Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or respective characters and I don't claim to.
September Love
Heero Yuy watched the game out of pure boredom. He couldn't concentrate on his book with all the noise, and there wasn't really much else to do.
WHACK! Duo was up at bat and as usual he had hit the ball way too hard. Tracking the sphere's progress with his eyes he noted that it was going to land several yards away from him . . . right where a brown-haired girl was reading, oblivious.
Heero ran towards the girl; luckily he had already been standing. Quickly he pushed her to the ground. The girl's bright blue eyes looked surprised and her saucy pink mouth seemed about to tell him off for a) being a pervert and b) making her lose her page, when the baseball flew through the air in the same spot her head had been occupying moments ago.
"Oh . . . um . . . thanks. But do you think you could get off me?"
Slightly abashed, Heero moved. The girl sat up and straightened her skirt. She was wearing a white button-down shirt with long sleeves beneath a gray vest. Her skirt was also gray and fell in pleats to her knees. The overall effect was the little school girl look.
Heero suddenly realized he had missed his cue to leave, so he went.
* * *
The next day in Algebra, Relena was using the class as an opportunity to get some sleep. She had stayed up late the night before, reading Esperanza Rising. Unfortunately, the teacher was not totally dense.
" . . . so if it's x2 = 16, then x is either for or negative four. Do I have a volunteer for the problem on the board?" The board read "x2 + [(4 6) รท 8]3 = 34." (Can any of you do that?) "Ah, Miss Peacecraft!"
Wake up call! Huh? Relena was completely lost, but the teacher's voice had roughly yanked her away from a pleasant dream. Her knee jerked up and hit the bottom of the desk. BONK. Now she was awake . . .
"Um, ah, lemme think." doing some quick calculations, Relena muttered her work under her breath. "four times six, ah, twenty four . . . "
"Psst!" came a quiet whisper from the seat next to Relena. Edge, edge . . . Duo pushed his paper, with the answer, x=5, to the edge of his desk.
"Thank you!" she whispered gratefully with a smile. "X equals five?"
"Good. Now without Mr. Maxwell's help, do an additional 30 problems for homework!" the teacher replied, grinning at the torture she had just inflicted. BUSTED!
"Don't worry, Miss Relena. You're so brilliant I know you'll finish in no time." Dorothy said.
"I hope so . . . " Relena replied, ignoring the flattery. One of her hands was supporting her head and the other lay on the desk. Her white blouse had gotten undone one button too many, and the slight curve of her body and a hint of lace from her bra peeked through.
Whoa, thought Duo. *stare, stare, peep, peep, blush* Can you say . . . nosebleed?
"Pervert!" yelled a very mad Hilde, hitting her boyfriend on the head with one of those large, mysterious mallets that appear out of no where. It hit Duo's head with a BONK.
"Eep!" A large bump (like in Ranma 1/2) appeared on his skull. "ow . . . M'okay." he said, eyes glazed.
"Hey!" a very angry Cathrine yelled.
"Ack! Attack of the teacher aids!" gasped Hilde, covering her mouth with her hand. (Cathrine's the T. A., obviously).
"You guys, could you please keep it down? Some of us are TRYING to work." requested Quatre.
"Quatre's right, shut up." agreed Heero, thinking that his friend would no doubt pay for looking down that poor girl's shirt.
"EVERYONE BE QUIET!?" the enraged T. A. demanded. Trowa blinked a couple of times. When did she get so forceful?
* * *
"Well, that was humiliating." Relena remarked to Hilde later that day.
"What, Duo looking down your shirt?"
"No, when-HE WAS LOOKING DOWN MY SHIRT??" Relena exclaimed, making a sudden mood change. She stomped away, fists clenched.
Moments later, Duo could be seen with a bright red hand print across his cheek, eyes shut in pain.
"Owww . . . all the girls are beating me up today."
"You deserved it." Heero said, glaring fiercely. (But then again, isn't he always?)
"I bet you just wish you were Duo!" Trowa input.
Quatre muffled a chuckle. "Oh, I don't think he has any reason to be jealous of Duo! Yesterday I saw him sprawled on top of her!" All eyes turn to Heero, and Wufei decides to put in his two cents.
"Why would anyone want anything to do with a weak woman?"
"Don't say such things about Relena. She's not weak, and she's my friend."
"Yeah, but, Quatre, everyone's your friend!" Duo pointed out.
"So?"
"Never mind." Duo said, rolling his eyes.
* * *
"Ah, my favorite class!" said Duo, ever the playboy, as he eyed the girls' legs showing from their gym shorts. (JAPANESE gym shorts-can you see why he'd like that class? Pervert.) Relena, however, was less pleased. She, Hilde, and Dorothy were standing a ways off.
