*****************************************************************
"In love. . . with Duo." Relena stated slowly, her body slowly sinking into the doorframe. She gripped onto the door handle and forced her body to remain upright. Staring at her ex-boyfriend in muted silence, she began to tremble slightly.
"Relena, I just wanted you to know that I still care about you and I want to be your friend." Heero continued to speak, but Relena's anger had already drowned out his words.
"Go home." she whispered silently.
"Relena," he whispered.
"Get away from me!" Relena screamed before slamming the door in his face. She leaned against the closed door, tears falling unnoticed down her face. Heero's statement loomed through her mind in countinuous circles, it's blow sharpening with every pass. Anger, embarrassment, and hate bled into her mind; leaving her with her only option available: denial. Pounding on the door once, she ran into the main living room and reached for the telephone. She dialed frantically. The answering machine picked up after the fourth ring.
"Leave a message after the tone." the pre-recorded voice stated.
"Heero!" she shrieked as the tone sounded. "Very funny! I'm not laughing! Your little stunt a minute ago changes nothing! You here me! Nothing! If you think you can make me stand you up for our date, well you're wrong! You *are* taking me to prom tomorrow! To think I almost believed you. . . I don't know what game you and Duo are playing, but it stops now!"
Slamming the phone down on the receiver, she ran out into the hallway, grabbed her purse, and stormed out of the house.
*********************************************************************
"I almost killed him!" Jay wailed into Trowa's shoulder. His former basketball teammates surrounded the distraught teen.
"Wufei just broke his foot." Trowa said for the tenth time. "He'll be fine."
"Oh yeah! Then why did they have to use an ambulance, huh?" he asked, sniffling loudly.
"His temper caused him to hyperventilate and he passed out." Nick reasoned, patting Jay on the shoulder. "Not your fault entirely."
"I know. . ." Jay trailed off dejectedly.
Nick grinned. "But, man did you fuck up his foot!"
"Dude!" Jay gushed, letting go of Trowa's shoulder to sling an arm around Nick's neck. They proceded to give each other their special handshake. "I never seen a foot get that big."
"Or purple." Nick added as the shake ended. "And then they had to cut off his shoe, man!"
"I'm glad he was knocked out, that looked like it hurt." Jay admonished. The two teens chuckled nervously as they scanned the room.
"She's light enough. . ." Nick whispered to Jay. Trowa sighed as he heard this and walked over to Quatre, who was instructing a small group of people.
"Okay, you three go help Jay with the lights. Try not to drop anything, we don't need another casualty. John, check with the DJ, make sure he has everything he needs. Trowa. . ."
"Present."
"How's Jay holding up?" Quatre asked as he turned to face Trowa.
Trowa titled his head in Jay and Nick's direction. Quatre leaned sideways to peer around Trowa's body. The tall basketball players were currently tossing a short-haired girl back and forth, obscenities spewing from her mouth.
"If one hair is unsettled from my head. . . I just got back from the salon. . . put me down!" Hilde shouted, elbowing Nick in the ribs the second he had her in his arms. He groaned before crumbling to the floor. Jay began to laugh wildly at his friend then opted to bounce over to his new light crew.
"To think, he was bawling for thirty minutes straight." Quatre mused.
"They have the attention span of a goldfish." Trowa noted. The pair nodded to themselves as Hilde rushed up to them.
"I came as soon as I could." she said, gasping for air. "How's Wuffie?"
"The ambulance took him to the hospital. Mrs. Noin followed behind to check up on him. Duo's on the phone with her now." Quatre informed her as he nodded in the direction of the lobby.
********************************************************************
"His parents are furious, Duo." Mrs. Noin hissed into her cell phone as she positioned herself on the waiting room couch. Her eyes scanned the outdated magazines and picked up the closest one. CoalMining Now?
"I would be too!" she heard Duo exclaim on the other line. "How many bones broke?"
She told him, tossing the mag aside and grabbing the next one.
"Ow, that many? I didn't think those things would be that heavy."
"How are things going over there?" she asked, flipping through the worn National Geographic.
"No need for the paramedics yet, I'm afraid." Duo sighed dramatically, causing them both to erupt into nervous laughter. Duo quickly began to fill his principal in on the current events. "We're almost done, Quatre's just going over the last details and I think I saw Hilde come running in. Her hair looks great! It's all glittery looking."
"Duo-"
"Don't worry, she's not knocking off the 'do you sported at your wedding."
"Duo-"
"Mrs. Noin, are you on your cell? Let me talk to Wu!"
"Duo-"
"This is strictly business, I swear."
"I'd love to, but he's with his parents at the moment and I'm the last person they want to see at the moment."
"Is he going to be at prom tomorrow?" he asked.
