Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Love and Football ❯ Pt. 4 ( Chapter 4 )

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

Title: Love and Football pt. 4/10 (?)

Author: DamnVespa

Pairings: 2X1, 3X4, some others

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Archived: mediaminer.org, 1X2 ml, DHML,

http://www.geocities.com/etherealin_sanity/index.html

Warnings: Okay I know I forgot to write this but Heero will be OOCish. Sorry I haven't written that before.

The next couple of days were a mixture of Heaven and Hell for Duo. Heaven because of the dates he had with Heero. Hell because of the football practices. Duo hoped the Hell part would fix itself soon. He didn't know if he could survive the beating. Already his body resembled road kill. He was literally covered with bruises. Heero had been concerned but Duo told him that he was fine and he would fix the problems.

Tonight was the big day and despite what he told Heero he hadn't fixed the problem. They still let him get beat up on. He didn't know what to do anymore. He was slowly getting pissed off.

The whole team was in the locker room preparing for the game. Duo was just putting his pads on when Trowa tapped him on the shoulder. Duo raised an eyebrow in question. Trowa just pointed his head to the side. Duo looked over and noticed that Jason was walking determinedly towards him. If he took time to notice the other players he would have noticed that some of them sneered as he past.

"Duo."

"Jason, what can I do for you?"

"I wanted to wish you good luck and I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Yes Thank you for your help. With out it Relena and I wouldn't be back together."

"You and Relena got back together?"

"I thought you would have heard the gossip by now."

"Umm…Sorry I haven't. I've been so preoccupied with things that I haven't heard any gossip."

"Well I had a noisy breakup with Hilde and then begged forgiveness from Relena. She yelled at me at first but then forgave me. Well somewhat, I'm on a trial basis with her. I plan to pass the trial."

"That's great man! Have you met the rest of the group?"

"Not yet, Relena and I just got back together like five minutes ago."

"Well meet the first one, this is Trowa. Trowa this is Jason. Our new friend."

Trowa nodded his greeting and shook Jason's hand.

"Hi Trowa."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Well I better get going, Relena is expecting me."

"Okay. See ya around and tell Relena that you already met us."

"Will do. Oh and Duo. Beware of Hilde. She is out for your blood right now. I would stay away from her."

"Thanks for the warning."

Trowa just looked at Duo when Jason left. Duo blinked innocently and smiled. Trowa just shook his head at his friend. It never ceased to amaze him how easily someone could be friends with Duo. They suited up and after the coach gave them some encouraging words they ran out onto the field. The crowd roared when they came out onto the field. They spread out and started to warm up. Every so often Duo would look to the stands to see if he could find Heero. Heero had said he would come to the game. He caught sight of Quatre in the stands and moved down the line of friends until he recognized Heero. Heero was looking right at him and then he waved. Duo smiled and got back to warming up.

The game started too soon for Duo, who was becoming nervous. The referee called for the captain of the two teams and two other players to come out onto the field. They all shook hands and the referee asked the visiting team's captain to call it. The referee flipped a coin in the air and the captain shouted heads. It landed on tails. The referee then turned to Duo to ask if they wanted to be offensive or defensive. He thought about it for a second and said offensive. Then they shook hands again and prepared to start the game. The other team kicked off and they ended up at their own thirty-yard line. Duo realized he needed to go seventy more yards for a touchdown.

Duo called a huddle and read the first play from the offensive coach's gestures. He related it to his teammates and hoped that the play went fine. Duo got behind the center and got ready to make the first play of the game. He started to sweat and pant just from the nervousness and adrenaline running through his system. He smiled, this is what he lived for. He barked out the cadence that they had set up and the center snapped him the ball. Duo ran back a few feet and looked for his wide receivers. He found one that was relatively free and threw to him. He watched as his ball soared through the air in a perfect throw but he never got to see if the player caught it. He was tackled quite ruthlessly to the ground.

Heero had seen the guy come up behind Duo and tackle him to the ground. His heart leapt into his throat and hoped Duo was okay. When he saw the guy get up and then Duo stand after him he breathed a sigh of relief.

Duo heard a cheer go through the crowd and it took him a moment to realize which side was cheering. It was their side, apparently the wide receiver had caught the ball. When the heavy player got off of him he slowly stood up. He saw that they had made it to about the fifty-yard line. They re-huddled quickly and Duo told them the next play. He missed the unholy glint in their eyes, too focused on the next play and the idea that maybe his luck had changed. He got everything set up and was snapped the ball. The next thing he knew he was down on the ground with a 320 lb behemoth on top of him. He realized he still had the ball and was a little glad that he did. The whistle sounded and the heavy player got off. Duo stood up and glared at his fellow players. He had an inkling that the guy getting through wasn't a fluke.

