Notes and Disclaimers: GW is not mine (sobs), but the others are. Especially Shiane and Amy.
Chapter 3Shiane's parents called back an hour later, luckily after they had all eaten dinner. Shiane picked up the line in the den,
"Hello, Collins residence." She said in a polite tone.
"Shiane Tera Collins!" her mother yelled over the line, causing Shiane to pull the phone from her ear about a good six inches.
Savannah smirked evilly at her friend and Lucy looked a little guilty. Everyone else looked up at the girl, having heard Shiane's mother clearly. Duo gave a grin and caught a face full of pillow that Shiane threw at him. Shiane turned her back on the den full of people.
"Yes, mother?" Shiane asked with a meek tone, though she didn't mean it one little bit.
"How dare you walk out on us! We weren't done talking to you!" Mrs. Collins was still yelling.
Shiane frowned and walked out of the den and to the kitchen, where she put it on speakerphone. She was not going to talk to her mother while holding the phone six inches away from her face the entire phone call and in front of a room full of people.
When her mother paused Shiane interjected, "I had every right to leave! You were saying that I had to stay home and concentrate on my schoolwork and not my grandmother. Well sorry to burst your bubble, Grandma Collins is my flesh and blood too. I am her heiress and no matter what you say nothing will change that! She chose me and not anyone else! That is what you and father is so pissed about isn't it?" Shiane nearly yelled back. "Besides I keep my grades up to As and have always been like that." She added.
"…You have absolutely no right to say that to me! I am your mother…" she started but Shiane interrupted,
"You are my mother, yes but you never cared for me like Grandma does! I don't even know why you even bother! All you and father do is yell at me and punish me and say that I'm not allowed to come up here! Well I am transferring up here and living with Grandma! You can't stop me." With that Shiane slammed down on the hang up button before her mother could say anything else.
She stood in the kitchen still seething and clenching her hands and unclenching them. She stared down at the phone her teeth grinding against each other. Her mind was still yelling at her parents, but nothing that she would actually say to them. They could have the cops take her back to her parents and she didn't want to provoke them that far.
Shiane didn't even notice when someone joined her in the kitchen. She was still mentally yelling at her parental units. But when the person lightly placed their hand on her shoulder she jumped, very startled. She turned under the person's hand and found her grandma looking at her.
"Grandma!" Shiane exclaimed, her anger startled away.
"Shiane, we could still hear you and your mother from the den. I just wanted to let you know that the others know what was said." Lady Collins said evenly.
Shiane blushed, "I didn't mean to be so loud." She said.
"I know you didn't. But I have a feeling that Duo may give you a hard time about the volume of your voice." Lady Collins had a slight smile. She was greatly amused by something Duo must have said or done.
"Great." Shiane replied sarcastically.
"Now about your parents. If you do decide to transfer to the high school here, I will back you all the way. But if your parents bring in the authorities then I will have to let you go. I am not your legal guardian after all." She said.
"I know Grandma. And I am going to be moving here and going to this high school here in town. I have good enough grades that I should have no problem." Shiane added.
"Since that is done with, why don't you return to the others? Maremeia has already retired for the night and I am also headed for my bed." Lady Collins said tiredly.
"Yes, please retire for the night. We will all be fine. I'll see to it that the guys get their rooms. Do not worry about us." Shiane instantly said, seeing that her grandma was exhausted.
Lady Collins kissed her granddaughter on the forehead and let her out the back way from the kitchen. Shiane turned and went back to the den where she found Duo trying not to grin at her as she joined them.
"Not a word from anybody. I don't want to hear it." Shiane said as she took a spot on the floor against the couch, which was occupied by Trowa, Lucy and Quatre. Duo and Hilde were on the loveseat, arms wrapped around each other and Heero and Savannah took the armchairs. Amy was also sitting on the floor leaning back against the loveseat.
"But" Duo tried to start, but Hilde clamped a hand over his mouth.
Shiane looked up over at him and said evenly, "Put it this way. I know basically which room you will sleep in and I know this house like the back of my hand. I don't need lights to get around. And I can't kick you out since Grandma was the one to invite you guys over, so you be nice or you will have to answer to me or I can find something else to do."
"Is that a threat?" Duo asked, his voice gone dangerous. He had taken down Hilde's hand while Shiane spoke.
Shiane looked him in the eye, not flinching. "Yeah, I guess it would be." She said calmly.
"OKAY! Shiane calm down. Duo shut up." Savannah said, refereeing. She knew what Shiane could be capable of, especially after a fight with her parents. And despite that Duo was a soldier, Savannah wasn't so sure he would win.
Shiane looked away from the American. Duo's dangerous expression smoothed out to a smile as Hilde whispered promises into his ear. Nobody had to ask what she was saying. Shiane sighed and rose from the ground.
"I'm going outside." She announced and left the room.
"Don't forget to call Jonathon and let him know you're already up here." Savannah called after her friend's retreating figure.
"I won't." Shiane called back over her shoulder. Her cousin Jonathon always came to Grandma's for Winter Vacation. But then so did Shiane and usually Savannah and Lucy.
