Chapter 37
Interventions
Trowa POV
"He weren't there," I say feeling all of a sudden deflated as I return to Quatre after he'd rushed to the Music room to see if Duo was around. "None of his stuff was on the benches."
"He wasn't in the Music room either," Quatre says anxiously, his sky blue eyes look full of worry for his best friend. My mind begins to race over the possibilities of the scene which could have played out between the two.
The thing that scares me the most is that I've never known an angry Heero not to lash out – I just hope for his sake that he hasn't hurt Duo – I still haven't experienced an angry Quatre.
"We need to find him – I normally wouldn't say this but would you mind driving me to the church? I don't want Father to know I'm missing school." he says
"Don't worry, I was going to come along with you anyway – I just hope-" I trail off realising my words would probably just cause him to worry even more.
"Hope what?" he catches on, his voice sounding slightly higher.
"Nothing-"
"You hope what Trowa?" he demands now looking as if he's a captain on a spaceship commanding his crew. That's the thing with Quatre; he's so over emotional he can range between a sweet little puppy to a raging Lion within 2 seconds flat.
"Heero hasn't hurt him..." I murmur quietly, just the thought of it makes my stomach churn.
His hand snaps up to cover his mouth as he gasps, "He wouldn't...would he?"
"Yuy's always been known to act on his emotions."
"Well in that case we better hurry up and find him – and if Heero has laid a finger on him so help me Allah because I will not be able to hold myself back."
I gulp and nod my head meekly. The look in Quatre's eyes is enough to send a shiver down my spine. However, what I love about him is his loyalty and compassion towards his friends. Especially towards Duo. Since Quatre and I have gotten together I have often wondered why he and Duo never became an item. They are such good friends but why nothing more?
"Right let's go!" he marches towards the front of the school and through the front door. A few security guards watch us as we leave.
"Who are they?" He murmurs towards me as we notice one of them discretely tuck a gun back into his belt. "I don't think Father would be as crazy as to hire guards to watch me. It seems weird that they are even armed – and at this school."
"Some convict escaped from jail a few days ago maybe it has something to do with that?" I answer as we reach my green sports car.
"So they guard the school?" he questions looking slightly confused over the situation. "Perhaps there's something mystical he wants that is being hidden at the school."
"Quatre it's not Hogwarts" I chuckle and he blushes. "For all we know its Relena's parents over reacting as usual."
He sighs, "most probably – but I like my conclusion better!"
I find myself smiling even within the dim moment as we pull out the car park, however I have my foot heavy on the pedal – we need to get to the church as quick as possible. I pray to God that Duo is ok.
When we arrive there are no cars parked on the drive. Instantly I know Heero is not around. I park up and we both sit silently for a moment worrying over if we are ready to find out the state Heero has left Duo in.
If only Heero had been paired with anyone apart from Duo for this stupid English project. If only he hadn't of agreed to the deal. If only I hadn't of taken him to Underworld. There are so many what if's and mistakes we have all made over these last few weeks that I'm not surprised we are in this situation.
Every movement seems so loud as we both unbuckle our seatbelts and pop open the car doors. We trudge silently up to the church and then around onto a cobbled path which lead through the gardens. I follow Quatre because he seems to know where he's going while I take in the beauty of the surrounding grounds.
There are millions of flower beds everywhere filled with the most colourful flowers I have ever seen. In the distance I can see a playing field with some cricket bats discarded on the freshly cut grass – the sweet smell wafts in the breeze and over us.
No matter what Heero says, this place changed him. Duo changed him and I wish he could see it was for the good.
My phone bleeps loudly within the tranquil gardens. I quickly check it to see its WuFei:
** Where the hell are you and Yuy? You left me with Katherine you SOB! **
I roll my eyes and reply:
**At Duos. Shits gone down – Heero left. T**
I turn my phone off after that. I don't think I could be on the phone to WuFei listening to him rant for an hour and help Duo at the same time.
As we approach a large looking building I can hear screams and cries of laughter. It's only as we enter that I notice the crowd of children. We are instantly noticed and they all run over to Quatre nearly knocking him to the ground.
"QUATRE!" They cry as they all try and hug him at the same time. I laugh and take a peak from where they'd just run from to see a room full of bunk beds covered in coloured sheets with toys, books and clothing littered all over the floor. I don't envy the nun who has to clean up that mess.
"Hey guys I've missed you!"
