Disclaimer: [Five guys in white coats could be seen entering the scene to take away the crazy author in a straight jacket] Neesah: I own Gundam Wing I tell yah, bwahahahahahahaha!!!! [One of the guys, the one with the long braid shook his head] Duo: Poor girl. She thought she owns us. [The other four didn't say anything. They just continued dragging the crazy author away.] Neesah[looking at the 5 pilots with starry eyes]: Mine! All mine!
Lemon alert. Yaoi? Yuri? Straight? Er--- read to find out. Warning: Just like what I said in #1 Crush, I'm into this reality/fantasy intertwined thing so I hope you won't get weirded out while reading the lemon part. For comments, suggestions, flames or reviews, you can email me at raizenheero@aol.com
Quatre groggily carried a buzzed up Catherine to her trailer. The circus' 2-week show just ended and they were all celebrating. A little too much, actually. Everyone was all buzzed up --- the Manager, the clowns, the other circus performers, the whole Maganac Corps, even Quatre. He barely managed to walk, much less walk carrying a 115-lb drunk woman in his arms. Upon entering, he headed straight to her bed. Finally, he thought, depositing his precious cargo on the bed. But being drunk and all, he stumbled on the bed, landing on top of her. Quatre blinked. Twice. His face was just millimeters away from hers, his chest pressed against her breasts. He stared at her, studying the curves of her face. She was beautiful. Then bit by bit, her purple eyes changed to green, her red hair to brown, until all that Quatre could see was Trowa. He slowly leaned down and gently pressed his lips against his.
At the same time…
A drunk Dorothy entered the house, followed by an equally drunk Trowa. He watched as Dorothy tried to walk in a straight line, unsuccessfully of course. To be honest, he was having the same difficulties. But fortunately, he knew how to carry himself and he was adept in hiding any form of weaknesses from others. And being as buzzed up as he was, it was a wonder how he managed to drive them home safely from the last bar they went to. After work, Dorothy wanted to celebrate, having just closed the deal that was giving her hell the past week. And since Heero and Relena were staying with Duo and Hilde to attend a conference in L2 and wouldn't be returning until the next day, he was the only one available to celebrate with. Besides, he was supposed to be Dorothy's boyfriend, he should escort her everywhere. So he found himself being dragged by Dorothy from one bar to the other, making him grasp the reason why they put the word 'hopping' in 'bar hopping'. Trowa suddenly sobered a bit when he saw Dorothy tripped on the stairs. He reached her just in time to break her fall.
"Whoa," Dorothy muttered.
"Come on. I'll carry you to your room," Trowa said, poised to sweep her off her feet.
"No need for that. I can walk," Dorothy slurred, pushing away from him only to find herself stumbling again. Trowa caught her and started helping her up the stairs. He would have carried her but knowing how proud she was, he settled on helping her walk instead. Finally, they reached her room. Trowa opened the door for her.
"Thanks for everything, Trowa. Goodnight," Dorothy told him, standing on tip-toe to kiss him on the cheeks. Trowa, on the other hand, started to lean down to kiss her goodnight on the cheeks too. But as everyone knew, alcohol had a drastic effect on a person's motor skills, not to mention on one's calculation and judgment regarding spaces and distances. So instead of the cheeks, they ended up kissing each other on the lips. Surprised, they suddenly broke apart, making Dorothy lose her balance. But with lightning quick reflexes (which, surprisingly, wasn't affected by his present intoxication), Trowa caught her again. She looked up and held his gaze.
Catherine felt her head spin as she opened her eyes and saw a familiar pair of ash-blue eyes and long platinum blonde hair. Dorothy, her mind chanted. She saw her leaning down towards her, closing her eyes when their lips touched. She reached out to cup her face to further deepen the kiss, her hands slowly gliding down Dorothy's shoulders then her waist. She could feel Dorothy's hands touching every curve of her body. But Dorothy's touch seemed so… unfamiliar, so different, so unlike her, just like what Cathy felt while running her hand on Dorothy's body. It seemed more like it was a man, not a woman, she was in bed with. She then felt her blouse being unbuttoned and Dorothy's lips making a trail down her chest. She let out a gasp when Dorothy captured a hardened nipple with her mouth and began suckling her. She opened her eyes and saw Quatre, not Dorothy, on top of her. Quatre looked up, their eyes meeting momentarily before he moved on to her other breast. And instead of withdrawing away from his touch, she closed her eyes again and moaned, not wanting him to stop.
