They made an appointment to sign the marriage license the following week.
It was a great relief to know that he was safe, and all that was left was to move into Wufei's apartment. That was probably the best thing that came out of the whole mess. Duo was eager to get it done and as soon as they had a day off they started packing up his things. Not that there were all that much to pack, since Duo's one room apartment was pretty small.
Wufei dropped a couple of empty boxes down next to the door. "God, this is a dump."
"It's not." Duo stated as he pushed his way past him to put his own pile of boxes down.
"It is. The wallpaper is falling off, the linoleum isn't properly glueddown and I can feel a breeze all the way from across the room, coming from the closed window." Wufei ranted, stepping on a air bubble under the plastic floor. "Seriously, I never wondered why you would rather be over at my house all the time because one look at this place told me everything."
Duo didn't say anything. The state of his apartment really was the last reason that he spent so little time in it. But the real reason was something that Duo was going to take with him to his grave.
"Even the celling is bad." Wufei continued in outrage.
Duo rolled his eyes as he started to take some photo frames down from the wall. "There's just a few cracks."
"Deep cracks and water damage." Wufei shot back. "Name one good thing about this place."
Duo thought for a second. "The neighbors are nice."
"Your neighbors are drug dealers."
"That doesn't mean that they'rebad people."
Wufei just closed his eyes, mumbling what sounded like a pray for strength. "Well, you are leaving it all now. Come on, let's get started."
"I already have." He said, waving a picture of Relena and Heero's wedding around. "You're the one who keeps talking."
Wufei didn't say another word, he just grabbed a couple of boxes and went into the kitchen to start packing. He wrapped newspaper around all the glasses and the plates, carefully placing then in the boxes so nothing would break.
Duo, who had no patience for that started with the linen closet, dumping everything down in boxes.
He paused at the sound of disgusted and slam as the refrigerator door were closed.
He was just about to ask what was going on when Wufei appeared next to him.
"You are emptying out the refrigerator because I'm not going near that thing until it's cleaned with chlorine." Wufei declared with a grim look on his face.
Duo frowned. It wasn't that long ago since he was here, was it? "Fine." He got to his feet, walking past his friend into the kitchen.
He opened the white door, expecting to find some mold on a piece of cheese at the most. That was not the case.
A rank, rotting smell slammed into his face, forcing it's way into his nose like a demon ready to possess him.
Making sure no to breathe, Duo took a look inside the refrigerator. There were two milk packages that he couldn't remember buying, some moldy leftover pizza, some fruit given to him by Wufei and a green lump lying on his cheese plate. He closed the door.
"Maybe I can just buy a new refrigerator." He said, looking over at Wufei.
The otherman crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway. "You don't have that kind of money. Besides, the cleaning will do you good. Maybe you will learn something."
His friend just looked too pleased with himself and Duo couldn't help but react. "Learn? Maybe I'll learn to love it, what do you say Wufei? Maybe we should bring some with us."
Wufei grimaced like he could smell the stench through the refrigerator door. "Never."
"You just don't understand how sexy rotting food can be."
Wufei's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open in chock. "Sexy?! You are losing it."
Duo got the 'cheese' out. "Just look at it." He pushed the plate up in Wufei's face. His friend gagged and flinched away. "'It's all soft and fluffy. It just wants to cuddle, no bad touches for this little princess."
Wufei lifted his arm up over his face, retreating further into the kitchen.
Duo turned back to the refrigerator, getting a soft brown banana out while he dropped the cheese into the trash. "Now this bad boy on the other hand, he likes to have fun." He stroke it seductively while Wufei seemed to throw up a little in his mouth. He walked towards his friend who carefully sidestepped to the other side of the kitchen table to get away. "Just look at him, this one just screams 'give it to me, give it to me hard!' Feel it?" He asked, throwing the banana at Wufei. The Asian screeched like a teenage girl and jumped to the side. The fruit hit the wall with a wet smack as it broke, leaving a sticky brown mess running down the wall.
Wufei was starting to look green.
"That was nothing, just wait until you meet the sexy beast 'milk carton.' He'll blow your mind when you see his thick, white cream come flowing out."
Wufei looked absolutely disgusted, not to mention scared, when Duo went back to the refrigerator, getting one of the milk cartons out.
Luckily for him, the phone rang and Duo took a detour.
"Duo Maxwell's house of food and seduction how may I help you?" Duo moaned seductively at the same time as he tipped the milk carton upside down. He leered at Wufei when the other teen, clearly against his better judgment, watched the content fall out in thick lumps in the sink. Wufei was going from green to white, much to Duo's amusement.
"How come I got to hear about the wedding of two of my best friends through my girlfriend?"
Duo flinched, glancing over at Wufei. "Sorry Quatre." He turned on the water, washing away the lumps before turning his back to it, nervously shifting from one foot to the other. "It was just that we- because we-" Duo thought desperately, he really should have though out a explanation for all this. Because really, he knew that the cat would get out off the bag sooner or later.
"I didn't even know that the two of you were involved." Quatre ranted angrily.
"Um..."
"And then my girlfriend tells me that two of my best friends, who I have known since I was fifteen, were getting married!"
"I-..."
"You didn't feel any need to tell your friends this?!"
