Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Gundam Wing! I'm just a lowly Fanfiction writer! I don't own this song, either. Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys owns it. Howie, I hate you for writing such a wonderful song!!! I want to write songs like you!
How Did I Fall In Love With You? – By ChibiMercuryDeathScythe
Remember when
We never needed each other
"Hilde!" Duo Maxwell called out to his good friend. Hilde looked up to see Duo running down the hill at the park, waving towards her with a smile on his face while his long brown braid trailed out behind him. She stood up from the bench.
"Duo! I'm glad you made it!" she called back with a smile. The two greeted each other with a hug. Duo was so glad he got his one day a week away from his job to come and see Hilde. She was one of his best friends and one of the few people he had any contact with anymore. She made living after the wars all worth while. Of course there was never much more than friendship between them.
The best of friends
Like sister and brother
"So, where do you want to go?" Duo asked.
"Do you want to visit Trowa? We could go see his show." Hilde offered. Duo shook his head.
"They left last night. A fair on L6 requested them for a few days." He explained.
"Oh…then maybe we could go shopping."
"Sure! I gotta pick up some stuff anyway."
"Great!" Duo stuck his arm out for her to take.
"Shall we m'lady?" he said in a fake English accent.
"Of course my good gentleman." Hilde responded in an equally fake accent, hooking her arm around Duo's. The two broke in to hysterical laughter as they left the park.
We understood
We'd never be
Alone
The two friends spent the rest of the day shopping and having fun, laughing at jokes and looking at things they wanted. It was just as it had always been with them. Two friends, hanging out and being themselves. They knew that if one of them needed a shoulder to cry on or just some one to talk to, the other would be there. There wasn't any need for more than that in they're relationship, or so Duo thought.
Those days are gone
Now I want you so much
Duo lay in bed staring at the ceiling. It had been a week since that day, and ever since then something had been nagging him at the back of his mind. The two had shopped late in to the day. When Hilde had bent down to admire some candy in a sweet shop, the fading light had hit her face just right, lighting it up in such a way that Duo couldn't keep his eyes off of her. His heart beat quickened and his hands became clammy. He couldn't explain the feeling that had so quickly come over him.
Now, a week later, reality was slowly beginning to dawn on him.
Could I be falling for Hilde?
The night is long
And I need your touch
Duo shook his head vigorously, laughing at the very notion that he would even go so far as to fall for Hilde. He turned over on to his side and tried his hardest to sleep, but only found himself tossing and turning restlessly. The thought of Hilde's touch kept entering his mind as much as he tried to push it away. Every hour or so he would roll over to get a look at his clock, then moan when he saw the time. This had to be the longest night he'd ever had.
Don't know what to say
Never meant to feel this way
Finally, tired of struggling with sleep, Duo dragged his tired body out of bed at six am. He looked at his disheveled form in the mirror, his dull eyes reflecting his worry.
"Duo, how could you let this happen to yourself?"
~
The phone rang shrilly. It was Hilde on the other line.
"Hi Duo! I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go catch a show with me." Duo's eyes went wide.
Think fast! What do I say?
"Uhh…Hilde, I'm sorry. I just got piled with a whole bunch of paper work and I have to get it done." Duo said quickly.
"Oh…" Hilde muttered, disappointment dripping from her voice, "Okay. I'll see you later then."
"Yeah…later…" Duo muttered. He numbly hung up the phone, staring at the receiver for the longest time, wondering why he went so far as to lie to Hilde.
"I can't keep avoiding her like this…Kami, I need to talk to some one."
~
"Sooooo…" Quatre started with a smile after Duo finished explaining why he was there. He sat back in his chair with a teacup in his hand. Duo sat across from him on a plush leather couch, leaning forward with his head in his hands and his long braid hanging over his shoulder, "You think you're falling in love with Hilde." He stated after a long pause, "Why'd you come to me for advice?" Duo made a rude noise through his lips at Quatre's question.
