Six: Love Comes Along

Something very strange was happening inside him. He had thought nothing of the girl at first and her flirting was something he chose to ignore. It wasn't like he hadn't gotten this sort of treatment in the past. He was mostly amused watching Duo try to impress her. But now… now that he had actually gotten her to like him, Trowa felt jealous. He couldn't explain it but after Duo told him, he had the strong urge to punch the guy in the face.

"You look like hell, pardon the expression," Quatre noted, taking a seat beside his friend. Trowa had escaped to a park to think over his feelings. He had an ulterior motive for going to this particular park: he had learned from Mina-- after a rough interrogation that had the poor girl in tears-- that this was where Duo and Lita would have their date. Trowa greeted Quatre with a nod.

"I feel like hell."

"Well, what's the matter?"

"Lita."

"You too?" Quatre stared at him in surprise. He scratched his head. "What's with this girl, anyway?" Trowa threw up his hands.

"I have no idea! I didn't think I liked her!"

"Maybe you still don't."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well…" Quatre paused to think. "I think you just liked the attention. I don't think it has anything to do with you liking her."

"You think so?"

"I don't know how you feel, so I can't be for sure, but that's the way it seems."

"I'm not so sure, Quatre," Trowa mused. "I mean, it seems like the more I think about her the more this feeling grows. I can't figure out what's going on with me. I've never felt like this before about anybody."

"The feeling grows," Quatre repeated, almost to himself. Suddenly his phone rang. "Hello?" His jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out. "You're kidding."

"What? Who is it?"

"Duo."

"What?!" Before Quatre could move Trowa snatched the phone away from him. "Where are you?" he demanded, nearly screaming into the receiver. Quatre tried in vain to quiet him but gave up when he saw his efforts wouldn't do much good. Duo laughed on the other end and Trowa would've smashed the phone on the ground if not for a warning glance from Quatre.

"You followed me!" Duo taunted.

"What the fucking hell are you talking about?"

"Language," Quatre warned.

"I can see you!" Duo declared. Trowa heard Lita speaking and his heart did a funny little dance. "Lita sees you too." Trowa glanced around and nearly fell over as he noticed Duo and Lita walking towards the fountain on the other side of the park.

"Is that… Hey, that looks like Duo," Quatre noted.

"It is Duo."

"Oh, my god."

"Hey! I'm still talking to you!" Duo shouted. He was too far away to make out an expression but from his tone he sounded offended. Lita spoke again, and Duo shifted restlessly. "I gotta go. She says to stop taunting you."

"I agree with her," said Trowa darkly.

"Well, just have this one last thought: I got her first!" Duo announced. He laughed triumphantly and hung up. Trowa threw the phone in Duo's direction. Quatre ran after it and caught it before it hit the ground. He returned, looking less than pleased with Trowa's actions.

"That was perhaps the most immature thing you've done in the time I've known you."

"Well… he started it!" Trowa sputtered. Quatre's eyebrow twitched. I wonder where I've heard that before?

"Trowa, why don't you let Duo have a nice girl? Out of all of us he's the one that can deal with one the best."

"No way! I'm going to get Lita and that's that!" Quatre sighed, holding his head in his hands wearily. Please don't let me act like this if I ever have a girlfriend.

======

Meanwhile, Wufei was ascending the steps of a temple to meditate. He knew all about what was going on between Duo and Trowa and thought it was the most ridiculous rivalry he'd ever heard of. Why two guys would be fighting over one girl he would never understand. They're still little boys. I thought that the war would make them grow up but I guess falling in love reversed the process. I hope I never act like that. He reached the top of the steps and entered the temple.

Usually the temple was almost completely vacant except for the caretaker, which was why he chose to come at this particular time. Today there was another there, and ironically it was Raye Hino. He rolled his eyes. Before he could leave without being noticed she glanced around and smiled at him. Now he couldn't leave without offending her, and as he had already done so once before, he chose to stay put.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Hi," he returned. "I wasn't expecting anyone else to be here."

"Well, my grandfather and I work at a temple back at home, so I had to stop by here and pay my respects." Wufei sank down next to her. Maybe if I close my eyes she'll just walk away. He tried his theory out. "You're not like your friends."

"I know I'm not."

"I don't mean to offend you. I was just noticing that you're very quiet. Your friends seem to be more outspoken."

"They are." Keep the responses simple. Maybe she'll get bored and go away.

"Even Heero says more than you do."

"I don't take notice."

"Are you unsociable or do you just not have much to say?"

"Both, sometimes."

"I see." He risked opening his eye to see what she was doing. She was staring straight ahead with an expression of deep thought on her face. Wufei had had more than enough of the conversation but strangely he couldn't bring himself to leave. He wasn't worried about being offensive; there was just something stopping him.

"You're different too," he said. She turned her head and nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I am. I think it's our differences that have kept us such close friends. I'm sure it's the same with you and your friends."

