New Hope Home

Hiyo, new chappie. Sorry that it's taken so long for me to update, but I'm just moved back home, finished school, strated a new job and everything. SO sorry you didn't get to beta this chapter, princess, but I'm just to eager to put itup! I'll send ya the chapter so you can beta it and I can edit this one later, 'kay?

I've put alittle lenght into this chapter and I hope you will enjoy it just as much as you have enjoyed the rest. A little rambling at the beginning, but it'll straighten itself up as the chapter evolve. Anyways, it's Christmas Eve and our boys has quite the day ahead of them. Read and enjoy!

"Merry Christmas"

Heero woke up as the sun decided to cast its rays in the middle of his face and he couldn't help but groan when sitting up in the bed. He was normally a morning person, but today he just wanted to lie back down, snuggle up against Duo's warm body ,and go back to sleep.

Looking down at the peaceful face beside of him, Heero couldn't help but smile. Stroking his finger over his cheek, he bent down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead, careful he wouldn't wake him up. Unlike him, Duo was not a morning person.

Silently slipping out of bed, Heero pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt before walking to the bathroom to take a leak.

Flushing the toilet when he was done, he walked over to wash his hands while thinking that it was rather handy to sleep right next to the toilet. He guessed that the walls in the bathroom were just about soundproof so nobody would wake up in the middle of the night because somebody flushed the toilet.

Drying off his hands, Heero figured that he could use a shower. Yesterday's trip in the forest, the tree holding, and dusting off his boyfriend had left him rather dirty and he could see the dust fall from his hair every time he moved his head. He hadn't bothered to shower before going to bed, he had been to tired.

Walking back to his shared room, he found a pair of jeans and a thick, red sweater as well as a fresh pair of boxers. Placing another kiss on Duo's forehead while passing the bed, he smiled and walked back to the bathroom. Closing the door after him, he placed the clothes on a chair next to a closet with towels and stripped out of his clothes before stepping into the shower.

Sighing as the hot water hit his body, Heero ran his hands through his hair, wetting it. He'd really needed this. Making sure his hair was wet; he picked up a random bottle with shampoo and squirted some out into his hand before adding it to his hair.

While rinsing his hair for shampoo, Heero started thinking about how his parents were going to react when he decided to come out of the closet. It was something he'd been thinking about a lot lately. He was sick and tired of hiding Duo from his parents, sick and tired of listening after sounds from his parents when they were making out in his room, sick and tired of lying about going out with him. He just wanted to enjoy Duo's company and not worry about being caught and have to explain himself.

Grabbing a piece of soap, Heero started washing his body while thinking about his boyfriend. Duo was extremely understanding through all this. He was giving him the time and space he needed, being supporting, but honest. Heero knew that the quicker he came out, the better, but he just couldn't help but wait. He wasn't afraid of coming out, he wanted to come out, but he just didn't know how to tell them. He was a man off actions, not of words.

'Hn. Maybe I should just kiss Duo in front off them? It's leave them with no doubt, that's for sure,' he thought while rinsing his body of soap before stepping out of the shower and grabbing a towel. After quickly drying his hair to get rid of the water, he wrapped it around his waist. Looking at his reflection, he could see that his already messy hair was even messier than normal. He looked like a total idiot. A total idiot with hair standing out in every direction.

Snorting, he grabbed his hairbrush so he could try to tame the mop he called hair. He didn't hear when somebody opened the door.

"Oh, sorry Yuy," he could hear faintly behind him and turned in time to see Wufei close the door.

Snorting, he went back to the task of taming his hair. He wasn't bothered by the fact that Wufei had just walked in on his when he was just standing in the towel. What bothered him the most was the fact that he'd forgotten to lock the door.

After managing to calm down his hair enough for him to look somewhat okay, Heero got dressed and walked down to the kitchen for some breakfast. Knowing that Wufei was awake, he expected him to be in the kitchen already, but that wasn't the case, not that he minded the person who was already in the kitchen.

