I decided to go to school on Monday even though I was far from being better. Staying at home trying to look after yourself because your 'family' either didn't know or didn't care that you were sick wasn't exactly easy. My friends did come and visit me later in the day on Sunday but they couldn't stay long before Richard threatened to call the cops to kick them out. I'm not joking, that's what he said he'd to do.

I arrived at school just as the bell was going. I would have arrived earlier but on the way to school (I had to walk because Quatre didn't know I was going to go to school on Monday and I had no way to contact him) I felt dizzy and I had to sit down for about 10 minutes until the wave of dizziness and nauseous-ness passed. I entered home room seconds after the teacher did and took my usual seat next to Heero.

"Baka. What do you think you are doing in school?" Huh! Good morning to you too Heero! Oh I'm fine thank you, how about you?

"You try to look after yourself when you're sick!" I hissed back. You can tell how much he cares.

"Oh Duo I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were coming to school today. I'm really sorry." Aww, poor Quatre. I can always count on him for sympathy. Give him enough time and he could probably find a way to blame himself for the eruption of Versuvius!

"Don't worry 'bout it Cat. It isn't your fault." Then I remembered something. I felt the grin creeping over my face. I was sure Heero moved a few inches away from me. I turned to Wufei and Meiran.

"So," I began a sly smirk on my lips, 'How was your date, hmm? What was Heero interrupting when called? Nothing important I hope." Bingo! Wufei had a nice blush going there and Meiran was looking anywhere but at me.

"It's just, Wufei seemed awfully angry. From what I heard through the ph–"

"Duo Maxwell!" My head whipped 'round. I think that I hit Heero in the eye with my braid.

"Yes miss?"

"Don't act innocent with me!" I grinned at that, "I've been calling you for at least 5 minutes now! Stop talking to Mr. Chang and Ms. Long and FACE THE FRONT!" I thought she was gong to burst a blood vessel. She was so red in the face and was breathing heavily. I decided to 'behave' for the rest of home room but I had a permanent grin fixed on my face until the end.

We were walking down the corridor to our second period. I was in front so I was walking backwards so I could talk to them. I was still teasing Wufei and Meiran about their date when someone shouted for me to watch out. I turned around to see what to watch out for and collided with someone. I stumbled backwards a bit but the other fell to the floor with an Ooof! I looked down to apologise but when I saw who it was the words choked and died in my throat. It was my darling sibling…

Relena.

"Watch where you are going, street trash." she hissed at me. I rolled my eyes, Here we go again, I was thinking.

"What the hell are you talking about? You walked into me! And stop calling me street trash! I've never actually lived on the streets." Amazing. Less than 5 minutes talking to her and I was already pissed.

"Watch your mouth!" she snapped, dusting off her clothes and straightening her skirt. "It's not proper to use such foul language in front of a lady."

"What lady? I don't see one." I muttered but she didn't hear me and carried on.

"And you would be street trash if my father hadn't taken pity on you." She stopped a second, and then a positively wicked smile appeared on her face. "Come to think of it, everyone you meet seems to pity you. My father does, your friends do, your manager does and yes, even your father did.'

"You have no right to talk about my father about my father, so leave him out of this." My eyes had narrowed as I racked my brains, trying to find out where she was going with this.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it Duo? Your father pitied you so he acted like he loved you. But when even he couldn't take having such a failure for a son, he killed himself to get away from you." The world came to a screeching halt around me. I clenched my fists, if anything to stop myself from punching her and my vision bled red. The tense atmosphere around us froze as Relena's laughter rang out into the silence. I took a deep breath to calm myself down so she couldn't see that she was getting to me. I became completely calm almost to the point of feeling detached. I'd locked all my emotions up in a hastily assembled box so I was no longer feeling the red hot anger of before. I was feeling a cold fury that was simmering behind my wall of calm detachment. I smiled; a cold manic one that had nothing to do with being happy and wasn't quite sane. I think Relena noticed some thing was wrong because she stopped laughing and I saw fear creep into her eyes.

