Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ One Step Forward, Two Steps Back ❯ I Hope You Fall in Love ( Chapter 3 )

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

 

Summary: "Love can die but a dance can last forever. You may not be happy but at least you'll never feel the pain of betrayal."

Heero Yuy is a boy whose never believed in love.

Duo Maxwell is a boy whose never felt its touch.

What happens when these two boys meet and Heero's belief that a relationship should be based on a dance around the other is put up against Duo's belief that love conquers all?

Who will win? Come and watch the dance.

 

Rating: Pg-13

 

Warnings: Angsty, AU, slight OOC, Yaoi/Shonen-Ai, Relena Bashing, Language

 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you see in this fanfic. I don't even really own the plot bunny. I'm starting to think that he's the one that owns me.

 

Author Notes: I apologize to all Relena-fans. I'm just not really a big one in this fanfic. I'm sorry.

Okay in reply to one of my reviewer's questions....Duo was an orphan right? yeah we all understand that part...anyways, when he caught picked up, off the street, a rich family took him in. Which is why he ended up in this rich school. K?

 

 

Chapter Three: I hope you fall in love

 

Heero followed Duo into the social studies classroom and sat down next to him. They smiled at each other, then turned to the door to see if any of their other friends were going to end up in this class. Heero mentally cursed himself for not asking Trowa and Wufei about it during their French class together.

 

Relena Peacecraft entered the room and Heero hurriedly looked away. That girl was more of a hindrance than she was worth. Sure, he had recently turned her down, but who knew how long it would take her to get up the nerve to ask him again. The last thing Heero wanted to do was to encourage her and make her think that he'd changed his mind about her.

 

"Looks like the princess is in here with us," Duo grumbled in a hushed voice. "Just hope she doesn't look back here or we just may be doomed."

 

Heero nodded in response and prayed that Relena would sit down and class would begin before she realized that he was there. Unfortunately, the gods didn't seem to like him. Two seconds later, someone had his arm in a rather painful grip.

 

"Hello, Heero," Relena said, right next to his ear. "Did ya miss me?"

 

"Relena," Heero said in acknowledgement and nimbly unattached her hand from his arm. He shot a look over at Duo, who merely shrugged.

 

"This would be such a boring class if you weren't here, Heero!" Relena squealed as she latched onto Heero's arm again. "I bet you'll be the smartest person here."

 

"I doubt it," Heero replied as he watched his arm disappear from view under Relena's body. He decided that his arm was a lost cause. "Duo is probably better at this than me. I'm not a social studies kind of person."

 

"I'm sure you'll do fine anyway," Relena purred, not to be discouraged.

 

The teacher entered the room, and Relena very reluctantly let go of Heero's arm. Duo leaned over and chuckled. "Looks like she's got short-term memory loss. She's already forgotten that you just turned her down for a date."

 

Heero nodded, glancing at Relena while rubbing his arm, trying to work feeling back into it. Relena had her head on her hands, and was watching Heero dazedly. He didn't like that look at all. She wasn't very intelligent, and appeared to be very emotional. It was a recipe for disaster, especially when you added the fact that she didn't seem to acknowledge his refusal to go out with her.

 

Throughout the class, Heero noticed that Relena paid more attention to him than she did the teacher. She also glared at Duo every time Heero paid the least amount of attention to him. Heero stored that in the back of his brain for future reference. Who knows, it could be useful later on.

 

When the bell rang, Heero told Duo that he would meet him outside and then headed in the direction of his locker. Unfortunately, Relena followed him there.

 

"Heero?" Relena purred as she slid next to him as he was stuffing his new textbooks into the locker. "What do you say you walk me home today?"

 

"Can't. Duo and I are going to meet with a couple of other guys and then go hang out at the arcade." Heero grinned with satisfaction as Relena winced at the mention of Duo's name. However she instantly lit up again and Heero sighed. He was doomed.

 

"Well, that's okay. I'll just go with you and you can walk me home afterwards," Relena squealed in excitement. "We'll have fun!"