Quatre felt Trowa's hands cupped his face, wanting to deepen the kiss. He complied, giving Trowa a kiss that would knock him breathless, while Trowa's hands traveled further down his body. Quatre pulled away and started kissing his neck, then his chest. His tongue circled around a nipple, teasing him, before capturing it with his mouth. It was only a little later on did it register to his head how odd everything was. For one thing, the last time he checked, Trowa didn't have big breasts. Aside from that, his body felt so soft to be male. He looked up and instead of Trowa, he saw Catherine staring back at him. But it was already too late. He wanted this. And he wanted her. So without any second thought, he continued on what he was doing, wanting to taste every part of her.
Dorothy's vision was all fuzzy, so when she looked at Trowa, she saw Catherine instead. Trowa, on the other hand, alternately saw Dorothy and Quatre in front of him. They stared at each other for a few more seconds then slowly, their lips met again. Dorothy closed her eyes, drinking her in. Trowa held Quatre by the shoulders and pushed him inside the room, his foot shutting the door close. He could feel his hands under his shirt, roaming around his well-built torso. Trowa fumbled with Quatre's top, then his jeans as he gently steered him to the bed. The moment his hands kneaded his breasts, he knew. It wasn't Quatre. His vision cleared a little and saw Dorothy beneath him. At the same time, Dorothy opened her eyes, realizing that the hard body pressed against her was Trowa, not Catherine. But they let everything be. It was too late. They were in too deep into this now, there was no turning back. Besides, their bodies were aching for each other. They discarded their remaining clothing as their hands and mouths continued exploring each other.
Dorothy wanted to pretend that it was Catherine who was causing these pleasurable sensations, but she couldn't. It was Trowa's lips, Trowa's hands and Trowa's body that were driving her crazy. "Ooohhhhh," she moaned, her body trembling, her head thrashing against the pillows while Trowa held her waist down and continued suckling her center. After a few minutes, Trowa released her and started kissing her navel, then her breasts, making a hot trail towards her lips. Dorothy kissed him passionately then without warning, rolled him over, straddling him. She rocked her hips as her lips traveled down his neck. She slid further down and with one hand held him captive. She licked and sucked him until he groaned. Trowa stopped her, not wanting to reach his peak just yet. He then flipped her over, his body crushing hard on her. He parted her legs and slowly entered her.
Catherine gently lowered herself, feeling Quatre fill her bit by bit. Once completely inside, she lifted herself then went down again. Quatre's hands reached out to her waist, making her bounce on him faster. He then flipped her over, thrusting hard into her. Catherine wrapped her legs around him, meeting each of his thrusts. Quatre continued thrusting, their bodies grinding, burning, nearing their release...
Trowa lifted Dorothy into a sitting position and made her back rest against the headboard. He put her legs around his neck, thrusting once, then twice, all the while suckling her breasts. His thrusts became faster while her moans became louder as both of them neared their peak...
They held onto each other as their bodies trembled with release and ecstasy. A silent moment passed, pleasure washing over them. Then after a few heartbeats, exhaustion finally caught up with them making them fall into a deep sleep.
The next day…
Catherine woke up with a bad headache when she heard her vidphone ring. It was a good thing that she was facing the vidphone so she just reached out to answer it.
"There you are," Sally greeted. She then grinned when she saw how Cathy looked and that she was still in bed and it was almost lunchtime. "That must be one hell of a celebration last night huh. I've been calling the mansion and Ray said that you, Quatre and the whole Maganac Corps still haven't come home from the circus' closing party. Hey, where's Quat---" Sally trailed off and paled when she saw something stir beside Catherine.
