The Bus Stop
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: 1+2
Warnings: yaoi, sap, AU, OOC, other stuff that you should figure out on your own. Yeah, its one of those 'Shii is lazy' fics. Meh. Oh, yeah, and it's a one shot, language, angst, mention of violence.
A/N: This is one of those fics that I plan to revise later, not because the writing is bad like in Tears of the Wolf, but because I like this fic enough to write more. Sorry about the lack of warnings, but apparently there are people out there that don't write out any warnings just for the sake of reading for the fic itself. It's not like this is one of my more… disturbing fics. Eh, finals make me lazy.
Summary: One night Heero picks up a strange boy who was just mugged, not realizing that he has just met the love of his life.
Heero was driving home from work in the middle of a rainstorm when he saw him: Duo Maxwell, the love of his life.
Heero had stopped at a red light when he spotted him at a bus stop. He was just standing there in the rain with only a tattered whit t-shirt covered in mud and dark stains and equally tattered jeans. He had no umbrella or raincoat and his long, chestnut hair was loose and clinging to him in messy strands. His violet eyes were soulful and sad, making him look like a drowned kitten. Heero was naturally paranoid and distrustful and normally would never consider picking a stranger up, but his hormones, as well as his humanity, couldn't let the poor kid stay out in this storm. He pulled his car up to the bus stop and opened the passenger side door for him.
"Where you headed?" Heero asked with a smile. Duo's smile was like a bright light in the rain.
"Really?!" Heero nodded, grinning at the younger boy's exuberance. Duo eagerly got in the car and shut the door shivering as the heat hit his cold body. Heero stared at the dark bruise that circled Duo's neck. What had happened to him?
"I live at 18 Elm Street. Can you drop me off there?"
"Sure," Heero said, "my name's Heero Yuy."
"Duo Maxwell," Duo said, "thank you so much for picking me up! You're my hero! I was coming back from classes when these assholes jumped me and stole my wallet," Duo pointed at the bruise on his neck, "I didn't even have money to get on the bus! I've been waiting out there forever!"
Heero smiled kindly.
"It's my pleasure."
The car ride was pleasant and went far too quickly for the both of them. As Heero drove, they talked. Duo told Heero that he was a Freshman at MU, which was a short walk away from the bus stop. He had lived here all of his life with his mother and father. He had no siblings and lately his relationship with his parents had become severely strained. Heero was working at a computer company and lived alone. He had parents, but hadn't spoken to them in years. Duo liked horror and science fiction, Heero liked action. Despite their differences, they found they had a lot in common, they both had major problems with their families, loved movies, were cat people, and, to their delights, gay. So, when they finally arrived at Duo's house, a two story, white suburban with several trees in front, the brick walkway lit by several light posts, they were very disappointed. The rain had stopped a while and the night had become rather nice.
"Would you like to go see a movie after classes and work?" Heero asked hopefully.
"I'd love to!" Duo said, grinning. "Meet me at the bus stop, ok?" Heero nodded, watching Duo as he walked to his door. He was so glad it had rained!
The next day they were both early and met at the bus stop as promised. Duo looked much better than last night. His long hair was dried and braided and though his neck was still badly bruised, the rest of him was clean. He was wearing a deep purple t-shirt with a green peace sign in front and a yellow smiley face in back, and a tight pair of jeans that hung low on his waist, showing off his navel and sexy angular hips held up by a studded belt. All in all, Duo was gorgeous.
"Ready?" Duo asked happily. Heero smiled and held Duo's hand, which was cool, but soft.
"Yeah."
"That was great!" Duo chirped, a blissful smile on his face as Heero walked him home, hand in hand, "I've never the Re Animator, but that movie was so funny!" They stopped in front of Duo's door. Heero caressed his cheek, which was just as nicely cool as his hand and not the least bit sweaty despite the warm day.
"Are you ok with this?" Heero asked. Duo pressed his lips against Heero's.
"Very," he murmured, "same time same place Friday?"
Heero nodded, grinning.
They dated for two months. Every Friday, they would go out. Heero had never had so much fun. He was in love. Everything was perfect, until one rainy afternoon.
No matter when they agreed to meet, it was always at the bus stop that Heero had originally picked Duo up from. But this time, Duo didn't show, even after three hours. He was immediately worried and drove to Duo's house as quickly as he could.
