Taking Advice From Women
By Mizuno Mouri
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine, never will be. I only use the guys for the purpose of writing. So don't sue, it's really not worth it.
Dedications: For Nat-chan and Kitsune Reia! A bedtime story for the both of you ^_~
Duo made his way down the hall towards the room that all the incoherent ruckus was coming from. Why should he be so surprised anymore that all the noise was coming from Trowa and Quatre's shared room? It wasn't a new thing, for over the past week the two had done nothing but fight. Their relationship was crumbling to pieces and neither one of them were able to stop it. Every night it was ending the same way. Trowa storming out of their room, leaving Quatre all alone in the lonely room, his sobs reaching through and shattering the peace of the household.
Duo paused for a moment; he didn't like the idea of Quatre crying. The little blonde simply shouldn't have to cry. It wasn't right. He knew that Quatre was far from innocent, yet that didn't keep him from thinking that Quatre didn't need to feel the tears trickle down his face, Quatre was as hardened as they all were. Yet matters of the heart were of a different kind. They trailed so much deeper than others. Even the most trained of men couldn't stand so much heartache. Duo knew that outside of the endless war, Quatre was a kind and gentle person. Even though that was only the tip of the iceberg, it was that thought that always had him coming to Quatre's defense. Duo had always constantly thought of Quatre and the little brother he had always wanted, and to protect him only came naturally.
Sudden yelling and slamming of doors shook Duo from his stupor. Gazing upwards he caught sight of Trowa stalking down the hallway. Practically melding himself into the wall, Duo avoided Trowa. Trowa walked by quickly, ignoring Duo or had he seen him he chose to ignore him. All that was present on that chiseled face was passiveness, but those eyes. Those forested green eyes, they were alive with such innate fury, and it seemed startlingly natural. Natural that such anger should be present in those orbs.
Letting Trowa fall out of his line of vision, Duo moved onwards towards the room of seemingly broken love. Rapping gently on the door he hoped for a reply and at the same time was hoping for none, because what he might see would probably be what he didn't want to. A stifled sob was heard from behind the door as it opened slowly. Duo released an unexpected gasp as the door opened fully revealing Quatre. Here he was standing before him, disheveled, eyes red, and tears still streaking down his face to his cheeks.
"Duo…" Quatre choked out his name, doing his best not to cry anymore.
"Ne, Quatre, daijoubo desu ka?" Duo stepped forward and placed his hand on his shoulder. Quatre crumpled instantly. Falling against Duo all the held back tears came rushing forth like torrents.
"Iie, Duo. I am not okay." Quatre continued to cry onto Duo's chest, twisting his bedclothes in his hands. Duo looked down at Quatre and sighed softly. Wrapping his arms around Quatre, he pulled him closer and began to stroke his soft golden tendrils.
"Shh, don't cry, Quatre. Everything will be okay. I promise you that." Duo lifted Quatre's face up with a single finger and smiled one of his most dazzling smiles. Quatre looked up to him, his wide cerulean eyes still filled to the brim with tears. Laying his head back against Duo's chest, he could only continue to cry. This was all really tearing him apart on the inside and it hurt so much.
"Nothing will be okay, Duo, he's gone forever..." Quatre's sobs moved through both of their bodies. Duo was speechless as to what to say but he knew in his heart what to do. Moving slowly enough to not catch Quatre's attention, he moved his arms lower and brought them tighter around his back. Crouching quickly he used his strength to lift Quatre completely into his arms. Carrying him to the bed he sat him down there and pulled the covers back on the bed as he too settled onto the bed. Laying back onto the pillows Duo pulled Quatre into his arms, letting him rest his stressed body against his own. 'It's the only comfort I can offer to him.' He thought silently to himself. Quatre continued his slowly disappearing sobs. He twisted his hands in Duo's clothes and murmured incoherent things. Duo sighed and continued his stroking of Quatre's pale locks, not letting one sob go uncomforted.
~
But there was this nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something else was behind all of this comfort he was giving, but he couldn't place his finger on it yet. Hopefully he could soon, if not now.
~
"Duo..."
"Yes Quatre?" Duo smiled softly at Quatre, safely tucked away in his arms.
"Thank you, "Quatre murmured softly against Duo's chest, "thank you for being here."
Duo smiled serenely and smoothed out Quatre's hair, "No problem Quatre. Anything for you." 'Anything at all' he added mentally to himself.
Then the door suddenly flew open and in stepped Trowa, green eyes blazing with fury once more but now it was directed, unfortunately, at Duo.
"Get out of here Duo. Quatre and me need to talk about 'us.'" Trowa moved quickly, appearing at the side of the bed in a flash of seconds. Moving Quatre away from himself, Duo got up to face Trowa.
