A/N: Wow, I never really expected to have so many positive responses to my story. This is the last chapter and I hope everyone enjoys it! Also, on a more traditional A/N message, I just want to say that due to ever climbing insurance rates in the future (even for the Vice Foreign Minister!) women are no longer required to stay overnight after having their babies unless there are complications. They can leave as soon as they are able to, and of course after the baby has all of its examinations. If this is medically incorrect, I'm sorry, I'm not going to change it, because overall, it doesn't make a huge difference in the plot. Also, just so you know, there's not going to be a full blown out lemon. I'm not good at those. There'll be a little bit of limey stuff. Now on with the show!

Duo gave Quatre a big smile just as Sally and WuFei came rushing down the hall.

"So," Sally said. "What did we miss?"

Duo laughed and counted off on his fingers. "Relena's behind door number one, Zechs has gone into ultimate over protective brother mode, half of our group is getting sustenance for us as this is probably going to take awhile, Quatre is going to see a shrink and my foot is asleep!"

WuFei rolled his eyes. "Fascinating as your foot problem is Maxwell, I hardly think that was necessary."

"Oh but it was Wuffie. You need to be completely aware of my physical state of being."

Sally, Hilde and Quatre broke out into laughter. WuFei glared at Duo who smirked superiorly.

"Sally! WuFei! You made it!" Noin called from the end of the hall. Noin, Trowa and Catherine had their arms filled with food. Zechs hovered menacingly behind them, glaring at anyone who looked at him wrong.

"Of course Noin!" Sally said and grabbed two of the smelly cafeteria trays from her. "Couldn't miss this. Which reminds me-" WuFei abruptly grabbed a tray from Sally and rushed over to sit next to Quatre, keeping his head down.

Noin raised an eyebrow, but turned back to Sally. "Hilde, you and Relena had the same obstetrician right?"

"Well yeah why.omigod!" Hilde quickly passed Brooke to Duo without waking her up and rushed to Sally. Catherine maneuvered around Trowa and rushed up to join the semicircle around Sally.

"You're pregnant?!" Hilde squealed. Sally gave an affirming, grinning nod.

"Ohhhhhh another baby shower!" Catherine beamed.

"Another baby!" Noin sighed wistfully. At this point she would have normally glared at Zechs but he was busy intimidating an orderly.

Duo grinned triumphantly and turned to WuFei who was busying himself with his peas. "Am I psychic or what?" He asked loudly.

"Or what? Psycho?" Hilde asked.

"Oh Wuffie," Duo said, ignoring Hilde.

WuFei smashed several peas with his plastic fork and turn to face Duo. "Yes Maxwell?" He hissed. The group had their attention turned to Duo and WuFei. Even Zechs had taken a break from glaring at Relenas door to watch the confrontation.

"Aren't you just so excited? You're going to be a daddy."

WuFei looked repulsed by the word. He'd never called his father 'daddy' and suddenly he wondered what would happen if his child called him daddy. He got very white at the thought of bringing a life into the world but forced himself to hold Duo's gaze. Unfortunately he couldn't think of a good comeback at the time so he simply sneered.

"Well aren't you? Whatcha gonna name him?" Duo continued in a teasing tone.

This time WuFei was prepared. "I don't know. Sally, what do you think of naming him Duo?"

Quatre broke out laughing and soon everyone but WuFei, who was still glaring at Duo and Duo himself who was somewhat stunned, followed suit. The idea of WuFei naming his son (if he had a son) after Duo brought Quatre to tears. Happy, laughing tears.

"Hmph," Duo said as he turned away from WuFei and mock stuck his nose up in the air. "Suit yourself."

"I intend to."

"Okay," Noin said. "Let's eat before this cafeteria crap gets too cold."

Catherine and Trowa started serving the cafeteria trays. Trowa made a point to give his away as far away from Quatre as possible. Quatre watched in silent misery. He hated himself for causing Trowa pain. He accepted his plate from Catherine with good grace and started in on his peas.

Conversation sprouted up in the group. The women were on one side, eagerly discussing Sally's baby. Noin had Zechs tethered near her so he wouldn't scare the hospital personnel severely.