Catherine noticed Sally's reaction. "Why, Sally, what's wro---" she began to say, following her friend's gaze. She saw Quatre sitting beside her, rubbing his eyes, naked from the waist up (and the waist down, she was sure of it but the blanket was covering him). Quatre turned to look at her. They both blinked. Then blinked again.
"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!" they both exclaimed, Catherine clutching the blanket to her naked chest, Quatre jumping out of the bed. Realizing his 'predicament', he quickly snatched a pillow and covered himself, turning beet red. "Trowa will kill me!" they yelled at the same time. "And Dorothy too!" they added. "Huh?! What do you mean by that?" they both asked.
"Who are you talking to, onna? And why all the yelling? I could hear ---" Wufei's eyes bulged when he reached his wife's side and saw the image in the vidphone's screen. "Kisama! What in Nataku's name... The dishonor!"
Catherine and Quatre turned to look at the screen and reddened. "Umm, guys, we'll get back to you later ok? As can you see, we're --- uhh, busy here," Cathy told them.
Though still dazed, Sally managed to nod before disconnecting the call. Quatre quickly grabbed his clothes. "I better leave," he said, putting on his boxers.
"Yeah," Catherine responded, putting on her clothes as well. When Quatre was finished dressing up, he mumbled, "Bye," then rushed out of the trailer.
Trowa's head was pounding when he woke up. This is the last time I'll drink that much, he vowed to himself. Aside from the killer hangover, he also had that alcohol-induced weird dream of him sleeping with Dorothy. He turned over, planning to sleep-in all day until his head stopped pounding when he saw Dorothy beside him. At the same time, Dorothy opened her eyes, thinking of the strange but hot dream she had. Emerald green met ash-blue, both widening at the realization that it wasn't just a dream afterall. Suddenly, they felt very naked (well, they really were naked) and too close for comfort that they both jumped off the bed, tugging the blanket to cover their bodies. Unfortunately, the blanket wasn't big enough to cover both of them so they ended up with a blanket tug-of war. Trowa then came to his senses, realizing that he should be a gentleman and let Dorothy have the blanket so he let go and grabbed a pillow instead. Dorothy didn't know that Trowa would let go so she kept tugging with all her might, making her fall hard on her butt. Trowa inwardly cringed when he saw her fall on the floor. "Sorry," he muttered, hastily putting on his boxers.
"It's nothing," Dorothy replied, rubbing her sore bottom before rising on her feet and wrapping the blanket around her body.
Trowa picked up his shirt after zipping his pants. If it were any normal circumstance, he would just do his famous silent exit routine. But after what happened the night before, he thought that he should say something before he left, as a courtesy to her. "I better go," he said, walking towards the door, holding his shirt with one hand. When he opened it, he got his second shock of the day.
"Trowa!" Relena exclaimed, her hand poised to knock on the door.
"Relena. You're back," Trowa said in his usual tone, hiding the fact that he was shocked and embarrassed to be caught half-naked in Dorothy's room.
Relena tried to ignore his half-dressed appearance and Dorothy's wrapped-in-a-blanket fashion statement inside the room. "Umm, we arrived early this morning. I just want to tell Dorothy that lunch is served."
Dorothy approached them, standing behind Trowa. "Relena, I ---"
"Relena, Trowa isn't in his room," Heero called out. Heero's lips then twitched up a bit when he saw Trowa and Dorothy. He put his arm around Relena's shoulder then said, "There you are. I presume Relena told you about lunch being served. We'll meet you two downstairs."
Dorothy nodded while Trowa gave him a grateful look. Trowa glanced at Dorothy first before going to his room, afterwhich Dorothy gave the couple an embarassed smile then closed the door.
Heero and Relena went downstairs. "You're right. These kinds of plans tend to backfire," Heero told his wife.