"Agh, I hate these! I feel half naked!" Relena said, tugging at the bottom of her buruma.
"Not to mention it's freezing!" agreed Dorothy, shivering.
"My boyfriend is just lapping this up, though. Jerk." Hilde walked over and blatantly told Duo to stop staring. He did, or at least until Cathrine came out.
"Geez, Trowa, your sister is such a babe!"
"Duo, don't you have anything better to do with your time than ogle girls?" asked Quatre.
"Bah. Babe or not, she's still a weak woman."
. . . At which point everyone decided to ignore Wufei.
* * *
A while later, their class went on a field trip.
"Oh, hold on you guys, I need to get another book. I'm almost done with this one." Relena called, exiting the line of students boarding the bus and dashing into the classroom.
"We'll try to save you a seat!"
Unfortunately, when Relena got back to the bus, she saw that Quatre and Duo had grabbed seats with Hilde and Dorothy. In fact, the only open seat was one across the aisle from Duo . . . and next to the guy who had pushed her out of the baseball's path the other day.
"Mind if I sit here?"
"Uh . . . no."
"Great. Thanks." she said, sliding into the seat. He noted how her hair shimmered as her head moved, and as she sat down beside him the way heat seemed to rise off her skin. She was wearing the gray vest from the other day as a tank top, and pants of the same cloth. Apparently she always coordinated her outfit. The affect this time was far less school girlish due to the cleavage she revealed.
Glancing over at the boy beside her (hey, what was his name, anyway? He was in several of her classes and a friend of Duo and Quatre, she felt like she should know him), Relena thought she had noticed him observing her (heh . . . thinks of QuatreGirl "observing" the person she has a crush on). However, he was now looking out the window.
* * *
Good thing I brought an extra book, Relena thought as she closed a thick novel. But actually . . . right now I'm kinda tired . . . and it's a long bus trip . . . closing her eyes, she drifted into a light slumber. Her body, swayed by; gravity, leaned to the side, with her head landing in Heero's lap. Startled, he glanced town at the glossy brown locks and still features, and decided it would be rude to awaken her. He slid his fingers into her hair . . . such soft hair she had!
Nestled below her clavicle a slight glitter caught his eye. A hematite ankh on a blue leather cord was around her neck. He reached his hand out to further examine it, but unfortunately the bus went over a bump at that moment. Horrified, he drew his hand away from her breast, but too late. She awoke with a shriek and covered her chest with her hands and arms.
"You pervert, taking advantage of me while I'm asleep!"
"I didn't-I wasn't-I was looking at your amulet but the bus went over a bump and--!" he tried futilely to explain. Her hand crept up to the leather cord. The story was believable, but it was also believable that he had invented an alibi to justify his groping her. Glaring at him she scooted over until she was almost falling off the seat.
* * *
By some ill luck, quite soon after that they changed seats in Algebra.
"I'll read the names as I pass each seat. Miss Peacecraft, over here." the teacher tapped the desk in the corner by the door. "Next to her, Mr. Yuy. Then . . . "
"I Have to sit next to perv boy?" asked a shocked Relena, after the teacher was done. "And I'm across the room from all my friends!"
"You women have no sense of justice. You probably think it's unfair, but the unjust thing was our having to listen to your girl talk through the entire period.
Hilde glared. "I have half a mind to-" she cut of as Dorothy placed a hand on her arm and gave her a meaningful look. "Oh, fine."
* * *
"Hey, Heero, why did Relena call you perv-boy?" Quatre inquired.
"What, you didn't know about the bus incident?" Duo asked. "By the way, Heero, good excuse. But try to be less obvious so you don't need one next time, and try not to stutter when delivering so it's more believable."
Trowa quickly explained what Duo was talking about to Quatre. His eyes, already large, widened.
"Really, Heero, I think you should have more respect for Relena and women in general!"
"But I didn't mean to-!" Heero started then threw his hands up. "Oh, forget it."
* * *
"I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail!" Relena wailed frantically as she moved around nervously in her seat, her entire body jittering. "Are you gonna fail? 'Cause I am." she added, turning to Heero. Figures. Another looks-only idiot, he thought. Looks, definitely. She looked perfect again in a silver tube top and red bell bottoms, the waist of which was just a bit too big so he could see the edge of her panties sticking out. And idiot, yes, he thought, thinking of the way her hair had gotten frazzled and face blackened when she had accidentally caused something to explode in chemistry, or her frantically flipping back in the book when she was called on to read in Language Arts.