 

"I don't know." Heero flashed Relena a look that said 'hell-no'.

 

"Come on," Relena whined, pulling on Heero's shirt. "Just this once. I'll never bug you again after this. I promise."

 

Heero sighed and closed his locker after pulling out his backpack. "Just this once." Heero figured that it wouldn't kill him to do it once. Then he wouldn't have to ever deal with her ever again. "But that's it!"

 

Relena eeped and threw her arms around Heero's neck. "You're the best! I just knew that you would come around, Heero-kun."

 

"Heero-kun?" Heero repeated dumbly, confused.

 

"Why, of course! You're part Japanese. Your mom is Japanese, you know, I've seen all of her movies. Besides, you need to have a pet name if you're going to be my boyfriend!" Relena ranted as she pulled him along down the hallways.

 

"Boyfriend?" Heero's eyebrows rose. "I'm not your boyfriend, Relena."

 

Relena rolled her eyes. "Of course you are, you really need someone to tell you all the rules of dating. Don't worry, I'll do it for you." She grinned and flashed a smirk to a couple of girls that were staring at her with a shocked look on their faces.

 

Heero sighed and allowed himself to get pulled along by Relena, while he attempted to figure out how on earth he had become Relena's boyfriend. Before he could figure it out, they were outside of the school. He spotted Duo and waved to him, and Duo waved back with a huge grin on his face. Then he saw Relena attached to Heero's arm and frowned. Heero couldn't tell if it was in sympathy for Heero, shock that Relena was there, or disgust for what Heero was touching.

 

"Heero-kun, come on!" Relena whined as she realized that Heero had planted his feet down and wasn't going to budge no matter how much she pulled. "I wanna go now!"

 

"Duo is coming with us. Remember?" Heero said to Relena, as patiently as he could. Then Heero motioned for Duo to come over. Duo did, dragged his feet on the way to symbolize his reluctance to do so. He tried to smile at Relena, but she looked away in disgust and shot Heero an exasperated look. Heero merely shrugged.

 

Quatre emerged from the school at that moment and pounced on Heero. "Hey! Ready to go?" Then he let go of Heero's arm when his eyes fell on Relena and narrowed. "What are you doing here?"

 

"Heero-kun asked me to come with you guys,” Relena said, once again clinging to Heero's arm. "So you are going to be stuck with me." She giggled.

 

Heero groaned. She didn't know how right she was.

 

"Whatever," Quatre said, dismissing Relena completely. He turned to see Trowa and Wufei walking towards them and went to pounce on them too, whispering something in their ears. Probably about the situation with Relena because Trowa didn't say anything when they spotted her. "Well, shall we be off?"

 

Wufei, on the other hand, had to make a comment on Relena's presence. "Heero? What is this onna doing here?" Wufei demanded angrily as he glared at Relena. "She's noting more than a dumb, materialistic-"

 

"Wufei, stop!" Heero warned, putting a restraining hand on Wufei's chest. "Don't make a scene. It's still our first day, remember?" Wufei nodded and stepped back, though he did not stop his glaring at Relena.

 

"You have no right to call me stupid or an onna," Relena exclaimed, glaring at Wufei.

 

"Onna means woman," Heero informed Relena simply and then motioned to the road. "Well, are we going or not?"

 

After various glares in Relena's direction, everyone nodded in agreement and the group headed down the road in the direction of the arcade, Relena still attached to Heero's arm. Heero found that Relena's grip was rather uncomfortably tight and wished she'd just let go, but reminded himself that this was just a one time thing. Even if Relena didn't realize that herself, as soon as Heero was done with this, he wouldn't have to put up with her again. Even if she had proclaimed him 'Heero-kun.'

 

The six of them entered the arcade before anyone spoke, nobody wanted to say anything and risk ending up in Heero's position.

 

"Oh, wow!" Duo exclaimed as he spotted a certain video game to his left. "Come on, Wufei. I feel like kicking your ass today."

 

Wufei mumbled something along the lines of Duo being an idiot for even thinking that he could kick his ass, but followed Duo anyway. Trowa spotted something in the back and Quatre tagged along which left Heero all alone with Relena.