The next two plays played out the same way. Each time he got the ball he was sacked. He was getting pissed off but it was too late to yell at anyone. He saw Trowa run onto the field as he prepared to punt. He wanted to say something but the look in Duo's eyes told him to hold his tongue.

When it was finally half time Duo was livid. The other team had scored 14 points while they were still at zero. The only reason this was happening was because the other players weren't helping much. He got sacked a couple more times but some of the other plays got completed. The coach had yelled at him and when he told him the problem the coach told him he had to deal with it. Duo made his way to the locker room and didn't even look to see if Heero was watching.

Heero frowned when Duo passed by without even looking at him. He had been extremely worried when Duo was tackled so many times. Heero looked at Duo's face and saw the barely suppressed anger. He winced at the face and went to sit back down. He would talk to him later when he was in a better mood.

When the team got into the locker room they just sat down on the bench, looking like they were whipped but Duo knew better. He knew they were happy with the way things were going.

The coach looked ready to yell at them when Duo put up a hand and asked if he could speak. The coach relented and Duo walked to the front and turned to face his fellow football players. The other players looked at Duo and some were going to say something snide but stopped. Duo's glared for all he was worth at them and the other players were a little intimidated. The look spelled death to anyone who interrupted him.

"I want you all to listen to me and listen good. I want this all to stop. I am here to play football NOT to be ground beef because you are acting like petty little children. I know some of you are seniors and this is your last year before you go to college. I hope you know that college recruiters DO NOT recruit players who can't work well with others. Now I don't care if don't like me but you will play like football players or mark my words I will make your lives a living hell. Now anyone who wants to stay on my good side better get their asses up here and stand beside me."

Duo waited for some kind of response. Trowa stood, smirked at Duo and walked to stand beside him. Soon after, a couple of more players stood behind Duo. Then most of the team was standing behind Duo except for a select few who obstinately sat on the bench. Duo smiled, at least he got some of them to see reason.

"Well good enough. Now let's go out their and win this game. Okay Guys?"

Cheers resounded and they grabbed their gear and exited. The half was over and the game started again. Duo was once again behind the center and got ready for the ball to be snapped to him. He looked at the defense to see if they had decided to rush but it didn't seem like it. Duo called out the code again and was snapped the ball. He ran back a few feet and noticed one of the other team's player running straight at him. He moved to get out of the way but the player wasn't taking his sights off of him. Duo decided not to worry about him and look for his receiver. He found one and threw to him just as the other guy was breathing down his neck. He kept his eyes on the ball but waited to be tackled When nothing came he finally looked to where he had last seen the other player only to find him a couple of feet away on the ground. One of his teammates stood proudly and gave him a thumbs up. Duo smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Then moved on to the next play.

To Duo the game went too fast and before he knew it the game was over. They had won with a score of 21 to 14. The crowd was roaring and Trowa came out and gave him a hug. They had won their first game and it was the great feeling for Duo. But Duo knew the road would be a hard and long one. He knew he hadn't got the trust nor the belief that he could lead their team to victory. He still needed to prove himself.

Duo shook these thoughts from his head and went towards the locker room. This time he looked for Heero and found him leaning over the railing, smiling. Duo ran over and looked up at Heero.

"Great game."

"Thanks Heero. I need to go shower and change. I'll see ya afterwards okay?"

"Okay."

Duo flexed his finger at Heero indicating that Heero should get closer. Heero knelt down and went through the railing to get closer to Duo. Duo stood on his tiptoes and kissed Heero on the lips. Heero blushed and backed away. Duo just grinned at him and darted to the locker room. Heero straightened and blushed even redder when he noticed that his friends were watching and smiling at him. But he couldn't stop the happy feeling bubbling up inside him.

They waited out in the parking lot for the Duo and Trowa to come out. The two finally waltzed out and walked towards the group. When they got there they were greeted with hugs for a job well done.

"Thank you, Thank you."

"You did a good job Duo. I could tell you finally took control in the second half of the game."

"Yeah, I finally took your advice Jason. Some of them kind of respect me…"

"More like wary of you."

"Trowa!"

"What do you mean Trowa?"

"Well he practically scared the others into submission with a look of death. Most just don't want to get on his bad side.

