When Quatre arrived at his work, Bill immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him to his car. Bill thanked Quatre for making it at such short notice. On their way to the Quinn affair, Quatre fixed his bow tie and asked Bill to hold his wallet while he played. Once there, he sat in his spot next to his fellow musicians that greeted him as he came. They played for an hour and Quatre was relieved when he was finally allowed to leave. Quatre stood and headed for the nearest exit.
'I love playing music but not to be showcased in a social event…' Quatre gruffed.
A boy with black hair and hazel eyes caught sight of the blonde walking through the crowd. "Wow…" he mumbled.
"Taylor? Taylor are you listening to me?" a man barked at him.
"No. Excuse me." The man named Taylor left the other man and hurried over to the one who caught his eye.
Taylor stepped up next to the boy and smiled. "Hi."
Quatre looked at his new companion. 'Cute…' he thought. "Hello…" Quatre smiled slightly and continued towards the exit.
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
"Do you not like it here?"
"I'd rather be at home."
Taylor jumped in front of the smaller boy, effectively stopping him. "What's your name?"
Quatre's smile grew and decided to play with the other boy. "And if I give it to you, what would you do with my name?"
Taylor smiled seductively, playing along. "I would scream it to the heavens to let them know that they left an angel down here on Earth." Quatre smiled. "That and I would use it to hunt you down."
"Ah. Call me a fox then, if hunting is all you want to do."
"Then a fox you shall be," Taylor said inching towards Quatre's face. "You foxy little thing, you."
Quatre snorted before stepping around the hazel-eyed boy and walking out of the room. 'That was lame…I bet Trowa would get a kick out of that one…'
Taylor smiled. He turned to look in the crowd to find a certain man named Bill.
Quatre was about to call for a taxi when he felt his pocket. 'Damn, I left my wallet with Bill…' Quatre sighed and turned around only to crash right into the boy from earlier.
Taylor smiled. "Did you forget something?" he said holding up Quatre's wallet.
"Can I have it back please?" he said holding out his hand for the wallet.
Taylor opened the wallet and looked at the boy's driver's license. "Quatre Raberba Winner. Beautiful. Simply beautiful." Taylor smiled at Quatre who was looking up expectantly at him. "A beautiful name for a beautiful person. I'm Taylor Quinn." He held out a hand to the smaller boy who shook it in return.
'He's Taylor Quinn? I thought he'd be an old guy.' "Can I have my wallet now?"
"Hmmm. You can have it if…" Taylor's eyes twinkled mischievously. "You agree to go out on a date with me."
Quatre sighed. 'I should have known…' "When?"
"Tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Yes. I don't want to have to wait to see you. It'll crush me being apart from you until tonight."
Quatre snorted and rolled his eyes. 'It's just one date…' "Fine. What time?"
"You pick."
The blonde bit his lip. "How 'bout six?"
"Six o five." Taylor cupped Quatre's chin in his hands. "I need the extra five minutes to bring myself up to look half as beautiful as you."
Quatre blushed. "Okay…six o five…"
Taylor leaned in. "Until then…" he whispered. Taylor closed the gap between his lips and Quatre's. The kiss was long and gentle and driving Taylor crazy.
Quatre was the first to pull away. "Until then…" He took his wallet from Taylor's grip and turned it signal for a cab. Quatre looked over his shoulder at the other boy who watched Quatre's every move. Quatre flashed him a smile. 'Hmmm…Taylor Quinn…the hunter…'
Taylor smiled back at Quatre. 'Quatre Raberba Winner…my angel in disguise…'
* * *
When Quatre came home at two o' clock, there was no sign of Trowa anywhere. If it hadn't been for the music, Quatre would have assumed that Trowa stepped out. The blonde proceeded to Trowa's art room and knocked on the door.
"Come in." Trowa called.
Quatre poked his head in to see Trowa sitting behind an easel, paintbrush in one hand and a paint palette in the other. "Hey. Just wanted to let you know I'm home. Whatcha painting?"
Trowa looked up at Quatre. "A sunset. Although, some people might argue it to be a sun rise."
"Can I see?"
"Of course."
Quatre stepped in and looked over Trowa's shoulder. The sun was setting behind some hills that surrounded a lake. The sky held colors of pink yellow and light blues. "It's beautiful."
'Not as beautiful as you…' Trowa smiled. "Thank you. So how was work?"
"Same 'ol, same 'ol. It was after work that was fun."
"Really? How so?"
"The guy that was giving the party, Taylor Quinn, asked me out on a date."
Trowa froze and felt a pang in his chest.
"I accepted, of course. But that's only cause he doesn't even know where I live." Quatre laughed. Trowa loosened up. "I thought for sure he'd catch it but he didn't. Looks like I'm here for the night." Quatre laughed again.
Trowa chuckled. 'Sneaky little one…but that was close…'
"Trowa, what song is this?"
"Huh?"
"This song. What is it?"
"Oh. It's yours. Since you weren't here to play, I decided to listen to the next best thing."
"Oh. Why? It's horrible. I still need to change it up a bit."
"And when you finish with that, I will listen to that. Your music gives me inspiration to paint. So here I am, listening to your music while painting. And I don't think it's horrible at all. You, Quatre Raberba Winner, are your own worst critic."
Quatre blushed. "Blah."
* * *
Four hours later, the two friends were on the couch watching the movie "Memento." They were to the point where Natalie tricks Lenny when someone knocked on the door.
