Disclaimer: not mine.

Thanks, as always, to the amazing KS for comments…

Chapter 5:

In which Wufei meets someone significant at the train station, and behaves in an extremely uncharacteristic fashion.

Insanity.

There was no other word for it.

Sheerest, utter insanity.

He hadn't slept much the previous night. He'd left that awful club, walked home, and spent the night thinking about him.

Perhaps this madness was due to lack of sleep?

Of course, he still hadn't done anything. Nothing apart from getting off the train five stops before his own, at the station where the blond customarily got on. He could still catch the next train – due in two minutes- and be only a minute or two late.

That would be the sane thing to do.

He could forget all this nonsense; forget the way the blond had looked at him. It had only been for a couple of seconds, just long enough to see that his eyes weren't blue but aquamarine, the divine, eternal colour of the oceans.

The train, laden with early morning commuters, surged into the station. He didn't bother getting up.

That was it, then.

Committed.

He deserved to be. Heero was going to kill him when he cancelled their appointment.

He flicked open his cell 'phone, steeling himself. Heero was going to think he'd gone insane. He would most probably be right.

'Yuy.'

'Heero, it's me. I'm sorry. I'm not going to be able to meet you this morning. Something's come up.'

He could practically hear Heero's glare.

'What's wrong?'

'Nothing. There's just a thing I have to do. I'm sorry.'

'We had an arrangement, Chang. I can't go to this gallery by myself! How am I supposed to pick out a painting? I don't know anything about art; I've never been anywhere like that in my life.'

'Surely you know something about your own fiancée's taste?' Wufei asked slyly.

'Very funny. What if they try to sell me a forgery or something? I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.'

Wufei rolled his eyes. Typical Heero; thinking that everyone in the universe was out to con him somehow. 'The Khushrenada Gallery has a superb reputation; you don't need to worry about that. If you think Relena will like the painting, ask them to reserve it until tomorrow. I can run over and look at it during my lunch break. Will that do?'

Heero grunted. 'I suppose it will have to. Are you sure there's nothing wrong? Is there anything I can do?'

'No, really. It's fine. I just have to do something. I'll call you later. Don't worry about this, Heero. I've met Treize Khushrenada; he won't try to take advantage of you not knowing anything about art.'

'Hn.' Heero didn't sound especially reassured; he never liked going into unknown situations with insufficient information.

Well, he wasn't the only one.

Wufei glanced at his watch. If the blond guy didn't turn up by eight, he'd just catch the train to work, as usual, and forget about any of this.

It was all insane. The blond had a boyfriend, so nothing could ever happen. Wufei had behaved badly enough last night, asking him to dance, but he hadn't been able to help himself.

'I'd love to dance with you, um, that is, I would have loved to dance with you, but I'm here with somebody.'

That was exactly what he'd said. Wufei had spent hours puzzling over the words. Was he just being polite? He'd looked like he genuinely regretted the refusal though; like he would have liked to dance, if it had been possible.

Before Wufei had left, he'd been unable to resist the temptation to look back, just once, to see the blond's companion. Not the boyfriend, but someone different. A friend? He obviously went for tall men, so Wufei had never had a chance anyway.

If it had just been a friend, then why couldn't he have danced, or at least accepted a drink? Because the friend would have told the boyfriend and there might have been some sort of an argument?

Wufei sighed gustily. This was insane. He'd already let his best friend down, and he prided himself on always being there for his few close friends. All for a cute guy who was in a relationship and who had the most amazing smile.

You're insane, Chang.

The next train was in three minutes; if he caught it, he could be at the Khushrenada Gallery while Heero was still there, and forget about all of this temporary madness.

'I might see you in the morning. If you're on the train.'

He'd said that, just before Wufei had left. And Wufei had said he would be. He couldn't break his word like that. Even if the blond had meant it as nothing more than a throwaway comment, a meaningless piece of politeness.

Wufei had thought it meant more than that, but then what he knew about his blond beauty could be counted on the fingers of one hand. He was reading Alice in Wonderland. He had a ready, radiant smile. He was kind, always offering his seat to anyone who looked tired.

He had a partner who looked like a Viking god.

'Good morning.'