"Quite the contrary. It's our differences that sometimes make us want to beat the crap out of each other." Dear god, I'm starting to sound like Duo! Raye chuckled softly. "But… I guess you're right. Most of the time we get along pretty well." He was drawn to stare into her eyes. They seemed to shine with a light all their own, and if he looked close enough he could see his reflection.

"Wufei, may I ask you something?" Her lips curled into a smile. His face felt hot and his insides were doing strange things. What's going on here?

"Okay."

"I feel strange asking you this, but do you think my friend Lita should be with Trowa or Duo?" Whatever he had expected her to say, that certainly was not it. His heart sank, although he couldn't explain why.

"Duo's a moron."

"We figured that out when he got stuck on Relena's roof. But he seems like a nice guy. Then again, so does Trowa. Who do you think she would be better with?"

"I couldn't say. I don't know your friend very well."

"But you know them well."

"That doesn't mean anything. People can change."

"Yes, they can." Her expression while stating this was almost sad. Wufei never stared at a person for too long but he found himself unable to take his eyes away from the girl. It was as if he wanted to imprint her image into his memory forever. His brain screamed at him to get his sense back and to stop acting like… well, like he cared about her. His brain soon gave up hope, however, and left him to his own devises.

"You seem sad about something."

"It's not something I want to talk about. No offense, but I hardly know you."

"I see…" They sat in silence for a moment. For once in his life Wufei was uncomfortable with silence and wanted to be rid of it. "But you know, none of us truly know each other. Even if you know someone for years you still don't know them."

"Yeah. And when you learn something new about them, it can sometimes be hurtful."

"People can surprise you. Those you thought as cold-hearted could actually be loving, and vice versa." Raye shook her head in protest but in an act of complete stupidity Wufei brought her face close to his and gently kissed her lips. Two thoughts entered his head simultaneously: Oh, my god! What am I doing? and Wow! This feels great! He pulled away and stood up, slightly embarrassed at what he had done. Raye stood up as well and for a moment they stared at each other.

Quietly they walked towards the temple entrance. They both seemed to be in a daze. It might have perhaps been wishful thinking on Wufei's part, but he thought he detected a shade of red in Raye's cheeks. They stopped at the top step and Wufei offered her a smile. She gave him a mean look and slapped him across the cheek. He stumbled a little and shook his head. This girl is unpredictable. He rubbed the spot where she had hit him.

"I'll, uh, come back tomorrow in case you want a crack at the other cheek." He walked away, but not before noticing the glare she gave him.

======

Lita felt horrible. She had only gone on this date with Duo so he would stop being such a moron. They had fun but inside she didn't feel any special way towards him. He was like a brother figure to her, kind of like her best friend Ken. She wanted to tell him what was really going on but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. He was on top of the world and she feared that the truth may knock him down and break him.

"Duo?"

"Yeah?" he chirped, grinning from ear to ear. He was still in high spirits from taunting Trowa. Lita had thought that unnecessary and had scolded him for it but he still thought of it as a personal triumph.

"There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Hey, if it's about what I said to Trowa, I'm sorry."

"It's not that. I just need to talk to you about something." She paused, forming the words in her mind. "I like you, Duo. You're a great guy. A bit on the strange side, but a caring soul and I can tell you and I will be good friends." He was literally bouncing on the balls of his feet and he looked like a kid at a birthday party. "But… I don't really think I can care about you the way you want me to." At once his smile plummeted.

"Huh?"

"What I mean is, I just want to be your friend."

"Oh. That's it?" His expressions were so childish she almost forgot she was speaking to a teenager.

"I'm sorry."

"No. That's okay. I understand." He forced a grin on his face. "I mean, you gotta go where your heart's leading you, right?" She smiled as well.

"Right. Thanks for understanding." She kissed him on the cheek and left. He gently touched his cheek with his hand and grinned idiotically.

"Wow… Man, whoever she ends up with is one lucky guy!"

======

Raye touched her lips with her fingers. Her face felt on fire. She tried to figure out why Wufei had kissed her but she couldn't think of any reason. It was so sudden, so unpredictable, so not what she would have expected from him. She slowly descended the steps of the temple and rested her back against a tree. She felt like she was in a dream. She was not one for imagining things like that but at the moment she was questioning whether it really happened or not. And if it had happened, why? She sighed and quietly sang to herself:

"I'll know when my love comes along,
I won't take a chance.
For oh, he'll be just what I need.
Not some fly-by-night Broadway romance.

And till then,
I shall wait.
And till then,
I'll be strong,
For I'll know when my love comes along."

Author's note: For those of you who are familiar with my stories, you know I'm rather fond of sticking in songs that fit the storyline. Therefore, you can expect to see more songs from Guys and Dolls as the story progresses. I just want to remind you that I do not own that musical and I'm only using the lines in the show and the songs in this story. Sorry for not updating sooner but… well, school and writer's block. Hope this chapter makes up for it!