A/N: Thanks for the review! More angst ahead...

Chapter 13

The next few days passed and Quatre's spirits seemed to lift a little. His friends made it a point to bring breakfast for him, knowing that he wouldn't have eaten any. Quatre felt a little uncomfortable with it, but they insisted and he couldn't deny being hungry. He was a growing teenage boy after all. After Duo brought him breakfast the first day, they realized how uncomfortable he was and made it a point to bring enough for the whole group so it wouldn't be so awkward for him.

But there was still something that didn't seem quite right with their friend. Duo was all for making Quatre talk, but Wufei, Trowa and Heero didn't want to run him off especially after Wednesday's emotional confrontation. Quatre was still looking a little flushed on Thursday and Friday, but he wasn't as sick as he had been, so his friends elected not to bring it up. Saturday morning Duo went over to Quatre's and knocked softly on the door. He wasn't sure that Quatre would hear him, but he'd remembered the blonde's plea not to wake his father the week before. And now that Duo understood why, he was trying extra hard not to.

He waited for a few minutes before the door opened. Quatre stepped outside, silently shutting the door behind him. "Hey, Duo. What's up?"

"Not much. You wanna go play some basketball?"

"Let me see if I can." Quatre went inside and a couple of minutes later the door opened and Duo was face to face with Tony Winner. Duo decided that Quatre must take after his mother. He looked nothing like his father. Tony had dark hair and dark eyes where Quatre had blonde hair and eyes that were more aqua than green or blue.

Duo wasn't much shorter than Quatre's father, but the man was much more muscular than the braided teen. "So, you're the one that keeps asking Quatre to play sports?"

Duo was a little surprised. Tony seemed to be cordial, but underneath there was something menacing. Duo grinned and played it up. "Yup, that's me. Duo Maxwell, co-captain of the Colony High Wings basketball team." He stuck a hand out that Tony coolly shook.

"Hm. So you know the Chang boy?"

"Um, yeah. He's on the team." Duo was confused but tried not to show it.

"Quatre tells me that you're dating a cheerleader. Is that true?"

"Yup. Hilde was just made the head cheerleader this week. She's a babe."

That got a small grin out of Tony. "Well, maybe you will be a good influence on him after all. Alright, go play basketball."

"What time would you like me home, sir?"

Tony gave Duo an appraising look. "Whenever. I'll be going out this evening. I should be back around midnight."

"Okay, thank you, sir."

"Nice meeting you, sir!" Duo gave Tony a smile and the man gave a nod of his head in return before stalking inside and shutting the door.

The two boys turned and headed down the street. Once they were around the corner Duo stopped and faced Quatre. "Why was he asking about Wufei?"

"I don't know. He told me last week to stay away from him."

Duo frowned. He could think of only one thing that Tony could have heard about Wufei that would give him a reason to tell Quatre to stay away, but he didn't think it was his place to say. "I think we should have a pool party at my place after the game."

"Huh?"

Duo grinned. "We have some more stuff to talk about and I think that lounging around my pool will be as good a place as any." He started towards the park and Quatre fell into step next to him.

Quatre had been wondering when someone would want to talk some more. But he supposed that the sooner he got it over with, the sooner they'd quit pestering him. And he had felt the burden lift considerably since his friends had found out one of his secrets. Maybe confiding in them would take more of the weight off his shoulders.

There were five of them, so they ended up playing H.O.R.S.E. Quatre got all five letters. Since Quatre was out, Duo presented the idea of going swimming and the others agreed. Trowa and Heero went to get their suits and agreed to pick up the other boys. Duo, Wufei and Quatre walked back towards Quatre's and Wufei's houses, but Duo stopped Wufei at the corner.

"Hey, 'Fei, can you do me a favor?"

"What?" Wufei looked skeptical.

"Um…well, ya see, I kind of met Tony this morning when I went to get Quatre and…well…for some reason, he doesn't want Quatre around you." Quatre looked at his shoes. He hadn't wanted to say anything to Wufei.

"And you think he might still be home and you don't want Quatre in trouble, right?"

"Um…yeah. D'you think you could wait a few minutes before you head home?"

"Sure. That's why you asked Trowa to pick us up here, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Wufei sighed. "Quatre, did your father tell you why he wants you to stay away from me?"

"No. But I don't care what his reason is. I…I trust you." Quatre looked up at Wufei, who gave him a grateful smile.

"I appreciate that. Get going. The sooner we're at Duo's, the better."

Duo and Quatre walked quickly but casually down the street. Tony was still home, but agreed to let Quatre go to Duo's. They left out the part about going swimming, but Duo told Tony that he was going to order pizza and invite Hilde and some of her cheerleader friends over to watch some movies.

"And maybe do some other stuff," he added with a cheeky wink.

