Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. The only people I own are any original characters you see within.
Note: This is a revision of a story I began in the fifth grade. Guess what? I'm in seventh now, so it should be a lot better. And longer, too! Now, on with the fic!
New Beginnings Chapter 1: Hidden Feelings and MeetingsThe small-framed young woman sat quietly on the couch, sipping her herbal tea with the latest news flashing across the television screen. Every now and then, her eyes and mind would focus on the screen, but the majority of the time her mind was on another, more important subject: the man that she shared an apartment with. He was currently at a popular club, probably having the time of his life and flirting with random girls, while she was at home, sick with post-nasal drip.
But the again, it was her fault that she was alone. They had planned on going to the club together, but then she became ill. He had insisted that he stay home with her, but she had been more adamant in telling him to go on and have fun. After nearly a half an hour debate, he finally said he'd go, but he insisted that she let him call every once in a while to check up on her. She hadn't objected.
She didn't tell him that the real reason she insisted that he'd go was because now it hurt her heart to be with him.
Duo, she thought miserably, why can't you love me like I love you? Tears filled her eyes and her nose began to run. She snatched up a few tissues and blew her nose hard, causing her ears to pop. She threw the tissue in her garbage bag, which was actually just a brown paper bag inside of a white plastic one. Duo had put it there for her so she wouldn't have to move off the couch to throw things away. In the table in front of her, he had also set up a tray with a carton of orange juice and a glass, a bottle of water, some crackers to go with the soup he given her before he had left, a medicine cup, and her medicine, which had a sticky note on it that said, "You'd better take this when you're supposed to!"
He's so considerate to me, she thought. He takes care of me like a big brother. She was silent for a while. That's all he sees me as: a little sister. The woman's vision became blurry as tears began to well up again. She blinked them away, angry with herself.
There's no use in crying, Hildy, she told herself. He doesn't want you to be his girl. You can live with that. Hildy's eyes focused on the television again for a brief five minutes, then her mind began to stray again.
Can I really live with that? she thought and burst into tears.
People danced wildly to the loud, blaring music, enjoying themselves to the fullest. Some sat at the bar, drinking and attempting to talk the their friends over the music. Others stood along the walls, observing the others and tapping their feet to the beat. Duo Maxwell, the former Gundam pilot, gleefully removed himself from the dance floor, disorientated in a drunk sort of way, telling the pouting girls that he had been dancing with that he needed to take a break and get a drink.
"I'll be right back, I promise!" he reassured them, grinning broadly. They called back to him, saying that they'd be looking forward to his return, but they weren't going to stop dancing because he wasn't there. He reached the bar out of breath and ordered himself a drink, trying almost desperately to regain the proper amount of air in his lungs. The bartender handed Duo his drink, a slight smile on his face.
"You drunk, kid?" he asked, his smile broadening to a grin.
"Nah, of course not!" Duo cried out, over doing an imitation of a drunken man. "I'm jus' havin' a good time!" He laughed, and then emptied half of his cup, sitting it down with a comment of, "Ahhh, tha's the stuff!"
Duo and the bartender laughed simultaneously, and then the latter went back to serving his other customers.
"The women seem to enjoy you, Duo."
Duo's eyes went wide at the sound of the monotone voice beside him. His head snapped to the right and he gasped audibly.
"No way this is Heero Yuy sitting next to me, at a club, where there are people socializing!" Duo cried. Heero nodded at him.
"No one ever said I was socializing with them," Heero replied. Duo laughed more cheerfully than he did normally.
"Aw, I gotta give you credit for comin' outside your box," he laughed. Heero gave him a near Death Glare.
"For the last time, Duo, I don't have a box," Heero stated. Duo made motions with his hands, squaring his head into and invisible box.
"I'm. In. The. Box," Duo teased.
"You're going to be in the ground, "Heero threatened, his voice low. Duo made a sliding motion across his eyes to imitate opening an eye slot.
"Was that the Heero Yuy version of a growl?" Duo asked. "'Cause if it is, it's pathetic. I can do better; listen to me!"
Duo then proceeded to growl at Heero, who raised an eyebrow.
"Are you drunk, Duo?" Heero asked, an undetectable hint of amusement and concern in his voice. "If you are, I'll have to drive you home…"
"Why do people keep asking me that? I'm NOT DRUNK!" Duo cried indignantly, nearly falling out of his chair and managing a, "Whoops!" before he righted himself in his chair. Heero looked at him skeptically. "Really, I'm fine I'm just having a lot of fun! Besides, I'm just eighteen, I couldn't drink anything alcoholic legally!"
Heero's look was even more skeptical. "I'm driving you home, Duo."