 

"Come on, Heero. I know exactly what game you should play," Relena proclaimed, and dragged him over to a game that was located on the far right, and had a boy standing in front of it.

 

"Well, Relena, you've come crawling back to me, I see," the boy said smugly before spying Heero who was still being latched onto by Relena. "Who's this?"

 

"This is MY Heero-kun!" Relena exclaimed, squeezing onto his arm even tighter. Heero could feel his arm going numb.

 

"I'm not your Heero-kun," Heero interjected, but no one seemed to hear him this time either.

 

"Really? Well, can your Heero-kun-" the boy said that part in a girly voice, making a funny face that almost made Heero laugh aloud at it from the mere stupidity of it, "-beat me in a real man's game?"

 

"Of course he can," Relena countered. "My Heero-kun can do anything better than you.”

 

Heero looked over the guy's head while the two of them fought. Oh, it was a racing game. That shouldn't be too difficult, especially since it didn't look too complicated. Heero nodded to the challenge, though the boy paid less attention to him than he would pay a dead fly and continued to argue with Relena. Heero sat down and waited patiently for the boy, who Heero assumed was Relena's ex-boyfriend, to hurry up and sit down so that he could just win this race and get it over with.

 

"Prepare to lose," the boy sneered as he sat down next to Heero. The game started before Heero could retaliate. Not that he had really planned on retaliating.

 

Heero stayed behind his opponent for most of the race, smirking as he realized that the boy was using up all of his power-ups before they even got anywhere near the finish line. Heero made his move when they were about half a lap from the finish, moving over and using one power-up to get in place next to the boy. Then he slammed him into the wall and sped off, his new-found lead carrying him easily into first place.

 

"Well, that was fun," Heero said, and stood up, moving to walk away and see what Duo and Wufei were up to at the other side of the arcade.

 

"You little cheat!" The boy said in reply and walked up to Heero, pushing him backwards a little bit. "What the hell was that? I never lose!"

 

"Then obviously you've never played against someone who knew what they were doing," Heero replied sharply, and moved to walk away.

 

But the boy seemed to want nothing of it and pushed Heero again. "You little punk!" He grabbed Heero by the collar and slammed him up against a wall. "You think that you can just move in here and take my girlfriend and then beat me at my own game? You're not some sort of superstar, you know, so don't act like one, you little ass kisser."

 

The whole arcade seemed to pause and wait for Heero's reply. Duo, Wufei and Trowa turned away from their games to glance over at Heero to see if he needed any assistance. Instead Heero just reached up with his right hand and broke the boy's grip with a hard yank. Hard enough that you could hear the bones cracking.

 

The boy came back with a right hook, but Heero was faster and he blocked, bringing his own arm up to punch him in the face. The boy stumbled backwards and instinctively reached out for something to hold on to, Heero. Unfortunately, Heero wasn't ready for it and was caught off guard. Both of them went down, Heero lying on top of Relena's ex-boyfriend.

 

"Get off of me, you sick faggot!" the boy screamed, as he fought to push Heero off of himself. Heero wasn't too happy with the situation either, but when he tried to roll off of the boy he found that his foot was stuck and he couldn't move. Before he could try and move his foot, someone had roughly yanked him to the left and into a wall, hard. Heero felt a pain in his shoulder.

 

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Duo exclaimed and Heero looked up just in time to see Duo punch a guy who Heero figured was the one that had pushed him so harshly away. Another two guys started for Duo, but Trowa and Wufei quickly moved into place behind Duo, which discouraged that.

 

Then the manager appeared out of nowhere, and looked at the mess. He turned to the four of them. "You boys get out of here, now!" The boy who had thrown Heero against the wall snickered, as did his two friends but then the manager turned on them too. "You as well! Get out!"

 

Duo extended his hand to help Heero up and Heero took it gratefully. The five friends, and Relena, left the arcade in silence, while the other group made sure to kick a couple of machines on their way out.

