Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the characters in this story. They are owned by Bandai and several other companies, none of which I am part of.
Warning: happy love-fluff
"And never come back!" The guy yelled after us as we walked back to Heero's car.
I giggled. "That was fun, and they even took our pictures! Too bad they wouldn't let me keep a copy…"
Heero looked at me. He wasn't quite smiling, but his blue eyes were sparkling in such a way that the effect was the same. He looked like he was about to say something, but then changed his mind and turned away. "Maybe we can do this again," he said quietly.
My eyes were sparking at that time too, I am sure, and stayed that way through the entire car ride home. "We can!" I exclaimed. I had never been so happy.
We got in the car then and started back for home. Conversation was sparse, as usual, but I didn't mind. By this point, just being next to him was enough for me. I hoped he felt the same way.
It was all over much too soon, of course. Heero's car pulled into the parking lot of my apartment building, and it was time to go. He locked the car and walked me all they way to my door. I pulled out my keys and began playing with them, running my thumb back and forth along the ridges of my house key. I didn't look at Heero.
"Duo," he said.
Now I looked up and into his eyes. "I'm sorry, Heero," I apologized quietly and with a small smile at my own foolishness. "I want to go in. I do. It's just that… I really had fun with you today. I don't want it to end…." I trailed off, wincing at how silly that had sounded. I bet Heero thought I was about fifteen years old.
Heero had been watching me fumble with my keys. He reached out then, and covered my hand with his own. He looked into my eyes, and all he said was, "It won't." Then he leaned in and pressed his lips gently to mine. I melted into the chaste kiss, and when we broke apart, he was almost smiling. He brushed my bangs to the side with one hand, his other still holding my own and said, "Good night, Duo."
After that, he was gone, but the warmth remained. I went inside and collapsed on the couch, looking around at how nice my apartment seemed suddenly. I glanced at the phone on the end table next to me, and, picking up the receiver, dialed Wufei's number.
"I think I'm in love, Wu," I said when he answered.
***
"Of course, you realize you still haven't won, Duo," he informed me the next morning at work. My tie was black with pink flamingoes on it.
"What?" I complained. "Wufei, you said all I needed was to have two dates."
"Right," Wufei agreed, "and so far you've been on one. Last night, as magical as it might have been, doesn't count. He offered to drive you home. For all you know, he does that to be nice. After all, you guys do live in the same direction from here."
I frowned, and began coming up with plans in my head to switch his paper weight with a frog, when something occurred to me. I looked at Wufei, and smiled.
"Wufei. You're right," I said. "He was just driving me home, this time. But this is just the beginning, Wu. There's time for second dates, and third, and fourth, because it never has to end." I smiled, remembering the feeling of his hand on mine, and his fingers brushing against my forehead. "Heero told me that," I added fondly.
***
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Duo, what are you doing?"
I paused, but didn't look at Quatre. "I'm banging my head on the desk." I told him, stating the obvious, and then went back to what I had been doing before the interruption.
"Well… are those upgrades done?" he asked doubtfully.
"Yes."
"Okay," he replied, and walked away.
I sat up. "Don't you even want to know what's wrong?" I called after him.
"Of course," he replied, smiling sweetly. He hadn't really gone very far. I think he knows too much for his own good.
"It's been a week, and Heero has driven me home every day," I began.
"Yes," Quatre agreed. "It's very nice of him. It's nice to have a quiet car ride home with Trowa every now and then." He glanced at me. "So why the head injuries?"
"Every time I suggest that we go out this weekend or anything that Wufei would qualify as a *date,* he ignores me." I sighed.
"Maybe that's because he doesn't *want* to date you, Duo," Wufei chimed in. I hadn't noticed he was listening, but now I scowled.
"Who asked you?" I demanded.
Wufei shrugged. "Maybe he just wants to be friends. No offense Duo," he added, smiling slightly, "You're nice as a friend, but I wouldn't date you either."
"Good," I shot back, "because I wasn't asking you out!"
"Heero will be happy to hear that," Quatre put in helpfully.
"Maybe," Wufei added. "Maybe not."
"What will I be happy to hear?" Heero asked quietly from the doorway.
"I can just imagine him jumping for joy," Wufei continued sarcastically, with a wink in Heero's direction as he made his way back to his desk.
I stuck out my tongue and grabbed my jacket. Heero didn't look confused, but he didn't look anything else either, so I whispered "Never mind," as I passed by him on the way out the door. Behind me I could hear Wufei complaining to Quatre about how I've been leaving at 4:00 all week. I didn't hear Quatre's response clearly, but I think he said "I think it's sweet."
"So what are we going to do today?" I asked cheerfully as we got in the elevator and I pressed the button for the parking level Heero always parked on. "Hijack an ambulance and drive through town with the lights on? Hack into the CIA computers and leave extensive files on alien life forms living in Texas?"
Heero didn't say anything. I turned to look at him. "Well?" I asked impatiently.
The elevator dinged and the door opened. Heero's eyes flickered to mine for a moment just before we went out into the parking garage.
"No," he said.
"No?!" I exclaimed. "What kind of an answer is that? It wasn't a yes or no question, you know."
"Hn," he grunted, and facing forward, continued walking to his car.
"You're being more exasperating than usual today," I grumbled, and broke into a sort of trot in an attempt to keep up with Heero's fast stride.
Heero didn't make any noises at all until about five minutes into the car ride. "I was thinking we'd just … be together," he said at long last.
I looked at him in surprise. "But Heero… we've spent time together every evening this week."
"Not like this," he disagreed.
I didn't bother asking any more questions. I figured I'd find out soon enough what he meant.
Sure enough, we eventually pulled up in front of a tall building. I looked over at Heero, eyes wide. "Isn't this where you're staying?" I asked.
"Hn," he agreed, and opened his car door. I felt a momentary surge of pride at the fact I was learning to read Heero's little grunts, and then had to scramble out of the car to catch up with him.
To my surprise, he didn't go in the building. Instead, he led me up the fire escape, until we reached the top of the building that towered over every other building in the city. The sky was bleeding shades of orange, red, and yellow into the darkening blues of twilight. Streetlamps and houses added their own beauty one at a time as the sky slowly grew too dark for the human eye to see comfortably, winking into existence in twos and threes on the ground far below us. The view was breathtaking.
"It's… beautiful," I gasped at last, glancing at Heero as soon as I could tear my eyes away from the view. He was looking at me with an expression I hadn't seen before. He held out his hand, and as I took it, he pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me, just holding me as we watched night fall slowly across the city. Only after it was completely dark did he reluctantly drive me home.
That night, I dreamed about Heero. I don't remember exactly what it was about, but I woke up with a start in the middle of the night, a cold feeling of dread creeping all through my body and making me shiver. I reached for the phone and called Quatre, completely oblivious to the ungodly hour at which I was calling.
"Where did he go?" I asked, not even thinking about the words that came pouring out of my mouth.
Quatre didn't answer right away. For a moment, I thought Trowa had picked up the phone instead. Then he exhaled and said in a voice filled with sympathy, "I'm sorry, Duo. The business deal is over."
"What?" I choked.
"His flight left an hour ago," Quatre continued apologetically, "He went back to Japan."
