Author's Note: It's been almost three years since I updated this (yikes!). I stopped updating due to lack of motivation and direction. I now have motivation and direction and so I am updating :) I have obviously grown up a fair bit since I last wrote this, and will no longer demand reviews for updates :D still can't believe she actually did that Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this.
A short, slim and altogether compact man lay on the side of an alley on his back. He was leaning his side against the wall and had his arms folded behind his head. He stared up at the night sky and sighed. Tim had run up a few minutes ago and said something about seeing Duo, but then they were interrupted by a regular customer who took Tim away for the night.
Tim always got the most customers. Tim said that it was because he knew how to keep his mouth shut and Ade didn't. Ade had pointed out that he had made lots of friends. 'But not customers Ade,' Tim had replied, 'And isn't that what you should be worrying about?'
Tim's words still rung in his head. Ade glared up at the stars, then thought about what Tim had told him earlier. Did Duo truly come here? /He probably just got lost./ Ade fantasised that Duo had come to the alleys as a customer. /I wonder what he looks like now? He would be thin, that's for sure. Lean, slim hips...huge violet eyes. Hmm..../
Ade's thoughts were cut short as a boot connected with the side of his ribs. All the air in his lungs came out in a rush and he gasped for breath. A hand grabbed at his white-blonde ponytail and pulled him to his feet, where he wrapped his arms around his stomach and heaved for breath. The hand on his ponytail pulled his head up and Ade felt lips on his, enduring a forceful kiss. Ade pulled back as he gained his breath. He looked up into the face of one of his few regulars.
"Even a kiss has it's price Tony." Ade glared at his and tried to extract his ponytail from the big man's grasp. He and Tim always called this particular customer Bluto behind his back due to his uncanny resemblance to the large hairy bully from 'Popeye'.
"But you're such a good little whore Ade." Bluto turned him around and put a large hairy hand on the back of Ade's neck and pushed him out into the street toward his car. "Off we go then!"
Tim sat with his back to the wall in the alley and lit a cigarette. He inhaled deeply and calmly exhaled the cigarette smoke into the cool night air. He rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He hadn't had a bad night. Or a good one either; but it didn't matter either way, because he had $120 in his back pocket, which meant that he and Ade could pay the rent that week at least.
Tim looked up and down the alley. It was fairly quiet. A few of the other prostitutes he knew were coming back for the night. Some went to wherever their home was; others hung around hoping to catch one more customer. He looked up at the sound of tires screeching out on the street. The car peeled away, but a few of the others headed down the alley to check it out.
"Oy Tim!" he heard Alexa call to him. Alexa was a transvestite who hung around the area.
Tim ran out to the street to find Ade pulling himself out of the gutter. "Ade!!" He ran over to his friend and put his arms around his waist, helping him up.
"Tony pulled up and dumped him here." Alexa said absently while fishing through her handbag for a tube of lipstick. Ade straightened his clothes and leaned on Tim's shoulder. Alexa wandered off, her heels clicking on the cement.
"Are you okay?" Tim asked, brushing a few loose strands of hair off Ade's face and tucking them back into his ponytail.
"Oh, yeah. Bluto was just playing his sick little games again." Ade winced as Tim felt Ade's newly bruised eye.
"Did he pay you"
.
"He always does." Ade ran his fingers lightly over his left side. "I think he bruised a few ribs this time." The two had walked back to the alley. Tim sat down cross-legged. Ade lay next to him and rested his head on Tim's thigh, sighing. "I don't know Tim, is this really worth it?" Tim opened Ade's vest. He always wore an open black vest and tight black pants when he walked the alleys. Tim ran his fingers lightly over the bruising on Ade's left side. It was pretty bad. "I mean, didn't I leave home to escape abuse? I guess, well, it doesn't really matter anyway. The dickheads in this world always seem to catch up with me anyway, but the point is; is this a better life?"
"Depends on how you look at it. You have more food than you ever used to. You cop less beatings most of the time. I mean, everyone has their ups and downs. At least you've got me. At least I have you. That matters heaps to me......do you, d'you think that's important?"
Ade opened his eyes and smiled. " 'Course it is. You know that. If you weren't around I'd be dead; we both know that. It's just.....oh, I should stop complaining. As long as we have a home to go I'm content. Speaking of which, can we go there now? It's pretty late, there won't be many punters around now." Ade stood up and brushed himself off. He jogged to the end of the alley and then turned, hand on hip, waiting. "Come on!"