Zechs and Noin just finished talking to Lady Une in the Preventer's main HQ in the Sanc Kingdom so the 3 decided to ask Wufei and Sally to go eat lunch with them.
"Sal, Wu, want to join us for lunch?" Lady Une asked when they entered the couple's shared office.
Sally and Wufei didn't respond. They just remained staring at the blank vidphone.
"Hey, Sally, Wufei, what's wrong?" Noin asked, noting the shocked expression on the couple's faces.
The two looked at them, as if just realizing that they had company. "We have trouble," Wufei told them.
"What kind of trouble?" Zechs inquired.
Wufei and Sally looked at each other. "Quatre and Catherine slept together," Sally answered.
"Oh. My. God," Noin and Lady Une muttered just as Zechs said, "Holy shit."
Lunch in the Yuy residence that day was a quiet affair, which was unusual even if Heero and Trowa were naturally silent. For the past two weeks, the 4 friends managed to have a lively conversation during their meals. But this day, a tensed silence enveloped the dining room. Trowa and Dorothy avoided each other's gaze throughout the whole meal. They also avoided looking at Heero and Relena who were the only two other persons who had an idea on what happened between them last night. Relena averted her gaze too, having been ashamed of discovering Trowa and Dorothy's little secret while Heero remained nonchalant about everything, as if nothing extraordinary happened. After lunch, Dorothy and Trowa excused themselves to do their own thing, something they hadn't done the whole two weeks they were there, having always tried to do everything together.
A little later on, Heero found Trowa in the bar. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to drink after what happened last night," Heero said, heading towards the counter to get a drink.
Trowa smiled wryly before gulping his drink and handing it to Heero for a refill. It was just like Heero to immediately deduce what happened last night. He might have smelled the alcohol from him this morning. "Where's Relena?"
"Resting."
Trowa nodded. He then waited for a few moments before asking, "And Dorothy?"
"In her room," Heero answered with slight amusement. He finished pouring Trowa's drink and handed it to him.
Trowa took the glass and stared at it. "When I woke up this morning, I vowed not to drink that much again. But here I am, skulking down one drink after another when just last night I was so drunk I slept with my sister's girlfriend. Oh, and I'm still suffering from a hang over," Trowa told him flatly.
Heero sat down beside him. "Alcohol would just cause you to lose your inhibitions, not make you do something you don't want to do," Heero pointed out.
Trowa inwardly sighed. Heero was right, as usual. "I know. I might be drunk but I know what I was doing. At first I thought I was with Quatre but in the back of my mind, I know I was with Dorothy. And when I confirmed that I really was with her, I still didn't stop."
"What are you going to do now?" Heero asked.
"Continue with the plan. I don't want Quatre, Cathy and the others to suspect anything. And the sooner everything's straightened out, the better," Trowa answered. After a while, he decided to answer the hidden implication of Heero's question. Regarding Quatre and Dorothy. "About the other thing, I don't know."
"Hn," Heero replied, finishing his drink. "Come on. A good fight in the simulation room will clear your head. It's better than intoxicating yourself," he told Trowa as he stood up.
Trowa finished his drink and followed Heero to the simulation room.
Quatre paced inside his room. In just a few days, things got from complicated to an absolute nightmare. He had to do something or else he would go completely insane. Making a decision, he went to the vidphone and dialed a number.
Relena laid on the bed, thinking of Trowa and Dorothy's current extracurricular activity and how this would affect Quatre and Catherine when she heard a beep from Heero's laptop. She reached out to the bedside table to answer the call.
"Quatre!" she said, surprised. Not only because she was just thinking of him but also because he looked like hell.
"I see that you're resting, Relena. Maybe I should call later…"
"No. It's ok. I'm just lying down anyways," Relena said as she sat up, smiling at him.
Quatre smiled back, though a little wearily. "Umm, where's Heero?" he asked, stalling for some time.
"He went downstairs to look for Trowa. Er--- he wanted to have a good fight in the simulation room."
"Oh. How are Trowa and Dorothy, by the way?"
