Disclaimer: I don't own them except for the kids

Disclaimer: I don't own them except for the kids!

Warring Hearts, Part 6b

Dinner was set out on the lawn on picnic blankets for the kids, while the parents sat up on the deck at the long table.

Leigh and Ling were seated at the same blanket as her siblings, along with Carin and Isabella Barton, Mira and Quatrina Winner, and Zach Merquise. Leigh looked over her shoulder towards the other blanket, where Jonathon was sitting with Morgan, and all his siblings around him. She felt a slight twinge of jealousy as Jonathon leaned close to Morgan and whispered something in her ear, causing her to laugh.

Merin arched a brow at her sister. "Feeling all right tonight Leigh?"

"I'm fine. I couldn't be better," Leigh replied effusively as she faced Merin.

"I could have sworn you looked upset a little earlier," Merin drawled nonchalantly as she speared her tomato with her fork.

Jet gave a quelling look towards his older sister. "Merin."

She caught her brother's look and rolled her eyes. "All right, all right, I'll back off." She sighed and looked back over at Leigh, who was trying not to look over at Jonathon and Morgan. "I might back off, but I don't have to like it."

Jonathon's eyes flickered towards Leigh every few minutes. It was almost impossible not to since she was sitting barely ten feet away. He had already felt her eyes on him several times, but when he would glance back, her eyes would skitter away from him. He could swear by the dagger looks that she had been shooting Morgan, that she was jealous.

"God, your pathetic," Randy said as she poked him in the ribs. "You've been staring at her almost the entire dinner."

"So?"

"Not like she hasn't been staring back," Morgan pointed out as she readjusted her jean-clad legs under her. "She's been shooting me looks that could kill."

"She's jealous. But I don't see why, she's knows that Morgan is only an ex-girlfriend, who he's still friends with," Donavon said, his arm draped over Randy's shoulder.

"Leigh's jealous of any woman who comes into contact with me, except for the ones related to me," Jonathon said, his eyes going back over to Leigh. He watched as Ling said something to her that made her smile. He gritted his teeth.

"Jonathon, you're going to bend the fork and mom will have a fit," Chris said mildly from his place in front of Victoria, who was sitting in a chair. "Getting mad won't do you any good."

Jonathon snorted as he took his eyes away from Leigh and Ling. He stood up slowly. "I'm getting dessert. Mom made apple pie and lemon meringue." He took his plate up to the deck, walking inside the house to look for the pies he knew were in the fridge.

Leigh sighed and leaned back on her hands. She looked over and saw that Jonathon wasn't there. She sighed, almost relieved. She had felt his eyes on her often enough to make her skin tingle. She stood up and picked up her plate. "Anyone want anything more, while I'm up?"

Ling shook his head. "No thank you Leigh. I've eaten quite a lot right now. Hilde is some cook."

"Be grateful, she cooks better then me and my mother," she said, laughing softly as she turned and went up to the deck. She craved something sugary and she knew exactly where she could find it in the Maxwell house. She went into the kitchen, where she saw Jonathon standing in front of the fridge, holding a can of whipped cream in his mouth. "You know that belongs on the pie in front of you."

Jonathon almost dropped the can when he heard her voice. He lowered it, wiping his wrist across his mouth. He flushed guiltily for a moment. "So, I like whipped cream. What's it to you what I do with it?"

"Why can't you grow out of that habit? Aren't you a little old to be eating the cream out of the can?"

"No one is ever too old to eat the cream out of the can, or do I need to refresh your memory?" Jonathon asked, smirking wickedly.

Leigh flushed hotly at what he was implying. "Does your mind always have to be in the gutter?"

"Do you always have to be uptight?"

"I'm not uptight!"

"Yes, you are."

"I am not!"

"And it makes it all the more fun to tease you and ruffle those feathers of yours."

Leigh scowled at him.

"But you like it. I think you just make yourself all uptight for me to come and loosen you up. It made everything a lot more fun," he drawled as he approached her. He bent down and looked into her face. "And it turns you on."

Her face flared with more color. "You…you…" she sputtered.

Jonathon snickered softly at her. "Just like you are right now."

She balled up her fist and tried to hit him, but he caught it. "I hate you."

"No, you don't and that's what has you so mad. You know I'm right," he said as he kissed her hard before releasing her. He went back on the other side of the island where his slice of apple pie was. He drenched it liberally with the can of whipped cream, finishing it, before opening another can and using it, until a high mound of fluffy sugar sat on top of the pie.

Leigh had no time to react when he kissed her. She stood there, motionless for a moment, her lips slightly parted. His kiss had sent a tremor through her, making her toes curl. She could see his smirk as he put more whipped cream on his pie and it made her see red. "You bastard!"

"Never said I wasn't."

"Someone should have beaten the shit out of you."

