A/N: Nice long chapter. I thought about making it two but couldn't find just the right spot to cut it off. I'm sure you lot don't mind!

Enjoy!

Chapter 24

Heero sighed. "It looks like she pulled out the big guns already. She must be really jealous of you."

Quatre frowned. "That doesn't answer my question, Heero."

"I know. And I'm not trying to get out of answering it. But you need to understand that my father, my biological father, used to treat my mom like your dad treats you."

Quatre was shocked. He never would have thought…

"I know, right? I didn't even realize it until I was eight. That's when I caught my mom trying to cover up a black eye with makeup one morning. I asked her what happened and she…she didn't really tell me. She said something about being a klutz and not to say anything to my dad because she didn't want him to worry. I didn't think anything of it until a few weeks later when she had a brace on her wrist. I started noticing the bruises more and more and one night I woke up because he was screaming at her at the top of his lungs. I snuck to the top of the stairs and watched, unsure of what I should do. She was begging him to be quiet so he wouldn't wake me up and he backhanded her."

Heero bit his lip as he remembered. "I think that was what made me snap. I ran into my room and grabbed a baseball bat and…that night is such a blur. The next thing I knew I was standing in front of my mom telling my dad if he ever touched her again I'd beat him senseless. He grabbed the end of the bat and, because I refused to let go, he threw it and me into the wall really hard. I…I might have blacked out because I don't remember what happened next. I do remember grabbing the gun out of his hands and turning it on him. The safety was off and I…I did shoot him. But it was an accident. And I didn't kill him. I shot him in the leg."

There was a cheer from the stands above them as one of the teams scored.

"He's in jail right now. I…I think he qualifies for parole in six years. I haven't had any contact with him since the trial. I know my mom went to visit him a few times that first year, but…" Heero shook his head. "I was really happy when she finally made the decision to divorce him. It was really hard for her because she really did love him. But he didn't deserve her."

"I'm sorry, Heero," Quatre said quietly. "I…I should have asked you before believing what Relena said."

Heero wrapped Quatre into his arms. "It's okay. I'm not mad. I'd have a hard time not believing her, too. She can be really manipulative. She told you that I dated the guys?" Quatre nodded as Heero released him. "I suppose it may have seemed that way. I met Wufei just after my mom remarried when I was ten. My stepdad had gone to college with his dad and since we were close to the same age, we were introduced. Mom and I had moved from across town, so I didn't really know anyone else. Had we stayed where we were living I would have gone to Alliance. Wufei and I got to be pretty tight that summer."

"She said you slept with him."

Heero snorted. "I have a tree house that we used to have sleepovers in. So I guess if you count that, then yes. But that's the closest we've ever come to sleeping together the way she meant it. I didn't meet Trowa until school started and Wufei introduced us both to Duo when he moved in halfway through the year. I hung out with Trowa a lot because we were the same age and Wufei had Duo to hang out with. The next year, though, Trowa ended up going to stay with his grandparents because his parents were having a trial separation and thought that it would be more stable for him and his sister. So I hung out more with Duo and Wufei. Then Wufei quit coming to class all of a sudden so Duo and I ended up hanging out alone."

Quatre looked at Heero. "Was that when—?"

"Yeah. Although I didn't know about it at the time. Every time I went to his house for a month his mom told me he wasn't feeling well. Wufei didn't tell me about it until almost a year after it happened. If he wasn't as smart as he is, Wufei probably would have had to repeat that year of school because he was absent so much."

There was another cheer from the stands above them.

"So what happened with Trowa and Duo?"

"Let me guess, she told you I broke them up so I could set up Wufei with Trowa?"

"Basically."

"As with everything else she told you, there is a hint of truth in it," Heero admitted. "When Trowa came back from his grandparents he admitted to me that he was gay. He actually wanted a relationship with me, but I hadn't come to grips with my own preferences yet. I told him I was straight but that we could still be friends. I could tell I'd hurt his feelings but he said he understood so we didn't make a big deal of it. Then Duo, who, as I'm sure you noticed, is way more open than the rest of us, admitted he was bi and it wasn't long before they were dating. The problem was that they spent half of their time fighting. At first I thought they fought so they would have an excuse to make up, but then they spent more and more time fighting over the stupidest things."