"Well..." Duo squirmed unhappily.
With a aggressive mumble, Wufei pulled the phone out off his hand. "Are you trying to give my fiancé a guilty conscience?"
Duo gave his friend a grateful look as Wufei took over. "No, I do not believe we have any obligations to do that." Wufei sighed. "Yes, of course we do."
Duo lifted himself up on the counter and sat there, observing as his friend passed back and forth over the kitchen floor.
"No, we are not. No." Wufei sighed deeply. "No....No, not at the moment.... No...No...No!" Wufei growled. "Winner, we do not- No!" Wufei shouted, coming to a stop in the middle of the floor, looking furious. "No...fine." With that he hung up. "Quatre is going to be hosting our engagement party on Friday over at his house." He said as he dumped the phone back into the charger.
Duo's jaw dropped. "An engagement party?! Why did you agree to that?"
"Believe me, the alternative was a lot worse." Wufei muttered as he stalked out off the room.
Duo jumped down, moving back to the sink to take care of the milk carton. If Wufei said it could have been worse, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. So really, how bad could it be?
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
It was bad. Very bad.
He was quite grateful that Wufei had talked him out of wearing the worn-out jeans and black t-shirt that he first planed to wear, because he would have looked like a slob among all the suits and fancy dresses.
There were a lot of people at 'their' party and Duo was surprised to see that he knew them all. Well, those he didn't know, he knew of. He suspected that Quatre had made a copy of the old take out flyer that Duo used to scribble down all the phone numbers he used on a regular basic and used it as a invitation list. That would explain why his dentist was standing further away, talking to Charlie who worked in the storage roomat work.
He had lost Wufei about half an hour ago to Heero who wanted to talkshop. The paranoid bastard didn't want any unauthorized people within hearing, that included Duo. Like Wufei wasn't going to tell him everything if he just asked.
The engagement party were being held in one of the smaller ballrooms in the Winner mansion. It was still over-the-top classy, like Quatre had totally forgotten how to have a small party with just your closest friends. Thank God Wufei had managed to talk Quatre out of a three course dinner and instead there was simply a snack table and waiters running all over the place serving alcohol.
Duo who had been too nervous to eat before they left, now eyed the snack table, searching for something that looked edible. In the corner of his eye, he saw how Quatre just about skipped over to him, smiling brightly. "So, when is the big day?" The blond asked in excitement, almost like he was the one who was going to get married.
Duo busied himself with the food in front of him. "Oh. We are not having an actual wedding, we are just going to sign the papers and get it over with."
"You are not having a wedding?" Quatre asked in a heart-broken voice. "But- but Duo, you love weddings. You told me that you always wanted to have one where you could invite all your friends to share your happiness."
Duo did remember telling Quatre that. Damn it. "Well, things change and- and I don't think a wedding would be quite right between Wufei and I."
"But why?"
"I- we're just... different and- and we- and... It doesn't matter. It's..." Duo desperately tried to find words that wasn't a lie because god knows that he really wanted to have that wedding he always dreamed of with the man he loved. "We are just not having one. Now if you excuse me, I have to go talk to someone." He hurried away, leaving a confused Quatre behind.
He decided that he really was not confronting Quatre until he had figured out an explanation. He should just find Wufei so that he could hid behind him. He started searching, but didn't get far as someone called out his name.
He turned towards the voice in dread.
Fuck. Quatre really did invite everyone. Even those that were crossed out.
"Hello Duo, I must say it was a surprised to get this invitation. Didn't expect you to get married. " The tall, handsome brunette in front of him smiled charmingly. "This is my wife, Melody." He introduced the beautiful woman standing next to him. "Melody, this is Duo Maxwell, an old friend."
Duo repressed a flinch as those words burned him like acid. So, that's what he was. An "old friend" who Rick used to date on the side. Something that he had failed to tell both his wife and Duo. This was why he knew exactly how much he had hurt Hilde, because Rick had done the same thing to him. The only difference was that Duo had found out when he called Rick's cell phone only to have his fucking wife answer the phone. He wondered what was worse, finding out that your man had another, or to find out that your man was not yours because you were the other one.
She smiled and shook his hand. She was slightly taller then him in her thin high heels, wearing an elegant knee high dress, her long blond hair braided neatly as it fell over her shoulder. A lot neater then his hair could ever accomplish.
He glanced over at Rick who was smiling smugly. He could tell that his ex knew that he wasn't going to say anything, that he would be too ashamed to make a scene. The bastard always liked to play dangerous games, liked to have Duo over at his house when the wife wasn't there, enjoyed insinuating sex where there was a chance that they would get spotted. It took a lot of guts, or stupidity, depending on how you saw it, to bring your wife to your ex 'mistress's engagement party. But Rick knew that he had too much pride to come of as the jealous ex-boyfriend, he refused to sink that low.
Just then Wufei appeared next to him, looking grim. "I need a word with you."
Duo felt himself start to relax. Whatever Wufei was upset about could wait. Right now he just really needed to show his ex that he had moved on and was perfectly happy without him and that his betrayal had not destroyed almost all his belief in the human race.