Relena became slightly nervous. "Umm, good. Great. They're fantastic. You know, the usual," she answered. She then decided to change the topic. "How about you and Catherine?"
"Good. Great. Fantastic. Oh, and I slept with her last night," Quatre replied with a tinge of sarcasm.
Relena's eyes widened as she put her hand to her mouth to keep herself from shouting. The world is definitely coming to an end. The peace we all worked hard for will just be going to waste, she thought.
Seeing Relena's reaction, Quatre hastily said, "I didn't plan on it, I swear. It just happened." He said it so sadly and heart-broken that Relena lowered her hand and looked at him sympathetically. "That's why I called you. I'm going to explode if I don't talk to someone about this."
"What exactly happened, Quatre?"
Quatre took a deep breath. "We were drunk. I carried her to her trailer. Then one thing led to another. Not that I'm blaming the alcohol for my actions. I might be buzzed but I still had an idea of what I was doing. At first I thought Catherine was Trowa, but the weird thing was, when I learned that I really was with Catherine, I still continued on what I was doing. Maybe mistaking Catherine for Trowa was just a psychological mechanism to make my actions seemed right."
Relena could see the pain in his face, in his eyes, she could even hear it in his voice. If only she could reach out and comfort him. "What are you planning to do now?"
"Continue with the playacting. I couldn't possibly back-out now, everyone will surely suspect that something was wrong," he answered. He then saw the question in Relena's eyes. Quatre sighed. "I don't know, Relena. I really don't know."
Relena gave him a comforting smile. "Don't worry. I'm sure things will be better. Always remember that we're all here for you."
Quatre gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks for listening, Relena."
"Anytime. Bye, Quatre. See you tomorrow."
"Bye." The call was then terminated.
Relena laid down again. It surely looks like we'll be having one hell of a Christmas vacation, she thought before closing her eyes.
Catherine took her time walking from the Cratian plaza to the Mansion. If only the circus wasn't leaving to go back to L3 today, she would have stayed in her trailer until their flight to Earth tomorrow. So she just contented herself in helping pack things up, stalling for time. But the circus just left for the spaceport and now, she didn't have anywhere else to go. And here I thought that my life couldn't get more complicated, she thought, bitterly. It was like saying nothing worse could possibly happen then finding out that something worse indeed happened. She felt guilty, and bad about herself. She might be drunk and she might be thinking of Dorothy at first, but she still let it happen. She wanted it to happen. And to top it all, she still had that killer headache. But she knew that she had to continue with the plan. Maybe getting Trowa and Quatre back together would atone for that one wanton act. She finally reached the mansion and rang the doorbell. Ray, the butler, opened the door.
"Miss Catherine, come in. We've been waiting for you."
After spending two hours doing combat simulation, Heero headed to their room. He went to the bed, sat down and kissed his sleeping wife gently on the lips.
Relena opened her eyes and smiled at him. "So how is he?" she asked, snuggling closer.
"The combat simulation helped ease him out a bit. He's still troubled, though. I guess anyone in his position would be. But he's resolute in continuing with the plan."
"Just like Quatre," Relena told him. Heero looked at her questioningly. "Quatre called earlier. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he had undergone the same experience with Catherine last night," she explained.
"Hn. I should have expected that. With what's happening lately and with the luck those 4 are having, it's evident that something like that would happen. It's very symmetric actually. What happens to Trowa and Dorothy also happens to Quatre and Catherine and vice versa."
"If the situation isn't this serious, I would have found everything amusing. But 4 people's feelings and relationships are at stake here," Relena said in a sad voice.
Heero then thought of something. "If Catherine gets pregnant, Dorothy will get pregnant as well, because of the symmetry, right?"
Relena lightly slapped him on the shoulder. "Stop joking around, Heero. That's not funny."
"I'm not joking. We have to face the fact that there's a big possibility of Catherine and Dorothy getting pregnant. Even if they had intimate relations only once."
Relena sighed. "I know. Let's just hope it won't come to that. The situation is complicated enough as it is."
