The Girl Next Door

Chapter Seven: Changes

            One of the most wonderful things about Relena is the fact she never brings up anything that might make someone else uncomfortable. She's never thrown it up in Dorothy's face that Dorothy is indeed, a slut and she's never mentioned the Treize fiasco to Anne. Best of all, she's never brought up that online conversation to me.

            Or maybe she's embarrassed by it too. After all, how often do people like me go around telling girls they've got beautiful eyes? Not too often. Or maybe she's just being sensitive to my feelings. Either way, she hasn't said anything about it.

            The girl is so wonderful sometimes; I could just kiss her.

            Oh yes, kiss her and feel those soft warm lips under mine again…oh *yes*!

            It'd been nearly a week since the online conversation had taken place and I was still dreaming about her. Any normal guy would've probably been scared off by such open, obvious affection for his best friend's kid sister – hell, any normal girl would've realized her big brother's best friend had more than the usual tolerance for her if he told her eyes were beautiful among other things. But…she didn't realize it. She still thought we were friends. Good friends, that's true. Maybe even best friends. But…she didn't realize how hard it was not to stare into her window at any given time just to see her or how I signed offline when she wasn't on or how I'd even given in to sentiment and spent hours yesterday going through old photo albums and staring with amazement at how much we'd all changed.

            Milliardo was still very much the same, confident, charismatic and good-looking. But now, he was very aware of his talents and used them to his best advantage – thus gaining himself nearly everything his heart desired. Treize had changed though, I'd noticed as I flipped through some picture of our fifth grade year. The braces and thick eyeglasses were gone now and so were the painfully obvious freckles and boniness. Vaguely, I wondered when Treize had changed into from the awkward boy pictured there to the sophisticated man he came across as today, but I didn't dwell on it too long. Relena was all I cared about. And she'd changed too, she'd grown up right before my eyes and I'd never noticed. I hadn't seen the curves develop or the freckles fade or any of her personality develop. I'd always seen her the same way I had when I'd first seen her: lisping a lullaby to her baby doll and of no real importance. But now…it seemed like she was everything.

            And in being everything, that explains completely as to why I'm going to be busy all this week and next dog-sitting while she and Milli spend two weeks with their parents at a house right on the ocean. I'd felt bad for her, she was still on the crutches and she was leaving her precious dog behind…but…I was almost relieved to see her go. I was hoping with her absence, the immense and almost frighteningly passionate crush I had on her would dissipate.

            Or, at the very least, she would forget all about Treize.

#@#@#@

            "Peanuts! Here Peanuts!" I shouted, feeling very much the idiot as I wandered around the Peacecraft property, wondering where that furry bundle of energy could be hiding. In a lot of places obviously, because she wasn't anywhere to be found in the house. A trickle of doubt began to make its way into my mind as I circled the backyard for a fifth time, still shouting the dog's name hoarsely. Was it possible Peanuts could have run away? Oh God, please don't let that be true, Relena adores her dog, she'd rip me to shreds if she found out I lost that dog…her puppy, the dog's only a baby really, and a stupid one at that, what if Peanuts gets hurt or –

            "Hey! Heero! You looking for someone?"

            "Huh?" I tore myself out of my morbid thoughts to see Dorothy opening the back gate to Relena's yard and let herself in, a fuzzy ball of doggie-love rocketing ahead of her and jumping into my face, barking ferociously. I sighed and knelt in front of the animal, pushing her nose and tongue away from me. "Down, Peanuts. You're gonna see me all week, don't get so worked up." Lifting my eyes to meet Dorothy's, I asked accusingly, "Why did *YOU* have the dog? I recall Relena asking *me* to take care of her!"

            "You idiot. The dog came to *me*. I have better things to do with my time than cater to that animal," Dorothy said haughtily, flipping long blond strands over one shoulder and gazing down at me disdainfully. I grinned, in spite of my good intentions. Who did Dorothy think she was kidding? It was plain from the soft look in her eyes she adored the puppy just as much as Relena does.

            "And what better things might you be doing," I asked dryly, as she knelt down a few feet away from me and clapped perfectly manicured hands together to get the dog's attention. She got it and Peanuts came running, knocking her flat on her back with the sheer velocity of the dog's eagerness.

