Disclaimer: I don't own GW, Savage Garden, or anything else I may have alluded to, much to my sorrow, so please don't sue, all you'll get is pocket lint anyhow, and I'm sure you already have as much of your own as you could possibly want

Warning: fluffy cotton candy and citrusy goodness. Some Relena bashing. Shounen-ai, yaoi (if you don't know what it is, you shouldn't be here). AU. If this isn't your cup of tea, go drink coffee or something.

In the Savage Garden

"Kay," Duo nodded cheerfully, braid bouncing... "Talk to you in a bit!" And he took off, bounding up the stairs, disappearing around the corner before Heero'd even got his got unlocked…

I would fly to the moon & back if you'll be…
If you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we belong
So would you be my baby…

Ch. 3 – To the Moon and Back

Switch POV

Duo took the stairs three at a time, bags banging against his legs with each step. He almost broke his key in the lock in his rush. He dumped his things in a pile by the door, keys on the nearby table, and made a beeline for the shower, shedding clothes as he went.

He turned the tap to hot, and finished undressing as the water heated up. He flicked the radio on high, and stepped under the spray as his favorite oldies began to blare.

Gotta move quick, he reminded himself. Maybe I should have put the pizza in first. Shit! Why didn't I put the pizza in first?

He grabbed the bar of soap from its dish and began to work it to a lather between his hands.

What if he's ready and just sitting around waiting for me? He's probably going to get bored, and pissed, that I take so long. Crap, then'll come the 'you take as long as a girl' cracks, and I don't want that from him! Of all the people, I don't wanna hafta make Heero wait.

Quick, now. Soap arms, legs…

God, but what if he doesn't wait? What if he decides I'm taking so long it's a waste of his time, or he thinks that maybe I'm taking so long 'cuz I changed my mind and am really blowing him off, or something, and maybe he should just go out after all?

Rinse, gotta hurry…

Calm, breathe. He's not going to get pissed and leave. He wanted to shower, too. He can come up and we can wait for the pizza together. I could even ask him what he wants, so it's like I was being considerate, not slow, and that way, I won't hafta worry over whether he likes it or not. Perfect. Just relax.

Duo dragged his fingers through his braid, loosening it so he could wash his hair.

"And now, another half hour of your old-time favorites!" the radio announced.

Duo began to shampoo his hair as the new song started, finally relaxing into his shower.

"If you look out your window tonight – Pull in the string with the note that's attached to my heeaaaart… Read how many times I saw you – How in my silence I adored you – And only in my dreams did that wall between us come apaaaart!" Duo sang, holding the end of his hair like a microphone, before rinsing and adding conditioner.

"I can hear your music playin'… I can feel your body swayin'… One floor below me you don't even know me, I looove you!" he sang into his hair.

"Oh, my darling! Knock three times on the ceiling if you waaant me! Ooo, twice on the pipe if the answer is nooo – I love you, I love you – oh my sweetness!" he hit the wall three times, "means you'll meet me in the haaallwaaay! Mmm, twice on the pipe – " bang, bang, "if you ain't gonna shooooooow!"

By the time the song ended, Duo had lathered, rinsed, and repeated, cleansing his hair of dirt, shampoo, and conditioner. He turned the tap off and hopped out, humming along with the new song.

He briskly toweled himself dry and wrapped the towel around his waist, using another big bath towel to get his hair off his back.

Still humming, he began to riffle through his closet for something to wear. And panic resurfaced. What was he supposed to wear on a first date? It had been so long since he'd had to think about dressing for a date, he'd never worried about it when he'd been with Hilde. He and Hilde had moved past the 'dating' stage so long ago, he didn't even know what to do on a proper date anymore. Was this even a date at all? They weren't actually going anywhere, or doing anything they hadn't done a million times before as friends. But now it was different. Wasn't it? Why?

Because we kissed?

Duo had stopped paying attention to what he was doing, and merely stared at his clothes without seeing them.