"Where's Wufei?" he asked while pouring himself a cup of freshly made coffee, undoubtedly made by Wufei.

Quatre smiled and nodded towards the front door. "Outside. He went to gather some firewood."

"Don't we have enough off that on the shelf?"

Quatre nodded and took a sip out his own cup with tea. "We do. But he said he needed a walk anyway."

Snorting, Heero sat down and took a sip from his own mug. "Must be a horrible sight to see me in a towel then." Looking up over the rim of the mug, he could see the confused look Quatre gave him. Shrugging, Heero mumbled before taking a new sip. "I forgot to lock the bathroom door while taking a shower and Wufei walked in on me when I was standing in front of the mirror in a towel."

Quatre laughed and put down his cup. "Well, I won't say anything since I've never seen you in a towel, but I highly doubt that's the reason. He always takes a walk when he's here, to take in the scenario as well as getting some fresh air into his lungs. He just gathers some firewood while walking so he does something useful while admiring the scenario."

Heero smiled over the rim of his cup before taking a new sip. "Guess that's typical Wufei," he murmured. "Doesn't want to waste any time, even if it is to admire nature..."

Quatre laughed again and nodded. "I suppose so."

Studying the blonde over the rim of his cup, Heero noticed that Quatre was behaving just a bit different than usual. The teen was almost glowing. 'Well, I guess that explains the thumping we heard over our heads last night instead it being the wind like we thought it was," he mused to himself before looking at Quatre. "Got some last night?"

Quatre blushed, but the smile never left his face. "I guess you could put it that way..."

Heero snorted, but he still smiled. "I'd say. We could hear it, you know. Something was thumping over our heads last night and if I'm not mistaken, your bedroom is right over the living room. We thought it was the wind, though."

Quatre's blush turned even redder. "Oh, I'm so sorry if we... Well... If..."

Heero chuckled and waved his hand. "Don't worry about it. We didn't listen to the sounds for that long. We barely noticed it."

Quatre smiled mischieviously and teased Heero with his reply after taking a sip of his tea. "So I reckon you and Duo..."

Heero shrugged. "No."

"No?" Quatre raised an eyebrow.

"No. We haven't done it yet. Haven't felt ready for it yet."

"Oh." Quatre looked down into his cup and trailed his finger around the rim of it. "Heero... Have you ever..."

"No."

Quatre looked up, surprised that Heero seem so... calm about his own sexual status. If he'd been asked the same question, he would have blushed like mad. "Okay."

Heero chuckled and placed his cup down onto the table. "I'm not ashamed of it either. Sure, I'm eighteen, almost nineteen and I'm still a virgin, but so what? I haven't felt like sleeping with anyone and I don't want to jump into a bed for a one-night stand either just to get rid of my virginity. I've been fine so far and I might as well save it for the time I feel ready to have sex."

Quatre smiled and relaxed. "Smart move. I was doing the same until I started dating Trowa."

Heero smirked and picked up his cup to drink up the last off the coffee. "Last night was your first time?"

Quatre shook his head and blushed. "No. We... slept together about two months after we started dating. We felt it was long enough and we both wanted so..."

Heero just smiled and got onto his feet so he could place the cup in the sink. "Well, good for you. Don't let me stop your sex-life. As long as I don't have to listen to you."

Snorting over his own boldness, Heero was amazed just how comfortable he felt in the 'Fallen Angels' company. He'd shared more with them than he he'd ever done with his own parents and he wasn't ashamed of telling them anything either. He knew that they accepted him no matter what.

Laughing, Quatre got up before wincing slightly and gently touched his rear end. Heero looked at him and asked. "Are you okay?"

Quatre smiled and nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little sore, that's all." Straightening all the way up, Quatre placed his mug in the sink and stretched a little. "I'll just take a shower and I'll be fine."

Heero nodded and started cleaning out the two cups. "Okay. Want me to set the table for breakfast?"

Quatre shook his head. "Don't bother. Wufei and I have already eaten and only Allah knows when Duo will wake up. You can make yourself something to eat instead." Smiling, Quatre left the kitchen so he could take his much-needed shower.