"I've already had the shit beaten out of me, or haven't you noticed?"

"Well they didn't do a good enough job! Someone should have blacked that other eye of yours!"

"Well it's all your fault that I got into the fight in the first place!"

"How is it my fault!"

"I was a witness to your date with mister perfect out there. You didn't waste anytime, did you Leigh?"

"What was I supposed to do? Sit at home and twiddle my thumbs? I think not. I'm an attractive woman. I can have any man I want!"

"Even proper Ling out there? I bet if he gave you a kiss, you wouldn't feel a thing!"

"Ha! He has kissed me! It felt very nice! So there!" she said smugly, watching his face suffuse with color.

It was his turn to see red as he imagined Ling kissing Leigh.

"Nothing like yours. At least he hasn't tried feeling me up at the same time he's kissing me!"

"I never did that!"

"The first time you kissed me, you tried to get your hand under my shirt!"

"I did not! And it was the back of your shirt, not the front!"

"Same as."

"Not like you didn't enjoy it!"

Leigh's mouth snapped shut. "How dare you!"

"I dare because I can! Let me ask you this sweetheart, does Ling know about me?" Jonathon asked acidly.

"No and he's not going to," she shot back in kind.

"What? Afraid he might find out what kind of reputation I have and that it might have tainted you?"

Leigh was seething. She wanted to strike him so bad, but she didn't have the heart to hit him again when he was already in bad shape. She wouldn't even secretly admit, even to herself, that she wanted to go over to him and kiss his wounds. "You're reputation leaves a lot to be desired! And I see you have Morgan back."

"Leave her out of this!"

"Why can't you leave the good girls alone and go back to the bad ones that want you?"

Jonathon's eyes narrowed. "Then why did you want me? You insult other girls, you're only insulting yourself since you wanted me as well as they did."

Her eyes flashed brilliantly with barely contained anger. There weren't even anymore words for her to speak. So, she jerkily put her glass and plate in the dishwasher before stalking out, with her head held high.

Jonathon relaxed his shoulders and let out a deep sigh. He turned and rested his head on the cool fridge. He banged his head against it. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

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Wufei frowned when he saw his daughter stamping out of the house. He watched her aggressive tread as she made her way back down the steps. He looked down at the lawn, noting that Jonathon's presence was absent. He looked back towards the house and then over at Duo. "Where's that son of yours?"

"Which one?" Duo asked archly, looking over at him.

"Jonathon."

"In the house. Getting pie," Duo replied in a clipped voice.

Wufei scowled. "Then he just ticked off my daughter. Does he…"

"Wufei! That's enough!" Sally hissed angrily as she slapped her hand over his mouth.

Duo smirked evilly at Wufei's disgruntled expression as Sally kept her hand over his mouth. "Better listen to your wife. She's saving me from kicking your sorry ass."

"Are you two going to fight?" Quatre asked, sighing.

"No, not if he keeps his mouth shut and his comments to himself," Duo answered, leaning back in his chair.

"Thank Allah it's not my house this time," said a relieved Quatre. "Your kids always tend to fight when they're there."

Duo shrugged. "You're just lucky I guess."

Wufei continued to fume behind Sally's hand as Jonathon finally came out on the deck.

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Jonathon felt eyes on him. He turned and looked at Wufei, who was sending him a nasty look. He smiled tightly and went back down to the lawn. He sat down next to Morgan. "I'm back."

Morgan turned to look at him. She looked down at the pie. "Geez Jonathon, got enough whipped cream there?"

"So I like whipped cream," Jonathon answered as he swiped some of it off with his finger and dabbed it on the tip of her nose. "And so do you. You and your double fudge sundaes with a ton of whipped cream on top."

She laughed, wiping it off her nose and licking it off her finger. "So I do. Then why didn't you get me one?"

"You didn't ask."

"You!" she laughed again, pushing his shoulder lightly with her hands.

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Leigh's eyes narrowed even more at Morgan as her and Jonathon teased each other some more. It was infuriating. He was infuriating. And she loved him all the more for it. "Damn you Maxwell," she said to herself as she tried to pay attention to Ling, who was talking avidly with Thad Merquise about architecture.

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"You know the more she fights it, the more mad she gets," Merin whispered to Jet.

"She's in denial that's why. And she's mad at dad too, for inviting Ling," Jet whispered back.

"You wonder why?"

"Dad wanted to lord it over Jonathon that Leigh had found someone better, which you and I know isn't true."

"Dad just doesn't like the fact that Leigh fell in love with a Maxwell," Merin said, making a face.

"I couldn't agree more. We all heard dad say that he wouldn't let any of his kids marry a Maxwell. He said it was bad enough that a Maxwell was marrying a Yuy at Chris's and Victoria's wedding," Jet agreed.

