Between Love and Hate
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Gundam Wing, and probably never will.
Baka-san517 - Look updated lol, thanks for the review!
Kisa Killian y Mika Seido - Whoa, what a mouthful lol, I'mglad you liked the prologue, but now is when the story really begins... Thanks for the review!
edhel-tarien - Thanks so much for the review, Relena's not a love sick puppy in this fic, don't worry, however she is a little scared at the start, but the reason is totally understandable, i won't spoil it for you. You will understand what i mean after reading this.
CrimsonDragon010 - Lol, thanks for the review, i'm so happy you liked it. Well, no need to wait much longer, cause here it is, chapter 1...
Chapter one: This is not me
Relena sat at her office desk, her head was propped up against her hands and she was leaning against her paperwork. She stared down at the piles upon piles of sheet in front of her, not really seeing what was there.
"Miss Relena." Her secretary's sickeningly sweet voice snapped her from her daze. "I have to leave now." She smiled down at her gently before turning to Trowa, who was leaning against the far wall, and fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously. Relena rolled her eyes.
"Sorry Olivia. Why are you leaving so early?" Relena asked. Olivia turned her attention back to her, blushing slightly.
"Early miss? It's already seven o'clock, the working day ended two hours ago." Relena, startled by her comment, glanced hastily down to her watch. She was right, it was nearing five past seven, and she still hadn't gotten through her days stack of paperwork.
"Okay Olivia. I'll see you in the morning." She started pushing her papers into an orderly style and stacking them into piles again, but feeling the young girl's gaze still upon her, she looked up at her secretary agitatedly. Olivia frowned at her, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Miss, its Friday. I'm going home for the weekend. I shall see you on Monday morning."
"Oh?" Relena's eyes danced over to her calendar, Friday, 2nd February, AC200, it read. Relena's heart dropped in her chest. 'Great, it's the weekend.' She thought sardonically.
Olivia threw a fleeting look towards Trowa, once his eyes met hers she flashed him a pretty smile and exited the room. Relena watched her in mild disgust before turning her gaze towards Trowa, who was avoiding eye contact with her. She laughed gently at him and he looked up at her in surprise, his eyebrows arching down in confusion.
"Are you ready to leave?" She asked him, "I'm sorry I kept you so late, I didn't realise the time."
"So I noticed." Trowa told her, with a trace of a smile on his lips.
"Then why didn't you say something?" She asked, puzzled.
"You looked distracted. I didn't want to interrupt you." He answered plainly, his face emotionless. At times, her bodyguard reminded her of a young stoic man she used to know, but then he would surprise her by starting conversations, answering her with full sentences (not Heero's well-known one-word answers) and trying to be friends with her.
"Is there something you would like to talk about?" He asked her. Sighing, Relena shook her head wearily; there would be no point in sharing all of her worries with Trowa. It wouldn't be fair on him to be burdened with such pain.
"Well, I'm here if you ever want to Relena." Relena's head shot up to meet his stare, his voice held a firm tone of seriousness and his eyes yearned for the truth.
"Thank you, Trowa. That is very kind of you." Grabbing her bag, Relena shoved the papers inside, 'maybe some homework would help keep me occupied at the house,' she thought as she walked out of her office and through the doors that Trowa was holding open for her. She thanked him as she passed and had she been paying attention, she would have caught the longing and lovingly painful look he sent her as she walked passed him.
Relena greeted Pagan as she walked over to her new, black limousine. Stepping inside, she was met with the soft scent of lavender and camomile. She hated the smell that all new cars contained, so she had brought her perfume into the car with her, and sprayed it along the seats to rid them off their old smell.
Trowa stepped in from the other side, and detecting the strange flowery scent, he looked towards Relena in mild confusion. He gained himself a brief smile before the young women turned to look out of her window, waiting for the car to take her home.
'Homeward bound.' She thought, 'More like hell bound.'
-8-
Upon arriving at her mansion, she looked up towards the many windows, peeking in each one for a sign of life. 'Good he's not home yet.' She thought as she walked up the path to the front door, closely tailing Trowa.
Trowa stepped into the large house. Stopping Relena with his hand, he turned to face her.
"Stay here, I'll go do the first inspection, and then I'll come back for you. You know the drill." Relena folded her arms, and sighed in frustration. "Relena, you know it's compulsory for me to do so."
"Trowa, we both already know there's nobody here that could be a threat to me." 'Except Matthew' she added silently.
"Relena, this is for your own good." Relena, shocked by his choice of words glared up at him, feeling a sense of 'déjà vu'.
Trowa headed off, to scan the mansion for any unwanted life forms, as Relena reluctantly waited beside the door.
She sighed, for what seemed like the millionth time that day, and ran her eyes across her foyer. It was decorated nicely, just to her tastes, with a bit of the classical, antique style. Matthew had chosen most of the furniture to suit his tastes, but she didn't mind, she wasn't too fussy with her furniture.
Long, crimson red, velvet curtains draped across large, glass windows and stopped just before they brushed the polished mahogany flooring. A grand arch stood just below the balcony of the second floor and in between two elegant sets of mahogany stairways, it was intricately designed with plain but enhancing floral designs. Her eyes roamed further up, until she was staring at a large broad hallway, with numerous doors on each side. Relena sighed, finding it hard to contain her urge to run up to her room, jump into bed and settle down for a good night's sleep.
"Each bedroom has an en suite and a balcony." The old landowner told them. "I take it you two would like to take a look around upstairs." The woman stared at them, waiting for an answer. Relena felt the woman's gaze land on her and she pulled away from the intoxicating kiss that she had just been engaged in. She coughed gently.
