Title: Secretly Loving You 11?
Author: sanaaki Warnings: shounen-ai/yaoi, AU, Heero-centric, romance, sap Pairings: 1x2x1 (main) P Rated: PG Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except the story. Archives: finallyfantasia .netfirms .com, Notes: Switching back and forth between different POVs.
Recap: Duo turns down a blind date with Heero. Heero ends up with Wufei. Innocent Wufei wants his best buddy Duo to get along with his boyfriend and has decided to throw them together more often to facilitate this. Duo and Heero enjoy an outdoor concert together. Now what?
Feedback much appreciated.
"Wufei, I'm not sure it's working out." There, he said it. "I think we should call it quits."
"What?" Wufei stared at him in shock. Surely Wufei didn't mean for him to repeat that. He hadn't really even wanted to say it in the first place. He hated confrontations like this. Man this was awkward. He concentrated on trying to count the number of eyelashes Wufei had.
"Heero…?" Damn, guess the question hadn't been rhetorical. He should've studied English harder.
"I think we should break up," he tried again. That surely had to be clearer. He was pretty sure he had been loud enough the first time so he had to conclude that he hadn't stated what he wanted clearly enough.
"Why?" Ah the burning question.
"I don't know."
"What?!!" This scenario was beginning to sound familiar. He resumed counting eyelashes.
"Heero…"
"I have to go…" he decided that perhaps a mocha frappucino at one of the Starbucks that pretty much graced every corner would be a good way to cope with what was becoming a decidedly unpleasant experience. He grabbed his sunglasses and made for the door. Wufei stepped in front of him.
"Heero, you owe me an explanation. This is sudden. I thought things were fine between us. Is it that you decided you want Relena after all? Did seeing her at the party change things?" Wufei looked at him with angry, wounded eyes. He hadn't wanted to hurt Wufei at all. He did like him. He wasn't even sure himself what had prompted his precipitous decision to break it off. It always seemed to turn out this way. He never knew the reason, he just knew he had to.
"I don't know, Wufei. I… I've been taught to follow my emotions and right now it's telling me that this…" he gestured to Wufei and himself "is not working for me."
"I can't accept that, Heero." He stared at Wufei for a moment and then pushed passed him. He opened the door. Wufei grabbed his arm. "We are NOT over, Heero!" He sighed inwardly, shook Wufei's hand off and stepped out, closing the door behind him decisively. He heard the door opening again but ignored Wufei's calls to come back.
He hurried out, blending easily into the busy streets of Manhattan and quickly found a Starbucks that suited him. He ordered his drink and sat by the window so he could view the people passing by. He was bad at breaking up. He knew this. He never wanted to hurt anyone. If he could have gotten Wufei to break up with him, he would have tried. Wufei just didn't seem to be the type though. Wufei was tough and seemed to want to work hard at everything he attempted, including relationships. He looked at the few couples passing by his line of sight. He sighed wistfully. He had really wanted to work out with Wufei and not simply to prove Trowa wrong. Though he did want to prove to Trowa he could commit to someone and have a meaningful relationship, all he had succeeded in doing was proving to himself that maybe Trowa was right. Maybe it just wasn't in him to be with anyone. All he ended up doing was hurting people. He didn't know how to be in a relationship or how to end one for that matter. Being with Wufei just hadn't felt right. He had to do the right thing. Trowa was probably going to have his head for this. Perhaps it would be best to be alone for awhile. He ran his fingers through his bangs disheartened. His life was once again pathetic. Sighing resignedly, he crossed his arms on the table and then buried his head in his arms. Why did he always end up being alone? He hated being alone. He was sick of being alone. He did alone very well. He wanted for once not to be alone.
He saw a girl pass by with a long braid. It reminded him of Duo. He thought about his time with Duo last night. That had been fun. No pressure, no expectations. It was good to be friends with someone. Maybe it was the sex that complicated matters. Maybe that was what had been wrong all along. Maybe it was that he didn't know how to be a good friend to someone without all the other stuff. He had moved around so much that he had never had that many really good friends. And after that, he somehow only managed to make friends with people who were interested in him. That might explain his failure at relationships. He should learn how to be good friends with someone. Once he could be a good friend to someone, maybe then he would be ready for a relationship. He mulled over that idea. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He would just learn to be a friend. Ninmu Ryoukai.