Heero just shrugged and made himself some breakfast, wishing that he'd had some company while eating.

"Hey, can ya hand me that blue box with the orbs in it? Yeah, that one. Thanks." Taking the box from his Japanese boyfriend, Duo walked back to decorating the Christmas tree.

They'd already hung the lights around the tree as well as some strings with popcorn, but they still needed to do the final touches. So Quatre had set Duo, who was the artistic and creative guy among them, to decorate the tree along with Heero, who was currently just passing stuff to Duo, while the rest decorated the house. They'd decided not to overdo things since it would take too long to take everything down again when they left, but they still wanted to decorate a little.

Quatre had set Trowa, as he was the tallest one, to hang up mistletoe wherever he saw fit while Wufei was busy hanging up light-up decorations in the windows. Quatre was leading the work while putting out small figures of snowmen, Santa and angels everywhere.

"Do we have any snow spray so we can decorate the windows?" Duo asked while hanging the ornaments onto the trees.

"I think we have a spray can or two in the box. And we still have the stencils we use to make them if I'm not mistaken." Quatre replied while placing a little snowman on the living room table.

"Want me to look for it?" Heero asked while handing Duo another box with six ornaments in it.

Quatre nodded. "If you could be so kind and do so, Heero."

Heero just nodded and got to his feet. He was tired of just sitting and handing Duo stuff, even if it did give him the perfect opportunity to ogle at the other's ass. He too wanted to do something to help decorate the house.

Looking into the box, Heero quickly found two cans of snow spray and the stencils they used for the decoration. "Got them," he called out and went back to the others.

Quatre smiled and nodded towards the window. "Then how about you decorate the windows? Or do you want to help Duo some more?"

Heero snorted a little and gave Duo a little smile. "I don't mind helping him, but I think I'll do the windows."

Duo put on a pout and sniffed. "Aw, so you don't wanna help me anymore?"

Heero walked over to the braided teen and gave his ear a little nip. "On the contrary, I would love to help you some more, but I think you have everything under control. I'll go and make myself helpful by doing something else."

Duo just snickered while returning to his ornaments while Wufei let out a "Get a room" before hanging up the last of the light-decorations. "Well, I'm done. Is there anything else that needs to be done?" Wufei said when he was done and placed his hands on his hips.

Quatre looked around and shook his head, smiling widely. "No, everything looks great."

Wufei rolled his eyes, but everybody could still see a little hint of a smile playing on his lips. "I still think we've overdone it a little," he replied and slumped onto the couch. "I mean, it's not like we're drowning in decorations like we did last year, but is it really necessary to decorate every part of the house? That fat Santa thing on the bathroom is giving me the creeps. I'm almost afraid of taking a leak every time I'm there."

Duo grinned and hung up the last ornament. "Aw, is the big Wufei afraid of Santa Claus?"

Wufei glared at the braided teen. "I am not afraid of Santa, Maxwell. I just don't like that thing that's occupying the bathroom!"

Duo snickered and started humming. "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake..."

Wufei groaned. "That has to be one of the most disturbing Christmas songs I've ever heard."

Duo grinned and continued. "He's drooling when you're changing, lock your door for goodness sakes..."

Wufei just glared and huffed, leaving Duo to finish his snickering. Heero just shook his head and carefully started spraying the windows. "Duo, behave..."

"Ain't I always?" Duo grinned before stepping back to examine the tree, hands on his hips. "All done! What do ya guys think?"

Quatre smiled widely and clapped his hands. "Oh, it's wonderful! Perfectly decorated!"

Duo grinned and gave Quatre the thumbs-up. "Can I decorate a Christmas tree or what?"

Wufei snorted and looked away from the braided teen. "And that's basically all you know."

Duo stuck out his tongue and smirked. "Come on, Wuffei, you know you love me."

Wufei groaned and got onto his feet. "I'll leave that to Yuy. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to use the facilities."