Rick had been his first relationship after coming out of the closet. He had been pretty messed up over Hilde, over being shot down by Wufei once again, over the fucking war that was still hanging over his head. He had been barely seventeen and drifting from one place to another, only to be drawn back to Wufei like a masochist, because he just could not stay away. Rick was twenty-seven with a well paying job, a nice car and a charming personality. He had his life perfectly in control in a way that was foreign to someone who was still a homeless kid at heart.
Duo smiled tightly. "Of course, let me just introduce you to Rick Ivory and his wife Melody. Rick is... an old friend of mine."
He could see the instant recognition in Wufei's eyes. It didn't surprise him since he had almost been living over at Wufei's place the month after he found out the truth about Rick. He had not wanted to be alone after that. Hell, he didn't trust himself to be alone, not knowing what the hurt and sorrow would make him do.
"Ah, it's nice to finally meet you." Wufei said pleasantly, shaking Ricks hand. "I do believe I have a lot to thank you for. Your loss is my gain and all of that." Wufei smiled pleasantly as he wrapped an arm around Duo's waist, pulling him close.
Rick looked slightly alarmed, like he had not expected Duo to tell anyone. In a way he was right because Duo had not told anyone voluntarily, but Rick had not taken Wufei's determination in to the calculation. Duo watched in satisfaction as Rick started to look more and more nervous, whilethe wife just looked confused.
Knowing Wufei and his constant struggle for justice, that confusion would not last for long.
Wufei turned to Melody with a ruthless smile. "I have actually wanted to meet you for some time now."
The blond smiled uncertainly back, clearly sensing the tension in the air. "Oh?"
"Yes, I find you very fascinating. You must be a very open and understanding woman. Personally I could never handle sharing my husband with another man, but I suppose you are stronger then me in that aspect. I couldn't share him for anything in the world." Wufei pulled Duo a little closed and kissed his temple possessively. Duo felt himself melt in his friends arm as the illusion of love rushed over him.
The woman turned burning eyes towards her husband.
"Well it was very nice to meet you." Wufei said, pleasantly, shaking her slack hand. "But if you would excuse us. I have to speak to my fiancé for a moment." With a smile, Wufei gripped his elbow tightly and led him away. Duo couldn't help but grin as he heard Melody's low angry voice rip her husband a new one. He was so pleased that he barely noticed as Wufei pulled out from the ball room and into an open door on the other side of the hallway. Duo had a second to take in the elegant looking library around them before Wufei twirled him around, barely a second after the door closed behind them.
"Would you mind explaining to me why I just got chowed out by Quatre for being a selfish jerk for not giving you the wedding you wanted?" Wufei asked angrily, glowering at him.
Duo groaned, rubbing his forehead. This was the last thing he needed. "I'm sorry, I'll talk to him."
"I already did, I told him we were saving our money for the honeymoon."
Duo stared. "Are you out of your mind?!" He hissed. "You told the third richest man in the galaxy that the only reason we weren't having my dream wedding was because of money? I can' believe this, what were you thinking?!"
"I wasn't!" Wufei exploded. "I didn't have time to! Some warning about how your life-long wish was to have some kind of fairy tale wedding would have been nice. He treated me like I was the scum of the universe, ranting about how selfish I was and how I didn't deserve you while I was trying to understand what the fuck was going on!"
"Well I didn't know he was going to go off and defend my honor!"
"Well if you want this to work then you better start telling me these things so that I know how to respond or you can just find yourself someone else to-" Wufei cut himself off, bitting his jaw closed, taking a deep breath. "We have to work together on this, okay?"
Duo nodded
"Okay. Right." Wufei rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. "Anything else I should know before we go out there?"
There really was only one thing that Wufei should know before walking back in to their engagement party, but 'I'm in love with you' might not be the brightest thing to say tell his aggravated friend right now... or at all. "I don't like champagne and if you run in to a man named Frederico Loreto, pretend like I've said a lot of good things about him. He's my very vain boss and I could use the promotion. And if you bring me anything from the snack table, make sure there are no shrimp on it, because I'm allergic. You?"
"I'll eat and drink anything, I know four or five people out there depending on if Trowa has arrived yet and you already know all of them. "
"Right, come on then. Let's just go out there and do the best of the situation." He said, taking Wufei's hand in his just because he could, before they walked back into the hall.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Duo was normally a very social person but at the moment he just wanted to hide somewhere dark.
His friends were all around him, cornering him, telling him how happy they were for him, wondering why they had been keeping their relationship a secret. He was wearing himself out trying to side-step the truth without getting too close to the lies. He took cover next to Wufei, letting him fend of most of the well wishes. He just wasn't up to dancing around the truth, especially with his friends and he happily let Wufei do all the talking.
Holding Wufei's hand was turning in to one of his new favorite things. Not only was it very comforting, but Wufei could communicate so well through his hand. Duo could tell when he was annoyed or holding in laughter. Not to mention that Wufei would playfully wiggle his fingers when he was lying his ass off or making fun of someone in that dry way that people didn't even notice that he was mocking them. More than a few times, Duo had to stop himself from laughing out loud when some poor clueless person was more or less declared an idiot by a calmly smiling Wufei.
Duo let himself be led around the room, carefully avoiding Quatre since he really wasn't in the mood to face him just yet.