Who would be the perfect candidate to be friends with him? He thought for a moment. Trowa was out of the question because of their past history. Wufei was a definite bad idea. Quatre would be a bad idea because of the Trowa factor. Zechs was hard to trust. Relena wanted something from him. Duo… He really liked hanging out with Duo. But Duo was crazily attractive. Thinking about him sparked a frisson of desire in him. That couldn't be a good recipe for friendship, could it? Kismet would intervene once again and he would probably end up in this state once again. However, he brightened, there was one important difference. Duo was in love with Wufei. There was no reciprocity. Duo didn't want him in that "love" way. And with Heero out of the way, Duo would now have a chance with Wufei. He could even help that along somehow. The plan began to fall neatly into place.
Duo was perfect. He had no ulterior motives in befriending Heero so there was no chance of sex complicating matters. Oh sure, he realized that "something" was between them but as he understood it, love superseded lust. Duo wouldn't throw away his chance to be with Wufei for meaningless sex with him. This might really work. With that barrier in place, he could accomplish his goal of being a good friend. Maybe this interpersonal undertaking wouldn't be too difficult to manage after all. He already enjoyed Duo's company. He would just have to learn to ignore Duo's sex appeal and be his friend. Not too difficult, right? He sipped more of his frappucino and laughed to himself. Thinking while drinking some decadent coffee resulted in really good ideas. He should do this more often.
His cell vibrated. He dug it out of his pocket and answered.
"Heero…"
He groaned. Trowa.
"Wufei just called me. What's going on?" Trowa asked in his impassive, cold voice, the one he hated. He was probably angry with him.
"Trowa, I don't want to talk about this." The last thing he wanted was to be nagged about this. All he wanted to do was to forget about all this and move on. Why couldn't things ever be that simple?
"Heero…"
"Trowa, if that's all you wanted to talk about, I'm hanging up…"
"Heero, you're being an ass!!"
"Your point being…?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I don't have time for this. Mata," He hung up. He knew it was childish to run away but it was his prerogative, right? He considered his cell phone. On impulse, he dialed the salon.
"Shinigami's Scythe…" someone sang into the phone. Presumably Hilde.
"Is Duo in?"
"And whose sexy voice am I falling in love with?" she flirted.
He debated on whether to tell her. This could really open a whole other can of worms if he wasn't careful. He knew that though nothing was going on, it would appear suspect for him to call Duo right after breaking up with Wufei. Especially since they had never even talked much to each other. Under other circumstances, it would probably have been a reasonable presumption. He never had any qualms about going after what he wanted. And he was most definitely attracted to Duo but Zechs had made it clear to him that Duo was interested in Wufei. His attraction to Duo would probably never amount to anything. He just had a gut feeling about Duo. Duo just didn't seem like the type to be flippant with his feelings. If Duo cared about Wufei, then he probably had zero chance with Duo. But he decided that was ok. In fact, it was better this way. He was determined to be friends with Duo whether Duo wanted it or not. He could do this. It was his self-imposed mission. Duo did seem to run hot and cold on him but perhaps that was just Duo's way. And he found he wanted to know more about Duo's way. Duo intrigued him. He thought they could be good friends.
"Hello?" she prompted.
"Tell him it's a friend," he finally replied. Yes, friend sounded good. That's what he wanted to be. It sounded nice. Friend without benefits would be a nice change for once.
"Ooh how mysterious. Fine, hold on a sec…" she put him on hold and music from a radio station floated on.
A second later, Duo came on the line. "Yo?"
"Duo… it's Heero."
Shocked silence greeted him for a moment before Duo recovered and greeted him back. "Hi…" Was it him or did Duo's voice drop an octave lower and become decidedly more husky? Heero shivered and closed his eyes. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "What can I do you for?"
Heero's eyes shot open and then relaxed when he realized that was just Duo's teasing manner.
"That depends…" he decided to play along.
"On…?"
"If you can beat me at basketball…"
"Basketball? Sure, it's been awhile but I think I can still shoot some…" Duo laughed.
