A/N: Valentine's Day gift fic for luvsanime. She wanted something featuring 1x2 and with some tequila (also with smut and angst!). Hope you love it and thank you, thank you thank for being so awesome!

A/n #2: Took the title from the song by the same name (because feelings and things). Also I don't know why I'm setting so many things around weddings. I'll stop doing that.

A/N #3: For those who like images to go with things I'm basing Rose and Thyme on the Red Coach Inn in Niagara Falls.

Warnings: smut, angst, language, the usual, a touch of fluff, AU (is that a warning? Do I usually put that under warnings?)

Pairings: 1x2, 3x5 (and yeah, they are kind of assholes in this. Sometimes I like to do that and I'm sorry)

If You Leave

It was raining.

The sky was so dark that it looked like the sun had set hours ago even though it was the middle of the afternoon, and Heero felt that the weather perfectly mirrored his mood.

Dark, with no chance of letting up anytime soon.

"We there yet?"

He looked over at Duo, his legs stretched out and resting on the glove compartment and his seat reclined as far back as possible. He had his hands folded behind his head and his eyes were closed.

"Not yet - looks like another twenty minutes or so."

Duo sighed.

"Who the hell gets married at a bed and breakfast anyway? I mean… could they be more gay?"

Heero rolled his eyes but he found himself smirking in response to Duo's muttered words.

"I appreciate you coming with me, I owe you."

"Yeah, I mean, what are best friends for if not to drag to the wedding of your ex-fiance to the man of his dreams?"

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"I mean, I could have said the man he cheated on you with, but that felt a little too cruel."

Heero felt his grip tighten on the steering column at the unnecessary reminder.

"I still don't get why we're going."

"He invited me."

"He cheated on you."

"I -"

"Heero, so help me God if you even think about defending him I will jump out of this moving car now."

The fact that Duo still hadn't moved, still hadn't even bothered to open his eyes, undercut his serious tone.

"It's raining out there."

"I just threatened to jump from a moving vehicle and you think the danger of getting a little wet will stop me?"

"It takes hours to dry your hair."

Duo sighed.

"Touche. Alright, so I won't jump out of the car. But I will make it my mission to set you up with some hot single guy at this wedding."

"What?"

"'Ro, I know you've been out of the dating game for a while… shit, who was the last person you dated?"

"Zechs."

"You guys broke up six months ago."

"I am well aware of that."

"And you haven't - you haven't dated anyone since then?"

"I would have told you if I had."

"Yeah but I assumed that maybe you'd gone on a few disaster dates or had one night stands or something. I would have intervened way before now if I knew it had gotten this bad!"

Heero rolled his eyes at Duo's horror.

"Anyway, you've been single for way too long. I'm going to be your wingman and I'm going to make sure that you have a night of meaningless, hot, dirty sex with the best looking guy here and - or - meet your future boyfriend. My goal is the and but I'll make do with the or."

"I hate to see you settle," Heero muttered.

"Me too, me too. So let's aim big and find you a great piece of ass that you can take home with you to meet the folks too!"

"Duo -"

"In one quarter mile, the destination is on the left," Google maps interrupted Heero.

Duo sat up in one smooth motion.

"Finally," he said and looked out of the window at their dark surroundings. He chuckled. "Is it wrong of me to hope it's shit weather all weekend?"

"Yes, it is."

"Oh come on. Don't tell me you want the clouds to part and there to be rainbows and sunshine and shit?"

"No but I also don't want to have to slog through the mud all weekend or get rained on."

"Ah. So your compassion is for the other guests and not for the cheating bastard who broke your heart."

"Duo -"

The other man held up his hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry. I'll stop reminding you about it."

"The destination is on the left. You have arrived at your destination. The destination is -"

"Thanks, babe," Duo said and reached out to turn the guidance system off on his phone.

Heero parked their rental car and sighed.

The rain was still falling in thunderous sheets and it was at least twenty yards to the entrance of the bed and breakfast from their parking spot.

Heero looked at the building in front of them. It looked like a mansion, or a castle out of some fairy tale.