One of the waiters paused at his side, offering him a drink but Duo didn't dare to accept it. He had a habit of propositioning Wufei when ever he got drunk. It would probably look more then a little strange if he tried to come on to his fiancé who in turn did everything to get away. Not to mention that it was embarrassing as hell the next day.
All the conversations slowly came to a stop as Quatre got up on a chair in the middle of the room, holding his champagne glass up high. "On the behalf of the lucky couple, I would like to thank everyone for coming to this celebration. No one is happier then me to know that my dear friends have found happiness together." Duo decided to tune out. He was not one to enjoy fancy words and such, preferring when people just said what they meant. He returned his focus when it seamed like Quatre was reaching the end of his speech. "Therefor, to make sure that everything will be perfect..." The blond paused, looking please with himself. "We are all going to Caribbean for the wedding, all expenses paid!" Quatre announced with a grin.
All around them, people cheered loudly.
"I propose a toast for the soon to be married couple. To Duo and Wufei!"
The crowd happily repeated the toast.
In the corner of his eye he saw Wufei start to sway. Feeling numb he wrapped an arm around Wufei's waist to hold him steady. "Smile, it's all we can do for now." Duo whispered urgently as he pretended to give Wufei a kiss on the cheek, before turning back to their friends with a stained smile on his lips. This was not going to end well.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
They both returned to Wufei's apartment after the party. By that time the shock was passing, leaving room for a floodgate of mixed emotions. Duo was flattered that his friend would go through so much trouble for something that Duo had told him on a whim over four years ago. But at the same time he cursed the meddling blond for doing this to them. Wufei seemed to agree with him.
"I can't believe Winner did this to us." Wufei shuffled through the many brochures that Quatre had given them of the hotel that he had rented somewhere between bitting Wufei's head off and the speech. The guy really had too much money onhis hands.
Duo kicked his shoes off under the coffee table as he sank down in a black leather armchairs. "I can. Money is nothing to the guy, haven't you noticed?"
Wufei leaned against the couch back, staring on the pile on the table. "I haven't really seen Winner all that much these last few years."
Duo lazily opened the top buttons on his shirt, happy that he never put on a tie. "Really? Why?"
Wufei shrugged half heartedly and picked up one of the folded papers. "In exception of Yuy, who I meet every now and then for missions, you are the only one I kept in contact with." Wufei unfolded a glossy brochures that had a picture of a happily smiling bride standing on a beach with a impressive sunset in the background. The words 'This Could Be Your Special Day' was printed all over the top.
Duo swallowed, trying not to read anything into his friend's words. Wufei had always preferring to stay a bit in the background instead of interacting with people, but to know that he was the only one of the pilots that Wufei spent time with sent a thrilled feeling through his body. "We just have to think positive, we get a free trip and a great excuse to take time off work."
Wufei just grunted as he read.
Duo sighed and got to his feet. The snacks that had been served at the party were not enough to fill him, not by a long shot. Luckily for him, Wufei always had food in his refrigerator. He wandered in to the spotless kitchen and over to the refrigerator. The many glass bottles standing on shelves on the door rattled as he opened it. Carelessly he took out the first familiar plastic box he could find. He didn't bothering reading the label since he had never eaten anything that Wufei cooked that wasn't delicious. "Do you want anything?" He called out as he put the food in the microwave, closing the hatch before setting it on a fitting time.
"Tea." Wufei called back. "And don't cheat."
"I wasn't going to." Duo defended himself as he got a kettle out. According to Wufei it was cheating to heat the water in the microwave. It 'destroyed' the taste of the tea. How you could destroy the taste of water was something that Duo just did not understand, but was not all that interested in discussing. So instead he just got filled the kettle with water and put it on the stove. A minute later the microwave beeped, informing him that his food was done.
Wufei's mug was as always standing on the draining board and he took it over to the stow, putting it down on the counter. Taking a step to the side he opened the pantry to get one of the mint teabags out of its box.
It didn't take long before the water was boiling. He poured it into the mug and over the tea bag. The smell of peppermint instantly spread in the kitchen, making him wrinkle his nose.
Duo turned back to the microwave, getting his food out. He took a second to look at it. It was some kind of stew with more vegetables then anything else. Knowing Wufei he had probably made it in a quiet protest to Duo's eating habits. Duo just snorted in amusement
With the lunch box and a fork in one hand and Wufei's mug in the other, Duo wandered back into the living room. "So who are you going to ask to be your best man?" he asked as he put the mug down next to the pile on the table.
Wufei glanced up from another colorful brochure. "I don't know. I would have asked you but I don't think that works."
Duo swallowed awkwardly as the old saying 'always the bridesmaid, never the bride' echoed through his head. "No, I suppose not. I thought that I could ask Heero."
Wufei nodded. "He would be happy to, especially since you stood next to him on his wedding."
Duo absently stabbed something that looked like mushroom. "Yeah... so who are you going to ask then?"
Wufei shrugged, throwing the brochure to the side. "Barton or Winner probably. I could ask Tyson from work but I don't know... we are not really friends."
"But you get along pretty well, right?" Duo asked, trying to convince himself that he wasn't jealous of someone who got to spent so much time with Wufei. Especially since he knew that Tyson was married and had four children. But still, Wufei really spent too much time with the other man for Duo's liking.