"Relena, my dearest Relena. You know, I think I've finally gotten it. You know, I think you are jealous of me." I saw her open her mouth to retort but I shook my head and it snapped shut again. "I mean I have real friends not just some mindless sheep that don't have enough brain cells to think independently; I am best friends with someone who you want to be your boyfriend. And he doesn't even like you. An–"

"Now wait a second. You are wrong there." She seemed to gain confidence once again, "Of course Heero likes me! Isn't that right Heero?" I was pretty peeved that she had interrupted me – actually, I was very angry that she had interrupted me so I just glared at her.

"Heero,"

"Hn?"

"Tell me do you like Relena? Come on, tell the truth!" Heero just raised one eyebrow before answering.

"No." Relena gasped. I think she may have finally gotten it that Heero doesn't like her.

"See Relena-dearest. He doesn't like you." My cold smile was back again full-force, "and that's what you can't stand; the fact that I have something that you don't." By then I was stalking towards her. She kept on taking one step back as I took one step forward to keep our distance.

"Oh and Relena-darling?" I growled, "Don't you dare talk about my dad ever again!" And with that I lashed out. The box had crumbled under the full force of all my emotions and they ran rampant through my mind. Relena had given up trying to get away discreetly, and turned around completely to start running. But she stumbled in her heels and that was all I needed. I leapt at her and tackled her to the ground. I didn't care about what my dad had said about never hitting a girl; Relena had it coming to her. My wall had crumbled and my cold fury poured forth. She kept on struggling but to no avail. I pulled back my fist ready to punch her with it, but before I could bring it forwards it was stopped by a hand around my wrist. Two more hands wrapped themselves around my other arm and together they grabbed me off Relena. They then proceeded to drag me down the hall, presumably to the principle's office. But I wouldn't go without a fight.

"Put me down! Are you listening to me? I told you to put me down! Don't you fucking touch me! Get you mother fucking hands off of me!"

"You heard him! Put him down!" Wufei snarled. My friends were standing in the pathway of the teachers that had me in their grasps.

"Move out of the way kids!"

"We are not moving until you take your hands off of him. So I'll tell you again: Take Your Fucking Hands Off Him. NOW!" Wow. I'd never seen Heero that angry before. He was standing there at the front, glaring for all he was worth and looking ready to actually attack the teachers that weren't listening. They tried to step pass him but they couldn't dodge past him. In the end they got so pissed off that they dropped me unceremoniously to the ground and stormed off. I picked myself up of the floor and walked to the principle's office myself, with my friends walking behind me.

"Well Mr. Maxwell. I thought that you wouldn't be paying me any more visits. Why are you in my office this time?"

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me?" At that moment I was beyond annoyed and was into the zone of being royally pissed off.

"Many students and two teachers said that you attacked Miss Peacecraft and was about to hit her when you were pulled off of her."

"Yeah well the things she said were enough to provoke anyone to hit someone, even a girl."

"I don't see what such an innocent girl like Relena could've said to make you attack her so viciously. The poor girl was scared out of her wits." I rolled my eyes at what she was saying. 'Innocent', my ass!

"First of all I only tackled her to the floor; I didn't even get the chance to hit her. Damn teachers pulled me of before I got the chance. And second of all, if you were to ask my friends they would tell what really happened and not some fabricated lie that only Relena-worshipers can spout." She gasped at that but I went on regardless and told her what really happened.

"Well she couldn't've possibly meant all of that and she probably would've apologised if you gave her the chance instead of attacking her like a man possessed." Unbelievable, right? Don't worry I'm used to it whenever it comes to Relena.

"Oh. My. God! Is that all you are going to say? She said horrible things to me about my dead father, and all you're gonna say is 'well she didn't mean all of that' and you expect me to take that! I mean she started all of this and yet I'm the only one that seems to be getting punished!" Yeah remember I said I was used to it? It doesn't mean I have to like it. At that moment in time I was up out of my seat and pacing again. All my previously forgotten anger was returning.

"Aren't you going to at least give her a detention?" I demanded. Heh, I think I scared her.

"Why of course not! Miss Peacecraft was the victim in all of this." I froze mid-step. I think she sensed to change in me because she seemed to be watching me a bit warily.

"Victim? Victim? It's that conniving little bitch's fault in the first place!"

"Mr. Maxwell please watch your mouth and calm down, please." She told me. You don't know how annoying it is to be told every second to watch you mouth.