"Well, a bunch of guys are meeting for a game around 4 at 'The Cage'. I think there's a streetball league playing there before that but we should be able to get on court after."
"The Cage? The one in the Village, on West 4th street and 6th?" Duo questioned.
"Is there more than one?" Heero replied, tilting his head, eyebrow raised.
"You must play some serious kick ass b-ball if you want to play there…" Duo countered.
"Chickening out?" Heero smirked.
"Not a chance, boy toy, your ass is mine," Duo shot out.
"Alright, I'll see you then. Ja," Heero smiled, shook his head and snapped his cell shut. Duo was a big flirt but he enjoyed it nonetheless. It was a nice change from all the heavy stuff going on with Wufei. He bit his lower lip thinking about it. He did not want to go there again. His phone rang again and he picked it up thinking it was Duo.
"Having second thoughts? Can't take the heat?" Heero teased into the phone.
"Heero…" Wufei… Heero almost dropped the phone in surprise. Damn why hadn't he looked at caller i.d. first.
"Wufei…" he replied quietly.
"Who were you talking to? Did you think I was Relena or something?"
"Wufei, what do you want?" As much as he liked Wufei, he really didn't want to drag this out.
"How about we go somewhere and talk?"
"Wufei, I've said all I wanted to say."
"Heero… You can't be serious…"
"Take care, Wufei." He hung up and turned his cell phone off. He raked his hair with his fingers in frustration. Time for a cigarette. He walked over to a corner store and bought a pack. He had been trying to quit but it just seemed an impossible task at times. He leaned against the brick building next to the store and lit up. Wufei was making it harder than it needed to be. Maybe he really did need to have a talk with Wufei. Especially if he wanted to pursue a friendship with Duo. Things could get really unpleasant and awkward if he couldn't end things nicely with Wufei. Maybe he could help things along with Duo and Wufei even. He could find out how Wufei felt about Duo. Maybe they could get together. He felt slightly ill in the pit of his stomach all of a sudden. He eyed the cigarette. He really should stop smoking. He snuffed it out with his shoe and pitched the pack of cigarettes into the corner trashcan.
To be continued…
Author: sanaaki Warnings: shounen-ai/yaoi, AU, Heero-centric, romance, sap Pairings: 1x2x1 (main) P Rated: PG Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except the story. Archives: finallyfantasia .netfirms .com, Notes: Switching back and forth between different POVs.
Recap: Duo turns down a blind date with Heero. Heero ends up with Wufei. Innocent Wufei wants his best buddy Duo to get along with his boyfriend and has decided to throw them together more often to facilitate this. Duo and Heero enjoy an outdoor concert together. Now what?
Feedback much appreciated.
"Wufei, I'm not sure it's working out." There, he said it. "I think we should call it quits."
"What?" Wufei stared at him in shock. Surely Wufei didn't mean for him to repeat that. He hadn't really even wanted to say it in the first place. He hated confrontations like this. Man this was awkward. He concentrated on trying to count the number of eyelashes Wufei had.
"Heero…?" Damn, guess the question hadn't been rhetorical. He should've studied English harder.
"I think we should break up," he tried again. That surely had to be clearer. He was pretty sure he had been loud enough the first time so he had to conclude that he hadn't stated what he wanted clearly enough.
"Why?" Ah the burning question.
"I don't know."
"What?!!" This scenario was beginning to sound familiar. He resumed counting eyelashes.
"Heero…"
"I have to go…" he decided that perhaps a mocha frappucino at one of the Starbucks that pretty much graced every corner would be a good way to cope with what was becoming a decidedly unpleasant experience. He grabbed his sunglasses and made for the door. Wufei stepped in front of him.
"Heero, you owe me an explanation. This is sudden. I thought things were fine between us. Is it that you decided you want Relena after all? Did seeing her at the party change things?" Wufei looked at him with angry, wounded eyes. He hadn't wanted to hurt Wufei at all. He did like him. He wasn't even sure himself what had prompted his precipitous decision to break it off. It always seemed to turn out this way. He never knew the reason, he just knew he had to.
"I don't know, Wufei. I… I've been taught to follow my emotions and right now it's telling me that this…" he gestured to Wufei and himself "is not working for me."