Perfect for a fairy tale wedding.

"Wanna make a run for it and come back for the bags later?" Duo asked.

Heero shook his head.

"We might as well get it over with now."

Duo made a face but sighed.

"Yeah, yeah." He brightened up a moment later. "And you always look adorable when your hair is wet and all over your face. This is good - just make sure you get extra wet so you'll attract a hottie lingering in the lobby or whatever."

Heero rolled his eyes.

"You're serious about this weekend fling aren't you?"

"Absolutely. Heero, I gotta look out for you - and you need to get laid."

They sat in silence for a moment, staring at the rain.

"On the count of three?" Duo suggested.

"Yeah."

"One, two, fucking hell it's fucking cold!" Duo was out of the driver's side and sprinting to the trunk before Heero even thumbed it open.

"Why the fuck is it so fucking wet? Fuck this fucking rain and fuck fucking -"

Heero found himself smirking at Duo's repeated fucks.

They grabbed their bags and Heero had to agree with Duo - it was fucking cold and really fucking wet and fuck this rain.

By the time they made it inside the front door of the B&B they were both soaked.

Duo shivered dramatically.

Heero took a moment to catch his breath before he approached the front desk and the elderly woman behind it.

"Welcome to Roses and Thyme! Are you checking in dears?"

"Yes. My reservation is under Yuy."

"Ah, yes. You're here for Mr. Chang and Mr. Barton's wedding aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Oh how wonderful. Such a handsome couple."

Heero locked his jaw and nodded in agreement.

It was, after all, very true.

"I've got you in the Ivy Suite on the third floor." She handed him a large, old fashioned looking key.

"Just how many rooms does this place have?" Duo asked, walking over to them and dripping all over the expensive looking carpet underfoot.

"We have thirty five guest rooms."

"And all of those are being rented out for the wedding?"

"No, only twenty-five are being used by wedding guests. I believe quite a few are staying elsewhere in town. Unfortunately we had already booked quite a few rooms when Mr. Chang and Mr. Barton chose us to host their wedding."

"You wouldn't happen to know if any single, attractive men were staying in some of those rooms, would ya?" Duo asked with a grin.

The woman regarded Duo with a frown. She looked over at Heero and then back at Duo.

"For him," Duo said and put his arm around Heero's shoulders. "I'm fine but my buddy might get lonely and -"

"Thanks for the room key," Heero interrupted Duo before he could make this more embarrassing. He grabbed Duo's arm and dragged him away.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Duo pulled free when they got to the staircase. "Jeez man. I'm just trying to help you out."

"I feel like you're trying to pimp me out."

Duo grinned.

"You think we could make some money off of this?"

Heero rolled his eyes and stomped up the stairs.

He heard Duo behind him, no doubt taking the stairs two at a time and in danger of slipping in his wet shoes.

Heero opened the door to the room and stared.

"Um, Heero, did we just walk through a time machine or something because this room looks like it hasn't been redecorated since 1985."

Heero had to agree.

He stared at the lavender curtains, the lavender canopy over the bed, the lavender carpet. And the floral wallpaper and floral recliner and floral footrest and floral pillows. It felt like a room his grandmother would have decorated.

"Fifty dollars that Trowa picked this place for the wedding," Duo walked past Heero further into the room. "That guy is way too fond of the eighties."

The king sized bed took up most of the room, the oversized recliner and footrest leaving only a few inches to maneuver.

Duo walked towards the two doors on the back wall.

He opened the first to reveal a closet. The second turned out to be a bathroom.

Duo looked back at Heero and arched his eyebrow.

"I thought you booked a two bedroom suite?"

"I thought I did too," Heero agreed with a frown.

He walked over to the nightstand beside the bed, brushing against Duo as he did so, and picked up the phone to call the front desk.

"This is Heero Yuy in the Ivy Suite," he said when his call was answered.

"Oh yes, settling in nicely?"

"Actually I thought I had reserved a two bedroom suite. This appears to only have one bed...and only one room."

"Oh… oh dear let me look at our records. Hm. Oh I'm so sorry! You did ask for a two bedroom suite!"