She didn't know someone followed her until she had already gone down the steps of the front porch. The front door opened and closed again, causing her to pause in her steps and say without turning around, "Do you guys randomly follow people or am I just a special case?"
Trowa came up beside her and studied her face, though half hidden in the shadows of night, before answering, "I never thought you could be so rebellious."
"Well, it's not really a fault I can take the total blame for. My parents don't like me learning about the Wars or that Grandma told me all those stories." Shiane replied with a small frown. She started walking, Trowa still beside her.
"For a change of subject, could you give me a tour of the grounds since we're out here?" he asked.
Shiane glanced up at him, a little surprised at his question. "Sure, we have nothing better to do." She replied. She led him to the building behind the main house and paused before opening the door.
"This is the gym. There's an indoor pool and also a basketball court in a room adjoining the pool." She said and then turned the handle. Luckily the door was unlocked and they walked inside. Shiane found the lights and flipped them on. As the lights came on Shiane stared as she found water still in the pool.
"Huh, that's funny. Grandma usually doesn't have water in here when it's winter." She said.
"But then she usually doesn't have this many guests, does she?" Trowa replied.
"No." Shiane replied simply. She walked along the edge of the pool, Trowa following by her side. But when she stopped to toss her shoes and socks to the side near a chair, Trowa smirked. They walked a few more steps, but then Trowa lightly pushed Shiane, causing her to fall in the water and making a big splash. Trowa got wet, but not as much as Shiane.
She came up sputtering and cursing, but she started laughing. Trowa crouched at the edge and asked, "Have I lightened your mood?"
Shiane wiped water from her face, looking up at him. "Yes. But now I'm wet and getting cold. Help me out." She reached out a hand towards him and waited.
Trowa took her hand, but as he started pulling her out of the water, she jerked back on his hand, pulling him into the water with her. She was laughing as Trowa came up beside her, sputtering.
"Yes, Trowa you have greatly lightened the mood." She said with a grin. She pulled herself up onto the side of the pool and sat on the edge, her legs still dangling in the water. "But now we're both wet." She added, still grinning down at the young man.
Trowa moved through the water and hoisted himself up to sit next to her. He pulled his shirt off and began squeezing the water out. His bangs were smoothed to one side because of the water, giving Shiane full sight of his eyes. She knew they were deep green, but never noticed that they were a gorgeous emerald green. She also noticed that Trowa had a nice, muscular torso, especially when water glistened on his skin and streamed down.
Trowa caught her staring and asked, "See something you like?" he smirked at her when she blushed and averted her gaze. He wrung out as much water as he could from his shirt, but didn't put it back on. He set it beside him and glanced back at Shiane. She was still looking elsewhere, but there was still a faint blush in her cheeks.
"Are you going to answer?" he asked gently.
Shiane gazed back up at him and replied, "You have gorgeous eyes." She said simply.
Trowa blinked and stared at her. When he made no move to reply, Shiane rose and walked across the room and opened a door. She glanced back over at Trowa and found him still staring at her. She took another moment to admire his physique and then said,
"This door leads to the women's locker room, and that one," she gestured at another door three feet from her on her left, "is the men's locker room. There's some towels in there to dry off and I think there might be some extra clothing. But I'm not sure. You can rummage around to see if there are any dry clothes." She added with a small smirk. Then she disappeared through the door.
"I hope I left some clothes in here last time I swam." She mumbled as she went to a cabinet to get a towel. She carried the fluffy blue cloth into the area where sinks and mirrors were and set the towel on the edge of the counter. She looked up into the mirror in front of her and said out loud, "I look like a drowned rat!" Pieces of her hair had come loose from her braids and looked thoroughly drenched. She squeezed out as much water as she could from her hair, but she sighed, she'd had to blow dry her hair when she returned to the main house. But she peeled off her wet, cold clothing and briskly rubbed her body dry. Then she wrapped the towel around her slender frame and went looking for clothes.
But all she found was a bikini and a pair of faded blue jeans. Grumbling again she donned the clothes, both pieces of the bikini and then pulling on the jeans. But she was grateful that she had kicked off her shoes before Trowa pushed her into the water. Discarding the towel into a basket that was for dirty clothing and linen she walked back out of the changing room. Trowa had not emerged from the men's room, but that gave her time together her socks and shoes.
Then Trowa stepped out from the locker room and spotted Shiane on the opposite side of the room finishing tying her shoes.
Shiane looked up. Trowa had managed to find a pair of jeans that fit him snuggly, but he still was without a shirt. She smiled.
"I see that you had better luck than I did." He commented as he came up to her. She rose, but did not blush one little bit at his statement. She knew she would get some kind of comment from him, though she had also really doubted it. From the stories she had been told and the time she had first met him, he had been quiet and spoke only when needed…most of the time.
Trowa openly stared at Shiane, who had a wonderfully slender frame and a very nice body to look at. But before he was caught staring he moved his gaze around the room.
Shiane glanced at him and said, "I think we should head back to the house and change into other clothing." She said.
"I agree. But if Duo saw us he'd expect an explanation and think the worst of us." Trowa said with a small grimace.
