Concealed – No Use Talking
Quatre awoke the next day with one goal in mind: talk to Trowa. He knew he was too chicken to actually admit his feelings just yet, but the blonde simply wanted to talk to the other boy in order to settle the air between them. If nothing more, Quatre just wanted Trowa as his friend.
Of course, there was one factor that was in the way of his mission. It was hard to concentrate on what he was going to say to Trowa when he finally approached the boy when there was a teacher towering above him, lecturing on how it is important to maintain his grades.
True, Quatre Winner's grades weren't the best in the class, but he figured that he had the right to be lacking. He did miss the first half of the year. He needed time to catch up.
"Mr. Winner, I understand that you're behind in your studies. But perhaps, you can try working with a tutor to help you catch up." Quatre's English teacher tried.
Quatre rolled his eyes. "I don't need a tutor. I'll be fine. I can catch up and keep up on my own."
The elder sighed. "If I don't see an improvement by the end of the month, I'm going to assign you a tutor."
"Whatever." The blonde scoffed. "Can I go now?"
The teacher shook his head in disappointment. "All right."
Quatre grabbed his satchel and hurried away before his teacher can add anything else. 'I don't need a tutor. I've pulled through situations like this before. All it takes is hard work and concentration. Now where can I find Trowa?' The blonde giggled to himself. 'What kind of concentration is that?'
Since it was now break time, Quatre had approximately fifteen minutes to find the brunette, five having been wasted with his teacher. He would have asked Duo in his first class, but they were taking a test that day and Miss Oden wasn't fond of anyone who looked like they might be cheating. As ditzy as she may seem during regular class sessions, when it came to test time, she was the ultimate dictator with eyes on the back of her head and supersonic ears.
Of course, this was all beside the point. The fact of the matter was that Quatre really wanted to talk to Trowa. He quickly made his way down the stairs and through the halls of St. Francis academy to the doors leading outside. Once outside, the blonde boy scanned area for the taller brunette. 'Where, oh where could he be?' Quatre half sang to himself. 'Maybe Jamie would know…' Knowing that Jamie would be by the gym, Quatre sped off in that direction.
---
Trowa frowned. He was on his way towards the grassy area by the library, a place where he and his friends always met at break and lunch. As always, the glimpse of platinum locks caught his attention. But when he saw the blonde boy dart off towards the gym, the frown did appear. 'He's going to see Jamie…' Trowa swallowed the lump in his throat. 'Whatever. Quatre's a big boy. He can do whatever he wants. From now on, Quatre Winner is just another person at this school. Nothing more.' Feeling the walls surrounding his emotions steel themselves as they once did before Quatre entered his life, Trowa continued on his way towards his friends.
---
"Ralph, if you don't ask me to prom, I swear to you, I'll go with Jamie!"
"Good luck handling her, Jamie ol' pal. And let me warn you, she's not a cheap date."
"Ugh! You're such a pig!"
Jamie just shook his head at his friends' antics.
"Hey Jamie." The strawberry blonde turned his head at the sound of his name only to be greeted by the small smile on Quatre's lips. "They're at it again?"
Jamie smirked. "It's a wonder why I still bother with them."
"Quatre!" Hilde cheered. She directed a devilish glare towards Ralph before smiling at the small blonde. "Quatre, will you go to prom with me?"
"What?" he blushed.
"Ralph is being stubborn. I figure I'd have a much better time with you."
"Hilde, leave Quatre out of this." Jamie frowned, slinging his arm over the other boy's shoulders. "And Ralph, just ask her already." Before the two could start arguing again, Jamie directed Quatre away from the squabbling pair. "What's up? You talk to Trowa yet?"
"Uh, no. But that's why I came to see you."
Jamie cocked an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're going to flake. Cause you know I'll be all over you if you do."
Quatre rolled his eyes. "I just wanted to ask you if you knew where he hangs out."
"Oh. So you didn't come here to confess your love for me?"
"Jamie!"
"Wishful thinking. Can't a guy live with that?"
"Seriously though. Do you know where I can find him?"
Jamie scratched his head. "Well, my sister is usually over by the library. I'm sure Trowa's there too. I'd go with you, but I wouldn't be caught dead over there. They're too…peppy for me."
"Oh. Okay. Thanks Jamie." Just then, the bell rang for students to begin returning to their classes. "Oh, shoot. I didn't even realize how much time slipped."
"Well, I'm sure you'll be able to catch him at lunch. I'll walk you class. What do you have right now?"
"Econ with Toriru."
"Ooo. I heard she's a crazy one."
"Heh. Most definitely. I would have never thought that anyone would find economics so fascinating. She looks ready to attack anyone who thinks otherwise."
"Right. Let's go before she decides to attack you for being late." Again, Jamie threw his arm around his friend and led him back to the entrance of the school's main building.
---
Trowa hardly paid any attention to what Freddie was saying. He was sure it was something along the lines of basketball, the homework assignment for their English class, or Tina Davenport, Freddie's girlfriend. Whichever it was, Trowa couldn't seem to listen. He had spent that entire break, the entire morning for that matter, thinking of Quatre. Despite coming to the conclusion that Quatre shouldn't be thought of as more than another student roaming the halls of St. Francis, the depression of the conclusion kept him from concentration. But to the rest of the world, the magnificent Trowa Barton was simply deep in thought.
