A/N: Not an update on current WIPs but Weeping Wednesday got really sad and I didn't feel up to facing Sideshow and Before Now after all the sad.

A/N #2: Continuing in the Unexpected arc.

A/N:#3 Just go with the idea of doorbells inside an apartment building. I know it's weird. But they… they have an eccentric landlord, okay?

Warnings: Language, angst, sex

Pairings: 1x2x3, 1x3

Unexpected Development

Chapter One

Duo loved his job. He loved to travel, he loved the money, he loved the fact that he only spent a few days - at most a few weeks - in one place and then he was off again. For the most part he even loved the people he worked with. Models were… interesting, they were people, the same as anyone else, but their unique position of being objects as well as individuals led to some very interesting personality developments. Duo wouldn't go so far as to say he loved all models - but he appreciated them and he liked most of them.

But more than his job, Duo loved his bed. Loved it with the kind of commitment that had him dropping his bags at the doorway to his room and flinging himself onto it, arms outstretched, fingers clutching the sheets, nose breathing deeply into the feather pillow.

He loved his bad so damn much. Especially after spending more than a day flying from Bangkok back to New York City. The flight had had one stop - in Seoul - and Duo had treasured those precious three hours to of stretching his legs because he knew, from experience, that the fourteen hour flight from Seoul to New York was going to be brutal.

And it was. He needed to start flying first class on these long, half-way across the world flights, because even though Korean Air had more leg room than most, it was still cramped, still meant he was unable to sleep for long. He had also had the dire misfortune of being seated next to a couple returning from their honeymoon. He had no idea how he had been unlucky enough to be seated beside them on both legs of the flight - but he had been. What had started as grumpy bickering at the gate in Bangkok had turned to full blown passive-aggressive promises to call parents and lawyers by the time the plane started its approach to Seoul and by the time the plane finally, finally was wheels down at JFK the couple were teary-eyed and tense and had drudged up seemingly ever mistake either of them had made in their five year relationship.

Duo practically hurdled the seats when they were given the all clear in his effort to escape them. But of course, as he stood for forty five minutes waiting for his luggage, they showed up, both openly crying now, and even when he tried to move away, to the opposite side of the carousel, he could see them and hear them.

But now he was home, now he was in bed, his bed, the love of his life, and none of it mattered anymore because he was going to sleep for the next twelve hours or three days - he hadn't decided which yet - and nothing would stop him.

Without bothering to get up, he shimmied out of his jeans and pulled off his sweater. He had forgotten, after only two weeks in Bangkok, that it was mid November in New York and he had only had the warmth of the light sweater he had worn on the flight and as a result he had spent the entire cab ride home shivering.

He was grateful that Hilde kept the apartment warm - despite their agreed upon thermostat setting of sixty-five in winter, the apartment was clearly somewhere above seventy - and he burrowed under the comforter in just his underwear and closed his eyes.

-o-

The doorbell was ringing.

It sounded as if someone was just holding their hand over the buzzer without letting up, and Duo let it go on for five minutes, tried to will his body to ignore it, to ignore everything but the perfect mattress under his exhausted body but -

It didn't stop.

He opened his eyes and looked over at his nightstand, at the clock that said it was six-forty five in the morning.

He groaned.

It had been four thirty when he stumbled into the apartment. Either he had been asleep for two hours or twenty six hours. It felt like two.

The doorbell was still ringing.

Duo more or less fell out of his bed, only just catching himself, and walked to the front door.

He looked through the peep hole.

Trowa Barton stood on the other side holding a foil covered plate in one hand and a silver kettle in the other, his elbow wedged against the doorbell. He looked well-rested and freshly shaved. It was the first time Duo had seen him since Halloween night, and Duo looked over him hungrily. Trowa was wearing jeans that clung to his long, lean legs and a green cable knit sweater that looked warm and cozy and really shouldn't look that sexy. Hell. Duo was willing to bet Trowa made anything look sexy.

He realized that Trowa was still ringing the doorbell.

Duo opened the door.

Trowa smirked and then looked over Duo's lack of attire, his exhausted face and messy braid and raised an eyebrow.

"Morning," Trowa said, his voice cautious.

"A very early morning," Duo growled.

Trowa frowned.

"Hilde forgot to tell you."

"Huh?"

"She said she would tell you - she said I could come over and hijack your television today if I bribed you with pancakes and hot chocolate."

Duo frowned.

