You (Heero's viewpoint)
By: Kurai No Tenshi (Kurainotenshi666@yahoo.com)
Rated: R for language
Author's Note: Thanks to those who have reviewed You thus far. Sorry updates are taking so long.
~*~*~
I hear footsteps in the hallway, the front door shutting. Perhaps a normal person wouldn't be able to distinguish these sounds, but my ears are well trained, the ears of a soldier still. Beside me Duo stirs, but doesn't quite awaken. I stand up, go to the light switch. I flip it on and light floods the room. Duo complains, but I say nothing, just go to the window. I push aside the curtain, look out at a frail figure illuminated in the headlights of a passing car. Quatre. Duo joins me at the window, forever the inquisitive one, despite the late hour. I turn to leave the room, grabbing my and Duo's bathrobes off the hook on our door. Behind me the light to our bedroom goes off and I think Duo has gone back to bed, but no. The light in the hallway comes on. Duo follows me downstairs, flipping light switches as he goes. He heads for the kitchen, as I go for the front door. At some point I pull on my robe, though I don't remember doing it. I push the door open and step out in to the night. Quatre spots me but gives no reaction as I approach, bathrobe extended. "You must be cold. Put this on."
He takes it and slips it over his slender shoulders. It swallows him, but he doesn't seem to notice. He says nothing.
"Where's Trowa?" I ask, trying to get him to snap out of his silence, trying to evoke some sort of reaction.
He just shrugs, a stray wind ruffling his white-blond hair. The look in his eyes is so vacant, so lost. I watch as tears work they're way on to the pale crests of his cheeks.
"Quatre. You're crying."
I watch as he touches the tears, but doesn't brush them away. He just wraps his arms around himself. "So I am." Words, finally, but no hint of the Quatre that I know still lies under the surface, the Quatre that we all see so little of.
"Come inside." I take hold of his shoulders, lead him inside. I sit him down in front of the fireplace where someone has built a fire. Almost as soon as I have Quatre seated, Wufei covers him in a thick quilt that Relena had made us, and Duo is right behind him with a steaming mug of hot chocolate, piled to nearly overflowing with marshmallows, just the way Quatre likes it. We sit there with him until the hot chocolate is gone and the fire has dwindled, reassuring him that he will be fine and that all of this will pass quickly. And it does, as it always has, a soft smile coming to Quatre's lips, a look of shame crossing his turquoise eyes.
"I'm sorry to have awakened you. Please, go back to bed, I'm fine." We assure him that it's okay, Duo standing and taking his empty mug, Wufei taking and folding the quilt. I follow him upstairs to make sure he gets back to bed, pausing outside his door after he's gone, an ear pressed to the wall. I listen for voices, a noise, anything to tell me what's wrong with Quatre, but the bedroom remains silent, as it has for many nights before. Duo comes up behind me and I know he's there, recognize his presence before he ever speaks.
"Duo. Come, let's get back to bed. It's cold." And I wonder if Quatre has any such comfort from the cold...
Author's Note: Thanks to those who have reviewed You thus far. Sorry updates are taking so long.
~*~*~
I hear footsteps in the hallway, the front door shutting. Perhaps a normal person wouldn't be able to distinguish these sounds, but my ears are well trained, the ears of a soldier still. Beside me Duo stirs, but doesn't quite awaken. I stand up, go to the light switch. I flip it on and light floods the room. Duo complains, but I say nothing, just go to the window. I push aside the curtain, look out at a frail figure illuminated in the headlights of a passing car. Quatre. Duo joins me at the window, forever the inquisitive one, despite the late hour. I turn to leave the room, grabbing my and Duo's bathrobes off the hook on our door. Behind me the light to our bedroom goes off and I think Duo has gone back to bed, but no. The light in the hallway comes on. Duo follows me downstairs, flipping light switches as he goes. He heads for the kitchen, as I go for the front door. At some point I pull on my robe, though I don't remember doing it. I push the door open and step out in to the night. Quatre spots me but gives no reaction as I approach, bathrobe extended. "You must be cold. Put this on."
He takes it and slips it over his slender shoulders. It swallows him, but he doesn't seem to notice. He says nothing.
"Where's Trowa?" I ask, trying to get him to snap out of his silence, trying to evoke some sort of reaction.
He just shrugs, a stray wind ruffling his white-blond hair. The look in his eyes is so vacant, so lost. I watch as tears work they're way on to the pale crests of his cheeks.
"Quatre. You're crying."
I watch as he touches the tears, but doesn't brush them away. He just wraps his arms around himself. "So I am." Words, finally, but no hint of the Quatre that I know still lies under the surface, the Quatre that we all see so little of.
"Come inside." I take hold of his shoulders, lead him inside. I sit him down in front of the fireplace where someone has built a fire. Almost as soon as I have Quatre seated, Wufei covers him in a thick quilt that Relena had made us, and Duo is right behind him with a steaming mug of hot chocolate, piled to nearly overflowing with marshmallows, just the way Quatre likes it. We sit there with him until the hot chocolate is gone and the fire has dwindled, reassuring him that he will be fine and that all of this will pass quickly. And it does, as it always has, a soft smile coming to Quatre's lips, a look of shame crossing his turquoise eyes.
"I'm sorry to have awakened you. Please, go back to bed, I'm fine." We assure him that it's okay, Duo standing and taking his empty mug, Wufei taking and folding the quilt. I follow him upstairs to make sure he gets back to bed, pausing outside his door after he's gone, an ear pressed to the wall. I listen for voices, a noise, anything to tell me what's wrong with Quatre, but the bedroom remains silent, as it has for many nights before. Duo comes up behind me and I know he's there, recognize his presence before he ever speaks.
"Duo. Come, let's get back to bed. It's cold." And I wonder if Quatre has any such comfort from the cold...