"Yes, I know." Heero tried to keep his voice even. Accidents happened, after all.

"I'm terribly sorry but all of the rooms have been booked. I'm afraid I can't move you to another room."

"There's nothing else available?" Heero asked, looking around the room that maybe had four square feet not covered by the huge bed.

"No. Again I am very sorry. And we will certainly be offering you a discount on your bill."

"Thanks," Heero growled.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, not right now."

Heero hung up the phone and sighed.

"No other rooms?" Duo guessed.

Heero shook his head.

"Oh well. I'll just sleep in the tub when you have Mr. Right tied up in bed begging you to fuck him harder."

Heero gave him a look.

"Or if we're really lucky he's staying in a room here and you two can spend the night in his room," Duo continued, ignoring Heero. "Of course, then I won't be lulled to bed by the rhythmic thumping of the headboard against the wall as I cuddle up in the jacuzzi tub but… it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

"You're all heart."

"Don't I know it. But right now I'm a freezing heart. I dunno about you but I'm ready to get out of these clothes."

Duo plucked at his shirt, still wet and plastered to his body.

"Not a bad idea," Heero agreed, looking down at his own completely soaked clothing. His jeans were starting to feel heavy and uncomfortable.

He looked up again to see Duo, shirtless, stripping off his trousers.

Heero swallowed hard and looked away from the unexpected sight.

"Pass me a hangar from the closet, will you?" Duo asked. "I'm gonna hang this stuff up in the shower to dry a bit.

Heero grabbed a hangar and thrust it at him before turning away quickly again.

"Thanks buddy."

He heard Duo walk into the bathroom and then a moment later come back out. Duo pushed past him to get to his bags, putting his hands on Heero's waist to move him to one side so he could get past the bed.

Duo knelt down, completely naked, beside his bags and unzipped them.

"I just hope to fuck my clothes in here aren't wet," Duo muttered. "What are we doing tonight, anyway? Do I need to look fancy or what?"

"It's the rehearsal dinner."

Duo turned and gave him a dark look.

"We're going to the rehearsal dinner?"

Heero nodded.

"'Ro, seriously. It's like Wufei sent you an invitation asking just how much he was allowed to torture you and you wrote back 'yes please.'"

Even though it was phrased with Duo's typical exaggeration, it was exactly how Heero felt.

"The dinner should be fairly casual," Heero answered Duo's first question.

"So my spiderman t-shirt and sweatpants?" Duo asked, holding up the clothes.

Heero scowled at him.

"No, you're right. This is about finding you a hook-up, not me. I go in there dressed like that and all the dudes will flock to my side."

"And to think there was a time I worried about your self-confidence," Heero muttered.

Duo grinned at him.

They had first met in college, assigned to be roommates their freshman year and despite the fact that they had spent the first three weeks hating each other, by the end of the first semester they had become inseparable.

Heero, who had been openly gay for as long as he could remember - without prompting his mother, whenever Heero brought home any boyfriend, pulled out a stack of pictures of Heero going all the way back to naked bath pictures and delighted in pointing out all of the boys Heero had kissed as a child - had helped Duo come out to his own family after Duo drunkenly confessed to being gay. They had moved into an apartment together their sophomore year, a year when Heero slowly realized he was in love with his roommate and ended up making a stupidly romantic gesture on Valentine's Day. Duo had appreciate it though, had even admitted that he had been in love with Heero since the first day they had met and Heero had threatened to cut off his hair if he didn't clean out the shower drain. They had dated all through college, but when they graduated Duo went to Stanford for law school while Heero went to Columbia Medical School. Even though they kept in touch, after a semester of long distance dating, constant cancellations of visits from both of them and hundreds of missed calls, Duo suggested they should call it quits while they could still be friends.

Four years ago Heero had started his residency at Mass Gen and a few months later Duo had moved to Boston to begin working at Ropes & Gray as a junior partner.

Heero had hoped that they could try again, now that they didn't have three time zones separating them, but when he saw Duo for the first time in three years it was for a dinner date that included Duo's boyfriend of six months, Jason.