Duo watched as Wufei walked past him and yelled. "Ya can't run away from the truth, Wufei! One day you'll wake up and realise that you care for me! Just you wait!"

Heero chuckled and shook his head. Duo was acting stupid, but he had to give him credit for being persistent. Not a day went by without Duo trying to make Wufei smile. At it did work to a certain degree, Wufei did found Duo amusing, even though he would rather rip out his own toenails before admitting it. But Heero knew. He'd seen the smile Wufei had desperately been trying to hide during Duo's dinner-jokes last night.

Finishing up the windows in the living room, Heero studied his handiwork.

"Hey, not bad, lover." Duo approached him from behind and gently wrapped his arms around Heero's neck. "Not bad at all for someone who's never decorated windows before."

Heero smirked. "Can I decorate windows or what?"

Duo stuck out his tongue and grinned. "Hey, that's my line!"

Heero just smirked and turned his head to place a quick kiss on Duo's lips. "I don't see your name on it."

Duo grinned and placed a quick kiss on the tip of Heero's nose. "I'll get the trademark for it later." Looking up, Duo studied the living room. "Well, the decorations are complete and it only took us two hours." Grinning, he looked at Quatre. "Shall we say it's decorated enough?"

Quatre nodded and smiled. "I think it's nice as it is. We don't have to decorate the other windows. I think that'll be too much."

Duo nodded. "Yeah, and it's such a bitch to get off too."

Trowa shrugged and walked over to wrap his arms around Quatre's waist. "It's pretty to look at, though..."

Heero nodded and turned so he could wrap his own arm around Duo's waist. "That it is."

Quatre smiled and nodded towards the stairs. "Shall we get the presents and put them under the tree?"

Duo grinned and nodded. "Yeah! Let's do that."

Quatre gave him a strict look and wagged his finger in the air. "No peeking or trying shaking presents to figure out what they are, okay?"

Duo gave him his most innocent look and bashed his eyelashes. "Come on, would I do that?"

Quatre sighed and gave him a weak smile. "Actually, you would. You did it last year."

"And the year before that," Trowa helpfully pointed out.

Duo frowned at the banged teen. "How come you always remember stuff like that? You always remember useless shit like when I sneak a peak at the presents or the one time I hid Wufei's Dao 1, but always forget your keys and stuff."

Trowa just shrugged and hugged Quatre closer to his chest.

Heero cleared his throat. "Why don't we just get the presents, shall we?"

Duo nodded and released himself from Heero's embrace after giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Sounds good to me. And after that we can make cocoa!"

Quatre sighed. "You won't stop before you get that cocoa, won't you?"

Duo grinned and winked. "Damned straight I won't!"

Heero just smirked and started to walk up to the second floor. "But you aren't straight now, are you?"

Duo raised and eyebrow and smiled slyly. "Neither are you, buddy-boy."

Heero shrugged. "Have I said anything against it?"

Duo stuck out his tongue. "You happen to have the cheesiest sense of humour ever."

Heero's smirk just turned slyer. "At least I have a sense of humour. Learn to appreciate it."

Duo ran up to his boyfriends side and tweaked his nose with a little smirk of his own. "And I do. I appreciate you and your sense of cheesy humour very much."

Heero smirked back and leaned in for a kiss, only to be interrupted by Wufei's slightly annoyed voice. "Excuse me, but people are trying to get down here. Move!"

"Bomb's away!"

Heero ducked, thanks to the warning his boyfriend yelled out, as another snowball was flung in his direction.

"No fair, stop warning him," Quatre pouted and crossed his arms.

Duo grinned and waved a glove-covered hand in Quatre's direction. "Fair's fair. You warn Trowa all the time."

Wufei snorted and started making another snowball. "I thought we had no teams. Everyone against everyone."

"And all for one and one for all," Duo added with a little smirk and pulled his cap a little further down over his eyes.