"Like what?"

"Like whether double stuff Oreos were better than regular ones. It was ridiculous. They didn't talk to each other for a week after that argument. But I noticed that every time they had a fight, Trowa would talk to Wufei. I told you before that they were good for each other and I meant it. Wufei was able to point out how stupid some of their arguments were and he would convince Trowa to apologize to Duo. It was a real epiphany the day I realized that the only reason Wufei was encouraging Trowa to make up with Duo was because Wufei wanted Trowa to be happy. He had it so bad for Trowa that he was willing to make sure that he was happy, even if it was with someone else."

"So you broke them up so Wufei could be happy, too?"

"I didn't really break them up. They'd been fighting again and I had a talk with Duo. I told him that I didn't think their relationship was very healthy and I didn't like to see either of them so unhappy all the time. Of course, he got mad at me because no one likes to be told that their relationships aren't working. But once he got over being mad at me and paid attention to how they interacted, Duo broke it off with Trowa. And it didn't take much for Trowa and Wufei to get together."

"Was Duo mad?"

"At first, but he got over it when he realized how much happier he was. And he did try to get with me when I first realized I was gay, but it was too weird so we decided to just be friends instead."

Quatre looked at the ground as he thought about everything else Relena had said. He couldn't stop the tears from springing into his eyes again as her words echoed through his mind. "He'll throw you out like the trash you are."

"Quatre?" Heero had noticed the darkening expression on Quatre's face. "Did she say something else?"

"J-just that you couldn't be interested in me because of the clothes I wear and that you wouldn't want someone as weak as me. She…she said when you were done with me you'd get rid of me because I'm just…I'm just trash."

Quatre dug the heels of his hands into his eyes as he tried to keep the tears from falling. Heero wrapped him in a firm, but gentle, embrace and held him close.

"No, Angel, you're not trash. I don't care what clothes you wear. And you're not weak. Those are desperate lies from someone who knows that she can never measure up to you."

Quatre wrapped his arms around Heero and settled his head against the older boy's chest, content to let Heero comfort him.

After he'd calmed down, Heero said, "We should go back up and catch the end of the game."

"Okay." Quatre reluctantly stepped out of Heero's embrace.

Heero grabbed Quatre's hand. "Promise me you'll tell me if she tries to hurt you again?"

Quatre nodded but didn't look Heero in the eye.

Heero frowned. "Was there more?"

"Um…she…slapped me, too."

Heero's eyes narrowed as he gently ran a hand down Quatre's reddened cheek. He'd thought it was red from crying but now that he looked it was obvious that one was redder than the other. "If she touches you again I'm going to run her over with Trowa's car."

Quatre blushed. "I don't think he'd appreciate you getting that much pink on it."

Heero chuckled and pulled Quatre in for a kiss. "Seriously though, *kiss* don't let her *kiss* get to you. *kiss* Okay?" Heero kissed Quatre deeply, leaving the blonde weak in the knees.

"Okay," Quatre agreed a little breathlessly.

There was another cheer from the stands as Heero put an arm around Quatre's shoulders and they walked back to their seats. This time their friends scooted down the bench and Quatre sat between Heero and Duo again. When Quatre caught Relena glaring at him from the field, he stuck his tongue out at her and intentionally snuggled into Heero. Duo covered a laugh by pretending to choke on a piece of popcorn. Heero just smirked at Relena's indignant expression. Hilde and Dorothy both sent winks Quatre's way when Relena turned with a huff and focused on the game.

There were only ten seconds left on the clock. Alliance was ahead by two points, having managed to score a safety. There was enough time for one more play. The crowd was on edge as the ball was snapped and the players held the ball, trying to run the clock down so the other team didn't have a chance to score at the last second. At five seconds left, Colony High gained control of the ball.