The teacher started passing out the quizzes. They were somewhat difficult, but not too much so. Besides, they should have all been expecting it, Algebra had gone on far too long without a quiz.
Relena got up, and Heero glanced at her, surprised. Was she confused about something on the quiz? No, she was turning it in. Already? Had she left half the answer spaces blank?
Shakily she walk back to her seat and settled into it, none too gracefully, her hands quivering and she gripped the edge of her desk.
* * *
"Class, I've finished grading your quizzes. Come up when I call your name." the teacher called near the end of the period. When his name was called, Heero walked up to the front of the room, and took his paper back. 18/20. He should have done better, but too late had he noticed the bonus on the back. Nevertheless, 90% was still an A.
"Relena Peacecraft." liquid grace again, the girl beside him got up to get her quiz. He noticed a smile of relief spread across her face. She must have passed.
"I didn't fail!" she squealed, showing her quiz to Heero. 21/20. Ouch. Self-esteem loss for the day sufficient. A lower score than the brainless beauty, who apparently wasn't that brainless after all.
Duo, Hilde, and Quatre had all gotten nineteens, Wufei got a 20, and Dorothy and Trowa had seventeens.
"Wu-man, you been studying or something?"
"No, I just haven't been wasting my time and goofing off like certain people."
"Oo, you wound me!"
"Relena, good job!" said Dorothy, deterring attention from the quarrel building.
"Quadratic equations are easy." she said with a shrug, causing their eyes to pop out of their heads.
* * *
That winter, Quatre invited them all (Trowa, Wufei, Duo, Heero, Hilde, Dorothy, Relena and Cathrine) to his "cabin" (try log mansion) in the mountains.
The boys went out to have a snowball war (the girls were still unpacking their stuff) and when they came back in, Cathrine had mugs of hot cocoa for them all. Relena came into the living room and snuggled up under Quatre's arm with a book.
"It is freez-ing!" she exclaimed, pushing herself closer. Heero felt jealous of Quatre. He and Relena were just friends of course, but . . . No, he wasn't jealous that Quatre had Relena under his arm . . . he just wanted a girlfriend in general. Yeah, that was it.
"Hey, you can come cuddle with me, Relena!" Duo said raucously. Just then Hilde walked in, and delivered Duo a peck on the cheek.
"Oh no she can't." Hilde said, sitting on Duo's lap.
"I can cuddle with you instead." he agreed, kissing her mouth softly. (*Authoress gets extremely jealous*) Cathrine rolled up her magazine and lightly smacked them on their heads.
"Hey, hey, none of that now. I'm here as a chaperone."
Dorothy completed the "party" as she walked in, hair still wet from her shower.
"Dorothy!" Relena said, springing up and grabbing her wrist. "Come with me, it's too cold out here and I don't want to warm up that huge bed by myself." Relena continued, pulling her into the bedroom that they were to share with Hilde. "Hilde gets her own personal heater, otherwise I'd take here."
"I feel so loved." Dorothy replied.
"Oh, Dorothy, I didn't mean it that way!" Relena said, burrowing under the thick covers.
"Do you think they're lesbians?" Duo inquired in a stage whisper behind his hand.
"I heard that!" came a yell and a teddy bear, which hit Duo's head. Hilde hit his arm lightly.
"Now really that isn't a very nice thing to say about my girlfriend and one of my best friends." Quatre complained.
"I was just joking. Jeez. Hey, how come chicks gotta do everything in packs? They can't even sleep alone (not that I have a problem with that, heh heh)." (AN: Nice grammar Duo-baby and don't be such a perv. You sound like Carrot from Sorcerer Hunters . . . )
"We're more open minded than people like you who automatically jump to conclusions like that." Hilde said, hitting Duo's arm again. "You know, that bed looks really comfy. G'night, Duo." she said, kissing his nose. (AN: None of the g-girls are lesbians. I'm sure we've all slept in the same bed when one of our friends was spending the night . . . *thinks of last time she tried that with QuatreGirl, who felt out in the middle of the night*)
* * *
The next day they went ice skating. Quatre skated like a professional, Hilde and Duo were doing some pretty good partner skating, and Trowa could perform his acrobatics almost as easily on the ice as elsewhere. Dorothy and Relena were both gripping the edge of the rink for a while until they got the hang of it. Wufei had refused to come, saying that ice skating was the type of thing only weaklings and women did. Cathrine was agile on her skates, but not as skilled as Quatre or her brother. Heero probably could've done some tricks if he wanted, but he didn't.
