Usual disclaimers apply. I don't own them, they just own me. If you can be bothered, let me know what you think. This was more for the point of view than the events that all I know this whole thing is a boring piece of crap, but I would appreciate it if you would let me know. Then I won't torture you with part two… And now, for lack of a better title, I give you…
Vegas: Part I
My eyes flick from the clock on the wall to my cell phone, then back to the clock. It seems like the minutes have stopped, though I know it's my imagination. I sigh loudly, my eyes going back, forth and back again. After another agonizing eternity they both click forward one minute, almost simultaneously, and I resist the urge to throw my phone at the wall clock and be done with them both.
I take a deep breath and scratch my arm, trying to resist the pack of cigarettes stashed in my dresser. Breaking something won't make him get here any quicker, and neither will chain-smoking, as much as I'd like to do both. I'm trying to quit (smoking, not breaking shit) and I'm still not entirely over my cravings, though I can go several days without having one. I only want one when something triggers me, and what happened a year ago with Wufei is definitely one of those things. We didn't exactly part on the best of terms.
The day before my twenty-first birthday, I loaded up my meager belongings into my crappy black pickup truck and handed the key to my crappy apartment back to my crappy landlord. After brief goodbyes to a tearful Quatre, a stoic Heero and an entirely indifferent Trowa, I headed to Wufei's house, possibly for the last time.
We both knew all it would take was one word to get me to stay. I wasn't in love with Vegas nearly as much as I was in love with him, but in a way that was the problem. He said nothing, gave me no sign of affection other than grabbing my ass as I said goodbye.
Sure enough, when I reached the end of his street and looked in the mirror he had already gone back into the house. At the time I had merely lit a cigarette and rolled my eyes, but that had sealed the deal. Fuck those movies with the look in the mirror to see my lover standing there staring after me longingly. He was probably already back on the couch watching the financial channel.
Fucking romance movies…
I turned twenty one just as I passed the neon sign welcoming me to fabulous Las Vegas and the first thing I did was go to the nearest seedy bar and tell the bartender to give me a Vodka and pineapple juice and keep 'em coming.
Not the classiest drink, I know, but definitely effective at getting drunk, quick.
It's been almost a year since then and I've barely talked to him, and definitely haven't seen him. That is about to change though. His grandparents apparently live in Arizona (something I never knew through the four years we fooled around) and he's stopping by Vegas to gamble and visit me on his way down there.
Despite the fact that he was my favorite person to be around, for some reason whenever I go long periods without seeing him I get nervous when the time finally comes. I start believing that I imagined the chemistry, that the way I felt about him was a figment of my imagination.
And yet, every time, when I finally see him it's like no time has passed and we're still the same as when we met five years ago.
Speaking of which…
My mind turns longingly to the hidden cigarettes and I begin to tug the end of my braid, almost unconsciously. He should be here in exactly six minutes, though knowing him he'll be late. It's like he lives to drive me crazy.
I jump as the phone rings, diving for it before realizing that it's not Wufei's ringtone, it's Quatre's.
"Yeah?"
"Hey Maxwell… How you doin'"
"I've been better, I've been worse. You?"
"Driving to meet Trowa. We're going to see a movie. Figured I'd call and see how you were." There's a pause and then his voice is more tentative as he says, "Wufei told me he was going to stop and see you."
In the year since I left the Bay Area I never once asked Quatre about Wufei, and he never once brought it up. This is the first time we've discussed him since I moved, and Quatre sounds more than a bit nervous about it.
"Yeah. He's supposed to be here in like five minutes, but he'll probably be late."
"Maybe…"
Now Quatre sounds suspiciously vague and I know something's up. Had he not mentioned Wufei I would have bought the timing of the call as coincidence, but now…
"Spit it out, Winner. I know you didn't call to say hi."
There's a weighted pause on the other end of the line and I stand and begin pacing my kitchen.
"How much have you two talked since you moved?"
"Not much. Barely enough to plan this little… visit. Why?"
"Have you guys talked about you leaving?"
"No." I grimace, my steps taking me down the hallway and through my bedroom door. "I don't think that's a conversation that either of us wants to have. Again, why?"
"How do you think he handled you leaving?"
"I don't know Quatre, why the sudden interest? You never wanted to talk about him before."
"Did you want to talk about him before?" Without waiting for an answer he continues. "I just wanted to know what he told you about it."
"Why?" My hands unconsciously open my dresser drawer, grab a cigarette and light it. "He didn't exactly seem sad when I left."
"I'm sure he didn't show it but he was upset, Duo. He didn't want to talk to anyone, he didn't want to go out." He pauses and my stomach drops as he adds, "He started drinking."
"No."
"Yeah. Why would I lie about that?" Now Quatre sounds irritable. "Don't be dumb, Maxwell."
I walk back out into my living room quietly, unable to think of anything to say. Before I can work together a response to Quatre's news, the clock on the wall hits eleven and there's a knock on my door.
"I gotta go."
As some of you may have noticed (insert nervous chuckle here) I am terrible at finishing stories. Most often, as with The Driver and Fight or Flight, I start getting new story ideas, and then everything I try and write for my existing stories comes out in a different style. After writing an entire story, which will be released after much more editing, it still wasn't all out so I decided to try and finish it in a short two part story, something where I have a reasonably good chance of finishing it. Fortunately I think I have succeeded, and hopefully this will make my writer's block go away for the other stories.