Heero awoke early the next morning, not sure what had alerted him. Duo stirred in his arms and snuggled back against him, and Heero looked down at him, wondering briefly about the faint frown on Duo's cherubic features. It's probably nothing, Heero thought, smiling, as he worked his arm out from under his small friend, and brushed a stray lock of long, chestnut hair out of his face. After glancing at Duo to make sure he had not woken up, Heero slid off the bed and looked out the window.
His mother unfolded her tall, slender figure out of the car and slammed the door. His father was already walking up the driveway, the long, stumbling steps betraying his condition.
"Crap!" Hero muttered under his breath, reaching over to wake Duo. Before he could touch Duo's shoulder however, Duo awoke, sitting bolt upright, a panicked wildness to his movements.
"Heero? Heero?!" he cried, starting to shiver again.
Heero leaned over quickly and said, "Duo, shh. I'm right here."
Duo looked up, startled. "He-Heero! You're not dead! You - you didn't leave me!"
"Nope. Be quiet now; my parents are here."
"They are?"
"Yes! Shh!" Heero hissed, hearing the front door close and his father's deep voice muttering something, followed by a high, drunken laugh from his mother. "Duo, quick, hide under the bed!"
"Huh? Why?"
"Just move!" Heero insisted, pulling Duo off the bed. Duo slid under the bed and Heero fell back on the pillows, feigning sleep. A moment later, he heard his father's heavy step on the stairway and then the door was flung open.
Dion Yuy stood in the doorway, his tall, stout frame and scowling impression making him an imposing figure. He surveyed the room, then strode over to Heero, stumbling twice.
"Boy! Wake up!" he slurred, shaking Heero roughly. Heero opened one eye and faked a yawn.
"Mm, hi Daddy," he said, rubbing his eyes for emphasis.
"Don't give me none of that 'Daddy' crap, boy! Where was you!"
Were was I? Heero thought. What's that supposed to mean? "I was right here, Daddy. I've been here since yesterday afternoon. Why?" he said, hoping it was the right answer.
It wasn't.
"You was s'posed to meet us! We told you that! Had Staci worried sick, 'Where is he, where is he?'!" Dion's voice slipped up a few notches higher at the end of the sentence, imitating Heero's mother's whiny voice. "Damn kid,"
"You didn't tell me that, Daddy." Heero said without thinking and immediately regretted it.
"You smartin' off to me, boy?"
"N-no," said Heero, tensing, ready for the hand that would surely follow.
Dion's voice got dangerously soft; murderous. "No boy of mine gonna get 'way with that. No boy of mine gonna get a smart mouth,"
Heero was already turning his attentions inward, forgetting his body, forgetting his father, forgetting the pain that would inevitably come.
So he didn't feel it when his father's hand came down on one side of his face, knocking him to the floor. And he didn't feel it when another blow connected with his neck, leaving a bloody slash from Dion's ring. He did feel it however, when Dion aimed a vicious parting kick at his midsection and he heard something crack.
Dion left the room, slamming the door behind him and Heero began to come back into himself, finding each new bruise and cut, and then, as he sat up, he felt something give and felt tentatively down to where he had been kicked. Even though he wasn't sure, Heero thought there was now three bruised ribs aching whenever he breathed
"Duo, you- you can come out now." Heero said, wincing.
Duo wiggled out from under the bed. He stared for a moment at Heero sprawled on the floor, the livid bruise blossoming on his cheek, and the bloody streak trailing down his neck, before it all sunk in.
"Oh, Heero, you're bleeding!" Duo cried, rushing to him and helping him stand.
Heero brushed a hand against his neck, controlling his urge to cringe from the pain, and looked at the long stripe of blood with a sort of detachment that came from him not being completely in himself. Duo looked horrified.
"It's okay. You'd better leave though. Dad's pretty mean when he's drunk, and he doesn't like you much anyway." Heero said, wishing he didn't have to be so harsh with the smaller boy as he saw Duo shiver slightly. It was the only way though, that he could be sure Duo was safe, at least from this danger.
"Heero..." Duo murmured, touching Heero's cheek softly. "Heero, I --" he paused, let his fingers trail down to rest gently on Heero's neck. "Come with me! It's not so bad -- out there on the streets. I couldn't stand to be there, without you, knowing what you dad does when he's -- when he's -- mean." he finished awkwardly, his hand resting on Heero's shoulder. On impulse, he carefully wrapped his arms around Heero, burying his face in Heero's neck. "I won't lose you, too." he whispered.
Heero sighed in Duo's arms. "I -- I can't go with you, Duo.. Even when he's drunk, and even when he hits me, I still love my dad. And I love my mom, too, even when she ignores me. I can't leave them. I don't know why. I just can't," He pulled away from Duo and walked to the window. "They'll always be my parents." he murmured, gazing at the ever-lightening sky outside.