Chapter Four - Love Is In The Air
Rated: T
Warnings: shounen-ai
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and "That's the way, I like it" by KC & The Sunshine Band (but I do own the Brown-Eared-West-Mexican Bat! He lives in my head... O.o).

Summary: Trowa Barton works at the Public Library and is very happy with his new found job. One day at work, he meets a young man named Quatre, and that's where all the 'trouble' starts… AU, Trowa x Quatre.

A/N: My tests at school are going very well, so I had some spare time to write the next chapter. Wrote this in exactly one hour and that's a very fast for my doing, so I give my apologies if there are any mistakes. I'll check it tomorrow if I can find some myself. Thank you for all your reviews, and since most of you wanted me to update: lookie, I did. Oh, yes: rating changed to T. Just to be safe.

Chapter Four - Love Is In The Air

Quatre's apartment was… well, not an apartment. It was more like a huge manor, just a few miles from town, standing alone in the landscape, with a perfect view of the town on the horizon. There was a fence around the whole estate and the gates wore a big, goldish 'W' on it, which of course stood for the name of Winner.

"See? Aren't you happy we took my car?"

Trowa stared up at the manor. "… Yes."

"It would have been a rather long walk, you see." Quatre, behind the wheel, pressed a button on his dashboard and the gates opened slowly.

"Do you live here all by yourself?" The eye of Quatre's passenger looked a little amazed at the beautiful garden next to the path, with all kinds of trees. And flowerbeds, of course.

"Well, it's kinda a meeting point for the whole family. You remember I have…"

"29 sisters?" Trowa turned his head and looked Quatre intensely in his eyes.

Time seemed to get slower for Quatre. Eyes could be such a expansion of the soul… And how did Trowa always know what he was gonna say?

"Watch the road."

"Haaah…" Quatre quickly turned the wheel to the right, following the path to the entrance of the manor. Stupid! You are so stupid! You can't even normally ride a car when he sits next to you!

Trowa chuckled and Quatre felt himself flush with embarrassment. Damn, it was always him who blundered in front of everyone. And the fact that he blushed very quickly blushing didn't really help with the whole situation.

He parked the car before the entrance and stepped out, breathing in the fresh air. He quickly walked over to the other side to open Trowa's door, after first grabbing his birthday presents from the back of the car.

"Welcome to the Winner Estate," he said, grinning stupidly.

Trowa stepped out with grace and gave the building a closer look, face not showing anything of what he thought.

"Well, come in. There're no servants or anything - they'll arrive next Monday with one of my sisters, Iria. The house is so big so all the members of the Winner family can actually live here" - he finally had that rusty lock open and opened the door - "and I even have my own part on the top floor."

"It looks… old," Trowa replied, his hand sliding over the wall in the hall. "In a good way. Sort of house you'll find in a historical houses book…"

"Thanks." Quatre smiled and closed the door. "Come on, we'll go to my room at once. I hate it being down here, it's always so dark and empty without the servants…"

"You said you were going to give a small party tonight?" Trowa asked, following Quatre up the stairs.

"Yeah, with some friends. I don't know if you know them… But anyways, I think it'll be fun."

"And… May I help you with the preparations?"

"Of course! If you like, but you don't have to. Well, I'll drag you into the kitchen for the cooking anyway, I told you I was not so good at that."

Trowa looked a little confused at the stairs. "Uhm, Quatre?"

"Yeah?" Quatre looked back at him, smiling brightly.

"Where is the kitchen, actually? We already walked up… three staircases."

"Kitchen is on the top floor. Only one staircase to go! I thought a circus artist like you could handle some physical… education." He giggled and to his surprise, Trowa laughed too. Not loud of course.

"Ah, here we are!" Quatre grabbed his keys again and opened the one and only door on the hallway on the fourth floor. Well, you couldn't exactly call it a hallway: there practically wasn't anything other than the door Quatre was opening and a (fake) plant next to it, on a table. No door that could lead to a kitchen.

Quatre eagerly went into the room, disposed his keys on a basket on the closest table and put his coat on the couch. He immediately went to the sink unit and filled the vase with flowers with fresh water. With the water running, he quickly ran to the mirror next to the door, watched how the bracelet fitted around his wrist and ran back, just in time to stop the water. Then, he walked to one of the windows, placing the vase proudly in the light. He didn't notice that Trowa was acting rather strangely.