Heero rolled his eyes and tightened the scarf he had around his neck. How Duo had managed to convince everybody to have a snowball fight was beyond him, but he'd done it. Even Wufei had pulled on an extra sweater with a little smile to join the fight. Not that it wasn't fun, because it was, but it was still rather amazing.

Quatre raised his hands and started to blow warm air onto them to heat them up. "It's starting to get a little chilly now. Can't we go inside?"

Duo pouted. "What? Already? But we haven't even built a snowman yet!"

Quatre gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but I'm freezing. I'll go inside and start up our Christmas dinner. You can be here for a little while longer if you want."

Trowa shrugged and nodded towards the house. "I'll go with you. You'll need a hand."

Quatre smiled and hugged his boyfriend. "Thank you, Trowa. Anybody else that wanna join me?"

Heero shook his head and smiled. "Nah, I can survive out here a little longer. And it's my responsibility to keep Duo occupied."

Duo grinned and danced over to hug his boyfriend. "Damn straight you are."

Quatre looked over at Wufei. "How about you? Wanna come inside and help us out with the meal?"

Wufei shook his head and nodded towards Heero and Duo. "I'll stay with them for a little while longer. Even if it is Yuy's responsibility to take care of Duo's happiness, I still see it as my responsibility to make sure that those two don't lie down on the ground and start making out. They'll catch a cold if they do."

Duo flattered his lashes towards the Chinese and grinned. "Aww, are you worried about us, Wuffie?"

Wufei snorted. "No, I'm worried about those god damned hormones off yours. Get your paws off each other so we can build this god damned snowman of yours."

Heero raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Nobody's forcing you to be here, Wufei."

Wufei smirked back. "I know."

Patting Wufei's shoulder, Heero walked over to Duo who was already busy with rolling a snowball into a suitable size. "Don't make it too big or we'll have problems lifting it up."

Duo smirked and patted some snow around the big ball to keep it in place. "Hey, don't worry. The three off us should be able to lift any kind of snowball, no matter the size."

Heero just shook his head and started helping Duo make the middle part while Wufei started with the head.

Twenty minutes later the snowman was built up and the balls were stacked and secured. Duo had run inside to get a carrot, some coal, a hat and a scarf to decorate the creation, leaving Heero and Wufei alone in the slowly darkening backyard, sitting on the porch.

Heero looked up at the darkening sky, waiting for Duo in silence when a voice broke the silence.

"What do you feel for him?"

"Huh?" Heero turned and looked at Wufei, who in return was looking up at the sky.

"What do you feel for him?" he repeated calmly.

Heero stared down at the snow and started thinking. He knew what he felt for Duo, but if he was ready to put words to those feelings... that he didn't know. "Wufei..."

Wufei finally lowered his head and looked at the Japanese teen, seriousness written across his face. "Listen, Heero... I'm not trying to threaten you or anything here. I just wanna know what you feel about Duo."

Looking back up at the sky, Wufei continued. "Duo's strong, we all know that. His strength is admirable, but he's fragile too. He still is scared about being in a relationship--at least a serious one. And this is definitely serious on his side. You have no idea how big of a step this is for him."

Heero turned his head and looked at Wufei. "Wufei... If you are implying that I'm gonna hurt him in any way..."

Wufei raised his hand and silenced him. "I'm not. I know you won't hurt him. You care too much for him as a friend and as your boyfriend."

Heero snorted and looked away. "What made you bring this up?"

Wufei shrugged. "Because Duo is a good friend, despite the fact that we yell and argue all the time." Fixing jet black eyes in Heero's direction, he murmured softly. "I wish to protect him from people that can crush his heart again, but I know that you're not one of those people. You could never hurt Duo, at least not intentionally."

Heero looked at his hands, clenching and un-clenching them so he could circulate the blood into his fingers. "You make it sound like it's happened many times."

Wufei bit his lip. "It has..."

Heero snapped his head up. "What? He's only told me about-!"

Wufei raised his hand, once again silencing Heero. "About Peter. I know that. And don't worry, he hasn't lied to you. Peter was his first and he was the only guy he's ever slept with. Doesn't mean he hasn't been in shitty relationships after that."