            "Lots of things," Dorothy replied, her voice muffled as she tried to push Peanuts off of her. "Like for instance, I have a date with Quatre tonight."

            "You finally got him into your bed, eh?"

            "No…" Dorothy sat up and gave me a tiny smile. It was a different smile I'd never seen before, tiny and wistful; a smile that somehow made her seem more vulnerable and childlike then she'd seen even when she was a child. "I haven't slept with him."

            "Really?" I raised an eyebrow at her. Usually Dorothy had her prey into her bed by the second date. She'd been going out with solely Quatre for the past three weeks and I'd automatically assumed she'd made her way into his bed and the sex was so good, she was staying committed to a relationship for once.

            Dorothy nodded, still smiling in the same way. Her hair fell into her eyes as she bent it over the puppy and said in a low voice, "He told me on our very first date he wouldn't sleep with a woman unless he was positive she was someone he could spend the rest of his life with. And…he wanted to see if I was someone he could. And Heero," Dorothy looked up then, her face half-eager, half-pleading. "I really like him. Maybe more, I don't know. It's been so long that I've actually went with a guy because I liked *him*, not just his body. And…this is the first time someone's gone out with me because they like *me*, not just because I'm easy. I tried, I was testing him, I admit it. And he…he said no. He told me that yes, I was very attractive, but no, he couldn't sleep with me. And Heero…you don't know how *good* it felt to hear someone say no!"

            I stared at Dorothy in astonishment. This was *not* the Dorothy I knew. This was someone else; this was not a dangerously sexy woman who played with men like a cat plays with mice. This was a little girl, caught up in the wonder of her first romance, her eyes starry and her tone unbelieving. She…she sounded like Relena had when she'd first spoken of Treize. Something in me tightened and I said in a raspy, uneven voice, "He's a good influence on you then. Don't lose him, Dorothy."

            She gazed at me with happy eyes and said warmly, "I won't. I can't ever imagine being with someone else after knowing him."

            "Dorothy!" We both looked up to see the topic of our discussion at the gate, opening it and walking in, a smile on his lips for me and a smile in his eyes for Dorothy. Dorothy's hands flew frantically to her hair, trying to smooth it back into place as she started to stand up, nearly knocking the poor dog over.

            "What're you doing here?" Dorothy asked him, her tone slightly reproachful. "I'm not supposed to meet you until six."

            Quatre's smile widened and he shrugged. "I wanted to see you early. Is something wrong with that?" Dorothy shook her head, a tiny smile playing on her lips and Quatre turned to me. "Hi Heero. Watching Relena's dog?"

            I nodded, snapping my fingers and calling the dog away from Quatre. "Yeah. But she seems to prefer Dorothy." I rolled my eyes as the dog bounded back towards Dorothy, barking playfully.

            "Stop it Peanuts," Dorothy insisted, trying to side step the dog's playful antics. "I'm talking to Quatre now."

            "But the poor thing's going crazy," Quatre said, bending and petting Peanuts gently. This only riled the animal up more and Quatre gave Dorothy a guilty smile, "Do you mind?"

            Dorothy sighed and shook her head. "Go ahead." And a split second later, Quatre was playing with the dog, being watched by an impatient Dorothy.

            "Go on," I prompted, leaning back on my hands and gazing up at her. "Go play with your boyfriend and that pest. I know you want too."

            Dorothy smiled guiltily. "I do." I nodded in their direction and without another word, Dorothy ran up to them, getting involved immediately in their play as Peanuts jumped up on her and Quatre grabbed her hand, dragging her onto the ground with him.

            I smiled as I stood up and dusted the bits of grass off my jeans. They didn't need me to be a third wheel that afternoon. They didn't anything but each other it seemed. So without another word, I crossed over to the fence that separated our houses and quickly climbed over the fence, landing feet-first in my own yard.

            As I headed into the kitchen, I could only shake my head, marveling at the change that had come over Dorothy. Quatre had done that for her, it was so strange to see how one person's love could do for her what a thousand other men's lust couldn't do. And as I stood there, in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water and watching the two in Relena's backyard through the kitchen window, I wondered what Relena's love could do for me.