"Look at how beautiful they are! They certainly come more to their right here than back in my office. Hn, maybe I'll just take them to my office when I go to work and then back home again, everyday, then I would enjoy them the most! What do you think, Trowa?" Quatre turned around to see his friend looking around his room with a totally blank expression.

"Is this… your room?"

"Yeah. I know it's kinda big, but… What's wrong?" Quatre blinked a few times. Trowa was still standing in the doorway, staring at him as if he were a raving lunatic.

"Big…" Trowa whispered. "My apartment isn't even half of this!"

Okay. Mental note to self: this is how Trowa looks when he's surprised. Once in a entire lifetime to see!

"Sorry." He suddenly adjusted his coat and stopped staring at his environment. "That was rude."

Quatre shook his head, chuckling. "I don't care if it was rude, you're my friend and you don't mean to be rude, so why should I care? Just drop your coat somewhere and then we can do some cooking!"

Trowa nodded in agreement and placed his coat next to Quatre's on the couch. The young heir saw Trowa's eyes move over his room:

Center of the room about a meter lower than the rest in a round shaped form, with a couch that followed the round shape. Two small stairs led to the lower center of the room. TV-screen on the wall. Open kitchen on the right, door to bathroom on the left. Piano and violin (on a standard) next to the bathroom door. A lot of palms. Mirror behind him, plus a dinner table with eight chairs. Huge windows with perfect view of the city. All colors were bright, warm, and could be well found in the stories of 'Arabian Nights', just like the designs and the palms.

"Analyzed everything?" Quatre giggled and made his way to the kitchen, searching in the fridge for something to eat.

"…"

"What do you like to eat?"

"I like almost all the food."

"Maybe that wasn't such a smart thing to say, 'cause I was planning on making oysters, squid… (A/N: Sorry, I just hate everything that swims in the sea XD)… Maybe even some parts of the Brown-Eared-West-Mexican Bat. And those are totally gross."

Trowa produced his soft chuckle and walked up to Quatre, laying one hand on his shoulder and looking at the stuff that he got out of the fridge. "Well, from what I see, but my eyes could deceive me, is that we're going to…" He reached out his neck to see better.

"… gourmet," Quatre said.

"Exactly." Trowa produced a small smile and rested his head on Quatre's shoulder, watching Quatre getting his stuff for dinner ready.

He's so close. I can feel his breath on my neck. He smells like…toothpaste. And cinnamon…? Whatever. It's him. That's good enough. He isn't heavy at all on my shoulder, but even if he was, I wouldn't shrug him off…

"Quatre," Trowa said firmly.

"Yes?"

"Your hands stopped moving."

"Oh, yeah…" Why does my body malfunction at these times!

"What were you thinking of?"

"I was… enjoying the moment, I guess. You?" Quatre felt his cheeks warm up within seconds and didn't dare to turn his head and face him.

"… Me too." Trowa tightened his arms around Quatre's form for a sec and then let go, before placing a kiss at the back of his neck. A very shy and unsure one, but it was a kiss.

Quatre smiled softly and sought Trowa's hand behind him, entertwining his fingers with those of the brown haired man. He gave a soft squeeze and Trowa squeezed back. Quatre grinned.

This is gonna be fun.

0o0

"Quatre, what kind of people are your friends?" Trowa placed a basket with slices of baguettes on the dinner table.

"Well, you've got Duo Maxwell, he's the talkative one. He just always talks. But he's very friendly and kind, only some people think he's annoying because of his jokes and stuff."

"Ah. And who else is going to come to the party?"

"Wufei Chang, a Chinese guy. He kind of… hates weak people. And women maybe. And… he always babbles about justice, or injustice, but he's still a good friend of mine. He's in our group." Quatre prepared the salad, spraying the sauce randomly over it.

"… You said three, I believe so. Who else?"

"Heero Yuy. He's kind of stoic, just like you." Oops.

"Stoic?" Trowa's glare could've swept Dorothy Catalonia off her feet.

"No, no, you're not really stoic, I mean, it's just hard to read you expression and you don't talk that much…" Quatre held his hands defensibly in front of him.

"Hn. Stoic. Thanks a lot."

"Trowa, I didn't mean it! You know that as well as I do." Quatre put the salad on the table and looked at Trowa.