Even after Duo and Jason broke up, Heero's timing was never right - Duo's relationship with Jason ended two months after Heero met Wufei. Two years later, when Wufei and Heero finally broke their engagement after months of fighting and painful acts of revenge and aggression, Duo was dating Ralph. So Heero had given up, had contented himself with having Duo back in his life as his best friend and even though it wasn't nearly enough, it was a hell of a lot better than nothing.

Heero forced himself to finally look away from Duo when he stood up, clean clothes - not the first options - in hand and walked past him back into the bathroom.

Heero stripped out of his own wet clothes and followed Duo's lead, hanging them up in the shower before he grabbed a towel and dried himself off.

As he tousled his hair with the towel he noticed Duo, buttoning up a lavender dress shirt that was eerily close in color to the bedroom furnishings, looking at him.

"What?" He asked, feeling himself blush at the intensity of Duo's gaze.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Sorry for staring. Just kind of… zoned out there. When did you get the tattoo?"

Duo nodded towards the tattoo low on Heero's right hip.

Heero ran his finger over the tattoo. He forgot he even had it most days. It was a snake wrapped around a staff, the symbol of asclepius and the universal symbol for medicine.

"I didn't even know you were the tattoo type," Duo continued.

"I'm not, not really," Heero told him. "It was… my first solo heart surgery was on a tattoo artist. She was convinced she was going to die and this," Heero touched the tattoo again, "was her way of thanking me."

Duo arched an eyebrow.

"Huh. That's pretty cool."

"What, you don't have any thankful clients who gave you free tattoos?"

"Hey, there's a very nice lady with the teacher's union who sends me birthday cards every year with kittens on them."

Heero laughed and Duo smiled and then shook his head.

"We gotta do something about your hair, man. You look like you've been attacked by a balloon."

Heero rolled his eyes but he walked over to the mirror and saw that Duo's statement was frightening accurate.

He reached up a hand to try to smooth his hair down but Duo batted it away.

"Let me. You always just make it worse."

Heero glowered but he folded his arms across his chest and let Duo have his way.

It was… bizarre how comfortable Heero felt just standing naked in front of Duo while the other man waged battle with his hair. It felt like they were back in college again and Heero was tempted to lean back against Duo's chest as he remembered getting ready like this before, remembered the way Duo would rub gel on his hands and glare at Heero's hair in the mirror as though it's disarray was a personal affront to him. He remembered the way Duo would more often than not give up with an exasperated sigh and press an apologetic kiss against the back of Heero's neck before telling him that he looked gorgeous no matter how crazy his hair was.

Duo combed his fingers through Heero's hair, tugging it this way and that, before he finally managed to get rid of at least some of the volume.

"Good enough," Duo decided. He leaned forward and his nose brushed against Heero's hair before Duo caught himself, eyes wide, and backed away.

"Shit. Sorry. Jesus that was weird. It just - felt like old times."

"It's fine," Heero said, but his pulse quickened at the realization that Duo had been thinking about it too.

"Yeah. Um… you should probably put on some clothes. I mean, I know it'd be hella easy to pick up a guy in your birthday suit, 'Ro but there are laws and all that."

Heero rolled his eyes and walked out of the bathroom.

"Feel free to borrow my spiderman shirt!" Duo shouted after him.

Heero stared at the shirt, folded neatly on top of Duo's bag, and he smirked.

-o-

"You are such a dork," Duo muttered as he nursed a scotch and soda.

"You're the one who had the shirt in the first place," Heero retorted after taking a sip from his own drink.

"Yeah, so that I had something to sleep in," Duo said. "No gay guy at a bed and breakfast wedding in his right mind is going to see you and go 'oh, a spiderman t-shirt? Be still my heart!'"

Heero felt proud of himself.

While he didn't exactly mind Duo's plan to get him laid, he couldn't deny that he was having a good time thwarting his plans.

They were seating in the dining room, at a table along the back wall, finishing their second drinks, when Wufei and Trowa came over to say hello.