It was Duo's mother who hand opened the door, at least that's who Heero assumed she was since he had never met his boyfriend's parents. The woman at the door was in her late fifties with thin, brown blonde hair, and glared at him with cold, mean green eyes.
"Who the hell are you?" she snapped.
"U-um, I'm… Duo's boyfriend," Heero said nervously at the hate in her eyes. He knew that Duo had problems with his parents, but he had never found out the particulars. What if she hated him because he was gay?
The woman's eyes widened.
"We had a date today and he never showed-," Heero said quickly.
"Go away!" she snarled, screaming at him, "go the fuck away, you hear me?!"
"Mrs. Maxwell-,"
"My son is dead, do you understand me?! My son is fucking dead! Dead! That little faggot got himself killed! Three years ago today! So fuck off!" The door slammed in his face.
Heero sat at the bus stop and stared off into space, ignoring the looks people gave him. Was it really possible? Duo was dead? No, his boyfriend was playing a joke on him, that had to be it! Duo couldn't be dead.
There was only one way to be sure, he went to the library and found the local newspaper from three years ago. It was there, right on the front page: three years ago today, an eighteen year-old college freshman had been ambushed by a group of boys; he had been beaten, mugged, and raped, then strangled to death, right at that bus stop. No one had come to his aid. Strangled… Heero thought of the dark bruise on Duo's neck that had not faded after two months. But it couldn't be possible, he had touched him, kissed him! What the hell was going on?!
That night, Heero couldn't sleep. He kept thinking of his sweet, beautiful Duo. How could he be dead? And even more importantly, would he ever be able to see him again? Those boys had never been caught… Heero felt rage consume him, but more than anything, he just wanted to see Duo one more time.
The next day, Heero returned to the bus stop. It was a long shot, but Heero figured that if Duo really was a ghost, he would have to return to his haunting grounds, right? At least that's what all of those horror movies that Duo loved so much claimed. For whatever reason, Duo was there, sitting on the green bench by himself. His eyes were sad, just like the first night they had met.
"You're dead," Heero said plainly, as though he had said any normal thing, like apples are red or the sky is blue. Duo looked to the ground, his eyes downcast, he nodded. Heero sat next to him and stared Duo looked like any normal person. He was not transparent or unearthly in any way. Heero gripped Duo's chin and forced him to look at him.
"What's going on, Duo?"
Duo blushed. Heero's fingers slipped from Duo's skin.
"I don't know. I remember the attack. Everything hurt so much, I remember dying… then I woke up, just like always, except no matter what happened, my wounds wouldn't heal. People could see me and I could talk to them and I could touch things. At first I was scared, I thought that I would be bound to this bus stop forever. As it turns out, I could only go to one other place, my house. But when I got there, my parents wouldn't accept me. They said I deserved what had happened to me, 'cause I was gay, that I must have asked for it. So, for three years I waited at this bus stop and for three years you were the only one to pick me up. For some reason, after that, I could go anywhere, except, just like always, whenever I lost consciousness, I would end up back here. In the end… I fell in love with you."
Heero clasped Duo's hand. It was so strange, the boy was obviously a ghost, but he was also very human. And for his parents to have treated him like that…
"But, why didn't you show last night?"
Duo stared at the bench next to them as though he was seeing something that was invisible to Heero, specifically on a dark stain on the seat and several dark specs on the ground under the bench.
"On the anniversary of my death, I must relive the day as it happened, exactly as it happened that day."
Heero's eyes widened and he felt himself start to shake.
"Then… yesterday… you were…"
'I left him here, to that, all alone… but I came here yesterday and I didn't see him, so maybe I couldn't have helped him, but still!'
Duo smiled at him.
"It's not so bad as long as you're here. Before you came along, I truly felt like a ghost; empty, nonexistent… but," Duo's smile faded, "I guess it would be weird, huh? Dating a ghost…," Heero shut him up by kissing him.
"I honestly don't care anymore," Heero said truthfully.
'I love him too much,' he realized, 'he could tell me anything about himself and that would never change.'
"Besides, at least now I don't have to worry about you dying on me. What other person can say that?"
Duo smiled and intertwined his long, cool fingers with Heero's warm ones.
The end
Happy Halloween/Valentine's Day