"Wake up, Quatre." Iria shook her brother.
"Whaddaya want? I'm sleepin'. Leave me alone..." Quatre slurred.
"C'mon, Quatre. Cathy and I have to get to school early today. Get up so we won't be late."
"Ugh. Can't I go later...?" he mumbled.
"No. You know dad doesn't want you to be wandering around in the morning. You're horrible with directions when you're half awake. You'll get lost."
"I won't..."
"Quatre, c'mon already." Iria said pulling away Quatre's blanket.
"Errr. Fine." Quatre sat up in bed only to plop back down on his mattress.
"Quatre!" Iria grabbed her brother by his wrists and pulled him out of bed. He toppled onto the floor where she left him.
"Nag..." Quatre mumbled.
"I heard that..."
"Good."
Iria picked up Quatre's pillow and smacked him in his face. "Get up already."
Quatre stood, gave his sister his death-glare, and headed off to the bathroom to get ready for school.
* * *
Trowa rang the Winner's doorbell to see Mr. Winner answer the door.
"Yes? May I help you?" He asked irritably.
"Ummm, is Quatre here?"
"No." Mr. Winner barked. "He left fifteen minutes ago with his sister and friend Caitlin."
"You mean Catherine?"
"Sure, sure. Now, go on. Get outta here." With that, Mr. Winner shut the door in Trowa's face. Trowa slumped his shoulders and turned to walk to school. Alone.
* * *
When recess came, Trowa looked all over campus to find Quatre.
'Where in the world is he?' Trowa asked himself.
"Trowa!"
Trowa sneered before turning to face Richie.
"C'mon. Billy's gonna have a chugging contest with George."
"Why are you talking to me?"
Richie's face fell. "You're not still mad at me are you?"
"Gee, I don't know." Trowa said sarcastically.
"Awww, c'mon, Tro. You and me are best friends."
"Coulda fooled me."
"Trowa."
"Shut it, Richie. I told you. I don't wanna see your face ever again."
"But Trowa."
Trowa turned and hurried off in his look for Quatre.
"Fine! I never liked you anyway! Silent bastard!"
Trowa rolled his eyes and continued his search.
"Soon, you'll be begging to be my friend again, Trowa Barton! And you know what? I won't let you!" Richie yelled, flustered. He felt like crying at the loss of his friend. He sucked it up and stamped off to the chugging contest.
'Ass...' Trowa thought. 'Why was I his friend, anyway?' Trowa couldn't think of a single reason.
* * *
Trowa's search ended in vain. He couldn't find Quatre anywhere on campus. As it turns out, Quatre usually spends his recess in the classroom. Trowa didn't find this out until the end of recess when he finally decided to ask someone in Quatre's class.
'Geez. I should have asked sooner...'
Trowa decided that he would stop Quatre outside his classroom and ask if he wanted to hang out during lunch. And so Trowa waited in front of Quatre's class. And waited. And waited. Then, finally, after waiting ten minutes, Quatre finally stepped out, violin case in hand.
Quatre looked at Trowa, stunned. 'What's he doing here?' he thought.
"Uh, hi." Trowa said.
"Hello..." Quatre furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you."
"Why?"
"Since when is waiting a crime?"
Quatre frowned.
Trowa sighed. "I just wanted to...uh...hang out...I guess."
Quatre cocked an eyebrow.
"So...what do you do during lunch?"
"I hide."
Trowa pursed his lips and nodded.
Quatre looked to his right and saw Ralph and his friends. He didn't like the idea of being Ralph's punching bag for the second day in a row so Quatre grabbed Trowa's wrist and pulled him along.
"Where are we going?" Trowa asked.
"Shhh."
Quatre stopped, looked around, and pulled Trowa to the fence. He dropped Trowa's wrist and pushed two boards away from each other to reveal the opening to the clearing. Quatre walked in and looked at Trowa. Trowa looked at the boards with curiosity.
"You comin' or what?" Quatre whispered. Trowa looked at Quatre and nodded. He bent down slightly and walked into Quatre's hiding place. After Trowa stepped in, Quatre moved the boards back into their place and turned to look at a stunned Trowa.
"Whoa..." Trowa was in awe. He never thought anyone had access to the forest behind the school.
Quatre sighed before climbing up a tree. Trowa snapped out of his trance and watched Quatre.
"What're you doing?" Trowa called.
"What does it look like?" Quatre called back, stopping to look at Trowa. "I'm climbing a tree."
"You'll hurt yourself."
"No I won't. I've done this everyday of the school year for the past two years. I think I've got it down by now."
"But-"
"You comin' up or you just gonna stand there like a dope?" Quatre continued to climb up to his branch.
Trowa shook his head and followed Quatre up the tree. "Are you sure these are stable?"
"Yes, yes. Don't be a worry wart."
