After Duo finally awoke from his slumber, the four friends got ready to do a little sightseeing. Just as they were out the door, the phone rang.
"I'll get it." Quatre said, hurrying to the phone. "Hello?"
"Quatre, it's Bill." Quatre's boss answered.
"Hey Bill. What's up?"
"I need you to fill in for Wogowski."
"But-"
"Please, Quatre? You're the only one I could get a hold of. It'll only be for an hour. I promise."
Quatre sighed. "Who're we playing for?"
"Quinn."
Quatre froze. "I-I don't think I should."
"Please, Quatre? You're my only hope right now. And you know how big of a client Quinn is. Please?"
"I…I don't know…"
"Please? You don't even have to wear a tux this time. You'll be in and out of there in no time."
"I…guess so. Yeah, all right."
"Thanks Quatre. You're a lifesaver. I'll pick you up in ten."
Quatre shook his head before placing the phone back in its cradle. He looked back up at his friends who were waiting patiently for him at the door. "Sorry guys. I can't go right now. That was my boss."
"Awww, but Cat. You're supposed to be our tour guide. Who else am I gonna talk to?" Duo moped.
"I'm really sorry. I'll meet up with you at two at the coffee shop by Central Park. Trowa knows where, right?"
Trowa nodded.
"So I'll see you at two." Quatre nodded them off before slumping against the door. 'Maybe I won't even see him there. Like Bill said, I'll be in and out of there in no time…God I hope so…'
* * *
Soon, Bill arrived to take Quatre to the Quinn party. As soon as they got there, Quatre quickly hurried through the room and took his seat with the rest of the band to get this over with as soon as possible. Not once did he look up from his sheet music, but if he did he would surely see the eyes watching him like a hawk. Taylor Quinn spotted the blonde the moment he stepped into the room and Taylor had not concentrated on anything other than him.
The hour passed soon enough without any unwanted things. Before Quatre left he made a quick stop at the bathroom.
Bad idea.
As Quatre was washing his hands, Taylor stepped in, blocking off the only exit in the room. Quatre froze at the sight of his ex-boyfriend's reflection in the mirror.
"Quatre…" Taylor whispered.
The blonde turned and faced Taylor. "What do you want?"
The black-haired boy took a step forward. "I'm sorry for what I did, Quatre. I never meant to hurt you. I swear it."
Quatre took a step back. "Just leave me alone. I don't ever want to see you again."
"Then why did you come here today?"
"I came because it's my job."
"No…I think it's more than that. You love me Quatre, just as much as I love you. You knew that coming here would mean seeing me. And I'm glad that you came. I missed you. I missed you so much." Taylor rushed forward towards Quatre and captured him in an embrace. "Oh Quatre…"
"Let me go!" Quatre shove Taylor as hard as he could, causing the other to stumble backwards.
"Quatre, you don't understand. I'm nothing without you. I'm worthless. Please," he held out his hands. "Take me back."
Quatre felt his jaw tighten. "Never."
Taylor's breath began to shallow. "Quatre…" he growled as calmly as he could. "You know I always get what I want…"
"Not this time."
Taylor charged forward at the blonde and tried to capture him in his arms like he did earlier. Before Taylor could get a hold of him, Quatre pulled back his arm and struck the hazel-eyed boy with all the strength he could muster upon his jaw. Taylor stumbled backwards and fell onto the floor in shock.
"Never come near me again. Ever." And with that, Quatre dashed out of the bathroom and out of the party as quickly as he could.
Quatre ran down the streets, anywhere, to get away from Taylor Quinn. He looked over his should just in case Taylor had decided to follow. From the lack of frontal vision, Quatre ran right into someone and fell on his bum.
"Jesus, I'm sorry." Quatre apologized to his victim, looking their shoes. "I should have looked where I was going. I'm such an idiot."
"Quatre?" a familiar voice said.
The blonde looked up into a pair of blue eyes and familiar black hair. "Ralph?"
Ralph smiled and held out a hand to Quatre. Quatre accepted the hand and was pulled to his feet. "You know, it's not very polite to run into people."
"Sorry about that. I just had to get away from…something."