"I can't accept that, Heero." He stared at Wufei for a moment and then pushed passed him. He opened the door. Wufei grabbed his arm. "We are NOT over, Heero!" He sighed inwardly, shook Wufei's hand off and stepped out, closing the door behind him decisively. He heard the door opening again but ignored Wufei's calls to come back.
He hurried out, blending easily into the busy streets of Manhattan and quickly found a Starbucks that suited him. He ordered his drink and sat by the window so he could view the people passing by. He was bad at breaking up. He knew this. He never wanted to hurt anyone. If he could have gotten Wufei to break up with him, he would have tried. Wufei just didn't seem to be the type though. Wufei was tough and seemed to want to work hard at everything he attempted, including relationships. He looked at the few couples passing by his line of sight. He sighed wistfully. He had really wanted to work out with Wufei and not simply to prove Trowa wrong. Though he did want to prove to Trowa he could commit to someone and have a meaningful relationship, all he had succeeded in doing was proving to himself that maybe Trowa was right. Maybe it just wasn't in him to be with anyone. All he ended up doing was hurting people. He didn't know how to be in a relationship or how to end one for that matter. Being with Wufei just hadn't felt right. He had to do the right thing. Trowa was probably going to have his head for this. Perhaps it would be best to be alone for awhile. He ran his fingers through his bangs disheartened. His life was once again pathetic. Sighing resignedly, he crossed his arms on the table and then buried his head in his arms. Why did he always end up being alone? He hated being alone. He was sick of being alone. He did alone very well. He wanted for once not to be alone.
He saw a girl pass by with a long braid. It reminded him of Duo. He thought about his time with Duo last night. That had been fun. No pressure, no expectations. It was good to be friends with someone. Maybe it was the sex that complicated matters. Maybe that was what had been wrong all along. Maybe it was that he didn't know how to be a good friend to someone without all the other stuff. He had moved around so much that he had never had that many really good friends. And after that, he somehow only managed to make friends with people who were interested in him. That might explain his failure at relationships. He should learn how to be good friends with someone. Once he could be a good friend to someone, maybe then he would be ready for a relationship. He mulled over that idea. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He would just learn to be a friend. Ninmu Ryoukai.
Who would be the perfect candidate to be friends with him? He thought for a moment. Trowa was out of the question because of their past history. Wufei was a definite bad idea. Quatre would be a bad idea because of the Trowa factor. Zechs was hard to trust. Relena wanted something from him. Duo… He really liked hanging out with Duo. But Duo was crazily attractive. Thinking about him sparked a frisson of desire in him. That couldn't be a good recipe for friendship, could it? Kismet would intervene once again and he would probably end up in this state once again. However, he brightened, there was one important difference. Duo was in love with Wufei. There was no reciprocity. Duo didn't want him in that "love" way. And with Heero out of the way, Duo would now have a chance with Wufei. He could even help that along somehow. The plan began to fall neatly into place.
Duo was perfect. He had no ulterior motives in befriending Heero so there was no chance of sex complicating matters. Oh sure, he realized that "something" was between them but as he understood it, love superseded lust. Duo wouldn't throw away his chance to be with Wufei for meaningless sex with him. This might really work. With that barrier in place, he could accomplish his goal of being a good friend. Maybe this interpersonal undertaking wouldn't be too difficult to manage after all. He already enjoyed Duo's company. He would just have to learn to ignore Duo's sex appeal and be his friend. Not too difficult, right? He sipped more of his frappucino and laughed to himself. Thinking while drinking some decadent coffee resulted in really good ideas. He should do this more often.
His cell vibrated. He dug it out of his pocket and answered.
"Heero…"
He groaned. Trowa.
"Wufei just called me. What's going on?" Trowa asked in his impassive, cold voice, the one he hated. He was probably angry with him.
"Trowa, I don't want to talk about this." The last thing he wanted was to be nagged about this. All he wanted to do was to forget about all this and move on. Why couldn't things ever be that simple?
"Heero…"
"Trowa, if that's all you wanted to talk about, I'm hanging up…"
"Heero, you're being an ass!!"
