Disclaimers: Don't own GW, nor the story "Cry-Woman's Bridge".
Warnings: Yaoi
Duo?
Chapter 5: Admitting Love?
Heero flexed his fingers, clenching and unclenching them until the strange feeling disappeared. Duo stood nervously by the window, shifting from foot to foot and wringing his hands behind his back. "I-I-I'm sorry," he stuttered quickly, avoiding Heero's eyes. "That must've felt weird, I'm sorry." He turned towards the bookcase, his back to Heero and brought his hands out in front of him just so that he could wring them again.
Heero looked up with a blank look on his face. "No..." his voice was just above a whisper so Duo could hear him. "No, it-it didn't - I mean, it did, but..." He couldn't bring himself to say that he liked it, now that would be weird, especially to Duo. Duo turned slightly and peered at Heero out of the corner of his eye.
"'But' what?" he asked quietly. Heero turned his gaze to his fingers, searching his brain frantically for an excuse...
"But..." He sighed. "Nothing." 'Oh that was great, Heero, perfect... I know you can do better than that!'
Duo, who'd turned fully around to watch Heero, blinked once. Twice. Then he suddenly dropped his eyes to the floor and looked incredibly sad. Heero's eyes widened, he didn't want to make Duo feel bad, he couldn't bear to see his amethyst eyes fill with sadness. "Duo?" He quickly crossed the room to stand next to the braided boy. He wondered if he should try to put an arm across his shoulders, not sure if it would just go through the boy.
He decided to try. He lifted his arm and timidly reached for Duo's braid. 'Maybe if I touch his braid and my hand goes through it, he won't feel it because it's hair, right? And if I can feel it, I'll surely be able to feel the rest of him.'
He touched the braid. It was soft and he could feel the braid itself, he didn't go through! He quickly put a comforting arm around Duo's shoulders, sighing inwardly when he didn't go through. Duo snapped his head up to look into sapphire orbs.
Heero smiled at him, Duo dropped his gaze again to the floor. "Don't worry about it, it didn't feel that weird, it was kinda strange, but it's nothing to sulk over." Duo nodded.
"Yeah, you're right... I guess I just overreacted."
While Duo spoke, Heero noticed that there was barely any space left between them, and he realized that he could smell the ghost that was currently under one of his arms. He inhaled quietly.
'Vanilla...'
"Hm?"
"I said, I'm sorry I overreacted, thank you," Duo repeated.
Heero detected the "you-can-let-me-go-now" tone in Duo's voice and pulled his arm away. "Uh, yeah, no problem," he said and noticed that he really wanted to touch Duo again, he wanted to feel that strange tingling feeling again...
He mentally slapped himself and stepped away from Duo, feeling his cheeks burn. He ducked his head and turned away.
Duo blinked. 'What a confusing person...' He shook his head and walked to the bookcase. He pulled out a book and started flipping through the pages. "What's this?" he asked.
"Ghost stories," Heero replied, glancing at the book. Duo stopped and read the title of the next one.
"Do you believe them?"
Heero shrugged. "I don't know, it says that they're true, but I'm not so sure."
Duo nodded and started reading one that looked interesting. "I've never read any ghost stories before," he said thoughtfully. He made his way slowly over to the bed without looking up from the words and sat down to read.
'Cry-Woman's Bridge
The town of Dublin straddles U.S. Highway 40 in east-central Indiana between Richmond and Indianapolis. It is a fairly typical, small midwestern city, dependent on a diversified industrial and agricultural industry and the trade a major highway can bring to city buisnesses.
There was also once a bridge which stood on Heacock Road, southeast of Dublin, a bridge known to local residents as "Cry-Woman's Bridge." The bridge is gone now, but its ghostly legend lingers.'
Duo looked up at Heero who was peering over his shoulder at the story which had sparked his interest. "Ooh, that's a good one, you should read these while I'm gone during the day so you're not bored," he suggested. Duo turned back to the pages of the book and nodded.
'The young woman who gave her name to the bridge was a stranger to the country, unfamiliar with the numerous twisting country roads. Late one rainy night, while returning home with her infant son, the woman approached the bridge far too quickly, lost control of her car at the sharp curve just before the bridge entrance, and plunged into the rain-swollen creek below.'
Duo looked up and realized that he was alone. He shrugged when he heard Heero's footsteps clunking down the stairs.
