"Look, I'm sorr …" They both began, and then trailed off together, looking at each other. There was a short silence which was swiftly broken by Duo snickering.
"Go ahead, 'Fei." Duo said after he had managed to finish his snicker, and Wufei blinked, at a loss for words for a second.
"I'm sorry, Duo, for taking off. I … I'm terrified. I feel like all of this is my doing, my fault. And I'm terrified of hurting you. Even if … even if Heero is wrong, they're all wrong, and you … well, you don't return my feelings, that doesn't matter. I just want to see you safe, I want to protect you. I want to protect you like I was unable to do in the past for someone else …" Wufei trailed off, looking downward. He was unsure of what to say further. He looked up abruptly when he felt Duo's touch on his arm.
"God, 'Fei. You have no idea how long I've wanted you. How much I love you. I don't care if you hurt me, all I want is you. I want to give you everything, and I want to be by your side. That's all I've ever wanted. And, damn it, none of this is your fault. I should have been more careful, yes, but most of this is none of our faults. Chance, 'Fei. Something even I can't outrun." As Duo spoke, his voice grew more impassioned and stronger, until finally he finished and just yanked Wufei towards.
"If we love each other, that's all we need, 'Fei. That's all I've ever needed." He continued, leaning closer to Wufei's face. "Now, let's stop being a couple of lovesick idiots and do this right." He said, a devilish grin on his face. Wufei had no idea what was coming next, but the second their faces met, it no longer mattered. The kiss was awkward, they bumped into each other more than once, and had to adjust a bit for both of their awkward seating positions, but none of that mattered to either of them. And when they finally broke apart, gasping for air, Wufei couldn't have cared what came after that.
"So, us? Together?" Duo asked, that devilish grin returning.
"Us." Wufei replied, a grin of his own coming over his face.
They sat together, just holding hands, and enjoying the other's company, until Duo yawned and fixed a look at Wufei.
"'Fei. Get your ass in this bed and let's get some sleep. Because you still look like shit, and I feel like shit." Duo remarked, scooting over in the bed. Wufei was hesitant for a moment, afraid to hurt Duo if he even attempted that, but Duo fixed him with another look. Wufei relented, if it would make Duo happy, he would do anything. He pulled himself off of the chair and carefully settled himself behind Duo, arranging himself so that they both could be comfortable.
"Now this works." Duo said softly, nestling against Wufei. For a brief moment, Wufei was unsure where to put his arms, but he finally just settled on wrapping one around Duo and resting the other on the edge of the bed. Within moments, Duo was asleep once more, but Wufei could not manage sleep just then. He sat there in the quiet, just holding Duo, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Duo loved him, and that he was going to be able to be with the man he had pined over for several years.
His thoughts were disturbed when Heero slid through the door and approached him. Wufei grimaced at the other man's knowing smile, but took it for what it was. Heero was happy for them, Wufei knew that much.
"Sally handed over Duo's keys, I'm here to get yours. I'm heading home for the night, Trowa has already taken Quatre home. Give me a list of what you need from your apartment, I know what I can grab for Duo." Heero said quietly, glancing at Duo to make sure he was not disturbing the other man's rest. Satisfied he was not, he held out an open hand to Wufei expectantly. Well, that solved one of the minor problems preying on Wufei's mind, he dug his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Heero.
"Clothes, mostly. My laptop, tablet, and there are two large books sitting on the coffee table. If you could grab those, too, as well. They're meant for Duo anyway. It might give him something to do." Wufei spoke just as softly, because he was damned if he was going to disturb Duo. Heero nodded. It was well known between them that Duo loved to read, and Wufei had found some interesting books at a small bookstore in the city that he thought Duo would like.
"We'll be back in the morning." Heero said, pocketing Wufei's keys. Wufei nodded and fidgeted for a moment to get more comfortable. If Duo was sleeping, he might as well do the same as well. He would know if Duo woke up before him. He watched with some amusement that Heero flicked off the lights as he left the room. Before the door closed, though, Wufei watched Heero stop and speak to someone. Sleep claimed Wufei quickly after, he no longer had a need to fight it.
Heero was closing the door behind him when he ran into Sally. She peered past him into the room and grinned.
