Part 3.
'When I fall in love, it will be forever...'
Heero winced in pain as he heard Duo's voice turning into a shrill squeak at the end of the phrase. He gave an accusing glare at Quatre, and the blond blushed and started to twiddle his fingers nervously.
'You. Again.'
Heero sighed deeply, shaking his head in annoyed resignation. Next to him sat a very pale looking Wufei with dark circles under his eyes, looking ready to snap. Trowa was sitting next to them, his usually tranquil expression disturbed by a deep scowl, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
Quatre thought briefly about filling his eyes with tears, trying to make himself look more pitiful, a useful little trick that he always used when in trouble. Then he looked again at the three sets of cold and angry eyes staring icily from across the table and changed his mind.
'Oh come on.' He tried at last, thinking that maybe he could try bluffing his way out. 'All I did was to see an old movie with him. How could I know that...'
'That all those mushy musicals would addle that teeny, tiny brain, again, and convince him that the way to true love was through a song? That all he had to do was...' Heero gritted his teeth as the memories of the past few weeks flooded his mind, 'to find the right song?' He almost snarled the last word, his nerves fraying further as yet another rendition of 'Unforgettable' started to wobble its way through the house.
'Forget about your love problems for once. What about the rest of us?' Wufei spat out crossly, 'what I want to know is why he keeps on insisting singing to Heero in the middle of the night? Loudly. From outside the house. I haven't been able to a decent night's sleep for over a week.'
Quatre scowled at the belligerent tone in Wufei's voice. While he did feel a bit sorry for Wufei's haggard appearance, he thought that Wufei should have been more sensible like the rest of them, and just sleep with earplugs. Still, Quatre had a feeling that Wufei wouldn't be too responsive to an appeal to his logic and reason. He decided that it was past time that he changed the situation a little and to change the direction of this little interview.
'Basically, all our problems are Heero's fault.' Quatre started smoothly, gaining confidence as Wufei's mouth fell open in shock and Heero's eyes widened in shocked indignation.
'Lets review what's been happening, shall we? One,' he started to count off on his left hand as he spoke, 'we all know that Duo's been driving us crazy.' Reluctantly, the other three nodded, in Heero's case, reluctantly and with hesitation.
'Two, the reason for Duo's behaviour is simple. Unrequited love. He's driving us nuts, while he tries to convince Heero that they belong together. Right?' Quatre looked around smugly, swallowing a grin as Heero bit his lips in vexation and the other two turned to each other and nodded in complete agreement. 'So, we come to three. The solution.' He grinned wickedly, confident that he held their undivided attention.
'Omae o korosu.'
Heero muttered involuntarily as the sudden silence was breached by a wavering attempt at 'love me tender', punctuated at nerve shattering intervals by the howls of their neighbour's dog. Wufei put out a shaking hand and sipped his tea, only to grimace painfully when he realized that it had gone cold. Trowa closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to withstand the agonising pangs that shot through him as Duo's voice wandered frantically, in search of the right notes.
Quatre felt his eyes watering from sheer sympathy when the cacophony finally drew to an end and the unseen singer started to cough and hack from his efforts.
'No.' He shook his head regretfully, 'we can't kill Duo. Not even in self defence.'
He sighed sadly and looked at Heero, who definitely began to look more and more nervous, as he looked him over steadily.
'I'm afraid that our only solution is...' he paused dramatically, enjoying the way he once again held their attention. 'To sacrifice Heero.'
Quatre ignored the sudden choke of outrage from Heero and turned to Wufei and Trowa, who began to nod as he continued to speak.
'I think that once we let Duo marry Heero, he'll probably feel more secure and no longer drive us mad with these frantic attempt to capture Heero's interest. So what we'll do, and preferably before he starts singing again,' Quatre added thoughtfully, 'is to get Duo and tell him to set a wedding date. And we'll all live happily ever after.' He beamed happily as Trowa and Wufei nodded slowly, hypnotized by his voice.
'No. Uh uh. No way. Nothing doing. I'm not getting married. I'm not even sure if I love Duo. I don't want to get married yet. Are you listening to me? Don't you dare tell him that I'll marry him. I'll run away. I warn you. No. Please. Oh come on you guys. This is not fair.'
Heero looked from one set of determined eyes to another, his voice dying in his throat as he realized that there was no way out for him. He glowered sullenly as Quatre and Trowa jumped to their feet and started to run for the door, desperate to tell Duo the good news before he got started on the next song. He sniffed dismally as Wufei picked up his hand and started to pat it consolingly.