"They don't look sturdy..."
"I always thought you were quiet. Guess I was wrong."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're complaining too much. Just go with it."
Trowa climbed up the branch where Quatre waited. He sat down, leaning against the trunk for support. Quatre, having climbed the tree numerous times before sat further out on the limb, letting his legs swing. He reached into his backpack and pulled out his lunch. Trowa followed Quatre's lead and pulled out his own lunch.
"So what do you want?" Quatre asked after a few minutes of silence.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"I don't want anything but to hang out with you."
"Why? What about your friends?"
"I told you. They aren't my friends. I thought they were, but I was wrong."
"Why do you say that?"
"What you did yesterday was nicer than anything any of those fools have done. Didn't you see them? They would have let Ralph and his goons beat me to a pulp."
"I told you. I only did it cause I don't think it was fair. You don't have to be here with me."
"Will you stop complaining and accept my company?"
Quatre looked away and bit his sandwich. "It's just that..."
"What?"
"Nothing..."
"No. It's not 'nothing'. What is it?"
"I don't want you to do this cause you feel like you owe me something. Cause you don't. The last thing I want is to have you act all nice to me only to ignore tomorrow. If that's what you plan on doing, you might as well go now so I won't have to get hurt later." Quatre looked up at Trowa, his eyes brimming with tears.
"I don't plan on doing that, Quatre."
Quatre sniffed.
"Yesterday, I realized that I was stupid to just watch you get beat up all those times, when you just came up and helped me instead of just ignoring the fight. I regret not stopping Ralph and his idiots from picking on you. I regret letting Richie call you a 'dweeb.' I want to get to know you cause I'd rather have a friend that I can turn to than a friend that runs away. I don't know if a friendship between you and me will last. I don't know if we'll even get a chance to be friends. But I'd like to try."
"Whoa..."
"What?"
"That's the most I've ever heard you say at once."
"Hm."
"So now you're quiet?"
"Hm."
Quatre smiled. A genuine smile that lit up his face. He looked up at Trowa. Trowa couldn't help but feel that this smile was meant for him. He couldn't help but smile in return.
"I know I'm a hypocrite for asking you to be my friend when I never did anything for you, but I promise that I won't let anyone hurt you as long as I'm here." Trowa said, hoping that Quatre found him to be sincere.
Quatre bit his lip then bit into his sandwich. "Hmmm..."
"What?"
"This must be a record for you..."
Trowa pulled a bit of crust off his sandwich and tossed it at Quatre's head. Quatre smiled again, causing Trowa to smile as well.
"So...I guess, this is the beginning of a friendship..."
"Mm-hmm."
"And I guess you wore out your voice box, didn't you?"
Trowa threw another bit at Quatre.
"For your information, I only speak when spoken to or when I have something to say."
"But even when you do, it's not much."
"So?"
"Just an observation. Move."
Trowa moved aside and watched Quatre climbed down the tree. He shoved the remains of his lunch into his sack and climbed down after him. Quatre placed his violin case onto the ground and placed some sheet music from his backpack onto a type of holder, nailed to the side of a tree. He pulled out his violin and ran the bow against the string once before playing.
Trowa sat on the lowest branch of the tree he just climbed down. He watched Quatre play the violin and listened as the music filled his ears. It was the same song that Quatre had played two years ago, when he just moved into town. This time, Quatre didn't stop in the middle of the song. He finally learned the entire song and was overjoyed that he was playing it in the presence of a new friend. He would have finished the song as well if the bell hadn't rung. Quatre sighed.
"That was great..." Trowa sat in awe.
"It would've been better if I were given the chance to finish it." Quatre placed the violin back in its case and shoved the music sheets into his bag once more. He turned to leave his hiding his spot but stopped when he glanced at Trowa. Trowa was still sitting on the branch still awestruck. Quatre sighed and smiled before snapping Trowa out his trance by flicking his forehead.
"Let's go before we get in trouble."
"Huh?"
"C'mon." Quatre grabbed Trowa's wrist and pulled him back onto school grounds.
The two made their way to their classes, not aware of Richie, watching Quatre with jealousy in his eyes.
Author's Notes/Disclaimer: I own the idea of the story. That's mainly it. No money whatsoever. You asked for another chapter and here it is! Hooray for friends! Go Trowa!
Here's the answer to some questions:
Yes, Heero is Quatre's friend from Maine. They were best friends. That's why Quatre said he missed him in Chapter 1.
Yes, I will be writing about them in their high school years if that's what reviewers want. Or if I feel like it.
Yes, the other pilots (Heero, Duo, and Wufei) will be joining them shortly. All in good time, Mr. Tuttle. All in good time.
And Sally and Relena and Dorothy and Hilde will be in the story as well but probably OOC cause I never really watched the series. *sweatdrop* Oh well.