And Then There's Three

"Mr. Quatre Raberba Winner! Just what do you think you are still going in bed!?" The demanding female voice woke Quatre from sleep, a voice he thought he had grown used to from the past two weeks when he first moved in.

"Mmm…" was all he could respond and a glimpse at the digital clock next to his bed, told him it was just after 7:00 a.m.

"Get up now and accompany me to the grocery store, I've invited some people over for dinner tonight, old friends of your father's, wealthy men of course." Aunt Noin ordered. The former army lieutenant certainly still hasn't left her yet.

One thing Quatre can't stand about his aunt is her suffocating schedules; she seems to have completely forgotten the fact that he walked 10 miles last night just to get home, since he couldn't find a cab at one in the morning. And grocery happens to be the last thing on his mind right now.

"Mmmm…" Quatre grumbled again, hoping to buy more time, the fatigue hasn't left his body yet.

"Shit!" Screaming, he jumped off the bed faster than the speed of light as a lovely cup of icy water showered over him, stinging his skin wherever it touched.

"What the hell was that for??" Winner is now completely awake, and annoyed, thinking that his aunt might have gone just a little too far.

"Oh Quatre darling, that would be you morning wash, and breakfast." The iron black haired woman replied, smiling sarcastically at the unchangeable fate of her handsome nephew.

Puff

As cold and wet as he is, Quatre bit back the word he always dreamed of calling his aunt, 'B!!!', and went about changing for a pleasant trip to the grocery store.

Just when he was about to take off his PJ pants he realized that his aunt was still in the room, watching un-ashamed.

"Okay. I know we're related, but could you please gimme some space…right now!" he said the sentence as calmly as possible.

"Hehe" His aunt seemed to have gotten the hint and walked out of the room.

"Watching little boys blush is always amusing." The words were just loud enough for Quatre to hear before the door closed.

…Great…

"Now Quatre, I want you to listen to me with all your ears…" This is the little introduction before every lecture Aunt Noin has ever given his nephew. It also let's Quatre know when to go ADD on her.

"About tonight…." The first two words told the man in the olive green vest that the topic wasn't going to interesting him. Thus, the rest of her speech went something like, "blah blah blah…Blah..blah blah blah…" and so on, with an intermission of "Are you listening to me?", "Yes", then back to the monotonous sound.

But of course he wasn't just standing there pretending to listen, his aunt always made sure he was occupied with one of the millions household-chores she insists on him. Talking about the house…it's not even a house, just a 1000sq ft flat. Even though his family is rich, none of his relatives really flaunted their wealth. Therefore, no cleaning lady…cries Like right now, Quatre is sorting out the many bags of food they brought from the Step'n Go corner store by himself. Seriously, are these people pigs?

Not that the fair haired man is complaining, after all, anything that busied his mind was good.

So he went about washing and cutting the vegetables, defrozening the meats, and setting up the table, doing all the cooking necessary in an entire week during the course of one day as Quatre's mind wandered back to his life in the past two weeks. When he was first welcomed into the flat, he expected to feel awkward living with a woman whom he has never met before, despite their blood relations. But instead, his aunt, who is still instructing away, greeted him with a warmness he had never experienced before. Loving and caring him like a mother would. A different kind of life, one that eventually led him to finding the teaching job at SS Academy, possibly fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming a chef. Even though, Aunt Noin would more often than not impose strict rules to bind his life, but he's learning to like it, after all letting someone else heal the wound is always better than doing it yourself.

"…dear, after your done with washing those carrots go take a break outside, or whatever you want, just remember to be home by 6:00 p.m., sharp," the woman, who was formerly sitting in a comfortable armchair reading, now looks up at her perplexed nephew.

"But who's gonna do the cooking?" Quatre blurted out the question, and before he had time to regret, his aunt stood up and walked over to him.

"Oh, what a sensitive young man, I'm sure any man would die to be with you." The woman responded, smiling, placing a finger on the blond man's chin, slightly tilting his face up towards hers,

The fact that Aunt Noin, or anyone else knew about Quatre's darkest secrets made him uncomfortable.

"…Alright then…I guess I could use some fresh air." He quickly pulled away, undid his apron and walked out the room, hoping that his occasionally bizarre aunt didn't have time to notice his burning cheeks.

Ahh…It's so good to be outside again. He barely remembers the last time he felt this free, it's almost as if he could laying down and stare at the sky forever, if only the sun wasn't that bright.

After 2 something hours of wandering aimlessly around the unfamiliar streets, watching random couples stroll by, and people jogging with their dogs, Quatre decides to stop and check out one of his most visited gift shop then head home.

But right before he stepped in the wooden frames, he heard someone call him name. As he wondered who would even know him around here, a familiar shape came into his view, the shape of Trowa Barton.

Oh, great.

The man sighed, not knowing whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

And what the hell is he doing here anyways?

"Hey," the bland sound didn't even leave Quatre the room to pretend that he didn't see the figure.

"Hey wow, isn't this a small world?!" the blond man replied with the fakest tone of voice.

"Sure is," Trowa obviously sensed the sarcasm but decided to torture Quatre anyways. Even though the two of them don't know each other that well, Barton already has a pretty good idea of how he will be assisting the Arabian man.

Like all the others…

"So…what are you doing around here?" The blond man asked as he stepped out of the store. Hoping that this encounter would end quickly.

"I came to return you brief case," the man with smiling green eyes held up the black leathered object to Winner's face. "I looked up your address on the directory." Trowa added, knowing the other man would ask.

"Thank you," Quatre took the brief case.

May be I've been thinking too much, he seems like a descent guy. But still, coming all the way out here on a Saturday is still slightly creepy.

Just before the brunette had anything more to say, Quatre quickly threw him an "I'll see ya at school Monday." Then turned around and left, making himself seem extremely rude.

He even felt like he was runaway from the other man, despite the fact that he just met Trowa yesterday and he had no reason to. It's time to go home anyways, he told himself.

But the eerie feeling that he almost got away with something too easy kept surfacing at the back of his mind.

TBC

Okay, I'm finally done!! With this chapter anyways, so I definitely had a little hint in that title - Hence "And then there was Three" haha…I thought it was rather clever….…but anyways

I know this is a rather bland chapter, but it gives a little background info on the ever-so-lovely Quatre - hope you guys like it!!!

And Please Please Review!!!

I've been so stressed out this week with school and shit, barely had time to write haha…lately I've been addicted to Blackhawk Striker 2 P on mission 4 now!!

Remember to REVIEW!!! And hopefully the next two chapters will be up soon

ENJOY