"Listen Trowa, you've done enough damage already. Now get lost and leave Quatre alone." Placing himself between Quatre and Trowa, Duo stood prepared for the worst.
"Duo, you have no idea what you're becoming involved in. Now get lost!" Trowa grabbed Duo forcefully by the collar of his shirt and shoved him out of the room. Grasping his neck in slight pain, Duo looked up to the doorway from which he was cast. Quatre appeared from behind Trowa, his eyes filled with concern, and yet there was something else lurking in those cerulean eyes.
"Just go out, Duo. Okay? I know its already late but go for a walk or something. Trowa and I need to settle this once and for all. We really should talk." Quatre's unwavering gaze set Duo in his place. Nodding his head in agreement Duo walked down the hall to his room. His shoulders hung low as he heard the click of the door shutting. He prayed for Quatre silently, something he never did anymore, at least not a lot.
~
"What'cha be havin'?" The bartender smiled, who was he to really care who drank in his bar. As long as they paid he didn't give a damn.
"Scotch on the rocks." Duo muttered softly. He just wanted to drown away his worries of this night and get on with life.
"Will do..."
"Now hold up Neo. You're not honestly going to give this kid a drink are you? He's obviously underage and your boss'd ream you if you get caught, "the woman next to Duo spoke sharply before adding, "again."
"Geez Liz, do ya have ta bring tha up again?" He spoke back to her, giving her a soft glare. Liz just nodded.
"Of course." She smiled a rather evil grin and took a sip of her own drink, casting a sideways glance at Duo, who was now flushing with slight anger.
"Ma'am, you shouldn't presume to know my age." Duo hissed through clenched teeth. He would have his drink and this woman wouldn't stop him from having it.
"Listen boy, " she turned to him, her eyes shining, "drowning your sorrows in liquor is not the way to go. It always leads to a dead end, and believe me you don't want that dead end." She took another sip of her drink and then set it back down upon the bar.
"I'm not drowning my sorrows in liquor, I just want a drink." Duo gave her his best innocent look and fell silent. She shook her head and sighed softly.
"Then why did you come in here looking like a whipped pup? You've got that confused love look on you face. Lord knows I've been there to know the look. Been on my own face so many times that I know it by heart now." Looking up into the air, she closed her eyes, lost in some memory of the past. Duo looked over to her and then to the bartender who had walked away. He wasn't going to be getting his drink tonight.
"Great! I come here for a drink and now I find out I can't get it. Just peachy." He spat out and laid his head on the bar in defeat. A sudden scraping sound brought his head back up. A drink had been pushed in front of him. He instantly looked over to Liz, who happened to have a smile on her face.
"Don't get happy, kiddo. It's only a root beer. The closet thing I'll let Neo give you," she looked at him again, the same smile getting bigger, "besides it'll the keep both of you out of trouble." Duo nodded to her and drank his drink in silence. He could always think it was liquor but it wasn't a substitute for the real thing.
"Thanks." He murmured softly after finishing the drink off.
"Care to talk about it?" Duo looked over to Liz, who still held her drink in between her hands.
"About what?"
"About what sent you here to try and get a drink." She spoke almost cheekily to him, like a challenge, and like the fool, he didn't refuse.
"Why not? It seems that I can't get it off my mind. Why not plague someone else's with it." He quipped at her. He moved his drink to his lips again and took another drink. Setting it down he opened his mouth to speak. "For the past few weeks this friend of mine has been having some problems in h..." he trailed for a moment. What would she say if she knew it was two guys he was talking about?
"His relationship, Hun. Don't stutter, not proper." She took another drink and cocked her head to the side, her eyes still shining.
"Yeah, his relationship. How'd you know it was a guy?" Duo looked over to her, hell, he was curious.
"You're in a gay bar, Hun. What else do you expect me to think?" She smiled at him and went silent. Duo blinked in confusion. Wasn't that his luck? The closet bar to the apartment was a gay bar. A smile crept on to his face, as he looked right back at Liz, a smirk firmly in place.
"So then what are you doing in a gay bar? That is populated with men that you'll never have a chance with?" He resisted the chance to laugh his arse off. Liz took yet another sip of her drink and blinked.
"Best place to come. I know all the guys and they know me. You can say I'm the gamekeeper. I've been known to flush out the ones that no one wants around here." She bit back a large laugh and just grinned at Duo.
"Yeah..." Duo gave the woman a strange look and
continued on, "Well he's been having these problems in his relationship
with his boyfriend," he glimpsed over to Liz to see that she was following
him, "and there hasn't been a night in the past few weeks that the two
haven't argued at night. It happens every night and
Through it all Liz kept listening taking sips of her drink and nodding at the right moments. Duo was spilling his whole entire heart out. He talked about how he felt about the whole entire situation. His emotions, fears, angers, it all came out in the open. There wasn't a thing that he didn't say to Liz as he kept going. Finally he did stop to take a drink of root beer and to look about the bar.