Heero reached the front door and departed from his house to visit Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei. Wufei said that he might be able to coax Sally to come, but he wasn't sure it would work. Heero then started off down the street to the park where they all agreed to meet.
xxx
Duo rose and decided to roam the house while reading and walked out of the room. He walked slowly down the hall and read.
'The woman's body was later found by searchers. However, there was no sign of her baby. Only a little pink blanket and a baby's pacifier were recovered. The woman's relatives could not be located, and she was buried in a pauper's grave next to a coffin which held the infant's blanket and pacifier.'
Duo reached the stairs and slid down the railing and jumped down to the floor. He walked into the living room and started down a long hallway.
'Following the incident, the ghost of a woman was said to be seen prowling the bridge, particularly on foggy, rainy nights. And the specter's infrequent appearances are accented by pitiful moans and sobs and a choking cry that seemingly pleads "Where is my baby?"'
Duo looked through a door and found yet another long hallway and walked through it.
xxx
Heero soon found himself at the park where Quatre and Trowa sat at a bench, talking and waiting for him and Wufei. They looked up as he came nearer and Quatre smiled brightly and rose to greet him.
"Hello, Heero!" He glanced over Heero's shoulder and smiled wider. He waved. "Hi Wufei! I see Sally didn't want to come," he said and walked back to Trowa's side.
Heero looked over his shoulder too and saw Wufei shake his head as he came closer. Once they were all assembled, Heero started telling his three friends about Duo's strange actions, like the fact that he slept in his bed the first night without his consent, how he woke up the second night, what happened this morning with the tingling feeling, and how he reacts when Heero looks at him in the eyes. He started pacing halfway through his story and suddenly stopped and looked up hopefully at each of them in turn.
Quatre spoke first, "It sounds like Duo likes you." He shrugged. "We always knew he didn't like girls, and he told us once that he was, indeed, gay." Quatre smiled at Trowa.
Heero groaned. "Great, my house polergeist has a crush on me..." He sat down hard on the bench next to the one Quatre and Trowa were occupying. "What am I going to do?"
Quatre shrugged again. "I don't know, it's obvious that you don't like him back..." He thought for a moment.
'Don't I?' Heero asked himself and pondered about what to do about Duo if he really did like him.
Receiving no glares or "Of course I don't!"s, Quatre started to wonder about which way his new friend Heero swung. Heero looked up at Quatre's raised eyebrow and blinked.
He looked at Trowa and Wufei who were also watching him with strange expressions. Wufei gave him a critical look, making him sigh in defeat. "All right, I admit it, I liked that weird feeling that came when I touched Duo's fingers..."
Quatre beamed, Wufei shrugged, and Trowa nodded.
xxx
Duo sighed and looked around. He had somehow ended up in the kitchen and walked back to the living room to sit down and read. While passing the staircase, he heard a high-pitched squeak come from the top. "Huh?" he turned around and blinked at Heero's mother who stood there with her hands clasped over her mouth, her eyes were wide above them.
Duo smiled nervously and closed the book, holding his place with his finger. "Uh, hello Mrs. Yuy," he said and waved.
She slowly brought her hands down from her mouth and gave him a questioning look. "Are you Duo?" she asked, no hint of fear in her voice.
He nodded. She smiled in relief and continued, "I thought ghosts were a little bit... whiter."
Duo smiled broadly. "I can look like that if you want!" he said proudly. All his color promptly drained from his features and clothes.
Mrs. Yuy nodded. "Heero has told me vaguely about you," she said as she decended the stairs. "He never really took the time to fill me in completely, are you busy?"
Duo shook his head and held up the book. "I'm just reading one of Hee-ch...ro's books." He laughed nervously. He didn't want to call Heero by his nickname in front of his mother, just in case. She nodded again and read the title of the book.
"'Haunted Heartland', hm? Well, I guess that's Heero for you; he loves to read ghost stories." She laughed fondly. "Ah, well, you can go ahead and finish that, I've still got some exploring to do!" And with that, she smiled warmly, turned on the ball of her foot, and walked away.
Duo shook his head and finished his journey to the living room and sat down to read some more.
'A young couple parked near the bridge one evening a few years ago. A short while later, they heard scratching sounds coming from the roof and trunk of the car. They were aware of the bridge's "ghostly" reputation and decided to leave. But their car wouldn't start! Suddenly, the scratching became louder and louder, accompanied now by heart-stopping wails. A voice drifted toward them crying, "Baby, where have you gone? Baby, where have you gone?"'
xxx
Heero buried his head in his hands and cried, "What am I going to do? What if Ido like a ghost? That doesn't really do me much good..." He mumbled some unclear words and sighed. "You know, it's like Duo said, what point is there in being a ghost when everyone can feel you?"