"No, she didn't mention-"

He looked over his shoulder, at the chalkboard in the entrance hallway where they left messages for each other. Hilde was out of town for the next few days, visiting her pregnant sister, and Duo hadn't spoken to her in four days.

Bossy sexy fuck toy is coming over to watch Good Morning America on Friday. You're welcome.

Duo flushed.

Shit.

"Ah… give me one second?" He stepped away from the door and tried to wipe the chalkboard clean using only his hand.

"You call me the bossy sexy fuck toy?"

Trowa had stepped into the apartment and was looking at Duo in amusement.

"Um."

There was no easy way to get out of this.

Of course he called Trowa the bossy sexy fuck toy - though, to be fair, that had been Hilde's label when Duo told her about the events of Halloween night - but he couldn't just acknowledge that.

"What do you call Heero?"

Trowa sounded far more amused than irritated.

"Um."

Duo felt himself blush and he felt like an idiot. He was twenty seven. Twenty seven year old men did not blush.

Trowa looked even more amused.

"Pretty cock fuck toy," Duo admitted.

Trowa's lips twitched but then he nodded.

"Heero does have a pretty cock," he agreed.

Duo leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Please tell me this is a dream or an exhaustion induced hallucination."

"I don't know, do your dreams normally feature bossy sexy fuck toy bringing over pancakes and hot chocolate?"

Duo sniffed the air. He could smell both and he felt his mouth water.

"No. Usually my dreams about bossy sexy fuck toy have nothing to do with food."

They stared at each other for a long moment and if Duo hadn't been exhausted, if he hadn't last showered three days ago, he might have tried to keep flirting. But as it was -

He lifted his hand to cover a jaw popping yawn.

"Why do you want to watch Good Morning America?" Duo asked after he had finished.

"Heero's on it this morning."

"Oh. Oh - that's cool." Duo frowned and thought back to that night two weeks ago, to Trowa and Heero's apartment. "You don't have a television?"

"We do, but no cable."

"Oh - why didn't you just go down to the studio with him?"

Trowa gave him a look.

"Because he hates to give interviews and he's convinced he's going to embarrass himself and he doesn't want me to witness it."

"So you're determined to watch."

"I don't want to see him embarrass himself. But I'm a fan of his. I want to watch him live on national television." Trowa hesitated. "Hilde said it wouldn't be a problem. She said you would get back in town last night and -"

"This morning. Two hours ago."

Trowa winced.

"I'm sorry."

Duo waved a hand.

"Don't worry about it. Uh… I guess come in. Television is that way… kitchen's over there if you wanted to eat your pancakes."

"You're not going to join me?" Trowa sounded disappointed and a little hurt.

"I -" Duo stumbled on his excuses. He hadn't slept in days. He had survived the flight from hell. He wasn't a morning person even when he had slept. He didn't like Good Morning America.

But Trowa's green eyes more or less made his mind go blank.

"Just let me put on some pants," he said instead.

Trowa smirked and looked over Duo's naked chest and further down, eyes lingering on the front of his boxer briefs.

"If you insist."

"It's cold," Duo muttered, stupidly pleased that Trowa was ogling him.

When he came back to the living room he was wearing sweatpants and a black, long sleeved t-shirt. He found that Trowa had been busy.

The coffee table was laid out with pancakes, butter, syrup that Duo didn't even know they had, plates, silverware and two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. It looked like heaven.

Trowa was surfing through the television, trying to find the right channel, and when he found the show he sat down on the couch beside Duo.

"This looks amazing."

"Hilde told me you had a weakness for pancakes and hot chocolate."

Duo nodded and then sighed when he took a bite of the pancakes.

"Oh my god they're lavender. You made lavender pancakes?"

Trowa smirked.

"Hilde said you'd had them once six years ago and hadn't shut up about them since."

Duo picked up his plate and sniffed it, inhaling deeply.

"Holy fuck, I love you. Seriously. I don't care what kind of long term committed relationship you have to Heero. Leave him for me. Today. Please. Spend the rest of your life making these for me and I swear I will do my best to make you happy."

"Tempting offer," Trowa laughed.

They watched the opening segment of the show and listened as the guests were listed.

"Damn. Sounds like he won't be on for a while," Trowa sighed when Heero's name was mentioned last as the 'talented young author with a new book coming out next week.'

"I didn't realize he had a new book," Duo said, feeling silly.