"Yeah, the child of the "Perfect Soldier" with the child of the "God of Death." One side, suicidal, the other side, maniacal," she drawled.

"He over dramatizes it. And what did Jonathon call Leigh one time?"

"A justice touting Chang."

"See, like we're any better," Jet said as he pushed back his sandy brown hair. He looked over at his oldest sister again. "A justice touting Chang and a maniacal Maxwell are a perfect combo. They'll keep each other sane by driving the other one insane."

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Leigh heard Morgan's laughter sound again. She forced herself not to look up, but at the same time, it was in involuntary action. Her eyes went to Morgan and Jonathon. He was teasing Morgan, by trying to dab some whipped cream on her nose. Her teeth ground together. She wanted to strangle the petite brunette that was capturing his attention and then kill him. "But he's not even yours anymore, right? You either go back to him or you don't?"

"Leigh?" Ling asked as he turned and looked at her. He had a suspicion that something was wrong with her and she wasn't telling him. He respected that since he didn't know her well enough for her to become that comfortable with him. He saw her glare over at the other group, but he didn't know whom she was sending the nasty look to.

"Yes?" she replied guiltily, returning her attention back to Ling.

"Are you all right? You seem a little preoccupied there," he said as he rubbed her hand with his.

"It's nothing, really. I was just thinking about something, that's all," Leigh said, reassuringly as she smiled at him. "Are you having a nice time here so far?"

"Yes. Your friends are very nice and the dinner that Hilde made is the best home cooked meal I ever had, besides my own mother. But I won't tell her that," Ling said, laughing softly.

"Just a warning though. My mom cannot cook for the life of her. My dad cooks better then her. So just be careful what you eat at my house, especially if my mom cooked it."

"I'll keep that in mind. And how about you, can you cook?"

"Unfortunately no. I don't cook much better then my mother. The best cooks among us kids are Randy, my brother, Donavon, Mira, Isabella, and Kellie. The others can cook, just not as good as those few."

"I take it that Merin's cooking isn't much better then yours?"

"Her cooking is even worse then mine," Leigh said, smirking at her sister, who was now scowling at her.

Ling chuckled and hugged Leigh tight for one moment.

She returned it.

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Jonathon's eyes darted over towards Leigh and Ling. His lips twitched.

Morgan sighed. For the most part he acted like he was ignoring Leigh and Ling over at the other blanket, but she could tell when his eyes would be drawn over there. And she knew that Leigh was looking back with unmistakable jealousy in her eyes. "You know, she's been looking at you when you're not looking at her," she said nudging his shoulder.

His eyes went to hers. "Is that so?"

"You know why she's looking over here? She's making sure I keep my hands off of you. She's jealous as hell."

"When was Leigh not jealous? She's always like that. She thinks every girl wants me."

"They do," Randy interjected dryly. "There wasn't a day that wouldn't go by that you had some girl calling you."

"It wasn't all me. Chris and David had their share of the calls too," Jonathon pointed out.

"If it wasn't you, it was one of them. Good Lord, they thought the three of you were the epitome of what a hottie is supposed to look like," Randy drawled, rolling her eyes. "It was embarrassing when we were at Saint Augustines because all these girls would come up to me and ask me about the three of you."

"So, it's not like you didn't have the male population cornered," Jonathon threw back teasingly.

"I did and I didn't. Veronica and Carin considered it a competition on who could get the most guys. I had them beat in athletics and intellect. They had to beat me somewhere. And dad almost wanted to change our number so guys couldn't call me," she said, laughing.

Jonathon chuckled. "I remember that all too well. But now that you have Donavon, he won't watch you as closely."

"Yeah right, you think dad is going to give up protecting me because I have Donavon? Not in this lifetime," Randy snorted.

"Yeah, but I'm not my brother," Donavon said, entering the conversation. He pressed a kiss on Randy's cheek as he sat back down behind her with two slices of apple pie with the homemade ice cream and whipped cream.

"Be grateful for that. At least you won't have my dad breathing down your neck like he did your brother at every waking moment," Jonathon said as he scraped his plate with the back of his fork, picking up the excess whipped cream.

"Did Wufei do that when you dated Leigh?" Donavon asked curiously.

"He tried, but I was much better in getting around him. It made him fizzle more rather then breath down my neck," he said as he licked the fork. Leigh's laughter rang though the air. His eyes went to her as she leaned in close to Ling. He wanted to strangle her for baiting him like she was. And yet he wanted to go over there, yank her to her feet and kiss her forever. It made him grit his teeth when he saw Ling press a kiss on her cheek. He was sorry for being a little nasty to her in the kitchen earlier, but she had been the instigator that time. She brought out the best and the worst in him, like he did in her. That's how he knew he loved her and he would do anything to get her back so he could tell her.

A/N: Another installment finished at last! Ready for more? Stay tuned! XOXO!