'It's not that bad. I'm sure you'll get used to it. These arranged marriages can work out for the best you know.'
Heero glared at Wufei from under his fringe and snatched his hand back.
'You can't force me to marry him.'
Wufei glared back at Heero, the dark circles under his eyes accentuated by the pallor of his cheeks.
'Oh yes, you bloody well are.' He shouted hoarsely, shaking his finger under Heero's nose. 'I've had my hair coloured and permed, as well as my fingernails polished and decorated on, because of you. I haven't been able to sleep for days, listening that caterwauling he calls a love serenade, because of you. If marrying you will cure Duo from behaving like a lunatic, then marry you he will, if I have to personally drag you to the altar and hand you over.'
Heero widened his eyes as Wufei drove his face closer to his, with each word. He leaned back, his heart hammering rapidly as on the last word, Wufei froze, his eyes fixed on Heero's, their noses almost touching, close enough to feel the soft warm breath from his mouth on his face. Wufei blinked, then sort of shuffled slowly backwards, feeling a warm flush stain his cheeks as he did so.
'Anyway, so there.' Wufei concluded weakly, feeling somewhat warm inside as Heero continued to stare at him with those huge dark blue eyes. 'I'll just help Quatre and Trowa with Duo.' He muttered hastily as he fled from the room.
Heero narrowed his eyes as he thought about the way Wufei had reacted. He remembered the way that Wufei had gotten flustered and nervous after their first kiss. Heero cracked his knuckles and grinned, 'a weakness', he thought smugly, and decided that whatever the other three thought, he wasn't going to make it easy for them to 'sacrifice' him.
* * * * *
Duo looked at Quatre with a confused look on his face as he stood with his mouth gaping open, his hand frozen on the guitar that he had managed to find somewhere.
'Marry?' He managed at last, feeling definitely out of kilter, 'me... and Heero?' He smiled unsteadily as the other two beamed and nodded, each taking a hand from him and pumping it energetically in congratulations.
'Oh my.' He sat down suddenly, his legs feeling very wobbly all of a sudden. 'Heero's going to marry me.' He repeated blankly, 'I'm going to marry Heero.' He jumped up and grabbed hold of Quatre by the collar, shouting in his face, 'I'm marrying Heero. Me, Duo. Heero and me. Married.'
Quatre reeled back from the overpowering minty breath as Duo screamed in his face. He felt a bit of a rat but continued to nod reassuringly. He grinned weakly at Trowa who shook his head and looked doubtful as Duo got more and more excited by the minute.
'This was a good idea.' Quatre told himself silently as he saw the tears of happiness run down Duo's cheeks. 'Heero and Duo belong together. And hopefully, they'll move out. To live some place far, far away.' He prayed silently, as Duo clutched onto his neck and started to sob into his expensive watered silk shirt. 'Damn. I knew I should have changed out of this shirt. I'm never going to get the water stains out of this silk.' Quatre thought in irritation, as Duo dripped thick warm tears of gratitude all over his favourite pink shirt.
Trowa watched his two friends uneasily, he couldn't help thinking that maybe he had made a terrible mistake in listening to Quatre, again. It was just that he could be so persuasive sometimes. He turned to Wufei who had arrived, looking a bit flushed, and shrugged in explanation when the other man pointed to the hugging couple on the lawn.
'We told him.' Trowa offered simply.
Wufei eyed the sobbing man in Quatre's arms with deep misgivings. Somehow he couldn't help feeling that they had all forgotten something in this equation. None of the men on the lawn noticed the blazing cobalt eyes staring out from the window of the house behind them.
* * * * *
'I'm not wearing a dress.'
'You can't expect me to wear the dress. I'm the guy remember?'
'What the hell do you mean by that? I'm a guy too, remember?'
'Yeah but,' Duo smiled coyly, 'I told you that I wanted to be the alpha male in our relationship.'
'Not if I have to wear a skirt you don't.' Heero answered shortly in a voice that brooked no dissent.
'But you'll look so pretty in a dress.' Duo wheedled sweetly, totally missing the frantic signals from Quatre who was standing behind Heero. 'And it's a wedding. You have to wear a dress or you're not going to match with the wedding cake, see Heero? A guy and another guy wearing a dress.'
