A.N.: I'm not going to repeat the whole long note from the beginning of the story, but let's see… for this part we need a language warning for Duo's pottymouth. And of course, this is 2xH, so if you don't approve of the pairing… I warned you.

Disclaimer: This is a sad disclaimer indeed. Not only do I not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, but I don't even own the song! "All My Friends Say" is by Luke Bryan, and the three other songs that you'll find references to in this story have their singers listed. I don't really own anything… except this old decrepit computer.

Dedication: This story is dedicated to my Linguistics, Spanish, and Organic Chemistry professors because it is only due to them that I've actually finished this story. I want to thank them for having classes that are so boring that if I didn't use the time to write, I'd probably go crazy. Thanks!

Italics mean thoughts, --- comes before and after lyrics

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All My Friends Say (by Luke Bryan)

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"I was Elvis rocking on the bar,
Working the crowd pouring out my heart."
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It started by focusing on me. I was really throwing those shots back. Seeing it made my head hurt more. Heero was sitting next to me at the bar, calmly drinking a beer and completely ignoring me. On my other side was Quatre. He looked like he was trying to talk me out of drinking myself into a stupor.

Trowa's shoulder was visible on the side of the screen, and Wufei was obviously holding the camera. Trowa must have given him a look or something (I doubted he had talked) because Wufei commented, "What? You know Duo. After drinking this much he's going to do something embarrassing, and I want proof."

The camera swung around to the other side of the room and my heart stopped. It was my Hilde. Seeing her there with that big brute, who I assumed was Robert, with his arm around her protectively almost made me want to go get the beer out of the fridge and join my on-screen self in drinking.

But my Hilde was just too beautiful. I couldn't keep my eyes on her scumbag date. She was looking at me! Well, at me in the video. At me drinking myself under the table.

I signed. Was it at this point that I had started bawling?

Suddenly a commotion started off screen and Wufei quickly swung around to film it. The rapid camera movement made my already pounding head spin for a moment, but when it cleared, I saw myself standing on the bar.

"Oh great, what now?"

On-screen Duo started dancing to the loud music in the club. Wow, I was really going at it too. I had always been a pretty good dancer, at least in my opinion, and the alcohol had removed all my inhibitions, or at least the few that I had. I was really showing off my moves.

"Yeah, go me go. Wow Wufei, you suck at blackmail. This isn't embarrassing, it's impressive!"

After dancing for some time, I seemed to get bored with it. "DJ! Yo! Stop! Cut the music!"

"Oh no Duo, what are you doing?" I asked my on-screen self.

The music was cut

"Come on DJ, play me something I can sing to. I've got quite an audience here!" on-screen Duo shouted.

"No! Damnit, you can't sing! Don't do it DJ!" I begged futilely, knowing the DJ in the video couldn't hear me.

The guy manning the music chuckled. "I've got just the song for you."

Wufei zoomed in so that I could see the man reach for a box that looked like it hadn't been touched in a while that said "Oldies" in big black letters.

He flipped out an album and put it on.

I heard the music start.

"Oh no, he didn't! He couldn't have!" I gasped at the screen.

The vocals of the music started: "That, that Dude looks like a lady; That, that Dude looks like a lady," ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" by Aerosmith).

"He's making fun of the braid!" I yelled at the screen, unconsciously clenching my fists, "Come on man, I hope you tackle him or something!"

But no, my on-screen counterpart completely failed to defend my braid. In fact, he didn't even notice that he was being made fun of. He started singing along!

I groaned as the sounds of my somewhat off-tone voice got amplified by the microphone someone had handed to me and I sang along to all the lyrics.

"Why, why did I listen to that Oldies channel I could pick up on Deathscythe's communications system? If I hadn't, I never would have known the words to this song!" I moaned.

But I had to hand it to myself. I really wasn't that bad. Sure, I wasn't the greatest singer out there, but I wasn't dismal either.

As the song finished I heard a knock at the door. "What? Who could that be?"

I started to get up, but then decided against it. I couldn't answer the door like this. I wasn't dressed, and my hair was everywhere, and my head was pounding. Normally I wouldn't have cared, but I really didn't feel like company at the moment.

The pounding got louder, and I didn't think it was just in my head. Wow, someone was really determined to get in. Finally it stopped. Just as I was about to start the video again, I heard the lock in the door turn. What? No one has a key to this house. Well, no one except…

"Hilde?"

"Hey Duo, I just wanted to check on you. Oh, I'm really sorry I just barged in," she paused awkwardly, noticing that I wasn't quite in the state to entertain visitors. But then she sat down decisively on the couch.

I was glad she didn't say anything about not being wanted. Heaven knows I wanted her there. And it would have made me feel terrible to feel like she didn't feel at home in her own house.

"Nah, it's your house babe. So, what brings you here?"