Suddenly, they heard a beep coming from Heero's laptop. Heero pushed a button and saw the images of Duo and Hilde, Zechs and Noin, Wufei and Sally on the monitor, each couple occupying a small portion of the screen.
"Houston, we have a problem," Duo greeted.
"What are you talking about, Maxwell?" Wufei grumbled.
"It's a line from this very old movie where the shuttle they sent to the moon was having problems so ---"
Heero cut him off by saying, "Just get to the point, Duo."
Duo rolled his eyes. "Geez. Ok. There's a slight complication in our plan. I know you wouldn't believe it, I had troubles believing it myself. But Sally and Wufei saw it with their very own eyes so it must be true. I have to warn you, though, it really is shocking. I mean ---"
"Just tell it to them already," Zechs told him.
"Ok. Ok. Quatre and Catherine slept together," Duo said, waiting for the shocked reactions of Heero and Relena.
"We know," Relena said coolly.
The 3 couples facevaulted. "WHAT?!"
"Quatre called me earlier and told me about it."
"And that's not our only problem," Heero added.
"We have other problems?" Hilde choked out.
"Trowa and Dorothy slept together too," Relena informed them.
Six pairs of eyes were in danger of popping out and falling to the floor.
"Whoa. Brain freeze," Duo said as he rubbed his head.
"What?! When?! Where?! Why?! How?!" Noin asked one after the other.
"Yes. Last night. In Dorothy's room. They were drunk. You have to ask them about that," Heero answered.
"What are they planning to do about this, then?" Sally inquired.
"They both want to continue with the charade. They didn't want anyone to suspect so all of you should act as if you don't know anything, well, except for Sally and Wufei who saw Cathy and Quatre," Relena replied. "And we should be careful. One slip and we jeopardize those four's relationship with each other." Everyone looked at Duo pointedly.
"Not a word, promise," Duo told them. "So, what can we do to help?"
Wufei shook his head. "There you go again, Maxwell. We did enough damage already. We should just let them play it out."
"But we couldn't just stand here and do nothing. Besides, I won't be able to sleep knowing that this is all my fault considering I was the one who came up with this plan in the first place."
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Duo. This is not entirely your fault. We are also at fault since we went along with the plan," Sally said.
"But what can we do? I mean I really want to do something but it's scary to think that we might end up making everything worse," said Noin.
"Yeah. We were just trying to help but look where it got us," Hilde stated.
"Wufei is right. We should just let them play it out on their own. Any interference might do more harm than good," Zechs told them. "Besides, they only committed one slip up. It's up to them if they want to pursue it or if they're going to tell it to their respective partners."
"I couldn't help but think that they are bound to commit more slip ups since they'll be coming to the party tomorrow as couples. And they're going to sleep in the same room. That's one temptation that would be hard to resist," Relena said. "Then Trowa and Quatre have to pretend that they were just friends now in front of Dorothy and Catherine all the while pretending to the rest of us, especially to each other that nothing happened between them and their girl partners."
"We could help them prevent another slip up like that from happening," Heero voiced out.
"How?" Hilde asked.
"If you think someone in the next room will hear you, would you still risk doing 'it'?"
Duo smirked. "If I can remember correctly, you, Relena, Quatre and Trowa still risked doing it."
Relena reddened while Heero just shrugged. "Zechs and Noin's room was far from ours. And we didn't know that Relena and Quatre would shout that loud," Heero said, earning a light slap on the shoulders from his wife again.
Wufei nodded. "I know what you're getting at, Heero. The knowledge that the other is just in the next room will make Trowa and Quatre more resistant in succumbing to temptation."
"Hn. It might also strengthen their guilt and make them confess faster. Zechs, you can let Quatre and Catherine stay in my former room there while Trowa and Dorothy can stay in Relena's room. Trowa and Quatre know that I made the walls separating the two rooms thinner so I could easily hear if someone tries to sneak in and harm Relena. They also know that I put a connecting door between our rooms though they don't know where it is and how to open it."