He was there, suddenly, in front of him, as if Wufei's own imagination had brought him into being.

'Good morning.'

Wufei stood up quickly, quite powerless to stop the smile spreading across his face. He was there, close enough to see the mesmerising colour of those eyes, close enough to touch. If the train wasn't too crowded, they might be able to get seats beside each other. If it was, they could stand together.

The blond was smiling too. Wufei had seen him smile before; reading a text message on his 'phone, or at something he was reading, or at other commuters he seemed to know slightly. Sometimes, he just smiled for no apparent reason.

Wufei tortured himself sometimes, thinking that that smile was for the boyfriend.

It was nice to be the one being smiled at.

'I didn't think you got on at this station.'

'I don't.' Wufei had to shout it over the announcement that the next train to the city was about to arrive. Most of the other people on the platform moved forward; Wufei took a couple of steps back; the blond followed. 'But I knew it was where you got on.'

The blond guy – Wufei was going to have to find out his name, at the very least – laughed. 'You have the advantage of me there. I knew you got on a few stops before me, since you always had a window seat, but I didn't know which one. I know you get out at the National Gallery so I thought I could get an earlier train and wait there for you.'

He'd been planning to wait for him. Oh, Gods. This was all so wrong. It was wrong to feel such a sudden warmth in his chest. The blond didn't seem like the type to cheat so he obviously didn't want anything more than friendship. Perhaps someone to talk to on the train to work? He was clearly sociable, which Wufei wasn't. He usually spent most of the journey on the 'phone, and he talked to whoever sat beside him.

And that first time Wufei had seen him in that club, he'd been at the centre of a large, laughing group. Even if he didn't already have someone, he'd want an outgoing, gregarious boyfriend. Not someone like Wufei.

Wufei cleared his throat. 'If you need to catch this train, we should probably get a move on.'

'I don't.' It was said simply, accompanied by a candid, clear blue gaze. 'Do you?'

'No. We could go and get a coffee or something. If you liked?'

'That would be lovely.'

Their steps matched exactly, Wufei thought foolishly as they walked back from the platform, falling in beside each other as if they'd known each other for years. It was a dangerous thought.

Outside the crowded station, on a clear, blue day, they stopped and looked at each other. The other man looked just a little apprehensive, which was fair enough. Perhaps he was regretting this?

'I don't know this area at all,' Wufei said finally, when one of them had to break the silence. 'Is there a café close by? Or would you rather not do this at all?'

'There's a very nice tea house around the corner. If you like tea? I don't drink coffee very much but I think they do serve it.'

'I like tea.'

Quatre nodded. 'It's this way.' Decision made and given a little bit of control, he seemed happier. He had a slight bounce to his walk; a very fetching habit of glancing at Wufei through his lashes. He was just perfect, really.

And in a relationship.

Not so perfect as all that.

Neither of them spoke until they were actually seated at a window table, tea and shortbread between them.

'Oh dear.' Quatre gave him a rather helpless little smile. 'I'm so sorry. I'm usually more articulate than this.'

'I'm not,' Wufei said honestly. It was obvious that his companion was off-balance, and not overly happy about it. He'd always seemed very confident, very in-control of himself and his world. He probably wasn't used to his life being thrown off course like this. 'Perhaps we could introduce ourselves? I'm Wufei. I don't know your name.'

'Quatre.'

'Quatre.' Wufei rolled the syllables around on his tongue; the closest he was ever going to come to kissing the man. 'Very unusual. I've been calling you the blond guy for weeks, ever since I first saw you.'

'At the train station,' Quatre supplied instantly. 'Wednesday morning, four weeks ago.'

Wufei smiled, because he couldn't help it. 'No, actually. It was before that. The previous Sunday night, in that club where I saw you yesterday.'

'Cargo? Really? Do you go there a lot? I don't remember seeing you there.'

'You didn't.' Wufei took a careful sip of tea that was still too hot. Delaying tactics, Heero would say if he were there. 'You were with a big crowd of people, you and your boyfriend. I'd gone with some people from work. I didn't stay very long.'

Just long enough to become totally obsessed.

Quatre frowned. 'I'm sorry. I don't actually have a boyfriend; are you mixing me up with somebody else?'