"Then we'll take the back way." Shiane replied.
"But if we still went back to the den he'd expect us to explain ourselves and why we changed." Trowa said with a smirk.
Shiane looked up at him, briefly horrified at the deductions their friends would come up with. "Then I'll give you a tour of the rest of the house, nowhere near the others. How about that?" she asked.
"Sounds good to me. Your Grandma told us that our bags are at the top of the stairs, so we could pick them up and choose our own room, with help from you or Savannah." Trowa replied.
"Done," she said, heading towards the door. She waited until Trowa was already outside before turning out the lights and shutting the door to the gym pool.
"So, back to that tour of the grounds, there is a clump of trees out in the middle of our spacious yard. But I must warn you, there are vines keeping people from venturing inside and also poison ivy. Lots and lots of it." She said.
Trowa glanced down at her walking beside him with a questioning gaze. "Is there any way to get inside?" he asked.
Shiane was expecting a question of the sorts and grinned as she replied, "Yes, but you have to know the way in."
"Is there something you're not telling?"
"Of course." She replied cheerfully and left it at that.
"Apart from what you've already seen, my grandma owns about twenty-five acres of land here. The house is consisted of three stories, but also an attic and basement, making it five." She continued. "We teenagers have the west wing for the most part, but I think Amy, Heero and the engaged couple are going to be in the east wing of the house."
"And you are one of those in the west?" he asked curiously.
"Yes. I already have a room here, as do Lucy, Savannah and Jonathon. We always have for as long as we can remember. When were younger, we would come up quite often, for most of the time my parents would leave me up here for the summer or long breaks from school." She said, her thoughts taking her to her past deep in her mind. But she shook her head to clear her past from her head.
They came upon the back door, which Trowa held open for the girl. Shiane walked right under his arm and into the kitchen. Luckily no one had come into the room and found the two sneaking up the stairs the back way. When they reached the top of the stairs, Trowa scooped up his duffel bag and continued following Shiane. She was peeking into each room, trying to find out which were already taken and which were free. If they were empty she kept the doors open, but if they were already occupied she closed the door again.
"Okay, take your pick. The rooms that I know are taken have closed doors, so that leaves you with a wide range of rooms to pick from." Shiane said as she gazed at the many of open doors through the hall. "Just remember which room is yours." She added. She watched as Trowa walked into a random room before heading to her own.
Sighing as she closed the door behind her she gazed around her room, noticing that she had clothes all around the room, especially on her bed with her bags. She went over to them and while in the process of finding something else to wear, she put away all of her clothing. Stripping out of the clothes she had found in the pool locker room she changed into fresh undergarments and pulled on some more jeans and a blue long-sleeved shirt. Staying barefoot, she piled her clean clothes in the closet on the floor and then closed the door.
"I'll just put them away later tonight or in the morning. Depending on how much time I have before bed." She said as she went to the door. Opening it she walked out and glanced down the hall towards the room Trowa had picked. He was leaning against the wall next to his closed door and looked up when he heard Shiane emerge from her room.
Now he wore a pair of jeans, not yet faded and a black turtleneck. He had donned a different pair of leather boots, but his hair was still quite wet. Before she could be caught staring she looked down the hall and then asked, "So any particular area you would like to start in?" she looked back over at him.
He walked closer, a smirk on his lips. "No. How about just start with this floor?" he replied.
"Okay." Shiane felt a little shy but pushed her shyness aside. "Let's see, this floor has a total of ten rooms, most of which are used as bedrooms. And on the third floor there are fewer rooms. The door that leads up to the attic is also on the third floor." She said.
While she gave him the tour of the house that she could without ever getting near the den the other teenagers chatted.
"Did you notice how Trowa went after her?" Savannah giggled to Lucy. Her usually silent friend just nodded, a glint of mischief in her eyes and a smile on her face.
Hilde and Duo looked interested in their coming gossip and grinned at each other. They knew what would be coming.
"Wanna see if we can throw them together?" Duo asked.
Savannah and Lucy both looked at him, a little surprised. "What? Do you mean like try to hook them up together?" Savannah asked.
Duo nodded, "That's exactly what I mean. Trowa could use some love and stuff in his life."
Heero left silently, heading for the front of the mansion. Quatre on the other hand watched the others intently and agreed with what they were saying.
"He does, you know," the blond chimed in. The others looked at him and all nodded. "Besides, I think Shiane will make him a good counterpart," he added.
Savannah and Lucy exchanged looks again, but they were grinning. "I think that's the best plan I've ever heard for hooking Shiane up." Savannah said.
The three looked a little puzzled and looked to Savannah for an explanation. She sighed and then said, "It's just that Lucy and I have tried many times to play matchmaker on Shiane. And most of them she found out about somehow. Now she tells us to leave her love life alone and up to the Goddess." She explained.
Duo and the other two just nodded, completely understanding. "But with you guys helping with subtle nudges from both sides I think we will enjoy our efforts." Savannah concluded.
"Sounds very good to me." Duo and Hilde said together. They grinned at each other and Hilde placed a soft kiss on his cheek.
TBC
7