Heero lowered his gaze again. "I suppose not..."

Wufei cleared his throat. "He got together with a guy a few months after Peter. He seemed like a decent enough guy. Hilde introduced them since he was the brother of a good friend of hers. They hooked up, had fun and it seemed like they were, in general, happy together. Duo was smiling, at least."

Heero started at the snow. "I hear a 'but' in that sentence."

Wufei nodded. "And there is one. The guy Duo dated, I think his name was Robert or something, he got a little aggressive. Duo didn't want to sleep with him, kept telling him he wasn't ready for it, and the guy just snapped. He didn't hit him, but started yelling and calling him names. Duo didn't take it well, but he didn't back away from it either."

Smiling a little, Wufei continued. "It was during that time when Duo was building up his self-esteem and he wasn't gonna stand back and take type of crap from just anybody. So the second Robert was done with his speech, Duo used that damn impressive vocabulary of his and orally kicked his ass."

Heero smiled and snorted. "That sounds like Duo."

Wufei nodded. "We were damned proud of him. He was a little down afterwards, but he quickly shook it of and got back to his feet."

Heero smiled a little wider and looked over at Wufei again. "I can imagine you were. He is strong."

Wufei nodded and smiled. "That he is."

"Hey, what are ya talking about?"

Turning, Heero spotted a smiling Duo coming towards them, a hat on his head and an extra scarf around his neck. He was carrying a carrot and a bag with coal.

Heero smiled and got onto his feet. "We were talking about you."

Duo smirked and stopped right in front of the two Asian teens. "Hope you were saying good things."

Wufei smirked and got onto his feet as well. Walking over to Duo, he snatched the carrot away and walked over to the snowman to stick it in the middle of was going to be a face. "Naturally. We are nice guys."

Duo snorted and grinned. "Yeah, right," he murmured and joined Wufei by the snowman, quickly followed by Heero. The three teens finished the snowman in silence before returning inside to join Trowa and Quatre at the kitchen.

The cooking went without any serious damage, the only episode being when Quatre burned his hand on a pot full ofat was boiling water for the potatoes. Trowa reacted quickly and got his little lover to the sink and put his hand under hot water. Duo protested against that, claiming that cold water was better for burns, but to his surprise, and Wufei's amusement, it worked. 2

The meal passed in comfortable companionship. It wasn't like the Christmas meal you would get at home, all ready with turkey, mashed potatoes, pudding and gravy; the five teens simply didn't have the knowledge nor the patience to cook up something like that, but it was still enjoyable. They had managed to make the turkey, but the stuffing had gone down the drain after the little incident with Quatre's hand. Everybody was occupied with helping their blonde friend the best they could, completely forgetting about the pot that was happily boiling on the stove. The gravy had survived, if not a little burned, as well as the potatoes so they didn't mind that they didn't have stuffing.

When the meal was finishedsed, Heero and Duo cleaned the table while Quatre finally started making the cocoa Duo had been waiting for. Trowa had found an apple pie in the fridge and had popped it into the microwave so they could serve it warm along with a scoop of ice cream. Wufei had wandered into the living room so when the four other teens appeared, carrying a plate with steaming warm apple pie and a cup with cocoa each, the fire-place was lit, casting a warm, yellow colour over the slightly dark room. Wufei was sitting in front of the fireplace, making sure that the flames got a good grip on the wood so it wouldn't die.

Quatre smiled and placed the plate and the cup he was carrying in front of the Chinese. "Here, Wufei."

Wufei looked up and smiled. "Thank you."

Duo dumped onto the couch, spilling a little of the quickly melting ice cream onto his pants and sighed. "This is great... So peaceful..."

Heero sat down next to his boyfriend and nodded. "Yeah..."

Trowa lowered himself in the other loveseat next to the couch Heero and Duo was sitting on and started eating his pie. Quatre came back moments later, carrying his own plate and cup. Sitting down next to Trowa, he snuggled closer and smiled.