We kissed years ago. That didn't mean we were dating. But now… but now what? Now we're both single. And we both need to move on. Oh, god, what if he's just rebounding? What if he thinks I'm just rebounding? What if – no! Stop. Focus, Duo. Just take one step at a time. Get dressed. Get dinner ready. Talk about it when he's here. Get dressed. Now.

Duo turned back to his clothes, and groaned. "This is hopeless!" He bit his lip, and started his search.

Finally he found a pair of pants, but gave up on the shirt. He'd find something after he fixed his hair, he couldn't put one on first in any case: it would just get soaked.

He grabbed his favorite hairbrush and headed for the kitchen, leaving his towels in a pile on the bathroom floor.

He began to root through the freezer, then stopped, realizing he still hadn't called Heero.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. He smacked his forehead, then proceeded to stare at the phone.

It didn't move.

Not that he'd been expecting it to, of course. It was a phone, after all, and phones didn't move of their own accord, even nice black ones with shiny screens. At least, he didn't think they did, and he was pretty sure that if a phone ever jumped off its hook to hula around the room, he would have heard about it, chocolate Christ, everyone would have heard about it.

But it was awfully hard to stretch out his hand and pick up the phone. It was like the first time he'd ever gone on stage – the first and only time he'd suffered stage fright. He had butterflies in his stomach and his body didn't want to move.

All right, Duo growled at himself. Pick up the phone, and call. It's easy! Sweet and sour Mary, if I'm this over a damn call, what'll it be like if he's actually here? When he's standing right in front of me, with those eyes Duo shivered and paused for a moment, wishing desperately for a mental printer, then shook himself. This is pathetic. Just pick up the phone, and dial.

Duo picked up the phone, put it back, then picked it up again. Dial, you stupid punk!

He dialed, then gnawed anxiously on a thumbnail as the phone began to ring.

"Hello?" it was Heero's voice on the other end, Duo realized, half relieved, half apprehensive. Though who else would be answering Heero's phone Duo didn't know, and didn't want to think about.

Duo quickly took his hand away from his mouth, feeling more awkward than ever, and took a breath to make sure his voice was steady. "Hey! It's me!"

"Duo?"

"Yeah."

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Hi."

"… um… Didja wanna come watch the movie?"

"Of course! Now?"

"Now?" Gulp. "Um, dinner's not quite ready yet…"

"That's all right. I don't mind waiting."

"Ok. Um, actually, dinner's not really started, so…"

"Do you want me to, er, order something?"

"Oh, no! I have food! You don't have to do anything! Just… what do you want? I have pizza, or I could do lasagna, or…"

"Pizza's fine."

"Cheese? Pepperoni? Some funny kinda – "

"Pepperoni's good."

"Pepperoni it is."

"All right."

"All right. So, uh, it'll be about fifteen minutes. Maybe a bit longer."

"Ok. See you in a few minutes."

"Kay. See ya."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Click.

And breathe. Duo carefully put the phone back in its cradle. He stared at it for another long moment, still not expecting it to waltz across the room, just waiting for his heartbeat to settle back to a more reasonable pace. No matter what the irritably sensible part of his head yelled, his body refused to believe that calling his best friend on the phone was any less terrifying than being completely unprepared for the intense brilliance of the spotlight while trying to remember a speech on opening night, first time on stage, with a packed house.

After what seemed like an eternity, though in reality was probably under a minute, Duo no longer felt like he'd just run a marathon, and realized he could inhale properly again.

Pepperoni. Pepperoni, he told himself, and dug around in his freezer until he came up with the appropriate box. He swiftly de-plasticked the pie within, and slid it into the microwave, punching the defrost button.

Checking his watch, Duo gave himself just shy of fifteen minutes to finish getting ready. He then headed for his room to dry and re-braid his hair, already pulling his brush through the tangled mass.

A new song began on the radio as Duo began the lengthy de-knotting process. Strangely, instead of being frustrated by the seemingly never-ending task of caring for such long hair, Duo tended to find the old routine soothing, almost more ritual than routine. He could lose himself in the steady motions and let himself relax. And the apartment was warm enough that he didn't mind getting a bit wet again – if he had, he'd have thrown a towel over his shoulders.

