Just Like Her

Chapter 7

// "Come here sweetheart, look at your new baby sister."

Young Heero crinkled his little nose at the pinkish bundle in his mother's arms. His father swooped him up in his arms and brought him down near his little sister. After giving her a light kiss on the cheek, little Heero said hello. "Hi Jillian Nickel."

Heero's parents chuckled softly before his mother gave him a kiss. "It's Jillian Nicole sweetheart."//

"Ooh! He's here, I'll get it!" Hilde chimed awakening Heero from his momentary trance.

The apartment door swung open and Heero came face to face with Hilde once again. "Hi Heero, come on in."

Heero walked in and saw a young man sitting down on the sofa. "Heero, this is my boyfriend Duo. Duo, get up off your butt and greet our guest."

Duo quickly got off the couch at his girlfriend's request and extended his hand to Heero. "Good to meet you Heero!" Duo answered gregariously before leaning in to tell him something in a quieter tone of voice. "It's so nice to have a guy around for a change."

"Duo, what are you telling him?" A voice echoed from the kitchen.

Heero looked over his shoulder and saw Relena giving Duo a inquisitive stare. "Nothing I swear! Hey, would you like a beer or something? It will be awhile before dinner is ready."

"Sure," Heero spoke, finally getting a word in between the two. 'This guy sure is friendly,' he thought just as Duo handed him a beer.

While the boys chatted on the couch, the girls were putting the finishing touches on dinner. "Wow Relena, he sure is a looker," Hilde said in a hushed voice while staring out into the living room.

"Keep it down Hilde," Relena quipped as she felt her face turn bright red with embarrassment. Hilde giggled at her friend's outward display of emotions.

Relena peered from behind the counter to get a better look at Heero, she didn't really notice him when he came in. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a beige light pull-over sweater. His hair was ruffled in its usual manner and his face looked rather well rested than earlier that day. He was just sitting there sipping his beer listening to Duo ramble on about miscellaneous things. "You like him don't you?" Hilde said nudging Relena with her elbow.

"I don't even know him Hilde."

"Give me a break, I see the way you look at him, I'm not stupid you know. You don't look at guys like that too often Relena."

Relena sighed in defeat. "He's different Hilde, there's just something about him that I can't explain."

"Well whatever it is girl, I hope it is the right something," Hilde said with a smile as she glanced over at Duo. Hilde prayed that Relena would find someone, she was lucky to have found someone like Duo, there weren't too many men like him around anymore. She can still remember the day they met. She had just lost her job at the market and she wound up sitting on the curb of the street crying. Out of the blue, he came down and sat next to her, a complete stranger at the time. He had somehow made her laugh, she was feeling so awful at the time, with no money to make rent. Duo took her to lunch and miraculously offered her the spare room at his place until she was able to find a place of her own. That never happened because over time, they hit it off and she fell in love with him, and she hasn't left his place since.

Relena smiled slightly, her heart held the same wish. It would be nice to not be alone anymore. They quickly finished fixing dinner so Heero could have some relief after have his ear talked off by Duo. "Dinner's ready guys, come on in and sit down," Relena called as her and Hilde started putting food on the table.

"Great, I'm starvin'!"

Hilde just rolled her eyes and took the seat next to him. "Wow, this all looks great girls, good job." Relena and Hilde had cooked up a nice roast chicken with potatoes au' gratin, salad, rolls, and steamed vegetables on the side.

"Well thank you Duo. Welcome Heero, I haven't been able to get a word in with you yet," Relena commented.

"Yeah, I apologize for that, my boyfriend here sometimes doesn't know when to shut up," Hilde added.

"Hey!" Duo answered in mock resentment before Hilde gave him a light peck on the cheek.

Heero grinned, he now understood what Relena meant when Duo and Hilde were the only ones who could tolerate her, they were all a like. They were all sarcastic and outgoing, and for Heero's sake, he prayed that Relena won't wind up talking as much as Duo, even though he really didn't mind it all that much. "So Heero, how did you get reeled in by these two?"

"Geeze Duo, he's not a fish for pete's sake! Besides, we didn't reel him in, we invited him," Hilde said matter of factly.

"Ok ok, let me rephrase that Heero. How did they coax you into coming?"

"Duo!" both girls sounded.

"It's okay. I ran into them while I was at the library," Heero spoke, adding his first comments to the conversation.

"Poor guy, that's how it usually happens. They wait in the library where it's nice and quiet and then they corner you in the aisle knowing full well that screaming will cause too much of a scene," Duo joked as he played out the scene before them.

Duo's comments elicited a slight smile from Heero and a pair of scowling faces from the girls. "I'm kidding you two," Duo reassured them before taking a drink of his beer.

"So how was work at the library ladies?"

"Quiet as usual," Relena commented.

"Some of these people though are such slobs, leaving books all over the place. At least they could have the courtesy to pick them up and bring them over to info so we could reshelf them," Hilde complained before taking a bite of food.

"But that's your job hun, if it weren't for those slobs, you wouldn't have anything to do. By the way, what do you do Heero?" Duo added.

"I'm a waiter at the cafe` down the street."

"Cafe` American? That's a nice place. How long have you been working there?"

"Since I moved here little over three months ago." Heero was trying his best to keep his sentences short enough to the point where they answer the question asked, no more, no less. He figured if he stayed quiet enough, the three of them would do enough of the talking for him.

Duo cocked an eyebrow in interest. "Really, where from?"

"Heero's from the States' Duo," Relena informed her friend. She could tell Heero wasn't in the mood for conversation just by the length of his sentences. Of course with Duo around, it was hard to get more than two sentences worth in no matter who was there.

