I'm really sorry about how long it's been, but school started and it's been busy...

Warnings: Um... All this information was supposed to come out later, but I couldn't think of anything to go between last chapter and where I wanted to put this information. This fanfic isn't going to last much more than about 5 chapters, I think. Sorry.

Trust Me

Chapter 3: The Definition of Normal

Over the next few days, Heero seemed to have an extra shroud of darkness surrounding him, and his few words were covered with an extra layer of ice.

"Hey, Heero?" Duo tried to gain Heero's attention.

Heero didn't turn. "What?" he growled as he walked down the street towards his car at the end of school. Duo tagged along to go to his own car.

"I just wanted to know if everything was ok?" Duo asked, concern showing in his voice.

Heero nodded curtly. "Yes, everything's fine." His words were clipped and sharp. He was obviously lying.

Duo turned to look at his shoes as he walked. "Ok... If you say so..." he said quietly.

Heero stopped and glared at him. "What's it to you?" he snapped.

Duo held up his hands in a defensive gesture as he met Heero's angered eyes. "It's nothing, really. I just thought you were acting different and I wanted to know why," he replied calmly. "I want you to tell me if something's wrong," he added.

Heero sneered and chuckled bitterly. "Nothing's wrong. Everything's normal." Well that was true. He continued walking and Duo sprang forward as well.

"Is normal a good thing?" Duo pressed. He was bent on trying to figure out what was bothering Heero.

Heero sighed quietly. "Not exactly, but it's nothing you should be concered about."

Duo's teeth sunk into his lower lip in thought. "Is there anything I can do?"

Heero shook his head. "No, it can't be helped." He reached his car and Duo watched him climb in, turn it on, and blaze off with music blasting.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Eventually, the last semester of 10th grade for Duo and Heero ended. Heero had never changed throughout the year, and Duo gradually stopped pressuring Heero for answers as to why. However, the pair had talked quite a bit and learned a lot about one another. At the end of the year, they were able to exchange numbers and email addresses so they could keep in touch.

After a few weeks of summer vacation, Duo got a strange email from Heero. He sat at his computer one afternoon in his room, sipping a soda when he opened his inbox. He deleted spam and junk mail and was down to three emails from seven. Two were from an older friend who lived out of state and he read those first. The third was obviously from Heero. He opened it, expecting the usual "Hello, I did absolutely nothing this week, what about you?" and the like.

Setting down his pop can on a coaster, he scanned through the first few lines:

"Duo - I hope you are well. If you are, then that is much more than I have been able to say in quite a few years. I am wondering if you remember earlier in school, shortly after you arrived, when you asked me if I was alright. You wanted to know if there was anything you could do."

Duo tilted his head slightly and his brows drew together. Where was Heero going with this? He read on more slowly.

"This may sound absurd, but I have had enough. I cannot take much more of this without telling somebody who could possibly care. If you are really the true friend I have labeled you as for the past five months, then I wish for you to not react harshly when you read what I am about to tell you. I am trying desperately to keep these words stable and to keep away the frantic thoughts racing in my mind. I will explain as best I can in words. I hope I can write it all out without problems, but I suppose I will not know until I try."

Duo could almost hear Heero sighing heavily as he began his next paragraph.

"When I was two, my father passed away. I do not remember anything about him. My mother began seeing another man when I was five. She went out every once in a while to meet him somewhere. I had never seen this man until I was nine, when he and my mother agreed that he should come to live with us. I will not describe him now, that may come later. He stayed in the room down the hall from mine and he never slept with my mother. Not once while they were seeing one another. But one night, about two months after he moved in, he came home around two in the morning, drunk."

Duo felt his stomach lurch and the blood ran from his cheeks. His fingers were trembling a bit in anticipation as he scrolled down.

"I was sleeping by then, of course, and he was making a fair din just walking up the stairs, so I woke up and looked into the hall to see what the noise was all about. Being the nine-year-old child I was, I didn't understand his drunken actions. He staggered down the hallway, towards his room, but stopped in front of my open door where I stood. I remember he looked at me then, he seemed to tower seven feet above me, and his eyes were bloodshot and had dark rings under them. He startled me and I just stared up at him for a while. He then beckoned to me, motioning for me to follow him by waving his hand. I was confused and I knew never to defy the order of an adult, so I did. He took me down the hallway to his room. I assume you can guess what came next, but I will not go into detail. He raped me, Duo. After that, he did it about four times a week. Drunk or not."

