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Warnings: cursing, UNBETA-ED, adult situations, shounen ai.
Chapter XI, part ii
Twenty minutes later found Heero sitting in his car strangling the life out of the steering wheel, doing his best to ignore the impending sense of disaster that was permeating the air. He had arrived home five minutes ago, five minutes made longer by the fact that he was hard-pressed to find a parking spot in the driveway that evening.
It should not have been an issue. There should only have been two cars, his and his mother's. Instead there were four, neither of which should be there, but both of which were. What had happened, he wondered, when the driver of car four –back oh-so-early from his business trip- had discovered the presence of car three's driver, whose sense of propriety was obviously as weak as his sense of subterfuge, he having parked smack dab in the center of the driveway?
A led to B. B led to C. A + C led to D, with d, of course, standing for disaster and possibly divorce. A, B, and C stood for the type of words that, when uttered, would cinch his enrollment at Miss Plinkley's School of Learning to Pretend to be Nice or some similar such institution. He had the feeling, however, that if he went inside he would end up spewing all three words in a rather loud tone of voice along with a few other choice phrases, all of which would make Baby Jesus cry.
So he stayed in his car, melding his hands into the leather of the steering wheel and trying to look as if he was perfectly content, that he was enjoying sitting outside in the cool air and refreshing breeze. He wasn't reluctant to go inside; no, he was enjoying the song on the radio and wanted to hear it through to the end. Never mind that he had the CD. Never mind that he was anything but content. Never mind that the night was going to end with a call to both an ambulance and a lawyer –one the fault of his father, the other of his mother.
He wondered which one of them they blamed him on.
o-o-o
He didn't know how long he sat in the car before there was finally movement from the house. He watched indifferently as the front door swung open, the rectangle of light a flickering parody of warmth. Two silhouettes appeared; the larger threw the smaller off the front steps and onto the lawn, where he was transformed into an undignified shadow of a man by the soft glow of the garden lights. A third figure appeared and ran down the steps, crouching next to the fallen man.
It seemed, then, that D had indeed stood for divorce. Heero had little choice but to listen as his parents proceeded to initiate the separation a scant hundred feet away. His car windows did little to muffle their voices.
"I don't know why I ever thought I loved you!" Mrs. Yuy shrieked at her soon-to-be-ex-husband.
"You never loved me," he replied coldly. "You loved what you were when we were together. I just wish I had known what you were like when we were apart."
"Fuck you!" she screamed back, the darkness doing nothing to hide the flush of her face.
"Good-bye, dear," Mr. Yuy mockingly said. "I'm certain that you'll sleep well with your new bed partner. After all, I was 'never around' and he is so very obviously here. So very obviously there with you," he stated pointedly, "that he is no longer with me in any sense of the word."
"You're firing me?" the man gasped, shooting to his feet in shock. "I'm the best engineer you have! I made you!"
"No," Mr. Yuy said firmly. "My son made me. Who better to fill the job vacancy I abruptly find myself with? See how easily you, too can be replaced?"
"You can't fire me for personal reasons!" the engineer protested vehemently. Mrs. Yuy stood by his side, staring with hatred at her husband.
"Watch me," Mr. Yuy said. Then he turned and entered the house, shutting the door firmly behind him. Mrs. Yuy and her lover remained dejectedly on the lawn, staring at each other with varying degrees of disbelief.
The engineer, apparently the optimistic type, tried to lighten the situation. "At least now we can stop hiding our relationship," he offered weakly.
Mrs. Yuy gave no response, standing motionless until he tried to take her into his arms. Then she started back and glared with rage. "Don't fucking touch me, you bastard! This is all your fault! I told you not tonight! I told you, but you couldn't keep it in your pants long enough to listen!"
"Darling, I'm sorr-"
"Don't say it. Just don't. Let's just get the hell out of here. This place suddenly makes me sick."
Belatedly Heero realized that they were headed right for him. For a moment he had desperate ideas of hiding himself from sight, but in his tiny car there was nowhere to go and if he got out they would surely spot him. He was trapped. It was only a matter of time before he was spotted.
"Heero!" His mother had already honed in on his presence. "HEEEEROOO!" she hollered as she strode rapidly towards him, the engineer in tow. Accommodatingly, Heero rolled down his windows.
"How long have you been here?" she asked briskly. He noted there was no sign of tears on her face.
"Not long, really," he lied. "I just wanted to wait for this song to finish before I came in." He gestured pointlessly to the radio. It was playing a commercial.
Luckily his mother was not one to be bothered with details. She ignored his words and barreled on. "I suppose you're wondering about the little exhibition on the lawn just now. Your father has decided that he wants a divorce and is kicking me out of the house. I want you to come with me."
Now there was a fine idea if he ever heard one.
"Mother-" Heero thought to object, but was interrupted before he could proceed very far. His mother, apparently, was not done speaking.
"I'll not have you stay alone with that boorish, arrogant, violent son-of-a-bitch," she fumed. "I would fear for your safety. You must come with me."
"Father would never hurt me, mother. You know that," Heero said flatly.
"So I thought, too, but look what he did to me tonight!" She held up her wrist for inspection. A very close inspection revealed a ring of bruises that was beginning to darken.
"To be fair, darling, you did jump at him with a knife," the engineer muttered. His words instantly raised him in Heero's estimation… though not very far.
"You stay out of this!" Mrs. Yuy hissed. "Come, Heero. Come with Mama. It's only right, after all, that a child should stay with its mother. Fathers make very unsatisfactory guardians."