"Hey!" Duo greeted them with a tight smile. "If it isn't the happy couple!"

Wufei arched an eyebrow at Duo.

They had never gotten along, even before the last few months of Heero and Wufei's engagement, even before Heero told Duo that Wufei had cheated on him.

"I didn't realize you were coming to the wedding," Wufei said.

"Oh yeah, I'm Heero's plus one." Duo smirked. "Plus I couldn't miss this. I mean - look at you two - a match made in heaven and all of that."

Ironically, Duo and Trowa had dated a few years ago. Duo had brought Trowa over to Heero and Wufei's apartment for a party, introducing Wufei and Trowa. Heero had listened to more than a few drunken apologies from Duo over the last two years for ever letting them meet in the first place.

Trowa quirked an eyebrow at Duo's tone.

"We should have invited you," he said.

"Yeah - I mean, I gotta admit I'm kind of hurt that I'm not your best man. Since I was the one to introduce you two and all that jazz."

"Quatre is my best man."

"Good choice. His speech probably won't include reminders not to cheat on your partner once you're married because it's against a few Massachusetts state statutes and -"

"Okay," Heero interrupted Duo. "I think all know how terrible your speech would have been."

"I do want to apologize to you, though, Heero," Wufei said.

Heero stared at him.

"Apologize?"

Wufei nodded.

"Things… did not end well between us."

"That's a fucking understatement," Duo muttered.

Heero kicked him under the table.

"Ow!"

"For which we are both to blame. But I should not have done the things I did, no matter how well things have turned out for everyone since then, it was not the right thing to do."

"What do you mean how well things have turned out for everyone since then?" Duo asked. "You mean you and the sex maniac here rubbing your dream wedding into Heero's face?"

Wufei scowled.

"I meant that clearly Heero listened to what I said about you two. I always knew he was still in love with you and look - you're here together."

Duo stared at him, mouth open in shock, and then turned to Heero.

"What the fuck is he talking about Heero?"

"We're not together, Wufei," Heero told his ex-fiance. "Duo came with me as my friend."

Wufei's lips compressed.

"Then I apologize for my assumption."

"We should go speak to some of our other guests," Trowa suggested. He propelled Wufei away from their table with a hand on his elbow.

"What the hell was that about?" Duo asked once they were gone.

"Nothing," Heero assured him, not wishing to rehash the past.

"No, what did he mean about you still being in love with -"

"Nothing, Duo. At the end - with us - we both said a lot of things we didn't mean. It's nothing."

Of course, it wasn't nothing.

Two years ago Wufei, during their last fight, Wufei had confessed that he had been sleeping with Trowa for six months. Heero had been shocked into silence. He had had no idea Wufei was cheating on him. As a second year resident he practically lived at the hospital, and what little time he had off he tried to spend with Wufei. Because of Wufei's own rather hectic schedule working for the Boston Globe, almost half of the time that Heero had had off Wufei had been working so Heero spent what time he could with Duo. Wufei had accused him of preferring Duo's company to his own, of still being in love with him and so blinded by his devotion to Duo that he hadn't even realized Wufei was unhappy, let alone in love with another man.

Heero had been angry and he had denied it, had spent months hating Wufei and Trowa and drinking alone until one night Duo took him out to a club and made him dance for hours and hours, made him flirt with whatever guys Duo deemed good enough for him and it wasn't until the end of the night, when he saw Duo laughing and kissing some stranger that Heero felt a sick coil of jealousy and realized it was true. Wufei was right. He was still in love with Duo.

Of course, he couldn't say that to Duo. Not then. Not now. Not ever.

"What about him?" Heero asked.

"What?" Duo looked completely confused.

Heero nodded towards a tall, auburn haired man at the bar.

Duo rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Not bad. Not the best looking guy in the room but not bad, either."

"I don't have to be with the best looking guy in the room," Heero said.

"Well yeah, because that's m -" Duo stopped and looked sheepish. "Anyway, you probably need another drink."

Heero looked down at his nearly full glass.

"No I don't."

Duo grabbed the glass and downed it in one gulp, gasping in disgust after he swallowed.