"Whatever, I did what I had to do. Hopefully I'll gain their respect and all those sacks won't happen again."

Heero walked up to Duo and leaned against him.

"Are you okay Duo?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Are you cold?"

Heero nodded his head. That was one of the reasons he leaned against Duo in the first place. Duo put a hand around his waist and pulled him closer. They chatted for a few minutes before they decided that they should go somewhere warmer to talk. They all piled into the three cars they had taken and drove to Denny's to eat.

The next day Duo had expected that maybe some of the his other classmates would be nicer to him but they didn't. They acted like he had nothing to do with the game yesterday and the fact they had won. He was a little disheartened but got over it quickly. During lunch Duo came to the table to see Trowa reading the school paper.

"Anything good?"

"You could say that."

With that said Trowa showed Duo the front page. On the front page was a picture of the game. Duo quickly grabbed the paper to read. As he read the story he couldn't believe the biasness of it. His name was only printed once and all other times he was referred to as the quarterback. He put down the story and grimaced at the paper. Apparently winning one game didn't get you any praise.

"Well doesn't this suck. Here I thought that people might think I'm a good player but I guess I was wrong."

Duo hhmphed and practically hurled the paper back at Trowa. Trowa nodded his head in agreement and promptly threw the paper away. Duo smiled at the gesture.

"Thanks Trowa."

"No problem Duo."

Soon the others came to the table and all sat down. They all started to chat about their day. Duo was happily relating a funny thing that happened at the orphanage that morning when a voice spoke up from behind him.

"Talking about street rats again? Tsk Tsk, you should know by now that no one really cares about your silly little stories."

Heero growled and glared at the girl. She smirked at him, which only seem to infuriate him more. He would have done something had Duo not held his arm.

"Hello Hilde. Is there something you wanted?"

"Why yes there is but first I would like to have my boyfriend back. Jason, come back to me. Whatever this trash told you is not true. You shouldn't believe him. Besides, what is a quarterback with out the head cheerleader for a girlfriend."

"I'm not a quarterback anymore Hilde. And NO I will not go back to you."

"Jason cut out the crap. You know your reputation is going to go down. I know you feel some sort of obligation to the team and to help out this trash so that our team can win. But don't you think this is going a bit too far."

Jason was surprised when his friends all got up. They started to shout obscenities at Hilde but he stopped them.

"Guys this is my fight. Look Hilde. I don't care about my reputation. I found that my friends were lacking in loyalty and found friends who wouldn't turn their back on me. I mean just now they all stood up to defend me when I hardly deserve it for the way I treated them. And as for going back to you. Again I repeat no I will not. I'm staying with Relena. She is the only one I'll ever love."

Hilde was enraged with fury when Jason denied to come back to her. She glowered at Relena.

"You want this…this…slut for a girlfriend instead of me?"

A slap rang out through the cafeteria. Jason stood there eyes flaming as he glared at his ex-girlfriend.

"You will never call Relena a slut do you hear me. That rumor was a lie and I know because she told me it was. I only went to you to try and get you to stop the rumor so she could get back her status. You were nothing to me. If I ever find out that you or anyone else speaking badly about any one of my friends I will find you and you won't just get a slap on the face."

Jason sat back down and cradled his girlfriend to him. Relena was shocked but smiled in happiness when she realized what Jason had actually said. He had turned down popularity for her. She leaned over and kissed him soundly. He was surprised for a moment but accepted the kiss anyways.

Hilde was more livid than ever. She turned her blazing eyes to Duo.

"You'll pay for this street trash. If it is the last thing I do, I'll get even with you and your slut of a boyfriend."

Duo moved to slap her too when Heero got in-between them.

"She's not worth it."

Duo looked into calm blue eyes and relaxed. He smiled at Heero and took his hand. They both sat down and started to eat again. Everyone ignored the fuming Hilde and went back to eating. Hilde stomped off in a huff vowing vengeance and making plans of revenge.

Duo frowned at the sense of foreboding flowing through his body. Heero caressed his cheek and Duo snapped out of it. He smiled and kissed the hand caressing his cheek. Heero blushed yet again and looked down.

"Guys I think we should watch out for the next couple of weeks. Who knows what Hilde is capable of when she is mad."

The others nodded their head in acquiescence. Then Duo looked at Jason.

"I liked what you said Jason. You really figured out what I was trying to tell you. I'm happy you think so highly of us. And be rest assured if you need us we'll be there for you."

"As I will be there for you if need be."

"Thanks Jason."

They ate silently for the rest of the period.

TBC

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