Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Quatre's Coming Out ❯ One-Shot

Disclaimer: Don't own Quatre or Gundam Wing. But I do own myself, thank you very much.

Warnings: Well there's shounen ai (the title should have been a big hint there) annnnd it's also a self-insertion! Wait, don't run away! It's not like other self-insertions, okay? I'm not trying to get in any of the gundam guy's pants. I just wanted to make a nice fluffy, non-angsty story to counteract all the other fics I've been producing lately. One can only be so depressed before one starts to crack.

Summary: Quatre decides to come out to his best friend, who happens to be me. Enjoy!

Quatre's Coming Out

"Welcome to Snelbrook's Breakfast Nook, where we really care about our customers. My name's Sal and I'll be your waitress this morning. Are you ready to order?"

The young girl looked up at the waitress in front of her with sleep bleary eyes and gave a loud yawn before hastily covering her mouth with her hand.

"Sorry!" she said. "I didn't mean to be rude."

The waitress looked slightly bored and shifted on her feet.

"It's all right honey. Do you know what you want to eat?"

The girl smiled sheepishly and put down the menu she had been fiddling with for the past few minutes.

"Actually, I'm waiting for a friend to show up. Why don't you just put me down for some hot chocolate for now and we'll order when he gets here, kay?"

The waitress shrugged and wrote something down on her little pad of paper, moving on to the next table.

The girl sighed and sank back down in her seat, resting her chin in her hands tiredly. Admittedly it wasn't that early, only about eight o'clock in the morning. But it was a Saturday and she was pretty sure that she had never been out of the house so early on a weekend in her life. If it weren't for that strange call she had received from Quatre she wouldn't be here at all.

'I wonder what he sounded so upset about? I hope he's okay…'

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brrrng. Brrrng. Brrrng-

"*yawn* 'ello?"

"Cherry? Oh good you're there."

"Quatre? What the…It's *yawn* seven thirty on a Saturday. Where else would I be?"

"Cherry I need to talk to you right away. Can you meet me at Snelbrook's in twenty minutes?"

"Wha? What's wrong? Are you in trouble or something?"

"No, no…nothing like that. But I really need to tell you something. Can you make it?"

"Well…I guess so. But-"

"Great!"

Click.

"…what the hell was that?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The sable-haired girl glanced towards the door anxiously. Quatre was usually never late. What could he possible have to tell her that was so important?

Something was set down in front of her with a loud thunk, startling Cherry from her thoughts.

"Your hot chocolate, hon."

Cherry looked at the steaming brown liquid with a few sad looking marshmallows flouting on the surface.

"Uh…thanks."

'Where the hell is Quatre?'

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Outside the restaurant's entrance a blond-headed boy paced back and forth, his breath creating clouds of steam in the frigid November air.

'Don't be such a wimp!' he berated himself. 'Just go inside and tell her you're gay. Easy.'

//Not so easy. What if she hates me when she finds out?// another part of his brain argued.

'Oh come on! This is Cherry we're talking about. She doesn't hate anyone besides that nosy salesman who keeps interrupting her while she's on the phone. Besides, she's your best friend.'

//Yeah, now.//

'You're being stupid. Cherry won't care if you're gay or not.'

//Isn't she Christian or something? Don't they have rules about shunning homosexuals or something?//

'Yeah well she's not really a practicing Christian, is she? Besides, they're supposed to dislike Muslims too.'

//Oh great, I'm doubly cursed.//

'Moron. Just go in and tell her. Don't you want to be able to tell her about Trowa?'

// Yes, more then anything.//

'It's not going to be as bad as you think.'

//How can you say that? You're me. You think the same things I do.//

'…yeah, well just do it anyway. Chicken.'

//Had to get in that parting shot, didn't you?//

' Cluck, cluck, cluck…'

"I really am insane," Quatre muttered, taking one last deep breath before flinging open the doors and entering the restaurant.

He spotted his friend at a small table by the window, stirring a mug of something with a tired look on her face. Quatre noticed the white pusher pants and long black t-shirt that proudly displayed the words "I'm a mime: ask me how" in gold lettering she was wearing and allowed himself a small grin.

"Do you even look at your clothes before you go out?" he called to her teasingly.

The girl looked up, a smile gracing her small but plain face.

"Quatre! I was wondering where you were. Get over here."

The blond boy walked over to the table and peeled off his outer jacket, draping it casually across the back of his chair before sitting down. Cherry looked at him and smirked.

"What?"