The crowd was holding a collective breath as the seconds ticked off. At one second left on the clock, Colony High took a chance on a field goal. Colony High supporters erupted as the ball soared between the goal posts, rewarding Colony High with three points and their first win against Alliance in twenty years.

"COLONY HIGH WINS! COLONY HIGH WINS! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! COLONY HIGH WINS!" the announcer went on, completely shocked at the unexpected outcome.

The crowd flowed onto the field to celebrate. Couples kissed, teens left messages on Twitter and Facebook, everyone with a camera took pictures of the scoreboard. Quatre didn't get what the big deal was, but cheered anyway. Heero, Trowa and Wufei were pretty reserved about the whole thing. It wasn't like they'd won Regionals or anything. Duo let himself get drawn into the excitement, cheering with gusto.

"Everyone's gonna be so wired at the dance tonight," Duo said as they made their way down to the field to collect Hilde and Relena.

They finally made it to the field. Hilde wrapped her arms around Duo and kissed him soundly. Relena threw her arms around Heero and he was doing his best not to let her kiss him. She finally settled for a hug, but threw a scowl at Quatre over his shoulder, making the blonde take a step backwards at the ferocity. He bumped into someone and turned to find Treize and Dorothy kissing.

"Oh, um…sorry." His heart dropped as seeing Dorothy with Treize reminded him of what his father was expecting.

Treize frowned as Quatre's face fell. "What's wrong? Did you talk to Heero?"

"Yeah, I did and…everything's okay," Quatre said, attempting to smile.

"So what's got you upset?"

"N-nothing."

"Quatre? You can tell me."

"I-it's really nothing, Treize. I just remembered something that I had to do and I'm not looking forward to it."

Treize shrugged. "If you're sure everything's okay…?"

Quatre nodded. "Yeah. Um…thanks, though."

Quatre suddenly found an arm around his shoulders.

"Can I help you, Kushrenada?" Wufei was glaring at Treize. Trowa was standing just behind him with his arms crossed.

Treize grunted. "No, Chang. We were just leaving." Treize put an arm around Dorothy and led her away. "Let me know if you need anything, Quatre," he called over his shoulder to the complete surprise of Wufei and Trowa.

"What just happened?" Trowa asked.

"Yeah, Quatre, are you okay?" Wufei asked as he turned Quatre so he could get a better look at him. He frowned as he realized that Quatre's cheek was a little red. "What—?"

"That was Relena," Quatre interrupted quietly. "I…I made the mistake of telling her Heero wasn't interested in her."

"Is that what happened during Half Time?"

"Yeah."

"So what's up with Treize?" Trowa asked.

Quatre shrugged. "He's not as bad as he wants people to think he is."

If that was true it would explain why Treize had started to leave Quatre alone in Gym and why he wasn't giving Quatre any problems during their tutoring hour. Wufei and Trowa didn't have anything to say about that development so they shrugged and the three of them rejoined their small circle of friends celebrating on the field.

"Can you believe it, Quat? We won and it only took twenty years!"

Hilde giggled at Duo's sarcastic remark. Quatre shrugged. He wasn't really into football and he really didn't care that they'd just won. He had to figure out how to convince Tony that he and Dorothy had…been together. And since Colony High won, Tony would most likely expect for something to happen tonight. Quatre might manage to put him off, but Tony would definitely be suspicious.

Duo noticed Quatre's distraction and put his arm around the blonde's shoulder, pulling him aside. "Hey, Quat, is something wrong?"

"No…I mean, yes." Quatre sighed. "Colony High won so Tony's going to expect…I mean, since this is kind of considered a special occasion…well, Tony…" Quatre dropped his head into his hands. "Duo, Tony's going to kill me if I don't go all the way with Dorothy tonight."

"Quatre, I told you how to handle this already. You just have to get home before Tony and do what I told you. He'll never know."

"Wufei and Trowa told me to tell Tony that Dorothy and I went at it under the bleachers."

