Chapter 3 - Of Marshmallows and Wine

They sat under the blanket for what seemed like hours to Duo, simply gazing at each other. Suddenly, he felt the welled up emotion push against its walls, telling him that it *really* was ready to be let out now. But he wasn't sure that he should. Abruptly he was reminded of his failure to let Hilde know how he felt.

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Quatre's mind reeled as Duo's purple eyes dug into him. One side wailed of his sorrow of rejection and pain, while the other side screamed of the fear of the thought he had left behind in the hallway when Duo had come back for him.

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"Quatre?" Duo whispered. His friend's face blazed with the emotion he had been looking for and he knew he must let it out. Allowing his instincts to take over, Duo's arm shot out and took hold of Quatre's shoulder, pulling them close together.

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Duo's nose touched the tip of Quatre's as their purple and aqua eyes ran over and over each other's. Quatre could feel his heart beating wildly and his chest heaving as he breathed. His mouth opened slightly on its on accord and he wetted his drying lips.

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Duo tilted his head slightly and inched his lips forward. They brushed Quatre's wet lips lightly. He hesitated just a moment as the blonde boy took in a gasp of air, then took Quatre's lips in his own. Even if.at least he would never be stuck with the regret of not telling Quatre the truth.

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Letting go of most of his previous fears, Quatre fell into the kiss. Duo's arm still held his shoulder and the other reached back to hold him from behind. Quatre leaned slowly backwards as Duo pursued him with lips so soft they felt like marshmallows. Inviting Duo to continue, Quatre slowly parted his lips. Could it really be.he was finally being loved back.

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Taking Quatre's hint, Duo put more power into their kiss, leaning forward, desperate to taste more of him. He could feel the anxious heat rising from the boy in his blue, see-through pajamas, but never thought to remove the comforter. It belonged there.

Duo pressed on, leaning Quatre down on the window seat. He gently prodded Quatre's lips with his tongue and was submissively accepted.

Something was amiss. He pulled back a foot or so and looked his friend in the eye.

"Quatre," he whispered, "you okay? With this, I mean."

His aqua eyes flashed.

"Are you sure that this is what you want, Duo?"

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Duo smiled wide, his famous grin that usually meant trouble. But he looked so honest Quatre was not afraid of his answer.

"Yeah, I'm sure, and I never tell a lie."

That was enough for Quatre. He picked himself up and found Duo's marshmallow lips once again. The window box was just so big as to fit the two of them on it, so they were forcefully pressed together, yet he never thought to move to the bed.

Reaching his hand around to the back of Duo's head, Quatre gently clutched at his chestnut brown hair, almost falling out of its braid now.

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Duo leaned back, surprised at Quatre's new fervor. One hand still wrapped around his back, he slowly reached up underneath Quatre's blue night shirt with the other. Heat radiated from the blonde boy, yet his skin was smooth and soft as liquid. As their lips played gently with each other, Duo leisurely ran his hand up Quatre's back, gathering his nightshirt at his shoulders.

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In no way cold now, under the comforter with Duo boiling his blood, Quatre pulled away from their kiss to help Duo release him of his transparent nightshirt. Eager to see his luscious friend's muscular bare chest, which Quatre had before only admired from afar, he lightly extended his arms and seized Duo's hips. As his friend took hold of both of his shoulders, pulling him into another soft kiss, Quatre slid his soft hands upward, leading Duo's dark shirt to his armpits. They pulled apart for a second again to rid Duo of his shirt, and both paused momentarily taking in each other.

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Quatre couldn't help but gasp at Duo, his facial features darkened by the comforter, but each curve of his torso nonchalantly highlighted by the window's snowy brightness. Duo's wide shoulders, muscular arms, and well- sculpted chest sent a shiver down his spine. *He is beautiful.*

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Duo knelt on the window seat, staring at his friend's slender body. Quatre's soft, pale skin glowed where the light from the window delicately fell upon it through the comforter. He watched as Quatre, leaning backwards on his hands, visibly shivered. *He is still afraid,* Duo gathered correctly. *Man! Well, I'll just have to show him that there's no reason for that anymore.*

He reached out and pulled Quatre by the shoulders again, trapping him in a protective hug.