"Oh, fine!" Duo gave in, knowing that it would be in vain to try and change Heero's mind. "Bother," he muttered, then immediately wondered when he had started talking with a British accent. He was pondering this when Heero nudged him in the ribs.
"Whu? Oh, Heero! Yeah, what is it?" Duo asked as he awakened from his stupor. Heero nodded in the direction of one of the walls. There was, among the other observers, a beautiful girl who seemed to stand out from the rest of the onlookers. She was tall and slender, with long, sandy brown hair, whose bangs fell over her eyes and was up in a high ponytail that stopped near her behind. On each of her wrists were thick gold bands, and she wore a pink, spaghetti strap belly shirt and slightly baggy khaki flares that hid most of her pink and white sneakers. Duo cat growled.
"Pretty lady!" he grinned. She looked in his direction and smiled.
"Dude, she wants to talk to you," Heero said, causing Duo to nearly choke on the drink he had just ordered.
"Heero, did you just say dude?" Duo gasped. Heero managed to half-grin at him and said, "I'm trying, Duo. Go talk to the girl. She won't wait forever."
"Uh, okay," Duo agreed, very bemused as he slid off his stool. "Heero is pointing out hot girls to me and he just said dude. Heero Yuy said dude! Man he is tryin'!"
As Duo walked over to where the girl was, he tried to compose himself and put a few stray hairs back into his braid. As soon as he was in front of her, she greeted him with the words, "Cool braid," which definitely caught him off guard. Now that he was up close to her, he could see that she had lively green eyes that seemed to glow with their own light.
"Yeah, thanks!" he replied, staring into her eyes. "Your eyes are beautiful." Duo heard her voice accompany his sentence, and they laughed simultaneously.
"I guess we both have a thing for eyes, huh?" she kidded, then extended her hand. "I'm Shaylee. Shaylee Jamenson."
"Duo Maxwell," Duo introduced himself as he accepted her hand. "Shaylee…that's a pretty name for a pretty lady."
Shaylee giggled. "You're a real charmer, huh?" she laughed. "But so am I." She then took both his wrists and pulled him towards the dance floor, saying, "Dance with me. I know you wanna!"
"I'm not a good dancer," Duo lied, grinning boyishly. Shaylee snorted and said, "Yeah right, I saw you dancing with all those girls, ya' little flirt! Now c'mon and DANCE!"
"If you insist," Duo grinned as he began dancing. She grinned as well, her grin filled with just as much mischief as his, and then danced along with him, the both of them trying to out-dance the other. After a few minutes, Shaylee danced up to Duo, her back to him.
"You're a pretty good dancer!" she complimented. She knew he grinned before he replied, "You aren't too bad yourself!"
"I figured you'd say that," she said to him, then turned around to dance facing him. Another girl tried to dance with them, but she couldn't stay with the highly energetic dancers and went to the bar to catch her rest. She sat down a few stools away from Heero and told the bartender, "Man, are those two some furious dancers!"
The bartender laughed and handed her her drink. "Couldn't keep up, huh?"
She shook her head. "No way! Not with those two!"
"I still think he's drunk," the bartender said, causing Heero to chuckle inwardly. Duo and Shaylee were still trying to tire the each other out. She must have a lot of energy to be keeping up with Duo, Heero thought as he watched the two dancing, neither of them showing any sign of fatigue. They danced non-stop for nearly an hour, when finally, out of breath and sweating, they came to the bar for a drink. Duo refused to let her pay for her own drink.
"My treat," he said, grinning as he struggled for the second time that night to get enough air. The bartender gave them their drinks and the both of them drank the whole glass in one gulp, surprising both the bartender and Heero. Well, it didn't surprise Heero about Duo drinking it in one gulp; it was the fact that he and Shaylee did it at the exact same time.
"I think we'll need two more drinks," Duo said, smirking at Shaylee, who grinned back.
"Yes, and this time in mugs please," Shaylee added. The bartender laughed and said, "You got it!" and went to retrieve their drinks.
"Thanks, Duo," Shaylee said, still a bit out of breath. "I'm having a great time with you."
"No problem," Duo replied, lacking just as much air as his dance partner did. "Just answer me one thing."
"Sure, what is it?"
"Why in the world were you standing on that wall? I thought you were just a pretty girl that couldn't dance, but damn!"
Shaylee broke out laughing, the cheer in her voice causing Heero to half smile again. But no one noticed that.
So, whaddaya guys think? Is it good? Does it suck? Please tell me, I wanna know! I wanna know the answers, no more lies!! Ahem, too much Linkin Park for my own sake…anyways please review peoples! But please, no flames unless you have a really good reason. Anyways, until the next chapter! Seeya!