A sick, crawling feeling crept over Duo's skin. He shivered violently. He turned his spinning chair away from the computer, not wanting to read on. He wrapped his arms around himself and took in a shaky breath. He looked towards his open door and couldn't help but see a small, nine-year-old Heero standing there, looking out into the empty hallway. He shut his eyes firmly and shook his head, willing away the image. This explained so much.

He fought back the tears already welling in his eyes as he turned to the computer again and forced himself to read on.

"This continued until I was 14. At that age, I had installed a total of eight locks on my door. You see, my door had nothing that remotely resembled a lock on it, and I had no way of keeping him out. It finally occurred to me that I had to put a stop to his actions. He was furious when he discovered that he could not quietly open my bedroom door in the middle of the night. However, he continues to try the knob on my door to this day, more than likely hoping that I had forgotten to lock my door.

"You may wonder why he never catches up with me when I am not in my room. The thing is, I am always in my room. I wake up in the morning, get ready for school, and listen for any signs of anyone before I lock my door with a key that only I possess and - if you will excuse the phrase - flee as though my life depended on it. In the afternoons, I go straight home to beat him and my mother, who does nothing about it, although she is fully aware of it. I usually make it before either of them get home, but sometimes, he decides to take the day off work, and he's already there. I can enter my house as silently as a ghost if need be. I always enter like that. He is usually watching television in the living room or up in his bedroom, so I'll go upstairs and go to my room. He cannot hide in my room or anything of that sort because of the locked door to which he has no key. He could pick it, I suppose, but it would be exceedingly difficult. He is not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, either, so I do not worry about that much. I literally, hardly ever see my mother or him at all anymore.

"Now you may wonder why I am telling you all this at this time, when it is no longer an issue. I tell you this because he has become increasingly persistent in trying my doorknob to see if it is locked. I cannot leave my room during the days he stays home. Sometimes I can sneak out the window, but I dislike doing that because it is a two story drop, and using the drainpipe is as noisy as shouting at him where I am. He has been staying home much more often since summer started, as well. I need him to stop altogether if I am going to survive the summer. If he does not, I fear I may do something rash, if you catch my drift. I need help. I only tell you my situation in hope that you can help me. If you cannot, I ask you not to tell anyone about this. I realize that he can be taken to jail, but I know how difficult it is to prove someone guilty of doing something like this. I would rather not risk angering him more and keep going as I have been.

"Please help me in any way you can. I can only depend on others now. But do not feel pressured to help me. If you cannot think of anything, then just do not mention it to me or anyone else.

Thank you, Duo

Heero Yuy"

Duo read the letter over one more time. He finally printed it out and put it away in his desk before clicking on the Reply button. His fingers were shaking horribly as he began typing.

"Heero, I can't tell you in words how horrible this makes me feel. But I'm still glad you trusted me enough to tell me. Then again, I wish you hadn't. This is a hard secret to know and keep. I don't know if you can believe me when I say that you have my word to keep your secret. I won't tell a soul without consulting you first. Give me a little while to think about it, and I'll let you know if anything comes to mind that might help you.

Forever faithful,
Duo"

He pressed send and covered his face with his hands. 'Oh my god...' he thought, 'What have I gotten myself into?'

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sorry if it seemed short, but it was so full of info, I had to stop it there, or finish the whole thing now... Maybe not that far, but still... ::shrugs::

Arigatos:

Shinigami's Girl - Yes... It was his step-dad... Scary, ne?

Tash - Did you read the summary at the beginning of chapter 1? It told you that Heero had a horrible past... Revealed in this chapter, unintentionally! And I also said in the beginning of chapter 1 what Heero and Duo's relationship would be... Try reading the stuff in the A/Ns first before asking questions, por favor...

Lioness Fury - German, no... I take Spanish... It's boring. My sister speaks German, tho! ::grin::

Blah... only 3 ppl asked for replies... How sad... Oh well. Bye byes.