Heero looked carefully at the little mannequins decorating the top of the huge, gleaming white cake and set his teeth. 'That's a guy and a woman. I'm a man. I'm not wearing a dress. If you want to have a dress so badly, you're going to have to wear it, but count me out.'
Quatre hastily trotted into the room as he saw the tell tale tremble in Duo's lips and took the little dolls from his hands. 'I can get the dolls changed for two men in tuxes. No problem.' He smiled smoothly as Heero looked daggers at him.
Duo sulked but finally agreed to drop the subject though he continued to look wistfully at the open catalogue of bridle gowns on the table. He then held up the stack of invitation cards and started to count them out, giving Heero 5 cards, while he took a few dozen, and passing the remaining 450 cards to Quatre. 'I think we should divide our labour, so Heero, you invite Relena, Millard, Sally, Noin and Dorothy, while I take care of our old friends.'
'And me?' Quatre asked acidly as he started at the tall stack of cards in his hands.
'Well, it's your reception so I'll let you choose the rest of our guests.' Duo said airily as he started to hum happily under his breath, while he carefully chose five different coloured pens from the stand and stood up with his pile. 'Don't forget that you promised me a big bash, okay? Just make sure to invite all the really wealthy, important and good looking people that you know.'
Quatre stared crossly at Duo as he disappeared out of the room and then turned to Heero imploringly when the other also stood up, having already finished writing the names on the envelopes. 'Aren't you going to help me?' He asked pleadingly as Heero started to walk away.
Heero raised his eyebrow pointedly as he held up one of the ivory and gold trimmed cards and replied in a wintery voice. 'Help you with what? This was all your idea remember? You promised Duo a wedding that he'll never forget. Well, you better get started on the guest list. I'd imagine that it would take some time to write out 450 cards.'
Quatre stared forlornly after the disappearing figure and looked down at the stacked pile of cards in dismay. He pulled out his addressbook and leafed through the pages, wondering if he would be allowed to count couples seperately.
'This is about the dress. I know it is. You're so petty, you and Duo deserve each other. You should thank me for forcing you to marry him, instead of being so ungrateful.'
'Excuse me?'
Quatre looked up and blushed deeply when he saw Wufei standing in front of him with a tall vase filled with flowers.
'Nothing.' He answered quickly, and dropped his eyes back on the cards, feeling the back of his ears turn red with embarrassment.
He continued to write in silence, as Wufei placed the vase, harrumphed as he took in the tall overly elaborate white cake with the ribbon, pearl drops and sugar roses all over, and left.
After the first two hours, Quatre's hand started to ache from the unaccustomed writing, as he wrote card after card, not even bothering to think about who he was inviting anymore, only wishing to make the cards disappear from his sight. He looked at the still remaining small stack of cards with desperation as he scratched in the last name in his address book. He wondered how he was supposed to get the rest, though at least his sisters had been good for over 80 cards, counting all their current partners and major friends.
Quatre thought about asking Wufei for help but discarded that notion when he remembered the huge fight they had, after Duo asked him to be the best man, and then told him to arrange for Wufei to be the maid of honour. At least Trowa had been a little more co operative, Quatre mused sullenly, as he remembered the look of exasperation on the tall auburn haired pilot's face as he finally broke down and agreed to give the bride away. As it was, if Relena hadn't volunteered, smothering her giggles behind a handkerchief when he had red-facedly explained his predicament, there would be no maid of honour or bridesmaids. Quatre hadn't quite dared to tell Heero about that little detail yet.
Quatre drummed his fingers as he stared at the small stack of empty cards in front of him. He thought about throwing them away but Duo was quite capable of demanding a count if he took it into his head, Quatre knew, so he sighed and dragged them closer and started to count them, hoping that he might think of a way to get rid of them somehow. Fifty. Quatre blinked as he sat up straight and looked at the list of names he had made of the invites. He knew where he could get hold of fifty men. A huge grin blossomed on his face as he pulled the phone to him and started to dial. It was past time that Rashid came home after all...
* * * * *
Trowa smiled a little as he stood at the top of the stairs and heard the loud arguments coming from below. He rested his head in cupped hands as he leant against the banister and watched the two men screaming at each other with bemused admiration. A tall blond man was waving his arms wildly as he exchanged heated words with a tall brunette who was waving a photograph in his face.
'What's going on?'
Trowa turned his head slightly, then grinned and moved aside a little to allow Wufei to see the furore below. The Chinese pilot wrinkled his brow as he heard some of the words being thrown back and forth then heaved a deep sigh as he asked, 'I'm afraid to ask what happened.'