"We've missed you to Quatre!" one cries excitedly.
"Please say you've come to play!" another says
"Guy's I'm here to see Duo, have any of you seen him?" he asks as the last of the kids gives him a hug.
"He's in his room being boring," one whines, obviously they'd already asked him to play but had been declined. "He wouldn't even come and play dress up!"
"Duo always plays dress up!"
"I'm sure he will. Maybe he's just busy at the moment," Quatre tries to explain
"Well Heero's not here so what other excuse has he got?" one of the girls huffs.
"Well if you let us, Trowa and I will go and try and persuade him to come and play." It was right at that moment I wished he hadn't had said my name. Instantly I have all their eyes on me, their small faces lighting up at the sight of another person they could play with.
"Hello Trowa, I'm Sarah!" one girl rushes over and hugs my leg.
"I'm Jake, please say you're gonna play dress up with us!" a cute little boy asks.
"Erm…sure…I suppose," I answer not really knowing what to say. I'm an only child I haven't really had much interaction with children of this age. I see Quatre smirking in amusement. "But first we have to talk to Duo."
"Oh fine," Sarah sulks, "you better promise to come back!"
"I promise," I answer placing my hand over my heart. "Cross my heart."
"And hope to die, stick a needle in your eye!" Jake concludes as he attempts to reach up and poke his finger in my eye.
"Jake! Don't hurt Trowa!" another kid cries, "he only has one eye!"
Jake grins mischievous, "That's so cool."
"Are you a pirate?" A small girl close to the back of the crowd asks looking almost scared at my presence.
"Of course he isn't!" Quatre laughs. I lift up my hair to show the small girl and the others that I am indeed not a Cyclops. Instant relief washes over her small, pale face. "Anyway, we will see you all soon!" Quatre says as he grabs my hand and pulls me down one of the corridors away from the chattering kids.
"Looks like we are playing dress up this afternoon," he chuckles lightly
"Sorry, I just couldn't say no."
"Don't worry I'm collared into it every time. They're just so sweet; it's strange to think their parents would leave them."
"They must be crazy," I answer as I wonder what would make a parent ever want to give up their child. Or what it is like to not know your parents. My own parents died when I was young but at least I have some memories of them.
We stop outside a mahogany door a couple of minutes later and Quatre knocks. We stay silent for a moment as we both listen for movement on the other side.
We hear the sound of a bed coil springing back into place before the door is unlocked and pulled slightly open. I instantly bite my lip as I take in the look on his face. His eyes look bruised from his tears and are dreadfully blood shot. I grit my teeth as I notice the bulging cut on his lip.
Quatre gasps and whimpers, "I'm so sorry Duo."
The braided man shakes his head as he opens the door further, "don't worry Q, I had it coming with all the lies I've been telling. I guess this is Gods way of getting his own back."
I grimace, "Don't say that Duo, you don't deserve this." I can feel anger washing through my veins. How dare Heero hit him after everything *he's* done. What a hypocrite! "You don't deserve to be treated like this."
I can see tears welling up in his eyes again, "but I do." I hear him whisper and my heart breaks.
"Duo, don't say that!" Quatre cries as he grabs for his friends hand. "You are my best friend; you mean the world to me. You definitely don't deserve to be treated like this!"
"Don't forget you're my friend to," I state taking a step forward. "Heero doesn't know what he's missing."
"But a good friend never lies," he chokes and he's right. I hide my wince. Does that not make me a good friend? I'm lying to both of them. I know about the deal. I know about Heero wanting to use Duo and Relena wanting to use Quatre just to prove who's better than the other. Heero doesn't even like Relena anymore – the whole thing is a sham!
"You lied to protect yourself," Quatre states. "It wasn't malicious; it's just the unfavourable sequence of actions which led Heero to underworld."
"It's my fault. I should have never taken him to the club," I add "It was all my idea."
"Trowa I would never blame you," Duo says with all earnest. "You didn't know. On the other hand – you Quatre –"
"Was shitting myself as we walked in!" my blonde boyfriend cries but I can see the sparkle of amusement that reaches Duo's eyes and I know he's thinking back to that Saturday night. The whole situation seems quite funny if you think about it. "And you had to go and get Hilde to dance on me!"
Duo grins in slight pain, "you loved every second of it!"
"Did not!"