Duo and WuFei were having a fairly civil conversation about the new luxuries on spaceplanes connecting Earth and the colonies. Trowa sat next to Zechs in the cluster of the women and Quatre sat at the opposite end, near Duo and WuFei, listening to their conversation, but never really joining in.

He had tensed up when Trowa had come back with the food. He felt horrible about what he had done to Trowa and wanted to apologize, but he wanted to apologize in private. He kept agonizing about what to say and how to say it. Unfortunately he wasn't doing so well and kept drawing a rather daunting blank.

Trowa kept sneaking looks at Quatre whenever he was sure he wouldn't meet his gaze. He so wanted to go by his friend and listen to him talk. Trowa never cared what he talked about and honestly, sometimes he didn't pay attention. He just liked to hear Quatres voice. It was so warm and inviting.

But he couldn't get up to go to Quatres side. It hurt too much to look at him. Quatre had hurt him deeply that afternoon and his wound had not quite healed yet. 'When I feel better about Quatre,' he thought to himself. 'I'll tell him how I feel about him.'

So he resigned himself to listening to the women talk about Sally and WuFei's baby. He was a bit surprised himself at that particular turn of events. Then again, he'd been surprised when Sally let it slip that she and WuFei were *with* each other if you knew what that meant.

Hell, he'd been surprised when Relena and Heero announced their engagement. He was okay when it came to judging people and their reactions but he was no matchmaker. Quatre on the other hand.

No! He couldn't torture himself like this! Trowa used his soldiers training to focus on the baby conversation.

Sally already had the baby room planned out. Well that was nice, you should always prepare for a new arrival. Hilde started in on how you could guess what sex the baby would be by the morning sickness. If you had it, it was a girl. If you didn't, it was a boy. 'Interesting,' Trowa thought. 'But I don't think there's any scientific proof on that. Maybe Quatre would know.AAAARGGHH.'

The hours passed in a varied tempo of speeds. No one complained when the hours started to drag, they were here for their friends and that was that. Zechs eventually got a migraine from staring at Relenas door so hard, but refused to stop. Finally, the door opened.

Heero stepped out flanked by two nurses who quickly headed in opposite directions when they saw Zechs. Heero looked breathless and extremely happy. Basically he didn't look at all like he normally did.

Zechs jumped to his feet. "Well?" he prompted.

"Everything's fine. She's fine. The baby's fine. You can go see her," he gestured to the room with very red fingers. The words were no sooner out of his mouth than Zechs was in Relena's room.

"Noin," Heero said hoarsely. "She wants you too." Noin smiled and hurried after Zechs.

Duo rushed over to Heero and enveloped him in a manly bear hug. "Welcome to the Daddy Club Heero! You can be vice president!"

As if anyone needed more proof to Heero being happy: he laughed and good naturedly pushed Duo off of him. "Oooooh and guess who gets to be the treasurer!"

"WuFei," Heero said instantly just as WuFei grumbled in the background. Heero looked to Sally and simply said, "Congratulations."

Sally smiled. "And to you too Heero!"

"Okay, is it just me, or does this occasion scream 'party?'" Duo asked excitedly looking at his friends.

"Do you think Relena would be okay with that?" Quatre said, looking at Heero.

"I'm not quite sure. She's pretty drugged up. And I'm not sure if the doctors want her to stay overnight."

"Noooooooooooooooo," Duo whined. "I want to party. I want to have fun. And if I don't get what I want I'm going to hold WuFei hostage!"

"Maxwell," WuFei's tone held both warning and a challenge.

Duo stuck his tongue out at WuFei and turned back to Heero with a pleading look on his face. "I'm not sure if-"

"We'll set everything up. We'll get all the food. We'll get videos or something. All we need is your permission and the keys to your house," Duo said.

Heero sighed and started digging through his pockets. "If Relena kills me I expect a long drawn out funeral that you won't be invited to Duo," he handed Duo the keys.

"Whose gonna stop me?" Duo smiled. "You'll be dead!"