Trowa shrugged, his attention still riveted on the two, as they started throw more than just words at each other. He pursed his lips as he saw a crystal vase pass narrowly near Duo's head, and shatter loudly on the pristine wall behind him.
'Duo found out about Heero and Quatre.'
Wufei jumped and turned to the absorbed redhead in wide-eyed shock.
'What? What do you mean by Heero and Quatre?'
Trowa didn't answer at first, since he was too busy leaning over to see if the returning missile by Duo, a lovely porcelain figurine of a young girl had managed to hit Quatre. Trowa involuntarily burst into clapping as the blond adroitly avoided being hit, while simultaneously managing to save the figurine from hitting the ground. Then he winced in painful sympathy as the figurine dropped to the ground, shattering into small pieces as Duo grabbed the rug from under Quatre's feet and pulled it, dragging the blond man to the ground.
'They are really getting into it.'
Both Trowa and Wufei turned around in amazement and saw Heero, who had just arrived, looking down at the debacle with keen interest.
'You two timer.' Wufei reddened with outrage as Heero just stood with one hand resting lightly on the banister, his eyes glued on the two combatants below. 'How dare you! It's your fault they are fighting.'
Heero snorted scornfully as he turned his attention on the indignant man glaring at him.
'Don't over react Wufei. I suppose that Trowa told you about the photograph.' Heero's tone was airy and quite casual, betraying no tension or embarrassment.
Wufei went purple at the frank admission and took a step forward. 'Photograph. What's this about a photograph?'
Heero looked at the excited young man in front of him and bared his teeth in a smile.
'It's a photograph of me and Quatre. Back when we were still guests of Relena. She thought that we looked cute together and asked us to pose in that fluffy outfit she made us wear when we stayed in Sanc Kingdom. I just doctored the photo a little to make it look as if we were standing... even closer than we were. There's nothing all that incriminating. Duo just went ballistic. Though,' his tone turned sly, 'that might have something to do with the little letter that he found with the photo.'
Wufei blinked, feeling very bewildered. 'Letter? What letter? Heero, what do you think you're doing?' He asked in desperation as both Trowa and Heero turned their attention to the fray below, momentarily distracted by the loud yell, then the resulting thump and crash. Both men winced in concert as they saw the state of the blond man after he survived being battered with the wedding cake. Unfortunately, the cake did not survive the experience.
'I'm just trying to teach someone a lesson. Well, two some ones actually.' Heero replied absently, his attention too caught up by the destructive havoc being wreaked below to notice the sudden tiredness in Wufei's voice.
'Use me as a sacrifice will he?' Heero muttered viciously as he gleefully noticed that the battle was still raging strong, though both men were now out of sight, as they ran out of ammunition and moved their field of action into the adjoining rooms. 'Do you think that we'll be safe if we went below to see how they're doing?' He asked Trowa, leaning more than half his body over the banister in an attempt to try to keep the two in his line of sight.
Trowa considered the situation carefully then regretfully shook his head. 'I wouldn't.' He advised sagely, 'they have a tendency to drag anyone else in the vicinity into their little fights. Going near them is too dangerous.'
'You are right. Damn. What a shame.' Heero muttered sorrowfully. Then he looked around in confusion as he realized that Wufei had disappeared from their side. 'Where did he go?' He thought in brief puzzlement, before dismissing all thought of Wufei, as a very, very angry looking blond started to climb the staircase.
'Oh. Um... I'll see you later Trowa.' Heero turned swiftly and fled down the corridor, thinking that he could probably manage a getaway from the verandah. Trowa thought about following him but decided to stand his ground, ignoring the little wobble in his legs. He tried to look as sympathetic as possible, but it turned out to be a wasted effort.
'Where is he?' Quatre ground out forcefully, as he tried to scrape some more of the cake and icing from his face. 'Where... is... Heero? When I get my hands on him, I'm going to...'
'You are not to go anywhere near my Heero, you blond floozy!' Came a loud scream from below and Trowa gasped involuntarily as he beheld a dripping apparition, with wildly flowing brown hair, and a bunch of wet flowers sitting on top of his head. 'I don't need you to hold a wedding for me! I know that this is all a plot to try to steal my Heero! Father Maxwell told me that blonds couldn't be trusted! Don't you dare ignore me Quatre! I won't be ignored! You hear me! Do you! Do you!'
Trowa smiled weakly as the two men closed in on him.....