'You don't?' Oh gods. If that were true, perhaps he might have the ghost of a chance. 'You were dancing with him a lot; very tall, long blond hair.'

'Oh!' Quatre's face cleared. 'That was Zechs. No, he's just a friend. We've known each other for years.'

'Zechs Merquise? The artist?'

'Do you know him?'

'Not really. I've been to a couple of his exhibitions, and I admire his work. So the man you were with last night, is he just a friend too?'

Quatre bit his lip; small white teeth sinking into soft pink flesh. Looking down at the table, he flashed Wufei a quick, blue glance, bright as a hummingbird in flight.

'Not really. Last night was actually our first date.'

Wufei's brain supplied a rapid progression of every curse he knew, in Mandarin, Japanese and English. Quatre had been single ever since he'd first seen him. He could have said something.

'How did it go?'

'A little strange, actually.' Quatre made a vague movement with those beautiful hands. 'I don't know, I liked him, rather a lot, but I'm not sure if he really liked me. And he never said he'd call me or anything.'

Yes!

'He's an idiot then,' Wufei said firmly.

'Thank you. The thing is, it's all a little complicated. His best friend is a very close friend of mine, and I think that maybe they were something more. And I did like him; just not like I …anyway. It's not like he asked to see me again so…Sorry. I'm being terribly presumptuous. I don't even know if you..'

'I do.' Wufei said it even more firmly. He would treasure every one of those half-finished sentences. 'Very much.'

Quatre took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. 'Oh, that's a relief! I've been thinking about you for weeks, you know. Even if you did see me first. I wish you'd come over, that first night.'

'You and Zechs seemed to be…very close.' He'd been agonising over it, the images of the two blonds dancing together on a permanent loop in his brain.

'I promise, he's nothing more than a friend. But he's very tactile, especially if he's been drinking.' He shook his head, wisps of blond hair drifting over his face. 'I can't believe this is happening!'

'I'm sure you're perfectly used to men admiring you.'

'Well, yes,' Quatre said matter of factly. 'But I've been thinking about you for weeks. I didn't know if you were even gay! And I certainly didn't think you were interested. I was always trying to catch your eye on the train, whenever I saw you, and you were always totally absorbed in reading or something.'

Wufei shook his head. 'I didn't think there was any point. I was sure you were already in a relationship. No point torturing myself even more. I still kept looking out for you though. I couldn't figure out what train you normally took in the morning, and you always seemed to get off at different stops, so I couldn't even work out where your job was. What do you do, by the way?'

'I'm a lifestyle coach.'

'I've no idea what that is,' Wufei admitted.

Quatre laughed at him. 'I think I'm making it up as I go along really. Don't laugh at me,' blue eyes sparkled, inviting him to do just that, 'but it actually started out as a dating agency. You see, I studied business and psychology, and I knew I wanted to do something very people-oriented, but I wasn't sure what, and then one of my sisters suggested that I'm always trying to match-make for my friends, so maybe I should do it professionally.'

'How did that go?'

'Oh, it was a total disaster. I'd envisaged working with a really small group of clients, and offering a very personalised service, but that sort of business needs a huge client base to succeed. I did get a few clients, whom I got to know very well, and found out that most of them were unhappy with other aspects of their lives, not just being single, so I ended up giving all sorts of other advice, and now I do pretty much everything. It's great fun. The ironic thing is that I try to get all my clients together once a month for a social evening, and a couple of them have actually got together. Anyway, that's enough about me. What do you do? I've been trying to work out your schedule as well.'

Wufei laughed. 'It's rather varied. I work in the National Gallery; I'm in charge of the Oriental Department, but I also lecture at the Fine Arts Academy a couple of times a week.'

'My office is just across from the Gallery. Most of the people I work with are very busy though, so I tend to visit them and of course I do rather odd hours, to fit in with their schedules.' He grinned. 'I was supposed to have a breakfast meeting this morning, and I cancelled it.'

'Thank you. I was supposed to be meeting a friend. He wasn't too impressed when I pulled out.'

'I'm very glad you did,' Quatre said quietly.

'So am I. I know it's horribly short notice, but would you possibly be free for dinner on Friday?'