"Finding North," Trowa said. "We'll see if anyone wants to turn it into a hetero-love story movie." He sounded a little bitter, and Duo supposed that the negotiations for film rights to Heero's other book, Out at Home, weren't going so well.

"Finding North?" Duo thought about the compass tattoos both Trowa and Heero had. He wondered if he was related to that.

"It's… a coming of age story about a young writer falling in love with an artist and coming out," Trowa sighed and Duo couldn't tell if he was frustrated or not. "It's good. Better than Out at Home - and that was a great book."

"It sounds…"

"Vaguely autobiographical?" Trowa supplied and he shrugged. "It is. Heavily fictionalized and with a lot better dialogue than Heero and I ever managed."

"So you're telling me that if I read it I'll get to learn about how you guys met."

"Yeah. Or you could just ask and get the real version."

Duo finished up his pancakes and hot chocolate and settled back on the couch beside Trowa. Neither of them were watching the show.

"So. How did you two meet?"

Trowa rolled his eyes.

"He was a model in my advanced life drawing class."

"And you fell in love with his pretty cock."

"No. I fell in love with his spine. The base of it, specifically."

Duo couldn't help but remember that that was where Heero's compass tattoo was located.

"So. You saw the base of his spine and it was love at first sight."

Trowa gave him a look.

"I asked him to model for me. I was doing a series and I just couldn't get the back right and he was perfect. We spent a few weeks together and… yeah. We fell in love."

"And you're okay with people reading about it?"

Trowa shrugged.

"Heero changed a lot and it's a good story. We talked about it. It's… yeah. I'm okay with people reading about it."

Duo felt a small surge of envy for the fact that Heero and Trowa had a love story so good it was worth publishing. Whereas the only love story Duo was involved in was with his bed. His bed.

Now that he was warm and full of pancakes and hot chocolate Duo felt the lure of sleep more strongly than ever.

Trowa noticed his eyes start to droop.

"Going to take a nap?"

"Hm. Yeah. Wake me when he's on." Duo curled into one corner of the couch.

Trowa chuckled and draped the blanket over him.

"Thanks," Duo yawned and then closed his eyes.

-o-

When he woke up again, Trowa was saying his name softly and Duo blinked awake slowly.

He had shifted, had somehow moved from his corner of the couch and was now laying against Trowa's side, the other man's right arm draped around his shoulders.

Duo tensed for a moment.

"I guess I moved."

"Yeah." Trowa tapped his fingers on Duo's shoulder. "Don't worry about it - Heero's on."

Duo focused on the television and tried very hard not to think about how good Trowa smelled.

Heero looked handsome and deeply uncomfortable. He was wearing dark gray trousers, a blue v-neck shirt and a black cardigan. He looked casual and handsome and Duo looked up to see Trowa smiling fondly at the television.

"Heero, you've made something of a name for yourself writing gay love stories."

It didn't sound like much of a question, and the look on Heero's face was far from neutral.

"Jesus. This is going to be a disaster," Trowa muttered.

"Yes," Heero said after a lengthy pause.

"And… why is it that you write in that genre?"

Heero stared at the woman who had asked the question and for a moment it looked as though he was going to say something scathing. Duo felt Trowa tense against him.

"It's an underrepresented genre, at least in mainstream fiction, and it's one that I feel passionate about. As a gay man it's easy enough to find gay erotica, but more challenging to find good, meaningful fiction where the romance isn't just a cut scene between creative sex."

Heero's answer seemed to take the interviewer aback.

Duo laughed.

"Damn. That was good."

"Do you consider yourself a role model for young gay men?"

Heero frowned and he shrugged.

"Not particularly. I write what I write because I want to. There's not much about me that someone can model themselves after - the only reason I'm dressed this well is because my fiance picked out my clothes for me last night."

That garnered a laugh from the interviewer and a chuckle from Trowa.

Fiance.

The word did something strange to Duo.

He sat up and moved away from Trowa and back to his corner of the couch.

Trowa glanced at him, but the interviewer was talking to Heero again.

"And what does your fiance think about your fame?"

"He's happy for me, obviously," Heero said, still sounding a bit irritated at the inane questions.

"And what are your Thanksgiving plans?"

Heero shrugged.

"We'll spend the holiday with friends and family and make sure everyone buys copies of my book."

Another laugh from the interviewer.

"And this book, Finding North. It's about a young writer coming to terms with his sexuality. How autobiographical is this book?"