..... tbc....
'When I fall in love, it will be forever...'
Heero winced in pain as he heard Duo's voice turning into a shrill squeak at the end of the phrase. He gave an accusing glare at Quatre, and the blond blushed and started to twiddle his fingers nervously.
'You. Again.'
Heero sighed deeply, shaking his head in annoyed resignation. Next to him sat a very pale looking Wufei with dark circles under his eyes, looking ready to snap. Trowa was sitting next to them, his usually tranquil expression disturbed by a deep scowl, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
Quatre thought briefly about filling his eyes with tears, trying to make himself look more pitiful, a useful little trick that he always used when in trouble. Then he looked again at the three sets of cold and angry eyes staring icily from across the table and changed his mind.
'Oh come on.' He tried at last, thinking that maybe he could try bluffing his way out. 'All I did was to see an old movie with him. How could I know that...'
'That all those mushy musicals would addle that teeny, tiny brain, again, and convince him that the way to true love was through a song? That all he had to do was...' Heero gritted his teeth as the memories of the past few weeks flooded his mind, 'to find the right song?' He almost snarled the last word, his nerves fraying further as yet another rendition of 'Unforgettable' started to wobble its way through the house.
'Forget about your love problems for once. What about the rest of us?' Wufei spat out crossly, 'what I want to know is why he keeps on insisting singing to Heero in the middle of the night? Loudly. From outside the house. I haven't been able to a decent night's sleep for over a week.'
Quatre scowled at the belligerent tone in Wufei's voice. While he did feel a bit sorry for Wufei's haggard appearance, he thought that Wufei should have been more sensible like the rest of them, and just sleep with earplugs. Still, Quatre had a feeling that Wufei wouldn't be too responsive to an appeal to his logic and reason. He decided that it was past time that he changed the situation a little and to change the direction of this little interview.
'Basically, all our problems are Heero's fault.' Quatre started smoothly, gaining confidence as Wufei's mouth fell open in shock and Heero's eyes widened in shocked indignation.
'Lets review what's been happening, shall we? One,' he started to count off on his left hand as he spoke, 'we all know that Duo's been driving us crazy.' Reluctantly, the other three nodded, in Heero's case, reluctantly and with hesitation.
'Two, the reason for Duo's behaviour is simple. Unrequited love. He's driving us nuts, while he tries to convince Heero that they belong together. Right?' Quatre looked around smugly, swallowing a grin as Heero bit his lips in vexation and the other two turned to each other and nodded in complete agreement. 'So, we come to three. The solution.' He grinned wickedly, confident that he held their undivided attention.
'Omae o korosu.'
Heero muttered involuntarily as the sudden silence was breached by a wavering attempt at 'love me tender', punctuated at nerve shattering intervals by the howls of their neighbour's dog. Wufei put out a shaking hand and sipped his tea, only to grimace painfully when he realized that it had gone cold. Trowa closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to withstand the agonising pangs that shot through him as Duo's voice wandered frantically, in search of the right notes.
Quatre felt his eyes watering from sheer sympathy when the cacophony finally drew to an end and the unseen singer started to cough and hack from his efforts.
'No.' He shook his head regretfully, 'we can't kill Duo. Not even in self defence.'
He sighed sadly and looked at Heero, who definitely began to look more and more nervous, as he looked him over steadily.
'I'm afraid that our only solution is...' he paused dramatically, enjoying the way he once again held their attention. 'To sacrifice Heero.'
Quatre ignored the sudden choke of outrage from Heero and turned to Wufei and Trowa, who began to nod as he continued to speak.
'I think that once we let Duo marry Heero, he'll probably feel more secure and no longer drive us mad with these frantic attempt to capture Heero's interest. So what we'll do, and preferably before he starts singing again,' Quatre added thoughtfully, 'is to get Duo and tell him to set a wedding date. And we'll all live happily ever after.' He beamed happily as Trowa and Wufei nodded slowly, hypnotized by his voice.
'No. Uh uh. No way. Nothing doing. I'm not getting married. I'm not even sure if I love Duo. I don't want to get married yet. Are you listening to me? Don't you dare tell him that I'll marry him. I'll run away. I warn you. No. Please. Oh come on you guys. This is not fair.'
Heero looked from one set of determined eyes to another, his voice dying in his throat as he realized that there was no way out for him. He glowered sullenly as Quatre and Trowa jumped to their feet and started to run for the door, desperate to tell Duo the good news before he got started on the next song. He sniffed dismally as Wufei picked up his hand and started to pat it consolingly.
