Disclaimer: *shakes her head stubbornly* I'm not saying it again!

A/N: This is the second version of the chapter. I wasn't happy with how it turned out the first time, so I edited it.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad that you take the time to let me know what you think, and I hope you won't be mad at me for changing the chapter.

Warning: implied yaoi (but if you minded, you wouldn't be here), possible OOCness

"text" = speech
'text' = thoughts



...in Love



"I love you."

The words drifted through Heero's conscience just as Duo kissed him again. For a second, he allowed himself to revel in the feelings those words stirred in him, the delicious sensation of Duo's lips against his own. Then reality caught up. He broke the kiss, stood up and backed away from the braided boy, slipping back into his Perfect Soldier self. From that emotionless place he regarded Duo detachedly. He noted that the other boy seemed to have slept little since he last saw him, and he briefly wondered why that was. He quickly dismissed the thought as his mind came up with several possible scenarios. Instead, he simply watched Duo.

"Why did you come back?" Heero asked in his neutral monotone, not bothering to put any inflection in his voice.

"Heero, please… I just…" Duo broke off uncertainly. He made a visible effort to pull himself together and met Heero's eyes determinedly. "I have a right to know why you broke up with me. I have a right to know why you won't even let me stay your friend."

Heero shook his head slightly. Inwardly, he was panicking. 'Why does he want to know? It was what he wanted, why won't he just leave me be? Did he come back just to rub it in my face how I wasn't good enough?' He cringed mentally. 'No! Duo could never be that cruel! But what else could it be?'

Duo watched his love worriedly. The boy's expression hadn't changed, but his eyes were distant, as if he wasn't seeing Duo anymore. He was shaking his head, denying Duo the right to know his reasons for ending even their friendship.

"I won't leave unless you tell me why." The words brought Heero's full attention back to him, and Duo noted the narrowed eyes with some trepidation. Hoping to avoid immediate bodily harm, he raised his hands in a pleading gesture. "Don't I deserve that much?"

Heero stiffened at that. 'So I was wrong again,' he thought. 'He is that cruel…'

The silence held for a long time before Duo bowed his head, his sholders slumped in defeat. Still kneeling on the floor, he seemed to sag against the couch, clutching at the cushions for support.

"Am I so worthless that you're ashamed to have me for a friend?" he asked quietly.

If he had looked up then, he would have been surprised by the pain in Heero's eyes. The Japanese boy took a step forward, aching to comfort his love, but remembered that he couldn't. Not anymore. 'Did I hurt his self-esteem that bad? Did he expect me to keep him here forever, no matter how miserable he felt?'

"I didn't mean…" he whispered. "You woldn't leave like you said you would, and I panicked."

Duo looked up, a bit of hope stirring in him. Maybe he could still fix at least a part of it, maybe it wasn't too late.

"I didn't think you'd want to have anything to do with me," Heero continued. "I didn't expect you to come back until you were sure I was out of here."

"What?!" Duo jumped to his feet, staring at the other boy in shock. "This place is yours as much as mine! I wouldn't dream of kicking you out, not for any reason!" He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "You can't help it if you don't love me anymore, Heero. I have no right to ask for what you can't give me."

Heero flinched. It was the barest hint of a movement, but Duo had spent a war studying the Perfect Soldier's every gesture and he caught it. As he started forward, not quite sure what he hoped to accomplish by pushing the limits of Heero's personal space, his toes hit something. He had forgotten all about the photo. Looking down at his own smiling face, suspicion rose in him. He picked the picture up and held it out to Heero.

"Why?" he asked with a calm he didn't feel. "Why did you break up with me if you missed me enough to cry over me? What did I do that made being with me so unbearable?"

Only silence met his words. Heero was trembling slightly, as if he was too tense to stand still, but his face remained blank. A calm mask of indifference that could hide anything or nothing.

"Please, just tell me what I did wrong!"

Heero met his eyes coldly. "You started lying. You of all people lied to me."

"What – when?" Duo searched the other boy's face for signs of what he felt, but found none. Just a you-know-exactly-what-I-mean look in his eyes. "I don't lie, Heero. Not to anyone. You know that."

The soldier calm shattered. Heero's eyes burned with anger and no small amount of hurt. His hands clenched to fists and it seemed like he wanted to tear the room – or possibly Duo – apart.

"You lied to me!" he screamed furiously. "You'd be absolutely miserable and you'd smile – laugh and joke and act like I didn't even know you well enough to see through it. You said you loved me!"

"I do love you!" Duo yelled back. "You're the one who kicked me out, remember? I didn't want to leave!"

Duo watched in shock as Heero staggered backwards, hands lifting as to ward off a blow, eyes filling with tears. There was such anguish on the boy's face that Duo didn't even stop to think, just closed the distance between them and hugged him tightly. He kissed the tousled hair and stroked Heero's back soothingly. He could barely make out the words Heero whispered against his neck.

"You couldn't even look at me, Duo. You couldn't even stand the sight of me."

Duo couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'Heero thought I wanted to leave him? What on Earth did I do to make him think I didn't love him anymore? That I would lie to him like that?' He tightened his hold of the shorter boy and looked down into the frightened blue eyes that regarded him so solemnly.

"I didn't want to leave, Heero," he said emphatically, "and I never lied. You wouldn't talk to me and eventually I couldn't look you in the eyes because it hurt too bad to see how sad you were. What I want to know is what made you think I wanted to leave."