"From where I was sat I would agree with Duo," I chuckle which causes Quatre's face to go beetroot red. A laugh escapes Duo's mouth and a few seconds later we are all laughing as we think back to the humorous situation we got in. Not to mention Heero's reaction.
"Guy's I'm glad you came," Duo finally says in all seriousness. "It really means a lot."
"We're just glad you seem semi-ok" I reply softly feeling the slowly growing weight of concern lift off my shoulders. It's weird to think a few weeks ago I didn't even know the both of them, but now especially with Quatre they feel like home to me.
"Well you'd better appreciate it because we're gonna have to play dress up now," Quatre huffs and Duo grins.
"As if you agreed to that," he shakes his head in amusement. "You gonna be Snow White again?"
"As long as none of the kids try to shove apples down my throat like last time," he answers causing Duo to cry out with laughter.
"I nearly forgot!" he chuckles. "Your face! I could have actually died with laughter."
"It was so not funny," just the look on Quatre's face causes me to chuckle.
"Come on," Duo says as he steps out of his bedroom. "The kids will come kidnap you in a minute if we don't get a move on." He smiles but the happiness doesn't reach his large eyes. He turns and takes off the way we came.
Quatre turns to me and smiles before whispering in my ear, "If you promise to be my prince, maybe you can kiss me awake."
I chuckle deeply, "That's one thing I can promise."
xXx
WuFei POV
Yuy is a bastard.
Not that I know what's going on at the moment but I can sense that it's Yuy's bastardisation that has caused all the problems and disappearances today.
First he disappears during gym and then Trowa is nowhere to be found leaving me to be paired up with his usual lab partner Katherine who is probably the most boring person on this planet. The woman could not carry an interesting conversation if her life depended on it. Plus she's had the hot's for Trowa since they broke up 3 years ago. I wonder what she would think of his newest relationship.
I knock loudly on Yuy's front door. I know he's in his immaculate car is parked on the drive way all pristine and clean as usual. He's as anal over his car as he is over his hair.
I wait for 10 seconds before I bend down towards the letter box and yell at the top of my voice, "Yuy open the hell up I know you're in there!"
I kick the door with equal measure the wood groans in response.
A few seconds later it opens and I'm standing in front of a very pissed off looking Yuy. He looks worn. He's still wearing his dirty gym clothes. His blue eyes glare daggers at me but the look gets old when you've been around it for the whole of your life.
"What the hell have you done?" I snap and push past him into the house. I step into his neutral hallway where there is a small oak table holding just his keys. I know for a fact there used to be pictures of him and his parents on it. Their death took him hard.
"What do you mean what have I done?" He yells back slamming the door behind him.
"Why are you here and not at school?" I resort as he passes me through to the lounge and towards the kitchen at the back of the house. I follow him and demand, "and why the hell have Trowa and Quatre raced out of school to go see Duo?"
"I left," he says while opening the fridge and grabbing 2 beers. He pops them open by slamming their tops on the corner of the kitchen top. Looks like he's drank a few of them since he's been back there's a line of them stashed by the recycling bin.
"You left? The Maxwell church?" I clarify as he passes me a beer and I unwillingly accept. It's much too early for alcohol. "Why?"
"You really don't want to know," he says before taking a long refreshing drink of his.
"Try me," I copy his movements and take a sip hoping my compliance will keep him talking.
He snorts and shakes his head as if he still doesn't believe what he is about to say, "Duo's Shinigami."
The statement causes my eyes to widen. My beer instantly sprays out of my mouth in utter shock and all over him. His eyes grow wide in disgust.
"Sorry," I murmur trying to hold back a snort of laughter. He glares before setting his beer on the side and grabbing a towel to wipe himself down. "You have got to be joking" I continue.
"I really wish I was," he murmurs.
"But Shinigami…" I mutter as I remember back to the man at Relena's party. It couldn't be Duo. For starters Shinigami had that beautiful long hair while Duo…I've actually never seen Duo's hair… But Shinigami … shit.
"I just keep thinking of all the times he fooled us," he says throwing the towel onto the kitchen counter with some force. "The amount of times we went to that club and at Relena's party. I just feel played like a fool."
"Why?" I ask, the words leaving my mouth without consent.
"Why?" he frowns towards me. "He lied. He pretended to be someone else and played us."
"What exactly did he do?" I ask raising an eyebrow. "So what if he's got an after school job many people have."
"But he lied."
"About having a job?" I reply, "I bet you never asked." He doesn't reply, which confirms my theory. "And anyway you're one to talk about lying."
