An: So I'm getting slower and slower. I'm sorry, but I warned you it would happen. School and work…man…and this big anniversary thing I'm doing for my boyfriend. Man, life is hectic! Anyway, I love you all, thanks for sticking with me. I'm trying. I'm going to take the - - away from around the thoughts, because I use italics anyway, so if u're confused I'll put them back, but I doubt you will be.

Disclaimer: OK, so I said I wasn't writing this again, but please don't sue me. I own nothing.

Ch. 18 – Broken

Relena stared at the ceilings once more and tried to remember the inane things she had been dreaming about the last time she laid here, feeling as if she were loosing her mind. White ceilings, that was it. "I wondered why the ceilings were white…" Her mind just wouldn't focus on the stupidity anymore. It just drifted to back to Heero and how much she hurt.

For the first time in her life, Heero hadn't hurt her. Relena had hurt Heero. She wondered if he had ever felt this torn up inside all those times before. She wondered if he ached now as she always did, or if he just ran back to that cold exterior that he had hidden behind for so many years.

"I had finally broken him free!" She screamed, and she had; but it was too late now. The truth was out. She could not go back and erase it. No matter how much she wished she could say it, she could not. Though he would never leave her, she might have just lost him forever.

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When Duo got home the house was destroyed. Everything that was his was broken, battered, and abused, strewed from one end of the house to the other. But everything of Hilde's...was gone.

"I could've done something, but it's too late now..." It was much too late, he supposed. If only he'd have told her. Would it have made the difference? I didn't matter anymore, because there was no way to go back.

"Duo…"

Duo flipped around, nose to nose with Heero Yuy. "Heero, if you want to beat my face in, don't, just stick around, and I'll do it myself. I'm in the mood for heavy self-mutilation."

"No, I don't…Duo, that's not what I came for."

"Look, I'm not in the mood for chatting, and as far as I've ever known, you're never in the mood for chatting, so can we get this over with and be done with it?"

"I just want to know…what happened."

"Relena told you everything."

"I Just-" He stopped and swallowed. "I trust her. I just need to hear-"

Duo would have sword he saw tears welling up in Heero Yuy's emotionless eyes. "Ok. She was drunk. You did her bad, and she got drunk. It was a miracle that she…well maybe a curse…that she even remembered anything of that day, least of all a kiss. When I walked in, she was drunk out of her mind, and hanging all over that Kevin. He had been playing her all day, getting her riled up just to take her home to be a party girl, but then I showed up. She didn't want to come with me at first. Then I told that Kevin off, and instantly I was that knight in shining armor. I was you the one time you couldn't be. So when I pulled Relena up out of her seat to lead her out, she was too drunk to stand, slammed into me, I caught her, and she just took at as an embrace and leaned in for a kiss. I pulled away, picked her up, carried her out, put her in a taxi, took her to Hilde."

Heero stood nodding. It's not that bad. I'm the one who hurt her. I drove her to all of this. Why am I angry with her?

"It's the honest truth, Heero. I just wish it were that easy to tell Hilde and have her nod, not throw things."

"Duo, I need your assistance."

"I have an apartment to clean." He looked around somberly, more unhappy than Heero had ever seen Duo.

"I have a Kevin to catch."

Duo smiled a weak and broken smile. "Think she'll come back?"

"Only one way to find out."

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Hilde sat in her hotel room eyes nearly swelled shut from crying holding Duo's shirt in one hand and his cologne in the other. She wondered if he'd noticed that she'd taken a few of his personal belongings. Probably not, he probably hasn't even realized I've taken my stuff. Why that selfish little wife stealer. Hilde's eyes spilled over with tears again. "I loved you! What didn't you get about I loved you? I said 'yes,' and we were going to get married!"

"I loved you, too…"

Hilde froze, eyes wide. Her back faced the door, and she intended to keep it that way. What you can't see can't hurt you. Even if you can hear it…

"Hilde I'm not asking you to forgive me. It's too much. I'm only telling you that it was no one's fault, except perhaps Kevin Beaumont's. Relena was drunk. I went to get her per your request. I pulled her up off the couch. She fell, and I caught her. She was too drunk to realized who I was, and that I was not making a move on her; and she kissed me. I pulled away and carried her out to a taxi, back to you."