"He's pretty set on it." she reassured him, grinning. Wufei's ultimatum looked (and sounded) extremely ridiculous.
"I helped plannnnnned did it thish prom," the morphine induced teen slurred. "I will be there! An' if anybody la...la...lau...laughs... I'll kick 'em! With this damned foot!"
She laughed right then and there in the ER. Wufei laughed right along with her. His parents didn't see the humor at all. She closed the magazine and stood, hoping that her presence was no longer needed.
"When everyone is done decorating, you and Hilde stay in the ballroom until I come back to lock up, okay?"
"No prob." Duo sang on the other end. "See you later."
***********************************************************************
Duo hung up the phone, and began to walk toward the main lobby when he saw Relena storm into the hotel. She broke into a run and froze at the ballroom entrance. Her face sported a very unflattering scowl, and she was still flushed from running. Puffy, red eyes scanned the room, ready to strike at any given moment.
"This is not good." he muttered as he watched Relena select her first victim. As he walked towards the ballroom, only one word could be heard muttered repeatedly from his lips.
"Shit."
***********************************************************************
"Have you seen Duo?" Relena barked, gripping a bewildered girl by the shoulders. The girl shook her head nervously. Relena huffed loudly and ran up to another student. No one seemed to know where their leader was, and it was only infuriating her more.
"Trowa!" she yelled as she spotted the tall teen standing next to his blonde friend. As she approached the pair, she realized how close he was standing next to Quatre. His hand was lightly grazing the other teen's waist and was nonchalantly peering over the blonde's shoulder.
"Have you seen, Duo?" she snapped, causing the couple to jump at the sound of her voice.
"Um, he's. . ." Quatre stammered quietly, not knowing how to handle the situation. "I don't know."
"Don't play games with me! I know you're Duo's friend." she scoffed. "You know where he is, don't you, Trowa?"
"He's not here." Trowa said, his voice low. Quatre nodded, his eyes cleary showing disdain.
"I don't even know why I should be asking *you* for help." she said off-handedly.
"Hey Princess!" Hilde sang, side-stepping Quatre to sling an arm around Relena's shoulders.
"They're like him." she hissed at Hilde while tilting her head in Quatre and Trowa's direction.
"Who?"
"Duo."
"Oh."
"Where is he?"
"Hell if I know." the dark haired girl sighed, rolling her eyes. "You ok?"
"I'm far from okay, Hilde." Relena growled. "Now, where is Duo?"
"I told you, I don't know." Hilde insisted. "But if you're not here to help out, you can't stay."
"I'm not leaving until I talk to Duo." she protested.
"You can talk to him tomorrow-"
"I need to talk to him NOW!" she shouted, causing Hilde to step back. The room became eerily silent, as all in the room paused to stare at them.
"I don't know what crack you're smoking, but try raising your voice at me again." Hilde challenged, stepping forward.
"Oh really?" Relena countered. Before the two could lunge at each other's throats, Trowa and Quatre stepped in between the two girls. Arguing ensued around the small group, the boys trying to prevent violence, the girls attempting to initiate it. A large crowd had gathered around them, all eyes glued to each and every word uttered from everyone's mouth. Duo edged his way through, and pulled a very irate Relena aside.
"Relena, what's up?" Duo askedly softly.
"You bastard." she snarled.
Duo chuckled, trying to make light of the scene. "Whoa, there, Princess. You seem to be angry about something." he said calmly. "Care to go somewhere private to talk about this?"
"No."
"Okay, what's bothering you? But please make it quick. We have a lot of nosy people that have work to get done and they won't finish until you leave."
"Don't patronize me." she snapped. "You must think I'm stupid."
"Look," he interjected, his patience wearing thin. "I don't know what I've done to upset you, but you're really starting to piss me off."
"You? You're pissed off at me?" Relena laughed bitterly. "I know you put him up to it. Made him say those awful things."
"Relena, I have no clue what you are talking about. Now if you'd just-"
"No, I need to hear you say it."
"Say what? You're not making any-"
"I want you to tell everyone here the truth." she pleaded, motioning to the large crowd around her. "Heero loves me, doesn't he?" she asked slowly, making sure each word of her question was heard by everyone. Duo blinked, then shrugged.
"He does."
"So he was lying?" she continued with her questioning, her voice strained.
"Lying?" he asked. His confusion startled her, Duo knew nothing of her conversation earlier that day. But he had to; it was all Duo's idea to make her mad, wasn't it?
"He doesn't really love you." she stated coldly. In her mind it was a fact, but as she said it, the words materialized into a lie. Again, his expression unnerved her, anger lined with fear crossed his features. Reality hit hard; it was still difficult to admit it.