"…" No response.

"What are you doing?"

"… Giving the word 'stoic' the meaning it should have. I don't think I'll talk to you anymore."

"Ahhh, come on, I didn't mean it." Quatre gave Trowa a gentle push against his arm, before looking up in those green eyes again. "Trowa…?"

No response.

"Are you mad?" Quatre blinked in surprise.

"… I'm being stoic."

"You're being stupid. Please talk normal?"

"…"

"Fine! Have it your way! Be stoic all the time!" Quatre turned around, hands in the air and walked back to fridge again, searching for the ketchup and curry sauce.

Why did I actually said that? Now he's gonna be silent… maybe the whole evening. And enjoy his voice so much. I mean, he is sometimes a little stoic and then you can't make out his emotions, but I don't care! He's clear enough to me.

"What would you like to drink?" He returned with the sauces and placed them on the table, watching Trowa carefully. He wasn't really mad, was he?

"…"

"I can give you water from the pond in the garden if you like."

"… Have you got orange juice?" He didn't look up.

"Trowa, you aren't really mad, are you?" Quatre touched his shoulder. "Cause if you feel hurt, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I just… came out. You can be a little stoic sometimes and some people say I'm too girly sometimes. But those things are just… part of you, I guess."

"I'm not mad at you."

Quatre grinned and let himself fall on the couch next to him. "I know, I know, you're being stoic. My little speech was just in case if you were really hurt by my words, but didn't want to tell me so."

"You know, you're sometimes way too caring. About other people."

"And you know, you're sometimes way too vague for other people to understand."

Trowa turned his head to Quatre with a quick swift and narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, I didn't say stoic!" Quatre giggled, but Trowa kept staring at him.

"Uhm, what are you exactly doing?"

"Quatre, I was wondering about something. But I feel stupid for doing so." Trowa looked away.

"Has it anything to do with…"

"No, not stoic. I was just wondering…" He looked away again.

"Hey," Quatre said softly, forcing Trowa to look in his eyes. "You can just tell me."

"Are you… seeing someone?"

He looks sooo cute when he's uncertain about something.

"Well, I think I am actually… It's this cute guy I just met, but he feels so right! You know what I mean?"

"…" Trowa tried to look everywhere except at the face of the blonde man beside him.

"And his eyes are marvelous! Every time I look into them, time seems to stop, right there. I think he likes me too, but I actually don't know much about him. But as I said, he feels right." Quatre giggled. "I believe I sound like a born-on-cloud-nine-romantic."

"…"

"You know him."

"… I do?"

"Yeah, very well, I guess. But as I said, I don't know if the guy actually thinks he's seeing me. Maybe he just sees me as a friend. Do you know if he sees me as a friend or not?"

Trowa blinked. "How could I know?"

Quatre inched his face a little closer to Trowa's. "Ask yourself."

You could just see that Trowa slowly began to realize the double meaning of the two words and Quatre found it highly amusing. The thing the blonde man had meant, hit Trowa after a few seconds.

"Ask… myself?" Trowa grinned and started chuckling. "I am too stupid."

"But have you asked yourself?" Quatre tilted his head to the right, a sweet smile on his face.

"Yes, and I think the guy thinks he's seeing you." Trowa leaned in a little closer, his lips just inches away from Quatre's. "I also think… that he likes you very much."

Quatre looked right into Trowa's green eyes. He could almost feel Trowa's lips against his when he spoke, so close as they were. "You know what I think? That you're not so stoic after all."

Trowa smiled: a full, true smile, but still a small one. He slowly tilted his head a little and leaned in, breathing in Quatre's scent, slowly placing his hand on the other's hip…

"Yo Q-man, are you ready to party? Happy birthday pal, I brought presents!"

Quatre practically flew off of the couch, completely flushed, and turned around, seeing a man with a long, brown braid standing next to an open window. "Duo!"

"Yup, it's me!" He grinned widely. "And who's that dude that just tried to kiss you?"

0o0

"It's so good to have you guys here!" Quatre settled himself happily on the couch, between Trowa and the other man that'd come with Duo. "Would you like a drink?"

"No, thanks! I've had a little too much ice cream…" Duo smiled and put his hands behind his head.

"No," was the only reply from the other man. His hair was dark brown, very dark, and his eyes were bright blue, but very different from Quatre's. More cobalt blue.