"As well as I can get along with anyone." Wufei muttered darkly. "Does it have to be a male?"
"I don't think so, why? Thinking about asking Une?" Duo teased, knowing how much Wufei disliked his boss.
Wufei glared. "Ha-ha, funny. No, I was thinking about Sally. I'm been talking to her a lot over the phone and email. She's been a great friend of mine over the years."
Duo frowned in displeasure.
Wufei paid him no mind as he released his hair from the tight ponytail, leaning back with his head on top of the couch pillows. "Did you know that we are actually related?"
The tension went out and Duo turned back to his food. "Really?"
"Yeah, it's pretty distant. My great grandfather was her great grandfathers third cousin."
"Cool."
"Yeah, but she's still in Old China and might not be able to make it. But I could still give her a call and ask her."
Wufei picked up his phone and Duo was slightly miffed to see that Sally was on speed dial.
What followed was a long conversation in Chinese. Wufei sounded really happy and he even chuckled at something she had said.
It was childish but Duo wanted to be the only one who was able to made Wufei laugh, he pride himself with it.
"She will do it." Wufei said with a fond smile as he hung up.
"Great." Duo muttered quietly, stabbing a piece of carrot with a bit too much force.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
A week later the two friends found themselves standing on the Winner family's private runway.
"I can't believe this is happening." Wufei muttered, staring at the privet plane in front of them. "How did I get myself into this mess?"
Duo stepped up to him, putting his suitcase down next to him on the concrete. "Because you are the best friend a guy could ever have and you wouldn't want me to get a knife in the back as soon as I stepped off the shuttle on L2?"
Wufei sighed. "I suppose things could be worse."
"It always could."
"And I expect it to get much worse."
"Most likely." Duo replied as he looked up at the happily smiling Quatre who was standing on top of the staircase up to the plane, waving at them to hurry up and get on board. Taking the suitcase in one hand, he took Wufei's hand in the other and started walking.
The plane was already filled with people. They were the last to arrive and as they sat down, the door was closed and the flight attendant started the safety instructions.
"I can't believe that my dentist is going to be at my wedding." Duo muttered as he sank down further into his seat.
Wufei frowned as he took his jacket off, hanging it up on the small hock on the back of the seat in front of him. "Your dentist?" He asked as he put his elbow up on the armrest.
"Yeah, the white haired man in the green t-shirt, third row on the right side." Duo flicked his head discretely towards him. "I think Quatre invited everyone on my phone list."
Wufei snorted. "Sounds like something he would do. But that doesn't explain why Tyson is here. I don't have a phone list and I keep no records of my associates."
Duo looked down their row, over at Wufei's roughly handsome partner sitting next to Heero. "Um, he was on my list."
Wufei gave him a strange look. "Why do you have my partners number?"
Duo shifted his jaw in annoyance, not at all happy that Tyson was with them on the plane. "Might need it sometime, especially since you never answer your fucking cell phone."
Wufei frowned at the hostile tone. "I would answer it if you would call while I wasn't working."
"You're always working." Duo growled, glaring straight forward.
"I am not."
"Are too." Duo muttered childishly.
"Stop that, I am not working all the time, you are over at my place often enough to know that."
Duo tensely shifted his jaw, fingers tight on the plastic armrest. "Your version of not working all the time is not the same as the rest of the world's version. You are a workaholic tight ass who works like it would some how make up for all the shit you've done over the years."
Wufei glared. "Well at least I get some money out of it. How much do you make working your ass off for that worthless company, inventing things that you should patent, not give away?"
The subject that just the week before had been laughed over now made rage grow in Duo's chest. "Not everyone wants to be on top of the capitalistic hierarchy. Some people don't have to be rewarded for helping someone."
"Did you just accuse me of being greedy?" Wufei questioned angrily
Duo huffed. "We can't have the all-mighty Chang having some weak point, now can we. I swear you have that stick so far up your ass it's a damn wonder that you manage to bend down enough to tie your shoe lazes."
For half a second, Wufei almost looked hurt but it was most likely just embarrassment, that Duo dare to confront him before other people. "Well at least I don't walk around like a fool try-" He cut himself off as Quatre stopped by their seats.
"Everything all right?" Quatre asked nervously as he sat own in a empty seat on the other side of the aisle.
Duo for the first time noticed the tensed feeling in the plane and realized that having the soon to be married couple argue might not be the best mood-setter.
Wufei pressed his lips close and turned to look out the window.
"Just great." Duo said, hitting Wufei in the shoulder with his elbow as he took his jacket off. Wufei just crossed his legs, turning away from him as much as he could and still be seated.
Quatre looked worried, but he didn't say anything.
A few hours later, everything was calm in the plane again, the only thing that was heard was the low sound of the engine. Most of the passengers were sleeping or watching the movie beingshown in front. Wufei was still staring out the window, shoulders tense.
Duo was getting aggravated. He hated to fight with Wufei and he knew that the only reason that they had was because they were both nervous over what was about to come. He wanted to apologize, but not in front of everyone. He had enough of a hard time admitting he was wrong during normal circumstances, and he knew Wufei was even worse. For them to be able to open up like that, it took privacy. He wasn't going to say a word in front of all these people, even if most of them were his friends. But at the same time, he really needed Wufei by his side in this, he could not do this deception without him. The more practical part would be impossible, as would the mental part be without his support.