 

Relena latched onto Heero's arm again and Heero winced in pain. Duo looked over at him, concern written on his face, but when Heero didn't say anything about it, Duo stayed silent.

 

"Are you alright, Heero?" Relena purred as she rubbed up close against Heero's body.

 

Heero growled low in his throat but said nothing more. He looked over at Duo and sighed, figuring that he might as well just get this day over with. "Where do you live, Relena? I'll walk you home now."

 

"On the Crown Avenue and Peacecraft street," Relena said with a smile as she snuggled closer to Heero and smirked at Duo.

 

"Alright, then," Heero said, nodding. "Well, we'll see you guys tomorrow than."

 

"Wait, Heero!" Duo exclaimed. Heero turned back to hear what Duo had to say, confused as to what could be so urgent that it couldn't wait until tomorrow. "I live that way too. Why don't I walk with you two?"

 

Heero nodded again while Relena shot Duo a glare that probably would have turned any normal person to stone. Duo just ignored it though and move to walk next to Heero. Relena sighed and led Heero off across the road. Duo walked with them, keeping in front of them.

 

It turned out that Relena only lived a few blocks away, but Heero wished it were less. He couldn't wait to drop her off and have that clinging thing off his arm. It was really starting to hurt now, and the fact that it was Relena didn't make it any better. She was annoying him with her constant chatter and nonsense. He tuned her out and focused his attention on Duo. Duo wasn't saying anything, but at least he was interesting. Duo was walking slightly in front of him, but in a way that Heero hoped was for his benefit and not Relena's.

 

Heero closed his eyes and shook his head sharply. What had that been for? Heero reopened his eyes and forced himself to not pay attention to Duo's walk.

 

"Goodbye, Heero," Relena said when they finally reached her house. She turned to Heero and pressed her lips to his. He didn't respond as her lips moved against his. He stood frozen in place and waited patiently for her to stop. He figured from the persistent way she had latched on his arm that this was his best plan of action. "Night," she added when she finally stopped kissing him . Then she skipped her way up to her door and disappeared inside.

 

Heero sighed out in relief, and Duo chuckled. "She's finally gone. You can acknowledge your pain now."

 

Heero looked at Duo strangely but placed his other hand on his injured arm and moved the limb to see if they was going to be any serious damage to it.

 

Duo moved around to Heero's other side and touched Heero's hand, moving it aside to check the arm out himself. "You should have told her to move to the other side."

 

"Like she would listen," Heero muttered. "She didn't listen about anything else."

 

Duo nodded. "True." Duo stopped his inspection and smiled. "No permanent damage but I figure that you should refrain from having girls latch onto this arm for the next couple of days."

 

Heero smiled and then looked around him briefly. "So where about here do you live?"

 

"Two blocks that way!" Duo pointed to his right. "But don't worry, you don't have to walk me home. I'm a big boy and I'm capable of walking myself. Thanks." He frowned when Heero didn't look convinced. "Really! I'm okay. I don't want to inconvenience you any further. I do care about other people other than myself."

 

Heero grabbed Duo's braid and yanked it tightly. "I live that way too."

 

"Oh." Duo looked down at his feet and then back up again. "I figured you would live on the base or something. But if you live over there than I guess it's okay if you walk with me."

 

"My mother hates the base. She says it's too full of violence and testosterone. She says it's bad enough that she's the only girl in our house, but that the base would be even worse," Heero replied. He stroked Duo's braid and then quickly let go of it when he realized what he was doing. "Um, shall we go?"

 

"Yeah, let's go," Duo said with a smirk. "But let's get one thing straight. I'm walking you home."

 

Heero grinned in response. "Well, if you wanna be the gentleman." Duo rolled his eyes, and they started walking.

 

They walked about a block in silence before Duo spoke. "You obviously don't like Relena very much, so why do you allow her to grab onto you like that all the time? It's kinda dumb since it's leading her on," Duo commented.

 

Heero shrugged. "It's mostly because she's the kind of girl my dad would approve of. Someone that you don't necessarily like but can learn to live with and yet will look good on your arm."