Zechs glared at him. "You mean that throughout your stay in the Palace, you have complete access to Relena's room?"
"It's for her own protection. How could I protect her if I couldn't go inside her room at will? Besides, you and Noin were still in Mars when I made the changes."
"Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you didn't use that door for any other 'purpose' except to protect Relena?" Zechs asked, staring directly into his eyes.
"No. I'll be lying if I do," Heero replied with a slight smile.
Zechs was about to answer back when Duo said, "Well, just think about it this way, Zechs. Relena is safer if Heero is in bed with her." Duo then mock-gasped when Zechs glared at him. "I mean if Heero is with her," he added mischievously.
Zechs glared at him again, then at Heero before letting out a sigh. He should just let it go. It was all in the past and they were already married.
"So I guess that's all we could do for them huh," Relena remarked, steering back to the original topic of conversation.
"With all of this happening to them, I wonder if they'll be able to pull off the plan," Sally said.
"I hope so. And I hope soon enough. They only have until before the New Year's Eve party," Hilde replied.
"What if things weren't back to normal by then?" Noin inquired.
Silence. "I say we pull the plug, but we have to ask Trowa and Quatre first," Duo told them.
Meanwhile…
After battling with Heero in the simulation room, Trowa went to the study. Heero was right, the combat simulation helped clear his head. He still felt guilty, and rotten, but he just had to make sure not let that thing happen again. What mattered now was to finish the mission --- and the sooner it was, the better.
He sat down in front of the vidphone, dialed a number and waited. After a while, Quatre's image appeared on the screen.
"T-trowa, hi," Quatre greeted, a little surprised.
Guilt gnawed at Trowa the instant he saw Quatre. "Hi, Quatre. How are you?"
"Ok. And you?"
"The same," Trowa answered. "I need to talk to you about something."
Quatre's heart pounded in his chest. "What?"
"I don't think we could finish the mission by tomorrow. Dorothy still hasn't shown any signs of confessing." To put it lightly, Trowa thought.
I'm not in a hurry to confess myself, Quatre thought. "Catherine isn't showing any signs of confessing either." Then realization dawned on him. "Oh. And because we'll be coming to the party tomorrow as couples and stay that way until everything is straightened out, you're worried that I'll get jealous, is that it? Don't worry. I won't. I know everything is just playacting." Quatre almost choked while saying his last sentence. Trowa, on the other hand, inwardly cringed when he heard the word 'playacting'.
"Hn. We have one week to make them confess. See you tomorrow, Quatre."
"See you tomorrow. Bye." Quatre then disconnected the call.
Trowa sighed in relief then stood up. He was walking out of the room when he heard the vidphone ring again. He went back to answer it.
"Cathy," Trowa said, barely managing to hide his surprise. During Dorothy's entire stay there in L1, Catherine didn't call even once.She must be using the phone in the study, he thought. But what rotten luck he was having. He just slept with Dorothy last night then the next day Cathy would call him? Was it some sort of divine act to further amplify his guilt?
Catherine grinned at him sheepishly. She didn't know how Trowa would react if he learned that she slept with his ex-boyfriend. The magic word was 'ex' but she was certain that those two still had feelings for each other. I sure hope he forgives me. "Hello, Trowa. How are you doing?"
"Fine. So how was the closing show?"
"Excellent, as usual."
"Speaking of the 'usual', I bet you got blind drunk again during the closing party," Trowa teased.
Catherine started getting nervous. "You know me too well, Trowa."
"I know that you get drunk easily. I assume Quatre took care of you?"
Her heart rate was really escalating now. "Uhh, yeah."
Trowa smiled. "Hope you didn't give him too much trouble. You're a handful when you're buzzed."
Oh, I gave him trouble, alright, she thought while smiling uneasily at him. She didn't want where the conversation was heading. "Umm, Trowa, can I talk to Dorothy?"
Trowa cocked an eyebrow. This is interesting. "Sure. I'll go get her."
"Thanks."