But there might be one thing he could do. Duo searched through his pockets until he found a mint pastille wrapped in silver paper. He had taken it out of a bowl standing by the cash register at work a few days ago. He wasn't all that fond of mint, but Wufei was. In his inner pocket he found a water prof pen and wrote 'sorry' in crooked letters on the shiny paper.
Steeling himself for the rejection, he poked Wufei in the shoulder. Cold, empty eyes looked over at him.
Duo just smiled sheepishly, handing the candy over.
Wufei looked down and with a blink of his eye, everything was well again. Wufei smiled as he unwrapped the sweet, dropping it in between his lips.
Duo smiled back, happy to be forgiven. He swore that no mater how this all played out, he was under no circumstances going to lose Wufei's friendship over all this. He refused.
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In true Winner style, they were staying at a huge, expensive hotel for the rich and the famous.
"This is surreal." Wufei muttered as he took a look around the lobby, taking in all the extravagance around them. The whole place had a very modern feel to it and it couldn't be built for more then a year ago. Modern art was found everywhere, big statues and paintings that looked like something pulled out of a dumpster, but were probably worth more then everything they owned.
Duo nodded. "It sure is. Come on, let's just get to our room so that we can crash."
They barely made it over to the line before the over enthusiastic hotel manager, who clearly wanted to suck up to the big spenders who were more or less renting the entire hotel, volunteered to show them up to their suite. The man quickly got them a bellboy to carry their luggage before leading them away. Duo was amused to see Quatre still standing in line with his luggage as they stepped in to the elevator. He fluttered his fingers in a teasing wave to the blond as the doors closed between them.
The manager yapped non-stop about the hotels many good qualities all the way up to the twentieth floor. Duo made sure to nod and smile in all the right places while Wufei did his blank and silent routine together with the bellboy in the background.
The doors opened to a wide, but short corridor with four sets of white double doors. The manager led them up to the first couple of doors on the left side, unlocking the door before gracefully stepping out of the way to show them in.
Their suite, that of course was the wedding suite, were incredibly large. Too large, in Duo's humble opinion. The walls were in a soft cream while the floor was in white marble covered with white fluffy rugs.
For a second Duo thought that the room was missing a wall until he realized that the entire thing was just one big floor to celling window, overlooking the cloud free sky.
Leaving the bellboy with their bags, the manager happily showed them around the suite. The first room was simply a sitting room, filled with expensive but uncomfortable looking furniture.
There were a large couch and a couple of arm chairs standing in the middle of the room, but looked uninviting as hell as they clearly was made to look good, not to be used.
The next room on the tour was the bathroom, if you could really call a room, that was almost bigger then his entire apartment a bathroom just because there was a toilet in it. Duo eyed the huge bathtub with all it's air jets and flashy accessories. It was just made to have sex in... it was just too bad that he was here with Wufei, or he would have gone out to find himself someone to play with.
The manager moved on into the bedroom and the first thing Duo saw when he stepped in was the bed standing in the middle of the room. The only bed in the room.
He mentally kicked himself. What had he expected in a honeymoon suite?
Wufei, who clearly was tired and getting cranky dismissed the manager without being too rude. Or too rude for being Wufei who was known for making people cry with just a few well chosen words.
The doors soon closed, leaving the two of them alone. The silence settled.
The bedrooms wall were also made out of glass and Duo walked over to the window, looking straight down. Below them he could see the impressive pool and the well cared for garden surrounding the hotel. In the distance, he could see the ocean spreading out towards the horizon.
Wufei went back into the sitting room, returning shortly after with their bags.
Duo glanced at his friend over his shoulder. "Damn, Quatre really went all out with this, didn't he?"
"Yeah. I don't even want to know what he paid to rent this place on such a short notice." Wufei carefully put his suitcase down on a fragile looking chair.
"The left side is mine." Duo declared, taking quick long steps over to his bag before swinging it over on top of the bed.
"Fine." Wufei fell headfirst onto the bed's right side, arm hanging weakly over the edge.
Duo crossed his arms, looking down on his friend. "Come on, it's not that bad. Is it?"
Wufei just groaned into the mattress.
"Okay, so it is that bad." Duo dragged his bag to the floor, leaving room to collapse down next to his friend.
Both were asleep within minutes.
They were not happy to be woken up by Quatre barely fifteen minutes later. The blond happily informed them that he was staying next door to them and wouldn't it be fun to go exploring? Duo glared with blurry eyes through ruffled bangs while Wufei simply slammed the door.
Without a word they went back to bed, falling asleep instantly. Only difference were that Duo were lying just a little bit closer to the right side this time. But really, what did one expect?
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A few hours later, a cautious Quatre knocked on the door, asking if they wanted to join the rest of them for dinner.
Wufei grunted something before walking past Quatre and his girlfriend towards the elevator.
"Don't worry about it, he's like that when he wakes up." Duo said with a smile, feeling exhilarated for knowing that. He was most likely going to get up earlier now that he was living with Wufei, just so that he would get to see the other man's tired stumbling.
Together they all went down to the ground floor.The doors barely had time to close behind them before a happy female voice called out Wufei's name.