"How can I calm down when she's going to get away with it without even a measly detention? And stop telling me to watch my mouth!" I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins making me feel light-headed and I was pacing viciously around the room. I must have really pissed the headmistress off because…

"MR. MAXWELL. I told you to watch your mouth!" Something audibly snapped and I think it was the fragile thread of sanity I had left. I abruptly turned on my heel and stormed out of the office. I yanked the door open and slammed shut so hard behind me that it ricocheted of the doorframe. My friends were waiting in the secretary's office for me. I believe they heard every single word of my conversation with Principle Kelly. I stalked right pass them where I proceeded to yank that door open as well.

"Duo! Where are you going?" Quatre cried out. At least there are some people that care about me.

"Out." was my indifferent reply. I think they understood me because I carried on through the door without any more questions. But when I got to the kerb (1), reality hit me. Where the hell was I going to go? I had no work until later that day and couldn't exactly go back to the house. I sat down on the kerb. I was completely stuck! Suddenly I felt an arm go around my shoulders. I looked to see who it was and saw Quatre kneeling next to me and all of my friends: Heero, Trowa, Wufei and Meiran. Trowa smiled down at me.

"So Duo, where do you want to go now?"

"What are you guys doing out here? Go back inside, I don't want you lot to get in trouble as well!" I hissed at them.

"Don't be silly Duo. Who says that you get to have all the fun?"

Really I have the greatest friends, don'tcha think?

And that was how we all ended at Heero and Wufei's house. We were all sitting in the bedroom room with Muse blasting out through their Hi-fi system. Trowa and Quatre were sitting on the bed kissing for all they were worth. Wufei and Meiran were play on their PS2 and Heero was on the soft, plush carpet using a laptop – most probably his. I was lying next to Heero slowly getting lulled to sleep by the sound of his typing……

They woke me up when it was lunchtime and we ordered pizza. I think I ate a whole large pizza by myself. I was so hungry!

We left around the end of school to avoid getting to any more trouble than they already were in – well everyone else did apart from me. I wasn't quite ready to face the music, so to speak. So I stayed in the living room with them – Wufei and Heero – and we just talked, you know got to know each other better.

It turns out that their parents were killed in a space shuttle crash when they were quite young. They ended up being moved from relative to relative until they went to go and live with their aunt and uncle. Now their parents were quite rich since their father was an ambassador of L1 and their mother was a civil servant so they left a substantial to them both in their Will. They lived with their aunt until they were 17 when they moved to the Earth to get as far away as possible from the money-grabbing witch and gained their inheritance. That was only a few months ago.

I told them of my dad and how he died of cancer when I was young. I told them of how my mum had changed and how Richard and Relena hated me and made my life a living hell. I told them of how I had to get a job to survive and the days when I used to get in trouble with the law on a frequent basis, just to annoy Teresa and Richard. They didn't pity me or patronise me. They somehow managed to sympathise without making me feel bad.

It was around 6 pm when I deemed myself ready enough to go back to the house. I'd used their phone to phone Howard and tell him that I wouldn't be in that day then I bid my friends farewell and was about to walk out the door when Heero offered to give me lift home. Unfortunately I was too worked up to enjoy the motorcycle ride and soon enough were pulling up outside that familiar door. I climbed off the bike, gave Heero back the spare helmet, waved goodbye as he drove off into the night, sighed to myself and then trudged my way up the steps. I let myself in and tried so very hard to creep in unnoticed but all was to no avail, because from behind the study door, came a deep voice.

"Duo Maxwell, I would like to have word with you."

xXx

(1) Okay, I've been getting a lot of reviews telling me that this isn't the right of spelling of this word as in the-side-of-the-road kerb BUT that is the English spelling of it and I am British damnit!

Phew! Glad to get that of my chest.

Made it extra long for all of you!

Hikaru: Glad to know that I'm not the only insane one out there!

Camillian: Thanks for your review! I wasn't sure if I was doing Heero's personality right, so thanks.

Mariana1: There ya go! I nice, fat, juicy update for ya!

Seamonkey: Thank you for your compliment because I usually get B's in English!

RikoRishodeathangeloflight: Well, ask and you shall receive! And lookie you asked, and now you have received!

elephant-chimes: Anou, I hope it's not too late to save your sanity! And I updated just like you told me to.