Ralph nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean."
Quatre looked over his shoulder then at his watch to see that it was one fifteen. "Are you busy right now?"
"Not really. Why?"
"You wanna go get some coffee with me? I'm supposed to meet with some friends at a shop near my place. You could come with us."
"I…I don't want to go uninvited."
"But I'm inviting you, silly. Come on. We could do some catching up."
"I guess so."
"Great! Let's go." And with that, Quatre hailed a taxi to take them to the coffee shop. He was grateful to have literally run into his friend.
* * *
"We should head back." Heero said to Trowa as Duo ran from one place to another like a kid in a toy store.
"Yeah. You think you could get control of your boyfriend?"
"Doubtful. Let's just stand here until he realizes that we aren't following him anymore."
"Trowa? Heero? Is that you?" a woman called out.
Heero looked around for the source of the voice and found it. Trowa followed Heero's gaze and blinked.
"Hilde Schbeiker?" Heero called back.
"Yeah!" Hilde ran up to the two and hugged Trowa then Heero.
"Hey!!" Duo barked, appearing out of nowhere to pull Heero away from the purple-haired girl. "Who are you and why are you so touchy-feely with my Heero? Never mind, just get away." Duo frowned.
Trowa bit back a laugh at the confused look on Hilde's face.
"Duo, this is Hilde. She and I were friends when we were in Maine."
Duo shrugged. "So?"
"Duo!" Heero glared at the braided boy.
"Calm down, boy." Hilde said to Duo. "I know about you and Heero. Quatre told me a long time ago."
Duo cocked an eyebrow. "Friends with the Cat?" He asked seriously.
"Otherwise known as Q-man." Hilde responded, just as serious. The two looked at each other in some unknown competition.
"What're they doing?" Trowa whispered to Heero.
"I have no clue…"
Then, after five minutes of a stare-down, Duo thrust out his hand at the girl and smiled. "Well put her there. A friend of the Cat is a friend of mine."
Hilde grinned in return and shook Duo's hand. "And a friend of the Q is a friend of mine."
The two began to jabber away like two best friends.
Both Heero and Trowa felt a headache coming on.
* * *
Quatre and Ralph were sitting at a table located outside of the coffee shop. Ralph was holding onto Quatre's hand and examining it carefully.
"See, this is your life line." Ralph said, pointing at a line in Quatre's palm. "I think you're going to have a long life. I'm not so sure because of that small gap right there."
"That's comforting." Quatre smirked.
"And this line here, that means you're going to be successful in life."
"Hmmm. What about you?"
Ralph held up his palm. "Try to read it from what I told you."
"Okay." Quatre looked at Ralph's hand carefully and drew each line with his fingertips. "Your life will be filled with…um, happiness?"
"Yeah…"
"You're strong…mentally," Quatre smiled. "If not anywhere else. Um…your heart line says…you crave attention…but you don't seek it? Maybe? I forget."
"You're right."
"But that doesn't make sense at all."
"I guess it means that I like having attention but not if I have to work for it. Since I'm lazy, it makes sense."
Quatre smiled again and let go of Ralph's hand. "So what brings you to New York?" Quatre asked.
"I'm actually here on business. I have to look for new talent to sign with my record company?"
"You own a record company now?"
"Yeah. Quintessence Records." Ralph smirked proudly.
"Wow. That's great. Isn't that one pop blonde singer apart of that label?"
"Yeah. She may act sweet on camera but behind the scenes, she's a real pain." He took a sip of his coffee. "You're a musician, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Why don't you play something for me, tomorrow? Who knows? Maybe I could get you signed with Quintessence."
"Really? That'd be wonderful. Maybe Relena could let us use her family's theatre here."
"You mean Relena Peacecraft? You're still in contact with her?"
"Yeah. In fact, she'll be joining us later. Her and Dorothy Catalonia, Wufei and Sally Chang, Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, and Trowa Barton."
"Hmmm. Trowa Barton. So I take it you two aren't married yet?"
"What? Trowa and I are just friends. That's all we've ever been."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Don't you remember? He and Dorothy dated in high school."
