Title: Holding Out for a Heero 3?

Author: Gaia

Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, 5+OC

Rating: PG-13-R

Warnings: slight language, slight sexual content, self-insertion, slight OOC, AU

Disclaimers: While I would love to own the Gundam pilots, I don't, so don't sue me. I'm just a jobless college student!

Notes: Please don't judge me too harshly… it's my first long fic! Feedback is always appreciated!

Part Three: There's a Wrong Way to Eat Chicken Caesar Salad?

They ate mostly in silence, the only noises coming from Duo. He moaned over the chicken, making everyone in the room have thoughts bordering on impure.

"This chicken is amazing…so juicy…yum…" Duo exclaimed in between bites.

Sara and Lissa just smiled. Silence prevailed again in the living room. It was slightly uncomfortable, but that did not seem to bother Heero, Trowa, or Wufei. Quatre, however, seemed jittery because of it. His eyes were darting around the room, pausing almost imperceptibly longer on Trowa, then moving over everyone else.

Duo cleared his throat and looked around the room as soon as his plate was clean, his eyes locking on Heero and refusing to move. Heero was eating systematically, one piece of chicken, one piece of lettuce, one crouton, finish chewing, repeat. Duo grimaced. That was not the way to eat Chicken Caesar Salad.

"Heero, man, you're eating that the wrong way."

"Wrong way?" Heero's voice was threatening as he glared at Duo.

Lissa saw the glare and cringed. That was definitely a promise of death for the braided boy.

Sara had apparently seen it too, as she interrupted the two. "So, where did you all live before moving to your house?"

"Duo, how can you eat something the wrong way?" Quatre asked simultaneously.

"I don't eat my food the wrong way." Heero's voice seemed to command the attention of everyone, even though he spoke quietly.

"You're not supposed to eat like a robot, especially with a salad. You're supposed to get a little bit of everything." Duo whined.

"Hn."

"Maybe Heero does not like to shove food in his mouth like it is a garbage disposal unit?" Wufei's baiting words caused Duo to drop his plate.

"WUFEI! DUO!" Quatre tried to avert the disaster by throwing himself into the middle of the room, arms outstretched. "Can you two possibly act like adults for ten seconds?"

Duo stood up and stalked out of the room.

"Um." Sara followed Duo out, knowing instinctively he would need someone to talk to.

"Wufei, why do you have to do that to him all the time?" Quatre looked like he was about to cry.

"Cat, calm down. Duo will be fine." Trowa's voice seemed to soothe Quatre's nerves almost immediately.

"Cat? That's a nice nickname. It kind of fits you." Lissa was tried of being silent and decided to put a few words in. It wasn't worth it because the remaining boys in the room ignored her.

"I don't know why he was saying that about your eating habits, mechanically as they are, but I think you should have asked him why he said that before glaring at him, Heero." Quatre sat back in his place and crossed his arms over his chest.

Heero grunted and put his plate down on the table next to him. Sighing, he stood and walked from the room, in the opposite direction that Duo and Sara had taken.

Lissa sighed, hating that she was ignored and hating that the boys were fighting when they should have been having a good time. She hoped Sara was getting somewhere with Duo.

"Why do I have to do that to him all the time? Do you honestly have to ask? That braided baka always speaks without thinking. He says the most ridiculous things. Did you happen to see the look on Heero's face when Duo said that to him?" Wufei rose to his feet, his voice strengthening until he was yelling at Quatre.

Trowa stood and got in between Wufei and Quatre, the menacing look on his face, causing Wufei to step back.

"Get a hold of yourselves! Just sit down and shut up! I'm tired of listening to you yell at each other. Wufei, you don't think before you talk either! The few hours that I've known you guys, you've baited him multiple times. Have you ever thought that maybe he doesn't like it and hides it like he obviously hides everything else?" Lissa stood up and stormed from the room after her tirade, leaving Wufei stunned as Trowa and Quatre sat back on the couch with bewildered expressions.

Sara found Duo sitting on the back porch, his legs hanging over the edge of the pool. She noticed his shoes sitting to his left and his tight black pants were rolled up to his knees.

"You know, I didn't really mean for that to come out the way it must have seemed. I know that I don't usually think before I talk, but I really didn't mean to say that to Heero." Duo sighed and watched the water that was flowing around his feet.