However, it was no surprise to him when he managed to spot a certain blonde walking no more than fifteen feet ahead of him. The surprise was instead directed towards the arm draped over that certain blonde. Surprise led to jealousy when Trowa realized that the arm belonged to Jamie Collins.
Trowa nearly growled at the sight. 'Fine! If that's who he wants to be with, then fine!' Green eyes tore from the scene up ahead. 'I hope the happy couple runs off together to elope! Good riddance.' Frustration and anger boiled the brunette's blood. He suddenly broke away from his friend and dashed off towards the nearest restroom. He threw open the nearest stall door, kicked down the open seat, and crashed down on top of it. He ran his hands through his hair and began to breathe through his teeth. 'It's not fair…why him? Why now? God…why me?' There he stayed, trying to clear his mind of the image burned on his retinas. He didn't care that he was late for class. He didn't care whether or not he'd get in trouble for coming in tardy. All he seemed to care about was getting his heart back and steeling it against the one that tore it up. All he cared about was getting over Quatre.
---
For some odd reason, Quatre couldn't help but feel like the world was against him today. Apparently, his physics teacher had the same idea as his English teacher did. Instead of releasing him with the rest of the class for lunch, the elder man decided to confront his student of his failing grades.
"I know, I know. Bring up the grade before you have to assign a tutor, right? Can I go now?"
"Mr. Winner, this is your future we're talking about. I understand that you need to catch up after transferring in the middle of the year, but if you remain behind as you are, I will have to assign you that tutor or keep you from graduating if I must."
Quatre sighed. "I understand. I'll work harder, I promise."
The physics teacher nodded. "All right. You may go now."
"Thank you, Mr. Davies." With that, the small blonde gathered his belongings and dashed outside.
"Whoa!" Heero jumped out of the way before Quatre could crash into him.
"Oh! Sorry Heero. I didn't know you were there."
"Well, I figured I'd wait for you. Duo'll be fine if he's alone no more than fifteen minutes."
Quatre blinked. "Why only fifteen?"
The brunette shook his head. "Cause after fifteen, he's either hurt himself or burned down a portion of a building."
Quatre couldn't help but laugh. "Well, thanks for waiting but I was hoping to catch Trowa right now."
Heero cocked an eyebrow. 'What happened after Duo and I left?' "Um, why?"
The smaller boy shrugged. "I just wanted to talk to him."
"Oh. Okay. I'll see you later then." With his back turned to his friend, Heero smirked. 'Maybe things worked themselves out last night…I hope so…'
Quatre watched his friend for a moment before heading towards his locker. He dumped his satchel in the small space and headed off towards the exit. 'I will find him and I will talk to him.' He headed straight towards the library, hoping that the brunette was there. And luckily for him, Trowa was there… and so were about thirty other people who all seemed to surround him. But as much as Quatre didn't like crowds, he cared about his friendship with Trowa much more. The blonde, with a look of determination on his face, made his way straight to his friend. "Trowa?"
The brunette inwardly flinched in hearing the voice. 'Why is he here? Why now? Stay cool, Trowa. Keep yourself together.' In the bathroom, Trowa had decided to gain his life back before Quatre Winner had entered it. He made an agreement with himself to keep his distance from Quatre, by any means necessary. So, he centered his thoughts and showed nothing more than a cool exterior as he turned to face the small boy. "Oh. Quatre. Did you need something?"
Something pulled at his heart in hearing Trowa's cold and distant tone. But Quatre decided to ignore it. "Can we talk?"
"What're you talking about? We are talking."
Quatre frowned slightly. "I mean, in private."
Trowa rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine." The two left the crowd and headed off towards an area with few people around. "Well? What do you want?"
Again, Quatre pushed aside the feelings that struck him caused by Trowa's curt and abrasive tone. "Look. I just wanted to tell about my date with Jamie. I realized-"
"What makes you think I would want to know about it?" Trowa cut him off. He didn't really understand why he was being so harsh. But he knew that because he was sounding harsh, he might be able to fool his heart into detaching itself from the other boy. "What did you think? That I'd care? Or were you just trying to rub it in my face that Jamie Collins has actually become attached to you?"
Quatre was stunned. He felt confused, but most of all, hurt. "That's not… I just wanted-"
"Well, here's the thing, Quatre. The world doesn't revolve around you. You can't always get what you want."
"Why are you being like this?" He couldn't stop the tremble in his voice. Trowa's coldness was sending Quatre to the brink of tears. "I just wanted-"
"Read my lips, Quatre." Trowa said, forcefully. "I. Don't. Care. You and Jamie can have a wonderful life together. Just leave me alone."
And with that, the brunette walked away without even the slightest glance back. But if he had looked back, he would've met the image of a boy whose heart had just been broken. With tears streaming down his face, Quatre felt extremely helpless and utterly alone.
Author's Notes/Disclaimer: I don't own the boys or girls of Gundam Wing. Surprise, surprise.
So… yeah. Sorry that this took waaay too long to come out. Please don't hate me? Well, I'm sure you're allowed to hate me just a little, especially for putting Quatre and Trowa through what I'm putting them through. But… you never know…