In her room, Dorothy peered out the window, lost in thought. After lunch, she closeted herself in her room all day. If only she still had work to do, she could bury herself in them and forget about what transpired last night. She felt horrible. Guilt and shame alternately ate upon her. Thinking that Trowa was Catherine was a poor excuse indeed. This wasn't suppose to happen. How could I let this happen? she asked herself. But wallowing about the past wasn't her style. All she could do now was to make sure not to repeat the same mistake again. She also had to focus on the mission at hand. She had to continue with the plan or else all that they went through would be put to waste. Her reverie was interrupted when she heard a knock on her door.
"Dorothy, Cathy wants to speak to you," Trowa told her.
Trowa? Cathy? "Thanks, Trowa. I'll be right down."
Dorothy took a deep breath before going inside the study. She headed straight to the vidphone. "Hi, Cathy. How was the circus?" she asked, masking her guilt with a bright smile.
"Great. How about you? How was work?" Catherine asked brightly back though her heart was pounding.
"A pain in the ass. But I finished everything so I'm not complaining anymore."
Catherine peered over Dorothy's shoulder. "Where are the others?"
"Heero and Relena are in their room. Trowa told me that you want to talk to me then disappeared when I opened the door. He might also be in his room."
A tensed silence followed. "So, Dorothy, repulsed him yet?"
Dorothy grimaced. On the contrary… "Umm, no. Not yet. You?"
He slept with me so I guess not. "Nope. That means that we have to do a rain check on our confession tomorrow huh."
"Yeah. We also have to go to the party tomorrow as couples," Dorothy replied. "And until we make them get back together, we'll remain as their girlfriends and we wouldn't be able to confess our relationship."
"So we must finish this mission as quickly as possible, hopefully before the New Year's Eve party. That means we must redouble our efforts in 'repulsing' them," Catherine said. They stared into each other's eyes. "There's nothing to worry about, right? We shouldn't get jealous or anything. We're just pretending to be interested," Catherine remarked, a little nervously.
"Yeah. It's not like we're really attracted to them," Dorothy replied, almost gagging at her words.
"I guess I'll just see you tomorrow then. Bye, Dorothy."
"Bye, Cathy," Dorothy told her before ending the call.
Catherine let out a sigh of relief. Thank God that was over. But she still had one more thing to do. She had to talk to Quatre.
Trowa found Dorothy sitting on a bench in the garden. "Can I sit here?" he asked.
"Sure," Dorothy answered. Trowa sat down beside her. They remained in a companionable silence.
After a while, Trowa said, "Dorothy, I apologize for what happened last night. I don't want you to think that I took advantage of you."
"I never thought that you'd taken advantage of me, Trowa. And I'm sorry too, for not handling the situation better. It just happened too fast, I didn't know how to react."
"Hn. We must take it slow then," Trowa told her. They looked at each other then smiled. Trowa offered a hand. "Let's go back inside. It's time for dinner."
Quatre and Catherine ate dinner in silence. When they were finished, Quatre said, "Cathy, can I talk to you?" at the same time Catherine told him, "Quatre, can I talk to you?"
They looked at each other then laughed. Quatre stood up. "We can talk in the study, if you like," he suggested.
Catherine nodded and followed him. They entered the study and sat down facing each other.
"Who goes first?" Catherine asked.
"Ladies first."
Catherine took a deep breath. "I want to say sorry for freaking out on you this morning. It's just that I wasn't expecting us to do that this soon in our, uhh, relationship."
"I know what you mean. I was just as freaked out as you. And I want to apologize too, Cathy. Please don't think that I took advantage of you or that I just used you because I'm on a rebound."
"I would never think of you that way. I know you, Quatre. You're not capable of such actions," Catherine told him.
Quatre smiled. "Now that we got everything out in the open, what do you say we watch a movie downtown, hmm?"
"Sure. I'll love to," Catherine answered with a smile.
Next on Mix 'N Match... Will they be able to finish their missions? Or will they just end up hurting each other instead?