"Well, yeah I remember that. But I always figured it was just a front for whatever was going on between you and him. I mean, the way he'd look at you…it was no mistaking what it was." Quatre looked at his cup and blushed. Ralph smirked. "Well, I can tell that you like him." Quatre just blushed harder causing Ralph to grin. "Why don't you tell him?"
The blonde shook his head fiercely. "I couldn't do that. He's my friend. My best friend. I don't want to do anything to ruin that."
"Quatre, from what I could tell, he really liked you, maybe even loved you in high school. If you two could still be best friends now, I'm pretty sure that that love has gotten stronger through the years. Especially with that whole Richie thing after graduation and going your different ways for college. And if he really is your best friend, I don't think he would get as weird as you think he will if you told him how you felt. It'll just be another bump in the road. And who knows? He might tell you that he feels the exact same thing."
"I…I don't know…"
"Just think about it Quatre. If you're happy with him now, just as friends, think of how happy you'll be when you're actually with him."
"That's only if he likes me back…in that way."
"He does. There's no way he couldn't by now."
"I hope you're right…"
Ralph just smiled with a twinkle in his eye as if he knew something his blonde friend didn't.
* * *
"So I take it, you've just invited yourself to come along with us, right?" Trowa asked the bouncing purple-haired girl walking in front of him.
"Nope. Duo invited me." She smirked. "And if he didn't then I still would have come. I've got nothing better to do anyway."
As they approached the coffee shop, Trowa spotted a blonde head that he would never forget sitting at a table. But in spotting the black-haired person sitting with him, Trowa frowned. 'That better not be Quinn…'
"Oooo. I'm gonna head off to the little girl's room. Be right back." Hilde darted off into the shop and disappeared behind its doors.
"She's fun." Duo grinned. "Good thing I invited her."
"Hilde hasn't changed a bit. Even her hair's the same." Heero noted.
"Look! There's Q!" Duo bounded off towards his friend. "Yoo-hoo! Quatre!"
At the sound of his name, Quatre turned to look at his approaching friends as a smile spread across his face. "Hey guys!"
Quatre's companion turned his head and looked at the group.
"Ralph Flores?" Trowa said, shocked. "What're you doing here?"
"And hello to you too, Trowa."
"Ralph Flores as in elementary schoolyard bully, Ralph Flores?" Heero asked calmly although giving Ralph his death-glare.
Ralph swallowed. "Uh…yeah…"
Heero simply watched Ralph as Ralph stared back at Heero. Quatre bit his lip before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Heero looks so sexy when he does that…" Duo whispered to Quatre, dreamily.
"You know…Duo and Hilde did the exact same thing earlier." Trowa whispered.
"Hilde's here?" Quatre whispered, curiously.
"Yeah. She invited herself." Trowa responded.
"No she didn't. I invited her. Silly Trowa." Duo smiled.
Trowa shook his head. "So what're you doing here with Ralph?" he asked feeling a little pang of jealousy while pulling a chair up next to Quatre.
Quatre looked at Trowa and giggled. "I ran into him."
Trowa cocked an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Then, out of nowhere, Heero held out a hand to Ralph. "A friend of Quatre's is a friend of mine." He said, still glaring at the other.
Ralph shook the hand without blinking away from Heero's gaze.
"Whew! You should see the size of that bathroom. It's huge! It's got it's own couch and this is only a coffee shop!" Hilde said, walking up to the group.
Everyone turned their attention to the girl. Ralph stared at her in awe.
"Uh…" Ralph mumbled, clumsily getting up from his chair and offering it to Hilde. "Here."
Hilde smiled at sat down. She leaned over to Quatre and shielded her mouth from Ralph's view. "Who is that guy? He's cute and he's got manners."
Quatre giggled. "Hilde Schbeiker, this is Ralph Flores. Ralph, Hilde." He introduced.
Hilde held out her hand to Ralph. He in turn just stared at the hand as if wondering what to do next.
"Ralph!" Quatre called him out of his reverie.
The black-haired boy shook his head, smiled and shook Hilde's hand. "Uh, I'm Ralph. Yup. That's me. Ralph."