Tim jogged to catch up and put his arm around Ade's shoulders as the two walked home.
Duo and Heero arrived at Wufei's party at exactly 9 o'clock.
"Told you we'd be half and hour late." Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero. Heero ignored him and weaved through the tangled mass of bodies the find the host. Duo followed.
"Happy Birthday Wufei!" Duo pushed past Heero and hugged their friend.
"Thanks Duo." Wufei said, half exasperatedly as he tried to remove himself from Duo's arms. "Why are you two so late?"
Duo shrugged. "General disorganisation."
Heero raised an eyebrow. He had been sure Duo would blame him, or at least tell Wufei about their journey down the alleys. Heero reminded himself to question Duo later about the incident. He wondered who Tim was. /The name is vaguely familiar, but I have known so many Tim's that it probably doesn't matter./
"I didn't know what to get you at first Wufei, I mean, what do you get a guy who has everything?" Duo gestured at Wufei's girlfriend Cassie, who blushed a little. Duo liked Cassie; she had long red hair and dark eyes. "So anyway, my first idea was novelty condoms," Here both Wufei and Cassie coughed a little. "but Jem would probably have kicked my ass." Jem was standing a few feet away. The twenty-year-old was Cassie's older brother, and Tim and Ade's former best friend.
"Damn straight." Jem glared.
Now it was Duo's turn to cough a little. "SO..I got you a goldfish. His name is Cecil." He pulled from behind his back a tiny goldfish bowl the size of a baseball.
Wufei stared at it. You always had to expect the unexpected with Duo. But this?? /He couldn't buy me condoms so he bought me a fish?/
"Uh, Duo..that's a siamese fighter fish. It's not even gold. It's purple." Wufei pointed out.
Duo stared at it. "Oh. Well it's a fish anyway. You like it?"
Wufei smiled. "Yeah I do." He took the bowl from Duo and put it on his mantlepiece. It was a strange gift, but in a weird way Wufei really did like it. Duo had a knack for doing these kind of things.
Heero handed Wufei a card. Whatever was written inside made Wufei smirk. Inside the envelope was a gift voucher for Wufei's favourite book store.
"Thanks Heero." Wufei smiled warmly at his friend and Heero half-smiled back.
Wufei turned around, "Oh, Duo..." Duo had disappeared from his side. Wufei looked around in confusion and saw that Duo had wandered off to talk to Jem on the far side of the room.
"What is it Duo?" Jem asked patiently, though he was itching to get back to the dance floor.
"Guess who I saw on the way here? TIM!" Duo exclaimed, not waiting for Jem to guess.
"Shit!! Really???"
"Yeah!! In the alleys near here!"
"What about Ade? Was he there too?"
Duo shook his head. "No...Tim didn't mention him either. He didn't say much at all actually. But I'm meeting him tomorrow night, same place."
"Can I come?" Jem immediately asked.
"Come where?" Jem's boyfriend Milliardo asked, coming up to the two and putting his arm around Jem. Even though Duo had gone to school with Jem, he had only gotten to know him through Milliardo.
"To see an old friend of ours." Jem answered.
"No one I should be jealous of?" Milliardo said with a cocky grin.
Jem grinned. "The last time I saw him we were both ten. He and this guy Ade were my best friends. They both ran away from home together. I had always assumed they were dead. Looks like they've made a new life for themselves though."
"Yeah, as prostitutes." Heero joined in the conversation.
Jem did a double-take. "Shit! Oh yeah, I guess you did say you saw Tim in an alley, but I just didn't think."
Milliardo frowned. " The two of you are going down an alley to visit a prostitute? I don't know if I like that."
"Exactly," Heero frowned too. "It's not really safe."
Duo glared at Heero. "Heero, how can you say that? You saw Tim. He was more afraid of us than we were of him."
"Uh...but, I'd be worried for you. The two of you."
Duo dropped his glare. "We're big boys. Jem and I will be fine. Besides, you're not my mother." Duo grinned playfully at Heero.
Both Milliardo and Heero opened their mouths to protest, but were cut off by both Jem and Duo.
"We're going!" they said together.