Wufei turned with a smile, releasing Duo's hand. Sally Po was walking swiftly towards them, wearing a light summer dress, that according to Duo was far too short. Wufei was not only smiling but opening his arms to accept the warm, far too comfortable hug that made Duo want to rip the woman's arm off. Wufei never hugged people, not really, not unless you forced yourself on him. But here he was, allowing the older woman to wrap herself around him like a second skin.
They spoke briefly in Chinese, smiling happily at each other.
"So, you are the one who gets to put up with this guy." She said acknowledging Duo for the first time.
Duo forced a smile as he stepped up to them and wrapped a possessive arm around Wufei's waist.
"Yeah, but I don't mind."
For some reason it made the two others laugh.
"I'm sure that you believe that." Sally said in a patronizing voice.
Wufei snorted and did something so out of character as to roll his eyes. "Shut up woman, you are no better."
Sally laughed before reaching out to ruffle Wufei's neatly drawn back hair despite the man's angry protests. "I've missed you."
"Well I wasn't the one who though moving to old China was a good idea." Wufei pointed out as he tried to fix his hair as much as he could.
Sally smiled with a air of superiority. "True, but I wasn't the one who just couldn't leave."
Wufei carelessly waved his words away. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut up already so we can get something to eat."
Sally hocked her arm through Wufei's free arm. "Lead on."
Duo shifted his jaw as he followed the happily talking couple towards the hotel restaurant.
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Dinner was uneventful. At least Duo hoped that it was since he was too busy observing his fiancé and Sally catch up on each others lives. They were talking quite happily, unaware of the sideway looks Duo was giving them.
"Are you alright Duo?" Quatre asked in a low voice from behind his wine glass.
Duo turned his eyes away from the smiling pair. "Yeah, don't worry about it."
Quatre didn't look convinced.
"I just have to remind him who he belongs to later tonight." He said with a wicked leer and a wink that felt incredibly fake.
Fortunately, Quatre couldn't tell any difference, he just choked on his wine.
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Wufei and Sally were still talking rapidly in Chinese two hours later on the way up in the elevator.
Duo wanted to kill something. Or more exactly, someone.
The Bitch were giving them suspicious looks, clearly finding it odd that the groom was paying more attention to a beautiful woman then to his soon-to-be husband.
Duo felt cold sweat making it's way down his back as he was reminded of the fact that there were more life threatening things to worry about then Wufei's attention. The Bitch could easily call them back for second test if she felt that their relationship was lacking sincerity and who knew what could happen then.
It would too obvious if he took Wufei's hand now or if he tried to get his attention in the middle of a conversation when he had not protested before. But he would have his chance to convince her soon.
The doors opened and Duo quickly grabbed a hold of Wufei's hand. "Good night everyone." He said with a wink before dragging Wufei with him into their room before the other man could say another word.
The room was totally dark in exception of the pale light coming in from the window. The sun was down, leaving a orange and yellow glow at the horizon.
Duo turned his back on the view and looked over at Wufei who was absently unlacing his shoes.
"So, top or bottom?" Duo asked as he kicked his shoes off next to Wufei's carefully placed ones.
"We are not having sex." Wufei told him patiently as he got up and wandered in to the bedroom. Duo stopped briefly in the doorway watching the other man. Wufei unbuttoned his shirt, taking it off to carefully hang it on the back of a elegant chair standing on hissidebefore sinking down on the edge of the bed to take his socks off.
"No, but we are going to pretend like we are." Duo said as he walked over to the bed to throw the bed's decorative pillows to the floor. "The Bitch is on the other side of that wall." He flicked his head towards the wall behind the headboard.
"And so is Winner." Wufei informed him with a glance in warning.
Duo paid him no mind. "Get over it, come on. Top or bottom? Quick now, or I'm going to choose for you."
"Top." Wufei saidas he dropped his watch down on the nightstand.
Duo rolled his eyes as he climbed up on the bed. "Of course you want to be on top."
Wufei eyed him warily as Duo arranged himself on his knees in the middle of the bed. "And what exactly are you gong to do?"
"You'll see." Duo replied happily as he made sure not to look too closely at his half naked friend sitting on the edge of their bed.
Wufei got to his feet, stepping back from the bed as if he expected Duo to attack him at any moment.
Duo moaned as he carefully started to bounce irregularly on his knees, making the mattress creek just a little bit. "Oh, yessss, that's it dragon, mmmmhm."
Wufei was looking over at him with wide eyes, mouth hanging open in shock.
"Ah, yes, touch me there." The bed frame was pretty solid but it still made a slightly whiny noise under him as he started to put more weight into his movements.
"Yes, please oh, please, yes." Duo begged breathlessly, as he imagined Wufei above him. He wanted to go all out in the familiar fantasy and push his hand down his pants but with Wufei right there at the edge of the bed, he settled for traumatizing their neighbors. He could jerk off in the bathroom later, maybe fill the bathtub up and fantasize about a certain fume-covered swordsmen. "Mmm, yes, push it in, yes! Give that dragon tail to me! Ahhh!"
"You can not be serious, Winner is on the other side of the wall and Barton across the hallway." Wufei whispered urgently.