Wufei got onto his feet and put himself on the chair next to the couch, carrying the plate and the cup with him. Leaning back into the chair, he turned his head and gazed out the window. "It looks like it's gonna be a nice day tomorrow."

Duo turned his head and smiled. "Hey, yeah... Maybe we can go out skiing tomorrow!"

Quatre smiled and nodded. "Oh, that would be so much fun! And we can prepare some food so we can have lunch outside. We have plenty of leftovers from today's dinner that we can heat up tomorrow."

Duo grinned. "That sounds great!"

Heero smiled and finished his slice of pie before setting the empty plate on the table. Picking up his cup, he gently blew on the hot liquid to cool it down a little. "It does sound like fun."

Quatre smiled. "I'm sure it will. And don't worry about shoes, skises and stuff like that. We have skis and shoes in all sizes."

Heero chuckled and nodded. "I know. Duo's already told me about it. He used it as bait to tempt me to join you."

Duo grinned and leaned over to kiss Heero's cheek. "It worked, didn't it?" He mused and gave Heero's ear a little nip. Heero just groaned in response.

Wufei rolled his eyes and glanced over at the large grandfather clock. "It's almost half past eleven," he mumbled and got up from the chair, bringing the plate and the half empty mug with him to the kitchen. When he appeared again, he waved to the others. "I'll be going to bed now. You have a nice evening."

Duo started after him. "Don't you wanna spend the evening with us, Wufei? I mean, it's such a lovely night and all."

Wufei smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry about me, Maxwell. I'll survive."

Duo continued to stare. "But..."

Wufei continued to smile that little smile of his. "This is a night for lovers and couples. And since I'm not buying into that kind of stuff, I'm going to bed. Besides, I might get a call tonight."

Duo smiled again and winked. "Meilan promised to call, eh?"

Wufei nodded. "Yes. So I bid you all good night. Enjoy yourself." The he disappeared up the stairs and down the hall, his footsteps slowly fading away.

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Meilan?"

Duo smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Meilan. Wufei's ex. She always calls the night before Christmas. It's a little tradition they have."

"Tradition?"

Quatre nodded. "Yes. Meilan could never accompany us up to the mountain when we went up here to celebrate. So she called Wufei instead, wishing him a happy Christmas. She's done it ever since she moved back to China."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that expensive? And what about the time differences?"

Quatre chuckled. "Meilan is the grandaughter of Ron Shirin, a great man in China and the heir to a clan called the Dragon clan. If somebody has money, it's them. And as for the time-differences..."

Trowa shrugged and put his plate down on the table along with his now empty mug before pulling Quatre onto his lap. "It's about a fourteen hour difference so if she calls him now, it'll be about half past seven in China. And she's normally up around that time so..."

Heero nodded. "I see."

Duo smiled and leaned back into the couch. "It's so cute... He and Meilan still keep in touch this way... We all know that he misses her, but the kind of bond they have... That kind of respect... It's difficult to get that..." Chuckling a little, Duo closed his eyes. "And to think that they didn't like each other when they first met."

Heero chuckled. "Really?"

Duo nodded. "Yup. They're both black belts in karate and they met each other in battle one day. They both were bragging about how they were the best and stuff and their sensei told them to battle. Wufei won, of course, but he got some sort of weird respect for her. So he asked her out to discuss some moves and before you even knew it, they were dating."

Heero snorted and murmured dryly. "How romantic."

Duo laughed. "Like our first 'romantic' encounter was any better. We were both drunk."

Heero raised a finger. "Tipsy."

Duo chuckled. "Whatever."

Heero shrugged. "It still worked out, didn't it?"

Duo smiled and crawled a little closer to his boyfriend. "That it did..."

Heero smiled and put down his mug in favor of having his boyfriend on his lap. Heero placed his hands on Duo's thighs and stared him deep in the eyes. "And I'm glad it did..."

Quatre chuckled and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, lovebirds, but are you done?"