"I'll get it." Quatre stood and opened the door. He was surprised to see a certain hazel-eyed boy looking back at him.
"Are you going like that?" Taylor asked, a smile playing on his lips. Quatre was dressed in a pair of shorts that ended just below his knees and a white tank top.
"Taylor! You're here! How-"
"Silly little Cat. When you left, I realized that I had no clue of where you lived so I asked a few friends. Two hours later, I found out. You can't get rid of me that easily."
Quatre blushed. 'He went through the trouble of finding out where I lived? Gosh…I guess I should just go with him. Just this once.'
"Well? Shall we go?"
"Like this?" Quatre said, waving his hand over his outfit.
"Sure. I don't mind. I think it's cute."
The blonde rolled his eyes. "Hm. I'll get changed. Hold on." Quatre was about to close the door when Taylor stopped him.
"You're not gonna let me in?" Taylor smirked.
"Oh, um. I guess." Quatre held the door open and led Taylor in.
Trowa looked at Quatre's guest and frowned.
"Trowa, this is Taylor, the guy from this morning. Taylor, this is my best friend Trowa."
"Charmed, I'm sure." Taylor said, eyeing the boy.
"Hm." Trowa responded. 'I don't like this. I don't like it one bit…'
"Uh, I guess I'll go change now." Quatre left for his room.
The other two just stared at each other in an unknown battle.
"So Trowa. Your Quatre's best friend, eh? You wouldn't mind if I took him out then would you?"
"Hm. It's just one date."
"No, no, no. I plan on seeing a whole lot more of Quatre after this one date." Taylor cocked an eyebrow. "You're awfully protective for just a friend. And what's this? Do I see the green-eyed monster called Jealousy rearing its ugly head?"
Trowa growled causing Taylor to laugh. "You're so transparent, Trowa."
Trowa was just about to beat the crap out of Taylor when Quatre stepped out.
"I'm ready. Let's go." The blonde said.
"Let's." Taylor smirked. "It was nice meeting you, Trowa. I hope to see you again."
"Hm."
"Come on, Quatre." Taylor placed an arm around Quatre's shoulders. "Oh and Trowa, don't worry. I'll try not to keep him out too late."
* * *
It was damn near midnight and Trowa was pacing back and forth in his room listening for Quatre's return home. "Where is he? What are they doing?"
Trowa paused in his pacing at the sound of the front door opening and closing. A single pair of footsteps walked past his room and into the bathroom. Trowa walked over to his door and when he opened said door, Quatre stepped out of the bathroom at the same time and gave a little jump.
"Oh! Trowa! You scared me! I didn't wake you did I?"
Trowa shook his head. "I was already awake."
"Oh." Quatre turned off the light in the bathroom and stood in front of Trowa.
"So, you're home pretty late. Where'd you go?"
Quatre sighed, a huge sated grin spread across his face. "Everywhere…it was all so romantic too. He made reservations earlier for dinner at some Italian restaurant at eight. So until then, we took a walk around Central Park. We talked the whole time. He's not as bad as I thought he would be." Quatre laughed. "I thought he's be a total snob. But he's a real gentleman. He even pulled out my seat during dinner. After that, we drove out to the ocean where we took another walk along the beach. I guess we lost track of time cause it was only about twenty minutes ago that we saw what time it was." He sighed.
"Hm. So that was your one date. No more Taylor Quinn?"
The blonde giggled. "Actually, I'm seeing him again tomorrow night. Tonight was so nice that of course I wanted to see him again."
Trowa frowned. "Quatre, I don't think you should be going out with this guy."
Quatre's smile faded. "What? Why not?"
"I just don't think he's right for you."
Quatre frowned. "You don't think that someone who's kind and charming is right for me? Thanks a lot Trowa. I thought you'd be happy to see that someone nice is interested in me. I guess I thought wrong." Quatre turned to go in his room and slammed the door.
"Dammit…" Trowa ran a hand through his hair and followed Quatre into his room. The blonde was sitting on the edge of his bed, arms folded across his chest. "Quatre…"
"I don't wanna hear it."
Trowa knelt down in front of the boy. "Quatre, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Of course you deserve a nice guy. I'm just being overprotective is all. I'm sorry."
Quatre looked at him and dropped his arms. "Trowa, I like him. You don't have to worry about me so much. I'll be careful. I promise."
Trowa sighed. 'I'm too late…' "I guess…if you like him so much, I'll learn to like him too." 'I hate him…bastard taking away my Quatre…'
"Thank you." Quatre smiled and threw his arms around Trowa's neck.
Trowa hugged the boy back. 'If he's happy, I'm happy…even if it means he's happy with someone else…'
"Let's go to sleep now." Quatre whispered against the taller boy's ear. He pulled away and stood to undress while Trowa climbed into the bed. When Quatre was in nothing but his boxers, he crawled under the covers and rested his head against Trowa's chest like the night before.
"Night Trowa." Quatre whispered.
"Good night…" Trowa slipped his arms around the smaller boy. '…My love…'
Author's Notes/Disclaimer: I own a pair of beat up sneakers. Taylor Quinn was borrowed from Lorena from the story entitled "Chiaroscuro". So here is your credit. I own the old people from the party and Quatre's boss, too.
The whole "what is your name?" bit is my revised version of how William and Jocelyn met in the movie A Knight's Tale. The "Six O Five" bit was from the TV show Smart Guy.
I know you all want to know how Quatre feels about Trowa but don't you worry. That part is coming up soon.