"Like I'd be stupid enough to go to the Silent Ones." He said, referring to Trowa Barton, Heero Yuy, and Chang Wufei.
"Why not?"
"HA!" Duo snorted. Quatre frowned, a little hurt by Duo's attitude.
"You're onry today." He stated. Duo sighed and pulled himself straight.
"Sorry, Quat. I'm just a little emotionally stressed out!" Duo exclaimed, "Look, I'm not asking for advice on how to win her over. I'm just…" Duo started to wave his hand, showing he was at a lost for words.
"Trying to figure out what to do?"
"Yeah, that."
"You can't keep avoiding her. She'll corner you eventually."
"I know."
"I think you should tell her what you truly feel." Quatre finally said. Duo looked at him with wide eyes,
"Tell her?!" He echoed as loudly as he could, "Are you insane?!" Quatre sighed deeply and looked in to his teacup, something he did when he was thinking.
"It's the only way you're going to keep your self from going insane! Duo, trust me. Bottling up your emotions is not always the way to go, especially not like this. Go ahead and laugh your way through life showing everyone that nothing is wrong, but the truth always is that it's eating you up from inside. You can't fool me with that smile, Duo, nor can you fool Hilde. I know when something's bothering you and you're trying to hide it. If she doesn't feel the same way, I'm sure she'll understand. She is a true friend, Duo. You won't loose her, and she won't hate you for telling the truth." The young blonde told Duo. Duo looked long and hard at Quatre before finally standing and walking towards the door. Quatre looked up.
"Thanks, Quat." He said after he'd stopped at the door.
"Are you going to tell her?" Duo sighed deeply.
"I'm gonna have to. Otherwise I'll drive myself insane."
Don't wanna be alone tonight
Duo turned over in the bed and stared longingly at the empty space beside him, wishing Hilde was there. He finally gave in and grabbed a pillow. Holding it close, he rolled over and clutched the pillow close to him, falling in to a restless sleep.
What can I do to make you mine
Falling so hard, so fast this time
What did I say, what did you do
How did I fall in love with you
Duo awoke early the next morning. So early in fact that it was still dark outside, as well as in the house. Wandering to the bathroom he wound up slamming his shin in to a small desk sitting in the hall, knocking over a picture in the process.
"KUSO!!! OW! That hurt!" Duo screamed as he fell to the floor holding his shin. Kick up with his good leg he was able to flip the light switch on and get on to his knees. That's when he saw the picture he'd knocked over. It was of him and Hilde at one of Trowa's circus events the year before. Catherine had gone picture crazy and taken almost five rolls of photographs, ones of Duo and Hilde included. Trowa came back a week later begging Duo to take some of the photo's off his hands. The one in the frame had just knocked over was a shot of Hilde coming up with from behind with a hug for Duo, supriseing him in the process. Duo crawled over to the picture and picked it up. Staring at it, a million and one questions ran through his mind.
Kami…how am I ever gonna make her mine? I fell so fast…I didn't even know it! Was it something I said? Was it something she did? Or just…being her. How...? How did I fall in love with you, Hilde?
I hear your voice
And I start to tremble
Brings back the child
That I resemble
"Hello?" Hilde's voice came over the line. Duo took a deep breath, wishing he could stop shaking as much as he was.
"Hey, Hilde. It's Duo." He answered. He grabbed the hand holding the receiver with his other hand, hoping to stop some of his trembling. The knot of nervousness in his stomach was making him feel sick.
I'm acting like a child…I can't be this nervous over seeing some one I've seen a million times!
"Oh! Hi Duo!" Hilde chirped cheerfully. Duo felt himself melt.
"I got that work done. I was hoping to take you up on that offer from yesterday."
"I'd love to! Meet me in a half an hour."
"Yeah! Bye." Duo hung up the phone and let a small smile creep up on him, "Well, there's step one."
I cannot pretend
That we can still be friends
Duo and Hilde walked down the street arm in arm as they usually did, Hilde laughing hysterically at some of Duo's antics. They walked up to his place, stopping on the porch. Hilde wiped the tears away from her eyes.