'It's not that bad. I'm sure you'll get used to it. These arranged marriages can work out for the best you know.'
Heero glared at Wufei from under his fringe and snatched his hand back.
'You can't force me to marry him.'
Wufei glared back at Heero, the dark circles under his eyes accentuated by the pallor of his cheeks.
'Oh yes, you bloody well are.' He shouted hoarsely, shaking his finger under Heero's nose. 'I've had my hair coloured and permed, as well as my fingernails polished and decorated on, because of you. I haven't been able to sleep for days, listening that caterwauling he calls a love serenade, because of you. If marrying you will cure Duo from behaving like a lunatic, then marry you he will, if I have to personally drag you to the altar and hand you over.'
Heero widened his eyes as Wufei drove his face closer to his, with each word. He leaned back, his heart hammering rapidly as on the last word, Wufei froze, his eyes fixed on Heero's, their noses almost touching, close enough to feel the soft warm breath from his mouth on his face. Wufei blinked, then sort of shuffled slowly backwards, feeling a warm flush stain his cheeks as he did so.
'Anyway, so there.' Wufei concluded weakly, feeling somewhat warm inside as Heero continued to stare at him with those huge dark blue eyes. 'I'll just help Quatre and Trowa with Duo.' He muttered hastily as he fled from the room.
Heero narrowed his eyes as he thought about the way Wufei had reacted. He remembered the way that Wufei had gotten flustered and nervous after their first kiss. Heero cracked his knuckles and grinned, 'a weakness', he thought smugly, and decided that whatever the other three thought, he wasn't going to make it easy for them to 'sacrifice' him.
* * * * *
Duo looked at Quatre with a confused look on his face as he stood with his mouth gaping open, his hand frozen on the guitar that he had managed to find somewhere.
'Marry?' He managed at last, feeling definitely out of kilter, 'me... and Heero?' He smiled unsteadily as the other two beamed and nodded, each taking a hand from him and pumping it energetically in congratulations.
'Oh my.' He sat down suddenly, his legs feeling very wobbly all of a sudden. 'Heero's going to marry me.' He repeated blankly, 'I'm going to marry Heero.' He jumped up and grabbed hold of Quatre by the collar, shouting in his face, 'I'm marrying Heero. Me, Duo. Heero and me. Married.'
Quatre reeled back from the overpowering minty breath as Duo screamed in his face. He felt a bit of a rat but continued to nod reassuringly. He grinned weakly at Trowa who shook his head and looked doubtful as Duo got more and more excited by the minute.
'This was a good idea.' Quatre told himself silently as he saw the tears of happiness run down Duo's cheeks. 'Heero and Duo belong together. And hopefully, they'll move out. To live some place far, far away.' He prayed silently, as Duo clutched onto his neck and started to sob into his expensive watered silk shirt. 'Damn. I knew I should have changed out of this shirt. I'm never going to get the water stains out of this silk.' Quatre thought in irritation, as Duo dripped thick warm tears of gratitude all over his favourite pink shirt.
Trowa watched his two friends uneasily, he couldn't help thinking that maybe he had made a terrible mistake in listening to Quatre, again. It was just that he could be so persuasive sometimes. He turned to Wufei who had arrived, looking a bit flushed, and shrugged in explanation when the other man pointed to the hugging couple on the lawn.
'We told him.' Trowa offered simply.
Wufei eyed the sobbing man in Quatre's arms with deep misgivings. Somehow he couldn't help feeling that they had all forgotten something in this equation. None of the men on the lawn noticed the blazing cobalt eyes staring out from the window of the house behind them.
* * * * *
'I'm not wearing a dress.'
'You can't expect me to wear the dress. I'm the guy remember?'
'What the hell do you mean by that? I'm a guy too, remember?'
'Yeah but,' Duo smiled coyly, 'I told you that I wanted to be the alpha male in our relationship.'
'Not if I have to wear a skirt you don't.' Heero answered shortly in a voice that brooked no dissent.
'But you'll look so pretty in a dress.' Duo wheedled sweetly, totally missing the frantic signals from Quatre who was standing behind Heero. 'And it's a wedding. You have to wear a dress or you're not going to match with the wedding cake, see Heero? A guy and another guy wearing a dress.'
Heero looked carefully at the little mannequins decorating the top of the huge, gleaming white cake and set his teeth. 'That's a guy and a woman. I'm a man. I'm not wearing a dress. If you want to have a dress so badly, you're going to have to wear it, but count me out.'