"What are you implying?" he snaps.
"Oh come on you've been lying to him since the moment you met him." I cry in disbelief. What the hell does he think he's been doing for the past few weeks? Befriending Duo because he actually wants to? The man has his head in the clouds! "In fact the reason why you're lying is much worse than why Duo lied!"
"What I do in my life has nothing to do with you," he says turning his attention back to his beer and taking a long *guilty* sip to fill the silence.
"Oh but it does, you see because I have actually grown to like Maxwell." I say taking a step towards him. "The fact that he dances in a nightclub for extra money because he lives in an orphanage where they have nothing doesn't surprise or disgust me and he is actually quite good at his job."
"But he danced in front of us. He made me believe he was –" he stops in midsentence looking frustrated before saying, "You seem to have forgotten that I didn't want to take part in this stupid deal in the first place."
"Yes but you did, you had the option to opt out!" I snap, "and anyway if you hadn't have slept with Zechs this would never of happened in the first place!"
"It was a mistake, Relena was never supposed to find out."
"Oh please!" I want to bang my head against a wall.
"Jealous WuFei?" he says a smug looking smirk cross his face and I want to punch it straight off.
"In your dreams Yuy," I snarl feeling my anger rise. "I'm an engaged man."
"Of come on Chang! Talk about lying you're lying to yourself,"
"Just like you?" I yell back, "you can't even accept that you like Duo! I saw the way you were looking at him today – and it wasn't in a friendship way."
"That's bull shit."
"Oh really?" I reply, "so why the quick exit off the field today?"
"I was too hot," he snaps moving past me and into his lounge. He's trying to avoid the truth, but I'm not having it.
"Yeah watching a nice ass can get you a bit hot," I counter turning to follow him. There is no way he can deny why he ran off the field today.
"I'm surprised you even noticed I left after all your flirting with Zechs."
I heave a huge sigh, "Grow up Yuy, why can't you admit it? You like him!"
"No I don't," he grounds out
"Yes you do,"
"You're fucking crazy!"
"You're the crazy one for not pursuing the one thing which could make you happy? Why can't you just admit it?" I yell in frustration suddenly feeling as if the man in front of me is a lost cause. Why can't he just admit what he's feeling? We can all see it.
"What a load of bullshit!"
Then it hits me. He's a coward. He's too afraid.
"You're a coward," I say softly, disappointment laces my voice.
"Takes one to know one," he counters
"Zechs and mine "interactions" can be nothing more than that." He seems quite surprised at my words as I speak calmly back and for once admitting what is actually happening between the two of us. "I'm not being a coward I just know something like that can never be. And quite frankly it scares me. I'm promised to another and I never break my promises. But you're ignoring what you really want in life. Something you have a chance of having."
"I don't want anything but Relena and my old life back."
I close my eyes and shake my head. Is this really happening? Are we back at square one?
"There is such a thing as being Bi," I murmur.
"I am not Bi WuFei. I don't like men I like girls," he states as if trying to make himself believe it. "I don't understand why none of you can accept that, you in particular – you should be happy with the fact that one of your friends isn't a homo."
"You're a dick, are you actually taking a dig at Trowa because he's happy and actually accepts who he is?"
"The fact that he is so concerned about Duo to be over there right now after he what he did to me," he snarls. "He knew about Duo all the time. He should be trying to apologise to me!"
"He was probably just trying to protect him."
"Trowa is my best friend, he should have told me. He knew about everything I was going through and he's basically thrown it back in my face. I bet they had a great laugh."
"Heero-"
"Just go WuFei," he snaps but his voice sounds drained. He wipes a tired hand over his face.
"Yuy-"
"GET OUT!" he yells
I shake my head in disbelief and slam my unfinished beer on the coffee table. I march towards the door but before I leave I turn and take one last look at the person I once looked up to.
"You once said to me the only way to live your life is to act on your emotions," I say, his eye's drop to the floor. His father had told him that. "The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that's also a hypocrite. At least Duo stands up and does what he believes in."
With that I leave closing the door behind me, hoping to get the hell away from his house before I turn around and actually beat some sense into him.
TBC….
Hey guys, first off I want to say a massive sorry for the VERY long wait for this chapter!
I hope you like it! I'm currently doing some Microsoft exams atm! Work is really driving hard but I'm trying to find time to write so tell me what you think!