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Slightly surprised by the hug, it took Quatre a few seconds to recognize its intension. He laid his head on Duo's shoulder, his neck being teased by Duo's light breaths.

"I've got you, buddy," Duo assured him. He tightened his grip on Quatre to reinforce the claim. For the first time in a long while, Quatre felt genuinely safe.

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Convinced that he had truly felt his words, Duo loosened his grip on the boy. Their bodies still pressed together, he could feel the blonde's heart beat relax. Duo soothingly leaned forward, laying Quatre down on the window bed again and reached his head out to touch Quatre's lips with his own. Though they didn't look it, Duo observed, Quatre's lips were especially juicy and wet and he longed to taste them deeper. Again, he prodded with his tongue, and this time was accepted with notable pleasure.

The two boys' mouths locked on to each others', hidden from the world under a blanket on the window seat, they both found their favorite flavors: each other.

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Pressed to the seat by Duo's passion rather than his weight, Quatre wriggled with satisfaction. One of his fists grabbed at the comforter while the other found the cold window to his side. He was eager to grab and find more of Duo, but was not sure.

"Duo," he gasped between kisses. "Duo!"

As if he had read Quatre's mind, Duo simply replied with a grin, "Go ahead," and continued to caress his mouth with his sweet lips.

Quatre's arms flew to his friend's chest, hovering above his own. Leaving it to his ardor to drive him on, his hands slowly crept downwards. Over Duo's chest and down his beautifully refined abs, Quatre's hands found their place on his fellow pilot's hips, his fingers tucked inside Duo's jeans.

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Although Quatre tasted human, Duo felt like he had been drinking wine. His mind was weakened as if he had taken on quite a lot of alcohol and his body ached with the need for more.

The two sat up together, both of their heads slipping out from under the comforter, and leaned against the window seat's wall. Almost afraid of their power to engulf him, Duo left Quatre's juicy, intoxicating lips and concentrated on caressing his neck in retribution. He felt his friend squirm with delight and tighten his grip, but to Duo's dismay, his skin was just as soft and overpowering.

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Totally taken by surprise by the feeling of Duo's marshmallow kisses on his shoulder, Quatre could only wiggle under the intenseness. He melted like chocolate under the light touch of his friend's lips and felt as if he would never solidify again.

As if to help him in his weakened state, Duo took hold of Quatre's hands and guided them back into action. He pressed them further into his jeans and, leaving Quatre to continue by himself, loosened his pants button. Despite the new freedom of delving in as far as he wished, Quatre politely restrained himself to the outside of his friend's tightly fitted underwear.

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As the night drug on, after Duo had drunk his fill of the blonde boy's intoxicating skin and had informed the boy that he needn't be "so damned polite," the couple sat together on the window seat, their fingers entangled. With Quatre leaning softly against his shoulder, Duo gazed, without malice, at the still falling snow as they talked for hours.

In those hours, both boys released their deepest fears, secrets, and everything else they had never dared to share with any other person, in some instances bringing them almost to tears with sadness or laughter.

For the first time in his life, Duo felt completely empty of all uneasy emotions, his storage of such feelings now dispersed through his openness and destroyed by Quatre's soothing words.

With the dark winter morning slowly creeping up on them, they finally fell into sleepy silence. Duo watched as Quatre, his silky-haired head laying like still water on Duo's chest, slowly shut his eyes and slipped into sleep. Pulling the comforter up to their shoulders, Duo settled down for sweet slumber himself. At the edge of sleep, he opened one eye, looked out at the snow once more, and silently apologized for cursing its beauty earlier that night.

[[[quick author's note: isn't that sappy? Man, I did not know I could be THAT sappy! Well, I hope you liked it! If I get lots of responses, I might do a sequel, oddly enough a 3x4 . . .you figure that one out! NOW: go read the epilogue, and you will be compelled to read the sequel! Ha aha ha! If I ever write it . . .]]]