"Yeah, that might work, but from what I've seen, Tony will expect proof if you want him off your case. But whatever you're most comfortable with telling Tony is what you should do. After all, you'll have to be able to keep the story straight in case he decides to grill you."

Quatre appreciated Duo's advice, but he still wasn't looking forward to fooling Tony. If Tony ever found out he would be pissed, to put it mildly.

"Then I guess I should head home. I'm not sure when Tony's getting home tonight and I'll need to have enough time to make it look…legitimate."

"Okay, well, Hilde and I can drop you off." Duo had gotten his license the week before and the novelty of driving hadn't worn off. He took every opportunity he could to drive.

"Thanks, Duo…I guess." Quatre sighed. "I hate this, Duo, but if I come clean with Tony I…I don't know what he'll do."

"Hey, come on, Quat. Relax. If you can convince Tony that you and Dorothy are…together, then you can just throw them out one by one and say that you're using them at her place or something. He just needs to see the proof once and then you'll be off the hook."

"You're right. I'm gonna say goodnight to everyone and then can you take me home?"

"Sure. Just let me know when you're ready." Duo removed his arm from Quatre's shoulder and the two of them turned back to the group.

Quatre said goodbye to Wufei and Trowa, who were just getting ready to leave themselves. Neither of them were into dancing so they were going to go back to Trowa's and watch a movie. They offered to take Quatre home, but Duo insisted that it was okay and he could take the blonde home.

When he tried to say goodnight to Heero, Quatre found himself being pulled off to the side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Heero. I just…feel awkward about going to the dance by myself. And I don't want you guys to feel like you have to keep me company tonight. That isn't fair to Hilde or Relena."

"If you're sure. You can always stick close to me. I don't mind if Relena doesn't have a good time."

"You know, Heero, if she hadn't done what she did tonight I probably would take you up on that, but…I don't think I'm comfortable with that right now."

Heero hugged him and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry about that. Do you need a ride home?"

"Duo's taking me."

"Figures," Heero muttered. "He thinks it's funny to leave me stuck with Relena," he explained at Quatre's confused look.

"Oh…sorry," Quatre said.

"Don't worry about it," Heero said, lifting Quatre's chin and kissing him chastely on the lips. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Quatre smiled. "I expect so."

Heero smiled back and led him over to Duo.

"Ready to go, Quat?"

"Yeah."

Quatre followed Duo and Hilde out to Duo's car. When they got to Quatre's house, Duo got out and walked Quatre up to his door.

"Is something wrong, Duo?"

"Naw. I told Hilde I wanted to make sure you got in okay, but…um…can I ask you a favor?"

Quatre blinked. "Sure."

Duo's eyes flicked back at the car, where Hilde was adjusting her makeup in the mirror. "Can I…maybe have one of those…you know…just in case?"

"Yeah. Give me just a second, okay?"

Duo grinned as Quatre ran up the stairs and came out a minute later, slipping him not one, but two small packages. "The more you take the less I have to try and get rid of," he said as Duo cocked an eyebrow.

"Hm…maybe you should tell 'Fei and Tro'. I'm sure they could find a use for these," Duo said with a wicked grin.

"Well, if I get rid of them too fast, Tony will suspect something. Besides, I already gave one to Wufei. He said he'd throw it out for me, but…" Quatre turned pink as he realized what Wufei and Trowa were most likely going to do with it.

Duo laughed. "Oh, Quat…you're so adorably innocent. Don't ever change."

Quatre ducked his head. Duo was always teasing him, but Quatre had come to understand that it was Duo's way of showing he cared. "Thanks for the ride, Duo."

"You're welcome. Thanks for this," Duo said, indicating the packages. "As much as I'd like to torture Heero by making him stay alone with Relena, I think Hilde wants to get going so I'll see you later."

"G'night Duo," Quatre said as Duo headed back to his car. Quatre shut the door and headed up to his room. The thought of what he had to do made him nervous, but then he remembered Heero's kisses under the bleachers and decided that maybe this would be easier than he thought.