"I'm eighteen, Mother. I'm a legal adult," Heero protested. Was she only interested in taking him so she could finagle child support from his father?
"Come on, baby. You know I love you a million times more than he ever could," she wheedled.
Her lover shifted uncomfortably behind her. "We really should get going," he said quietly, "before he reports us as trespassers to the police."
"I really don't think-" Heero started, still seated firmly in his car.
"Goddamnit!" Mrs Yuy swore. "Your father has stolen everything I have tonight. I'll not let him steal my child, too!"
"Perhaps he did, Mother," Heero said bluntly, "but you were the one who handed him the key to the safe."
Her face became ugly. "I'll not have my child speak to me with such disrespect!"
"I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely. "I was rude. But, I-"
This time it was his father who interrupted him. Mr. Yuy suddenly appeared next to his mother at his window, anger written plainly on his face.
"Get away from my son, woman," he said cruelly. "Your presence here has become more than superfluous and far less than welcome. Heero and I have no time for the likes of you. We have to discuss his new job as chief engineer at the company. Come, Heero. Come inside so we might speak of your future."
"He's just as much my son as yours!" Mrs. Yuy ground out.
"Is he as much your son as I was your husband?"
"You should talk! You're as good of a father as you are CEO. Everyone knows you're just an empty-minded, overpaid figurehead!"
"You never seemed to mind my paycheck before. Oh, and by the way, best of luck buying a Chanel wardrobe on his current salary." Mr. Yuy gestured towards his former employee. The man shriveled under his gaze.
"Oh, I imagine we'll do just fine once we start receiving your alimony payments. Together with the child support you'll owe me for Heero and we'll be just fine," she responded haughtily.
"You seem to have forgotten that cheaters receive no alimony. As for Heero, what makes you think he's going to go live with you?"
"He's as much as told me so! Isn't that so, baby?"
"Actually, mother-"
"He's agreed to no such thing. He's going to stay here with me and be my new chief engineer. Right, buddy boy?"
"Actually, dad-"
"Only an idiot would do that! Babies belong with their mommies. He comes with me."
Heero sat and watched as his parents bickered back and forth about who he wanted to go with. It was blatantly obvious that his opinion was gratuitous and unwanted. He wondered; when did his parents stop thinking of him as their child and instead as a commodity to be bartered around?
Broken trust, hatred, betrayal. The air was full of it. He felt it pressing on him from all sides, his surroundings seeming to exude near palpable auras.
His parents. Control, self-absorption, arrogance.
The engineer. Fear, dejection, hatred.
Himself. Confusion, frustration, anger.
He could not remain in such a place.
He started the engine, ignoring the startled exclamations of his parents. Putting the car in reverse, he backed down the driveway and into the street, then sped off blindly into the night. It didn't matter where he went; he belonged wherever he was. He was no one's but his own.
But he wanted to be.
o-o-o
Duo closed his eyes and dropped the textbook he was attempting to read onto his lap. He'd arrived home from work half an hour ago and, though he would normally fall straight into bed, had been taken with an inexplicable urge to actually do his homework for once. He'd chalked it down to Heero's bad influence and hunted down his history text, determined to work his way through the assigned reading. Trowa had thankfully disappeared to wherever Trowa disappeared to and he had the apartment blessedly to himself. It had seemed that he would actually be able to concentrate for once.
He had not counted on the book being so involved. Usually he found that details made for interesting reading, but this time they were about government. Good Lord, details were never good when they were about government. He almost supported anarchy, merely because their rules were the simplest to remember: there hardly were any.
Duo had struggled his way through a third of the chapter before his head started hurting, reminding him that it was never a good idea to read small text after what amounted to a 16 hour work day. Pushing the book onto the floor, he toppled over on the sofa, stretching out and intending to sleep right there. Mustering enough concentration to at least turn the lamp off, he nestled into the cushions in the blessed darkness and sighed contentedly.
Whoever would have thought that fifteen year old couches with broken springs could be so ungodly comfortable.
He was on the verge of sleep when someone began banging loudly on the door, jostling him back to awareness.
"Dammit, Trowa!" he grunted. "This is the third time this week!" He rolled off the couch and stalked over to the door, throwing the deadbolt and unfastening the security chain.
"Friggin' asshole," he said loudly. "I told you not to forget your key!"
Duo threw open the door, ready to throw Trowa a right-hook (he would easily dodge it anyway) and eager to get back to bed. He was not prepared for what he found instead.
"Heero?" He didn't gasp –people as manly as he never gasped; they inhaled air sharply. "What are you doing here?" Then, as the shock wore off: "I told you I don't want to see your ugly mug anymore. Go the fuck home! It's two in the morning, you asshole. You woke me the hell up!"
He tried to swing the door shut, but Heero caught it and forced it back open with disconcerting strength.
"I can't," Heero spoke brokenly, in a voice oddly flat and devoid of emotion. "Go home, I mean. At least not yet. It would be… difficult. I left. I drove off. I drove for hours. I thought. About love, lust, friendship, belonging. I thought about where I belonged. I thought for a long time. I think I found an answer. I wasn't sure it was right. I tried to talk myself out of it. But I kept coming back to it. I think it's the right answer. I think I found it."
"Well, yippy skippy for you. I should care why?" Duo glared, jerking the door back and forth determinedly, trying to dislodge Heero's hand.
"Because," Heero said, his eyes strangely ablaze, "the answer was you."
Then he kissed Duo very soundly on the lips.
-end part whoozamawhatits-