Duo had totally forgotten about Trowa, not to mention Sally. The hotel was expensive and probably had good isolation in the walls. He was just going to have to try even harder, especially if he was going make sure that the Bitch wouldn't have any reasons to doubt their relationship.
Duo grinned wickedly as he got up on his feet, starting to bounce slowly only to increase his speed in a steady rhythm. "God baby, that's so good!"He moaned loudly, only to rise in volume after a heavy jump that made the bed creek. "Yes, just like that! Give it to me good! Yes! Yes! Right there, deeper!!!"
"Oh god." Wufei whimpered in a horrified voice.
"Oh god!" Duo echoed with a wicked grin, slapping the flat of his palm against the wall.
"I am never going to be able to look Winner in the eye again, you do realize this, don't you?"
"Oh, Yes!" Duo shouted in 'passion.'
"I hate you." Wufei sank down on the chair, hiding his face in his hands. "I really do and it will be a pleasure to kill you when this is all over and I have an alibi."
"God! That's my wicked Dragon, yes, bring it! Give me all you got, don't hold back!" He took a hold of the bed frame with both hands, pushing it roughly against the wall with ever jump. "Fuck me, yes! Just like that, just like that!"
Wufei lifted his head, glaring over at him. "That's it." He hissed, blushing violently. "I just gagged you."
Duo grinned before pressing his lips closed "Mhf!Mhf! Mff! MmmmmmMfh!"Duo's muffled moanes rose in volume as he increased his rocking, making the bed creak dangerously.
Wufei made a sound, strangely close to a whimper as he burying his burning face in his hands once again.
"Mfh! MMMMH! MMM- AH! FUCK! AH!" Duo screamed as he bounced harder, making the headboard slam into the wall.
"OH! OH! OH! DRAGON! WICKED, WICKED DRAGON! MY DRAGON! YES!" A painting hanging next to the bed fell to the floor with a sharp crash."Ah! AH! AAAH! COMING, COMING, OH GOD!!! Ahh..." Duo collapsed down on the bed, panting loudly. His head hanging over the edge of the bed, arms and legs spread wide over their bed, braid landing next to Wufei's bare foot.
Tipping his head towards Wufei he wheezed. "I'm exhausted. Next time I get to be on top."
Wufei responded by kicking him in the head.
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A/N Tell me, what is going through your head right now?
Glad midsommar allihop!/Happy Midsummer day everyone! –gives everyone a strawberry- I hope you will all have a lovely, sunny day.
Tsukamei – Thank you. Oh, there will be more, don't you worry :) RandomTopik – Thank you, I hope you like the way their relationship is going. Random Reviewer - -breathes out a sigh in relief- Thank you for saying that. I'm trying to describe the surrounding a bit more since I pretty much suck at it. It's nice to know that you think I managed it :) Princess Cythera – Thank you. Usually, Wufei is the one who is hated by all the woman, I figured it was Duo's turn now. I'm glad to know that you liked it :) Typhoonjane – The lack of "grammatical trainwrecks" is something we can all thank my beta for, I take no credit for that. Lady butterfly3 - -blushes- Thank you. I am trying to hold the number of fiction that I write down to a minimal. At the moment I have about seven plots in my head that I have forbidden myself to write down just because I refuse to have more wip stories lying around. I'll get around to them as soon as I have worked my way through the ones I already started on. Puretsubasa – Thank you! More Wufei is on the way :) He's such a darling, isn't he? Ah Hael - God, I know just what you mean -.- last week that was all I could find. I had a craving for a time travel story and all I could find was fourteen year old's versions of romance –shudders- So bad, so very, very bad. So I feel most pleased that I could help you get over the trauma of "barely legible crap written by flaky, pubescent girls" ;) Violette Mei – LOL! You sound just like me when I'm confronted with 1x2 XD, I therefore take it as a great compliment that you like this. I hope you still like it :) Mongose – Well, hello darling. Why yes, I do have a habit if writing them like this. It's just so much fun :) I can't remember – Thank you :) The space heart? Well, you are just going to have to wait a little bit longer to find out about that. Cinnamon Selkie - -whistles innocently- My my, that's an interesting theory –grin- who knows… Well, I can tell you that we are only going to get Duo's pov, Wufei will remain a mystery a little bit longer. Primaaryet – Thank you :) I will, by next Friday if all goes well. Kyona Kopper – I actually don't know where the idea came from. It was just one of those things that snuck up on me. The answer to your question will be given to you in the next chapter :) EbonyOsmosis –Oh such nice words, I think I have to sit down… wait, I'm already sitting down XD. Yes, Wufei is a nice guy and as all nice people knows, being nice almost always comes back to bit you in the ass. Poor Wufei. I almost felt a bit mean after writing this chapter XD Have I mentioned that I absolutely love your icon? Because I do :) Akana Dragon – Thank you, I'm going to try my very best :) HeeroDuo4eva – Thank you, cute is exactly what I am going for :) Update next Friday. Foxxy Mcgee – Yes! There will be more, don't you worry :) Shean Dhu – Thank you, it was nice to know that I managed to write an acceptable balance between the serious and the..uhm, not so serious :) Kidishcaresh –Blushes- Oh, my. Thank you. I'm happy that you liked it and I hope that you will like the rest of the story too :)