Quatre hastily trotted into the room as he saw the tell tale tremble in Duo's lips and took the little dolls from his hands. 'I can get the dolls changed for two men in tuxes. No problem.' He smiled smoothly as Heero looked daggers at him.
Duo sulked but finally agreed to drop the subject though he continued to look wistfully at the open catalogue of bridle gowns on the table. He then held up the stack of invitation cards and started to count them out, giving Heero 5 cards, while he took a few dozen, and passing the remaining 450 cards to Quatre. 'I think we should divide our labour, so Heero, you invite Relena, Millard, Sally, Noin and Dorothy, while I take care of our old friends.'
'And me?' Quatre asked acidly as he started at the tall stack of cards in his hands.
'Well, it's your reception so I'll let you choose the rest of our guests.' Duo said airily as he started to hum happily under his breath, while he carefully chose five different coloured pens from the stand and stood up with his pile. 'Don't forget that you promised me a big bash, okay? Just make sure to invite all the really wealthy, important and good looking people that you know.'
Quatre stared crossly at Duo as he disappeared out of the room and then turned to Heero imploringly when the other also stood up, having already finished writing the names on the envelopes. 'Aren't you going to help me?' He asked pleadingly as Heero started to walk away.
Heero raised his eyebrow pointedly as he held up one of the ivory and gold trimmed cards and replied in a wintery voice. 'Help you with what? This was all your idea remember? You promised Duo a wedding that he'll never forget. Well, you better get started on the guest list. I'd imagine that it would take some time to write out 450 cards.'
Quatre stared forlornly after the disappearing figure and looked down at the stacked pile of cards in dismay. He pulled out his addressbook and leafed through the pages, wondering if he would be allowed to count couples seperately.
'This is about the dress. I know it is. You're so petty, you and Duo deserve each other. You should thank me for forcing you to marry him, instead of being so ungrateful.'
'Excuse me?'
Quatre looked up and blushed deeply when he saw Wufei standing in front of him with a tall vase filled with flowers.
'Nothing.' He answered quickly, and dropped his eyes back on the cards, feeling the back of his ears turn red with embarrassment.
He continued to write in silence, as Wufei placed the vase, harrumphed as he took in the tall overly elaborate white cake with the ribbon, pearl drops and sugar roses all over, and left.
After the first two hours, Quatre's hand started to ache from the unaccustomed writing, as he wrote card after card, not even bothering to think about who he was inviting anymore, only wishing to make the cards disappear from his sight. He looked at the still remaining small stack of cards with desperation as he scratched in the last name in his address book. He wondered how he was supposed to get the rest, though at least his sisters had been good for over 80 cards, counting all their current partners and major friends.
Quatre thought about asking Wufei for help but discarded that notion when he remembered the huge fight they had, after Duo asked him to be the best man, and then told him to arrange for Wufei to be the maid of honour. At least Trowa had been a little more co operative, Quatre mused sullenly, as he remembered the look of exasperation on the tall auburn haired pilot's face as he finally broke down and agreed to give the bride away. As it was, if Relena hadn't volunteered, smothering her giggles behind a handkerchief when he had red-facedly explained his predicament, there would be no maid of honour or bridesmaids. Quatre hadn't quite dared to tell Heero about that little detail yet.
Quatre drummed his fingers as he stared at the small stack of empty cards in front of him. He thought about throwing them away but Duo was quite capable of demanding a count if he took it into his head, Quatre knew, so he sighed and dragged them closer and started to count them, hoping that he might think of a way to get rid of them somehow. Fifty. Quatre blinked as he sat up straight and looked at the list of names he had made of the invites. He knew where he could get hold of fifty men. A huge grin blossomed on his face as he pulled the phone to him and started to dial. It was past time that Rashid came home after all...
* * * * *
Trowa smiled a little as he stood at the top of the stairs and heard the loud arguments coming from below. He rested his head in cupped hands as he leant against the banister and watched the two men screaming at each other with bemused admiration. A tall blond man was waving his arms wildly as he exchanged heated words with a tall brunette who was waving a photograph in his face.
'What's going on?'
Trowa turned his head slightly, then grinned and moved aside a little to allow Wufei to see the furore below. The Chinese pilot wrinkled his brow as he heard some of the words being thrown back and forth then heaved a deep sigh as he asked, 'I'm afraid to ask what happened.'