"I'm not the only one who wasn't paying attention when he got dressed this morning," she said.

"Huh?"

"You're vest is on inside out."

Quatre took a moment to actually look at his clothes and blushed, reaching hastily for the zipper to fix the problem. Cherry stopped him with a smile.

"Oh don't bother. Nobody cares. It's eight o'clock on a Saturday in a seedy café. Bag Ladies wouldn't raise eyebrows if they walked in here now. So what was so important that it couldn't wait for a decent hour, hmm?" Cherry said, taking a small sip of her hot chocolate.

"I-"

"May I take your order hon?"

Quatre glanced up to see the waitress hovering over him, snapping her gum loudly. Secretly relieved by the interruption, Quatre gave her a brilliant smile and said, "Some tea please. And a small order of toast. What about you, Cherry?"

The girl blinked at him.

"That's all you're gonna have Cat? No wonder you're so thin! Hey Sal, get my friend here some waffles. And I'm going to have the french toast special with extra sausage and a side of hash browns. And don't skimp on the syrup."

Before Quatre could protest the waitress was already speeding off to the kitchen to place the order.

"There," the girl said with satisfaction. "Now you won't look so much like an anorexic."

Quatre huffed and folded his arms in mock offense.

"I do _not_ look like an anorexic!"

"Sure ya don't Q. And I'm the Pope."

"Well then, congratulations. I didn't know you were Catholic."

"Hardy har har. Cut the crap Q. What did you drag me out of bed for?"

Quatre fidgeted nervously in his chair for a few moments, not meeting Cherry's eyes. The girl frowned and leaned forward.

"Hey now," she said, concerned, "it can't be that bad. What's wrong?"

"I…I have to tell you something about myself. Something you might not like…"

"Bwah!" the girl waved her arm in a dismissive gesture. "Is it that you used to be a gundam pilot? 'Cause I already knew that. I _do_ watch the news you know."

"It's not that."

"Well then what?"

Quatre bit his lip, his fingers picking at the skin of his thumb in a nervous habit he had not done in years. He still refused to look up at the girl sitting across from him.

"I…"

Cherry banged her hands on the table impatiently.

"Quat-re! God, what is it? You've got a terminal disease that can't be treated and you're gonna die by next week?"

"No."

"You've killed somebody and buried them in your back yard?"

"No."

"You're really a space alien from the planet Klavax?"

"No."

"Oh my God you've quit music studies and decided to become a lawyer!"

"No!"

"You're actually a women trapped in a man's body?"

"…you are insane, you know that?"

"Well then what?! If you don't tell me right now Quatre Reberba Winner I personally throttle you, I swear-"

"I'm gay!" Quatre blurted out, wincing as the words left his mouth. Ducking his head down, Quatre waited for the coming explosion.

"…."

Only silence met his ears. After a few moments Quatre looked up to find the girl staring at him blankly.

"Uh, Cherry? Did you hear what I just said?"

"…."

"I said I was gay. Don't you want to say something?"

"…and?"

"What do you mean 'and'?"

"I mean what else."

"That's it. That's all I wanted to tell you."

"…."

"Cherry?"

*whap*

"Ow!!" Quatre rubbed the back of his head where she had smacked him. "What did you do that for?!"

The girl glared at him, crossing her arms angrily.

"You dragged me all the way out here at seven thirty on a Saturday to tell me that you're a homosexual?" she asked, flatly.

"Er…well, yes."

*whap*

"Ow!!"

"You idiot!" Cherry yelled, causing the other patrons to turn around and stare at them briefly before returning to their meals.

"What? What did I do?"

Cherry shook her head, growling softly. "Look Quatre, do I rouse you from a perfectly good sleep and get you out of bed early in the morning to tell you that I'm straight?"

"Well…no."

"Then why did you feel the need to interrupt my beauty rest to tell me that you were gay?!"

Quatre sighed miserably. "Because it seemed like a good idea at the time?"

Cherry threw her hands in the air in exasperation.

"Bwah! Why do I even try? Why must I be surrounded by morons?"

"Hey!"

"Well it's true! I mean, you woke me up to tell me something I already knew!"

Quatre sat back in his chair, stunned.

"You…you already knew I was gay?"

Cherry snorted. "Well I could bloody well guess. You never bring any girls around for my approval and you seem to like Tom Cruise more then I do, which is saying a lot."

"I could be admiring his acting abilities!"

"Yeah right. You're drooling over his hot ass and you know it."

Blushing a bright red, Quatre tried to hide his face in his hands.

