Author: CONTACTcon-589113507 Sparkle Itamashii

Title: Stay with Me

Warnings: Respect the rating. See profile for details.

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing AC is NOT MINE.

"I believe in love surviving death into eternity."

Chapter Two

            I was laying on my back on Quatre's floor again the next night. Normally I would leave him to his business on Saturdays because I knew he would have to catch up on the work he missed to come dancing with me. These were special circumstances though so I thought maybe it would be all right. Unfortunately for me, Quatre had been getting upset phone calls all day long from his business and thus was not in the best of moods.

            Sometimes I need to learn when to quit.

            "It'll get your mind off of all of this, Q…" I offered examining my hands as I held them aloft in front of my face. "Sure you don't want to go again?"

            "Why are you pushing this?" He asked, not really paying attention to me any more. "We never go on Saturdays and I'm extremely busy right now." I could tell that I was really trying his patience.

            "Just for an hour." I pleaded, disregarding his question.

            He sighed and looked across the room at me, as if actually considering the issue. Finally he shook his head in a defeated way. "Does it have to be me or are you just looking for someone to go with you?"

            "Both!" I insisted, dropping my hands and propping myself on my elbows. "I'm looking for someone to go with and it's gotta be you."

            "You couldn't possibly bring someone else?"

            I rolled my eyes and flopped back down again. "I could but it wouldn't be half as much fun."

            Reaching over his desk he grabbed the cordless phone and tossed it rather cruelly into my lap. Luckily I just barely managed to catch it before it did painful damage. "Call Relena or Hilde. You know they'd love to be anywhere you go."

            Giving him an offended look as I picked up the phone, I dialed Relena's number first. "Fine." I surrendered sulkily. "But only because you're super busy." I turned my attention to the phone just as a sweet, female voice answered. "Relena? Hey, it's Duo."

            "Duo!" She chirped happily. "So nice to hear from you! I was beginning to think you were avoiding me."

            I wanted very badly to tell her that yes, I was, even though I knew how rude that would be. "Things get busy sometimes." I said vaguely. "Anyhow, I was going to head over to OZ tonight and I wanted to know if you'd come along?"

            She made a noise of delight. "That would be great! I haven't been out in ages! Do you want me to bring Hilde?"

            "If you could. I know she's in your part of town." I replied. Hilde was my sometimes sort-of girlfriend. I wasn't really sure what we were all about but she was really the only girl I considered closer than "just friends." She was at least more fun than Relena so the night might not turn out so badly.

            "Was that so hard?" Quatre asked, grinning. He had stopped what he was doing to watch me call the girls.

            "No." I said moodily. "I'd still rather go with you. Have you seen Relena try to dance? She wasn't made for the club, she was made for a completely different society."

            "Isn't Hilde going?"

            "Yeah, Relena's going to pick her up on the way."

            "Well, there. I know she can dance."

            I grinned. "Yeah, she can. You'd better watch out or she's going to get as good as you, Quatre." I hopped to my feet and grabbed my coat as I headed for the door. I paused with my hand on the doorknob. "Are you… gonna be awake?"

            He checked his watch and thought about it for a second. "Not later than one, all right? I do have to get up at a decent hour."

            I shook my head with a grin, not bothering to comment on that. Quatre was one of those people who would get up at seven every morning for their own pleasure. Not because someone was forcing them but because they wanted to. I will never understand the logic behind that. I love to sleep almost as much as I love to dance.

            I actually arrived at OZ earlier than I intended. There weren't nearly as many people there as usual, maybe half the cars as most Friday nights. The night was young still but I knew that Saturday was a less busy day. People had to get up for church in the morning and apparently dancing the night away is not a proper excuse to skip.

            Since neither girl was waiting by the entrance like they would have been if they had arrived before me, I meandered inside past the bouncer. The club was not nearly as packed and seemed to have an almost relaxing feel to the beat of the music. It was pulsing perfectly in time with my natural heartbeat, unlike most Friday nights. I slipped through a knot of people that were just standing in the middle of the hallway and scanned the place for an empty table.

            Upon finding an empty table I settled myself in one of the black chairs to await the arrival of my friends. While they were actually closer to the club than I was I had no doubts that it would be at least a little while longer before they showed. They were female, after all. That fact seemed to mandate that they take about a trillion times longer to get ready for anything, much less anything semi-important to them. As long as I live I will never understand women. Fortunately liking and understanding are two different things.

            Sitting sideways in my chair, one arm propped on the table and the other on the back of the chair, I tried to relax. There were a few people standing around the edges of the floor, chatting as best they could over the volume. My gaze traced over a couple that was off to my right, dancing in their own, slower world to a beat no one else seemed to hear. The rest of the floor was sparsely populated with dancers. I spent a moment more fidgeting and surveying the dance floor before finally deciding to get a drink.

            I froze just as I hopped out of my chair.

            He was sitting at the bar.