"I was just worried about you Duo, I wanted to make sure you were okay. You drank a lot last night and," she giggled, "You look pretty terrible."

I smiled, "So I've heard. Thanks for reminding me."

She smiled back.

The pounding of my heart almost drowned out the pounding in my head. Damn, why did she always have this effect on me?

"So, what are you watching?"

Damn! She had seen the TV. "Nothing!" I said hastily as tried to turn it off, but she wrestled the remote out of my hands.

"It's you! It's you last night! You can't stop now, you're getting to the best part!" she exclaimed, pushing the play button.

I really would have rather she did not see me make a drunken fool of myself… again, and the crying must still be on its way, but I figured she had already seen it last night. And it was nice to be able to sit here on the couch with here like the old days before she left.

I was somewhat frightened though. She had said the best part was coming up? What was that? Hilde had always liked it best when I made a fool of myself. I remembered doing all sorts of crazy things to make her laugh.

I turned my attention back to the TV. I was making a big finale to the song, and I grimaced at hearing myself basically howling out the last note.

The crowd was loving it though. I figured it was probably because they were too drunk to know what good singing was.

Hilde giggled.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?" I asked playfully.

"I'm laughing at you, you big doofus!"

"Hey, be careful babe, don't taunt the God of Death!"

"Right, I'm so scared," she answered sarcastically.

"You asked for it!" I tickled her ribs.

Hilde screamed with laughter. She was ridiculously ticklish, as I had learned from living with her for like 3 years. I mercifully stopped shortly afterwards, not wanting to make her angry now that she had finally come to visit me.

As soon as she managed to catch her breath, she punched me in the arm.

"Oww!" I yelped, happy to be friends with Hilde again.

"You're such a … dummkopf! Stop pestering me and watch the video, you're missing the best part!" she responded playfully.

I loved it when she spoke German, it was really cute.

I turned my attention back to the screen once again, thinking how hard it was to concentrate with Hilde sitting next to me. But when Hilde turned the volume up, my jaw dropped.

"Man! I feel like a woman! Yeehaw!" Duo hollered on-screen.

I groaned. This DJ had to die.

Hilde was laughing again. "No Duo, you have to watch! This is the best part!"

Fearfully, I looked back at the screen.

"We don't need romance, we only wanna dance

We're gonna let our hair hang down.

The best thing about being a woman,

Is the prerogative to have a little fun, fun, fun!

Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy, forget I'm a lady"

("Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" by Shania Twain)

My eyes widened as I saw on-screen Duo reach behind himself. The meaning of one of the lines I had just heard hit me. I reached behind myself, remembering that my hair had gotten loose and out of the braid.

"Oh no," I whispered, "No, don't do it…" I begged my on-stage self.

But I couldn't stop it from happening. I watched myself pull the hair tie out of my hair and throw it across the room.

"Oh God no," I begged.

"Oh yes," Hilde giggled evilly.

On the TV, I was busy running my fingers through my hair, freeing it from the braid.

"Oh, oh, oh totally crazy
Forget I'm a lady
Men's shirt - short skirts

Oh, oh, oh I wanna be free
Yeah, to feel the way I feel
Man! I feel like a woman!"

I sighed. There I was, hair free flowing, shaking my hips to the music, and singing about feeling like a woman. "You win, Wufei, this really is good blackmail," I conceded.

Hilde looked at me sympathetically, "Well, a least you have a nice voice Duo. Although you sound better when you sing in the shower."

"What? How do you know that? You stalker!"

"Oh come on, how many years did we have to share a bathroom? Of course I heard you sing in the shower."

"I didn't mind sharing a bathroom," I muttered.

She looked at me thoughtfully.

I looked at the TV, trying to hide how much I missed her. On screen, I was on my knees making a big finale.

Hilde, seeing that the song was almost over, yelped and quickly hit the "Pause" button.

I looked at her questioningly, "What? What's coming next?"

"Oh nothing Duo, I just… I need to talk to you."

"Yeah?" I asked. I could tell this was going to be really bad.

"Well, the real reason I came to see you, apart from wanting to check on you, was… I just had to know. You know, it's completely okay if you were just… kidding. I'm not going to be angry or anything, I just have to know." She stopped and looked at her hands in her lap.

I waited a couple minutes but, seeing as she wasn't saying anything else, asked, "Well?"

She looked up, startled. "Did you mean it when you said… what you told me last night?"

"Babe, you'll have to be more specific than that, I don't remember anything from last night."

"Oh," she said uncomfortably. She looked unsure. I saw her glance at the door, back at me, and finally at the paused TV. That seemed to make up her mind.

"You said…" she looked into my eyes and paused for a moment before going on, "You said you loved me," she finished quietly.

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A.N.: And there's part 2! Sorry about the cliffhanger ending… maybe it'll make you curious enough to want to read the next part! There's only one more part and an epilogue left to come. Hope you enjoyed it!