack was her first real boyfriend. They had only been going out for a few hours and Chelsea had already started leading the group with a bombardment of questions.

Derek watched the whole thing with interest. He noticed how freaked Rain was getting. Jack seemed to be getting on the annoyed side too.

"Chelsea, leave them alone." Derek said simply. Chelsea turned to look at Derek, who was slouching on the other side of the couch, on Jack's left.

"What do you mean?" Chelsea asked. Derek sighed.

"Look, I know you're curious," Derek began, "but, can't you see how uncomfortable you're making them?" He sat up straighter and gestured towards Jack and Rain who were giving him smiles of gratitude.

"Oh... Sorry guys." Chelsea grinned sheepishly and looked down at the floor.

"Maybe we should all attempt to pay attention to the movie for a while." Jason said, speaking up for the first time since they had entered the den. The group all agreed and settled back into their seats. Jack wrapped his arm around Rain's shoulders and she snuggled up next to him. They shared a smile before they both looked back at the TV screen.


*****

About half an hour later, Derek stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where you going, Derek?" Rain asked.

"Just gonna get something to drink." Derek replied, smiling at her. Rain frowned, seeing through his false smile. She became curious. Rain did not voice her concern as Derek walked out the door.

Rain began to worry about Derek more and more as the minutes ticked by. She pulled away from Jack and stood up.

"Where're you going?" Jack asked.

I'm thirsty. Gonna go downstairs and get a drink." Rain replied. Jack nodded.

"Want me to go with you?" Jack asked. Rain shook her head.

"No, I'm ok. I'll just be gone a sec. You want anything?"

"No thanks, I'm ok." Jack said. Rain glanced at the other couch.

"Jason, Mei Li, Chelsea, you want anything?" Rain asked. They all said no, so Rain walked out without another word.

*****

Once downstairs, Rain went to the kitchen to see if Derek had really gone for drinks. She did not find him there, so she decided to go look for him.

Rain wandered around the first floor of the Peacecraft mansion without any success of finding Derek. She was just about to give up all together when she spotted him through the front window. Rain walked out the door and closed it softly behind herself.

Derek was sitting on the top step on the large, marble front porch. Rain walked quietly over to him and sat down beside him. He did not turn towards her.

"I know why you're upset..." Rain said after a while. She looked down at the ground rather than facing him. Derek looked up. His face held surprise.

"Really? And why's that?" Derek let out a forced laugh, as though it were a painful joke.

"You're upset that I'm going out with Jack...you're jealous." Rain stated. Derek went back to staring at the steps below himself.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because, you're my best friend...I can read you well. And I can see in your eyes...you're hurt." Rain said quietly. "Why did you lie to me?"

"I just want you to be happy...that's why I lied." Derek answered after a long pause. Rain chewed on her bottom lip.

"I can't be happy, knowing you're upset." Rain looked over at Derek. He looked up and met her gaze briefly before he looked away again.

"I know you really like Jack. You wouldn't be going out with him if you didn't. And...you wouldn't have..." Derek trailed off.

"Wouldn't have what?" Rain pressed.

"Well...you two seemed on the verge of kissing when we all interrupted..." Derek answered.

"It's true, I really like Jack...and I still wonder what would have happened if you guys hadn't shown up... but I saw that look in your eyes...You were so hurt. At first I couldn't understand why...but then I realized...that you care about me too." Rain said. She stood up and moved down a step so that she could kneel in front of Derek and see his face.

Derek looked like he was on the verge of tears. Rain did not think he would ever let those tears spill, but the lost, pained look burned into her heart. Rain wrapped her arms around Derek and snuggled against him.

Derek was surprised by her action. He could not think of anything more to do other than put his arms around her and hold her close. His mind was a strange wash of emotions. He could not decide what to do about anything anymore. On one hand, he really wanted Rain and Jack to be happy, but on the other hand he knew that his pain was hurting Rain. Derek also knew that he could not hide his true feelings form Rain. The confusion was getting to him. His body shook slightly as he drew in a sharp breath.

Rain pulled back and held Derek's hands between her own. She looked up at him from her kneeling position on the step below him.

"Look, tonight, I'm doing a lot of thinking. I can't make decisions right now...too many thoughts are in my head at once...but, everything will be ok. I promise." Rain said. She brushed Derek's bangs out of his eyes.

Derek nodded in agreement. He still seemed upset and confused, but, he felt a bit better knowing Rain understood his current mental situation.

"Yeah...we should get back inside. I'm sure the others have decided we've been kidnapped by now. And, it's freezing out here." Derek said. He stood up and pulled Rain to her feet too.

The pair silently slipped back in the house. Neither of them spoke a word of their conversation on the porch the rest of the evening. When they'd gotten back to the upstairs den, Jack inquired as to where they went. Rain stretched the truth a little and said that they had spent a long time searching for the mint chocolates that her aunt and uncle always had in stock that time of year. They really had gotten some of the chocolate mints after they came back inside, but it had only taken a matter of seconds.

The group of teens all seemed to buy Rain's story. Although, Chelsea made a mental note to ask why Derek and Rain seemed so distant and so out of whack.

-End Of Chapter 14-

Hey Mina-san! Gomen nasai for taking so extremely long to update! I went through a long period of laziness, writer's block, and more laziness. I hope you liked the chapter. Please review! Reviews fuel the inspiration!

-AlyRain