#@#@#@

            The phone rang and with a slight groan, I rolled over and picked it up. "Who is it?" I demanded, lying back against the pillows and draping an arm over my eyes, blocking out the incriminating sunlight.

            "Noin. Why?"

            "Because I want to know who to KILL for waking me up so early."

            Noin's laughter traveled over the phone line. "Heero, you big baby. It's ten o'clock."

            "It's not even lunchtime yet, whaddaya *mean* 'big baby'?"

            Noin laughed again and I could hear her shifting the phone from one ear to the other. "Well, now that I've woken you up, you have to listen. Dorothy and I are going up to see Milli and Relena at the beach this weekend – their parents are gonna be visiting relatives who live on the other side of town and decided they could stay alone for the weekend. Anyway, we were wondering if you wanted to go with us. Relena said to extend the invitation to you."

            I was silent for a few moments, considering this. A weekend on the beach. Alone on the beach. With my best friend, his girlfriend, and his sister and her best friend. Noin would keep Milli *more* than entertained and Dorothy would most likely find a guy to harass – her newfound resolutions seemed likely to fail – and that would leave *me* alone with Relena.

            "That'd be cool. When are you guys leaving?"

            You didn't expect me to say *no*, did you?

#@#@#@

            "Heero!" I turned and sighed at the insistent cry of my mother. I loved the women and all, but like all mother's, she could be a nag. She stood in the doorway to the kitchen, chewing on her lower lip before saying fretfully, "I don't know if I approve of this, five unsupervised kids alone for a weekend…"

            "It'll be all right Mom," I assured her. "I'll make sure Milli and Noin don't get too hot and heavy and Relena will keep Dorothy in line."

            She gave me a small smile. "I trust you Heero. Don't do anything that would make me lose that trust."

            "Never," I vowed, discreetly crossing my fingers. I felt foolish doing it, but at least that way I could remind myself I hadn't actually broken any promises when things got…*intimate* that weekend. I wasn't stupid, I knew there was no way five hormonal teenagers could keep themselves pure as driven snow in an unsupervised situation.

            "Good. Now give your old mom a kiss and then can go." Rolling my eyes, I leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. A moment later, the familiar sound of Noin's car sounded in the driveway, accompanied by frantic beeping of the horn. My mom frowned at this, but before she could comment, I was gone.

            "Perfect timing," I told Noin as I opened the back door and threw my duffel bag in, clambering in over it. "My mom couldn't get over the fact we were gonna be *alone*."

            Noin grinned at me in the review mirror. "Isn't that cute? She worries about her little Hee-chan."

            "Shut up and drive," I grumbled, leaning back in my seat and snapping my seatbelt on. As I looked up, I saw Dorothy in the seat besides the drivers, her long blond hair clipped up and a pair of dark sunglasses on, her lips arranged in a trembling pout. "What's with you?" I asked, tapping her on the shoulder.

            "Shut up, you jerk," Dorothy replied, jerking away from me and turning the radio on and up *loudly*.

            Noin sighed and shouted over the rock music blaring through the speakers, "She had to leave Quatre behind! She's wearing those dark glasses to hide her red eyes from crying!"

            "I wasn't crying! Shut up!" Dorothy growled, pulling a book out of the bag at her feet and opening it up to a random page, biting down hard enough on her lower lip to draw blood.

            I grinned as I lay back in my seat, letting my head move to the beat of the music and occasionally shouting comments to Noin over the noise. This was possibly going to be the best weekend of my life, I decided as Noin pointed the car towards the ocean, rolling down the windows and letting the fresh air rush in as we hit the highway. Three nights and two full-unchaperoned days with Relena.

            Life couldn't get better than this.

*sweatdrop* Um, uh, hi guys! Sorry this update took so long – very long. --; I don't have any excuses, and I doubt that you want any excuses so – yeah, there it is. A new chapter in The Girl Next Door. Sorry once again for it being so short, but I like to keep my chapters short and sweet. ^^;; I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and the fact there was NO 1xD and that it seems like Heero's gonna get some *alone* time with Relena! *wink wink nudge nudge* Alone time, yes indeed! ^_^ Hopefully the next update won't be quite so long and until then, thanks for reading! All and any comment are DEFINETELY most welcome! Ja!