Tony couldn't quite hide the fact that he was pleased with that idea. Quatre had run upstairs and grabbed his backpack to put his swimming things in.

"Why are you taking that?" Tony asked with a frown.

"Oh, um, well, I had a question about my math homework and Duo was going to try and help me with it while we waited for the pizza."

Tony shrugged and waved the boys off. They left quickly, not wanting to have Tony change his mind at the last minute.

While they waited at the corner, Duo talked. "I'm hungry. Should we eat first or just order pizza? Hm…maybe we should take a vote. Oh, hey, 'Fei! What do you think? Should we order pizza or go to Rashid's?"

"Personally, I think I'd prefer pizza today. We've been to Rashid's quite a bit lately," Wufei answered as he walked up.

Trowa pulled up with Heero and the three boys piled into the back. As soon as they got to Duo's house, he got on the phone and ordered pizza. The boys changed. No one said anything about the bruises that had appeared since Wednesday.

Duo's swimming pool was in a room at the back of his house. The room had tinted glass walls, so it felt like they were outside, but the temperature could be regulated and there was less chance of sunburn. They swam until the pizza arrived.

"So, Quat, I know you probably don't want to say, but you mentioned that your dad divorced your stepmom. Why don't you go live with your mom?" Duo asked, eating his sixth slice of pizza.

Quatre had finished eating and was sitting next to the pool, dangling his feet in the water. "She died when I was born." He said it simply without sounding sad.

"Oh, sorry."

Quatre shrugged. "It's okay. I never knew her and it doesn't really make me sad to think about it anymore. My stepmom was really cool about stuff. She's the one that got me into music. I think…I think that's part of why she and Tony started arguing so much. He thought it was too expensive. She always said it didn't matter, they could afford it."

"So, the other day you said that Tony kept you from having friends. Was that before or after the divorce happened?"

"After. My stepmom encouraged me to get out and make friends. I always seemed to hole up in my room with my music or a book. There were days that she would threaten to lock my violin up unless I came home with a friend. She never really would have, but it made me socialize. Once the divorce was finalized and Tony and I moved, I tried to make friends because I knew she would want me to. At first it didn't seem to bother him if I had friends, but then…then James found out…about Tony." Quatre looked at the water with a frown. "He told his mom, who confronted Tony. Tony told her that I fell out of the tree in the backyard. She believed him after he explained about the divorce and told her that it was hard on me and I was trying to get attention."

Heero shook his head as he thought, 'So that was where that came from. Quatre has been conditioned to think that no one would believe him. It's going to be tough to get him to accept the help he needs.'

Quatre blinked tears from his eyes before they could fall. His back was to his friends, but he still didn't want to let them know how upset he was. "He yelled at me, told me I was nothing but trouble and he was going to teach me a lesson. He didn't hit me that night, just sent me to bed. I was naïve enough to think that he was afraid James' mom would find out and turn him in. Somehow he managed to start a couple of rumors at school."

"What were the rumors?" Trowa had come over and sat next to Quatre, putting his feet into the water as well.

Quatre didn't look at him. He watched the water ripple out from Trowa's movements. He finally broke the silence. "Part of the rumor about James was that he was sleeping around, which in itself wouldn't be considered a big deal, but the other part was a pretty horrible thing." Quatre kept watching the ripples in the pool as his memories swirled through his head.

"That's so gross! What are you, a whore?"

"Hey, James, how much do you cost?"

"I wanna ride!"

"Hey James, I heard you like it rough. Is that true?"

"How about you, Quatre? How do you like it?"

"QUATRE!"

Quatre's head snapped up. "What?"

Trowa frowned at him. "You totally spaced out. Duo called your name four times."

"Sorry," Quatre mumbled. "I was…thinking."

"No big," Duo replied with a wave. "I was just wondering what the rumor about you was."

Quatre's cheeks burned. "Um…well…like I said we were only eleven and…" Quatre sighed. "I don't want to say it."

"Was there any way to convince them that the rumors weren't true?"

"Not really. The one about James wasn't true, but the kids at school believed it because he was friends with me and the rumor about me…was."

"Was what? True?"

Quatre nodded, focusing again on the water.

"What'd you do, murder someone? Besides why would being friends with you make them believe the rumor about him?"

"Because I'm—" Quatre covered his mouth with a hand as he realized what he'd almost admitted. You can't just admit something like that to jocks and think you can get away with it. He stood up.

"I should go," he said quietly. He started to leave but found his way blocked by Wufei.

Wufei put his hand on Quatre's shoulder. He was careful not to hurt the smaller boy, but used just enough pressure to make him stop. He looked Quatre in the eyes and asked quietly, "Quatre…is your father punishing you because you're gay?"

Quatre took a step back and bumped into someone. Quatre started panicking. They were going to trap him, beat him up and leave his body tied to a fence in the middle of nowhere!

