Author's Notes: I honestly don't have much to say here, except to thank mama-sama, Lady Imbri, Aisha, Box Turtle, Dream Angel, Bumblebee-Queen, and pushpitake for reviewing my little story. Your comments mean a lot to me.

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Chapter 6: The Packing Predicament

We packed remarkably quickly, especially when one considers what each of us was going through mentally. Duo and I moved silently around our bedroom, a façade of tranquility overshadowing an overwhelming anxiety swelling inside my head. I could tell by the way his eyes darted nervously round the perimeter of the bedroom that Duo felt the same way. He sometimes would notice my gaze and grant me a fleeting smile before ducking his head in a drawer or opening a closet door to stand between us. And then the veil of calmness would settle and I'd go back to sorting out my suitcase, pretending that this way another ordinary day in the life of Hilde Schbeiker.

But, of course this was far from the truth and it was only a matter of time before the tension would implode. I rocked back on my heels and waited for the rupture.

Duo had his back turned to me when I called to him. "Duo, we're friends, right?"

Duo spun around to face me, his eyebrows quirked and mouth set in an expression of confusion as he silently processed my seemingly innocent question. "Of course we are," he replied after a slight hesitation. "What brought that on anyway? You scared or something?"

"I guess a little, but...." I trailed off, deciding whether or not to tell him the truth about Relena.

"Are you okay? It isn't like you to be this serious, you know."

"People should be serious when someone they know dies. Especially when that said someone was killed by another friend." I heard my voice rising steadily, my fists were clenched. It was as though anger had taken control of my body. "Duo, this is what people do! This is normal! And to tell you the truth, I want to be normal for once in my life. I don't want to be like you and put on a stupid smile and pretend that everything is just fucking fine because it's not. It's not, okay?"

Duo shrunk back after my outburst. "What do you mean?"

"I killed her. It's my fault Relena is dead. I called her last night and she came - I mean, of course she did because Heero was here and she desperately wanted to be reunited with him I was doing them a favor, I guess, but it backfired and now we have the ex-princess of the Sanc kingdom buried in our backyard and us running for our lives. I shouldn't have called her, but I did. I'm sorry." I only told half of the truth, making note to exclude the portion exposing my growing jealousy.

Duo said nothing. He inched closer to me, kneeling beside the disheveled bed and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. We sat like that for what seemed like an eternity, just him and me, with all thoughts of packing and death far from our minds. And that was how our life should have been. Just the two of us, with his arm on my shoulder, his hand lightly holding mine, and the sad truth hovering above us that in a instant this moment would be shattered. He reached up and gingerly tucked stray strands of my hair out of my eyes. His face near mine, I leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips.

He didn't push away like I had feared and envisioned he would. He received the kiss, which was really nothing more than a prolonged peck, but that didn't necessarily indicate he was willing to return it. He sat there, frozen beside the bed with open suitcases surrounding us and an old friend/potential murderer down the hall. And to tell the truth, I wasn't sure why I was kissing him in the first place, with so many other things to do, so many other more important tasks to attend to. I wasn't thinking straight. I wasn't thinking period. I pushed away from him and jerked my hand from his icy grasp, which had grown remarkably firm over the past few minutes. I was surprised I hadn't noticed before.

"Hilde," he said finally, though it was barely above a doubtful murmur. I was at the doorway by then, and offered him only a glance over my shoulder. All I wanted to do was leave then, get as far away from Duo as possible because I was certain that I just destroyed any remnants of our dysfunctional friendship that we had clung on to. He was still kneeling on the floor where I had left him, fingers floating near his lips and eyes staring up at me.

"Hilde, wait. Don't run off on me." He paused then, meticulously choosing his words before finally saying, "We'll be okay."

He was becoming a broken record, with his constant reminders that I'd be fine. Sure, we'd be okay. I wished that Heero's gun wasn't buried in the ground, because at that point I was more than ready to wreak some havoc upon our little junkyard. The tension was surmounting, so much so that it became a near impossible task to keep moving forward as I stumbled awkwardly down the dark hallway. I could hear Duo's pleading voice in the distance, beating rhythmically in time with the blood that coursed over my temples, which, thank God, were not shot through yet.

I paused by the guest room, where Heero was. He was sitting in a chair by the window with his lone suitcase resting beside him. His blue eyes looked out the window; at what, I wasn't sure. The floorboards creaked under me and his gaze shot to me. We stared at each other like this, him perched forward tensely in his chair, me on the defensive with my arms folded across my chest. I was the first to give in, pushing on past Heero's room and slamming the door behind me.

It wasn't until I got outside that I felt the overwhelming pressure inside me explode. I screamed and broke down next one of the buried masses, waiting five minutes before Duo (with Heero trailing closely behind) came out to see what was the matter.

Yeah, I know this chapter doesn't seem to explain anything. I guess it only makes things more complicated, now that I've come to reread it. Honestly though, the next chapter will explain a lot, especially concerning Duo and Hilde's relationship. I promise.

-Sicilienne