"Oooo! Someone's in loooove!" Duo whispered to the others and laughed. Heero glared at Duo before smacking him lightly upside the head. "What's that for?" Duo whined.
"Don't you know when to keep your mouth shut?" Heero shook his head.
"But it's true! He's blushing!" Duo pointed, earning another smack from Heero.
"Come here, baka." Heero said, tugging on Duo's braid, leading him away from the table. "We need to talk about your manners."
"My manners? You're the one pulling me by the braid!" Duo countered before the two disappeared around the building.
Hilde simply giggled before glancing up at Ralph. "How about we get some more coffee, eh?"
Ralph looked over his shoulders, checking to see if it was in fact he who she was talking to. When he confirmed it, he nodded his head furiously. Hilde laughed before heading off into the shop with Ralph following closely behind.
"Well that was interesting." Trowa said.
"Do you think they'll get together?" Quatre asked, looking up into Trowa's eyes.
"I think that's a given."
Quatre smiled. "Oh! Guess what Ralph taught me."
"How to ride a unicycle?" Trowa guessed.
"Silly." Quatre took Trowa hand in his. "Palm reading."
Trowa gulped. 'His hands are so soft…' "Errmmnnnaaaggghhh…"
"Trowa?" Quatre said, worried.
Trowa shook his head and tried to concentrate. "Um, so what exactly did he teach you?"
"Well…" The blonde lowered his head to get a better look at Trowa's hand. "This line…" Quatre, very gently, traced a line on Trowa's palm. "This is your life line. Your life…it's filled with happiness and love. And this…" Quatre traced over another line. "This is called a head line. You have an…artistic nature. No surprise there. And so also have a strong mind. And this last line…" he traced the final line on Trowa's hand. "This is your heart line." Quatre stopped there. He just continued to trace over the line, slowly.
"What does it say?" Trowa swallowed from his friend's feather soft touches.
"Oh!" Quatre looked up and smiled sheepishly. "I didn't really understand that part when Ralph told me. Palm reading is hard." He still didn't release Trowa's hand just yet.
"Well, what is the heart line suppose to say?"
"Stuff about your love life. Relationships. That kind of stuff…"
"Oh…" Trowa looked into Quatre's eyes. 'I should tell him…I will tell him…' "Uh, Quatre?"
"Yeah?"
"There's something I've been meaning to tell you." Trowa started. 'Please let me get through this, please.'
"Yes?" Quatre looked into Trowa's eyes expectantly.
"Quatre…I…I…"
"Yes?"
Just then, a small squishy ball hit Quatre on the back of his head. Both Trowa and Quatre turned to look at its source. A little baby dressed in blue, was smiling at them, drool flowing freely from his mouth.
"Hello there!" Quatre smiled, releasing Trowa's hand. He stood up and picked up the ball, handing it to the infant. "I believe this is yours."
A woman turned in her seat and faced Quatre. "Oh dear, did he throw that at you? Billy, you bad boy. You shouldn't throw things at people." She scolded the infant. She looked up at Quatre. "I'm sorry. He doesn't like it when people don't pay attention to him."
"It's all right." Quatre smiled at the two.
Trowa sighed. 'The moment's ruined now…dang ball…now Billy's got a better chance to be with Quatre than I do…' Trowa groaned, quietly before dropping his head onto the table.
From inside the coffee shop two people shook their heads in disappointment while two more did the same thing from around the corner of the building.
Author's Notes/Disclaimer: I don't own the GW characters nor do I own Taylor. I own Bill and Billy, the boss and the baby. And I also own Ralph!!
Ralph is back! Ralph's cool. I didn't like him at first but then after a while, he kind grew on me. Oh...and the thing with Taylor...I don't know. He'll get his. Don't worry about that. Um...also for the people who wanted a longer chapter. Is this long enough or do you want me to make the next chapter twice as long. I was actually going to make this into two chapters but whatever. I don't know. Things change. As for you Tro and Cat lovers, there'll be more in the next three chapters. Maybe. I hadn't planned on having them interact the way they did in this chapter but people complain that they wanted something. So there's your thing. Happy? ...