            In the same place, the same seat as the night before.

            He had folding his arms on the bar top, head hung just so as he stared dully at the surface. The dance floor lights fluttered colors across the black leather jacket as I approached, eyes tracing a path down his lean form. He was just as gorgeous as before even if he felt less approachable this time.

I had to try. His mere presence would drive me insane otherwise. He was the whole reason I was here in the first place, in the hopes of speaking with him again.

I slipped into the chair beside him, mimicking his posture before glancing over to him and looking over his face. He gave me a sidelong look, expression darkening before he turned away from me. As he got to his feet I sighed and rose to follow. He froze, stiffly turning to face me.

"Can't you leave well enough alone?" He asked quietly.

"Tell me your name." I wheedled sweetly, ignoring his intense glare.

"No. I told you to leave me alone and I meant it."

I came within an inch of making a snappy, smart-assed remark. I wish I could tell you that I knew what stopped me, what stilled my tongue but even now I still don't know. Shaking my head I offered him an apologetic smile. "I can't. It's absurd but I feel like I know you, even though I don't think I do. If I let you wander off I'll never know for sure, will I?"

"It's better that way, trust me."

"I beg to differ!" I protested, moving forward carefully, as though approaching a stray cat. He backed off a step- frustrating but expected.

"I didn't want to do this." He said cautiously, watching me like a hawk and ignoring all others. Oddly, no one seemed to notice the rigid way we were standing, just at the edge of the dance floor. "But if you won't leave me alone I will leave you alone. I will walk out that door and I won't look back. That's how it's got to be, Duo."

I was floored that he remembered my name, having been sure that his encounter with me the night before would not have been even that important. "If you leave, I will find you. No matter where you are or how long it takes, I will find you again." The words felt strangely familiar on my tongue.

He offered a bittersweet smile as he moved toward me. I stood stock still, waiting to see what he was going to do this time. Any movement at all on my part could startle him or scare him off and that was the last thing that I wanted at this point. With slow movements he placed his hands on either side of my face, without touching it. I could feel no warmth emanating from him as he searched my eyes with his own dark ones. He leaned forward, lips by my ear as he whispered.

"That's what you said last time."

Shivering, I pulled away from him, giving him a confused look. Last time…? I didn't remember saying anything of the sort last night. I knew I hadn't been drinking so there wasn't a chance I could have forgotten saying something like that.

I struggled to find my voice again. "W-what are you talking about?"

"Next time," he replied, gaze dropping wistfully to the floor, "find me quickly. I don't want to have to go through this a third time."

"Third time?" I echoed, feeling lost.

"Duo!!!" Squealed two female voices behind me.

I ignored them for half a second, staring intently at this cryptic boy who had so far said so much and told me so precious little. He refused to meet my eyes, focused intently upon the linoleum floor beneath our feet. Against my better judgment I tore my gaze away from him and turned to see Hilde and Relena making their way across the entrance floor to me. I waved half-heartedly, wondering briefly why it had taken them so long to get here.

When I turned back around to finish interrogating the boy, he was gone.

Vanished.

Again.

"Dammit!!" I shouted, stomping in frustration as I scanned the dance floor. He couldn't have gotten far, could he? I whirled on Hilde and Relena when they reached my side. "The boy. The boy I was just talking with… Did you see where he went?"

"What boy, Duo?" Hilde asked confusedly, looking around.

"You were just standing there when we walked in. It was a little strange to see you standing still when you could have been dancing but we figured you were waiting for us!" Relena added, giving me her own concerned look.

"I wasn't! There was a boy standing right there." I motioned to where he had been standing not ten seconds ago. "Did you see where he went?"

Hilde shook her head, exchanging a worried glance with Relena. "Are you sure? We didn't see anyone… Have you been drinking already?"

"No!" I cried, irritated that everyone thought I hallucinated when I was inebriated. I growled, stalking over to the chair I had claimed earlier and snatched my coat from the back of it. Giving the girls a dirty look I stormed past them. "I'm going home. I'm not feeling well."

I slammed every door I could on the way to my car, earning me a few angry looks and shouts. I didn't care. Something was definitely wrong. This was twice now that I had seen this boy and no one else could even fathom what I was saying when I mentioned it.

Like they really couldn't see him.

Like he wasn't really there.

Like he didn't really exist.

I had to get to the bottom of this before it drove me completely insane.

Fortunately, I knew just who to call.

End Chapter Two, Stay with Me

Notes:

::rolls around:: Sorry this is all taking a billion hours. I've actually been writing –somuch- but… none of it is stuff I can post yet! Ah! I love you all for reviewing, thank you so much. It just makes my day and motivates me to keep going on things that, being lazy, I would probably give up on otherwise. So, thank you. So very, very much. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry it's so short! . I'd love to hear from you all what you think of this chapter and indeed, this story. Please leave a review or drop me an email! I love mail!!!