 

"Sounds like your dad isn't much of a romantic." Duo snickered and shook his head. "What does your mother think of his theory?"

 

"She hates it," Heero replied monotonously. He hated talking about his parents. There really wasn't much for him to talk about besides the fighting. In fact, Heero didn't think there was anything in his parents' relationship besides fighting.

 

Duo blinked, stopping his chuckling. "Then why on earth did she marry him?"

 

Heero turned away to look sadly at the road. "Because she was pregnant with me."

 

Duo paused, not really knowing what to say or do. He stared out at the road too, and then put a comforting hand on Heero's shoulder. "That sucks, man. Sure, I may have never had parents before and my adopted parents aren't the best ever but at least there's some love in the house. You know?" Duo frowned. "Of course you don't know, that's why we're having this conversation." Duo kicked the ground. "Damnit, I officially suck at being an motivational speaker."

 

Heero shrugged and looked at Duo hesitantly. "It doesn't matter anyways. Don't worry yourself about it."

 

"Of course it matters!" Duo grinned lopsidedly. Heero knew instantly that he was trying to hide behind a smile to mask his discomfort.

 

Heero rolled his eyes. "Forget I ever brought it up. It's not something you need to worry about. I mean, it's my life, not yours."

 

Duo gripped Heero's shoulder a little tighter. "Hey, that's not the point. If we're going to be friends, then I'm going to have to help you through these sort of things." Duo motioned in the direction of Relena's house. "Besides, if this theory leads you to her, then you're going to need some help. It is well known that someone who lives without love as a child can never love as an adult, and will end up with a wife named Relena Peacecraft."

 

"My parents do okay," Heero replied, ignoring Duo's last comment. "They spend their lives in a dance around each other. My mom dances around my father expertly; she plans her movie breaks when he's on assignments. She goes to movie premiers when he's busy and makes sure that any affairs she has, stay out of the public eye. My father's the same way. He avoids my mother more than she avoids him. My father often says love is for weaklings and just isn't worth having."

 

"And you believe him?" Duo asked, shocked. When Heero didn't deny it, Duo sighed and wrapped an arm around Heero slowly, resting his head on Heero's shoulder in a loose hug. "Heero, that's sad. There's no way around it. But don't worry. With my help, we'll find you a girlfriend who will teach you what it's all about." Duo punched the shoulder he was leaning on jokingly. "I'm sure there are tons of girls around that would be willing to help you out there."

 

"Actually, I'd rather not." Heero paused. "Have a girlfriend, that is."

 

"Why not? Are you gay or something?" Duo asked. Heero was surprised to feel that Duo didn't tense or pull away quickly. "Not that I would hate you or anything, but still."

 

"I haven't had a chance to come up with a preference yet, but that's not what I meant." Heero turned to look into Duo's eyes and then dropped his gaze. "Love isn't all it's cracked up to be. Relationships should be based on the ability to work around the other person, not on how much you love them. Love can die but a dance can last forever. You may not be happy but at least you'll never feel the pain of betrayal. At least you'll never have to live through the feeling of hurt and anger when you find out that your love has been cheating on you." Heero couldn't bring himself to look at Duo now, no matter how much he believed what he was saying. "At least your heart will never be broken in half when you lose the person that you love so dearly."

 

Time passed in silence as neither of the two boys said anything. Both of them deep in thought about Heero's theory.

 

Finally Duo's arms encircled Heero tightly and his breathe heavy in Heero's ear. Duo took a deep breath before speaking and Heero could feel the warmth of it on his neck.

 

"I hope you fall in love. I hope that you fall in love and see how wrong you are! And when you're ready to admit it, you can find me there waiting to give you my support." Then Duo pulled away and Heero looked into Duo's eyes, seeing an emptiness that seemed to echo in his own soul.

 

The emptiness reverberated in his soul long after Duo left. Long after Heero walked home alone and cooked his own dinner. Long after he did his homework alone, in a big empty house that echoed his every noise.

 

Long after Heero fell asleep and dreamed of those haunting eyes.