Duo grinned and stuck out his tongue at the blonde. "Hey, like you two're any better. We heard you upstairs last night. You disturbed our make-out."

Quatre blushed and looked down. "Sorry about that."

Trowa blushed too and got up, pulling the little blonde up with him. "I think I'll be going to bed now."

Duo looked at them. "Hope I didn't say anything to embarrass you. You know I was just joking, right?"

Trowa and Quatre nodded before Quatre flashed them a smile. "Don't worry about it, Duo,. No offence is taken."

Duo smiled. "Good. Well, good night, I guess. And do take it easy."

Quatre laughed a little. "We will. Good night, you two." Fixing his aqua-coloured eyes on Heero's Prussian blue ones, Quatre added strictly. "I'm leaving you in charge of Duo now. Make sure he doesn't peak at the presents under the tree."

Heero smirked and turned to face Duo. "Oh, I think I can make sure he's occupied."

Quatre laughed softly and dragged Trowa up the stairs. "Then I'll trust you on the case. Good night!"

Duo and Heero just laughed before wishing them good night back. Silence filled the room and, once again, they were alone. Duo smiled. "Seems like we're alone again. What a boring bunch of friends we have."

Heero smirked and curled his hands around Duo's waist. "I happen to like them. They give us a lot of time together..."

Duo smiled and wrapped his arms around Heero's neck. "So, you're in charge of leaving me occupied. Got any plans?"

Heero smirked and leaned close to Duo's, so close that their breaths started to mingle. "I have a few ideas..."

Duo grinned. "Oh, really now? It better not be any bad ideas, you do know that Santa doesn't visit bad children."

Heero smirked and fixed his gaze on Duo's soft, rosy-red, jucy lips while pulling Duo's body closer to his. "Well, I guess I'm off Santa's good boy list then..."

Duo chuckled and gently started twirling one of Heero's soft strands of hair around his finger. "Such a naughty boy now, aren't you?"

Heero smirked and trailed his hands over Duo's ribs. Then his eyes shifted from a mischievous gimmer to a softer glow. "You're so beautiful..."

Duo blushed, but still chuckled. "Well, that came totally out of the blue..."

Heero chuckled and smiled. "Well, you are... Beautiful, that is... You really are a sight for the eyes..."

Duo smiled softly and placed a tender kiss on Heero's nose. "Thanks, Hee-chan..."

Heero smiled and closed the last few inches that separated them, intending to bring their lips together in a soft kiss, when the grandfather clock struck twelve, making them both jump a little.

Duo laughed and tightened his grip around Heero's neck. "It's midnight, Heero..."

Heero nodded. "It is..."

Duo's smile widened a little as he shifted his hands to place them on Heero's face instead, bringing his face closer to his. "Merry Christmas, Heero..."

Heero smiled and closed the gap between them, whispering softly just before their lips met. "Merry Christmas, Duo..."

Their lips were brought together and a sweet kiss was shared, much like the kiss they'd shared the night before. When they broke for air, Heero placed a tiny kiss in Duo's nose before moving his lips to Duo's neck, attacking it with soft kisses.

"Heero..."

"Hmm?" he mumbled while looking up, still teasing Duo's neck.

The braided teen grinned, a mischievous look sparkling in his eyes. "It's technically Christmas now... Can I sneak a peak at the presents?"

A long silence occured.

"No."

Author's Notes: 1 Contrary to what some people believe, Wufei does NOT swing a katana in Gundam Wing. A katana is used by Japanese samurai's, not by Chinese. Wufei's sword is a double-edged Dao, a traditional Chinese sword.

2Contrary to belief, having your hand under hot water when you've burned yourself is much better than having it under cold water. It hurts like a bitch, but when you pull your hand back after a little while it has stopped burning. Even if you don't believe me, I don't recommend you to go and burn yourself, just to try the method out.

Finally! The new chapter is done! Well, what do you think about it? Was it acceptable? Need feedback, I live for feedback. Remember to review. -points at the review button- Thankee!