"Finally, huh?" She said, amusement clear in her voice. Heero nodded, closing the door behind him. "At least they're both sleeping. I've spoken to the head nurse, Julie is on duty tonight and she'll handle everything." The nurse Julie was on the pilot's 'safe list', and her moving around would probably not disturb either Duo or Wufei. Well, it was unlikely Duo would be disturbed, as heavily medicated as he was, but Heero was concerned about Wufei getting enough rest.
"That will work well." Heero said, throwing one last glance at the closed door. Sally caught him and chuckled.
"They'll be fine for the night, Heero." Sally assured him, and Heero knew it was true. He was just hesitant to leave the two of them unguarded. And that came from back during the war, when they always guarded each other's backs. But here, carefully tucked away on a military base, surrounded by well over a dozen different methods of defense, well, he was being silly. He finally relented, forcing himself to nod and walk down the hallway, towards the exit. They would all return in the morning.
Wufei slept clear through the night, and thankfully, so did Duo. In fact, Duo woke before Wufei, and it was the other man's adjusting of positions that woke Wufei.
"Sorry, 'Fei. I was getting stiff." Duo said apologetically, looking up at Wufei with an apologetic smile. Wufei shook his head and adjusted positions himself. He glanced down at his phone, which he had placed on the bedside table the night before, and placed a gentle kiss on the top of Duo's head.
"It's fine, Heero and the others will be here soon, anyway." Wufei said, slipping out from behind Duo. He needed to relieve himself and figure out just what he was going to do for food. He padded into the bathroom, giving Duo one last look. The American was stretching to the best of his ability and settling himself better. That satisfied Wufei enough and he slipped into the bathroom to take care of business. He returned to find Duo attempting to untangle himself from all of the tubing and wires and all Wufei could do was sigh. It was so typical. So Duo.
"Duo, stop." He said, walking briskly over to the bed and pushing Duo back into it, gently.
"'Fei, come on. I can't just sit here forever." Duo protested, looking up at Wufei with wide, violet eyes. Much to his own shame, Wufei almost relented. Until he heard a snicker from behind him, and two exasperated sighs. He turned slightly and found the rest of their group standing in the doorway.
"Duo, you know you can't get away. And you know what Sally will do to you if she even catches you thinking about it." Quatre said, approaching the two of them. Wufei turned to find Duo looking horrified. Oh, he knew exactly what Sally would do, and Wufei remembered to file that threat away for later. He'd need it, he suspected.
Letting Quatre take the lead, Wufei pulled back a bit, not far, not fleeing, but he sat down in the chair nearby and pulled it up to the edge of the bed. Duo had flashed him a worried look when the Chinese agent had started to pull away, but Wufei knew better than that. He rested a hand atop Duo's and that seemed to soothe the American. Quatre perched on the edge of the bed and smiled at Duo, while Trowa went back to occupying the couch and Heero gently placed a duffel on the foot of Duo's bed and another one near Wufei's feet. Duo's attention swiftly turned to Heero.
"Please, please tell me that is stuff from my apartment. Stuff to do and stuff to wear." Duo said, making little grabby hand motions at the bag. Heero just grinned.
"Perhaps." He said, picking up the bag and holding it just out of Duo's reach.
"Come on, 'Ro. Don't mess with me like that, don't pick on the injured kid!" Duo said, reaching out with the arm encased in a cast. Heero chuckled. The whole scene was so typically Duo that it alone probably did more to set the rest of them at ease than anything Sally had told them. Heero finally placed the bag closer to where Duo could reach it and Duo flashed him a big grin.
"What clothes Sally approved, which is not much, I'm afraid. Your laptop, mp3 player, and e-reader." Heero informed Duo as the American looked down at the bag. As Heero spoke, Duo was rifling through the bag with his good arm.
"Boxers … really? That's it? I get underwear? Great. Excellent." Duo griped, ending in blatant sarcasm. "But the rest is perfect, 'Ro. Thanks. At least now I won't be bored out of my mind." Duo added, looking up to flash Heero a grin. Heero, satisfied that Duo was content, picked the bag back up and set in down on the floor next to the bed. Duo beamed at them, and while Wufei was sure Duo was not completely content, he was at least somewhat happy. Though, Wufei was sure they would be fielding more escape attempts. And Duo was known to charm new nurses into letting him escape, on top of his natural slipperiness and ability to escape, it was going to take all of them to keep Duo in bed. Duo, seemingly satisfied for the moment, leaned back into the bed. Companionable silence was not unusual for them, at least for short periods of time until Duo found a new subject to latch on to. Which, he did after a moment.