Back at the dance, Relena was trying Heero's patience. He had agreed to dance with her, only to find that she talked constantly as they did. He had a hard time getting a word in edgewise. Her topic during the first dance had been her feelings for him. The second dance had been ruminating on what their wedding would be like. When he'd told her for the 7,683rd time that he wasn't interested in her, she'd turned her rambling into complaining about Quatre.

"I just don't understand why you allow him to hang out with you guys. He's only a freshman."

"Quatre is a junior, Relena. He skipped a couple of grades. And even if he hadn't, he's a nice kid. We'd probably let him hang out with us anyway."

Relena rolled her eyes. She didn't know that Quatre had told Heero and Duo what she'd said at halftime. "He's in one of my classes and he's really annoying. He's always asking questions. It's like he doesn't bother to read the material at all."

Heero frowned. He knew that Quatre studied hard. Glancing at Quatre's notes on the Business Ethics class had told him that Quatre understood the subject more than Heero ever would.

Relena was still complaining. "And now he's talking to Dorothy all the time. It's like he's trying to take all of my friends away from me."

"Relena…"

"And if he gets to Dorothy it's only a matter of time before he turns the entire cheerleading squad against me. I mean, what did I ever do to him?"

"You hit him, for one thing."

Relena's jaw dropped. "I…I did not!"

Heero stopped dancing and dropped his hand from Relena's waist and let go of her other hand. "Then what happened during halftime?"

"He…he said he wasn't feeling well and ran off." Relena crossed her arms and pouted at Heero. "Don't you believe me?"

"No." Heero walked off the dance floor towards the refreshment table. Relena quickly followed to keep anyone from realizing that they were having a tiff.

"Heero…will you just hear me out? You should have heard what he said about you. He said he was using you to get popular and then he was going to ruin your reputation. I…I was protecting you."

Heero whirled around to face her. "If you ever put a hand to him again for any reason, I will personally see to it that everyone sees you for the bitch you are," he growled. He had no reason to doubt that Quatre had told him the truth. Relena, on the other hand, was a known liar. Like Duo, he was angry that anyone was hitting Quatre again. Their efforts weren't going to be thwarted by a jealous pink twit.

"I don't get why you care so much. It isn't like he'll be around long anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What? Oh, nothing."

Heero grabbed her upper arm.

"Ow…Heero, you're hurting me."

"Good. Now tell me what you meant."

"I…I heard Treize and Milliardo talking and…could you loosen your grip a little?"

"Not until you tell me what you know."

"They were talking and Treize told my brother that his father said the little pain was moving."

"What makes you think they were talking about Quatre?"

"His name came up a couple of times."

Heero let Relena go and stalked off to find Treize. He didn't care if he caused a scene. He wanted to know what was going on and he wasn't about to let Quatre get hurt again.

Duo showed up with his arm around Hilde before Heero could find Treize. "Hey, 'Ro, what's up?"

"Have you seen Treize?"

"Huh? Not since halftime today."

"He wasn't in the locker rooms at halftime?"

"Uh, no…um…at halftime I was talkin' to Quat and um…Treize kind of joined in the conversation."

"What did he say?"

"Not much."

"WHAT. DID. HE. SAY?"

"Whoa, 'Ro…hold it." Duo looked around before ushering Heero and a curious Hilde to a dark corner of the gym. "You won't believe this, but Treize actually thought I was the reason Quat was upset. If Quat hadn't told him otherwise, Treize probably would've rearranged my face."

"You're right, I don't believe it. What did he say, exactly, Duo?"

"Well, I found Quat crying behind the bathrooms and I got mad when he told me Relena slapped him."

"WHAT?" Hilde practically shrieked. Once they'd dropped off Quatre, Duo had told her a little more about the blonde. She was angry because Quatre had enough people picking on him without Relena's help.