"Okay then! Anyways… this is Trowa Barton. I met him a few weeks ago and I think he'll fit perfectly into our group." Quatre nodded to himself and shot a glance at Trowa, who seemed a little stunned by the whole situation.

"Tro, I'm Duo Maxwell. You don't mind me calling you 'Tro'? Well, anyways, sorry about the original incoming." The braided man pointed at the open window. "I thought, let's surprise Q, and that worked perfectly." He grinned at Trowa. "Saw that, Heero?"

"Hn." Heero produced something that sounded like a grunt and kept glaring at all the things in Quatre's room.

"This is Heero Yuy. Doesn't talk too much, but hey, he has me to talk for him!" Another grin.

"You wrote 'The Gundam Saga'," Trowa said, trying to catch Heero's gaze. "It's very good."

Heero glared at Trowa. "Thanks."

"Where's Wufei?" Duo looked around the room, looking like he'd expect that Wufei would be somewhere in a cupboard or something.

"He still needs to arrive," Quatre replied, "but somehow, I think he takes the main door instead of the window." He smiled.

"I'm just a very good spy!" Duo chuckled and reached out for a bag at Heero's feet. "Those are your…"

"Hey," Heero interrupted him, not even raising his voice a little bit, "I was the one who hauled you up."

Duo blinked a few times.

"From the ground," he added.

"Oh, that, but that doesn't matter. I mean, I think that everyone knows that we're a team, so they all suppose that we help each other!" Duo smiled, grabbing the bag. "Those are your presents, Q."

"Hn. I should remember that for the next time."

"Why, Heero?"

"I'll let you haul me up."

"That's not fair! You're much more heavier than I!" Duo whined. "I don't even eat that much."

"Hn!" This grunt from Heero was definitely a sneering one, but Duo didn't seem to mind.

I think Trowa doesn't know where he's getting himself into by meeting my friends… Quatre chuckled softly to himself and heard a familiar sound. The doorbell.

"Wufei. I'll go get him." Quatre walked out of the room, leaving Trowa alone with Duo and Heero. When he quickly looked into his emerald green orbs before closing the door behind him, he thought he saw some panic there…

0o0

Quatre munched happily on his meat, looking at his friends around the table. Duo was talking the sanity out of everyone, as usual, Heero sat at Duo's right and only focused on eating and Wufei, who sat on Duo's left, was getting crazy, also as usual. But they all knew that Wufei did enjoy 'arguing' with Duo. Those two were just too funny to watch.

Quatre sat at the other side of the table next to Trowa, who also performed the Heero technique. Focusing on the food.

"But Fei…" Duo was whining again.

"Shut up," Wufei grunted, taking a big gulp of his drink.

"Is the food good?" Quatre asked. "I asked Trowa to help me with the cooking, to prevent any accidents with my… well, cooking. You all know I'm not that good." He smiled.

"Good," Heero said, taking another bite.

"I like it," Wufei said.

"That's the way, uh-huh-uh-huh! I like it, uh-huh-uh-huh!" Duo screeched. He received a glare from Wufei. "Sorry, that just had to come out. But anyways, I like it too, Q. It's really nice."

"Me too," Trowa replied, turning his head to face Quatre for a moment.

"Tro, can I ask you something?" Duo put his fork down.

Trowa nodded slowly. "Yes, of course."

"Are you and Quatre together?"

Silence.

"Well…" Quatre stopped and blushed, looking at his plate. He and Trowa had started talking at the same time.

"Uhm…" Trowa started, but he didn't continue.

"We're…" Quatre shot a glance at Trowa.

"… kind of…"

"… together."

Both nodded at each other in agreement.

Duo laughed out loud. "You two are really cute together! Sorry if I interrupted something back then that could've been the final step to 'being together' instead of 'kind of being together'." He winked.

"We don't mind," Quatre and Trowa said at the same time.

"Geez, what's this, the married couple?" Duo was really laughing by now.

"Duo! It is not your damn right to eat all the steak!" Wufei interrupted Duo's laughing and shot a glance at Duo's plate and back at his own. Then, to his pan on the gourmet and back to Duo's.

"Oops."

"Duo. You. Ate. The. Meat. That. Was. In. My. Pan."

"I'm sorry Fei! But you just burned it every time, so I thought…"

"I. Like. My. Meat. Black. Roasted."