Suddenly a cry came from across the rink. Glancing over, Heero saw Dorothy sitting on the ice. Relena quickly skated over, and helped her friend up. Heero decided there was no need to watch further; Quatre's girlfriend was taken care of.
Relena slid an arm around Dorothy's waist, letting the blond lean against her to take weight off her twisted ankle.
"Hey, Hilde!" she yelled. Stopping in mid-spin, Hilde ditched Duo and skated over.
"Dorothy, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, it's only a slight twist. Some dorks tripped me on purpose." she said, glaring at a group of boys their own age.
"That's probably just their really, really stupid way of flirting." Relena said. "Come on, why don't we sit down?"
Dorothy nodded. Sitting at a round table just beyond the rink, the girls ordered hot chocolate. A bit later, Quatre left the rink and started fussing over his girlfriend. Exchanging looks, Hilde and Relena moved to another table.
* * *
After the ice-skating incident, they had a calm vacation It was after school started again that things got interesting . . .
"I dare you to kiss Relena Peacecraft." Duo said to Heero one day.
"Not to sound like Wufei here, but only girls play Truth or Dare."
"This isn't Truth or Dare. This is just me, daring you to kiss the girl you sit next to in Algebra."
"Guys don't just go up to the most popular girl in school and kiss her, Duo."
"What are you, afraid? Gay?"
"No! If I do it, will you shut up?" (AN: I don't have anything against gays.)
Duo grinned. "Then you will?"
"Only to shut you up."
* * *
"Um, Relena, can I see you for a minute?" Heero asked, attempting to get her away from her friends. "Alone?"
"Ah, sure. Talk to you guys in a couple of minutes."
Walking to a part of the school that was pretty much deserted at the moment-unless you counted crows-Heero paused.
"So, um, why did you want to talk to me and why did we have to come over here to do it?"
Heero gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
"Um, Heero?"
"Shhh . . . " he said, pressing his finger to her lips. Finally catching on, she relaxed and closed her eyes. (*Authoress snorts and thinks of Ally McBeal . . . tilt your head, open your mouth slightly, but don't expose your tongue . . . *) Heero leaned forward a couple of inches, and as his lips pressed against hers he was keenly aware of everything about her . . . the primal things, like her body pressing against him, every curve all too clear through the thing cloth of her bright pink spaghetti strap sundress . . . and the smaller, yet sweeter things, such as the gentle perfume of her hair and skin, her delicate hands, clasped behind his neck . . . all this caused Heero Yuy to realize that a dare wasn't the only reason he was kissing Relena Peacecraft.
But through great misfortune, Duo was there, watching, and tactless.
"Good, you followed up on my dare." he said, and walked away.
"You . . . that was . . . a dare?" she squeaked. "I thought . . . " she began, but choked. "The bus thing I'd forgiven you for, but this?" she turned quickly and ran away, a few glistening drops falling to the grass in her wake. And this was my first kiss, too! she thought sadly.
* * *
On Monday he found her leaning against a tree before school, reading a book. For a while she didn't notice him, until he coughed slightly.
"Go away."
"Relena, just let me explain."
"Go away."
"Listen to what I have to say. I did kiss you because Duo dared me to but that wasn't the only reason.
"I don't believe you."
"Relena . . . " kneeling on the grass beside her, softly he pressed his mouth to hers again. She stiffened, but as he pressed harder he felt her tension fade slightly.
"You promise you were sincere?"
"Yes." Damn, she was pretty. Such expressive eyes an pretty hair. As always, a perfect outfit, too. The knee-length backless halter dress with strappy yellow high heeled sandals accented her creamy skin perfectly.
Heero leaned forward, kissing her again. Her back lost it's purchase on the rough bark and she tumbled onto the grass. Rather than getting up, she slid her fingers into Heero's hair and pulled him down. He rested his fingers on her chin and bent to kiss her again. Her lips tasted sweet, with their own Relena-flavor that wasn't lip gloss.
"Oooh, you guys are going to get into biiig trou-ble for that major P.D.A!" came on obnoxious and familiar voice. "By the way, 'Lena, nice underwear."
Blushing, Relena pushed Heero off her and sat up. How we must have looked!
"You guys are lucky it was me who saw you and not a teacher."
"I'm not sure about that. I'd prefer a detention for one afternoon to teasing for life."
"Duo, do you ever mind your own business?" Heero asked.
"Not if I can help it."
* * *
Relena and Heero's relationship went along quite smoothly, but was not without bumps. However, only ONCE did they have a big fight, about which the oddest thing was they couldn't remember the original cause.
"Heero, no!" Relena said, rigid as her boyfriend raised his hand high. She braced herself for the blow, squeezing her eyes shut . . .
