Disclaimers: As much as I wish it was, GW is not mine. It's owned buy people with lots of money. Hazard is owned by Richard Marx, who also has lots of money. If I owned either one, I'd have lots of money too, but I don't, so don't sue. All I have is college Meal Points and those won't do you any good unless you go to my college.
Author's notes: This fic is dedicated to my friend, Kelly. I've been looking for this song for literally years, I found it last night, thanks to her, and wrote up the fic. I've never finished a fic that fast. Inspiration hit like a ton of bricks and here's the result. Enjoy it!
My mother came to Hazard when I was just seven
Even then the folks in town said with prejudiced eyes
That boy's not right...
I was 7 years old when my mother and I finally settled down in a small town in Nebraska, called Hazard of all things. I should've taken that as a bad omen right then and there, but what does a seven year old know. From the moment I got there everyone treated me different, as an outsider. I was considered trouble even then. I was a boy with a single mother, and, as I found out later, gay. In a small town to be one was a sin, to be both was a stoning offence. People avoided me, but that was okay, I was used to being alone.
Three years ago when I came to know Mary
First time that someone looked beyond the rumors and the lies
And saw the man inside...
Three years ago I met Duo, he was like no one I've met before or since. I was eating lunch under a tree, alone, when he walked up to me.
"Want some company?" He asked, innocently.
"Hn"
"Is that a yes, or a no?" he asked again, violet eyes shining; long braid almost touching the ground as he bent down to look at me.
"It's a free country," I answered, he smiled so wide I thought he was going to spilt his face and flopped down beside me. As we ate he told me all about himself and asked me hundreds of questions. After that one day Duo was never far from my side, he seemed to make it his mission to find out who I really was and be my friend, and eventually more.
We used to walk down by the river
She loved to watch the sun go down
We used to walk along the river
And dream our way out of this town...
"Hey, Heero, there's something I wanna show you." Duo said one day, as he walked me home from school.
"What's that?"
"It's a surprise, Heero. C'mon." He grabbed my hand and dragged me to a secluded part of the riverbank. "I love it here."
He flopped down on the sand and patted a spot beside him. I joined him and he told me about finding this place, how it made him feel like there was somewhere he belonged, and how much he wanted to leave this town and find it.
We started to go there everyday after school and stay until after dark. We'd walk along the bank and talk then watch the sunset. Duo would chatter constantly, but he was always quiet throughout the whole sunset. We made love for the first time on that very strip of beach, and several times after. And we would always say what we were going to do when we left this boring town. Of all the plans we can up with, Duo's favorite was one of mine.
We would go to Hawaii and get married. We'd get a place on the beach, so we could always see the sunset over the water, just like Duo liked it best. We'd work during the day, but every night we'd walk along the beach as the sun set, then make love under the stars. It was always my favorite, too.
No one understood what I felt for Mary
No one cared until the night she went out walking alone
And never came home...
Last year was the last time I saw Duo, we'd went to the river as always, made love under the stars and talked of a better life. Then I went home, he was sitting on the sand watching the stars when I left. He looked like an angel in the moonlight, and that's how I remember him, as my angel.
Man with a badge came knocking next morning
Here was I surrounded by a thousand fingers suddenly
Pointed right at me...
The next morning a policeman knocked on the front door at 9 o'clock in the morning. My mom answered and called me downstairs.
"Mr. Yuy?" The officer asked.
"Yes."
"Do you know a boy named Duo Maxwell?"
"Yes, why?"
"Duo never came home last night. Would you tell us when you last saw him?"
I told them I went to the beach with Duo, but not what we did there. No one said anything, but I knew everyone thought I'd killed Duo. Didn't they know what he meant to me? The only person in the entire town that was me for who I was, not what everyone made me out to be?
There was never a trial, they could never find any solid evidence against me. But there didn't need to be one, in a small town guilt wasn't proven my trial, but by word of mouth. Everyone thought I'd killed him, so to them I had, and twelve people on a jury would never convince them otherwise.
I swear I left her by the river
I swear I left her safe and sound I need to make it to the river
And leave this old Nebraska town
I dropped out of school a month later. I couldn't go back, too many people thought I was guilty there. I told the story over and over again that month. I left him watching the stars, he swore to me he'd be home by midnight, so his parents wouldn't worry. I still find solace in the river, it's the only place I find comfort now. Alone with dreams of Duo and our house in Hawaii, away from the hell that's called Smalltown, USA.
I think about my life gone by
And how it's done me wrong
There's no escape for me this time
All of my rescues are gone, long gone
That was all just a year ago, I had two years of bliss with Duo, one of hell without him. In that year the accusing glances and mutters comments have gotten so bad I can't leave the house anymore. People have stopped saying things behind my back and started saying them to my face.
I begged my mother to move countless times, we could go anywhere, just as long as it was where on one knew me and I could have a fresh start. She wanted to leave at first, I think, but we didn't have the money. Now she promises me all this will blow over as soon as I leave for college. She seems to forget, high school dropouts with no GED don't go to college.
Now, I'm sitting at the river on the sand, in the exact spot where I last saw Duo, looking down at my only salvation. I hope my mother will forgive me for stealing from her, but I left the receipt on my bed for the gun, she can return it after the police are done with it. It'll have only been used once. I hope wherever Duo is I'll find him. And maybe, just maybe, we can have our house on the beach away from this town and it's prejudices, just like we always dreamed.