Heero narrowed his eyes. "I'll haunt you. Now don't trash my house when you start this thing up. I'll talk to the doctors about an early release and I'll call you when we're on our way."

"Surely. May I call you Shirley?"

"You are an antagonizing wretch," Heero said. "Now get your ass out of here."

"Okay, let's saddle up folks-wait isn't this Quatre's job?" Duo looked to Quatre. "Your call chief."

Quatre blinked at Duo. "You want me to direct a party?"

"You're the leader," Duo affirmed.

Quatre assumed his responsibility silently by standing up and looking to Heero. Heero gave a quick nod and Quatre asked, "Are Zechs and Noin coming now or later?"

Heero shrugged. "I'll go in and ask," He said, turning to enter Relena's room.

Quatre walked until he was level with Duo. "Exactly what kind of party did you have in mind?"

"Food, music and eventually a movie or two."

"An all nighter eh?"

Duo nodded happily. Quatre looked at his friends on the hard, plastic hospital seats. He assessed his options and finally he spoke. "Hilde, can you take care of the food?"

"Junk food right?"

"Right."

"No problem. I'll just take a bit from Duo's stash."

Quatre nodded. "You found my stash again?" Duo asked Hilde.

"It really isn't that hard you know. I mean, really Duo, you throw your clothes all over the place and I see you sneaking to the hamper with something that doesn't really look like anything wearable? Come on!"

Duo grimaced and scratched his head. "I guess this means coming up with a better hiding place," he said.

"You can say that again," Hilde said.

"I guess this means-"

"Maxwell! She didn't mean it literally!" WuFei groaned.

"I know that," Duo stuck his tongue out at WuFei.

"Catherine, can you take care of the music?" Quatre asked next.

Catherine was a bit of a music expert. She had about three hundred M. C. D.'s (minimized compact disks) ranging from oldies to new age techno.

Catherine nodded. "Sure Quatre."

At this point Duo looked pleadingly at Quatre. Quatre sighed and smiled at Duo. "Duo, you want to take care of the movies?"

Duo flashed a big, winning smile and said, "I would be delighted to have this opportunity to pick out some kick ass movies."

"Oh, no," WuFei said standing up. "He's picking the movies? We'll have to watch that goddamn Jay and Silent Bob crap again!"

"Hey! Jay and Silent Bob rule Wuffie! And what would you pick pray tell? Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?"

Quatre stood between them. "Duo, you pick one movie, WuFei you pick one movie. We'll watch both."

Duo sighed. "Fiiiine, Q-man."

"They'll be staying until Relena and the baby are released," Heero said.

"Fabulous," Duo said. "Which reminds me. What did you name the baby? It's a boy right? Can we see him?"

"No, you can't see him. Yes, it's a boy. His name is Shiro."

"That's nice," Hilde said, nodding her approval.

"Who had the last word on the name?" Duo asked slyly.

Heero narrowed his eyes and turned away just as Duo cried, "I knew she'd use that leverage!"

"I'll call you when we're coming over," Heero said to Quatre as he headed into Relena's room. "Yo Q-man," Duo said. "You want the keys?" he dangled them between his fingers.

"Yeah, I better take them," Quatre said and Duo threw him the keys. "Okay, Hilde your house is by a Blockbuster (A/N: yes, they went to space) right?"

Hilde nodded. "Then you go with WuFei and Duo okay?" Hilde, WuFei and Duo nodded.

"Okay, Catherine and Trowa can head back to the circus and Sally and I can get everything ready at Relena and Heero's house."

Catherine nodded but Sally shook her head. "No," I've never gotten to see the circus and I've always wanted to. "Trowa can go with you Quatre.if that's okay?"

Quatre looked taken aback but recovered quickly. He swallowed hard and struggled to look at Trowa. "Is that okay with you?" he asked, his voice strained.

Trowa gave one quick, firm consenting nod. "Okay," Quatre said. "Let's move out."

"Hell yeah!" Duo pumped his arm in the air and started toward the exit, waiting for WuFei, Hilde and Brooke to join up with him. Sally and Catherine walked together giggling over something relating to babies while Trowa and Quatre walked silently next to each other.