. . . and nothing happened. Opening one eye a little, she saw the hand was mere inches from her face, but restrained at the wrist. Trowa had arrived and grasped Heero's arm before he could hit her. (QuatreGirl pointed out to me that this is straight from Shojo Kakumei Utena. Oops! Still, it isn't exactly an uncommon scene in general.) The two friends were now shooting daggers at each other.
"Don't. Hit. Her." Trowa said, through gritted teeth, green eyes flashing as he dropped Heero's arm.
"She's my girlfriend. I can do whatever the hell I want with her."
Whimpering slightly, Relena slid her eyes nervously from one boy to the other.
"Come on, Relena." Trowa said. Glancing back at Heero and feeling betrayed, she leaned against the taller boy for support. Heero's actions had pushed her into great mental anguish and though her body was unharmed she felt unable to walk.
* * *
After school that day, Heero pulled Relena aside.
"We should talk."
"Okay." Relena agreed willingly, expecting an apology.
The moment they got to a private spot, Heero started yelling at her. Out of jealousy. He resented her closeness to Quatre, didn't appreciate her snuggling with Trowa earlier, and thought her behavior with Duo was shameless. Did she feel she was obliged to hit on all of their friends? Probably the only reason she didn't flirt with Wufei was because he hated women.
During this speech, Relena was stunned. Heero sucked in a deep breath, and his features relaxed. Testing the limits of naivete, Relena thought he had just realized how foolish he sounded (Quatre had been her friend for as long as she could remember, she had leaned against Trowa for moral support, and Duo flirted with everyone). However, all she got was a slap in the face. Literally. The unexpected blow knocked her from her feet. She sat with her legs crumpled under her and her hand pressed against her cheek. Slowly she rose.
"I feel sorry for you." Relena said, walking away. (If you don't get it, she means she's sorry that he's such a closed-minded jerk who's overly possessive.)
* * *
For a while after that, Relena completely ignored Heero. If she dropped her pencil in Algebra she waited until it had rolled to the other side of his chair and would ask the person on his other side to get it.
"Why didn't you ask Heero?" they had asked the first time.
"Who?"
"Heero." they would say, pointing to him.
"I don't see anyone."
"Heero, you know you're boyfriend??"
"I've never known anyone named Heero."
. . . and so forth. Finally Hilde confronted him about it.
"What did you do to my best friend?"
"Nothing."
"Oh, she just decided to stop talking to you for no reason?"
"She's still mad over the bus thing."
"Please, she forgave that ages ago. What did you do?"
"In a few words, I slapped her and called her promiscuous."
Hilde was too shocked to say anything. Heero left.
* * *
It was almost Valentine's Day and Relena still hadn't forgiven Heero. At least he no longer had to sit by her.
Heero had to get her to forgive him. He hadn't meant it, he'd just been having a bad day. Heero deeply regretted his actions, and ever since that day Relena had changed. Not only was she now ignoring him but her entire demeanor had changed slightly. And it was all his fault.
Suddenly he was struck with inspiration.
* * *
On Valentine's Day, Relena walked into her first period class to find a bouquet of yellow roses, a bouquet of daisies with a red rose stuck amid them, and a beautiful porcelain doll with a box of candy in its lap. Inside the box of candy was a note.
"Relena, I'm sorry for what I did. That's what the yellow roses are for. The other bouquet symbolizes how you stand out-a beautiful red rose, flower of love, among daisies. And the candy and doll are to wish you a happy Valentine's Day.
Love,
Heero"
His note expressed what he would never be able to say out loud. He knew it would probably take a lot more than a few presents to get her to completely forgive him, but hopefully she would at least acknowledge his existence now.
* * *
At lunch, Relena tracked Heero down.
"Heero, I'm sorry I was ignoring you for so long. Everyone has their good days and their bad ones. I shouldn't have let your bad mood control me for so long, because I know that's not how you are. Do you forgive me?"
"Only if you forgive me. I shouldn't have hit you." he said, stroking her cheek. "I shouldn't have said those things. I know you're nice to my friends because you're nice to everyone, not because you're flirting."
"Oh, Heero, of course I forgive you. But," she added, grinning slightly, "I don't think either Dorothy or Hilde will forgive you for a while. I think they're even more mad about it than I was!"
Remembering Hilde's baleful glare that rivaled his own, he had to agree.
* * *
That evening, Heero took Relena out to dinner, then to the beach afterward. (If this wasn't an AU fic it would be the beach where they first met.) As they watched the sunset, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and the ocean lapped at their feet.
End