Enjoy!

xXx

Meiran was true to her word. She spent the rest of that week getting to know Wufei better. It was at the beginning of the next week, after school, she went up to him to ask him out. I was at the sidelines, silently cheering her on. But he'd beaten her to it and Wufei asked her out instead, and now he glares at any boy who so much as looks at Meiran. It's really funny, but I'm not sure if she has noticed yet.

Throughout the whole of that first week, Heero and his brother decided that they were going to hang with the four of us. Sure they talked to other people but they reallyjust stayed with us mostly. We became a close-knit group. Of course Relena tried to get Wufei and Heero to hate us by telling them all of my secrets but nothing seemed to disgust or faze them. Heero was only really was surprised when he found I was gay.

We played basketball after school everyday, except when I had to leave early on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays because of my job. I never managed to win against Heero. And the most infuriating thing was that he always won by only a few points! I swear he did it on purpose, just to annoy me.

Relena was still trying to 'win' Heero. She was convinced that she was in love with him and that he secretly liked her. She always seemed to pop up wherever we were. Heero took to hiding from her. But on Friday before P.E started, she just walked into the boys changing room. Heero hid from her obviously but when she couldn't find him she started searching the whole changing room while calling out his name. Someone had to go and get the coach to get her out of there. I think this is the first time that Heero had to hide from someone, especially from a girl.

I told you I had a job before. When we had first moved in with Richard, I knew I was going to hate him. First of all because he's not my dad and never will be. For someone so rich he sure was stingy, apart from when it came to Her Bitchiness becausewhen it came to me, I got nothing. My mother refused to give me money as well.

And secondly, when I first met him I got the distinct impression that he was looking down on me. He was always sneering at me, taking every chance to speak down to me. And he refused to shake my hand. So you can see why I hate him so much.

When I found out he was rich, I made a promise to myself that I would never even touch his money, so I wouldn't dishonour my real father. And that was when I decided to get a job. The job's great; I work at a music store so I get some sort of discount on the CDs. They pay great as well so I have enough for the things I need. I don't buy anything for luxury – if I have money left at the end of the month, I save it for next month. And I think I'm doing quite well.

I believe I lost my mother when my father died; she just got worse and worse. Then she got married to Richard and I hit rock bottom. I would say 'we' but she doesn't believe that she hit rock bottom – she thinks our lives got better and that I should be grateful. Now my mother (if I can call her that) has just drifted further and further away, until she just another stranger to me in the house. I think she betrayed my dad because it was quite soon after she died that she got remarried. Almost as if she was waiting for him to die so she could marry Richard. She doesn't understand why I'm so angry now but when I try to explain she never listens.

xXx

I came home from work on the Friday evening. My friends and I were going to go out that night for a pizza or something. So I came in and changed into my black combats, my blood red t-shirt and my long black coat. I glanced out of the window and saw clouds hanging ominously overhead. I just hoped that the rain held until I had arrived at Quatre's.I never did get around to buyingan umbrella.I was just putting on my black boots when Richard came up to me.

"Where do you think you're going at this time of night?"

"Out" was my cold reply. As if it was any of his business.

"You are not going out at this time of night with those street rats." He spat those words like it was some sort of poison. And I don't know what he meant by 'this time of night' because it was only 8 o'clock.

"First of all, Quatre Winner is actually richer than you so technically he's not a street rat." His face went red when I said this. It'd always seemed to irk him that Quatre's family was richer than his. "Secondly, it's 8 o'clock in the evening so it's not that late. And lastly, those street rats are the closest thing I have to a family, since this one is so twisted." I was standing up by this time. My arms were crossed over my chest and I was working hard not to lose my temper.

"I told you were to be home when the sunsets, and I'm sticking to that!"

"Tell me Richard, where's Relena? She's out with her friends, I believe. How come you're not yelling at her, telling her that it's too late to be out? I mean she's only a small, defenceless, little girl and she's only with hergirlfriends." Something flashed in Richard's eyes but before I could decipher it, it was gone and his glare was back with a vengeance.

"Relena is with respectable people and I know I can trust her not to get into trouble where she's going. You are not going to be. You're not even respectable yourself! And i know that I'll probably have to come and get you from the police station tonight." My left eye twitched.

"Oh, you and I both know that that's not the reason. You," I pointed at him, "and that woman over there who claims to be my mother," I then pointed to her. "are so fucking biased in Relena's favour and hate me so fucking much that I'm surprised you even gave me a room in this house! I'm surprised you haven't kicked me out yet because according to you, I'm not respectable. I'm nothing like Relena so why would you want to keep a failure. Why didn't you just give me away when I was born? You could have saved me all this grief. Oh! I know why! Because dad made sure I stayed. Because dad was the only one who loved me and now that he's gone, you don't have to bother with me any more!" Tears were prickling in my eyes from all the pent up hate, and rage and painthat was coming off me in palpable waves, but I refused to shed them because my dad told me that boys don't cry.

"Duo Kennedy Maxwell! What have I told you about speaking to your father like that!" She came storming into the hallway absolutely livid,tendrils of hair escaping her bun making her look crazed, pointinglike I'd just committed all seven deadly sins. I swear she never listens.

"And I've told you, he's not my fucking father!" And with that said I turned on my heel and stormed out of the house. When I reached the pavement I broke into a run. An angry voice drifted to me on the wind.

"Duo Maxwell! You get your butt back here right this instant!" but I just ignored it.