Each group went to their respective cars except Trowa and Quatre. "Shit," Quatre smacked his forehead. "I don't have a car here," he said. Trowa waited silently beside Quatre, waiting for him to make a decision as always but the space between them was tense instead of pleasant as it normally was.

"We'll take a cab," Quatre nodded to himself and led Quatre to a place were cabs were gathered near the hospital front. They got into one and Quatre said, "the Vice Foreign Minister Mansion."

The driver looked hard at Quatre, seemed to recognize him and pumped the gas. They were there quickly thanks to the cab drivers fast and sometimes dangerous driving. Quatre doubted his ability to pull some of the stunts the driver had pulled and was feeling slightly disoriented when he and Trowa stepped out of the cab. He gave the cabbie a generous tip and walked up the grand entrance to the Vice Foreign Minister Mansion with Trowa trailing behind him. Both of them with pressing matters on their minds.

Quatre pulled out the key and stuck it into the lock. It was the old fashioned kind, which surprised Quatre because he thought Heero would have a great deal of security. The second the door slid open two German shepherds started barking madly. Their leashes were straining and they seemed to have pulled some kind of alarm.

"Oh boy," Quatre said, mostly to himself. How were they supposed to get around them?

"Down Fluffy! Down Millie!" Pargan yelled at the dogs. Relena had sent Pargan back when they reached the hospital, despite his protests.

"Fluffy? Millie?" Quatre smiled.

"Well, Milton really, but we never call him that," Pargan smiled. "Heero called ahead to shut of the alarms."

"How many alarms do you have?"

Well, the dogs trigger an alarm that closes off the door to the foyer so the intruder can't get out. If they manage to get past that Heero's room is rigged so he hears the alarm go off and he's down here ready to commit homicide." He said casually. He had gotten used to Heero very quickly.

"Oh.well did Heero tell you about the party?"

"Of course sir, shall I get everything ready?"

"No that's alright Pargan, relax. Trowa, and I will take care of it."

"Very well," Pargan bowed out.

Quatre and Trowa walked out of the foyer and found their way into the comfortable living room. There was a spacious couch in front of a larger than life television set. Off to the side, near the windows was a medium sized table. "We need bowls for the food," he said. Trowa nodded behind him and went to look for the kitchen.

Quatre counted how many seats there were and how many they would need and arranged some spare table chairs near the couch so everyone could have a place to sit.

Trowa came back with the bowls and neatly sat them on the table. Now it was just them. Nothing to talk about. Nothing to do.

'I have to apologize.and tell him now,' Quatre thought.

Trowa prepared himself.

"Trowa-"

"Quatre-"

The blinked at each other. "You first," Trowa said.

"No you," Quatre insisted.

"No, *you*," Trowa said.

Quatre swallowed. This wasn't going to be easy. "I-I-I want to apologize. I was not in a good state of mind when you came to visit me and I said, and did, some terrible things. I-I didn't want, I didn't mean to hurt you. I-" He tried to lock eyes with Trowa even though his eyes were brimming with tears. "I want to ask your forgiveness. I was an ass. I was a fuck."

Trowa nodded, not saying a thing. He had been expecting this of course, which was why he insisted Quatre went first. He knew he would forgive him. He already had. He had forgiven him the second Quatre locked eyes with him in the hospital. How quickly he had lost himself in those deep pools of aquamarine reflected how he felt. But when he accepted Quatre's apology, he wanted to prep Quatre for the speech *he* was about to make.

He took a breath. Quatre braced himself for the rejection he was so sure was coming.

"Quatre I have already forgiven you," Trowa started. Quatre looked up.

"I could never hate you indefinitely. Though you hurt me, I can look past that because of your condition and because," he took a breath. "Because we're friends." Quatre smiled. He smiled one of the smiles that made Trowa feel happy and safe. When he smiled like that Trowa had to struggle against the impulse to smile himself.

"Now Quatre-"

"Trowa-"

They blinked at each other. "Should I continue?" Quatre asked.

"No. I need to finish what I was saying," Trowa said. Surprised, Quatre just nodded.