"There's more in the kitchen," Trowa said quickly. "Or you can switch places with me."

Quatre blinked a few times in surprise. No, Trowa, what are you saying! What if Wufei…I want to sit next to you.

But Wufei noticed the suddenly disappointed look on his friend and shook his head. "No, but thanks. I'll take some other meat and watch out. That. Duo. Doesn't. Eat. It. Again!"

Trowa chuckled behind his hand.

"I don't understand you two," Wufei muttered, playing with his food.

"Hn?"

"Most of the time, I really have to struggle with myself to not to shout 'Get a room!' to Duo and you," Wufei answered to Heero's grunt. "But every time that I wish that you keep him busy, then you don't do it!"

"Sorry."

"Injustice," Wufei muttered again.

Trowa and Quatre looked at each other and both chuckled again. Trowa's eyes just said to Quatre that he enjoyed being here, on Quatre's birthday party, even if his friends were a little weird. Quatre suddenly found a hand searching for his, and before he knew, he was holding hands with Trowa again. Not that he minded, of course. He smiled at his friend, and gave the other hand a gentle squeeze.

Wufei looked up at the slight movement of the two at the other side of the table. "Get a room."

"Oh gods, Wufei, you do have X-ray eyes!"

"Shut up, Duo."

"Eh-heh-heh."

0o0

It was already getting a little late, somewhere between three or four o'clock in the morning. They were all slumped on the couch in front of the TV, watching some stupid show. Wufei had took the most far away corner from everyone at the right, covered under tons of cushions. Duo was lying stretched out besides him, his head on Heero's stomach. Heero was the only one who still looked like he was… alive.

Quatre was feeling very sleepy and leaned a little against Trowa, who sat between him and Heero. His eyes were just too tired to keep open… Something nudged his shoulder.

"Quatre? Are you still awake?" Trowa wiped some bangs from the blonde man's face.

"Nnh, yeah. I think we should go to bed, guys. You can all stay here. Guestroom is on the right." He pointed at another door next to the mirror, standing up groggily.

"I'll take the couch," Wufei grunted, snuggling deeper into his cushions.

"We'll take the guestroom." Heero stood up and helped an almost sleeping Duo to his feet.

"Okay, it's a two size bed anyway." Quatre turned the TV/beamer off and pointed at some clothes next to the dinner table. "Since you all always stay here when I invite you… Those are your pajamas."

Heero picked a dark blue and a violet one from the ground and yanked Duo into the guestroom by pulling his braid.

"Ouch!"

"Stop whining."

"Yay, I got a violet pajama. I love it when you buy pajamas in the color of our eyes, Q."

Heero snorted and closed the door.

"Guys, I don't want to hear noises coming from that door!" Wufei screamed at the closed door. He'd left his cushions to grab his black pajama.

"Goodnight, Wufei."

"Night Quatre, Trowa."

0o0

"See? I told you I had some spare pajamas somewhere!" Quatre exclaimed happily, holding a pair of green pajamas in front of Trowa. "And green too."

"Aren't they… a little too small?"

"Not that small. I'm almost as big as you," Quatre said, sounding a little reproachful. "Maybe the trousers will be a little too short, but that's okay, right?"

Trowa nodded.

They were in Quatre's bedroom to search for pajamas for Trowa. The bedroom was a lot smaller than the living room, but had the same shape. The round shaped form in the center wasn't lower, but higher than the rest of the room, with a beautiful bed with curtains on top of it.

Quatre went in search for his own pajamas: a light blue pair.

"Uhm, Quatre…"

"Yeah?"

"Where do I actually sleep?"

End Chapter Four

A/N: Whew, that was really written as fast as I could. Heh, I brought the other Gundam boys in. I hope they aren't too OOC, because I was a little hyperactive when I wrote the last part with them eating and all. I thought that Heero and Duo were kinda hard to write as a couple, but it worked out better than I thought (right?). So, in this 3x4 fic (or 4x3) you'll have 1x2 (or 2x1) on the side. Just a little.

Efreak.

Thanks to: brightanarchy, The Tears of Ages, Elliott's girl, Roxie Faye, Artemis Maxwell-Yuy, frenchiefry666, DutchDuelist, Reader and fruits of eos for reviewing my story. Now I got inspiration to write a next chapter :) Thank you all!