A/N: I am so sorry this took so long to post. My computer got fried, and I couldn't recover any of my chapters from any other computer. So, here they are. I'm going to wrap up posting this fanfic in the next two weeks, easily, so I can move on to other projects.
Thanks for your patience everyone, R&R!
-picimadar
Forget Me Not
Chapter 11
R3: Hey
R3: Hear anything back about Tsukuba?
Yuy: Yeah, I got the letter today. They want me on early acceptance, so I'd start sometime this summer.
R3: WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL AND TELL ME?
R3: That's great news! ^_^
R3: are you excited?
Yuy: I guess.
Yuy: It's not really a big deal.
R3: Of course it is! Oh man, we're going out to celebrate! I'm on my way over.
Yuy: You really don't have to come.
R3: What, you don't want to see me?
R3: Are you feeling okay?
R3:…. Heero, say something. Babe.
R3: You can't just sit up in there alone all day. I need you. I'm coming over there and we can talk more then, okay?
R3: I love you.
Relena D. has signed off.
"Heero, are you okay? Do you need me to call Duo or the doctor? Are you hurt?" It was a barrage of questions, Hilde, the tiny waitress, standing at the edge of the table, looking down at me.
"No," I said, sounding like a twelve-year-old who'd just fallen off a bike. I sniffled, as if that didn't make things worse. "No, I'll be okay. I just need a drink. I had a rough day."
She cocked her head to the side, a gesture much like my friend's, and I realized why they got on so well. "Okay, then. Something stiff?" I nodded, and she smiled sadly. Before she brought back the drink I'd managed to at least wipe the tears off my face and get a little less bleary-eyed, but the weight of what I'd remembered must have been written all over my expression. Hilde put the dark glass down in front of me and sat down across from me.
"Drink up and tell me what's going on. The boys know you're here?" I shook my head. "You remembered something heavy, huh?" I nodded now, still drinking. "Well, I'll keep 'em coming. I know you're not supposed to drink, so we'll see how you handle the first few. If you need anything, let me know, honey." I was touched by her kindness, but after the fifth drink I knew I'd overused it. The room was a blur, voices chattering, and I was unable to distinguish most of it.
"Heero," once voice said, and I heard it clear as a bell.
"Relena," I said, looking up at her, and her face was concerned, softened by my obvious pain.
"Heero, tell me what happened." She sat down now, and I took hold of her hand.
"I went back to my old room at Vandesande. I remembered something happening there…" I felt her stiffen, her eyes growing wide with fear, and I wondered what her first, clearly terrifying assumption was. "I remembered finding out my dad had died." My voice shook, and I swallowed hard, taking another huge gulp of my drink. "I haven't been able to remember anything like that at all before now. I wasn't ready."
She gripped my hand, smirking slightly when I hiccupped. "How about I take you home?" I looked up at her, a thousand possible innuendos cropping up over the meaning of the statement, but she quickly realized her error and quashed them. "I meant to your suite. You should get home. I'll take you." Standing, Relena called another waitress over, and I assumed she was explaining the situation.
"O-okay, come on then," she said, almost motherly as she grabbed my hand, hoisted my arm over her shoulder and walked me out to a waiting cab. Hilde waved goodbye at the door, that same pitying look on her face, and I wondered what the people in the tiny restaurant must think of me.
I wondered how I had acted on the first day, too. The first time I had learned my father was dead. What had I done? Had people given me sad looks on the streets? Had I drunk myself into oblivion? Shuffling into the cab, I let my head fall limp against the back headrest, the world spinning.
"Don't throw up. We'll get you home in no time, but first I have to just go by my place and let them know I'll be late."
"Can't you just call them?"
"No," Relena said quietly. "I don't have a cell-phone. Too expensive."
"How-" I started, but she shushed me, jumped out of the car and ran into a shabby-looking triplex. A few moments passed and the cab driver lit up a cigarette, offering me one, which I refused, before Relena bounded back down the stairs.
"Alright," she said, quickly rattling off directions to my hotel to the driver. "The faster, the better," she added at the end, noting what must surely be the paling pallor of my skin. I felt miserable, but couldn't be more glad Relena was there. I opened my eyes to look at her, and she smiled briefly before looking at me, intense.
"Ground rules," she said, and I nodded, trying to understand. "You don't get to ask me about myself, period. If you want to know something that has to do with your life here, then you can ask, but I can't promise I'll answer."
"Why won't you just tell me?" I asked, my words slurred. Her clear blue eyes looked away toward the floor, her head lowering.
"My life has changed a lot since you knew me, Heero. There are things you just don't need to know." She looked at me now, letting a hand pat my cheek. "I want to help you, but I don't want to hurt you accidentally. I know you probably won't remember any of this in the morning, but I really…" she choked up, looking away again.
I felt almost instantly sober, at least for a few moments. "You really what?"
"I really cared about you. A lot." I knew they weren't the words she had been thinking, but Relena distanced herself from me again, staring out the car window as we crossed the city.
"What was I like, before?" I felt her sigh and I couldn't help but take her hand, feeling the soft touch of her skin against mine like a strange, withheld luxury.
"When we were together? Driven. Very driven. You never let anything stick to you. You loved working on projects, sports… but you knew how to have fun, too. You were always trying to help people, to improve other people's lives with your own… It was always interesting. Busy."
Her answer was similar to the vague ones I'd gotten from our classmates, and I was dissatisfied. "What was I like to you?"
"I'm not answering that." Relena's answer was abrupt and cold, and final, and I knew not to bring up the question again. I remained almost completely silent the rest of the ride, groaning a few times from the nausea beginning in my belly. We arrived at the hotel in record time, and Relena escorted me upstairs. "Don't worry about it," she said as I tried to pull out my key. "They know me, here."
We got to the room and Relena helped me sit down on the couch, resting my head on a pillow. Turning on and dimming the lights, she got me several large glasses of ice water, a bottle of Tylenol, put the news on, the television muted, and had room service bring up food for me, things that were easy to stomach.
"This is awfully romantic," I said as she put one of the glasses down on the coffee table nearby, and she laughed, momentarily crouching by my head.
"I do what I can. Will you be alright here, by yourself?" My eyelids drooped, and all I could think of was how close she was.
"You smell like cucumber," I said, and she smiled, patted me on the cheek, and left.
"I think you'll be just fine."