"I-" Trowa had to turn away from Quatre. Though Quatre had seemed please with the "friends" bit, how would he react when he told him he wanted to be more than friends? I mean they were two men for Christ's sake! Who was to say Quatre was even gay?

Either way it was better to get the feelings out instead of bottling them up inside. With that thought in mind Trowa began.

"Quatre for the longest time now I've had a strange feeling when I'm with you. Like I should be doing more than just standing beside you-"

"Trowa I-"

Trowa held his hand up. "You've done everything and more for me Quatre. I'm not an easy person to contend with, I know that." He tried to swallow. This was the hard part.

"When you found out. About your mother," he quickly glanced at Quatre to gauge his reaction. Quatre showed no signs of aggression at the statement. "I found myself wanting to protect you. To protect you from yourself if necessary. It was strange. I didn't understand why. Why I wanted to make you feel comforted, no matter the cost. After you threw me out," he glanced over again at Quatre. Quatre's face flashed to regret at that point and Trowa quickly continued. "All I could feel was pain. Pain and a wondering to why I felt pain. I mean, all in all, the things you said, the things you did, were nothing compared to many other things I've been through. I told Relena about what you had done and that I was hurting," he took a solid breath.

"She told me that it was possible that I loved you."

"We're friends," said Quatre, disbelieving Trowa was saying all these things.

"That's what I said. I thought that justified things. But then, Relena said," he tried to swallow. His throat was so goddamn dry. "Relena said- she said.that maybe it was possible t-that I loved you, l-like she loves Heero." He stopped then his cheeks burning. Quatre stared at Trowa in complete shock unable to say a thing.

"And I do Quatre. I do. I," he tried desperately to draw in his breath. "I love you."

He kept his head turned. If Quatre rejected him he didn't want to see it. Hearing it would be painful enough. Quatre didn't speak for several long seconds. Then just when Trowa thought he couldn't take any more waiting, he heard the floorboards gently squeaking and before he could turn to see where Quatre was going, he felt warm lips press against his cheek and a hand encircle his wrist.

When Quatre drew back Trowa felt Quatre lace his fingers into his own. "Quatre," Trowa breathed. Now he was the one who was disbelieving.

"Trowa, I have loved you since you saved me the first time. When I felt the world was dark and you brought me back. Showed me the world has so many colors. So many flavors. So much love," he brought his face closer to Trowa's.

Trowa studied Quatre's face. The seemingly apparent innocence he seemed to casually wear. He reached up and gently ran his hand through Quatre's fine gold hair. He held his hand cupped against his face and slowly moved forward. He captured Quatre's lips gently. Quatre moved closer to Trowa and rubbed his tongue against Trowa's lips, asking for admittance. Trowa gladly accepted and soon they were kissing each other like carefree teenagers.

Quatre untangled his fingers from Trowa's and draped both hands over his shoulders. With soft and gentle fingers he made little circles on the back of Trowa's neck. Trowa in turn, grabbed Quatre by the waist and brought him closer. Quatre squirmed against Trowa's thin hips and pushed hard against them, signaling for Trowa to move backwards towards the couch.

Trowa gracefully fell sitting on the couch with Quatre moving on top of him, still kissing. Trowa moved his hands slightly upward, going under Quatre's shirt. Quatre smiled against Trowa's kiss as Trowa moved his hand up Quatre's back, gently stroking him. Quatre continued fervently kissing Trowa but gasped back when Trowa gently pulled at his nipple.

Trowa pulled back immediately, an almost defensive look on his face. Quatre smiled gently and moved to kiss him when-

"Catherine you owe me five bucks." (A/N: What's the currency again? Let's just pretend there's been no inflation even though I've already contradicted that. Oh, well. I've never been good with math)

Quatre jerked back and stared at Sally and Catherine in the door of Relena's living room. Catherine sighed and shifted the big box of M. C. D.'s to one side and reached into her pocket. She handed Sally a five. Sally smiled triumphantly and looked at Quatre and Trowa tangled on the couch.

Because Quatre was so flushed and surprised, Trowa felt it was his duty to ask. "What was the bet?"