"Keep it down, Hil!" Several people sitting at tables nearby had looked their direction at Hilde's outburst. "Anyway, 'Ro, the next thing I know, Treize has me pushed up against the building and he's askin' Quat if there's a problem. Quat told him to let me go and then…" Duo screwed up his face as he tried to remember what had happened earlier. "Um…I'm probably forgettin' some stuff, but basically, Quat told me he didn't need our pity friendship and then I got him to tell me some of what Relena said and then I think I screwed up a bit because I didn't convince him that she was lying." Heero rolled his eyes.

Duo ignored it and kept talking. "So then, Quat got mad and was gonna go off on his own but then Treize told him that Milliardo was there and that he should stay with me and give us all another chance. And then—"

"Wait…you mean to tell me that Treize is the reason Quatre to talked to me?"

"Yeeeaaah…anyway after that Treize offered Quat a ride home if he didn't like what you told him."

Heero frowned. "So…is he still after Quatre then?"

Duo scratched the back of his head. "I don't think so, 'Ro. He seems seriously into Dorothy. And the way he offered the ride was really more as a friend than as a love interest. You don't have anything to worry about."

Duo grinned as Heero glared. "That wasn't what I was concerned about, Duo, and you know it."

"Aww come on, 'Ro, you're too easy!" Duo threw an arm around Hilde, who tried to stifle a giggle.

Heero crossed his arms and was about to retort when he noticed Treize and Dorothy at the refreshment table. "Excuse me for a minute."

"'Ro, don't do anything stupid if you can help it," Duo warned and watched his friend approach Trieze.

"Treize, can I talk to you?"

"About?"

"Quatre."

Treize raised an eyebrow. "He told me you two were okay. Are you changing your mind?"

"No…nothing like that. Relena said that she overheard you and Milliardo talking about him and I wanted to know why."

"The last time I talked to Milliardo about Quatre was to tell him to stay away."

"Relena said you told her brother that Quatre was moving."

"What? No…no…I wasn't talking about Quatre."

"Relena's exact words were 'the little pain is moving.'"

Treize rolled his eyes. "Milliardo and I were discussing how the team's kicker, Kai, is moving next month. His parents got divorced and his mom is moving them to his grandmother's house to start over. If he was on the basketball team, you'd know what a prankster Kai is. He's worse than Duo. Everyone on the team has called him a little pain ever since he stole our left cleats and glued them to the locker room ceiling."

Heero snorted. "Don't tell Duo about it. He doesn't need any more ideas."

Treize nodded. "Yeah, I guess not." He cleared his throat. "So, uh…where is Quatre, anyway?"

"He said he wasn't comfortable hanging around the dance alone and since Relena went after him, he didn't want to hang out with us, so Duo dropped him off at home."

"Hm…but did he seem to be okay?"

Heero frowned. "Why do you care so much?"

"Because believe it or not, Quatre's our friend, too," Dorothy finally spoke up. "I'm not too happy with Relena right now, I'll have you know."

"Sorry. It's just that—"

"My history with him isn't that great. I know," Treize finished. "But rest assured, Quatre and I are cool now. I'm not bullying him anymore, but just so you know I have been keeping up appearances to keep Milliardo off his case. But that's all it is…an act. And Quatre knows that."

Heero nodded. "Just…just don't…hurt him."

"I won't. And I'll make sure no one else does, either."

Heero joined Duo and Hilde for the rest of the night. Relena pouted by the punch bowl until someone else asked her to dance. Heero had no idea who she ended up going home with, but he didn't really care. Hilde even asked him to dance, which he agreed to and he left shortly after. He wasn't really into dancing and was even less into it when he was there alone. He couldn't help but think it would have been more fun if Quatre had been there to hang out with.

Tony returned home to find his son asleep. He'd heard from other employees at the plant that Colony High had won their homecoming game and he was a little surprised to find that Quatre wasn't at the dance that was supposed to go until around one in the morning. He frowned and considered waking up the boy to find out why he wasn't out celebrating when he noticed the open box of condoms on Quatre's dresser. He raised an eyebrow and checked the bathroom. He was pleased with what he found.