"That doesn't really matter. You said that he told you that you could only feel him if he wanted you to, right? And then you felt him, twice, doesn't that mean that he does want you to be able to feel him?" Quatre said as he fiddled with his watch band.
"I guess," Heero murmured.
"Right, then if he wants you to feel him, maybe he..." Quatre was cut off by a warning glare from Heero. He sighed. "Well, you know it's true."
"If you're just going to talk to Quatre, can I leave?" Wufei asked.
Heero turned his glare to him. "Well, if you had any ideas on the situation, maybe I wouldn't be just talking to Quatre."
One more pair of eyes plus one turned to Wufei expectantly. Wufei sighed. "I think you should just let him know how you feel, and if he rejects you, then he'll probably disappear for the rest of your life or something, therefore, you wouldn't have a problem anymore."
Quatre closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, Trowa raised an eyebrow, and Heero groaned. "Then I would have an even bigger problem. If he got mad at me, my house would probably burn to the ground within minutes! I wouldn't be surprised if he did reject me, but he's a ghost who can disappear and walk through walls, I don't exactly want to piss him off."
Wufei shrugged. "Well, that's my advice, if you don't like it, fine, I'm leaving." He waved over his shoulder whilst walking back toward the neighbourhood.
Heero shook his head and turned back to Quatre. "Should I tell him?"
xxx
Duo's eyes widened with interest at the last paragraph. He glanced up as a clanking noise was heard from the hallway where Mrs. Yuy had gone, and that had eventually led him to the kitchen. He smiled and shook his head before continuing with the story.
'The young couple finally got the car started. They examined it later and found scratches all over the hood, scratches that might have been caused by a woman's long fingernails!
Has the ghost ever found its offspring? Or is it still searching? No one really knows for sure.'
Duo sighed. "That's kinda creepy."
"What's kinda creepy?"
Duo jumped and whirled around. He clutched his hand to his heart. "Geez, Hee-chan, you scared me!" Heero raised an eyebrow at the nickname and rolled his eyes.
"I told you not to call me that."
"Why not?"
Heero sighed. "Because I said so."
Duo stood and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Heero. "Where were you anyway?" he asked as he stalked toward him.
Heero blinked. "I was with Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei at the park," he replied blandly. Duo quirked an eyebrow and walked around him and raced up the stairs. He bounced at the top one and sat down hard.
"I don't believe you."
Heero grinned. "Then don't." He remembered their last conversation that went like this earlier today.
Duo rolled his eyes and fell backwards into the hallway, his long legs still hanging on the stairs. Heero shook his head and started climbing the stairs to go to his room. When he reached Duo he looked down at him with a questioning expression. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you how you found out what my name was? I mean, I know you found out with my computer, but where did you go to find out?" He wondered if it was safe to write in his computer journal anymore, just in case Duo had gotten in and read it.
"I looked in Microsoft Word and found a school paper with your name on it."
Heero nodded and sighed inwardly. He turned to go to his room to write in his journal (which by the way was very protected with dozens of passwords and puzzles that only he could get through with one single password).
"Don't bug me for a while, ok?" he called over his shoulder.
Duo shrugged. "Ok, I'll just read some more ghost stories." He opened the book to the Table of Contents to look for interesting titles.
Heero sighed and shut the door behind him. He wasn't worried about Duo looking over his shoulder at what he was typing because he could usually feel it when he was present.
He started up the computer and typed the password only he knew so he didn't have to go through all the other passwords and puzzles. He then started typing:
June 5
This has been one hell of a few days, since I last wrote, I met my house ghost, slept with him, and also made a couple new friends along the way. I think I'm also falling for him, and even though he IS a ghost, I can feel him and the way it feels when his skin touches mine is making it worse; I like it...
I actually find myself wondering if that feeling was just a one time thing, and if it was, I have to say that I'm disappointed. I kind of wish it would happen more often, and that I could tell Duo how I feel, but I fear rejection. Yes I do fear something.
Quatre thinks he likes me too, but I'm not so sure, I really hope he does... I don't know if I'll be able to face him again if he were to reject me. But I guess that's just how it goes when someone falls for a ghost...