Sara toed off her shoes and rolled up her jeans so that they wouldn't get wet. Sitting on the edge of the pool next to him, she put her arm around his shoulder and slide her feet into the water beside his.

Duo stiffened when he first felt her touch, but he was too depressed to deny the comfort of the half-hug for long. He leaned against her, allowing her warmth to comfort him.

"Why does Wufei always have to jump down my throat? I mean, I understand why he felt that what I said was offensive, but he could have said it nicely, ya know?" Duo looked up at her, sadness evident in his features.

Sara tilted her head down, gazing into his violet eyes. Duo gasped when he saw the color of her eyes. He hadn't really noticed them, but he had thought they were light brown. The sunlight reflected off the water made them turn greener than before.

"You know, I definitely understand how you feel. I speak without thinking a lot, more than you might think when you first meet me. Don't worry about it. It's just part of your personality and people are just going to have to deal with that if they want to be your friend." Sara smiled down at him.

Duo smiled back and snuggled in closer to her. She wrapped both of her arms around him and held him tightly.

Lissa passed the sliding glass door that led to the pool and saw Sara and Duo hugging. She smiled. Sara was good at comforting people. Lissa resumed her search for Heero. If Sara was good at comforting people, Lissa was amazing.

She glanced into the yoga room, knowing that he wouldn't be in there. She had a pretty good idea of where to find him and she headed past the yoga room at a determined pace. The weight room was only a few doors down.

She pushed the door open and smiled slightly when she saw Heero at Sara's Bowflex. He had 300 pounds on the machine and was moving them up and down without breaking a sweat. He was staring blankly at the wall in front of him.

"Hey, Heero? Can I ask you a question?" Lissa walked up to him with her hands behind her back.

Heero flinched a little at the sound of his voice. Lissa smirked as she realized that she had startled him.

"Hn." He grunted in answer.

"How do you feel about Duo?" Lissa watched as shock rushed across Heero's face before it went back to the stony mask.

"He's Duo. He's one of the boys I live with." Heero growled.

"If he's only one of the boys you live with, why can he always tell what you mean when you grunt or stay silent?" Lissa raised her eyebrows at Heero.

"Hn. He reads people well. It's part of his training."

"Training? Do I even want to know?" Lissa smirked again. Heero was unwittingly revealing secrets about their past.

Heero's lips tightened and he didn't respond. He just kept working the Bowflex like it was his lifeline.

"Anyway, I was just wondering because if he were just some boy you live with, his word wouldn't have affected you in the way they did, would they have?" Lissa turned after she said this and would have walked from the room, but found herself detained.

Turning slowly, she saw the end of one of her braids caught in Heero's hand. He was staring at it like it was a snake.

"Hey, can I have my hair back? Heero?" Heero had started to stroke her hair absentmindedly. Looking back up at her, Heero wrapped her braid around his fist, drawing her closer to him like he was fishing.

When her face was inches from him, he stopped.

"You think you know so much about us, but you have a lot to learn. We have been a group for a long time, we've been through more than you could even imagine. Don't try and think that you know why we are the way we are." Heero's voice had dropped to a menacing growl and he was glaring at her.

Lissa wasn't fazed by his glare, she just glared right back. Shock crossed Heero's face. He hadn't met that many people other than the other gundam pilots that weren't fazed by his glare.

"I don't presume to know anything about you. I was just commenting on what I had seen between you two. You should really take the stick out of your ass for a few minutes and you might see him as more than just a boy you live with? Maybe you would see him as a friend. You never know what might happen." Lissa pulled gently out of his grasp and wrapped her arms around him.

Heero stiffened and sat quietly in her embrace, his hands dropping uselessly to his sides.

Lissa reached up and pushed his head down on her shoulder, knowing that he wouldn't fight her about it.

Heero's eyes closed as he felt the comfort of a hug for the first time in his life. This was what Duo was always trying to get him to do. He had wondered about it for a long time, but hadn't been willing to try it. Now that he had been forced into the situation, he had to admit that Duo was right. It felt like a healing process, the warmth and comfort surrounding him.

Lissa pulled back gently and looked into Heero's deep blue eyes. "Don't be so hard on Duo, he only wants your… friendship." With that, Lissa turned and walked out of the weight room, leaving Heero to his thoughts.

Heero contemplated her last words. 'Duo's friendship? What would that entail?' Heero stared at the wall and sighed. Life was never easy.