"Ugh. What the hell are you drinking?"

"Gin and tonic."

Duo shuddered theatrically.

"First you get a tattoo, then you start drinking gin - it's like I don't even know you anymore."

Heero gave him an exasperated look.

"I'm serious. Next thing I know you're going to tell me you like girls or something."

"Oh shut up. I ordered a vodka tonic but they gave me the wrong drink."

Duo shook his head.

"Just sad, man. Just sad." He felt Duo's hand on his thigh and looked down in shock.

Duo's nimble fingers shoved what was unmistakably a condom into his jeans pocket.

Heero looked up and Duo winked at him.

"Now get up. Go get yourself a man!"

Heero sighed but did as instructed.

He walked over to the bar and leaned against it a foot or so away from the man.

"Vodka tonic," he told the bartender when he looked over.

"Coming right up."

"Good luck with that," the man beside Heero snorted.

Heero arched an eyebrow.

"I ordered one and ended up with a gin and tonic," the man said. He took a sip of his drink and made a sour face.

Heero had to laugh.

"The same thing happened to me," he admitted when the man frowned at him.

"Yet you're willing to risk getting burned a second time?"

"Some things are worth it," Heero responded.

The man smiled and glanced over Heero's body appreciatively.

"Trant Clark," he said and held out his hand.

Heero shook it.

"Heero Yuy."

"I like your shirt, Heero," Trant said.

Heero had to smirk at that. He was, without a doubt, the most underdressed person in the room. While no one was in a suit, most of the guests were in sweaters or dress shirts, the few women present all in dresses. He was the only one in jeans and a t-shirt.

He never would have dreamed of dressing so casually if Duo hadn't taunted him about the t-shirt in the first place.

"Thank you."

"Are you a friend of the groom or the groom?" Trant asked.

"Both," Heero said, since it had been true at one point in time and was far less complicated than the truth. "You?"

"I work with Trowa at symphony."

Heero nodded, wishing he hadn't asked as he realized that no matter which man Trant knew it would have left Heero with the vague, queasy sensation he now felt.

The bartender returned with Heero's drink.

He took a cautious sip and then sighed in disappointment.

"You know, we could probably just get out of here and find someplace that actually knows the difference between vodka and gin," Trant suggested. "Unless - are you here with someone?"

Heero looked back at Duo. The other man waggled his eyebrows and gave him two thumbs up.

"No, I'm here alone," Heero said.

Trant smiled.

"Excellent. Shall we?"

-o-

Two hours, three drinks and a fair amount of groping in the back seat of an uber later Heero found himself pressed against the door to his hotel room, Trant's tongue down his throat and his hands down the front of his pants, fondling his cock through the thin fabric of his boxers.

"Did you lose your key?" Trant asked, moving his mouth across Heero's face and biting down on his earlobe.

"What?"

"Your key? Or do you want to just fuck out here in the hallway?"

"No, not in the hallway. Can we go to your room?"

Trant shook his head and sucked on Heero's neck.

Heero hissed in pain and pleasure from the sensation and buried his fingers in Trant's short hair.

"No, Trowa's bunking in there tonight."

That cooled Heero's lust as efficiently as a bucket of ice would have.

"What?" He pushed Trant's face away.

"Something about not sleeping with Wufei the night before the wedding or something. C'mon, what's wrong with your room?"

"Nothing. No -" Heero said when Trant leaned back in for another kiss. "I think we should just call it a night."

Trant stared at him in shock.

"Are you kidding?"

"No, I'm not." Heero pulled Trant's hand out of his pants. "I'm sorry, but I'm not interested anymore."

Trant scoffed.

"Unfucking - fine."

Trant shook his head and stalked off.

Heero watched him walk away, unable to keep himself from admiring the other man's retreating ass, and then let himself into his room.

He closed the door behind himself and leaned against it.

"Idiot," he muttered.

"Talking to yourself now?"

Heero jumped at the sound of Duo's voice in the dark room.

He looked over to the bed, just able to make out Duo's silhouette in the faint light from the bathroom.