"That you'd be making out by the time we got here," Sally said cheerfully. "We brought the music!" She added.

Trowa said nothing but turned to Quatre, who finally gaining his "land legs" as it were, jumped up. Catherine sighed again. "I don't suppose I have to give you the speech about not breaking my little brothers heart hm?" She asked.

Quatre blushed and shook his head 'no.' "Okay, now where is the damn stereo?" Sally asked.

"The T. V. and the stereo are combined," Quatre said.

Sally let out a low whistled. "Those are really expensive," she set her pack down. "But that's to be expected." While she fiddled with the stereo/T. V. Duo, WuFei and Hilde came in. Surprisingly Duo and WuFei were talking animatedly while Hilde gritted her teeth and glared.

Catherine giggled at Hilde's expression and called out to her. "What have they been doing Hilde?"

"If I have to hear one more thing about that goddamn movie-"

"I really wish they would have been more graphic with that scene. I wanted to see him get eaten-that's what happened right?"

"Well, that's how it was alluded to, in the book at least. But you have to remember this was a mini-series on T. V. so they couldn't really do much. The book was defiantly better."

Sally laughed. "Dear God they've agreed on something."

"What did you get?" Quatre asked.

"The Stand," Duo and WuFei said simultaneously.

"What?" Catherine asked.

"Oh no-" Hilde groaned.

"It's this movie based on a book-" WuFei started.

"About a horrible superflu that gets out and destroys 99% of the population- "

"The survivors then must choose sides between good and evil-"

"It's so awesome! There's this wild guy called the Trashcan Man-"

"And a despicable woman called Nadine Cross-"

"And Nick Andros and Tom Cullen-"

"Harold Lauder and then of course there's-"

"The dark man," they said together, grinning. Everyone just stared and WuFei sighed.

"He's the bad guy," Duo said.

"'Bad' doesn't really cover it."

"It's wild! The graphics suck but the story is awesome!"

Quatre, Trowa, Sally and Catherine looked on in shock. Duo and WuFei being so excited about the same thing? It was like something out of the Twilight Zone.or what had been known as the Twilight Zone.

"Let's get the snacks set up," Hilde said and stomped over to the bowls. After angrily pouring out the crème de la crème of Duo's horde of snacks she stepped back and invited everyone to dig in.

At first the dynamics of the party were strange. Usually Duo and WuFei had a wide birth between them. But soon they had tired themselves out with talk of The Stand and WuFei retreated to the shadows eyeing Sally more than usual. Duo crammed his face with cheese puffs and potato chips and order was restored.

"Where's Brooke?" Quatre asked, noticing she was gone.

"Oh I left her at the shop with Howard.do you think he'll take care of her Duo?"

"Oh please Hilde she'll be fine," Duo said munching on a chip.

After an hour or so everyone heard the sounds of approaching people. "The guys are here!" Duo said.

Hilde rolled her eyes. "There are two women with them."

"Three guys, two girls, the *guys* are here," Duo argued.

Hilde opened her mouth to argue, but seemed to think better of it and greeted Relena, Heero, Zechs, Noin and baby Shiro happily with the others. For a while they cooed over baby Shiro then they began breaking off into separate groups again. In this case they were divided into men and women.

The women had custody of Shiro and thus, continued to coo and talk about him. The men could not sustain baby talk for as long so they stood to the side and talked about other things concerning Heero's son.

After a lengthy discussion about where Shiro would go to college (the colonies vs. Earth) Heero looked over at Trowa and Quatre and noticed how close they were standing. He also happened to look over at the exact moment Trowa slid one finger delicately across Quatres palm. Trowa noticed Heero's stare and pulled away self-consciously.

Heero met Quatre's gaze and glared slightly, asking a silent question. Quatre nodded and Heero jerked his head in approval. Duo, unfortunately, noticed this.

"So," he said, loudly since he'd managed to find the one alcoholic beverage being served. "You guys finally made up huh?"

"Duo-" Heero warned.

"Did ya, kiss and make up?" Duo winked. By now the women were paying attention.