"You're not going to just tell me something and make it go away. It doesn't work like that, Duo."

"I know it doesn't. I don't intend for it to. I just don't want to loose you. So think about what I've just said. And think about that I love you. And think about that I'm not the only one who hurt someone because they had a picture of them kissing someone else. And think about keeping this…" He laid her ring back on the table in the corner of her room. "Because we'd have to work through it, but Hild, it'd be worth it. I know you still love me."

"I do love you, Duo, but sometimes love's not enough."

Duo turned from her and closed the door behind him. "Thanks, buddy." Heero put his master slide key in his pocket. He had carried it around for years just in case Relena were locked in a hotel room or some atrocity like that were to occur. It would unlock any door that had a slide pass.

Now the only thing Duo could do was to wait…and work.

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The phone rang for what seemed like the millionth time in Relena's room, but she refused to answer if. If it were her brother, she certainly did not want to hear it. If it were Heero, he could come home if he were going to talk to her, no phone would give her consolation or peace of mind, only his face in it's newest form, not the shell it used to be, could console her. If it were some diplomat, she was in no condition to carry on a decent conversation, and if it were anyone else, she simply did not care.

She laid a hand on her stomach and sighed. "It's me and you, darling. At least I always have you." This thing she had been so afraid of, something she had wished so desperately were not so, had become the only certain constant in her life. In front of her stood a possibly broken marriage, a definitely broken friendship, a probably ruined career, and most likely disapproving family. All she had was this child barely even developed enough by modern standards, not her own of course, to consider a child. Any child is a child as soon as it is conceived, but some others tended to disagree with her beliefs.

Suddenly an overwhelming sickening feeling swept over her, and she rushed to the bathroom, where she spent the next half an hour emptying out the very insides of her insides, hoping and praying, this child which she had just confided in would have a little mercy on its poor weak mother and give her a stronger stomach.

After her inner cleansing, she didn't feel very clean, and turned on the hot water of the shower. "A nice bath. That's just what I need. I'll just relax, wash my hair, let the vapors of the running water fill my lungs…" She tried to go on, but the gloom and doom which had inhabited her room since she arrived that afternoon would not allow her.

So she daintily slipped off her clothing and stepped into the shower. It was a bit too hot, so she took a step forward to adjust the temperature, and her foot landed on a partial bar of soap. The water had run just long enough to slick it up, and Relena went sailing backwards.

Time slowed to a crawl as she watched the world around her get father and farther away, but she could do nothing to stop it. And suddenly it all came a screeching halt with a hard thud. She felt her head hit, but the world went very dark; and the shower simply washed away all the blood as it poured from her.

An: Ooh…bet you didn't see that one coming.

Special Thanks:

Rinny Leonheart – my dear, devoted, faithful friend! I love the thought of how Quatra would propose…maybe my next story…or maybe………Heero has always reminded me of squall. They just resemble…a lot. I love them both!

Youkai No Rin – Kevin will get his, don't worry

Moonlitesadness – Why! You are the only person I know of that was like on Hilde's side. Which is funny to me. I love when someone takes the unique approach toward things. I'm not always the crowd pleaser either, with my opinions.

Hououza – Yeah, I guess you could call it that, thanks. I think we all hope Heero can get a grip on his humanity and emotions.

Heaven'sgirl – Thanks for clarifying. That's sweet of you. I'll answer everything, eventually. Promise.

Kay Jolyn – Ok so I started to fix it a little, and then I made it worse. Isn't that how most things go? They have to get worse before they get better.

Keeroshu – Well as much as I would have liked to have given you a funny chappie this go round…sorry. Soon, though.

TheEvilAshleyness – Was last time's ending as interesting as this one?

Raizard333 – Thank you, thank you, thank you! I always love a satisfied customer, especially when the material isn't exactly what they wanted, lol.