It was empty all save the last few couples that were dancing to the dying strings of music from the old style jukebox in the corner. One last song was wrenched from the machine as the crowds died down. He couldn't say anymore, he was out of things to say. Liz set her drink down once again and turned her seat where she faced Duo.
"Do you love him?"
Duo sputtered and nearly choked on his drink. Doing his best to regain his composure, he felt an arm settle on his shoulder for a bit.
"Think about it? You've been comforting all this time. Holding him in your arms and giving him security when he had none. What caused you to do that? To step into that room and hold him in an almost intimate way? Tell me, Duo." Duo looked back to Liz and sighed.
"I don't know. I... I... I've always looked at Quatre as the brother I've never had. We've been through so much together and I don't want him to be hurt. He's the closet thing I can say I've had to family in a long time. When Trowa said all those things to him and made him cry I was angry. Angry that he could've said those things to Quatre! Of all people Quatre! He's one of the sweetest people I know on the planet. He'd never hurt a fly without a good reason. He may not be innocent but..." Duo looked down to his feet and stared at them. Could it be love? He looked up again as Liz suddenly began to speak.
"A long time ago there was this girl. She was happy with who she was and she had her friends. Now it happened that one of her best friends got into a fight with her boyfriend. It was a bad fight, the girl's friend got hurt pretty badly. Being the girl that she was she was over at her friend's house within moments of finding out. Taking it upon herself she helped her friend through it. Held her, told her it was alright, and helped to make sure no one found out that her boyfriend was beating her," Duo's eyes widened slightly but Liz continued on, "after time this girl finally realized that it was more than just friendship that she felt for her friend. She loved her, dearly. So after realizing this she immediately went to her friend, intent on telling her and taking her away from all the pain. But it wasn't to happen. She got to the house and there was an ambulance out front. The crew was pulling out a gurney with a covered body. Rushing over the girl found it to be her friend. Her boyfriend had finally beaten her enough to the point that she died." Liz looked into her drink and a soft sigh escaped her lips.
"I... I don't know what to say..." Duo stuttered once more.
"Now that may not be this case but don't let your chance fall away. You may have already lost it, Duo. I can tell it's more than just friendship there, don't blow it. Go to him and tell him, okay?" Her eyes shone once more and she smiled brightly. "One confused person to another." She winked at him and gestured to the door.
"Liz," Duo spoke softly but then shook his head, "thank you." He mumbled softly and got up from his seat, practically running from the bar. Stopping for a moment he ran back to Liz and gave her a hug. No reason at all but he felt she deserved it.
"Good luck, Hun." She hugged him back and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Go get him." She smiled and waved Duo away. Of course he was gone in a matter of seconds not even a trace of him left in the whole bar except for a lone root beer can.
"You got something in your eye Liz?" Neo came back up after finishing with the other patrons. Liz looked over to him, tears streaming down her face.
"Yeah, kid got some dust in my eye." She smiled a bit and sighed. There was always hope.
~
"I'll be there for you Quatre..." He muttered softly as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Not watching where he was running he ran right smack into a pole. Falling to the ground he rubbed his forehead.
"Ow." Duo blinked. Poles didn't go 'ow', humans said that. Looking to the ground before him he saw that a blonde haired figure was on the ground just as he was.
"Quatre?" He spoke softly crawling towards him slowly with some uncertainty. Cerulean eyes looked up suddenly and tiers lifted into a smile.
"Duo! I found you!" Rushing forward Quatre caught Duo in a large hug.
"I could say the same about you Q-man. Now what are you doing out here?" Duo gave him a tighter tug in return. Quatre blinked and just sat there with his arms around Duo. Laying his head once more against his chest he sighed softly.
"It's over. Trowa finally said he couldn't be with me anymore." Duo gasped from both surprise and happiness, here was his chance.
"It'll be okay Quat." He smiled softly and pulled the both of them to their feet. "I'll make sure of it." Quatre looked to him with some confusion.
"I don't want to be alone Duo. I hate being alone..." Quatre whispered softly. Duo shook his head and placed a finger against Quatre's lips quieting him. Removing his finger he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Quatre's softly in a sweet gentle kiss. Pulling back Duo smiled, his features darkened slightly. Quatre was staring at Duo in amazement.
"I'll never let you be alone Quat. I'll always be with you." Duo's voice was barely above a whisper. Quatre's features brightly instantly.
"Duo!" Practically jumping forward he caught Duo in a kiss himself.
Standing in the middle of a street in the dark of night the two were happier than they had ever been before. Neither one of them caring who saw what they were doing, they were content to be with themselves.
~Owari~
A sequel, perhaps?