Quatre crossed his arms and searched for a proper retort. Trowa beat him to it.

"Why?" He asked. "Did you want to see it? Because I'm sure we can reenact some of it for you."

Duo's eyes went wide with surprise while Zechs and WuFei snorted with approval. Hilde yelled, "Here, here!" while rising her glass in a toast. Sally and Catherine mocked her actions, giggling.

The conversations went back to normal from there, though most everyone kept stealing looks at Quatre and Trowa, who knew, but didn't seem to mind.

Finally, Duo and WuFei couldn't take it anymore. "So are we going to watch The Stand now or what?" Duo asked everyone.

"Or what?" Hilde asked.

Duo mock glared and said, "Or I eat Bobby Terry alive.it was Bobby Terry wasn't it?" Duo asked WuFei.

"They never clarified if he was eaten alive but we can assume something similar."

"Okay, enough, we'll watch it," Hilde said.

Every situated themselves around the TV. Duo popped in the tape (or at least the first tape), sat down and put his arm around Hilde.

Relena was asleep within the first five minutes of the movie with Shiro following suit. No one woke her up but Heero constantly kept one eye on her and the baby and the other on the screen, which sort of mixed up the plot line for him.

Duo and WuFei kept their attention aptly on the screen so much so that WuFei didn't push Sally off when she snaked her arm around his waist. Catherine, Sally and Hilde kept giggling that the supposed nerd, Harold Lauder was kinda cute and Catherine nearly had a heart attack when (a young) Rob Lowe had his shirt off. "What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man," she whispered, sending Sally and Hilde into fits of hysterics, and Duo and WuFei into a "shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" session.

Trowa and Quatre were in the far corner of the couch. Quatre had his knees tucked under him and was snuggled slightly against Trowa. Trowa, in turn, had his hand on Quatre's lower back and he kept stroking him methodically.

The movie was pretty good, considering both Duo and WuFei agreed on it. Quatre and Sally said they were going to read the book, which WuFei approved highly of (at least in regards to Sally). By the time the movie was finished (A/N: it's pretty damn long, I mean it's basically translating a roughly 900 page book into a movie.) dawn was peaking around the Peacecraft mansion.

When Relena woke up towards the end of the movie she welcomed everyone to grab a guest room and sleep until they were ready to go. Quatre was the only one who declined. His home was *that* far away and he did have two ulterior motives.

One, he wanted to sleep in his own bed. Even though he'd been in it for quite a while he never liked sleeping anywhere else but in his own space. Two, he hoped Trowa would follow him for a.rendezvous.

He did. And no one raised so much as an eyebrow. Perhaps they were too tired. Relena called a cab for them and all but ran to her bed. Quatre spent the time in the cab to his house phasing in and out of sleep. When they got to the Winner mansion Trowa jerked Quatre awake so he could pay the tab (A/N: Poor Trowa can't carry any money in those skin-tight jeans.).

Quatre made his way sluggishly upstairs with Trowa leading him like a child. When they reached Quatre's room Trowa hesitated. "You're sleeping with me," Quatre said. Then realizing the meaning of his words he sputtered, "You know in the bed. You're sleeping with me in the bed."

Trowa smirked challengingly and opened the door. Quatre automatically stared down at his clothes, feeling slightly mortified that he had been wearing a wrinkled sleeping shirt and the most formal sweatpants he had. Trowa already had his shirt off and was fixing up the bed.

'Must change.' Quatre thought groggily.

Trowa stared at Quatre, evaluating him. He so wanted to make love to Quatre; the long bout of sleeplessness didn't faze him. But he knew Quatre was wiped. He didn't want to take advantage. He smiled. From being pained over not knowing if Quatre loved him to being pained over not wanting to take advantage of him in a few short hours. He loved that sort of quick change.

Quatre noticed Trowa smiling. 'Is he picturing me naked?' Quatre wondered, as if out of nowhere. He blushed immediately. 'If he's picturing me naked why is he smiling? What's so funny about me being naked?'

Trowa came closer to Quatre and tugged on his shirtsleeve. "You need to change." He said softly.