"Red, red wiiiine," Duo crooned along with the radio. "Stay close to meeee – Don't let me beeee alone – it's tearin' apaaaart – my blue, blue heart…" he trailed off, still humming, as he became absorbed in his task.

Duo was just about to plait his hair for his customary braid when several loud knocks on his front door broke him from his reverie. Startled, he almost dropped his hairbrush. The first thing he registered was that the song had changed, the second was the cause of the interruption: someone was at the door, knocking.

Alarmed, he checked his watch, but it had only been just over five minutes since he'd hung up the phone, so it wouldn't be Heero yet. Duo breathed a sigh of relief as he rose to his feet.

Who could it possibly be? Quatre, maybe? Or Trowa? To make sure he didn't want to go out? But they would have called…

Whoever it was knocked again, louder this time.

"I'm comin'!" Duo shouted, making his way to the door, not bothering to find a shirt or even put down his brush.

Could it be Hilde? She got impatient when he didn't answer immediately, and she liked showing up out of nowhere. He thought she'd said something about going out of town for a few days to visit… someone. Duo couldn't remember. Maybe she'd come to say goodbye.

Duo couldn't think of anyone else it might be. Catherine was still in LA, Wufei was at Meiran's, and Duo felt justified in assuming Meiran was there as well.

Duo yanked the door open, prepared to tell Hilde off for her lack of patience, and felt his breath catch in his throat.

It was not Hilde standing outside his door, fist poised to rap on the wood once more. It was Heero. And he looked far too good to be spending the evening in a friend's apartment for a night of microwave pizza and old movies.

Granted, his clothes were simple enough: comfortable-looking jeans and a fitted black tee. His hair was messy as always, though damp from recent washing. But despite his casual appearance, the man practically oozed sex appeal.

"Hey," Duo managed to choke out, after a long moment of stunned silence, thinking, If anyone can pull of the bed-head look, it's Heero.

"Hey," Heero repeated, dropping his hand back to his side and blinking rapidly. He'd been staring at Duo as intently as Duo'd been staring at him.

Duo suddenly felt very self-conscious. It all came crashing back to him, that he was standing in his doorway, shirtless, and sprinkled with water from his still-unbound hair. He felt his face heat up.

"Uh, sorry," he mumbled, feeling incredibly awkward. "I didn't really expect you just yet. The food's not done."

"Oh," Heero looked nearly as uncomfortable as Duo felt. "I figured it'd be okay if I just came up. Thought we could talk while the pizza heated, or something." He shifted a bit. "Um…"

This is bad, Duo thought. The apartment's a mess. I could've at least hung up the towels!

"I didn't realize you weren't dressed, or…" Heero was trying not to stare, and trying not to make it obvious that he had to try. He was failing miserably.

Crap. Shirt! Hair!

"Did you, uh, want me to go, and maybe come back in – "

No!

"No!" Duo managed to get out. "I… um… I was just startled, is all."

Duo, you idiot. Stop standing in the doorway! He's still in the hall!

"Er, come on in." He backed up hastily to allow the taller boy room to enter, mind frantically wondering how he could at least pick up the clothes and towels he'd left around the apartment before Heero noticed them, and ended up tripping over the rug in the entryway.

He went down, and Heero, crossing the threshold, got caught by Duo's wildly flailing limbs and fell heavily on top of him.

As everything went dark, Duo heard the voice on the radio cheerfully singing,

"Come a little bit closer
You're my kinda man
So big and so strong
Come a little bit closer
I'm all alone
And the night is so long…"

A/N: so, uh… sorry it's short? I've been crazy busy, please don't hurt me! Um… "Knock Three Times" is Tony Orlando and Dawn. "Red, Red Wine" is UB40, and "Come A Little Bit Closer" is Jay and the Americans. Anything else? Oh, right. R & R!!! please!!! ::big puppy eyes:: I'll love you forever and ever if you do!!!