Title: Beyond the Books

Author: Skye

Pairings: A secret for now!! But go ahead and take a guess…*giggles*

Warnings: AU, angst, sap, nice Relena, etc

Disclaimers: Not mine…never were, never will be…end of story

Notes: Set in modern day USA…in a typical east coast college town that I made up myself. The school and town are products of my imagination and any resemblance to actual places is purely coincidental.

"…" speech

/…/ internal thoughts

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West Metropolitan University

September 2000

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Week Three, September 14 [1]

At precisely 3:11 PM the door to suite 524 in Newman Hall flew open to admit a longhaired teen and his burden of college books. The boy quickly deposited his load on the nearest surface and kicked off a pair of massive black boots. With a grin he flipped on the stereo and cranked the volume up all the way, metallic chords and reverberating drums flowing from the speakers to wash over his lithe body.  Nodding his head along to the music he sauntered into his bedroom, pausing in front of a blank canvas perched upon an easel. [2] Violet eyes sparkled and soon the boy was busy filling the canvas with waves of color, lost in his creation he never noticed another teen entering the suite.

Suddenly, the pounding music stopped and the paint-spattered boy blinked into reality. From the living room he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Duo!"

Duo grinned, "I'm in here Quatre!"

He turned as his blond-haired roommate entered his bedroom and smiled, "Hi."

Quatre scowled, "Ya know, I almost broke my neck tripping over your boots Duo."

"Eh…sorry?"

"You're lucky it was me and not Wufei. I'm much easier on you than he is," Quatre laughed.

Duo grinned, knowing very well he had escaped unscathed yet again. That was the cool thing about Quatre he mused, he let the little things slide.

Quatre strolled into the room and eyed the canvas speculatively. " A little abstract isn't it?"

Duo put down his brush and looked to his work in progress. He had to agree with his roommate but it suited his mood at the moment. He personally felt abstraction was a pure expression of emotion, untainted by concept of scene or scope. But his opinions on art had always been rather unique.

"Duo?"

He blinked and turned to the concerned face of the small blond, "Huh?"

Quatre smiled gently, "You blanked out on me there. You feeling okay?"

Duo sighed, "I'm thinking about Relena. She seemed pretty upset about something during Western Civ. You know me, I worry."

Quatre squeezed Duo's arm lightly, "It'll be alright. Will she be coming over tonight?"

"Probably," Duo paused. "Is that okay?"

"Fine by me."

"Does my opinion no long matter around here?"

Both teens jumped, surprised by the unexpected entrance of one Chang Wufei.

Duo was the first to recover, gracing the hard-faced Chinese youth with a bright smile. "Of course your opinion matters Wu! You don't mind if Relena comes over tonight do you?"

Wufei arched one dark brow, "And if I said no?"

Duo's grin broadened, " I'd have her over anyway."

Quatre gasped, "Duo!"

"What? I said his opinion mattered, I didn't say I'd agree with it."

Wufei scowled and walked towards his room, "Maxwell, you are a disgusting waste of human potential."

"Well, I love you too Wu," Duo laughed.

Quatre sighed as the door to Wufei's room closed loudly, "Why do you antagonize him so much Duo?"

"Because he enjoys it."

The blond teen frowned, "Funny. It doesn't look to me as if he liked it."  

Duo simply laughed and turned his attention back to the canvas. Quatre remained a few minutes, watching in fascination as the young artist applied color after color to the emerging painting. With an amused smirk he retreated to his room to get his homework done before the weekend.

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 Around six o'clock a quiet knock sounded on the door to the suite. Quatre hurried to answer the door, opening it to reveal a tired Relena Peacecraft. He welcomed her with a bright smile, "Relena, I'm glad you to see you again!"

She smiled softly, the expression not quite reaching her eyes. "Thanks Quatre."

Quatre ushered her into the room and motioned for her to have a seat. She paused, obviously hesitant, "Isn't Duo here?"

The blond Arabian nodded, "He's finishing up in the shower. He was painting earlier and got paint in his hair."

Relena giggled, "Again?"

Quatre laughed, "Yeah, an occupational hazard it seems."

"Hey!" an indignant voice called from the bathroom. A moment later the door opened and Duo emerged in a cloud of steam. "Its not nice to talk about a guy while he's in the shower you know."

Quatre chuckled and excused himself from the room, leaving the two friends to talk. As soon as the door to Quatre's room closed Duo's good humor faded. Taking a seat next to the petite girl Duo's face and voice were serious, "What's the matter Rel?"

Relena began to protest then reconsidered. Her face crumbled as she let her tears fall, clinging to Duo as she sobbed. "Oh Duo! It's terrible! Odin [3] and I broke up last night!"

Duo frowned but held his tongue. He held the distraught girl close, smoothing his hands over her hair soothingly. "Its okay Rel, I'm sure things will work out."

Red-rimmed cornflower eyes peered at his questioningly, "You think so?"

He smiled and nodded his head, "Yes, I do. This isn't the first time you two have gone through this. I'm sure you will be back together within a week's time."

Relena looked skeptical but accepted Duo's words. It was true after all. Her and her boyfriend Odin often argued. In the three months together they'd 'broken up' twice already. Each time they had simply found themselves together again within a few days, each behaving as if nothing amiss had occurred.

The pair remained curled together on the couch for the better part of an hour until a rumbling from Duo's stomach interrupted the silence. Relena turned to Duo and burst in fits of giggles at the abashed expression on the boy's face.

"Hungry?" she managed between giggles.

"Yeah, a little." He replied. "How'd ya guess?"

Relena stood and pulled her friend to his feet, " Come on. Let's hit Dumar's [4]."

Duo grinned as he grabbed his jacket, "You treating?"

"Sure."

"Sounds great!"

Arm in arm the pair left the suite, laughter echoing down the hall as Duo's stomach again made its needs known.

"Duo, are you ever 'not' hungry?"

"Of course. Just not often." Duo replied jovially.