"Sorry, uh, what was that?" Relena asked her, as she blushed gently. The woman sighed and repeated her last sentence.
"I asked if you two would like to take a look upstairs."
"Yes please, that would be great thank you." Relena answered politely, whilst nudging her boyfriend in the ribs. "Matthew, pay attention, would you?" She whispered.
"I could ask you the same thing, and it's not my fault that I can't get enough of my gorgeous girlfriend." He told her, a dark smirk pulled across his lips.
Relena giggled girlishly, and followed the old women up the grand staircase, dragging Matthew along behind her. The women in front of her opened the first door to the left.
"This is merely one of the guest bedrooms, as I said before, it is included with an en suite and balcony."
"Matthew, look at the size of this." She pulled her boyfriend into the room and he glanced around, impressed. "And you say this is only one of the guest bedrooms?" She asked the woman.
"Yes, indeed. Now would you like to see the Master bedroom?"
"Oh, yes please." Relena said, barely able to restrain the excitement bubbling up within her.
The next room the woman led them into, truly was huge, a large canopied four-poster bed was set in the centre of the room and leaning against the right side wall.
"Oh my… I love this… Don't you Matthew? Couldn't you just imagine living here?" Relena removed herself from his grasp. She danced across the room blissfully and then rested on the bed. Matthew followed her. He was aware of the old woman's glare, which pursued them both from where she stood, across the room, but decided to ignore it for now. He sat down beside Relena, draping his arm across her shoulder and pulling her small body into his before planting a kiss on her forehead.
"We'll take it."
"Huh?" Relena and the old woman both asked simultaneously.
"We'll take the house. Won't we, sweetheart?" He asked Relena, who pulled away from him to look him in the eyes.
"We... we will?" She asked, her eyes shining with anticipation.
"Yes of course we will. It is what you want, isn't it?"
"Yes!" She squealed, jumping into his lap and kissing him in the excitement of the moment.
"Relena!" Trowa's voice called out to her.
"Huh?" Relena asked, turning toward him in a dazed stupor.
"I said, all's clear, come on, you're tired, you need a good night's sleep."
"My thought's exactly." Relena told him, gazing into his concerned eyes. "You didn't notice whether Matthew was here or not, did you?"
"No. He's not here." Trowa replied solemnly. Relena smiled at him kindly.
"OK, goodnight Trowa." She tore her gaze slowly away from his, and brushed past him, walking into her room and closing the door gently.
"Goodnight Relena." Trowa replied as he looked regretfully at the door that had just been closed on him.
-8-
Relena moaned gratefully as she sunk into the soft mattress beneath her. She positioned herself comfortably before closing her eyes and attempting to sleep, alone, for the first time in a while. And for once, she wasn't afraid. However, she knew that this fake courage would dissipate as soon as he stepped into the house again.
Dark slate grey eyes haunted her sleep, stirring her from peaceful dreams.
'Relena…' he moved closer to her, his shadow blocked out her only form of light... 'Relena…' he was now so close that she could feel his breath brush hotly against her cheek. 'Relena, I'm back. Are you ready? Are you ready for me yet, Relena?' He ran his fingers down her face, leaving an icy stinging sensation trailing behind them. 'Are you ready for me yet?' His voice was cold and mocking as he laughed at her callously.
'No, no… no, not yet…' Relena forced herself away from the man's malicious glare. Backing up further and further, she found herself trapped in a corner. 'Is this a dream? It has to be… but it's so real…'
'No Relena, this is no dream. This is reality! Now wake up from your idealistic dreams, and be prepared… Relena… Relena…' his voice was so mocking, so cruel and so intense…
"…Relena… Relena wake up…" Relena tossed in her bed, a layer of cold sweat coating her skin. Her eyes suddenly opened wide, she stared in shock at the canopy above her. 'It was just a dream, Relena' she told herself. She rolled over to her left, only to be met with…
Dark, slate grey eyes…
"Relena, I'm back." She felt her whole body tense up as the hauntingly familiar voice jarred in her memory. 'That was no dream' she thought silently.
"Relena?" The eyes frowned at her. "Aren't you even going to say hello?" The man smirked at her, as the dark, slate grey eyes from her dream, lit up with cold humour.
'Why am I so afraid? This is not me…'
"Matthew. Where have you been?" Relena asked the man beside her; putting on her brave voice, his handsome face glared down at her.
"Oh, so you are alive in there." He smirked at her again, and Relena knew, what little comfort she had last night had been lost in those eyes. "Come on it's time to get up. I have a business trip to go on this week, so I won't be around much, you may as well get the best out of me now."
Relena didn't move, she was still frozen in her bed; Matthew grabbed her arm tightly, twisting it slightly, not caring if he hurt her, and tugged her out of bed.
"I told you to get up, come on now, I have plans made already, and I'll not have you hold me back." He told her, his voice had gone cold and dangerous, like it had been in her dream. Relena sat on the ground staring at him helplessly, she suddenly felt like a mere child under his power.
"Be downstairs in fifteen." He told her as he left their room.
Relena got up quickly, stepping into the en suite for a quick shower before changing and rushing downstairs, her hair still damp from the shower. Disobeying his orders was not at the top of her to-do-list. Disobeying his orders was not an option.
'This is definitely not me.'
'To really know someone is to have loved and hated him in turn'- Marcel Jouhandeau
I know that there isn't much information on what's been happening in the past three years on this chapter, but all will be revealed soon. Lol.
Next chapter is Heero's chappie! YAY!
But PLEASE review! You're reviews keep me alive, and also influence me to work faster, so the more reviews, the quicker the updates! (grins) hehee.
Love ya'll
Allura