Quatre, who was still blushing, muttered: "I know?"

"Something wrong?"

Quatre phased out for a second, mindlessly thinking about bananas. Trowa smiled. 'Should I change his clothes for him,' he thought gleefully. 'No. That's taking advantage.' He sighed and settled for a gentle kiss on the mouth.

That's when Quatre woke up. Every inch of him brightened immediately and one particular inch(es) got right up. Needless to say, Trowa was a bit surprised when he pulled back not to see Quatre's glazed over eyes but a fully awake stare. "Quatre?"

"Mmmmm." Quatre pulled Trowa closer into another, deeper kiss. Trowa brought his hips to match Quatre's and Quatre jumped back slightly. They looked at each other in silence.

"Trowa I-"

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Quatre snorted. "Don't treat me like a child."

"Quatre-"

"Trowa," he put a finger to Trowa's lips. "Make love to me."

In the strain between desire and reason doubts were gone. You can only doubt yourself for so longer before surrendering to what you want. To what you need. To what you love.

Life is pain. Suffering is what humans are doomed to. But there are brief moments when pain turns abruptly into pleasure. Those moments are engrained so finely into your memory you can never let go of them. When the moment is tainted with love it glows. It shimmers. It sparkles.

You can never completely explain those moments. The intricacy of every touch, every caress. The march of each heaving breath. The love at both peaks.

Trowa and Quatre collapsed into each other. Collapsed into an unforgettable moment. The details would always be sharp and fresh in their minds. The memory would always be there, followed by many more.

The clothes, blurring from their bodies as they fought to be true. The kisses, everywhere. The thrill of skin on skin. Trowa, blessing Quatre's stomach with feather like kisses. Quatre, giving Trowa teasing kisses on his neck and chest. Trowa, crawling his hand lovingly up Quatre's thighs. Quatre, stroking Trowa's thin hips. Quatre's hand finding Trowa's as he climaxed. Trowa, watching Quatre fall to sleep, loving the way his arms felt around him.

Quatre woke up to Trowa's solid green eyes. He smiled and kissed him. "Morning," he said.

"Evening," Trowa corrected.

"Oh damn."

"Doesn't matter," Trowa shrugged.

"I need a shower." Quatre said, sitting up. "Want to come in with me?" he asked playfully.

"I already took my shower, but thanks for the offer," Trowa smirked. Quatre at that point noticed Trowa was indeed, dressed.

"Hmph. Fine be that way," Quatre winked as he headed towards his bathroom.

'There's nothing quite like a shower to wake you up in the morning-erm evening.' Quatre thought as he stepped into the cool wave of water. After languidly enjoying hygiene Quatre stepped out of the shower and started toweling off in front of the mirror. And then he saw her.

A flood of humiliating, miserable memories fell upon him as he remembered his mother and what his father had hid from him. The pain burst into his heart anew, but this time it wasn't as sharp and Quatre fought it.

"Quatre I-" Trowa said bursting into the bathroom. He caught sight of the way Quatre stared into the mirror and called softly. "Quatre?"

Quatre turned to face Trowa, a sad smile on his face. "I was so weak. One bump in my emotions and I fall to pieces."

"Quatre-"

"No. It's okay. I won't be that weak again. It still hurts, but I'm okay. I wish though-" Quatre swallowed. "I wish I had known her. I wish he had told me. But I can't change it. And I have to live with that."

Trowas image stepped into the mirror and wrapped his arms around Quatre. He kissed Quatre then looked back at the real couple.

In that moment, Quatre didn't see his mother, feel pain. He saw himself and Trowa, their future, their past, their love. *Pleasure.*

"Perhaps we can make up for that shower." Quatre said huskily.

"Perhaps," Trowa kissed Quatre and they made love on the bathroom floor.

Life is pain. Suffering is what humans are doomed to.

You just have to take your joy when you can.

~*~

Wow. This is probably one of the first fics that I have been really, truly proud of. It was hard ending it. I sort of didn't want to let go. Well, tell me what you think of the last chapter! And always remember, reading and readers rule! ^_~

Tale Teller