"I see, you're a Yank then. Not like that fact bothers me, it's just nice to have another guy around."

"Indeed Duo. Plus on the bright side, when we go out, Relena won't have to go out by herself anymore, she can take Heero."

"Hilde!" Relena cried as her face turned a bright shade of crimson. It amazed Relena at how calmly and cool Hilde spoke when it came to matters of embarrassing her friend. Heero glanced over at Relena from the corner of his eye and cracked a smile brought on from Hilde's comments.

"What?" she replied innocently.

Duo and Hilde both cracked up. Hilde wasn't doing this to be mean, she was doing this because she saw a connection between the two, it was evident at the library and she was going to do everything in her power to fuse that connection. The rest of the night had passed rather smoothly as the party chatted away about various subjects of interest. Duo of course got the most in during the conversation with inserts from the girls in between. The rule that girls talk twice as much as men did not apply where Duo was concerned. Despite his boisterous behavior, Heero enjoyed Duo's company, it was nice for a person to have such a lively spirit within them. He also noticed that Hilde appeared to be the more outspoken one between the girls, at least when they were together. Relena was like a toned down version of her friend Hilde. These were Heero's superficial observations of the pair since he did not know them well enough to comment on them any further. As far as Relena was concerned, he couldn't explain his thoughts about her coherently enough to make any bit of sense.

When dinner was through, the guys took their drinks and went out on the patio for some fresh air while the girls cleaned up the kitchen. "That seemed to go well," Hilde remarked as she cleared the dishes from the table.

"Yeah, I was really surprised Duo didn't scare him off. He is the complete opposite of Heero."

"Well he isn't much of a talker, but when around Duo, there's not much that can be said," Hilde said as she handed off a stack of dishes to her friend at the sink.

"Heero didn't do a lot of talking this morning either. I did most of it and just as I was getting him to talk a bit, I had to go to work. I think it was just because he didn't know you two."

"He doesn't know you either but he apparently talks to you," Hilde pointed out as she waved the wet butter knife in her hand.

Relena said nothing and looked over her shoulder through the glass door out on to the patio. The boys were leaning over the railing, drinking their beer. Heero appeared to be off in space, his eyes directed out towards the dark landscape. He was just listening to Duo as he rambled on about a subject unknown to her. "He's a quiet one that's for sure, but you know what Relena? I wouldn't let this one get away from you," Hilde said softly as she too looked out onto the patio.

After the girls were done, they poured themselves a glass of wine and sat down at the kitchen table to wind down for the night. "So, what do you know about him Relena?" Hilde inquired innocently.

"Not much really, I've only really talked to him for a total of an hour or so and I did most of the talking. I think I freak him out or something though."

"What?"

"When I first met him, he called me Jillian."

"Why? Do you remind him of someone?"

Relena was silent for a moment before answering. "I remind him of his dead sister."

"Is that good or bad?"

"He told me good but honestly, I think it's the complete opposite. I'm not quite sure though."

"Well, why don't you ask him Relena?"

"It's really none of my business Hilde."

"But if it effects any relationship that you might have with him, I think you deserve to know if you trigger good or bad emotions."

Relena looked outside at Heero and then back at her friend. "I guess you are right."

The girls discontinued their conversation when they saw the guys retreat back in towards the house. "I'll talk to you about this later Relena," Hilde whispered before taking a sip of her wine, Relena just nodded.

"Hilde, are you about ready to go babe? I've got to get an early start in the morning," Duo said in the middle of a yawn.

"Yeah, we're all done in here. Thanks for dinner Relena."

"Thank you two for coming. Here, let me walk you two out."

After Relena said good-bye to her friends, she went back towards the kitchen where Heero was at. He was leaning up against the wall, staring out the glass doors of the balcony. "Would you like to go outside?" Relena needed a bit of fresh air, not to mention she hadn't talked to her guest all night.

Heero nodded and followed Relena out onto the patio. Relena leaned up against the railing and looked out at the speckled lights of the city below. A soft breeze blew through the air and glided gently across her face as the moon cast its iridescent glow upon her skin. Heero stood beside her, looking at her from the corner of his eye. Throughout the night, he had not taken one moment to stop and look at her, how beautiful she really was. The soft blue sweater she wore that evening played off her baby blues and her golden hair framed the gentle features of her face. He could only imagine that this is what Jillian might have looked like if she would have lived. "Heero, can I ask you something?" Heero looked up giving her his full attention. "I've had something lingering on my mind, about something you said earlier today. Since I remind you of your sister, does that trigger good or bad emotions?"

Heero didn't answer right away, he just turned his head back out towards the city. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Honestly, I don't know," he uttered into the night.

"I see," Relena answered with equal softness. "Sorry for bringing it up. So, what do you think of Hilde and Duo?"

"They are definitely meant for each other." Relena laughed.

"Well I'm glad you came Heero."

He tilted his head back in her direction. "Company is always nice, especially when you're alone all of the time."

"It is, I'm fortunate enough to have both Hilde and Duo in my life. If it weren't for them, I would be alone."

Heero stared up at her, he could sense the deep emotions underlying her voice and for some reason, he wanted to reach out and hold her. Instead, he just smiled a little and said, "Well, if we're neighbors, I guess we won't be lonely anymore."

Relena turned her head and returned the smile. "Yes."

"Do you mind if I call it a night, it's kind of been a long day for me?"

Relena laughed. "Yeah, I think I will do the same. I'll walk you to the door."

"Well, good-night Heero," Relena said sweetly before giving him a light peck on the cheek and then closing the door.

Heero placed his hand on his cheek where Relena had kissed him. An odd feeling came over him, like he had felt that sensation before. He shook it off as nothing and returned to his apartment.