"He was just saying that to make me mad, right?" Relena asked for the last time. She hoped that he would recant and admit to the lie. That Heero did truly care for her. That her lie was indeed the truth. It never came. Instead, the relief that washed over Duo's face told her just the opposite. "Right?"
Duo just shook his head and turned from her. She watched his retreating back and slowly faced the facts that loomed before her.
Heero loved Duo, not her.
Heero was gay.
She just made a fool of herself.
Looking around the room, she saw that the crowd was slowly dispersing. Everyone was murmuring and whispering among themselves, few dared to look her in the eye. She knew that next week she would be the laughing stock of the entire school. Feeling the emotional weights tied to her ankles, she tried to flee the room unnoticed. As she began her trek out of the ballroom, she noticed Quatre staring sympathetically in her direction. All anger he had shown toward her earlier was replaced with concern for a distraught classmate. If anything, she could sense his pity.
Above all things, she did not want pity. Especially from that boy. He had no clue what she was going through. Quatre was happy with his gay boyfriend, he was loved. He happened to be Duo's best friend.
She suddenly hated him. Why was she the only one here disgusted by this? Everyone in the building seemed to take *their* side, no one seemed shocked about Duo's new relationship. It almost seemed as if they scorned her for not understanding, for being reasonable. Heero broke her heart, and she was the bad guy?
"You're all sick! All of you!" she screamed as she reached the ballroom doors.
Hilde watched the blonde girl run out into the lobby, her hysterical sobs echoed off the expansive walls. Duo was also watching, but as he began to give chase, Hilde pulled him back.
"No, I've got this." she whispered. Their eyes locked momentarily and Duo grinned before heading in Quatre and Trowa's direction. Steeling herself, Hilde followed the distraught girl out of the hotel.
*************************
Relena jumped into her car and forcefully slammed her door shut. Sobbing, she fumbled to place the key into the ignition, only to drop her keychain on the floor. Emitting a loud curse, she bent to retrive it, only to hear the passenger door open slightly.
"Yo, Princess, quite a scene back there." Hilde stated as she slid into the car.
"Leave me alone." Relena sniffed. She punched the steering wheel, giving up on her attempts to start the car. Her hands refused to work properly, all they did was tremble.
"When have I ever listened to you?" Hilde chided, handing Relena a crumpled tissue from her pocket. "Here, take this."
"When did you decide to be my best friend?"
"Oh, I still think you're a bitch." Hilde quickly reassured her. "But I sympathize with you. No, change that. I pity you, but I know how you feel."
"Yeah right."
"I'm really getting tired of this attitude. Move, I'll drive you home." Relena stared at Hilde for a long moment, not knowing what the teen was up to. Too tired to protest, she reluctantly traded seats with the girl. Hilde drove for a few minutes before speaking. "Who hooked you up with Heero?"
"You did." Relena answered as she rested her forehead against her window. She watched the sidewalk fly by with disinterest, Hilde's questions nothing more but an annoying distraction.
"Didn't you think it was an odd thing for me to do such a nice thing?"
"I never thought anything about it." she murmured quietly.
"I hated you more back then." the girl reminded her. Relena shrugged her shoulder.
"Freshman year, who was my boyfriend?"
"I don't know. I really didn't care." she admitted.
"Think about it."
"Why don't you just tell me like a normal person?" Relena sighed. "You're too much like Du. . .oh."
"Duo didn't want anyone to know. About him liking guys, I mean. He wasn't sure at the time, he just thought it was a crush. I was Duo's girlfriend since the fifth grade, then we reached high school and I learned he might be bi.
"He told me he had feelings for his best friend, but not to worry since he loved me. But I was so jealous, they were so damn close. He never looked at me the way he looked at him. Whenever they were together, they just had this attitude about the world, as if they were the only ones in it. I became a spectator. I resented it. He always took Heero's side in fights. The three of us fought a lot. One day I realized that his "crush" was more than that. I blew up, tried anything I could to keep us together. It only pushed us apart. After awhile, I just wanted him to suffer."
Relena stared in silence as she listened to Hilde talk, her usual light tone was tinged with hidden bitterness. Tears formed at the corner of her eyes, yet none fell. Relena was frozen in place, her voice refusing to sound. She wanted to ask Hilde why she was telling her this story, and what it had to do with her problems.
"I knew he was going to dump me at any second, so I started a rumor. All I had to do was tell Suzie about it, and volia. Controversy in the morning! Duo was made an outcast."
She paused, Relena noted that Hilde was silently sobbing.
"But Duo came out last year." Relena pointed out, finally regaining her voice.