Seeing that no answer was forthcoming, he slowly moved to the couch, never easing his embrace, and sat down with Heero curled on his lap, his slender fingers clutching Duo's shirt in a vice-like grip. Planting a soft kiss on Heero's temple, he gently urged the boy to tell him what was wrong.

Heero looked away and whispered, "You deserve better." He made a half-hearted attempt to rise, but didn't resist when Duo hugged him tighter. He was content to sit there, feeling the steady beat of his love's heart. No matter how uncomfortable the conversation was, he didn't want to move. "I wasn't good enough."

Duo raised one hand to tilt Heero's head back so he could see his face. "Who said you weren't good enough? Was that what made you sad?" He saw the answer in Heero's eyes even though the boy stayed silent. Duo sighed, remembering how he had thought of Heero as self-assured earlier. "You are more than I deserve, Heero, never doubt that again. You stopped smiling, stopped being happy, and that's what worried me. You wouldn't tell me if I'd done something to upset you. I just wanted to make it right and you would shrug it off and say it was nothing. I was –"

Heero had recognized the signs of an endless monologue, and interrupted him by placing his fingers against Duo's lips. He looked into the braided boy's eyes for one long moment, asking him without words to be quiet. The faintest of smiles graced his lips as Duo blinked at him in surprise.

"Where did you go?"

Duo studied his lover carefully. He sensed that his answer was important, realized that Heero still needed to be reassured. "I walked for hours," he began, "walked and cried. It wasn't until yesterday that it really hit me how much I'd lost, and then I went straight to Wufei's place. I guess I reacted like I would have during the war; when I got injured, I went to a safe house. This morning, I pulled myself together enough to actually tell him what was wrong, and he pointed out that I'd never told you that I would stay away. So I took a cab back here, hoping that you would still be home and not off practicing your disappearing skills." He paused and bit his lip as he watched Heero's calm face. It wasn't blank, just… empty. At that moment, it was more frightening.

"Are you lying to me, Duo? Is this just another smile to hide behind?"

"No!" Duo forced himself to lower his voice. "I may run and hide, but I'll never tell a lie."

"I guess I'm the one who ran this time." Heero blushed slightly, but he didn't look away. "After you left I sat on the windowsill, holding your picture, and I cried. Then I just sat there, looking outside and remembering how happy you used to be, and how miserable I'd made you… I put the picture back in the frame because I didn't have the right to hold it, but I still couldn't let go of it. A picture was better than nothing at all." He swallowed, closing his eyes for a moment to gather his courage. "I love you."

Duo kissed him lightly, momentarily breaking the kiss to whisper, "I love you, forever," against his lips. He pulled back and leaned back against the couch. Heero laid his head back against Duo's chest and sighed in contentment. The even rhythm of Duo's heartbeat was soothing, made him feel safe. It had always been a comfort to him to hear the steady assurance that Duo was alive.

They sat quietly for a long time; simply enjoying each other's company and the fact that their misunderstandings had been cleared up. There was no need for words yet.

Later – minutes or hours, neither of them knew or cared – Duo broke the silence.

"Promise me something?"

Heero pulled back to look at him. There was the cutest frown on his face; such an open display of emotion that Duo smiled at him. The frown vanished as Heero smiled back. It was a faint smile, but a true one, and Duo was relieved to see it. "Anything," Heero whispered, awed by the love he saw in the braided boy's violet eyes.

"If you ever doubt the way I feel for you again, if I do something to upset you or if you're sad about something, tell me. Don't try to hide it. Lovers or not, we're friends, and friends talk to each other."

Heero's eyes filled with fear, but he nodded. "I promise." Duo just waited. It was less than a minute before Heero caved. "Did you mean we're not lovers anymore? That you won't take me back?"

The fear and uncertainty in his voice made Duo's heart ache. He hugged the smaller boy tightly and held his gaze as he said firmly, "I'm the one who came crawling back, aren't I? If you'll let me, I'll stay forever. And this time, I won't leave without you telling me why you want me out."

This time Heero's smile was brighter, the kind of smile that Duo had begun to think he would never see again. He leaned forward to kiss his braided lover, startling him with his passion.

Duo had expected a sweet, chaste kiss like the others had been that day. What he got was hungry lips claiming his, a hot tongue asking for entrance. When he opened his mouth, that talented tongue slipped inside to explore thoroughly, finding his most sensitive places with ease. He answered the kiss eagerly, savoring Heero's taste. When the Japanese boy pulled back, Duo whimpered in protest and opened his eyes, only then realizing they had fallen shut during the kiss. He could do nothing but stare at his lover, who had turned on his lap to straddle him.

Heero was smiling again. This smile was slow, sensual, promising things that only someone with Heero's stamina could live up to. "In that case," he purred, rocking his hips slightly and earning a gasp from Duo, "I want you to carry me into the bedroom and promise not to leave the bed until after noon tomorrow."

"I promise." Duo slid his hands down to Heero's ass and squeezed. When he stood up, Heero moved his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck, clinging to him eagerly. He stumbled slightly in his haste and Heero let out a low, husky laugh. He nibbled on Duo's earlobe and purred again.

"I'm going to make you beg, my Shinigami."

As his words reached Duo's lust-fogged mind, the braided boy could only moan, excitement and desire raging even stronger in him.

"I trust you will," he groaned as he lay back on the bed, the still smiling Heero above him. "My perfect love…"

~OWARI~


**********************************

A/N: So how was it? Better or worse? Let me know what you thought!
Daughter of Night