"Well why didn't you ever say anything to me if you knew?"

The girl brushed her hair back behind her ear and sighed.

"Honestly…did you ever feel the need to say anything to me about my sexual preference?"

"No but-"

"It's the same thing!"

"…so you're not like, disgusted?"

*whap*

"OW!!"

"Quatre Reberba Winner, I'm surprised at you! Did you actually think I would shun you just because you're gay?"

"I…well…"

"You're my best friend! You're supposed to know me better then that!"

Quatre had the good grace to look ashamed of himself.

"I'm sorry Cherry, I didn't think-"

"Damn right you didn't think," the girl snapped, glaring at the blonde boy.

*thunk*

A steaming cup of reddish-brown liquid was placed before the blond boy, suitably interrupting the conversation once more.

"Here's your tea, hon. The rest will be along shortly," Sal said before dashing off again.

"Thank you," Quatre murmured, when she had already left. He looked at the white teacup and then at the girl in front of him.

Cherry refused to look at the blonde, eyeing the view of the parking lot outside the window instead.

Quatre sighed and started picking at his thumb again. He had messed up and he knew it. Cherry had every right to be mad at him. How could he call himself a good friend if he didn't trust her?

The girl saw the pain and guilt on Quatre's face and sighed, not being able to stand the sight of her friend being sad. She reached across the table and took his hand.

"Look I'm not really mad at you, just a little miffed. You'll have to forgive me, I won't become human until at least noon," she said, smiling.

Quatre returned her smile and nodded slightly, relieved that the situation seemed to be over. He picked up his teacup and sipped the contents slowly.

'See? It didn't go that bad.'

//Aw, shut up. I can't always be right you know.//

'brrtp!'

//…my mind just blew a raspberry. I am completely insane.//

'You got that right.'

"So Quatre," Cherry said, breaking the boy from his thoughts, "who's the lucky guy?"

Quatre's eyes went wide and he choked on the tea he was swallowing.

"Ack-!"

Cherry patiently waited for the boy to stop coughing before asking her question again.

"How do you know there's a guy?" Quatre retorted, feeling a bit defensive. Here he was, thinking he was unveiling this big secret and she already knew everything.

"Oh come off it Quatre," Cherry replied. "We both know that the only reason you would decided to come out to me now is because you've found a boyfriend you're serious about. So what's his name? He'd better not be a bum! Or a lawyer!"

Quatre smiled and his eyes softened like they did whenever he thought about Trowa.

"He's not a lawyer or a bum. His name's Trowa and he works at a circus with his sister. He's so sweet and kind and gentle and soft-spoken. And he's musical too! He plays the flute as well as I play the piano. We fought in the war together…"

"So he's a Gundam pilot too? Hm…is he hot?"

Quatre almost choked again but managed to control himself.

"Cherry!"

"Right, sorry. Stupid question. Of course he's hot. After all, he managed to catch you, the most eligible bachelor on the colony. You know Quatre, a lot of girls are going to be disappointed that you're taken," Cherry teased.

Quatre laughed and teased back. "What no guys?"

"Oh I'm sure a few guys will be pretty disappointed too. So…do I get to meet this wonderful Trowa?"

"Actually I'm supposed to be meeting him and the rest of the guys for dinner tonight. Sort of a reunion, you know? I was wondering…" Quatre twiddled his thumbs, embarrassed, "…would you like to come with me and meet him?"

Cherry laughed and said, "Are you kidding? Of course I wanna come! Oh boy, I'm going to get to meet Duo Maxwell, the God of Death! What should I wear?"

Quatre rolled his eyes. "Uh, Cherry…you know that Duo's gay too right?"

*whap*

"Ow! You know I'm getting really tired of that."

"Quatre, you're such a goon. Of course I know that he's gay! Don't worry I'm not some simpering psycho fan who wants to jump his bones." Her eyes sparkled for a moment. "But I do wanna ask him if he can teach me some pick-pocketing techniques. I need to find a new way to drive my family nuts."

Quatre stared at the girl in silence for a few seconds.

"…you are really weird, you know that?"

"Oh yeah? Well at least I've never gotten my best friend up at frikken' seven thirty in the morning to tell them I was gay."

"Hey, I said I was sorry!"

"Not good enough. I missed out on some good dreams because of you. Real good dreams. Ones with Matt Damon and whipped cream in them. Just for that, you're picking up the tab for breakfast."

"Uh…I was so nervous about telling you that I, er…forgot my wallet. Sorry?"

"Quat-re!"

Finis.