"The rumors about his sexuality started the year before that. It was awful. You wouldn't remember it since you were dealing with all that trauma with your family, but at one point he was isolated from everyone. He avoided his friends, especially Heero. And for the most part they avoided him. I was it. I got him back.
"I found a way to get Heero out of the equation, with you. I didn't think you two would last as long as you did, but I thought at the time that you two were perfect for each other. With me and Duo seen everywhere together, the rumors died out. But we weren't happy. Of course Duo found out what I did, and I almost lost him. Do you want to lose Heero?"
"I can't believe you used me like this." she scoffed as Hilde pulled her car into the drive. "And Heero, too!"
"I used everybody back then, and I'm not proud of it." Hilde snapped, parking the car and turned off the ignition. "I have regrets. Too many regrets. I'm still trying to make things right. In my heart, I knew that Heero loved Duo as much as Duo did, but Heero was scared. Hell, Duo was scared. Heero was lonely and you were lonely, so it worked out. Maybe he grew to love you, but not enough. I'm sorry." she said mournfully. Turning on her heel, she began to walk down the driveway. "Hey, you can blame this whole fiasco on me if you want, but don't blame Duo. He deserves to be happy."
"Hilde, wait!" Relena shouted after staring at Hilde's retreating form. Running up to her at the end of the driveway, she gripped her arm. "Let me call Pagan, he could give you a ride back to the hotel."
"I thought you hate me."
"Oh, I still do, but now I understand you somewhat." she admitted. "We finally found something that we have in common."
"Yeah, whatever you do, don't repeat my past." Hilde emplored as they walked back up the driveway, arms linked. "You'll end up full of guilt and regret. Eventually Duo forgave me, but it took him a long time to trust me again. I still feel like I owe him. I know he loves me. Not the way that I loved him, though. But as long as he loves me as a friend, I'll be happy."
**********************************************************************
"Relena's still upset, but I doubt she'll try anything stupid tomorrow." Hilde said as she hugged Duo from behind.
"You didn't kill her, did you?" he asked her wearily. The pair laughed and began to carry the empty boxes out to the truck. "Wow, prom hasn't even started and we've already had drama."
"Dude, that's a good thing!" Jay cheered, walking behind them. "That means that tomorrow's just going to be perfect!"
"No, dumbass, don't you know anything about Murphy's Law?" Nick snapped and lightly kicked Jay in the shins.
Jay blinked. "I don't remember that from American Government."
***********************************************************************
Hilde and Duo stood in the center of the empty dance floor and stared at their surroundings. The last commitee member had left, and they were waiting for Mrs. Noin's arrival. The prom site was flawless, every detail from the drawings were now before them. Wufei would be proud, it looked even better than they had imagined.
"Hil?" Duo asked as he kicked a balloon on the floor.
"Hmm?"
"I saw that sad look on your face when you came back from talking to the Princess." he said, drawing his best friend into a hug. "What did you tell her?"
"Everything." she admitted after a brief second.
"Truth hurts, don't it?" he asked, tightening the hug.
Hilde nodded and leaned into the hug. "Do you love me?" she asked.
"Always will, idiot."
"Good, cause I still love you." she murmured into his shoulder. She looked into his eyes and began to grin mischievously. Duo returned the smile.
"Go ahead and say it, I know you want to."
"You two've been dating for a few weeks and you're already usuing the L word!" she scolded, tapping Duo's chest accusingly. "Are you two having sex?"
"Hilde!" he gasped, jumping away from her.
"Come on, I have to know." she insisted, grabbing his arm. "Is he a good kisser?"
"Lalalala!" Duo sang as he began tossing balloons in her direction.
"Who's bigger?"
Duo's eyes bulged. "I'm not having this conversation with you!"
"Oh! You two *are* having sex!" she exclaimed as she tackled his waist.
"No, we are not!"
"Shame, with an ass like that-"
"Old McDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O. On this farm he had a bitch! E-I-E-I-O!"
"So have you rented a room yet?"
"Bitch, bitch here, and a bitch, bitch there. . ."
********************************************************************
Mrs. Noin entered the ballroom to find Duo cowering in a corner singing the most obscene version of 'Old McDonald' she ever heard, and Hilde was sitting at a nearby table, galefully asking Duo initimate questions about his love life.
"Are you the top or the bottom?"
"And on this farm he had a-"
"Do you have protection?"
"CHANGE THE SUBJECT ALREADY!"
"Tomorrow's going to be interesting." Mrs. Noin whispered to herself as she entered the room. Whether she was excited or apprehensive of the upcoming event was yet to be seen. This was her first prom as prinicpal, but her predecessor gave her this one piece of advice.
"Be ready for anything and everything. No matter what, shit is going to happen whether you want it to or not."
TBC