Trowa shrugged, his attention still riveted on the two, as they started throw more than just words at each other. He pursed his lips as he saw a crystal vase pass narrowly near Duo's head, and shatter loudly on the pristine wall behind him.
'Duo found out about Heero and Quatre.'
Wufei jumped and turned to the absorbed redhead in wide-eyed shock.
'What? What do you mean by Heero and Quatre?'
Trowa didn't answer at first, since he was too busy leaning over to see if the returning missile by Duo, a lovely porcelain figurine of a young girl had managed to hit Quatre. Trowa involuntarily burst into clapping as the blond adroitly avoided being hit, while simultaneously managing to save the figurine from hitting the ground. Then he winced in painful sympathy as the figurine dropped to the ground, shattering into small pieces as Duo grabbed the rug from under Quatre's feet and pulled it, dragging the blond man to the ground.
'They are really getting into it.'
Both Trowa and Wufei turned around in amazement and saw Heero, who had just arrived, looking down at the debacle with keen interest.
'You two timer.' Wufei reddened with outrage as Heero just stood with one hand resting lightly on the banister, his eyes glued on the two combatants below. 'How dare you! It's your fault they are fighting.'
Heero snorted scornfully as he turned his attention on the indignant man glaring at him.
'Don't over react Wufei. I suppose that Trowa told you about the photograph.' Heero's tone was airy and quite casual, betraying no tension or embarrassment.
Wufei went purple at the frank admission and took a step forward. 'Photograph. What's this about a photograph?'
Heero looked at the excited young man in front of him and bared his teeth in a smile.
'It's a photograph of me and Quatre. Back when we were still guests of Relena. She thought that we looked cute together and asked us to pose in that fluffy outfit she made us wear when we stayed in Sanc Kingdom. I just doctored the photo a little to make it look as if we were standing... even closer than we were. There's nothing all that incriminating. Duo just went ballistic. Though,' his tone turned sly, 'that might have something to do with the little letter that he found with the photo.'
Wufei blinked, feeling very bewildered. 'Letter? What letter? Heero, what do you think you're doing?' He asked in desperation as both Trowa and Heero turned their attention to the fray below, momentarily distracted by the loud yell, then the resulting thump and crash. Both men winced in concert as they saw the state of the blond man after he survived being battered with the wedding cake. Unfortunately, the cake did not survive the experience.
'I'm just trying to teach someone a lesson. Well, two some ones actually.' Heero replied absently, his attention too caught up by the destructive havoc being wreaked below to notice the sudden tiredness in Wufei's voice.
'Use me as a sacrifice will he?' Heero muttered viciously as he gleefully noticed that the battle was still raging strong, though both men were now out of sight, as they ran out of ammunition and moved their field of action into the adjoining rooms. 'Do you think that we'll be safe if we went below to see how they're doing?' He asked Trowa, leaning more than half his body over the banister in an attempt to try to keep the two in his line of sight.
Trowa considered the situation carefully then regretfully shook his head. 'I wouldn't.' He advised sagely, 'they have a tendency to drag anyone else in the vicinity into their little fights. Going near them is too dangerous.'
'You are right. Damn. What a shame.' Heero muttered sorrowfully. Then he looked around in confusion as he realized that Wufei had disappeared from their side. 'Where did he go?' He thought in brief puzzlement, before dismissing all thought of Wufei, as a very, very angry looking blond started to climb the staircase.
'Oh. Um... I'll see you later Trowa.' Heero turned swiftly and fled down the corridor, thinking that he could probably manage a getaway from the verandah. Trowa thought about following him but decided to stand his ground, ignoring the little wobble in his legs. He tried to look as sympathetic as possible, but it turned out to be a wasted effort.
'Where is he?' Quatre ground out forcefully, as he tried to scrape some more of the cake and icing from his face. 'Where... is... Heero? When I get my hands on him, I'm going to...'
'You are not to go anywhere near my Heero, you blond floozy!' Came a loud scream from below and Trowa gasped involuntarily as he beheld a dripping apparition, with wildly flowing brown hair, and a bunch of wet flowers sitting on top of his head. 'I don't need you to hold a wedding for me! I know that this is all a plot to try to steal my Heero! Father Maxwell told me that blonds couldn't be trusted! Don't you dare ignore me Quatre! I won't be ignored! You hear me! Do you! Do you!'
Trowa smiled weakly as the two men closed in on him.....
..... tbc....