"Oooo…Duo, you're a laugh riot! Some of those things you pull with Heero!" she exclaimed. Duo shrugged.
"Hey, I try. Now if only I could get him to laugh this much!"
"If only you could get him to laugh!"
"Hey, I've gotten him to smile! It's a start."
"How'd you do that?"
"By having Wufei sing something by this chick named Britney Spears. She was a singer back in the 21st century."
"You got him to sing THAT? Oh, that must have been funny!" Hilde cried out, starting to laugh again. Once she was done, the two stood there on Duo's porch, suddenly unsure.
"So…" Duo started.
"Yeah…" Hilde muttered, looking down.
"Uh…" Duo sighed. He knew it was now or never, "Would you like to come in." Hilde looked back up and answered quickly, nearly cutting him off.
"I'd love to!" she said almost too quickly. Duo gave her a bizarre look. She laughed and turned slightly crimson, "I mean, I'd love to." She said more slowly.
"Great."
Don't wanna be alone tonight
Duo stared at Hilde sitting across from him.
Here she is…can I do this?
What can I do to make you mine
Falling so hard, so fast this time
What did I say, what did you do
How did I fall in love with you
Is this even gonna work? Will I really have her in my life like I want? I don't even know how it happened! But, here I sit, ready to pour my heart out to her…and praying that I can make her mine.
"Duo?"
"Hmm?"
"Is something wrong?" Duo shook his head, realizing that he'd been staring.
"Uh…no. Why would you say that?" Hilde giggled.
"You're just staring at me." She narrowed her eyes suddenly, "And you've been awfully distant today. Something's wrong, I can tell." Duo sighed and stood.
Here goes nothing…
He walked over to Hilde and took her hand in his.
"Stand up." He said. She gave him an odd look, but complied.
"Duo, what's going on."
"I'm sorry, but I have to tell you this now, or else I'm gonna go insane."
I wanna say this right
And it has to be tonight
Just need you to know
I don't wanna live this lie
I don't wanna say goodbye
With you I wanna spend the rest of my life
"Hilde, from the moment we met, I knew there was something special about you, but I never thought that there was anything between us. I just felt that maybe you would be a true friend, be something I'd never had before. Well, you have. You've been my best friend. Now…now it's different. I have to say this, and I have to say it right, and I can't wait another second to tell you. I just want you to know how I feel, that I can't go on with this lie, and I can't say goodbye to you." Confusion played in Hilde's aquamarine eyes.
"Duo…what are you trying to say?" Duo looked down momentarily then looked back up with a smile. His eyes danced as he spoke.
"I'm saying I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you, Hilde." Hilde gasped.
What can I do to make you mine
Falling so hard, so fast this time
What did I say, what did you do
How did I fall in love with you
She just stared at him for the longest time, not saying anything. Duo felt his heart sink.
I knew this was stupid. She'll never be mine…
"Duo…" she finally spoke, "Do you really mean that?"
"Yes Hilde. I love you with all my heart." She smiled then.
What can I do to make you mine
Falling so hard, so fast this time
Everything's changed, we never knew
How did I fall in love with you
"Do you have any idea how long I have waited to hear those words?" Hilde asked. Question played across Duo's face, "Duo, I've been head over heels for you since the day we met! I just never thought you felt the same way, so I never said anything. I have been dreaming and praying for the day you'd finally confessed that you loved me, too."
"Really? Wow…this worked out better than I thought!" Duo exclaimed, causing Hilde to laugh. She hugged him tightly.
"Duo, thank you." Duo tilted her chin up so he could see her face.
"No, thank you for understanding." He leaned down and gently kissed Hilde on her lips.
And the two lovers passionately kissed as the day faded in to night.
A/N: What? You expected me to say 'they lived happily ever after'? Sorry, I'm not a fairytale type! Well, hope you enjoyed!
Until next time, this is ChibiMercuryDeathScythe signing out.