Heero shrugged.

"Not very. I think most writers use our craft to… put some piece of ourselves out there into the world, and I certainly have things in common with Daniel, the protagonist. But Finding North is his story, not mine."

"What can we expect from you next, Heero?"

"I suppose that depends entirely on how well this book sells," Heero said with a slight smirk. "But I'm working on a few projects at the moment. We'll see what comes of them."

"Well, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us this morning. Heero Yuy, author of Out at Home. His new book, Finding North, comes out next week."

They shook hands and then the show cut away to a commercial break.

Trowa arched an eyebrow at Duo.

"Something upset you."

"What? No. No. Sorry. Just… tired. He did well." Duo nodded at the television, desperate to not talk about the fact that Heero and Trowa's engagement felt like a sucker punch.

And why?

Why did it bother him so much?

It had been one night, two weeks ago. And maybe Duo had spent a good chunk of time in the two weeks since remembering that night, thinking about each of them, wishing it could happen again, wishing he could somehow wedge himself into their lives.

After a few rounds of fantastic sex that had left them all tired and Duo suspected sore, Trowa had made coffee and omelets for them, Heero had loaned Duo sweatpants so that he didn't have to climb back into his bodysuit, and the three of them had sat in their kitchen talking for hours. It had been the best night Duo had ever spent with anyone, not even counting the amazing sex, and he felt a lonely ache whenever he thought back to it.

"Yeah, I'll have to reward him for not biting her head off."

Duo offered a weak smile when Trowa smirked at him.

Trowa looked him over, seemingly trying to figure out what was wrong.

"You look exhausted. I'll let you finally get some decent sleep."

"Oh. Ah - thanks."

Duo stood up and helped Trowa clear away the food, packing everything into the dishwasher so he could deal with it later.

"I appreciate you letting me watch him," Trowa said as he lingered at the door.

"No problem. I appreciate the bribes. And it was good to see him - to know he's getting attention."

Trowa nodded.

"He's worked hard for it."

"Not to mention he's incredibly talented."

"That too," Trowa agreed.

He seemed on the verge of saying something but then he shook his head.

"Thanks again."

He started to walk away and Duo started to close the door.

"Wait."

Trowa came back.

"Yeah?"

"It was the fiance thing, wasn't it? It bothered you when he said that."

Duo thought about lying or deflecting, but he clearly took too long to decide what to say.

Trowa nodded.

"I thought so."

"Look, it's - I'm really happy for you two. You seem like a great couple and I hope you're very, very happy together and -"

"Heero hates the term partner," Trowa interrupted Duo.

"What?"

"Heero hates the term partner. He thinks it sounds like we're in business together and he doesn't like to say it. I think boyfriend sounds like we're in high school. And lover isn't PC enough for him to say in interviews so we decided on fiance."

"Oh. So… you two aren't getting married?"

Trowa shrugged.

"We've been together for seven years. He's the man I want to spend the rest of my life with and he feels the same way about me but we're not that crazy about the idea of marriage."

Duo arched an eyebrow.

"Our parents are divorced. His mother has been remarried three times after Heero's father died. Marriage isn't… something we believe in all that much."

"And one night stands with your neighbor? Those are something you believe in?"

Duo shouldn't have asked. Should have kept his mouth shut and let his bruised heart hold out hope that not believing in marriage meant a chance to spend more time with Heero and Trowa. He shouldn't have said those words out loud, however.

"I can't really speak for pretty cock fuck toy," Trowa said, his voice somehow sounding amused and irritated at the same time, "but as I told you that night, we aren't in the habit of asking people to join us."

Duo nodded. He felt like an ass.

"Yeah. No. You said that. I - I don't even know what I'm trying to say anymore."

He needed sleep. He needed sleep and he needed a night of amazing sex and even more amazing conversation so that he could forget about Heero and Trowa.

"I'm sorry," Trowa said.

"For what?" Duo asked with a frown.

"I'm not sure, but I feel like I should be sorry for something."

Duo had to laugh at Trowa's honesty.

"Oh. Damn. Uh, well, thanks for that. I… I really need to get some sleep. It was good to see you again," he added when Trowa nodded and started to walk away again.

Trowa turned and smiled at him, a soft, genuine expression that made his eyes light up.

"It was good to see you too," Trowa said.

Duo closed the door and he leaned back against it.

Fuck.

He was fucked.