Arms wrapped themselves around him gently from behind and a soft voice whispered, "Quatre, it's okay. Nothing will happen to you."

Tears started down Quatre's face. Another set of arms wrapped around him from the side and another voice whispered, "Everything's gonna be fine, Quat, you'll see."

Trowa placed a hand on Quatre's shoulder and his arm around Wufei. "You don't have to have secrets around us." He smirked and gave Wufei a peck on the temple.

Wufei's cheeks turned red. "Trowa!" he hissed and pushed the older boy into the pool.

Trowa came up laughing. "You know I can't resist you."

Wufei looked away from everyone, embarrassed. Duo let go of Quatre and smirked at the Chinese boy. "Hey, 'Fei, if you don't like it, I'll take him off your hands."

Wufei glared daggers at Duo. "Touch him and I'll hang you with your braid, Maxwell."

The threat only made Duo laugh. Quatre was too stunned to do anything but stand there. It wasn't possible, was it? Were they serious or only making fun of him?

Heero moved in front of Quatre and bent down so he was eye to eye with him. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Quatre whispered. He really didn't know. It was a complete shock to think that three of the biggest jocks in school were anything like him. Quatre had wondered how long he would last in their group if they knew what he was. He'd always thought that the more into sports you were, the more straight you were. And they were popular. If they'd been in the drama club or the glee club it would have been easier to believe, but…Tony. Tony had told him all of this. Tony had made him believe that all jocks were straight and would hurt him if they found out he wasn't. It was why he'd let Quatre hang out with Duo. Was Tony hoping that Duo would rehabilitate him or do his dirty work for him?

Quatre sank to his knees.

"Quatre?" Heero was on his knees now, watching the blonde. The other three continued their playful banter, oblivious to the two boys behind them.

Years of pent up stress and fear forced their way out as Quatre buried his face in his hands and burst into tears. He was an emotional train wreck and he realized that he didn't want to hold it back anymore. He wanted to let it go and move on. Wanted to be free of the guilt of what happened to James. Wanted…acceptance. That was all he wanted. Acceptance. But was he a fool for thinking he'd finally found it? He hoped not…the arms that wrapped themselves around him were very comforting.

He leaned into the strong arms, burying his face into the sturdy chest that they were connected to. He cried, letting out the hurt that had built since the day he'd let slip that he found a male actor attractive. The comment that had started the arguing between Tony and his stepmother.

"If you hadn't let him start music lessons this wouldn't have happened!"

"He didn't choose this, Tony. It's just the way it is."

"Don't you tell me this is the way it is. He's doing this to rebel and so help me I'll—"

"That's it, let it go. Don't let it hurt you anymore. Everything's going to be just fine," Heero murmured into his hair.

Heero waited for Quatre to calm down a little before speaking again. "I take it we're the first people you've really told?"

"Not since James. And he—" Quatre choked back another sob.

"What did he do?" Heero prompted. Wufei, Duo and Trowa had finally noticed Quatre's breakdown and were sitting on the ground nearby, close enough to hear everything Quatre said.

"He killed himself."

There was silence, broken sporadically when Quatre's breath hitched.

"Oh, Quatre, that wasn't your fault."

"It was, Heero. Tony spread the rumor that James was sleeping around with older men for money and because I was stupid and told him I was attracted to men everyone believed that he was sleeping with me, too! He couldn't take it anymore and one day his mom walked into his room and he was…he was hanging from the ceiling fan. He'd tied the rope around it, slipped the other end around his neck and turned it on. And it was all because of me!" His voice gained a shrill, desperate quality to it as he talked.

Heero's arms tightened around Quatre as he grieved. He'd held it in for so long that now he couldn't hold it back. Tony had told him he didn't deserve to miss his friend because it had been his fault he died. The tears slowed and Quatre forced himself to breathe normally so he wouldn't trigger an asthma attack.

His voice was low when he continued. "And the worst part was that at the funeral Tony made me tell his mother that I started the rumors because I was attracted to James and wanted his attention."

Duo flung himself around Quatre and held him tightly, his arms encircling Heero as well. They stayed there until Quatre shifted. He appreciated his friends' comfort, but they were hurting him.

"Sorry," Duo muttered as he let go. "I get a little carried away sometimes."

Quatre gave him a small smile. "It's okay. I really don't mind." He stood up and went back to the pool. He sat and put his feet in like he had before, watching the ripples that radiated from his movements.

Duo and Heero started to clean up the leftover pizza. Trowa gave Wufei a look and a half hug before kissing him on the cheek and following the other two inside. Wufei sighed. He knew what the others expected him to do. And as much as he didn't want to, he knew that Quatre needed to hear what he had to say. He needed to understand that he wasn't alone. He sat next to Quatre and put his feet in the water.

"Would you like to know why your father doesn't want you anywhere near me?"