"How did you get in here?"

"Oh so you meant to lock me out?"

"No, but I -" Heero had already been at the bar when he realized that he had the room key. "I'm sorry."

Duo shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. I gave Juniper a sob story about you ditching me some hot man flesh and she let me in. Offered me a bottle of champagne if I wanted to drown my loneliness."

"She did not."

"Yes she did, but I negotiated and got her to give me a bottle of tequila instead. She feels really, really bad about the room thing. I'm pretty sure we could get her to book us one of the first floor suites for Christmas if we play our cards right."

Heero snorted in amusement at the thought of he and Duo spending Christmas at Niagara Falls.

"Anyway why are you here? Shouldn't you be off giving that guy a free physical exam?"

Heero walked over to the bed and sat down on it.

This close he could see that Duo was shirtless, the fluffy duvet on the bed pulled up to his waist as he sat up in the bed.

"I wasn't that interested," Heero said.

"Oh come on, man! He was totally into you!"

"Look, Duo, I appreciate you wanting to set me up with someone this weekend but maybe it's just not going to happen."

"Not if you turn down perfectly indecent proposals!"

"You've been sitting on that one for a while, haven't you?"

"Yeah - I've just never had the right time to use it before now, yanno? But that was pretty perfect wasn't it?"

"It was," Heero had to agree. He sighed and kicked off his shoes. He laid down on the bed. beside Duo and the other man shifted, rolling over to his side and propping his head up on his hand as he regarded Heero.

"I'm not sure a one night stand with a total stranger is going to make me feel better, Duo. Wufei is marrying the man who - he's marrying the man who gave him what I couldn't. Trowa made Wufei happy when I… I just forgot to care about him."

"Oh that is such bullshit, Heero. I'm so tired of you letting him make you feel guilty over the fact that he cheated on you! Yeah, okay, you weren't around all that much but that's because you're a surgical resident. What did he want you to do? Let a patient bleed out on the table so you could rush home and give him a foot massage?"

"That's not what he expected and you know it."

"Maybe - but he should have been more understanding. He knew what you were like when you two started dating and he still said yes when you proposed."

Heero sighed.

"He was jealous of the time I spent with you and he thought I cared more about you than I did about him. And… he was right, Duo."

"What?"

Heero rolled over so that he was facing Duo.

"It was just… easier to spend time with you than it was to spend time with him. And you're my best friend. You still care about me even when you hate me. I just… I got tired of everything being a fight with him. It made even our fights seem better."

"Yeah, well, our fights our over things like the Red Sox needing to trade Ryan Hanigan."

"You just hate him because he's not Jason Varitek."

"Well he's not."

They were silent and Heero realized just how much he had missed this - just being near Duo like this. It was different with all of the other men he had dated.

Even with Wufei, who he had once wanted to spend the rest of his life with, just laying beside each other in the dark had never felt this comforting, this natural.

"Maybe Wufei did deserve more of your time or more effort from you or whatever," Duo said eventually, his voice low. "But you sure as hell didn't deserve his betrayal. And I get it - you feel guilty because you weren't enough for him but that's not - Heero you're enough for anyone. More than enough. Wufei was just too fucking greedy and he's an idiot - don't argue with me over this. Yeah, I know he's brilliant but he's also an idiot. And you need to realize that this isn't your fault."

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" Duo snorted. "It's taken me two fucking years to get you to admit that much. Christ you're stubborn Heero."

"You know he liked my shirt."

"What?" Duo looked confused by the non sequitur.

"Trant said he liked my shirt," Heero repeated and plucked at the Spiderman logo.

"Oh, you mean he liked my shirt." Heero could see the glint of Duo's teeth as he grinned in the dark. "Maybe I should try my luck with him tomorrow night."

"Good. Then I won't have to share a bed with you."

Heero stretched out his arms and legs until Duo shoved them away, back to his side of the bed.

"I forgot what a fucking bed hog you are," he complained. "Just don't take all the sheets and please, for the love of God, keep your socks on so I don't want up in the middle of the night with frostbite from your toes touching me."

-o-