"Your point being…?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I don't have time for this. Mata," He hung up. He knew it was childish to run away but it was his prerogative, right? He considered his cell phone. On impulse, he dialed the salon.
"Shinigami's Scythe…" someone sang into the phone. Presumably Hilde.
"Is Duo in?"
"And whose sexy voice am I falling in love with?" she flirted.
He debated on whether to tell her. This could really open a whole other can of worms if he wasn't careful. He knew that though nothing was going on, it would appear suspect for him to call Duo right after breaking up with Wufei. Especially since they had never even talked much to each other. Under other circumstances, it would probably have been a reasonable presumption. He never had any qualms about going after what he wanted. And he was most definitely attracted to Duo but Zechs had made it clear to him that Duo was interested in Wufei. His attraction to Duo would probably never amount to anything. He just had a gut feeling about Duo. Duo just didn't seem like the type to be flippant with his feelings. If Duo cared about Wufei, then he probably had zero chance with Duo. But he decided that was ok. In fact, it was better this way. He was determined to be friends with Duo whether Duo wanted it or not. He could do this. It was his self-imposed mission. Duo did seem to run hot and cold on him but perhaps that was just Duo's way. And he found he wanted to know more about Duo's way. Duo intrigued him. He thought they could be good friends.
"Hello?" she prompted.
"Tell him it's a friend," he finally replied. Yes, friend sounded good. That's what he wanted to be. It sounded nice. Friend without benefits would be a nice change for once.
"Ooh how mysterious. Fine, hold on a sec…" she put him on hold and music from a radio station floated on.
A second later, Duo came on the line. "Yo?"
"Duo… it's Heero."
Shocked silence greeted him for a moment before Duo recovered and greeted him back. "Hi…" Was it him or did Duo's voice drop an octave lower and become decidedly more husky? Heero shivered and closed his eyes. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "What can I do you for?"
Heero's eyes shot open and then relaxed when he realized that was just Duo's teasing manner.
"That depends…" he decided to play along.
"On…?"
"If you can beat me at basketball…"
"Basketball? Sure, it's been awhile but I think I can still shoot some…" Duo laughed.
"Well, a bunch of guys are meeting for a game around 4 at 'The Cage'. I think there's a streetball league playing there before that but we should be able to get on court after."
"The Cage? The one in the Village, on West 4th street and 6th?" Duo questioned.
"Is there more than one?" Heero replied, tilting his head, eyebrow raised.
"You must play some serious kick ass b-ball if you want to play there…" Duo countered.
"Chickening out?" Heero smirked.
"Not a chance, boy toy, your ass is mine," Duo shot out.
"Alright, I'll see you then. Ja," Heero smiled, shook his head and snapped his cell shut. Duo was a big flirt but he enjoyed it nonetheless. It was a nice change from all the heavy stuff going on with Wufei. He bit his lower lip thinking about it. He did not want to go there again. His phone rang again and he picked it up thinking it was Duo.
"Having second thoughts? Can't take the heat?" Heero teased into the phone.
"Heero…" Wufei… Heero almost dropped the phone in surprise. Damn why hadn't he looked at caller i.d. first.
"Wufei…" he replied quietly.
"Who were you talking to? Did you think I was Relena or something?"
"Wufei, what do you want?" As much as he liked Wufei, he really didn't want to drag this out.
"How about we go somewhere and talk?"
"Wufei, I've said all I wanted to say."
"Heero… You can't be serious…"
"Take care, Wufei." He hung up and turned his cell phone off. He raked his hair with his fingers in frustration. Time for a cigarette. He walked over to a corner store and bought a pack. He had been trying to quit but it just seemed an impossible task at times. He leaned against the brick building next to the store and lit up. Wufei was making it harder than it needed to be. Maybe he really did need to have a talk with Wufei. Especially if he wanted to pursue a friendship with Duo. Things could get really unpleasant and awkward if he couldn't end things nicely with Wufei. Maybe he could help things along with Duo and Wufei even. He could find out how Wufei felt about Duo. Maybe they could get together. He felt slightly ill in the pit of his stomach all of a sudden. He eyed the cigarette. He really should stop smoking. He snuffed it out with his shoe and pitched the pack of cigarettes into the corner trashcan.
To be continued…