I kept on running until my lungs were burning for air and my legs were aching and yet I kept on running. And then, like in the movies, it started to rain. My onlythought was,Great, it would start justwhen I leave the house.It came down in torrents, like the heavens were crying for me, because I was unable to. I arrived at the park that we played basketball in and collapsed onto a bench, scrambling to get air into my tortured lungs. I was drenched down to the bones but still I sat there. I sat there for what felt like ages; it could have been hours, it could have been mere minutes. I didn't know. I just sat there staring into nothingness, feeling the rain running down me like it was trying to wash away the dirty emotions flowing through me. All the hate and the anger that had been building up over the years finally found an outlet. One crystalline tear escaped from my closed lids. And it was like the dam had been broken. Tears after tears ran down my face, mingling with rain to wash it all away. I thought I could stop the pain if I willed it all away, but it looked like I was wrong. Again.

And when the last drops of hate left my body leaving an empty shell, void of all emotions, my head just dropped to the bench like a stone where I just lay there, shivering uncontrollably.

Then suddenly, I heard voices, and the silhouette of one lone person came into view. The person came closer to reveal himself as Heero. I think he shouted something but I didn't know. I was so numb and all my senses were dulled. But he must have because others came into my view. And as they got closer I saw that they were the rest of my friends. They started talking, at least I think they were because their lips were moving, but no sound was coming out. I was still shivering uncontrollably until someone wrapped their arms around me as they led me to a car.

I don't remember much from that night, all I can remember is being led to the car by two people; one on each side. We slid into the back of the car. I was still snuggled between two people. I buried my head into someone's chest, sinking into the blissful dark abyss, falling into a restless sleep. My last coherent thought before letting the darkness in was,

I don't want to go back. Please don't take me back. Please…

xXx

I must have mumbled that out loud because when I woke up the next morning, I wasn't in my little closet of a room. I was in someone else's who was very well off. I sat up quickly to get a good look around the room, but that was a mistake because the room immediately started to spin and there was a pounding in my skull that went on relentlessly. I collapsed back onto the bed; my eyes shut tight willing the nauseous feeling to go away. Once it had subsided I sat up again, slowly. I was right because that room was massive! I was lying on a four-poster bed that was a dark, mahogany colour with deep, red, silk sheet engulfing me. The whole room was done in terracotta colours: the wall was burgundy and the three-seater sofa and a single sofa chair were the only furniture in the room apart from the bed. The rest of the furniture was aubergine. There was a fireplace in the room with a blazing fire in its hearth, the incandescent reds and oranges making shadows dance on the wall. I was so busy looking around that I never heard the door open or the person walk into the room, until I heard his voice.

"So you're finally awake." His only answer was a sneeze that shook my whole body then a series of coughs that made my lungs ache and my throat burn. When my little fit had ceased, I found out how bad off I was There was a deep, painful throb throughout my whole body. I felt empty and numb from the great emotional discharge, and my head moaned and groaned with every movement I made. I turned to the voice and was surprised to see Heero there.

"Hey Heero," I croaked out. Heero seemed to understand my silent requestbecause a glass of water appeared from nowhere and he handed it to me. I gulped it down gratefully before handing the glass back. With my throat soothed I proceeded to speak. "What happened to me? I feel like shit." Then I groaned when my head throbbed a little harder.

"Hn. You tell me. We were waiting for you to meet up with us, but you never showed. Quatre phoned your house to find out what had happened and we got some rude woman telling us that you'd run out of the house and that she didn't care where you were." Yep that was my 'mother'. I'd recognise that description anywhere. "So we started out looking for you. When we found you, you were just sitting in the rain doing nothing and you passed out in the car on the ride back. We took you here because you said you didn't want to go home. Trowa and Meiran would have had to deal with their parents and Quatre said his dad doesn't like you, so I volunteered our house." Oh the wonders we have worked on Heero. He now speaks real answers instead of his monosyllabic grunt and speaks up when we're together instead of only replying to questions. Of course when around strangers e.g. Relena he reverts back to his old self but then, I wouldn't change that.

"Hey, but what about your parents? Didn't they mind?"

"They're dead."

Oh.

I decided to leave that topic and move to something a little more…friendly.

"I've gotta go home now, Heero. Where are my clothes?" I pulled back the covers to get out of bed despite how I was feeling but Heero strode over there, put his hand on my chest, making me painfully aware of how clothes-less I was, and pushed me back down to the mattress. I looked up at him in confusion.

"No. You're not going anywhere. Your clothes are in the bin because they were damaged beyond repair. You just said you feel like shit and you haven't even eaten anything yet. So you are going to stay in bed while I bring you breakfast. You are going to take the medicine that I will provide for you and I will lend you some clothes." And then he just glared at me as if he was just daring me to argue with him. I sighed. I knew I wasn't going to win that.

"Okay Heero." He was almost out of the room when something occurred to me. "Heero, Where's Wufei?"

"On a date with Meiran,"

"And Quatre?"

"Doing some work for his father."

"Trowa?"

"He said he had to help out at home. They would have all been here today but I told them I would look after you."

"Okay. Thank you." He just nodded and left the room. I yawned which seemed to tell the rest of my body how tired I was, so I sank back into the covers gratefully and drifted off to sleep.

xXx

Wow! looks at what she has just written What is with me and angst? I don't usually write it. This fic is supposed to be humorous! Well, looks like I failed that genre.

I hoped you liked it.

Hey I've just had a crazy idea! Why don't you review and tell me what you think? What did I tell ya, crazy man…

Until next time minna! Ja